#bio is fun

[randommillie-22]

HIIIIII EVERYONEEEEE :]]]]]

Posting after so long todayyyy😭😭

Exam period<<<<<<<

Anywayyy, here's today's fact of the day, and i hope you guys like it :)

Fact of the day:

Some fungi create zombies, then control their minds!

The tropical fungus Ophiocordyceps infects ants’ central nervous systems. Once it has been in an insect’s body for nine days, it has complete control over the host’s movements. According to National Geographic, it forces the ant to climb trees, then convulse and fall into the cool, moist soil below, where fungi thrive. Once there, the fungus waits until exactly solar noon to force the ant to bite a leaf and wait for death.

[peacheskoo]

No capes/actors AU came to me via a dream and I have since been obsessing over it,,

I have so many ideas over it but my fav is currently that the Jasons are brothers because of the quick switch between seasons/robins and how they couldn’t use the same actor for older Jason so they just asked his older brother to be Red Hood Jason, Little Jason is way younger because they were trying to emphasize how small street kid Jason was

Part 1

[clannfearrunt]

the octopus is the most flexible animal on earth due to having one thousand bones in each arm

vote team skeleton. for Bone Octopus

[xmaveria]

I was part of the @swimonzine Volume 10 a shark charity zine. You may still purchase it here which I highly recommend it to shark fans and enthusiasts. I'm always excited to be part of zines like these and this was no different! I picked two Deep Ocean Sharks, The greater green lantern shark, and the lesser known Megamouth cousin of the Whale shark and Basking Shark

[skydaemon]

so we (and by we, i mean the very specific overlap of jews and nerds among whom i make my home) talk a lot about how tolkien's dwarves, in both the books and movies, were likely influenced by certain jewish stereotypes. obsessed with gold/wealth, secretive (especially about their language and religion), refugees from their ancestral home, portrayed with big, sometimes hooked, noses and interesting facial hair, and most specifically: the favourite little meow meows of one particular god, causing them to be shunned and persecuted by other races and creeds. this is likely unintentional, coming from the subconscious of tolkien in the same way orcs were "based on mongols" (ew colonialism) and activating subconscious biases/stereotypes in the people who designed the dwarves for the movies. it's subtext, albeit subtext that influenced the next eighty years of fantasy.

but what i don't see much discussion of is the fact that in terry pratchett's discworld, it's intentional. terry pratchett's dwarves are, more or less, jews.

carrot is a human adopted by dwarves, based on human standards. but within dwarf culture, he IS a dwarf. specifically, he has undergone specific rituals and memorised certain passages, making him LEGALLY a dwarf. this is basically how conversion works in judaism. indeed, as in judaism, it's considered rude to even mention that carrot is six feet tall and obviously wasn't born into the culture he has adopted.

the dwarves also have internal rifts - there are a group of 'orthodox' dwarves who consider the dwarves in ankh-morpork (who have adopted other customs and don't follow traditional roles) not to be dwarves at all, and don't recognise carrot as a dwarf for the same reason. they believe that the way to be a dwarf is to live in an all-dwarf community and follow their traditional rules, while other dwarves believe they need to change with the times and integrate (at least somewhat) with larger society. jewish as fuck.

there's also the interaction of dwarves with gender. when cherie comes out as female (which isn't a recognised gender by dwarvish society) she is ostracised for taking on the feminine roles common to other discworld races. however, she could never THINK of cutting off her beard, because she is still a dwarf. i see parallels with women in judaism taking on roles traditionally considered 'masculine' (e.g., as rabbis, wearing tallit and kippot) and the acceptance of queer people into jewish communities. there's lots of great discussion about cherie as a trans character on tumblr, btw.

finally, something that particularly strikes me is the line from carrot in tfe, where he says that the biggest dwarf city on the disc is ankh-morpork. obviously all diaspora communities can relate, but it's really something to know that new york is the city with the most jews in the world (960k to jerusalem's 570k. btw, 3rd is LA!).

i just love that, again, consciously or unconsciously, pratchett incorporated more positive elements of jewish culture into his portrayal of the dwarves.

[styllwaters]

if youre still taking requests - Draw a cool species youve seen in the spec bio community mayhaps?

Enamoured by @sparrowlucero's space whales

[finemealprompt]

DP X DC Prompt #64

Cass knew she had a little brother. One not so much younger than herself. When her father sought a partner to create the ideal child to become an assassin, he hadn’t settled for just one person. 

So, yes, Cassandra’s aware she has a brother out there. Daniel, she thinks she heard he was called. If rumors are to be believed, he was just as skilled as she had been in his training. Although, not as good as herself. She never met him, though. She had just heard how one day he disappeared without a trace. 

Therefore, it’s entirely possible that the boy in front of her claiming to be her brother is who he says he is.

[aeriona]

hello chat, i have provided Fish Lore for this fine evening

Salmonids are a kind of fish in the Mollusc Era, and they differ radically from inkfish both physiologically and culturally. For example, they have an entirely different gender system, compared to the average cephalopod's nonexistent one!

Most Salmonid cultures have two primary genders, which for now I've dubbed as "Silver" and "Red". All salmon are born Silver, with the males turning into Reds (and only for the breeding season, after which they will become Silvers again). Females stay Silver for their whole lives.

The males' regular fluctuation in colour is reflected in how they are referred to, with distinct sets of pronouns and honourifics for the two colours they may be. This differs from inkfish in the sense that they typically don't have gendered language at all in their languages.

Using this logic on the in-game models, it becomes clear that almost all boss salmonid classes are Silvers, with exceptions being the Maws*, Flyfish and Fish Stick operators (the latter are too young to have their breeding colours).

The only other difference between the sexes is an egg pouch in females, the opening of which connects to the underside of the jaw inside the mouth. They use this to carry Golden Eggs.

Upon a Boss Salmonid’s death, the eggs are usually forcefully ejected from the mouth, an adaptation to prevent suffocation of the eggs from within the mother’s body. This is why golden eggs seem to "burst" from the bodies of Boss Salmonids when they are killed.

*Since Maws are male and do not have throat pouches, they keep their golden eggs inside bags and/or satchels. Flyfish and Fish Stick drivers store their eggs in the machinery they operate as they are far too small to carry them themselves. 

oh, and here's a little bonus for making it this far:

smallfry. the dubious creature. they're about the size of a small dog.

And finally, here's an older post where i also talk about Salmonid Lore (warning, disgusting moldy old art)

[kabutoden]

karkat is my favorite out of all the trolls. i wanted to give him lore based around rove beetles, a species of beetle that evolved to appear, act and smell like ant larva, and social isopods, one of my favorite species of bugs!! i think karkat would be really, REALLY upset about not growing wings when he finally has his second molt, instead developing a stronger, heavier shell. sorry dude, i thought wings AND cool emotional sensitivity abilities were too overpowered. bugs as metaphor perhaps...

[t34-mt]

"Centaur body plan is overdone" false + who cares + it's just fun

[legokingfisher]

Riyu’s custom bluetooth headphones from that one post btw 👍

Imagine being able to fly above scenic landscapes whilst listening to bangers. He’s living my dream bro

[endomentendo]

the master post is almost done, but I want everyone to still get involved since y’all have been such great help.

Feel free to join residence in wonderland, your character is both cannon/non cannon in the au since it’s Wonderland!

[wyrmwright]

a day with the seraphim + ex-warlords

[alchemistc]

Tommy has been in a Lavender marriage for ten years and since his cousin does his taxes he actually kind of forgot about it. He's pretty sure she lives in Florida now?

Tommy gets an email from Alicia letting him know that she's thinking she might actually come out to a few of her friends, and not even thinking about it says something offhand to Buck about his wife finally coming out of the closet. "Apparently it's a good year for that."

Buck reacts to this news super extra normal-like, as we would expect.

(He spirals for days and ducks Tommy's calls and begs for advice and finally it comes to a head when he blurts out something to the effect of "Well you can't marry me if you're ALREADY MARRIED TOMMY.")

Tommy, licking powdered sugar off his thumb: Evan, you haven't even told me you love me.

Buck, flailing, halfway through his tirade, pauses and blinks: You should get a divorce.

Tommy, who has already contacted a lawyer: Do you consider it less like cheating if the words don't cross your lips?

[lycanthrop-ee-art]

fellow spec bio enthusiasts may I recommend. drawing your creatures like a five year old would

[kitnita]

wyatt johnston & jake oettinger postgame   —   VGK vs DAL;   game 7   —   05.05.24

[wyatt, barry sanders is one of the best running backs of all time, and you did some stuff on skates tonight that i hadn’t seen him do on cleats. what’d you eat for dinner?]  (laughs) um … thank you (laughs) um, i mean, my pregame meal is, uh, is chicken and pasta, um, you know, i had al biernat's, a couple of the boys go there, so … um, yeah, i mean, it’s the same, same meal before every home game. um, but yeah, thank you.  [that chicken and pasta didn’t make you move like that, brother.]