#biology is not my thing but is fun

[hieronymousposhe]

meybe i shord start da blood projekt agen.

[the-dragon-girl-27]

edgy ass sketch i never posted, I have a lot of drawings that are just anime person holding or standing next to a big intimidating dragon looking creature now that i think about it probably because that is the thing of all time

Feraligatr is fun to draw lol

[whomeidontknowthem]

Eyes on me – an interactive whump story. Part 1.

Masterpost. Next part.

Content warning: slavery, imprisonment, dehumanizing language, implied future torture, characters express fantasy racism (slave owners are surprisingly not good people).

The slave auction was a grand building, standing tall and proud of its purpose and the wealth of those coming there. It was a place of privilege – on one side of the grand stage, at least. Or on one side of the iron bars, if you were afforded the honor of seeing the stock before the official bidding began – a rare, sparingly given to the most esteemed of patrons opportunity.

Lord Edarwis Teelo greatly enjoyed being one of them. He passed by the row of cells with the dignity that fit his status he had to fight to present – getting to choose before anyone else laid their hands on the collection was exciting. It'd taken many years of work and effort. He couldn't wait to have it all pay off.

Most were boring offerings. People from all over the kingdoms, a few criminals but mostly those sold to slavery to pay off debts. A servant went on about each of them before Lord Teelo threw him a quick glance. The boy was clever enough to close his mouth, letting the lord enjoy the walk in silence, rarely interrupted by any of the scared prisoners. They watched his every move, of course, at least most of them – eyes wide and scared or shut tight or cast away. All pretty faces (the auction only sold the best), skin ranging from deep browns of the Ashai coast to pale pinks from the northern border.

One of them caught the lord's eyes and he paused, studying the boy closer. Young, barely of age, either shaven cleanly or still unable to grow a beard, with such cute little curls on his head and wide hazel eyes. He was a candy for the eyes, shivering in the corner of the sell, twisting his naked body to preserve some sense of modesty.

"He's from Deruveer," the servant chimed in. "From the province. His family needed money after the draught and he was the youngest son. He's rather timid, a great choice if you want someone to do the chores and not bother you much."

Lord Teelo hummed. The boy was pretty, and convenience didn't always mean boredom. He decided to let him be for now, continuing on his way.

The next thing that got his attention was a dull distant clanging, like metal meeting stone with force. "What's that?" the lord wondered.

The servant answered readily, "Ah, it's from our special collection. They're not trained very well yet – you see, my lord, they are from the Northern Steppes."

"A barbarian?" Lord Teelo drawled out, impressed.

"Not just. They were a chieftain of some tribe there, – one of the bigger ones, I've been told. Our army hunted them for a while, until the chief decided to finally surrender. I don't think they expected this kind of a future, though. They are rather unruly."

"Show me," the lord demanded.

It didn't take long for them to reach the special section, and the clanging became all the louder as they came closer. "They want attention," the servant explained with a vaguely apologetic tone. "Their rations have been cut since they bit the handler, and it hasn't improved their temper, yet. It will eventually though. They are sturdy, but nobody is unbreakable."

The lord hummed, turning the corner and finally being able to take in the person they'd been discussing. He expected – something impressive, matching the tales of unruly northern barbarians, dressed in furs and carrying strange weapons, their skin white as silk or even the snow they saw every year there and covered in nasty scars from constant skirmishes against each other. They were all tall as giants and muscular as lions, – all but the one Lord Teelo saw before him, it seemed.

The barbarian sat in the corner of their cell, naked as all slaves were, even though they didn't seem to even try covering anything. Their skin was pale but in a disappointedly human-like way, adorned with iron cuffs and chains going to the wall and a muzzle fitting tightly around their face and leaving only blue eyes and greasy hair out. They caught Lord Teelo's gaze with determination and moved their arm out as far as they could before jerking it back towards the wall. The chain clung against the stone.

"I expected them to be taller," Lord Teelo expressed their disappointment.

"Yes, yes, I also found their look underwhelming when I first saw them," the servant agreed quickly. "But even though they're rather skinny – they can put up quite a fight! If you decide to buy them, my lord, it is advised you keep them in chains and with guards by your side, at least at first. They're a piece of work for sure."

The lord hummed. "Who else do you keep in this special collection of yours."

"Ah! You're gonna like her," the servant brightened. "A real royalty in our modest house! Follow me, my lord."

The cell he led the lord to was bigger than the rest, and less bare. There was a table, a chair, an honest to gods rug, even, and a whole tea set a woman was enjoying in silence. She wasn't dressed as a queen, Lord Teelo noted, her clothes were rather revealing and obviously made to showcase her beauty more than cover her modesty. But she was dressed – more than most people here could say for themselves.

"Royalty?" Lord Teelo mused. The woman turned her head, deeming him worthy of a long look – and it did feel like she was obliging him. The lord gave his best unimpressed stare back.

"She's the princess of former Terzita."

"Ah. The Night of Storms?" the lord guessed as the princess looked away. He watched her, noting the faint bruises running over the tense shoulders.

"The poor thing watched half of her family murdered before her eyes," the servant agreed. "Such terrible fate. It doesn't make her for a more obedient slave, of course – she's still thinking she should be treated with special dignity. We humor her here – but you are not obliged to do the same, my lord."

He didn't, did he. It would be so fun to put her in her place. Oh, yes, he could enjoy a royal maid. And if she didn't feel like playing the role – he would enjoy teaching her what would come of disobedience.

"You have anything more impressive?" Lord Teelo wondered, not taking his eyes away from the woman.

The servant didn't think for long. "We do," he smiled brightly. "Very special. This might be the most special slave of them all, one you can only see once in a lifetime."

"Oh?"

"It's not a human," the servant declared proudly. Lord Teelo perked up with interest. "Nor is it from the archipelago."

"Ah," Lord Teelo responded and the boy smiled at him, seeing right to his excitement. He showed the way without needing to be prompted.

The thing – the creature, – was huddled in the corner, lying on the ground as the two men approached. Its ears – long, obviously inhuman – perked up at the footsteps, but it didn't move from its place. The lord studied its back, the weird patterns streaming down in swirls of color against the unnatural, obsidian black of its skin – furless, at least, and slightly more human in this. Its spine ended up a tail, curling by its legs. A tail!

"Hey!" the servant called out and rattled a key against the iron bars. The creature moved abruptly to face the sound. Lord Teelo was mesmerized by the yellow of its iris and the black of the rest of its eyes. The pupils retracted into slits when they caught the light.

"Is this a fey?" the lord let out a astounded gasp. Even bringing up the fairytales felt childish, but what else could it be?

"We don't know for sure," the servant replied in a whisper respectful of the marvelous situation. "It doesn't speak Tragesh – or any language, for this matter. It doesn't seem incapable of learning – oi! You, want some food?"

"'uud?" the creature mimicked, flashing fangs in its attempt. Its face made some movement Lord Teelo couldn't read. "Yuu hath no 'uud."

"Astounding," Lord Teelo shook his head. Even if he didn't end up owning the creature, just seeing it was a miracle! "Can it do magic?"

"We keep it in a Shiel's collar," the servant explained. "It hasn't shown any, but – we like to be cautious in this case. It is included with the purchase, of course."

"I see," Lord Teelo tore his gaze away with some difficulty. "Anything else?"

"I'm afraid not, my lord," the servant smiled apologetically. "Was something from our collection to your liking?"

Lord Teelo nodded and then thought about it. Money wasn't a problem, but he was only allowed to buy one slave before the auction – which one would it be?

Updates every 7-10 days (depending on how much time I have and how obvious the poll result is)

@isikedmyself878

Tell me to be tagged in new parts!

[the-worms-in-your-bones]

Having a normal time (debating on whether or not time lords can be classified as mammals)

[potatobugz]

i love having complex headcanons and thoughts about jsab it is so funny because i can look at a character and say "this ones full of self loathing and also is a giant snake that lives under a volcano" and in game its the guy who shows up and tries kill you, refuses to elaborate, and dies, and they never show up again.

and then you look at the character and they look like this

[tododeku-or-bust]

What is your specific field of science? You’re a very intelligent and thorough thinker, I can see why you’re a scientist.

Molecular and Cellular Biology, and I'm currently in genetics and oncology! I appreciate the compliment ☺️🙏🏾

[merakiui]

how does azuls octo-dick work like 😭 IM SORRY I NEED VISUALS

Allow me to help paint the visual!!! I have become Professor Meraki (silly delusion), specializing in octopus biology (specifically how that applies to our beloved Azuzu)!!!!!!!!ヾ(^ω^*) welcome to my class!!!!

The octopus's reproductive organ is called a hectocotylus, and it is known as a "modified/specialized arm" (or you can call it a "sex arm") that will transfer sperm to the female octopus. This is usually done by inserting said arm into the female octopus's mantle cavity; he usually keeps her at a distance because most female octopus become cannibalistic and will kill and feast upon their mates (a girlboss, those female octopus).

The arm has three main components (two of which are the ligula and calamus), but the most important part I will discuss is the spermatophore groove! Spermatophore is what octopus semen is called, and they are essentially packs of semen that can be up to one meter in length and contain billions of sperm. Many of these packs will reside in rows along the spermatophore groove because a lot is needed to fertilize many eggs (octopus copulation is said to last hours)!

The octopus's hectocotylus is actually smaller than the rest of its tentacles and so it will keep it curled inward against itself to protect it. It's a very important organ because it is the very thing that will allow the octopus to have enough anatomical rizz to mate with one fair octopus maiden. Sadly, both the female and male octopus will eventually die after mating. Octopus love story is tragic.

To present a visual diagram:

But how does this apply to our beloved tako? I like to think that the biology can be applied well, in that Azul naturally has a hectocotylus in his mer form and that it is universal animal instinct to want to protect such a vital reproductive organ. Although since he's half-human and he has a mother, I don't think his species will die after mating. Perhaps that's just an evolution of merfolk? Maybe it is some human strength or a result of parts of merfolk biology that allow for mating without death? In any case, his love story will not be tragic!!! A very good W for Mr. Azul.

I also think the rest of octopus courting rituals and mating behaviors can be applied to Azul (i.e. hours-long mating period, having spermatophores, instinctively keeping mate at a distance because many female merfolk are ruthless and perhaps this is just deeply rooted instinct, turning a darker or paler coloration when displaying before a mate, guarding mate from other males, and so on).

So to summarize: Azul's dick works just like the octopus's hectocotylus because it is one! Furthermore, you will be 100% knocked up if Azul takes you in his mer form. But then that's just all merfolk, including the twins. They have to be particularly virile if they intend to reproduce a lot, as most fry do not often survive in the tumultuous sea. And they have a lot of strength and stamina to last many hours, as is usually a common time length for copulation for many sea creatures. You will have a very fun, exhausting time with the trio in their mer forms when it comes time to mate!

Lecture dismissed!!!! Next week I will bring in Azul to show you the hectocotylus in real life. Please make sure to bring your notebook for recording important information. It will be on the exam. (*ᵕᴗᵕ)⁾⁾

[reksink]

hi I really love your spec bio hornet designs it’s amazing how much detail goes into this

:O!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Hornet's designs are some of my favorites to workshop and refine, and I'm really glad you like them! Like I said before, the possibilties for her are endless, both for her external and internal structures. Capturing details that are both logical from what we know about her and real life spider while then fitting that knowledge into her design is something I'll always love about the process A small collect of roughs for the eyes:

Again, thank you so much for send this, it's really sweet to hear :}

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

When you have to take off your socks to change into clean socks and your bare feet touch the floor for exactly fifteen seconds and the dry, smooth sensation makes you want to chop your toes off

[voreoborous]

Doing some silly kobold/dragon world building based on sequential hermaphroditism, except instead of sex it's just how dragony you are, except that's also kind of a gender :)

Draconids in the middle of their transformations are basically undergoing a second puberty (the first being when their kobold state sexually matures, about the same time human kids go through puberty), and have a lot of puberty associated symptoms, such as voracious hunger, skin/scale problems, growing pains, and bouts of really intense horniness. It's advised that draconids going through their dragon-puberty sleep lots, eat lots, and get plenty of exercise.

Some draconids don't want their bodies to change so dramatically, so medical solutions have been devised to halt the transformation. After a few months of HRT, the initial wave of hormones will wear off and the kobold stays a kobold.

Also, it doesn't just get triggered by break-ups. Death, taking a vacation away from a partner for a couple weeks, a new relationship, or sometimes even other transformations in their social circles have all been known to trigger dragonification, if a precise cause is ever found at all. On top of that, some draconids skip the adult kobold stage entirely and morph straight into dragons, but this is pretty rare. Hormone therapy can also be used in these cases if they decide they want to become kobolds instead.

There's also treatments to go from dragon back to kobold. This is much harder on the body than the other way around, but determined draconids can make it work.

(The actual sexes of the dragons and kobolds are usually irrelevant.)

While this relationship is the "normal"/socially enforced way to go about things, plenty of different arrangements exist, each with varying levels of acceptability. For example, a single kobold with a single dragon is not the ideal, but acceptable (if they're looking for more - if they're happy as-is, it's considered strange), whereas two (or more) dragons with no kobold partners are much more maligned. I usually don't enjoy writing fantasy homophobia though so idk how much I'll flesh that out, I'm just rotating hot scalies

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

i still cannot believe that people actually read my posts. case in point: i got this notification (from @tumblemumbler, thank you) and laughed until there were tears.

it's true: i want to take fox mulder to the zoo. i'm guilty as charged. i wanna point at some lions and be like "woah", and see if he thinks the lions are amazing, or if he tries to play it cool and deny that sense of wonder you get from seeing a magnificent beast. is it so wrong to want to take a full grown man out to see the Creatures, and then watch him enjoy the gift shop.......? to find a nice little novelty tie with the funniest animal from the day on it...? to say, hey fictional man, let's put aside that decades long quest for answers on the existence of aliens, and marvel at some otters splashing about... now wouldn't that be lovely?

[arolesbianism]

Some concepts for the siblings

[mathysphere]

Some of the inspiration behind the last two patterns 🧵

For biology:

Donald Sultan's Oranges on a Branch March 14, 1992, 1992

Evan Ingersoll and Gael McGill's Cellular landscape, 2015 (?)

Rachel James' Animal Cell, 2020

Flickr User S O's moose and bird, 2016

For paleontology:

the Berlin Specimen

I also used a bunch of other refs for the rest of the animals in the bio pattern, but only the moose was around from the start. The others were more 'oh I want there to be a lemur, lets go look at a bunch of lemur poses', as opposed to 'this moose is incredible. I absolutely need to include this one, singular moose', y'know?

[kermit-p-hob-brainrot]

Ok y'all I have promised my beloved mutual @pop-squeak that I would write a post on my most beloved invasive marsh plant, Phragmites australis also known as the common reed. This thing is so invasive that it is considered a model for invasive plants as a whole.

Some things before we start

Most of this is focused on Virginia since that's where a lot of the research on this bad boy is being done but it does exist elsewhere

I will have citations at the end if you want some more reading

This is based on research I did for a paper like a year ago so there might be new research I am unaware of due to having other classes to do

Please brush off your shoes when you enter/ leave a park so you don't bring stuff places it shouldn't be

Please read I promise it is really really interesting and important to the resilience of out coasts in North America especially in the mid Atlantic to the south :)

If you have questions don't be scared to drop them in the replies/ reblogs

I am an undergrad!!!!! I am generally new at this but I am fairly familiar with this specific subject and trust that everything in this post is accurate, but in general with invasive species it is a heavily nuanced topic that can be very complex. This is my best attempt to simplify this species for general consumption since I think its just really cool and important to coastal botany rn.

This thing lives in the marsh which is the area often between forest and the ocean/ body of water of varying salinity. This thing loves moderate salinity marshes since it can somewhat resist salt water intrusion. This is a part of what makes it so invasive especially in this era of severe sea level rise. Many coastal forests are dying as sea level is rising pushing the marsh farther inland. Part of the problem is that many native species can not move as colonize the new land as fast as the common reed can.

Phragmites as is incredibly good at reproducing and growing so close together that nothing else can live even close to it. It makes clonal offshoots of itself (THEY CREATE CLONES OF THEMSELVES?!?!?!?!?) and creates networks for communication. this dense packing leads to a monoculture where for miles in the strip of marsh 95% of what you see is phragmites. It is a magnificent and horrifying sight as you see the dead trees in the middle of these fields of phragmites knowing it was only 5-10 years ago that that was where the forest line was. It is the beautiful horror about being slowly consumed by the ocean. This monoculture does not only apply to flora but also fauna.

Farmers often actually welcome phragmites to their land and are resistant to get rid of it. This is because as native species have died off, phragmites has been able to colonize these areas fast enough to help resist further salt inundation and prevent flooding. This unfortunately is only a band-aid solution, especially in southern Virginia near the Chesapeake bay which has some of the highest rate of sea level rise in the country, since native plants and diverse marshes make them more resistant to flooding. It is better than nothing though, so we must keep in mind transition plans for farmland when trying to manage phragmites. We practice science to help every day people, not in spite of every day people. They should be included in all management decision making. We work for them not the other way around.

Competition is the name of the game for Phragmites. It beats is competition not only with its cloning abilities (there's a lot more to this but i had to read like 7 different papers to figures out wtf anybody was talking about so I'm not going into it) and sheer density, but it can also just poison the other plants around it. It can release a toxin that inhibits growth and seed sprouting in other species. It is also resistant to flooding and drought and it has been found that ground disturbance can make it spread faster. This makes it highly resistant to most disturbances that occur in marsh and wetland habitats.

Because it is resistant to like everything it is so hard to kill. To the point where some of the people who management have told me that eradicating it for an area is near impossible and an unreasonable expectation. Reduction has become the best case scenario. This makes early identification important. You can try to kill it by herbicides, mowing, fire, smothering with a plastic tarp, throwing a bunch of salt on top of it, and flooding with fresh or salt water.

The common reed is an interesting mix of being both a native and invasive plant. Phragmites australis has a subspecies native to North America, but this subspecies has been largely replaced by a more aggressive non-native European subspecies. Phragmites can grow from three to thirteen feet with broad sheath like leaves. Its considered one of the most invasive plants in the worlds having a broad geographic range. It exists on every continent except Antarctica.

As someone who has been in a field of them you can not pull these out of the ground. The tops break off but you have to dig them out of the ground if you wan them out. Also just a pain to walk through.

Here's a pic: (Yes that a person, yes they can be that tall)

Works Cited

Langston, A. K., D. J. Coleman, N. W. Jung, J. L. Shawler, A. J. Smith, B. L. Williams, S. S. Wittyngham, R. M. Chambers, J. E. Perry, and M. L. Kirwan. 2022. The effect of marsh age on ecosystem function in a rapidly transgressing marsh. Ecosystems 25: 252-264.

Humpherys, A., A. L. Gorsky, D. M. Bilkovic, and R.M. Chambers. 2021. Changes in plant communities of low-salinity tidal marshes in response to sea-level rise. Ecosphere 12.

Accessed 9 December 2022. Invasive alien plant species of Virgina: common reed (Phragmites australis). Department of Conservation and Recreation, Virgina Native Plant Society. https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/document/fsphau.pdf

Accessed 9 December 2022. Common reed (Phragmites australis). Virgina Institute of Marine Science. https://www.vims.edu/ccrm/outreach/teaching_marsh/native_plants/salt_marsh/phragmites_facts.pdf

Theuerkauf, S. J., B. J. Puckett, K. W. Theuerkauf, E. J. Theuerkauf, and D. B. Eggleston. 2017. Density-dependent role of an invasive marsh grass, Phragmites australis, on ecosystem service provision. PLoS ONE 12.

Accessed 9 December 2020. Phragmites: considerations for management in the critical area. Critical Area Commission for the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Coastal Bays. https://dnr.maryland.gov/criticalarea/Documents/Phragmites-Fact-Sheet-Final.pdf

Uddin, M. N., and R. W. Robinson. 2017. Allelopathy and resource competition: the effects of phragmites australis invasion in plant communities. Botanical Studies 58: 29.

Meyerson, L. A., J. T. Cronin, and P. Pysek. 2016. Phragmites australis as a model organism for studying plant invasions. Biological Invasions 18: 2421-2431.

[doodle-birdo]

Some beasts.

I love love LOVE coming up with realistic-ish designs for very stylized characters sm. THIS mf is perfect for it.

Transcript (cuz my handwriting seems borderline unintelligible.):

1st Image

Wings broad + give his flight a soar-y quality

Gen. wing venation

Sharp front teeth for piercing and latching, back serated and block teeth for crushing and sawing prey.

Still figuring out plating.

I would say body segments look more “wormy”

They are actually 2, it’s just that they look fused.

Wyrms actually have evolved antenna in their throats, which can retract when not in use -> Eg. when eating. It’s got the sensory features of a vertebrate tongue except more prehensile.

2nd Image

> Lizard lookin’ ass

Keeps his wyrminess through this sort of segmentation

-> I think he looks like a right goblin. It’s perfect

Ok, but what about the centipede body?

x Extremely awkward lookin’ -> Like some weird horse.

[identityquest]

Finally figured out the full line for my hellbender fakemon, plus an ancient crinoid the line relies on. The final evolutions are supposed to play on fool’s gold, looking and acting regal despite the evolution items coming from a jester-themed fakemon. Though the final evolutions are alternately water and fire, both learn moves of the other’s type.