#prehistoric life toys

[theyshapedlikefriends]

HANSA Coelacanth

[statecryptids]

A small local natural history museum had a neat little display of knitted marine life made by biology students.

More info here:

https://jwp.wescreates.wesleyan.edu/craftseacritters/

[kgdanny02]

Memories 🦐🪼

[ozzgin]

Pickle and Baki men reacting to pickle and his prehistoric feral daughter reader.

I like that we’ve done a proper dissection of Pickle’s potential family tree. From mate, to sister, and now daughter. Somewhere in the ancient mountains they’ll probably find a gigantic fossilized block and it’ll turn out to be Pickle’s mom of ridiculous size (like Sidon next to King Dorephan from BotW). Jokes aside, the Internet seems to agree that Pickle is in his 20s from the young facial features and general life expectancy, so his daughter would be rather young.

Baki Headcanons: Pickle’s Daughter! Reader

Featuring Pickle’s challengers and his daughter that seems to take after him in personality.

The news of a prehistoric human were too great to not make their way to all media outlets, though the scientists had managed to conceal your existence for the sake of privacy. They didn’t want a poor, confused child to be surrounded by microphones and cameras the second you landed. What the research team didn’t anticipate was that a bunch of dangerous men would sneak into Pickle’s provisional enclosure in order to measure up his strength. When Doppo broke out of the fake T.Rex and spotted the scattered toys on the floor, he could feel the bile kicking at the back of his throat. “Stop! There’s a child in here!” His voice boomed across the room and the fighters froze. Yuujirou glanced at him, incredulous, and was about to question his sanity when a small figure emerged from the carved tree trunk.

As a loving father himself, Doppo was ashamed to have potentially endangered this innocent soul. He demanded that the men exit the premises at once, and most complied without much protest. The Ogre, however, didn’t like the idea of leaving empty handed. He doesn’t care about his own damn children, why should he concern himself with an unrelated brat? He proceeded to break the security glass, ignoring the pleas of common decency. At that point Pickle was standing next to you, completely unbothered by the scene unraveling before him. He looked at you with an encouraging smile, and with the approval of your father confirmed, you didn’t waste any more time. You rushed towards the intruder and took a swing at him.

The remaining men prepared their stances, ready to shield you from Yuujirou’s anger. He observed your reaction after hitting him. His muscles were hard and the recoil shot through your entire arm. How exciting. You were gleaming with youthful enthusiasm. Yuujirou couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. Now that was a child made for battle. He lowered his large hand and ruffled your hair vigorously. You didn’t entirely understand the gesture, but you grinned at the stranger, flashing your chiseled fangs.

At least one worry has been cleared: fights leave you unfazed. They won’t have to hold back when challenging Pickle. Retsu is somewhat worried at the idea of a child whose main form of entertainment is violence. Katsumi shares a similar train of thought, although he’s quick to be charmed by your cheers and curiosity towards his martial arts. Baki finds you cute and captivating. Both him and Jack like to joke that you’re the child Yuujirou would’ve wanted. You abruptly showed up one day and potentially cleared them of the Hanma inheritance. Not that such matters interest you. You might be a fighting prodigy in the eyes of these men, but you prefer your role as Pickle’s dauntless daughter.

[alien-aisha-vending-machine]

Theory: How Neoquest was the first appearance of the Wraith threat.

i've always had the theory that the madness/dark magic from the two ring castle -> dark magic that infected darigain -> the madness that affected modern neopians during TDF -> wraiths & how it's all related to faeries being a possibly unnatural presence in Neopia

Part 1: Neoquest, or, "What do you mean Neopia is post-apocalyptic?!"

NQ1 is possibly the earliest version of Neopia we have or have ever gotten (if one doesn't consider Tyrannia as "a slice of the prehistoric era".) Notably, it's never been "debunked" in the same way that NQII has (tho, aspects in NQII imply that there are some canon aspects, or that the story itself is true- while the version we PLAY is a re-enactment or simulation.)

Though, while these days, Neoquest, (be it 1 or 2) is often considered "fictional" within the worldbuilding, a lot of early site lore really leaned on Neoquest for it's foundations. Toys, weapons, stories. monsters... a lot of this was based on Neoquest. it's a story that's been long forgotten by the site itself, but I still feel that in terms of the greater story of "Neopia", it is the most reliable glimpse into the ancient past and the sort of idea of what Neopets' original trajectory was.

It's also notable as being a version of neopia without the influence of Faeries. In fact, most neopians are neopets, and not a faerie is found in all the game.

Neopia is described ingame as a not-so-friendly place that is swarming with monsters and animals.. many of which are other neopets. The structure of this version of Neopia is very very interesting, as instead of faeries, it seems like it was ruled by a Council known as the "Circle of Twelve" who used what was known as "circles" of magic instead of the more well-known schools of Faerie magic (Fire, Ice, Shock, Spectral, and Life magic vs the Faeries' Dark, Light, Earth, Air, Fire and Water magic)

The lore goes back even further, mentioning a Great Empire and a Civilization known as Keladrian- a civilization of powerful wizards that was ancient even before the already-ancient Great Empire.. which was 1000 years ago during NEOQUEST.

Upon using the amulet on Faleinn, the leader of Kal Panning, she has this to say:

So ultimately, after a great scuffle between Kal Panning and the Circle, the Circle destroyed Kal Panning over the course of a month- afterwards, they realized what they had done and their leader, Jahbal, was banished to the Two Ring Mountains- from therein he used his evil magic to... corrupt the outside world. This long-form campaign to ultimately reduced the world to a few pocket civilizations, wrought with monsters.

A lot of the monsters are very clearly neopets, though- mad, mindless, and slowly warping from their less-crazed counterparts. They are sort of.. feral, in a way. Why.. it seems to remind me of...

Notes to Carry Forward:

No Faeries were present in Neoquest times, or before then either.

... note that there is no Faeries in Tyrannia, either.

Neopia thrived on Wild Magic.

Neopia, at this point, is a twice-over post apocalyptic civilization

There is a Dark Magic spell that is causing Madness, Mutations, and Violence.

Part 2: Champions of Meridell, aka the one without Kass in it.

Meridell is planted firmly "in the past" described ingame as a forgotten land of heroes. With Meridell and it's surrounding areas being such big players in the larger story of Neopets, it's easy to forget the world of Neopia is a very modern sort of place.. roughly pre-industrial, and while these days- Meridell and the other fantasy-themed lands often stand next to other lands as if they exist in the modern settings, Access to these areas are through a time portal.

I find Champions an ultimately more interesting tale than Battle, as it's the introduction to Meridell as a whole and contains a hugely important aspect of the land. Meridell was once suffering under famine, and under the advice of a seer, the King sends his knights to locate an Orb.

Meridell, which was once ridden with disease and famine, began to burst into life and lush greenery.

It's notable that Skarl does not know, or does to wish to share the fact that he knows, that the knights he sent to retrieve this orb had ultimately stolen it from the kingdom of Darigan.

When the orb was stolen, Darigan took a huge dive-

seemingly ending up worse than Meridell ever was. But.. why? Why did Darigain's citizens mutate when Meridell did not? Perhaps the orb was used to suppress something darker? More ancient?

In the Twisted Histories Capsule Adventure, we are presented with an alternate timeline where Meridell was defeated by Darigan. I think it's genuinely one of the coolest set of items ever introduced (the whole alternate timeline thing as a whole), as it not only implies that Darigan not only defeats Meridell, but merges with it to become one land....

Another aspect I would like to point out is that as Darigan citadel approaches Meridell, Spiked tentacles begin to grow and thrash.

Notes to Carry Forward:

A magical orb is used to bring health to the land around it.

While no faeries are explicitly mentioned in the story, we know Illusen is around, and that an air faerie saves jeran in the direct sequel.

Without the protection of the orb, the land turns Dark and pets begin to mutate. Ultimately, their leader falls to madness.

prev mentioned spiked tentacles.

Part 3: The Darkest Faerie, or- why is all the best lore hidden in the TCG?

There is a lot of lore snuggled away in TDF. It's one of my favorite cornerstones of Neopets' history- even moreso than Neoquest. A lot of it's personality does get lost in the game, but the cards are a huge contributor to really getting a glimpse into what the world was intended to be.

An interesting aspect is the concept of becoming "Tainted." Not only can pets and petpets be "tainted" but so can locations. In fact, with spiked tendrils echoing the corruption of both Meridell and Darigain in Champions, it makes it easy to draw comparisons.

In-game, the pets simply turn purple and their eyes glow, but the cards show off some more intense mutations.

That sounds a lot like "Darigainification".. except possibly more intense. The land withered, pets mutated and went crazy, and darkness fell. The designs look very similar to darigan as a color.

Note that this darkness.. didn't start when The Darkest Faerie was released, mind you. It happened after Illusen was dispatched... and one of the major quests involves a magical orb that is used to dispel the darkness.

Faerie Magic is suppressing this darkness. Perhaps specifically earth faerie magic... These Orbs- both Illusen's and the nameless one that Skarl/Darigan has, are possibly infused with faerie magic and are keeping the darkness, whatever it is, at bay.

"This, the orb that froze her in time. Fyora used it to turn the darkest faerie to stone, and imprisoned her under the sea."

With Illusen's Orb (Globe ig) and Jerdana's orb (revealed to originally belong to Fyora) being sugnificant players in the story, These orbs are very clearly a huge thing for Faeries, either powerful or special in nature.

Stepping aside to a really obscure concept, Darkest originally was an ally to the altadorian council, before her dive into betrayal.. but what caused this? This book seems to suggest that she.. dug too deep, perhaps. Maybe she too went mad with what she knew- I think in that sense, she was a lot like Xandra... well, speaking of-

Notes to Carry Forward:

A magical orb is used to dispel dark magic from the land.

Without the protection of a faerie or their artefacts, the land turns Dark and pets begin to mutate.

It is implied that Darkest fell to madness, and she uses this magic to try and destroy the land.

While not depicted in-game, Altador and Meridell are infested by spiked tentacles.

Part 4: The Faerie's Ruin, aka the one that killed off Hubrid Nox (the only sugnificant thing that happened in this plot for realsies 100% no foolin')

So, we all know and love the faeries ruin. and I'm not gunna play recap since tumblr is already starting to lag at the length of this post. But ultimately, when the faeries were turned to stone.. what began to happen? Dark creatures began to crawl from

Xandra may not have been right, but she may have been onto something.

Her neopedia entry says a lot. Neopets ruled by a Neopet? I think once upon a time, the world used to be like that.

...without the faeries' power holding Neopia together, dark creatures emerged and preyed upon the very Neopets that Xandra hoped to empower.

In the wraith resurgance, it is canonized that Neopets can become wraiths- or at least, wraith-like. However, I struggle to accept the resurgance as genuine to the canon, since it a post-staff-purge/Jumpstart-era plot. Plus, it's impossible to navigate what is left, so it's hard to glean info about it.

Stars above, the Ruin plot really did have some of the most gorgeous art neopets ever put out, huh?

Notes to Carry Forward:

Without the protection of the faeries or their artifacts, the land turns Dark and monsters begin to infest the land.

Neopets can adopt the form of these creatures. While Darigan pets are corrupted, they also exist as a color outside the lore. It is unknown for sure of Wraith pets are corrupted like Darigan pets are.

Xandra, while initally "well-intentioned", ultimately falls to madness, and she uses this magic to try and destroy the land.

Part 5: So.. what are you saying?

So, I'm just gonna cut the guff and state my theory outright: Jahabal's Curse from back in NQ still plagues Neopia to this day, and the only thing keeping it from destroying the world is interference from the faeries & their magic. The curse is the direct cause of turning neopets into monsters, and the corruption timeline as Feral and/or Tainted -> Darigain -> Wraith.

I don't think it's all intended. But I think it's interesting how this all slots together super easily.

[mediasaurs]

T. rex Madness Round 3: Safari Ltd. Feathered T. rex vs. Jurassic Park (Rexy)

Safari Ltd. Feathered T. rex – Figures of prehistoric life from Safari Ltd. are generally of good quality, and this is no exception. Released initially in 2016, this is an early example of a mainstream T. rex toy featuring feathers. Besides the feathers, the overall design is appealing and suitably fierce, without taking a step into monster territory. My spouse and I picked up ours at the Burpee Museum gift shop during a Paleofest, so it’s extra special to me as a memento of the trip

Jurassic Park (Rexy) – The legend, the icon. Rexy appears in more Jurassic Park movies than any other individual dinosaur, and for good reason. In the original film, if the raptors demonstrated the fearsomeness of non-avian dinosaurs and the Brachiosaurus the wonder and majesty, Rexy managed to capture both. Whether she’s chasing the heroes, fighting off a pack of raptors, or having a showdown with a rival giant predator, Rexy will always have a special place in the hearts of anyone who loves dinosaurs.

[chatgroove]

There’s a lot of scenarios swimming in my head for Sada and Turo and in this little AU I like to imagine they were together until the end and were actually good parents to Arven ;-; (Because let me have this) But also Sada being the most chaotic unhinged gremlin of a mother lives rent free in my head.

Just imagining Arven’s first day at kindergarten and she’s waving him off like “Bye baby!! Have a good day! And remember what I told you about if anyone bullies you!”

“Hit them back twice as hard!” Arven waves back and she grins as Turo looks panicked.

“No no incorrect.”

“You’re no fun~”

---

Arven’s room being filled full of toys that consist of both prehistoric fossil pokemon plushies and also futuristic looking robot toys.

---

The family with baby Arven on Turo’s back while Sada’s driving Koraidon through a drivethrough, her in front, Turo holding onto her for dear life and hes looking around like “Why can’t we just go inside like normal people?”

“Because I have a meeting in 20 minutes. Do you wanna be late?”

And behind them this poor sap on a cyclizar is shook like “That’s a weird fucking dog.”

[darknebula85]

4/6/2024, Log of DARKNEBULA85, 3:37 PM...

Primal season 1 and 2...

What an amazing series, it's incredible how much it can convey without even saying a single word. Since I was little, I’ve always loved dinosaurs; in fact, my dream was to become a paleontologist (spoiler: I ended up being a chef XD), but to this day, these creatures still fascinate me. I have a ton of books and encyclopedias about dinosaurs, as well as a VHS documentary about them, and of course, I have dinosaur toys that I’ve kept since I was a child. I loved the series; it’s exactly what I was looking for—a survival, action, and dinosaur series. Recently, the entertainment media surrounding dinosaurs hasn’t appealed to me. I didn’t enjoy the latest Jurassic Park movies, and I also tried to watch the Ark series, but I didn’t like it. I stopped at episode 3 because it didn’t convince me. The last thing I watched that I did love was Prehistoric Planet, but that doesn’t count because it’s a documentary, and most dinosaur documentaries are fantastic. But with Primal, I finally found a true series that, in my opinion, portrays the prehistoric era very well (in terms of the environment and such, because being a series, it’s obviously very fantastical too). I really liked the artwork; there are moments that are literally wallpaper material, aesthetically it’s beautiful. And not only that, since it’s a series where they hardly speak, the sound is very important, and this show handles it very, very well—the footsteps on the ground, the breathing, the ambiance, it’s fantastic. On the other hand, if the first season is good, the second is 34 times better. Oh my, the second season is absurdly good. I suffered a lot with the whole beginning of the Vikings’ storyline; they didn’t seem bad to me but not good either, but in the end, I changed my mind when I saw they did practically the same thing as the Egyptians. And the Egyptian episodes were great. On another note, I was overjoyed with the birth of the babies. The only thing I would have liked is for the final fight to have been longer, but other than that, perfect. And now that a third season is in production, all that’s left is to wait. I liked it a lot, and my favorite episodes were 5, 9, 11, but my absolute favorite was the first episode of the second season. What a wonder, please, it reminded me so much of my second favorite movie of all time, Life of Pi, from the flying fish sequence to the shots of the boat in the middle of the sea. It was beautiful.

Edit 6:50 PM...

EXCUSE ME WHAAAAAAT!!!???? THAT THING IS MY FKNG CHILDHOOD BRO

[zealousfandoms]

When I think of a headcanon of the Methonasians in Ben 10 immediately thought that they would be similar to Aztec people in a sense or more likely Mexicans. Funny enough i know I have to have some sort of alibi with this and for this Mexico for all I know before back then has a lot of forest, marsh lands, swamps and basically everything you can see Mexico has emittion of Methane Gas similar to Swampfires homeworld and I know any damp swampy wetlands would obviously emit any Methane gas it's literally damp marsh all over there

Other than that I can't help but look at Swampfire and just see the Aztec god of life Quetzalcoatl similar to him the petals on the head looks very similar to it but that just might be actual choice if not that then many the cute Axalotle would have done it basically a creature that can regenerate at great lengths even if you cut off it's limbs and brain which I find very funny. This is merely headcanon on my part with my version of how Methonasians are basically Mexicans because I find it funny and fitting because it just kinda slaps for me I also saw the Dragon toy for Swampfire to ride

Which is a wyvern like dragon plant thing. And I said hey the face kinds looks similar to Quetzalcoatl literally the serpent god of life in the Aztec and regeneration for Methonasians is basically essentially thing of life to thrive or just be essentially remake parts of you similarities I just took to my head

Again you don't have to take this entirely seriously this is merely my thoughts and idea on my own au because similarly in my au the Methonasian and my OC Flore'gez is to my considerations similar to the Aztec's and my headcanon is like Thep Khufans that I saw and took inspiration from the Ink Tank in Anur Khufos explained video. I imagine Methanosian's inspire the people that they went down to earth to the people that became the Aztec people back then. Seeing such creatures back then who are bigger back then and taller in a sense they worship them as gods I imagine back in Methanos the Methonasian used to be larger like how prehistoric plants were back then in earth. The Methonasian were based on what Humans depict them to be a snake, a jaguar, dog and many more. I imagine Methanosians used to have some sort of magic (Again inspired by the Ink tank when they explained what magic is in Ledger domain) and in a sense some people manage to house some magic and learn stuff that in modern times used to be normal like Fire and herbal medicine to be considered the gift from the gods and then the Methonasian left but the Aztec's still worship them etching there names in there history until generations past. And that is how my headcanon of Methonasians are :D

[life-in-the-garden]

A Spell Bottle for Big Al

This spell is dedicated to my boyfriend @mikk1n, who introduced me to the world of Walking with Dinosaurs and its various sub-series. The BBC walked with dinosaurs so that Prehistoric Planet could run.

outdated illustration of an allosaurus from Dinosaur National Monument, by the United States' National Park Service

Anyway...

This spell calls upon the power of the Allosaurus jimmadseni specimen identified as MOR 693—however, this fossilized creature is more commonly known as “Big Al” thanks to an imagining of his life’s story being told via a BBC television program in the year 2000. (The Ballad of Big Al was a Christmas special for the popular Walking with Dinosaurs series, and it can be watched legally on the Internet Archive—part one is here and part two is here).

Big Al’s bones currently live in the Geological Museum of the University of Wyoming in the United States (see his exhibit here), but when re-watching his story with my boyfriend late at night I was struck by the depiction of his life. Although I’m not happy with a multitude of the narrative choices that the writers made—my ire is primarily directed at the massive time skips of multiple years and the overall rushed brevity of the story—what really stuck with me was how realistic it felt.

Now, I’m not talking about the depictions of the dinosaurs or the quality of the practical and special effects; science and technology have marched steadily onward since the year 2000, and what we know now puts our prehistoric knowledge from 20+ years ago to shame. That can’t be helped. What I’m really saying is that so much of Big Al’s depicted life was spent searching for food, failing to acquire it, and ultimately dying of starvation… because of a broken toe. Yes, he was an apex predator of his era, but the show is very careful to point out how much his life teetered on the knife’s edge of his physical prowess as a predator—although he healed from a variety of injuries and illnesses throughout his less than a decade of life, ultimately Big Al was brought down by a broken bone that developed a fatal infection and rendered him unable to hunt.

While Big Al failed to reached adulthood, that doesn’t mean you have to do the same thing. This spell is designed to create part of the spirit of Big Al into an animal ally (if you’re not from an indigenous culture that incorporate usage of totems or spirit animals, please don’t use those terms) to aid you in your own efforts toward continuing to survive whatever troubles currently plague you.

Method

Now, the sky’s the limit for what you can ask Big Al’s spirit for help with. However, my own witchy intuition (aka UPG) says that an allosaurus isn’t going to understand a school/university assignment well enough to be able to help you with it. Their knowledge predates algebra. On the other hand, I’m sure theropod dinosaurs (Big Al among them) were incredibly smart in much the same way modern corvids are, so your own UPG might differ on this point…

In other words, make this spell your own! What follows is just one way that you can request aid from the spirit of Big Al; this one is designed for (since Big Al died with an infected fracture) remembering to take your pills.

You will potentially need…

1 empty pill bottle

Pebbles, beads, or crystals of some kind that are small enough to fit inside the pill bottle

Sealing wax (your choice of color) or liquid glue

writing supplies OR 1 carnivorous dinosaur toy, ideally a small & cheap one

Instructions, such as they are…

(This is the boring part.) Put the containers for the pills you plan to consume in a place where they are prominent enough that they won’t blend into the background. If you have a lot of different pills to take and want help remembering the instructions for them, keep a piece of paper nearby (or make a note on your phone) with notes for what pills you are supposed to take at what time + any additional helpful information.

Cleanse the empty pill bottle, the pebbles/beads/crystals, and (if using) the dinosaur toy. You can cleanse with whatever method seems best to you—personally, my favorite method is via candlelight.

(This is the less boring part.) If using the dinosaur toy, have the toy preside over your pill bottle(s) that actually have pills in them. This toy is the embodiment of your animal ally. You can set this up on your altar if you use an altar + want to keep your pills there, but it’s not necessary. If not using the toy, use the writing supplies to draw a picture of a carnivorous, bipedal dinosaur on a piece of paper—this will go under your cleansed (and soon to be filled) pill bottle as the embodiment of your animal ally.

Put some pebbles, crystals, and/or beads into the empty and cleansed pill bottle.* Put the cap on and shake it a few times—or more than a few times, if that’s what feels right to you. If you enjoy verbal incantations, you can say one here; it can be as complex as a full-length sonnet in iambic pentameter, or it can be as simple as “amen” or “so mote it be” or what have you.

* Note: as weird as it sounds, I don’t really care about crystal correspondences in my personal practice; they are just pretty rocks to me. Therefore, I’m not going to tell you what crystals work well in this spell. Follow your intuition!

Once you’re satisfied with the pill bottle, seal it with wax or glue and keep it in a place where it’s hard to ignore. Ideally, this place will be right next to the dinosaur toy, or if you’re not using the toy then atop the piece of paper with your hand-drawn dinosaur. Shake the pill bottle full of pebbles, crystals, and/or beads every time you need to take your meds; for me, the rattling sound is part of the ritual and helps me remember to go over to the medicine cabinet and take my pills with breakfast.

And that's it! I hope Big Al and this spell inspire you in some way. If you have helpful medication of any kind, please remember to take it!

If you enjoyed this spell, please consider tossing some spare change toward my ko-fi. As a poor university student with an abusive home life, every little bit helps me get a few centimeters closer to moving out + pay for food and veterinary expenses for my cat.

[delyth-thomas-art]

Delyth Art Factoid

I sometimes like to sit and muse on things that were major "inspirations" in my art journey. And one that came to mind today is little me seeing on PBS's Dinosaurs - Flesh On The Bones, the sheer scale and awe of Rudolph Zallinger's “Age of Reptiles” mural for Yale University’s Peabody Museum of Natural History. Seeing the presenter climbing a ladder to point out various things of note.

These days I'm sure many will look at the artwork and chuckle at how inaccurate it is now. And not how influential it was on comics, films and toys of the time.

But to little kid me seeing such a huge art piece, not only being celebrated but that depicting Dinosaurs and other prehistoric life, well I was enthralled. I begged for a wall poster of it and would try to copy the dinosaurs on scraps of paper and card. Up to that point my view of celebrated art was portraits of people I knew nothing of in stuffy art galleries. (I was like 5, give me a break lol) I soon was getting my grubby mits on every illustrated book I could and hocky how to draw books. Even watching the Jurassic Park making of on loop to see them "designing dinosaurs". I feel this was when it really clicked for me art could be a job and that job could involve dinosaurs. Being a palaeontologist was still my number 1 at the time as a kid but I've never stopped drawing from that point.

Things like anime, graphic novels and games later came in to offer me even more inspiration and possibilities. But I can firmly say "Age of Reptiles" was the first piece of ART to move me on such a deep level.

What pieces of art moved you down your own creative paths? I'd love to know.

[caseadilla111]

I'm Not Scared of Death - Chuck Grant

oOoOoOoOo

a/n - hiya, this is my first time writing something like this and I am not the most confident in my writing yet, hopefully this isn't too terrible but I wanted to write something a bit out of my element. Inspired by a lyric prompt I saw on here by @prxttyvixens and wanted to take it for a test run myself. Please go check out their page and work! They are GREAT!

oOoOoOoOo

I could feel the rush of my blood throughout my limbs, ending in a throb when it reached my head. My left palm was warm, it felt like someone was holding me, petting my hand, comforting me. I could hear mumbles that resembled voices, but the ringing in my ears overpowered them, I couldn’t make out what they were saying.

Flashes of my life before the war began to roll out before my eyes like the film reel they put on for us so many times before. I could see myself running through the woods, chasing my friends with sticks, pretending we were soldiers amongst the trees. I saw my mother, licking her thumb to wipe dirt from my forehead. I saw my sister holding my hand as I danced with her at our aunt’s wedding. I saw myself floating on my back down stream in the creek, eyes shut and slipping further and further away from my family on shore as the cool summer breeze kissed my skin.

Suddenly I was 17 again. I was not scared of death. I was walking along railroad tracks and playing chicken in the street and diving off of the high rocks at the lake near Veterans Park. I was carefree, careless even, I was alive.

I heard the mumbling voices around me again. I wish this damn ringing in my ears would stop; it’s giving me one hell of a headache. I could feel the rush of my blood throughout my limbs, down my legs to my toes, up to my waist then to my chest, stretching to my arms and fingers, looping its way back up to my head and ending in that throbbing sensation again.

The reel of my life began again. This time I’m older. Glimpses of uniforms and screaming eagles flashed by, foaming golden ales sloshed in their glasses as I sang, with Liebgott to my right and Tab to my left. Now I’m floating, or falling rather, along with thousands of toy soldiers in the sky, round parachutes deployed carefully cradling each one of us down to the cool lush earth. The ground below lit up here and there, and just as my feet touched the grown, the grass turned to snow and frozen dirt. Warm coffee in a cold canteen cup was handed to me, the canopy of the straight trees above our heads was bare, a blue and yellow flare lit the sky for a moment. It was like staring at a comet, or a meteor and I was nothing but a prehistoric beast waiting for my untimely end.

It was night now, and I was in a hole in the ground. The earth shook, it sounded like I was in the middle of the grand finale of the local Fourth of July fireworks show back home. A rifle now replaced the cup of joe in my hands. I looked off into the rows of exploding trunks in front of me and saw a smaller, younger version of myself, running with sticks, chasing my friends, playing soldier amongst the trees. For a moment, the me from the past stopped and looked in my direction, smiling before disappearing behind the shrapnel and earth a mortar round brought up in the wake of its detonation.

Suddenly I was 17 again. I was not scared of death. I looked it square in the face.

I could feel the rush of my blood throughout my limbs, and the throbbing at the end of this rush was muted now but still present. Voices continued to mumble but the ringing in my ears was barely easing up. I felt that same warmth on my left palm and a warmth on my right shoulder. I heard a voice, louder and closer this time, so much so I almost made out what it said. The voice was accompanied by a squeezing sensation of my left hand. I wanted to speak, I wanted to clear my throat from the sick taste of copper, I wanted to open my eyes but I couldn’t, and I wanted that goddamn ringing to stop. I felt a pressure in my head for a moment, and then that film reel of my life kicked on again.

I was sitting in a bar enjoying a beer and good conversation with two younger soldiers. Laughs were had, our thirst was quenched, and we loaded into the topless army issued jeep to head back to the rest of the company. I was driving, sharing the funny bits of my war story with the new guys, giving them the pleasure of knowing the one and only Wild Bill and his take-no-shit attitude. In front of us there were bright lights pointed head on. I squinted, told the newbies to stay in the jeep, and got out to help the soldier seemingly stranded on the roadside. That was at least what I assumed as the lights continued to blind me from the scene sprawled out at my feet. Once I could see clearly, figures lay on the ground, though I couldn’t make out their faces nor their clothing nor their bodies. They were blurs in my mind, censored blurs of flesh and grey coloring. My head moved in slow-motion between the two figures on the ground, my vision began to double as I looked up at the soldier in front of me, who was now just as blurred as the figures laying below. Just as my eyes set on his shape, the soldier raised his arm and pointed at my face. I couldn’t quite understand until I saw the black object in his hand. I made sense of what I was staring at even if my eyes couldn’t see. I heard a pop.

I could feel the rush of my blood throughout my limbs. Suddenly I was 17 again. I was not scared of death.

[tyrantisterror]

A Hundred Some New ATOM Kaiju Pt. 7

On this installment of the unfinished ATOM kaiju showcase, we've got still more aliens for you.

Rosunwell has a bit of a story to it. See, the Beyonder Alliance - i.e. the big coalition of alien invaders on ATOM's setting - creates synthetic organisms tailor-made to new planets they wish to interact with, since most of its citizens don't want to modify their bio-chemistry to adapt to the wildly different environments of other planets, and it's easier to just custom build those foot-on-the-ground explorers anyway. These custom explorers are made from a gray biological sludge of stem cells that's easily molded to resemble native life - hence humans more often than not seeing gray, humanoid aliens when being abducted. Well, during the Beyonder Invasion, one ship was ruptured and leaked out its collection of inert gray sludge, and said sludge got caught between an explosion and a Yamaneon fault line, and thus suddenly became a kaiju.

The sludge slowly figures out what shape it'd like to be, beginning as an amorphous, shifting pile of goo sculpting various alien anatomical features, before finally coalescing into a final form. Rosunwell would be the 100th ATOM Bonus Kaiju File, which would make it the 150th file overall (not including the contest entries), so to be cheeky I made it loosely resemble Mewtwo, the 150th pokemon.

Four more fun Beyonder monsters: a killer clown from outer space, a monster based on a toy batmobile I saw that looked kinda loke a monster head, a spider-like alien that takes more than a bit after Venom and Spider-Man (pretty proud of the name "Galachnid"), and a three-eyed goober.

In the past I designed more Venusian monsters than Karamtor, and while most of them remain abandoned, I guess I had a soft spot for Vrank, the living tank monster, so I gave it another go.

To finish this batch, we have four martian monsters that would feature in a story about the prehistoric war between the Martians and the Beyonder Alliance - four comrades of Kemlasulla and pals. They're all exercises in taking Kemlasulla's body plan in strange directions, just as Earth has spun the tetrapod body plan into a multitude of very different beasts. I think they may still be too similar to Kemlasulla to really reach the diversity I wanted, but then maybe I only think that because I'm looking at them with earthling tetrapod eyes.

[riddle-me-ri]

Hi there! First time asker on any blog really.

I just wanted to ask how any various versions of the Penguin would think of an S/O who’s really knowledgeable about paleontology, sharing little facts 24/7 and always rambles about dinosaurs/prehistory?

I always love seeing your posts, they’re a joy to read and BTAS Ozzie’s always been a favorite of mine.

A/N: not the Jurassic Park theme playing in my head when I read your request asdfgh. Jurassic Park was a huge part of my childhood and your girl for a minute wanted to be a tiny blonde-haired Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler love child, but alas…twas not meant to be. I did some research just to refresh my memory and…why do some of these pengys have something to do with museums and exhibits lmao. Almost every single Penguin has infiltrated a museum, enclosure, or exhibit…like…popular theme or nah?

Penguins w/ a Reader Interested in Paleontology:

Arkhamverse Penguin: 

- I mean…who else did you think helped him set up his museum in Arkham City? 

- Oswald was always intrigued by the research, dedication, and knowledge it took to explore vast locations for just a smidgen of evidence that prehistoric life lived there millions of years ago. 

- He chuckles at the thought of any caveman imagining a world of skyscrapers with men dressed intentionally as a damn bat swooping from the rooftops. 

- He breaks into a full on laughter if you inform him they’ll likely hunt Batman down and try to have him for dinner. 

Reevesverse/Farrell Penguin:

- This Oswald is always interested in hearing whatever your passionate about. 

- Just to see your eyes light up, to hear the excited hitches in your voice. He finds it all just absolutely adorable. 

- He also enjoys helping you translate certain languages that come up when a new creature is discovered or if you struggle pronouncing a certain country or region. 

- Don’t be surprised if you see little dinosaur figures or plushies around you shared living space as small surprised for you. 

Gotham Penguin: 

- Oswald is always intrigued in learning people’s strengths (usually in order to swiftly counteract them or make it someone’s weakness but not here…not now)

- He enjoys listening to you ramble about the latest discovery or your hypothesis of where certain fossils will be. 

- He loves beaming at you, asking you questions, just to keep you rambling. It allows him time to not think so much.

- Just be able to enjoy the moment as you share something you’re deeply passionate about with someone you care about dearly. He appreciates that more than you could ever imagine. 

BTAS Penguin:

- Oswald would have so many questions. Who needs the Discovery Channel or National Geographic. You sound far more passionate and sweet to listen too than any of those robotic narrators. 

- I imagine he would absolutely swoon as you explain the genealogical history of his beloved birds. How they're the modern day dinosaurs that surpassed millions of years of evolution to live and thrive today. 

- Oswald's unlimited adoration for his fellow aviary allies grows tenfold, as does his admiration of you. 

- I can see the two of you discussing various time periods and matching each other to certain extinct species of that particular time period. 

TNBA Penguin: 

- This Oswald absolutely admires the vast knowledge you hold. 

- I wouldn’t put it past him that one of these years, he’ll fund for you an opportunity to participate in a dig. 

- He appreciates your dedication to such a sophisticated and distinguished study. How are we to evolve and see what’s to come if we don’t look back on the past? 

- Oswald enjoys learning different subjects, and if it means he gets to hear you all day as well…that’s the best of both worlds. 

Telltale Penguin: 

- Oz always knew that you’d take a serious interest in paleontology. 

- When you guys were kids you always enjoyed playing with the dinosaur toys. You two used to bury them in the ground and pretend to dig up the fossils. 

- He’ll listen to whatever you have to say, anything to see you smile. 

- He does find the “big, bad” animals of prehistoric times to be the most interesting. Expect him to ask about those a lot, especially if you announce there was a new discovery. 

One Bad Day Penguin: 

- Ozzie finds it absolutely adorable, but also super intriguing. 

- He never really thought much about…the dinosaurs and how we have what we have somewhat do to their existence. 

- Now that he has you though, he’ll be able to get some questions answered. He’s particularly interested in the hierarchy shifts during certain periods. The food chain is usually are fairly fickle system. 

- Oswald will also go an extra mile to stay up to date, so he can add more to your conversations.

- He adores you and whatever passion gives you the most joy, and he wants to be able to participate. 

The Batman (2004) Penguin:

- OH COOL DINOSAURS

- I can imagine this pengy would absolute be gushing about dinos with you. 

- He’d ask you questions like; how big where they? Could they go against *insert other dino here* and no he doesn’t care that they didn’t exist in the same time period!

- Ok, ok, he does cause he understands your need for accuracy…but if you could give him atleast the hypothetical odds…

Batman Unlimited: 

- Oswald loves animals, I don’t doubt this Oz has dabbled in zoology (he…he literally formed an animal themed gang called the Animalitia…I rest my case)

- It almost seems like fate to run into you, someone whose borderline obsessed with paleontology. 

- Hours, upon hours, are spent discussing the bridge between the two studies. 

- For once he feels like he’s found someone that truly understands him. To say he’s also smitten is an understatement. 

- I don’t doubt this Penguin would also gift you paleontology related gifts; like claws, bones, and even a necklace of bracelet with a charm filled with amber.

[moroser]

Wanna ramble about Human AU Lilith and Hunter eh? I've got just the prompts!

Their favorite museum exhibit and why

Favorite historical era and why

A key life lesson that Hunter learnt from Lilith that was life-changing, but Lilith didn't realize how big an impact "A trivial little matter" had

woof

like in canon, lilith is big on historical architecture. so any exhibits that pertain to that are her favorite, but she enjoys everything historical. she also loves historical art ranging from prehistoric cave drawings to art from the early 1900s. hunter is fairly similar in that he enjoys all of it but he is very big on the prehistoric animals.

i think, again, lilith would enjoy most historical eras but would be particularly drawn to the renaissance and the victorian eras. the architecture specifically is ABSURD from those times, but i think she'd also be interested in the anthropology around those eras. hunter is interested, again, in the prehistoric eras where animals were evolving into big predators (dinosaurs to ice age animals) but he also likes the medieval era and the history involved. i don't have much reasons why other than it just Feels like them.

hunter learns a lot from lilith. i mean, she's his mom. but he grows up to be a respectful and polite boy, and hardworking because he's watched lilith work hard his whole life to give him a good life with a lot of stability. she's a single mom and he's watched her do everything and provide for him. they have this thing where ever since he was little they've been asking one another ''are you okay?" because it was one of the first things she asked him that he could engage with and understand. they always check on each other, it's a habitual thing. even when he was a toddler, lol. screaming from the toy room ''mommy! mommy!" "what is it, hunter?" "are you okay?!" "i am! are you okay?" "IM OKAY TOO." lilith grew up neglected, emotionally, and she worked hard to make sure that hunter didn't go thru the same thing; always making sure that he was validated in how he felt. he is the same, he's a very caring and nurturing kid and later adult.

another thing hunter learns from lilith is how to treat animals because they have a pet raven!!!!!!!!!! and it's just apart of his every day. i'm not sure how to go into trivial stuff cause neither of these things are like specifically taught lessons, they're just apart of his life that he learns from.