#encyclopika talk

[encyclopika]

Hello! I found your blog thanks to Goombanna's video and noticed you are an actual honest to goodness marine biologist in your bio. As someone who is interested in the field, would you mind telling me about your journey becoming a marine biologist? What steps you had to take along the way, what challenges you had to overcome, and where you are now with your career. Would you recommend it to someone who is interested in the current climate? Are there caveats or dangers to be aware of?

Hello! I'm so happy you came to follow me after Goombanna made her fun video. I'm always so excited to talk to people are into marine bio and want to learn!

So, yes, I'm a marine biologist - I currently work at a non-profit doing research and outreach about seafood and the fishing industry. It's very people-centered, and our research spans a lot of topics and facets of fishing and conservation and fishery management. I do get to go out to sea, but a lot of my job is reading and writing, believe it or not! I've done a full break down of advice I'd given two other budding marine biologists here. And also some real "benefits to being a marine biologist" here lol. So that should cover at least some of the info you want! But, let me go through your questions best I can anyway: As someone who is interested in the field, would you mind telling me about your journey becoming a marine biologist? What steps you had to take along the way, what challenges you had to overcome, and where you are now with your career.

I don't mind at all. TL:DR - there are no "steps". Sorry. Being 100% honest - I threw shit at the wall until something stuck and I didn't give up doing that until it did. Anyway... I've always been into marine bio - my favorite animals have been sharks since forever (and before that, my sister and I loved Free Willy, so Orcas, too). And my parents encouraged it because my mom is nuts about animals, too (although she likes to think she's Snow White and feeds anything that breathes, but I digress). So they and my grandparents got me the books and took me to aquariums and stuff. In Highschool, I did what I thought made sense - I took as many electives as I could in marine-bio adjacent topics and bio and science in general, like Chemistry. I didn't have anyone who could tell me "the way", so I like, stumbled around a lot?

When I went to college, I majored in Marine Vertebrate Biology because my goal was to be a researcher for sharks (I also minored in Environmental Studies, which was a good call, because I *really* understand climate now.) (Take climate classes - the ocean and atmosphere are entwined and you will have galaxy brains.) But as I got deeper into it, I started expanding my focus to all fish and marine invertebrates, like crabs and lobsters. I started thinking Fisheries was where I should be... If you wanna see my career journey (that doesn't include working in a grocery store for the majority of college and a Walgreens after I got my Master's, because there's nothing like having to work retail and get shit on by assholes when you have a high-level science degree loooooooooooooooool), it went like this:

A neurobio lab at my university - I was the official fish feeder and I took care of the zebrafish they did genetic and neuro experiments with. It wasn't anything bad - they looked at them under the microscope and followed gene expression. It was a nice gig. I fed the fish - someone needed to do it!

Volunteered with another, more marine-focused lab, and I helped the grad students with various things and also went with them on a mini trawl survey every two weeks. It was fun, but one of the grad students hated me...good thing I didn't really work with her.

My Local Aquarium - I learned how to present my knowledge in front of people. I went from stage frightened baby to a public speaker at this job and I couldn't be more thankful. I taught people on a boat and in the aquarium itself. I got to speak on the microphone and share random facts about almost anything I wanted.

Lab TA at my University because I got a very good grade in my Chordate Zoology course and I loooooved it.

Education Farm - like with goats and cows and I learned how to drive a tractor lmao...it was meant to get my foot in the door with this organization, which, funnily enough, is the same exact org I work for now (just a different department), but it didn't work out that way. I said fuck this and left.

National Estuary Program Intern - my second attempt to work with the org I work with now. Yes, it is so fucking fuuuuuunnnnyyyy.

I think around here I started my scientific illustration business...

And then for my Master's, I took an Internship with NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) drawing larval lionfish for a scientific paper. Here are some of the extra babies I did before I had to leave.

Trout Hatchery - which was more education and outreach, but it ended up focusing more on reptiles and amphibians than I expected it to. I only did this for a few months. But I learned how to catch and hold frogs with my hands lol so that's a skill I have now!

Then I started work for a heritage organization that focused on natural and human history in our local areas and I still work with them today! I've done their kids camps and I educate on the boat and I'm often asked for marine consultation and illustrations. I love my supervisor here to DEATH. She is so great.

Then I became a fisheries observer with the NEFOP (Northeast Fisheries Observer Program) which was entirely going out to sea with commercial fishermen and doing science with the catch. I finally got to see and touch real, big, wild sharks, but the job also paid like shit and the fishermen hate observers. This job is not for the weak. I was also trained to be a Protected Species Observer, so I really could have went in a totally different direction focusing on marine mammals. Anyway, I did this for 3 years until COVID hit (which you might pick up on in the Fish Explained Series lol).

During COVID, I quit being an observer and started working in a town shellfish hatchery that raised shellfish (oysters, scallops, and clams) for conservation seeding. I grew and maintained the algae to feed the...baby shellfish...and...omfg I was just feeding animals again! Full circle! LMAOOOOO OK but no, I also did outdoor work with the dudes and it was very sciencey and chemistry-based. I worked with beakers and flasks and felt very *scientist*. You're allowed to be a dork in this field.

And finally, after all that, I landed in this position I'm in now. Because of all of my past experiences educating, doing outreach, being familiar with local fish and fisheries, literally going out to sea on the fishermen's boats, and having my Master's degree, and I shit you not, *writing in my free time*, yes the fanfiction and the Fish Explained Posts counted (I told them everything, I was so jaded from applying to jobs and this would be my 3rd attempt trying to work for this org LMAO) I was hired almost instantly. And now I'm here since 2021 and I couldn't be happier.

So, moral of the story is that there is no "way" to being a marine biologist. Just get your feet wet (pun intended and literally) in everything! Who knows where that skill will lead you? Who knows what opportunities will open up? Start in a lab cleaning the buckets - one day, when the time is right, they'll welcome you as the new PhD student. You don't know. The trick is just to be flexible and stubborn as hell...because it *is* hard. I watched 2 friends of mine go through all the same steps, and be so passionate, and then they gave up. One is a nurse now and the other works in...HVAC? Some business...it's sad, but sometimes it happens. There's no shame - you have the God-given right to give up! This job is hard, this dream is hard, and 9 times out of 10, you get paid next to nothing and get little respect. It's a passion. You have to keep that passion alive and I kept it alive by saying "fuck it - I *am* going to hold a shark" - and I do all the time now. I am on the boat doing the hard science, but I also flip out and take pictures of baby sharks and cool stuff in the net and feed the seagulls. When we're out at sea for 5 days straight, it's all worth it to me because tomorrow there will be fish in the net and there might be something really really cool.

...Maybe it's a form of gambling addiction. That's what fishing is at the end of the day, right? Fish gambling.

Would you recommend it to someone who is interested in the current climate?

I would never ever recommend that someone *not* follow their dreams. If you want to hold sharks, then go out there and make it a reality. Yes, the current government is a piece of shit. Right now at my job, there is a looming dread because we're 100% grant funded. Federal grants are our bread and butter and of course there was that bullshit this week where they wanted to pull funds from science projects focused on DEI and climate change, which

Let me tell you something - *that's where the work is in this damn field is.* Climate change is a threat to fisheries and fisheries management because there is proof animals are shifting their ranges north. What does that mean for the fishermen when all the lobsters literally walk away? What *does* happen when we install wind farms in the NY Bight? How is the ecosystem going to change? What are the trade-offs? One of my professors put it this way - Climate change is scary and sad and infuriating, but at the same time, it's also opening up so much opportunity for research. He's right. Climate change is here - might as well study it.

But anyway, that doesn't mean it's all gone down the toilet. I don't want to get too political (you'll know how I feel pretty quickly if you're following me), but it takes perseverance to get a job in this field, and the entire time you work in it, you will have to persevere. There's always some bullshit. Be flexible. Like more than one animal. Like more than one topic. Be passionate about different things. I never in 100 years would have thought I'd be this passionate about pushing people to eat local seafood (because it's healthier and supports our local economy and ecosystems). I never thought I'd give a shit about that. I never thought I'd love skates and sea robins almost as much as I love sharks. You keep your options open and keep trying new stuff. Fuck Trump - don't let anyone tell you you can't. Only you can decide that, and it's OK if you do. But it has to come from YOU.

Are there caveats or dangers to be aware of?

This is hard, because it all depends on where you end up, but I think the above answer covers the "job security" bit. As long as there are industries that depend upon the ocean, there is a job for you in some capacity. Fisheries - recreational and commercial, wind farm and other ocean construction, endangered species, etc etc etc. None of that is going away and we need people to study this shit and have answers so we can proceed confidently.

And physically, yeah! Oh yeah, it can be a dangerous job, especially if you're going out to sea. A commercial fishing vessel is basically like a factory, except the factory is bouncing around, it's slippery, and Ricky might be barfing in the corner. :) It's a dirty dirty job. And in fishing, there is...animal gore. Like a lot of it. I have...seen shit. Sometimes it can't be helped.

And lastly, I think no matter what job in marine bio you have, you will understand things and care about things that the general public doesn't care about, and they will have the audacity to argue with you about it. Like, people ask me a question. I answer it. I get an argument. Bitch, why you ask me??? And you will also not agree with other organizations and people in your field. It's science and we are only people.

Anyway, I'm sorry this is so long. I actually deleted a lot of tangents because that wouldn't be useful to you lmao. But if you have any other questions or even just wanna talk fish, I always get excited to see an ask in my ask box. :3 Thanks for this!

[singingcookie]

Fanfic Q&A!

Thank you for the tag @encyclopika, sorry I'm oh so very late getting back to it 😅

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Good question uhhhh 55???? That seems like way more than I thought it would be....

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

523,858 words! Granted over half of that is just my slow burn story so lol

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Primarily I've written for My Hero Academia (40 out of the total 55). But I've also written for Kingdom Hearts, The World Ends With You, and more recently Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Oh that's a good question let's see...

Drops of Jupiter (829)

A Princess's Dilemma (381)

Within Arms Reach (378)

One Plus One Does Not Equal a Date (Probably?) (303)

I Roll to Seduce (296)

I'm...genuinely shocked one of my LoZ fics is up there??? And so high??? 1, 3, 4, and 5 are all from my hero fanfics which is not surprising and most of them are super old. Number 2 I only posted in June and it was my first fic for LoZ so that's...interesting to say the least.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to! The last year or so I've had a hard time working up the energy or finding the words to respond to comments, sometimes. But whenever I do gather up the energy to do it, I tend to answer everything in my inbox in one fell swoop! And I always really appreciate getting them so tbh sometimes I feel bad that it can take so much energy to reply....

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh gosh idk if I have anything that qualifies as an angsty ending lol. Maybe Tarantism (a KH fic) because it's supposed to be feelsy and then the ending is one of those "it's just a dream" things haha.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Happiest...probably A Family's Orbit? The story has married izuocha with their first kid who they're not sure when or if she'll have a Quirk of her own. But the one-shot ends pretty happy.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Hmmmm I've gotten a handful of complaints on Drops of Jupiter, on occasion. Usually just people telling me I'm going too slow (when I put in the author's notes of the very first chapter that it's "the slowest of slow burns" smh). Or this one time someone told me I didn't give Deku enough victories in the fic and it would be way better if I did.

Outside of that though, I can't think of any on my other stuff. I've been blessed with very kind commentors, I think.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I've written a couple for Izuocha. But yknow usually, in all honesty, I've only ever written smut out of spite? The two fics I have (Burning Heat and Homecoming) were written in opposition to fandom tendencies at the time. Mostly everyone was talking about Izuku like someone who was a sex addict/sex god and Ochako was just kind of there. And I said "actually I think Deku's on the ace spectrum and probably mostly just cares about pleasing his partner than anything" and thus they were born. I haven't reread them in ages though that said lol

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Generally, no. However, about a year or so ago I got really into twewy again because I had just finished playing NEO:The World Ends With You. So I came up with a concept that kind of meshes twewy's concept with the my hero world? I only have one chapter posted of Death By Proxy so far, but I have an outline and little details written down whenever I'm in the right headspace for it. For what it's worth, you don't really need to know about twewy to read it, because Izuku finds out how everything works at the same time you do lol

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge. Here's hoping it stays that way lol

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of? I've never been asked about it anyway.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not explicitly? I feel like I help out my friends with their stories and vice versa, but not really.

Oh!

Although once upon a time me and a friend (you know who you are) wrote a KH fanfic together but I guess that was moreso just for us than anything else lol

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Probably Izuocha, just going by the numbers.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Hmmm probably Eri-sitting? I really want to finish it at some point, and I posted the first part with every intention of doing it. But I never figured out the way I wanted to start chapter 2. Maybe someday though. Also!!! I did start writing a fanfic based off of heroes of the dark, but I didn't end up finishing it because it contrasted how the story ended and I thought completing that would be in poor taste with that said lol

16. What are your writing strengths?

Hmmm I've always found dialogue and characterization comes easier to me than I think it does to most others? There's always been discussions I've seen where people are like "oh sometimes the characters just do what they want" and I've never really...had that happen? Or at least not in a way that completely alters a story like I've seen people say. Little actions or pieces of dialogue that take me by surprise, sure, but like never anything that completely alters a plot beat I had planned. But usually at least for me, the plot beats are so centered around who they are or how they act that the odds of them veering off course are incredibly slim, if that makes sense

God I'm rambling uh dialogue and characterization I guess was my point haha.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Probably description is the thing I have the hardest time with. Some people are so good at writing a setting and making everything seem so like immersive in that way. For me, I don't see the point in describing something unless it's like relevant and so my description tends to be very to the point.

Also estimating a story's length. Usually I come up with a concept and then I'll say "oh yeah this'll only be this long" and then I start writing and writing and realize I had a lot more to say than I thought I did initially. This has happened a handful of times now haha

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic.

I definitely don't see anything wrong with it. I usually only do it for small phrases, myself, but partially because I'm not fluent in anything except for English. And I generally try to do some research or I'll check with friends if I have any who speak the language I'm using.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Kingdom Hearts! Back in the days of yore, yours truly actually wrote KH retellings with OCs back on quizilla lmao. I wrote quite a lot back then although with how long it's been most of the things I posted on there don't exist anymore. But that was back during 8th grade when I started.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Oh hmm I don't know. I feel like favorites is tough because I like a lot of my stories but for different reasons. I'm exceedingly proud of Drops of Jupiter for example. And I think it's been a true adventure to write and does have some of my best work in it as a result.

But I also think some of the prose and concepts I've made for Call From the Wild has a special place in my heart. It's very different from...basically anything else I've ever written because most ever other fic is "modern" in a manner of speaking and this was my first time writing something that's...decidedly not lol. I also think I'm fond of it because it's adhering to canon while allowing me the creativity to come up with how certain things happened since the details before the Calamity in botw are pretty limited...

Basically I guess my favorite kind of fic I've written is anything that really allows me to go nuts creatively.

Thanks so much for sending this! I don't have anyone in particular I want to tag, but if any of my followers fill it out, please tag me so I can see it!

[izupie]

😈💖👀✅🤭✨

Ahhhh so manyyyy !!! Thank you !! <3 <3 <3

this one got long so it's under a cut ahaha

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

Ohohoho yes. I remember writing the cliffhanger in Beep Beep Beep where I deliberately kept it vague over whether something terrible had happened to Ochako, and then just cut it off mid-sentence. That was delicious.

Actually, thinking about it, I've done the cliffhanger ending to a chapter in quite a few fics - not even just to hook readers in, but specifically because thinking of it made me cackle like a disney villain so I had to do it !!!

💖 What made you start writing?

I read a story on Neopets that somebody had written and it blew my tiny little Izupie mind because I realised that, hey hang on a minute, anyone can write stories??? And then as a kid you have no concept of Cringe and you just want to hang out with your favourite characters, and thus, my cringey fanfiction writer self was born. I wrote so much self-insert fanfiction as a kid because I realised I could read it back and it was like I got to hang out with my favourite characters and have adventures with them over and over! any time I wanted!

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

Talking about cringe *finger guns* (man that was a good bridging answer actually)

I'm still in my Supernatural Era, so I have a bunch of Supernatural wips that I'm trying to wrangle into coherent stories like herding cats. Exciting for me because ohh these are some truly self indulgent and delicious tropes <3

But! I also have the next part of my bnha/Izuocha collab fic with Encyclopika that is ongoing and that is! exciting! Seeing it evolve and our writing styles mesh has been sooo much fun!!

Did I really even answer this question??? lmao asdfghjk

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

am I self aware enough to answer this question? hmmm...

Banter-y dialogue? like, flirty back-and-forths?? I do that a lot. I suddenly realised the other day that my stories keep having these little flirty banter sections, no matter what fandom or ship it is. And I was like, well let's not examine this too closely

Also just, so much focusing on eyes. I'm surprised nobody has ever pulled me up on it honestly. I'm always writing what people's eyes are doing, but that's how I read expressions the most so it's how I represent them the most! does that make sense? !?

🤭 Do you have a favorite tag to use when posting your works?

Fluff

*ding* next question!

(I answered a question in one word, what is going onnnnn)

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

listen. guys. how dare. how dare you all gang up on me in this way

adsfdghjkl

ummm, okay, it was hard enough to think of the first one - how about.....

I love the way that some people have said that my writing has cheered them up, or given them a boost. That really warms my heart. It's so special to know that something that came out of my brainworms has actually affected somebody's mood. and made them feel better! I made them smile with my words and weird tropey stories that I thought only I would enjoy! That makes me proud of myself and this weird lil hobby

[jellojolteon]

Music Tag Game

Got tagged by @encyclopika -- thanka thanka dear!!

Rules: Open media player of choice, shuffle songs, write down the first 10 that come up- no skipping entries!

0. Waves of Galveston by Iron and Wine (Had to start the shuffle somewhere!)

1.Ghost Mouth by Girls

2. Spooktune from the Undertale Soundtrack (by Toby Fox)

3. Detroit by Red Hot Chili Peppers

4. Infinite Content by Arcade Fire

5. Help! by the Beatles

6. Worn Out Tune by Elizabeth & the Catapult

7. Hold On by KT Tunstall

8. I Wan’na be like You (The Monkey Song) from the Jungle Book Soundtrack (the og animated ver)

9. One Touch by LCD Soundsystem

10. Who’s been Talking? by Howlin’ Wolf

Tagging: uh... raincheck. I’m sleeby. Whoever wants to?

[pandoramusicbox09]

Hey, thank you for the tag @encyclopika!  I was feeling pretty down today, so this is just the thing to distract me a little bit and cheer myself up!

Favorite Student: Ochako (Uravity) Uraraka!  She’s my girl! ^-^

Least Favorite: I guess either Mineta or Monoma.  They’re both obnoxious as hell.

Favorite Teacher: Shouta (Eraserhead) Aizawa!!!  I’ve said this before but he’s my favorite adult character in MHA.  Plus, I live for Dadzawa!

Favorite Pro-Hero:  Oh god, this is really hard for me to choose to be honest.  I really want to say Eraserhead again just because I think he’s a badass and I just really like his character and his quirk....if I had to choose another one though, I’d say Fat Gum.  I really like his personality too and he had some serious badass moments as well.  

Best Quirk: This one is really tough as well.  Thinking more about it though, I have to go with Hawks’ Fierce Wings quirk just because it’s so damn versatile.  Either that or Shinsho’s Brain Washing quirk.  There’s so many applications to Hero work for that quirk (I forever shake my fist to everyone saying he has a “villain’s quirk”, grr!)

Worst Quirk: I’m thinking way too hard about this, I know.  I’m having a hard time actually thinking up of what I believe would be the “worst” quirk.  I’m going to draw a lot of hate for this but really thinking about this (plus I actually talked about this with a friend of mine) but I feel like Tsuyu’s and Tokoyami’s might have to get the title for this one.  Just because for both of them, if they ever find themselves in a situation of extreme weather/ temperature conditions (for Tsuyu) or light conditions (for Tokoyami) then they would be done for.  (I’m honestly thinking about how a fight between Todoroki and Tsuyu would go.  I love our froggy girl, I really do, but if she ever faced off seriously against Todoroki I feel like she’d either fall straight to sleep into hibernation mood or be cooked to a crisp.)    

Student who doesn’t belong in class 1-A: I think all the students who are in the class belong in the class, to be honest but I’m a sucker for the Found Family trope ^-^

Student who DOES belong in class 1-A: Shinso freaking Hitoshi! 

Favorite Villian: Stain or Overhaul.  The Hero Killer Stain arc is still one of my favorite story arcs of all time and it’s in fierce competition with the Overhaul arc.  

Favorite character overall: I don’t know if I can choose to be honest XD.  I love the characters so much.  

Would you be a hero, villian, or vigilante?: Pfft, I don’t think I’m cut out for any of those positions XD.    

Tagging: @izupie and anyone else who would like to do this XP

[vixensheart]

UHH UHH OKAY HERE WE GO I was tagged by the lovely @encyclopika :3

Put your entire music library on shuffle and list the first 10 that come up. Then tag 10 others to do the same!

1) Snow In California by Ariana Grande

2) The Troubles by U2

3) What Are You Waiting For by Miranda Cosgrove

4) Try by P!nk

5) Long Way Down by Tom Odell

6) Elastic Heart by Sia

7) One Last Time by Ariana Grande

8) Big Fat Zucchini by Zach Callison (SU soundtrack)

9) Dark Horse by Katy Perry ft. Juicy J

10) Say Something by A Great Big World & Christina Aquilera

Top four ships: Currently... izuocha, Kiribaku, a//urance, and bbrae

Last song: Uh, well I just drove so whatever the heck was playing on the radio that I wasn’t actually listening to lmao

Last movie: Toy Story 2, but if we’re talking in Theater, that was Onward.

Reading: 

Last Fanfiction: The Flowers Fall 

Last Book: Guardians of Ga’hoole because I was rereading that, by Kathryn Lasky 

Next Fanfiction: Whichever one of my subscriptions updates next >.>

Next Book: uhhhhhhhhhhhhh lol no idea

What food are you craving right now: I kind of want pizza tbh

Tagging: UHHHH Idk who hasn’t been tagged yet so uh, have at it, my dudes

[encyclopika]

Butter the ham-ham.

Disclaimer: *She is fine, just dumb. She is over 2 years old (geriatric af), so her fur has thinned out on her butt, but her skin is clear and is checked almost everyday. Like all female hams, she needs a lot of enrichment, so hanging toys are a staple of many set-ups. She lives in a ham-mansion that 4ftx2ft. If you have any assumptions about her care, reach out to me first.*

[encyclopika]

Hey there! I saw where you were answering questions about careers in marine biology. I recently had to put a hold on obtaining my vet tech degree due to the externship wearing me down, both mentally and physically. It has left me in a state of depression because I really did enjoy the work and was passionate about it! But my body could not keep up due to my illness. I say all this to ask: Are there any careers in marine biology that aren't too physically demanding? I've been passionate about ocean conservation and research since I was a child, and the idea of working at an aquarium as an aquarist or an exhibit interpretor has been on my mind recently. But I've heard some people say that even getting a job at an aquarium is difficult and even unlikely. So, I would like to hear the opinion of someone that is actually in the field before I have to toss yet another dream away! And thanks in advance, I know this was a lot hehe

Hey, no problem at all. For the short answer, yes there definitely are jobs in marine bio that are less physically demanding! I would say that an educator at an aquarium isn't too demanding. I don't want to assume what your abilities are, but when I worked at my local aquarium, it was a lot of standing and walking around, however, i don't see why you couldn't be accommodated. I mean, plenty of retired folks get into doing that. An aquarist might fit you well if you were going to be a vet!

I'm fairly able-bodied, so I can't assume what you would need. I will say that at-sea work is extremely grueling and demanding. That is unfortunately where the animals are, though. I'm actually at sea right now in the middle of the North Atlantic winter and we expect to get pretty bumpy and rolly in a few days. Just the safety training is intense to get out here.

However, one of my coworkers gets seasick so bad, nothing can cure her, so she doesn't ever come out. Instead, she's the head of our local seafood program. Most of what she does is at her desk, making phone calls, and coordinating seafood tasting events and coming up with new promotional ideas. So, yes, it's totally possible. Most of my job is at a desk reading and writing, too. Last time I was at sea was in November.

Lots of labs have extensive work looking under microscopes at algae and zooplankton (very cool and groundbreaking stuff). And still, I have a friend that works for our state environmental department - she handles fishing permits and other leadership duties in her role.

So all that to say - yes! I wonder if your background in being a vet tech could help put you on course for marine animal disease research? Marine parasites is definitely a field of study. I think it's very possible for you to find a niche in this field that will fit your interests and needs. 😀

[encyclopika]

Wrote a little bit today, but it's still not really there. Doing arts like a fiend, though!

At least there's something happening.

[encyclopika]

I just got back from an amazing trip to Alaska - t'was a bucket list item and I'm so glad to have gone. We're already planning on going again sometime! It was definitely a great time for filling out our bird lifer lists - saw bald eagles, a murrelett, some new gulls, common mergansers, and Bewick's wren. One of the greatest experiences was hearing a raven call from deep in the forest - it was so haunting. Gotta love goth chicken.

Of course, went to see marine stuff, too - saw humpback whales galore and took time in the west coast tidepools twice. Saw an endangered sunflower sea star and my very first chiton! Even though the tide pools were amazing, I don't think I'd trade away my East Coast tidal areas. It was weird to tell myself not to expect anything large like a horseshoe crab, y'know?

Saw black bears and moose, too!

Now that I'm back, I was hoping to write and publish my next chapter of Escape Artists, BUT! I'm not allowed to have nice things. So by the end of my cruise, some asshole gave me COVID. I've gotten the vaccine and booster, but this is the very first time I'm dealing with the real thing, so I was sick af for my land excursion part of the trip to Denali. I wasn't missing that, so I went on the excursion and saw my gd mountains and the wildlife and I'm glad I didn't let this fucking disease stop me. But now it's been almost a week I've been sick. When I'm feeling better than road kill, I'll get back to writing.

In the meantime, if you wanna follow me on iNaturalist where my husband and I post our photos of wildlife, my user is ama_and_aj . https://www.inaturalist.org/people/ama_and_aj

[encyclopika]

That feeling when you add a poll to your post about your research survey because you think it'll be more visible and also fun for people who arent in the study region, but then you get people nitpicking the hell out of it.

Or questioning its validity. Like.

I'm so sorry for offending you - I'm literally at work and the results of this Tumblr poll don't matter. 🫠

Should I edit the post, or just accept it since clearly like 12k people have looked at it already...

[encyclopika]

I've been working really hard on all sorts of stuff, and yet somehow it's Thursday and I'm not where I want to be. Please know I am working on:

Seal My Heart with Izupie - our second chapter I'm hoping comes this month. We got a lot done before IzuOcha Week when we (hilariously) thought we would post the whole thing as a oneshot. I know, we're so silly.

Escape Artists - chapter 7 needed a shit ton more editing than I initially realized. The good news is that it's written and I'm making it my first priority.

TheLostDex zine - forgot to mention, but I was accepted as a writer for this zine and I'm so fucking excited to report that I've been assigned 10 fish/marine beta Pokemon to write about in a technical manner (think Animal Crossing Fish Explained, but with Betamon lol). I've been blessed to be working with 10 artists who are great fish people, too. I can't wait to share what we have in store - these artists are incredible.

Swim On Zine - the annual shark zine! I'm going to apply and I'm looking to finally do a portrait of the Salmon shark that has been bouncing around in my head for a few years. This is the perfect outlet.

Downpour - mostly at the thinking stage, but that's actually important, since I decided to cut out a pretty damn large part of it.

Fire and Brimstone - seriously considering running through the rest of it. There are 3 chapters left that encompass the climax of the story, so, I might as well and get it off my plate. But then that means those waiting on Escape Artists and Downpour may wait until Fall before I start working on those again...I really don't know what the right answer is, but something's gotta give.

Podfics - uhhhh, still trucking along. Paradise is so goddamn close to being done I'm....asdfghjkl;ll;fgvhcfdgjaklk

Uh and besides that, I'm working on a papercraft in memorial of my hamsters and wanting, and being unable, to draw more of Krow.

All of that along with holding down a full time job, having a husband and a small zoo and gardening, and, like, having time to fit in a 12 hour coma here and there.

[encyclopika]

Looks like the collab work is steadily tapering off and I'll get a chance to work on one of my solo writing projects hopefully Thursday the latest. Watch some random shit happen and I can't.

Under the cut is the list of stuff I'm working with currently.

Solo Writing Projects: Escape Artists Downpour Fire & Brimstone (it's this one's turn now!) Collabs: Seal My Heart w/ Izupie ~Super Secret Writer Project~ Podfics - Missing, Drops of Jupiter, Paradise, Let Nothing Divide Us Zines: Swim On - shark zine (artist) LostDex - beta Pokemon zine (writer)

Art: 2 Paintings 1 Shell Assemblage

[encyclopika]

I am officially working on 5 multichapter projects and the podfics and I'm fine. Truly, I am fine. Heh...

Three of those things - the podfics, and 2 of the fics - are collaborative, and I can say thank goodness I'm not actually leading on one of them! Good for me!

But yes, another fic collaborative featuring 7 other authors besides myself! It's shaping up to be really great and I'm looking forward to us finally posting. It's been about a year since we started, but goddammit, I don't let go of shit. It *is* for adult audiences, though, but nevertheless, blood sweat and tears went into it.

The other, the Selkie AU I have with Izupie is going swimmingly and yes, I intend the pun. It's going at a pace characteristic of us (slow, but steady) so, believe me, this gets done.

Fire and Brimstone ch 8? is next to be written. The order then follows for Escape Artists next, then Downpour. However, I'm still considering just finishing up on F&B - just 3 chaps left, so...yeah, I think I will get something off my plate, even though I miss Krow a lot.

Anyway, there's the update. And I promise, I'm fine 🫠

[encyclopika]

Just worked for 9 days straight and I'm taking a break from fishy stuff for just the next few days.

I mean, I don't have a choice come Monday lmao

[encyclopika]

Hey all

I'm around, but haven't been writing as much. I *will* finish my stories, but currently I've been obsessed with painting and making art (not fanart - scientific and scenery art). If you're interested in that, you can follow my art blog @amasnatureart. I don't update often, but I will once I schedule all the stuff I'm doing. :)

Also the Animal Crossing fish posts have been seeing some more reblogging which will actually help me to make another master post. I want to fix it so badly and reblog them (it's been long enough!).

So those are the immediate plans.

And last but not least, Escape Artists is set to have a chapter that is a "b-side" comic, but I have to stop freaking myself out and just do it.

So yeah...ART!