#Elephant Nose Fish

[ocean-sunfish-hater]

what’s your fav fish?

Favourite fish? That's a really hard question that I actually don't have an answer to since there's literally thousands of species of fish. I could make a list of all the ones I like but I thought I'd take the opportunity to talk about one in a bit more detail.

Image Description: a full body image of the Elephant Nose Fish, a brown fish with white stripes. It has a proboscis that looks like an elephant's trunk.

Allow me to introduce the Elephant Nose Fish, named after the trunk-like appendage on its face. Although it looks like it has a really long snout or even a nose, the protrusion actually comes from its chin. Let's take a closer look at that.

Image Description: A close up of the Elephant Nose Fish, where the protrusion is more visible as coming out of the chin of the animal.

Here you can see it a bit better. What's cool about the mega-chin is that the Elephant Nose Fish uses it for electroreception, amongst other things. It is able to actively generate its own weak electrical field using an organ in its tail, which it then detects disturbances in using electroreceptors all over its body, including its trunk!

Image description: A simple diagram of the electroreceptor structure found on the Elephant Nose Fish. There is a pore filled with a gel (represented in yellow) that connects to a bundle of sensory cells (represented in red)

Those electroreceptors are actually really cool in and of themselves: they're pores filled with a gel that has semiconductor properties (above is a diagram I drew in my notes in my first year of uni). The fish is able to detect differences in the predicted (i.e. a base assumption of no objects around) and detected fields. This system is sensitive enough that it can detect the size, distance and to an extent the material that an object is made out of. It can even detect prey under the riverbed!

I've also heard that their brains are pretty large to accomodate this and use a huge proportion of their oxygen intake, something like 60%, as opposed to the human 20%. Although, I've only really seen this in one paper of which I only read the abstract, so take that with a pinch of salt.

Sorry I couldn't really answer your question, but I hope this makes up for it! Thanks for asking :)

[randybutternubber]

My fish, The Gooch. She’s an elephant Nosed fish, Marcusenius schilthuisiae. She is scared of metal tongs and objects because elephant fish produce electrical pulses, kind of like a sixth sense, and the way it bounces off the metal is very noticeable to them

Her irl

[notaclothingstore]

nobody understands the true obsession I have with the double long nose elephant fish- I make my friends go to the aquarium with me at least once a year just to see him. my king. my silly little guy. he is my everything.

[civetcider]

i can’t believe elephant seals are real

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Daily fish fact #387

Peter's elephantnose fish!

It has the largest brain to body oxygen use ratio of any vertebrate!

[bijoumikhawal]

there's several species of catfish in Egypt. That one looks like it's based on the electric catfish, which we still have in Egypt/the Nile

note the barbels coming out of the face, these are responsible for the "zoidberg" look. And yes, "electric" means they can shock you! Not enough to kill as far as we know, though

Fun fact, there are around 2900 known species of catfish! There's a reason they show up on River Monsters so much

People should use this text embellishment more

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

[tristansherwin]

GRAVE TO CRADLE | STONES & GOAT'S MILK (EX. 20:22-23:33)

GRAVE TO CRADLE | STONES & GOAT'S MILK (EX. 20:22-23:33) 'As bookends to this whole passage, both laws carry the principle of not causing the means of life to be an agent of death.'

Here’s my longer sermon notes from this morning’s Metro Christian Centre service (dated 2nd June 2024), session twelve in our series journeying through the book of Exodus. You can also catch up with this via MCC’s YouTube channel (just give us time to get the video uploaded). ‘The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.’ –Dr. Martin Luther King Jr[i] ”No one after…

[xiphosura]

WTFFFF

[mypupilsdilatelikeacar]

Hehee hiii

Im gonna fill your feed 😘

[darksouls2yuri]

@girlballs

pov you are a tasty insect or crustacean morsel hiding in a rocky crevasse thinking you're safe from predators

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

Not all moles live underground! Two species- the Pyrenean desman and the Russian desman- have evolved to live similarly to muskrats and other semi-aquatic rodents. They build burrows in the banks of ponds and rivers, hunt for fish and mollusks, and have even developed webbed feet to help them swim! Their long, elephant-like noses have also been adapted to help them detect chemicals from their prey in leaf litter, soil, and muddy banks.

(Image: A Pyrenean desman (Galemys pyrenaicus) by Jorge González Esteban)

Want to request an uncharismatic critter? Just send me proof of donation to any of these vetted fundraisers for Palestinian refugees!

[bogleech]

People really liking my speculative animal wishlists and seem to enjoy that I keep doing vampire versions of non-vampire animals, which is of course because vampire bats are adorable and wonderful. They are adorable and wonderful BECAUSE they are vampires. They are technically completely harmless but there's still a chance they will drink your blood while you're asleep and we as a species hate that SO much it inspires horror and superstition of all sorts. So I think there should be more like that but I already have some that are fish and some that are bugs, so here's just my Top Ten Land Vertebrates That Should Have Vampire Versions:

Tarsier. How great would it be if that thing was also a creeping ghoul. Vampire version would be goth colors. I guess it'd be aesthetically like between a tarsier and an aye-aye actually.

Gecko. I don't know how it would obtain the blood, maybe its tongue would have evolved to have a super sharp tip? Maybe the tip of its little gecko nose would be like a sharp hook?

Tree frog. Same issue as the gecko. I'm gonna say the gecko has a sharp tongue and the frog has a sharp nose. A frog with a beak. Let's also make it see through like a glass frog. Just a ghostly little frog that will cut you.

Kiwi bird, using a needly-fine beak tip and excellent climbing skills, much tinier than the New Zealand one and found on every continent. Then the New Zealand kiwi can still be special. Nature specials can be ike "did you know!? The New Zealand Giant Kiwi is the only kiwi that isn't a sick freak"

Pangolin and this one unlike the rest of these would maybe actually be dangerous, like still pretty large for a blood feeder, if you fall asleep unprotected in vampangolin territory you aren't gonna wake up. I just think pangolins deserve to take a little something back, you know. I guess it might be hard for them to sustain themselves on just blood but maybe these would live where there's a whole lot of big juicy animals for them, like they follow herds of buffalo around.

Flying squirrel and I would put this in my own state of Oregon so like a real Fearsome Critter.

Turtle, because to successfully live like a vampire bat you need to be able to detect a blood source, get to it quickly, drink your fill and get out of there just as quickly, so we'd be talking the fastest and lightest little turtle in the world, a long legged scurrying beetle of a turtle, really long neck with a nasty ass beak. Shell could also be covered in wicked as hell thorns for when a rude host wakes up and tries to be mean to it.

Snake and I would also make it the shortest fattest snake so I guess I'm saying a leech tsuchinoko. Like the vampire bat its fangs would have evolved into two short but sharp little vampire buckteeth. It would be too chubby to coil up the way regular snakes do so instead it would have to roll up the way a pillbug or an armadillo does, into a ball.

Pachyderm with a sharp spur on its trunk. Maybe around pug size, a wrinkly hairy wretched looking micro elephant that would probably live off the blood of things like giraffes and zebras and regular elephants while they sleep. Actually like the pangolin this could probably kill you. Every now and then we could hear about how a big game hunter left his tent open and got completely exsanguinated by an adorable hideous vamphant.

[mediocre-writerr]

hiii!!! Congratulations on 2k! Can i request a wandaxfem!reader where r feels like wanda doesn't love her the same way she does. then r gets terribly injured in a mission and all her insecurities washes away when she wakes up in the med bay with wanda holding her hand... “i’ll be fine for tonight with you by my side, but don’t you know you’re my lifeline) - (lifeline, joshua bassett)

lifeline [wanda maximoff]

warnings: stab wounds, explosion, mentions of breathing tubes, mentions of hospitals, slight mention of throwing up, a few curse words, tried to be accurate, but probably inaccurate medical terminology and scenarios

pairings: wanda maximoff x fem!reader

*not my gif*

“Nat?” Wanda asks. Her phone pressed against her cheek as she stirred dinner for the rest of the team. 

She could hear the sounds of beeping and mumbling from the other line. The ex-assassin clears her throat, “Wanda something happened on the mission,” her heart dropped into the pits of her stomach. “Y/N got injured…really bad, actually. Her injuries are so severe that Fury recommended we go straight to the hospital. We had to take her to hospitall. I think you should fly out here as soon as you can.” 

There was a pause of silence. Neither of the two girls really know what to say. Wanda’s mouth opened and closed like a fish as she tried to find words. Nat cleared her throat again, “You may want to hurry. Doc said she may only have twelve hours.” Natasha’s voice cracking rings in the witch’s ears. 

All of a sudden the phone felt heavy, like she was holding the weight of five elephants in the palm of her hand. The phone crashed onto the floor with a soft thump, catching the attention of Clint and Steve who were setting up the table for dinner. Their eyes land on the distressed girl, “Wanda? What happened?” Steve asked, stepping hesitantly closer to her. His blue eyes searching her green ones, trying to read what had just happened. 

The girl couldn’t form words though. Her throat felt tight as tears started to build like towers. Clint picked the phone from off the floor, hearing Nat’s voice speak muffled against the line, “Nat? What’s going on?” His confused expression slowly turns into an urgency as he looks at his Captain. He hangs up the phone quickly, “Steve get the quinjet ready, we need to go. Now.” 

Clint wrapped the younger Avenger into his arms, holding her tighter than ever before, “She’s going to be okay.” 

It was a simple mission, really, to stake out the Hydra infested warehouse, once it's empty, get in there and steal intel.  A mission you and Nat have done countless times. You should’ve known that it would end in disaster when you thought to yourself ‘Oh this is easy! I could be home for dinner!’ Whenever someone says that, it never ends well. 

The warehouse was set up in a series of buildings, so it was hard to tell if it was fully cleared. Maybe that’s how you should’ve known it wasn’t going to end well. But honestly, during the stakeout you were falling asleep at the wheel. Your best friend’s arm nudged your side with her elbow, “Usually you’re bouncing off the walls, annoying the crap out of me. What gives?” 

You rub your eyes, pinching at the bridge of your nose, “Wanda and I had this huge fight before I left,” you let out a soft sigh, crossing your arms over your cloth and spandex mashed suit.

Natasha’s eyebrows raised in surprise, “But you never leave each other on a sour note before a mission.” 

You nod, letting out a soft sigh, “I know hence why I could not get any sleep on the way over here.”  

“Are you guys okay?” 

“No, I don’t know. I hope so. It was a pretty rough one. So rough that we didn’t even say goodbye to one another before I left. ” 

She squeezes your shoulder, “Do you want to talk about it?” Which you just merely shook your head in response. It wasn’t something you wanted ingrained in your head as you were about to fight loads of Hydra agents, “Alright, well, let’s just hope you don’t have a web block when we’re in there. I know how you get when the two of you fight. Now c’mon let’s get in, so we can get home for dinner!” 

You throw on your mask, opening your arms up for the Russian, “C’mon little spider,” she rolls her eyes at you. Muttering under her breath about how your powers are literally ones of a spider before she clung onto you, as you swung the two of you onto the roof of the warehouse.

The warehouse was huge, as you and Nat snuck in through the air ducts. You and Nat glance at each other, already discussing earlier how you want to split up the search. She extends her hand out for the two of you to do your secret handshake, in your own way telling one another to be safe, before she splits in the opposite direction from you. 

Towards the back of the building, there was one of these hallways leading you into the next building over, so you quickly made your way through. You froze in your spot, your spidey senses tingling, and you could feel someone’s presence around you. Before you could dodge out of the way, the HYDRA agent launched himself at you, tackling you into the crates behind you, pain shooting through your spine. The shock of the attack paralyzed you for a second, before your spidey senses kicked in and you dodged the punch that was coming. You kicked the agent square in the chest, lifting yourself up in the process. 

From the corner of your eye you could see a bomb strapped onto one of the SHIELD agents who recently joined, pressing your finger to your ear piece, “Nat! There’s a bomb! They knew we were coming! You need to get out of here!” 

“There is no way I am leaving you!” She shouts, “Where in the warehouse are you? I’ll get to you!” 

A sharp pain shot through your body, as the HYDRA agent pulled a knife out your side. You let out a yelp in pain before you webbed him onto the wall, “Y/N! What was that noise?!” Nat yells. 

You shook your head even though she couldn’t see you, “Never mind that! Call Fury, tell him we need someone who can disarm this. There’s an agent strapped to it,” you rushed over to the panicked agent with his mouth covered in duct tape. Inspecting the wires and the time that read 4 hours, you didn’t notice the way he was thrashing about, like he was trying to warn you about something. 

Suddenly, a loud buzzing noise filled your ears, causing you to flinch back. The red numbers, quickly turning to 30 seconds. Your eyes flickered to the trapped HYDRA agent who had the explosive trigger in his hand and a smug smirk on his face, “Hail Hydra,” he repeated, resting his head against the wall as he accepted his fate. 

“Nat! You need to go now! Run! Please!” you frantically looked at the wires, trying to figure out how to disarm it. The SHIELD agent in front of you sobbing as he shook his head, looking at the time. 

“You need to go too, Y/L/N!” Nat screamed into your ear piece., “Please, Wanda will never forgive me if you blow up right now! I will never forgive you!” 

You pulled off the agent’s duct tape, “Hey! I need you to take a breath for me!” you rushed out, trying to get his attention, “Do you know how to stop this thing?” He shook his head frantically. 

20 seconds. 

“Alright, well I’m going to get this off of you and we’re going to get out of here together!” you quickly tried to untie the ropes that surrounded his wrists, mentally cursing yourself for not bringing a weapon other than your webs. Your side became more and more painful, but you needed to get both of you out of here. 

15 seconds.

You frantically start to rip off all the duct tape that strapped the bomb to his clothing, “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!” you muttered to yourself over and over again.

“Y/N! I’m coming to you! Where are you?!” Nat’s insistent screaming in your ear piece only causes your heart to race more. You rip the bomb off of him and he exhales out a sigh of relief, as he stands up next to you, but immediately falls onto the ground. 

You didn’t even notice the way his legs are bruised and broken, most likely from all the torture he endured from HYDRA. You wrap his arm around your shoulders, lifting him up with all the strength you can. 

10 seconds.

In the corner of your eye, you notice how fast the clock was trying to tick down. The pressure of him leaning against your little wound caused you to hiss out in pain. You scramble towards the hallway, desperate to try and get out of this side of the warehouse. Your vision slowly became more blurry, yet the sight of your own blood staining your torn suit was so vivid. 

4 seconds. 

You hadn’t been able to get very far, even though it felt like you were miles away from the secluded corner. You had barely made it out of the room it was trapped in. It was as if a lightbulb went off in your head, and you stopped in your tracks. “What are you doing?!” your fellow agent yells at you, “Why are we stopping?!” 

“There’s no way we can escape the bomb in time, but I can try and limit the explosion,” you tell him, trying to explain as calmly as possible. 

You turn your bodies around, extending your wrists toward the bomb in the corner. You shoot your web…but nothing comes out. You flick your wrist again and again and again. Each time growing more frantic. 

“You’re joking!” you exclaimed. 

3 seconds.

“What?! What’s going on?!” the agent yelled.

You shook your head, “Forget that idea! We need to leave now!” 

The two of you turned back around and you tried to run towards the end of the hallway as fast as you could. Ignoring the burning pain in your side and the weight of his body against yours. But it was too late. 

It was the loudest thing you had ever heard. The echoing boom rang in your ears, as you collapsed onto the other side of the warehouse, as debris started falling all around you. Everything felt too bright as a hot stinging pain ripped through your whole body.  You tried to get up, but felt a sharp sting in your leg. A piece of rubble that was on fire rested on the top of your leg, too heavy to move it out. Your eyes fluttered open and closed, slowly becoming heavier and heavier. A thick liquid pooled from underneath you. Nat’s red hair came into your blurry view.

Nat let out a soft gasp as she noticed how part of your face was burnt, “Hey Y/N, come on keep your eyes open for me, okay? The ambulance and the fire department are here. They’re gonna get you out of here,” she whispered, brushing your hair out of your face. But her rare soft voice did the exact opposite as it made your eyes grow heavier and heavier. 

When the firemen got you out of there, you were hardly alive. Your breathing could barely be seen or felt, your throat and lungs burnt that you could barely inhale any air. Your heartbeat was irregular and often skipped. Your spandex suit was burned into your flesh and it was surprising that you could even be recognized by how severe some of your burns are. 

Honestly, it was a miracle that you were still alive. Something the paramedics and firemen could barely understand. 

Nat could barely look at you, she tried her hardest to stay strong, but an overwhelming sense of fear seeped into her bloodstream. While the paramedics struggled to keep you stable on the helicopter, Nat let tears fall onto her lap, looking out at the view. Only looking at you when a deafening beeping sound could be heard, right before you landed. 

Your heart stopped beating.

Wanda’s knee bounced up and down all throughout the flight in the quinjet. Natasha hasn’t been giving them updates, there wasn’t much to give after she called you. 

They managed to stabilize you, but it was all about if you were going to survive the night. Joining the Avengers came with loads of paperwork. One of them being, what would you want if you had extreme injuries. Basically a DNR form. You were indecisive, so you wrote out what you wanted. If something were to happen to you, you give the doctors 24 hours to do all they could, and if it didn’t work, well that’s when you call it quits. 

SHIELD actually follows it very well, like the agent you saved? He wanted them to do everything they could to keep him alive. Everything. He did not want them to stop trying. So, after the doctors managed to stabilize you, they tried to take you off the ventilator to see if you would breathe on your own, but you crashed. You couldn’t do it. That’s when the countdown began, if they couldn’t get you off and breathing by yourself in 12 hours, per your request you want them to pull it.

A muffled sob escaped Wanda’s lips as she thought more about it. In 12 hours, she could lose the love of her life and the last time she saw her ended poorly. 

Wanda takes the elevator up to the tower. Her breath smelling slightly of alcohol from her spontaneous night out with Vision. The two have been on mission after mission lately, so Vision thought it would be nice to have a break. She was going to go straight to her room, but she figured it would be best to get an Advil and water in her before she regretted the drinks in the morning. The elevator dinged and she stumbled through it and to the kitchen, where she found you. You were sitting in the darkness, the only light coming from the moon through the window sill. A couple plates of food sat in front of you as you sipped slowly on a glass of wine. 

“Love? What are you doing? It’s late,” Wanda asked, snaking her hands around your neck from behind. She flinched back as you stood up, looking at her with a hard glare that she has never been on the receiving end of, “What’s wrong? What happened?” 

“Last week, you promised that we would have a date night for my birthday. You and I have been so busy with missions and training, so when you didn’t show, I just assumed that you were running late with training. Then hours ticked by, and our teammates would come in and look at me with such sympathetic eyes because they knew how much this meant to me because that was all I would talk about for the last week. Peter even came by with a cake and sad eyes because he heard about what happened,” you ranted to her and Wanda looked to the ground in shame. “Yesterday was my birthday Wanda. Yet, you go out with Vision! Of all fucking people! You didn’t wish me a happy birthday, you didn’t kiss me, you didn’t see me all day! All because you were with Vision! And we all know how much you love his attention!”

The words fell from your mouth before you could even think about what you were saying, Wanda’s shame quickly turned to defensiveness as she stared at your tear stained cheeks, “I may have forgotten your birthday and I’m sorry, but is this really about forgetting your birthday or is this about Vision? It’s like you’re jealous or something!” 

“Yes, I’m jealous Wanda! And I have every right to be! You and Vision have some sort of connection because of a fucking stone implanted into his head!” You scream. 

She shook her head, “He’s my friend, Y/N! Am I not allowed to have friends?” 

“I never fucking said that you can’t have friends! Jesus Wanda do you hear yourself?” you bring your voice down to a softer tone, realizing that a screaming match isn’t gonna help fix this, “You forgot my birthday…the Wanda I fell in love with would have never done that. I don’t ask much of you. I just want to spend a couple days with my girlfriend and for her to remember my birthday. All I wanted was a kiss from her and for her to tell me that she loves me, yet you haven’t said that to me a lot recently. Look, I’m going on a mission with Nat in a couple hours. While I’m gone, I guess just think if you really want to be with me still.” 

And you walked away without another word.

Of course, Wanda loved you. It was just the fear of the unknown that has made her put a wall up between the two of you. Everything and everyone she has loved, she has lost. Her parents, Pietro, it was only a matter of time before she lost you too. She doesn’t know what she’d do if she loses you. 

Wanda bursts into the waiting room, met by several confused eyes from the staff and patients. Steve and Clint followed right behind her, the two of them more rational than she was. They ask for your room number and as soon as she hears the answer she sprints down the hallways and straight to your room. 

Natasha sat in the corner of the cold room, watching distantly, like she was off on another planet. She didn’t even notice the Sokovian bursting in. Wanda’s eyes flash to you, your frail body lying in bed. All the color was drained from your face and a burn lingered along your cheeks. She inspected you further, noticing the burns that lingered all over your body.  The beeping from the machines echoes in her ears as a wave of nausea overcomes her at the sight of a tube stuck in your throat. All she wants is to hold you, but she’s afraid that if she does you’ll crumble. 

She took a seat next to you carefully reaching for your hand. She wanted to tell you that she loved you, that she needed you, and that she was sorry, “Hey Wanda,” Nat finally came to her senses, noticing her teammate sitting next to you.

“I didn’t know it was this bad,” her voice cracked, as hot tears blurred her vision. 

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t-“ Nat took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. “I couldn’t find her in time. I was trying to find her, to help her save the other SHIELD agent, but before I could, the bomb went off and she…I’m so sorry Wanda. I should’ve protected her. I couldn’t protect her.”

Wanda reaches for her hand, squeezing it, “It’s okay, Nat. You couldn’t have known,” Clint and Steve finally burst into the room. Clint immediately goes over to console his best friend, while Wanda turns her attention back onto you.

The doctor knocks on the door, giving all of you sympathetic smiles, “Hello everyone. Agent Y/L/N is in very critical condition. The injuries she endured have taken an enormous toll on her mental and physical health. It’s an absolute miracle that we were able to stabilize her. However, the burns and the stab wound are the least of our worries. The smoke inhalation caused her vocal chords to swell which may cause some permanent damage, but we had to do a tracheotomy to help her breathe.”

Wanda’s heart stopped, the reality and severity finally catching up to her. All of the things she dreamed of doing with you. The life you wanted to share with her. Another wave of nausea hit her like a freight train, “And per Agent Y/L/N’s paperwork with SHIELD, later tonight we’re going to try and see if she could breathe on her own and if not, she has asked us to pull the plug. If there’s anyone who’s not here, who you guys think would love to see her, I suggest calling them now,” he clears his throat, trying to stay professional. “I recommend trying to talk to her, coma induced patients tend to be more responsive when they hear their loved ones.” 

With that, he leaves the room, a tense air filling the room once more. Steve clears his throat, ignoring the tears trying to swim in his ocean eyes, “I’m going to make some calls and ask if anyone would like to see Y/N. Tony will get them here as soon as possible.”

And just like that Avengers started swarming in like wildfire. Clint called Laura and brought the kids along with her, whenever Clint and Laura needed a date night you’d be there to help babysit the kids. So, to say you were an important part of the family was an understatement. 

Tony and Pepper showed up with Peter. Tony and Bruce tried to talk to the doctor as much as they could, asking a million questions about what they’ve tried and what they haven’t tried to help your condition. Thor and Valkyrie even showed up from Asgard, just in case this was the last time they’d see you. 

Wanda took a step back, allowing everyone who came to visit you to talk to you, to possibly say their goodbyes. She couldn’t bring herself to talk to you just yet. She watched as some people weren’t afraid to shed a tear, retelling some of their favorite memories with you. While others tried their best to stay strong, demanding you that you’d breathe on your own. 

She watched as your room piled up with flowers in the worst way possible. Peter even brings you a small stuffed spider he got at the zoo. Her breathing became more uneven as she watched a usually strong Yelena shed a few tears for her chosen sister, Kate and Natasha, even having to console the younger Russian. 

Wanda needed an out, she needed to get some air. Luckily, Bucky came around, “C’mon, let’s go for a walk. I think you need it.” The witch didn’t even hesitate as she just followed him through the door and out of the hospital. As soon as the cool air hit her face, she ran as quickly as she could to the nearby bush and started to empty whatever she had in her stomach. 

Wiping the corner of her mouth, she sat next to Bucky on a nearby bench. Neither of them said anything and honestly it's what Wanda really needed. All Bucky did was rest his hand on her shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze, before they sat and watched the cars zoom by. 

They didn’t know how much time had passed before someone cleared their throat behind them. Steve had a sympathetic smile on his face, “Wanda, it’s almost time doctor said. If you wanna say something to her, now is the time.” Wanda turned to Bucky and he merely nodded in encouragement. 

The Sokovian followed back to your room. Everyone must’ve gotten the message that Wanda was coming back, so they were all waiting in the waiting room when she walked in. She took the seat next to your bed, grasping your unusually cold hand. 

“Y/N…” she trails off her voice immediately cracking, “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry for everything. I should’ve remembered your birthday. If you wake up, I promise I’ll remember everything. I’ll remember your beautiful eyes looking into mine, like we have our own secret club. I’ll remember the way you turn up the music on the weekend when I’m trying to sleep in and the way you’d jump on the bed and dance to wake me up. I’ll remember the way you’d squeeze my hand three times whenever you realize how anxious I’m getting or to just tell me that you love me.” 

Her emerald eyes met the sea as tears filled them. She cupped your cold cheeks, smiling sadly, “I should’ve been honest with you and I should’ve just told you I was scared. I was scared to fall and lose you. But that does not beat how  petrified I feel right now, Y/N. I prayed, Y/N. I never pray, I prayed to a God I stopped believing in when my parents were killed. I’m not saying goodbye to you, just yet. I just need you to know that no one else could ever save me, like you did. Not Vision. Not anyone else. You. You saved me and I can’t do this on my own. So, breathe Y/N. Please. You’re my lifeline.”

Yet another knock interrupted her thoughts as the doctor walked in. He smiled sympathetically with Steve, Clint, and Natasha right behind him. “It’s time,” he walks over to your bedside, throwing on gloves as he gets ready for extubation, “Just to explain what we’re looking for, if she can breathe on her own her breathing will look like she’s just sleeping. If her oxygen levels are normal, it means she’s okay. On the other hand, if she isn’t breathing on her own, she’d be gasping for air, and her mouth will be opening and closing like a fish out of water. Her oxygen levels will also be very low.”

All four of them nod, Nat grasping on to Wanda’s free hand, squeezing it tightly. The doctor slowly starts pulling out the tube and Wanda squeezes your hand three times, muttering a quiet please under her breath. All of them hold their own breath, which is ironic. Each one of them watches your chest rise and fall in anticipation. 

For what felt like an eternity, the Sokovian felt a weak three squeezes come from your hand, causing her head to shoot up to look at your face. Your eyes flutter open as you stare into the eyes of the love of your life, “You made it,” she whispered under her breath and a tiny smile crossed your lips as you ran your thumb over the back of her hand. 

“Hi Y/N. It’s nice to finally meet you,” your doctor introduced himself. “We’re gonna recommend you can’t talk until directed to. We’re working on reducing the swelling in your vocal chords.”

You gesture for a pen and paper, your hands shaking slightly. He nodded, handing you a pen and a piece of paper before promising to check up on you later. In the scratchiest of handwriting, Wanda watched as you wrote a little note. A small gasp leaving her lips as you showed her, ‘You’re my lifeline too.’ 

Wanda rested her hand against your stomach as she cried happily into it. Your free hand that she wasn’t grasping reached for her head, running your fingers through her messy hair, in hopes to let her know that everything will be okay. 

“I love you,” Wanda whispered to you. 

And all you did was squeeze your hand three times.

[lottiecrabie]

itll be you and me and this idea forever babe.. we might be alone but we Understand🤞

what if it wasn’t just us… 😌🙂‍↕️ and it entered the world through the miraculous art form that is writing by tumblr dot com user lottiecrabie 😌🙂‍↕️😏 (even just a crumblet)

for you my psychic linked sister. a little Crumb🫶

the saxophones and trumpets ring through the ballroom. the repetitive steps and roaring laughs mix through, skisloping off the kicks and twists of the t-strap shoes. the champagne flows out into a series of coupes and you grab one, spilling it on the side. you down a mouthful with a grin, still light and happy from the spinning dance you just twirled out of. 

sweat sticks your headache band to your forehead. you fix up the feather. you fish a cigarette out of the emerald elephant dispenser, placing it between your ruby red lips. your eyes scan for a lighter next. 

‘enjoying yourself?’ your ears perk up at the sound of his husky voice. you smirk, turning around to find detective healy. 

with his modest trench coat and permanently gloomy predilection, he sticks out like a sore thumb amidst the decadent decor. it’s always a little funny to see him around such open fun, like he’s meant to exist in dark, cold alleys, frowning over a body. still, he looks handsome, dark and broody, with his sober eyes and his wild flowing hair. 

you pull the cigarette from your lips with a smile. you shrug, crooning, ‘why, it’s a lovely night.’ healy searches the inside of his trench coat. ‘what about you? not too joyful for mr. grumps?’ 

he shakes his head, though a grin still teases his lips. he draws a lighter out. you lean closer to him, hanging the cigarette off your lips again. he flicks once, lighting up the tip. you exhale out the smoke, but stay near him. he smells like cedar and whiskey, like nights toasting after murders successfully solved.

healy gives you a look, shoving his lighter back in his trench coat. ‘what are you doing here, trouble?’ 

‘can’t a woman enjoy a soirée? my, if i was like you, i’d be locked up in my house all year round.’

‘you’d be safer for it.’

you smile, mischievous. ‘and your life much, much less fun.’ healy gives you a onceover, trailing on your uncovered legs. you take a sip of your champagne, drawing attention to your lips next. you give him a faux-innocent look, singsonging, ‘you know, mister briggs is an excellent charleston dancer.’ 

healy groans, rubbing his eyebrows. ‘tell me you didn’t dance with a murder suspect.’

you up your nose. ‘well, if you don’t want to know, then i guess i won’t share what he said.’ you whip around, taking two steps before a strong hand wraps around your arm. 

you don’t even bother hiding your smirk before turning around. healy gives you a somber look, demanding, ‘spill.’ the tone of his voice sizzles down your spine. 

‘is this a shakedown?’ his jaw ticks. a crystalline voice spills from your lips. ‘you’re cute when you’re annoyed.’

‘then i must be ravishing every time i’m in your company.’

your eyes spark. ‘oh, yes, you are, detective.’ healy swallows thickly, dropping his hand from your hand as if burned. you cock your head, tension still fizzling. ‘promise me a dance and i’ll tell you.’

‘a dance?’

‘oh, you do know a foxtrot, don’t you, detective healy?’

his stare burns. ‘fine.’ 

you hum, turning to look at the roaring party. ‘mister briggs has a lovely summer home in brighton. he loves to entertain his most favorite guests there. why, he just invited me,’ you catch briggs chatting up a young lady, brushing the pearl on her ear. you sigh regrettably, ‘but i’m afraid the cold sea air doesn’t agree with my predilection.’

‘brighton. where francesca would visit every month.’

‘oh yes,’ you throw him a look. your shoulders up excitedly. ‘francesca and mister briggs were having an affair. how scandalous.’ 

he grins and, oh, this might be your favorite look of his. rare but dazzling, shining over his face. he says, ‘that’s motive.’

you tsk. ‘and you didn’t even want me to dance.’ he opens his mouth to protest, but you’re too quick. your throw your coupe on the table, discarding your smoke on the elephant head. you grab his hand, cutting him off, tugging him to the dancefloor. ‘come on, you owe me one.’

‘there’s a murder suspect at large.’

‘oh, please,’ you halt in the middle of the floor; your hand on his shoulder, his finding home on your waist— no matter his protests. the touch is electric, burning through your dress. you feel wired. ‘he’s not going anywhere. this is the soirée of month, after all.’ 

matty sighs resignedly. languid jazz plays. he takes a first step, gliding across the floor. his moves are certain and precise. you follow his rhythm, pushing and pulling at his guidance. detective healy is a good dancer. what an interesting new morsel of information.

in the crook of your ear, healy whispers, ‘one day, all this frolicking with trouble will really get you in deep waters, darling.’

you lean back enough to meet his eyes. ‘then it’s lucky you’ll be there to save me, isn’t it, detective?’

[bethanythebogwitch]

I haven't covered any pinniped pals for Wet Beast Wednesday yet, so for my first one I'm going big. Really big. Elephant seal big. Elephant seals are not only the largest of all pinnipeds, they are the largest of all carnivorans and the largest marine mammals that aren't cetaceans. There are two species: northern (Mirounga angustirostris) and southern (Mirounga leonina), with the southern species being the larger of the two.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! (image: an elephant seal bellowing)

Elephant seals are true seals (as opposed to sea lions and walruses), meaning they lack external ears and their hind legs have fused into a sort of pseudo-flipper that allows for highly efficient swimming but is of little use when maneuvering on land. While it is common among pinnipeds for males to be larger than females, elephant seals exaggerated that with one of the most extreme size differences between sexes. Females of both species range from around 350 to 900 kg (880 to 1,980 lbs) and 2.5 to 3.6 m (8.2 to 11.8 ft) in length. Male northern seals average between 1,500 to 2,300 kg (3,300 to 5,100 lbs) and 4-5 m (13-16 ft) while southern males break the scale at 1,500 to 3,700 kg (3,300 to 8,200 lbs) and 4.2 to 5.8 m (14 - 19 ft). The southern species has the largest mass difference between sexes of any mammal, with the males averaging 5-6 times the weight of the females.

(image: male and female elephant seals chillaxing on a beach)

In addition to the size difference, the other major form of sexual dimorphism is that the male has his nose elongated into a proboscis. This snout serves two major functions: it amplifies the roars of the male allowing him to be remarkably loud and it traps and reabsorbs moisture when he exhales. This is important as the seals do not eat or drink when on land and recapturing moisture lets him stay hydrated.

(image: a male[top], female [bottom left] and juvenile [bottom right] northern elephant seal)

Seals are adapted to spend the vast majority of their lives in the water and elephant seals are no different. They spend around 80% of their lives in the water and have many adaptations to aid in their lifestyle. Like most marine mammals, they have a thick layer of fatty blubber that preserves heat in cold water, reduces drag, and provides buoyancy. Like other seals, they can slow their heartbeats and redirect blood flow to the core of their body to avoid losing heat. Another seal adaptation is that veins returning blood to the heart grow near arteries carrying blood from the heart. This allows the cold returning blood to leech some heat from the arteries to avoid cooling down the body's core. They have a lot of blood to store oxygen, allowing for long dives. Elephant seals dive deep (averaging 300-600 m but occasionally much deeper) when searching for food. Females typically go on deeper but shorter dives than males. They can hold their breath for over 100 minutes, longer than nay non-cetacean mammal.. Their eyes are highly adapted to low-light conditions and their whiskers can sense motion in the water, both things that aid in finding food. Elephant seals are very opportunistic predators and will eat a large variety of fish and cephalopods.

(image: a female elephant seal swimming)

The 20% of time not spent at sea is mostly taken up by two yearly periods: the molting and breeding seasons. In both cases, the seal will haul out onto the beach and will not eat or drink until it has finished. Molting season lasts about a month and usually occurs in summer. Elephant seals undergo what are called catastrophic molts, where they not only shed and regrow their fur but their outer layer of skin. During the regrowth of their skin, extra blood has to be directed toward it. In the water, this would cause too much heat loss, so it must be done on land. The skin sheds in large patches and not all at once, resulting in molting seals having a ragged appearance.

(image: a seal mid-molt)

The longer and more famous time on land is breeding season. In early spring, males will arrive on beaches and fight each other for dominance. In time, a few alpha males will claim most of the beach. These fights last even after the females arrive. Fights are very dramatic, involving posing and bellowing. If one male does not submit, they will fight by biting and slapping each other with their heads. Fights are rarely fatal, but are frequently bloody. Males have thicker skin on their chests to protect them during fights. Alpha males claim the right to mate with the females. Other males are forced to the outskirts of the beach, where they try to mate while the alpha is distracted. Some males will become betas, who help the alpha patrol his territory and drive off competing males. These betas will often try to mate while the alpha is distracted. Only the largest and strongest males can claim alpha status, and usually late in life when they have grown to their largest. After the females arrive, mothers will give birth to their pups. After birth, the female uses unique vocalizations so her pup can always recognize her. They nurse pups for up to 28 days while the males continue to fight. Elephant seal milk is extremely high in fat content, with up to 50% of the milk being fat, compared to 3.5% for cows. Some mothers may adopt the pups of others, especially if their own pup died before weaning. Weaning is very abrupt, after which the females will mate and the adults will return to the sea. The pups are left on land for up to 10 weeks, where they must learn how to swim and hunt while subsisting off the energy stores they built up while nursing. Juvenile mortality is high, with up to 50% of pups dying before reaching maturity. Adults can lose a third of their weight during breeding season.

(video: a clip from the BBC documentary Seven World One Planet about males fighting fro dominance. warning: there is blood)

(image: a mother seal and pup)

A few pups are known as super weaners because they can grow exceptionally large during nursing. This is usually due to the pup being adopted by an additional female and therefore getting an extra dose of milk or it will steal milk from another pup. In a few cases, the mothers will just wait longer before weaning for unknown reasons. Average pups weigh between 110 and 160 kg (250 - 350 lbs) at weaning while super weaners can weigh up to 270 kg (600 lbs). They can put on so much blubber their ability to move becomes impaired. Super weaners are rarely observed again after leaving the rookery. It has been speculated that their excess blubber makes them exceptionally buoyant, reducing their ability to dive and making it harder to feed, leading to increased mortality.

(image: a chonky baby super weaner)

Both species of elephant seal were hunted to near-extinction in the 19th century as their blubber could be used to make exceptionally high-quality oil. After the hunting period ended, their numbers increased to the point both species are classified as least concern by the IUCN, though their populations have never risen to pre-hunting numbers and many areas that were historically occupied are now vacant. Genetic bottlenecks in both species has led to an increase in diseases and birth defects. El Nino is known to have a negative effect on northern seals by drastically increasing pup mortality, so this year was probably a bad one. One major limiting factor in their population growth is a lack of beaches to haul out on and many beaches they use are now protected by local laws or as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

(Gif: a female versus a car. Round 1, fight!)

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

What’s your take on “tentacle faced” humanoids, like mind flayers from D&D, the Ood from Doctor Who, and Rubbery Men from Fallen London? How would such a creature work? What would the tentacles even be used for? I suppose the aforementioned Rubbery Men have the excuse that they can reconfigure their anatomy at will and thus the whole “squid-faced human” thing is a deliberate choice on their part, but the others don’t really seem to make sense!

I've never designed one, but they do have a very interesting look, don't they

my take is this: tentacles are basically just very specialized muscular appendages with no bones. I can compare them to an elephant's trunk or the weird little flesh whiskers on star nosed moles. flexible sensory organs with some ability to grab things.

(image description: comparative photo collage of an elephant, a star nosed mole, and an illithid, which is a humanoid with squid-like tentacles on their face. end description)

star nosed moles don't have very much gripping ability with their little face tentacles, but those things wiggle around and basically act as extra sensitive tiny fingers to find prey like earthworms.

elephants only have the singular trunk, but it moves in a very flexible manner, even being able to grab things like a hand, and it's an essential part of how they eat and drink.

so for tentacle-faced humanoids, i think their tentacles must serve a similar function. why you'd need grabby face tentacles when you also have perfectly useful hands is a bit more of a mystery, but like the coiled grip of a constrictor snake, perhaps it just offers extra stability when feeding (especially if your favored food is like, brains. or you reproduce by putting a parasite baby in someone's head. keeping your target stable by wrapping extra appendages around them would certainly make the whole process more efficient)

and leaving aside the use of face tentacles as extra grabbing appendages, they can also be incredibly useful sensory organs. octopus tentacles and star nosed mole face tendrils and the barbels on bottom dwelling fish like catfish are all so full of nerves and used to "see" by touch in dark and murky and obscured places. tentacle faced humanoids may rely more on the touch sense from their tentacles than their eyes or ears. maybe they even have special senses for magic related things! it really depends on how the writers choose to use them.