#another amphibian for today!

[echo-does-art]

One day, Oggdo Bogdo, I WILL defeat you... eventually...

[amphibianaday]

day 1650

[danieyells]

You've come to help out at Jabberwock again. Haru always appreciates the backup considering the nature of his fellows is, at best, unpredictable, and he would never refuse your company(even if 'company' in this case was more often 'being within the boundaries of the same dorm.')

You rarely see Haru unless you're working directly with him as he spends most of the day zipping to and fro, only stopping to work with one animal or another. Now and then he appears, virtually soundless thanks to the way gravity doesn't affect his body with his stigma active, popping in out of breath to thank you again for your help, to ask you to work with another animal next, to give you some pointers on what you're doing. And then he's gone again, disturbing barely any dust as he zooms off to his next task.

While distributing feed for some of the friendly herbivores, you felt something warm press against your cheek for a split second. Touching your face revealed nothing. You looked around for a while for any clues before you chalked it up to some anomaly flying around and resumed your work, shooting Haru a quick message to ask if there were any small, flying anomalies around that you might need to worry about.

Next you dropped by the caves to check on the amphibians. Finding them well(and fortunately fed), you chatted with Towa and Zenji for a little while when it happened again. You asked Towa if he had been blowing bubbles recently, touching your cheek. Perhaps one had simply popped against you, although that wouldn't explain the warmth. Towa tilted his head and made an inquisitive noise, before he seemed to realize something and smiled fondly, giggling. Zenji was just as confused as you, begging Towa to let you both in on the joke, but Towa simply cheered something you couldn't understand, pulled out a bubble wand(fortunately not his artifact,) and began to blow glimmering bubbles in many fantastic shapes. Zenji gasped in understanding and declared his inspiration. You decided to take your leave as he pulled out his biwa.

Your full day of work ending, you washed your hands, changed into your clean clothes, and located Haru within the dorm kitchen as he consulted the book of weaning recipes he'd bought and poured over the food scraps you'd previously brought him from Highway to Home.

"Oh! Hey! Thanks again for your help today." Haru beamed at you despite how obvious it was he was starting to wear down. "I might even get a couple more minutes of sleep tonight with everything you managed to take care of! Gyahaha!"

Although it was worded sarcastically, you understood that he was being sincere. You told him you were happy to help and offered more of your time before you headed back to the Cathedral. Maybe while you made food for and fed Peekaboo he could get a meal of his own going? Or you could cook for him? He considered this and started to decline before his stomach growled audibly and he laughed at himself in defeat.

You spent the next half an hour or so circling each other in the kitchen, chatting about food apps and the conveniences of the world outside Darkwick. Aside from lacking the budget for it, Haru didn't order from Sho's food truck and simply have him deliver it for fear that the sound of his motorcycle would upset the animals. It was more economical to cook at the dorm--the problem being the lack of time. Sometimes Towa cooked for him, but the flower-heavy vegetarian dishes didn't keep Haru fed for long when he ran around like he did.

But thanks to your help, Haru was able to have a decent light dinner, one you shared. Haru felt no shame about feeding you with your hands occupied feeding Peekaboo. Admittedly you weren't the most romantic pair in the world with how busy Haru was, but you valued the little moments like this that you could get. When dinner was over, Haru asked you to put Peekaboo in his pen while he cleaned up, thanked you again, and wished you good night as he had some late work to take care of with the nocturnal anomalies before he could go to bed.

You were nearly at the gate when you heard Haru call your name. "I almost forgot!!!" You heard him cry out from behind. When you turned you couldn't see him--and the contact against your cheek happened again. You turned in that direction, before another met your opposite cheek.

When you spun in that direction, you heard Haru laugh, felt him throw his arms around you, and tilt you back to kiss you on the lips.

"Forgot your goodnight kiss!" He chimed before cackling, giving you a squeeze. Realization dawned on you--Haru moved so quickly and unburned by the effects of gravity that he'd just been kissing you and running back to work so quickly that you wouldn't have had any hope of seeing him. He grinned down at you as you caught on, then gave you one more quick peck on the nose. He righted you, and then he was gone again, stopping a ways away to call out,

"I love you!!! Nighty-night!"

[glitteraffe-art]

This is a pretty simple explanation of the topic, and does not cover every detail, but hopefully it is a nice overview!

Slide text in text form, and reference and image source URLs under the cut:

Title Card: Cloning Mercenaries 101: How Real-Life Cloning Works

CW: Mentions of animal death (in a research context)

Slide 1: Foreword

If you're into TF2, chances are you've come across fanworks depicting the "clone theory" to explain why there's more than one of each mercenary.

Clone theories generally fall into the categories of either respawn/teleportation cloning, or biological cloning. Today, we'll focus on real-life biological cloning.

"But TF2 is a Looney-Tunes comedy! Why bother with the science of a fairly common, but minimally supported headcanon?"

It's always worth understanding how the real-life version of something really works!

Slide 2: What is Cloning?

"Cloning" broadly refers to the process of producing individuals who are genetically identical to another individual. It can include single- and multi-cellular organisms.

Cloning includes both natural cloning (like plant cuttings, asexual reproduction) and artificial cloning (like cloning DNA fragments, cells, and organisms).

"Reproductive cloning", is the cloning of a multicellular organism to create a new genetically identical individual.

Engie speech bubble: Natural cloning is more common than you may think: for example, plants grown from cuttings are clones of their "parent"!

Slide 3: Reproductive Cloning

There are 2 methods of reproductive cloning for mammals:

Embryo Splitting

- Used to create identical twins from 1 egg and 1 sperm cell after in-vitro fertilization (IVF)

- Not really for cloning an existing adult so we won't focus on it.

Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT)

- Used to create a number of clones of an individual organism from 1 body cell (somatic cell) from the organism and 1 donor egg cell

Engie speech bubble: We’ll be focusing on SCNT here!

Slide 4: Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (Diagram)

1. Nucleus removed from body (somatic) cell of individual to be cloned (by pipette)

2. Nucleus removed from donor egg cell

3. Somatic nucleus placed into empty donor egg cell

4. Resulting egg stimulated and begins to divide

5. Resulting embryo transferred to uterus of a surrogate mother to develop.

Slide 5: Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer

The resulting clone embryo is not 100% identical to that of the individual to be cloned.

- The body (somatic) cell's nucleus may have contained mutations

- The mitochondria (powerhouse of the cell) of the resulting clone embryo will be the donor egg's mitochondria

That's right! If the donor egg is NOT from the individual or their matenal line (mitochondria are passed down maternally) the resulting clone embryo will NOT be 100% identical.

Engie speech bubble: With different mitochondria, a clone may have differences in body parts with high energy demand, like muscles, heart, eyes, or brain.

Slide 6: Dolly the Sheep

Some methods using the principles of SCNT were used as early as the 1950s (based on earlier work in the 1920s) to clone amphibians.

The first successful mammalian clone using SCNT was Dolly, a cloned sheep born in 1996 in Scotland, and announced to the public in 1997.

Dolly eventually developed severe arthritis and a progressive lung disease and was

euthanized at age 6 despite sheep's average lifespan being 11-12 years.

Engie speech bubble: Dolly was named after Dolly Parton!

Slide 7: Some Downsides

Inefficiency & Failure Rate:

SCNT has a high failure rate - many clones die during gestation, and newborn clones may die of abnormalities. For example, for Dolly, 277 fertilized eggs -> 29 embryos -> 3 lambs born -> only Dolly survived.

Advanced Aging(?):

Due to Dolly's age-related diseases it was speculated her DNA was already genetically "old". Later studies of further clones found no evidence of having age-related diseases, but the idea of "advanced" or "accelerated" aging of clones made its way into pop culture.

Engie speech bubble: More recent cloning using SCNT have reported higher success rates, but still have many failures.

Slide 8: What Does this Mean in TF2?

A resulting baby born from SCNT will, in fact, be a baby. The baby will NOT have the memories, experiences, muscle mass, or, well... anything past genetics, of the individual they were cloned from.

In terms of TF2, a lot of time and money would need to be spent raising, feeding, and teaching the resulting baby for the next 18 or so years to get anywhere close to a useful mercenary. Not very efficient...

Engie speech bubble: In short, you'd need to look beyond realistic cloning

and take some sci-fi shortcuts to get already-adult clones as often portrayed in fandom.

REFERENCE URLs

(Removed the hyper links since Tumblr likes to hide posts with hyperlinks)

Image of Dolly is from here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/22/newsid_4245000/4245877.stm

I mainly referenced these while writing (Yes, Wikipedia unreliable, I know, but this slideshow is a for-funsies TF2-themed general explanation and not an academic essay):

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK223960/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_(sheep)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_cell_nuclear_transfer

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloning

I also looked at these when trying to determine if the Wikipedia information was reliable:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK223969/

https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_and_General_Biology/General_Biology_(Boundless)/17%3A_Biotechnology_and_Genomics/17.01%3A_Biotechnology/17.1D%3A_Reproductive_Cloning

https://www.britannica.com/science/cloning/Reproductive-cloning

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3790123/

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

Shadows Entwined: Part 3

BatmanVsTmnt!Leonardo x sidekick!reader

Part 1 Part 2 / Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Bonus (18+)

In which Leonardo and (H/N) meet again.

-------------------------------------

A/N: Just a friendly reminder, that the Robin in Batman Vs TMNT is Damian Wayne. The son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul. Aka, Ra’s al Ghul’s grandson. That little dude is trained to kill.

Warnings: Spelling, talk of breaking bones, only slight research on Damian Wayne, long af today.

The reader and the turtles are 19.

—--------------------------------------

When Donnie said he had an idea, Leonardo didn’t expect to involve an underwater cave network that Gotham City somehow had been hiding. Michelangelo was right, this city was bonkers, in more was than Leo ever had imagined.

Leo, Mikey and Raph followed Donnie through the never ending cave system, before finally breaking the water surface, in a lit tunnel. Leo’s first thought was wondering if Batman and his sidekick ever made use of these tunnels. How often did she wonder about these waters, if ever? It was a strange thought and Leo knew it, but somehow, everything he had seen along the way, had reminded him of her.

“Look”, Raph spoke up, breaking the silence and thoughts running through Leo’s head. “I love being an amphibian as much as the next guy-”.

“Amphibious”, Donnie corrected. “We’re still reptiles”.

“Yeah, thanks for that, but you sure this cave leads anywhere?”

“Glad you asked! I am sure actually”, Donnie started explaining. “I made a database of every reported Batman sighting, and ran them through an algorithm that-”.

“Donnie”. Leo placed a hand on his younger brother’s shoulder. "Nobody cares. Where are you taking us?” Leo tried to sound, well, at least a little happy, even though a little bundle of something was building up inside of him. Nervousness? Anxiety? Couldn’t be. Why would he be nervous or anxious?

“The answer should be right through…” Donnie turned and continued in the direction they had been walking in, only to be met by a big opening in the caves. To say that what they discovered was shocking, would be an understatement. A big open cave with what looked like a taxidermy dinosaur, several glass display cases with Batman costumes, and a giant coin among other things.

“Ta-da!”, Donnie stated with his arms out. “The… Bat… Man… Cave… Huh?”

“This is pretty cool”, Leo admitted. Why did he feel so small all of sudden?

“Pretty cool?!” Mikey already looked like a child that had had too much sugar. “This is amazing! I don’t know what to put my grabby paws on first!”

As Mikey started running around, screaming like a child, Leo casted a glance around the cave. All he was Batman but no… her. Not her in person, nor anything that indicated you spend time here. Was it wrong that Leo had kind of hoped you’d be there? That when he and his brothers emerged from the water, you would be there, ready for another round? It was because he wanted to beat you. Or that was at least what he told himself. It wasn’t in line with how he saw himself, but he would much rather admit to wanting revenge, so he didn’t have to admit to anything else. Like how he hoped you would comment his eyes again. Not that he would admit it, but the thought of you being that close to him again, made tingles erupt in his stomach.

For a second Leo was scared that he was the one that began to chur at the thought of you, only to realize it was Donatello, who had gotten his eyes on a big computer.

“I don’t see any sign that the Shredder, nor the Foot Clan have been here”, Leo said, desperately trying to distract himself from the thought of you.

“Yeah. And I just see the signs of a dude with too much time and way too much money on his hands”, Raph said, looking skeptically at the Batman costumes.

“Most of these files are encrypted too heavily”, sounded Donnie’s voice from in front of the big computer. “But it looks to me like Batman has been tracking the laboratory break ins, like he’s been looking for the Foot’s next move! Same as us!”

“Hey guys! Check it out!” All three brothers turned, in fear of what Mikey had gotten himself into now. They found Mikey, sitting on top of the taxidermy t-rex, dressed in a Batman cape. “I’m Batman! And I’m riding a t-rex! I’ve never been so happy in my entire life!”

Leo’s first thought was to look around, slightly in fear of what you would think, if you found his little brother like that. “Mikey! Get down!”

“Nah man, I live up here now!”

“You should listen to him”.

Mikey turned to look at the source of this new voice, only to be met by a figure in the shadows right behind him. It was a boy. Not a very old one. Dressed in red, black, yellow and green, his eyes had a look that could kill. Yet Mikey didn’t find the child threatening in any way. Instead he turned his head to the side and let out an audible, “aww!”

The young boy sprung at Mikey, causing the two of them to fall off the t-rex and land on the ground, with Mikey’s back against the stone. Mikey held the boy above him, trying his best to hold his small hands away from his face.

“Take that mask off! Now!”, the boy yelled through gritted teeth, while Mikey was struggling to keep the mask on.

“Help!”, Mikey yelled out. “A tiny dude is like, totally trying to kill me!”

All brothers rushed to help Mikey, as the young boy pulled the mask and cap off of Mikey before jumping back, greeting distance between the two. Leo cursed himself, as his first thoughts were; did you know this kid? Did he know you?

“What are you, like five?”, Donnie asked, taken aback by the young boy in front of him.

“How did you get in here?!”, the boy asked, before jumping over Donatello, taking his bow staff and hitting him in the back of his head with it.

Leo stepped forwards with his hands held up. “Hey little guy. We didn’t come here to fight”. But Leo should have known better. Just like you, this little guy knew when to take advantage of an opening. Using Donatello’s bow staff, he hit the side of both of Leo’s knees, making them crack in a horrible way. “Jes!”, Leo yelled out, falling to the ground. At least you didn’t try to break his legs. Leo would much rather have fought against you, and not this little demon of a child.

All four of the turtle brothers were taken aback by the boy's fighting skills. Leo’s knees were aching, Donnie’s head was hurting, and Raph’s arms would soon form black marks. And the fight hadn't even been five minutes. It ended when Mikey yelled “sneak attack”, before tackling the boy, causing them to tumble around, ending with Mikey on top of the boy, retracted into his shell. The boy screamed all sorts of things out of anger, including how he would have their heads. Leo found the scene strange, just like all the other things he had seen in Gotham. Yet, there was something strangely wholesome about it. Almost domestic. A young boy being sat upon, by what felt like a teasing older brother.

Leo almost had to shake those thoughts out of his head. This wasn’t wholesome nor domestic. They were in Batman’s home (Leo wouldn’t point fingers. He and his family called the sewers home), and this little gremlin might have known something they didn’t.

“Let’s just try and reason with him, before-”. The sound of a car engine cut Leo off mid sentence. “...that”. He already had a suspicion of who it might be.

The Batmobil drove into the cave at full speed, before Batman jumped out of it, landing in front of them with this strong stare, followed by you and Batgirl. Leo had not expected his stomach to jump at the sight of you. Neither had you expected the sight of the blue turtle to make your stomach drop. Maybe it was the conversation with Batman and Batgirl, that now caused the fast heartbeat in your chest, at the sight of the turtle. Or maybe it was the sight of one of them sitting on your little brother, that caused you to clench your fists.

“Get off Robin”. He narrowed his eyes. “Now!”

The orange turtle got off of your brother, and turned to try and help him. Robin, as proud as he was sometimes, refused the turtle’s help, pulling his arm away.

“How did you get into this cave?” You unclenched your fist at the sound of Batman’s voice. Most people would find his tone scary, fearing the angry outburst that would never come. But to you and your bat family, it was a comfort. Batman cared about you, Robin, Batgirl and all of those that came before, and that meant he was willing to protect all of you from any danger. Especially strange turtles that have made it into the Batcave.

Leo took notice of your unclenching fists, and your position just behind. Covered enough to be protected, yet open enough to jump in if needed. Robin, found his place beside Batman, close enough for you to put a protective hand on his shoulder. That weird domestic picture formed in Leo’s head once more.

“Oh, well”, Donnie started. “There weren’t many security measures in the northern tunnel. We had to swim for a bit, but…” Donnie stopped as Batman frowned his brows. “I’m realizing you actually don’t want constructive criticism right now”, Donnie said, slowly pulling his head back into his shell.

“What I want are answers”, Batman said, eyes unmoving as he stared the turtles down.

“Look”. Leo stepped forward, causing you to tighten your grip on Robin’s shoulder, just a bit. But it was enough for Robin to notice, making him shoot you a questioning glare. “We’re not here to fight. My name is Leonardo”. Your grip softened on Robin’s shoulder, causing him to look at you in even more confusion. He knew you were a more expressive type than he and his father, and the sight of four mutant turtles in the Batcave might have shocked you, but so many reactions at once were not common. Not even for you.

Leonardo continued. “These are my brothers. Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo”. The orange turtle started waving at the mention of his name.

“Seriously?”, Batgirl asked, showing more amusement than the rest of the bat family.

“Our father was really into renaissance painters”, Donatello clarified.

“And he’s a rat!”, Michelangelo added.

Robin turned his head towards you. “Did… Did he just say a rat?”, he asked in a hushed tone.

“He did”, you nodded.

Leonardo had to breathe for a moment, after hearing your voice, before continuing. “We’re not your enemy. We came to stop Shredder and the Footclan. Honestly, we thought you might be Shredder’s new partner”.

Robin turned to you once more. “Foot?” You shrugged.

“Shredder”, Batman repeated. “So that’s his name... I’ve heard of a Footclan, but I thought they went extinct ages ago”.

“They’re ninja”, Raphael said. “You know, sneaky”. He moved his hands up in front of his face, as if he was hiding behind them.

“Sooooo…”. Robin moved from your protective hand and straight to the side of Batman. “Are we not going to beat up these green losers?”

Batman looked down towards his son. “It’s not looking like it, no”.

Robin sighed out loud, and you couldn’t stop yourself from smiling. Leo saw as you crossed your arms, and moved all your weight to your left leg, coming ever so slightly out from Batman’s protection.

“Then I may as well tell you that I know exactly who the Shredder and the Foot are working with”, your brother said, letting the small anger building inside of him overshadow his slight disappointment. And when you heard him say the name of his grandfather, you very well understood that anger.

—

“They are strange”, Robin told you, watching as Batman and Batgirl was talking to the turtles.

“They are indeed strange”, you agreed, fidgeting with whatever gadget you had in your hand, fighting the urge to look up. Because if you looked up, you would look at him. And if you looked at him, he would notice. And if he would notice, then so would Batman, and so would Robin, and Batgirl, and all of Leonardo’s brothers… Better just to focus on… what it was you had in your hand…

“I tried to break the blue one’s legs with the purple’s bow staff”, Robin said, his eyes shining proud. You finally dared to look in the direction of Leonardo, focusing on his legs. You couldn’t see any signs of injury.

“You should have aimed for the knee caps”, you told him, eyes still on the knees of the turtles.

“I did!”, Robin exclaimed, laying flat against the table. “And he did fall! But they didn’t break!”

You took a chance and looked at Leonardo’s face, studying for any signs of discomfort. None. None at all.

That should have been it. You should have looked away, so you could concentrate on that thing you had in your hand. But you didn’t. Your eyes stayed on Leonardo’s face. He was listening to something Batman told him. Most likely information about Ra's al Ghul. He looked very concentrated, with his brows frowning and his arms crossed. You noted that he was almost as stoic as Batman. You haven’t seen him smile a single time. No smiles when he fought the Penguin, no smiles in the alley, and no smiles in the Batcave. The only time you had seen him other than frowning, was when you told him he had pretty eyes.

Robin noticed your sudden silence, and looked at you in confusion. His sister never left him unanswered. She would never let an opportunity to tease him fly. But then he noticed how you had stopped fumbling with your glove, and now sat staring. Confused he looked from you, to what your eyes had been caught by.

Leonardo?

Robin looked back and forth a few times, before it finally clicked for him. He slammed his hand flat against the table, causing you to yelp and stare at your shocked little brother.

“Are you crushing on a turtle?!”

You slapped your hand against his mouth so fast, that the young Robin could only scream and fight. Confused by the sudden commotion, all of them turned to look at you.

“What did he say?”, Mikey asked, obviously intreacted

“Uh”, you said in a slight panic, trying to hold Robin still as he was lashing out against you. “He asked where Alfred was! He’s so hungry he could eat a turtle!” Batman started rubbing the bridge of his nose.

You were going to beat Damian so hard the moment Bruce looked away!

[dbarn]

For anyone interested in Zootopia 2 who hasn't seen this elsewhere:

Disney's big expo, D23, opens tomorrow today. Everyone was expecting Z2 news, but some early pictures are coming out showing a big display.

(Note that these pictures are not mine -- I've pilfered them from /r/Zootopia, and the watermarks indicate Cinepop, but I wasn't able to find a post for these.)

Here's the "official" logo. Notice the scales on the tail of the number 2. Intriguing!

Here's a good angle of the display. A walrus, Nick and Judy in new outfits, and plenty of seafood- and nautical-based businesses. That's because...

This is apparently part of the Marshlands, which have been referred to in passing but not explored yet. I'm getting a New Orleans-type vibe from this. Just behind Judy is a sign for "blowhole decongestant", featuring a cartoon whale, which may indicate that there will be whales and/or dolphins in the new film.

Here's another angle of the scene. Hey, what's that right above the "O" in the watermark? Looks like a snake. Not coincidentally, I'm sure, from this distance it looks pretty similar to the design of Kaa from Jungle Book, or perhaps Sir Hiss from Robin Hood. That would provide a neat bookend for Nick's own Robin Hood-like design. The snake is an interesting inclusion, since the original film made no mention of sentient reptiles or amphibians.

And last, but not least, here's a closeup of the main character figures. They aren't in uniform, which has led to speculation already: are they on vacation? Conducting an undercover investigation? Have they been promoted to detectives? (Also, there's been a minor firestorm over whether Judy's paw resting on Nick's head is sporting a ring, or whether that's just an artifact of potato-quality pictures. BUT REMEMBER THE THING A FEW WEEKS AGO ABOUT NICK AND JUDY WEDDING RINGS BEING OFFERED IN JAPAN???)

EDIT: additional pictures have established that Judy is not wearing a ring.

Personally, I've been trying to decode this sign.

NO (wha?) AFTER SUNSET WITHOUT PERMIT

Mall curs? Hall cubs?

Anyway, I'm really excited about this and can't wait to hear more from the expo tomorrow.

[thisbelongsto-nohbodys]

SASHANNARCY HOUSEHOLD--AFTERNOON

Anne, dressed in a formal variation of her aquarium attire, is in the middle of giving a presentation about amphibian populations to a virtual conference of other experts around the planet over Zoom. Without her noticing, young Lily wanders over and climbs up onto the couch in the living room where she currently sits.

Anne: "So as you see from this graph, the claims of declining populations are verifiable, but it appears that acid rain being the cause of most such extinctions in the last 10 years is not--"

Suddenly, she feels a heavy lump in her lap. Looking down, she sees Lily has crawled into it, and is attempting to stand up and look at her face to face.

Anne: "Wha--? Lily! What are you doing here? Mommy's working!"

Rest of the scientists in the call: "AWWWWWWWWW!"

Anne (blushing in embarrassment): "Sorry, everyone. This is my daughter, Lily." (looks around for a baby bottle, then finds it in the seat next to her) "Come here, sweetie, sit down for mommy." (Lily sits down, smiling at the bottle in anticipation.) "Now, as I was saying--"

One of the other scientists: "No, wait a minute! Tell us more about the baby!"

Another scientist, making puppy eyes: "Pweeeeeeeease?"

Anne (sighing as Lily is now drinking from the baby bottle in her lap, muttering): "This is NOT how I thought this would go today..."

She tells them about Lily’s nickname being Lily-Pad and since they usually dress her in clothes with frogs on it, it’s then “frogs on a Lily-Pad”, causing even more awwwwwws (and a boo for the pun). Marcy quickly comes in and snatches up Lily and Anne finishes her speech which goes well.

[staycalmandhugaclone]

Identity Pt 2

Part (2) of Identity, the next arc of Doc's Misadventures! If you're new, start at the beginning with Touch Starved!

Thought about holding onto this another night, but I could use some dopamine after some work bs that happened today (which is also why I only barely started catching up on all the comments and tags today before going quiet again... sorry - I'll try to respond to everyone tomorrow ❤️). It's only lightly proofread, and I'm apparently favoring shorter chapters currently. Also, I finished this from my phone, so sorry if formatting got weird

Warnings: Brotherly fighting, talk of hunting, nightmares with reference to gore/torture, heavy tension, profanity

WC: 2,379

“I knew you’d done something!” Sinker shouted, hand lashing out to roughly push Boost’s shoulder hard enough to nearly knock him from the couch. Boost was laughing too hard to defend himself, with Comet and I not far behind at the retelling of the Sergent’s unfortunate encounter with a slew of too curious gorgs. The thought of the stern man being relentlessly assaulted by the small, brightly colored amphibians, utterly oblivious to the pungent pheromone his brother had slathered on his armor as he trudged through the swamps of Naboo was a gift in itself.

“It… it was just a drop!” Boost barely managed to respond.

“Where’d you even get it?” Comet asked, voice strained as he tried to compose himself.

“It was… it was all over the markets – easiest way to hunt them.”

The lights were still too bright and the seats too soft, but the familiarity of this, of carefree laughter and unapologetic teasing was the perfect balm to an ache I’d nearly grown accustomed to. I sat lounging against Comet on a love seat caddy corner to where Boost and Sinker were seconds away from a one-sided brawl despite how near they were to the table holding their long forgotten, disassembled blasters. Wolffe had vanished elsewhere in the ship after relinquished the pilot’s chair to Warthog, decidedly ignoring the man’s grumbles about the apparently lacking capabilities of the civi transport, and Sinker had volunteered the explanation that the General was too well known to join us lest his presence attract the wrong attention.

“Hey, hey!” I cried out when Sinker’s foot bumped the table, darting forward to grab the corner before it could fall. “If you knock this down, I’m not helping you find all the pieces!” The attempt at a feigned reprimand was lost beneath the richness of my lingering glee. Boost sent his brother a toothy grin that only worsened the man’s scowl as he reluctantly returned his attention to his weapon.

“He doesn’t listen to me when I try to get him to get him to calm down.” Comet’s grumbled murmur drew a final chuckle from me as I pressed fondly against him. “It’s late. We should probably turn in.” He sighed after a few seconds of stillness, and I tried not to note the way my heart dropped.

“Yeah.” I relented, fighting the way my jaw threatened to tense at the thought of forcing myself to close my eyes, of the noises awaiting me in the coming silence. With a deep breath, I leaned away from the gentle man at my back, ignoring the brief moment of hesitation, the way I could feel his gaze linger on me as I got to my feet.

The ship was designed to allow each passenger their own room, but that privacy had thoughtlessly been forgone in favor of using those rooms for additional storage. The minimal space allotted for each hastily installed, wall mounted cot was a thing I’d long since become accustomed to with these men and spared no hesitation before taking the bunk below Sinker’s, but rest refused to grant me escape.

It was strange not having Crosshair’s arms around me, not hearing Wrecker’s snores or seeing the faint glow of Tech’s datapad. This squad would always have my love and trust, but the familiar sense of home no longer resonated in their presence, and after everything that had happened in the past months, I found myself desperate for that comfort long after noting the unmistakable cadence of sleep lengthening their breaths, and forced my eyes closed if only to feign joining them.

It's not real.

Crimson coated my hands.

It’s not real.

Blackened skin marked exactly where my pistol fire tore between the joints.

“This is your fault.”

Wet coughs sent waves of blood spilling down his chin.

Please tell me this isn’t real.

It didn’t matter how hard I pressed against the gaping wound in his chest.

“You did this.”

How tightly I bound the tourniquet.

“Traitor.”

How certain I was that this isn’t how it happened as the echo of dislocating fingers reverberated sickeningly around me.

Stop, stop, stop, stop.

False memories of my fist slamming into my brother’s face orchestrated by endless apologies.

“I’m not your brother.”

The look of hatred in his eyes as my finger tightened around the trigger.

“Ple-”

My body jerked violently away from the hand settling lightly atop my arm, diaphragm seizing to drag air into lungs burning with suffocation as my head snapped around in search of the source of that touch. And I froze. There was such stillness in those mismatched eyes as he looked at me, a silent understanding that threatened to break what miserable grip I had on keeping the sobs at bay.

Without a word, he stood back, shoulders weighted beneath the same sorrow and regret I knew I’d never be free of, face carefully neutral as he started silently toward the cockpit. I glanced hesitantly over the familiar forms lying atop the cots across from me, relieved to find no signs that I’d woken them in my fit before forcing myself to take several deep breaths and pushing myself to my feet.

Wolffe didn’t look at me as I slipped into the copilot’s seat, knees automatically tucking to my chest. The controls were different, the colors of the panels and the shape of the viewport nothing like the GAR ship we once frequented, but that feeling, the unrushed quiet between us as our thoughts settled and we felt drawn to speak for the comfort of connection in the stead of some need to fill the silence with empty, frantic words… there was such gentleness in that feeling that I couldn’t help but let the tension begin to slip from my stiff form.

“What happened?” He didn’t turn from the dancing hues of blue illuminating the darkness of space as his voice hung softly in the filtered air.

“A lot.” I whispered, granting myself a moment longer to remember how to speak, how to condense the need to purge everything, every violent emotion and overwhelming memory into words and sentences. “My brother’s dead.” From the corner of my eyes, I saw the initial surge of grief hesitantly shift into confusion, brows pulling subtly together though he didn’t push me to explain.

“He enlisted… or was drafted, I don’t know how exactly, but…” I watched that grief return in an instant, jaw tensing as his eyes closed.

“Devaron.” I should have been surprised, should have found myself wondering over the simple fact that he was familiar enough with my past missions to reach that conclusion, but it was almost a relief to not have to explain further, replying only with a small nod.

“I’m sorry.” His voice quieted, lips just threatening to pull into a scowl as his mind worked over what he’d just learned.

“I tried to save him… but I didn’t realize who he was until it was too late. He…” My throat tightened, and I had to let out a slow breath before I could continue. “He blamed me… When he saw me in that armor…” I found myself shaking my head as I shifted to rest my chin atop my knees. “He hated me, Wolffe…” That barely murmured sentence lingered far too long after tumbling from my lips, and I felt it grow heavier with each second of silence that followed.

“You want me to tell you it wasn’t your fault?” There could have been a harsh bluntness to those words. They could have been filled with boredom or impatience or pity, but they weren’t. He asked only because he thought I needed to hear the question, to hear how doubtless he was in his own conviction that I might remember how to breathe before my guilt destroyed me.

“No.” I answered quietly. Still, logic offered little comfort in the face of raw emotion. “But that doesn’t exactly make me feel better.”

“Your brother died.” He stated simply, and my chest bucked at hearing that horrible truth spoken by another. “You’re not going to feel better. Not for a long time.” I knew how clearly the sorrow shone through my eyes as I finally turned to look at him, and I hated him for the honesty in his words just as much as I loved him for offering no false hope or empty platitudes.

“And your last mission? Can’t say I believe Hunter’s excuse of your ship needing repairs.”

“Clearly.” I retorted, glancing pointedly at the ship around us, but the intensity of his gaze didn’t waver, unphased by my feigned jab, and I had to turn away, teeth catching at my lip.

“One of my men got caught.” My voice sank into a quiet whisper, as though it might keep me from hearing my own words as I forced myself to answer him. “He was trapped. I don’t even think the guy who was did it was even a Separatists… pretty sure he was just a merc.” My tongue dragged haltingly over suddenly dry lips, heart racing at the memory of that fight; and the screams still echoing over the low hum of the engines.

“He wouldn’t free him… wouldn’t tell me how to get him out… not until I made him tell me.” Jaw taut beneath the effort to keep my breath steady, I turned back to him. “You want to tell me that wasn’t my fault, either? That I had no choice other than to torture him? That I couldn’t have found a way to cut the power or bribe him or hold off until help arrived?” It infuriated me how perfectly still Wolffe remained, expression locked in that passive stare.

“Do you think I give a damn that you tortured some money-hungry civi to save a brother? You think I’d do any less to save you? That any of us would do any less?”

“Do you think granting me permission makes me feel less like a monster?” I shot back, unable to chase the hint of a snarl from my face.

“This is war, kid.” He replied, a gentle apology woven through the softly spoken words. I felt the urge to snap at him threatening to wrench my lips into a scowl, felt my heart balk at the simplicity of his statement and how crudely that simplicity contrasted with the horrors it represented, but I allowed no reprieve in vying for some way to deny myself the forgiveness implied in that putrid truth, no release of my fury and guilt and hatred by arguing purely for the sake of flinging shouted insults absent thought beyond the base need to lash out.

I could feel him watching me as I forced myself back under some façade of control, but something seemed to shift, a heaviness that held the same tension I’d noted in him the day prior, and I found myself quieting my breath as I waited for him to speak.

“And the thing with the toothpick… how long’s that been going on?” It took barely a second to realize what he meant, what he knew, and my entire body froze, eyes widening as the air caught in my chest, mind racing too quickly for me to grasp onto a single thought long enough to make sense of the waves of dread and guilt and confusion.

“Closet doors don’t hide thermo-signatures.” He explained, voice carefully void of emotion, and my heart dropped. The damn closet. Cody must have already planned to speak to Wolffe immediately after his meeting with me to confirm the mission status… Of course, he would have been nearby…

“I… I don’t think that’s any of your business, Wolffe.” I said quietly, trying to force some measure of indifference into my voice.

“Is that so?” There was a darkness in those short words as he shifted just enough to catch my gaze from the corner of that pale cybernetic.

“No.” I stated more firmly, back straightening as I turned fully toward him. “It hasn’t been for a while… not since you let them take off this squad.” His brows drew together above eyes failing to hide the beginnings of anger.

“Is that what you think happened?” He asked, shoulders pulling back slightly.

“Isn’t it?” This wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have with him. These thoughts and fears and insecurities were never meant to be given breath, yet I couldn’t seem to stop them lest the conversation return to something far more dangerous.

“Did you ever tell them ‘no’?” The instant I saw the flash of remorse dart through him, I felt something break in me as I realized I was right. “Did you even try to fight for me?” I barely whispered as a fresh surge of devastation flooded my veins with ice. He didn’t need to speak for his answer to scream between us, and I couldn’t begin to hide the betrayal and raw hurt left in its wake.

“You didn’t… You just let them…” Some vain hope for denial forbade me from finishing the thoughts, silently pleading for him to prove me wrong, but he offered no whisper of reassurance.

“You were all I had, Wolffe…” I could hear how the words clawed up my throat amidst tears I refused to let fall. “I was… I was so… so scared, and you just let them take me away?” He refused to turn from me as the reality I thought I knew shattered. I wanted to ask “why,” wanted to shout and rage and sob, but that time had long since passed. Drawing a sharp, unsteady breath into my lungs, I finally turned from him, gaze trailing blindly across the control panel.

“No… What I do now… who I spend my time with… it’s none of your business.” It felt as though I were talking more to myself than to him, and the new silence that fell between us held none of that gentle familiarity that had seen me through some the worst moments of my life. For the first time, I couldn’t bring myself to stay, every cell demanding I flee from his presence. With another deep breath, I pushed myself to my feet, unable to even glance at him as I began walking away.

Next Chapter

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[jfs-worldbuilding-and-art]

Hello, here i go again for another year of Spectember. This time doing the r/speculativeevolution subreddit created by @sailworldbuilds with the collaboration of the Specposium and the Speculative Evolution Forum.

By the way this year we have a collaborative spec project! Called "Best in Class" it is set in a seed world called Gaiademou, where you can suggest and vote for the animals that will be seeded! Then you will get the chance to speculate on how the selected animals and plants will look like after 25 Millions of Years!

Here follows the link to the form where you can suggest the organisms: https://forms.gle/bYonznyeXWWg7nSS8

Now, without further ado let's get into the creature of today:

Tapecilian

Craniovermis degeneratus (Degenerate skull worm)

In 50 Millions of Years the amphibians are still kicking around, principally in areas of high humidity and bodies of water. In such environments there are many kinds of animals, such as amphibians, birds, fish, mammals and reptiles.

One such animal is the Tapecilian, a kind of Caecilian (an order of amphibians that converged on the bodyplan of worms) with a rather unusual lifestyle not only for amphibians but for tetrapods or even vertebrates as a whole: They are obligate endoparasites. That means that they live most of their lives inside other animals, sucking the blood out of their hosts, in the case of the Tapecilians their hosts are mainly fish, although they can also parasitize mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians too.

They start their life as diminutive eggs in the sediment accumulated in the bottom of rivers and lakes. Once they are ingested by a fish -or another suitable host- they hatch into tiny larvae that soon cling to the walls of the gastrointestinal tract of the animal, using their strong jaws to take a bite and secure themselves in place, feeding on the constant blood flow caused by the wound, that stays open due to special enzymes in their saliva that prevent both the blood from coagulating or the wound from closing.

Soon enough they will develop into adults and may reproduce with other Caecilians in the same host, laying thousands of eggs that will get back to the outside world via the feces, and then start the cycle anew.

Their scientific name comes from the fact that they have reduced much of their organs and other processes down to the basics. Their stomach and intestines have become shorter due to the diet of pure blood, vital organs such as lungs and heart becoming vestigial and without function as their thin skin becomes the main way of respiration and their diminutive body does not need a heart to pump and distribute blood anymore.

But it doesn't stop there, their Vertebrae too, are almost that gone. In such size and due to such lifestyle bones have become almost unnecessary, with only their first three neck vertebrae and the skull remaining of their skeleton, thus the name "Skull worm".

[dougdimmadodo]

May’s Fossil of the Month - Thrinaxodon (Thrinaxodon liorhinus)

Family: Thrinaxodon Family (Thrinaxodontidae)

Time Period: Early Triassic (251-247 Million Years Ago) 

At the end of the Permian period around 251 million years ago, the earth experienced the most extreme extinction event in its history (known as the Permian-Triassic Extinction Event or “The Great Dying”,) in which some 70% of terrestrial species and 81% of marine species were driven to extinction. As such, the period immediately following the Permian, the early Triassic, was a period of slow recovery as the descendants of the few survivors of the Great Dying began to adapt and diversify to fill the ecological niches left empty by the extinction of their previous occupants. Thrinaxodon liorhinus was one such survivor; a small (roughly 50cm/1.6 feet in length) species of cynodont synapsid (making it a close relative of mammals, but not a mammal itself), it inhabited what is now southern Africa and northern Antarctica (which were fused as part of a single landmass at the time) in the period immediately following the great dying, and was seemingly among the largest and most common carnivores of its time. Thrinaxodon’s survival was likely enabled at least in part due to its lifestyle; the discovery of individuals fossilized in the remains of burrows show that Thrinaxodon, like many similarly-sized mammals today, was a burrower, and the presence of distinct divisions on its spine to aid in flexibility suggests that, like many burrowing mammals and reptiles today, it may have possessed the ability to travel deeper underground and undergo hibernation or aestivation in order to endure prolonged periods of harsh weather conditions and resource scarcity. In life Thrinaxodon would have likely appeared somewhere between a large lizard and a small dog, with its leg bones and joints suggesting that it stood in a “semi-sprawling” posture mid-way between the belly-to-the-ground sprawling of most lizards and the elevated posture of most mammals, while its dog-like skull and sharp-tipped teeth (including prominent canines on both the upper and lower jaw) suggest that it was likely carnivorous, feeding on insects and/or smaller vertebrates. The discovery of the remains of several Thrinaxodon individuals, sometimes including juveniles, preserved in close proximity to one another suggests that members of this species likely provided parental care and may have also been social, and one unusual but extremely famous fossil burrow containing both an adult Thrinaxodon and an injured Broomistega putterilli (a small species of superficially salamander-like amphibian) showing puncture wounds from teeth too large to belong to the burrow’s owner suggests that, like the Gopher Tortoise and Giant Armadillo today, Thrinaxodon may have been a habitat engineer, with its burrows providing shelter for other species of animal (although it is also possible that the Broomistega had been washed into the burrow during a flood that killed both animals, or that the Thrinaxodon had stolen the injured Broomistega from the larger carnivore that wounded it.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------  

Image Sources:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thrinaxodon_liorhinus_BP_1_7199.jpg

and

https://www.pbs.org/video/the-oddest-couple-in-the-fossil-record-rcehau/

[amphibianaday]

Deadline for Amphibian pride 2024 is/was today but for timezone reasons I'll be closing it around this time tomorrow there's a solid ~23 hours left if you want to join last minute!

[dailycharacteroption]

Roleplaying Races 16: Honorable Mentions

So we’ve covered every possible playable ancestry published in First Edition… Well, almost. There are a handful more that I didn’t deign to do full entries on, but I figured I’d cover them today anyway.

The first of these two are the beings of Ib, which are, like yesterday’s Yaddithians, another Lovecraft reference, specifically to the short story “The Doom that came to Sarnath”.

Essentially, in the story, the humans living in Sarnath, a city-state in the Dreamlands (yes, there are whole-ass human colonies living in the Dreamlands in the Cthulhu Mythos, and by extension the Lost Omens setting), came to hate their amphibian neighbors of the neighboring Ib for their appearance, unnerving silence, and worship of a fearsome Great Old One known as Bokrug. And so they slaughtered them, leaving none alive and stealing the idol of Bokrug as a trophy.

However, when the high priest of the Sarnathians was found dead with the word “DOOM” painted on the walls in his blood and the idol missing, that was the first sign that something was amiss, but in the coming centuries the humans became forgetful and decadent, the dread promise of vengeance from a dead people all but forgotten, and on the millennial anniversary of their victory over Ib, the waters rose up and green shadows swept over the city, slaughtering the humans just as they had long ago.

Now, there are two reasons I didn’t cover the Beings of Ib in these entries. The first of which is the fact that they are almost all certainly dead, with only rare colonies or the possibility of an original homeworld somewhere in the stars being the exception, while potential others could be resurrected by truly powerful magic.

The second reason is because while most of their abilities are pretty nondescript and basic, the fact their pliable and uniform bodies are immune to crits and precision is a bit much to allow at most tables. But the option is there, in theory.

The second of these options is also Paizo-published, but comes from a crossover tie-in comic called Worldscape, in which Pathfinder iconics get to team up with heroes from other franchises, in this case, Tars Tarkas, a mighty warrior among the green martians of the Barsoom series by Edgar Rice Burroughs!

Naturally, the comic included playable stats for green martians, so that is neat if you ever wish to play one, but I decided not to go over them because the Lost Omens setting already has a mars-expy and even a four-armed warrior martian people-expy build into it in the form of the shobhad. This makes green martians somewhat superfluous unless you really, really want to specifically replicate the abilities of green martians or want to use them as a starting point to convert into the shobhad themselves if you want to play one.

Finally, I would like to give one last shout out to the multitude of various third-party ancestries out there, from the individual homebrews to the obscure self-published web supplements to even those that are even endorsed by Paizo itself. If you can imagine it, you can make a way to play it, and It’s a blessing to see folks be creative out there.

That will do for today, but I have some final thoughts I’ll save for tomorrow before we close the book on this for good.

[froggyfroo-art]

Amphibiuary Day 5: Caecilian

Featuring a ringed caecilian because it's blue and I like it :) This is one of two caecilians featured in another book I have (Nature Guide: Snakes and other Reptiles and Amphibians. I have no idea why snakes are the main characters of the book but good for them) and so today I learnt that they feed their babies by basically swelling up and then letting the babies eat their flesh with special teeth that drop out later. That is certainly one way to do it!!

[cireks]

So...humans. Humans have always been a part of this worlbuilding project’s setting. Regular-ass old humans. However an issue I later would realize is that there are no 1-to-1 Earth animals in this setting even though some species can look quite similar to an Earth counterpart. There are dogs that are not quite dogs, lizards that are not quite lizards etc. So what about humans? I’ve already written a lot about their way of life, culture, history and so on and it all kinda assumes they are just regular-ass old humans. I didn’t want to make too big of a change, nothing too crazy. I actually wanted them to look like people with Star Trek level of makeup and prosthetics. So well, here they are.

(They’re neither mammals nor amphibians as neither animal group exist here. The setting is not Earth, the setting has a different evolution and different classifications of animal groups. Don’t worry about it.) 

Ditovians (and other people of the islands of the Sea of Giants)

1. The ancestor of Ditovians was an “amphibian-like” animal and the modern humans still retain some physical traits that hint of an at least semi-aquatic lifestyle. Most noticeably are their gill like protrusions called rami behind where their outer ears should have been. The rami no longer support breathing under water instead they have evolved to aid in hearing by improving the localization of sound direction. Folds on the side of the torso are also remnants of a time when the ditovian ancestors could breathe under water. Today some people, especially of the Sarbrin culture, claim to be able to reconnect with ancestors and learn this "skill" again through intense practice and meditation.  

2. Colors of the rami vary from pink to red, purple and even blue. While brighter colors are seen as a masculine trait it is not exclusive to the male sex. The rami also play some role in indication of mood. All ditovians have lower arms and lower legs in a darker shade than the rest of the body and on the back there are spots in the same color.

3. Ditovian, along with the other native people of the islands of the region lack outer ears and have instead tympanum, an oval shape covering their inner ear. Like in frogs, the inner ear connects to the lungs. On another note, their 6 most frontal teeth in both the upper and lower jaw are pointy.

4. The eyes have slightly horizontally oval pupils. The iris is typically dark in shades of green, brown, or grey, with a lighter colored circle around the pupil.

5. The hand has long fingers with some slight webbing in-between. They completely lack fingernails, the same goes for the toes.

6. In Ditovo the animal closest related to the ditovian humans is the whisper monkey. They share a few notable physical characteristics like typanum and the lack of nails but otherwise their species took different evolutionary paths a long time ago.

[loominggaia]

What are the grossest or most controversial dishes each of the Great Kingdoms has?

This is difficult to answer because there are usually many different cultures operating within each Great Kingdom, and each culture has different cuisine. Also, many of these dishes are shared between multiple kingdoms and cultures.

For example, the nasty troll cuisine I talked about in another post is not specific to any one kingdom, but can be found in several of them.

That said, I can talk about some controversial foods that are most commonly eaten in different kingdoms (though they may not be exclusive to them or even originate from them).

Folkvar: Brodfesk - also called "cheese 'n chovies", it's raw fish slathered in blue cheese on a piece of bread. Many Folkvarans also eat raw blubber, especially from marine animals.

Matuzu: Sugar-coated locusts and other insects. Setsiki brain soup. Matuzans eat a lot of animal brains and livers in general, sometimes raw. In some Matuzan cultures, men eat the genitals of powerful animals because they believe it increases their sexual prowess.

Lamai: Gruju - a drink made from blended maggots. The Lamaish eat a lot of reptiles and amphibians, such as snakes, turtles, lizards, and frogs. They also eat a lot of wild fungus, some of which has psychedelic effects.

Yerim-Mor: There aren't many offensive dishes in Morite culture. The nasty part is how they're prepared. Because this kingdom is so poor, sanitation usually takes a back seat, so food is washed in unclean water, left unrefrigerated, and cut with dirty utensils. Most Morites have adapted to all this bacteria, but it makes foreigners sick.

Zareen: Just about everything on the traditional Zareenite menu is loaded with questionable chemicals, harmful fillers, heavy metals, and god-knows-what-else. While everything is prepared in sanitized factory settings, the ingredients are so over-processed that you're basically eating plastic. There are Zareenite dishes that cannot legally be called "food", and are instead labeled "edible products".

Evangeline: Bloodbread - This dish originated from underfed slaves in Kelvingyard. These slaves make a crude flour from dried weeds, dirt, and blood, which they baked into a bread-like biscuit in the sun. The blood was usually from vermin like rats or insect, but sometimes it is harvested from their fellow slaves who were too weak to defend themselves. Needless to say, this stuff is hella nasty and only eaten in life-or-death scenarios.

Mogdir: If eating bugs and bug byproducts sounds gross to you, you will not like Mogdiri cuisine because it's very bug-based. One of the most popular foods is a cheese made from fermented caterpillar silk. They also eat raw grubs and giant roasted caterpillars.

Etios: Minotaur breast milk is a popular beverage for all ages in Etios Nation. Many Etiosi also eat animal marrow straight from the bone, then dry the bones in the sun for a few weeks before grinding it into bonemeal. This bonemeal is used in cooking other things.

Seelie: Speaking of bonemeal, the ancient Seelie were known to grind up the bones of their enemies and use that bonemeal to bake cookies. Cannibalism in general was pretty hot in this kingdom for a very long time. It's illegal today, but it's still happening in some dark pockets of Seelie society.

Unseelie: Where to start? Basically everything on the Unseelie menu is weird and nasty. Stray dog meat, roasted vermin, blood wine, pickled squid...just take your pick.

Damijana: Has the same problem as Zareenite cuisine, where most food available is overly-processed into what is basically plastic with vitamins sprayed onto it after the fact. By far the nastiest thing though, is a dish called "gutter roast". The poorest Damijani catch wild rats in the city and roast them. Though this is one of the least-processed dishes in Damijana, these rats are often riddled with disease, their guts are full of trash, and there is weird chemicals in their blood from the polluted environment.

Aquaria: Aquarians will see the grossest, slimiest, most alien-looking marine critter wriggling across the sea floor and think to themselves, "Mmm, looks like dinner! :D"

*

Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

Read the Series

[monarch-afterdark]

Superspecies History: Skullcrawlers

Welcome once again to Monarch: After Dark, the digital gateway between you and the organisation dedicated to understanding and navigating this troubled new world we live in.

For today's communication, we begin to move away from the Titans (for now, at least) and cover the wider range of superspecies that also inhabit our world. We begin by peeling back the expansive curtains of Skull Island's many dangers with the devils that lurk beneath the surface; the Skullcrawlers.

(Pictured above: Small clip of footage recovered from the 1973 Skull Island expedition, showing the awakened Skull Devil)

Monarch Database File: Skullcrawlers

Monarch Designation: Cranium reptant (scientific name), Halakrah (Iwi name)

Height: 12-95 feet

Length: 35-194 feet

Weight: 40-100 tons

Species Designation: Necroserpere amphibian, Salamandra (sub-division)

Behaioural Classification: Hypervore, Destroyer

-----

A distant member of the Salamandra family of amphibians, the Skullcrawlers are ravenous and eternally hungry predators that dominate the Valley of the Fallen Gods, a boneyard holding the remains of Kong's parents. Widely considered as demonic by the native Iwi tribe, the Skullcrawlers were responsible for nearly driving the Apus giganticus species to extinction, leaving Kong the only survivor (until recently).

The Skullcrawlers have a distinct and eerie skull-like face, prehensile tongues that can drag prey to a gruesome mouth full of teeth, and a disturbing ability to mimic human voices. Their hyper-adrenalised metabolism renders them constantly needing to eat, never satisfied, to such an extent that mating pairs will attempt to devour one another after mating, and will never back down from a potential meal, even at the risk of ignoring threats to themselves such as Kong or Mechagodzilla.

The level of fear that the Skullcrawlers brought to the hearts of the Iwi was so much that they refused to speak its name. Hank Marlow, a WW2 pilot stranded on Skull Island, coined the name "Skullcrawlers" for the species. While he tried to withdraw this, personally believing that the name sounded stupid when he said it aloud, the name stuck and later became their official designation.

It should be noted that there is a misconception regarding whether or not Skullcrawlers are classified as Titans, due to an erroneous data report labelling them as 'Titanus Cranium Reptant' emerging in 2021. Just for the record, so the air is cleared, say it with us now...Skullcrawlers are NOT Titans.

(Pictured above: Close-up shot of a Skullcrawler's mouth. Unfortunately, the brave soul who took this footage did not survive the encounter)

Evolved from a line of basal non-amniote reptilomorphs from the Hollow Earth, the volatile history of the Skullcrawlers began thousands of years ago, when they seemed to wage war with the Apus giganticus species that had migrated to the island following their war with the Titanus Gojira species. As the centuries went on, the Skullcrawlers gradually wiped out the great apes until only a single pair were left; Kong's parents.

In the 17th Century, Kong's parents fought their final battle against a swarm of adult Skullcrawlers. While Kong's father held the hypervores back until one drove its tail through his head, Kong's mother gave birth to him and hid him away in a nearby cave. The newborn Kong was helpless to watch as the Skullcrawlers murdered his parents, fuelling his anger toward them and desire to defend the Iwi for centuries to come.

In 1973, at the end of the Vietnam War, a joint Monarch-Landsat expedition to Skull Island had been derailed by an enraged Kong destroying their fleet of helicopters, in response to the choppers dropping seismic charges to map the island's surface. Unbeknownst to the expedition team at the time, their charges had awakened a group of juvenile Skullcrawlers resting within thermal vents beneath the island.

One group of the expedition team found themselves taken in by the Iwi people, where they met stranded veteran Hank Marlow. Marlow revealed the existence of the Skullcrawlers to the group whilst explaining Kong's role on the island. He revealed that the seismic charges had disturbed the Skullcrawlers, and that one of the beasts had killed his enemy-turned-friend Gunpei Ikari some years prior. Marlow stressed the importance of Kong's continued survival and growth, warning that if Kong were to go down, the "Big One" would rise up and the Iwi would be wiped out.

(Pictured above: A juvenile Skullcrawler within the boneyard, circa. 1973)

When the split expedition team reunited, they moved through the boneyard on an ill-advised rescue mission for a soldier, Jack Chapman. As they moved through the boneyard, they hide from a juvenile Skullcrawler that regurgitated Chapman's skeletal remains, having killed him some time prior. The Skullcrawler attacked again, killing senior Monarch operative William Randa and shredding through Colonel Preston Packard's forces before being killed by a gas explosion triggered by anti-war photographer Mason Weaver throwing a lighter into a gas vent.

Packard pressed on with his original plan to kill Kong, despite protests from Marlow. When the ape passed out from Packard's napalm trap, the "Big One" (a Skull Devil, the last fully-grown Skullcrawler) emerged from the nearby waters and approached the party. A weakened Kong attempted to fight back but was defeated, as the Skull Devil pursued the remaining survivors.

The Skull Devil swatted away soldier Earl Cole, not falling for his attempt to coerce it into eating him whilst holding a pair of grenades. As the Skull Devil closed in on the survivors, Kong rejoined the fight and engaged it in a vicious encounter. With some assistance from the humans, Kong killed the Skull Devil by ripping its internal organs out through its mouth. Satsified that he had avenged his parents, Kong left the humans alone to be rescued from the island.

(Pictured above: Artistic interpretation of the battle between Kong's ancestors and the Skullcrawlers)

In 1995-1996, during Aaron Brooks' unauthorised expedition to Skull Island, mythographer Walter Riccio experienced visions of the island's past, including the war between the Skullcrawler's and Kong's ancestors. An English-speaking member of the Iwi, Ato, explained to Aaron that the Skullcrawler population had receded following the Skull Devil's demise, their numbers controlled by Kong and none reaching the size of the Skull Devil. The team still had to evade two juveniles in the boneyard, however.

In 2019, a horde of Skullcrawlers attempted to respond to Monster Zero's call and leave Skull Island, but were prevented from doing so by Kong.

By 2024, Apex Cybernetics had managed to obtain a number of Skullcrawler eggs, and may have been breeding the animals for experimentation. A small team composed of conspiracy theorist Bernie Hayes, Monarch director Mark Russell's daughter Madison, and her friend Josh Valentine, infiltrated an Apex facility in Pensacola following Godzilla's attack, and stumbled upon a transport bound for Hong Kong carrying a clutch of Skullcrawler eggs.

(Pictured above: A giant Skullcrawler being executed by Apex Cybernetics' superweapon, Mechagodzilla, circa. 2024)

The trio found their way into a "sacrifice pit" containing various assorted viscera from previous creatures, including Skullcrawlers. They had arrived just in time to witness a demonstration of Apex's trump card, a Titan-sized mech built in Godzilla's image, christened as Mechagodzilla. CEO Walter Simmons, witnessing the demonstration, ordered the release of "Number 10" into the pit.

Number 10, a Skullcrawler exceeding the Skull Devil in size, charged at the humans and attempted to eat Madison before being grabbed by Mechagodzilla. The mecha dislocated the Skullcrawler's limbs, leaving it helpless to defend itself as it fired it's A-74 Proton Scream Cannon into the beast's mouth, slicing the Skullcrawler in half before deactivating due to power limitations.

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And there you go! Despite the many discoveries Monarch have made since 1973, few seem to compare to the Skullcrawlers in terms of how terrifying they are. While none are known to remain on Skull Island, populations surely still exist within Hollow Earth, endlessly searching for food to reach an impossible satisfaction...

Until next time,

Monarch: After Dark