#poor sperm whale

[naffeclipse]

I like that the whale tooth is Eclipse's way of showing off his hunting skills without freaking out YN. If you're able to answer, did he already have the tooth, or did he get it specifically with YN in mind?

He got the tooth specifically with Y/N in mind!

[cold-neon-ocean]

I wanna put a sticker on his back just to fuck with Brig

He's truly never beating the oversize load allegations that's for sure

[magdeleinas]

just found out tilikum died back in 2017 rip king we could have used your deranged psycho murderer tendencies in some european oceans

[duchessvultjag]

entering my moby dick era

[i-was-today-years-old-when]

i learned what is the most recent large animal to be discovered

Photo taken aboard the Navy vessel AFB-14, sailing off the coast of Kaneohe, Hawai'i. It's November 15, 1976.

Sea anchors are being hoisted , when you see something tangled up in the device..

It's a shark, and a huge shark.

This is the bigmouth shark (Megachasma pelagios).

These fish can grow very large - although not as impressive as, for example, a whale shark or a basking shark, large mouth sharks can grow to almost 6 meters in length.

It is impressive that these alien-looking sharks were able to remain hidden for so long.

Most of the huge creatures of the deep, such as sperm whales, scorpionfish, giant and colossal squids, etc., have long been known to scientists, albeit rather poorly. Scientists have long known about most deep sea creatures, even if not in detail. We've had carcasses that were washed ashore, specimens caught in nets and, in the case of the sperm whale, we've been hunting them for thousands of years.

Also, it's not like megamouths are super cunning and sneaky. They are relatively poor swimmers, even in deep water, and most of the time just float through the water column, sifting sea plankton into their cavernous mouths. Their bodies are flabby and fragile , such that sperm whales destroy them.

You'd expect such a poor swimmer to take to land all the time, but no. In 2018, fewer than 99 whale mega-specimens were recorded, most of which were carcasses washed ashore or entangled in nets.

Follow my Twitter/X account for more: www.x.com/noparkingtv

[probablyasocialecologist]

Aesthetic sensibilities are deeply subjective, and hard to acknowledge and analyse clearly. They take root in us from the moment we’re born. They bind us to a particular view of the landscape, something we begin to think of as ‘natural’ or, at least, benign. What we see as children, particularly where we grow up, becomes what we want to continue to see, and what we want our children to see. Nostalgia, and the sense of security that nostalgia brings, binds us to the familiar. We are persuaded, too, by our own absorption in this aesthetic that what we are seeing has been here for ever. We believe the countryside around us, or something very similar to it, has persisted for centuries and the wildlife within it, if not exactly the same, is at least a fair representation of what has been here for centuries. But the ecological processes of the past are hard for the layman – and often even conservation professionals – to grasp. 

We are blinded by the immediacy of the present. We look at the landscape and see what is there, not what is missing. And if we do appreciate some sort of ecological loss and change, we tend to go only as far back as our childhood memories, or the memories of our parents or grandparents who tell us ‘there used to be hundreds of lapwings in my day’, ‘skylarks and song thrushes were ten-a-penny’, ‘the fields round here used to be red with poppies and blue with cornflowers’, ‘cod was the poor man’s fish when I was a nipper’. We are blind to the fact that in our grandparents’ grandparents’ day there would have been species-rich wildflower meadows in every parish and coppice woods teeming with butterflies. They would have heard corncrakes and bitterns, seen clouds of turtle doves, thousands of lapwings and hundreds more skylarks. A mere four generations ago they knew rivers swimming with burbot – now extinct in Britain – and eels, and their summer nights were peppered with bats and moths and glow-worms. Their grandparents, in turn, saw nightjars settling on dusty country lanes and even hawking for moths around the street lamps in towns, and spotted flycatchers in every orchard, and meadow pipits everywhere from salt-flats to the crowns of mountains. They saw banks of giant cod and migrating tuna in British waters. They saw our muddy North Sea clear as gin, filtered by oyster beds as large as Wales. And their grandparents, in turn, living at the time of the last beaver in Britain, would have known great bustards, and watched shoals of herring five miles long and three miles broad migrating within sight of the shore, chased by schools of dolphins and sperm whales and the occasional great white shark. We don’t have to look too deeply into the history books, into contemporary accounts, for scenes dramatically different to our own to be normal. Yet we live in denial of these catastrophic losses.

Isabella Tree, Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm

[plaguedocboi]

Tell us more about Moby Dick!! :D

Ishmael is a fascinating little specimen let me tell you. He has a reputation for being a “boring narrator” but that’s complete bullshit. Right out the gate he’s like “hello this is my (fake) name, I’m poor, I’m depressed, but luckily when I can tell I’m about to kill myself I hop my ass on a boat because the water can cure whatever’s wrong with you, also we are all being controlled by the puppet strings of the divine and free will is an illusion. It is now Page Three.”

The entire first part of the book is his story of meeting, falling in love with, and marrying a hot tattooed Polynesian man in what may be the first recorded case of the “there was only one bed” trope and it only gets wilder from there. This really caught be off guard tbh, I had no idea that there was so much gay stuff in this book.

I honestly cannot even pick my favorite Ishmael moment. Could it be him being adamantly on the wrong side of the “are whales fish or mammals” debate? That he suggests narwhal’s horns would be good for turning the pages of small books? When he hides behind the mast and eats some spermaceti because he just has to know what it tastes like? When he tattooed himself with measurements of a beached whale but rounded all the numbers because he also needed room for the poem he was writing on his arm? The gay sperm squeezing chapter? When he made his drunk listeners fetch him a priest and a Bible so he could swear he was telling the truth? And then lied????

Ishmael’s musings range from beautiful, lyrical prose that makes you stop and reread the section because damn, and chapters about How Rope Works and encyclopedic writing about the whaling industry. There are lofty theological debates and accusations about the reader being a fish. You spend much of this book wildly seasick because Ishmael’s voice is manic, hilarious, and disorienting. Once you’ve finished this story, you, too, will feel like you’ve spent three years aboard a whaling ship.

Although the unhinged tangents are often amusing, many people complain because they probably account for 90% of the book with only the remaining 10% devoted to the plot. Surely if we just got rid of Ishmael’s Nonsense it would be better, correct? No. This is Ishmael’s memoir. He knows how it ends. These plot-delaying anecdotes are purposeful; he does not want to reach the end because it is The End. The death of his friends and his husband. The inevitable, unforgiving blade of fate that slices the lives of of the Pequod’s crew short and leaves him alone and adrift at sea. Enjoy his journey, because it may seem long now but it ends all too soon.

[focsle]

Were there folks back in the whaling days who objected to whaling on moral grounds? Or is this a much more recent thing?

It was rare, but there were some! It was very much a fringe objection, though as whaling was so much a part of the country's energy consumption and so many products were connected to it. There were people who warned that whales were a waning resource, but it wasn't exactly a moral objection to killing them. I always think about the baleen - plastic connection. Just as folks maybe try to reduce plastic consumption today, it's still unavoidably a part of everything--perhaps someone wouldn't want their corset busks and boning or umbrellas or storage boxes to be made out of whalebone, but it still was.

One way to get a sense of the cultural attitudes towards whaling in the 19th century was the cognitive dissonance when it comes to Quakers dominated the whaling industry in the beginning of the era. A core of nonviolence, but exceptions made for whales. I think that's an interesting way at looking at how whaling was considered as a whole.

Still, there were some people who, if not objecting, at least approached it in a kind of complicated way. Foremasthand William Stetson on the bark Arab, 1855, is someone whose whaling descriptions I sometimes have a hard time getting through because he often humanizes them in ways I haven't seen many other whalemen do. Calling them poor fellows, reflecting on and understanding the pain they're in, understanding what it means emotionally for a cow to consider her calf in danger and why she behaves the way she does, etc. But still, he ultimately wants them dead. He's ultimately excited to lower for them. Because that's his livelihood. But also does seem to highlight a more sympathetic understanding about how brutal his work is.

Melville is also interesting as a (brief) whaler, weaving his ideas of both the Nobility of Whalemen and the Nobility of Whales together, and he mused on the fate of whales beneath man's warfare upon them.

"But still another enquiry remains; one often agitated by the more recondite Nantucketers. Whether owing to the almost omniscient look-outs at the mast-heads of the whale-ships, now penetrating even through Behring’s straits, and into the remotest secret drawers and lockers of the world; and the thousand harpoons and lances darted along all continental coasts; the moot point is, whether Leviathan can long endure so wide a chase, and so remorseless a havoc; whether he must not at last be exterminated from the waters, and the last whale, like the last man, smoke his last pipe, and then himself evaporate in the final puff"

Like Stetson, he approached whales with a curious sympathy and understanding of their circumstance, but still was a whaler at his heart.

There were (inferior quality) substitutes for whale oil, such as lard oil, and one whaling newspaper once brought in a moral argument (albeit a rather disingenuous snarky one) about killing for oil, and which was more 'humane'.

This was reprinted from the Nantucket Inquirer in the Whaleman's Shipping List, May 2nd, 1843.

“We cannot help expressing our joy at this state of things [lard being considered inferior to whale], in behalf, we will not say of suffering manhood, but of afflicted swinehood, that so many of its porcine tribes are to be saved from a sudden, and (to them) inscrutable death. If it is replied that the getting of sperm oil is also attended by the cruelty and the taking of innocent life, we shall immediately annihilate the objector by showing that where the hardy whaleman takes one life the hog-butcher takes a hundred; for one decent sized whale will afford more oil than a whole drove of swine. So it will be seen that in advocating the slaughter of whales in preference to the slaughter of swine, we go for the greatest good of the greatest number—a principle at once highly human and “splendidly democratic”

But there is one exceptional article written in 1850 which is much more akin to attitudes about whaling today. This was published anonymously (which could perhaps speak to the unpopularity of the idea that someone was shy to put their name to it), in a Quaker magazine called 'The Friend'. They write on the industry from the perspective of a bowhead whale.

"Editors note: All attempts to discover the means by which this communication reached our office will doubtless be vain. Should it become known, it might lead to serious consequences! We are somewhat surprised that a member of the whale-family should condescend to make his appeal through our columns, inasmuch as we have ever aimed to direct whalemen to the best cruising grounds. We feel honored by the compliment, and shall feel bound on no consideration to betray the confidence thus reposed in us: —

A Polar Whale’s Appeal Anadir Sea, North Pacific The second Year of Trouble

MR EDITOR,—In behalf of my species, allow an inhabitant of this sea, to make an appeal through your columns to the friends of the whale in general. A few of the knowing old inhabitants of this sea have recently held a meeting to consult respecting our safety, and in some way or other, if possible, to avert the doom that seems to await all of the whale Genus throughout the world, including the Sperm, Right, and Polar whales. Although our situation, and that of our neighbors in the Arctic is remote from our enemy’s country, yet we have been knowing to the progress of affairs in the Japan and Ochotsk seas, the Atlantic and Indian oceans, and all the other “whaling grounds”.

We have imagined that we were safe in these cold regions; but no; within these last two years a furious attack has been made upon us, an attack more deadly and bloody than any of our race ever experienced in any part of the world. I scorn to speak of the cruelty that has been practiced by our blood-thirsty enemies, armed with harpoon and lance; no age or sex has been spared. Multitudes of our species (the Polar) have been murdered in “cold” blood. Our enemies have wondered at our mild and inoffensive conduct; we have heard them cry, “there she blows” and our hearts have quailed as we saw their glittering steel reflecting the sun beams, and realized that in a few moments our life-blood oozing out, would discolor the briny deep in which we have gamboled for scores of years.

We have never been trained to contend with a race of warriors, who sail in large three masted vessels, on the sterns of which we have read “New Bedford”, “Sag Harbor”, “New London”. Our battles have hitherto been with simple Indians in their skin canoes. We have heard of the desperate encounters between these whale killing monsters and our brethren the Right whales on the North-west coast. Some from that quarter have taken shelter in the quiet bays of our sea, others of the spermeciti species form Japan, have also visited us and reported their battles and disasters; they have told us it is no use to contend with the Nortons, the Tabers, the Coffins, the Coxs, the Smiths, the Halseys, and the other families of whale-killers. We Polar whales are a quiet inoffensive race, desirous of life and peace, but, alas, we fear our doom is sealed; we have heard the threat that in one season more we shall all be “cut up” and “tried out”. Is there no redress? I write in behalf of my butchered and dying species. I appeal to the friends of the whole race of whales. Must we all be murdered in cold blood? Must our race become extinct? Will no friends and allies rise and revenge our wrongs? Will our foes be allowed to prey upon us another year? We have heard of the power of the “Press”; pray give these few lines a place in your columns, and let the go forth to the world. I am known among our enemies as the “Bow-head”, but I belong to the Old Greenland family.

Yours till death, POLAR WHALE

P.S. I send this by the ——— of ——— Do’nt publish the name of the vessel. P.W.

[cllnsllvn]

South Island Roadie begins

After a very long hiatus of not posting, trying to start up and actually post for my trip!

I packed up from Christchurch on 9 Jan and headed up to Kaikōura. Packing is horrible, I do not recommend it to any of my friends or enemies. On the way, I stopped at Pegasus Bay Winery for a nice glass of wine. Although it started raining just as I was walking inside, I was able to enjoy a nice glass by the fire! And aren't those hydrangeas beautiful!

The next stop was the Cathedral Gully viewpoint to look at the incredible view of the cliff face and the ocean. Then a stop at Gore Bay for a quick beach walk.

Then, honestly I was too tired to do much of anything else! A 2.5 hour drive can easily turn into 5 when you stop wherever you'd like.

Friday morning, I went on a whale-watching cruise! I had been a little nervous - almost all of the recent cruises had been canceled due to poor weather or sea conditions. Luckily, though, the tour went off without a hitch! There were warnings that the likelihood of seasickness would be high due to the swells, so I got some sea legs before boarding the boat. And that did the trick! Plenty of seasick passengers, but I was not one of them.

Kaikōura is a great place to see oceanic wildlife because there is an underwater canyon only about 10 minutes off shore. It's a semi-permanent home to some male sperm whales, but may also see humpbacks, baleens, orcas, and more.

We saw two whales up close and personal (as personal as you're allowed to be with wildlife protections in place). These are the two we saw! Technically, I also saw a third in the distance, but they didn't call it out on the speaker in the boat because we were still too far off. I just happened to look in the right place at the right time!

After a quick lunch, I then went out to walk the Kaikōura Peninsula Walkway, which gave great views of the cliffs, hills, and ocean, as well as the seal colony and more.

Here are a few other photos I enjoyed!

[naffeclipse]

Naff! I gotta tell you about my Apex Polarity dream! So instead of killing the sperm whale for the tooth, Eclipse just yoinked it out of the poor creature's mouth. Then he started beating up all the other sea creatures for teeth, horns, and shells to gift his Birdie. Just being an absolute menace with a big grin on his face. I'm certain a lot of the creatures I dreamed of were tropical which didn't make sense but the thought still counts.

I love the idea of every sea creature just hitting the deck whenever Orca!Eclipse shows up in the area because everyone knows he's on a hunt for a pretty pebble for his birdie

[vickyvicarious]

Frantic, going insane, I leaped out of my stateroom and rushed into the lounge.

Captain Nemo was there. Mute, gloomy, implacable, he was staring through the port panel.

An enormous mass was sinking beneath the waters, and the Nautilus, missing none of its death throes, was descending into the depths with it. Ten meters away, I could see its gaping hull, into which water was rushing with a sound of thunder, then its double rows of cannons and railings. Its deck was covered with dark, quivering shadows.

The water was rising. Those poor men leaped up into the shrouds, clung to the masts, writhed beneath the waters. It was a human anthill that an invading sea had caught by surprise!

Paralyzed, rigid with anguish, my hair standing on end, my eyes popping out of my head, short of breath, suffocating, speechless, I stared—I too! I was glued to the window by an irresistible allure!

This scene hits so hard, all the more because the lounge window has been a place of wonder throughout almost the entire book. It has revealed many magnificent sights, and watching the ship sink and the men drown feels like a cruel twist on every scene of watching the fish beyond the window. Aronnax's delight in describing and cataloguing fish seems to be tainted by this experience, even - when he next describes the sights from the window it feels so perfunctory. Sure, they're moving too quickly for him to see well, but it also feels to me like he can't associate watching through this window with pleasant pasttimes anymore.

I was going to go back to the first time Nemo and Aronnax looked out the lounge window together to contrast it with this scene, when I realized something quite interesting. Nemo... never really does that. For all that the sights out of the lounge are some of the heart of the story/the journey for Aronnax, he never is actually shown to sit and indulge in them or seem to take joy from them. In fact, that first incredible sight when the window opened and the stowaways were dazzled by the fish outside - Nemo presumably orchestrated that, but he wasn't in the room. He didn't come back until the window was closed. And that's the normal state of affairs.

It's not that he's never in the lounge, or even never in the lounge when the window is opened. But he never seems to be there for pleasure, or when he is it's nearly always linked to destruction and death in some way. Here are the most notable instances I could find of Nemo being in the lounge (and I think all with the window open, at least that I could find):

In "Vanikoro" he opens the panels and Aronnax is delighted by the coral Nemo shows him... only to notice underneath it the "desolate wreckage" of ships which are what Nemo actually intended to show him. He's described as "solemn".

In "The Greek Island" Nemo comes to the lounge looking "silent and preoccupied" and Aronnax notes that it is "contrary to custom" for him to have both panels be opened. He looks out carefully, and while Aronnax soon gets distracted by fish, it becomes apparent that Nemo was looking for the diver he was expecting.

In "The Bay of Vigo" he invites Aronnax to join him at the lounge window again - still to show him a shipwreck, but in this case specifically the one full of treasure he was collecting.

In "Sargasso Sea" Nemo comes closest to just enjoying the sights from the window. He opens it as they go as low as possible. This is still in service of a scientific experiment of sorts but it seems to be one for curiousity/pleasure and he seems more lighthearted with his offer to take a picture. However it is somewhat notable that during this experiment they sink so deep that no life is visible.

In "Sperm Whales and Baleen Whales" Nemo is in the lounge with the window open, but while the stowaways watch out the window, "Captain Nemo made his way to the helmsman’s side to operate his submersible as an engine of destruction."

He shows up to look at the giant squids in "The Devilfish" shortly before declaring they will fight them.

During "In Latitude 47° 24’ and Longitude 17° 28’" Nemo once again points out a shipwreck to Aronnax. 'The Avenger' this time.

While there are nuances, he almost always is there on business, almost always serious or upset. He mostly seems focused on scenes of past death/destruction, or impending ones when he is about to fight something. It sounds like he doesn't often just look out at the beauty of the underwater world. The lounge and its window is a place of such wonder and delight in the natural world - but not when Nemo is present.

It's such a clever subtle detail.

[carolinawrenn]

Chapter 88: Schools and Schoolmasters

"The same secludedness and isolation to which the schoolmaster whale betakes himself in his advancing years, is true of all aged Sperm Whales. Almost universally, a lone whale—as a solitary Leviathan is called—proves an ancient one. Like venerable moss-bearded Daniel Boone, he will have no one near him but Nature herself; and her he takes to wife in the wilderness of waters, and the best of wives she is, though she keeps so many moody secrets....

The Forty-barrel-bull schools are larger than the harem schools. Like a mob of young collegians, they are full of fight, fun, and wickedness, tumbling round the world at such a reckless, rollicking rate, that no prudent underwriter would insure them any more than he would a riotous lad at Yale or Harvard. They soon relinquish this turbulence though, and when about three-fourths grown, break up, and separately go about in quest of settlements, that is, harems.

Another point of difference between the male and female schools is still more characteristic of the sexes. Say you strike a Forty-barrel-bull—poor devil! all his comrades quit him. But strike a member of the harem school, and her companions swim around her with every token of concern, sometimes lingering so near her and so long, as themselves to fall a prey."

These passages are delightful. Ishmael clearly loves whales and has studied them as closely as one could at the time, but the Pequod's whole livelihood depends on committing horrific violence against them. It's such an interesting perspective for a 21st century reader to work with.

[x-heesy]

W(e)ake me up when it’s mf over ✅

I'm looking for money

I like poor girls who rust, makeup that goes to shit

Face like ratatouille, which scares the hell out of you and ass of a pumpkin

The ones that have something wrong, that make the mirrors cry

Watering can head that scares you in the dark, alone at the bar in the evening

I like the ones that are all broken, the ones that are too big and the failures

The ravaged, all wrinkled, coffee, cigarettes for breakfast

I like those who are more beautiful, who grow their armpits

37 years old still a virgin but with calf's eyes that bewitch you

I like girls who let themselves go, hot ass and poorly dressed

Smells of sweat and big tits, willing to try everything

I like the ones that don't bother, orange peel and tartiflette

Trumpet-nosed pork leg ready to do somersaults

(Gem lé moch') Old women have bags under their eyes

(Gem lé moch') The big ones with brioche

(Gem lé moch') Tunas that have hair on their tips

(Gem lé moch') Monsters that don't need an anti-theft device

(Gem lé moch') Old women have bags under their eyes

(Gem lé moch') The big ones with brioche

(Gem lé moch') Tunas that have hair on their tips

(Gem lé moch') Monsters that don't need an anti-theft device

I don't like them too clumsy with halos under their arms

I want them to be big with soft skin and who don't care about danacole

Tuna passing by you interest me, leave your phone and your address

I bought you a pretty leash with you I would do feats

Yeah of course it's easier but they're all so much cooler

The little sausages with runny noses, with the big pile of mud that splits the crowd

I find them patient, touching, not annoying and endearing

No pressure, they are cute and much better than all these idiots

Ugly girl, you have class and I love your bottom

Don't listen to all these bitches who put on this little air of superiority

You have sex appeal and you're as good as a coconut flan

I'll give you my number, call me after work

(Gem lé moch') Old women have bags under their eyes

(Gem lé moch') The big ones with brioche

(Gem lé moch') Tunas that have hair on their tips

(Gem lé moch') Monsters that don't need an anti-theft device

(Gem lé moch') Old women have bags under their eyes

(Gem lé moch') The big ones with brioche

(Gem lé moch') Tunas that have hair on their tips

(Gem lé moch') Monsters that don't need an anti-theft device

Hey my ugly lady, let me slap you with a galoshe

You have top class pussy and you have pineapple sheaths

And even if you suck like little Karen Cheryl

Well, there's more room in the bra when you're wearing Lexomil

I find you wonderful and too mega extraordinary

And your little bovine glances transported me towards the light

Whether you are small, good and with a low ass, or whether you are skinny with big arms

That you're plump with pigtails doesn't bother me at all

You have the cocotte look and I like your little buttons on the back

I love your fine mustache and when you imitate the sperm whale

You have style, you have a dog, always free, no boyfriend

You're not boring and I like you, we'll see you tomorrow.

(Gem lé moch') Old women have bags under their eyes

(Gem lé moch') The big ones with brioche

(Gem lé moch') Tunas that have hair on their tips

(Gem lé moch') Monsters that don't need an anti-theft device

(Gem lé moch') Old women have bags under their eyes

(Gem lé moch') The big ones with brioche

(Gem lé moch') Tunas that have hair on their tips

(Gem lé moch') Monsters that don't need an anti-theft device

@luna--zylum @bethanythestrange @bigbonzo @boanerges20

Gem lé moch' by Stupeflip 🇫🇷

[melvillean-art]

OK folks, so here I am with a goal this year. Instead of doing the Inktober, I decided to spice up the game a bit and play with the unrepresentable. I am so bad at drawing first of all, and Moby-Dick just always plays with representable/unknown/unrepresentable.

So this is a challenge and expect it to be more fun than serious. The serious part of my work is clearly elsewhere (and it is about research, not me drawing).

MELVILLEANKTOBER 2023

This is the first Melvillieanktober ever (I got the idea at the end of September). The ideas behind the prompts are:

Find words relative to Moby-Dick, anything, especially proper nouns.

Find sentences that have common elements with the novel. Mix them.

Add CATS. CATS EVERYWHERE. Expect LOTS OF CATS. Mix everything.

Basically, it is: Moby-Dick, with cats, and kind of something else around. Ladies and gents and other folks, this is the Melvilleanktober.

Here are the prompts:

"The mighty whale breaches the surface, watched by curious cats." & Whale

"The determined captain sets sail, accompanied by his loyal feline friend." & Captain

"The harpoon gleams in the moonlight, casting a glow on the cat's inquisitive eyes." & Harpoon

"The ship battles treacherous waves, with a brave cat perched on the mast." & Ahab

"Sailors navigate the vast sea, while their ship's cat keeps watch." & Pequod

"A storm brews on the horizon, and cats seek shelter below deck." & Sailing

"Adventures await beyond the horizon, as cats explore the unknown." & Sea

"Obsession drives a man to madness, witnessed by his concerned cat." & Ishmael

"Seeking vengeance on the open ocean, a cat's curiosity leads the way." & Leviathan

"The crew toils tirelessly, cheered on by the ship's playful cats." & Nantucket

"In pursuit of the elusive prey, a cat's instincts sharpen." & Starbuck

"Thunder rumbles in the distance, and cats huddle close for comfort." & Queequeg

"Lost in the endless blue expanse, cats find solace in each other's company." & Whaling

"Guided by the stars above, cats navigate by celestial light." & Storm

"Courage in the face of danger, as cats stand by their human companions." & Ahoy

"A mysterious creature lurks below, captivating the ship's cats." & Ship

"The journey's end remains uncertain, but cats offer silent support." & Moby Dick

"In search of the legendary white beast, cats keep watch from the crow's nest." & White Whale

"The hunt begins at dawn, with cats as vigilant observers." & Captain's Log

"Embarking on a perilous quest, cats are part of the fearless crew." & Tattoo

"Ink etches tales of the deep, where cats play their own role." & Captain's Quarters

"Perilous encounters on the voyage, with cats as agile allies." & Whalebone

"Isolation on the boundless sea, but cats provide companionship." & Sea Shanty

"Survival against all odds, with cats sharing their warmth." & Kraken

"Nature's beauty and fury, observed through a cat's curious eyes." & Whale Oil

"Legacy of the whaling industry, cats as symbols of maritime life." & Sperm Whale

"Discovery in uncharted waters, cats explore new territories." & Whale Song

"Tragedy strikes the crew, and cats offer comfort in grief." & Nautical

"Loyalty binds the sailors, and cats are cherished shipmates." & Ship's Wheel

"Wisdom passed down through generations, including the wisdom of cats." & Scrimshaw

"Victory over the forces of nature, celebrated with the ship's feline crew." & Nantucket Island

Yes, this is un-doable, especially with my poor drawing skills. It will be fun for sure.

Yes, I'm late for the Inktobers. Who cares?

[queer-cosette]

AO3 tag game

Thank you for the tag @apopcornkernel my love kissing u /p

how many works do you have on ao3?

45 right now!

what's your total ao3 word count?

According to my stats page, 781,604! Holy smokes, Batman!

what fandoms do you write for?

Right now, mainly Heathers, but I've also written for Les Misérables, Derry Girls, Monster High, Miraculous Ladybug, Total Drama, Equestria Girls, and Rainbow High, and have posted some original work on AO3 too (mostly poetry).

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

mArinette (a Miraculous Ladybug easy A AU)

today I woke up wanting to kiss you (plotless Duncney fluff)

Cute Boys With Short Haircuts (Miraculous Ladybug angsty one-sided identity reveal)

Mistlejoke (Miraculous Ladybug christmas fluff)

Waitin' on the Sunrise (shameless fluffy JDonica porn with plot)

do you respond to comments?

I try to lol. Usually I'll respond in batches because executive dysfunction is The Worst

what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Ooh, does original poetry count? Because if so, Kathryn, a midlength poem I wrote about Kathryn Howard the fifth wife of Henry VIII who was beheaded between the ages of 17 and 22. Or maybe these are times that can’t be weathered (and we have never been back there since then), a story about a Miraculous OC discovering Hawkmoth’s identity.

what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Personally, I think it’s The Dark Gate, part four of my Les Mis Winx Club AU. The happy ending is really earned and needed.

do you get hate on fics?

Not really since I stopped regularly writing for Miraculous Ladybug. Boy, that was a wild experience. The fandom was really big at the time and it was the post-Season 3 salt era, so Opinions were both abundant and poor in quality.

do you write smut? if so, what kind?

Yes indeed! I was born on the run (but I’ll die holding your hand) and Waitin’ on the Sunrise are both JDonica smut fics that I am very very proud of! They’re… very fluffy. You know that rule about how you see in fandom the stuff that was missing from the source material? Look, I just want my awful blorbos to be happy. And also to bang a lot.

do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written?

Does On Se Sent Comme Par Magie count? It’s really more fusion fic, it’s the characters of Les Mis living out the plot of Winx Club. Look, it just… it made sense in my head, y’know?

have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I know, and I hope it never happens!

have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but I did write an English translation of a fic I wrote in my native Scots! Never posted it, though.

have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have tried and miserably failed. I just can’t do it, babes.

what's your all time favourite ship?

Probably JDonica. I just… he’d kill for her?? And he does?? Does it get more chewable than that??

what's a WIP you want to finish but sometimes doubt you ever will?

Oh god I haven’t actually written anything for two months. I need to get back to Waitin’ on the Sunrise, The Last Faery on Earth (Part 5 of OSSCPM), and The Mystery Solvers of Derry (Derry Girls SDMI AU).

what are your writing strengths?

According to my beta reader for OSSCPM, readability, characterisation, and cliffhangers.

what are your writing weaknesses?

I’m really bad for run-on sentences - it’s not my fault, okay, I started reading Les Mis when I was sixteen and impressionable, and Victor Hugo did a number on my psyche that I doubt will ever be reversed because unfortunately Vicky Huge-ho lives rent-free in my skull and whispers in my ear to just use more semicolons like the whore he is.

thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I’ve written in Scots before, which was fun! I kind of want to do it again, but the Plot Bunnies aren’t cooperating right now.

first fandom you wrote for?

I think. Technically. It was a documentary about Sperm Whales that had a really sad ending that I saw when I was six and I wrote a little book that gave it a happier ending, if that counts? If not, probably Equestria Girls. Although, thank god, my early fic experiments are all stored on a hard drive that will never see the light of day again.

favorite fic you've written?

I was born on the run (but I’ll die holding your hand)!! Fluffy JDonica smut for the win!!

tagging: @theladyfae @private-bryan @galahadwilder @swxxtcidxr if yous want to xo

[somnesca]

Kind of wish I'd made it farther in Moby Dick, because I was in Nantucket last weekend and got to visit their Whaling Museum which is peppered with quotes and references. Still it was profoundly interesting, and they gave a presentation that did not hold back on how difficult and brutal the hunts were.

The whale skeleton is real; it's from a sperm whale that beached itself in the 90s. Beneath it is the whaleboat the crew would use to get close enough to harpoon the whale, then get dragged for potentially miles at an obscene pace as the whale fled. The rope rapidly unspooling during this "Nantucket sleigh ride" had to be managed or else it could actually catch fire.

They harvested some spermaceti from this same poor whale to display just a few bottles, but back in the day the crew would come home with barrels of the stuff after processing the whale on the ship.

Overall there were a lot of fascinating artifacts that brought the reality of whaling to life, including the enormously profitable industry that came from it. I could write a whole other post about my takeaways regarding Nantucket's history and culture that flourished from that wild success. It really is a, uh, Destination™️.

"With the Lance and the Harpoon we wage war with the mighty Monsters of the deep, alternatively searching beneath the equatorial heat of the sun, and shivering in the frozen regions of the North to increase the wealth and the Commerce of this Country."