#but there was no pufferfish in the display

[kirstythejetblackgoldfish]

🐡

[levanlanse]

♪ It's time for Fish Fact Friday ♪ (Valentines edition!)

The white-spotted pufferfish (not to be confused with the white-spotted puffer) is a species of pufferfish known for its intricate courtship displays!

Males construct complex nests in the sand to attract females to mate, often spending a week or more to create a single nest measuring ~2m (6.5ft) in diameter. This process takes significant effort, given that male puffers only grow to ~10cm (~4in) long!

These circular nests are sculpted using their bodies, and are decorated/stabilised using bits of seashells and coral. If a female approves of the courtship display, she will mate with the male and lay her eggs in the centre of the nest!

The nest is not just decorative, however - the grooves in the sand channel fresh water towards the eggs, keeping them healthy while they develop!

[tobiasdrake]

You previously anaylzed Yamcha's fighting style and the flaws he doesn't overcome. Do you have any thoughts on how Krillin fights?

Krillin's fighting style is one of my favorites, to be honest. He's a dedicated pragmatist, ready and willing to do whatever it takes to win. His techniques and strategies are deceptive and tricksy, always on the lookout for a way to circumvent the straight fight.

Krillin's fighting style is all about cutting the knot. It's just a shame that, Dragon Ball being what it is, his methods run counter to its central philosophies and so he is doomed to constant failure.

We get our first glimpse of the kind of fighter Krillin is going to be when he defeats Goku in the rock hunt on the first day of their training.

He first tries to win the competition by forging a counterfeit rock. But when the Muten-Roshi sees through that, he instead uses his counterfeit to fake out Goku and steal the real rock for himself.

He's narratively punished for this victory when his reward dinner poisons him via badly prepared pufferfish. But we see the foundations of what will become his martial style beginning to take root here.

Krillin is a tricky trickster. His goal is to be the guy still standing at the end of the fight. That's what he's here for. Though he does quickly soften up and become Goku's Male Bestie (opposited Bulma as Goku's Female Bestie), he carries this pragmatism with him as he begins to develop his skills.

Note that this is not to say Krillin isn't a capable fighter in his own right. As a pupil of Kame-senryu, he is a formidable martial artist. He begins to show the fruits of his martial training as early as the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai, where he crushes one of the monks that used to bully him in the preliminaries. He also pressures his own mentor, the Muten-Roshi, by raw skill alone.

Krillin's got the skills and he uses them. When I say he's underhanded and deceitful, I don't mean instead of fighting straight. It's a weapon in his toolbelt but not the only one. Nonetheless, it's a potent one, as he nearly defeats the Muten-Roshi via a special technique that only Krillin would devise.

Goddammit, Roshi.

He starts out using these kinds of underhanded tricks to compliment his martial arts. But as he grows as a martial artist, he begins to incorporate strategies like this into his art itself.

Aside from a brief and mostly offscreen bout with General Blue, his next significant fights are in the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. His fight with Chiaotzu demonstrates the way Krillin's sneakiness and martial training complement one another, as a major spotlight of it is his ki exchange with Chiaotzu.

Chiaotzu, like Tenshinhan, is a trained wielder of the Dodonpa. A lethal technique first introduced by the assassin Taopaipai, designed to fire a thin ki bullet from one finger, straight through its target for a mortal blow.

To counter this, Krillin attempts to perform the Kamehameha for the very first time. Which. Is. Absolutely stupid and reckless, as the Muten-Roshi notes. Baby's First Kamehameha is a poor choice to defend himself from the Dodonpa.

Or it would be, if that were the plan.

This is Krillin's strength in action. He fakes out everyone with an in @ Me Bruh bluff and then skirts around the direct competition to blindside Chiaotzu when he isn't looking. This is what a tricky trickster martial artist looks like.

In his next match with Goku, we see Krillin's ruthless pragmatism on full display. He devises his own version of Tenshinhan's Taiyoken/Solar Flare.

And he nearly wins by a tail when he once again breaks out his weak, improvised Kamehameha.

This bluff is brilliant. He gets Goku's focus on the Kamehameha while his true goal is Goku's tail. Unfortunately for him, Goku - under advisement from both the Muten-Roshi and his Grandpa Gohan - has been training his body to rid himself of that critical flaw over the last three years. His tail no longer saps his energy when it's grabbed.

But if Goku were still the same fighter Krillin knew before, this bluff would have been game-ending for their semifinal match. Krillin's abilities both in martial arts and in knot-cutting have advanced substantially. It's just that Goku's have advanced as well.

Krillin only gets one fight in the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai. But he goes hard.

In the three years since last tournament, Krillin's devised bending ki blasts that home in on their target. Holy shit, what a stellar-

GOT YOU SUCKER THAT'S A FAKEOUT IT'S KRILLER TIME

Krillin's invented bending ki blasts that home in on their target as a distraction. Sadly for Krillin, characters at this point are beginning to distribute Bukujutsu, the Flying Technique, among themselves so surprise ringouts aren't an option anymore. Piccolo's been capable of performing Bukujutsu since his previous life.

Krillin loses the match, though he does force an admission from Piccolo that martial artists of his caliber will make the world difficult to conquer.

The next chance Krillin has to put his skills on display comes six years later when the Saiyans attack the Earth. Vegeta and Nappa grow their six Saibamen, forcing the Earthlings to entertain them by battling these veggie monsters. Tenshinhan and Yamcha handily defeat two of them, though Yamcha's killed by a surprise attack.

And then Krillin decides enough is enough and makes his move: Opening fire directly on Nappa and Vegeta with everything he's got.

A fool's attack guaranteed to fail against the insurmountable might of the Saiyan-no, wait, what's he doing?

Ha, fuck you, he was aiming for the Saibamen the whole time! Made ya look. Though he does also hit Nappa and Vegeta for good measure.

Krillin is technically the first Earthling to ever land a hit on either of these guys. Imagine that. It doesn't do shit to them, but still.

This fight also brings out Krillin's ultimate technique. The epitome of his skills, the final fruits of his labors, the be-all end-all of Krillin Techniques. You already know what I'm talking about.

This. This, right here. The Kienzan/Destructo Disc is peak Krillin. Literally a knife with which to cut the knot. Everyone else is throwing ki punches except those assassins shooting ki bullets. And Krillin stops to ask, "What if I sharpened my ki into a buzzsaw so I can slice open an opponent's flesh rather than trying to beat them at punching?"

Prior to Goku's arrival, this technique from one of the weakest fighters on this field is the closest the overconfident Nappa ever comes to defeat.

Nappa outright tries to take it like a punch. But for Vegeta paying the fuck attention, this would have taken his head clean off. Even Frieza can't resist it.

Because it's not something you resist. It's a buzzsaw. It doesn't hit, it cleaves. It's a technique that's so utterly Krillin in nature.

In fact, the entire Namek arc in general is peak Krillin. A three-way tug-of-war over the Dragon Balls between Frieza's ungodly might, Vegeta's rogue wildcard antics and deadly force, and Krillin being a tricky trickster gunning for any opportunity to scoop victory out from under them.

That Krillin wins.

This is the key to Krillin's longevity as a character. Like the rest of the cast, he eventually falls victim to inability to keep pace with Goku's advances, and becomes further and further de-emphasized from the big action pieces of Dragon Ball.

Krillin's tricky methods were rarely allowed to grant him much success in the ring due to the way they chafe against Dragon Ball's tone. This simply isn't a series where ruthless pragmatism and knot-cutting generally wins the fight. But those same methods also gave him staying power and an ability to continue influencing the plot of Dragon Ball long after he ceased to be relevant as a fighter.

Krillin's style is designed to punch above his weight class, and he's in general a tricky trickster outside of the ring too. The result of this is tremendous staying power as a weaker character brushing elbows with the titanic super gods of the cast. He may not be the clincher in a fight but there's almost always something for a pragmatist like him to do.

[yee-qi]

More Perspectives artwork!

"Jawless Jaunt" Sacabambaspis Ordovician, 460 million years ago, Anzaldo Formation (Bolivia) Trying a new form of art - pixel art this time! Not perfect, given it's very much a first stab - just as these fishies are a sorta first stab at bony vertebrate life. Jawless, these memeable friends lived by sucking up worms and shit. "Primitive" as they may be anatomically, such fish weren't necessarily dumb! Lots of animals we overlook can be surprisingly intelligent. This male is digging a display in the sand to attract a female, much like modern pufferfish, even lining it with bivalves. It seems to be working. This is an entry in my Perspectives series! Check out #perspectives on my blog for more.

[thegnomelord]

Ahhh! The Harpy Gaz fic was so cute. But that section at the beginning has me thinking about Ghost, who is interested in reader hybrid that has a very unusual courting ritual(s).

Like, apparently, pandas have a weird hostage situation. The female runs and hides in trees while male competitors fight for her. They will follow her around and try to steal her away until she's ready to mate. It's theorized that this little battle actually stimulates the mating cycle. Similarly, female ferrets don't ovulate unless they're being mauled half to death. (Doesn't sound pleasant to me, but to each their own) my thought here would be more like Ghost's total confusion as to why you seem to like fighting him so much.

Or one of my personal favorites, certain birds and pufferfish (and probably many others that idk yet) have taken to terraforming. They'll create intricate designs and illusions with sand, rocks, sticks, bones, whatever you can think of to attract a mate. The structure they create doubles as a sort of nest. Bowerbirds are particularly keen on displaying an assortment of blue things specifically.

Ooh or shrikes, imagine Ghost's reaction to seeing his favorite food impaled on a sharp object (maybe a combat knife). Tbh, that would be a little threatening. Opening the fridge and seeing a steak or something stabbed with a combat knife and a little note saying, "For Ghost, I hope you enjoy 😁❤️"

Sorry for the little rant, I have an unnecessary amount of knowledge about animal mating rituals.

- 👑 anon

No, no, as a fellow animal nerd I find this stuff so interesting!

I think Ghost would be weirdly into the knife being impaled in his food. Especially if you attempt to feed him with the knife, like sticking small chunks on the tip and expecting him to eat off the knife. And while he acts aloof he's hard in his pants because there's something hot about you using a dangerous object so tenderly with him (also weapon kink idk)

I really love the idea of reader being some deep sea monster or of some species that has a "fuck or die" mentality. Like some anglerfish or spider sexual dimorphism thing where if you were to court your own kind they'd be like 4-5 times your size and wouldn't hesitate to eat you. So you're very crafty and your courting rituals are weird as fuck.

Like Ghost is reading up on your species mating habits and seeing you tie up your mate and if they can't get out you fuck? And if they can you die? Should he be worried? And like he's rethinking every enemy takedown simulation you two had when you needed to tie him up like; were you courting him? was he courting you? what?

Or an especially powerful monster that has a tendency to make nests out of bones, to show how strong they are. So Ghost just walks into your room to see it covered from floor to ceiling in bones of all kinds of creatures with you looking at him like a puppy lol

Or or some kind of mercreature monster reader having a ritual where they pull their mate down to the depths away from competitors, because if it's not dark and cold and you're not drowning your mate won't want to fuck, and Simon's wondering if he needs to buy scuba gear?

[thatpikmin]

There are so many amazing artist, so let’s spread love with some flower love language

These flower meanings are based on the book “flowers and their meanings” by Karen azouley. So the meaning will be different!!!

Bathbomb

—————————— Flowers ———————————

Blue violet - faithfulness

sycamore - curiosity

Purple pansy - you occupy my thoughts

Carnation - strong and pure love

ranunculus - I am dazzled by your charms

Sweet William - gallantry

——————————————————————————————

Cherrybomb

—————————— Flowers ———————————

Cranberry blossom - cure for heartache

Ivy - marriage

Olive branch - peace

Milkvetch - your presence softens my pain

locust flower - affection beyond the grave

Red and white roses (together) - unity

——————————————————————————————

Reversal

—————————— Flowers ———————————

Pink - boldness

Four leaf clover - be mine

Greater celandine - first sigh of love

White fraxinella - passion

Mugwort - happiness

lilac primrose - confidence

——————————————————————————————

Fishsticks

—————————— Flowers ———————————

Wisteria - welcome, Fair stranger

Lilac - First emotion of love

Morning glory - affection

Stephanotis - will you accompany me to the east?

Iris - message

White camillia - perfect loveliness

——————————————————————————————

Godmode

—————————— Flowers ———————————

Yellow tulip - hopeless love

Buttercup - childishness

Hembane - imperfection

Jonquil daffodil - I desire a return of affection

Lesser celandine - joys to come

Shooting star - you are my divinity

Honeysuckle - bonds of love

(Why is there so many yellow flowers)

——————————————————————————————

Campfire

—————————— Flowers ———————————

Chervil - sincerity

Kennedia - mental beauty

Alyssum - tranquility

Clematis - Mental Beauty

Bridal rose - happy love

Flax - I feel your kindness

White bellflower - gratitude

——————————————————————————————

Pufferfish

—————————— Flowers ———————————

Knotgrass - restoration

Chestnut trees - do me justice

Crepis - protection

Almond blossom - hope

A bunch of dahlia - my graditude exceeds your care

Sedum - tranquility

——————————————————————————————

Nightlight

—————————— Flowers ———————————

Plum blossoms - keep your promises

Pear blossom - comfort

Daisy - innocence

Lily of the valley - return of happiness

Sweet alyssum - worth beyond beauty

Corepsis - Always cheerful

Strawberry blossom - perfect goodness

(All white)

——————————————————————————————

I want to say that this was ment to represent the ships as a whole (since the creators of the slugcat designs are known as the CEO of said ship, with the exception of FishSticks, I don’t know who the CEO of FishSticks is and if it is pansear I wanted to use different designs to make them all unique) and not the aus the creators made, if any other these ships are inaccurate, I’m sorry.

If the creator does not wish to have their designs displayed or shown off, their designs will be removed and replaced with someone elses

Credits to the character designs

@pansear-doodles

@draagu

@pookapufferfish

@beansmakinbooks

@sugarr-moon

@twocakesinacup

@scrufflesksunnide

Yall are amazing artists, keep on inspiring others ❤️

This was supposed to come out on on Valentine’s Day

[animaloftheweek]

Weirdness Wednesday: Red-Bellied Newt

Image Credit: Maren Pedersen

Red-Bellied Newts(Taricha rivularis) are extremely poisonous. They excrete a toxic substance all over their skin that can kill a human if ingested or if it enters your body through open wounds. This neurotoxin is tetrodotoxin (TTX), the same toxin that is found in pufferfish. When threatened, they raise their head and tail to warn predators that they are poisonous.

Picture of this threat display under the cut!

[styllwaters]

For the HTTYD thingy— Chimeragon or Typhoomerang? 👀👀👀

Another big winged guy!! Since Typhoomerangs look so similar to Timberjacks I decided that they both get the pterosaur treatment. My hc is that they are closely related! (They also share some lineage with Monstrous Nightmares).

These guys always struck me as unhinged vultures, definitely terrifying to encounter. They are highly territorial, solitary dragons with the ability to coat themselves in flames by excreting kerosene solutions from their skin in a similar manner to Nightmares. The stripe patterns that you see are the ignition areas, which are slightly sticky. A Typhoomerang hunting in their forest territory generates quite a bit of ash, and this frequently gets stuck to the tips of their wings and head - giving the impression that they have grey markings.

Like many stoker class dragons they use their fiery displays in courtship rituals, with males burning elaborate scorch marks into the ground to attract mates. This practice is not unlike the white-spotted pufferfish courtship display, which creates radially symmetrical patterns in the sand.

Original design below:

[fountian-of-youth]

{OOC: This could go for either character depending on what fits/who you have interest in and I am happy to plot in DMs if necessary.}

After an unknown amount of time a vent in the ceiling would pop out. An almost serpentine creature falling from the opening. Landing with a thunk against the floor as their tail dropped over them. Containing features of what seemed to be a variety of creatures. Though the most notable seemed to be a Hawaiian conger eel, short-beaked common dolphin, coral-banded shrimp, sea angel, and pufferfish based on the features and colors she visibly displayed. Though another set of orange and magenta heterochromatic eyes seemed to glow faintly in the dark space the vent provided. Seemingly watching the serpentine woman closely with some apparent irritation or annoyance. Also seeming to scan the room for any potential threats.

Taking a moment to seemingly shake off her fall, the subject would eventually look around the area she'd stumbled into. Glancing up at the other set of eyes as if uncertain. Five of the 6 arms she was seemingly supposed to have shifting to show a guarded stance. Rounded fins where her ears were meant to be twitching and shifting with any sound around her. Tail coiling close to herself as if prepared to strike should the need arise.

{You've encountered ZB-256, or the Demolitionist. Though it seems her twin isn't too far away.}

Kraken had personally went down to the hadal blacksite once again to try and catch that rat that had been escaping him. Now he had everything set mostly just more gear for his tendrils and items to use.

Walking down the hall with silent footsteps and the occasional clink of his tendrils, his eyes moved about to study what he could find or see. He turned and stopped staring at what he saw

Or who he saw in this case.

"well well well if it isn't ZB-256 been quite a while since I saw you " he chuckled out darkly with his tendrils raising for attack or defense.

[animalguyidk1]

So a couple of years back I worked at this aquarium which had a pufferfish that loved to come up to the glass and greet people. This wasn’t some little pea puffer though, this was a Stars and Stripes pufferfish at about a foot and a half long. And for some reason, he was in a tank where the glass only came up about five feet or so and the water on the other side was very much touchable to any curious visitors.

Now this is a problem for a few reasons.

1) This was not a touch tank. It was intended only for display.

2) Pufferfish are highly territorial and they really don’t like their space being violated.

3) Pufferfish only puff up if they think something is going to eat them. If they think their territory is being invaded, they will try to shoot water at the aggressor and then try to bite them because yeah, these lil shits can bite. And this is not a loose-jaw-on-skin kinda bite that most fish do, puffer fish have THESE in their mouths:

And yes, that beak is strong enough to crack clams and mussels. One of the pufferfish’s enrichment opportunities was literally crabs set in edible plaster to wear down the beak naturally because it NEVER stops growing.

As you can imagine, this led to a lot of stressed out yelling from me and the other guest experience people asking people to please stop putting their hands in the pufferfish tank. We already had signs posted on every side of the tank telling people to keep their hands out but every day without fail there would be that one idiot who either didn’t see the signs or thought that losing the tip of his finger to a fish would be a great way to get on the local news.

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

Hey there! I was wondering if you have any tips for a realistic shapeshifting race? I'm interested in figuring out how the internal structure would theoretically change, but can't really find anything solid since people view transformation for a... different purpose than what I'm looking for.

I have another ask in my box about werewolf anatomy that I think fits in this category and it's a difficult enough topic that it probably needs to be tackled in a larger post.

but for a start, I think it depends on what type of shapeshifting you're going for! perfect universal shapeshifting, like a humanoid being able to shift into a squirrel, isn't really possible with anatomical changes alone. some things really do just need to be handwaved with magic! you can help explain it by adding a little science into the magic, like weight and density and matter distribution, maybe use pocket dimensions in some form, but human -> squirrel is the type of shape change that can only be explained with "it's magic", in my opinion.

however, if you're going for more limited shapeshifting abilities, there are a number of real life animals that you can use as a reference!

pufferfish can change the shape of their whole body from a slim little fish to a big round spiky one. octopi and cuttlefish are masters of camouflage with their color changing skin and even the ability to alter their texture. birds, especially those with fancy courting displays, can change their whole look by raising or flattening their feathers. lots of birds and reptiles and amphibians have inflatable skin sacs! it won't help a humanoid turn into a squirrel, but details like this can give you a humanoid who's able to change the color and texture of their appearance to blend into their environment or look like a different person temporarily.

[shamanfox]

The Trumpworm’s Lament

Deep in the mud, where the clueless ones creep,

Lives Dermophis donaldtrumpi, slimy and cheap.

A blind little creature, it burrows with glee,

Avoiding all facts like they just don’t agree.

“Oh nonsense!” it shouts, though it can’t see a thing,

Ignoring the floods, the fires, the sting.

“The earth isn’t warming! That’s fake, that’s absurd!”

(As the rainforest melts and drowns out its words.)

But wait! He’s not lonely—oh no, he’s got friends!

From forests to deserts, the nonsense extends.

There’s the Mandrill Baboon, so loud, full of rage,

Barking and screeching—won’t leave center stage.

Puffing his chest like a fraud on display,

Throwing his tantrums, then running away.

The Cockatoo Parrot, a mimic, a clown,

Repeats the same garbage all over town.

“Fraud! Witch hunt! Big hoax!” it flaps and it caws,

Without understanding a single damn clause.

And let’s not forget the Pufferfish Fraud,

Swelling with ego—a bloated facade.

Looks big and tough, all prickles and sneers,

But pop that illusion? It’s nothing but fears.

Back to the Trumpworm, still stuck in the ground,

Squirming and wriggling, avoiding the sound,

Denying it all—just hiding away,

While the world keeps evolving despite what he says.

[appalachianapologies]

top ten (is not rated in order nor is there ten) vocal stims and or echolalia moments

crime hole (crime hole!) (Bob's Burgers Movie (2022))

8/10, solid feeling. genuinely impossible for me to do a single crime hole without saying an extra crime hole under my breath

i'm here and i'm queer and i'm fuckin' gay- whoo! (SunnySplosion, via SunnySplosion video, circa 2016, since deleted)

7/10, reminds me of simpler times

[clicking the back of my throat]

2/10, euphoric for about five seconds and then it gets really uncomfortable but then i can't stop unless i put ice cubes in the back of my mouth

"...and the 100-meter dashhh" (MacGyver (2016) 1x07: Can Opener cold open)

8+1/10, there's something about the way lucas till says it that makes me just echo it immediately. bonus points because of special interest

punch-kick! (Rhythm Heaven DS, JPN Version, Karate Man 1 and Karate Man 2)

9+1/10, there is something so magical about it. if it were accepted in society i would go around saying "punch-kick!" every second of every day. bonus points because of special interest

kick kick kick kick high-kick go! kick kick kick kick kick (Rhythm Heaven DS, JPN Version, Space Soccer)

8+1/10, apparently it's actually "high-toe-go!" but it literally does not sound like that. i like space soccer noises. bonus points because of special interest

"Well... a double rainbow is a phenomenon of optics displayed by the spectrum of light due to the sun shining on droplets of moisture in the atmosphere!" (Lux voice line from League of Legends)

4/10, used to be one of my favorite things to say, got ruined by a terrible ex boyfriend who made fun of me. i still completely remember it though lmao

[popping noises by pushing my lips out together]

9.5/10. so good. cats love the noise for some reason (not complaining). sounds great in the shower. could literally do this forever except i need time to breathe and it probably bothers other people lmao

"Nom nom nom!" (Noise sims make in the Sims 4 when they are about to eat a food that is in their favorites category)

7/10, first heard it in a CallMeKevin video in one of the many episodes where Jim is killing people with his pufferfish restaurant. there is something so chef's kiss about the way the sims say it. nom nom nom!

honorable mention:

[putting my front teeth on my bottom lip and blowing air out]

[mrhaitch]

HIHI I have more questions for you! Please do say if you don’t want to answer these any longer I will stop. (I’m scared I’m being annoying sorry) or if you’d like some less odd questions that’s ok too. But otherwise… HERE WE GOOO

How many apples tall are you? Specifically apples. I will take no other form of measurement

Loud or quiet sneezer? Allergies that cause sneezing?

Opinion on Cheerios. If you want maybe possibly rank the types?

FUN FACT: Dolphins are super messed up. Like reeeeealy messed up. Like cuts off fish heads then uses the decapitated bodies as fleshlights messed up. And they can get high off of the toxins in pufferfish so they agitate them and then pass it around like a blunt. (There’s more)

1. Roughly 20 braeburn apples tall.

2. Loud. Mild hay fever.

3. I don't eat cereal.

4. They also murder their young for no discernible reason than personal entertainment. I recall there is a pier in Scotland where they often congregate and became a tourist attraction, in part due to their tendency to 'throw' their young into the air on an acrobatic display. Except the adults were ramming the young hard enough to fling them out of the water, and would do so until they died.

[kobold-sanctuary-buss-island]

BLUE MOON BALL DAY FIVE/SIX: "Fine dining"

While i was in the bathroom, i disgorged about twenty five large chunks of cobaltite, which completely demolished the (thankfully clean) bowl and tank of the toilet, and left a rivulet of greywater flowing out under the door to soak into the floorboards. I left the poisonous and dodecahedral rocks to their own business, alongside the toilet's ballcock, laying pathetically on the floor, and headed to the dining room.

I was starving after a long night with no snacks to speak of (apart from a couple of oranges and a mouthful of brass), so i sat down on a wooden chair near the end of one of the tables. Though, as soon as i sat down, my tail erupted in pain from touching the back of the chair, so i was forced to sit on the chair side-saddle, hiding my tail under the tablecloth so nobody touches it. My entire torso hurt from the fight with the automatons.

A silver call-bell was waiting for me. I rang it, and a small charcuterie board floated over to my position on the table. I consumed its minature yet vast arrangement of hard cheeses, hams, sausages, pastrami, forcemeats, mushrooms, prawns, savory pies, bread, crackers, grapes, olives, lettuce, peppers, radishes, carrots, cucumber, and celery, though i shunned the miniature pickles. Small dishes of vinaigrette, caviar, blue cheese, and honey were provided alongside the starter.

The next course of the meal was a most abhorrent combination. Which was, according to the little plaque that came with it, the meat of a lobster and a whole Kobe steak together with Pule, Stilton, Parmigiano Reggiano, Västerbotten, and Halloumi cheeses, tuna, black truffles, seaweed, jalapeño, ghost pepper, guineafowl, pheasant, alligator, quail eggs, beef tomatoes, spaghetti, onions, lettuce, banana, saffron, foie gras, vanilla, rice, fugu pufferfish, and a most unpleasant concoction of sauces i can't all remember, all stuffed between the buns of a burger, sous vide, baked into a pastry shell, deep fried, and finally bathed in a different seething mixture of liquids.

The other people near me at the table glanced with concern as i choked down the Ozymandian ex-Soviet apartment complex of the "Four Elements sandwich", one thin and inesculent slice at a time. Serbian cheese and Japanese fish waged total war upon French duck and Vietnamese shrimp paste. None of the flavours mixed well, the fillings spilled in every direction once i broke through the bomb-proof exterior with my woefully non-vorpal knife, and if i couldn't get the "horrible safari-themed barbecue inside the Deepwater Horizon" taste out of my mouth, i feared that i might have developed a fatal case of Reggae Reggae Sores. My bleeding nose was not helping the situation, and it peppered the aftertaste with a generous hint of sweaty pennies.

My face was covered in various sauces after eating that crude obelisk dedicated to the pharoh of conspicuous consumption, so i made haste and re-entered the bathroom to wash it all off. The dessert was a pleasant variety of chocolates with strawberry ice cream.

After the meal, we all walked outside into the gardens, and down the main path towards a small french-style pavilion building. Behind the building was a wonderful view, as the treeline was short, and the Blue Moon was finally visible. I took a picture on my camera, of course. We were then seated on wooden benches facing the river, and the fireworks were set off. The display went on for ten minutes, but i was in too much pain to really care about it.

Those were my fifth and sixth logs of the Blue Moon Ball. Everything hurts. I'm tired. I want to go home.

[sunkxsscdmoved]

Plotted starter for @lovehungered

Nestled between two large buildings, their red bricks faded and weathered from both age and the salty sea air, was a small pastry shop. Subtle hints of sweet aromas wafted outside, inviting and welcoming hungry or curious souls inside. A blue awning with white trim sat above the glass door and large display windows with 'Taste & Sea Pasteries' in large swooping letters printed on them. The left side displayed a wide variety of baked goods ranging from beach-themed cakes that had crushed graham cracker sand to pufferfish cake pops to life preserver ring donuts and everything in between while the right side was mostly open for any passerby to get a good look of the nautical themed interior.

Afternoons weren't typically slow, even on weekdays, but with the Barati in town, the majority of people would be trying to experience their cooking before the masses. Sunni didn't mind the lull in business, allowing her more time to experiment with flavors and new designs. A few batches of cupcakes were slowly baking in the back in one of the large industrial ovens while she leaned against the back of the display counter. Her long blond hair was braided and rested over her left shoulder as she stared at the footprint-pocked beach across the street. Waves lapped hungrily at the white sand in a rhythmic motion that had her mind drifting somewhere far, far away, unaware of the bell above the door jingling as it was opened.