#legless on main

[g1rlken]

I'm so excited you're taking requests for Rupert Campbell-Black!!

Do you think you could maybe fo #15 from your prompt list about him showing up for the reader bc they don't have anyone else?

Idk if just love that trope and I think it works with him.

If you don't feel inspired by that one no worries!

Someone in the crowd

prompt15 Rupert Campbell Black x fem!reader

word count: 5.3k+

warnings: parental neglect, mild swearing, hurt comfort, FLUFF

AN: Ahhhhhhh ANON I love you this is my fav prompt I was initially planning on the same one anyways thanks for platform ing my Rupert obsession you’re the first one

The chronicles of the country side for a veterinary sciences PhD student included more than just animals, main reason she selected a university so far from the hustle and bustle of the city. Peculiar animals in their natural state, she came across more than just peculiar animals.

Trespassing loses its meaning for the engrossed researcher, she didn’t realise when she passed the forest to a private estate land whilst following the slow worm. The most advanced high end camera, that Rupert had only seen with those media folks and proper film production. However he assumed the girl in a camouflage jungle vest to be an intern in a tabloid firm, trying to prove herself to be ever so efficient to her superiors by sneaking in to his property for a few pictures. Too naive to realise he could sue her for all her fortune perhaps. Rather an amateur at her job perhaps, she was there to snap him yet her attention didn’t avert to him on his horse before he approached her himself, “Young lady” he cleared his throat sternly “You do realise you’re trespassing here?”

“Oh?” She looked out of her camera lens to the voice that called out her and in an instant she lost sight of the slow worm she was following. “Fuck!”

“And if you don’t delete the pictures and get off of this land right this second I will be suing you for all the jobs you don’t already have.” Rupert threatened, he truly misliked this breach of his privacy to no end. But because the girl seemed unskilled and gullible to her supposedly first job he felt he could let her get off easily.

“I’m not deleting any pictures I barely got two” she said with a heavy sigh, her eyes frantically searching for her subject within the grass again not too bothered by his threat. “And I don’t have any job as it is”

“Oh” he amused, getting off of the saddle of his horse to level with her, “are you one of those fans then? How many times do I have to tell you people-“

“What?” Her attention broke from her subjected reptile to the man this time, “a fan? I don’t even know you…”

“Oh right” he scoffed placing his hands by his hips, “surely you don’t.”

“I truly don’t. I was following my subject for today from the forest lands and I ended up here it was an honest mistake” she explained herself as she opened her camera to show him the pictures, they were all reptiles and not…him.

“You were following a snake?” He asked rather confused and somewhat intrigued as to what would bring her to this.

“It’s not a snake, it’s a is a legless lizard. Anguis Fragilis” she corrected the man, ever so casually as if it were the most common of knowledges to attain.

The man just burst into laughter letting go of the horse chain to contain it, his hand on his chest he could find the joke in the name and the scenario extremely comical. “You have got to be kidding me!”

Y/n felt a bit embarrassed as if she’d said the wrong name so she went through it in her head again and she wasn’t, wrong. It was perhaps like college again, info dumping on the wrong set of people who poke fun at peculiar passions. But the man seemed to be too old to be like those immature college kids who mock others so she was left rather confused “what is so funny?” She asked hesitantly, “it’s rather rare and native to this area we don’t come across them in the city…” she trailed off trying to fill in his boastful laughter with something to feel less uncomfortable.

“Oh is it now?” Rupert asked as his laughter subsided and he realised the girl was an enthusiast in a true fashion. He just found the name of the godforsaken reptile to have a double meaning to it, he thought she made it up but when she got awkward and explained further he realised she wasn’t joking. “My apologies, are you new here?”

“Yes Ive actually moved here for research, I’m studying veterinary sciences for PhD… ” she said still feeling a bit self conscious after he’d laughed like that.

“Anus Fragilis huh?” He repeated trying his best to suppress another set of laughter but he failed at it ever so evidently.

“Anguis…er-slow worm.” She cringed as she picked up on the joke that had him loosing his composure like that. Perhaps she judged him to act his age which he looked so fast. “It’s also called slow worm. I lost him regardless, so I’ll get going. Sorry to bother you.”

“No, no hang on a second darling” he said gripping her elbow as she attempted to leave but as she returned to face him again he left it just instantly. “Since you’re already here, allow me to indulge you in a coffee or so? It would be very disappointing if I don’t get to learn more about…” he wanted to say it, the joke. But the awkwardly offended look on her face of feeling small wasn’t worth it so he kept it to himself “slow worms and legless lizards”

“They’re the same.” She briefed him feeling his ignorance, the PhD aspirant did not seem to have time to entertain his indulgence. “Forgive me but I have to go, I’ve walked too far from my car.”

“Well then allow me to drop you?” Rupert offered with his usual charm which didn’t leave to phase a lot.

Not her perhaps, “It’s not that far” she said curtly. Packing her camera equipment in a hurry. “Thanks. And sorry for trespassing.”

Rupert watched as she hastily packed her lenses and the rolls. Just when he thought he could work on himself to not offend people on first impressions, he generally didn’t do so with ladies so perhaps this was a first. “I’m Rupert Campbell Black” He put his hand forward for a handshake, “Sports Minister.” He introduced himself.

She had both her hands full with her books and camera, which she could rearrange back in the bag to accept his handshake but she’d rather not so she just nodded shortly. “Yes, Mr. Rupert, so nice to meet you.” She said with half a smile, then paced away not even waiting for his reply.

“I suppose I’ll see you around?” He said with his usual grin but she was already pacing away back to the path she’d come from.

That is how the two first met. Not her most memorable nor pleasant interaction but surely intriguing for the minister. The next time he met her, late early evening at a cafe. It took a second to recognise her with her head down in a book but there was enough lighting cast on her against the window where she sat. “Slow worm!” He exclaimed as he approached her causing her to avert her attention from the book to him.

“You…” she trailed off however her tone didn’t match the same enthusiasm as his. “Hi.” She said as he gestured to the chair across her on her table, asking if someone was there but she shrugged and nodded “Please, go ahead” she said being polite, internally bracing herself for another awful interaction.

“I was hoping I’d run into you” he told her leaning forward on the table crossing his arms, “turns out, your little bugger is a frequent visitor of the stable sheds back at the estate.”

“That explains yeah” she nodded closing her book, the size of it gigantic and hardcover it made a small thud, “it eats slugs and snails, spiders too…”

“Wonderful aspect” Rupert complimented, under informed on the subject he didn’t know what to say. “Did you get proper observations for your research?”

“Superficially yes” she nodded, “I’ll run into more of those one of these days.”

“You can always just visit my place again…I would be honoured to help out a bright mind.” Rupert offered leaning back in the chair, unbuttoning his blazer.

“That is so kind of you, I’m very sorry for trespassing that day” she said it again, obviously not friendly enough with him to take him up on that offer.

“Well you could make up for it by telling me your name.” He shrugged as his lips formulated a smile.

“Y/n.” She told him. As the conversation progressed, learning more of him, telling him more about her research and the subjects she’d come across so far. For someone in a vastly different field he was such an attentive listener. She’d told him a lot, about the animals, her thesis, her lectures and sessions, being a TA, moving here.

“And what of your friends?” He asked her over his second cup of coffee in the same conversation because he wanted to keep it going.

“I don’t live on campus so I don’t have roommates to be friends with, then I’m a TA but everyone else is a bachelors and third year student. Had I done college here I’d have those friends…I do have friends from college back home but as of now it’s only my professors.” She informed him, very casual with it but as she formulated the picture in his head it seemed to be a rather isolating experience.

“And what do you do for fun around here?” He asked her to see if it was as isolating as he realised.

“Trespass estates.” She joked with a small giggle, but in truth she did absolutely nothing for fun because there wasn’t anything.

“Greatest hobby ever” he joked back. But as she didn’t follow up with another activity he realised that if he pried about it he’d just force her to admit she led a boring and somewhat lonely life. He wasn’t judging her, she was fresh out of college and had to move a whole place and seemed to have no friends here. Well except for him if she’ll have him. “Are you struggling?”

“Of course not. I love my work, I can easily afford rent too it’s not a problem.” She replied honestly, if only financial was all of her struggles.

“Don’t you think you’d save more if you lived on campus?” He questioned unsure of her choice to stay in a boutique flat in one of the most expensive neighbourhoods.

“My father wouldn’t allow it. He’s a bit of a tone deaf classist that way.” She admitted, rather casually.

“Allow?” He repeated, surprised. He didn’t know her precise age but by her educational status and the looks of it someone in their early twenties didn’t need their father’s permission on how to live.

“It’s just a bit complicated, he wants all of his children to take the right step that is work in our family business, his company. I tried, it’s soul draining and very unlike me” she sighed “So I just extended education.”

“To get far from him?” He perceived, perhaps not the way she saw it.

“—To explore my options. I don’t want to disappoint him when I can avoid it.”

“And is this the way to be?” He asked, his tone guarded and expression curious.

“Perhaps.” She replied, but on the inside she was so hyper aware that anywhere farther from the family business as all the way to be. She didn’t want to distanced from her father nor her family, she may not be the golden child but she wanted him to be ever so proud of her even though she didn’t walk on the road he chose for her.

“Your spirit likes the fight doesn’t it?” It was more of an observation than a question.

“I don’t indulge in self awareness that well” She replied with a bemused shrug and he just let out a low laugh that. And that was her first friendship in Rutshire. To Rupert’s likeness the cafe was another one of basil’s side quests but he visited there less frequently given the bar was his primary. Regardless, Rupert got him too. The prime customer and his newest friend, studied there most of the time because she lived close by and Rupert felt drawn to her company.

She had no other and he found her growing to be his favourite one. He fancied the conversations with her so much, in her absence basil teased him about it. This one afternoon, Rupert visited as his usual time, or perhaps y/n’s usual time which he picked up on but she wasn’t there. “The coffee can’t be that good.” Basil said with a small scoff, as he found Rupert with a disappointed expression in the girl’s absence.

“I’m just trying to reduce the alcohol intake” Rupert said nonchalantly, well aware he didn’t the caffeine he’d been consuming just for the conversations with her.

“I wasn’t talking about the coffee” Basil added with a devious grin hinting at the double meaning joke he was referring for.

“Piss off” Rupert rolled his eyes at the man with a heavy sigh of irritation sitting down at the table, rolling up his sleeves and facepalming. “This is her usual time to come and study here” he mentioned.

“Which you don’t let her do.” Basil said, the entire time indulging the poor girl in conversations and spontaneous outing plans. “She’d have to be extraordinarily brilliant to keep up with her courseworks with all the detours you put her up to.”

“She is extraordinarily brilliant.” Rupert briefed him.

“I suppose you’d know.” Basil shrugged leaning against the table where he was sat, “Does she have a boyfriend?”

Seemingly offended at the mere thought of that Rupert’s expression disgusted, “Of course not!”

“Of course not?” Basil repeated surprised with his affirm expression. “So you are sleeping with her.”

“I’m not sleeping with her.” Rupert emphasised on the word ‘not’ and it was probably the tenth time that Bas had asked him that this moment.

“Of course not” Basil humoured him mimicking his tone when he said that.

“I’m not, it isn’t like that with her.” Rupert tried to explain that to his friend who found that to be such a foreign concept. It was a very strangely unknown and unspecific feeling for Rupert himself too.

“You don’t want to sleep with her?” Bas questioned not believing nor understanding the prospect “she’s rather pretty.” besides he’d sleep with anything.

“She isn’t just pretty Bas, she’s beautiful, a bit too much even on the inside.” He paused “She is precious.” Rupert spoke with such genuine passion that basil had to lay off of the joke he was brewing.

“And what of you?” Basil asked, it was something Rupert hadn’t even questioned himself for well not yet anyways.

“What of me?” He answered the question with a question feigning innocence. Before basil could further explain himself, even though well aware that Rupert understood him. The bells of the door jingled announcing upcoming presence in the nearly empty cafe causing the men to turn at the voice.

“Hello-Hello, Gentlemen!” Y/n exclaimed in the most enthusiastic Sunday morning tone possible but it was a cloudy afternoon on a Tuesday. To Rupert she always sounded like a Sunday morning with her little giggles and all the mannerisms but today she seemed way more lifted with spirits.

“Want to bet a tenner she ran into a coyote.” Basil said as she made her way to their table sitting across Rupert whilst basil was still leaning against the table.

“I bet you a twenty its a pine marten.” Rupert said, he picked up on everything from their conversation. This week she was in search of that specific animal from her list or so, he kept track somewhat subconsciously.

“It’s neither” She said with a smile still plastered on her face as she sat her bag down to the side placing her hands on the table. “I’ve got great news, well not great but perhaps good, great to me.” She went in an adjective discourse and shook her head coming back on track “My professor submitted my thesis to this government honorary publications department and I’m getting an in-kind research grant!”

“The government is giving you money?!” Basil matched her enthusiastic tone leaning forward on the table.

“No, no it’s an in kind grant…as in-they present me with an award but the big thing is that I get policy access, lab space, government authorised datasets…” she explained further with her eyes so lit up Rupert wanted to bottle this warmth of emotions he felt in just seeing her happy like this and drink it like water.

“You are getting an award?!” Rupert said with loud earnest passion for her excelling. “Y/n! That is marvellous news!”

“You fucking genius!” Basil added further, giving her a side hug and kissing the top of her head, giving her hair a ruffle as he walked across the cafe, “this calls for a celebration!”

“Thank you” She replied with a toothy smile. Feeling very heart warmed. Then Rupert took both her hands in his, he looked just as lit up as if it was his award.

“My darling, you absolute mastermind. Your mind is a wonder, y/n I am so so proud of you!” He said, he didn’t have to reaffirm or reassure more so because out of everyone she’d come across, Rupert had been so supportive, a subject and felt so unfamiliar yet he’d reassured and let her know it so constantly that she’d always have him to be cheering so hard for her. “You deserved this!”

“Rupert, that is so kind! Thank you, seriously” she replied with a glint in her eyes he could feel coloured by. Just about on time, basil blasted the confetti cracker he happened to have lying around. He turned the open sign to closed at the door of the cafe and returned to the table, slowly she let her hands out of Rupert’s.

“Didn’t have champagne in the cafe but this should do” Basil said as he presented their table with a small cake.

“You didn’t have to close the place” y/n said with a small giggle as she saw the cake, a sign in red jam crossing out the name ‘Einstein’ and Y/n in its place. Classic Bas.

“Oh please love, I deserve this celebration.” Bas said with a dramatic roll of his eyes, any reason to not work was reason enough.

“Right of course since he worked so hard.” Rupert joked clearly forgetting he owed the man in staying the cafe for him to keep it open just in case y/n might come in. They kept congratulating her over and over again as the trio dug into the cake.

“So when exactly is the award function?” Rupert asked, it was going to be event of the week for him more than it was for y/n.

“It’s on this Friday, I get one visitor pass and my father is flying out to attend it!” She said, ebullient. It did irk him somewhat because he’d wanted to see her receive the award but he knew how much her father’s approval meant to her so he was happy in her happiness regardless.

“That is great news, what did he say?” Rupert asked keeping his disappointment for not being able to see her at bay.

“His assistant put me through in the very second call so he must really be impressed, he asked me about the function and he sounded very positive of it.” She told them about the seemingly brief phone call.

“You have to talk to an assistant to get to your fath-“ basil was quickly interjected with a small shove on the leg from Rupert to take a turn in that observation. Rupert didn’t want it to rain her parade, “It’s so nice he’s coming all this way.”

“He’d probably stay a day or two after that you should meet him!” She added, it seemed as if she was somewhat more joyous with the fact that her father was pleased than the actual award to her name. It was a grey line.

“I would be delighted to.” Rupert said, he would be. At least for her sake despite having his internal doubts towards the man.

-

The award function was an extremely formal event, you could barely tell apart the professors from the bureaucrats. Rupert could tell the difference easily though, he simply knew the later group, almost all of them. But he wasn’t there for any of those people. Taking his seat at the round table, next to the faces he knew very well but he was way too focused on the happenings of the stage to indulge in small talk. And then there it was.

The lady of the evening. At least for him, her research dissertation was called out and he recognised it was her turn before they presented her name as well. White shirt with several pins of animal welfare and her educational institution. Simplicity and grace, ever so precious. As she received the medal and the award plate Rupert clapped perhaps the loudest, standing up even. The stage wasn’t so far but she didn’t spot him because her eyes were searching another direction and the procession was short lived before she could avert her gaze.

Finally after all the names were done, she was free from the stage back to the softly mingling crowd. “There she is!” The enthusiastic exclamation caught her attention from her lost trance.

Adhering the man in suit with flowers in his hand, surprised and radiated expression, “Rupert?!” She was baffled and so relieved she didn’t understand the later feeling. She rushed to him, their distance getting closer as he opened his arms for her.

“Congratulations, darling” he said bringing her into a tight embrace both of them so joyous, hers was rather infectious. He easily lifted her from the ground out of glee, kissing the side of her face. “You were wonderful out there!”

“When did you get here?” She asked once he put him down and she pulled away yet kept her arms entangled with him. Enough to just see his face, “also how?”

“I’m an MP you thought I wouldn’t be able to get into a government function?” He amused, surprised she did not see it coming, perhaps she wasn’t expecting him but her reaction seemed as if she would rather prefer him. “I got here an hour before yours was announced.”

“I am so glad you made it!” She told him, the effort was so heartwarming to her. He’d came to an event which wasn’t initially his, making more arrangements to even get in for her. She didn’t want to voice it because he’d always reply with such a strange concern as if being loved more than to be sustained wasn’t optional, she wasn’t used to this concern nor sentimental support.

Rupert could tell her kind, wide eyes in a sort of turmoil of something she couldn’t figure out by even herself but he didn’t pry on it, “where is your father?” He asked looking around shortly.

“Oh he…he isn’t here. He could not make it.” She said with a small shrug, that is how casual his absence was to him.

“—How come?”

“Probably his flight, I forgot to notify him about our time zones or so. If he were skipping he would’ve called prior” there was a small hope tugging at her heartstrings trying to believe this wasn’t like the other times. “He would be here anyways, would just be missing the event.”

“I suppose” he replied curtly, being presented with two choices of either being truthful with her of her father’s harsh and uncaring constitution or hold the hope she held out for the man with her. None of the two seemed befitting to him. As the event progressed she introduced him to some of her professors and people that she worked with, he did the same with the other officials that he knew of. She grew tired of the socialising and asked him if they could leave the event, she wasn’t as tired as she was growing disappointed of a man who wasn’t even in the room.

Even though Rupert and her came to the event from a different place and were going back in difference directions it was a given that they leave together. At least to him it was, she’d just informed him she felt like leaving and he stood up in an instant. He was dropping her back to her place because she didn’t driver herself to the function. The two were walking, to his car in the chilly night with his suit blazer draped over her shoulders, flowers and his hand in her hand, he carried her award with her bag for her and a light hearted conversation. Serenity which ran away once they came across a pay phone call booth. “Do you mind if I go make a call?” She asked him, he nodded but he was well aware who that call was intended for.

Rupert leant against the phone stand with the small door of it open, close to her as she pressed the numbers inserting coins. Anxiously awaiting the other line to answer she replied when a voice answered “Hello, this is me, y/n. Did dad leave yet?” She asked, he hated to see her in such distress and was afraid the conversation ought to make it worse. “What? What do you mean—the event, my award he was going to be here for…like he promised.” Rupert could only hear y/n’s side of the conversation but he could pan out the other side, which wasn’t even her father just some office assistant. “Just let me talk to him…please…two minutes perhaps?” It was difficult to watch, begging for the scraps of her father to an assistant. After a few moments the call ended and she couldn’t even stomach the courtesy of a goodbye.

As she walked out of the booth he searched for her to meet his eyes, narrate to him the happenings of the call. “His plans changed” she said but nothing further. He could tell she didn’t feel like talking so he stopped walking and also held her back from the track, pulled her into his arms. Resting his chin on top of her head as he held her, enlacing his arms around her tightly. He could definitely stay like this for rest of the night. Even life? A small voice suggested and he quickly dismissed it as he was pulled back to her, she didn’t feel relaxed in his arms even though she hugged him back and her face so steady, he felt his shirt getting sprinkled with dampness, as if in smallest portions.

“Y/n…” he trailed off pulling away to confirm if she was crying, “are you crying?” He asked as she lowered her face so he couldn’t see it but he leant in her direction to see. “Hey..hey, it’s alright” he pulled her back to him letting her weep onto his chest as he ran a hand through her hair.

“I don’t understand why I feel so bad” she said through her tears, holding onto him like she would fall apart even more if he let go. Perhaps she would.

“It is alright darling just let it out” Rupert said as he continued to sooth her in his arms, trying to provide a present, grounding support.

“He promised me…” she trailed off crying harder, all those events where her father should’ve been present but wasn’t came back to her. Fancy dress competitions at school where the chauffeur that dropped her off would have to attend the show out of pity for the child, birthdays where he would have to be bothered a multiple times to come attend cake-cutting, evidently sad over a test but he simply couldn’t be bothered to ask his daughter if she was alright. So much life spent in I-promise-you-I’ll-be-there. So much disappointment and you’d think one would learn. “I just feel stupid-I thought this time would be different.”

Rupert held her face in his hands “look at me” he said forcing her to meet his gaze. “You are not stupid for what you feel, you are not at fault for someone so detached and irresponsible towards their own child.” He spoke whilst wiping her tears, “he will forever be an incomplete, deficient man for the kind of father that he is. But you my love are beyond him and how he treats you, you’re brilliant and kind and funny and you have a heart big enough to hold a planet. You are going to go so far, your suffrage of his conditional love and inflicted anguish will heal for the better. I promise you that.”

This was a better hope than the one she was always latched onto, hoping that he would change, come around for once. But letting go and a promise for a softer tomorrow seemed so much more beautiful. “But I am so tired”

“You have been so gentle through so much…you must have been tired too. But persevering is constant and you, you always do. There is so much life within you, those around you are infected with it, I know I am.” He confessed, he hadn’t voiced it out especially not like this even to himself but she was more than a lively feeling, more than a chase or a rush for attraction. No. She was life.

Such admission made her heart flutter, she felt the drumming in her ears and it wasn’t the anxious kind. This felt like a sunrise after a good dream, but she had no words for it because her eyes spoke enough and so did his that wandered down to her lips and back to his. Reciprocating the course of gaze when he leant forward, face so close she didn’t move even by the slightest tired of awaiting him to inch to the closest extent she caught a soft grip of his shirt, lowering her gaze right when he crashed his lips onto hers. She kissed him back and it felt heavenly, as the kiss deepened he felt like he had reached there.

Smiles glued to their faces once they pulled away to catch a breath, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear he said “you are not the only one who’s won something tonight.”

“That means I’ve won twice” she said with a small giggle adding to his exaggeration that kissing her felt like a win.

“That isn’t the same.” Rupert corrected her, going in to kiss her again with a slower passion, taking his time letting the sweetness of it linger “for me this is centuries worth of wins.”

—

IVE SO MUCH MORE OF HIS STUFF COMING SOMEBODY SEDATE ME…next his enemies to lovers let me know if you want to be tagged

PLEASE comments are my fuel I am HUNGRY for validation please if you like this please please let me know

[smallmariofindings]

Unused sprite found in development files for Yoshi's Island, appearing to depict an early, legless design for the Lantern Ghost enemy.

Main Blog | Twitter | Patreon | Small Findings | Source

[justshapesandshitposting]

Fraxinus (Sometimes referred to as Frax or Fraxie) time!

As always, HCs, notes and etc. under the cut

The third of the four to wake up from gestation. Took longer to learn how to move, but once xe got the basics down, xe got it. 

Slower and more deliberate. Calmer and quieter. But that does NOT mean that xe are soft and that xe aren’t capable of messing someone up majorly if you push xer. However because of xier calmer demeanor when/if they get angry enough to start fucking shit up, EVERYONE notices and gets the hell outta there. 

Gardens as a hobby, and most of xer rooms or places have at least one form of potted plant (or potted fungus) somewhere. These are their babies and they will get pissy if you damage them intentionally. 

Lowkey done with everyone’s bullshit and the straight one of the four, that pulls the other three back if they get too chaotic or too destructive. This only tends to work when they’re there though. There’s a reason why Alnus and Aesculus don’t tell them when they’re leaving to harass Fresh (for various reasons) the main of which is them yelling at them and possibly convincing Saro to ground them.

As a treespawn xe can change their body types between Shortrib, Longrib, and Legless pretty much at will. They prefer to stick in shortrib form because of xer attachment to Saro. 

Treespawn as a whole can also sizeshift, depending on how much beat-energy that they decide to use to tweak their size. Fraxinus and their pseudo-siblings in the rest of the player shapes prefer to be smaller and faster as a general whole. 

When channeling beat-energy xer eyespots/darker markings will flash or turn white, meanwhile their lighter markings will flash or turn black. This happens during their dashes, TIO form, and when otherwise using beat-energy structures or projectiles. 

Internally, treespawn are much more plant/tree-like. Instead of bones they have what essentially amounts to wood and that’s both supported and somewhat surrounded by condensed roots. Instead of hair they have foliage, either in the form of leaves or needles. Their digestive systems are more similar to carnivorous plants, multiple chambers for digesting and then storing fluids and goo. Reproductively they take after flower reproductive systems. 

Their shape-like appearance is grown over time, and is essentially a layer of ‘clothing’ over their full plant-ness, with seams where if needed, they can shed the ‘skin’ either for repairs, or for some other reason. Because of this many treespawn just don’t really see any issues with going around ‘nude’ and really only wear clothing to keep themselves warm. 

[lilietsblog]

my mom found this on facebook. about soviet life. from people who were adults back then. Translation mine

Content warnings for ableism and state violence. Especially ableism. I do not put these here lightly.

Марина Шаповалова: Рождественское. Повтор.

Marina Shapovalova: Christmas. Repetition.

Основными чертами психологии советского человека были тотальная лживость и жестокость.

The main psychological traits of a soviet person were all-encompassing deceit and cruelty.

Мы говорим о "длящемся преступлении", в котором преступники одновременно являются жертвами и порождают себе подобных. Лживость и жестокость, на протяжении десятилетий разрушавшие социум и разрушившие, наконец, страну, были необходимым условием выживания.

We talk about "continuous crime", in which criminals simultaneously are victims and create the next ones. Deceit and cruelty, which had been destroying that society for decades and finally destroyed the country, were necessary preconditions for survival.

Советские люди послевоенного поколения помнили, как в 54-м году в одночасье исчезли с улиц городов, вокзалов и электричек инвалиды-попрошайки. Таких были сотни тысяч, но лишь немногие доживали остаток лет в семьях. Всеми брошенные или потерявшие близких солдаты побирались в одиночку или парами (слепой или безрукий с безногим) - их жалели, нищенских подачек хватало на хлеб и водку. Все помнили, как их вдруг не стало - и забыли. А если вспоминали, то шёпотом. Среди своих. И так, чтобы дети не слышали.

Soviet people of the post-war generation remembered how in '54 all at once beggar invalids (translator's note: I am using this word on purpose. There are connotations to it that "disabled" doesn't cover. Needing glasses is a disability, but doesn't make you an invalid) vanished from the city streets, stations and trains. There had been hundreds of thousands of them, but only a few had families to live with. Abandoned or having lost everyone, soldiers would go out to beg alone or in pairs (blind or armless with legless) - they were pitied, handouts were enough for bread and vodka. Everyone remembered them suddenly vanishing - and then instantly forgot. And if they were talked about, it was in whispers. With close friends. And making sure children wouldn't hear.

(translator's note: source on what happened. tl;dr institutions that were 'taking care' of them (very very scare quotes) transitioned to closed regime so they wouldn't be visible on the streets. they were no longer allowed to leave, and if they could do that without assistance, not allowed outside shoes and clothes)

Советские дети, родившиеся спустя два-три десятилетия после войны, инвалидов почти нигде не видели. В их школьных классах дети-инвалиды не учились. Разве что, в каждом городе была хотя бы одна школа для умственно-отсталых. Таких детей стыдились. Родителям сочувствовали, но с оттенком скорбного недоумения: зачем не оставили сразу в роддоме - "баптисты, что ли"? Молодые, мол, родили бы себе ещё. А так всё выглядело, словно бы все дети рождались здоровыми. Хотя взрослые знали больше и могли при случае завести разговор о том, что, может, лучше бы, конечно, таких уродцев сразу убивать. Из жалости. Потому как всё равно же помрут потом где-то, так зачем им, беднягам, мучиться.

Soviet children born two to three decades after the war didn't see invalids almost anywhere. Invalid children did not study in their school classes. Well, excepting that every city had at least one school for the mentally retarded. (translator's note: again, word usage deliberate. This is an accurate translation of the medical-at-the-time term referring to these institutions) People were ashamed of those children. Parents were pitied, but with a tinge of sad confusion: why didn't they refuse them at the childbirth hospital - "are they baptists?" They're young, so would be said, could just have another kid instead. And other than that everything looked like all children were born healthy. Though adults knew more and could on occasion start a conversation about how it might be better, you know, of course, to kill these deformed freaks immediately. Out of pity. They're going to die somewhere later anyway, why make the poor things suffer.

Отказаться от новорождённого "с изъяном" - стало нормой. Все понимали, что с неполноценным ребёнком жизнь семьи превратилась бы в ад без надежды выкарабкаться из нужды и беды до гробовой доски. Ведь мама с инвалидом на руках не смогла бы работать, а, напротив, просила бы помощи от государства, хоть в размере пенсии на прокорм - за счёт тех, кто работает и воспитывает нормальных детей?..

Refusing a "flawed" newborn became the norm. Everyone understood that with a defective child the life of the family would turn into hell without a hope of climbing out of need and grief until the grave. A mother with an invalid on her hands would not be able to work, would have to ask the state for assistance, at least for a pension for food - at the expense of those who work and bring up normal children?...

Это происходило в стране, всего-то полвека тому назад преимущественно крестьянской, где в рождении "особенных" детей никто не видел проблемы: они жили в семьях, иногда умирали маленькими, иногда выживали и даже доживали до старости - уже при церквях или монастырях. О чём тоже многие ещё помнили и тоже забыли. Незачем помнить то, что в настоящем невозможно и немыслимо.

This was happening in a country that just half a century ago consisted mostly of peasants, where the birth of "special" children was not viewed as a problem: they lived in families, sometimes died young, sometimes survived and even lived to old age - that with churches or monasteries. Which was also remembered by many but also forgotten. No reason to remember that which in the present is impossible and unthinkable.

Ложь тоже была частью поздне-советской жизни. Не только про инвалидов, которых как бы нет, потому что их не должно быть в обществе строителей социализма и коммунизма. Ложь была во всём: думаем "белое" - говорим "чёрное"; семь пишем - два в уме. Не только дома на кухне, но и на работе все знали, что там - халтура, тут - приписки, что все выносят куски мяса под одеждой; что "ударником" Сидорова делают потому, что его выдвигают "по партийной линии"; что молоко разводят водой, а сшитая "с перевыполнением" партия платьев из серо-бурого ацетата - дерьмо, которое никто не купит. Каждый знал, что все вокруг думают точно так же. Включая парторга - он же не идиот. Все шли на обязательное открытое партсобрание, слушали отчёт об успехах идейно-воспитательной работы за квартал и глядели на часы: скорее бы!..

Lies were also a part of the late soviet life. Not just about invalids, who clearly didn't exist, because they shouldn't in a society of builders of socialism and communism. Lies were in everything: think "white" say "black", write seven with two in mind. Not just at home in the kitchen, but at work too everyone knew that this is slapdash, that exists only on paper, that everyone carries out pieces of meat under their clothes; that Sidorov is being made out to be an udarnik (translator's note: rough equivalent - employee of the month, but implicitly referring to the actual quality of work one does rather than a choice made by a manager) because he's being promoted "on the party line"; that milk is cut with water and a batch of grey-brown acetate dresses sewn "above and beyond" (translator's note: there were 5-year plans for production of any and all goods that manufactories were encouraged to exceed. Especially for parts that needed other parts to match to actually be assembled into something somewhere else, this did not typically go well for said excess. But the people who did it were rewarded and praised, so) is ugly shit that nobody will buy. Everyone knew that everyone else around them thought the same. Including the party organizer - they're not an idiot. Everyone went to the mandatory open party meeting, listened to reports of success of the ideological-educational work for the quarter and looked at the clock: sooner!...

Но если бы какой-то человек вдруг вышел к трибуне из зала и сказал бы хоть малую часть того, что и так все знали, то… его наивность вызвала бы в лучшем случае взрыв смеха: с луны свалился! Ну, пять минут потерпели бы ради веселья, больше - нет. Ненормальному, который своими глупостями людей после шести на работе задерживает, могли сразу накостылять, чтоб не высовывался. Повторение опыта уже грозило бы психушкой при полной и искренней озабоченности коллектива.

But if someone suddenly walked up to the podium from the hall and said at least a small part of what everyone already knew... their naivete would at best provoke an explosion of laughter: fell from the moon! Would perhaps tolerate it for five minutes for amusement, not more. An idiot whose stupidity is delaying people at work after six might well have been beaten up a little so they wouldn't try to stick out anymore. A repeated experience might well threaten a mental hospital with fully sincere worry from the collective.

У обычного советского человека не было ни малейшей возможности противоречить системе, которая его кормила, одевала и давала жильё - она могла в ответ его претензиям перестать это делать. Вне системы человек оставался бы гол даже не как сокол, а вообще без перьев и кожи: в ней никто не зарабатывал (тем более, на жильё), все - получали. Для пользования и поддержания жизни. А работа была трудовой повинностью за возможность жить и пользоваться. К этой системе можно было только приспособиться, научившись и изловчившись чуть побольше получать. Это возможно, если ложь встроена в мышление как "исходное условие", не подлежащее сомнениям и нравственной оценке. Кому невмоготу было терпеть - помогала водка. Она же сокращала сроки.

A regular soviet person had no ability whatsoever to contradict the system that fed them, clothed them and housed them - it could, when challenged, stop doing that. Outside the system a person wasn't just left with nothing, but in negatives: nobody earned anything in it (least of all housing), everyone - received. For usage and living. Work was the duty of labor for the ability to live and use. This system could only be adapted to, having learned and contorted to receive a little more. This is possible if lies are built into one's worldview as a precondition, not subject to questioning or ethical evaluation. Who couldn't tolerate it, vodka helped. Shortened it, too.

Жизнь тех, кто отваживался вырваться из системы (диссиденты, евреи-отказники), пугала. Не меньше, чем мытарства матери с ребёнком-инвалидом. Опасно и безнадёжно рассчитывать только на себя, когда своего ничего нет. Поведение "отщепенцев" не укладывалось в голову обычного советского человека: почему? Как? Зачем?..

The life of those who dared to break out of the system (dissidents, jewish refuseniks) (translator's note: here's a source on what that means, in English this time, thanks wikipedia. Try to google translate the Russian version too, it has more details) was a terrifying thought. No less than the sufferings of a mother with an invalid child. It is dangerous and hopeless to count only on yourself when you don't have anything of your own. The behavior of "renegades" did not fit into the head of the usual soviet citizen: why? How? What for?...

Зачем жить ребёнку, который никогда не станет здоровым?

What's the point of living for a child who will never be healthy?

Вы не знаете ответа? Или вас пугает вопрос?

Do you not know the answer? Or are you scared of the question?

Не отвечайте. Это тест-индикатор на встроенные в сознание вирусы жестокости и лжи.

Don't answer. It's an indicator test for viruses of cruelty and deceit built into one's consciousness.

[ampgirladmirer]

That's how I became a disabled one.

This is an old story I found and tried to translate.

It all started in my early youth. I broke my shins on both legs, spent almost three months in bed and three in a wheelchair, then almost as many months on crutches. And I liked it. Then two more times I managed to "organize" two or three months with crutches. I thought, "What if I didn't have a leg…"

Then I got married, had two children… I kind of forgot about it. But my legs started to get tired and sore. The doctors found something, among the prescriptions and options for the future flashed that "if…, you just might end up legless!". This suddenly made a big, even amazing impression on me.

A year later, I just wanted to "end up" like that! We discussed it all with my husband, it was like a mind game, a flight of fancy. A leg, both legs, an arm, hands, legs and one arm, all limbs at all...

Just a week later, in the evening, when the children were already put to bed, my husband suddenly said that it seems that there is an opportunity to do my surgery now and "almost at will". In the development of the thought I said "Let's not be trifling, let's just amputate all at once - arms and legs!"

It turned out that everything is quite serious. And real!

My husband had a contact in medical circles, who made up my oncology with the need for a corresponding operation. Of course it was scary. But to regret all my life that we did not take the chance - no way. I gave up and decided. A couple more weeks we thought about what kind of surgery to do. The first possible option me and my husband were thinking of, "all four limbs at all", was inconvenient, it's hard to be totally limbless in everyday life. I really wanted to have very small leg stumps, and at least one empty sleeve…

At work, the message that in a week I go the hospital with oncology for amputation of the leg made a shocking impression. The main motive was "how will you live as a cripple?" They didn't know what kind of surgery I was going to have!

To be honest, I still have a vague idea of how my "disease" was organized. I remember in the hospital being very afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing and being compromised. It was good that they kept me for only four days before the operation….

The first half an hour after I came to my senses after the operation is etched in my memory.

I was lying alone in the room, covered up to my neck with a blanket. My right hand was on the edge of the bed with a drip stuck in it. I tried moving my left arm. No effect. Tried to lift my head to look at myself. I could see that on the left side the blanket was lying somehow flat and the "bump" from my feet was not visible in the bed. I didn't have the strength for more.

The nurse came in and, seeing that I was awake, asked me how I was feeling. I asked to go to the toilet and was told affectionately that I had a diaper on. And I finally gave out the question that had been tormenting me: "My right arm - do I have only one arm now?" The nurse blinked and for some reason whispered, "Yes." I asked, "And the legs?" The nurse nodded frantically and scurried away. And I finally realized that THIS had happened. I lay in the bed with only a diaper on, legless and one-armed.

A day later, I saw my stumps. My legs were amputated high above the knees, my left arm - completely. That's how I became a disabled woman.

===========

For a very long time I learned how to sit up, crawl. Then how to handle a wheelchair. I could never learn to get into a wheelchair on my own, it's quite hard being left legless and only with one hand. I won't lie that I didn't regret what I did. I did, especially at first. I regretted it very acutely when, about a year after the surgery, my seven-years-old daughter came up to my wheelchair, stroked the empty sleeve of my housecoat, and asked, "Mom, did they cut off your arm for good?"

But eventually I adjusted to the situation, got used to a wheelchair, learned, and began to live normally. My husband helped me a lot. And that I lost an arm and legs by my own will - so who cares about that? I have a beautiful family. There are lots of things I can't do anymore, of course. So what of it? I have the most important things for a woman - a husband and children. I'm helpless in the house, but not completely. In bed, I'm not helpless. And the comparison of what was before the operation and the current state is in favor of the latter. I have long since concluded that amputated legs is a very positive moment for sex. If the stumps were shorter, it would be even better. Probably not without reason, I dreamed of having my legs operated on as high as possible.

I think that everything worked out very well.

At home, I'm almost always in a wheelchair. And for some reason, I never got used to my disability being visible.

That's how I turned out to be - a voluntary disabled woman.

And in the summer I even tried to feel as if it was "all four...". The kids were at grandma's, my husband was on vacation. And I had my only arm tightly bandaged to my body, so that it was immobile. And I lay a week like that. I immediately felt crippled and helpless. My husband nursed me like a baby. It's nice to be the center around which everything else revolves. But when he took the bandage off and I got my arm back! Back to being a regular disabled woman in a wheelchair, legless an one-armed, with a husband I love and two kids.

Trying to repeat my life trick is strongly discouraged. Too much depends on other people. First of all, on your man who is there for you in life.

[orc3dprint]

Revamped my least favorite Toa team of all time, the Toa Hordika I'll try to do individual renders sometime soon, but for now its just the group shot I tried to keep these inline with their normal part count, and tried to use only official building techniques, most of them ended up being 50ish parts, so a bit higher than their official sets My main problem with the Hordika has always been the identical builds, and the hardly existent play features They all have at least one thing unique about them that the other members don't have (left to right) Whenua- shorter legs than the rest of the team, and two Hordika arms Nuju- unique arm build, tallest member, shoulder mounted Rhotuka Launcher, and the only member with a ranged weapon. He doesnt have a Hordika arm (shares this with Onewa) to make up for this, he has two spinners Vakama- a unique arm mounted Rhotuka Launcher, with his flame sword attached to the rip cord Onewa- along with no Hordika arm, Onewa is the only member that has spinners built into his biceps. He also has a unique function that relates to his animal theming, turning the gear on his back tosses his head back and fourth. Nokama- She probably has the most unique build, along with her mermaid/legless appearance, she's the only one that has a Hordika arm not being used as an arm. She has a fun play function so you can turn a gear on her shoulder, and she moves her arms in a swimming movement. Matau- Matau is pretty close to his normal build, but he has the longer legs that most of the team has, and an additional limb on the left side of his body. Along with giving them all unique traits, most of the team gains an animal themeing, and the secondary color from their respective Visorak (animal inspo, left to right)

Whenua- Gorilla Nuju- Barbarian Archer (only non-animal) Vakama- Salamander (realistically wanted to make him more similar to his Metru counter part, and I just assigned him salamander after the fact) Onewa- Bull Nokama- Mermaid (fish?) Matau- Mantis

[gemini526sdumptruck]

The Upright Object Show (Updated)

So way back in 2022 I made this post regarding a lost object show called “The Upright Object Show”. At the time, all I really had to show for as proof of this show existing was one dead link that I had saved on my phone. However recently, this user @scrublord27 reached out to me and revealed some more context and even actual visual evidence of this show existing.

It made me feel so elated that I really wanted to talk about it again to see if anyone else remembered the show, had any information, or just wanted to know what this show was like. Thus, I am making this revised post! And I’m hoping perhaps with this, we can get some more eyes on it.

So, The Upright Object Show was a small object show that was presumably first uploaded to YouTube sometime at the end of 2015 (presumably December 31st of that year). The basic idea of the show is that all of the characters were paper cutouts, and would usually have popsicle sticks propping them up. The show was a non-competition show and instead had the feel of an episodic kids show. Everything was very wholesome and such, and I remember there being a mix of both more childlike voices and more adult voices in the show, so I’m thinking it could’ve been a family effort.

The show got deleted sometime in early 2018, and to my knowledge there were only 3 episodes. The first episode was called “The Evil Stranger”, and the 2nd and 3rd episodes may have been called something along the lines of “Time Travel” and “3D Vs Flat” respectively.

The first episode’s thumbnail looked like this:

As of right now this is the only piece of visual evidence of this show that’s left.

The episode’s plot began with two object friends (some pants and what looks like bouquet of flowers) walking to a stand. Bouquet had like a purse or something around those lines with her. But then the aforementioned “evil stranger”, the armless olive looking character, who is also the person running the stand, suddenly steals the purse from Bouquet. So then Pants and Bouquet chase Olive while also running into obstacles or into some other characters that help them catch Olive. They eventually catch Olive and they say something around the lines of “hey stealing is wrong can you give us that back please”. And then after some talking, Olive says something around the lines of “you know what you’re right, it’s wrong to steal but I wish I had something like that”. And I think then at the end Olive got something he really wanted and gives the purse back to the main characters. And then everyone is happy. That was the end of that episode.

Episode 2’s plot was fuzzier to me, but scrublord27 actually had made a video talking about this show as well, and the plot he described sounds like it could’ve been the 2nd episode. Here’s the video: https://youtu.be/Pyfm7d2-VOk?si=I5RJ3-9B_YqcFSJr&t=594

The plot revolved around a tablet character who was not called Tablet, but may have been called something along the lines of Proto, which is what I’ll be referring to him as. Proto’s charger broke, and so he needed to get a new one. A Lighthouse character appeared and might have been Proto’s friend. Proto ends up dying, but then wakes up again in the same spot he was in before, his charger now being broken again. Proto then thinks he could ask his neighbor for a new charger, who was a legless Computer. Proto asks if he can use Computery’s charger. Despite being on full battery, Computery refuses. Proto dies again. Proto wakes up again and asks Computery again if he can use his charger, but Computery refuses. Proto dies again, and then comes back demanding to use the charger. Computery still says no, and Proto yet again dies. Proto tries one more time to get the charger, telling Computery that if he uses the charger too much, he could overheat. Computery goes like “oh, I didn’t know that. I guess you can have my charger”. And Proto finally gets to charge himself.

The 3rd episode was about a bunch of objects playing a game of soccer. The reason why the episode was called 3D Vs Flat was based on how the characters were positioned. Some characters were held up by sticks, while others were lying flat on the ground. There were also two commentators talking throughout the game, and they had the bulk of the dialogue. Olive from episode 1 made a reappearance as a character on Team Flat, and Computery made a reappearance as one of the two commentators. I don’t remember what exactly they said in the episode though. The conflict of this episode was pretty brief, it was just simply the two teams getting into a fight with eachother, but then everything was smoothed over. I think the moral of this episode was along the lines of “being a good sport” or “everybody’s a winner when you’re having fun!”.

All three episodes were fully voice acted, had royalty free music playing in the background, and had a lot of sound effects.

There may have been more episodes, but these are the three that I remember. Like I said the episodes got deleted sometime in 2018, and the channel who made this show is unknown.

I think it’s really a shame that this show is lost media now. I thought its whole concept and vibe was very charming and cute, and I’d love to see it found or even see something like this done again in the osc. Like a simple little object show that plays out like a kids show and teaches you lessons. That sounds adorable. Not to mention I just loved watching the episodes in general. Who knows, I might make fanart for this lol.

Thanks for reading till the end if you did!

[oumaheroes]

How would a FrUk relationship work if Arthur is blind (literally blind) would it be more chaotic, would there be more trust, more fights? Or would it be the same as it is portrayed now?

No difference in any shape or form. Arthur is the type of man to refuse to bend to or acknowledge a weakness, or anything wrong which could hold him back in life. Blind, deaf, legless- doesn't matter. This man is himself in whatever form he comes in, only surlier.

Despite what he'd let on, he would be very sensitive about a physical disability being perceived as something that makes him 'less than', or needing to be catered to. He'd work himself far too far to prove otherwise and would be painfully aware of it in most settings except the most intimate and familiar- more vulnerable to perceived attacks or special treatment or belittling and would bite back hard to prove it was unwarranted

For this reason, although being just as competent as he is without a physical disability such as blindness, he'd be much more highly strung. He'd learn routes by touch alone beforehand so he could walk about a room and interact with it unaided. He'd relisten to audiobooks or website information before a discussion or work meeting to make sure he could equally spa in the debates, regardless of the direction it took. He'd refuse a guide dog or walking cane, or anything which could make his life easier because he'd refuse to be seen as a 'blind man'. He'd want to be himself, just Arthur, and in this way he would be somewhat exasperating

In a relationship then, he'd be no different. Nor would Francis treat him any differently; that's not how they work.

I swear there must be a fic about this for FrUK somewhere, but the BlindChild AU by fishwrites@ and abhauen@ was a good AU which explored this topic and dynamic, albeit with USUK as the main ship (also a WONDERFUL Big Brother Scotland role sob I had Iuan as a name for Scotland for years). I'll not tag them because I don't believe they've been into Hetalia for a decade, but they still deserve the credit! Most of the AU existed in asks on their blogs in both fic and art form, although the ffnet fic does have 2 chapters up for us to enjoy

There's also a good fic the other way around, with France as a former ballet dancer who breaks his foot and can no longer dance. I cannot for the life of me remember what it's called and this will bug me for DAYS, but if anyone finds it please send it to me to share

Tl;dr, Francis and Arthur are, for me, always themselves, no matter what life or situation I put them in. They might be affected by something or change slightly to make sense of their environment or upbringing, but at their core they are unchanged no matter the circumstance

[dimetrodone]

Speaking of specevo, have you ever seen the Alien Biospheres series on youtube by Biblaridion? Really fascinating speculative evolutionary history of an entire planet starting all the way at how large the planet is and what its atmosphere is made of and progressing onward.

Here are some closely related Guys

Havent watch the series but have seen their stuff around +binged the wiki about it. Projects that go into a timeline of evolution (alien or not) are braver and stronger then me.

My one extremely minor nitpick is that I initially assumed Anthostoma and Polypodia (the main phyla in the project besides the plantlife) were one group, since both have 8 legs 3 eyes and limby mouthparts on their face. On the flip side, spiders and octopi both evolved the same body plan of "8 long limbs on head/face, round legless body behind from radically different groups and they both pull it off.

[otterloreart]

I was thinking about how the seapony magical girl levitates as default because I couldn't think of another good way for her to get around, which moved my mind over to the topic of wheelchairs and if she were a wheelchair user. I like the idea of a magical girl whose wheelchair transforms as part of her outfit (if it's an extension of her body it should change too after all)

I felt like this idea probably isn't a /good/ one, at least in this context, so I did a little bit of reading trying to find wheelchair users' opinions about this topic. It's one of those things where I felt vaguely uncomfortable with it but couldn't pinpoint why persay.

I found this post discussing positive disability rep and I think the sticking point is that it seems very plot-convenient that the seapony main character also happens to already have a useful wheelchair for her transformation. I also generally feel like having her transform into a legless magical seapony might have some negative implications or be trope-y. After all, I reverse-engineered wheelchair idea from her not being able to walk in seapony form.

Most of the other advice discusses the exact disability, doing research on it to properly represent it, etc. My idea for the wheelchair route would be that she's an ambulatory wheelchair user/has some use of her legs, but I don't have anything more specific than that. Maybe her disability could sort of tie in with her magical water abilities; my understanding is that people with chronic pain, joint issues and some other conditions can sometimes swim as a safe form of physical exercise. So she could particularly enjoy being in water regularly for that reason. But I'm not actually sure if that is actually good representation, or it ties in too well?

Anyways, I'm not planning on actually making the takara ponies into a story, but I was exploring these concepts and I wanted to post the concept art and ask other people their thoughts.

If anyone feels like offering their opinion on the ideas in this post, please feel free to comment.

[creepywrites]

Nationalities

Jeff the Killer- Swedish, Italian, Västergötland

Liu- Swedish, Chinese, Västergötland

Ben- American, Alaska

Sally Dawn- Canadian, Ontario

Sam Williams- Canadian, American, Ontario

Milo the Electrocuted- Italian, Lombardy

Lulu- Vietnamese, Vĩnh Phúc

Clockwork- French, Normandy

Zero- British, American, New Jersey

Jane the killer- American, California

Jane Arkensaw- British, Lincolnshire

Vailly Evans- Chilean, Los Lagos

Nathan the nobody- Filipino, British, Berkshire

Crystal- Filipino, British, Berkshire

Eyeless Jack- Uganda, Kampala

Kate the chaser- Australian, Perth

Rouge- Canadian, Alberta

Wilson the basher- welsh, Conwy

X-virus- American, New Jersey

Lazari- Ukrainian, Kharkiv Oblast

Kaidy- French, Corsica

Stripes- American, Alabama

Senora- Spanish, Girona

Nina the killer- Mexican, American, Louisiana

Puppeteer- American, Mexican, California

Zachary- American, Colorado

Rosemary- American, Maine

Emra- Italian, American, sicilia

Bloody painter- Japanese, Chinese, Guangdong

Suicide Sadie- British, London

Judge angel- Chinese, Filipino, Guangdong

Nurse Ann- Taiwanese, taipei

Randy- Spanish, Álava

Sully- Indian, Tamil Nadu

Keith- Australian, Queensland

Troy- American, Louisiana

Dollmaker- Russian, Moscow

Svetlana- Russian, Siberia

Vicky genocidal- Canadian, Ontario

Hannah the killer- German, American, East Berlin

Lily Kennett- Ireland, Connacht

Hung iris- American, Illinois

Lifeless Lucy- British, Yorkshire

Legless Eliza- Portuguese, Évora

Mucky Child- American, Colorado

Lacy Morgan- British, American, Arizona

Asylum Nancy- American, Maine

Chris the revenant- German, American, Hessen

Monday child- Ukrainian, poltava

Laughing Jill- British, London

Laughing Jack- British, London

Toby- German, Bavaria

Lurking Lyra- German, Bavaria

Killing Kate- Costa Rican, Alajuela

Lost Silver- Japanese, Hokkaido

Cata the Killer- Polish, Lodz

Rotten Abigail- American, North Carolina

The Hare- American, Arizona

The Doll- Mexican, Hidalgo

Raven- French, Île-de

Anna schurks- Romanian, Bucharest

Weeping forest- Puerto Rico, Adjuntas

Nightmare Ally- German, East Berlin

Red Death- German, Greek, Saxony

Gas mask maid- El Salvador, Cuscatlan

Tim- American, Georgia

Jessica- American, polish, Arizona

Taylor- Native American, Maine

Ellie- Japanese, Canadian, Chubu

Labrador- Romanian, Arad

Moth boy- American, Louisiana

Starved angel- Irish, American, Texas

Sketcher- Indonesian, Russian, Ural

Sarah Erickson- Chinese, Canadian, Nova Scotia

Hannya- Japanese, Tokyo

Rosie- British. Coventry

Hunter the proxy- American, Texas

Doctor Irina- British, Devon

Deborah- American, California

Lucy the cannibal- American, Ohio

Andie Rosslyn- American, Iowa

[iamthekaijuking]

So it's pretty much confirmed that PNF-404 from Pikmin is Earth in the distant future. Any thoughts on what the native creature enemies are descended from? I hc Bulborbs as some kind of derived gastropod that convergently evolved a pair of vertebrate-like legs (since the Bulborb Larva is legless), and the Pikmin themselves as a composite organism between a highly-specialized social insect and a Cordyceps-like plant that, rather than being parasitic is instead mutualistic.

Most of the creatures aren’t too different from their inspiration so it’s pretty easy to tell what they are. The grubs and beetles are grubs and beetles, the clamclamps are clams, the wollywogs are frogs, the mites are mites, etc.

Others are just completely out there and impossible to truly tell what they are. Like the wraiths, mamuta, honeywisps, and the Longlegs and Gatling groink. The last two honestly feel like leftover biotechnology.

Some we’re actually told what they’re descended from or related to, which is also usually believable. So like the Hermit Crawmads being hermit crabs or the skitterleaf being a water strider.

The “Scarpanid” family I’d hesitantly call beetles.

The Goolix is just a giant amoeba, which isn’t too out there considering there are plenty of giant unicellular organisms IRL (algae, seaweed, slime molds getting ready to reproduce, Xenophyophores, etc).

Snagrets are likely very strange birds. They could be descended from any number of burrowing birds or even passerines, which make up 60% of all birds and owe their success partly to a genetic code that is predisposed towards speciation.

Blowhogs I’ve always been unsure of but the tusked blowhog in 4 indicates that they’re possibly pigs. While the tusked blowhog isn’t a true blowhog it could be a primitive close relative that lies just outside of true blowhogs. I think Porquillion could also be related.

Vehemoth seems like a weird aerial salamander.

The meerslug is probably descended from a fish of some kind. One that burrows.

Dweevils I’m not entirely sure on.

There’s so many pikmin enemies that I’d be here all day covering them so I’m just skipping to the Bulborbs.

I’ve mentioned that I love @just9art’s slugborb theory even if it had to handwave that breadbugs are canonically not too closely related to grubdogs. I also just love the artwork and am so sad that their renditions of the grubdogs are not real animals I can hold. However, Bulborbs and breadbugs are so nondescript that people have purposed that they’re possibly terrestrial mud skippers or anglers (specifically ones like handfish) and they all work. Some people think they’re frogs, and @aphid-kirby covered it in a series of YouTube videos. https://m.youtube.com/@fictionalbiology1921/featured

As for pikmin, I do think a lot of the mobile plants form a family, which includes pikmin. But pikmin themselves are very weird (from here on is spoilers for PIKMIN 4).

Pikmin seem to be composite organisms, but apparently they can also force horizontal gene transfer onto other organisms as seen in the bad end for pikmin 1. This is also a main plot point for the fourth game as the main antagonist is actually Olimar being pikminized. All of this means that pikmin might not even be a species in a traditional sense.

Speaking of spoilers for 4, the final boss is a giant dog like Oatchi and is heavily implied to be a feral version of the ancestor of Oatchi’s kind. Meaning that they might actually be earth canines. However, the various spacemen of the games are also said to have had these canine companions for a long time, which could also mean that Olimar and co aren’t actually aliens, but descendants of humans who took dogs with them to space. While they evolved to be tiny (just barely big enough for their inner ears to still work), they selectively bred their dogs to be like jerboas. Humanity has been away from home for so long they don’t even remember it.

[somerandomocto]

Alright, I've been sitting with my thoughts long enough. I'm design info-dumping

(sorry if this reads bad or something)

So, main character twisteds huh? I'm gonna be honest none of them are all that scary and only twisted Sprout, Shelly, and Dandy, are remotely intimidating, but I think that might be on purpose? As in, a mascot horror generally isn't too scary to not shoo off the kids kinda way. Either way, Vee and Astro are generally lackluster (Astro might be on purpose, little to no clue what's going on with Vee tho), and Pebble? Actually his design is pretty solid the only problem is at first glance (thumbnail) I couldn't tell he was a dog (might be a me thing tho bc as soon as I heard him in game I knew Pebble was a dog). With Vee, she is in fact, bigger than you, like most main character twisteds, but she's just longer for the most part, nothing particularly special. Now, it could either be me seeing random fakes online, but, I do remember seeing a possible concept design for twisted Vee, where she's on the ground (legless) crawling out of a vent with a ton of wire looking things behind her, and I really liked this design! The only reason I can assume this wasn't the final design by the time the alpha came out was due to a determination to have Vee playable by the launch of the alpha and the whole "twisted stuck to a certain range that they can move in" thing was probably obnoxious to properly code and get working (I'm not sure tho, I don't code often), and thus was dropped for the sake of allowing Vee to be playable. Astro, if not for lore reasons as to being so simple is probably for the sake of the revelation alone that he has four arms. It kinda makes sense, no other twisted adds limbs, only removes or distorts them, and I personally thought it was interesting, then I finally got him and got hit with the "No, Astro's just built like that" Astro/Tisha conversation. (He could probably have more of a gimmick tho, I'll get to that at some point) Actually, a lot of the main character twisteds could lean into their gimmick more, like Sprout is a plant yes, but also strawberries mold and I am just not seeing it here. I think Shelly's lower half being ripped off and being replaced with roughly the chest down of a raptor is really cool, and also gives her a reason to be obnoxiously fast (because as it stands speed is the only way a twisted can be reasonably hard to deal with(with only ~3 exceptions)). Though I don't think Shelly's twisted as a concept has reached it's natural conclusion in terms of ideas, this is a great base! This also goes for Sprout, like, he's tall and kinda imposing, but we can do more with that right? For twisted Dandy, no really I'm so glad this game is in beta because that means things are subject to change and overhauls are possible. I mean, I don't hate it, it's really visually interesting, but not quite scary you know? Or maybe it was never supposed to be all that scary and I'm just thinking about it too hard. It's fine though if I am, fan art exists for a reason.

Ok I think I'm out of verbal thoughts for now

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from The Revelator:

In southern Brazil, especially the state of Rio Grande do Sul, severe flooding has caused an emergency being reported around the world. Human losses and homelessness there represent the biggest socioenvironmental catastrophe affecting the country.

One aspect that hasn’t yet garnered much media attention is the impact of these floods on rare and at-risk wildlife. For 11 years I worked on Marinheiros Island, situated on the estuary of Patos Lagoon in the heart of the now-flooded areas. On this island I identified the presence of three species of small vertebrates threatened with extinction, whose populations there are of great conservation importance.

Patos Lagoon is the most extensive lagoonal system in the world. Within this estuary Marinheiros is the largest island, covering an area of about 62 square kilometers (24 square miles).

Even before the current crisis, over the past few years, Marinheiros has experienced harsh flooding associated with massive rainfall. The floods are even more intense during El Niño phenomena, which produce heavy rain in southern Brazil. Three main factors there, together, result in the rapid rise of estuarine water levels and consequent flooding of the lagoon’s islands and marginal mainland:

The low elevations of marginal areas.

Heavy rains that increase the flow of rivers into the Patos Lagoon system and the subsequent discharge of water in the choked estuary.

Wind directions against the water flow from the estuary to the Atlantic Ocean, acting as a barrier for water discharging into the ocean.

The year 2023 saw a severe flood in Marinheiros Island and the marginal mainland of the Patos Lagoon estuary. This year has been even more calamitous. Flooding of 70% of the municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul — which includes the whole extension of the Patos Lagoon marginal zone — has, as of this writing, caused 149 people to lose their lives and forced more than 615,000 to leave their homes. Many of the more than 1,100 inhabitants of Marinheiros Island were rescued and sent to temporary shelters.

But rescuing the wildlife of Marinheiros Island has not become a priority. Three species deserve to be highlighted due to their very restricted distribution, habitat specificity, and conservation status.

A Toad, a Glass Snake and a Guinea Pig

The tiny red-bellied toad (Melanophryniscus dorsalis) — with a body length about 2 centimeters (just .78 inches) — can be considered a flagship species of Marinheiros Island.

The species’ existence on the island was only discovered in 2006, and it’s the southernmost known population of the species. Red-bellied toads are restricted to the coastal, marshy fields of the Brazilian states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina and are considered threatened both regionally and nationally.

The estuarine glass snake (Ophiodes enso) was described only in 2017, and it is known from only three localities in the estuary of Patos Lagoon, one of which is Marinheiros Island. Like other reptiles commonly known as “glass snakes,” these animals are, in fact, legless lizards.

This species’ conservation status has not yet been officially evaluated by specialists at national and global levels. In the paper on the species description, however, Ophiodes enso is suggested as “critically endangered” given the small area of occurrence and the human-induced impacts on its habitats.

Finally, the greater guinea pig (Cavia magna) is a medium-sized rodent with a body length reaching 30 centimeters (about 1 foot). It lives on the borders of marshes and wet fields of a narrow coastal strip of Uruguay and southern Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina states.

The species is classified as “endangered” in Uruguay and “vulnerable” in Rio Grande do Sul. Importantly, greater guinea pigs from Marinheiros Island are genetically distinct from other populations in terms of the number of chromosomes (individuals from Marinheiros Island have 64 chromosomes, while mainland populations have 62).

[gremoria411]

So hey, after that big Full Armour Gundam post a while back, I wanted to try a few smaller posts, so I figured it’d be fun to talk about one of my favourite weird and obscure design series:

All the weird little mobile suits that the SD Gundam G Generation series added in. I’m not going to be talking about the units unique to each game (like the Phoenix Gundam, Halphas Gundam or GGV-000 Barbatos), mainly because I don’t really care for them design wise, since the sd series is honestly just doing its own thing there. But anyway onto the actual new stuff to each universe. Some of them are fun, some of them are weird, so let’s just get right on into it.

Starting with the very first suit from the series that I became aware of, the MS-50A Zaku 50, from the Universal Century. Built by Anaheim Electronics in U.C. 0130, it was basically the ailing Anaheim Electronics’ last gasp in the field of mobile suit development at the time (though it does appear they had a reversal of fortunes some 20ish years after). It was supposed to have a nostalgic feel, being patterned after the old Principality of Zeon Zaku from the One Year War, but the realities of mobile suit combat at the time stymied it considerably. For reference, this is around the time of Crossbone Gundam, when the Jupiter Empire attempts to invade the Earth. The Zaku 50 is hopelessly outdated in an age of beam shields and shot lancers, being armed with two beam sabers (one in each leg), a large mega particle cannon in the chest, and an I-field, which while effective, wouldn’t be enough when projectile weapons were coming back into vogue. It’s also incredibly large, closer to a mobile armour, when miniaturised mobile suits were the standard. EDIT: it’s possible this also led to high material costs, which was one of the main selling points of miniaturised mobile suits.

The art of it is gorgeous though, but it’s such a delightfully odd design to me, being legless, armless and yet having so many zakuesque features.

[micer2012]

for the ask game: 6 or 14 if you have one :3

6. I KNOW ISKALL WILL PROLLY NEVER BE IN LIFE SERIES AT ALL.... BUT ISKIZZZZZZZZ ISKIZZZZZZZ SKIZZSKALL PLEPLEALP. i want them so badddd but its fine im fine im normal imfine8U32

OTHERWISE i'd love a skizz dynamic with one of the girls.. especially pearl or lizzie. pearl he has that bond with since LEGACY they mean a lot to m. but i specifically want them to betray him a little9U83448

i just really wanted Interesting, New dynamics cause thats the main reason i didn't care about limlife at Allll, ties had NO tension. they were just chilling. i wanted something interesting so you can Imagineeeee my groaning when skizz n tango ended up stuck together again but. OUG. CHRIST IS IT GETTIN INTERESTING

14. I HAVE MANYYYYYY PLAYLISTS. THEYRE ALL HORRID AND AMAZING AND FULL OF INCOMPREHENSIBLE MASHUPS.

FIRST OFF.. MY (OBVIOUSLY.WIP) SECRET LIFE PLAYLIST. mostly. Hopeful I want villian asshole tango SOOOO BADDDDDDDDDDD

(1-9 are tango, 10 is jimmy 11 was. well i wanted jimmy scar teamup)

NOTES: -karma is really only there for the beggining and chorus what the Hell are they on about in those verses. what the hell are they cooking. having said that KARMA'S ONLY A BITCH IF YOU ARE. AND I AIN'T NO BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

=invincible is a hell orbs song which means its basically unlistenable and AWESOME hell orbs rules. sorry the song w the lyrics "I was the New York Dildocrat" gets on the tango playlist. but yeah its about him coming From decked out 2, that Insaneeee power and wanting to be that Mastermind again, the one pulling all the strings again. when my power is lost, only then can i be a true man. i was invincible once. i will be invincible once again.

=YOU'RE ONE OF THEM ARENT YOU.. THIS SONG IS.. PROSPECTIVEEE HE HASNT GONE THIS HARD YET BUT IMAGINE. BUT. "go ahead, scream all you want to!" (3l bdubs as hes blindfolded against the wall) "you're legless and limping and lost and it's just how they like you!" (last life TEAM BEST tango their life dispenserrr..) "the ugly, the unclean, the unfit will fuck the unhappy" (double life. when tango n jimmy saw eachother on yellow at spawn for the firs ttime)

=fvck somebody is tango @ skizz. what do you want. my god. i just want to go somewhere without ya what do you want. My God, I just want to love someone thats not ya. but here we are, where we grew up in wellsville new york.. and i cant tell, if this is hell or if i'm just bored. You said "let's settle down-!" . Sounds like a downfall--! I gotta get out-! without it being my faulttt.I WISH YOU'D FUCK SO- (the chorus of this song is about the singer wishing there was a valid reason for the relationship to break up, a ""Valid"" reason to Hate the other person who did nothign wrong. who Does legitimately love them. wishing the other did something Unforgivable so they had an Excuse to hate themmm for their relationship to not workkkkkkk)

-pledge drive jimmy :] i called the pledge drive (SUCCESS ON HIS TASK expecting goodies) I got the suicide hotline (YOU NEED THE HEARTS DUDEDEEE). IF WOKE GUYS MUST DIE, I'LL GO FIRST. I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING. YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING. IF WE MUST DUMPSTER DIVE, I'LL GO FIRST. AND IF YOU THINK YOUTH HAS BEEN WASTED ON THE YOUNG, AND THE WASTED. SO NOW, ONE OF US HAS TO DIE, I'LL GO FIRST! I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING.

im sure this playlist is gonna age horribly and maybe not even have all these songs by the time the series ends. but god it goes hard.832

MY OTHER PLAYLISTS QUICKLY :] IF U HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE ASK I LOVE MUSIC. I LOVE MY MIND AMVS:

(skizz specific playlist :])