#branching sea anemone

[colorsoutofearth]

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

Photo by Constantinos Petrinos

[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).

[memorabxlia]

Lost & Found ━ 이한

genre: fluff summary: "I'm glad you found me." warnings: mentions slight panic/anxiety, mentions food (that’s all I think) pairing: nonidol!leehan x fem!reader wc: 726 a/n: repost from my old blog

You and Leehan decided to go to your local zoo for a fun day, as you spent the last few days at home relaxing and enjoying each other's company. After a short debate about what section to see first you convinced Leehan you should see your favorite African animals, then you could make your way to the best part (in Leehan's words). Upon reaching the enclosure, you find yourself marveling at the majestic creatures displaying their beauty. It's as if they are putting on a show just for the two of you.

Your trance is broken when your stomach growls reminding you that you haven't eaten since breakfast and it is well over mid-day now as it took you a couple of hours to get here. You turn to ask what sounded good to eat but when you go to ask you realize Leehan wasn't there. Panicking a little, you hurriedly go to look for him as he was just right next to you and you didn't hear him walk away. Taking a break as you were a little winded from the constant rushing, you start to think and realize there's one place you haven't looked where he practically wanted to be since you got there... the aquarium!

As you reach the aquatic enclosure you see Leehan taking in the sight of the graceful creatures, You continue to stand in front of the aquarium window, watching all the different fish swim gracefully through the water, and you can't help but feel a wave of serenity wash over you. Only after you sigh in contentment did your boyfriend realize you were there. "

Smiling at him, you said "Y'know I understand how excited you were to see the aquarium. It's one of your favorite places, after all. Just remember to let me know when you want to go somewhere else next time, okay?"

Leehan nodded enthusiastically, his eyes still fixated on the beautiful sea creatures before him. "Definitely," he replied. "I've learned my lesson. I want to share these experiences with you, not cause unnecessary distress."

You both turn your attention back to the aquarium in front of you. The room is filled with vibrant displays of coral reefs, swaying plants, and a multitude of colorful fish gracefully swimming through the water. Rays glide through the tank, their wing-like bodies moving effortlessly. As you watch in awe, a small clownfish playfully darts in and out of a sea anemone, catching your attention.

With that, the two of you spent the rest of the day exploring the different exhibits at the zoo, making sure to stick together. You marveled at the colorful birds, watched the playful monkeys swing from branch to branch, and found joy in the smallest of creatures. Along the way, you shared laughter, and inside jokes, and even helped each other out during tricky moments.

As the sun began to set, casting a warm golden glow over the zoo, the two of you found yourselves back at the African animal enclosure where the initial miscommunication had occurred. You leaned against the railing, watching the animals as they trotted and played in the enclosure.

Leehan stood beside you, his gaze alternating between the creatures and you. "I'm grateful for you," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the sounds of the zoo.

You turned to face him, warmth spreading in your chest. "Me too, Leehan. We've been through so much together."

He grinned, and his eyes sparkled. "Definitely. And I promise, from now on, we'll always stick together at the zoo. No more surprises or disappearing acts."

With a chuckle, you nudged him playfully. "Sounds like a plan. Though, I must admit, finding you near the aquarium wasn't such a bad surprise after all."

Leehan's laughter filled the air as he wrapped an arm around your shoulder, pulling you in for a kiss. "Yeah, the aquarium always has a calming effect on me. I'm glad you found me."

As the day drew to a close, you and Leehan made your way out of the zoo, relishing the memories you had created together. From that day forward, whenever you embarked on new adventures, you knew that communication and togetherness would be the foundation of your bond, making every experience even more special.

With a sense of excitement and renewed trust, the two of you walked hand in hand, ready to face whatever challenges and wonders lay ahead in your adventure.

[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)

[dainty-doodles]

Immortal Jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii)

This creature is very cool. The Immortal Jellyfish is a species of small, biologically immortal jellyfish found throughout the world in temperate to tropic waters.

The Immortal Jellyfish is a hydrozoan that begins its life as tiny, free-swimming larvae known as planulae. After the planula settles down it develops into a colony of polyps that attach to the sea floor. All the polyps and jellyfish arising from a single planula are genetically identical clones. The polyps form into a branched form to create an adult jellyfish, also known as medusae. The jellyfish, who bud off of the polyps, continue their life in a free-swimming form.

The “immortal” part comes in because if an adult Immortal Jellyfish becomes sick or old, is exposed to environmental stress, experiences starvation, undergoes sudden temperature changes, experiences reduction of salinity, or is physically assaulted it can revert back to its polyp stage, forming a new polyp colony. The jellyfish achieves this through a process known as transdifferentiation (say that five times fast). Theoretically this process can go on indefinitely, effectively making this species biologically immortal. In practice however, the Immortal Jellyfish can still die, such as from predation or disease.

When Immortal Jellyfish become sexually mature, they are known to prey on other jellyfish at a rapid pace. Their diet also consists of zooplankton, fish eggs, and small mollusks. The Immortal Jellyfish consumes food, and excretes waste, through its mouth (I thought this was funny - it literally eats and poops out of the same hole).

Predators of the Immortal Jellyfish includes other jellyfish, sea anemones, tuna, sharks, swordfish, sea turtles, and penguins.

Credit: Wikipedia

[wikipediapictures]

Tompot blenny

“Tompot blenny (Parablennius gattorugine), Arrábida National Park, Portugal. Note: no FP of this species. It can be found in shallow, coastal waters off western Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa. The tompot blenny is a relatively large blenny that can grow up to 30 centimetres (12 in) in length. There is a single branched tentacle over each of its eyes. It's very territorial and their territories are centred around a crevice in the rocky reef which the fish uses for shelter. They occur in shallow seas at depths of 3–32 metres (9.8–105.0 ft). It has sharp, comb-like teeth which they use to scrape food from the substrate. They feed on sea anemones and on other invertebrates such as prawns and other crustaceans. They are crepuscular, being active mainly at dawn and at dusk.” - via Wikimedia Commons

[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

[bluegoblinzz]

Siorc’s Grotto

Connor broke through the surface of the pool, took out his regulator and scuba mask, and took in a deep breath. He turned on his flashlight and let out a laugh of amazement as he took in the scenery of the secret hideout he had discovered. The cavern was dark and damp, full of dark colored stalactites and stalagmites. The room was narrow and the his flashlight did not light up the edge of the room, indicating he was probably in some large tunnel. And while the walls were gravely and rough, they began to smooth out the farther into the cavern he looked. 

He climbed out of the pool, took off his oxygen tank, and slowly headed deeper into the cave, pointing his flashlight left and right. As the cavern walls smoothed out, it became clearer that there were zigzagging glyphs and ornate images carved into the wall. The glyphs were completely illegible, and unlike any language he had ever seen. They spanned in long stretches from the ceiling to the floor, breaking off into different branches of zigzags. Meanwhile, the images carved into the walls were all abstract representations of fish, anemone, and other sea creatures. Connor had a big grin on his face and excitement bubbled up in his belly. He couldn’t wait to tell his buddies about this place he found… Actually: forget his buddies, he couldn’t wait to tell some anthropologist about this place and become rich off of his discovery! He wasn’t sure if that was how anthropology worked, but at the very least, he would become famous from finding that place. 

Connor pointed his flashlight forward once again and faced forward, only to flinch and stumble backward out of surprise, nearly tripping over his scuba flippers. The tunnel came to an abrupt end as a gargantuan statue blocked the path. It was some burly humanoid shark, who was sitting on its tail fin, its webbed hands resting on its knees, and its webbed feet flat against the floor. The head was angled downward slightly, as if watching its visitors intently. The eyes of the statue were some kind of blue gemstone that faintly glimmered with as Connor stared into them, wide-eyed. 

The statue’s eyes glowed, and flashed bright, two hot beams of blue energy hitting Connor in the chest. He yelled out in surprise and in pain, dropping his flashlight, which broke when it hit the floor, leaving only the blue energy to light the cavern. Every  muscle in his body burned and his arms and legs tensed up. It was only a light soreness at first, but he winced and shut his eyes, as the pain grew to a more intense ache all over. He gritted and ground his teeth as every muscle in his body twitched and throbbed. His biceps, triceps, calves, and quads all grew tight, while his pecs and abs swelled and stiffened. As this happened, there was some distant, guttural sound rumbling in the cave, and reverberating in his mind. It sounded like whispers but he couldn’t understand what they said. His entire upper body swelled into a more muscular form, causing his wetsuit to tear down the middle, and sizable holes to form in the sleeves. When he looked down he saw that his abs were now visible and flab he previously had was gone. There was a dark patch spreading across his skin like a viscous liquid. The dark patch of skin felt slippery and slimy. It was so smooth that it had a sheen that reflected the blue light. He shuddered as the dark patch spread across his torso and down his back. 

Panic coursed through him, but it was interrupted by sharp pains in both his feet, causing him to yell out once again. He dragged each of his feet across the ground to kick off his scuba flippers, and found the bridges of his feet shrinking toward his heels but each toe beginning to stretch out, new joints cracking and popping into place and bending like fingers. His two smallest toes on each foot fused together into one appendage, and the rest of his toes grew farther apart. The skin on the outside of his feet grew thicker and wider, layers of cartilage growing outward from one toe to the other, until each layer fused together into floppy webbing. The dark patches of skin that emerged on his chest now covered his feet as well. 

The grumble that Connor heard before became more louder, and more insistent, repeating over and over, pounding in his mind like a resonant drum, but the words overlapping like murmurs many murmurs in a crowd. One word, however, was repeated over and over again by many of these low voices. 

“Siorc.” 

This word began to fill his thoughts. Every grumble in his head was hard to ignore, and the pain he was feeling was less noticeable than these overlapping nonsensical phrases. 

“Siorc obey Siorc commands   follow

kneel listen Siorc demands your obedience.

obey demands Siorc Siorc

Siorc demands you follow follow kneel obey.”

As random words clashed together, two sensible sentences stood out among the chaos. A moment after each was spoken, he felt a power well up in his chest, and a manic wave of joy. When Connor’s obedience was demanded, he flashed his sharpened teeth in a grin. His thoughts went silent, and what was left was an animalistic anger, and a strong desire to obey, as if it were all he ever wanted.  But then his smile faded, and he realized his mind had faded for a moment, that he temporarily lost all sensibility. Fear welled inside of him, but not for long before the second phrase was spoken.

When he was demanded to follow, the same grin washed over his face, and his pupils expanding to completely fill his eyes in black voids. A growl escaped his throat. The animal inside was even more overpowering as he felt a need to attack, to bite, to eat, but at the same time, he only wanted to do it on Siorc’s command. Every joy and every satisfaction he once had was replaced with the joy and satisfaction of obedience. The thought of obeying a command to a tee, the thought of impressing this “Siorc,”  it excited him to no end. But then Connor rapidly shook his head, pushing away these intrusive commands. No matter how good it felt, Connor realized he needed to do everything he could to resist. 

Connor looked down at his hands the dark patches reached his finger tips. Every pore, wrinkle, groove and bump on his hand vanished as his skin became completely smooth and slippery. His finger tips extended into triangular points, but his fingers overall thickened, and grew slightly stubbier, similar webbing growing between each of his fingers. 

Then there was a strange sensation in his back, a strange twitch or tickle in some part of him that didn’t exist. It felt like a fantom limb or a new arm was growing in his back. His back muscles clenched and forced him to bend forward as the pants of his wetsuit tore. He stood up straight once again, and looked back to check what was going on, and saw a large smooth tail slowly stretching out. He yelped and out of panic, pushed on it, trying to somehow prevent it from growing further, or to push his tail back into him. The growing appendage felt squishy and smooth, and after he grabbed at it, it involuntarily waved back and forth. The feeling of horror was replaced with a strong satisfaction. He grinned and let go of his tail, now purposefully waving it left and right as it grew. He tried to resist, and tried to remind himself of the urgency of the situation, but he couldn’t stop himself from enjoying the satisfying swish as his tail went left… and right… and left… and right… and- 

His trance was broken as a sharp pain emerged in his jaw as his bones cracked. His jaw and chin stretched forward. The bridge of his nose elongated and widened while the tip of his nose grew upward, his nostrils growing farther apart. These two changes happening together caused his nose and mouth to form a triangular snout. The dark patches of skin crept up his shoulders, around his neck, and began to completely covered his face. When these patches crept up his neck, sharp pains emerged in his neck as his skin split and formed gills, which twitched as they longed for air.  His hair felt loose, and felt as if it would fall out, but it was the least of his worries at that point. He also felt a throbbing pain on the back of his head, and when he reached behind to feel it, he noticed a sizable bump on the back of his head, that bump grew somewhat pointy, and began to grow longer, a cartilaginous flap forming at the back of his head. A fin. 

As all of these changes happened to his face, the gruff voices got louder, going from whispers to growls. They became impossible to ignore, and were the only thing he could think about, the only thing he could hear, the only thing he could focus on. 

“SIORC demands your obedience

demands COMMANDS sink follow

deeper good YOU are listen deeper

you slave shark TO a shark

follow listen sleep KNEEL!” 

Connor was prepared this time, and knew that these words would enthrall him, and would put pressure on his mind and his will. Before the command was even finished, he made sure to start to push the words away, to shout “NO!” in his mind and to disobey. But it was too little resistance, and too late. His torso moved on its own, bending forward to bow down, and one of his legs lifted off the ground and bent as he went to kneel. No matter how much he tried to move his leg back it wouldn’t work, and he found he fully lost control over his body. But once he completely let one knee rest on the ground, his webbed foot flopping and smacking against the stone floor, all of the power, joy, excitement, and hunger he felt before returned. 

Connor grinned again, his pupils expanding and making his eyes completely black. He lowered his other knee to the floor, and as he did, he felt accomplished, and excited that he did what he was told, that he was a good shark. Any remaining thoughts of resistance dissolved, and all thoughts became related to obedience and devotion. His urgency to leave became a desire to remain with his god, to hear his wisdom and to be good, to follow and obey. And as his thoughts settled on these things, Connor didn’t notice his memories and his ‘self’ as Connor leaving. All memories, past ambitions, and past connections were locked away. All that mattered was Siorc. His name grew distant and unfamiliar, for he didn’t need a name: what mattered were his actions and what he did. 

The shark shut his eyes and clenched his jaw as the last of the changes took place, his face stretching forward until it elongated enough to snap into its proper shape with a satisfying pop. The remaining rough and human parts of his skin smoothed out and grew dark and grey, making him shudder. His hair had vanished and the crown of his head was now the same slippery smooth texture as the rest of his body. The human was completely gone and the shark remained, and with the changes finished, the grumbling and whispers quieted down, and tapered off, only giving one last command before they went silent. 

“Siorc commands you to obey.” 

The shark bowed his head and placed his palms on the ground, bowing out of respect, and reverence. He held the bow for a long time, silently praising his god, telling him how powerful he was, how strong he was, how beautiful he was, and how great he was through prayer. The praise came naturally in his mind, however his tail wagged, and he tapped one of his floppy webbed feet out of nervousness, or perhaps giddiness, of being in the presence of this god. As he prayed, the blue energy that emanated from the statue’s eyes slowly dimmed until it was, leaving the statue’s eyes glowing blue, and a dim blue aura surrounding the shark from excess magic.

He opened his darkened eyes and smirked, finally appreciating the power within himself as well. He wiggled his fingers and his toes, swished his tail left and right, and let out a low growl. He felt a great sense of power knowing he was unbeatable, knowing he was the top of the food chain, and it felt great to know he could breathe underwater, and that he could go anywhere underwater without worrying about the danger. The shark had forgotten that he couldn’t do this before, and simply thought he had a newfound appreciation for this. 

The shark had a sense of what Siorc wanted him to do in that moment, so he bowed for his god once more, before standing up, and turning away. He ran and dove into the water, a rush of adrenaline overcoming him. Water filled his gills and he felt at home. He swished his tail from side to side and paddled forward with his arms, jetting through the water. He sniffed the air and immediately sensed where his prey was, and turned, jetting toward it. It didn’t stand a chance for his speed and his strength. He took a large bite, and let the creature bleed. He wanted to eat, to satisfy his hunger and his ferocity, but it wasn’t for him. When the creature was in distress, he grabbed it with his humanoid hands, and snapped its neck. Already, satisfaction welled up inside of him, knowing he was good and that Siorc would regard him as a good servant. 

With his game in under his arm, the shark swam back to the grotto, before climbing out of the water,  treading toward the statue, and placing the dead seal at its feet. He knelt before his god once more, but couldn’t help but to look up with a bashful smile. Oh, how powerful, how beautiful Siorc was. Oh, how much he looked up to the god. He showed reverence to the god, but he also felt a genuine love for him, like how a dog looks up to their owner. He wanted so badly to impress Siorc, to make him content. He had obeyed Siorc and gotten him this offering he asked for, meaning he had been good… right?

His smile faded once there was no response from the statue, no magic indicating he did well or didn’t do well, and no sign of the presence of Siorc. What happened? What did he want? Why didn’t Siorc respond to him? Panic welled up inside of him as he realized he couldn’t obey, and that he couldn’t make his god happy in that moment, that there was no one there to follow. He knelt down and pressed his palms against the ground once again, bowing, and praying… waiting for his god to return. 

A hum filled the cavern. The shark opened his eyes to see the statue’s eyes glowing once more. A stream of blue light shot from the statues eyes and hit the dead seal. The blue glow surrounding the seal became brighter and brighter until the seal was no longer visible inside. The stream of light immediately broke and all the blue light was gone… and so was the seal. In its place was a large pristine conch shell. He grinned, realizing he had did well, and that he had done the right thing. However, the urge to follow, to obey, … it all came rushing back to him, and he felt the presence of Siorc once more.

He picked up the conch and held it to the side of his head. He grinned when he heard the voices on the other side. 

“They say when you listen to a conch you can hear the ocean.” It was a female voice. 

“That’s a load of baloney,” an exasperated man grunted. 

“No really! Listen! It’s really cool!” 

There was a pause and the shark knew what he had to do. He took the conch away from his head, and held the opening up to his snout. 

Through his teeth, he grumbled, “Siorc demands your obedience.” 

[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.

[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.

[tallestfriend]

SESSION 9: Home, the Coral Sword, and the Undertow

The Undertow: an aquatic colony of peaceful deep sea creatures that feed off of and protect the entity they simply refer to as “Home”, their gentle sovereign.

Nomadic in nature, wherever Home drifts along the ocean floor, a caravan of shell homes and sunken ships follows.

Home: a now ancient anemone pierced eons ago by a shard of a long dead primordial god.

Home understands it’s role as protector and protected, viewing the ocean creatures that have built a life around it as it’s children. In times of great need, Home will select a champion, allowing them to pull the branch of coral from it. Bestowing them with the Coral Sword, either to defend from attackers or for quick relocation. Removal of the Coral Sword dispels all magical effects cast by Home. Home then becomes a simple anemone until if and when the sword is returned.

Home is telepathic in nature, able to communicate via images in the mind, can cast detect thoughts and message at will. If using Message in Primordial or Common, the voice sounds far away and underwater.

Defenders of the giant anemone gain the effects of the Bless spell while beneath it. Creatures and humanoids taking a long rest underneath the swaying branches gain the benefit of Greater Restoration.

Legendary actions:

Flow: floods an area with water making it difficult terrain. Creatures must make a dc 15 strength saving throw or be knocked prone

Ebb: if an area is flooded, drains the water away from the anemone. Creatures must make a dc 15 strength saving throw or be pulled back 10 feet.

Synaptic Discharge: if an area is flooded, electrifies the water, creatures standing in the flooded area take 2d6 lightning damage

Spells: message, detect thoughts, shocking grasp, hypnotic pattern, pulse wave, primordial ward, and prismatic wall

The Coral Sword (legendary, requires attunement) a branch of coral from a long dead primordial god. The sword has a +3 to attack rolls and deals 2d6+3 piercing damage and 1d8 necrotic damage as coral polyps grow in the wounds and feed on the life energy of the inflicted. At the end of an afflicted enemies turn they must make a DC 16 constitution saving throw or be inflicted with another 2d4 necrotic damage. A creature can make a DC 14 medicine check on their turn to remove the polyps from their wounds.

Once per long rest the coral sword can be used to cast regenerate if submerged in salt water.

[riverdrifter]

Fisherman's Log: 8/21/2023

Uhh, hi! You probably don't know this, but I've been working on a long retrospective of Pikmin 4 as I play through the game. That was intended to be my first post on this blog. However, I quickly realized something: writing my thoughts about a game without exhaustively journaling my experience while playing it is excruciating. I grew up playing games for an audience, be it my mom watching me play some obscure Wii game, or me liveposting my playthrough of said game to whomever I was talking to on the Warrior Cats forums at the time. So, to remedy this, I'm going to be posting more hands-on "stream of consciousness"-type logs while I'm playing something. And what better to start with than a game I play very regularly: Creatures of the Deep.

A friend put me onto this quirky little game, knowing my propensity for fish and other aquatic creatures. It's been a fun little way to relax throughout my day, while also engaging my completionist hubris. I will confess: the reason I was iffy on posting journal entries alongside retrospectives is because I was feeling a bit of sunk cost fallacy. After all, if I've already completed a good bit of the game, why start now? But I'm nipping that in the bud. So! I'm going to catalogue my progress up until this point, then get into my daily session.

🗺️ Location Progress

Legend ⦾ Common ◈ Rare ✧ Epic ☆ Legendary

Please note that any inconsistent capitalization or spelling is just me noting things down exactly as the games have them written.

🏝️ Paradise Island 🏝️

41% | Discoveries: 36/37

🐟 Fish - 12/12 ⦾ Bluefish - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Blue Trevally - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Bonefish - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Clownfish - ★★☆☆☆ ◈ Green Humphead Parrotfish - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Largetooth Flounder - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Longtail Tuna - ★★☆☆☆ ✧ Pacific Footballfish - ★☆☆☆☆ ✧ Pelagic Stingray - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Snubnose Pompano - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Spot-fin Porcupinefish - ★★★☆☆ ◈ White Tuna - ★☆☆☆☆

🦐 Creatures - 5/5 ⦾ Flower Tube Sea Anemone - ★★★☆☆ ◈ Mimic Octopus - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Peacock Mantis Shrimp - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Red Starfish - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Sand Striker - ★★☆☆☆

🗑️ Trash - 19/19 • Can • Can Fish • Chest With A Skull • Chips • Empty Bottle • Flip Flops • Gear • Kelp Leaf • Key With A Skull • Mask • Message In A Bottle • Old Phone • Pinacolada Drink • Plastic Bag • Plastic Bottle • Rubber Duck • Sea Weed • Straw Hat • Wilson Ball

🏕️ Great Lakes 🏕️

41% | Discoveries: 62/63

🐟 Fish - 23/24 ⦾ Alewife - ★★★☆☆ ✧ American Eel - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Bloater - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Brook Trout - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Brown Trout - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Channel Catfish - ★★★☆☆ ◈ Chinook Salmon - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Coho Salmon - ★★★☆☆ ◈ Flathead Catfish - ★★☆☆☆ ✧ Goldfish - ★☆☆☆☆ ✧ Lake Sturgeon - UNCAUGHT ◈ Lake Trout - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Largemouth Bass - ★☆☆☆☆ ✧ Longnose Gar - ★☆☆☆☆ ◈ Muskie - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Pink Salmon - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Redear Sunfish - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Round Whitefish - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Sea Lamprey - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Smallmouth Bass - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Walleye - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ White Bass - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ White Crappie - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Yellow Perch - ★★★☆☆

🦐 Creatures - 9/9 ⦾ Beaver - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Bullfrog - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Chinese Mystery Snail - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Common Musk Turtle - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ North American River Otter - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Quagga Mussels - ★★★☆☆ ◈ Queen Snake - ★★☆☆☆

🗑️ Trash - 29/29 • Al'Capone Hat • Arrow • Baseball Hat • Beaver Hat • Beverage can • Boom Floppy Disc • Can Soup • Chip Bag • Cobra Sunglasses • Colorful Headdress • Concrete Shoe • Fish Can • Glass Bottle with XXX Sign • Green floppy disc • Grey Casette • Hot Dog • Meat Can • Mouse Glove • Old Branch • Old Tire • Pipe • Plastic Bottle • Toxic Barrel • Treasure chest • Vegetable Can • Video Cassette • Vinyl Record • Wilted leaf

🌅 Costa Rica 🌅

27% | Discoveries: 41/62

I've elected to not list the undiscovered entries in Costa Rica and any future locations, as I prefer to go into newer areas as blindly as possible. For the Great Lakes, I already know the one fish I don't have is that damn sturgeon. I'd rather leave the rest up to mystery though.

🐟 Fish - 16/22 ⦾ Barracuda - ★★★☆☆ ◈ Blue Marlin - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Broomtail Grouper - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Cubera Snapper - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Dorado - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Jack Crevalle - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Pompano - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Roosterfish - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Sierra Mackerel - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Snook - ★★☆☆☆ ◈ Striped Marlin - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Tarpon - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Tripletail - ★★★☆☆ ⦾ Wahoo - ★☆☆☆☆ ✧ Whitetip Shark - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Yellowfin Tuna - ★★☆☆☆

🦐 Creatures - 7/9 ◈ American Crocodile - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Brown Sea Cucumber - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Nudibranch - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Olive Ridley Sea Turtle - ★☆☆☆☆ ⦾ Pacific Land Crab - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Pink Jellyfish - ★★☆☆☆ ⦾ Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake - ★★☆☆☆

🗑️ Trash - 18/30 • Anchor • Bicycle Frame • Bikini Top • Bottle Santa Maria • Broken coral • Chip Bag • Coconut • Costa Rican Vase • Fish Can • Flipper • Oil Barrel • Orange Cassette • Palm Leaf • Scuba Diver Mask • Surfboard • Volcanic Rock • Watermelon Vinyl Record • White Bottle

🏅 Achievements Board

Fish Catcher ★★☆☆☆ 156/500

Explorer of Sea Creatures ★★☆☆☆ 21/40

Recycling Master ★★☆☆☆ 390/500

Trash Catcher ★★☆☆☆ 66/100

Days in the Game ★☆☆☆☆ 23/50

Master Reeler ★★☆☆☆ 7/50 My fucking white whale.

Monster Hunter ★☆☆☆☆ 1/10

Monster Collector ★☆☆☆☆ 1/2

Tournament Lover ☆☆☆☆☆ 0/5 Please don't make me use social functions I am just a humble fisherman

🎣 Fish Tank

I may very well make a spreadsheet for this in the future like some sort of deranged lunatic, but for now I just want to play the damn game so have some pictures.

I'm not sure what else to note. That I haven't bought any character customization yet? That all my stats are 1 except for Luck, which is 2? God forbid, my lure stats?? I don't know, but I'm done cataloguing! Now let's get into what you came here for!!

🗒️ Gameplay Log

📋 Info Board - 4 reel in a row Reward: +2 gems - Catch 5 x Brook Trout Reward: +500 coins - Catch 3 x American Eel Reward: +3 gems

Those gems are so, so valuable, so you know I'll be gunning for those. Although it does mean that I have to remember to play at night if I want to do that eel task. Those are kind of a pain in the ass... I should probably spend some time grinding garbage so that I can get Temporary Luck for eel time.

Well, first thing's first: off to Paradise Island to collect wood and see who our quest NPC is! As it turns out, Sir Joseph Bellywise is waiting for us, with a request for 3 Largetooth Flounder. That should hopefully synergize well with my consecutive reeling task.

I end up getting both tasks done without too much trouble, although I did break my reel chain and I don't want to talk about it. I handed in my three shittiest flounders for a nice 407 gold. I spend the rest of my visit hanging out in the Garbage Patch so that I can take home a full inventory and work towards that Temporary Luck. Once home, I quickly deposit two wood in the next section of the fish tank; that's where I'm focusing my efforts right now, as I've not found myself filling up the item storage yet. But with that, it's Great Lakes time!

Our daily NPC for this area is Mike "Lock" Smith, who just tells me to go fuck myself and that he's looking for someone more experienced. I'm level 7, what the hell do you want from me?! I also encounter some stress early on in the form of Sea Lampreys; the game doesn't recognize this, but I the player know that they're an invasive species, so morally I will not throw them back in to save bag space. Which means I may have to spend more gold going back to free up some slots.

...Or my rod could break and make us have to go back anyway. Neat. I'll plan ahead and go for the cheaper Garbage Grabber Rod; it shouldn't impede my catching too much, and I want to be able to hit a 50 cleanup streak by nightfall. The rest of the Brook Trout search is a cakewalk, but I swear the longer I know my reel streak is, the more scarcely I breathe during the hooking sequence. This is in spite of me purposefully not checking the number because I know it'll psych me out.

While I'm trying to catch one more thing to bring home, I wonder about the internal formula the game must use to calculate rod wear. I know for a fact different rods have different strengths, and I imagine that fish weight must factor in somehow, because some fish will be too strong and will pull the line out of range and break free. Does player strength get taken into account? I see people on the Discord saying that they still lose fish even at 8 or so strength. I don't know. Food for thought.

With the Brook Trout task now complete, I'm able to deposit a two-star into the fish tank, as well as adding some more wood onto the Alaska pile. Seeing as how I've not unlocked that area yet, building that section of the fish tank is not a priority. But I do need something to do with all that wood.

Since our final daily task is locked to nighttime, and I'm writing this at 3:15 pm, that means our last stop for now is Costa Rica! I'll be honest, this map is so huge, I don't even end up finding all the daily wood half the time, and I don't exactly bother. It's just sooo much effort to comb through all that water... based on the size progression so far, I can only imagine Alaska will be downright nightmarish.

I immediately eat my words and find two wood floating right next to each other.

While it's a nice bonus for sure, this still leaves me in the dark on who and where our Daily Slut Encounter is. I eventually give up and bring home some dudes for the tank: a Tarpon, a Jack Crevalle, and a Pompano, all sadly one star. The Tarpon has just the most delightfully smug little face swimming around in there.

I returned to Costa Rica to try and find some new trash, and only on my last bag slot did I snag something new: the Ship Bell from Santa Maria. It's only on the way back that I finally find the NPC. It's Sir Joseph Bellywise again, this time wanting 110 lbs of fish for a party tomorrow. I can do that! After I go drop off this trash run. Self-reminder: he is west of the Spanish Shipwreck. Trash payouts barely make up for the price of coming back, but I need it.

Aand it turns out the task's payout was barely worth the trip anyway! 95 coins for 110 pounds of fish? That is straight up daylight robbery. Anyway, after brutally murdering my reel streak, I don't feel like playing anymore, so I'll resume this entry tonight when it's eel time. I place a one-star Broomtail Grouper face-down and end my turn.

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

Touching base again past midnight, and holy shit, I was actually able to do it! While I was waiting for my T gel to dry, not only did I snag 3 American Eels and claim the gem prize, but I also caught the Lake Sturgeon (2 stars, straight to the fish tank) and got 5 more gems from Aneta Angler for completing the area! I also slapped a 2-star American Eel and a 1-star Flathead Catfish into the fish tank for good measure. With time left on my Temporary Luck, I set out for the Great Depths of Costa Rica.

And I sure reaped the benefits! I brought home a 2-star Barracuda, a 2-star Wahoo to replace the one in my fish tank, a 2-star Nurse Shark, a 1-star Hammerhead Shark, and a 1-star Whitetip Shark. In other news, I need to do wrist stretches now. I also got myself a new creature discovery in the Red-Ringed Clinging Crab; all in all, this netted me another Aneta Angler prize, with her giving me 5 Rare Bait for my efforts. The payout for this trip wasn't spectacular, but it'll be worth it in the future.

... And dear God, to ride out the last of my Temporary Luck, I hit the middle north of Paradise Island, as that's where other anglers on the Discord had been reporting Shredder sightings for tonight. And whaddya know! I actually caught the fucker first try! This got me two stars in the Monster Collector achievement, and I can finally go talk to Cap'n Slappy and finish out the main area quest. I also level up, getting 2,800 coins in all between that and the quest reward. ...Tapping the level-up turns out to be a major mistake, as I was planning on going to sleep, but now I have an hour of temporary luck. e.e I spend my singular stat point on Strength, boosting it to 2; I've been searching for a lot of large targets, and every time a fish breaks free, I lose a bit of my awake time for the day.

Well, I'm not one to waste Temporary Luck now that I'm journaling my grind, so back to Costa Rica it is. I can't tell if this is just copium on my part, but I swear there is an immediate, noticeable difference in how easy it is to control the reel bar when battling a fish that engages the minigame now that I've leveled up my Strength. Either that or I'm getting better at the game, which is also true, but I swear that bar is just steadier. Honestly, I was considering getting a Monster Rod, but I've been doing so well with just the Carbon Rod that it feels unnecessary at this point.

I'm glad to announce that I got even more new discoveries before bed: the Pacific Sailfish (2 stars) and the Bull Shark (also 2 stars). I was trying for the Black Marlin for a bit, but with a sliver of Temporary Luck left, I decided to call it quits because I was getting too eepy. Still, I'd say that was a relentlessly productive day of fishing.

This was really fun to journal! The verb tenses are all over the place, and punctuation is real funky; this certainly isn't editor's portfolio material. But I think it's something I'd like to do more often! I like writing more than I give myself credit for. Hopefully the next post will be much shorter!