#just in terms of massive wildlife

[rxttenfish]

tbh just overall i feel like people massively overstate the danger of venomous and poisonous organisms. like it's bizarre to me how australia is so greatly overstated in terms of danger when the largest native land animal they have is the kangaroo, and completely ignore that asia and africa have elephants and rhinos, africa also has hippos, and basically every other continent has a native big cat that has at least one instance of turning maneater. don't even get me started about bears. (yes, i know about saltwater crocodiles too, but considering their wide range and how many other continents also have large dangerous crocodilians, i do not think this can be included as unique to australia alone.)

like venomous animals in general are far easier to deal with in terms of general disposition alone, let alone the survival rate for envenomation in comparison to getting gored + trampled by a buffalo.

like this isn't even saying that venomous and poisonous animals aren't dangerous still or that kangaroos can't also be highly dangerous to deal with (i also have this same thought about people who think they can fight a fox/raccoon/coyote), but i'll still never understand how many people would rather deal with one silverback gorilla over five black mambas in a shopping mall. you probably have already occupied a space of that size with that many venomous snakes (if you do have venomous snakes around you) and just didn't know it. there's a reason you can handle venomous snakes with a snake hook at all and can't even be in the same enclosure as a gorilla.

[reasonsforhope]

"England is celebrating the first pair of beaver kits born in the country since they were reintroduced back into the country’s north last year.

Landscape managers in England are beside themselves with surprise over the changes brought about by a single year of beaver residency at the Wallington Estate in Northumberland—with dams, mudflats, and ponds just appearing out of nowhere across the landscape.

Released into a 25-acre habitat on the estate last year, the four beavers at Wallington are part of a series of beaver returns that took place across the UK starting in 2021 in Dorset. Last year, GNN reported that Hasel and Chompy were released into the 925-acre Ewhurst Estate in Hampshire in January 2023, and the beavers that have now reproduced established their home in Wallington in July.

“Beavers are changing the landscape all the time, you don’t really know what is coming next and that probably freaks some people out,” said Paul Hewitt, the countryside manager for the trust at Wallington. “They are basically river anarchists.”

“This time last year I don’t think I fully knew what beavers did. Now I understand a lot more and it is a massive lightbulb moment. It is such a magical animal in terms of what it does.”

It’s believed that the only animal which alters the natural environment to the same extent as humans is the beaver. Their constant felling of trees to construct dams causes creeks to build up into pools that spill out during rainfall across the land, cutting numerous other small channels into the soil that distribute water in multiple directions.

Hewitt says that in Wallington this has translated to a frantic return of glorious wildlife like kingfishers, herons, and bats.

Recently the mature pair of beavers mated and produced a kit, though its sex is not yet known because beavers don’t have external genitalia.

These beaver reintroductions have led to a raft of beaver sightings around the country. Those at the National Trust working to rewild the beaver back into Great Britain hope the recovery of the landscape will convince authorities to permit further reintroductions to bigger areas."

-via Good News Network, July 16, 2024

[hi-sierra]

Okay okay I'm behind on posting about my various adventures this summer, but let's just skip a few for now bc I wanna post about my most recent one:

Glenn Pass. 12,000 feet of elevation.

Kings Canyon is one of several glacially carved granite valleys in the Sierra Nevada. Several other, smaller valleys feed into it, including the paradise valley and Bubbs creek.

The Rae Lakes loop is a short but brutal route that starts at the floor of King's canyon, takes you up one of those side valleys, over the crest of the High Sierra, and down another valley.

To get across that divide, you have to cross the notorious Glenn Pass. Not only is this the highest point on the Rae lakes loop, it's also one of the highest points on several massive through hikes, including the John Muir Trail and Pacific Crest Trail.

Now. The JMT and PCT people may have it rougher than me overall due to the sheer length of those hikes.

But.

Their campsites for the previous days are around 10,000 feet of elevation.

I made the BRILLIANT decision to hike from 7,500 feet, 10 miles up and over Glenn pass at 12k feet, and then down to upper Rae lake in one day. It may have been the single most physically challenging day of my goddamn life.

But holy shit, it was it worth it.

This route absolutely floored me. My original intention here was just that this was my "final check" for the High Sierra trail- in terms of difficulty and conditions, it's basically identical, except half the length. I packed as if I was doing the HST, and used less than a third of my consumable stuff, so I feel more than ready for it.

I was expecting it to be pretty, but I was not expecting it to be one of the most gorgeous couple days of my life. Yosemite can suck it. The granite valleys and cliffs of Kings Canyon and the paradise valley are my new favorite glacial valley in the Sierras.

And that's not even mentioning the wildlife! I mostly recorded video of them, but I saw bears, deer, rattlesnakes, mountain kingsnakes, pikas, marmots, tons of different birds, and more that I'm probably forgetting! If there's any interest, I might start posting the videos I've taken of me talking to wildlife lol

[markscherz]

A friend of mine sent me a yt video of a guy who was relocating frog eggs (prolly a vernal pool) and showed 1000s of baby frogs coming out of the water in his backyard. she asked me how I felt about it as a ecologist. I felt like it was irresponsible to do, especially to post videos on it, but probably not "ecological terrorism" like people in the comments were saying, because I see baby frogs in nature come out of water in hoards sometimes too. Kind of a mixed bag.

But I wanted to ask you, since you're a herpetologist and waaay more experienced than me: how do you feel about the yt channel "frog army YouTube"?

Many frogs and toads are classical R-strategists. Some toads can lay 20+ THOUSAND eggs in a single clutch. The whole point of that strategy is that not all of the offspring survive. In fact, it would be really rather bad if all of the offspring were to survive, because (1) they wouldn't be feeding the predators and decomposers that live off of their noble sacrifice, and (2) they will require massively more resources than they otherwise would. It can have all kinds of detrimental down-stream effects.

This is the reason we often see swarms of tadpoles darkening some small pools (especially ones where there are no fish!), and later hoards of froglets (that's the technical term) emerging from pools at once. It's an evolutionary strategy, that only few individuals survive to achieve reproductive age.

Point 1: it is *fine* if not all the tadpoles survive to adulthood. That's how the system is supposed to work. You are not doing the system favours if you are changing tadpole survivorship to 100%.

Now, humans really are fucking things up in a lot of environments. Environmental pollutants, like heavy metals, can cause major issues for wildlife, and especially frogs, which (1) are not as vagile as e.g. birds and medium- to large-sized mammals and thus cannot escape the problem zone effectively, and (2) are EXTRA sensitive to the environment because of their permeable skin.

Point 2: we do have some responsibility to do something if we notice that there is a major problem emerging, which could dramatically alter the population dynamics for one or more generations of frogs.

However, *moving* clutches of eggs that are found in polluted pools is not the right move, especially for your average person. There are many reasons that it is not the right move, but chief among them are

(1) A lot of frogs that lay eggs in vernal pools have tadpoles that cannot survive being in larger ponds, and certainly cannot survive in streams or other bodies of flowing water.

(2) A lot of frogs that lay their eggs in vernal pools are already adapted to less than ideal conditions, and have excellent strategies to overcome those conditions, such as incredibly quick metamorphosis (sometimes just a few days!)

(3) By moving clutches of eggs, you could easily be moving the pathogens or pollutants that are causing the problem in the first place.

(4) If there is Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungus around, you are spreading chytrid, and that is VERY bad. Chytridiomycosis has already driven several frog species to extinction, and caused massive population collapse in several others.

(5) If you do not know the species, attempts to rescue them might be aiding the advance of an invasive species.

(6) It's often illegal to intervene! Many species are protected by law, and you are not allowed to remove them from the wild. Consult your local laws.

Point 3: the responsibility to do something does not include removing the frogs and raising a frog army.

So what should we do if we find a clutch of eggs in an oily pool? Or in a nearly dried out puddle?

First assess the nature of the problem. Is the pool just about to dry out? Then leave it alone. The tadpoles will probably be fine (and if they're not, they'll provide rich nutrients to predators and decomposers). But are there signs of pollution? Then assess: is the pollution covering a larger area? Or is it localised? If you find dead frogs or other amphibians is a major warning sign, and it needs to be brought to the relevant authorities. Contact your local environmental agency/department, and notify them of the precise location of the problem, and its extent. Document everything with photos and videos.

Point 4: there are organisations and agencies specifically tasked with intervening in cases of environmental damage. It is *your* job to bring it to their attention, but unless instructed by them, you need not take any further action. It is their job to know what to do, and to take appropriate action.

TL;DR: 'Raising a frog army' is for the likes, not the frogs, and is not environmentally responsible or ethically defensible. Build a home for the frogs, and they will come.

[tinydefector]

IRON GIANT

Optimus x human

Word count: 1.9k

Warnings: death of an animal.

Saw some of the skybound comics and had to write this because the parallel between optimus and the Iron Giant is too good not to use. So this is based on this comic panel. This may become a series if people enjoy it alot.

Enjoy the Dadimus agender

Also I use Par as a gender neutral term for Parent, but pronounced as Pa.

Optimus prime Masterlist

11

111

___________________

Optimus sighed as he finished digging the small grave, optics dimming as he gently picked up the delicate creature and nestled it into the soft earth. He had never wished harm, had faltered in these alien woods, ending a life that had merely sought to flee his unfamiliar form.

Kneeling, he carefully began restoring the soil, patting it smooth as if to apologise with each motion for the accident his bulk had caused. They hadn't suffered small blessings, at least. When at last the mound was shaped, he sat back on powerful haunches, gazing at it pensively. How many graves, both great and small, had he been forced to dig through eons defending his kind - and yet each still marked loss, whether of one or many. 

After a moment, massive fingers reached to dig up several wildflowers, arranging them with utmost care atop the fresh earth. A simple marker for one whose brief journey had crossed paths with a warrior never meant for such quiet spaces. But perhaps their essence would nourish new growth, 

Venting softly, Optimus sat beside the grave, he felt guilty, it was a chance accident, one which had hurt his spark. The sound of the forest doesn't ease his aching spark even in the bright sunlight. The birds sing and the wind rushes the leaves as if to make a song. Earth was much more lively than Cybertron ever was. Birds flutter around picking at the ground and even landing on his form as if to inspect the metal. Optimus stilled as small avians flitted unafraid about his massive frame, their delicate peeps and chirps surrounding him in a melody utterly alien yet soothing in its liveliness. optics dimming partially as if to seem less a looming threat to these curious creatures. 

After a moment, one landed upon an outstretched digit, tilting its feathered head as it studied the bright red and blue plating so unlike any perches it knew. Another joined, then more, exploring seams and transformation seem as if puzzling over this odd visitor to their domain. His spark, heavy with ages of loss, eased slightly at their curiosity. On Cybertron, all life had long fled the ravages of war - these woods teemed with it at every turn, in every trill and rustle. Their sounds wove a music this weary warrior had never known, helping him glimpse what peace might one orn bless his ancient world again.

A faint, sad smile touched Optimus 's stoic face as small wings took flight once more. Perhaps in these forests, he might find solace for his burdened spark and among these trees, he began to comprehend Earth's beauty and fragility anew.

noise in the distance spooks the birds. But Optimus doesn't move from The grave of the Doe, the noises become louder, it's small laughter echoing just off in the trees. "Baby please don't run off!" A voice calls out. Optimus froze as small steps neared the clearing, optics widening fractionally at the curious sight of tiny organics emerging where wildlife had fled moments before.

 A little child walks out into the field where Optimus sits. "Look, look Robot!" The small child calls out to their parent. Their parent is quick to grab them, hauling them up into their arms as they stare at Optimus. The child with excitement and wonder and the parent with fear. Both the older human and Optimus have a stare off neither willing to move less they spook the other. He realised, judging by similarities of form and mannerism in how they clung and shielded one another, that the larger one was the smaller creator. 

Slowly, carefully, he lowered a hand beside him upon the grass, Emitting a low, soothing rumble, cogs and gears slowly creaking as he ventilated slowly, His thoughts reached to memories of younglings in Iacon.

The younger one smiles widely and waves "hiya Robot!" They call out which makes their parent stiffen in worry. "Baby shh" they try to move backwards slowly only for their child to call out again. " But Par, robot!, like Iron Giant! From the movie, big robot! " Their child state excited. It makes Optimus chuckle lightly. "Hiya Iron Giant!" The child calls out without fear. Wrangling themself out of their parents arms. "Baby stop" they state to their child. 

Optimus himself is still quiet as he watches the child walk up to him fearlessly

Optimus could not help but vent a soft laugh at the comparison from the sparkling, a gentle puff of air that set grass and leaves dancing around them. The naive curiosity and wonder from their tiny frame spoke of no fear.

Slowly, carefully he extended a digit for the young one to grasp, wishing to show only gentleness as small hands patted over plating smooth and cool rather than textured flesh. His field pulsed calming waves as he met their bold gaze, watching tiny mouth spread in a fearless grin. At last, he rumbled in the softest volume, "hello little one." 

Optics flicked respectfully to the elder, The older human watches in worry as they freeze on the spot watching their child. The little human looks up at Optimus as they hold up their plushy. "This is Mimi! My stuffy, par made her for me, they make me a lot of things. Oh you talk too! I really like your red and blue is really pretty! Do you like rocks? I like rocks" They state as they start talking away to Optimus without a care in the world. Their parent slowly move to the ground, eyes darting and watching the large bot.

Optimus listened intently, optics softened in pleasure at the youngling's chatter and display of their favoured toy. 

"Mimi is most charming indeed," he rumbled gently in response, spark warming though his frame showed no smile. Lifting his optics once more, he dipped his head respectfully to the elder still keeping close watch. 

"You have raised a marvellous spark," he said softly to them, processors mindful of putting alien species at ease through tone, hoping honesty and calm might quell reasonable fear. "I mean your offspring no harm I swear it on my spark." he focused once more on the babbling child, granting gentle puffs of air in response to questions too swift for speech.

The older human's eyes linger on their child before flickering to bright blue optics of the large bot. " They give me a scare often when they wander off." They state as they sit and watch the large bot gently interact with their child.  "What... what are you?" They asked, they know that if it wanted to hurt them it would have done so by now but they are still cautious of the large robot. "Par He's a robot, silly!" The little human calls out with giggles.

"Indeed I am a robot," rumbled Optimus gently with a faint vibration of amusement. His optics crinkled slightly at the young one's matter-of-fact pronouncement. Turning back to their elder, his field radiated openness and trust as he answered their question with utmost care. "My name is Optimus. I was created on the planet Cybertron.” Plating shifted in a subconscious shrug. "My only wish is peaceful coexistence. I mean you and yours no harm."

The little human giggles and spins around. "Told you Par! Space Robot!" They state proudly.

optics softened as he regarded them both. "I am glad this young one remains unafraid to explore life's wonders." His tone held enduring patience. Their parent's eyes linger on the disturbed ground which had a patch of flowered grass on it. "What happened?" They ask cautiously. Optimus followed their gaze and intake a soft vent, optics dimming slightly at the memory. "Earlier I came upon this clearing, and in my haste took an innocent life by accident. A young forest dweller, unaware of my heaviness, that fled at my approach." 

Placing a gentle digit beside the flowers, he said evenly, "As all life is sacred, I took care in giving it rest, and sought to memorialise its short journey through this place.” Turning optics pained with regret, he met their gaze steadily and continued in a low rumble. 

The older ones' eyes soften lightly. They stand up and move closer. " Baby, do you mind playing over there for a second par needs to look at something," they call to their child who nods and skips off a little. The older human looks over the grave to Make sure it was deep enough to hide the deer. 

They look up at Optimus. They stand just a few steps away from him watching his expressions. "You really are like the Iron Giant, I'm sorry, it's never easy hurting an animal, it didn't suffer?" They ask softly. Optimus  blinked slowly at the question, then dipped his head in gentle affirmation and thanks for understanding shown.  he rumbled softly in response. "And no, the creature did not suffer - its journey was swift. Still I regret hastiness that cut a natural span abruptly short. But I accept also my strengths and flaws, as all beings must."

They sit down beside the large bot as their eyes watch their child play in the flowers with the butterflies. "Par, Look look Butterflies!" The little one shouts in excitement as one lands on their nose. "I'm sorry you stepped on the deer, it's horrible when you accidentally kill an animal. Thank you for burying it, it may not mean much but thank you, I don't think I would have been able to handle it if they had seen the deer like that" they state softly.

Optimus 's optics softened as he watched the youngling's innocent delight, spark warming within his frame. He pulsed a gentle field of gratitude to their elder beside him. 

"You need not apologise," he rumbled gently. "All beings strive as best they can, and errors do not diminish intent." Turning down to meet their gaze, he continued solemnly, "I am glad sparing them that sight has helped ease another incident, however slightly. Protecting innocence is important."

A faint smile warmed his stoic face as small pedes danced among blooms. "They are a joyful little spark." His field swirled sincerity. They slowly look up at him. "Are you alright?" They ask, it was the first time in a very long time that he had been asked how he felt. It makes him realise that he wasn't alright. 

He hadn't been alright for a long time. It felt strange for such a small creature to be asking him that. Optimus blinked, caught off guard by the simple question and sincere concern shining in organic eyes gazing at him. When was the last time anyone had inquired after his wellbeing? Long forgotten were those orn...

He shifted slightly, optics dimming as memory files flooded his processor - friends fallen, a world dissolved to cinders while he could only watch. His people scattered to the stars if lucky; slain without mercy if not. For so long his every function had been duty - to lead, guard, rebuild against impossible odds. But what remained of Optimus beneath it all? 

Slowly releasing a long vent, he admitted softly, "No, not truly. The burdens of many vorns sit heavy. But watching life thrive here gives solace," he gestured to the playing sparkling with a faint flicker of affection. His gaze met theirs openly. His field pulsed gratitude too deep for mere words. In such simple moments, perhaps broken things long shattered might slowly, carefully be glued back together.

_________

Taglist: @angelxcvxc

@saturnhas82moons

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Existence Value: Why All of Nature is Important Whether We Can Use it or Not

I spend a lot of time around other nature nerds. We’re a bunch of people from varying backgrounds, places, and generations who all find a deep well of inspiration within the natural world. We’re the sort of people who will happily spend all day outside enjoying seeing wildlife and their habitats without any sort of secondary goal like fishing, foraging, etc. (though some of us engage in those activities, too.) We don’t just fall in love with the places we’ve been, either, but wild locales that we’ve only ever seen in pictures, or heard of from others. We are curators of existence value.

Existence value is exactly what it sounds like–something is considered important and worthwhile simply because it is. It’s at odds with how a lot of folks here in the United States view our “natural resources.” It’s also telling that that is the term most often used to refer collectively to anything that is not a human being, something we have created, or a species we have domesticated, and I have run into many people in my lifetime for whom the only value nature has is what money can be extracted from it. Timber, minerals, water, meat (wild and domestic), mushrooms, and more–for some, these are the sole reasons nature exists, especially if they can be sold for profit. When questioning how deeply imbalanced and harmful our extractive processes have become, I’ve often been told “Well, that’s just the way it is,” as if we shall be forever frozen in the mid-20th century with no opportunity to reimagine industry, technology, or uses thereof.

Moreover, we often assign positive or negative value to a being or place based on whether it directly benefits us or not. Look at how many people want to see deer and elk numbers skyrocket so that they have more to hunt, while advocating for going back to the days when people shot every gray wolf they came across. Barry Holstun Lopez’ classic Of Wolves and Men is just one of several in-depth looks at how deeply ingrained that hatred of the “big bad wolf” is in western mindsets, simply because wolves inconveniently prey on livestock and compete with us for dwindling areas of wild land and the wild game that sustained both species’ ancestors for many millennia. “Good” species are those that give us things; “bad” species are those that refuse to be so complacent.

Even the modern conservation movement often has to appeal to people’s selfishness in order to get us to care about nature. Look at how often we have to argue that a species of rare plant is worth saving because it might have a compound in it we could use for medicine. Think about how we’ve had to explain that we need biodiverse ecosystems, healthy soil, and clean water and air because of the ecosystem services they provide us. We measure the value of trees in dollars based on how they can mitigate air pollution and anthropogenic climate change. It’s frankly depressing how many people won’t understand a problem until we put things in terms of their own self-interest and make it personal. (I see that less as an individual failing, and more our society’s failure to teach empathy and emotional skills in general, but that’s a post for another time.)

Existence value flies in the face of all of those presumptions. It says that a wild animal, or a fungus, or a landscape, is worth preserving simply because it is there, and that is good enough. It argues that the white-tailed deer and the gray wolf are equally valuable regardless of what we think of them or get from them, in part because both are keystone species that have massive positive impacts on the ecosystems they are a part of, and their loss is ecologically devastating.

But even those species whose ecological impact isn’t quite so wide-ranging are still considered to have existence value. And we don’t have to have personally interacted with a place or its natural inhabitants in order to understand their existence value, either. I may never get to visit the Maasai Mara in Kenya, but I wish to see it as protected and cared for as places I visit regularly, like Willapa National Wildlife Refuge. And there are countless other places, whose names I may never know and which may be no larger than a fraction of an acre, that are important in their own right.

I would like more people (in western societies in particular) to be considering this concept of existence value. What happens when we detangle non-human nature from the automatic value judgements we place on it according to our own biases? When we question why we hold certain values, where those values came from, and the motivations of those who handed them to us in the first place, it makes it easier to see the complicated messes beneath the simple, shiny veneer of “Well, that’s just the way it is.”

And then we get to that most dangerous of realizations: it doesn’t have to be this way. It can be different, and better, taking the best of what we’ve accomplished over the years and creating better solutions for the worst of what we’ve done. In the words of Rebecca Buck–aka Tank Girl–“We can be wonderful. We can be magnificent. We can turn this shit around.”

Let’s be clear: rethinking is just the first step. We can’t just uproot ourselves from our current, deeply entrenched technological, social, and environmental situation and instantly create a new way of doing things. Societal change takes time; it takes generations. This is how we got into that situation, and it’s how we’re going to climb out of it and hopefully into something better. Sometimes the best we can do is celebrate small, incremental victories–but that’s better than nothing at all.

Nor can we just ignore the immensely disproportionate impact that has been made on indigenous and other disadvantaged communities by our society (even in some cases where we’ve actually been trying to fix the problems we’ve created.) It does no good to accept nature’s inherent value on its own terms if we do not also extend that acceptance throughout our own society, and to our entire species as a whole.

But I think ruminating on this concept of existence value is a good first step toward breaking ourselves out first and foremost. And then we go from there.

Did you enjoy this post? Consider taking one of my online foraging and natural history classes or hiring me for a guided nature tour, checking out my other articles, or picking up a paperback or ebook I’ve written! You can even buy me a coffee here!

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

The State Birds Initiative: Delaware (#1)

Welcome to the first official poll of the State Birds Initiative! Now, before the poll, one thing real quick. My suggestion is that you read the post below before voting in the poll below. That's especially important if you're lacking any context about the birds being presented as the new (or old) State Bird of the First State, Delaware. This is to be fully informed as to why these are being presented, and to make your choices appropriately. Lastly, some of these birds, you will notice, go against some of the rules listed in the introduction post. All is explained after the jump where the explanations are, I promise you that. But with that...OK! Here's the poll!

More details after the jump!

Welcome to Delaware, the First State!

Admitted into the Union in 1787 as the first state of this country, Delaware is the nation's second smallest, giving it the additional nickname "the Small Wonder"! Its capital is Dover, its most populous city if Wilmington (pictured above), and it's best known for its proximity to the Delaware River and the Delaware Bay, which it's actually named after. This does mean that Delaware Bay, for various reasons, will be one of the most important features of this post, since the wildlife that gathers around it is pretty ubiquitous in the state.

But OK, enough grade-school reporting of basic state statistics. What's Joe Biden's home state actually like, from the view of the citizens? On reddit, a user named hajisaurus said that Delaware is like a small town, but as an entire state. Compact, but eventful and familiar. Another user, raycooke, referred to it as the US condensed into miniature, with business in the north, beaches in the south and east, and farms in the middle. But the general vibe, it seems, is "familiar". Not overly friendly, but definitely close enough to be familiar. Also...the Bobbie.

God, that's a good looking sandwich. Invented in Delaware? Hell yeah. Anyway, off of turkey and onto birds. Personally, what all this says to me is that the chosen State Bird should be an easy-to-find sight, found throughout most of the state, and familiar to Delawareans in general. Something common but uniquely Delawarean would be great. In terms of habitat, water-bound seems appropriate, especially looking at beaches and estuaries. Again, the entire eastern border of the state touches the Delaware River or Bay, meaning water is somewhat important to the state (as is seafood).

Now, those Delawareans amongst us may have different opinions of what makes Delaware Delaware, and what represents its people most accurately. Which...yeah, I'm not from there, and I've only been there twice, and that's because I drove through it. Maybe went to one rest stop near Dover. And for the record, SOLID-ass rest stops in Delaware along the highway, just saying. Great job there, Delaware. But, yeah, PLEASE tell me if there's something else to take into account. And that goes for ALL of the states in this series, by the way. I can't claim to be an expert in any way here, so please call me on my bullshit if you feel that you have to. But, with that said, let's talk about what I do know: birds.

Red Knot (Calidris canutus)

For many of you, especially the bird-inclined amongst us, this was always going to be the obvious answer to this question. The Red Knot is an iconic Delaware bird for birdwatchers, as they're attracted to the state in MASSIVE numbers during migratory seasons. It's one of the most important and famous migrations in the country, and the flocks of Red Knots and other shorebirds are the main attraction. Why? Easy answer: the Atlantic Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus).

Delaware Bay is the site of the horseshoe crab's largest migration in the USA. This isn't the only place in the country they're found, but it's DEFINITELY the largest population of the species by a SIGHT. And speaking of iconic species, the horseshoe crab certainly fits the bill as a charismatic species of conservation concern. Which is why it may be curious that I'm highlighting the Red Knot, since they, y'know...EAT horseshoe crab eggs, alongside other birds in the great Atlantic seaboard migration. But that's actually why horseshoe crabs are so important.

Red Knots, amongst other shorebirds, depend on the horsehoe crabs for food, as these stopovers in Delaware Bay allow them to continue with their journey. Without the horseshoe crabs of Delaware, their life wouldn't be possible, and certainly not in the massive numbers found during migration. Understand, this is a threatened species, especially in the United States, that gathers in Delaware Bay in the thousands, with 2022 numbers being about 39,800 in a population. That's HUGE. The Red Knot is a symbol of this ecological boom, and both species should be celebrated. That's the reason the Red Knot is often given as the answer to this question of State Bird of Delaware, including by the Lab of Ornithology's article posted last year. Plus, it's got an iconic appearance, it's easy to find, and it tells a great story (which also includes a migratory distance of ~9,000 miles, which is crazy). Perfect, right?

...It doesn't breed in Delaware. It actually doesn't even breed in the United States. No, the Red Knot breeds in Nunavut and Greenland, above the limits of the Arctic Circle. I meant it when I said the Red Knot used Delaware as a stopover site. As such, it's an event when they arrive in Delaware twice a year...but they do leave. Pretty quickly, even. So, sure, the Red Knot is a great candidate for a number of reasons, but...is it OK if it doesn't actually breed in the state? I'd argue for it, since Delaware is is highest abundance of the species during migration in the country, and it's iconic in that way in particular. But I'll leave that as a question for you all to decide.

Let's go on to the next one, shall we?

Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)

OK, this one might be cheating a bit, since the bird in question is found basically...well, everywhere. It's definitely not native to Delaware alone, and doesn't even breed there. So why even include this bird in the running? Easy answer: it's in the name. It's the only bird species in the world with the state of Delaware in its scientific name. However, this is also cheating, since the name actually refers to the Delaware River, not the state itself. That's because the bird was first described and discovered along the river, which flows from New York, through New Jersey and Pennsylvania, until ending in Delaware and the Delaware Bay. And yeah...technically that was in New Jersey. BUT STILL! Only bird with Delaware in the name, just sayin'. And after all, if the Red Knot can be considered despite not breeding in the state, then...what about the Ring-billed Gull? Or...maybe I'll save this one for New Jersey.

American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)

OK, this one I'm actually a bit enthusiastic about, partially because I love raptors, and I especially love this raptor. The American Kestrel is a small falcon, and is in fact the smallest falcon (and raptor) in North America. About the size of a mourning dove, they're pint-sized predators, specializing on insects, rodents, lizards, and the occasional sparrow or songbird. They're also versatile, living all over the USA in various habitats. And that, of course, includes Delaware. This is a breeding species in the state, so it already has that above the other two previously discussed! And to top it all off...it's literally a small wonder. Come on, man! This is perfect! A scrappy falcon that's literally red, white, and grayish-blue!

But, OK, if it's common all over, why specifically Delaware? Because it's actually threatened in Delaware, fun fact. This is prominent enough to have inspired the Brandywine Zoo to work with the American Kestrel Partnership (part of The Peregrine Fund, who we'll discuss again on another day or five), and start the Delaware Kestrel Partnership, which monitors kestrel populations in the state. The species' population has decreased by 88% in Delaware and surrounding states in the last 50 years, which is...dramatic. It's a species that desperately needs saving and attention, and work in Delaware can be applied in the kestrel's entire range. Look, I beg you to check this out, because it's a fascinating set of projects. And honestly, this alone would have me include the American Kestrel on this list. Plus...that would also make this the first raptor to become a state bird.

Yeah. Take a look. NO raptors amongst the State Birds. Insane.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Now, this one seems out of nowhere, but hear me out. For whatever reason, the Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) seems to be completely ignored as a state bird across the entire country, despite it being one of the MOST iconic birds in the United States. I mean, come on, almost all of us have seen a GBH at some point in our lives, especially if we live near water. But why suggest it for Delaware specifically, then? Well, the herons breed in Delaware, so that's checked off. They're found in the state year-round, making them easy to access and identify with. They're definitely iconic in appearance. They highlight the marshlands and wetlands of Delaware as an important ecosystem of concern. And...uh...

Look, I'll be straight with you. "Blue Heron" is the closest I could get to...another set of words associated with Delaware and birds. Because honestly, it's genuinely somewhat difficult to separate Delaware from those two words, and this would be a fairly minor change that would allow the use of that term with little fuss! And honestly, the Great Blue Heron isn't the worst choice in the world for Delaware, even if it admittedly barely breeds in the state compared to others. And...like...oh, goddammit, fine, let's get this over with.

Delaware Blue Hen (Gallus domesticus)

Delaware. Look at me. Why...in the blue HELL...did you choose a goddamn chicken as your state bird? I mean, for God's sake, it's not a wild bird, and even if it is a breed developed in the state, IT IS A CHICKEN! What possible reason could there be to choose this bird over all the other possible birds? And look, I like chickens as much as the next guy. Used to raise and keep them as a kid, so I do love them, but this just feels wrong. But OK, let's make the argument for them by looking at Delaware's original argument.

So, from basic cursory research, the Delaware Blue Hen dates back to the Revolutionary War. Apparently, one of the regiments of the American army raised fighting game chickens that were so well-known, the regiment itself became known as the "Blue Hens". It's also possible that the leader of this regiment, Jonathan Caldwell, had a special blue hen that had blue offspring, and the men in the regiment also took to calling themselves "Sons of the Blue Hen." Which means...shit. That means the Blue Hen actually has cultural relevancy specific to the state of Delaware. Damn, that's actually a good argument for their assignment. But with that said...there actually is a problem here.

The Delaware Blue Hen doesn't technically exist.

Yeah, this isn't actually a recognized breed of chicken, despite the INSANE amount of devotion Delawareans have for it. I mean, military regiments, sports teams, even the unofficial nickname for the state is named after the Blue Hen, and it's technically not a real chicken breed. Instead, they're actually American Game hens that are crossed with Andalusian Blue hens to get that iconic coloration, but they're not actually an isolated breed.

So...what does this mean? Because this is genuinely a problem, right? Delaware's state bird doesn't actually exist, AND it's a chicken. Well...I have a proposition for you, Delaware. Because I do recognize the fact that the Blue Hen seems to mean a lot to you, both now and historically. So, if that's the case, we need to recontextualize this guy in a couple of ways. So, here's my proposition...

Make the Delaware Blue Hen the State Game Bird.

Haven't brought this up yet, but some states have what's called a "state game bird" alongside the actual state bird. Game birds, by the classical and nonscientific definition, are members of the Galliformes and Anseriformes that are associated with hunting and food. And technically...the chicken counts. Yeah, Delaware easily could ratify the Delaware Blue Hen into service as the State Game Bird, which makes even more sense when you consider its role AS A SPORTS MASCOT! See what I mean? But that's not the end of it.

You'll also have to find some way to get the hen recognized as an independent breed. I have NO idea what the process is for that (I guess this is the pathway to do it?), but it's probably gonna take a bunch of breeders and number of years to turn this into a defined breed. Hell, as it stands, not every chicken hatched to a Blue Hen is even blue. So, hey, get on it, Delawarean chicken breeders! Make you state proud!

And that's the information on the candidates for the Delaware State Bird! Will the Delaware maintain its place? Will the Red Knot take it, despite the controversy surrounding the choice? Will my bullshit proposal for the Great Blue Heron actually resonate with some people? Up to Tumblr!

As for the next state, it's time to hop next door to Pennsylvania, and to a State Bird that also technically doesn't exist...for a somewhat different reason. And yes, for the record, I know the below GIF is technically the wrong species, BUT MY CHOICES IN GIFS ARE FEW

See you soon, and happy birding!

[bonny-kookoo]

Jungkook: Lacrymaria olor

(Intro)

In which you've survived on this foreign planet for more than two years until you're caught and brought to the King, who will decide your fate.

Tags/Warnings: Alien AU, Alien!Jungkook, Human!Reader, Angst, Blood and Violence, Strangers to I don't know?

Additional Chapter Warnings: Brief mention of vomiting, mentions of homelessness, Jungkook's entire attitude is a warning

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The strong winds on this planet aren't something you're unfamiliar with.

After all, you've been living in the shadows here for more than three years? Maybe more. But it's hard to count the time when first of all, society here doesn't even use the same measurements you're used to for time, and second of all, you don't have a clock or a calendar. You can always only guess, but at the end of the day, time isn't something that concerns you much anyways. Food, shelter, safety; those were things to really worry about.

As a human on this planet, there's not much to do. Most jobs require way more strength than a humans could bring to the table, and even then, it's not very lucrative in the eyes of most employers here, since they won't be able to work long-term anyways. Most humans won't even willingly live here anyways- too stuck in their believe that earth can still be saved, even though with all the nuclear disasters happening years ago, you're sure that it's not looking too great back home.

Home.

It's an odd word, something that has changed meaning for you ever since coming here. You had snuck onto a cargo shit sent from the Temian government to provide at least some help with food and water, an accident mostly, really. You'd tried to help your friend get onto the ship to find her family on a different planet- but she never showed up, and you had had to face the decision of either getting caught, or staying hidden.

Needless to say, you at least never got caught.

Once you really learned to describe 'home' differently for yourself, Temia's wildlife and nature wasn't that unwelcoming any longer. Home at this point was more a feeling than a place, and so, you could feel at home wherever, whenever, really. Just like now- asleep under an odd growing tree's roots, giving you shelter from the harsh winds of Temia. Another year must've passed- or cycle, as they call it here. It's not quite a year, but it brings you comfort to compare certain similarities to earth every now and then.

You know you're sick. Or at least, something must be wrong with your body.

It happens occasionally, considering you sleep and live basically outside exposed to the elements most of the time. And while you've somewhat grown accustomed to it, you're still just human. And you're basically living illegally on this planet, something you're instantly reminded of as soon as you hear the movement around you, clattering of armor making it clear what's going on.

Soldiers, police, whatever you want to call it- they're on the hunt again, and you're sure that this time, you won't be able to escape them.

It had only been a matter of time after all. You know that Temians are way better at reading tracks, and at this point, just burying your leftovers from last night's scraps you had for dinner, probably didn't help at all in covering your existence in the woods. And it's true- because as soon as you see the boots in front of you, you know you're done for.

You're basically carried into the massively huge room, colorful tiles on the floor cold underneath your bare feet as soon as the guards put you down. You know not to look up, you know just to stay quiet. There's no use in arguing, or begging at all with a being such as a Temian. They're well aware of their abilities, and their power over the human race. "We have responded to the worries of the citizens at Myenven, your highness." A guard next to you states, and you swallow.

Of course you'd be brought here.

"She was found in the Woods, where you had ordered us to search for another time." Another guard says, and you can hear someone up front moving, chains clattering melodically against one another, sound of leather creaking distinctively. You can't see if there's someone there, you can only assume. "Just like we said, we took care of the issue, and found the parasite cutting down the trees in the area. She is also suspected to have stolen the produce of local farmers."

Only a hum is heard from whoever they're talking to, before the person chuckles.

"So you're telling me this.. Creature of earth.." he looks down where they made you kneel, eyes dark and calculating as he continues his words, "has survived on it's own, with no assistance of anyone, for more than a cycle? And not even the government noticed?" Jungkook questions, while the guard nods.

"Of course we will send her back to the planet she originates from-" the man says, though everyone's surprised and admittedly startled when the usually stoic man starts to laugh, entire body moving to present itself as more or less welcoming.

"Oh absolutely not!" he says instead of agreeing with the guard, clapping his hands once. "She shall stay. I'll sign any paperwork needed- no need to fly her out to her rotting planet." he says, making you look up at him for the first time as the guard let's go of your neck. "Though under one circumstance.." he tells you, standing up to walk down and kneel on one knee only, fingers lifting your chin with a firm but non-threatening grip.

"You'll stay right where I can see you from now on." he smirks, and you're not sure if you should be even more scared now, or glad that he leaves you alive after all of this. "Hm." He studies you for a moment, deep cherry red eyes scanning your features while his hand moves your face around for him to better inspect. "I have seen a couple of humans in my life. None of them ever looked this.. hm." He leans in, making you even more nervous now- is he sniffing you?! "I always forget how.. fragile you beings are." He leans back again, giving you a bit of space, before he stands up, snapping his fingers while he walks back to what you assume is his throne. "Send a healer that knows something about humans to my chambers. You're dismissed." He says, picking up a burgundy coat of some sorts, before he laughs to himself when he spots you trying to stand up as well. "Not you." He says, before he walks back towards you.

Something that's surprising to you is not the slightly arrogant attitude- most Temians act this way- but the way he doesn't at all seem upset at your illegal stay on his planet. Well, it's not his.. he just rules parts of it, but still. One might argue that back on earth, people would be a lot more upset at you for doing what you did.

You're unprepared for the heavy fabric being thrown over your shoulders, forcing you to almost fall flat face first onto the colorful tiles below, causing the king to laugh at you. "Ah, you're truly adorable, really!" he claps, before he picks you up, throwing you over his shoulder together with the for you heavy fabric. You instantly try to lift yourself up against his back, well aware that you'll throw up the rest of your food in just a few steps if you let yourself dangle down like that. "Hm? Oh, I guess that might not be comfortable.." He says more or less to himself, adjusting your position to hold you properly with both arms in front of him.

He's right. This is a lot more comfortable.

"You seem confused." He wonders, and you nod. "You can talk. I'm not stuck-up like my brothers." He tells you, though you don't even know what his brothers would have to do with this.

"I guess I.. don't know why you're being so okay with me.. basically living in your kingdom illegaly." You say, and he simply laughs to himself, shaking his head.

"If I wanted you gone, I would've hunted you down myself moons ago." He says, and you're not sure if that should worry you, or make you feel at ease.

"So you knew I was out there the whole time?" You ask, and he nods.

"Not the entire time, but I've figured a thief who just steals produce we feed to our livestock might be a human, considering the food you're able to eat differs from my kind's." he explains to you, before he opens a door, and sets you down to your feet. As soon as he stands in front of you he snorts in amusement, looking down at where you look up at him. "Say, how old are you? You smell like a mature human, but I'm always unsure how to guess ages with how short you all are." He chuckles. "I have a friend, his name is Jimin, and he's a human too. Older than me! But he's so short he doesn't even reach my shoulder, can you believe that?" He laughs, taking a blanket from a sofa of some sorts before he places other pillows differently, patting the seat once he finished his task.

"I.. uh.. I'm twenty.. four? I don't have a good feeling of time, so I'm not sure." You say.

"So you're similar in age too! Very interesting." He nods, before you sit down next to him- struggling a bit, since the couch stands pretty high off the ground for you. It's an action that seems to amuse him yet again- until the door opens, his entire demeanor immediately changing into one that reminds you of the more aggressive side of his kind.

His eyes seem to glow for a second, arm reaching over you as a low growling sound escapes his throat- but all just for a small second, before the King rolls his eyes, relaxing again. "My my Jungkook, barely got a pet and already possessive over it." A man says, before walking in. "One might think after all those years you would've become more.. generous." The man says, setting down a box of equipment.

"I'm a very generous ruler Namjoon, you should know this best most of all." He says, crossing his arms. "After all, I let you keep Jimin."

"Jimin decided himself that he wanted to stay with me." The man you now know as Namjoon says, as he shakes his head. "That aside however, I believe you called me here for a reason?" He wonders, looking at you.

Jungkook watches you encouragingly, motioning towards his friend to signal you to talk. "I uh.. I think I might have upset my stomach or something. I'm not sure. I've been feeling sick for a few days now." You explain, and the man nods.

"Let's see what might be the problem then, shall we?" He says. "Don't worry. I have a human companion myself, so I am very much knowledgeable in human health." He reassures, before he continues his task.

It's all fun and dandy until Namjoon starts to examine your breathing, hand on your chest as he visibly concentrates on his job. "Do you have to touch her this much?" Jungkook grumbles next to you, legs and arms crossed, a clearly irritated look on his face as his eyes glow a little. "Or do you just want to piss me off?"

"Maybe a bit of both?" Namjoon chuckles, before he lets go of you. "Don't worry, I'm done now. You might want to look after her for a bit though, as she's not in optimal health currently." He explains, leading to Jungkook's entire demeanor becoming more the one of a confused puppy than an angry king. "Nothing too major, but you might want to make sure she properly hydrates and eats food suitable for her." He advises, before getting up. "Other than that, congrats on catching her, I guess." He smiles, before waving, and leaving the room.

"Don't worry." Jungkook says next to you after the door closes, leaving you alone with him again- and the look he gives you is both friendly and also unnerving, smirk exposing his sharpened canine teeth, gaze that of a clear predator as he watches you with a tilted head. "I'll take good care of you from now on."

[dipperdesperado]

guerrilla gardening is very cool

I’m really stoked to talk about praxis and solarpunk today. Hopefully, you all know what solarpunk is. I imagine fewer of you know what praxis is. Essentially, praxis is a term, used a lot by leftists, to talk about doing stuff. It’s a practice or activity, informed by theoretical and experiential knowledge. In our goal to create an ecological society informed by appropriate technology, we should think not only about the massive upheavals but the things that we can do right now. That’s where guerrilla gardening comes in.

Gardening in general is activism, but guerrilla gardening is like, super solarpunk. The rundown is essentially when you and/or a group of homies take some love-starved land and turn it into a garden (or just plant stuff there) without permission from the owner of said land. That lack of permission is what makes it guerrilla. This can lead to a better community, and supports abolition (of private property), autonomy, and collective resiliency. Ideally, you can get public support behind ya, and be able to work with the municipality to not get in trouble. The classic asking for forgiveness than permission, until you’re the one that can decide.

Where to Start: X Marks the Spot

When you (and your small-but mighty collective/affinity group) decide that you want to set up a guerrilla garden, the first thing you want to do is find a good spot. It can be that little line of grass that split up two sides of the road, a sidewalk bed, or an empty lot. You want to make sure there’s good sunlight and decent soil. If the soil ain’t good, but you wanna do stuff there, I’d recommend researching how to rehabilitate it. Obviously, that’s more work, though.

Once you have your target spot, you’ll need your tools and plants. Some basic things will be gloves, a trowel, a water source (like a can or hose), and plants/seeds. Some nice-to-haves could be mulch, compost, or soil amendments. It depends on what you’re planting and what your conditions are to know what you’ll need to bring. If you’re in a high visibility area, it could be nice to have some clothing that makes sure you don’t look suspect. That’s probably a good general rule of thumb. Act like you deserve to be in the space because you do! If you look suspect, people will think as much.

Prepping the Garden

Once you have everything you need, you’ll need to get the garden site ready. If you need to clear it out, whether there’s vegetation you’re not interested in, trash, debris, etc., do that. Ideally, you can also improve the soil quality with stuff like compost and organic stuff if you need to.

Time for Plants!

Here’s where the real fun begins. Get some plants going! You want the ones you pick to be a good fit for the target climate and soil. Even better if some of them are edible. When you’re planting, be sure to space the plants out and water them pretty well. If you're planting seeds, be patient! It can take a few weeks for the plants to sprout.

Garden Tending

Now that you have a garden going, it’s time to keep it up. You want to water them regularly and watch out for any invasives or weeds that could crowd out your plants. You might also have to add additional amendments to the soil, to keep the plants happy. Try to make sure to think about and account for issues in the garden. Whether that’s nonhuman neighbors or mean vandals, you want to try to think of ways to uphold the values of the project while protecting its continued existence.

Permablitzing

I also want to touch on some more specific types of guerrilla gardening. Firstly, let’s talk about permablitzing.

Permablitizing is a portmanteau between permaculture and blitzing. Permaculture is a type of gardening and farming that aspires to copy natural ecosystems to create harmonious gardens that are self-sustaining. It generally will include a mix of native, edible, and wildlife-attracting plants. Permablitzing is taking that permaculture idea and rallying the community to create a permaculture garden in a single day.

It looks a little something like this: volunteers collectively design and install the garden. They put in garden beds, plant trees, and shrubs, and install irrigation. There might also be compost systems, raised beds, or accessible walkways through the garden. Permablitzing is great because it’s relatively quick, it’s tangible and immediately garners buy-in. It’s more about finding the space to do this and finding people who are willing to participate.

Seedbombing

If you’re not able to work with a group, or you just want to be able to very quickly deposit new plants in places, you can seedbomb!

Seedbombs are small packages of seeds wrapped in soil that can be thrown or dropped onto the ground. This kinda stuff is great for rewinding and restoring neglected or degraded areas. Just make sure you do research! You don’t wanna introduce invasive or incompatible plants.

The basic seedbomb recipe is:

Soil

Clay or compost

Seeds

You mix them together, roll them into small balls, then let them dry. You can just toss them into your target areas. Seedbombing is great because it’s fun and creative while being a great way to un-neglect neglected areas. You can also do it alone or with the homies. It’s a very flexible guerrilla option.

Final thoughts

One of the most important things to think about when trying to enact social change is aligning your ends (the liberatory future you envision) with your means (the things you do to get to that vision). Guerrilla gardening is great to this end as a form of praxis because it allows for this to be realized in the here and now. It helps us realize that we don’t have to wait until people let us do what we think is right. If you see an issue, you can respond to it. Also, gardening is fun, gets you outside, and allows you to be more connected with the earth, which is just so so so good for you. Be smart, keep each other safe, and good luck with your gardening!

[official-nature-posts]

Wattles (called acacia outside australia) is the national floral emblem here. They flower in late winter. If you ask the average resident about them at this time of year or mention that they are flowering, the response is usually “it is setting off my hay-fever”. They are in the Fabaceae family, so they fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil, and they have pods like a legume that can be ground into a protein rich flour. They are fire respondant; the seeds germinate better when exposed to smoke or ash. When the Black Summer Bushfires had burnt through huge areas of forest, Wattles were the first to grow back. Within a year, this particular area was blanketed in feathery canes of. Just miles of green on the hillsides. As mentioned before, they can fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil using a symbiotic bacteria, and the leaf litter (which is inoffensive and doesn’t stunt plant growth like eucalypt leaves) built back humus and put carbon back into the soil. The rapidly developing root system held the damaged soil in place, reducing the silt load dumped into watercourses post fire, which in some areas effectively destroyed the ecosystem in the water, and downstream too. Most species of wattles die fairly quickly in terms of tree lifespan, some within 10-15 years, allowing the ecosystem to go through succession, after they sheltered it during the most vulnerable phase, fed the wildlife with it’s often massive crop of flowers and seeds, before they kick the bucket, becoming trellises for vines and humus on the ground. We really should be proud to have close to a 1000 species on this continent

[pfhwrittes]

this is such a stupid niggle to have but whenever i read fics set in scotland or the uk and the characters mention being worried about raccoons there’s a part of my brain that goes “oh. an american wrote this.” because we don’t have raccoons here. they’re just not a thing. like in terms of rabies vectors our main concerns stem from bats, not raccoons. in terms of scavengers knocking over bins it’s usually foxes or gulls that cause the most disruption. not raccoons. never raccoons.

also on the list of animals we don’t have wild in the UK, no bears, no moose, no big cats (lynx, bobcats, mountain lions) no wolves, and no coyotes. we don’t actually have any large predators (which is actually a massive problem because we have a huge issue in some parts of the UK from the deer population).

what we do have? foxes, badgers, deer in various flavours (roe, red, muntjac, sika, fallow and chinese water), lots and lots of different species of bats, beavers (in some parts of Scotland), wildcats (only in scotland i believe and they’re not big cats they’re mostly oversized house cat shape), pine martins (again i think only in scotland), stoats, otters, seals. plenty of birds.

so yeah. UK wildlife. pretty chill. no large predators.

you can absolutely blame my ex-partner for some of this knowledge as they are an ecologist

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x02 - Explosive Evolution! Greymon! / The Birth of Greymon

Well, I want to be sleeping right now but Insomnia Night says no. So I guess it's time for the next episode.

Last time on Digimon Adventure, everybody was sent hurtling to their deaths by local wildlife. Hooray!

The newly Child-stage Digimon make an attempt to save their partners from falling to their doom, but they can't support an 11-year-old's body weight so this goes south immediately.

Notably, in the earlier fight with Kuwagamon, every Digimon got to show off their new Child-stage signature attack except Gomamon. This is because his move isn't usable when he's that far from a water source. He's kind of the Superfriends Aquaman of Digimon.

As the children plunge into the river, Gomamon gets to strut his signature attack: Marching Fishes.

Fun fact, Digimon call all of their attacks in English rather than Japanese because it's a cool, exotic language to scream attack names in, but one that everyone in Japan is familiar with.

Just as the kids think they're safe, Kuwagamon... uh... attacks?

For real, it honestly looks like they fell asleep standing up and then flopped over into the river. This looks much more like Kuwagamon falling than attacking, but it's played up like they're attacking. Both they and the rocks hit the water, sending up a massive tidal wave that gently carries the children to shore.

Haha. Hahaha. Hahahahaha. Sure, Yamato. Whatever helps you cope.

Gomamon takes a moment to explain that he controls fish at will. Dub Gomamon goes for a bit less mind-controlly explanation, saying he and those fish are pals and he asked them for a ride.

From there it's reintroductions to the new Child-stage Digimon, as well as explaining how evolution works. The dub splices in stock footage from the evolutions in the previous episode, just to make sure you got it.

This is where a really interesting shift in translation occurs. Where Koushiro focuses in on evolution as a concept and Tentomon confirms they're talking about similar things, Izzy instead describes it like this: "So Digivolving is what happens when they advance to the next level and become more powerful than before." The dub's emphasis is on increasing their battle strength.

We see something similar in how the stages are even referred to. In Japanese, we know these as Baby, Child, and Adult stages; in English, they're In-Training, Rookie, and Champion. The Japanese names reference life cycles, while the American ones are more evocative of developing warriors.

Agumon further explains that he hadn't been able to evolve by himself before. He speculates that evolving earlier had something to do with meeting Taichi, and the other Digimon corroborate that speculation with their own feelings towards their Partners. They don't really understand how it works; However, they all agree that the kids have something to do with it.

The dub tonally shifts this to Agumon explaining in totally certain terms that they were able to Digivolve by "sharing [the kids'] energy". It's not explained super clearly what that means and Izzy's left with questions for how the energy's harvested, which go unanswered.

Dub Joe is also inexplicably hostile about the whole thing. Jou expresses that this whole thing doesn't make sense to him, with Gomamon agreeing that he's confused too. Dub Joe instead snipes, "My folks warned me about strangers!" out of absolutely nowhere.

Once all that's settled, it's time to move on to next steps. There's a lot of changes happening in this scene.

Jou wants to go back up to where Kuwagamon was hunting them because they're supposed to stay put and wait for adults to come and get them. However, the group quickly agrees that climbing back up that cliff is an unreasonable plan.

The dub seems to really not like Jou's deference to general adult supervision because once again they scrub it out. Joe instead wants to find a pay phone to call the police, fire department, and his mom. Still adults and authority figures, to be fair, but not exactly the same vibe as "Let's stay where we are and wait for the adults to come get us." Rather, this is foreshadowing for later in the episode.

Jou is the group's senpai; He's responsible for their wellbeing but he has no idea how to be responsible for them. This is part of his character journey.

Yamato points out that this place doesn't look anything like the camp site they were at; Koushiro agrees, speculating based on local vegetation that they're somewhere in the subtropics. Matt wants to find a road leading to safety, but Izzy points out that navigation without a compass is hard.

Jou suggests they can find a road that might take them back up to where they arrived, still on that "Wait for adults to come get us" thing. Joe whines that his pants aren't good for hiking.

Sora then suggests that if they do go back up the cliff, they might find clues to how they got here; However, Mimi fears further attacks from creatures like Kuwagamon. The dub translates this part faithfully.

Taichi asks if there are any other humans around, but Agumon confirms that they're alone here. It's only DIgimon. This also gets translated faithfully.

From there, the group discusses File Island for a moment. Nobody has any idea where this place is, with Jou suggesting they might not even be in Japan anymore. The dub already blew the big reveal by saying "Digi-World" instead of "File Island" so their kids instead briefly question whether or not nighttime exists in this place. Izzy finds the topic ridiculous since it would be "unnatural" for nighttime not to exist, prompting Joe to ask what part of this is natural. Valid counterpoint.

Once all that's settled, Taichi takes charge and gets us moving. He saw the ocean when he was scouting before Kuwagamon's attack so we're heading that way. Though Jou takes one last chance to insist on his preferred course of action: We need to stay put and wait for adults to find us.

So the rest of the group just starts walking and tries to leave his ass here, with Gomamon calling out to get him moving too. XD

This joke does get somewhat faithfully translated. Joe wants to find a cave and hide, but "We keep our eyes open and when a camp counselor comes--" which is when Gomamon calls out to him.

It still works, but doesn't hit quite the same tone as when this is like his fifth time interjecting with this.

Once the group gets walking, they take another assessment of their surroundings. Koushiro revises his assessment of the flora being subtropical. Jou repeats that they're probably not in Japan. Then Yamato points out that the Digimon seem like a pretty big tipoff that something's weird about this place.

The dub gets as far as Izzy saying he thought the plants were subtropical, but they don't want to talk about being in Japan for localization reasons. So Joe instead derails the conversation to complain about his hay fever being aggravated, before Matt groans, "Is there anything you don't complain about!?"

As they make their way to the ocean, the kids take some time to get to know their partners. Patamon and Piyomon demonstrate that they can both fly, but not well. Then this hilarious bit happens.

Mimi: Palmon, you look kind of like a plant. Palmon: I am! I can even conduct photosynthesis. Mimi: That's so cool! Do it! Do it! Palmon: ...Mimi, do you know what photosynthesis is? Mimi: No, not really. What is it? Palmon: ...well, I don't really know either....

The dub wipes out this entire exchange and instead has Mimi inexplicably gush about Palmon's "hair". She wants to try and do Palmon's hair herself, to which Palmon accuses her of caring too much about appearances before rejecting her offer. For a second time, the dub is weirdly mean to Mimi for no apparent reason. She has done nothing but be nearby dressed in pink!

Once they arrive at the beach, they come upon a most unexpected sight.

Hey look, it's those pay phones that Dub Joe wanted! Joe is naturally ecstatic about this discovery.

The Japanese group takes a moment to agree among themselves that these are definitely pay phones, just like the ones you see around town. Jou takes this as confirmation that they're still in Japan, only to have his hopes utterly destroyed when Gomamon asks what this Japan thing he keeps talking about is.

In English, Izzy wildly speculates that aliens put these phones here as a trap. Matt wants to order a pizza; Mimi demands no anchovies. Again trying to avoid Japan as a topic, Joe instead suggests these phones are for calling your parents for a ride, at which point Gomamon asks what parents are.

Taichi gets impatient with standing around contemplating the mystery phones and decides to use them instead. As soon as he bites that bullet, the rest of the group flood into the phone booths to do the same.

As Koushiro hands his phone card over to Taichi, dub Izzy says, "Use my phone card; The aliens can bill me." Goddammit, XD.

It does not go well. On the other end of the phone, all they can get are seemingly prerecorded messages replying with absolute gibberish.

"The time is now 38:82:90 AM." "Tomorrow's weather will be sunny with occasional ice cream." "This phone is currently outside all service areas."

The dub fully understood the assignment on this one and even spices up a couple of them. Instead of 39 o'clock, the time is now 45 MPH... and 90 seconds. My favorite bad phone message is the dub's "To leave a message, press 1 now. To leave a fingerprint, press 2 now!"

As it becomes apparent that these phones aren't their salvation, Taichi and Yamato break into an argument over next steps. Taichi wants to give up on the phones and leave, but Yamato steamrolls him with logic.

1 - The phones were ringing earlier. Even if we can't call out, if we hang out here, someone might call us. 2 - Not to mention, the whole group is too tired to start marching again.

With Koushiro backing him up and pointing out that everyone's getting hungry, Taichi relents. We'll stay here and take a break.

Discussing food options, the group inspect their belongings and rediscover their Digivices. They'd completely forgotten about those things. Cool, but not edible so. Y'know. Questions for later.

Setting those aside for now, the group goes over what they have on them to see who's got something to eat.

Sora: First aid kit. Koushiro: Laptop, digital camera, and cell phone. All non-functional since arriving on File Island. Taichi: Mini telescope.

Takeru: JACKPOT

I mean, it's all sweets so it's not very nutritional. But you know what it's not? It's not starving to death on the beach of a deserted island.

Mimi, meanwhile, is decked out for wilderness survival. She was nervous about the camping trip so she plundered her dad's stuff without his knowledge - A decision that, the group agrees, may be what keeps them alive in this place.

The dub once again takes this opportunity to be mean to Mimi. She describes the Swiss Army Knife as "one of those knives with all the things", which I actually like. She's like 10, that's a fair description for a 10-year-old who doesn't go camping.

But then they cut out her explanation of why she has all this stuff. Instead, Matt brings up earlier in the dub when Izzy mentioned they don't have a compass and snaps at MImi for not telling them she had one; Mimi defends herself by saying she thought it'd be fun to see how far they can get without it.

Y'all, they seriously changed a line earlier so they'd have something to yell at Mimi for later. The dub is so mean to Mimi.

Fortunately Jou, who's been busy trying to get the phones to work and hasn't followed the conversation, has the solution to our food problem: A bag of emergency rations he's been trying to pass off to Mimi.

As the group begins divvying upon the food, Jou crunches the numbers. It's supposed to be enough food for three days, but Takeru wasn't supposed to be on this camping trip; He snuck in to spend time with Yamato. So that's an extra mouth. Furthermore, the Digimon are going to double their food consumption.

The Digimon chime in to say they can forage just fine. They've been fending for themselves in the wilderness all their lives; They don't need to eat the emergency rations. That will help extend their time.

The dub simplifies the math a bit by counting T.K. as having officially been part of the trip, so there's an even share of food for him already accounted for.

However, while this conversation is happening, Taichi and Agumon are already digging into the rations. Whoops.

Before anyone else has a chance to eat, the kids are under attack once more. A subterranean assailant destroys the phone booths and their reason for lingering on this beach.

This is the Adult-stage Shellmon. His name is in English so it's pretty easy to tell what it's supposed to reference. The Digimon try their best to defend the kids from Shellmon, but only one of them has any energy to fight.

Agumon's signature move is called Baby Flame 'cause he's just a little guy. The dub changes it to Pepper Breath, which admittedly sounds cool as heck.

It quickly becomes apparent that he's the only one with stamina to fight. That's. Uh. That's a problem because Shellmon is Adult-stage like Kuwagamon. It took the entire group to fight Kuwagamon. And they lost.

So. Y'know. Agumon doesn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of holding this line. But he's gonna have to.

Demonstrating the courage that will become such a defining aspect of his character, Taichi throws himself into the fray. He leaps into action to distract Shellmon and open him up to flanking shots from Agumon. He also tries to fight more directly.

It does not go well. Taichi has zero chance of winning a fistfight with a kaiju shellfish. However, his courage and boldness sparks the next stage of Agumon's evolution.

With the theme song roaring up again, Agumon SHINKAAAAAA!

Agumon's Adult stage is Greymon. A bit of an odd name for such a colorful creature. I'm of the understanding that it's based on a form of grey that means "ancient", because he's clearly a dinosaur. That, however, is not a usage of the word that I'm familiar with.

Greymon's evolution is slightly different between versions. Just before Agumon evolves, in Japanese, he screams Taichi's name out of desperation. "TAICHI!!!" he cries out, before suddenly evolving into Greymon and gaining the power to fight back.

In English, he instead shouts "Digivolve!" like a battle cry, making it seem a little more like he's in control and doing this on purpose.

Taking control of this situation, Greymon hurls Shellmon into the air and unveils his new attack: Mega Flame, the vastly more powerful counterpart to Baby Flame. The dub calls it Digi-Nova Blast.

Mega Flame launches Shellmon into the distance and sends him crashing into the ocean offshore from File Island. A much more decisive victory than their previous encounter with Kuwagamon, though Shellmon likely is still alive out there.

Given what just happened, the group decides to keep their Digimon well-fed rather than trying to preserve the rations. Also, to get the hell out of here as quickly as possible. There's no reason to stay since the phones have been destroyed, and Shellmon could return at any moment.

Jou takes this opportunity to once more pitch returning to the woods they originally landed in, but he gets thoroughly outvoted. It's up a cliff, it's far away, no more Kuwagamon. Legit, in the dub, Mimi just frets about running into Kuwagamon again, but Japanese Mimi shrieks at Jou, "NO MORE KUWAGAMON!!!" XD I love that delivery.

Koushiro has a better plan: Phones imply the existence of people who installed them, so let's be proactive and go look for those people. Jou is once more outvoted.

With that settled, we have a little bit of food, we have a plan, and the group sets off to pursue this thin thread of hope that they've found.

[lootthekey]

Duskmourn- The Living Horror Plane Theory

Art by Antonio José Manzanedo

Hello, this is me making another big post, but this time related to an upcoming set we know almost nothing about other than its loose themes. Duskmourn, a set themed around modern horror, or more accurately horror from the 70’s and 80’s, is extremely unique in that it takes place on the plane of Duskmourn. Why is that unique? You see, Duskmourn, the plane, is not like other planes at all. Even the most corrupted of Magic’s natural worlds, like Innistrad and Amonkhet, have a natural appearance to them. They have wildlife, a difference between civilization and nature, and overall are just standard worlds with differing cultures and ecosystems.

Duskmourn is extremely different from that.

Duskmourn is just one, absolutely gigantic, haunted mansion. As far as we know, this plane has very little in terms of an actual “world” and is just this massive house of horrors, hence the name of the set “Duskmourn: House of Horrors”. What is so interesting about this is the potential implications of this. As said, Magic’s planes almost universally follow the basic blueprint of being an actual world not unlike our own aside from the magical aspects of them, like Kamigawa’s Spirit Realm and similar.

The only plane that comes close to not being an actual “world” is Mirrodin, now better known as New Phyrexia. Even New Phyrexia, a world molded to its core by Elesh Norn and the other praetors of New Phyrexia, loosely imitates a natural world with its various spheres each having their own… ecosystem if they can be called that.

Duskmourn, until it is shown further and they say otherwise, has none of this to our understanding. It’s ONLY this big mansion. This leads me to my main theory I have today:

Duskmourn is an unnatural world.

And I don’t just mean this by how different it is. I mean to imply either this plane was created, similar to Mirrodin, by an extremely powerful entity, OR has been so heavily corrupted/modified/etc by a similar entity that it can no longer be called a “natural plane”.

The first possibility is interesting, but there isn’t much to further analyze with that possibility. We don’t know of any characters currently that can CREATE planes that aren’t just some random oldwalker we probably haven’t met yet or some all powerful demon potentially.

The second possibility, that the plane was corrupted and shaped into its current form by an extremely powerful entity, does have more interesting implications, as there are hilariously several beings in Magic’s modern lore capable of doing so. This is mainly because it seems to take much less effort to corrupt an individual plane, especially if you have a lot of help, than it is to create a full plane. Not that it still isn’t world breaking power at play, but its possible. We saw the New Phyrexians do it to Mirrodin, and they probably could have done it to other worlds if they weren’t met with heavy pushback.

Let’s revisit the image that I posted above and has basically been WotC’s chosen image to showcase the plane in its little time slot on their release timeline.

This is an extremely large, very eldritch and/or demonic looking entity that dwells on Duskmourn… or perhaps more. If you study this art, its “body” naturally flows into what can be called doors, staircases, pillars, and windows. The sheer size of this thing is awe inspiring, and it is extremely eldritch in appearance. Its really only a little different in appearance to another cast of very eldritch entities in Magic’s lore that I also made big posts about.

Art by Eli Minaya

The Eldrazi Titans. Very similar bone-like appearance to Ulamog, very similar “multiple limb” design of Kozilek, and a similar “glowing eldritch hole(s)” design to Emrakul. You might see where I am going with this, which is:

Duskmourn is a giant, living plane, who’s World Soul has been supplanted by an Eldrazi Titan.

Now, you might say, “But Colin, Eldrazi’s do not do that. They eat worlds.” But how do we know that? Emrakul, in Eldritch Moon, was fully capable of taking over Innistrad. She had the entire plane in her grasp and there were no signs of her losing. She was delayed by the Gatewatch, but by the end all of them had been mentally overwhelmed by her powers. Emrakul sealed herself into Innistrad’s moon at the end of it all, clearly with a larger, more complex goal in mind that has haunted us to this day.

Duskmourn, I believe, is a world that has been completely corrupted by an Eldrazi not unlike Emrakul.

The inhabitants, who I don’t even know how they survive in such a world, are constantly bombarded by mental attacks from the world itself. This is not unlike what happened when Emrakul fought the Gatewatch. Every inhabitant of Duskmourn is a captive in Duskmourn’s corrupting grasp, and that will be central to the plane I believe. This is an unnatural world run by an eldritch entity, and the nature of it could be the key to learning more about the Eldrazi and/or how the World Souls of planes function.

I am very excited to see what Duskmourn has in store, and I hope it does not disappoint.

[positron2399]

The Kehhar (Whispers in the Stars)

The Kehhar have a hard time grasping a day-night cycle as they came from a tidally-locked world that orbited a red dwarf. They evolved to be ground-dwelling filter-feeders/herbivores, eating aerial plankton and the near-black flora that’s better described as slime molds than plants. They also don’t call themselves “kehhar,” The Juggerknight and Brunniee call them that as they communicate with their bioluminescent displays. The reason they have such displays is due to them evolving from tropical orb-weaver-sized “bugs” as both a mating display and a warning to potential predators that they’d promptly die after consumption. Said macrofauna only evolved to their current sizes due to the Juggerknight slamming into their world over twice the speed of light, this also caused a massive ocean to form in the shape of a pupil. They average around .7 m in length and .2 meters in height. And they reproduce via budding like sponges or hydras.

They don’t mate either, while they do swap genes, this is believed to have evolved to increase genetic diversity as this gene swapping between members of the same and closely related species is present in all but two species, those being deep-sea microbes. It’s also of important note that their “genetic” system is closer to that of prions than DNA or RNA, as in, their information is stored on gigantic self-replicating “super proteins.” Albeit much tougher than most crap on earth thanks to the lovely dose of UV from their sun as well as their magnetosphere being fucking 12.3 gauss. Hence how it kept its hydrogen/nitrogen atmosphere, well that and their world is a super-earth with twice the gravity of our world and an atmosphere 7 times as dense, which allowed for aerial plankton, land-dwelling “sponges” and other filter feeders, and even sky “whales.” Though the largest sky whales only exceed Quetzalcoatlus in length and wingspan. ( Yes, I know the how protein-based life thing likely isn’t very plausible, but they have a 2ish meter-tall crystalline guardian that served in the Vietnam War, an event that took place millions of years before them)

It’s also of important note that the kehhar are a very stagnant people, having an information age comparable to that of the early 2000s in terms of technology, granted just as radiation-resistant as them. Granted, rather than using spoiled plankton juice in a hyper-capitalist world, they used solar, nuclear, and wind energies in a heavily caste based feudalist system, granted, there were capitalist and communist nations, but they just didn’t have too much power thanks to the meddlings of the monarchs. Also, they weren’t a planet of hats, kehhars had different loves, hates, and political views from each other. Some working as world-renowned actors, wage-to-wage restaurant cooks, doctors, miners, farmers and so much more.

As for their generation ships, they’re a gift from an allied species called “ven,” also named by The Juggerknight as they communicate via radio waves. Though they weren’t originally supposed to be gifts, they were warships meant to “cleanse” the world of the kehhar, but over time the vens “hearts” changed. Still, the space habitats of the kehhar had all of their advanced weapons like antimatter and sonic bombs (not that the sonic weapons would work) and replaced them with “primitive” weapons such as “slow” suicidal super nuke drones, cannons that shoot telephone pole sized tungsten rods, and particle beans. These space habitats are also humungous, being around 6 km long (including their thrusters), each housing many dense cities, farmland (though most livestock is simply pets as meat is now lab-grown), and wildlife reserves. While they can and do use solar energy, the habitats are primarily powered and propelled via fusion and a maximum speed of .098C

Feedback and Critique welcome (^_^)

[rebeccathenaturalist]

The removal of dams from PNW rivers is one of the best ways to help salmon survive. We've seen in multiple cases where aquatic ecosystems have rebounded even faster than expected once a dam is removed and the water is allowed to flow naturally. This isn't just beneficial to local and regional ecology, but to indigenous communities who have relied on the salmon since time immemorial.

Yes, hydroelectric dams have provided clean energy for decades, which often makes getting rid of them a tough sell, both for people concerned about energy stability in general, and those wanting to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. However, we have other options that have less impact; windmills are increasing on the Western landscape, and a study a few years ago showed that solar power could replace the capacity of existing hydroelectric dams using a fraction of the space.

Are there details to iron out? Of course. While windmills are not the massive killers of birds and bats that the fossil fuel industry tries to paint them as, we do need to address the existing wildlife mortality--and people are already doing just that. Solar panels also need to be carefully placed, and materials sourced and recycled as sustainably as possible.

But when compared to the massive amount of resources used to build and maintain hydroelectric dams, and the immense negative impact on salmon and their aquatic ecosystems, wind and solar power are much better options for the long-term, especially if we keep putting effort into solving the problems of environmental impact, energy storage, and overall sustainability. The fact of the matter is that ANY form of energy we create is going to have some negative effects on the planet. But we can choose to engage in as much damage control as possible, and focus on solutions that take both human energy needs AND the rest of nature into account.

[mac-kd8]

If this post gets 50 likes, I will write a Balam x reader story

Name: Millieanne Clover

-But she likes to go by Annie

Height: 5’4

Gender: Female

Birthday: April 13

Occupation: Retired Wildlife Explorer

 Teacher (geography)

Rank: Khet (8)

Likes and Hobbies: sweets, canned coffee, flute, baking, and board games

Skills: Chain Magic, stealth, speed, charisma, great intelligence despite making stupid choices

Bloodline Magic: Lock up 

Her bloodline magic allows her to remove any living organisms’ magic powers.

Weakness - Her bloodline magic wouldn’t work if her target is either non-living or have the magic power of a YODH (10). 

History

Millieanne use to be classmates and best friends with Kalego and Balam.  She meets the duo by planning a secret ambush attack against  Kalego. By using the element of surprise, it was easy for  Millieanne to restrain Kalego with Chain magic and use her bloodline magic to remove his magical abilities. The reason why Millieanne attacked Kalego was that a gang of 5 boys tricked her into believing that Kalego take secret pictures of girls in the locker room.

But they are just using the clueless girl in order to beat up Kalego while he is in a weakened state.

  At the time,  Millieanne didn’t know that Kalego was innocent, so Balam stepped in and completely shatter Millieanne ’s arm.  Before a fight between Balam and  Millieanne could break out, multiple arousing pictures of female students which included Millieanne , fell out of one of Kalego’s attacker’s pockets.  Knowing who the true guilty party was,  Millieanne teamed up with Balam and Kalego in order to give the gang of liars and perverts true hell.   In the end, both Balam and Kalego became friends with  Millieanne when she asked them to sign her cast.  Within the first month of school, the 3 of them became best friends,

Balam grew a massive crush on Millieanne , having a lot of common interests in animals and humans.   Balam was going to confess his feelings to Millieanne   on graduation day but chickened out at the last minute.

After Kalego, Balam, and Millieanne from Bablys, Millieanne becomes a well-known explorer in the Netherworld.  When she was given the opportunity to become a teacher at her old school,  Millieanne retired from the life of an explorer and joined the teaching staff of Babyls Demon School a year before Iruma enrolls.   After Balam became friends with Iruma, that gave him the courage to finally confess his long terms feelings for Millieanne.  Now they are happily married and had started a family together. 

FyI- I got lots of pictures of my oc and Balam being cute together, I’ll post them in the future