#it would be easier to get a suitable defender for that raid

[fierykitten2]

I had a thought - it’s theoretically possible if I got Pokémon HOME I could use that to fill my Pokédex in Scarlet and Violet (possibly also Let’s Go! Eevee) by catching another instance of each Paradox Pokémon up to and including Moon and Valiant (Mammoth, Fluff, Moss, Feather, Eagle, Punk and Luna stay in Scarlet; Wheel, Santa, Sumo, Techno, Flame, Sierra and Knight stay in Violet) which technically doesn’t need to include Flutter Mane or Iron Hands (and theoretically doesn’t need to include Scream Tail if they do a 7-star raid event or Iron Bundle if they rerun its 7-star raid event) but I feel the need to just get all seven of each set and send them over. As a bonus, I could also shiny-hunt those guys an extra time so Rose gets to see the shiny Future Paradox Pokémon (line them up in the order Treads, Moth, Hands, Thorns, Bundle, Jugulis, Valiant, I dare you) and Lavender gets to see the shiny Past Paradox Pokémon (I’ll be honest, she’s probably not missing much. Yesterday when I got bored of shiny-hunting Gallade with Fighting Sparkling Power I was initially hesitant to move on to shiny-hunting Paradox Pokémon because the first one that came to mind was Tusk. Then I realised I could shiny-hunt Wing instead) *screams in can’t even successfully shiny hunt Roaring Moon once and now I’m thinking about the possibility of making myself do it again followed by laughing bc so much for being the only (or one of the few) people to have both Scarlet and a shiny Iron Valiant that doesn’t have a shiny Iron Valiant in Scarlet*

As an extra bonus this could be a great way to free up some box space in Violet while avoiding having to release anyone

Also I think it would be cool if Ribbon Fox the Unrivaled, Rillaboom the Unrivaled, Hunter the Unrivaled, Shadow the Unrivaled, Eve the Unrivaled and Blade the Unrivaled (my Delphox, Rillaboom, Hisuian Decidueye, Hisuian Typhlosion, Eevee and Hisuian Samurott respectively, none of which have Scarlet counterparts and I’m worried Game Freak doesn’t feel like rerunning their events even though now is the perfect time to rerun the Kalos Starter Raids) plus my aces and I guess Astro (would also love a Dialga/Palkia rerun) could all take trips to the opposite versions before coming back (I do kinda hope that’s possible I’d love for Blueberry and Cherry to meet)

[home-halone]

Long Post on Screenshots

Coincidentally, I had glimpsed the twitter thread in question (or something similar) before I saw a post about it and had some thoughts™ as well

I was going to straight up reply but it got out of hand and I ended up blabbing a lot about taking screenshots, mods and ReShade.

Mods. Literally just an aesthetic client-side change. I can't believe people are up in arms about this. Let people have their fun and ignore it if it's not to your taste. There's absolutely no need to shit on someone else's definition of fun. Your values for what comprises a good screenshot made with effort should not be imposed as the standard. (Unless you're holding a screenshot contest, it literally doesn't matter.)

I don't use mods personally, out of laziness and I cannot be bothered messing with my files. Partly because I don't have characters that have a particular appearance that I really want. But that's my reason, and if other people are happy with their mods, so be it. I'm happy with my own thing. Even a walk home next to a world-famous monument just gets dull when you see it so often. It's not a crime to appreciate it through a different lens.

I'm going to preface this by saying no one has to defend what they want to do for fun. And even if your reasons for using mods/ReShade etc doesn't fall in line with any of the ones offered below, it literally doesn't matter and you should have your fun.

Contrary to what some negative folks think, people are still fully capable of doing some really good glamour without mods. Although it makes sense when you play around with FFXIV's glams/character creator enough, you'll quickly realize that there are particular limitations (certain gloves don't show up with certain tops, some bottoms lose the pants/skirt when you wear certain things over them, etc) and some people simply want to portray the details of their characters accurately to their vision. I have seen a lot of really good designs that don't exactly match their in-game sprites. Some people might want to do an easy cosplay. Some people might just want to look pretty and sometimes it doesn't get deeper than that. 

Nevermind that there are ordinary people behind modding, creating these for use. They didn’t spawn out of nowhere. They’re a product of someone’s hard work and skill too. Shout out to @keeperofthelilacs​ for the posts & a glimpse into the grueling, painstaking process just to make a deceptively simple mod and apply changes to each model. I cannot fathom people creating things that are not even in-game.

But obviously, with modding being the new shiny thing, there would be an influx of pretty pictures with people using them. The majority out there still does some creative things without the use of these programs. But their use isn’t indicative of a lack of creativity in taking screenshots.

Yes, the game is intrinsically beautiful and the sights are breathtaking, and there's no shortage of unmodded, unretouched, unReShaded screenshots littered about. I know there are more than a handful of reddit threads with such screenshots up. But, even with the built-in /gpose, the options can be limited and the vivid colors don't always show up the way people intend them to. This is why ‘different’ draws attention. Since we all have the same washed out color palette (suitable for actually playing the game. try raiding with an Aesthetic ReShade setting with Depth of Field on, it is agony.) it’s easier to pick out brighter looking, unusual colored screenshots. Moreso if they’re beautifully composed.

The improvement of colors from ReShade are only one aspect of it, as a lot of people who use them could tell you.

This screenshot has ReShade on and some /gpose settings, and it’s whatever. It’s meh.

It’s poorly lit, tilted to one side for some reason, the background lantern is grabbing all the attention, but the scenery is somehow cut off, my character is awkwardly posed, the colors, while MORE vivid, aren’t really inspiring the ‘hey this outfit is awesome and unique’ feeling. You have no idea what you’re meant to pay attention to.

Now, before you say I took a bad one on purpose, this was actually from the time I first got the diamond coat so I was ACTUALLY trying to show it off. This was one of many screenshots I’d taken, trying to nail down what I wanted to do.

It just goes to show even if you have the tools, you can still produce some pretty underwhelming stuff. And you could easily take a better one if you know what you’re doing.

It may be beyond the provisions of the game, but it’s not an easy task taking good screens with ReShade. Like said, it takes time and skill. 

You have to know when to use angles and tilts and how to frame photos. Composition does SO much. The word gets used a lot but there’s a lot involved, whether you do it consciously or not. Do I zoom in up close or far out? How far?  Do I want to put my subject in the center or a little to the right? How much of the background should I show? Do I blur? Do I use dutch angles? Do I take a high angle shot? Daytime? Nighttime? /gpose which filter? How much can I crop? Do I need the feet in the frame? Do I add special effects? Lighting setting 3 2 or 1? More green or more red? Those are basic questions people think about, but these are settings you use to tell a story. Then there’s questions like, how do I frame the photo to draw more attention to the feeling of being trapped? How do I use lighting to create a feeling of dread? How do I use the environment to help me tell the story and not just take a dull photo of my character?

And that’s just taking the photo. It’s easy to be tempted by all the shiny stuff you can pile onto a photo, but if it doesn’t serve a purpose other than “ooh”, then the intense sparkles floating around a photo can distract more than contribute.

So you have everything set. You switch ReShade on. You picked out a good preset. But when it comes to stuff like this one size does not fit all, in order to make it work beyond what a preset provides (as night can be pitch black, and daytime is a complete bloom-filled eyesore) you have to get your hands dirty. Presets can be pretty for sightseeing, and for most it’s enough and they work well enough to use consistently in screenshots. And that’s perfectly fine. The settings are very technical and have numerical values. I don’t understand all the values and effects myself, and finding the sweet spot to produce is an arduous process.

The same goes for Photoshop. There’s no magic button to make your art look good. You need a good eye for adjusting saturation, color balance, lighting, cropping, framing etc. to improve ANY photo. More than that, you need to be good at making believable visual effects for fancier edits. If you drag a brush randomly, no one’s going to be immersed in the way those hair extensions were made. Nope, people study the native look of a photo to make changes. Otherwise you just end up with spaghetti hair.

[it’s the same ugly photo but with spaghetti hair]

I literally used the color dropper. It’s not enough to do that!! Like GIRL I’m a fuckin digital painter and I don’t know how all those people paint/edit hair, it’s a SKILL they learned and not one I have LOL. You have to care about lighting and getting the right width and all that. It’s not that simple.

Photoshop’s got a magic wand but it’s not that easy!

People who edit photos are familiar with these... and each one has its own settings and values :,^) that can change the mood of a photo by making only certain colors be more muted or even making everything look a little lighter and brighter.

It’s not that easyyyy look at one of these windows if I didn’t do this for a living I’d be so confused

So going back to showing off my coat. After I saw the lineup of photos I’d taken, I was pretty dissatisfied, especially because I knew I could take better photos. 

I identified the problems I saw:

1.Even though I wanted to showcase my outfit, I didn’t have to take a photo straight on. The photo earlier had her facing completely straight into the camera. And it felt very flat.   

2. It’s zoomed too far out, you can’t really see the details on the coat.

3. I tweaked my ReShade settings. I worked on the lighting. When I realized my settings and the lighting in game (and on gpose) were not cooperating, I decided to wait for daytime. Kugane at night was distracting as hell with all the lanterns in the background. My clothes were the star.

Here’s another screenshot I took wearing the Far Eastern stuff.

I wasn’t showing off the details of the glamour here. Kugane at night has a lot of personality, lights and colors. When I looked at this old screenshot, I realized that it wasn’t a good setting for a simple photo that said “hey check my glam”. This photo told a story. My clothes weren’t the focus, it was the fact that Proxi was in Far Eastern clothes in Kugane. All of those facts were of equal importance, so she was a figure immersed in her surroundings.I didn’t need to capture the details of her dress, just show enough for it to be recognized. That’s why this photo worked. And only one of the many reasons why the badly lit one didn’t work. Contrary to the urge to do so, I didn’t need to tilt the camera angle to make it look interesting. I used her body language, paused an emote at the right second to get something more relaxed, her over-the-shoulder look gives an inviting feeling. I let the color contrast separate her from the background as a figure, but I kept her a part of that warm Kugane vibe with bits of red lighting. There’s a lot of thought that goes into this. How color and mood tie together. Knowing what is essential and what isn’t helps a lot, and sometimes it’s trial and error and you don’t really actually know what you want.

Here’s the final image of the Coat screenshot that I posted  a couple months ago

The problem with the Diamond Coat is that I dyed it a dark blue color and I wanted to keep that sense of dark blue without shining a bright light on it, or lightening the color. I used stronger contrasts to bring out the blues, fiddled with settings I didn’t understand but it made details shaper lol. I used angles and some blur to add a little more dynamicity (being a more static photo) and focus on Proxi. While she is still mostly facing forward, I played with her pose more, to get more of a ~random well-dressed elezen on a stroll~ feel. And!! look at all the details on her coat, you can see them!! 

But wait, you ask, aren’t you just proving that ReShade is a crutch wELL IT’S NOT. It’s a TOOL. You use. If it makes your life easier and more efficient and it makes you happier, like, honestly it doesn’t matter.

But here’s a non g-pose, non-ReShade screenshot I took during a Zurvan EX run early last year. My PC froze for a second lol. I was going to have a heart attack doing this but as a SMN I’m obligated to RELISH Teraflare. This is ONE lucky screenshot I got and you know what, even if the colors aren’t super vivid, this screenshot feels SO right. The explosions aren’t overwhelmingly bright, the arena is surprisingly a fitting background, and she’s got her leggy up but she didn’t give me a panty flash and I am fortunate this turned out to be a great photo I could put in a church mural.

Another non-gpose one. See! framing, contrast and all that. This was from my old blog circa 2016 and it got one note! LOL gpose didn’t even exist yet as we know it, and I don’t think ReShade was widespread or even a thing yet and I was super proud of this one. The trees gave her a soft background without making it too blindingly bright so she stands out and I love it.

So there’s’ your normal screenshot look, without excessive flash and eyesore while still being pretty.

But yeah anyway

TL;DR 

1. Don’t be bitter about other people using tools and adding steps to enhance their aesthetic experiences or to create screenshots that are more faithful to their vision. If it’s not harming you, live and let live. 

2. There’s more thought that goes into pretty screenshots than you think. Just because they don’t pick up a brush and draw, does not disqualify these screenshot posters as skilled artists in their own right.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ'✿ That’s all!

[ijustwant2write]

Gentle Viking-Ubbe Ragnarsson x Reader

(GIF credits to owner)

Masterlist

Summary: requested by anonymous:‘Could you do a Ubbe imagine where he raids your kingdom and he sees you fighting back he likes that you’re trying too so when he and his brothers take over, he decides to keep you and marry you. Thank you.’

Characters: Ubbe Ragnarsson x Reader, mentions of the other Ragnarssons

Meanings: (Y/N)= Your name

Warnings: Violence, fighting

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Screams of the innocent and guilty rang throughout the kingdom. Fearsome battle cried as well as laughter mocked those trying to fight back. It was a bloodbath, my people were being massacred. The brutes that called themselves 'Vikings’ began to raid my lands, striking down anyone who would get in their way. And what was my father, the ruler, doing about it all? He was cowering away in our big castle.

“Father, why haven’t you done anything to help our people?!” I demanded to know as I stormed up to him.

“Be quiet girl. You know nothing of battles or war.” he snapped back as e observed his servants collecting all of his previous belongings.

“Neither do you apparently.”

“You would be wise to hold your tongue. Do as I say, collect anything of value before escaping.”

“I will not be running away! Unlike you, I am going to do something about all of this.” With that, I turned around to walk about, already planning what to do.

“See if I care. You are of no importance to me.”

To any other daughter, hearing those words escape their father’s lips would break them; however, I hated my father, he was the worst man in the entire world, worse than the vikings. My mother was one of his many wives, all of whom were now dead. My half-brothers and half-sisters were not close to him either, and before he carted them off to marry for power, we were all very much close. I was the youngest, the last one that would be married, though I doubted that father would even consider arranging that for me anymore.

Stripping out of my gown and into somthing much more suitable for fighting, I re-thought everything. I was a good fighter but I had watched how the vikings fought, they were born for this. Pushing the negative thoughts aside, I gathered my weapons, taking deep, steady breaths to ensure that my heart would not burst out of my chest.

Whilst making my way towards the fighting, a few of our guards joined me; they were sworn to protect me but I ordered them otherwise. Leading them out of the castle, we were met with a scene of confusion, fear and bravery. Out men tried the best they could to defend our lands, protect our people. However these ferocious vikings had the upper hand and they were not going to let that slip.

Yelling out at the top of my lungs, I charged first, my men immediately following after. Although I put my all into fighting these vikings, I seemed to tire quickly. They were very strong, stronger than five of us out together, yet I continued; they would not defeat me, not ever.

There was no telling how long we had been fighting for. My attacks were becoming sloppy, aiming was off. It was a miracle I was still alive. A fearsome battle cry erupted above the others, capturing everyone’s attention. Following everyone’s gazes, my eyes landed upon a viking man holding my now dead father’s head. The opposition cheered and I almost joined them. There was no remorse, no guilt, no sadness. It was a….a pleasing sight.

“Here’s the princess!” one of them exclaimed, grabbing me as well as another man.

I screamed at them as I struggled.“Let go of me you bastards!”

“Stop!” a different viking shouted as a sword was held to my throat.

Where were my men when I needed them most? Oh yes, they were either dead or cowards.

“Princess (Y/N), she is important to us.” he continued, rather explaining to those around him.

I understood little parts of their language.“Let me go. Please.”

“Bring her with us.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I desperately tried to stop my legs from crumbling underneath me as I stood before the Viking men. They had dragged me to the throne room in my castle, mockingly lounging around the place. One young man, who appeared to be a cripple, sat on the throne, making my blood boil.

“What to do with you.” he pondered.

I remained silent, not wanting to say anything to aggravate them further.

“She is a threat to us. We killed her father, now we kill her, simple.” a viking with a long, blonde braid snapped.

“Just tell me,” I spoke up. They all faced me,“what was it like when you killed him?”

They all looked confused at my question. What sort of daughter would ask about her father’s death? Shouldn’t she be mourning and vowing vengence? Not if he was an awful man.

“I know it sound strange, but I hated that man. I never considered him my father. Neither did the rest of my family.”

The handsome cripple leaned forward.“He was petrified, I think he pissed himself before I plunged my sword into him, ripping his head apart from him body.”

I couldn’t help but smile as he tried to scare me.“Good. I’m just sorry that I didn’t get to see it myself.”

He chuckled, finding my answer numerous.

“I do not think we should hurt her.” another spoke. He was tall, his hair like one of the others but instead it was brown and his braid was not as long.

“And why not?”

“She could help us with our settlement. She is now in charge of this place until more of her family arrives. Lets use her to our advantage.”

My heart started to beat faster. Would I rather be dead or stuck beside a viking for the rest of my life? What would my family think? Would this even go forward? The others didn’t seem so keen on the idea.

“Let me guess, you want one of us to marry her?” the blonde one frowned.

“It’s the easiest way to ensure we have a claim here. Instead of wasting our time on a small place like this, we can use her and then move on to the next land.”

“I don’t want to say you are right but…” the cripple started,“perhaps this will woman will serve us well in the future.”

“But who will marry her?”

The men all looked to each other, none of them willing to volunteer. I was too shocked by all of it to protest. But what good would that do anyway? I wouldn’t be able to change their minds or persuade them to do anything else. It was either this or death. At first, the latter seemed more appeasing until I really thought about it. No, I would rather marry than die, I wasn’t ready yet.

“It was your idea Ubbe, you should marry her.” the blonde one suggested.

The man who I now knew was Ubbe hesistated.“Fine, if that is how you are going to be. I’ll marry the princess.”

They had locked me up in my own room. Two guards stood outside, there was no escape for me. I caught my reflection in the mirror, shocked at how much dirt and blood covered me. It had been the last thing on my mind. Pouring water into a bowl, I dipped a cloth into it, wiping away everything until I was clean again. It was strange to see myself like that, as if I fought for most of my life. The death that surrounded me hadn’t hit me yet, I knew the shock was covering that. Just as I had finished getting changed into one of my dresses, there was a knock on the door. I called for them to enter, frightened as to why a man would be coming into my room so late at night.

“Princess.” Ubbe bowed slightly.

“Ubbe, how can I help you?” I mumbled, sounding quieter than I liked.

“I wanted to talk to you, about this marriage.”

I decided to get straight to the point.“Why? Why would you suggest marrying me when killing me seems so much easier?”

He kept his distance from me.“I…I saw how you fought. I was mesmerized, there was something about you that drew me to you. I’ve never felt like that before.”

I was stunned to silence.

“I understand that you would not feel the same. I am a viking who has raised your home. Though you must know that this is how war works.”

I just nodded, still perplexed by his earlier statement.

“I didn’t want to see you hurt. I…I am not sure why. But I promise that marrying me will not be a curse on you. I will treat you as any husband should treat their wife.”

“Thank you Ubbe.”

“I am sorry for all that happened today. Even your father.”

“Do not be sorry about him. He deserved that. I have you vikings to thank for that.”

“You will soon be viking.”

As Ubbe took a step forward, I moved back in instinct. He gently held my hand, stopping me from moving. Just as I was about to snatch my arm away, he placed a small kiss onto my hand. He sent me a small smile before leaving. Holding onto my hand where he had kissed me, I let out a shaky breath. How unexpected. I had never imagines myself marrying a gentle viking.

[nordiixa-blog]

@drachenheld.

As King of the Netherlands, Siegfried didn’t had a single moment where he could rest for a moment unless it was already past the time the moon rised in the skies. He didn’t mind it at all, he even understood why his parents were never with him a lot of times when he was just a young prince. Just as he was going to sit for a moment and enjoy dinner with his beloved wife, Kriemhild, a knight rushed through the doors searching for the Hero King.

 “M-my king…! They have arrived…!” The knight says in a hurried tone, his armor was covered in blood and his helm was broken, letting Siegfried see his horrified expression.

“Who…? Please tell me!” Siegfried stands up and puts his hand on the knight’s shoulder, trying to calm him, even a bit.

“The northmen…! The northmen have arrived using the Rhine…!”

He says, tears shedding from his eyes as he remembered the boats being sighted for a moment and how suddenly hellfire was covering the shore.

“What are we going to do?” One of the royal servants that held the wine asked Siegfried, terror could be seen in her face.

Anyone knew of the Nordic Tribes and the raids they commited in the enterity of the continent, not even the Saxons or the Franks were safe, the Netherlands was not safe either, apparently. Even Bungurdy was raided, thanks to Gunther’s letter that arrived 5 suns before. Siegfried looked at the ceiling for a moment, to that even with the tellings of the Black Dragon that protected the country they were reckless enough to try, one could ask if they were even sane in the first place.

“….” The Hero King remained quiet for a few seconds, looked to his beloved Kriemhild who crossed her arms as she was trying to meditate on what to do in this situation. Siegfried knew what needed to be done.

 “Gather all the knights immediatly, we knew they would come one of these days, we are ready to fight them. I will gather the elite troops from their barracks, prepare for battle!” Siegfried held his head high, he couldn’t allow such a thing to occur to his kingdom, all the things he had done, they wouldn’t be thrown away just because of some northern tribes.

.

.

.

Just as the knights were grouped on the main hall of the castle, Siegfried looked at them, his gaze didn’t had the unhappiness that he had developed these last weeks, but instead his eyes were burning with a sense of duty.

Some of the knights present had bandages covering their broken limbs and even one of them was handicapped with his arm cut clean. They had a story of fighting the Norsemen by now.

[Background Music: The Watershed of History]

My friends, we are under attack of the Nordic Tribes. They have arrived using the Rhine in the middle of the night to avoid being detected by our scouts and attacked the coastline, right now I do not know if they are marching forward, our troops are coming back to the citadel right now as we speak.

I know some of you are tired and even have wounds to this day after our successful back-up suprise attack in the kingdom of Bungurdy after one of their raids reaching our allies.

But we have to fight once again against them, I took the chance to kill one of their generals back then, but I do not know the identity of the new one, so we must be cautious at all time. I will lead the main group once again and Ailbern will lead the second unit, Dietz will command our archers that are currently movilizing the main buildings so we can take them by surprise once they reach the main doors.

We cannot fail here, our country, our families are in danger if they gain control of the city. I plead to you we put our all in this battle, we will show them that waging war against the Netherlands is a bad choice. We will show them that once you awake the fury of the Black Dragon you will regret doing so.

“ONWARD!”

Unsheathing his greatsword and holding it high, he made a scream that was then followed by the other soldiers and knights that howled on unison, they rushed towards the castle’s door and took their positions, this time they won’t take them by surprise like in Gunther’s kingdom.

“Hah!” Cutting down soldier by soldier, Siegfried and his group stood firm against the Nordic hordes that rushed towards them, he was used to fighting them at this point, even before becoming king he was requested with repeling Norse raids from small villages that surrounded the main citadel. They were brute and had powerful axes with them, capable of tearing down armor with relatively ease it was frightening.

The battlefield was even for both sides, both armies having their casualties, which he lamented. He personally knew each one of his soldiers and having to tell their families that they had died on batte was such a hard task, even as a knight he knew that, and now that he was king the feeling was even a more toll burden to bear. But, that gave him the resolve to go and win this battle and stop the northern tribes from terrorizing his homeland. Siegfried made a step that was more akin of a burst of power, tearing apart the enemies that were on his way.

After getting enough terrain, Siegfried stood in front of his brothers-in-arms, he looked back at them and smiled, they were counting on his King, they knew he would bring them to victory once again, he was Siegfried, Hero of the Nibelungen and Slayer of Fafnir. He couldn’t let them down.

“Sword— Lend me your power!” With the chanting, a powerful golden-like aura surrounded Siegfried, holding the sword above his head, he prepared his ultimate attack, the one he had fell the Evil Dragon Fafnir.

                      Balmung, Felling Sword of the Sky Demon. A symbol of Siegfried’s power, his feat of defeating the Black Dragon and his kingdom’s light of hope, he would erradicate this threat once and for all.

“Oh sword, let thee be filled...

                                               Balmun—!?”

Just as Siegfried was ready to release the attack, a mythril lance hit his greatsword, making it shake violently, with Siegfried out of focus, the divine sword quickly loses the golden shine that covered it. Almost immediatly, the spear makes way with demonic speed to his throat, not losing time Siegfried slashes, making steel hit steel with enough power to send sparks flying.

Their general!? Siegfried thought as the spear was so close of his neck, quickly analyzing the new opponent’s armor. Wing-like diadem, tall slender figure that was covered with a deep blue armor, and a shield on the right arm.

Shieldmaiden, Valkyrie. He had heard from them when traveling the kingdom when he was just a Esquire. Female warriors that were supposedly sent by the Elder God Odin to find suitable warriors for Valhalla, often they were seen during the battlefield commanding the armies, and most of the time they were victorious.

But he wouldn’t just accept this with crossed arms, he had to protect his people, his family. If he had to defeat a demigoddess like her to protect his people, then he will do it, he had to do it.

✕     Brynhildr and a few of her many younger sisters flew over the longships as they sailed down the Rhine from the southern sea, divine daughters of giantesses and gods soaring and playing among the clouds overhead, unseen by the warriors and shieldmaidens below. The Valkyries would only be seen when fate determined, their appearance both feared and wished her by the warriors beneath them in the ships. 

This land of Saxony was... soft. Rolling hills, beautiful mountains --- and so green. So green and lush and obviously fertile. The Northmen would have liked to have settled these lands if they were not already filled with so many of the Germanic peoples. Indeed, they would only raid here. There were better places to settle to the west, in Wessex and Mercia; where the inhabitants were far easier to defeat in a raid than here. When the horns blared, Brynhildr spun and swooped down from the clouds with her spear in hand, shield on her arm, alongside her sisters to fly closely over the víkingr as the raging siege upon the defended citadel began. 

She watched the Norsemen closely through the smoke and fires and rain of arrows, judging their souls and courage. Once she had found a warrior worthy, a young man charging his way to a much larger knight with wanton abandon, Brynhildr had found a hero to claim. He would live a short life, a storied life; this would be his last raid. May his friends remember his bravery. 

She sped towards him and paused in time, her hand on the Germanic knight’s elbow to push his sword just the right way... plunging the blade into the Norseman’s heart. She waited for him to die, and when he did, Brynhildr appeared over him with a soft smile, a sight all warriors wished to see, proof at last that their Valhalla truly existed, a moment of great peace after the fury of battle and the terror of sudden death... She wrapped her arm around him, lifting his soul up into the sky with her to Valhalla---- and she returned just as quickly. The journey was quick for a Valkyrie; this battle would last long and she would gain many new einherjar for her father.

This was a Christian kingdom. Christians worshiped money as much as they worshiped their god --- it was the only way to explain why their relics and artifacts were always gilded and encrusted with jewels. A church would be raided first. As soon as enough was taken, they would leave --- but after much fighting, a great number of víkingr had been lost. 

The Northmen were not a professional army; they were farmers and merchants who took up arms in the summertime to raid, to gain fame and honor. It was the way of their people --- but this land’s army was properly armed, well trained, and of course were greater in numbers. Brynhildr could see the number of heroes dwindling on the battlefield. For some, it was simply not their day to die. For others, they had already been chosen; and the rest were retreating back into the longships with what they had plundered from the city, satisfied. Her sisters, too, had departed into the skies. There was no shame in that --- the raid had been conducted, to leave while still alive was well and good, but many were still fighting, unawares that the greater battle at large had all but been decided.

The eldest Valkyrie contemplated all of this while soaring unseen, maintaining the skies with vigilant eyes. A Germanic knight had caught her eye, a man standing forward and with great confidence... a sword over his head... She could feel the power from his sword even where she flew... What sort of man and weapon was this... He had the undeniable presence of a beast, though a man, and strike from that sword would surely slay many of her Norsemen, her future heroes, the faithful to her father and the gods...  Sigrdrífa could not allow this to happen.

She dropped down onto the earth, taking the form of a shieldmaiden for now, much to the attention of the men around her who caught sight of the silver-haired maiden before she kicked off in one powerful step to cross the battlefield to the swordsman in a flash. 

Using a great amount of strength, Brynhildr swung her lance to meet his sword before it could cast death upon her warriors, stopping his blow from happening... and immediately pulled her blade from his to push it to his throat to slaughter him, unnatural amethyst eyes narrowing at him, the goddess’s face lethally serious as she remained silent.

   .... She saw... ... ... in his soul... ... ... ... hmm... The Valkyrie spoke one word, sharing her voice with the enemy, a voice even her einherjar had not yet heard, before pulling her spear from him and throwing forward her shield arm, intending to smash him back a few hundred feet and chase him down from there, a vicious onslaught of relentless power and speed.

                                        “Dreki...”

[theexaltedbride]

Starship Troopers: Strange Aeons.

[Just to say it off the bat, this is an idea that I got from a conversation with a friend. It is a crossover between Starship Troopers (an amalgamation of the movie, book, and TV series,) and the works of HP Lovecraft. I don't know what roleplay system or setting could properly be adjusted to run this, but maybe someone will make use of it. I’m thinking Eldritch Skies but I don't really know. ]

The Federation has been at war with the Bugs, also known scientifically as "Pseudo Arachnids", for close to five years now. Thousands have died, and many have felt the strain of war in some part of their lives.

Humanities' very first encounter with the bugs was after the formation of the Strategically Integrated Coalition Of Nations (S.I.C.O.N.). Our research outposts on Pluto were slaughtered by the bugs, who had been on Pluto for longer than we knew, digging tunnels all around it and digging deep for valuable minerals. SICON responded with a military assault named “Pest Control” that chased the bugs off. After that we had 25 years of peace as SICON became the Federation, and led the human race into an expansionary rush with new FTL technology and led to the colonization of the final frontier. 

But this Golden Age of peace and expansion was not meant to last. 30 years after Pluto, we started seeing more signs of the bugs. Operation Pest Control on Pluto was not as successful as many had hoped, and another conflict on that cold world the bugs called “Yuggoth” was the start of the Federation, Arachnid war.

Since then we have fought them tooth and talon for every world near the Arachnid Quarantine Zone. We have even come into conflict with a client race we call “The Skinnies”. They too fought the bugs, but surrendered, deciding that it was best to submit than to be destroyed.

The Bugs have ships and organic technology that puts the best steel and computers of the Federation to the test. Their numbers cannot be counted. For every one human soldier there seem to be thousands of Arachnids, spread out all across space. Every soldier must be turned into a super soldier of enhancements, training, and the best technology and weapons we can create.

Seven Federation worlds have been lost to the Pseudo Arachnids. The best power suited marauders are tested to the limit against millions of bugs. It seems that for every hive the Federation destroyed, more are found, or the bugs drop another egg fall on a Fed world. 

After the complete failure of the Bug homeworld on Klendathu, many were ready to surrender. But then we had a success on Planet P. By a stroke of luck, we managed to capture a Brain Bug. Not a giant insect as many had suspected, but a real organic computer, powered by the brains of many different species.  There were even human brain cylinders present. Prisoners of the bugs had their brains sucked out by a creature which then put the brain in a cylinder and hooked it up to the computer, forcing it to reveal all of its secrets and to help power the computer, working as a Command and Control system for all of the bugs in the region. 

Once the Brain on P was captured, the Federation Mobile Infantry and Fleet units had a much easier time fighting against the local Pseudo Arachnids, as they had little to no proper cohesion and were even fighting amongst themselves.

We used this advantage to take Planet P, and then study the Brain bug we had managed to capture. The knowledge we took from it caused many to commit suicide, or be driven mad at the realization of what we were truly fighting against. 

The Arachnids called themselves “Mi-Go’. And they had an empire that reached from one part of the galaxy to the next, almost unchallenged by any other race, and even those that challenged them were their enemies would not be kind to the Human Race. 

Klendathu was not the Bug homeworld, as we had hoped, it was in fact just a regional capitol that the Mi-Go thought suitable enough to wipe out the upstart humans. If the Human will not bend the knee as the Skinnies did, then they will be wiped out and their brains harvested for computing power, just like all the others.

Federation high command is trying to figure out what their next steps would be. Planet P is ours, and raids against the Skinnies have been successful as well, to the point the Skinnies have begun feeding us information against the Mi-Go. 

Even now we are planning more operations against the Mi-Go, and decoding more and more information from the captured Brain Bug. If we can capture more, we might just learn more secrets to use against our enemies.  Things might look tough now, but if we keep fighting, we have a real hope of winning.

Possible plot events:

-The Federation keeps fighting with the Mi-go Empire, engaging in planet hoping operations to help keep an advantage on the bugs while still trying to rebuild what they had lost just fighting off the Klendathu swarm. They don't know how long it will be before the larger part of the Migou Empire takes action against the Federation. They need to claim as many important planets as possible. They need worlds that are strategically well placed, good to defend, grow crops, or have valuable minerals that can allow the Federaton to keep building up its military machine, so it can outfight the more numerous Mi-go. But as the Federation scouting operations go further and further from Earth, they find clues that the universe has gone through many cycles of extinction before.

There are countless relics and ruins on many of the dead worlds they visit, and its becoming harder and harder to find habitable worlds that can support Human life. It almost looks like every other incarnation of life aside from Humanity, the Skinnies, the Yig, and the Mi-go has been wiped out, either by the Mi-Go them selves or something else that is out there, and we’re next on the chopping block. 

Federation internal security has been cataloguing these worlds and studying the relics, hoping for anything to help us in our war with the Mi-go, and they keep finding rather interesting information that points back to Earth, about some lost city. Your characters will be part of the scouting teams, either trying to keep the bugs from destroying or capturing a relic world, or trying to find worlds suitable for Human use. They could even be part of an expedition within our own Solar System, looking for anything that we might have missed with new clues from other worlds. What happens then is up to the GM. -It seems first contact has been made yet again. This time with a species that not only hates the Mi-go, but might prove a powerful ally, more so than the Skinnies, in fighting against the Mi-Go Empire.

The Federation first discovered them when a fleet was chasing down a small bug invasion fleet, hoping to get the drop on them, and came a cross a lush jungle world, with signs of civilization upon it. The dominant species of this world call themselves “The Yig“ in honor of their God of the same name. They are a species of bipedal, humanoid, reptilians, with attributes similar to earth snakes, lizards and reptiles. Some regrow lost limbs, some carry venom glands, and more. They were holding their own against he Migou, butchering the bugs in close combat and even sacrificing captured bugs to their God. Despite not having orbital superiority or weapons that would match what the Federation had, the Yig were more than capable of fighting against the Mi-go alone. The timely arrival of the human Federation just made their victory come quicker.

They don't like the Mi-go anymore than the Federation does, and some of them are willing to humor the idea of an alliance with the Federation against the bugs.. They aren't as technologically advanced as Humanity, no means of FTL, or even off world travel. But they have other devices older than human civilization. Stone tablets that read out words and hieroglyphs, working in a manner similar to our electronic tablets. They have weapons such as spears and swords or clubs with teeth on them, that they use alongside very old energy weapons that spit out lightning or fire. They even have airships and other more advanced means of travel that defy convention. When pressed about it, they simply say that they are gifts of their God and have been with the Yig people since the stars were first born. The Yig might prove to be insidious infiltrators, using humanity for their own needs, or the greatest allies that the human race could ever hope for. Only time will tell.

-The Psychic troopers of the Psi-Corps have been always very important to the Federation war effort. Even those who flunk out of the corps have a place among the cyberdog units. Their powers have helped in interrogating captured Mi-go, helping soldiers in combat, stealing information from the ‘Brain Bug’ computers. But now they feel something on the horizon. Some of them are acting odd, and the former head of the agency died in his office, after screaming.  “The Pharaoh! The Pharaoh is coming!”  Many fear that ‘The Pharaoh” might be some kind of new Mi-Go psychic bug, but some aren't convinced, and are afraid that the Psi-Corps has been infiltrated. Who could be assigned to investigate psychics capable of reading minds?

-The Federation is planning a raid on a Mi-Go held world where the bugs are dug in deep. The plan is to hit the hive clusters, destroy infrastructure and ships. (Similar to the first chapter of the book, but with the Federation hitting the Mi-go instead of the skinnies. GM should study up on the power suits and the tactics used in the book. The players may be able to capture a Brain Bug, or fail in the raid, or find out its all a trap. Its up to the GM what the players can really do and roll with their own creativity.) *Notable things: Power suits exist. Mark 1 is the type of sealed suit from the Roughnecks tv series. But Mark 2 is the jetpack and rocket launcher equipped one described in the book. I recommend watching the anime OVA to see what that one is capable of. The armor and weapons you see in the movie works better for light infantry and Planetary Defense Forces (think like a national guard or militia forces).

-The Mi-Go and the Arachnids are one and the same. The many different bugs we see are just different castes bred for different purposes. So feel free to use them in whatever iterations you feel like or invent new ones.  -There was also a Starship Troopers RTS game “Terran Ascendancy” That had some good missions and new types of bugs that could work well for you to come up with new things to combine with what little we know of the Mi-Go from lovecraftian lore. 

-The Yig can smell out those with Deep One corruption in their DNA, and they really don't like them.  -Arkham exists as a college back on Earth but there isn't much else special about it at this point. -The Innsmouth Raid is actually on file within the Federation archives. 

[photomaniacs]

Finalist Shots of Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017 http://ift.tt/2xjowV2

The prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is now in its 53rd year, and this year’s edition certain won’t disappoint. Today the competition offered a glimpse into this year’s finalists, which will be displayed in an exhibition that will tour museums and galleries around the world.

This year’s competition saw almost 50,000 entries from 92 different countries, with photographers all competing for the top prize of over $6,500. Here are the finalists along with their details and captions:

Animal Portraits

Sergey Gorshkov / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Carrying its trophy from a raid on a snow goose nest, an Arctic fox heads for a suitable burial spot. This is June and bonanza time for the foxes of Wrangel Island in the Russian Far East. Lemmings are the basic diet for Arctic foxes, but Wrangel suffers long, harsh winters and is icebound for much of the year, making it a permanent source of stored food for these opportunist animals. The food convoys arrive at the end of May. Over just a few days, vast flocks of snow geese descend on the tundra of this remote UNESCO World Heritage Site, traveling from wintering grounds some 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles) away in British Columbia and California. Not only is this the biggest breeding colony of snow geese in the world, and the only remaining one in Asia, but it is also growing: from 160,000 geese in 2011 to about 300,000 by 2016. The Arctic foxes catch any weak or sick birds, but what they feast on are the goose eggs, laid in early June in open nests on the tundra. Though the pairs of snow geese actively defend their nests, a fox may still manage to steal up to 40 eggs a day, harassing the geese until there’s a chance to nip in and grab an egg. Most of the eggs are then cached, buried in shallow holes in the tundra, where the soil stays as cold as a refrigerator. These eggs will remain edible long after the brief Arctic summer is over and the geese have migrated south again. And when the new generation of young foxes begins to explore, they too will benefit from the hidden treasures.

Nikon D300S + 600mm f4 lens; 1/1250 sec at f5; ISO 800; Gitzo tripod + Wimberley head.

Animal Portraits

David Lloyd / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

At dusk, in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve, David waited for the herd of elephants on their evening trek to a waterhole. As they got closer to his vehicle, he could see that the mellow light from the fast-setting sun was emphasizing every wrinkle and hair. For a photographer who enjoys working with texture, this was a gift. When they were just a few meters away, he could see the different qualities of different parts of their bodies – the deep ridges of their trunks, the mud-caked ears and the patina of dried dirt on their tusks.

The elephants ambled by in near silence, peaceful and relaxed. The female leading the dozen-strong herd – probably the matriarch – looked straight at him, her eye a glowing amber dot in the heavy folds of skin. Her gaze was, he says, full of respect and intelligence – the essence of sentience.

Nikon D800E + 400mm f2.8 lens; 1/500 sec at f13 (–0.3 e/v); ISO 1000.

Behavior – Invertebrates

Andrey Narchuk / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Andrey was on an expedition to the Sea of Okhotsk in the Russian Far East, and his intention on this day was to photograph salmon. But as soon as he jumped into the water, he found himself surrounded by thousands of mating sea angels. Quickly swapping to his macro equipment, he began photographing the pairs, 3 centimeters (11⁄4 inches) long and swirling around in the current. Sea angels are mollusks related to slugs and snails, without shells and with wing-like lobes used as swimming paddles. They hunt sea butterflies – swimming sea snails – using specialized feeding parts to prise them from their shells. Each individual is both male and female, and here they are getting ready to insert their copulatory organs into each other to transfer sperm in synchrony. One is slightly smaller than the other, as was the case with most of the couples Andrey observed, and they remained joined for 20 minutes. Both would go on to lay 30–40 tiny eggs after fertilization. It was late summer and peak phytoplankton time, so there would be abundant food for the resulting larvae.

To photograph them mating, Andrey had to battle against strong currents and avoid a wall of gill netting, and when he was swept into the net and his equipment became snared, he was forced to make an emergency ascent – but not before he had got his shot. The following day, there wasn’t a single angel to be seen.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II + 100mm f2.8 lens; 1/125 sec at f13; ISO 200; Nexus housing; two Inon strobes.

Under Water

Qing Lin / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The bulbous tips of the aptly named magnificent anemone’s tentacles contain cells that sting most fish. But the clown anemonefish goes unharmed thanks to mucus secreted over its skin, which tricks the anemone into thinking it is brushing against itself. Both species benefit. The anemonefish gains protection from its predators, which daren’t risk being stung, and it also feeds on parasites and debris among the tentacles; at the same time, it improves water circulation (fanning its fins as it swims), scares away the anemone’s predators and may even lure in prey for it.

While diving in the Lembeh Strait in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, Qing noticed something strange about this particular cohabiting group. Each anemonefish had an extra pair of eyes inside its mouth – those of a parasitic isopod (a crustacean related to woodlice). An isopod enters a fish as a larva, via its gills, moves to the fish’s mouth and attaches with its legs to the base of the tongue. As the parasite sucks its host’s blood, the tongue withers, leaving the isopod attached in its place, where it may remain for several years. With great patience and a little luck – the fish darted around unpredictably – Qing captured these three rather curious individuals momentarily lined up, eyes front, mouths open and parasites peeping out.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III + 100mm f2.8 lens; 1/200 sec at f25; ISO 320; Sea & Sea housing; two Inon strobes.

Wildlife Photojournalist Award – Single Image

Justin Hofman / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Seahorses hitch rides on the currents by grabbing floating objects such as seaweed with their delicate prehensile tails. Justin watched with delight as this tiny estuary seahorse ‘almost hopped’ from one bit of bouncing natural debris to the next, bobbing around near the surface on a reef near Sumbawa Island, Indonesia. But as the tide started to come in, the mood changed. The water contained more and more decidedly unnatural objects – mainly bits of plastic – and a film of sewage sludge covered the surface, all sluicing towards the shore.

The seahorse let go of a piece of seagrass and seized a long, wispy piece of clear plastic. As a brisk wind at the surface picked up, making conditions bumpier, the seahorse took advantage of something that offered a more stable raft: a waterlogged plastic cottonbud. Not having a macro lens for the shot ended up being fortuitous, both because of the strengthening current and because it meant that Justin decided to frame the whole scene, sewage bits and all. As Justin, the seahorse and the cottonbud spun through the ocean together, waves splashed into Justin’s snorkel. The next day, he fell ill. Indonesia has the world’s highest levels of marine biodiversity but is second only to China as a contributor to marine plastic debris – debris forecast to outweigh fish in the ocean by 2050. On the other hand, Indonesia has pledged to reduce by 70 per cent the amount of waste it discharges into the ocean.

Sony Alpha 7R II + 16–35mm f4 lens; 1/60 sec at f16; ISO 320; Nauticam housing + Zen 230mm Nauticam N120 Superdome; two Sea & Sea strobes with electronic sync.

Animal Portraits

Klaus Nigge / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

After several days of constant rain, the bald eagle was soaked to the skin. Named after its conspicuous but fully-feathered white head (bald derives from an old word for white), it is an opportunist, eating various prey – captured, scavenged or stolen – with a preference for fish. At Dutch Harbor on Amaknak Island in Alaska, USA, bald eagles gather to take advantage of the fishing industry’s leftovers. Used to people, the birds are bold. ‘I lay on my belly on the beach surrounded by eagles,’ says Klaus. ‘I got to know individuals, and they got to trust me.’

The species was declining dramatically until the 1960s, but reduced persecution, habitat protection, and a ban on the pesticide DDT have led to its recovery. Some threats persist, including lead poisoning – US prohibition on lead ammunition (which ends up in animals the birds eat) has recently been overturned. ‘As the eagle edged nearer, picking up scraps, I lowered my head,’ says Klaus, ‘looking through the camera to avoid direct eye contact.’ It came so close that it towered over him. His low perspective and simple composition, allowing full concentration on the eagle’s expression, created an intimate portrait, enhanced by the overcast light of the rainy day.

Nikon D200 + 200–400mm f4 lens + 1.4x extender; 1/80 sec at f10; ISO 500.

Behavior – Birds

Tyohar Kastiel / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Tyohar watched the pair of resplendent quetzals from dawn to dusk for more than a week as they delivered fruits and the occasional insect or lizard to their two chicks. Resplendent quetzals usually nest in thicker forest, but this pair had picked a tree in a partly logged area in the Costa Rican cloud forest of San Gerardo de Dota. The additional light made it easier for Tyohar to catch the iridescent color of the male’s dazzling emerald and crimson body plumage and tail streamers, despite his fast, erratic flight pattern. But the light also made it easier for the birds to see Tyohar. So he would arrive before dawn, sit in the same place and wear the same jacket, with the result that the pair accepted his presence and continued to stuff food into their chicks’ beaks every hour or so.

On the eighth day, the parents fed the chicks at dawn as usual but then didn’t return for several hours. By 10 am, the chicks were calling ravenously, and Tyohar began to worry. Then something wonderful happened. The male arrived with a wild avocado in his beak. He landed on a nearby branch, scanned around, and then flew to the nest. But instead of feeding the chicks, he flew back to his branch, the avocado still in his beak. Within seconds, one chick hopped out to the nearest perch and was rewarded. Moments later the female appeared and did exactly the same thing, and the second chick jumped out. The family then flew off together into the rainforest, leaving Tyohar bereft – and thrilled.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III + 300mm f2.8 lens; 13200 sec at f4; ISO 800.

Behavior – Mammals

Laurent Ballesta / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

“We were still a few meters from the surface when I heard the strange noises,” says Laurent. Suspecting Weddell seals – known for their repertoire of at least 34 different underwater call types – he approached slowly. It was early spring in east Antarctica, and a mother was introducing her pup to the icy water.

The world’s most southerly breeding mammal, a Weddell seal gives birth on the ice and takes her pup swimming after a week or two. The pair, unbothered by Laurent’s presence, slid effortlessly between the sheets of the frozen labyrinth. Adults are accomplished divers, reaching depths of more than 600 meters (1,970 feet) and submerging for up to 82 minutes. “They looked so at ease, where I felt so inappropriate,” says Laurent. Relying on light through the ice above, he captured the curious gaze of the pup, the arc of its body mirroring that of its watchful mother.

Nikon D4S + 17–35mm f2.8 lens; 1/640 sec at f11; ISO 200; Seacam housing.

Black and White

Mats Andersson / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The red squirrel closed its eyes for just a moment, paws together, fur fluffed, then resumed its search for food. Winter is a tough time for northern animals. Some hibernate to escape its rigors, but not red squirrels. Mats walks every day in the forest near his home in southern Sweden, often stopping to watch the squirrels foraging in the spruce trees. Though their mainly vegetarian diet is varied, their winter survival is linked to a good crop of spruce cones, and they favor woodland with conifers. They also store food to help see them through lean times. On this cold, February morning, the squirrel’s demeanor encapsulated the spirit of winter, captured by Mats using the soft-light grain of black and white.

Nikon D3 + 300mm f2.8 lens; 1/320 sec at f2.8; ISO 800.

Plants and Fungi

Jack Dykin / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

A band of ancient giants commands the expansive arid landscape of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert National Monument in the US. These emblematic saguaro cacti – up to 200 years old – may tower at more than 12 meters (40 feet) but are very slow growing, some sprouting upwardly curved branches as they mature. The roots – aside from one deep tap – weave a maze just below the surface, radiating as far as the plant is tall, to absorb precious rainfall. Most water is stored in sponge-like tissue, defended by hard external spines and a waxy-coated skin to reduce water loss. The surface pleats expand like accordions as the cactus swells, its burgeoning weight supported by woody ribs running along the folds. But the saturated limbs are vulnerable to hard frost – their flesh may freeze and crack, while the mighty arms twist down under their loads. A lifetime of searching out victims near his desert home led Jack to know several that promised interesting compositions. ‘This one allowed me to get right inside its limbs,’ he says. As the gentle dawn light bathed the saguaro’s contorted form, Jack’s wide angle revealed its furrowed arms, perfectly framing its neighbors before the distant Sand Tank Mountains.

Nikon D810 + 14–24mm f2.8 lens at 14mm; 1/3 sec at f20; ISO 64; Really Right Stuff tripod.

Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 11-14

Ashleigh Scully / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

After fishing for clams at low tide, this mother brown bear was leading her young spring cubs back across the beach to the nearby meadow. But one young cub just wanted to stay and play. It was the moment Ashleigh had been waiting for. She had come to Alaska’s Lake Clark National Park intent on photographing the family life of brown bears. This rich estuary environment provides a buffet for bears: grasses in the meadows, salmon in the river and clams on the shore. A large number of families spend their summers here, and with plentiful food, they are tolerant of each other (though wary of males) and of people. ‘I fell in love with brown bears,’ says Ashleigh, ‘and their personalities… This young cub seemed to think that it was big enough to wrestle mum to the sand. As always, she played along, firm, but patient.’ The result is a cameo of brown bear family life.

Canon EOS 5D + 500mm f4 Mark II lens; 1/1250 sec at f8 (+1 e/v); ISO 1250; Gitzo tripod.

Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 11-14

Laura Albiac Vilas / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Laura had seen many of Spain’s wild animals, but never the elusive Iberian lynx, an endangered cat found only in two small populations in southern Spain. Unlike the larger European lynx, the Iberian lynx feeds almost entirely on rabbits. So a disease that wipes out the rabbit population can be catastrophic. They also need a particular blend of open scrub and natural cavities for natal dens. Laura’s family traveled to the Sierra de Andújar Natural Park in search of the lynx – and struck lucky on their second day – a pair were relaxing not far from the road. There were many photographers there but an atmosphere of ‘respect’. Laura watched for an hour and a half, the only sound being the whirr of cameras if a cat glanced in their direction. ‘The animals’ attitude surprised me. They weren’t scared of people – they simply ignored us,’ says Laura. ‘I felt so emotional to be so close to them.’

Canon EOS 5D Mark III + Canon 500mm f4 lens; 1/250 sec at f4; ISO 1600.

Wildlife Photojournalist Award – Single Image

Steve Winter / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

A back leg of this six-month-old Sumatran tiger cub was so badly mangled by a snare that it had to be amputated. He was lucky to survive at all, having been trapped for four days before being discovered in a rainforest in Aceh Province on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The likelihood is that the snare was set by oil‐palm plantation workers to catch bushmeat (though tigers are also deliberately snared). The workers are migrants who have been given small plots to grow their own oil palms but who have to work on the big plantations for about five years until their own crops generate a return. To feed their families, they have to hunt, and this cub’s bones would have fetched a good price on the black market. The population of Sumatran tigers, a subspecies, is as low as 400–500 (the world population of all wild tigers is no more than 3,200) – the result of poaching to fuel the illegal trade in tiger parts for the Chinese-medicine market. Anti-poaching forest patrols are helping to stem the killing, partly by locating and removing snares (now illegal), which is how this cub came to be rescued. The cub, however, will spend the rest of his life in a cage in a Javan zoo. Today, there are probably more Sumatran tigers in zoos than there are left in the wild.

Canon 5D Mark II + 24–105mm lens at 58mm; 1/45 sec at f5.6; ISO 400.

The overall winner, category winners, and other finalists will be announced on October 17th this year.

The exhibition will be on display from October 20th, 2017, until spring 2018 at the Natural History Museum in London, UK. Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London.

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September 13, 2017 at 12:01AM