#perhaps some kind of electroreception

[firestorm-fox]

do these little guys have some kind of other navigation sense so they're not running into everything or ???

[aweebwrites]

Allies Ch7

No gore and nothing horrible here. Proceed.

“Back up! Back up!” Kai yelled as he ran out of the ice fortress carrying his frozen partner holding the shurikens of ice as he did, the angry roar of the ice dragon following them.

Nya, Cole and Jay quickly darted away from the entrance as the ice dragon’s head ended up lodged there, roaring angrily and spitting ice.

“Zane! Is he ok?!” Jay yelled as they regrouped.

“How the heck are you even carrying him?” Cole asked Kai who held Zane stuck in a block of ice over his head.

“Well-” Kai was cut off by the weight of Zane catching up to him, making him collapse into the snow and his frozen partner falling on his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

“Kai!” Nya yelled as Kai wheezed under Zane, Cole lifting him off with ease.

“Could someone get me out of this ice please.” Zane says from inside the ice, his voice muffled but audible.

“Right away.” Cole says, setting him down as Nya helped Kai up.

Cole breathed out before he moved, striking the weak points of the ice with the sides of his hands, leaving the ice to fracture then break around Zane who still held the Shurikens of Ice.

“Thank you.” Zane says then looked down at the Golden Shurikens, sensing their power.

All at once all four Knights looked around, wary.

“Did you see anything?” Nya asked, on alert with their sudden tension.

“No. It’s just this is around the time they’d make a move…” Kai says with a frown, seeing no-one.

“I’m not picking anything up.” Jay says, using his electroreception.

“Me either.” Zane says, his glowing blue eyes brighter now as he scanned the area.

“We shouldn’t let our guard down though.” Cole says with a frown. “Just because we can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t out there.” He told them with eyes narrowed at the horizon.

“We shouldn’t dally either. That dragon won’t be caged there for long.” Kai says, gesturing to the structure where the dragon was clearly clawing its way out.

“Let’s go.” Zane says, releasing the Shurikens and they vanished, awing the group.

“They’re about to move. Go get the others.” Kozu told Cryptor who nods before shifting back down the hill.

Inside the hollow of the cave Lloyd had somehow managed to fall asleep sitting up still, his dream but a memory.

“I’m a General for the Devourer’s sake. Not a babysitter.” Pythor huffed as he slithered out of Lloyd’s room, the 9 year old watching him go with wide red eyes before he grinned widely.

This was his chance! He jumped up on his feet then climbed up to the high windows, his claws a big help for that. He then unlatched it and stared out at the horizon. In that direction, was Fulgor. A place with green plains and hills, with shimmering lakes, with blue skies and amazing animals. Far better than Penumbra. There were only dark, jagged rocks, bleak red skies and pools of Dark Matter. He wanted to go there… And this was his chance! He’d be quick! He’ll be back before anyone knows it! With that, he jumped out, shifting into the emerald scaled fledgling he was, flapping his wings as fast as they could go. He had to be quick. Kozu and Cryptor will come to check up on him soon. Flying as quickly as he did for as long as he had was exhausting but he made it, to Fulgor. He shifted on the border, back to his human state so he would blend in more. Dragons weren’t common on both sides of the border after all. He walked further into Fulgor, red eyes wide as he took in the amazingly blue skies, the vivid green grass that reminded him of his scales, the birds, flowers, everything! It was all so amazing! But then the scent of something really good had led him to a small village. Jamanaki village. What he had smelled that was so amazing was something he never had before: sweets. Cotton candy to be specific. He hadn’t thought about currency then. It was something he hadn’t needed to concern himself with as a Prince. So when he had walked up to the candy stall and had taken up one of the cotton candy without paying for it, trouble was sure to follow.

He had just taken a bite out of the light, fluffy sweet tasting treat that had blown his mind- when the stall owner had noticed him.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing kid?!” He had yelled at Lloyd, startling the young boy.

He hadn’t thought, he just ran- which caused the man to chase him- which caused him to gain a whole lot of attention. Someone had grabbed him by the arm tightly and another had done the same to his other arm, hurting him and everyone was yelling and- and he just… He lashed out, digging his claws into one of the large hand gripping him and his fangs into the other. Both had let go with a yell of pain but he was surrounded, he was blocked off and prevented from leaving.

“What the hell?” The man who received the full force of his small but sharp claws said, holding out his bleeding hand, showing the slashed flesh there- and the people started really paying attention to him then.

“Why are his eyes red?”

“He has claws…”

“Are those fangs?”

“He isn’t human!”

“He must be Umberian!”

“But he doesn’t have gray skin…”

“We should take him to Emperor Wu…” That scared him.

Emperor Wu would no doubt kill him. He had to get out of here!

“L-Let me go or else my dad will come beat you all up!” He yelled out, trying to pry himself away from their hold.

“You stole my cotton candy you brat! I’ll give you a beating!” The vender yelled at him angrily, walking towards him with intent and Lloyd was terrified.

He didn’t want to get hurt! He can’t transform or else they’ll hurt him more! He’s sure!

“Y- you can’t do this to me! I’m a Prince! You better let me go before Kozu and Cryptor find me or else-”

“Two of the Penumbrian Generals!” Someone gasped and it hit the village people then.

“He’s the son of Garmadon!” Someone yelled and the people looked fearful and horrified then.

Lloyd’s mistake was that he thought he could use that to make them let him go.

“That’s right! My dad’s Emperor Garmadon so you better let me go before he gets really mad!” He yelled at them, a grin on his face.

That grin quickly fell as their expressions grew dark.

“Demon spawn!”

“His father killed my family!”

“He’ll grow up to be just like him!”

Lloyd cried out once their hold on his arms got tighter before he was lifted off his feet, the crowd yelling angrily as he was carried away.

“Let me go! Help! Help!” He yelled, trying to squirm free from their hold.

Going to that place… Was his biggest mistake yet…

“Prince Lloyd.” Lloyd blinked his eyes open before glancing over at Cryptor, pushing down the residual fear he felt from the dream, from the memory down.

“They’re moving?” He asked him and Cryptor nodded.

Lloyd stood.

“Good. Let’s go.”

________

“Jay-”

“Eeep!” Jay squeaked once Cole’s hand touched his shoulder, lightning charged in his hand and he barely dodged the bright bolt of electricity.

“Oh, Cole. You scared the heck out of me.” Jay sighed, slumping on the back of his horse.

“Clearly.” Cole says, looking back at the scorched rock nearby. “What has you on edge Bluebird?” He asked and Jay gave him a dry look.

“Oh jee. I don’t know. It couldn’t be the fact that we're on a mission to find literal god tier weapons that will either save us from this never ending war or destroy us while being chased by a four armed indestructible golem, a Nindroid with magic, an invisible snake and some kind of Umbrian on steroids or anything. Nope. Definitely not any of that.” Jay says sarcastically and Cole looked at him flatly.

“You know what I meant spark plug. Leave sarcasm to me.” The Earth Knight says as they continued towards the storm on the horizon and Jay sighed.

“Sorry but it just bothers me that they didn't show up back then. Makes me think they’ll jump out any second now.” Jay says warily, eyes darting around.

“Jay has a point for once.” Kai says, ignoring Jay’s ‘hey!’. “What’s their plan? Why only steal one weapon and not the other? Are they waiting until we gather the rest? And if so, what would be the sense in that? Surely they would know that we’ll be stronger with three of the weapons on our side. They won’t even be able to use the Scythe of Quakes.” He says, glancing across at Zane for his opinion.

“I am not sure myself.” Zane says as he looked down in thought. “The arctic region isn’t the easiest terrain to travel. Perhaps Pythor is the reason why they hadn’t attacked. He is serpentine after all and they are cold blooded.” He suggested.

“Yeah but what are the chances of them stopping for another teammate? Every soul from Penumbra only cares for themself and Garmadon’s word, and if Garmdon’s word is to bring the golden weapons, I think they’d get it done, even if it means leaving someone behind.” Nya says from her place behind Kai.

“True but perhaps they’ve noticed that you joined our numbers, putting them at a disadvantage. It would go against their aim to leave someone behind then.” Zane pointed out.

“Yeah and lets not forget Stone Soldiers and the Nindroids from Penumbra are generally heavier than the average person. They’d get slowed down by the height of the snow.” Cole added.

“What I want to know is if we have to worry about them jumping out any second now or what.” Jay spoke up, no less jittery than before.

“I think it’s safe to say that they’ve been delayed by the icy terrain.” Zane says after a moment and the freckled brunette sighed, relaxing. “But. We shouldn’t let our guards down. Those Generals have always been crafty, on and off the battlefield.” He added and Jay tensed up all over again.

“At least we don’t have to worry about Ultra Violet.” Nya added as a consolation.

“Oh definitely.”

“That would be most troubling.”

“She’s freaking crazy!”

“That General is definitely a basket case.” The Knights agreed, the idea of her being apart of the team hunting them down terrifying.

They’ve all faced her at least once on the battlefield before and knew she had crazy stamina. Injuries don't even slow her down! They just hope the poor dragon that most likely ate her didn’t get some kind of disease…

Yards back, the team of Generals and their Prince followed the Knight’s path, Lloyd’s eye focused ahead as the other throbbed with pain he ignored. It always hurt once those memories get stirred up and worse still in the cold. That day opened his eyes to the ugly truth behind the beautiful land of Fulgor. Back then, he used to reason that a place like that couldn’t be all that bad… And he was right. Fulgor was never as bad as they say. He tightened his grip on the reigns of his cougar, his eye glowing brighter with his bitterness. It was much worse. He blinked then, pulling his Cougar to a stop.

“What is it my Prince?” Cryptor asked, all three Generals on the alert.

Lloyd looked around, sensing something. Something familiar. He then snapped his head upwards to the sky, eyes narrowed there. Kozu could pick up the deep, rhythmic whooshing sound moments later and narrowed his eyes, knowing that sound well.

“That sounds like a dragon.” He says, reaching for his katana, holding onto it as the sound grew louder.

“It can’t be the Knights. They’re scouting ahead.” Pythor says with a frown, staff gripped tightly.

“Dragons are Emperor Wu’s thing. He must-”

“No.” Lloyd says as it came into view. “It’s not Wu. That dragon is corrupted by Dark Matter.” He says then narrowed his eyes further then relaxed.

“It’s Ultra Violet.” The fifth General laughed as she brought the dragon in for a landing, her Cougar trailing behind her as she gave a trilling war cry.

“Ultra Violet is back!”

________________

(Ok so we've gotten to the first piece of what happened back then and more will begin to uncover itself. I think you get the gist of what happened then... Thanks for reading!)

________________ Ch1 | Ch2 | Ch3 | Ch4 | Ch5 | Ch6

[geopolicraticus]

The Scented World

It has been said that chemical signals were the earliest signals exchanged between organisms, and that our sense of smell is what remains of our exchange of chemical signals from our distant and most rudimentary ancestors. And we know that our sense of smell is not particularly keen, since our dogs, possibly the species that is closest to us emotionally and socially (though not genetically), and with which we spend so much time, possess far greater acuity than we do in this respect. We use the noses of dogs as a proxy for our own, feeble noses, extending our senses not through augmentation or instrumentation, but through cooperation.

It could be worse for us, in terms of our sense of smell. Cetaceans were thought to have entirely sacrificed their sense of smell to the evolutionary process of re-adapting to an aquatic life (cf. How Dolphins Lost their Sense of Smell by Stephen J. Godfrey), though recent research has shown that some whales (baleen whales) do, after all, have some remaining sense of smell (cf. Aquatic adaptation and the evolution of smell and taste in whales, by Takushi Kishida, J. G. M. Thewissen, Takashi Hayakawa, Hiroo Imai, and Kiyokazu Agata). Loss or diminution of sense of smell has entailed particular evolutionary adaptations (cf. Somatosensation, Echolocation, and Underwater Sniffing: Adaptations Allow Mammals Without Traditional Olfactory Capabilities to Forage for Food Underwater by Sarah Marriott, Emily Cowan, Jacob Cohen, and Robert M Hallock), and we may wonder what subtle adaptations we have made to the feebleness of our noses.     

The canine nose is more complex than our hominid noses, and the canine brain devotes more resources to processing scents than our brain does. A dog is primarily an olfactory being, in the way that we are primarily visual beings. Dogs also hear better than we do, and it has been this sensory complementarity that has made the relationship between human beings and dogs so effective—and so long lasting. We are their eyes, and they are our noses and ears.

I have often referenced the Thomas Nagel essay “What is it Like to Be a Bat?” (in Mortal Questions, Cambridge University Press, 1979; I have discussed this essay in, e.g., What is it like to be a serpent?). Bats are an interesting case because of the prominent role that echolocation plays in their experience, and, given that there is something that it is like to be a bat, what it is like to be a bat is likely constructed around the centrality of aural experience. Dogs are a similarly interesting case because of the prominent role that olfaction plays in their experience, and we would expect canine experience is constructed around the centrality of auditory experience, as human experience is largely constructed around the centrality of visual experience.

But while the human ability to smell is marginal compared to dogs, it can still play a significant role in our experience. The other day I was struck by the sequence of vivid scents that I encountered. I live on the Columbia River, and while some days the smell of the river is barely noticeable, when it is present, it is unmistakable—like being at the coast and smelling the unmistakable depth and complexity of the ocean air. The river is a smell of living water, like the ocean, but different. Absent is the salt air smell, and present in the smell of the muddy bank of the river, and all these presences and absences are mixed up with each other in a way that human language cannot convey, probably because human language is constructed around the centrality of visual experience, and our conceptual framework and vocabulary for olfactory experiences are impoverished.

Another example of the subtle mixtures of smells that came to mind when I thought of ocean in contrast to river smells is the difference between wood smoke from a fire built for heating and wood smoke from a fire that is used for cooking. Obviously, smoke mixed with cooking smells like food, and we are keenly orientated toward food as a survival instinct, but it is more than this, though what exactly makes it different I cannot say. Scents in this way exhibit the kind of complexity that we hear in spoken language, and which I attempted to describe in The Human Overview, though we are more able to parse the subtleties of language and its usage than scents and how they linger.

In any case, the other morning when the smell of the river came to me vividly, not long after I drove to work, and, as it was a nice day, I had the window wide open. I drove through a smell that I instantly recognized (if that is the right word for it) as one of the “good” smells of an industrialized city—like the cookie factory not far from my house, which makes the entire neighborhood smell like a bakery when the wind is blowing in the right direction, only in this case I knew it wasn’t the cookie factor—not long after followed by some of the “bad” smells of an industrialized city—the pungent odor of grease, oil, and other petrochemicals. There is also the smell of the city itself, apart from the odors of industrialization, and there is a generic city smell, and a smell peculiar to each city.

My day of vivid odors made me think of my recent post The Audible Universe, which I had written explicitly to contrast with the familiar idea of the visible universe with the idea of the audible universe. This project could be expanded to all five of the canonical senses recognized in Aristotle’s On the Soul, so that we might distinguish the visible universe, the audible universe, the scented universe, the tasted universe, and the tactile universe. Of course, we know that this canonical Aristotelian division of the senses is inadequate, and today we recognize “raw feels” such as are experienced as kinesthetic sensations and proprioception, and we know that other species not only have sensory organs that are sharper or duller than our own, but also entirely distinct senses, like the shark’s ability to sense electricity (electroreception) and a pit viper’s ability to sense infrared (cf. The Future of the Pit Viper).   

 We could add these varieties of raw feels to our catalog of observed worlds and speak, for example, of the kinesthetic universe, though just as we know that the traditional schematization of the senses is inadequate, so too we know that any single one of these perspectives on the world—visible, audible, or scented, etc.—is abstract when taken in isolation from the totality of experience in which it plays a role. That our knowledge of astronomy until relatively recently was entirely a matter of the visible universe probably has accounted for how we have conceived of the cosmos, whereas our conception of the night, in which we cannot see, so that we often conceive it in auditory terms—things that go bump in the night, as tradition would have it—is probably shaped by our relationship to hearing, which is different from our relationship to sight.  

While the scented world is, for us, often attenuated to the point of irrelevance, its intensity is, at times, overwhelming, as it was for me the other morning. And even when the scented world is not vivid, but is only in the background, perceived only at a subconscious level, it probably affects us more than we realize. Perhaps smell is one of the factors that most decisively differentiates lived experience from experience that has been rendered as scientific knowledge, because what we smell vividly affects us so deeply (as is to be expected from this remnant of the most primitive chemical signaling among organisms), dredging up memories and feelings long past, perhaps even suppressed, while the preconscious or unconscious experience of the background smells that constitute our world would be missed if they were not there, but are not noticed to be absent in formalized account of knowledge. The totality of experience in lived experience could be symbolically represented by the scented world, which reveals the formalization of experience in scientific knowledge as something less than totality of knowledge.  

[arachobia]

Pokemon Re-typed: Squirtle Line

In my mind, Squirtle always seems like the ‘forgotten’ Gen I starter. That’s not necessarily true, but it seems like with Charmander getting all the adoration and Bulbasaur getting all the hatred, Squirtle sort of just falls in the middle. It may be a consequence of how in Gen I yours tarter choice was almost a 'difficulty' setting - with Squirtle representing the middle difficulty.

Anyway, let's see what type we get for the tiny turtle Pokémon

Water/Electric is curiously underrepresented in Pokémon - with the only representatives being Chinchou, Lanturn, and Rotom-Wash. I'm honestly not a big fan of Lanturn - which could stand to be more anglerfish-y, and as cool as Rotom is, having just a form be water/electric means there really is just 1 line of actual water/electric Pokémon. Which is strange because there are certainly a lot of fish in our world that create electricity. Stunfisk and the Eelektross line reference this, but are not water types. 

Outside of what we normally think of as fish, we have some other electroreceptive vertebrates - the Olm, Echidna, and Platypus. That said, I personally think that Psyduck is inspired by the platypus - in which case the ability to sense electricity but not generate it seems to lead to Psychic power in the Pokémon universe.

Given that I can not really find too many ideas for electric turtles or tortoises in mythology and folklore, I'm going to be doing a more 'smooshing things together' approach to the "Luminescent Squirtle' form. Basically, I am taking an actual type of turtle:

 And something that kind of looks like it:

So, Luminescent Squirtles are Squirtle that have evolved to hunt other Water-type Pokémon. To compensate for their slowness, they have developed the ability to discharge electricity - especially through their bite - allowing them to paralyze potential prey making it easier to catch. They are called luminescent because the electricity running through them makes their skin glow a neon-blue. Their eyes also crackle with yellow light. It is possible they use this light show as a lure to draw other Pokémon closer to them. When their prey is in rage - they lunge with jaws much bigger and more jagged than a regular Squirtle and discharge electricity into their prey. 

They also have a more jagged looking shell than regular Squirtle. no real reason, it just conveys the 'electric' vibe and makes them look a bit more like Alligator Snapping-Turtle.

At this stage, Luminescent Squirtle can't really harness their electricity very well - relying more on melee electric moves and able to Discharge it if startled but not really being able to launch more 'long-ranged' moves like Thunderbolt.

This changes when they evolve. Luminescent Wartortles use their long ears and tails as conduits for electricity - allowing them to learn more varieties of electric attacks. Their 'hair' is thus constantly jagged and standing on end from the static pulsing through them. They still have the more jagged jaws and shells, and glowing colors, of their pre-evolved form. Perhaps their shell takes on some stylistic 'lightning' shapes radiating from the centers as well.

Luminescent Blastoise is not too different from regular Blastoise - it keeps the jagged jaws, spiked shells and glowing coloration of its pre-evolutions and the lightning insignia of Luminescent Wartortle. One big difference is its cannons are longer and more 'behind' it - sort of if Mega Blastoise had two cannons. Electricity nearly constantly crackles between these two cannons.

If a Luminescent Blastoise mega evolves, it looks practically identical to regular Mega Blastoise - Except for a very small, black, 'lightning bolt' engraved on its cannons.

So, these might be a bit silly, but I kind of like the idea. I apologize for not updating for a few days, RL stuff got a bit busy and I might also be unable to do much this weekend. But I hope those of you who have read this are still enjoying the series and I look forward to leaving the 'starters' behind soon and getting into the rest of the Pokedex