#K-selection

[mournfulroses]

Julian K. Jarboe, from her novel titled "Everyone on the Moon is Essential Personnel,"

[flickering-nightfall]

Playing with some ideas mostly regarding gender/reproduction in RW, and slugcat colonies.

Full transcript under the cut!

Creatures in Rain World are typically simultaneous hermaphrodites but require partners to reproduce, with either individual capable of being a genetic donor or carrier. Alongside what we are familiar with, this has lead to interesting reproductive strategies such as rotating donor/carrier roles, or dual/simultaneous genetic swaps.

Rotating donor/carrier roles - A K-selection reproductive strategy. One partner carries the first child, the other partner carries the next child, and so forth. Allows each partner to recover from the demands of childbearing.

Rain Deer aren't quite monogamous, but they tend to choose the same breeding partner whenever mating season rolls around. They serve as a donor one season, then bear and raise a child the next. Calves are raised away from the rain and worm grass, in places that have less food but more safety. Calf wool is softer, not yet gunked up by the dirty rainfall. Their legs are sturdier as children, allowing them to run for cover while the parent wards off threats.

Dual/simultaneous genetic swap - An r-selection reproductive strategy. Parents fulfill the donor and carrier role for each other. The more children you make, the more likely some are to survive!

Multiple batflies lay thousands of eggs in a single "blue fruit." Several eggs congeal and become nutrient paste for the surviving eggs (and for hungry slugcats). Like some plant seeds, batfly eggs that are consumed before pupating can survive passing through the digestive system. Ew.

Ancients also fell under this umbrella. Their genders (and the genders of iterators by extension, who have no sex anyways) could have been determined by a variety of other factors, such as societal role, donor/carrier preference, or simply different categorizations of personal expression.

It's difficult to say how well their common pronouns would translate to ours, but it seems they can translate to an extent, given what Moon and Pebbles use canonically.

Slugcats, like real slugs, can have children with a partner or self-fertilize. Unlike real slugs, they are often known to adopt.

In the case of self-fertilization: children who are born from one parent may display a large amount of genetic diversity despite the circumstances. Maybe slugcats have some sort of... genetic reservoir independent of their own genetic code?

Slugcats live 20-30 years on average... if they manage to reach adulthood. Their mortality rate is sadly rather high, especially in pups. If they were to develop as a civilization, it's likely their lifespan would increase dramatically.

Slugcats in a colony are more likely to have more children, and to successfully rear those children to adulthood, than those who wander alone or in small groups. The safety and stability of a colony cannot be understated.

Colonies either have a set, cycling migration path, or wander continuously. Survivor and Monk's tree home was a nesting site that their colony frequents about once a year. So it's likely that they'll see their family again!

...also, the strength of large colonies are why scavengers are likely to become the dominant species. In the time of Saint's era, continuous migration has become more of a risk, and it has become more difficult to support large populations. Slugcat populations have shrunk back to the more forgiving equatorial zones.

Saint's tongue is pretty unusual and probably unique to them, or to a small population that they hail from. Fur (of varying thickness) is much more common.

Meanwhile, scavengers are bulkier and covered in thicker insulating fur. They:

have seemingly massive populations

have a burgeoning society (the existence of merchants, tolls, bartering, elites and leaders)

are adept at communicating (non-verbally)

manipulate their environment

can build structures (scavenger-made structures were a scrapped idea from Saint's campaign)

can create complex weapons and tools

may have agriculture behind the scenes (unsure if scout parties prioritize exploration or hunting)

I would wager on scavengers developing more quickly than slugcats, but it would be nice if there was a future where both could co-exist.

[heartorbit]

i just wanted to draw the ave mujica outfits .

[great-and-small]

twitter and instagram are both R-selected species while tumblr is K-selected. this is very clear to me

[feral-ballad]

Deema K. Shehabi, ed. by Nathalie Handal, from The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology; “Breath”

[Text ID: "and I see you breathe red poppies over the hills in Palestine / and I see girls with orchards of almond trees in their eyes / and I can't tell my love how to leave our land without weeping / and I can't always love this land."]

[uwhe-arts]

Here are my personal Top 5 photographs 2023 in memorial of the Gray-Card’s Year End Top 5 Photo Extravaganza | uwhe-arts Many thanks to —> luxlit.tumblr.com for hosting the beautiful Year End Top 5 Extravaganza Tradition!

Thank you for all!!! I wish you all a happy new year! May each day of the New Year be filled with contentment, opportunities, peace, abundance and health!

Hugs and Chers!

Previous top five's: 2023 / 2022 / 2021 / 2020 / 2019 / 2018 / 2017 / 2016

[iwilltrytobereasonable]

I love Oakland. So much.

There’s a new bookstore/bar on Grand Avenue called Clio’s books.

One room is organized chronologically, one is organized by genre. They have a really unusual, FASCINATING selection. (For some unknown reason they have a little book about Clouds Hill?!?!?!) (And they let me fill out a page of recommendations because their curator had never heard of Diana Wynne Jones, and I also got to suggest The Mint, and Tell Homeland Security We Are The Bomb and Lift Every Voice And Sing)

And the community there! I just taught a mother and daughter how to play chess, and I accidentally left my bag in the bathroom and it got returned to me, and a girl gave me half her cheese board.

[anewstartrekfan]

Ethan Peck played prince Maxon in the failed Selection tv pilot

Ethan Peck played prince Maxon in the failed Selection tv pilot

ETHAN PECK PLAYED PRINCE MAXON IN THE FAILED SELECTION TV PILOT

*Screams into a pillow for several hours

*Collects herself

*Clears throat

Selection Spirk AU: Decades after the earth was taken over by the Vulcan empire, Jim Kirk is ready to give up his caste in order to marry his childhood sweatheart, Gary Mitchell. But before Jim can even pop the question, he is unexpectedly chosen to take part in the Selection. A bachelor style completion in which men and women from each caste are selected at random to compete to marry the future ruler of the empire, Prince Spock. Guilted into going in order to support his family, the farm boy does his best to charm the seemingly emotionless Vulcan, at least long enough to get his family out of debt. But surprisingly, he starts to catch feelings for the prince. Who will Jim choose?

Does he even have a choice?

[majestativa]

Your wild blaze.

— YI LEI ⚜️ My Name Will Grow Wide Like a Tree: Selected Poems, transl. by Tracy K. Smith & Changtai Bi, (2020)

[anamon-book]

阿修羅城の瞳　中島かずき K. Nakashima Selection Vol. 2 論創社 装幀＝鳥井和昌

[fluffydice]

Aiura’s tits bring the boys in so her gyaru style can kill the weak links and cull the herd. Thank you Aiura <3

[lonestarflight]

"These six mission specialist astronaut candidates are the first women ASCANs to be named by NASA. They are, left to right, Rhea Seddon, Anna L. Fisher, Judith A. Resnik, Shannon W. Lucid, Sally K. Ride and Kathryn D. Sullivan. Along with these candidates, 14 other mission specialist candidates and 15 pilot astronaut candidates were presented during a press conference at the Johnson Space Center on Jan. 31, 1978. All 35 met the press in the larger Teague Auditorium and the women greeted photographers and other media representatives in the Public Affairs Office briefing room."

Date: January 31, 1978

NASA ID: S78-25633

[dandyleyen]

pspsps @ homestuck fans who know anything abt ecology

Would you consider trolls to be r-selected or k-selected ? I assumed r-selected at first, given the large number of offspring + the lack of any parental care + mortality rates in early childhood ?? but also, their life spans aren’t very short and can be comparable to humans (and extend past that). They also seem to have similar maturation rates as humans (though it could be argued that trolls with longer life spans have even slower maturation rates).

I’m struggling to settle on one over the other :/

Thoughts ?

[sinnbaddie]

Being an Obito fan is hard because all I see is people hate on him or make him some abusive dom for Kakashi. Like what the heck

[writingonleaves]

the draft is making me feel like i've had 6 iced coffees on an empty stomach

[feral-ballad]

Deema K. Shehabi, ed. by Nathalie Handal, from The Poetry of Arab Women: A Contemporary Anthology; “The Glistening”

[Text ID: "creating the deep gnawing of love, / a love which makes you want to leave your skin behind."]