#railway beetle

[yeeshastone]

All aboard! Time for the next subspecies sheet to leave the station!

this month's subspecies sheet is the Railway Beetle, a Coloptera species that can glow and in the world of Animalia the Railway Beetle (or Hirtus) often find their homes on train tracks be it part of the crew or as a passenger as long as they are moving along the rails they are happy.

Its thought that the Hirtus's connection to trains dates back to some of the earliest trains with their ancestors being passengers on the mysterious night trian.

to learn more about this subspecies check out the Animalia Almanac website here: https://yeeshastone.com/Almanac/Lore/Coleoptera/Subspecies/Hirtus.html

art drawn by: https://artfight.net/~scissors

#coleoptera #railway beetle #beetle #bug #hirtus #trian #Animalia Almanac #yeesha stone

[echoesaythglen]

Oh, did I forget to introduce you? Here's the gang!

#echoesaythglen #steam locomotive #digital art #original characters #art #railways #my art #my art i guess #car #beetle #hawaii #sugar cane railway #character bio #oh god oh fuck she's going to clobber you fuckign run

[duckdotcom]

imagine digging into the earth in a rail yard and finding that the beetles and worms and grubs have constructed a much smaller but otherwise identical railway system beneath the ground, saving the insects hundreds of thousands on transportation

[thethirdromana]

Some Beetle covers, assessed

This book is about a beetle

A good two-thirds of Beetle covers take this approach, including the first edition on the left. And you know what, I can't fault it. This book sure does have a beetle in it. Bonus points for the middle one that draws on the hypnosis theme by making the beetle look like a brain.

Maybe an Egyptian beetle?

This is essentially the same approach, but more Egyptian, which I think looks very stylish. Given late Victorian Egyptomania, I'm surprised there aren't more like this. I could imagine a luxury edition with lots of gold really making this concept work.

Specifically involving a woman with a beetle on her forehead

This is an arresting image that's also sort-of justified by events in the book. It took me forever to realise what it reminded me of, and it's of course the poster for the Silence of the Lambs, which postdates both of these covers by about half a century. These are two quite sulky-looking Marjories, but perhaps that's the effect of hypnosis.

The cover illustrator read the book!

Given these covers minus the title, I think I would still have a solid chance of guessing which book they were for. The blue cover is the fully illustrated version. But actually, I think my favourite on this theme is redhaired Marjorie being menaced by the Beetle while Sydney tiptoes over in evening dress, both looking they could be in the opening credits of a Bond movie.

The cover illustrator didn't read the book

A very small part of the novel takes place in a railway station. None of it takes place in a cemetery, nor does it involve a hermit studying anatomy. With the whole world of royalty-free images of beetles to choose from, how does anyone land on any of these?

The cover illustrator really, really didn't read the book

Here we have the Beetle as represented by some Taiwanese houses, as True Blood, and as a picture that I vaguely recognise but where the image is so fried I can't even google it to check. At least the previous three had semi-appropriate spooky London vibes; these appear to be entirely random.

How about a bonus subtitle?

The first one here is clearly the weakest of the three, since it just features a picture of Richard Marsh's face, but is redeemed by choosing possibly the most metal line in the novel as its subtitle. I love both of the latter two, with a special mention to the illustrator of the middle one for actually depicting the Beetle's human form as described in the Beetle while also minimising the elements of racist caricature. No mean feat.

The cover illustrator understood the assignment

When I wrote something similar to this about Dracula covers, I was quite critical of the illustrators who decided to depict it as pulp horror. But it is so much more fitting for The Beetle. If you're drawn to buy Scantily Clad Woman Is Menaced By Giant Beetle, or Weirdly Green Man is Terrified of Mural, or even Rasputin And His Giant Beetle Spell, I feel like you genuinely might be the right audience for this terrible, terrible book.

#the beetle weekly #i hate to say it but i think these are collectively more fun than the dracula covers #there's just something about a massive beetle that really encourages illustrators to give it their all

[bonefall]

Glowworms

(because i keep getting asked about them)

[ID: An adult female glowworm of the species Lampyris noctiluca. It has a bright green glow and clings to a plant.]

Before I even get started, let me lay down some education on the entire Lampyridae family so that we're all on the same page about the specific species that I'm going to talk about for the UK. I've done more research on this topic than the last time I brought it up, and I come bearing knowledge

Lampyridae is a family of beetles, descended from a bio-luminescent ancestor. There are more than 2000 species of Lampyridae, and they can be VERY different. This family is called "fireflies," "glowworms," and "lightningbugs" but ALL of those common names are AWFUL for referring to the full family becaaaaaauuuusee...

Not all lampyridae can fly

Not all lampyridae can glow as adults

Not all lampyridae light up passively; some use it as a lure or a warning

Not all lampyridae light up during flight

In the US, our most iconic species light up during flight, and our most common species have males and females capable of flight. So when I'm talking about "glowworms," remember that those traits are not shared by ALL species of Lampyridae, and especially not this one.

The UK has one species of glowing Lampyridae, Lampyris noctiluca, the Common Glowworm. There's one other, non-glowing species but it's extremely rare and only in the south, and an occasional visitor from mainland Europe.

GLOWWORMS

Only the female lights up, and her final stage is not capable of flight. This is called a "larviform female," because she looks like the wormy adolescent stage that all Lampyridae go through.

The female will climb up to the highest blade of grass she can find and wiggle her butt around until a male, who CAN fly and does NOT glow, finds her. Then she lays eggs and dies.

So because the adults do not eat and quickly die after reproduction, most of a glowworm's life is spent as a larva.

The larval glowworm is a SPECIALIZED predator of gastropods. They hunt snails and slugs for ONE or TWO YEARS (depending on how much food there was in the first year), hibernating over the winter, then waking up and doing it again. All movement in the species is done by the larvae; they have a REALLY hard time establishing new colonies because of this.

This is NOT a pioneer species. You need to have undisturbed grass, moor, or heath, no pesticides, not overgrazed, not brightly lit, for generations of these insects AND their prey. It's REALLY easy to decimate the glowworm population in an area via carelessness.

(let alone the horror story in the Glowworm Survey page where a tiny colony was intentionally destroyed, which is why they have a policy about keeping quiet on reports of certain colonies except to researchers ;_;)

so LOOK AT ME

HOLDING YOU BY THE SHOULDERS

You need to protect glowworm populations when you can. If you ever briefly hear posts in passing shouting about sterile lawns, light pollution, and pesticides, THIS IS WHY. If you live on the island and feel like there's a shit ton of slugs in your garden for some reason? Might be because these factors killed off their specialized predators, leaving you with an unfilled ecological niche.

Environment

Hypothetically, glowworms should be distributed all across Great Britain, except the Scottish highlands, though they have the strongest concentration in southern England.

Functionally, their population is incredibly fragmented. They need tall grass or heather, low light pollution, undisturbed (no pesticide) land, and lots of gastropods to eat. While they can work with forest verges and railways, places for them to thrive are getting rarer and rarer in the UK.

So to restate their very specific environmental needs;

Undisturbed land Glowworms and construction don't mix. Pollution, pesticides, and destruction can destroy the little patches of land glowworms have left. They need up to two years to go from eggs to adults, and a safe place for that to happen in.

A population of gastropods Baby glowworms eat slugs and snails. Because of that, they can't live where it's too dry.

Tall grasses, shrubs, or heathers, but not TOO tall A tree won't do! Glowworms do not live in trees! The females need a tall stalk to climb to the top of, so that they can signal to flying males. At the same time, they can't hunt or find each other in a savanna or a wheat field. Well-managed heathlands are excellent habitat for glowworms.

Low light pollution If it's too bright, males can't find females. Highways with heavy traffic, urban areas, and anything else that gives off constant light will affect the glowworm population.

They glow in June to May, in summer, at night. You won't find glowworms in winter, as all the larvae are hibernating at that time.

BB FAQ

When I determine if something will show up in the Better Bones AU and my Clan Culture expansions, I use iNaturalist to suss out if people are seeing it in the modeled region. Lads, there is a bald spot in my modeled regions. It's almost comical. The closest is in DERBYSHIRE, RIGHT out of reach.

So I'm still unsure about adding them. For now, they are not in BB. I GOT A REPORT FROM A FAN I will be adding them to BB.

"How do Clan cats feel about them?" They're unfathomnably holy, especially because they spend their larval stage eating snails which can be used in divination rituals. WindClan in particular considers themselves blessed for living around them.

"Can you use glowworms to light up the night?" Yes but that's really bad for their populations; leave them be! Clan cats wouldn't use something so holy in such a trivial way.

"Can you eat glowworms?" No they taste really bad. The chemical that makes them light up is REALLY bitter, and it's present in both the larvae and adults. Plus Clan cats wouldn't eat something so holy.

#glowworms #ecological overhauls #better bones au

[yoa-artblog]

The Shiki Cats Post TM

28.05.23 Show

I had the chance to see Cats in Nagoya last month and I still can´t believe it! I was also able to meet an internet friend who also loves the show and it was overall such a nice experience <3

Some pics are blurry but I was shaking haha, shiki was one of my most wanted to see shows, the photos I had seen were always so colorful and looked like so much fun! It did not dissapoint, tough it was very different to the 98 movie (the version I'm the most familiar with) and the past Intl. Tour (The only other version I've seen live) so I was furiously writting notes on things that stood out to me soon after the show.

• Tantomile (she looks like Cassandra) is the first cat you see on stage.

• They do the trapeze bit for jellicle songs for jellicle cats!!!!

• Munk was 😳😳😳 very good voice, super cute with the babies.

• They have both Syllabub and Jemima, Silly is the kitten, the one that helps Griz out, Jemima is a young adult cat.

• The gumbie trio were Tantomile, Jellylorum and Jemima.

• The beetles had wings they could move around as part of the choreo.

• Tugger has one yellow, spotted leg and it makes him look like he's wearing those pants with only one leg??? Very slutty, we love that for him.

• Munk sings the terrible bore line.

• Jellylorum sings the curious beast line.

• Grizabella still has the old cat design, we love to see it.

• Jerrie and Teazer don't do the cartwheels 💔💔💔💔💔

• Teazer is the cutest thing ever though, she was so fun!! I couldn't stop looking at her the whole time, she's already one of my faves but she is PERFECT in shiki.

• There was a little bit where Teazer and Tanto were cuddling behind Old Deut and Teazer kept pawing at her for attention and I melted.

• Pekes and Pollicles is still Munk's number through and thorough. The dog costumes were very cute and there were many different versions and "materials".

• The Rumpus Cat suit has muscle padding?????

• Shiki said Bombastrap rights and I owe them my life. You could see them cuddling on the bg at various points through the show.

• Pass de deux is performed by Tumblebrutus and Cassandra. (Cori and Tanto designs).

• No orgy???? They do dance in pairs but there's no """cuddle""" pile.

• Overall less horny and more playful.

• Tuxedo Mask Macavity my beloved!!!!! I think that's a very fun design for Mac asldjclsjfjskd but the threatening factor is negative, he just looks very fluffy and cute.

• Mac's fur texture and length is very similar to Old Deut's so that's nice!! Loving the family resemblance.

• They do Growltiger!!! I loved seeing the boys in their little pirate costumes 🥺💖🥺💖🥺

• They choreographed the sword fight so the clanks would match the music and it was SO COOL.

• Jelly had such a nice voice.

• SKIMBLESHANKS THE RAILWAY CAT THE CAT OF THE RAILWAY TRAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Skimble has a little hat and my friend was telling me they change it for every city to match the uniform of the train conductors in that city. HOW CUTE IS THAT!!!!! 🥺🥺🥺🥺

• The girls are the passengers while the boys are the seats during the play pretend bit asdfkgjslnf

• The fake train has a window so you can see Munk is playing the conductor 🥺🥺🥺

• They also used a teapot as the chimney and it makes teapot sounds, I just loved everything about this number okay!!!!!

• The Macavity fight is a little weird because he doesn't take Munk 1v1 but rather is everyone against Mac from the beginning.

• I really wanted to see this specific Munk fight because of... reasons, so that's a bummer 😞

• Demeter has a deeper voice than what I usually hear for her, I really liked it.

• They let toms join the Macavity number!!!!!!! I was tunnel visioning into Munk but I'm pretty sure Alonzo and Tumble were there too.

• Misto comes down the rope!!!!!!!

• He does a lot more magic tricks, including making things and other cats fly.

• You can hear thunder crackling when he manipulates light, that was a very cool detail.

• Misto and Tugger have a lot of shared choreography, they do several different BFF handshakes 🥺

• Victoria is Misto's assistant for the big trick.

• Sillabub is the one who touches Grizabella first.

• UFO Griz

• They did this very cute thing after final bows where they kept coming to the stage as long as people were still clapping. They went and came back to the stage again at least 7 times until the theater turned up the lights 😹

#cats #cats the musical #cats 1998 #cats the movie #shiki cats

[lazywriter-artist]

Ocs playing minecraft dynamic go

Oo good one-

🦅 Galileo - really just spends his whole time building a little house with a beautiful flower garden and what not, does his best to help anyone out and even has a little set of chests where others can pick things out and stuff. Really just number one Minecraft dad

🦅 Storvis - entire time grinding (even if he’s meh at it since he’s too hardheaded to listen to tips or anything) and getting the best gear he can, will grief anyone who gets in his way. Do NOT ask his ass for help, he will bully you and then exterminatus your base. Often steals all the stuff out of Galileo’s chests and makes fun of his flower garden- doesn’t dare touch it tho, made the mistake of blowing it up once and was nearly obliterated in game and then in real life—

⚙️ Kallisch (mantis Magos) and L-319 (Crab Logis) - they don’t play too much but when they do they kind of just follow one another around on mining trips and put their beds together all the time. Sometimes you’ll find these huge mega structures they built solely out of like copper blocks of the cog mechanicum or something nerdy ass shit like that

⚙️ ‘Delta’ (Beetle Explorator) - sole purpose is to travel as far as they can manage, huge nether railways all neatly labeled with names they made up and shit. Probably has some underground bunker they made just filled with a “living Pokédex” of every mob in the game and such ( something like this )

⚙️ Thanatos (Dominus centipede) - K I L L . not as much of an asshole as Storvis is but much more calculated. Has his weapons and armor min maxed with their enchantments and has done so many raids he has just a fucking sea of totems of undying, had killed the ender dragon single handedly several times and in so many different ways with such horrific efficiency it would make any sort of Minecraft YouTuber cry at the title possibilities. Has this mega base that’s armed to the teeth with booby traps, just loaded with beacons too bc he’s probably got a Wither farm or some shit. I pray for the soul who wants to PvP him, not even Storvis dares

⚙️ Rure (Silverfish Logis) - doesn’t really understand how the game works, mostly just hides out by Galileo, he thinks the flowers are pretty though and the bees are neat! Has little collection of wolves Galileo helped him tame and builds them dog houses (Galileo showed them). Figured out you can name animals and fish up name tags so they spend a lot of time doing that. Living their best life really

#sniffle thank you so much 🥺 #warhammer 40k #wh40k #lazy text #lazy answers #lazy’s ocs #wh40k oc #admech #log & explr #commissar ocs #commissar storvis #commissar galileo #commissar 40k

[azuremliam]

How do bugs usealy go about molting in Bug-world? Do they just make a room and fill it with moist air, then seal themselves off in it so it goes smoothly?

Or do family members help them through it so they dont get stuck in it?

@bringerofmilk I'm absolutely delighted by these asks! :D Thanks to the mutations from both the mutagenic weapons and Myriaxanthus' primordial magic transforming them, most insects don't need to worry about desiccation anymore! (Besides aquatic nymphs and the like)

Though, just like brood/grub/egg chambers (somewhat mentioned here) there's designated areas for molting within the hives to meet the needs of specific insect folk. But despite that, yes, there's essentially rooms that are very humid to aid in the molting process!

More infodumping and art underneath the readmore :)

Cause while there's no risk of drying out anymore, molting still possesses the threat of getting stuck on them if their nutritional needs aren't met- or said bug isn't in that great of health when a molt arrives!

(Not about molting- but fun Bug World trivia- Centipedes got very large thanks to compatibility with the Primordials' powers, and tend to be essentially buses/trains for traveling between towns and Hives! Basically Centipede railways lol. They're also good at combating smaller Beasts!)

In Hive cities and decently sized towns, there can be helpers (if needed or requested) to help make sure all limbs and pieces of molt get safely off. And also yes, most molting bugs eat their molts- or offer to distribute it amongst the hive/place they're currently living at. Unless they live alone that is.

For those living alone, they either just deal with it normally, and essentially make a sauna for themselves in a enclosed area of their home with a machine (most are made by the Candy Kingdom) or magic device that increases humidity.

Specific pupation molts have very specific requirements sometimes though! Especially with the various beetles living in Hives, some tend to require massive pupation chambers, like with Goliath Beetles.

On the other hand, for more arboreal insects, they tend to just hang out on their preferred place to molt! Though molting is still nerve wracking for them, and here- Leaf at her Inn tended to psych herself up before each molt she had to do. She didn't need to worry about it anymore after her final molt much to her relief.

In bug world, it is pretty much comforting (and common!) to have those you trust nearby during a molt. Family members do indeed help out during molts, watching over and talking to the one molting, and stepping in when needed to assist! Especially with nymphs, who go through a lot of molts in their life.

Liam, while traveling with lil grub Jake, helped him out through his molting though instars and final pupation! Some pupa can speak a little bit when going through the pupation or molting process.

They're dorks.

#asks #bug world au #insects #insect character #adventure time oc #fionna and cake oc #liam #jake the bug #leaf

[zahri-melitor]

15 & 16 :)

what, someone has to ask you about skartaris

I love you so much right now of course. So thoughtful! Letting me talk about my faves!

15: Ted Kord or Jaime Reyes?

Look I did hesitate for a moment here when picking, but it's gotta be Jaime, sorry Ted. I love Ted to pieces and he's a great side character in DC, but Jaime's a charming protagonist in a way Ted just doesn't manage, and he hits my 'he's a good boy trying his hardest' character preference straight on.

The great things about Ted as a character are in his place in the network of DC that sort of hovers above the books. He's Booster's best friend and available for silly shenanigans with him and he's a hero because he thinks it's fun, but there's also a more serious side to him in Kord Industries and in some ways he's more iconic to me outside of costume than in it. He retired and he put on weight and felt middle aged and human. And he died a hero's death despite it all (and pointlessly at the same time).

However. Jaime. Jaime. I cannot give up this kid. Jaime and Khaji-Da are an even more amazing pairing and I adore their bond. Jaime's always trying to do the right thing. He doesn't like hiding things or lying to people so he mostly just...avoids that. His family and friends know who he is and support him as Blue Beetle. He grew up so much during his original preboot run, and he's having a lovely 'facing young adulthood' arc right now. He and his supporting cast are this beautiful little self contained unit that are perfect for storytelling, but due to legacy reasons Jaime's got connections all over DC.

Plus, it's nice to have another character book that can do space adventures if needed that isn't heavily focused on them. Gives a bit of variety.

16: Skartaris or Gorilla City?

The citystate of super-intelligent apes or the country inside the Hollow Earth of eternal sunshine? Well given you all put up with me going on about one of these two every week, I think you all know which I'm gonna pick.

Not even a question. Gotta be Skartaris, with its weird mix of 'every hollow earth and Atlantean conspiracy theory you can think of is real' vibes mixed with dinosaurs, evil sorcerers, terrible costuming decisions and Conan the Barbarian aesthetic.

What Skartaris brings to the narrative is a whole complexity nobody is ever willing to look in the face. DC's Earth is HOLLOW and time travels differently inside. This is never, ever referenced outside of stories that deal with Skartaris. The earth is also laced with underground railways built by the ancient Atlanteans that let you get out to the normal side of the earth, but nobody else uses them! What does modern Atlantis think of Skartaris? I have not yet discovered.

Anyway, vote Skartaris, Mike Grell is fantasising another way to crucify Travis Morgan and work out his kinks even as we speak.

#dc ask meme

[artisanoftheredscience]

A PAGE FROM SLOWCAKES

[Editor's Note: Credit to Brightgoat and their maker, "Bright's Piccrew Hell" for the art. Image ID in alt text.]

NOTICE: Please read Editor's notes next to section headings, as they contain information about content that may be triggering for some.

Name: Liz(ard) O'Connor [Editor's Note: The last name may or may not be a real family name.]

DOB: November 15th, 1870.

Age: 24-31 years old. [Editor's Note: 24 is the first notable instance of Liz appearing in well-known circles. 31 is her age in the current year.].

KNOWN ALIASES: The Reckless Monster-Hunter, The Relentless Vake-Hunter [Editor's Note: No one is actually certain if this claim is true- those who do know for sure do not like to speak of it.], Thirteen.

[Editor's Note: Keen eyes will notice that 'Thirteen' is shared by numerous people within these pages. It is believed this is more of a title than an alias- though speculation in that regard veers into illegal territory.]

Pronouns: He/She/They

Profession: Monster-Hunter, Undisclosed Affiliation with the Bazaar. Advisor on the Great Hell-Bound Railway Board (GHRB).

BACKSTORY [Editor's Note; Discretion is advised- content ahead contains mentions of starvation, child suffering, poverty, violence, and unsafe living conditions.]

Liz is a Londoner, born and raised. He grew up on the streets well after the Fall, his parents unknown. Whether they died out at zee, got killed by some horror on land, or simply abandoned him, Liz couldn't say. They have no memories of them, and they don't really care to think about them.

Their conditions living on the street were not great. There was very rarely enough to eat, and they were often cold and miserable, exposed to the harsh elements of the Neath. They spent many a night hold up in filth-ridden, spider-infested buildings, hiding in the many winding streets of London. They were frequently cold or sick, but they survived, always on the move. Their greatest fear was not starving to death in the street or being killed by some horror, but the workhouses. The harsh and horrible conditions of poverty and homelessness paled in comparison to the suffering within those houses, and Liz did all they could to stay out of them.

Despite the misery of their life, there were some highlights. Liz was an adventurous child, always looking for some thrill to pass the time. They dreamed of becoming a Monster-Hunter like those who roamed the docks or Watchmaker's Hill, and they delighted in the sport of it. Their most common method of earning coin, even from a young age, was rat-catching, ferreting out the crafty bastards like a hound. They loved finding new ways to test their skills, taking death-defying leaps, charging headfirst into any sort of danger. Perhaps they were simply extraordinarily lucky that they never got seriously injured, but the thought hardly occurred to them. They simply had too much fun.

Liz did not have many close acquaintances growing up, but she did have one. Spring Lovelace, their charming and sociable best friend, who was their closest confidante in all things. Their adventures together, their games and their schemes and their wild plots, was the highlight of their every year. From May to August, Spring stayed in the Neath, and Liz was always at her happiest with her dearest friend by her side. The two of them promised to make names for themselves, together, and it was that promise that drove Liz to work hard and never lose hope. When her visits came to a sudden end when Liz was fourteen, the loss was devastating, but he never gave up hope. He loved his friend after all, and she was never one to go back on her word.

Liz grew from a scrawny, scrappy urchin to an adult, still struggling to scrape by, but as he got older he got stronger and more capable. He began to be able to take jobs that actually paid and soon he was even able to afford a real place to live, albeit one filled with beetles and rats and falling apart at the seams. Still, it was his, and he was content. Until, of course, that next great adventure, a brand new danger, crossed their path.

They were going to kill the Vake, and prove once and for all that they were the best hunter in all of the Neath.

NOTABLE ASSOCIATES

Detective Peculiar: A good friend of theirs. They work well together. Liz helps her with her work and in exchange she gives him tips for hunts. They have a shared history that makes them work well as friends.

Doctor Stone: Buddies in crime. They have an almost familial relationship. Liz considers Stone a very good friend and they commit so much crime together.

Lady Spring Lovelace: Their best friend. The light of their life. Liz and Spring are inseparable no matter what forms they take or how much they change. They love one another deeply. They are unstoppable when they work together and can be genuine menaces as a team.

Samuel (Sam) Wells (Wellison): A hunting partner and their best-worst friend. They're not romantic or platonic but a secret third thing. They fight all the time but its in a way that is out of care rather than malice.

Woeful: Liz's ex. They have the world's worst relationship. Their break-up was bad on historic levels and the two actively made one another worse when they were together. Liz was glad when they vanished altogether.

AMBITION NOTES [Editor's Notes: Major Spoilers for Ambition: Bag A Legend. Content warnings include violence, substance abuse and addiction, loss of identity, and extreme body modification. ] For an in-depth look, please see the Directory.

Liz chose the Intriguer Ending of Bag A Legend.

Their time with the Scarred Naturalist really soured their opinion on authority figures, even moreso than before. It also worried their inferiority complex.

Their experiences with Black Wing Absinthe caused them to develop a problem with alcohol that they never quite manage to kick. They usually manage to stay away from the absinthe, but upon relapsing they can go to incredibly dark places very quickly. The violent episodes the Absinthe causes seem uncontrollable- but in reality, Liz knows what they are doing. That is what should scare them. It doesn't but Liz knows it should.

They got their teeth replaced with Vake teeth, and they justified it at the time as a necessary sacrifice, but the relief they felt with the full set in was far more than that.

Their time at the abbey taught them control, but often they crave the freedom of those dreams to the point of debilitating pain. The bond they form with the Vake, as strange and unhealthy as it is, consumes them entirely.

Even after slaying most of it, they don't really "win". They keep the Intriguer alive, pretending as if it is for some sort of ego boost, but in reality they have blurred the boundaries between it and them so significantly that killing the Vake completely genuinely terrifies them.

They often answer to names that are not theirs, and the more they hunt the less themself they are. They take on elements of everything they consume and the Vake was no exception.

Wines was SO pissed at them for going back on their promise and of it weren't for the fact that it was too much of a hassle it definitely would have killed them.

April was also pissed. They were almost friendly beforehand but this betrayal completely sets them back.

Liz keeps the mandrake post ambition. 'Manzy' is never far from her and is genuinely a huge source of comfort.

EXTRA INFORMATION [Spoilers for late-game content]

Liz is kind of Pro-Liberation? He hates authority but is also not afraid to BE authority. Major hypocrite energy. He would so kill a Judgement if he had the chance though. He's like, a temporary ally one has to keep an eye on.

Liz has published exactly one academic paper and it was entitled "Correcting Misconceptions About the Vake and Its Anatomy". He was promptly asked to leave his temporary position at the university of Summerset.

Liz loves antagonizing people for no reason. He lives for drama!

Liz sometimes misses his days at the Abbey and occasionally recreates some of the routine in London to soothe the itch.

While his rivalry with the Vake is all fun and good, when he's under-stimulated he loves to torment the other Masters. This is something they are all aware of and are (ill) prepared to handle.

Despite being a technical member of the 13th month club, most of the Calendar Council really dislike her. The exception is August, because of course it is.

April and Liz have a very complicated relationship, but if you ask Liz, that's her friend!

Liz has a detailed ranking of which monsters taste the best and will offer it when asked.

#fallen london #fallen london oc #ambition: bag a legend spoilers #fallen london spoilers #a page from slowcakes #child harm #substance use tw #substance abuse #addiction #identity loss #ocposting

[grumpy-zane]

((Various POIs(Points of Interest) Ive made up and thought about. Just as a response to the seemingly lack of named places in canon Ninjago:

-Limon: a westernish themed town with minimal power located somewhere in the southern desert of ninjago (The same desert area that fire chapters' Pyramid was in). Big beetles and sand sharks, and a lot of citrus. Was a neutral zone during the serpentine wars, thus having a sizable serpentine population before the tombs were reopened.

-'The Exchange': a building in Ninjago City that historically was the place where serpentine and human trading occured. In the present day, its a place of high-end quisine and performance. The serpentine owners had their ownership revoked at the end of the serpentine war.

-NTC, Ninjago Trans Continental: a railway system that runs through the entire continent. Runs through the mountainous ridge (The Dragon's Spine) on the eastern side, as well as the central desert areas on the west. Its not as popular as it once was.

-Leeward: a town located in the Metalonian mountain ridges' rainshadow. Its mostly residential, being more of a place that people reside when they arent working. They often deal with a lot of air machinery experiments due to the opennes of the land. Many assume Leeward is just an extension of Metalonia.

-Harrow's Spire: a small cliffside ridge on the 'knee' of the continent. Its main export was tea until it was abandoned after the 'Mountain Spirits' took over. It is not a safe place to be at night. This is not thr only stretch of elevated land that is inhabited by said spirits. Used to be known as 'Cascadia'.

[dansnaturepictures]

09/06/2023-Lakeside and home 

Pictures taken today in this set are of: 1. Some of the many dog roses and other roses enjoyed again today, a wealth of colour. 2, 4, 6, 8 and 9. Views on a sunny and scorching day, the weather really showed in the landscape I thought with brown grass and bright green vegetation. 3. Dazzling grass vetchling. 5. Some of a fair bit of bramble flower I enjoyed today. 7. Meadow crane’s-bill shining in the sunlight. 10. A Large Skipper I was thrilled to see again this evening. 

Two of my favourite birds the Buzzard at lunch time and Jay this evening were Lakeside bird highlights today, alongside seeing and hearing Song Thrush, Blackbird, Swift, Moorhen, Great Tit including hearing the pleasing trills and possibly seeing young and hearing Ring-necked Parakeet. It was a delight to follow a great number of Meadow Browns on the walks today, summer gems of the grass and harbingers of the season. Common Blue butterfly seen well, Emperor dragonfly, I believe a Black-tailed Skimmer dragonfly nearly flying into the adult Great Crested Grebes I saw with chicks as a post I did about this specifically today just now mentions and of course in a strong few weeks I’ve had for seeing them Swollen-thighed beetle were other insect highlights. Deliciously coloured alsike clover, a strong summer flower beautiful purple knapweed, yellow rattle, bird’s-foot trefoil, bird vetch, oxeye daisies, viper’s-bugloss, ragwort growing in a dry area by the steam railway station another heatwave image of the day, red valerian, hogweed, nightshade, dock, plantain and bird vetch were plant highlights. A gang of Woodpigeons on the roof out the back at one point, Collared Dove and Magpie together at one point with Magpie seen on the green out the front tonight too and Goldfinches were highlights at home today. 

My post about the Great Crested Grebes today: https://dansnaturepictures.tumblr.com/post/719674601461956608/09062023-great-crested-grebe-chicks-at-lakeside 

#great crested grebe #common blue #meadow brown #emperor #england #world #nature #uk #happy #swollen-thighed beetle #buzzard #jay #large skipper #meadow crane's-bill #bird vetch #oxeye daisy #oxeye daisies #birdwatching #birds #sunny #hot #walk #walking #nightshade #lakeside #lakeside country park #red valerian #insects #grebe #dragonflies

[trainsinanime]

If you ever wondered how the Harz and specifically the Brocken region prepares for forest fires, this here is one of the key elements. This railroad tank car stores 24 cubic meters of water, and that’s really all it does. It’s parked on a siding at Drei Annen Hone station of the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen, a narrow gauge railway that runs mostly with steam locomotives. Two others are stored at other places along the network. The plan is that if there is a forest fire in the region near their tracks, then the nearest locomotive leaves its train in Drei Annen Hohne, couples to this car, and brings it up the mountain to assist in firefighting.

Rail fans may recognise that this is actually a combination of two train cars: A normal-gauge tank car on top, and it is standing on a special low meter gauge transporter car. Historically, that was used to bring normal gauge freight cars to businesses along the narrow-gauge line. These days, the normal gauge tank car is mounted there permanently, because apparently that was cheaper. It doesn’t have any markings or brakes anymore, so it couldn’t legally run on the normal gauge network anyway.

This system sounds kind of crazy, especially since this means that the water for fighting forest fires usually gets hauled by a steam locomotive. But in practice, it generally works well, the few times when it needs to be tested. Forest fires here tend to be relatively small affairs (one or two hectares) anyway, and this amount of water definitely helps.

At least normally. 

Right now the Brocken region has a forest fire that is burning on 150 hectares. The Harz is suffering from a combination of climate change and massive bark beetle infestations, which means a lot of the forest (mostly spruce monoculture) is either gone or dead and very dry, and that helps forest fires a lot. So far it’s deep in the national park area, and it’s currently not endangering anyone except the tourism business. But all of a sudden, except not suddenly at all, the fact that forest fire preparedness is just this has become woefully inadequate.

The fire region is largely inaccessible by truck. Some firefighting is actually done with these water tank cars, in trains that have a locomotive, a tank car and a passenger car for the firefighters. But most of it has to be done by air, and Germany as a whole is not well prepared for that.

The job of aerial firefighting largely belongs to police helicopters here, which get special buckets attached via ropes. The problem is that they may not be available as soon as you want them to. By now we also have some military helicopters helping out (at least one NH90 and a CH53 for those keeping score at home), but that also took several days. And there are no firefighting planes whatsoever here.

To help out, there are currently two Canadair CL-415 from the Italian firefighting corps helping out via an EU initiative. German politicians have resisted buying any of these because we don’t have enough lakes where those scoop water from basically in low-level flight; but those two machines have managed to find one nevertheless (even if it is a bit further away than ideal). Of course the manual for these machines states that they’re best used as soon as possible, not after two days as here, but they still seem to help.

What’s next for this? Well, hopefully some rain, starting on Wednesday. The district Harz, where this takes place (though note that the district does not cover all of the Harz mountains, and isn’t fully in the Harz mountains) has already announced that if the state and federal levels don’t act, then they’ll buy a small fire-fighting plane of their own, specifically some agricultural machine that can deliver a couple hundred litres of water.

With the big aircraft like the CL-415, the situation is more difficult. Even if we manage to convince our politicians that we need them, production stopped in 2015. Since then the type has been sold to a different company that recently announced plans to restart production of an enhanced version, named CL-515, which should have its first flight relatively soon, with commercial service starting around 2025. So if Germany orders now, they won’t get any before then, and given that there are already close to thirty orders, it’ll likely take even longer.

With any luck at least the small aircraft will be ordered, and also more helicopters that can respond more quickly. Who knows, maybe the government will even do something to slow climate change eventually, although that won’t undo what we have today of course.

But it still seems that in the near future, these tank cars will still remain the basis for fighting forest fires in the region.

#train #railroad #hsb #brocken #forest #fire #harz #harzer schmalspurbahnen

[wizisbored]

im curious what the .6 au could possibly be, but I also wanna know about the rest of the 44. Can you list them? Thats a whole lot of aus, presumably for more than just one fandom?

ohh i have been waiting for this day. i keep a list so i dont forget myself. these are not strictly in order of creation because i started the list after i started writing fics and for the purposes of this list ive seperated the fandoms. not all of these are things im actively working on, sometimes i have an idea and i put it on the list so i dont forget about it so i can come back to it later. yes i do have other fics not on this list but post-canon stuff doesnt go on the count

starkid

1 - i'm going to live twice (#igtlt fic) / ragdoll (#tinky!zaz) (ive mentioned a couple times that these were intended to be in the same universe. i kept quiet about it while i was more actively in the hatchetfield fandom but eh, fuck it) 2 - wildfire (#wildfire fic) 3 - laboratory four (#lab 4 fic) 4 - smoke and feathers (#sf fic) 5 - double e au (#double e au) 6 - nasty emma (#half-infected!emma) 7 - little firebringer (#lfb fic) 8 - teacher's pet (#teachers pet fic) 9 - feral-infected paulkins (#feral-infected!paulkins) (ive written a oneshot set in this universe)

centaurworld

10 - the hitchhiker and the herd (i thought id talked about this one more on here but i could only find this) 11 - centaurworld western (i only found 2 art posts for this one heres the first, heres the second) 12 - armour amor (pretty sure i only ever talked about this on discord. it was about an armour maker and a horse armour maker collaborating on centaurs) 12.1 - the taurnado takes more than souls (and we've gotten to the deciamals! i came up with the initial idea for this au but it was very collaborative. the '.1' count is based on no actual maths i just figured that was about the amount of claim i really have over it)

beetlejuice

13.1 - bugebroph (#bugebroph) 14.1 - birdbath series (#bitb fic, #bitb2 fic) 15.1 - the firstborn (#firstborn au) 16.1 - little black dragon (#dragon au) 17.1 - snake oil (#snake oil au) 18.1 - accidental possession (#ah shit bj got in the meatsuit) 19.1 - blood of the covenant, water of the womb (#changeling twins au) 20.1 - the paranormal investigative society of dormitory four (haunted school au) 21.1 - stupid cat for stupid mental health (posted abou this one Once before putting it on the list so i didnt forget about it and then promptly forgettign about it) 22.1 - beetlejuice media multiverse (#3 lydias what crimes will they commit) 23.1 - in case of emergency, break glass (#ghost jars au) 24.1 - netherborne (#netherborne au) 25.1 - lydia gets stuck in a netherworld office job (i definately posted about this at least once but cant find it) 26.1 - the infernal children (#infernal children au) 27.1 - worm ranch (could only find a meme about this one) 28.1 - ten paces (#ten paces au) 29.1 - heritance of an occultist (#overcooked homunculus au) 30.1 - graverobbing (again i KNOW i posted about this maybe once before towwing it on the list to bookmark it but i cant find it now) 31.1 - the running iorn (railway taurs au) 31.6 - uh oh i came back wrong (#goddamit i told you not to come back wrong) (the rest of the collabs are listed as .5 because theyre shared with one other person. this ones with @blueskiesandstarrynights) 32.1 - fucked up ranch (i think i mentioned this maybe once on my blog but @maitlandmischief has more. it has since bloomed into a multiverse of rps but i dont want to have to think about how the fuck to log that in decimals so it stays .5 for now) 32.6 - piracy time (collab with @bunnys-beetlejuice-blog that mostly exists on discord)

crossovers

33.6 - anarchy's apprentice (#crocodile beetlejuice hours) (beetlejuice & centaurworld) 34.6 - blue beetles (#hf/bj au) (hatchetfeild & beetlejuice) 35.6 - strange hill high & beetlejuice (#shh/bj) 36.6 - starkid & bbc ghosts (sk ghosts au) 37.6 - choir incomplete (#bj/rtc au) 38.6 - wednesday & beetlejuice (#wd/bj au) 39.6 - until we wake (#family bonding via dying in the wilderness timeloop) (beetlejuice & the red lantern) 40.6 - beetlejuice & cult of the lamb (#cotl/bj au) 41.6 - severavnce & beetlejuice (#severance/bj au) 42.6 - the worm hole (#the worm hole au) (the owl house & beetlejuice)

wildcards

43.6 - a bunch of fookin shite that happened (silly lil fnaf comic i made to show my friends in secondary school. put it on here because i was going to 'novelise' it and throw it on ao3 for a laugh and then forgot all about my intention to do that) 44.6 - carnival ghosts (#carnival ghosts au) (ride the cyclone)

#well thats about 2 hours of my life im not getting back #au directory be apon ye

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"LOCOMOTIVE OF C.P.R. IMPERIAL LIMITED IS THROWN INTO LAKE," Winnipeg Tribune. November 21, 1913. Page 1. ---- Fireman O'Connor, of Schrieber Drowned When Train Hit Rock Near Angler, Ont. ---- ENGINEER SAVED LIFE BY JUMPING --- Official Report Says That Only Baggage Car Left the Track and Mail and Passenger Cars Were Unscathed ---- While tearing along the eye-brow of a beetling cliff that overhangs Lake Superior, 178 miles east of Fort William, at 2 a.m. this morning, the first section of the C.P.R, westbound Imperial Limited, crashed into a gigantic boulder which had hurtled down on to the track from far up the precipitous cliff side. The engine was hurled from the steel into the charm of waters be neath, carrying in its mangled mass to a watery grave beneath, the living form of Fireman Ernest O'Connor, of Schreiber. The engineer escaped miraculously as the train struck, but his warning cry to his fellow workman was too late.

Luckily the engine broke away away from the rest of the train ere it plunged into the murky waters fur below. Three cars only left the track and the train held the foremost from following the engine into the lake which surged angrily fifty feet beneath. No one else was injured and in any case the death rate could not have been high as the train was composed only of transcontinental mail, express and baggage with a first class passenger couch at the rear occupied by but one man. There were. however, besides the engine crew, a conductor, two brakemen, a mail clerk and baggage and express agents on the train.

A Glancing Impact The impact of the train against the boulder was terrific, but its full force was not sustained by the cars owing to the fact that the force of the collision was sustained by the side of the train facing the cliff. This forced the engine over the lower cliff, but probably saved the whole whole train from being w reduced to splinters and being hurled in fragments against the rock on the one side or into the lake on the other. Had this happened many more fatalities must have resulted. Had the accident befallen the second section which was careening through the darkness a hundred miles behind and had the boulder been dead centre on the track one of the worst disasters in the history of Canadian railroads would have occurred.

A Wild Spot The section of the track in which the disaster occurred is one of the wildest and most picturesque on the whole Canadian Pacific railway through mountains, barren lands or prairies. prairie The track is built on a ledge of rock half-way up the cliff side. On the one side towers and frowns a solid wall of rock rudely torn by dynamite, while on the other is a sheer descent of fifty feet into the murky waters of of the largest inland sea in the world. The name of the town near which the accident occurred is Coldwell and it is on the Trans-Continental.

#schreiber #northwestern ontario #lake superior #transcontinental railroad #derailment #train derailment #industrial accident #fatal accident #canadian pacific railway #railway workers

[notsoterriblymisanthropic]

Time was spent swerving between the dole and crap jobs; selling shoe cleaning sponges in Woolworths on Oxford Street and working as a nightclub hostess off Piccadilly, where I would drink watered down wine, dance with fat businessmen and light their fags while their eyes rolled from the whiskey and their thighs sweated at the promise of young female flesh. I lived in a succession of terrible rooms, where beetles crept up between the bare floorboards; small creatures in April that grew fat and crunchy underfoot by August, and where you had to side-step pools of piss to get into the bath. One stretch of homelessness I had a key to a student hall of residence and sneaked into the television room some time after midnight when the programmes had finished, putting chairs together to sleep on, and sneaking out before the cleaner came around at six the next morning. I dreamed of railways and owning a car - towards, towards, towards something better. French scent, silk underwear, hairdos like Dietrich, electric guitars. A kitchen, a bathroom, a sofa to sit on.

Johnny Johnson, history of the Siddeleys

#The Siddeleys