#branching sea anemone

[colorsoutofearth]

Peacock-tail anemone shrimp (Periclimenes brevicarpalis) living commensally with the Branching Sea Anemone (Actinodendron glomeratum)

Photo by Constantinos Petrinos

[sweatervesto]

PROMISE KEPT: Future Paradox Cursola!!! Rock/Grass

Unexpected adaptations cause Promise Kept's branches to grow hybrid land-sea anemone. Ecologists theorize Cursola reverted back to its ancient form, after decades of restoration efforts by humans.

[marlynnofmany]

A Feat of Minor Daring

(Related side project: Prank War!)

~~~

If you have to wait around for a client to bring you something to deliver, waiting on a landing pad with spectacular scenery is not a bad way to do it. Most of the rest of the crew was inside the ship — shuffling the boxes from our other client of the day, and doing any number of other mundane things — so it was just Paint and me enjoying the alien landscape. Their loss. 

I was appreciating the views, while Paint was really there for the smells. I kept pointing out particularly vivid splashes of color among the sea-anemone-shaped trees, while Paint caught whiffs of enticing things. 

“Ooh, what do you think that sharp scent is?” Paint asked when a cool breeze gusted past. She pulled her heat scarf closer. She was also wearing a heat sticker plastered to her scaly chest, which seemed like overkill to me, but I wasn’t a coldblooded lizard alien. I just had a sweater for the chill. 

“Your guess is better than mine,” I said, sniffing the air. “I’m going to go with ‘some sort of plant.’”

A cheerful jumble of musical notes chimed from the treeline where winged fauna hid among tentacle-branches. It sounded remarkably like several ringtones going off at the same time. I was about to ask Paint if she thought it was animals imitating tech, or maybe just a coincidence of evolution, when wild flapping heralded an explosion of feathers across the clearing. 

Colorful bird-things soared over us, their wings a riot of fiery shades and their bodies lined in speckled back feathers over bright blue scales. It was a glorious streak of color, and they sounded like a pile of phones all ringing at once. I had to grin at the sight. 

Paint just said, “I think they’re the source of the smell. How lovely.”

Then a straggler flapped out after the others, and I stopped grinning. 

It was trailing a plastic bag caught around its foot, just like the ones still causing trouble for animals on Earth. The poor thing must have been scavenging in town. By the time it collapsed halfway across the clearing, I was already moving, tugging my sweater off and sneaking up on the bird.

Paint squeaked, “What are you doing?”

“It needs help,” I said, keeping my voice low. The alien bird was breathing hard from the effort of fighting that much extra drag, and hopefully no additional problems. It hadn’t noticed me yet.

“Why is that your responsibility?” Paint hissed in concern. “It could bite you! You don’t even have scales, and you’re not wearing an exo suit! Why did you just take off your soft armor?”

“It’s not my responsibility,” I murmured. “But somebody’s got to.” I eased forward and took a long-legged jump to land with one foot squarely on the bag, then tackled the bird to wrap it in my sweater.

It, unsurprisingly, objected. And it was stronger than it looked.

“What are you doing??” Paint repeated. “You’ll get hurt!”

I fought to get a hand around the bird’s head and keep it from pecking me anywhere important while also holding its wings in. It did its level best to accomplish fight and flight at the same time. It even regurgitated a splash of food, which I managed to barely dodge. It smelled unpleasantly fishy.

But I got the bird’s head pinned down in a way that hopefully didn’t restrict its breathing, and I ended up crouched over the thing using my legs to keep its wings folded. My other hand was doing the important job of preventing it from wriggling free. That didn’t leave any hands for removing the bag.

“Paint! I need your claws!”

“What? No!” She sounded more than a little panicked.

“Just get the bag off its foot!” I said, jerking my head back to where the bag rustled behind me. “Then I’ll let it go!”

“That doesn’t look safe!” Paint insisted.

The bird bucked and thrashed. “It’s not going to get any safer! Come on, it needs help!”

Paint hissed a string of what were probably swear words as she darted forward and approached the talons. I couldn’t see what she was doing from my angle, but I heard the rustle of plastic. I wanted to ask how it was going and give pointers, maybe suggest stepping on the bag to hold it tight, though I didn’t know if that would help or not. I kept quiet.

“Got it!” Paint leapt back, holding up the torn bag in triumph.

“Great!” I said. “Does its leg look injured? Did the bag dig into it or cut off circulation as far as you can tell?”

Paint stepped forward gingerly, then shook her head. “No, the scales look fine.”

I let out a breath. “Extra great. Okay, stand back.”

Paint scampered over to stand by the ship, taking the bag with her, while I got my feet under me. In as smooth a motion as I could, I jumped sideways and rolled away, trailing my sweater. I would have preferred to stand and exit with dignity, but this was faster. Dignity wasn’t worth getting pecked in the knee.

In a whirlwind of feathers, the scaly bird scrambled into the sky. I sat up to watch it go. While I expected a dramatic arc into the distance, it only got as far as the biggest amoeba-tree. I worried that it was injured after all. Then I saw the cluster of tiny beaks that reached up as it landed.

I grinned all over again, watching the reunited family greet each other. A rustle of plastic told me Paint stood beside me. I looked up at her. “We did it.”

She watched the nest with wide eyes, clutching the bag. “We did. And it mattered.”

“It always matters.” I got to my feet with a wince, hoping that wasn’t going to be a bruise on my hip. “Thanks for helping. That was a deed well done.”

Paint was still staring. “Do you think it will have enough food for all the hatchlings? After spitting some at you?”

A glance told me the bird was feeding its young in the time-honored vomity fashion. “I hope so,” I said. “Scavenging for more might lead to another trash adventure, though maybe this was a learning experience.”

Paint stood up straighter. “Let’s check the species database and see what it eats,” she said. “That smells a lot like the canned fish I’ve been saving. We can put it out where they’ll find it.”

“A fine plan,” I told her. “Let’s get cleaned up first so we don’t leave bird germs in the kitchen.”

We’d only taken a couple steps toward the ship before Eggskin met us at the door with concern on their scaly face. “Kavlae said there was some sort of commotion outside, and someone might be hurt?” They brandished the medscanner.

Before I could answer, Paint held up the crumpled plastic bag. “We saved a creature that was trapped in this!”

Eggskin cocked their head, clearly about to ask why, but Paint was still talking. She gave a dramatic recounting of the whole affair. Eggskin turned on the scanner and checked us both for contamination while she talked. Clear. (Whew.)

“…And now it’s safely up in the nest with its hatchlings, and it wouldn’t have made it up there if not for us, and they would have starved and died, and we saved all of them!” Paint said, waving the bag. “It always matters! Now where’s the can opener? I want to leave them some of my fish.”

Eggskin blinked. “Third drawer on the right, where it should be. Unless someone’s misplaced it again. Put that in the biohazard bin and wash your hands.”

“Got it, thanks!” Paint was gone in a rustle of plastic.

Eggskin looked up at me. “Is ‘pack bonding’ contagious?”

I laughed. “I couldn’t tell you. But it always matters. Would you mind keeping an eye on that nest over there while I go change clothes? I’ll wash my hands too.”

Eggskin sighed. “Please do.”

They stood outside the ship watching the distant family of scaly birds, wearing an expression like they were trying to figure something out. I smiled and left to get cleaned up. I’d check the species database afterward. Maybe I had some food they’d like too.

~~~

Did I mention the Prank War?

~~~

These are the ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book.

Shared early on Patreon! There’s even a free tier to get them on the same day as the rest of the world.

The sequel novel is in progress (and will include characters from these stories. I hadn’t thought all of them up when I wrote the first book, but they’re too much fun to leave out of the second).

[shirecorn]

i think a lions mane jellyfish would be cool! if youd like to continue to be cursed, id love to see what youd for a sea urchin or starfish mermaid 🧜‍♀️

If science of specbio intrigues you, please follow my worldbuilding blog at @worldofvonder

So mermaids are fish, straight up. Anything non-fish is not a mermaid. I do take non-fish requests! But they will either be magical creatures that are not mermaids, or they will just not be canon to my world.

There are many aquatic creatures that are not fish, and are in fact not even in the phylum chordata. "Phylum" is the first category of biology in taxonomy, which is the study of classifications.

Source: major animal phyla (video lecture!)

The kingdoms of life are: animals, plants, and fungus. Within the animal kingdom, the next step of sorting is phyla. Chordata includes vertebrates (and other animals that have a spinal cord but no bones) and it does not include jellyfish, crustaceans, octopus, and lots of other things. Interestingly, it is believed that chordata and echinoderma share a common ancestor, but they are still different phyla.

Mermaids arose from a ray finned fish, in the clade Actinopterygii. They speciated from there to become the dominant life form of the oceans. Mermaids have a process that allows groups to take on a form that is analogous to a mundane fish. If that fish evolved to eat algae, the mermaid takes on those traits while still able to eat meat. This kinship is not limited to other ray-finned fish, but encompasses many vertebrates that are commonly called "fish." This includes sharks and jawless fish like hagfish. It can include lobe-finned fish like coelacanth, but does not include tetrapods. Tetrapod creatures that resemble mermaids may be centaurs. Centaurs have a completely different origin than mermaids.

Mermaids do not have kin in other phyla. If an invertebrate resembles a human, it is through another evolutionary path than "fish that mimics humans to eat them"

Aquatic creatures and their "mermaid" (humanoid) creature counterparts

Chordata: Fish (cartiligeous, ray finned, lobe finned): Mermaids Seals and sea lions: Selkies (selkies are a subspecies of human) Whales and dolphins: selkie-mermaid hybrids: mammalmers

Arthropoda (crustaceans, arachnids, insects): fairies Mollusca: (slugs, clams, octopus): Magic mirrors Echinoderma (sea cucumbers, starfish, urchins, sanddollars): undiscovered Cnidaria (jellyfish and anemones) and Ctenophora: undiscovered

sponges, anything resembling worms, anything not mentioned: undiscovered

Many phylums have branches that superficially resemble humans despite being completely unrelated to us and each other. This phenomenon is known as anthropisation (not anthropization, which is humans changing landscapes). But don't go thinking humans are special. The same thing happens with horses.

wow there's a lot here. You're welcome lol

[bethanythebogwitch]

It's too bad Halloween was yesterday because I would have done a Wet Beast Wednesday on something creepy, like the tongue-biting isopod. It's not though, so so I'm dipping my toes into echinoderm science and talking about crinoids. While crinoids are the least famous echinoderms, being overshadowed by their relatives the starfish, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers, they are extremely well-represented in the fossil record. We know of far more extinct crinoid species than living ones.

(imag id: a crinoid attached to a rock. It is a long, slender stalk with multiple threadlike protrusions emerging from it. At the top is a crown that looks like a flower composed of feathery appendages. It is while all over)

As with all echinoderms, crinoids are bilaterally symmetrical as larvae for become radially symmetrical while adults. It is hypothesized that the ancestor of all echinoderms was a bilaterally symmetrical animal that evolved to become radially symmetrical as adults. This places echinoderms in the same clade as all other bilaterally symmetrical animals, including mollusks, arthropods, most worms, and all vertebrates. You are more closely related to a starfish than a starfish is to a jellyfish. Crinoids are one of those animals like anemones that look more like flowers than animals, which is why they're also called sea lilies. A typical juvenile crinoid consists of a stalk with a holdfast on one end and crown on the other. The stalk is segmented and made of porous calcified material called ossicles, which are attached to each other by discs. This is the part of a crinoid that fossilizes most easily and a great many crinoid fossils are only known from their stems. The holdfast is a root-like structure that attaches the crinoid to a substrate. Crinoids that attach to a hard surface have a branching holdfast to grip on while crinoids that attach to sediment have a thick, stalk-like holdfast that penetrates into the substrate like a tree's taproot. The crown is the part that looks like a flower and consists of two parts: the theca/calyx/arboral cup and the rays. The theca is shaped like a cup and has a mouth in the center. The mouth connects to a simple u-shaped gut that leads to an anus near the mouth. The rays are analogous to the arms of a starfish. All echinoderms have 5 symmetrical body segments and crinoids have five rays, though they usually branch after emerging from the theca, resulting in up to a few hundred total rays. The rays are segmented like the stalk and can curl up. Crinoids will curl up their arms and pull them in to protect them. The rays are used in feeding. Crinoids are passive suspension feeders that wait for plankton and organic particles to be carried into the rays by the current. Each ray is covered by flexible appendages called pinnules that give the rays a feathery appearance. Each pinnule is covered by tube feet that are coated in sticky mucus. When a food particle hits the tube feet, they grab on and transfer it to the center of the ray, which contains a canal called the ambulacral groove. The groove is filled with cilia that carry the food particle down to the mouth. All crinoids take this form during their juvenile phase, but only a few modern species retain it for their entire lives. Most modern species will shift into an adult form where the stalk falls off and the theca becomes free-swimming. These are often called feather stars. Both stalked crinoids and feather stars can use their rays to pull themselves along the substrate, but feather stars can also wave their rays around to swim. Swimming allows feather stars to more readily avoid danger and become more active in their attempts to catch food.

(image: a diagram of crinoid anatomy. source)

(gif id: a feather star swimming. It looks like a bunch of black-and-white striped feathers attached to a central disc. The arms are undulating, propelling the feather star through the water)

Crinoids are dioecious, meaning individuals are either male or female. In most species, the gonads are in the pinnules closest to the theca. The gonads actually swell up and cause the pinnules to burst and release the gametes. Different species have different strategies. In some, both sperm and eggs will be released into the water column. In others, only the males broadcast sperm which the females use to fertilize their eggs. The eggs are withheld by the mother, either by gluing them to her arms or incubated in sacs on the arms. The larvae, called vitellaria, are free-swimming and bilaterally symmetrical. They will swim for a few days before dropping to the substrate and attaching. They then metamorphose into juveniles.

(image: a diagram showing a crinoid progressing through multiple developmental stages from fertilized egg to larva. source)

The fossil history of crinoids dates back to the Ordovician period (485-444 million years ago), the period between the Cambrian and Silurian. While echinoderms and even stalked echinoderms existed during the Cambrian, the oldest definitive crinoid fossils are Ordovician and it's unclear which extinct group that crinoids evolved from. For over two hundred million years, crinoids were extremely diverse and were dominant sessile filter feeders, beating out anemones and corals. The mass extinction at the end of the Permian dealt a major blow to crinoids that they never recovered from, causing them to lose their dominance and become much less morphologically diverse. The Permian mass extinction is a fascinating period of history as it was the single greatest mass extinction in the history of Earth. The early Triassic saw a mass adaptation to more flexible and motile body plans in response to increased predation. It's not clear when feather stars entered the picture, though they may have come about due to predation in the Triassic. Some extinct crinoids had different survival strategies than modern ones. The genus Pentacrinites attached themselves to driftwood and floated through the open ocean. They would have been like floating islands of diversity moving through the oceans with lots of other animals following for food and shelter. A fact that gets passed around a lot is that the largest fossil crinoid ever found (Taxocrinus saratogensis) was 40 meters (130 ft) long. That isn't true and seems to stem from a misprint. It was actually 40 ft (12.2 m) long, which is still fucking enormous. Crinoids today don't get anywhere near as large as extinct ones could. Fossil crinoids measuring many meters in stem length are well documented while ones alive today never even reach a meter long. Crinoid fossils are extremely common and can be used to provide relative dates to nearby fossils. In some places, enough crinoid parts fossilized near each other that they became clustered together in sedimentary rocks called encrinites.

(image id: a fossil imprint of many crinoids attached to a piece of driftwood. The imprints ore in a flat, tan rock. The driftwood imprint looks like a long, dark blob. The crinoids have long, curved, and overlapping stems and fan-like crowns at the top. Fossil found at the Houston Museum of Natural Science)

[cryptidclaw]

Cryptidclaw's WC Prefixes List!

Yall said you were interested in seeing it so here it is! 

This is a collection of mostly Flora, Fauna, Rocks, and other such things that can be found in Britain since that’s where the books take place! 

I also have other Prefixes that have to do with pelt colors and patterns as well!

Here’s a link to the doc if you dont want to expand a 650 word list on your Tumblr feed lol! the doc is also in my drive linked in my pined post!

below is the actual list! If there are any names you think I should add plz tell me!

EDIT: I will update the doc with new names as I come up with them or have them suggested to me, but I wont update the list on this post! Plz visit my doc for a more updated version!

Animals

Mammal

Badger

Bat

Bear

Beaver

Bison

Boar

Buck

Calf

Cow

Deer

Elk

Fawn

Ferret

Fox

Goat

Hare

Horse

Lamb

Lynx

Marten

Mole

Mouse

Otter

Rabbit

Rat

Seal

Sheep

Shrew

Squirrel

Stoat

Vole

Weasel

Wolf

Wolverine

Amphibians

Frog

Newt

Toad

Reptiles

Scale

Adder

Lizard

Snake

Turtle

Shell

Birds

Bird

Down

Feather

Albatross

Bittern

Buzzard

Chaffinch

Chick

Chicken

Coot

Cormorant

Corvid

Crane

Crow

Curlew

Dove

Duck

Dunlin

Eagle

Egret

Falcon

Finch

Gannet

Goose

Grouse

Gull

Hawk

Hen

Heron

Ibis

Jackdaw

Jay

Kestrel

Kite

Lark

Magpie

Mallard

Merlin

Mockingbird

Murrelet

Nightingale

Osprey

Owl

Partridge

Pelican

Peregrine

Petrel

Pheasant

Pigeon

Plover

Puffin

Quail

Raven

Robin

Rook

Rooster

Ruff

Shrike

Snipe

Sparrow

Starling

Stork

Swallow

Swan

Swift

Tern

Thrasher

Thrush

Vulture

Warbler

Whimbrel

Wren

Freshwater Fish 

Fish

Bass

Bream 

Carp

Dace

Eel

Lamprey

Loach

Minnow

Perch

Pike

Rudd

Salmon

Sterlet

Tench

Trout

Roach

Saltwater fish and other Sea creatures (would cats be able to find some of these? Probably not, I don't care tho)

Alge

Barnacle

Bass (Saltwater version)

Bream (Saltwater version)

Brill

Clam

Cod

Crab

Dolphin

Eel (Saltwater version)

Flounder

Garfish

Halibut

Kelp

Lobster

Mackerel

Mollusk

Orca

Prawn

Ray

Seal

Shark

Shrimp

Starfish

Sting

Urchin

Whale

Insects and Arachnids

Honey

Insect

Web

Ant

Bee

Beetle

Bug

Butterfly

Caterpillar

Cricket

Damselfly

Dragonfly

Fly

Grasshopper

Grub

Hornet

Maggot

Moth

Spider

Wasp

Worm

Trees

Acorn

Bark

Branch

Forest

Hollow

Log

Root

Stump

Timber

Tree

Twig

Wood

Alder

Apple

Ash

Aspen

Beech

Birch

Cedar

Cherry

Chestnut

Cypress

Elm

Fir

Hawthorn

Hazel

Hemlock

Linden

Maple

Oak

Pear

Poplar

Rowan

Redwood

Spruce

Willow

Yew

Flowers, Shrubs and Other plants

Berry

Blossom

Briar

Field

Flower

Leaf

Meadow

Needle

Petal

Shrub

Stem

Thicket

Thorn

Vine

Anemone 

Apricot

Barley 

Bellflower

Bluebell

Borage

Bracken

Bramble

Briar

Burnet

Buttercup

Campion

Chamomile

Chanterelle

Chicory

Clover

Cornflower

Daffodil

Daisy

Dandelion

Dogwood

Fallow

Fennel

Fern

Flax

Foxglove

Furze

Garlic

Ginger

Gorse

Grass

Hay

Heather

Holly

Honeysuckle

Hop

Hyacinth

Iris

Ivy

Juniper

Lavender

Lichen

Lilac

Lilly

Mallow

Marigold

Mint

Mistletoe

Moss

Moss

Mushroom

Nettle

Nightshade

Oat

Olive

Orchid

Parsley

Periwinkle

Pine

Poppy

Primrose

Privet

Raspberry

Reed

Reedmace

Rose

Rush

Rye

Saffron

Sage

Sedge

Seed

Snowdrop

Spindle

Strawberry

Tangerine

Tansy

Teasel

Thistle

Thrift

Thyme

Violet

Weed

Wheat

Woodruff

Yarrow

Rocks and earth

Agate

Amber

Amethyst

Arch

Basalt

Bounder

Cave

Chalk

Coal

Copper

Dirt

Dust

Flint

Garnet

Gold

Granite

Hill

Iron

Jagged

Jet

Mountain

Mud

Peak

Pebble

Pinnacle

Pit

Quartz

Ridge

Rock

Rubble

Ruby

Rust(y)

Sand

Sapphire

Sediment

Silt

Silver

Slate

Soil

Spire

Stone

Trench

Zircon

Water Formations

Bay

Cove

Creek

Delta

Lake

Marsh

Ocean

Pool

Puddle

River

Sea

Water

Weather and such

Autumn

Avalanche

Balmy

Blaze

Blizzard

Breeze

Burnt

Chill

Cinder

Cloud

Cold

Dew

Drift

Drizzle

Drought

Dry

Ember

Fall

Fire

Flame

Flood

Fog

Freeze

Frost

Frozen

Gale

Gust

Hail

Ice

Icicle

Lightening

Mist

Muggy

Rain 

Scorch

Singe

Sky

Sleet

Sloe

Smoke

Snow

Snowflake

Soot

Sorrel

Spark

Spring

Steam

Storm

Summer

Sun

Thunder

Water

Wave

Wet

Wind

Winter

Celestial??

Comet

Dawn

Dusk

Evening 

Midnight

Moon

Morning

Night

Noon

Twilight

Cat Features, Traits, and Misc. 

Azure

Beige

Big

Black

Blonde

Blotch(ed)

Blue

Bounce

Bright 

Brindle

Broken

Bronze

Brown

Bumble

Burgundy

Call

Carmine

Claw

Cobalt

Cream

Crimson

Cry

Curl(y)

Dapple

Dark

Dot(ted)

Dusky

Ebony

Echo

Fallen

Fleck(ed)

Fluffy

Freckle

Ginger

Golden

Gray

Green

Heavy

Kink

Knot(ted)

Light

Little

Lost

Loud

Marbled

Mew

Milk

Mottle

Mumble

Ochre

Odd

One

Orange

Pale

Patch(ed)

Pounce 

Prickle

Ragged

Red

Ripple

Rough

Rugged

Russet

Scarlet

Shade

Shaggy

Sharp

Shimmer

Shining

Small

Smudge

Soft

Song

Speckle

Spike

Splash

Spot(ted)

Streak

Stripe(d)

Strong

Stump(y)

Sweet

Tall

Talon

Tangle

Tatter(ed)

Tawny

Tiny

Tough

Tumble

Twist

Violet

Whisker

Whisper

White

Wild

Wooly

Yellow

[ray-does-witchcraft]

2024 Attic Calendar - January

Currently working on my own version of the adapted Attic calendar! So far I only have January, but February is almost done as well. Fair warning, this goes in depth about what the festivals/celebrations are and how to commemorate, so this post is gigantic. Attention: This is for the SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE!

⛧ [10/01/24] [Hekatombion 40th] - Hekate Deipnon

WHAT IS IT & WAYS TO CELEBRATE: It takes place at the end of the Lunar month. Hekate means "bringer of light", so at the darkest part of the month, we prepare our homes for the transition to a new month and offer her a meal. Think of it as a mini new year; clean/cleanse your house (especially altars), get rid of things you don't want to bring into next month (physical, spiritual, etc), and leave Hekate an offering at sundown (preferably a meal, but if you can't afford to waste food, just give her something else. Maybe bury or burn it if you can). Here's a list of good offerings (best left outside or at her altar, if you have one for her):

Bread

Cake (especially lit with candles)

Pomegranate

Wine

Honey

Cinnamon

Milk

Chocolate

Roses

Lavender

Poppy seeds

Dandelions

Incense (Frankincense, Lavender, Jasmine, Citrus, Dragons blood, Rosemary, or anything you have at hand)

Keys

Candles

Tea lights

Bones

Fire/Bonfire

Oil lamps

Crow/Raven/Own feathers

Poetry, Literature, Music, Hymns, etc

⛧ [11/01/24] [Metageitnion 1st] - Noumenia

WHAT IS IT & HOW TO CELEBRATE: The Noumenia is the first day of the visible New Moon and is held in honor of the household Gods. The Noumenia is a celebration of the start of a new Hellenic month and seeks blessings for the household. Honestly? You can just kick back and relax if you want or can, to invite calm energies into the upcoming month. But, if you (like me) want to be a little extra, here's some ways to celebrate:

Start a new personal project or hobby, or just pick back on things you've been putting off.

Set intentions for the coming month, and make plans for any of the month’s upcoming festivals, or for any of your personal upcoming plans.

Leave offerings for your deities.

Moon/stargaze, maybe meditate under the Moon.

Do a reading with your preferred divination method with the Theoi, asking what you should focus on in the coming month.

⛧ [12/01/24] [Metageitnion 2nd] - Agathos Daimon

WHAT IS IT & HOW TO CELEBRATE: One of my favorites! Daimons are household spirits that look after you and your family, so this is a day to honor Him! Pour a libation (especially wine, but mine likes milk better to be honest), make an offering, light a candle, maybe even make Him a lil altar! He's heavily associated with snakes, but aside from that you can offer (or put in His altar) anything you correlate with abundance, good luck, protection, etc. These guys are so overlooked and I love them. Here's a more in-depth post about Him and the holiday.

⛧ [13, 14, 16, 17, 18/01/24] [Metageitnion 3th, 4th, 6th, 7th & 8th] - Athena, Aphrodite/Hermes/Eros, Artemis, Apollo, Poseidon

WHAT IS IT & HOW TO CELEBRATE: Not exactly festivals, that's why I compiled them into one section, but these Lunar days are sacred to these deities in that order. Maybe leave them an offering or light them a candle, maybe even just devotional acts! Here's a good list of offerings for each:

ATHENA

Owl feathers/imagery

Pottery

Books

Toy weapons, athames, etc

Roses

Bread

Olive

Honey

Milk

Olive oil

Olive tree branches/leaves (real or not)

Clear crystals

Silver jewelry

Incense (Frankincense, Dragon's Blood, Cedarwood)

APHRODITE

Apples

Chocolate

Honey

Milk

Olive oil

Baked goods

Anything vanilla scented/flavored

Golden jewelry

Flowers (especially roses and anemones)

Sea stuff (sand, seashells, water, etc)

Perfume

Self care products

Rose quartz

Incense (Frankincense, Rose, Myrrh, Jasmine, Cinnamon, Vanilla, Cypress)

HERMES

Currency (real or not) (especially foreign)

Strawberries

Lemons

Dice

Playing cards

Travel tickets

Honey

Milk

Olive oil

Clovers

Cool rocks

Hematite

Incense (Frankincense, Myrrh, Safron, Dragon's Blood)

EROS

Honey cake

Chocolate

Fruit

Sweets (he likes candy a lot)

Milk

Honey

Olive oil

Rose quartz

Feathers

Flowers (real or not)

Heart-shaped objects

Arrows

Jewelry

Incense (Frankincense, Myrrh, Rose)

ARTEMIS

Animal related stuff (Imagery, bones, teeth, etc)

Moon related stuff

Moonstone

Clear quartz

Amethyst

Bows & Arrows

Leaves

Wild flowers

Acorns

Pine cones

Milk

Honey

Olive oil

Water

Silver jewelry

Incense (Frankincense, Cypress, anything woodsy)

APOLLO

Sun related stuff

Arts and crafts

Clear quartz

Citrine

Sunstone

Bows & arrows

Dandelions

Sunflowers

Poetry

Music

Honey

Milk

Olive oil

Water

Honeyed chamomile tea (he loves it)

Golden objects/jewelry

Divination items

Incense (Frankincense, Myrrh, Cypress, Clove, Cinnamon, Bay)

POSEIDON

Saltwater/Seawater

Seashells

Fish

Sand

Toy horses/horse imagery

Photos of the sea

Olive oil

Milk

Honey

Salt

Aquamarine

Sapphire

Incense (Frankincence, Myrrh, Pine)

⛧ [25-27/01/24] [Metageitnion 15-17th] - Eleusinia

WHAT IS IT & HOW TO CELEBRATE: The Eleusinia was a thanksgiving festival held to honor Demeter for the gift of grain. A modern way to celebrate is to have a big dinner (maybe include some breads and baking) and give thanks to Lady Demeter through it! Thank her for grain and the agricultural processes that we benefit from!

⛧ [28/01/24 ?] [Metageitnion 18th ?] - Adonia

WHAT IS IT & HOW TO CELEBRATE: A festival mourning the death of Adonis, one of Aphrodite's human lovers. Traditionally, it was celebrated only by women (as a trans guy, I personally don't give a fuck and celebrate it anyway). Also, there's no source for an exact date, so this is an educated guess at best (most sources just refers to it as taking place "midsummer"). For a way to celebrate, I found this amazing hymn/poem. Remember to honor Aphrodite on this day as well.

⛧ [30/01/24] [Metageitnion 20th] - Hera Telkhinia

WHAT IS IT & HOW TO CELEBRATE: A minor sacrifice for Hera, taking place in the suburbs of Athens. Again, not a lot of info, but if you worship or have a connection to her, maybe read her a hymn, pour a libation honor her on this day! Here's a Orphic hymn to her:

Hera, incense aromatic herbs and spices. You are seated in a cerulean cavern, having the form of air,    Íra queen of all, happy one who shares the bed of Zefs, You provide gentle breezes which sustain the soul. Mother indeed of storms, attendant of the winds, all-begetting. Apart from you life and generation cannot be found;    Mingled with the majestic air you partake of everything. You alone hold sovereignty, ruling over all. You are the stream which flutters down through the rushing winds. And now you, happy Goddess, many named, queen of all, Come with a countenance of kindness and joy. 

[spotsupstuff]

Oh one more thing! Do any of your ancients still live underwater? Also can they survive in both saltwater and freshwater habitats?

hmmm.... i think i did set it up at some point that the water is technically safer to live in with both the whole oxygen thing in the atmosphere and then the iterators. the rain shouldn't be able to get deep enough to affect them (not to say that they can all handle too far sea depths). now that i think about it there is prolly a branch of their evolutionary line consisting of deep sea "ancients" who still hang out down there, tho these wouldn't end up evolving the whole bipedal body plan. not useful at those depths at all and there is no prompt for it too

the sea anemones that did decide to evolve the bipedal body plan that were originally stationed near the shores are prolly mostly land dwelling and nobody really lives in the seas. mostly cuz the large number of population (and technological evolution like the void fluid revolution) are all on land n upkeepin shit under water like that prolly wouldn't be too fun

they are originally from the saltwater habitat and naturally can survive only in that one! but with the technological advancements that they have plus the fact that their on-land rebreathers are connected to the gills, they should do fine in freshwater too

throw Sparrows into some sea like a beached fish and she's guaranteed to have the time of her life

[splatoonreblogger]

SplatoonJP:

ハイカラシティの住人をご紹介しよう。

双子のカブトエビの「マメブキチ」と「ツブブキチ」。

バンカラ街にもあるブキ屋「カンブリアームズ」の店員さんだ。

初めて見た生き物であるブキチのブキ愛に感銘を受け、弟子入りをしたらしい。

まだまだ小さいが、ブキについて一生懸命に説明してくれるぞ。

SplatoonEng:

Shelly and Donny are twin tadpole shrimps who run Ammo Knights, a weapon shop that also has a branch in Splatsville.

It seems that after Sheldon's love for weapons imprinted on these two, they became his apprentices.

These little ones will do their best to explain the weapons!

SplatoonNA:

SRL HR dept. with an org-chart update. With Sheldon working in Splatsville, his protégés, Shelly and Donny, now run Ammo Knights in Inkopolis! The little cuties really look up to Sheldon, so don't be surprised if they seem familiar. They clearly share Sheldon's love of weapons!

SplatoonJP:

彼女はイソギンチャクの「アネモ」。

アタマ屋「おかしら堂」のバイトさんだ。

最近ゴシックメタル系のバンドにハマり、服の趣味も少し変わったようだ。

ゲソタウンの運営やブキをデコるバイトなどをかけ持ち、稼いだおカネは全て趣味に使っているらしいぞ。

そばにいるのはクマノミの「クマノ」だ。

SplatoonEng:

Annie, a sea anemone, works part-time at Cooler Heads.

Having gotten into gothic metal music, her fashion sense has changed a bit.

The money she earns goes towards her hobbies, like managing the Splatnet gear shop and decorating weapons.

By her side is Moe, a clownfish.

SplatoonNA:

And here are two familiar faces—Annie and Moe from Cooler Heads, the Inkopolis headgear shop! Annie has leaned into her love of gothic metal and changed her style. She also moonlights as a sysop for SplatNet and adds decals to weapons on the side. As for Moe? Still a clown fish.

[aprocessionofthoughts]

Day 9: ghost zone

Ghostly Flora and Fauna

A guide to common plants

By Ghost Writer and Undergrowth

The various leafy plants are called Polypodiophyta, or Fernals. These are mutations of the human fern plant that found its way here through natural portals. Apart from their glow and edibility, though they are quite bitter, they don’t do much else.

On the upper left, we have the Alta ​​Esculenta, or the Mavor plant. The center orange part is an edible fruit.  According to our interviewee, Danny Fenton, they taste “like citrusy mangos with a touch of battery acid.”

Below that we have the Nox Filicus, more commonly known as the Night Fern. This functions much like what Fenton called a ��sea anemone’ that only allows small blob ghosts near. Any more powerful ghosts will be ‘stung’ and have to receive immediate medical attention lest they want their appearance to become unstable.

In the upper middle we have the Malum Hydriam, the Blob Catcher. As its more common name suggests, it attracts small blob ghosts which it then catches and absorbs.

The one pictured in the lower middle is the Extractus Malus, the common Shroom. This plant helps filter pollution and foreign particles out of ectoplasm.

The one on the right is the Salicum Candentis, the Glowing Willow. These plants are considered sacred and are said to be connected to the core of the Zone itself. Like the common Shroom, it also helps extract contamination. But more importantly it also produces pure ectoplasm and its blossoms can help with medical issues such as calming a ghost down from an obsession trance and helping a ghost who's lost touch with their obsession not retreat into their core. 

Most importantly, they are integral to the coronation of new kings. A potion is made using the blossoms and the king to be is to drink it then walk up to the trunk where they will be obscured by the branches. If they walk out then the Zone has accepted them as king and they are imbued with knowledge of the movements of the Zone and an inner sense for navigating the ever shifting islands.  

However, this plant is not without its dangers. As stated, it can have a calming effect on ghosts, but if a ghost were to be near to the tree for an extended period of time it would have a soporific effect and the ghost would fall into a deep sleep like trance. The branches would then gradually wrap around the ghost pulling them toward the trunk where it will slowly begin to absorb the ghost leaving only the ghost’s core. Recovery is possible, but will take a long time and the ghost, once emerged from its core, will be back at the strength level of the newly dead.

[keepthisholykiss]

Lesbian Love Poems for Valentine’s Day Reading

Throughout literary history we have seen more queer people than we can ever count who were writing sweet nothings to their partners in private and in public. As your resident lesbian literary researcher I present four selected poems and the people who wrote them to show you some vintage queer love.

“The Touch” by Renee Vivien (picture left) likely to Natalie Clifford Barney (picture right) but honestly could have been anyone Vivien had many lovers

The trees have kept come lingering sun in their branches, Veiled like a woman, evoking another time, The twilight passes, weeping. My fingers climb, Trembling, provocative, the line of your haunches. My ingenious fingers wait when they have found The petal flesh beneath the robe they part. How curious, complex, the touch, the subtle art- As the dream of fragrance, the miracle of sound. I follow slowly the graceful contours of your hips, The curves of your shoulders, your neck, your upappeased breasts, In your white voluptuousness my desire rests, Swooning, refusing itself the kisses of your lips.

“To Vernon Lee” by Amy Levy (left) written to Vernon Lee (right)

On Bellosguardo, when the year was young, We wandered, seeking for the daffodil And dark anemone, whose purples fill The peasant’s plot, between the corn-shoots sprung. Over the grey, low wall the olive flung Her deeper greyness; far off, hill on hill Sloped to the sky, which, pearly-pale and still, Above the large luminous landscape hung. A snowy blackthorn flowered beyond my reach; You broke a branch and gave it to me there; I found for you a scarlet blossom rare. Thereby ran on of Art and Life our speech; And of the gifts the gods had given to each- Hope unto you, and unto me Despair.

“The Weather-Cock Points South” by Amy Lowell (right) to Ada Dwyer Russell (left)

I put your leaves aside, One by one: The stiff, broad outer leaves; The smaller ones, Pleasant to touch, veined with purple; The glazed inner leaves. One by one I parted you from your leaves, Until you stood like a white flower Swaying slightly in the evening wind. White flower, Flower of wax, of jade, of unstreaked agate; Flower with surfaces of ice, With shadows faintly crimson. Where in all the garden is there such a flower? The stars crowd through the lilac leaves To look at you. The low moon brightens you with silver. The bud is more than the calyx. There is nothing to equal a white bud, Of no colour, and of all, Burnished by moonlight, Thrust upon a softly-swinging wind.

“A Girl” by Michael Field the pseudonym of Katherine Harris Bradley (left) and Edith Cooper (right) likely written in collaboration and for each other.

A Girl,     Her soul a deep-wave pearl Dim, lucent of all lovely mysteries;     A face flowered for heart's ease,     A brow's grace soft as seas     Seen through faint forest-trees:     A mouth, the lips apart, Like aspen-leaflets trembling in the breeze     From her tempestuous heart.     Such: and our souls so knit,     I leave a page half-writ —           The work begun Will be to heaven's conception done,           If she come to it.                

[i-put-the-ryan-in-orion]

Queen Coral x m!SeaWing reader

Requested by Startalon the Nightwing on Quotev

Somewhat edited for Tumblr

Original Post: Link

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 


The SeaWing Queen was in absolute grief after hearing the news of her dead husband. Not even Moray's obsessive counseling could lift it the slightest bit. So, much to Moray's displeasure, she could think of the only SeaWing who possibly lift her queens spirits: (Y/n). 

The (blue/green) SeaWing is a talented and favored editor. He even makes slight changes to the scrolls to make them better. And the Queen even allows it! For she likes the changes he makes. (Y/n) is paid well, but prefers just spending time with Queen Coral, spending more time with her than with Whirlpool. (Which is extremely satisfying.) 
And (Y/n) loves Queen Coral more than just a loyal servant.

~(••)~ 

  'Uh. Moray! Is this necessary? Especially at this time?!'

The grey SeaWing ignored your flurry of flashes and signs as she literally dragged you by your tail to... somewhere! 
You were just doing your normal routine of editing of the Queen's new tragic tale: The Attack Of The Summer Palace, when Moray burst into your office and drags you off without you having any saying. 

Becoming irritated by the lack of answers, you snatched back your tail (slightly shamed for being so easily captured) and confronted her. 
  "MORAY!" you practically roared her name through the water. 'What is the meaning of this?!'
  'No time. Need to get you to the Queen,' she flashes back, slacking her jaw. You swam out of reach before Moray could have a possible grab at you again.
  'What is going on?' you ask. 
The pale SeaWing hesitated, blank eyes darting to spot any onlookers. 
  'You know Queen Coral is taking Gill's death very hard and it doesn't help that our Summer Palace is in ruins. I just want Her Majesty to be happy,' she explains. 'And you are the only one to do so.'
 You float there for a second, almost as though your brain left in an air bubble. 'Me?' you point at yourself after some seconds ticked by. 'Tragic things have happened lately, but I hardly think I can lift any spirits.' 
  Moray flashed the stripe on her wings. 'Silence. Your lying to yourself. I know you love the Queen.' 
  'What?!' The small stripe on your snout flashed bright in question. Your gills whooshed a billow of embarrassed bubbles. 
 Moray drifts behind you, pushing you through the coral hallways and towards the Queen's quarters. 
  'Try,' she simply flashed before darting away down the hall. 

You looked at the doors, following each carved wave and dolphin, each sapphire and emerald imbedded in the blue tinted marble. Gathering your courage, you stretched out a balled up talon and knocked three times. 
There was a wait of about two minutes, but felt like an eternity.  
The door then cracked open, the face of Queen Coral. Your heart began to race already. 
  '(Y/n)?' she asked as she opened the door more. 
  'Yes,' you flashed simple and bright. You’re as smooth as shark skin. 'I came to speak with you.' 
  'Of course, come in.' Queen Coral paddled away from the door to let you in. You obliged, coming inside her room. 

It was vast with space, decorated with various seashells plastered to the walls, branches of colorful coral growing out of the floor in graceful curves around two seaweed beds (one larger than the other), webbed claw prints of jade carved into the floor, the room colored in various blues and pinks. 

Anemone was in there (of course), playing with Auklet. They were playing with carved wooden sea creatures. The princess' looked up from their play when you swam inside. Anemone flashed a hello. Little Auklet shot up, darting over like a minnow, flashing her greetings as well as she barreled into you. The impact made you cough in surprise but it didn't hurt. 
Queen Coral came over, scolding her daughter and shooing her away back to Anemone. 
  'Spunky,' you comment. 
  'Like a certain daughter,' the queen smiled. 
  'Now what was it that you wanted to speak with me for?' 
It felt as though you didn't have gills as your breath caught in your throat. 
  'I'm here to say...,' you began slowly. Queen Coral waited patiently though for you to finish. You cast a glance at the two girls. Thankfully they seemed distracted enough. 'I have a... love for you. I love you more than my scrolls. And I will follow you through this war and I would gladly give up my job as an editor to fight by your side. Queen Coral, you are indeed the best queen in all of Pyrrhia.' You boldly grab Queen Coral's blue talons into yours. 'I know you are still mourning for Gill. He was a good husband and general, but he's gone like so many other good Seawings. But, will you have the honor of being remarried to me?' 
The queen looked at you with wide green eyes, her face shocked. It then shifted to thought, which made your heart sink, thinking she will decline your offer that meant so much to you. Also you didn't want that disgusting Whirlpool coming into the royal line. It would be a nightmare for him to be king! 
  '(Y/n), you are one of my closest and most trusted friends,' she said. 'And you sound much like Gill... I think it's about time I move on. I have three daughters to remind me of him. So, I would be honored to marry you.' 


That was the moment that became your most favorite. The moment you confessed your love to her in her quarters, your webbed talons twined in Queen Coral's.

Anemone's shocked face.

Auklet didn't understand just yet but was beaming at the Anemone's funny face. 

[lizardsaredinosaurs]

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Look, Mom, they let me into the animal kingdom!

Pineapple Sea Cucumber (Thelenota ananas)

South Pacific Ocean

Status: Endangered

Threats: overfishing for food

----------

Trivia answer for yesterday’s post!

Sea urchins belong to the phylum Echinodermata, also including such things as sea cucumbers, starfish, and sand dollars!

Another phylum, Cnidaria, includes sea anemone, coral, and jellyfish, among others. Besides the “big” phyla of animals we recognize like vertebrates, arthropods, and molluscs, there are multiple other high-level phyla for things like millipedes and flatworms — the super-weirdos who branched off on their own evolutionary path and survived. Not to mention the microscopics. Holy shit.

(Today I learned there is a phyla of animals named “penis worms”.)

[izzybubs24]

Fifth Creature Design: Iteration 1 - with Research

For this iteration, I decided it would be more interesting to design a creature that was based on a single coral polyp, to show how it could have evolved to begin coral growth on land, as this would also give it a meaning for existing there to begin with. For me to create a convincing design, however, I first did some research to find out what a coral polyp was.

What is a coral Polyp?

A polyp is an animal. Most polyps are tiny and live in clusters called ‘colonies.’ Polyps may have hard or soft skeletons. Of the 2,400 living species of corals worldwide, two-thirds of the known coral species have soft skeletons, while one-third of the species have hard skeletons. The type of polyp determines the size and shape of the colony. Some colonies look like “trees” while another colony may look like a brain.

Most soft coral polyps only have eight legs (except sea anemones) whereas other polyps have twelve, eighteen, or even twenty-four legs. Colonies of soft corals include soft tree corals, sea pens, sea whips, sea fans, and sea anemones.

Here is a diagram I found of a coral polyp:

I decided it would be best to keep the shape of my design similar to a real coral polyp so that it would be more convincing.

How do Coral Polyps eat?

At night coral polyps come out of their skeletons to feed. A polyp uses tentacles to sting and capture tiny floating animals called zooplankton. The polyp’s mouth swallows the zooplankton. The zooplankton is digested in the polyp’s stomach. Some coral polyps feed by exchanging energy with tiny algae called zooxanthellae (pronounced zo-zan-THEL-ee). Zooxanthellae live inside the polyps’ tissues and create the brilliant colors seen in many corals.

- This is very useful to know when working out how it would survive on land and what it would eat.

Do Coral Polyps have eyes?

All polyps have tentacles, a mouth, throat, and stomach, but coral polyps do not have eyes. - This is very interesting to know, however, due to the Art style I am using, I feel my coral polyp creature looks more appealing with eyes.

Here is an image I used as a reference showing a colony of real coral polyps that have formed tree coral.

How do coral polyps reproduce?

Corals can reproduce either asexually or sexually. In fact, most reef-building corals use both reproduction strategies. 

Corals reproduce asexually by either budding or fragmentation. Through budding, new polyps “bud” off from parent polyps to form new colonies after the parent polyp reaches a certain size and divides. This produces polyps that are genetically identical to the parent and continues throughout the coral’s life. In fragmentation, an entire colony (rather than just a polyp) branches off to form a new colony. This may happen, for example, if a larger colony is broken off from the main colony. However, the fragmented colony needs optimal conditions to settle on a substrate and grow.

Diagram of the different ways corals reproduce:

Upon researching how coral polyps can reproduce, it makes sense that my creature reproduces via the 'budding' method, as this would allow the polyps to start off in the sea, and then slowly branch out of the water, evolving over time to exist on land.

Iteration 2 - Final Design:

Upon doing some more research on coral polyps, I decided that if my creature was going to have eyes (seen as a polyp is an animal), they should be placed where the mouth is at the top, as this at least gives the design a more convincing and believable look. I also needed to think about how it would evolve to attach itself to the rocks on land when reproducing. So I decided that over time the polyp grew 'roots' that could help it to 'cling on' to the rocks by sticking to them on the surface to stop waves from washing the polyp away.

Overall, after all the research I have undertaken for this design, I am really pleased with how it turned out and I am looking forward to starting to 3D model it.

[evilasiangenius]

Together, they crossed lush meadows of tender seagrasses that stroked invitingly along Crowley’s bare legs and feet, so unlike the grasses of land that scratched and sliced bare skin. Fish darted past them, disturbed by their presence while above, beyond the waves flights of birds passed overhead, leaving their shadows to skim across the sandy bottom. There was so much to see that Crowley could not help but marvel at sights he could never have imagined to exist. Massive reefs buzzing with unusual sounds, teeming with color and life. Corals of all shapes and colors growing in profusion like strange stony plants, the gentle swaying of sponges and the wriggling petals of nearly transparent anemones. Schools of fish swam by them without ever seeming to noticing them. The multitudes were of all sizes; tiny fish barely visible to the naked eye, massive fish that dwarfed humans, heavily-armoured crustaceans that peeped out from under rocks, brilliantly colored shrimp and sea slugs, and even the occasional cephalopod that came by to inspect Aziraphale before disappearing off into the shelter of a crevice.

A large shadow passed by overhead, and when Crowley looked up, he saw the gentle placid passing of a massive manta ray. In his heart he felt a jolt of affection for these creatures that he had never seen alive or in their own habitations. So much lived here under the surface of the obscuring ocean that he never knew existed, and he vowed that he would use these newly acquired powers to do his best for them too.

The light that filtered down from the surface flickered and faded with the movement of the water and Crowley found himself standing at times fully mesmerized, as if unable to look away from the beauty of a branching coral, or a strange armour-plated seahorse that briefly wrapped its tail around his pointing outstretched finger like a ring, or the goings-on of a little hermit crab that made its life scurrying about the ocean floor.

A small roundish creature darted out, vivid red, and Crowley watched as it swam over to inspect him, to flit through the cloud of his crimson hair that floated around his head in a halo, to look at him with big round eyes before doing the same to Aziraphale. Short curling tentacles waggled at them; unlike other octopuses most of its tentacles were webbed and part of its body; it looked a bit like a round flatbread that had bubbled in the center while cooking.

“Is this some kind of octopus?” Crowley asked. It didn’t look like any kind of octopus that he recognized, though he also recognized that he had not seen that many octopuses to begin with.

“Oh yes.”

“One of yours?”

“Hmm. Oddly enough, no.” Aziraphale reached out to the octopus, whose stubby tentacles wrapped briefly around his index finger before letting go. “This one is their own octopus.”

“I thought you were the Lord of the Octopuses..."

x

[ironychan]

A Little Human (as a Treat)

Part 1/? - Un Volontario

Part 2/? - Un Escursione

Part 3/? - Una Complicazione

Part 4/? - Una Famiglia

Part 5/? - Un Aiutante

The underdogs find some possible help.  So does Flavia.  Ercole needs help, but there’s nothing to be done for him.

Alberto, Luca, and Giulia had left the harbour and headed out into San Giuseppe Bay, looking for the sorts of places where sea monsters liked to live.  These would not be so shallow as to be subject to the weather, but also not so deep that their crops wouldn't grow.  No sooner had they spotted a likely-looking area – a gentle sandy slope, covered with seagrass and with sunlight flitting across it – than they started encountering people.

Back home in the waters off Portorosso, Luca was usually the first to talk to people, because everybody already knew him.  The sea monster community there had been aware of Alberto's father, but had considered him a very private herson and he'd kept his son the same, and they were still a bit wary of Giulia and Massimo.  In Napoli, it had been Alberto who'd started conversations, since just about everyone in the Gulf was related to the extensive Scorfano family somehow.  Here, it was Giulia who approached a man gathering sunken driftwood and cleared her throat.

“Ciao,” she said.  “Can you help us find somebody?  Our neighbour, uh...” she looked at Luca.

“Mario Macarello,” he supplied.

Giulia nodded.  “He has a cousin who lives near here.”

“Oh, yes, Antonio,” the man replied pleasantly.  “Him and Felicia live just on the other side of the rise there.”

“Thank you!  Come on, ragazzi!” Giulia swam off.

Alberto shook his head.  “Man, when did she get to be faster than us?”

“You were proud of her before,” Luca reminded him with a smile.

“I'm proud of her when she's faster than people who think she's not sea monster enough,” said Alberto, “not when she's leaving us behind.”

Beyond the sandbar was an extensive, shadowy orchard of tall seaweeds with colourful fish darting between the branches, and in a clearing in the middle was a little house.  Like most sea monster homes, this had been built up from boulders already on the bottom, and its distinguishing feature was the triangular doorway framed by the jawbone of a whale, which had colourful anemones growing on it. In front of the house was a carefully-tended garden of ornamental crinoids and sponges.  Another sea monster was there, trimming one of the sponges with an obsidian knife.  She looked up at them, then did a double-take when she noticed their human clothing.

“Buongiorno!” Giulia called out.

“Ah... hello,” said the woman.  “Can I help you?”

“Are you Signora Macarello?” Luca wanted to know.

“I am,” she said, still cautious.  “And you?”

“Luca Paguro.”

“Alberto Scorfano.”

“Giulia Marcovaldo.  We're neighbours of Mario Macarello, from Portorosso.”

Felicia Macarello nodded in recognition.  “Oh, yes, Tony's cousin Maria.  I've met him.”  She still looked rather unsure about these children, but the polite thing to do was be hospitable.  “Won't you come in?”

She led them through the whale jaw and into the house, where her husband was replacing a stone that had fallen from the edge of a window.  Signora Macarello was sky-blue and veyr thin, while her husband looked much like his cousin, being mustard-coloured and a bit pudgy, and prematurely losing the fins around the top of his head.

“Antonio, these three say they're Mario's neighbours,” Felicia said.  She started sorting through the cupboards, looking for something she could offer her guests to eat.

“Oh, yes?” Antonio asked.  He set aside what he was working on and floated over for a closer look – he, too, looked rather askance at what they were wearing.

Giulia took the lead again.  “My name is Giulia Marcovaldo,” she repeated, “and my friends are Luca Paguro and Albe...”

“Paguro?” Signor Macarello interrupted, as his wife gasped. “The one who goes to school with the humans?”

“Yes, Sir.  That's me,” said Luca.

“So you two must be...”  Antonio pointed at Alberto, then at Giulia, and licked his lips.  “You're the ones who are part human yourselves?”

“Yeah, that's us.”  Alberto puffed his chest out defiantly. “What about it?”

“Nothing, nothing,” said Antonio quickly.

“We were in town with a friend,” Luca said, “but the fountain at the zoo broke and we got wet, and we had to run for the river. Flavia got left behind, so we need somebody to show us the best place to get out of the water again without anyone seeing us.

Felicia had been in the process of filling a large clam shell with snacks. Now she nearly dropped it in horror.  “You left your friend behind in a city full of land monsters?  Why didn't she come with you?”

“Because she couldn't.”  Luca looked at his friends – this was a bit of a complicated situation.  How much could they leave out, and still have it make sense?  If they had to start with the magic books in the Library of the Deep, they'd be here all night.

“She's human,” said Giulia.  “She can't swim.”  It was probably true.  Flavia wouldn't know how to swim the way humans did.

That made Felicia relax a little.  “Ohhh,” she said.  “Well, in that case, I don't see what the problem is.  She's with her own kind.”

“No, she's...”  Luca thought about it, and decided not to elaborate.  “She doesn't know anybody in San Giuseppe.”

“She's one of my cousins from Napoli,” Alberto added.  “She's just visiting Portorosso with one of her Dads.”

“We promised him we'd have her home in time for supper,” said Giulia.

Antonio grimaced.  “Normally I'd say if you have to go up on land, you do it after dark when the land monsters won't be out and about,” he said, rubbing his temples.  “Going up there while the sun's still out?  I don't know.  I just don't know.”

“I would say don't go at all,” his wife declared.  “Land monsters are dangerous.  Even if you are all chummy with them out there on the edge of the open sea, it's not like that here.  If any of them spot you, that'll be it.”

“And then there's the sun,” Antonio agreed.  “If you stay up there too long it can burn you, like sticking your hand in a kitchen vent.  I knew a guy that happened to, and after a couple of days his scales started falling off...”

“We know,” said Alberto. “If you stay in human form your skin peels off instead.”

It seemed that neither of the Macarellos had known that.  Antonio's eyes bulged in horror, and Felicia covered her mouth as if the idea made her nauseous.

Alberto leaned back a little, hands behind his head.  “Well, guys,” he said to his friends, “I guess if they can't help us, we'll just have to find somewhere all by ourselves.  I hope we get it right on the first try.  It sounds like if we don't, we're gonna get harpooned.”

Signor Macarello sighed heavily.  “I know a spot where the kids go to watch the city,” he said.  “I used to do it until my parents caught me at it.  But I will not go there while the fishing boats are out,” he added firmly.  “We'll wait until the humans go back to land for their supper.  You'll have to settle for getting your friend back in time for bed.”

That was considerably better than no help at all.  “Thank you, Sir,” said Luca.

“Do you know where she'll be waiting for you?” Felicia asked.

“No... but we went to a few different places today, and she'll probably look for us at one of those,” Luca said.  He thought for a moment and added, “probably not the pirate museum.  The parrot didn't like us.”

“Maybe the pizzeria or the candy shop,” Giulia suggested. “Unless the pigeon lady took her home.  What was her name?”

“Signora Pepitone,” said Luca.  If they knew her name and had a few coins, they could telephone.

“We'll figure it out,” Alberto said confidently.

--

The house where the Donzella family now lived had once belonged to an elderly man named Terzo Cormorano, but had stood unoccupied since his death a couple of years earlier.  Cormorano had let it get pretty dilapidated, and the Donzellas had done a lot of fixing up, but the house was now livable and it was time to pay attention to the rest of the property.  The barn was in a particularly awful state, with the roof partially collapsed.  While Signor Donzella and Silvio had gone to the shallows around the Island to collect more stones, Signora Donzella and a couple of neighbours were cleaning up what had fallen.

“That's Signor Pianuzza,” said Giordana, pointing to a man who was bringing in curved pieces of wood that must have come from a shipwreck.  “And there's Signora Egelfino.”  She was helping Giorgia Donzella sort the rubble by size, tossing away stones that were too broken or covered with shellfish to be re-used.

“Hello, Giordana!” Signora Donzella called out, waving.  “Oh, is this that boyfriend we've been hearing about?”

“Yes!  This is Francesco.  His friends call him Ciccio,” Giordana replied.

“Ciao,” Ciccio said with a nervous smile.  He couldn't help noticing that nobody seemed to find his presence odd.  Certainly nobody said anything like, wait, wasn't Giordana's new boyfriend a human?

A little girl with red and orange fins, Alessia Pianuzza, swam up for a closer look.  “Have you got sponges growing on you?” she asked Ciccio.

“No.  I've got poison spines and I don't want to stick anybody,” he replied – especially now that he knew what they actually did. Which reminded him... what had happened to their tagalong?

He turned and saw motion in a line of tall purple seaweeds that had been planted to mark some kind of boundary.  Sound carried further underwater, and Ciccio could hear Ercole's voice shout, “give that back, you little thief!”

“Come and get it!” Silvio replied.  “Swim!”  The weeds parted and Silvio dashed out, holding Ercole's pink sweater. Ercole himself emerged a moment later, in hot pursuit.

Watching Ercole swim was something like seeing an inexperienced rider on an excitable horse, except that Ercole himself was both the rider – trying desperately to pretend he was in control of the situation when he was clearly not – and the horse – barrelling merrily along in whatever direction it pointed its nose.  Being bigger than Silvio meant he could produce more thrust, but he had no idea how to direct it.  He caught up with the boy, couldn't stop, and ran right into him, sending both of them into the stony seafloor. There they wrestled a moment before Ercole got Silvio pinned and sat up, the sweater triumphantly in his hand.

“Mine!” he declared.

Alessia saw this, and decided she wanted to play, too.  She swam over and snatched the garment.

“My turn!” she said, and darted away.

“Hey!  Aspetta!” Ercole protested, but the only response was Alessia's giggles echoing back.  He looked up at Silvio.

“Well?” Silvio said.  “You know what to do.”

Ercole growled.  He picked himself up off the bottom and tried to swim after Alessia.  First he hit a rock.  Then he plowed himself face-first into a bed of sponges.  Then he finally managed to get going, and followed the laughing seven-year-old.

Silvio beamed.  “He'll be swimming like an expert in no time!”

Ciccio and Giordana delivered their loads of stones to Signora Donzella, who thanked them and asked if they wouldn't mid helping Signora Egelfino while she got the rafters, made out of the old ship ribs, in place with Signor Pianuzza.  They got to work sorting stones, and were soon joined by Signora Egelfino's daughter Mia.

Ciccio knew Mia.  She was one of Giordana's friends and had been to town a couple of times to try the things they cooked up in the bakery – in human form she had short, light brown hair and freckles.  As a sea monster she was yellow and pink, and it took Ciccio a moment to pick out the telltale traits and recognize her, but once he had he was pretty confident of his identification.  It was gratifying to hear her familiar voice a moment later as she greeted Giordana.

Mia, of course, also knew him.  She looked him over and said, “you're Ciccio, huh?”

“Yeah, that's me,” he agreed, rather relieved that somebody knew he was out of place here.

“What's with the spines?” Mia wanted to know.

“We don't know,” Giordana told her.  “Apparently that's just what he looks like.”

“Huh,” said Mia.

Signora Egelfino was putting the smaller stones they couldn't use into a basket to carry away, but she was close enough to hear this conversation.  “Oh, that's right,” she said.  “Giordana's seeing a boy who lives in the human town, isn't she?  I hope we'll see you down here more often, young man.”

Ciccio looked at Giordana.  She had said if anyone asks, we're just going to tell them.  Now was a moment of truth.

Giordana blinked back at him, then realized Mia was also looking at her to explain.  She swallowed and shut her eyes for a moment.  “Um, no,” she said with an awkward smile.  “This is just for today. Ciccio is... he's a human.”

“Like Luca and Alberto's friend,” Mia agreed.

“Oh?” Signora Egelfino said.  She moved a little, putting the bulk of the stones in between her and the kids.  “So... this is just going to be something that happens now, is it?  I mean, humans coming down here, and...”

“Just for today,” Ciccio assured her.  “The kids had this magic scroll.”

“It was really for Alberto's cousin,” Giordana added.  “She doesn't do the Change, but they found this spell where she could go up on land if she had somebody to trade with.”

“So they asked me if I wanted to try,” Ciccio finished.

He and Giordana both held their breath, waiting for Signora Egelfino's reaction.  If this went badly, it wouldn't bode well for how Giordana's mother might react later.

Unfortunately, her first question was, “does your mother know?”

“We're gonna tell her tonight,” said Giordana, “when he changes back.  I thought she'd take it better if she had a chance to get to know him a little better first.”

“I... see,” said Signora Egelfino dubiously.  She didn't look at all comfortable with the idea, but she wasn't freaking out, either. That wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible.  Could they expect the same sort of reaction from Atinnia Trota?  Would she just be mildly disapproving like this, or would she be outright furious?  Ciccio was starting to get a very bad feeling about the whole project.

“What about him?” Mia asked, pointing.

Ciccio and Giordana exchanged another worried glance, then turned to see what she was looking at.

Ercole was now lying face-up on a boulder, clutching his sweater and panting from unaccustomed exertion, staring blankly at a point somewhere between the surface of the ocean and the edge of the universe.  Alessia and Silvio were hovering over him, concerned.

“Is he dead?” asked Alessia, sounding sincerely worried that he might be.  “Did we kill him?”

“Nah,” Silvio said.  “His gills are moving.  He'll be fine.” He cupped his hands around his mouth and called, as if to somebody at a great distance, “you're doing really great!”

Ciccio turned back to Mia.  “It's pretty obvious, huh?”

She nodded.

“Don't say anything to him.  He thinks he's blending in.”  The last thing Ciccio wanted was Ercole having another screaming fit.

Mia's only response to that was a snort.

A few minutes later, more neighbours arrived.  The first one Giordana pointed out was Ginevra Tartaruga, bringing coils of seagrass rope.  Her young son Milo was following her, but when he noticed Silvio and Alessia dragging Ercole off his boulder, he went to see what was going on.

“Up and at 'em,” Silvio was saying.  “You gotta learn to steer.”

Ercole groaned loudly, but Alessia took his other hand and Milo grabbed him by the tail, and they hauled him into a sitting position.

Only moments behind Signora Tartaruga, Vittoria Aragosta swam up with a basket of barnacles and her five-year-old twins.  She saw the other children gathered around Ercole, and went to deposit her daughters among them.

“This is Gianna and this is Giola,” she said.  “Don't let them confuse you, Gianna is the one with the freckles on her gills.” She gave one a gentle tug so Ercole could see them.  “Now, you two behave yourselves for... sorry, what was your name?”

Ercole just stared at her, not sure what was happening.

“This is Ercole,” said Silvio helpfully.

“Behave yourselves for Ercole,” Signora Aragosta finished, “and I won't be far away.  Okay?”

“Si, Mama,” the twins chorused.  Their mother smiled and nodded, and went to join the rest of the adults.

A moment later, Ercole finally figured out that he'd been mistaken for the babysitter.  “Hey!” he protested, but Vittoria was already chatting with Signora Donzella, and didn't realize he was talking to her.

Using the rope and the pieces from the shipwreck, the adults and teenagers built a frame for the new barn roof.  Then they began building over it with stones, cementing these together with barnacle glue and filling the cracks with sponges that would trap silt and keep cold currents and annoying plankton from getting in to bother the livestock.

As they worked, Ciccio tried to be surreptitious about glancing over to see what Ercole and the kids were up to.  He would never have trusted Ercole to look after a child, and he wasn't sure these children were capable of looking after Ercole, either.  The first time he checked, they had dragged him back to the row of tall seaweed.  The kids were swimming through them, weaving in and out as if for a slalom, making it look very easy to do so without touching the stems.

The second time Ciccio looked, Ercole had tried it for himself and was now tangled in the weeds.  Silvio and Alessia were trying to extract him while the younger children giggled helplessly.

As the adults decided to call it a day and began cleaning up, Ciccio took a third look.  He was just in time to see Ercole starting off towards the row of plants – some of which were significantly shorter than they had been.  Ercole managed to manoeuvre in between the first two, then back, brushing against the third stem but not getting stuck in it.  In and out, in and out, and then he was at the other end.

The children burst out cheering and hurried to give him high fours, which he returned with a grin.  “I knew I could do it,” he said smugly.  “After all, I won the Portorosso Cup race five years in a row!”  He held up his hand as he usually did for this boast, then paused, counted the fingers, and quickly added one from the other hand.

Giorgia Donzella approached Ciccio and Giordana.  “You two and your friend were a big help,” she said.  “I know Silvestro more or less kidnapped you for the afternoon, so can I offer you some supper?  As a thanks for staying?”

“No, thank you, Signora,” said Ciccio politely.  “I'm having dinner with the Trotas tonight, and then my father is expecting me home.”

“Some other time, then,” she said pleasantly.

One by one, the parents came to collect their children.  Signora Aragosta left with her twins, and Signora Tartaruga took Milo by the hand.

“Thank you for entertaining him,” she said to Ercole.  “He does tend to get into everything if he's left on his own.”

“It was nothing, Signora.  My pleasure,” said Ercole, giving her what he thought of as his most charming smile.  It had looked sleazy when he was human and sharper teeth had not improved it.

Signor Pianuzza let Alessia climb onto his back to be carried home, although he did grunt.  “You're getting a little big for that, Starfish,” he said.  “Did you have fun today?”

“Yeah.  We taught Ercole to swim!” she replied.

“Oh, did he forget?”  Signor Pianuzza chuckled, humouring her. “Good job.  Let's go see what Mom and Cosimo have been up to. Thanks, kiddo!”  He waved to Ercole, and headed for home.

Ercole turned to Ciccio and Giordana with a grin.  “Did you hear that?  They love me.  They've got more sense than I thought, these sea monsters.”

Ciccio tried to remember if he had ever heard anyone thank Ercole before.  It wasn't in his character to do useful things, even by accident... today was probably the first time in years.  No wonder he looked so pleased with himself.

“I wonder if they ever have races down here,” Ercole mused. “Imagine the look on those boys' fishy faces if I beat them in their own element!”  He rubbed his hands together.

“There are races at the festivals,” said Giordana, “but they're usually for livestock, not people.  The more important question is what we're going to do with you now.”  She nibbled on a cuticle as she thought about it.

Ciccio realized what she meant.  “We can't take him back to your Mom's place for dinner,” he said.

“Why not?” Ercole asked.  He pointed at Ciccio.  “You got me into this, number one, and number two,” he pointed at Giordana, “you said I can't get out of the water to get any real food.  I think that means it's your responsibility to feed me.”

“And Mom will do it, too,” Giordana groaned.  Hospitality was important to sea monsters, and Attinia Trota took social niceties very seriously.  “We can't sit around and think about it.  I'm surprised she hasn't already sent Arturo to come find us.  We'd better figured it out on the way.  What are we going to tell her?”

“The truth?” Ciccio tried.  He wasn't going to let her forget it.

“About you, sure, but him?” Giordana asked.

“Absolutely not!” said Ercole.  “I am blending in, remember?”

“If we lie about you, it's gonna make telling her about me way harder!” Ciccio protested.

“That's not my problem,” Ercole informed him.

“Yeah, but if we tell her you were an accident, then she'll be even more suspicious about the whole thing!” Giordana groaned, pulling on her own fins in distress.  She shook her head, and took a deep breath.  “Okay, so you can't meet my Mom, then.  You'll have to wait outside... we'll find you somewhere to hide, and I'll bring you something to eat, okay?”

“Fine,” Ercole decided.  “I wonder what sea monsters eat.  I hope it doesn't look as disgusting as you do.”

At Signora Pepitone's apartment, the adults drank coffee and talked about the sorts of things adults find interesting, while Perla took out a deck of cards and taught Flavia to play a game called Straccia Camicha.  The rules were easy to remember and who won was based on luck, with each player putting down a series of cards determined by the last card their opponent had played.  That was fine with Flavia, who was not good at strategy games like chess.

“If it does, you don't have to eat it,” Giordana informed him. “Come on – the kids said you can swim now, so do it.”

-

It was a fun distraction, but every few minutes Flavia would remember the pickle she was in, and would have to remind herself that Papa Leo was coming to get her and it would all be okay.  What about the others, though?  She still didn't know where Alberto, Luca, and Giulia had ended up or whether they would try to look for her.  They had plenty of experience around humans and their spaces so they would probably be okay, but how would they find out that they were supposed to meet her and Papa Leo back in Portorosso?  It would have been better to know.

A while later, Perla's mother arrived.  She knocked and then let herself in, gave Perla a quick kiss on the cheek and then went to sit with Roberto and Signora Pepitone.

“You weren't kidding, Dionisia,” she observed.  “The whole town really is talking about it.  It sounds dreadful.”

Signora Pepitone snorted.  “I told you,” she repeated, to her son.  “Some coffee, Lisa?”

“Yes, please,” Lisa replied.  “Do you remember Graziano?  The fellow who works at the Museum of Piracy?”

Flavia paused in laying down a card, listening.

“Oh, yes,” said Signora Pepitone.  “What about him?”

“He says he saw the same group of kids earlier in the day,” Lisa replied.  “One of the girls apparently had never seen a parrot before, so he offered to let them pet his.  As soon as they touched it, though, the bird started crying out about sea monsters!”

“They were on land when I saw them, but monsters they certainly were!”  Signora Pepitone shuddered.  “Horrid.”

Flavia felt her heart drop.  If the man from the Pirate Museum remembered them, then he knew what the others looked like in human form.  If he'd been telling everybody, then it wouldn't be safe for them to come back into town and find her.  Was there any way she could get them a message to tell them they didn't have to?

First, she would have to find them.  Flavia didn't know her way around San Giuseppe.  She needed someone to help her, but the humans would refuse once they found out the friends she was looking for were the terrifying sea monsters Signora Pepitone had told them about!

Then she realized that Perla was waiting for her to take her turn. She had totally forgotten about the game.  “How many cards did I put down?” Flavia asked nervously.

“One.  You need one more, because I played a Cavallo,” said Perla.  She looked at the adults, then lowered her voice and asked, “did your friends really turn into monsters?”

“Yeah,” said Flavia.

“Were you scared?” Perla asked.

Perla was the only person here who hadn't said sea monsters were scary, but that might just be because she hadn't yet said anything about them at all.  Could Flavia risk telling her?  Even if she did, could Perla help?  Flavia licked her lips, then said, “they're supposed to do that.  That's how sea monsters work.”

For a moment Perla frowned, and Flavia was afraid she'd just made a terrible mistake.  Then, however, she leaned closer.  “Really?” she whispered, intrigued.

“Yeah.  When we get out of the water, we turn into humans, and when we get wet we change back.”  And having already said we, Flavia realized, she now had to tell the rest.  “Except me.  I don't.  I don't know why not, I just don't.”  She could never escape that one exception, not even now.

Perla was fascinated.  She looked over at the adults, then inched even closer to be absolutely sure they couldn't hear.  “So... your parents were sea monsters, but you just turned out as human?”

“Um... not exactly.”  Flavia wasn't sure how to even begin explaining the situation.  “But if the man at the museum remembers us, then he knows what my friends look like...”

“... and he'll tell everyone.”  Perla understood right away. “What are you gonna do?”

“I have to find them before anybody else does,” said Flavia. How could she possibly do that when she couldn't get in the water? All her life she'd longed to get out of it, and now she would give anything to dive back in!  “I don't even know where the sea is from here.”

“I do,” Perla said.  She gathered up the playing cards, and stood.  “Nonna!  I'm gonna show Flavia your bird collection, okay?”

“Careful with them,” Signora Pepitone warned.  “They're not toys.”

“I know.  I'm not a baby anymore,” said Perla.  She took Flavia's hand and led her into the bedroom, explaining on the way. “The birds are ceramic.  When I was little I used to play with them.  I gave them all names and decided which ones were friends and relatives, and they would have adventures.  Then I broke one, and Nonna wouldn't let me touch them again for ages.”  She turned on the bedroom light, and gently shut the door behind them.