#terrestrial kids

[terristarstrike]

Westshore High's Class of '99

[terristarstrike]

idk i love the idea of terri starstrike being a cartoon about a giant teenager living in a world of humans and just enjoying life with her tiny human friends. 🩵

[xcrimsonlunaticx]

hive five and titans having beef online and offline canon

Extra of robin being a victim of thirst comments in his self-defense training videos

[liminally-spaced]

[infintyonhigh]

Alien movie references in Heartbreak Feels So Good

Nope, 2022, dir. Jordan Peele (gifs by murraybaeman)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982, dir. Steven Spielberg

[tithsokphanny31]

80s Character Lunch Boxes: You can only keep 3?

[stuckinuniformdevelopment]

@albertbutyoucancallmebert

(Previous) Bert popped off the prosthetic again and shook it into his hand. Out fell the tiniest silver key ever. And a paperclip. “A secret key! And a paperclip.” As he started to put them back he said “It doesn’t really hurt any more, but boy did it for a while.” He smiled at Teddy’s comment. “At the very least I could build like. A small laser pointer for it or something. Or maybe an actual laser emitter. Hehe…” But he then looked down at his rat who had jumped off of his lap in pursuit of the popcorn Teddy shook off, leaving behind the kernel parts as she feasted. “Ah, but that would be dangerous for her. If she saw it she would so chase after it.” He glanced at Teddy reaching for the popcorn. “Ah, be careful with yourself please… Can I get it for you?”

A secret key! And a paperclip! ...Okay, the paperclip wasn't really exciting. Still, Teddy had leaned even closer in an attempt to study both. Yet when Bert recapped his pinky he was quick to turn his attention back to getting popcorn.

He instantly stopped when Bert told him, no, gently asked him to be careful. After a moment of hesitation he wryly snickered at how their positions had reversed before nodding and resting against the back of his chair. "...Sorry. Thought I could reach that by now."

Then he looked down at Sherri Jr. and laughed for real, without even a tinge of bitterness. "I expected you to prefer the seeds." With being a rat and all.

A cute big baby rat... He knew better than to try to reach down to pet her again but maybe she would like being petted by his foot? He slipped his boots off by pressing his toes down on the heel of each boot. Then he slooowly stretched his leg over her before gently patting her back with his heel.

"Well. Guess that rules out the laser cutter idea," Teddy said while flashing Bert a mischievous smirk. "You could always install a flashlight under the skin so it lights up like the explorer's finger in ET."

[i-scavenger]

E.T found in the middle of the road.

[vardasvapors]

vast amounts of my personality and life can probably be explained by the fact i watched E.T. at a very impressionable age

[kiseiakhun]

Guys please. Please I know terrestrial orchids. I Know About The Terrestrial Orchids. Not as much as I'd LIKE, to be fair, but I know of them. I promise I know of them. I understand that they are there, out there, in the dirt, living in dirt, with their roots in the dirt like any other self-respecting plant. I understand. I know they are there. I yearn for them from afar, gazing out my window at all the wetlands that surround me now. I want to see a native terrestrial orchid so so bad. I Know. I Do Know.

If someone doesn't know that the "normal" basic orchid you grow as houseplants is an epiphyte, they will not know about terrestrial orchids. I mean, probably. 99.9% of the time, I'm pretty sure. This is a post about growing orchids as houseplants. If you are growing a terrestrial orchid as a house plant then you would KNOW how to grow normal orchids because the only way you'd find a terrestrial orchid in cultivation is to go to a specialty grower or a hobbyist and by that point you are already deep in the orchid hole. Or you find another plant that is in the orchid family that most people, colloquially, do not consider orchids, just like we don't consider daffodils a lily. Orchidaceae is the second largest plant family in the world, it contains multitudes. It contains many. It contains members that grow on the ground and in trees. Some orchids spend their lives growing entirely underground, with no leaves, parasitizing other plants and only emerging above ground with white flowers that only last weeks to reproduce. There are so many orchids in the world. They are out there, of orchiding. I know. I promise I know.

Information is shared in context. This is about growing orchid-shaped things, the typical orchid, the orchid that most people think of when they think orchid. If someone doesn't know that an orchid is an epiphyte, then telling them about More Orchid is not helpful! Not in the moment! I understand the need to Orchid-dump™ (the parasitic ghost orchids are so fucking cool. Did you know there are some botanists who think that the orchid family might be predisposed to parasitism because of their symbiotic relationship with fungi) (also their fungi symbiosis is a lot. Look into orchid reproduction if you want to be confused) (also-) but more information is not always better!! If the topic is about cultivating epiphytic orchids as houseplants, then terrestrial orchids don't need to be part of the conversation. It might make people think that any random orchid they get might be a secret terrestrial orchid and stress them out because they don't know how to take care of it. It might make them seek out a terrestrial orchid on their own which tbh most people should not do because a lot of rare orchids, terrestrial and otherwise, are poached from the wild. It might make them confused in general and they just dump out all the information they just learned and forget about all orchids when they otherwise would've gotten one!

I'm not saying you can never ever ever mention terrestrial orchids, ever, not even on this post! I've learned many things about terrestrial orchids from reblogs and tags that people have added and it has delighted me! But there is a reason I didn't mention it on my main post!!!!!!! Just because I didn't mention them doesn't mean that I have Insufficient Orchid Knowledge!!!!!!!!!!!! It's not a psyop by Big Orchid to misinform people about the truth. Please. Please I DO know about terrestrial orchids. I know of them I swear. The not mentioning was STRATEGIC, I am not lying on purpose, I do not come on the internet and misinform people about orchids for fun and profit. Please. You have to understand me.

I started with succulents like everyone else but tbh orchids are rapidly becoming my plant blorbos. Everyone takes care of them wrong and it's not your FAULT because the care instructions that come with them are!! Incorrect!!! If you do what they say then your orchid will die!!!! If you give them the right environment they're SO easy. They're such easy plants to grow. They have been UNFAIRLY SLANDERED by a MISINFORMATION campaign. They don't deserve this.

[brooklynbutterflyarts]

E.T. Movie Poster Framed Many Sizes available E.T. Framed Movie Poster E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dubbed E.T., who is stranded on Earth Molding:Professional 1" Flat Top Black (solid-wood) 1.5 inch mat. Includes glass and metal wire for hanging on your wall. Print: Bonded & Dry-mounted Print on Foam Core. Perfectly flat and smooth finish High Resolution and Quality Full Color Poster Print The double mat adds depth giving the display a unique "looking through a window'' appearance. The poster print is bonded to foam core on a hot vacuum press. This bonding gives the print a perfect flat and smooth texture. This process also insures the print will never fold or fade with age or moisture. This wonderful display makes a thoughtful and original gift containing a classic vintage touch yet modern design, allowing it to fit alongside both modern and classic decor. BUY WITH CONFIDENCE. ALL OF MY DELICATE ITEMS ARE SHIPPED WITH A SPECIAL 3 LAYER PROTECTION SYSTEM.

[terristarstrike]

What's The Schmooze on Terri Starstrike?:

Set in an alternate retro-futuristic 2005, imagined through the eyes of the 1960s, filled with holograms, highly-advanced robotics, touch-free technology, and a midcentury aesthetic, we follow three best friends - Terrina, Bailynn, and Jack - as they navigate teenage high school life in the beachside Californian town of Westshore. Terrina is the artistically-inclined team leader who dreams of becoming a part of another world beyond her home planet of El-Doe, but still figuring out who she is as a Human-Jotuzon hybrid, Bailynn, Terri’s madly-in-love girlfriend, is a smart, ambitious straight-A student and a hybrid who was born and raised in the human world, and Jack, Terri’s childhood friend from El-Doe, is an enthusiastic and flamboyant genius who’s learning to be more open about his personal interests, while protecting the girls’ secrets from disapproving peers. The three Jotuzons, who are normally giant, are experiencing the highs and lows of human life on human level while figuring out a way to bring the worlds of humans and Jotuzons back together.

Terrina Ave-Lo (She/Her)

The star of our show, the groovy Afro-Latina fashionista from a distant planet who was born as a Human-Jotuzon hybrid. She felt like a misfit amongst the perfect Jotuzons, gorgeous 60-foot-tall giants who are hailed as the most marvelous creatures in the universe, but on Earth, she became proud of her size-shifting gene, giving her the ability to shrink to human level and interact with the Earthlings. Terrina is a proud half-Puerto Rican lesbian who’s learning to live with her long lost dad, the world-famous media mogul Max Raymond. She vows to know why her mother, Empress Genn, wanted her to be a half-human hybrid, but until she finds her answer, she’s determined to bridge the broken gap between Jotuzons and humans. Terri is a girl of many things - She’s the school’s sharp-witted queen bee, a popular cheerleader, and a female quarterback. She loves to paint (though very messily), she’s a songbird with a beautiful singing voice, and she’s the teen model sensation that Westshore is going crazy over. Never misses an episode of That’s So Raven or American Idol. Her small, solid friend group, consisting of her childhood friend Jack and her girlfriend Bailynn, means the entire world to her and she remains fiercely devoted to the two of them.

Bailynn Lo-Shanta (She/Her)

Bailynn Lo-Shanta, formerly known as Bailey Wilson, has been widely regarded as the smartest kid in Westshore: a straight-A student with spelling bee championships and science fair medals to her name, but she’s also known for her strange, weird interests in the unknown. After meeting her current girlfriend Terrina Ave-Lo, she discovered a huge secret about her heritage: she’s actually a half-human Jotuzon! Ever since that day, she has remained as the super-smart, sizeshifting giant who’s passionately in love with the most awesome girlfriend in the galaxy. Bailynn acts as the calculated voice of reason for her trio, but she never loses her fangirl passion for the world beyond. Deeply devoted to her deceased father, Dr. Irwin Wilson, always keeping his Paranormal Journal close to her heart. Unabashedly worships Stephen Hawking, as much as she loves Mary J. Blige. Stays up past midnight to rewatch episodes of the Twilight Zone. She has a sweet tooth for chocolate chip pancakes and root beer floats, and believes in the superstitions of voodoo dolls and tarot cards.

Jack El-Benn (He/They)

Jack El-Benn is a proud transgender Jotuzon and a deeply passionate studier of the Earth Humans. Fascinated by their artifacts and their technology, he followed Terrina to Earth to deep deeper into their world. They’re a very energetic giant who can be easily distracted by shiny objects, but they’re always there to help his most-trusted friends, Terrina and Bailynn. Jack uses his Jotu-Bracelet to shrink to human size and interact with his human friends. Their fashion style often fluctuates from nerdy and preppy to fabulously flamboyant. He is a passionate theatre kid and a proud member of the school’s drama club, who is always taking hour-long makeup sessions to sing the Wicked and Hairspray albums. Crazily in love with *NSYNC and their music.

Khadija Saleh (She/Her)

Khadija Saleh is the Palestinian-Egyptian student body president at Westshore High, and Bailynn’s closest friend. A proud Arab girl and a future archeologist with a strong intuition, she serves as the voice of logic for her friends, while also studying Westshore’s connection to unexplained phenomena. No matter what the odds are, she has always believed in peaceful co-existence between Jotuzons and humans, and is advocating for Terrina’s master plan to interrogate the school. Khadija is fascinated with the ancient artifacts that the giant Jotuzons left behind, and wants to study their ancient language and culture with Terri’s help. Deeply rooted to her ancestral homeland in Palestine. She loves to organize the school dances, enjoying watching local drag races, and is most likely to quote Beyoncé at her graduation ceremony.

Izzy Scott (They/Them)

Social misfit Izzy Scott, born of mixed Filipino, Hawaiian, and Korean descent, is a nonbinary autistic daredevil who strives to break the restrictive gender norms of Westshore. Having grown up in San Francisco, they’re a scrawny, wisecracking enby and a member of the school’s soccer team who is the closest to Terri in personality. They may seem aloof sometimes with their eyes glued to their phone and their ears in their headphones, but don’t cross them though, they might just hit you with a sassy insult. They like cracking bad pun jokes, watching episode reruns of the Simpsons, and watching old commercials from the 80s.

Kiko Ka-Lilo (She/Her)

Kiko Ka-Lilo is a rare Mertilian-Jotuzon hybrid who was born to a black mother and a Japanese-Hawaiian father. Once a part of Kemba’s popular girl clique on El-Doe, Kiko is a shy and meek wallflower who’s learning to stand on her two feet, as she becomes one of the Jotuzons integrated into Westshore High School. She looks to Terri as a hero who helped her embrace her own hybrid identity. She can transform into her Mertilian form whenever she’s submerged in water, and is capable of sizeshifting from Jotuzon size to human size. Kiko loves writing her own poetry, searching through shipwrecks, and wants to prove her worth as the school’s first Jotuzon on the volleyball team. She often tagalongs with the Giant Trio on their adventures.

Sprite De La Rosa (She/Her)

Sprite De La Rosa is a Mertilian of Haitian and Dominican descent who was washed up to the shores of Westshore during a hurricane. Now residing in the local pool, she has a never ending thirst for adventure and exploring the world around her. Helplessly romantic, she falls head over fins for Izzy Sanchez and is starting to question if she’s really in love with them. Sprite juggles her love for acting and volleyball with her passion for reading books in the school library. She is tight-knit friends with her volleyball partner Kiko, who she often calls her “aquatic sea friend.” Her fashion style is always connected to the tropical vibes of the sea. Posts videos of herself on social media singing with her harmonious siren-like voice. As a Mertilian, she can talk to sea creatures, and her legs transform into a luscious mermaid tail when she’s in the water.

Cassandra “Candy” Levi (She/Her)

Cassandra “Candy” Levi is a Jewish theatre kid and an anxious drama queen who’s always setting plans for her future. Like Bailynn, she is deeply invested in Westshore’s connection to mystery phenomena and devotes her entire life’s work to figuring out the truth. Candy might be the biggest klutz in the group, but she’s also the most passionate actress and a member of the school’s drama club. Candy and Khadija always bond over their different religious experiences, and they work together to decode the secrets of their hometown. She and Jack also form a deep friendship over their love for musical theatre and dogs. She lives with her married mothers and her pet dog Licorice in a downtown apartment and firmly believes that her lesbian identity runs in the family. Emotionally attached to Avril Lavigne’s music, as well as jelly donuts that remind her of her mothers’ sufganiyot. 

So what's the schmooze on Terri Starstrike? There's so much more to discover in the town of Westshore, California, so follow us for more fun!

[xcrimsonlunaticx]

I like to believe that XL terrestrial actually managed to blend in to the point where everyone thinks he's a honorary titan

Jinx just looses her fucking mind

[bestanimal]

Round 1 - Phylum Mollusca

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

The second largest phylum, Mollusca contains over 76,000 living species and somewhere between 60,000 and 100,000 extinct species, including the ammonites and helcionelloids. Living groups include the chitons, solenogasters, caudofoveates, cephalopods (octopuses, squids, cuttlefish, nautiloids, etc.), scaphopods, gastropods (slugs and snails), and bivalves.

Molluscs are highly diverse, living on land, in freshwater, and in saltwater, where they comprise over 23% of all named marine organisms. The most diverse molluscs are the gastropods which comprise over 80% of known molluscs. Due to their high diversity, the only things most molluscs have in common are a soft body composed almost entirely of muscle, a mantle with a significant cavity used for breathing and excretion, the presence of a radula (bivalves excluded), and the structure of their nervous system.

Many molluscs are endangered due to collecting and killing individuals for their meat and/or decorative shells.

Propaganda under the cut:

Cephalopods are one of the (if not the) most neurologically advanced of all invertebrates and are capable of using tools, solving puzzles, and play.

Masters of camouflage, many cephalopods can change color, shape, and texture to hide from predators, sneak up on prey, and communicate with each other

The largest molluscs are the Giant Squid (Architeuthis dux), with 12–13 m (39–43 ft) long females and 10 m (33 ft) long males, and the Colossal Squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) which is estimated between 10 m (33 ft) and 14 m (46 ft) long. The Giant Squid has much longer tentacles, but the Colossal Squid is heavier, reaching a mass of at least 495 kilograms (1,091 lb). The largest specimens of Colossal Squid, known only from beaks found in sperm whale stomachs, may perhaps weigh as much as 600–700 kg (1,300–1,500 lb).

Mollusc shells make up most of the “seashells” washed ashore, and are created by the animal via secretions of chitin and conchiolin from its mantle edge. Not all molluscs have shells (ex: nudibranchs) and for some, the shell is internal (ex: cuttlefish). Mollusc shells come in many beautiful colors, shapes, and sizes.

Most molluscs have eyes, and all have sensors to detect chemicals, vibrations, and touch. Of the phyla we have covered so far, their senses are the most developed.

Conchs can look at you like this:

(Source)

All cone snails are venomous, and some of the larger species are some of the most venomous animals in the world. Even though some species’ stings are fatal to humans, their sophisticated venom has saved lives through its use in neurological research.

Humans don’t just use mollusk meat and shells, but also luxuries like pearls, mother of pearl, Tyrian purple dye, and sea silk. As stated above, many species are now endangered due to human use, but some are farmed for their meat, pearls, and shells. The farming of bivalves is more ecologically-friendly than the farming of chordates as, rather than create waste, bivalves like mussels and oysters actually clean the water.

As filter-feeders, bivalves are natural water filters. A single 5.08 cm (2 inch) clam can filter up to 10-12 gallons of seawater a day. They can even filter microplastics out of polluted water.

The largest bivalve is the Giant Clam (Tridacna gigas) which can weigh over 200 kilograms (440 lb), measure as much as 120 cm (3.11 ft) across, and have an average lifespan in the wild of more than 100 years.

Cover your ears, kids. Terrestrial slugs, which are hermaphroditic, have some of the most intimate sex on the planet. A pair of slugs will suspend from a chord of mucus, heads down, and intertwine their bodies in a tight spiral. They will then evert their penuses and entwine them as well, exchanging sperm while hanging in midair. Slug porn, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, for your viewing pleasure.

[ranticore]

finally forced myself to draw the Odd Sirenians i did a poll about aaages ago since askers had them on my mind today lol

of these only the shortstrider is considered to be an actual hybrid, the rest are just natural variations of body shape/type within the same species. except the sea zeta, now so distinct as to no longer be able to hybridise with regular zeta.

i wrote about shortstriders before but their morphology & what traits from either parent will express themselves is completely random. you could have one who almost entirely resembles one parent, or one that looks like a perfect blend of the two, or one with uneven traits like having disproportionally long legs or big wings. most cannot fly, lacking the muscle for it, and also can't hop well either.

inland swamp phocids are the smallest phocids, only a couple of metres long. they live in the shallow water swamps and marshes of the interior western continent. their very impressive plant manes protect their skin from becoming too dry, as they rarely have access to water deep enough to fully immerse themselves. as with other phocids the plants need to be woven in and carefully maintained, but it's far more accessible to these guys because they barely have to do anything to get a nice growth going

river selkies are a similar sort of direction, an inland subtype but for the very dry eastern continent. they live around the few rivers that cross the dry bowl and they are teensy tiny. polar selkies are the largest of their kind.

the longwing is only odd on a technicality; the form is very alike other longwings (tail-less, quadrupedal, four wings etc) but unlike the vast majority these guys can plunge-dive. there is a large population of them in the western coast of the western continent where the sparse land rises into tall cliffs and spires. they do not have to be ultra-light to fly long distances and so can make use of heavy waterproofing oils (applied by hand).

the aquatic zeta is still a marsupial (the fur is short enough to show off the pouch) and still needs to be on land otherwise baby will drown. they do have longer gestation periods than their terrestrial cousins, to minimise the time spent with a baby in the pouch, but when the kid is born they have to haul out and stay out until that baby can swim. they usually pick caves or sheltered lagoons with underwater entrances, in some of the remotest parts of the world. their population is likely only in the few thousands by now.

[couch-house]

second pass at a lil gang of isopod kids (8-12ish) that all hang out and play soccer together :) (refs and early sketch under the cut)

Fizzle is named for the common "Ember Bee" name for Merulanella species. Auguste is named after a type of clown-- klugii are also called "clown isopods." Sketch is a zebra isopod: black and white. Chucky is named for one of the common names for terrestrial isopods: chucky pigs. Clementine is named for the morph's orange color. Lydia is named after Lydia Deetz (and later Alec Baldwin) based on a common name of Porcellio expansis: the Beetlejuice isopod :)