#aquatic navigation

[bookloversofbath]

How to Read Water: Clues, Signs and Patterns from Puddles to the Sea :: Tristan Gooley

[dndtreasury]

Pirate Captain's Hat by Timmi's Treasure Vault

[astralix]

Sailor Pisces' Tags

Answers

〖answers〗♓💃 『dancing around the answer』

Chat/Dashboard Commentary

〖chat〗♓💃 『skipping on the water’s surface』

Ic replies

〖replies〗♓💃 『it’s me mai』

Aesthetics

〖aesthetics〗♓💃 『aquamarine vistas』

Musings

〖musings〗♓💃 『musings along the shoreline』

Quizzes & questionnaires

〖quizzes〗♓💃 『aquatic results』

playlist/soundtrack

〖soundtrack〗♓💃 『singing in the rain』

Character tag

〖maiko enkai〗♓💃 『pisces oceanic aquamarine power make up』

journal/prose/story

〖story〗♓💃 『writ with squid ink』

Shipping headcanons

〖shipping〗♓💃 『flushing scales』

Nsfw

〖nsfw〗♓💃 『shimmering tail』

Headcanon

〖headcanon〗♓💃 『crowned princess of poseidon』

Verse tags

Main verse

〖main verse〗♓💃 『neo queen poseidon』

[catgirlweed]

Please tell us the lore for your Outertale redesigns please please please pleas please please

ok!!!

in this au the monsters are literal aliens rather than just being monsters from earth. the dreemurrs are living stars, pretty much gods amongst monsters that eventually had a child together. i dont really know how chara would end up being adopted by the dreemurrs but as a child they found themselves on the monsters planet and were taken in by the dreemurrs like in canon. this is first contact between humans and monsters and a few years after chara is adopted, the two species make contact.

like before, chara ends up committing suicide and monsters are blamed for it. i dont have a lot of the details ironed out (this is more or less for fun), but it leads to war between humans and monsters, with humanity winning and trapping monsters on their planet forever, using technology to keep them grounded (i've been considering humanity using mechs based off chara but nothing is super set in stone)

its p obvious that i dont have a lot of the plot super planned out, but everything goes down the same as in canon. i imagine that rather than flowey just existing as a flower he hijacks one of the chara mechs and pilots that, or possibly frisk being a pilot assigned to guard monsterkind? not too sure :/

most of the lore aside of that is just worlbuilding stuff. snowdin being a village high up in the mountains, waterfall being a massive underwater civilisation in a cave, the ruins and new home being two seperate cities ruled by toriel and asgore. hotlands is also underground, being pretty similar to how it is in canon and inhabited, but i picture all the monsters living there would be more designed to live in that kind of environment lol

alphys and undyne designs i was gonna post with a few more under the cut btw

[iguanodont]

The Monoculi (informally dubbed ‘peebs’) are not exactly a new species from me, but they’ve gone through a pretty drastic redesign since I last posted anything about them. These are a spacefaring species from the same universe as birgworld! Details under the cut.

The Monoculi are so-called for the large compound eye that comprises the “head”. The densely packed ommatidia allow for crisp image resolution, and a variation in the depth of the lenses give the eye a range of acuity from only a few feet along the lower half to hundreds of meters along the top. Monoculi are nocturnal creatures which evolved to navigate complex cave systems by day and tangled branches by night; they have good depth perception and low-light vision but are nearly blind in regular daylight, and cannot perceive color.

The Mono homeworld is peculiar for the presence of a ring, the remnants of two moons which collided early in the planet’s history and bombarded the surface with chunks of space rock long after the planet’s crust had cooled. The result is an unusual abundance of heavy metals in the environment. Iridium, a prohibitively rare mineral on earth, comprises orange-yellow compound which carries oxygen through a Monoculus’s veins. The ring itself also has drastic effects on seasonal surface temperatures, though as on birgworld, life there has adapted accordingly.

Monoculi molt to grow like earth arthropods, but they only do so one segment at a time. A newborn larvae, one of 2 - 5 siblings, will remain soft and aquatic for about 8 months, until it loses its gills and hardens for the first time. They do not begin growing the first proper body segment until the thorax is as large as an adult’s. Molting and mating are both intimately tied to mineral pools found deep in their ancestral cave system. Without them, a molt will invariably fail and lead to severe health complications. Monoculi are hermaphrodites, and mate by pressing the gonopores (small openings under the first pair of arms) against the soft carapace of a first - third instar body segment, fresh after molting. The spawn will bore directly into the segment and trigger its transformation into a reproductive segment, which falls off after young are produced.

These sophonts are relatively large and long lived, with 200+ year old individuals sporting nearly 20 body segments not unheard of. They are also well into their space age, with a once-thriving space tourism industry buckled by a massive recession in recent decades. Rumour has it that several of the abandoned exoplanetary retreats still harbor stranded staff… but the company that built them dissolved and nobody has scraped up to funds for a rescue mission. They avoid contact with other sophonts, with the exception of the swimslugs, with whom they maintain a friendly cultural and technological exchange.

————

Btw, I do still post almost weekly sketches and worldbuilding notes on my patreon

[theresattrpgforthat]

Mint's TTRPG Library

Here is a list of links to the Collections I add Itch.io games to on the regular, where I often go to in search for games to meet folks' recommendation requests.

These collections are large and unwieldy. I'm not certain that they're easy to navigate, but if you want to do some browsing, you certainly have options!

Systems

Belonging Outside Belonging Breathless Caltrop Core Charge Descended from the Queen Firebrands Forged in the Dark Honey Games (Honey Heist) Into the Odd Lasers + Feelings LUMEN Par-AGON (Paragon System) PbtA Push Together We Go Troika (A bunch of Troika supplements) Tunnel Goons (AKA Goon Games) What’s So Cool About _?

Genre

Adventure - With Pulp! (Westerns, Dinosaurs, Spies, Time Travel) Bittersweet Futures (Post-Apocalypse) Botanical Adventures (Plants) Bring Me The Evidence! (Mysteries) Cogs and Steam (Steampunk) Delicious Delights (Food & Cooking) Dirtpunk (Revolution, Rebellion, Fighting) Eras Both Real & Imagined (Historical, Faux-Historical) Everyone Loves A Competition (Competitions, Sports) Fae and Fen (Faeries & Goblins) Fangs, Fangs, Fangs (Vampires) Grim & Gritty (Gritty & Grimdark Fantasy) Hearts & Threads (Romance) Manners & Mischief (Social & Political) Mechs and Tech (Mechs & Robots) Modern-Day Mishaps (Modern-Day Setting) Monsters & Mutants (Monsters, Monster Hunters, Pokemon - simulators) Neon Lights & Cyber Nights (Cyberpunk) Oh So Anime (Anime & Manga themed) Paranormal Activity (Ghosts, Cryptids, Death) Pastoral & Cozy (Cozy Games, Witch Games) Paws and Feathers and Scales (Animals) Sorcerous Intentions (Magic-Users) Stars and Science (Science-Fiction, Space) Sword & Sorcery & So Much More (General Fantasy) Teenage Hijinx (Teenagers) The Sea Calls (Oceans, Aquatic, Pirates) With Great Power (Superheroes, Magical Girls, Fantasy Superpowers)

Other

Abstract Games & System Bones (SRDs, Genre-less) By Pen and Paper Played (Epistolary Games) Funky Fresh Flavors (Miscellaneous) GM-Less Solitary Adventures (Solo Games) System-Neutral Settings (Adventures & Settings) The Art of Creation (Collaborative World-building) Two Can Play At That Game (Duet Games)

[i-was-today-years-old-when]

i learned that the Platypus stands out as one of the most unique and intriguing animals globally, brimming with contradictions and surprising features. Here are some astonishing contradictions and exceptional traits that will surely blow your mind:

It is a mammal, yet it lays eggs. This contrasts with the common expectation that mammals give birth to live young.

It produces milk to nurse its puggles (young platypuses) after hatching, yet it has no nipples. The milk is secreted through pores in the skin, and the puggles lap it up from the mother's belly.

Its digestive system is truly distinct, lacking a stomach and also teeth. Instead, it utilizes gastroliths (small stones) in its gizzard to aid in breaking down food.

Displaying a duck-like bill, a trait typically associated with birds, it's equipped with sensors to detect electrical signals from its prey. This feature is unparalleled among mammals.

The male platypus possesses venomous spurs on its hind legs, reminiscent of a reptilian trait.

Despite its semi-aquatic nature, it boasts webbed feet ideal for swimming like aquatic animals, alongside strong claws suited for burrow-digging for land-based living.

Employing both echolocation (sound-based navigation) and electrolocation (detecting electrical fields generated by muscle contractions in prey), it adeptly hunts underwater. This remarkable ability allows it to hunt without relying on eyes, ears, or smell.

As a monotreme, it has a single opening for the digestive, urinary, and genital organs, whereas in other species these organs are separate.

What a weird animal. It's so weird that it's hilarious that when the first specimen was sent to England about 200 years ago, British scientists initially believed it to be a hoax, suspecting that someone had combined the beak of a duck with the body of an otter or beaver.

[dogpastra]

OH YEAH LET'S FUCKING GO

my take on veldigun alex

i just like sea creatures

click for better quality reblogs > likes

[captain-space-kin]

My take on the regional Sora’s trend! She’s an alien now >:3

I had no idea what to do for this initially, but then it hit me, I could just shove her into my OC story. If I have the motivation I might shove everyone else into it too! I roughed out some ideas for the main cast while working on this.

A (sort of) brief lore explanation and tag list under the cut o7 (also tumblr killed the quality so click for a better view etc etc)

A lot of this still a work in progress since I’ve been changing this species lore a lot recently, but! Starsino’s are a semi-aquatic vaguely amphibious + reptilian race, whose society at large bears a striking resemblance to Imperium (hence why I chose it for Sora). Their eyesight is not great, and as a whole the species used to have a sixth sense that would them navigate in difficult to see areas like underwater (similar to a platypus!). At some point the ✨Space Fae✨ (not an 100% accurate description but it’d take too long to explain their lore afshhdf) came down and gifted them the ability of True Sight. Which expanded their sixth sense to allow them access to telepathic/telekinetic abilities. Eventually the ✨Space Fae✨ got bored and left but also took the True Sight with them, which inadvertently cut off their species ability to access this sixth sense at all, which caused their entire society to collapse. Not everyone lost their “sight” but the majority of people did. Some people are still born with the sixth sense and even True Sight, they’re called Seers and True Seers respectively.

Nowadays there are two major factions of Starsino’s society, The Dictatorship, and The Cult. Both are trying to restore everyone’s access to the True Sight they’re just going about it a different way. There’s a lot more to it them this but it can basically be boiled down to a Science Vs. Magic thing.

Sora being born with True Sight (which is where her tech manipulation stuff comes in), is taken from her family as a baby and given to the Science People to experiment on. Eventually she escapes and makes it out of Starsino controlled space. Where she meets Arin! Who is just some human guy who managed to get off of Earth somehow, idk I haven’t really worked that all out.

Anyway! Gonna try to not let this be an all consuming project like my AU’s usually are, but it is oh so tempting

Tag list -

@Inspectorghoul @fading-through-existence @juniperjellyfish @carmelo-san @lightningchicken

@crying-over-cartoons @officercooks @mywasasi @ashclouds366 @basicallyjaywalker 

@finn-m-corvex @garmaballs

[horseimagebarn]

archive ask submit faq

hello and welcome to horseimagebarn this is where i write descriptions of horse pictures for my audience in order to explore the questions why how and okay as well as ponder the true nature of the equine i shall now explain the ins and outs of this blog to you for ease of navigation and understanding for this shall be my pinned post for all to enjoy number one you may submit horse images to me that you want me to write a description for and i shall try to oblige you however i receive many many many submissions and cannot always conjure up a description that is both helpful and heartful so i cannot guarantee a fulfillment of your request though i assure you every single submission is looked at and smiled at by myself no matter what number two if you say something funny or cool or interesting every friday i do a weekly interaction recap where i respond to everything i find fun to respond to that week in one place or if its in an ask or reblog i may reblog or respond to that separately we will see number three my horses are categorized using a tagging system if you wish to navigate them here or in my archive here are all of the tags i use and links to view them neighhhh - typical horse posts this is for when you just want to see the horses without seeing my asks or reblogs

joy - for the happy

whimsy - for the positive oddities and love of life

cursed - this is cursed

lament - for sadness

anger - self explanatory

sloth - laziness and comfort

love - horses that are in love

friendship - horse or horses and some other being or beings displaying friendship

indulgence - indulging in food water alcohol drugs etc

intelligence - doing tasks that hint at an above average intelligence

small - small or miniature horses

baby - baby horses

decadence - fanciness and elaborateness

evil - evilness and cruelty

unusual - this is unusual

vehemence - upset or disgust

styling - for all the well dressed horses

dog - there is a dog in the image

cat - there is a cat in the image

animals - all other animals

cute - i think this horse is cute

aquatics - the horse is in the water

uncomfortable - the horse is uncomfortable or i am uncomfortable

regular - a pretty regular and or uncontroversial image of a horse

interesting - just interesting to me

beautiful - a truly gorgeous image

weather - horse interacting with the aspect of weather

singular horse - one horse

multiple horses - multiple horses

indoors - indoor horse

outdoors - outdoor horse

horseimagebarn talking - i am speaking in a post that is not the typical horse post like asks or reblogs and such so if you are just here for the horses and not my other strange ramblings i suggest muting this tag

horseimagebarn announcements - announcements regarding horseimagebarn

horseimagebarn weekly recap - aforementioned weekly interaction recaps trinket - one specific miniature horse that is an etsy model of beautiful miniature horse clothes in my local area that i have a parasocial relationship with enjoy my blog and remember to love horses every day or at least most days

[t34-mt]

tepueh pu, the domesticated que'arsaeb animals of maanuls that act as a "sheperd dog" for them, but for the ocean obviously. more info and images below ->

tepueh pu are a tiny aquatic animal of the que'arsaeb reign meaning it has 6 limbs and its body is segmented in distinct parts, It also means they have a sort of "bone" exo-skeleton with rough skin on top. their front limbs who serve no purpose but to do courting dance and occasionally help themselves to crawl around.

The fur-like things around the eyes and front limbs are purely for courtship, they are not made out of modified feathers as feathers are exclusive to the silieus reign, instead its sort of bristles that are quite rough to the human touch. maanuls do find it entertaining to see them court and as a result of that, they get excited during the part of the year when they court. Creating safe temporary spaces on the beach usually being circle-shaped, all maanuls do is watch them perform and fall over, if they cant get up they come and assist them to put them on their feet again. Tepueh courting consists of them desperately trying to get on their feet (usually being pushing themselves onto a rock to balance on their feet, but more commonly maanuls help them to), then the bright ones will shake their arms. Extending them and vigorously shaking the bits that have the bristles, that when rubbing against each other rapidly, create a sound that can be compared to sand being shaken in a jar. the brighter the bristles, the better the sound, and the bigger the moves is what will attract a partner. Said partners are the dull ones.

I'm not sure if they're a unisex species, they might just be random individuals who get a certain boost of hormones that gives them bright bristles and they have to perform for the others who are dull, or if they're just bright males and dull females.

Like i said they're very pathetic on land, meaning maanuls carry them when they need to be transported on land for a reason. Central north maanuls who need to migrate once a year due to temperature drops in the far north have to carry their Tepueh pu on long distances, thus they use these attire, where they attach 2 tupueh pu per side, transporting 4 in total. While I'm talking about north maanuls, every other maanuls would also use this attire to transport multiple tupueh pu. Although said attire has regional variants in terms of designs, a rough look at what a northern one would look like here ->

as seen in the example, tupueh pu can have different color variations per region, While this is not the final look of northern tupeuh pu there would be light coloration from mutations. Tupueh pu are purely bred to be working species not a pet, so while color mutations are seen as a fun thing its not their priority or what they're searching for. While not a family pet it doesn't mean children do not play with them from time to time in the water. However, tupueh pu can be used as a service "pet" in the water for maanuls with blindness or other disabilities affecting vision that would require a service pet to navigate in waters. tupueh pu are never bred to be fancy but to be useful to maanuls, they're very grateful to have them and treat them with great respect.

While they are not house pets it doesn't mean they cannot be pampered outside of working hours by maanuls, being given treats, groomed daily by owners, and being treated with care for the smallest illness they could catch.

the breathing holes of tupueh pu are on each side of their back, due to being aquatic for quite a while their opperculums had the time to shift to a more convenient place for quick gasp of air at the surface. Their maanul owners however do not, maanuls when wanting to breathe before swimming again need to get on their back once reaching the surface, as their opperculums are placed here. While technically they could push air to enter their vocal vents and redirect it to the lungs its not something they do as they do not inhale enough air using this method to feel comfortable.

ocean shepherd as a concept (final version will be posted separately)

warning The cattle shown here is not the final design, they will not look like this once ocean sheperd as a concept are done and fleshed out in the future. this is just an example

ocean shepherd, or just called shepherd among maanuls, originally i thought of them guarding a group of smaller animals (small fish) tho the idea of one or three large slow domesticated cattle sounds more cool in my opinion and also easier to contain for maanuls overall. their cattle would need maanul assistance to live comfortably, maanul coming near them by canoe or even swimming if they're not so far. usually always have at least one maanul by their side who shifts their guarding job with other fishermen after a period of time. I imagine said cattle to be kept in a shallow kelp forest where it has all the food it needs, and little to no predators around to worry around. Maanuls might even sit on their backs during their shift duty because the cattle is docile and doesn't bother them doing it, plus they also need to get on them when they pamper them (by cleaning them)

this is my rough vision of it for now, while i have tupueh pu (tho its quite bare bones on this post) , i just need to design the cattle now, then write a whole long post about how maanul sheperds works.

- - -

the vague shapes i did to figure out tupueh pu (in chronological order)

heres some fun stuff, i wanted them to be awkward looking, those penguins from subnautica were on the back of my mind while doing them, creature design is just doing vague shapes for me

[dystopicjumpsuit]

The Plant Prowler of Pabu

A/N: I’m scared that Pabu is going to be toast after this week, so I wrote a little fluff to make myself feel better. Also, this is the first time I’ve been able to finish a fic in six weeks, so… yay me!

Pairing: Crosshair x Reader (GN)

Rating: T (but MDNI as always)

Wordcount: 2.1K

Warnings and tags: mild language; fluff; a kiss; spoilers for The Bad Batch season 3

Summary: Exploring the island during his first morning on Pabu, Crosshair encounters a mastermind of botanical crime: you.

Suggested Listening: 

Masterlist | Sign up for my tag list

Whoever said, “It’s darkest just before dawn” had clearly never woken up to go for a walk before sunrise. Even if Crosshair hadn’t had enhanced vision, it would have been easy for him to navigate his way down to the beach of Pabu in the dim half-light. Hunter had wordlessly watched him exit the Marauder, pretending to still be asleep, but Crosshair knew that his brother would have drawn his vibroblade in a flash if he’d even glanced sideways at Omega.

Crosshair didn’t exactly blame Hunter for his caution, but it didn’t make it any easier to swallow. The squad had arrived on the idyllic island the previous day, and Crosshair was immediately swarmed by a horde of curious locals. With Hunter determined to keep Crosshair in sight at all times, there had been no escape from their onslaught of hospitality, and by the time the celebrations had died down, Crosshair had been clinging to the tattered threads of his patience and sanity.

It was a hell of a thing to go from barely speaking to anyone for months on end to suddenly being plunged into the midst of a vibrant and chaotic crowd of nosy spectators. He’d escaped to the Marauder at last and pretended to sleep, keenly aware of Hunter’s eyes on him. He’d spent enough time under the microscope in the past several months, though, and he was ready for some privacy.

And so it was that he found himself wandering down the empty terraced walkways of Pabu, making his way to the shoreline in the pale gloaming. He didn’t encounter a single soul as he walked—barring the ubiquitous moonyos that seemed to frolic across the island at all hours. Pabu was the sort of place that seemed too flawless to be real. Too flawless to last.

Not quite as flawless as it seems on the surface, he acknowledged as he turned down a path that snaked through one of the sections of the island that had yet to be rebuilt after the catastrophic sea surge he’d heard about countless times at the welcoming party the previous night. The buildings had been reduced to rubble, and judging by the weeds sprouting in the cracks of the walkway, the locals tended to avoid this particular part of the island.

Perfect.

The gentle breeze off the ocean was chilly, and he told himself it was the reason his hand trembled more than usual that morning. He shoved both hands deep into his pockets as he navigated the last few levels before he reached the beach. As he stepped onto the sand, a gust of wind buffeted against him. It was bracingly cold, and it smelled like salt and aquatic vegetation and wet earth, and he closed his eyes for a moment, breathing deeply and focusing on the sensation.

When he opened his eyes, a flicker of movement in his peripheral vision had him snapping his head to the side. He froze. A figure meandered slowly down the beach, sticking close to the bottom of the hill where the lush foliage grew thickly right up to the edge of the sand. He was certain you had spotted him, but you didn’t immediately acknowledge his presence.

He watched for a moment as you paused and stooped down to examine one of the plants, then carefully plucked a few bunches and laid them in the basket you carried. Bizarre. What the kriff was this person doing out here so early? Nothing innocent, that was for damned sure. Why would anyone sneak down to such an isolated stretch of the beach at this obscene hour if they didn’t have nefarious intent?

Aside from me, obviously.

He squinted slightly. Even with his enhanced eyesight, it was dark enough, and you were far enough away, that it was difficult to make out your features, but he was reasonably sure you hadn’t been at the party the night before. 

Hmph.

He turned and walked the opposite direction, away from the person who’d had the audacity to interrupt his solitude by getting to the beach first. Better not to get involved.

Crosshair took a different route the next morning, arriving at the beach just as the sun rose. As bad kriffing luck would have it, you were exiting the beach just as he arrived, and your paths inevitably intersected. He braced himself for a conversation, but you simply met his eyes and nodded quietly as you passed him.

He suppressed a sigh of relief. Stepping aside to make room for you to pass on the narrow trail, he couldn’t help noticing that your basket was filled with a variety of neat bundles of leaves and twigs. Odd, but your hobbies were none of his concern. Even if they did involve herb rustling and grand theft shrubbery.

He continued his path down to the shoreline and wandered along the water’s edge, staring out at the horizon. Out of the corner of his eye, he could still see your solitary figure making its way up the steep slope and into Lower Pabu. He was now completely sure that you’d not been at the welcoming party, nor had he encountered you in the village. It wasn’t that surprising; after all, hundreds of people lived on the island, and he wasn’t in any particular hurry to meet them all—or any of them, if he were honest.

Of course, he didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. Wrecker had flatly refused to allow Crosshair to isolate himself, while the gregarious mayor Shep Hazard seemed equally dedicated to the twin causes of thrusting Crosshair into the community and plying him with as much fruit as he could eat in a lifetime. He was starting to feel a tiny surge of violence every time he saw a jogan fruit.

On the third day, Batcher woke up with Crosshair and scrambled out of the Marauder, bounding ahead of him down the ramp and then turning to wiggle her entire body in anticipation as he followed. He let the lurca hound pick the path that morning, not bothering to hide his thin smile at Batcher’s endless curiosity and enthusiasm. She crisscrossed the walkways incessantly, sniffing and exploring, chasing the moonyos playfully down the hill, investigating every nook and cranny of the village, and easily running five times the distance that Crosshair traveled on their way down to the water.

The beach was empty this morning, to Crosshair’s relief. At last, some peace and quiet. Or at least as quiet and peaceful as it could be with Batcher rocketing back and forth across the wet sand, grunting and huffing as she charged into the surf and back up to Crosshair, crouching into a bow as she tried to entice him to play with her. When he didn’t immediately comply, she took off chasing a flock of seabirds, scattering them into the air in a cacophony of indignant squawking.

She chased the birds down the beach, barking joyously as she splashed through the surf. When the hound disappeared around a bend in the shoreline, Crosshair sped up slightly, not wanting to risk Omega’s wrath if anything happened to her pet on his watch. As he rounded the bend, he was greeted with a most unexpected sight: Batcher was lying on her back on the sand, writhing with delight as you rubbed her belly.

Your basket was overturned, and all the neat little bundles of herbs were strewn across the sand. It wasn’t hard to deduce the instigator of such carnage. Batcher spotted Crosshair and immediately jumped up and shook the sand off herself before rushing to greet him.

“Down,” he said sternly as she jumped up and swiped at him with her massive paws.

She dropped obediently, and trotted along next to him as he approached you. You’d already begun picking up your fallen bundles of leaves, and he quickly bent to assist you.

“Sorry about that,” he mumbled.

“No harm done,” you replied, shaking a bit of loose sand out of the bundles before you dropped them into your basket. “They all get washed before I hang them up to dry anyway.”

“So you’re not just engaging in botanical heists for the adrenaline rush?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah, it really gets the blood pumping,” you replied, deadpan. “My day just doesn’t feel complete without a little horticultural larceny.”

“I can see you like to live on the edge,” he said with a tiny smile. “The Plant Prowler of Pabu.”

“And I would have gotten away with it, if it weren’t for a mysterious stranger and his meddling dog.”

He liked you. Damn it.

Crosshair didn’t see you for the next several days. He assumed you’d moved your criminal enterprise elsewhere on the island, and after the team returned from Barton IV, he didn’t feel the same need to escape the Marauder as he had previously. Still, he wasn’t sleeping particularly well, and after an excruciatingly restless night, he slipped out of the ship not long before dawn and wandered aimlessly down the streets of Pabu until he found himself in the unstable section he’d discovered on the first day.

As he picked his way through the ruins, he spotted movement two terraces below, and he grinned. Forcing himself to walk casually so you didn’t suspect how pleased he was to see you, he sauntered down to your level, only to find you ripping weeds up from between the fragments of pavement with uncharacteristic abandon.

“What did those plants ever do to you?” he asked.

You must have spotted him before he arrived, because you didn’t even flinch at the sound of his voice.

“Invasive species,” you replied. “I try not to over-forage, but in this case, I’ll make an exception.”

“And I thought your crimes only extended to vegetational theft,” he drawled. “I had no idea you’d escalated to floral murder and agricultural vigilantism.”

“The hero Pabu needs,” you said with a smile that had no business being as charming as it was, considering you were currently covered in a fine layer of dirt and assorted bits of leaves and twigs. “If this plant gets established on the island, we might never be able to eradicate it. It will outcompete the native plants and could cause significant disruptions to the ecosystem.”

“How altruistic of you,” he remarked drily.

“Not at all,” you laughed. “It also happens to be delicious.”

Crosshair stooped down and pulled one of the plants up by the roots, examining it closely. “It’s on sight, then.”

“Exactly. No mercy.”

As the first rays of the sun appeared on the distant horizon, you packed the large bundles of weeds into your basket, then stood and dusted your hands off on your trousers. You stretched a bit, clearly a little stiff from your labor. Impulsively, Crosshair spoke.

“Want to watch the sunrise with me?” You looked surprised at his offer, and he cleared his throat, looking awkwardly away. “Or do you turn into a meiloorun if you stay out past dawn?”

“Yes,” you said. “I mean, no. I mean, yes, I’d like to stay. No, I don’t turn into a meiloorun.”

You bit your lip and stared down at the bundle of weeds in your basket, poking at it ineffectually as you muttered something unintelligible under your breath. Stifling a laugh, Crosshair climbed up onto the crumbling half-wall of a destroyed structure and extended his hand to help you up after him. You scrambled up and sat down next to him, gazing out at the tranquil ocean as the sun began to paint the high clouds in brilliant shades of gold and pastel.

“Not a bad view, is it?” you asked quietly. 

“Definitely worth waking up early,” he replied, watching your face as the light caught on your cheekbones and reflected in your eyes.

Without making a conscious decision, he lifted his hand and brushed a little loose dirt off your cheek. His damned hand trembled, and he mentally cursed. You didn’t seem to notice the slight tremor, though—or if you did, you didn’t say anything about it. Instead, you turned your head slowly, grazing your lips across his fingertips as you met his eyes. It seemed the most natural thing in the galaxy to continue to trace the line of your jaw until his hand curled around the back of your head.

Your lips were soft and warm in the cool breeze, and you tasted like sea salt and dew and something he didn’t quite recognize. Something new. He liked it. You leaned into his kiss, and when at last it came to its natural conclusion, he drew in a shaky breath.

“Hi,” he whispered. “I’m Crosshair.”

---

Want more Crosshair? I have another Crosshair x Reader ficlet here!

Taglist:

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[shineonyoucrazyyandere]

Hello, I have a request, can you please write a short story about yandere Jotoro Kujo jealous of the affection that s/o gives thier pet but can't kill the pet because that would emotionally hurt s/o? btw I love your work and you do a great job at doing it, I hope you continue doing this and that you know that you inspire other people to do this to!

so this is an old ask at this point but I’m going to blow the dust off of it because I randomly want to blurt out some stuff with it.

Inexplicably I think Jotaro just figures out how to navigate around whatever pet you have. Fish/aquatic animals are a soft spot for him, so he pardons himself into your schedule every instance he gets. It freaks you out how well he knows the schedule for your feeding/ cleaning, but with him specializing in marine biology. It gives Jotaro a pass to be a bit invasive.

This trickles down to any other pets, even if he doesn’t have the expertise he usually does research on his downtime when he gets the chance. Now he does furrow his brows in annoyance if a snake happens to bite you somewhere (if that’s your thing pet wise), there’s a lot of restraint on his part to not throw it out the window. Or at least grab it with star platinum. So he just has his stand hover over you if you have an animal that’s not a typical cat or dog.

Have a dog with separation anxiety? (He might have the smallest thing in common with wanting your presence). He’ll deal with that with gritted teeth usually, (this more so leans towards part 3 Jotaro, considering he dealt with Iggy). However, if you tick him off enough and runaway that’s where things get ugly.

He won’t beat or torture your pets if you step out of line, but he will separate them from you for an extended amount of time.

[ranticore]

colony culture is obviously really variable as cultures are but in the main character colony, their practices are strongly influenced by the characteristics of the adult dragon who's been living in the cave for a century. the dragon is large enough that it poses a threat to all else around it - you'd hardly move aside for a line of ants if they happened to be under your boot, and the dragon feels the same for the kobolds. as such the colony has had to construct additional defences to separate themselves from the grand chamber in which the dragon lives. There is a set of massive iron and steel doors, constructed from the leftover armour and weapons of would-be dragon slayers, and beyond these doors are the main warrens, a series of tunnels which make up the residential district. But these tunnels are finite and do not expand, made of very hard stone, so the colony also has a two-tier class structure wherein everyone whose ancestor managed to get a spot in the warrens gets to enjoy safety and security behind the iron doors, while a good half of the population lives in the grand cavern, at the mercy of the dragon and whatever else lives within the caves. having invented classism they proceeded to retroactively invent reasons why someone should deserve to live outside the doors; the crimes of their ancestors, their generally poor character, their unhygienic and scavenging lifestyle. People don't like to think it was random chance that separates them from the people outside the doors.

(cut for length)

There's no fire inside the caves. Ventilation is already poor, and reliant on the ice-caps of the mountain range remaining frozen (i.e those air holes would flood if the glaciers melted). Smoke and fire are dangerous, as are midden heaps, large rotting corpses, or anything else that might produce an excess of unbreathable air. The warrens especially forbid fire, relying solely on proximity to the dragon for warmth, and bioluminescent cave fauna for light. Food is uncooked or served frozen, mainly consisting of blind fish and other aquatic subterranean animals.

The concept of time is rudimentary. There's no night or day, no minute or hour. It's very difficult to convey how long ago something happened without linking it to a notable event that happened at the same time.

Outside the warrens, scavengers follow the dragon's lead - what's yours is mine. Theft is 100% acceptable so long as you're not physically taking an item out of someone's hands while they're using it. To keep a hold on precious belongings, scavengers hoard their things in remote corners of the cave system, far from society. If a hoard is found, it's fair game. But finding it is the challenge. It's accepted that everyone probably has a secret stash somewhere. The stashes usually contain items taken for their aesthetic value from dead dragonhunters, alongside curiosities from the cave itself; strange bones, crystals, mummified animals. A hoard is shared between partners, so collecting nice things is also an act of devotion and commitment.

Scavengers are broken up into broad groupings based on skill. They might work as hunters, fishers, explorers, or navigators, given their advanced knowledge of the cave system granted by having to find a good hoard spot. But they can also be outrunners, the only group of kobolds who regularly leave the cave. Outrunners are the ones bringing back evidence of plants, animals, and concepts from the outside. They may post sentries to warn of an impending dragon hunt, or sneak down to nearby human settlements to steal livestock.

The highest ranking group of scavengers, more important than any other, is the dragoneer group. They are chosen purely based on colour. If you are any variation of black and red, you can be a dragoneer. This is because the dragon's scales are black and red, and a suitably coloured dragoneer can blend in while scavenging on its body. They take scales to be used as blades and shields, shed spines for weapons, and harvest blood from the dragon by farming ticks and lice. Dragon blood is a vitally important nutrient source for the kobolds, usually consumed watered down. In concentrated form it is consumed for ritualistic purposes, the 'quickening agent' used by the mother of matriarchs to imbue her offspring with the ability to commune and share dreams with the dragon. Realistically, the high levels of heavy metals make the concentrated blood unsafe for a pregnant person to drink.

[lucettapanchetta]

Scavengers are like people, full of diversity! Allow me to show you the biological differences between all six of them!

Outskirts / Pipeyard / Farm Arrays Scavengers:

The most common scavenger archetype.

Fur ranges from pale tones to various browns.

Eyes are typically dark and subdued.

Primarily diurnal.

Omnivorous with relatively small mouths.

Lankier and less fluffy compared to other scavenger types.

Sky Islands / Industrial Complex / Chimney Canopy Scavengers:

The second most common archetype.

Possess canine-like lower faces, with coarse ridges on their tusks.

Primarily carnivorous.

Eye colors tend to be dark or desaturated.

Garbage Wastes / Waterfront Facility Scavengers:

A highly nomadic and adaptable group, incorporating other archetypes.

Due to low genetic diversity, they have interbred extensively.

Insectivorous, with mouth mutations suited to their diet.

Possess sensory lip whiskers to detect prey and navigate their environment.

Some dye their fur using weaker pigments, possibly mimicking their acropolitan relatives.

Fur is often mangy or unkempt.

Extremely thin and agile in build.

Acropolis / Undergrowth / Looks to the Moon Scavengers:

Hand-signing evolved substantially due to advancements in scavenger hierarchies.

Most commonly seen with non-functioning tails.

Known for being more "advanced" than most scavengers.

Wiped out after a certain event but repopulated during the Saint Campaign.

Dye their fur and faces with vivid, hyper-pigmented colors.

Features are more pronounced, such as antlers, eyes, and fur texture.

Longer fingers adapted for vertical climbing.

The most diverse group of scavengers.

Shaded Citadel / Dormant Construct Scavengers:

Do not do hand-signing like other scavengers do, comfortably relying on patterned stomps and scratches to create a "language".

Characterized by large, hyperpigmented eyes that tend to glow in darkness.

Small antlers and a slim, hunched figure, enabling them to squeeze into tight spaces.

Many have sensory whiskers, with some becoming blind through evolutionary adaptation.

Their fur is chaotic and untamed.

Somewhat stationary, territorial and known to make noises.

A distinct lack of lower jaw shape often causes frequent drooling.

The literal embodiment of a scavenger, feeding on whatever remains they find.

Drainage System / Sunken Pier Scavengers:

An "aquatic" archetype, though they are not proficient swimmers.

Amphibious hands designed for catching prey in water.

Their fur is dense and semi-waterproof.

Streamlined, smaller antlers suited for their environment.

Eyes tend to be smaller, with a range of colors.

Greenish fur, caused by algae buildup, provides a symbiotic advantage.

Typically, stockier and more robust than other scavengers.

[ninten-draw]

The Tundra Era

In the beginning of the world, there was nothing but cold tundra. Unlike most planets who have a warm magma filled core, the planet of rainworld has a cold void fluid core, with the only natural heat coming from the sun. The world is a freezing tundra with almost nightly blizzards, but not without life, as some creatures have adapted to its freezing ways.

The Ancients Era

Soon, an intelligent species forms form the barren wastelands, known simply as the ancients. The ancients in their form resembled closely to aquatic fishes and insects of our world. They too adapted to their frozen environment, living in caves and underwater homes at first, and then building their own homes and citadels. At this time, they were unaware of their eternal life.

The Karmic Era

The great problem has now been made aware to the ancients, and thus the karmic religion is born. At this time only the first five karma symbols are made known to the ancients, and they do everything in their power to rid themselves of these urges, with very limiting success. It’s around this time that the ancients don their signature masks and adorned clothing as well.

Void Fluid Discovery

While drilling and constructing a train system, the ancients come across stranger structures, indicating a civilization before them. Engineers are soon replaced with paleontologists to dig and study these stranger remnants. As they continue to dig, some start having strange dreams and hallucinations of moving stars, strange worms, an empty void, until they come across the depths, and subsequently the void fluid is discovered

Void Fluid Revolution

With the introduction of the void fluid, ancient society flourishes, now they have a proper way to die. Time is spent expanding the depths, building statues and making sacrifices to the void. Their technology also expands exponentially, now able to make large factories and farms to provide for themselves. The next several karma symbols are also made known to the ancients. However echos are soon discovered in the world, fearful that the void may not have been the perfect solution they were looking for, the ancients seek another solution. This leads to the creation of the iterator, whose purpose is to find a solution to the great problem without the void. During this time, a new boom in the ancients is found, more iterators are made because of their many uses. During this time purposed creatures are brought to life to assist the ancients and iterators. It is also known during this time, that the ancients created the shelters and pathways, a place for creatures to rest in and navigate across the world that had become habituated with urban development. The world is now warmer, with the memories of a cold tundra seeming more like a dream than anything. However despite all the good times, the void is not stupid, and it certainly is displeased that the ancients who once worshipped it were now seeking another solution

The Mass Ascension Event

The great ascension was an interesting, and frightening time. Iterators noticed how more and more ancients were going to ascend, and noted how their reasonings were barely understandable. Other ancients noted how the ones going to ascend seemed almost robotic. The more frightening thing, ancients who previously had no desire in ascension, would find themselves seeking, almost yearning it, the next cycle. More and more ancients were going to ascend, and less were born. The remaining ancients during the last few years of their kind were terrified, it seemed as though every one of their kind was infected with an invisible ailment forcing them to ascend, wether they were ready or not. Some stuck by the iterators begging them to prevent them from leaving to ascend. Others traveled outside of the iterators can, to the corners of the world away from any depths entrances. Any efforts were for naught however, as the remaining ancients went to ascend as well, leaving none behind.

Post Ancient Era

Many years passed after the ancients disappeared, and the world had adapted to the structures that they had left behind. The animals were now used to the unnatural shelters and pathways that the ancients had originally constructed for them, and the iterators who were once tasked with finding a solution to the great problem now mostly did their own thing, including helping lesser creatures on their way to ascension. The slugcat campaigns also take place in this era.

Shelter Destruction

Not everything lasts forever, and this includes the ancients’ constructions. The iterators collapse due to entropy, the world losing its main heat source and being plunged into an icey torrent of blizzards. The shelters that the ancients once made to shield creatures from precipitation, also fell from the constant blizzards and entropy, leaving the creatures who once depended on them alone to brave the elements. A mass extinction follows these events, causing creature, both inorganic and natural, to die out or seek ascension to escape their miserable circumstance.

Everything Must Go

Soon, the void itself releases from its previous underground home, to pull the remaining memories and remnants of this civilization down to the depths and rubicon.

The Tundra Era again

Thus, with the remainder of the ancients gone, the world is left an endless tundra once more, but soon life will start to evolve to this cold wasteland, and soon, an intelligent species of aquatic descent will walk upon the ground, and perhaps, like the civilization before them, seek a way out of this world