#Stag's Horn

[csolarstorm]

Xerneas and Yveltal are Fungi: Let Me Explain...

Source: Bulbapedia, Wikipedia, Bulbapedia, Enchanted Nature

Xerneas and Yveltal are my favorite legendary designs. There's something weirdly alien about these bio-luminescent approximations of fauna, like they're trying to look like animals and failing. I've always thought they looked a little bit...fungal.

Xerneas and Yveltal are like batteries. They're life energy brokers; Xerneas distributes life, while Yveltal drains it. Supporting and draining life is one of the main characteristics of fungi. In fact, it's like their whole thing.

Some fungi have a mutualistic relationship with their hosts, where they actually benefit their health. And in general, fungi are essential to supporting the ecosystem. Then there's fungi that are simply parasitic.

Fungi can also go dormant, as well as their spores. Staying still is their thing, just chilling in dark places. Xerneas and Yveltal's dormant forms are especially weird, showing just how anomalous these creatures are.

Now allow me to lichen fauna to fungi.

Sources: Bulbapedia, New Forest Pics, Wikipedia, Mushroom Diary Blog

This is xylaria hypoxylon, also known as Stag's Horn fungus. (Not to be confused with Yellow Staghorn.) It reminds me a lot of the dormant form of Xerneas, or the "deactivated" form it takes in the PC.

Stag's Horn is also bio-luminscent, which means the tips of the fungus faintly glow - much like the tips of Xerneas's antlers.

Speaking of the first legendary Fairy Pokemon, mushrooms are often associated with fairies. Fairy Rings are circles of mushrooms that are connected by mycelium underneath. (I'll get into mycelium in just a second.) There are too many myths about Fairy Rings to get into here, so for now I'll just point out the Fairy Ring around Valerie's Gym in Laverre City.

Sources: Bulbapedia, Sussex Wildlife Trust, Enchanted Nature, UK Wildlife

I'm not sure whether Bulbapedia or Dr. King on Pokemon Amino first likened Yveltal to Devil's Fingers, but the similarities are uncanny. Like Yveltal emerges from its cocoon, Devil's Fingers emerge from what is called their "egg stage". I tried to find the least unsettling picture of this that I could. Enjoy...?

I mean, what kind of bird turns into a cocoon, anyway? Honestly though, fungus isn't supposed to hatch from an egg either, so this is all mixed up.

Okay, so Xerneas and Yveltal are based on different aspects of Yggdrasil. But if you were going to design Pokemon based on Yggdrasil, the World Tree that connects the universe, wouldn't you base it on fungi rather than an actual tree? Mycelium can actually partner with the roots of plants and other fungus to create a widespread beneficial mycorrhizal network, a truly interconnected ecosystem of organisms.

Source: BBC News - How Trees Secretly Talk to Each Other

And that's why Xerneas and Yveltal are fungi. Or it could be part of their inspiration, at least. They're not necessarily inspired by these specific fungi, but I think the concept may be part of their design. Either way, Gen VI is especially fun to research!

Reviewed by @fluffybunnybadass.

Check out my posts about Pokemon Legends: Z-A:

Poll: What Does the Λ in Legends Z-A Symbolize?

Pokemon Legends Z-A: What Is the Λ?

Is Z-A Just Zygarde-A? (%1000 Zygarde and the Fragments of the Tree of Life)

Aaah, it's an A! Is the A in Z-A the Tree of Life?

How much longer am I going to have to wait for a freakin' Unova remake?!

[ex0skeletal-undead]

Songs of Death I & II by Clematis-Grata

This artist on Instagram

[thesorceresstemple]

Yunnan, 150 BCE

[fkapommel]

First flower of my House, wilted

Harrow the Ninth, Muir/ Bradamante at Merlin’s Tomb (detail), Alexandre-Evariste Fragonard/ The Great Flood (detail), Joseph-Désiré Court/ Metamorphoses, Ovid/ Cemetery Statue in Green Mount Cemetery, Maryland/ Our Lady of Tears, Unfound/ Photography, Unfound/ Harrow the Ninth, Muir

[antiqueanimals]

The First Book of Bugs. Written and illustrated by Margaret Williamson. 1949.

Internet Archive

[lycawoon]

W̶͎̠̮͔̫̬͍͙̾ͅḩ̸̹̲͔̍̍y̸̡̦̤̰̲͕͎̰̑̍̍̀̍̚ ̷̥͎̮͔̰̬͖̃̇̈͆͠͠ḑ̷͙͍̺͓̈̐͌̕͝o̶̭͔̣̺̻̜͌̔̐͘ ̵̨͎͕͎̠̗̦̙̰̈́̄̈́̐̅͘͝ͅy̶̠̦͙̹͗̐̾͠͝ǫ̵̟̫͓͎͓̗͉͎̦̾u̵̢͎̹͌̐̏͑̒̓̚͝ ̵̡̛̘̝̳̗̟̪͇̀͊͊͋̄̇̔̕r̴͈̗͈̭̻̻̞̼̅͗ͅũ̶̮̦͈̹̈̏̕n̴̘̎̉,̸̧͓̺̮̊̀̚͝ ̶̲̱̫͎͈̣̼͈̈̌c̴̓��̨̢̹̱̜̱̰̘̞̍̐ḫ̴͚̈̆͋̿̐̉͂͝͝͠i̶̛̱͉̩̹͍̮͌̌͐̈́ľ̷̥̦̥̙̦̭̟̯͂d̴̡͔̤͓̟̠̻̪̬́̅̚͜͝?̶͚̠̿̍̎̈̚͜.

[bugtistic]

OKAY final photo set for my time at the bug museum! There was SO many specimens I couldn’t photograph, but these are some of my favourites! I am also SO excited to have seen a death head hawk moth in person! I am forever grateful to have had such a wonderful experience <3

[akayna]

Guardian of the portal

[zannolin]

father christmas' gifts to peter being described as being "just the right size for peter to use" when peter is young and presumably still too small to handle a full-sized sword and shield makes me wonder if he stopped using them when he got older, or if they were enchanted like susan's and lucy's gifts and always stayed just right for him. there's a kind of grief in the first one, but also the second feels more consistent with the gifts as father christmas was bestowing them ykwim

[miraruinada]

Old King, The World Moved On

I don't know where's the painting's at Where the truth players act? Where they know what I can't know I tell myself I got a second act 'But the word is your best set got axed' But I know what they don't know

Cause when I fall is when you fall And when we fall, we fall together But it's your fault, yeah it's your fault Yeah it's your fault, correct your course Cause it's your fault, yeah it's your fault

I been known as a dying act Cause I act far outta bounds don't react And can't know what I don't know It's in the throne room, it's in the backrooms Dark where they act like true sycophants That don't know what I might know

Cause when I fall is when you fall And when we fall, we fall together Cause when I fall is when you fall Just when I thought I knew it all

Soon… Soon this kingdom will burn to the ground We're falling down Down... Soon... My kingdom will fall forever Please don't burn down now...

[unfried-mouth-wheat]

The Great Emperor Soleb in his formal attire

or I wanted to draw a mask and cowl set for him that was vaguely beetle themed. While it’s such a shame to hide his beautiful face from his adoring subjects, he must keep his human ancestry a secret. (“Why not use a concealment stone?” Where’s the drama in that?)

@missazura @wackulart

[arainaizevran]

what if...

[thesorceresstemple]

[littleeyesofpallas]

[thesmartartslibrary]

[gamergirldick]

I made a silly Milwaukee Bucks logo recolor in photoshop. Fear him.