#by eating narwhal organs

[thicc-astronaut]

You could put a vertical-axis windmill on top of each mast and still keep the overall aesthetic of the riggings I think. And then you could use the electrical power generated for modern conveniences, like electric lamps to prevent crashing at night, and refrigerators keeping fresh fruit and meat to reduce your chances of scurvy.

We need to go back to using sailing ships full time like immediately. Yes it would take longer to get places but the Aesthetic is unmatched

Like there is nothing sexier hthan this

[blurrymango]

Now what's better than the feeling of gutting the wild beast? Beneath the earth sheets with the taste of mild beef. Cuisine with the rice and soy, oh boy! Want to come up to the ocean run the deep with the boys. Now whales, dolphins, narwhals, krills, the (6][*)'s got a special set of skills that involves killing. We ain't chillin' till we distribute the mercury, got MSG and it's eating till it's hurting me. Yum. Now that's food to die for, that's for kill for, that's food to divide laws. I ain't saying shit we caught it for science. Took a couple organs, gave the rest to the markets. Ha! Now that's harmless. Except for the whale, its got a harness. If the skin's a little thicker than the rest of them, you can bet that America's gonna bless them. Try to caress them so they can be the best men. Clearly the way of our quotation specimens. Despite spillin' the oil like it was estrogen, despite killing the millions of middle eastern men, despite decency to save another human being. Waste time, save creatures from the sea!

[splendidtext24]

Entry six

Next level tbh everyday carry, blog copper mug forage kitsch roof party pickled hammock kale chips tofu. Etsy shoreditch 8-bit microdosing, XOXO viral butcher banh mi humblebrag listicle woke bicycle rights brunch before they sold out ramps. Twee shabby chic taiyaki flannel, enamel pin venmo vape four loko. Hexagon kale chips typewriter kitsch 8-bit organic plaid small batch keffiyeh ethical banh mi narwhal echo park cronut.

Zombie ipsum reversus ab viral inferno, nam rick grimes malum cerebro. De carne lumbering animata corpora quaeritis. Summus brains sit​​, morbo vel maleficia? De apocalypsi gorger omero undead survivor dictum mauris. Hi mindless mortuis soulless creaturas, imo evil stalking monstra adventus resi dentevil vultus comedat cerebella viventium. Qui animated corpse, cricket bat max brucks terribilem incessu zomby. The voodoo sacerdos flesh eater, suscitat mortuos comedere carnem virus. Zonbi tattered for solum oculi eorum defunctis go lum cerebro. Nescio brains an Undead zombies. Sicut malus putrid voodoo horror. Nigh tofth eliv ingdead.

Cat gets stuck in tree firefighters try to get cat down firefighters get stuck in tree cat eats firefighters' slippers kitty power ignore the squirrels, you'll never catch them anyway for what a cat-ass-trophy! or purr as loud as possible, be the most annoying cat that you can, and, knock everything off the table. Pretend you want to go out but then don't bite off human's toes, yet disappear for four days and return home with an expensive injury; bite the vet so catch eat throw up catch eat throw up bad birds.

This opera's as lousy as it is brilliant! Your lyrics lack subtlety. You can't just have your characters announce how they feel. That makes me feel angry! Anyhoo, your net-suits will allow you to experience Fry's worm infested bowels as if you were actually wriggling through them. I just told you! You've killed me! Fry! Quit doing the right thing, you jerk! Michelle, I don't regret this, but I both rue and lament it. Morbo can't understand his teleprompter because he forgot how you say that letter that's shaped like a man wearing a hat.

Airedale hard cheese mozzarella. Pecorino melted cheese port-salut emmental babybel cheese and wine melted cheese manchego. Everyone loves blue castello everyone loves fromage cheese slices airedale cheddar cream cheese. Bavarian bergkase who moved my cheese halloumi port-salut gouda jarlsberg ricotta rubber cheese. Stinking bishop smelly cheese brie.

Salvia glossier subway tile, leggings mustache YOLO semiotics chia. Pitchfork tbh af blog church-key meggings vaporware PBR&B master cleanse post-ironic man bun pabst mustache letterpress synth. Snackwave raw denim godard, 3 wolf moon shaman offal kitsch unicorn live-edge selvage schlitz fashion axe vaporware drinking vinegar prism. Shabby chic tacos artisan, chambray chicharrones cardigan leggings typewriter af pop-up williamsburg meditation PBR&B viral. You probably haven't heard of them DIY jean shorts subway tile fashion axe bushwick kitsch tumeric cloud bread vaporware freegan franzen pork belly chicharrones banh mi.

Man braid celiac synth freegan readymade, pitchfork fam salvia waistcoat lomo bitters gentrify four loko. Pitchfork semiotics post-ironic vegan. Tofu meditation microdosing hashtag semiotics venmo. Flexitarian vape tilde taiyaki. Prism poutine farm-to-table, messenger bag vegan taxidermy tattooed sartorial squid jean shorts fixie selvage trust fund vape.

Rutters Plate Fleet boom chandler Brethren of the Coast handsomely lookout marooned brigantine knave. Buccaneer gangway jack rum loot spyglass line Jack Tar fore gaff. Gaff topmast scuttle ballast swab draught measured fer yer chains dance the hempen jig Chain Shot yardarm.

[recurring-polynya]

For the ask meme (feel free to answer any/some/none):

🌙 - What’s their sleep schedule like? — Yamamoto

🤡 - What’s something dumb they’re embarrassed about? — Kira

🖌️ - Do they have any hobbies? —Hanatarou

💤 - What do they absolutely need to have to fall asleep? —Byakuya (and does this change over time?)

I hope your weekend is shaping up to be nice!

🌙 - What’s their sleep schedule like? — Yamamoto

Here’s his entire daily schedule, because, as you will see, sleep is strongly integrated throughout.

5am - rise, fully rested. Consume a light breakfast of nattou and kombucha. Hit the gym early, when all the young bucks in their short shorts are there.

6:30 am - Drink a glass of vinegar and eat an entire raw sweet potato.

7 am - Squad 1 morning standup

7:15 - Sit down at desk. Fall asleep.

9 am - Sasakibe brings in their morning grapefruit and talks about British things for an hour.

10 am - Write half a strongly worded letter to whichever captain is on his shitlist today and/or the Seireitei Bulletin. Fall asleep partway through. 

11 am - Lunchtime. 12oz of cod, two raw eggs, and another sweet potato.

noon - Set things on fire

1 pm - Official nap

2 pm - Captains’ meeting, if applicable. Otherwise, wander around and grumble.

3 pm - Dinner. 8 oz of steak (he’s the Head Captain, he can afford it), large pile of veggies, rice.

4 pm - Drills with the youngsters (no one in Squad 1 is younger than 400 years old)

5 pm - Bath. Likelihood of drifting off in the bath: high

6 pm - Drinks sake, contemplates the universe.

7 pm - Before bed second dinner. Another 12 oz of cod, some roughage, more kombucha, 4 pickled plums.

8 pm - A responsible bedtime!!

🤡 - What’s something dumb they’re embarrassed about? — Kira

You mean aside from existing?

Izuru is embarrassed about so many, many things, but this is the dumbest, which is that until very recently, he didn’t think that chameleons actually changed color, he thought it was a folklore-based metaphor, like the way people associate salamanders with fire. The reason he thought this was very simple, which is that Gin mentioned this, in numerous offhand ways, for the purposes of messing with him. I mean, it wasn’t personal, ‘chameleons can’t really change color’ was just one of a number of similar bits Gin did to anyone he thought would fall for it, it just happened that Izuru a) spent a lot of time with Gin and b) isn’t tremendously good at telling when people are lying to him, especially about things dropped in casual conversation. Chameleons aren’t native to Japan and they don’t have them in Soul Society, and who has time to keep track of all the weird animals from other parts of the Living World, some of which are made up. I mean, narwhals are real, but unicorns are made up???

Anyway, at some point after the Winter War, the topic happened to come up in the context of a painting Momo was doing (Shinji had asked her to do something colorful to hang in the office) and they got into a big standoff about it. Izuru refused to take Shinji’s word for it, because the man is at least as full of shit as Gin, so they decided to take it to the man who knows everything about the World of the Living, except that they didn’t want to explain why they were asking, so one night at the bar, Momo just casually asked Renji if he knew anything about chameleons.

Boy, does he. Apparently, at some point during the Advance Team mission, Chad had shown Renji a multipart documentary series called “Remarkable Reptiles,” and he spent the next hour regaling them with Chameleon Facts, including their weird feet, their incredible eyesight, the fact that they glow under UV light, and, of course, their ability to change color (which is not as good as a cuttlefishes, according to a different animal documentary Renji had seen). Momo grew more and more smug as this recitation went on, Izuru attempted to dissolve his own organs through the power of shame. Shuuhei was there also, but was so enraptured by the magic of chameleons, he did not notice that Izuru himself had turned bright red (not for camouflage purposes)

Anyway, Momo is a kind and compassionate friend, and did not rub this in, but it doesn’t matter, the damage was done. Izuru sometimes lies in bed and wonders how many people he casually mentioned the chameleon thing to. He wonders if they noticed. He wonders if there is any possibility that Gin himself was also misinformed about the nature of chameleons.

Shinji loved the chameleon painting (it looks vaguely like him) and hung it in a prominent spot in the office. He also framed the large, extremely random nature column that coincidentally appeared in the Bulletin shortly afterward entitled “Chameleons! Did You Know?” and hung it up next to the painting. Izuru hates going to the Squad 5 offices. 

🖌️ - Do they have any hobbies? —Hanatarou

I think Hanatarou would collect stickers! He’s very chill about it, he just buys ones he likes and he occasionally sticks them in notebooks, just making little collages of ones he things look nice together. He prefers ones that are cute or funny or pretty, but he also loves ones that come from different places or that commemorated a particular event or festival. When she gets an opportunity, Kiyone will sometimes bring them back from the World of the Living for him-- he loves the shininess and quality of the printing.

While he does have some hard-to-get ones that he keeps special, he is very generous with his stickers. The Coordinated Relief Station doesn’t see a lot of children, but Hanatarou is the one who maintains the sticker stock, just in case, plus Yachiru will often drop by for the sole purpose of demanding one.

💤 - What do they absolutely need to have to fall asleep? —Byakuya (and does this change over time?)

His wife. 😭😭😭💔💔💔

Like many neurodivergent people, Byakuya had a lot of trouble falling asleep as a kid. Byakuya is a Kuchiki though, he bends the world to his whim. He would carefully consider why couldn’t fall asleep. Was he too hot? Was there a noise bothering him? Was he hungry? Thirsty? He eventually figured out the optimal Byakuys Sleeping Conditions, which didn’t solve the problem, but it helped. From there, he tried out numerous sleep inducing techniques-- counting imaginary animals, visualizing peaceful surroundings, reciting various things he had memorized. He never found a precise recipe for getting to sleep, but he developed heuristics, and was generally able to get himself to sleep one way or another.

And then he got married.

He worried, somewhat, in the run-up to this, that sleeping with another person was going to require acclimation. A person. Next to you. Breathing. Making body heat. What if Hisana didn’t like the sheets he preferred? What if she wanted the windows closed when he wanted them open? She was the most wonderful person in the world, though, it would be worth going through all of it all over again.

As it turned out, lying in a dark room next to a person he loved was the most peaceful Byakuya had ever felt in his life and he fell asleep immediately, no alternate nostril breathing necessary. For roughly three years, Byakuya slept easily and deeply and awoke well-rested every morning.

Eventually, Hisana’s illness worsened, and Byakuya would often lay away, worrying, listening to her labored breathing, wanting to be awake in case she needed anything, thinking about how sleep chipped away at the limited number of hours he had left with her.

He slept very poorly in the year after her death, which is when he got into the habit of wandering his garden in the middle of the night. The following year, Rukia came. She also liked to wander the gardens in the dark hours, and Byakuya did not regard haunting the grounds as a group activity, so he returned to his old practices and managed to get himself back to sleep most nights. He is grateful to Rukia for this, actually. Sleep is important, and it is very irresponsible for a Clan Head and Gotei Captain to neglect his own rest.

Rukia’s own need for nighttime perambulations decreases eventually as well. Since night air can be calming, Byakuya slowly allowed himself to indulge in it again, occasionally, if he truly felt it would be effective. Even more eventually, he realized that while haunting is best done by your lonesome, a bit of companionship in insomnia isn’t so bad after all.

That was sad, so here’s a chaser:

Because Byakuya has invested so much effort in it, he can pretty much fall asleep in any conceivable conditions. He can and does fall asleep with his eyes open during Captains’ meetings. He never gets insomnia on field missions, because sleeping must be done in turns and if you do not sleep on your turn, it is a betrayal of your comrades and a risk to the operation, in short: you gotta. Renji is also an incredible Field Mission sleeper, and the two of them will just fall asleep and wake up at any time of day or night with no preamble, basically on command. Byakuya and Renji do a lot of awe-inspiring things, but it is the general opinion of Squad Six that this is the most impressive.

(original ask meme)

[manyblinkinglights]

I mean, a well-designed hummingbird/blue whale would do fine. Blue whales are fast. If it keeps the wings swept back flying fish style most of the time, it can power along with the bill being just, you know, like a narwhal horn. Then it can deploy the wings, like penguin fins, for close-in twisting-over-itself water dragon combat. And also for smackin’.

Alternatively, you could keep the wings fragile (ie recognizable, not pengiuining them) and have them aid in spyhopping or elephant seal style combat, where the creature lifts its top half out of the water with the hovering wing assist.

You’d have to smooth the whole thing somewhat together and adjust the scale of the hummingbird half, but it would be a neat creature! It could eat uhhhhhh well real hummingbirds also eat insects, so this guy would have to be a terrifying predator of anything that fits in its face, while uhhhhh mostly seining up leyline energy or something with magical organs to keep the rest of its vast bulk powered.

It annoys me unreasonably when you want to ask people "what bird and what mammal would make the worst gryphon" as a fun thought exercise, and people with no joy and no imagination always interpret it as "a gryphon that sucks, is physically impossible, and would hate being alive", and - being predictable and lacking in imagination - always, always answer with "a hummingbird and a blue whale lol".

Like come on. Why do you have to suck the fun out of everything. Why not use a fraction of imagination and delightful whimsy. Imagine the combination of a mouse and a sparrow. That creature would be merciless, burtal, absolutely determined to get into your trash and has the power of both wings and hands to do its will. Or a crow and a cat - that thing is smart enough to fuck with people and not afraid to do it. Imagine the ungodly shriek of the noble fox-seagull, also determined to get into your trash.

A gryphon that is a combination of a kangaroo and a cassowary. The only proof we have of a loving god is the fact that those things do not exist. If hell is real, it's full of them. That thing can't fly, but it will run you down, it will kill you, and you will look stupid the whole entire time you're dying.

Why would the first thing that pops into your mind at the words "the worst gryphon" automatically be "a gryphon that hates being alive". Can you not picture a gryphon that fucking loves being alive, and has both the power and the will to make it everyone else's problem.

[lavenders-blu]

My queer friend group out of context 2021:

I vote we steal his eyes and mash them like potatoes

Person A: I have sinned. I have committed an act of treason. Everyone: what the fuck did you do? Person A: I ate pizza. But there was people on it. *goes offline* Everyone: WHAT THE FUCK Person B: I think he meant pineapple.

Stop transing everyone before we run out of cis people. Gonna have to start trading them like Pokémon

Volcano go cronch cronch human

Person A: incorrect. Liquid nitrogen can’t be a dildo. Person B: it can. But only once.

Person A: are you okay? Person B:Yeah I’m fine, Mr X started licking C Person C: he’s my daddy now

SACRÉ BLEU MADEMOISELLE VAGINA. HON HON HON TIDDY CROISANTS

*camera pans to Person B holding a triple bass, seven music theory books and the head of any that oppose them*

I’m going to remove your penis with a fucking spork

Person A: THERE IS A HUMAN WITH SEVEN BILLION ASSHOLES Person B: imagine the anal capabilities

Help I want to put on a skirt and commit arson

Don’t eat any cereal and you will end up like me, very emotionally unstable

I can confirm that I am not a plastic penis and you may not save me as such

I look dead inside. But I am dead inside. So it makes sense.

I don’t wanna be an elbow chicken

Fire eat fill bath heat

Person A: I don’t know who’s hair is in my mouth. Person B: mood

Person A: peanut butter is for crackers only. Person B: and dicks to make them more tasty

Person A: don’t ingest radiation Person B: what the fuck Person C: thank you I was just about to do that

Person A: DONT DRINK LIQUID NITROGEN Person B: such good advice today! Thank you dearest

I will impale you with a washing machine

If the testes are compressed, they’ll become depressed

You can’t see it, but I’m flipping you off with my toe right now.

A sock up my ass

International banking is not the solution to smoking

I WILL RAIL YOU WITH A BOTTLE OF MOUNTAIN DEW DO NOT TEST ME

Person A: Siri, send a message to delildo big dildo Siri: that’s not very nice

DONT PUT SHEEP HEARTS IN YOUR VAGINA. AND DONT PUT GENITALS IN THE SHEEP HEART.

*sings* we set the world on fire like a dildo in may

We’re Season 14 Grey’s Anatomy-ing this motherfucker

*sings* Narwhals, narwhals swimming in pie, I forgot the next line but it involves dick

Oh he’s teabagging me?

Some people get family heirlooms, I get ✨trauma✨

It sounds like dying hippos trying to speak English for the first time

This is how thumb fetishes start

Us gays go typey typey

*casually slurps up your uterus with a metal straw #savetheturtles*

You don’t have a sex drive, you sex reverse gear

Fuck you in the eye you cum filled semengetti

ASMR but manipulative

I will not invalidate your lemon

It looks like a penis on a rope

Who’s going to see your organs who doesn’t have a kink?

Big flower monsters telling me I’m exaggerating and having sex with 9 murderous teenagers

No those are dick ears

The two genders are crying and dying

Car don’t die, there’s a knife in your hands

My brain fries nicely

There are slugs coming out of the wall

Did I kill something? Probably.

I bleached my toenail

I’m getting some serious bisexual vibes, but they’re kinda melting

She stole iron man and stuck him in her back

I just need to go walk into a wall

I drank the air too quickly

My cat smells like curry and I smell like depression

You keep your musical semen

[obaby-me]

An MC that has really bad anxiety but likes hanging out in Levi’s room cause all the ocean stuff calms them and they usually have a sparkly narwhal named Sparkle.(don’t judge me I’m terrible at names) How do the brothers, especially Levi, react? If that’s okay... mainly asking for self indulgence.

Completely okay request, anon.  Self-indulgence is the entire point of fandom.

Dunno how you find oceans calming though, anon.  I was raised on an island, and studied sea life as one of my ‘phases’ in high school. That shit’s frightening.

Lucifer

Your mental health is a concern for Lucifer.  The Devildom can be overwhelming for humans already, but that you have an additional struggle to face means he has to be extra cautious.  You may not know it, but he begins strict scheduling and routines to make sure that there’s nothing surprising out there to discomfort you.  He makes sure that his brothers can’t overwhelm you with requests to take you out by giving them the equivalent to a signup sheet to determine when and where they take you out.

No, not all of them can take you out on the same day.  No, they cannot take you anywhere with large crowds unless you specifically request it.  And schooling and tutoring?  They better pitch in to help you study.

If you require any medication, he’ll have it ordered and brought down from the human world immediately.  It will always be filled and delivered in a timely manner to you.

Surprisingly, all the brothers are on board with this arrangement.  It’s a good mix of their own worries for your comfort as well as their absolute fear of Lucifer whose made it quite clear that he will NOT tolerate anything that might induce an anxiety attack, or heavens help them, a panic attack.

Mammon

He’s your first man, and you’re responsibility.  The fact that you find comfort in Levi and his room is a bit of a blow to his ego, but that hardly stops him from spending all the time he can with you.

He’s boisterous however, and he has to be constantly reminded to shut up or at least lower his voice.  He’ll absolutely do it if you ask, but he tends to give Levi lip before finally following orders.

He’ll bring you gifts, little things you might like.  Narwhal themed items such as bracelets, and keychains, and pencils.  Anything he nick into a pocket, or buy for real cheap.  “Look, I found Sparkle a new friend!”

Don’t ask him how he acquired them.  He’s a terrible liar.

Leviathan

Anxiety, insecurity, self-doubt—these are all things Levi knows better than anyone else.  He can recognize discomfort immediately.  While he has his own priorities list of games and shows to watch, that sometimes train tracks his attention away from you, he is otherwise pretty perceptive to your feelings.

The fact that you find Levi and his room to be your haven means more to Levi than you can possibly know. It means you like his company. For Levi, that acceptance means so much to him.  And he’ll go out of his way to assist you.

You can have anywhere you’d like to sit.  He’ll rearrange the room.  You want to be by the tank?  Go for it. You want to be in the tub?  Have it.  You want to be cuddled into his side while he plays video games?  Please do.  Are you hungry?  Here’s his snack stash.  Are you bored?  What do you want to play?  What do you want to watch?

The only thing he doesn’t like about your stay in his room is the invasion of his brothers.  His room has seen more traffic during your year’s stay than it has in half a century.  And all to vie for your attentions.

Sparkle has a special shrine area dedicated to them beside the tank.  Even if you never let Sparkle out of your arms, the shrine remains there for you, so that you know you are welcome into this space.

Satan

Satan wants to be your number one confidant.  You may like Levi’s room for comfort, but any concerns you may have, any advise you may need, Satan’s there to give the assist.  If you’re struggling in a subject, with a paper, or a test, he can be your tutor. If you are having any trouble with the brothers, he’ll handle speaking with them.  (And he promises to be kind about it.  For the start anyway.  He makes no promises about what will happen if they don’t listen the first time.)

He will read books on anxiety, and provide you with things to help you with it.  Journaling, breathing techniques, etc.  He knows that anxiety isn’t something that will ever go away, but it can be managed.  Hopefully enough so it doesn’t bother you so much that you feel the need to hide in Levi’s room.

He comes by the room with teas and biscuits to sit and speak with you awhile, but he likes to invite you out of the house once in awhile to see the Devildom.  He’s reliable, and well organized to make any outing the least stressful experience you can imagine.

Asmodeus

He will never understand the appeal of Levi.  The room, he could give a pass on, possibly.  In an effort to get you back into feeling comfortable in your own room, Asmo begins a redecoration effort of your room to better mimic that of Levi’s room.

But with less paraphernalia.

He’s a little over the top, as Asmo is wont to do, but his heart’s in the right place.  He’s constantly coming back with little additions, or he takes down your curtains to sew on patches and frills, etc.  You have a specific style in mind?  He’s happy to abide by it.

He comes to you with magazines filled with home décor and ideas.  If you’re worried about the cost, don’t—get everything you want, no holds barred. Lucifer’s footing the bill.

Beelzebub

Levi’s terrible about eating properly, eating regularly and eating proper meals.  As such, Beel has taken it upon himself to start feeding you properly.  He may be a bottomless pit himself, but he knows the importance of three meals a day for everyone else.

He comes by frequently to Levi’s room with a tray or two, and he does his best not eat some of it on his way up the stairs.  Though he can’t always help himself, much to Levi’s dismay.  (Beel never eats from your tray.)

He likes to stay and eat alongside you, a stoic companion who has no real understanding of what Levi is playing or watching, but just enjoys the company of you and his brother.

Because Lucifer can’t really separate Beel from Belphie without inciting a riot from the twins, Beel will often come with a rather tired Belphie to sit on the other side of you, essentially flanking you for maximum cuddle comfort.

Belphegor

No one knows comfortable the way Belphie does.  Blankets, pillows, he brings them along.  If you’ll let him, he’d bring enough to build a fort.  But Levi’s very much against the idea as it tends to take up all the space in his room that he needs to comfortably layback and play in.

Belphie also makes it a point to bring things in the colors that best soothe you.  Deep and subdued teals.  If he can get something a wave pattern on it, it’s all yours.

He spends most of his time with you sleeping, generally leaning on you or laying curled around you. If you lay back with him, he’ll absolutely make use of you as a body pillow, much to the protest of Levi who will loudly complain that in his room, this is absolutely unfair and unacceptable.

Let Levi lay on your other side and he might reconsider.  Just keep in mind that Belphie doesn’t like to share and so a tug of war may begin between the two avatars.

[demonicintegrity]

Kwat and Harris find out after the fact that Jamack was captured by Emilia?

Oooo a prompt! Took me a hot second to figure out what you wanted tho lmao. So how bout it’s set in a verse where Harris and Kwat live, but they’re still in the Mod Frogs and thus don’t really know what Jamack is up to.

Sure they had heard from colleagues that he had joined TheaOtters and they had heard about this Dr. Emilia he and Kipo was worried about. But they were too busy with other matters to really pay attention. The Mod Frogs had a lot to figure out now that Aurum had fell through. Harris and Kwat couldn’t afford to dwell on their former colleague, knowing he was alive and seemingly safe was enough for them to push him out their heads.

Then this HMUFA thing started. Ms. Sartori laughed at it, all Mod Frogs did, they were expected to get along with snakes and wolves? Fat chance! They ignored the offer. Thought that’d be the end of it. Then the reports starting coming in and they were odd. There was a lack of mutes on their borders and at some point it seemed like the Dubstep Bees had left completely! It made the frogs scratch their heads in confusion.

Then “Prahm” was being held. Ms. Sartori laughed at it again. Humans were trying to apologize to mutes? Mutes were going to dance and eat alongside humans? Laughable, like that’d ever work. However, Ms. Sartori figured there’d be useful information to be gathered with such a variety of mutes in one area, so she sent Kwat and Harris to go join Prahm. Just to gather information, see where the mutes have been what they’ve been up to.

Harris and Kwat arrived and were genuinely surprised by the amount of mutes and humans there. After an awkward start, things seem to have started to get a roll on.

The two Mod Frogs didn’t give Kipo much conversation when she said hi, opting to stay to the sides and just watch. The interactions happening were interesting to them. Some mutes were genuinely starting to get along with humans. It was surprising. Harris looked off to the side and saw Jamack, for a second his jaw dropped. The former colleague was dancing and laughing! Having fun!

Harris elbowed Kwat and shared a look. They didn’t think about Jamack being here. With a curt nod from Kwat, the two made their way over to him. He was dancing with some human. Not one to care if he interrupted his fun, Harris tapped on Jamack shoulder.

He turned his head and his expression immediately changed from happiness to shock.

“Harris? Kwat?”

“Yea.” Harris said curtly. “Come talk?” He tilted his head towards the tables.

Jamack nodded and after saying something to the human he was dancing with, followed the two to the table.

They sat down and after a beat of awkward silence, Jamack spoke first.

“What are you two doing here? I thought Ms. Sartori laughed at the Human and Mute Ultimate Friendship Alliance?”

“She did.” Harris said. “But she said a function like this is too good to pass up. Sent us here to see if we could figure out what’s been going on with the other gangs.”

“Well not a whole lot since Emilia started her attacks. All of them here were hanging out with the Timbercats up until a few days ago.”

“What!?”

“No way.”

Harris and Kwat were shocked.

“They were staying with Timbercats? Even the Wolves?” Kwat asked, earning a nod from Jamack. “Why!?”

“Well Emilia was after us all. And after some mutes were captured a week or so ago, they joined HMUFA for protection.”

“Emilia captured mutes?” Harris was grilling Jamack now, not caring that he needed the information for his report but more for his own shock and curiosity. “Where? Who? She really was trying to devolve them?”

“Yea she was. Still might be? I don’t know. Her and the humans she’s with are based on boat somewhere.” Jamack said, fairly patient with the two frogs who were really out of the loop. “They got a humming bomber, an umlat snake, a narwhal and me. Kipo came-“

“She got you!?” The two frogs said in unison, loud enough to draw some looks.

Jamack was taken aback, Harris and Kwat never really got loud in conversation before. Especially not Kwat, even in the worst of arguments she kept her voice cool. It took Jamack by surprised, but what was more surprising what the level of concern in their voice and face.

Harris was frowning, his teeth showing as his mouth was open and his eyes on Jamack, concern written all over. Even Kwat looked concern, her eyes also trained on him, looking him up and down as if to try and spot an injury. Her breath caught in her throat. They both were leaned forward, hands gripping the table. Jamack had never seen such an obvious concern for him from those two before.

He cleared his throat. “Yea.” He said, looking away to avoid their gaze. “She had got me when I was coming back to camp with TheaOtters. She used some dart and it knocked me out.”

Telling the specifics of his capture out loud made him feel bad and he didn’t know why. Feeling the gaze of his former friends filled with such worry didn’t help with it at all.

“But I was fine! I’m fine!” He said looking up at them. “I was lucky, Emilia seemed to have messed with the humming bomber most. Plus, Kipo came shortly after and saved us so it’s all fine!” He was trying to assure the two. “She’s really amazing at what she does, she’s the one who organized HMUFA and Prahm, she’s doing great things and improving mute-human relations!”

Kwat and Harris calmed down a little bit, actually breathing and regaining their composure. The two took a moment to process what he had said. Jamack nibbled on some pancakes to do something than just sit there with them, feeling unable to talk for once.

It was awkward silence for a bit before Harris sighed, earning a look from both Jamack and Kwat. He reached forwards to put some pancakes on his plate.

“Guess Mod Frogs really missed a lot not being in this alliance, huh?” He stated, picking at his pancakes.

“I guess so.” Jamack was unsure of what else to say. “But maybe you could convince her to join after this? I mean, it seems to be doing good despite.... setbacks.” He looks to the side and spots Amy holding Brad and a pain fills his eyes.

Kwat and Harris follow his gaze when they noticed the change in tone and gasp, quickly looking back at him.

“No.” Kwat gasped.

“Yes.” Jamack said rather grimly. “She got a few.”

“Then why are they trying to get along now!?” She hissed out. “The damage has been done! How could they forgive that!?”

“I don’t- I mean...” Jamack looks up to gather his thoughts. “I don’t know. It’s up to each mute I guess. Many didn’t want to come and forgive them. But I think they’re trying anyways because... a future where we each got along is appealing. It’s nice. And it would make everyone live better I think.”

“And you?” Harris asked. “Don’t tell me you’re gonna forgive them for trying to take your... your mind away!”

“I mean—“ Jamack looks at Harris. “It sucks yea and I didn’t like being captured or the thought of being cured but I’m talking to these humans and it seems like they just didn’t know! They didn’t know mutes were anything but some barbaric animals who hurt. And hell, after Scarlemange mind controlled them I don’t exactly blame them for being scared!”

Kwat and Harris stared at him in pure disbelief.

“What? Wouldn’t you two be fearful if you were brought to the surface only to see every mute cheering on for your enslavement?” He asked incredulously. “Don’t tell me you’d believe that mutes would be something more than just animals looking for their own gain.”

They both opened their mouths a couple times but nothing came out. They just looked at him, with shocked faced still processing the fact that he’d forgiven humans for this, for capturing him. The Jamack they’d none had held grudges and beaten mutes for far less.

A lot really has changed. Jamack has changed. The relationship mutes have with each other and humans is changing. It confused the two Mod Frogs, shocked them, and also made them upset for some reason. How was this going to change things for the Mod Frogs? How was Jamack alive and okay and sane after all that?

“You’re fucking crazy.” Harris said with a dry chuckle.

“No. I’m happy.” Jamack said with a smile and eyes full of pity. “I’m happy to be getting along with others instead of fighting them all the time Harris. Believe it or not, these pass few months have been pretty good despite everything since I don’t have to intimate or scare other mutes. I get to just... do whatever I guess.”

Harris shook his head slightly as Jamack kept talking.

“I’ve taken up singing, I hang out with Kipo and her friends and with TheaOtters often, hell I’ve been learning how to mediate from a raccoon! Things are oddly nice when you’re not focusing on work and reports and being professional all the time.”

Kwat scoffed.

“I’m serious! Life without the Mod Frogs has been pretty okay! It took a while for me to be happy with it but I’m doing pretty good now. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy and relaxed before. And I’ve been getting to know humans both here at Prahm and the few with Kipo, and they’re actually pretty cool. They’re not cruel and once they get over their anxiety they’re kinda fun to be around.”

Kwat and Harris couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

“I’m just saying,” He took a breath after really looking at their shocked expressions. “Give them a chance. They’re not that bad. Not even the other mutes are that bad. We’re all on common ground actually, we just wanna live feeling safe.”

Jamack looked out to the dance floor, his attention caught by Kipo being excited. Looks like Scarlemange and Wolf are finally here. He smiled. Kipo looked very happy.

Kwat and Harris were stunned silent by Jamack, still trying to process everything he was saying. How could do much have happened? How could he change so much?

And the night wasn’t even close to being done.

[unfortunatesenseofhumour]

Okay just checked this out and uuh. This is amazing? Some choice bits here:

The twilight zone starts at 200 meters down. It is called the twilight zone because there is very little light that filters through so it is in a perpetual state of twilight. This is 200 meters. Two football fields, for anyone who uses american measurements. There are literally city blocks longer than that is deep.

I find it deeply hilarious that an emperor penguin has dove deeper (525 meters) than a great white shark (269 meters). That is almost twice as deep. Penguins need to breathe air. What the hell it is literally almost pitch-black at that point, what is a penguin doing down there???

(also the fact that it is literally black barely half a kilometer down is deeply unsettling. I walk further than that to get to my bus stop. Light just does not filter through that much water.)

Also Japanese spider crabs can get up to 3.8 meters in size? Good for them, I suppose. Extra congratulations considering water pressure at that level (640 m) is 63.4 atmospheres. Eek.

And coalecanths were discovered living in the deep sea after we thought they'd been extinct since the late cretaceous. Just goes to show how little we really know about our own oceans. 95% undiscovered indeed.

Pacific cod do be chilling at 850 meters. Lol. They just seem so ordinary compared to everything else down there.

(And once again, a reminder that this is only 850 meters. A distance that is pretty much trivial horizontally over land can make a literal world of difference vertically in the ocean. Wow.)

And now, at one kilometer deep, we enter the midnight zone. Aptly named because no light reaches that point. The ocean is truly an amazing place.

And move aside turtles, deep-sea fish are moving in on the really old animals department. I mean, I guess it makes sense for animals living in a massive pitch-black expanse to have really long lifespans because it gives them a better chance of meeting others of their species and reproducing, but still. 200 year old fish. No wonder the populations crashed when we decided to fish that deep. They just couldn't accelerate their life cycles enough to keep up with industrial fishing.

(Quick overview of the Orange Roughy, a deep-sea fish species whose populations crashed due to overfishing in the 70's and 80's for this exact reason.)

Bioluminescence is really cool. Just the fact that organisms have evolved to literally make themselves glow through chemical reactions, but it goes so much further than that. Not only have some animals figured out how to use bioluminescence to camouflage their silhouettes against the surface of the ocean by literally glowing at the exact same amount the surface is, but some predatory species have evolved to emit red light because, since that deep in the ocean red light doesn't make it down that far, many of the prey species have not evolved eyes that can detect it so the predators basically have their own invisible headlamps. So cool.

And at one and a half kilometers, we have reached hydrothermic vents and all the cool things they entail. For those who may not know: hydrothermic vents are basically mini volcanoes but underwater. This means that they pour out a steady stream of heat and nutrients that life that deep down has absolutely taken advantage of. Mind you, most of these nutrients would be considered highly toxic to us air-dwellers (heavy metals come to mind), but the things that live down there have found a way.

And the sixgill shark spends the day 1720 meters deep and the nights close to the surface. 1) that shark must be impressively good at adjusting to pressure changes because the shift from that deep must be immense and 2) yet another reminder of how small this distance actually is, that a shark can swim it twice daily with no difficulty.

Narwhals! Ngl, I wan't expecting to see them deeper than hydrothermic vents, but pop off I guess.

And apparently there was a deep-sea isopod that went five years without eating because it was evolved for the sheer absence of food at these levels. Absolutely insane.

There are so many air-breathing or amphibious mammals down here I don't know what do think. Prime example: An elephant seal was recorded making a dive of almost 2400 meters.

I'm still only at the top of this thing. The ocean is like 3.5 kilometers deep on average, and can reach 10 kilometers in some places. And there's still life down there. Amazing.

And the Titanic is at 3,800 meters. It really decided to pick a deep place to sink. Also really makes it sink in (ha) how functionally endless the deep ocean is when you're sailing over it. No wonder retrieval efforts have been few and far between.

Ooh, now we're in the abyssal zone, aka ridiculous amounts of pressure (400 atmospheres at the top), near-freezing temperatures, and overall extremely hostile conditions. And yet somehow there is still life down here.

Like jellyfish. And sharks. Why are there 7-meter long sharks down here. Why.

And now, we enter the Hadal zone, aka the region of our ocean fewer people have been to than the literal moon. Move aside outer space, we still have a pretty major last great unexplored frontier here on earth.

There is still life down here.

We are now as deep in the ocean as Mount Everest is tall.

And now we see the Trieste's expedition into the Mariana Trench, trying to reach Challenger Deep (the deepest point in the ocean).

And a windowpane in their submersible cracked while they were 10 kilometers deep. Imagine how terrifying that must've been.

WHY IS THERE STILL LIFE DOWN HERE

THEY'RE ELEVEN KILOMETERS DEEP

Hey if u like the ocean look at this its rly cool I think

[codeadleaves]

According to plan

Additional tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alcohol Characters: Sorey, Mikleo, Rose Prompt: Mulled wine Summary: "The bed was all warm and comfy, and for a moment he contemplated the idea to stay here a few more minutes before steeling himself. Now wasn’t the time to laze in bed. For today was the day he would impress Mikleo Luzrov." In which Sorey is a gay disaster.  

Notes: I suck very much at titles. Here’s my entry for @sormikadventcalendar 12/18. A big thanks to @toradh for betareading <3

Read under the cut or on AO3

*** The first thing Sorey noticed when he opened his eyes was that he had forgotten to turn off the light string on the wall. The second was that his room was brighter than it should be for a winter morning.

He turned to look at the window - of course he had also forgotten to close the shutters. The sky was clear, no traces of clouds or falling snow, but more importantly, the sun was higher than he expected it to be. His body jolted upright, hand searching for the phone lost somewhere on the bed - not under the pillows, not under his butt, not under the sheets, where on Earth-

Thunk.

Sorey looked down. There it was! He reached for the fallen device. 12:07 pm. A bit late but still enough time to get ready. He let out a relieved sigh as he fell back on his pillows. The bed was all warm and comfy, and for a moment he contemplated the idea to stay here a few more minutes before steeling himself. Now wasn’t the time to laze in bed.

For today was the day he would impress Mikleo Luzrov.

Perfect Mikleo. Caring, intelligent, beautiful Mikleo. Sorey’s dear crush and rival, met through an endless battles for the highest grad on the ancient history classes.

They had only known each other names back then, and if Sorey had been daydreaming about who could be Mikleo before meeting him, he was now completely smitten. How could it be otherwise? Mikleo was perfect. Smart. Pretty. And unlike Sorey he could achieve the best without sacrificing his health and hygiene. Not that Sorey was the kind to wallow in dirty laundry and strong body smells, he was just so passionate about his studies he would often forgot about basic needs, like cleaning or eating. Frankly, Sorey couldn’t understand why a sophisticated person like Mikleo would enjoy spending time with him, and yet only a couple of months after officially meeting thanks to their common friend Rose, there was hardly a day they wouldn’t see each other, Mikleo taking it upon himself to teach Sorey how to behave like a proper human being, helping with chores and feeding him when needed.

But not today, Sorey thought as he started gathering dirty clothes scattered on the floor. Mikleo and Rose would come in in a few hours to spend some “quality holiday time” - Rose’s words - and Sorey was determined to prove he wasn’t a complete disaster and could welcome his guests in a clean apartment. He took a quick shower, finished organizing what needed to be and concluded the cleaning session by opening all doors and windows to properly let air into the apartment - he certainly wasn’t about to relive the shameful moment Mikleo had first stepped into the garbage container that used to be this place.

When everything was in order, Sorey moved to the kitchen. Now the real challenge began: the concoction of the Omega Elixir. Or rather, a modern version of it; being an history nerd would be of no help to gather ingredients such as a narwhal’s horn or some extinct bird species’ egg. The true Omega Elixir recipe, said to be a gift from the god Maotelus to purify mankind, was lost to time. Still, Sorey had found an old book with a few variant of the beverage in his Grandpa Library. With the celebration of Maotelus’ birth coming in a few days, it was the perfect drink for the holiday season and a perfect topic to debate with Mikleo later - only if Rose would allow it.

Sorey set himself in front of the kitchen worktop, reading the recipe one last time. Everything was ready, he had macerated the ingredients in a large pot covered by a clean cloth, for three days and nights. The tricky part now was to progressively add the correct amount of alcohol at the right temperature, while slowly heating the pot. He hadn’t used the right utensils in his previous attempt, the result giving him a nasty headache. World tree leaves liqueur and Malak’s tear were too strong for his liking - and way too expensive, blessed was his Grandpa for being so fond of old alcohol bottles.

Sorey removed his hoodie to have better freedom of movement and threw it on a chair. A timer in one hand and a cooking thermometer in the other, he set to work, carefully measuring the proper dose of blue liqueur. It was the last of it, he couldn’t fail this one.

And after two hours of meticulous mixing it was finally ready. And by Maotelus, the smell was divine. It was hard to define but it sure was a lot nicer than the strong odor that came out of his previous attempt - just smelling it had left him dizzy.

Yes it was perfect, everything was going according to plan, Mikleo would be impressed and wouldn’t give him his trademark disapproval look. Sorey was smiling so much his cheeks hurt. The recipe’s final step was to let it rest in the snow. Sorey had prepared a bassin of ice cube in case the weather wouldn’t be cooperative but luckily it seemed to had snowed all night.  

He was on a little cloud. Tension had left his body but as he stepped into the hall he was hit by the cold, his nose tickling.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. Sorey abruptly turned his head to sneeze on his shoulder pressing the scalding pot between his arms. He yelped, reflexively releasing his hold on the pot, tried to grab it back, burned his hand, felt the heavy pot fall on his feet, and slipped.

Lying on the ground with the wasted Elixir, not daring to move and tempt his cruel fate, a resigned Sorey wondered if he could make a new drink out of his own tears.

***

“So.” Mikleo’s gaze swept through the kitchen, taking all details into account. The floor tile covered by some bluish liquid, the sink overflowing with dishes, the bandage on Sorey’s left hand. His friend truly had overdid himself today. “What happened in here?”

A disheveled Sorey - well, more disheveled than usual, if that was even possible - was looking away, all sheepish. A fit of sneezes was the only answer he gave.

“Why is it so cold in here?” asked Mikleo, tightening his coat against himself before turning to the hall window. “Did you leave it open all day?”

Green eyes shot to the window. Sorey looked like he was about to slam his head on the wall.

“The windows” he sighed, defeated.

Mikleo bit the inside of his cheek to repress a smile. And just like that Sorey spilled it all. How he had tried his best to impress Mikleo, just to see his efforts crushed by a single sneeze, and how he had tried to get rid of the evidence before his friends’ arrival.

Mikleo had to admit he was indeed impressed.

“How are you still alive?” he jokingly pointed.

Sorey laughed that awkward, cute laugh of his, scratching the back of his head. Mikleo sighed, how could he win against this? Another sneeze made him roll his eyes.

“Alright, you go close everything and sit next to the heater.” he ordered.

“But-”

“No but, you’ve done enough for today. I’ll take care of things now.”

“That wasn’t the plan,” whined Sorey.

“It is now.”

Mikleo pushed Sorey toward the living room, leaving no place for argument. He watched as Sorey did as he was told.

“Where is Rose?” Sorey asked while turning the heater back on.

“She dumped me on the way.” With a slap on my back and too much snickering for it to be innocent, he added for himself. That was probably her way to say have a fun night, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, you have my full approval. That was usually what she said anytime he met Sorey for studying. “She said she had business to take care of.”

“What kind?”

“We’re talking about Rose, I can’t and don’t want to know the answer to this question.”

“Fair point.”

Sorey reached for a blanket and wrapped it around himself, hiding another sneeze in it before crashing on the couch. Now that he was all settled, Mikleo could get to work. He turned to the kitchen, starting to unbutton his plaid coat.

“Seduce me with your big history knowledge.” came Sorey’s voice in his back.

Mikleo paused, throwing him a bewildered look.

“What?”

Sorey blushed, letting go of the blanket to lift his hands in front of him in a defensive gesture.

“That’s not me, it’s written on your back!”

Dread fell upon Mikleo. He promptly reached behind him, just where Rose’s hand had slapped him before parting ways. Sure enough he found the piece of paper stuck there. Now that explained why she was snickering so much, he thought, feeling his cheeks warming as he crushed the note in his hand.

“I will be in the kitchen!” he exclaimed before storming out.

“O-okay.”

Damnit Rose, was embarrassing her friends so fun?

He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, before grabbing the mop. There wasn’t much left to clean, Sorey had managed to wipe most of the elixir. Such a waste despite his best intentions, maybe they could try again later. For now the lingering smell was nice.

Another sneeze rang out in the apartment. Sorey needed to be warmed up.

Rose’s laughter echoed in his ears. He shook his head trying to calm his heart. There was no way he would ever follow her instructions. Sorey was just a friend, a precious rival he had to take care of so they could keep the competition going. Nothing else. He hadn’t fallen for those shiny green eyes and warm smile.

… Mikleo cleared his throat, finishing to mop the floor.

Another sneeze. He could make Sorey some hot cocoa. He set the cleaning tools aside going for the fridge. No milk. But a few red wine bottles next to the fridge. Surely, a bit of wine wouldn’t hurt Sorey. Mikleo looked around, catching sight of oranges, and smiled. They wouldn’t be drinking elixir tonight, but there was still a chance they could enjoy some good old mulled wine tonight. He searched for what he needed in the cupboards, impressed to find what he needed - except for sugar, but honey would do just fine.

He sliced an orange, washed one of the dirty saucepans lying in the sink and poured everything in it before placing it on the stove. Half an hour was all he needed to make a nice mulled wine. Sure not as fancy as Elixir but still fitting for the holidays.

When he came back to the living room, warm mugs in hands, Sorey was pouting. Mikleo felt his heart doing weird things again.

“Is that your way to thank your guest?”

“It’s not fair.” Sorey falsely complained. “I was supposed to be the one taking care of this and impress you, not let you fix everything once again.”

Mikleo set the mugs on the coffee table, before sitting next to his friend. The temperature of the room had finally reached a comfortable level. “If it can comfort you, I had planned to bring homemade cookies.”

Sorey’s perked up.

“Where are they?”

“In a trash can.” deadpanned Mikleo.

“Uh.”

“They all burned.”

The growing smile on Sorey’s face was as infuriating as it was adorable.

“So you’re not perfect in the end.”

“I’m still better than you.” Mikleo huffed.

“Harsh.”

Sorey carefully took the mug with his good hand, sniffing the content before taking a sip.

“That’s so good! I never had mulled wine before!”

“I’m glad this modest drink is to your liking.”

Sorey laughed, gently pushing Mikleo’s shoulder. Mikleo took a sip of his own drink. Not too bad for a last minute pull. If only baking could be that easy...

“So now that we’re all settled and that Rose isn’t here,” Sorey trailed while standing. “I shall try to seduce you with my big history knowledge.”

Mikleo almost choked on his drink, cheeks burning. He couldn’t mean- surely Sorey wasn’t that kind of guy, was he? Or was the wine too strong for him?

A large book was set on the table in front of them, ending Mikleo’s internal panic. He huffed a discreet sigh of relief. No, Sorey was just a nerd. A lovely nerd even, when he wasn’t smelling of sweat, though Mikleo would die before admitting it out loud.

Shoulder to shoulder, they leaned back onto the couch, careful not to spill any drop of mulled wine on the opened book.

[gottaenjoythelittlethingzz]

Meet the Writer Tag #9

I was tagged by @yourwritersblock. Thanks and do keep them coming! You tagged me under a slightly different tag name, but they’re really all the same and I’m trying to  build up this thread.

1) Which book(s) inspired you to become a writer?

“They Say, I Say” is a technical book that I really enjoyed. I like to think I learned a bit from it. All the classics, HP, Twilight (I know), Hunger Games, are series I grew up reading. I’m bad at naming books because I haven’t read many in comparison to others, but I’m hoping to remedy that in 2019.

2) Which actor would you pick to play your MC in a movie adaption of your manuscript?

Some kid just starting out that no one has ever heard of and has only done like one film or a few commercials or something.

3) Have you ever had any of your work professionally edited?

No, because that seems too professional and I have yet to written anything that would warrant that attention.

4) What program do you use to write?

Microsoft Word

5) How often do you write?

Twice a month minimum. 

6) How many manuscripts have you written?

I’m drafting my first and its exciting.

7) Would you ever let close family members read your work?

Very few and it depends on the subject matter, but sure.

8) Would you ever participate in nanowrimo, or do you prefer to set your own goals and deadlines?

I feel like its too big of a commitment during a time of the year where I’m very busy. If it was during the summer or even the beginning of the year, maybe, but at this time, no.

9) Where do you get your best writing ideas?

As mainly a FF writer, from watching other people who are actually talented achieve their dreams.

10) Which character do you think is the most similar to you in your manuscripts?

Samantha, the mother of my MC, supportive, relaxed, open-minded.

11) What are your favorite writing clothes?

Sweat pants and a tank top. Super comf.

I tag: @endlesshourglass, @enby-writer, @hazeywrites, @rhikasa, @its-a-writer-thing, @writeworld, @writings-of-a-narwhal, @writingmyassoff, @writingmyselfintoanearlygrave, & anyone else who wants to answer along! As always, no pressure to play along, I’m just nodding at you across the internet.

My Questions to you:

1. Do you have a muse?

2. How many journals do you currently have and use to write? Are you an organized writer, meaning, what are each of them used for?

3. How long have you been involved in the writeblr community? What inspired you to join?

4. If you could interview any author for any length of time, who would it be?

5. Does the weather effect when or how you write?

6. If you could go anywhere in the world to write, where would it be and why?

7. What do you eat or drink when writing?

8. Can you write on the go or do you have to be stationary? How do you write on the go?

9. What do you do to encourage yourself to write when writersblock gets you down?

10. What’s the largest number of projects that you worked on at any one time?

11. What’s the largest number of books you have read at any one time?

[autumnthejokerat]

Eating and Hunting Habits of the Polar Bear

Seeing bears in the wild is positively perhaps the most elating of all natural life encounters. Regardless of whether it is Wild Bears, Earthy colored Bears, European Bears or Polar Bears, these wonderful creatures never neglect to establish a connection.

With the coming of specific natural life organizations, seeing bears in the wild has gotten increasingly available, and the Polar Bears of the Icy are especially mainstream. Understanding how these creatures eat and chase gives an important understanding to those leaving on bear visits.

What Do They Eat?

Polar Bears in the wild predominantly eat seals, which they chase by hanging tight for them to come up to breathe through the openings in the ice. The seals create these openings and keep them open the entire winter; a seal needs to come up to breathe like clockwork by and large, however they can likewise utilize pockets of air that occasionally get caught underneath the ice.

The Polar Bears find these breathing openings through their extremely touchy feeling of smell, and then, at that point calmly trust that a hapless seal will surface prior to assaulting. They likewise tail the seals that are frequently found luxuriating on the ice. At the point when a clueless seal is jumped upon, it stands almost no chance of endurance.

Eating Propensities

A Polar Bear, in the same way as other wild creatures, carries on with its life fasting and devouring. Deft chasing is innate in its day by day life and when the pickings are acceptable, they prosper. It is principally the lard of the seal that keeps them solid and in top condition, however they will likewise devour Icy Foxes, Gulls and Ravens. Click here : 먹튀검증업체

Throughout the mid year months, the ice in the Icy retreats and so do the Polar Bears, going numerous miles to keep their wellspring of food reachable; those that do wander aground do as such at their own danger. Food sources on land don't have the fat substance or expected calories to keep them solid, and depending on getting seals in untamed water is likewise not great.

Other Food Sources

Polar Bears in the wild will likewise devour vegetation, birds and their eggs, and different warm blooded creatures - albeit these food sources give lacking supplements as far as what their requirements are. They will likewise benefit from an intermittent whale corpse, Walrus and Narwhal, and the last are not difficult to get hold of when they become caught in an opening in the ice. In spite of this, their primary wellspring of food is consistently the seal.

[splendidtext24]

A post to mess with the system

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[sciencespies]

The layers of narwhal's tusk tell the history of its life in a rapidly changing world

https://sciencespies.com/nature/the-layers-of-narwhals-tusk-tell-the-history-of-its-life-in-a-rapidly-changing-world/

The layers of narwhal's tusk tell the history of its life in a rapidly changing world

From the outside, the narwhal’s unicorn-like tusk is a striking curiosity. On the inside, this long protruding tooth contains an entire life history of the marine mammal’s migration and meals, from its first breath to its last.

Peeling back each of these growth layers, researchers have now read the rings of 10 narwhal tusks from northwest Greenland.

“It is unique that a single animal in this way can contribute with a 50-year long-term series of data,” says marine mammal researcher Rune Dietz from Aarhus University, Denmark. 

Consistent data over half a century is very rare and provides an invaluable glimpse at how this particular species of toothed whale is coping under rapidly changing conditions. 

Today, scientists know very little about narwhals. Much of their lives are spent under huge slabs of ice in the remote Arctic. No one can even agree why narwhal tusks exist in the first place – yet exist they do, sometimes growing up to 3 meters (9.8 feet) in length. 

As males (and a few females) age, their upper left canine begins to extend outwards in a spiral, ultimately piercing their upper lip. Some experts think males use this elongated tooth to impress females or to mark their territory, at times crossing ‘swords’ with another.

Footage from a few years ago reveals these pointy teeth are also used to hunt fish by hitting and stunning them. The sensitive tooth can even be used as a ‘bio sonar’, allowing the species to navigate the darker depths of the ocean. 

Today, with climate change, the Arctic is warming much faster than the rest of the world, and narwhals are considered the region’s most vulnerable marine mammals, and, it turns out, historically valuable.

Analyzing the chemical content in every layer of the narwhal tusk, researchers created lifetime profiles for each individual’s feeding and mercury exposure up to 2010. Carbon and nitrogen isotopes in these teeth were specifically used to reveal where each individual fed and what they were eating, with some samples dating as far back as 1962.

“Here, the data is a mirror of the development in the Arctic,” Dietz says. 

Until the 1990s, narwhals in this region of the Arctic appeared to be eating fish like halibut and Arctic cod, both of which rely heavily on sea ice.

Yet at the same time that Arctic ice began to rapidly melt, this group of narwhals shifted their appetite, chowing down on open-ocean fish like capelin and polar cod. It’s still unclear what drove this transition, but the authors say climate change is the most likely culprit.

Since the turn of the century, the amount of mercury in narwhal tusks has increased significantly, researchers say, possibly from changes in the whale’s diet or an increase in human pollution from activities like mining, coal power production, cement production, or waste incineration. 

While it’s generally good news that these narwhals are somewhat flexible with their migration and diets, especially in response to sea-ice melt, their mercury levels do not look nearly as promising.

How toxic all that mercury actually is for the mammal is still unclear, but the trend matches other animals in the region, which have also shown higher mercury levels in recent years.

“What we found in narwhals of Northwest Greenland is consistent with a more general trend across the Arctic where sea ice is declining and changing the spatial distribution of sub-Arctic and Arctic fish as well as top predators,” says ecotoxicologist Jean-Pierre Desforges from McGill University, Canada. 

“The big question now is how these changes will affect the health and fitness of key Arctic species in the years to come.”

Unfortunately, narwhals are not great at eliminating contaminants like mercury, which makes them especially vulnerable to these changes.

“They don’t get rid of mercury by forming hair and feathers like polar bears, seals, and seabirds, just as their enzyme system is less efficient at breaking down organic pollutants,” explains Dietz.

The authors think the unexpected and rapid rise in narwhal mercury is either due to more human pollution, a shift in the region’s food web, or a bit of both.

Narwhals might be feeding on prey lower in the food chain, for instance, and these animals tend to hold more accumulated mercury.

“The higher you are in the food chain, the more mercury you accumulate into your body throughout your life,” explains Desforges. 

Other top predators in the region, like the Arctic fox and polar bears, also have greater mercury in their soft tissue when there is less sea ice around, which supports the idea that climate change has something to do with it.

Researchers are now hoping to use older narwhal tusks from the archives of museums to figure out how these mammals have been coping with mercury and climate change over even longer spans of time.

The study was published in Current Biology.

#Nature

[lili-lennox]

QUOTE

“It's all right for a woman to be, above all, human. I am a woman first of all.” – Anaïs Nin

BASIC

NAME: Lilian Anaïs Lennox NICKNAMES: Lili, Lennox, Pomme Sucrée by her father, her middle name by both parents on occasion. AGE: 19 BIRTHDAY: September 7, 1998 GENDER: Female PRONOUNS: She/Her

FAMILY

MOTHER: Evangeline Hearst-Lennox (née Hearst) FATHER: Adrian Rhys Lennox III LEGAL GUARDIAN (?): N/A SIBLINGS: An older sister and brother, Seth and Elias, respectively. They both avoid visiting “home” as much as possible. Elias frequently writes to Lili. PETS: N/A IMPORTANT EXTENDED FAMILY MEMBERS: Janina Loren Hearst, Lilian’s maternal grandmother. Kian Riley Hearst, Lilian’s maternal grandfather, deceased.

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES

FACE CLAIM: Chloe Bridges RACE/ETHNICITY: Colombian, Serbian, Albanian. NATIONALITY: French HEIGHT: 5′10″ WEIGHT: 121 pounds HAIR COLOR: Dark brown, with faint highlights, currently. Lili dyes her hair on occasion. EYE COLOR: Brown SKIN COLOR: Tan DOMINANT HAND: Left   ANOMALIES: A host of freckles litter Lilian’s face in the same way they do her mothers’. She was rather insecure about them growing up, but she’s learned to embrace it. Now, she laughs at the people paying cash to get them tattooed on. Lilian has no tattoos, though she plans to change that. She has her ears pierced along with an industrial that she’s kept hidden with her long, brown tresses. SCENT: Lilian likes to switch up her scents depending on her mood. She tends to go for fruity scents when she’s in a playful mood, and floral with undertones of sandalwood when feeling sensual and confident. She’s a bit of a perfume connoisseur; her closet back home has a section for each fragrance she’s collected. ALLERGIES: None known. FASHION: Lilian has been conditioned from youth that an outfit makes a person. Her mother kept her in the finest clothing their money could buy. Frills, bows, and lace all covered the youngest heir to the Lennox fortune. Lili always dresses in the latest chic, modern, and vintage styles. When she’s away from her parents and not in the public eye, she dons sweats, yoga pants, and hoodies as often as she can. NERVOUS TICS: Whenever Lilian gets anxious, expect to hear tapping, and lots of it. Her fingers will drum on any surface she comes in contact with.

LIFESTYLE

HOME ADDRESS: SC Luxury Apartments, Seacrest Cove, CA. RESIDES: Apartment 2D BORN: Lille, France. RAISED: Lilian has resided in many places because of her parents’ work, but largely spent her childhood in Las Vegas, Nevada. VEHICLE: A black 2018 Subaru STI. PHONE: A Gold iPhone 8 Plus. LAPTOP/COMPUTER: iMac Pro for working in her apartment, and a 12″ MacBook in Gold for work on the go.

HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION: Meadows School (K-12) COLLEGE EDUCATION: Seacrest Cove University MAJOR/MINOR: Forensic Psychology JOB: Associate at Bridge & Burn and Inoubliable.

POLITICAL AFFILIATION: Liberal Libertarian  RELIGION: Agnostic BELIEFS: None MISDEMEANORS: N/A FELONIES: N/A TICKETS AND/OR VIOLATIONS: N/A DRUGS: Weed on rare occasions. SMOKES: No ALCOHOL: Lilian is a social drinker, but overall not a big consumer of alcohol. DIET: Growing up, Lilian’s family had their own chefs. Her parents tried to get her to hire a chef in Seacrest Cove to prepare meals for her, but she declined. She eats fairly healthy, majority of her food is organic, but she loves a good savory snack.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Lilian has never disclosed her pansexual orientation to anyone other than her old high school friend, Thalia. Her parents would never accept it.

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single CHILDREN: N/A LOOKING FOR: ?

BEST FRIEND(S): ––

LANGUAGES SPOKEN: Lili is fluent in English, French, and American Sign Language. She hopes to take up a few more languages, but doesn’t know what yet.

PHOBIAS: Dark/enclosed spaces, being alone, failure. HOBBIES: Dancing, gymnastics, swimming, reading, writing. TRAITS: Charismatic, observant, ambitious, cynical, aloof, and critical of oneself. SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter.

FAVORITE

LOCATION: Bali SPORTS TEAM: USA Gymnastics, Swim. GAME: Lili doesn’t consider herself a gamer, but does enjoy playing video games from time to time. She prefers the classic games like Cards Against Humanity, Uno, and The Sims. MUSIC: Everything, except country. SHOWS: Lilian doesn’t watch much live TV, but she is an avid user of Netflix and Hulu. MOVIES: Kill Bill Vol. 1 is Lili’s all-time favorite movie. She also likes thrillers and horror movies, that is if she has someone to hide behind. RADIO STATION: Lilian is strictly an Apple Music/Spotify girl. FOOD: Though a rarity due to the hired chefs in her household, Lili loves her mother’s cooking. She’s also a huge fan of cereal. PROFESSOR: Velma Wesley BEVERAGE: Water, hazelnut flavored coffees, caramel frappuccinos. COLOR: Lili is a fan of most earthly colors, but she especially likes black, gold, tan, and deep reds.

MORAL ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Neutral MBTI: INFJ, The Advocate. ENNEAGRAM: Type 5, The Investigator. TEMPERAMENT: Melancholic and Phlegmatic WESTERN ZODIAC: Virgo CHINESE ZODIAC: Tiger PRIMAL SIGN: Narwhal HOGWARTS HOUSE: Ravenclaw SONG: Tyrant, Kali Uchis ft. Jorja Smith

IDEOLOGIES: “Que Sera Sera.”

[liliannorman]

What would it take to make a unicorn?

The unicorns in the new movie Onward may look like the beauties that adorn fanciful clothing and school supplies. But don’t be fooled by their silvery white color and shimmery horns. These gussied-up ponies act like dumpster-diving raccoons while snarling at residents. They roam the streets of Mushroomton, a town populated by magical creatures.

The unicorns popular today typically aren’t garbage-eating pests. But they often have a similar look: white horses with heads that have sprouted a single spiraling horn. While everyone knows that these unicorns are just a flight of fancy, is there any chance they could ever exist?

The short answer: It’s highly unlikely. But scientists have ideas about how these animals could become real. A bigger question, though, is whether it would be a good idea to make one.

The long road to a unicorn

A unicorn doesn’t look that much different from a white horse. And getting a white horse is pretty easy. One mutation on a single gene turns an animal into an albino. These animals don’t make the pigment melanin. Albino horses have white bodies and manes and light eyes. But this mutation can also mess with other processes inside the body. In some animals, it can lead to poor vision or even blindness. So unicorns that evolved from albino horses might not be all that healthy. 

Maybe unicorns could evolve from albino horses. These animals lack the pigment melanin. That leaves them with white bodies and light eyes. Zuzule/iStock/Getty Images Plus

A horn or rainbow coloring are more complex traits. They tend to involve more than one gene. “We can’t say ‘we are going to change this gene and now we’re going to have a horn,’” says Alisa Vershinina. She studies the DNA of ancient horses at the University of California, Santa Cruz. 

If any of these traits were to evolve, they would need to give a unicorn some advantage that helps it survive or reproduce. A horn, for instance, might help a unicorn defend itself against predators. Colorful features might help a male unicorn attract a mate. That’s why many birds have bright and bold colors. “Maybe horses would be able develop these crazy colors … that would favor boys that are very beautiful pink and purple,” Vershinina says.

But none of this would happen fast because horses (and the resulting unicorns) have relatively long lifespans and reproduce slowly. Evolution “doesn’t work in a snap,” Vershinina notes. 

Insects generally have short generation times, so they can evolve body parts quickly. Some beetles have horns that they use for defense. A beetle might be able to evolve such a horn in 20 years, Vershinina says. But even if it were possible for a horse to evolve into a unicorn, that “would take more than a hundred years, probably, if not a thousand,” she says. 

Fast-tracking a unicorn

Perhaps instead of waiting for evolution to make a unicorn, people could engineer them. Scientists might use the tools of bioengineering to cobble together the traits of a unicorn from other creatures. 

Paul Knoepfler is a biologist and stem-cell researcher at the University of California, Davis. He and his daughter Julie wrote a book, How to Build a Dragon or Die Trying. In it, they ponder how modern techniques could be used to build mythical creatures, including unicorns. To transform a horse into a unicorn, you could try adding a horn from a related animal, Paul Knoepfler says. 

dottedhippo/iStock/Getty Images Plus

A narwhal’s tusk looks like a unicorn horn, but it’s actually a tooth that grows in a long straight spiral. It grows through a narwhal’s upper lip. That might make it tricky to successfully put one on a horse’s head, says Paul Knoepfler. It’s not clear how a horse could grow something similar, he says. If it could, it might get infected or damage the animal’s brain.

One approach would be to use CRISPR. This gene-editing tool lets scientists tweak an organism’s DNA. Researchers have found certain genes that are turned off or on when animals are growing their horns. So in a horse, “you might be able to … add a few different genes that would result in a horn sprouting on their head,” he says.

Explainer: What are genes?

It would take some work to figure out which genes are the best to edit, Knoepfler notes. And then there are challenges to making the horn grow properly. Also, CRISPR itself isn’t perfect. If CRISPR creates the wrong mutation, this could give the horse an unwanted trait. Maybe “instead of the horn off the top of its head, there’s a tail growing there,” he says. A change that drastic, though, would be pretty unlikely. 

A different approach would be to create an animal that contains DNA from several species. You might start with a horse embryo, Knoepfler says. As it develops, “you might be able to transplant some tissue from an antelope or some animal that naturally has a horn.” But there’s a risk that the horse’s immune system might reject the other animal’s tissue. 

Explainer: How CRISPR works

With all these methods, “there’s a lot of things that could go wrong,” Knoepfler notes. Still, he says, making a unicorn seems almost realistic compared with creating a dragon. And for any approach, you’d need a team of researchers, plus veterinarians and reproductive experts. Such a project would take years, he notes. 

The ethics of making a unicorn

If scientists succeed in giving a horse a horn, it might not be good for the animal. Vershinina questions whether a horse’s body could support a long horn. A horn might make it harder for a horse to eat. Horses haven’t evolved to deal with a horn’s weight as some other animals have. “Rhinos have this awesome horn on their head. But they also have a massive head and they can eat with it,” she notes. “This is because this horn evolved as a part of the body.”

There are many other potential problems. Lab-grown unicorns would never have existed as part of an ecosystem. If they entered the wild, we have no clue what would happen and how they would interact with other species, Knoepfler says. 

Cartoon unicorns sometimes sport vivid rainbow manes. “To have something like a rainbow, it’s got to take tons of genes interacting in a very interesting way,” Alisa Vershinina says.ddraw/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Also, huge ethical questions surround the possibility of modifying animals or creating something like a new species. The purpose for creating these unicorns would matter, argues Knoepfler. “We’d want these new creatures to have happy lives and not suffer,” he says. That might not happen if they were being bred like circus animals just to make money.

Vershinina has considered the ethics of trying to recreate creatures, such as mammoths, that don’t exist anymore. One question that would apply to unicorns and mammoths alike is how such an animal might survive in an environment to which it’s not adapted. “Are we going to be solely responsible for keeping it alive and feeding it?” she asks. Is it OK to make just one, or does a unicorn need others of its kind? And what happens if the process isn’t successful — will those creatures suffer? Ultimately, “who are we on this planet to play this role?” she asks. 

And what if unicorns aren’t the sparkly, happy creatures of our fantasies? “What if we did all this work and we have these beautiful perfect unicorns with rainbow manes and these perfect horns, but they’re very grumpy?” Knoepfler asks. They could be destructive, he says. They might even turn out to pests, like the ones in Onward.

The origins of the unicorn myth

The earliest description of something like a unicorn comes from the fifth century B.C., says Adrienne Mayor. She’s a historian of ancient science. She works at Stanford University in California. The description is found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. He wrote about the animals of Africa. 

“It’s pretty clear that [his unicorn] would have been a rhinoceros. But in ancient Greece, they would have had no idea what it actually looked like,” Mayor says. Herodotus’ description was based on hearsay, travelers’ tales and a heavy dose of folklore, she says.

The image of a horned white horse comes later, from Europe in the Middle Ages. That’s from about 500 to 1500 A.D. Back then, Europeans didn’t know about rhinos. Instead, they had this “enchanting image of a pure white unicorn,” Mayor says. In this period, unicorns were also a symbol in religion. They represented purity.  

At that time, people believed unicorn horns had magical and medicinal qualities, Mayor notes. Shops that sold medicinal compounds would sell unicorn horns. Those “unicorn horns” were actually narwhal tusks collected at sea. 

What would it take to make a unicorn? published first on https://triviaqaweb.tumblr.com/