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fruitycasket · 6 months

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So, What Shall It Be?

Synopsis: The lads wander into a truly grotesque trap, but Anti didn't bring them here to kill them… so what does he want?

Word Count: 2,006

Notes: BIG WARNING FOR BODY HORROR AND GORE. You don't see anybody die but boy howdy it's there. This was inspired by Fallout 1, specifically The Master and his liar. The title is inspired by his dialogue! I also learned some fun words like "grume" and "thrombus" while writing this (alas, they were cut from the final). And if you'd like, check this out on Ao3!

The abandoned lab was so humid it was nearly underwater. The smell was somewhere between wet iron and cannabis and maggot-ridden flesh. The air tasted of rotten fruit.

What at a glance was a rust-choked interior was equal parts rust, blood, and flesh that had burst from the wall like haphazard blobs of oil paint and sea slugs. Where Marvin and Jackie stood, the floor was clean, save for a thick layer of regular dirt and grime. At the back of the room, a soft, muscular layer of the gore coated the floor. Though it was eagerly squirming, it seemed content to stay where it was.

That didn’t soothe Marvin much.

This was a trap. The building had started off a little balmy but otherwise normal, and now… It must’ve been watching since they entered, maybe it’d even corralled them to this specific place somehow.

Just my luck, Marvin thought, The one place we need to be and it’s fucking infested. He glanced at the door they’d entered from.

The impenetrable slab of metal had slammed shut once they’d entered and stayed that way no matter what was thrown at it. A closer inspection revealed there was red gunk in the locks and hinges. Any significant prodding caused it to reinforce itself with veins of calcium and fat and sinewy string. Evidently, it was all the same substance as what coated the rest of this room.

Once they saw that, they accepted they were caught. Marvin couldn’t stand it—that he of all people hadn’t been more cautious, hadn’t ensured they weren’t walking headfirst into a deathtrap.

There was nothing to do about it now, though. Steeling himself against the fetid smell and taste surrounding him, he took cautious steps towards the muscle in hopes of gauging its age. He had a lockpicking kit, from which he took the longest, least useful looking pick. He jammed that into the largest looking lump of meat and was alarmed to find that it kept going. Forever. It would’ve swallowed his hand if he let it.

He abandoned the pick to its grim fate.

Jackie was at the far end of the wall but was still all but gagging in Marvin’s ear.

"What is this stuff?" Jackie heaved.

"It's… I don't know," Marvin said, "Just try not to touch any of it."

"It's on everything."

"Do your best."

Jackie didn't reply for a few seconds. “What do we do?”

Marvin scanned the room as best he could in the dim, red-tinted light. A door at the fleshy end of the room lay wide open, torn asunder from its hinges and frozen in place by a web of strings. They stood out, pale white and smooth against the coagulum. “There’s only one way out.”

“Oh god… We’re going to die here.”

Marvin had no good answer to that. He took a step towards the door. “We don’t have any other options.”

Jackie made a few indignant noises before sighing and approaching the door. The floor squelched underfoot as he got ahead of Marvin and took the lead.

The heat was suffocating, the smell and taste and texture of the ensuing halls so viciously opposed to human existence that Marvin wondered if it would even bother coming to kill them itself. Could be they were going to be baked first. It would be uncharacteristic, but the ruddy floors were sucking at their shoes, slowing them down so much they really could be cooked alive before they made any progress. Once, a hand had emerged from the sludge to pull Jackie’s ankle. Jackie kicked it so hard it exploded. They spent the rest of the walk wary about more human appendages emerging to attack.

Most of the doors and halls were blocked off, leaving only one (mostly straight) path to traverse. It felt like they had been walking for hours when they finally reached their destination and saw it.

Jackie might’ve called it a he, but Marvin felt that was anthropomorphizing. This thing wasn’t an animal, or a plant, or even a fungus, it couldn’t be classified by any standards of science or the arcane. Any conversation it made or human behavior it displayed was farce, no different than if Marvin started meowing at a cat to entertain himself. Except Anti took pleasure in more than talk. The fact that it hadn’t shot out to eviscerate them the moment they stepped foot into its lair was as relieving as it was worrying. What was it planning?

“What is that?” Jackie asked.

They were faced with a high-roofed room and a humanoid creature sat at the far end, enveloped in the tissue hewn into this place.

Was that the same Anti that had been trying to kill them for the past week? Was this just his bedroom, where he came to sleep after a long day’s work? Was he a drone of this thing? An extension of the body? An entirely new offshoot, like the cutting of a succulent? Marvin knew better than to try wrapping his head around beings like these but couldn't help it.

It was hard to see exactly how big it was, where it started and ended. The darkness obscured most of it, but he could see bright blue, bloodshot eyes and hundreds of teeth. Glitches—like that of a 3D model being stretched beyond its limits—occasionally erupted on its skin. There was a human face underneath the grime, a trace of lips and ears, a few tufts of soft brown hair. If it had more to its body than a head, neck, shoulders, and arms, it was too difficult to make out from where they stood. Behind it, the remains of what might’ve been a surveillance center lay assimilated, broken open in some places so the innards lay exposed to the air. Even the intact monitors were dark. Marvin realized that the Anti they normally encountered was exceptionally well-groomed.

And exceptionally tiny. Weak, even.

The giant Anti-growth regarded the two humans with an inscrutable expression as the door behind them shut with a soft squish.

Marvin spoke first. Unsure what to say, he defaulted to the absurd choice: Trying to understand. "H-How are you so huge? How did nobody try to…?"

Anti responded with a cackle that shook the foundations of the lab. Its face broke, pieces of it shooting off in every direction while the teeth and eyes remained fixed. The monitors it was rooted to flickered to life briefly, joining in with noisy, stuttering static. Then the laughter ended and everything snapped back into place. "You're looking at everyone that did," it said, gesturing at itself with a bloody hand.

Jackie turned bone white. Still, he didn't vomit.

Marvin would've been impressed if he weren't preoccupied. "That's… certainly a feat."

"I know what you’re trying to do."

"Is it working?"

A chuckle, this time. "Maybe, maybe. But you didn't come here to talk to me. You didn't even know I was here, I could tell from the moment you walked in. Maybe I won’t kill you if you tell me what you were up to."

Marvin got the feeling that this had been its goal from the get-go. Maybe the information they’d gotten was fabricated specifically to bring them to wherever this was. Had he and Jackie really become such a threat to this thing that it’d pull something like this rather than just trying to kill them the normal way?

Jackie glanced at Marvin to gauge his reaction. “We don’t have a choice,” Marvin said.

“U-Uhm,” Jackie stammered, “We were looking for information. For, well…”

“Let me guess,” Anti said, “Something to kill me with?”

The ensuing silence answered its question.

“Whatever. I don’t care. A thing like that doesn’t exist anyway,” Anti was amused by the very thought, its face already shifting as if it were about to laugh. It restrained itself and spoke again, “Really, I’m impressed by you. There are few humans who can drive me up a wall so well as you. In fact, I’m so impressed that I want to ask a favor.”

“Okay…” Marvin and Jackie said in unison.

“Something’s been taken from me. Two of my poppets are locked up in a place specifically designed to keep me out, but seeing as you two are humans, I think you could manage.”

Marvin thought back to the last few places they’d been, the realties they’d willingly entered and accidentally emerged into. He recalled a set of three missing posters. “You mean, the doctor. And that other guy.”

“The doctor. That other guy,” Anti scoffed, “They have names. Henrik and Chase.”

“And you want us to track these people down and, what, give them to you?” Jackie asked.

Anti nodded. Or, it looked like a nod from where Marvin stood.

Jackie looked like he’d accidentally swallowed a piece of the wall. "We're not being asked, are we?"

Anti grinned, and the corners of its mouth kept going upwards until it looked like the maw of a gulper eel. "No."

“How are we supposed to find them? With the amount of moving around you do, they could be anywhere, kidnapped by anyone,” Marvin said.

“I’ll help you, obviously. We’ll make a truce.”

Jackie spoke again, “So you’re saying we do this or you kill us.”

“Yes.”

He mouthed a few curses but otherwise said nothing.

Anti looked between them for a few seconds, as if evaluating their trustworthiness. It must have liked what it saw because the door behind them swung open. “I’ll see you again outside. You’ll be where I need you.”

Marvin found himself hesitating to leave. Would the open door lead to another trap?

“If I wanted you dead, why go through all the trouble of talking?” Anti asked. Marvin hoped that was a lucky guess. “Go on. Shoo. You’re free,” it snickered, “Sort of.”

Jackie took the lead again, and they left as fast as the sticky floors would allow.

As they walked back through festering corridors and into the innocuous dirt-and-cobweb grime of the earlier rooms, Marvin watched the corners where ceiling and wall met. He could see them now that he was paying attention, infected cameras that followed their movements through each door and hall. Anti had an unobstructed view of the entire place. It was as he suspected.

When they finally got to the exit, Marvin stopped to inspect it and found there was a strange magic surrounding it. He had no idea what it was, but it wasn’t visible to the naked eye and it made his hair stand on end. Like radiation, he thought.

When Jackie opened the door it led out to a different place than where they’d entered from. The building had picked itself up and moved.

Tentatively, they stepped out. The air here was fresh and cool, a welcome shock to the senses after the horrorshow they’d been enveloped in. Marvin’s first thought was hoping where they were needed wasn’t mortally dangerous… but the chances of that were slim.

The building, which had been a towering, impossible-to-miss presence, disappeared behind them the moment they both looked away.

“What the hell,” Jackie said, flinching at its disappearance, “How is that possible?”

Marvin understood what had happened to them, then “That place, it didn’t exist inside a normal reality. It was… I don’t know. In its own pocket dimension or something, that’s the only way that could be possible.

Jackie was quiet for a bit. “That must be where it takes people. You know, when it doesn’t kill them, when it… when it poofs them somewhere.”

“It would explain all the blood on the walls.”

Jackie gagged.

“Yeah.”

"How was that even possible? Anti is like. A guy… and even when he wasn't, he was never so big before."

"Whatever it is, it’s probably too strong to deal with by ourselves."

"Jesus."

They were silent for a while.

"Marvin?" Jackie asked.

"Yes?"

"These guys… If we bring them to whatever the hell that was, what happens to them?"

Marvin considered his answer. "Nothing good."

#antisepticeye #marvin the magnificent #jackieboy man #blood #gore #body horror #fanfic #let me know if I missed a warning #postin for Ari mostly ^^

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alderaani · 3 years

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Skies

summary: After a long campaign, Jesse and Hardcase indulge in some well earned TLC. AO3 | Series

Part of my 100-clone centric prompts series, prompt list used is here

wanrings: allusions to canon-typical violence, death mention.

a/n: oof, I’ve been so unmotivated to write recently, so i’m honestly just relieved to have finished something. i’ve been wanting to write this for ages, based off this post by @lilhawkeye3 - it’s such an endearing image.

The ocean didn’t smell anything like Hardcase thought it would.

He slipped his bucket from his head, squinting against the sudden rush of unfiltered light. On either side of him troopers broke free of the tree line, and, feeling sand beneath their boots, took off whooping towards the frothing crest of the sea. The sunset blazed red and orange, bleeding like a punctured egg yolk across the cloudless horizon and into distant water. Hardcase breathed in, wrinkling his nose against the salt-laden tang, so visceral he could taste it.

It wasn’t like Kamino. That was almost the biggest surprise. He’d thought that oceans would be the same everywhere, but this wasn’t a bad way to be proven wrong. It was the salt, he realised after a moment, darting his tongue out to touch his lips. There weren’t really any beaches on Kamino, though he supposed there must be sand under there somewhere. There were no winding strips where ocean met land, where the sun could ferment the pools, rocks and shells left behind. It tasted lighter there, cleaner, more cut through by its brutal winds. He breathed in deep again, wrinkling his nose and grinning at the way the seasoned tang sat on his palate here, briny and thick.

It was the colour too, that really made the difference. It was so pale and clear on this far-flung planet, instead of the angry greyish blue he remembered. The waves were...politer, somehow. Less vengeful, not boiling with ever-falling rain. Several troopers had reached the shore now and were chasing the surf, shouting and laughing when it nipped at their heels.

He decided he rather liked it.

It was something different after weeks spent cowering under cover further inland, coated in showers of dark earth from enemy artillery and rationing out stale water in mouthfuls that were barely enough to coat the back of the throat. Even the air was damp here, and overhead the gulls were crying, sharp against the thundering crash of the waves. He lived for these moments, these breaths between the axel-grind of war. It was true that he loved the spoil of a fight, loved sinking into it and letting his Z6 sing. But there was a different, more intoxicating thrill in these snatched hours or - if they were lucky - days. He’d never voiced it to anyone, but he sometimes thought he might like to do this all the time, one day, trawling the stars and standing beneath unfamiliar skies. For the views, this time, explored under his own rhythm.

Yeah. That sounded pretty good.

“Oi, Hardcase!” Someone bellowed, sticking up a hand and waving at him amidst a far away knot of troopers knee deep in the sea. “You coming?”

He shook himself, setting down his pack and his Z6 with loving care amongst the mountainous piles of gear, before jogging down the dunes, following the trails of discarded armour and the shouts, happy laughter and splashes echoing from the water. The wind was sharp on his face and neck and on the strips of skin at his wrists, intoxicating and too heady to ignore. The sand was strangely weightless beneath him, too. He’d slept on a real feather pillow, once, while they were hunkered down on Ord Sedra and several hundred crates of luxury bedding had gotten damaged in the crossfire. It had felt like floating, and all of them had tossed and turned all night. This was similar, and just as strange...what would it all feel like on his skin?

The thought wouldn’t let him go. Halfway down the beach he sat to strip off his boots, then his plates, then his blacks, until he stood in just his greys, laughing at the feeling of the wind and the spray licking against his body. The way it cut through the stubble sprouting on his scalp after far too long stuck in a bucket-locked zone was...disconcerting. The prickle of just-forming curls felt like phantom fingers on the nape of his neck, and he’d found the way sweat clung to hair under his helmet sort of disgusting - it reminded him of being an under-washed cadet. Frankly, he didn’t plan on letting it stay long enough to get used to it.

The sand though...now that was weird. The way it sat between his toes made him squirm, each grain a bolting pinprick against the soles of his feet. When had he last had his boots off? Back on the Venator in the communal fresher, probably. It was a cruel galaxy when that barren room and its clinical racks of scentless soap started to look like a king’s treasury. He dug his feet into the cold, wet sludge, shivering in disgusted delight as the beach swallowed them whole.

“Hardcase!”

He looked towards the bellowing figure stumbling up the sand towards him, squinting as the sun hit their upturned face. Then he barked a laugh of surprise at the edge of the Republic cog he found there.

“ Jesse? Kriff, vod, barely recognised you.”

It was the first time he’d seen his flesh face in weeks, aside from in hurried moments allocated for gulping down rations. Jesse’s hair had grown in thick and black, much to the consternation of several brothers who were offended he could grow a moustache like that and still chose not to. Right now, he reached up to scratch the offending hair on his cheeks and scowled.

“S’rich comin’ from you. What is that slug on your face?”

Hardcase winced. His own unwilling hair cultivation very much proved that clones were not all made equal.

“It’s a casualty,” he said, feeling the short, patchy bristles on his upper lip. His trainer had always promised it would settle as he came out of puberty. That had been a lie. Hardcase blamed it on the crack in his growth jar, like he did most minor physical inconveniences. “This is why I don’t bother with the stuff.”

Jesse nodded, turning away to rummage through the packs strewn over the sand. “It just won’t stop itchin’.”

“You’re telling me.” Hardcase groaned. “You didn’t get woken up last night because your hair tickled the back of your neck and made you think you were bein’ jumped.”

Jesse snorted, straightening back up with his meagre GAR-standard microfibre towel in hand and a ration bar hanging from his mouth.

“Was that what that was about?” he asked, voice muffled. “We thought we could hear you squirmin’.”

Hardcase kicked lightly at Jesse’s ankle. “Real nice of you to not even ask if I was alright.”

Jesse broke off the ration bar and smirked round his mouthful.

“‘Case, it’s when you go quiet that we start asking questions.”

Hardcase shoved him. Jesse went down with a yelp and a curse, his towel catching under his ass and the loose end flapping like a banner in the wind. Hardcase bellowed a laugh, kicking sand towards him. It was a fatal mistake.

Jesse caught him by the ankle and yanked him down too. He landed on his stomach, still laughing as the wind knocked out of him, and scrambled forward with abandon, yelping with shock as water seeped cold and heavy into his greys. He wasn’t fast enough. A leg slung heavy over Hardcase’s ankles, pinning him, and then Jesse’s weight was pressing down on his back, forcing his face towards the wet sand.

“Get off, you kriffin’ shabiir,” he laughed, groaning as Jesse adjusted his weight and squashed the air out of his lungs.

“I’m not the one startin’ fights they can’t finish,” Jesse retorted, his voice light.

“Who said I was finished?” Hardcase shot back, going limp and then bucking hard. Jesse swore, losing his grip, and then they were scrabbling again, a tangle of limbs and righteous yelling.

The fight ended with them lying side by side on their backs, both covered in muck. Hardcase was sure he had sand in his crotch. The sun was still blazing on the horizon, lower now, deepening from yellow to dark, hazy red. It gleamed like fire on the water, like copper on the sand. This world was so reluctant to let the light go, eking out the daylight drop by drop. An errant touch to his thigh made him look over. Jesse was rummaging around underneath himself, grumbling about something digging into his back.

“You think we’ll get to stay here long?” Hardcase asked eventually.

“Aw, hell,” Jesse said, pulling the squashed, sandy remains of his ration bar from underneath him. “This was my last flavoured one. What’d you say?”

“D’you think we’ll stay long?”

Jesse hummed, flinging the ration bar away up the beach. A gull immediately swooped down to snatch it. “Here? Don’t think so. Heard Rex talking to the General, lots still to do before we can get off this rock.”

Hardcase sighed, letting the disappointment wash over him quietly. He shut his eyes again, just listening for a moment, committing the sounds of the sea to memory. It wouldn’t be goodbye. He’d come back to this place, one day. He’d make sure of it.

“So,” he said, cutting himself off before the longing could get too strong. “We gonna shave or what?”

Jesse scoffed. “What? Now?”

Hardcase shrugged. “Why not? We leave here, we’re gonna be back on water rations, right? You really want that nest growin’ for however the fuck long?”

Jesse sighed. “Course I don’t. But what the hell’re we gonna shave with? You didn’t bring your razor, did you?”

“Not a chance,” Hardcase said. That was only a mistake shinies made.

It wasn’t so bad if you lost one of the Kamino issue ones - those were about as blunt as a butter knife. Better to grow hair on campaign and hack it off later than lose one you’d bartered. He still mourned the first he’d ever owned - he’d never seen another with the same quality Corellian steel, and Uppercut had been so smug to win it over sabaac. Gracious enough to let him keep using it though. Some of Hardcase’s best memories were in front of fresher mirrors with him, taking it in turns and helping catch any stray hairs, paying each other in gossip for their trouble. He still hadn’t forgiven that bastard for dying. The first time he’d had to shave after had left him curled over the sink, his head half lathered and his whole body shaking, so on their next planetfall he’d taken the razor with him and buried it in the nicest spot he could find.

Uppercut had always preferred cities to trees, but Hardcase hoped that, wherever he was, he’d appreciated the effort all the same.

“I do have a vibroblade, though,” he carried on brightly, grinning at the way Jesse’s expression fell.

“Absolutely not.”

“Aw, come on. It won’t be that bad.”

Jesse pushed up on his elbows, his face scrunched. “If you think I’m gonna let you dry shave my head with a dagger, ‘Case, you’re more stupid than you look. I want a haircut, not a cut head.”

Hardcase rolled his eyes. “Who said anything about dry shaving? I’ve got soap.”

Jesse paused. “You’ve had soap this whole time? Here?”

“What can I say, I’m an optimist,” Hardcase said, peeling his back out of the sand. “You in or not?”

Jesse didn’t answer, just stood, grinned, and offered Hardcase a hand.

The light continued to wane as they made their trips up and down the beach, finding a good spot where the shoreline banked a little, and where it would keep the worst of the wind off while Hardcase lathered Jesse’s head. He stuck his tongue out a little as he worked, trying not to get distracted while the frothy water lapped at his ankles. He felt himself loosen as he scraped the vibroblade over his brother’s head, even just the act making him feel more like himself. It relaxed the jittery edge his thoughts always had, dialling down the almost frantic noise that built in combat and then sat under his skin. Usually it took a good spar to bounce it all back out of him, but this had always worked too…it had just been a long time since he’d had anyone else to go through the ritual with.

When it was his turn, he all but melted under the gentle, smooth touch of the vibroblade on his head, the soapy lather chilling quickly on his skin. He hummed, the feeling of the pads of Jesse’s guiding fingers on his chin almost too much sensation after so long under plastoid. He let his mind drift, watching the ocean and listening to Jesse’s mutters and curses as he concentrated.

When they were done and had rinsed in the freezing water, the sun had almost vanished, leaving only a purple after-bruise on the darkened sky. Most of the battalion had settled much further up the beach near the largest sand dunes, so they drifted there and claimed a patch of sand, pulling on their blacks when the sticky film of drying salt water got too much in the cold night air. After a late meal of ration cubes, and, far more enticing, some dried bantha milk the last villages they’d fortified had gifted them, Hardcase was splayed out on his back again and feeling quite ready to have a nap.

Jesse was lounging beside him, carefully rehydrating his milk with water from his field flask. Hardcase couldn’t remember the last time they’d had a night like this, where the war had felt so far away.

They turned their heads at several loud hoots, a crash, and a cheer, followed by an angry bellow. He squinted his eyes against the sudden flare of bright light.

Several brothers had constructed a modest bonfire out of driftwood - and, Hardcase suspected, several unlucky clones’ blacks - and had just tossed over a spare fuel canister, setting the whole thing ablaze in a column of blue flame. The tense figure stalking towards them looked awfully like Appo.

“D’you think we should help him?” Hardcase murmured, his hands propped comfortably under his head. Plasma always burned fast and hot, and he could already feel it faintly against the side of his freshly exposed head. It was nice; soothing, even.

Jesse hummed, pushed up on one elbow so that he could sip at his drink.

“...Nah,” he said slowly, lowering his cup and scrubbing away the blue moustache left behind. He flopped back down with a boneless huff. “Appo’s a big boy. He’s got this.”

Hardcase turned his head again, in time to see Appo tug futilely at some of the dark fabric being swallowed by flame. He chuckled and shut his eyes, breathing in deep and enjoying the soothing melody of shouting that, for once, was not being directed at him.

“Yeah,” he murmured after a moment, sighing as the heat flared and there were more jubilant whoops. “I think you’re right.”

taglist // @nelba @leias-left-hair-bun @simping-for-fives @missinashkin @iscream4clones @majorshiraharu @dom-i-nic @snippytano @808tsuika @eries45 @whatanoof // list here

#alderwrites #hardcase #clone trooper hardcase #clone trooper jesse #arc trooper jesse #501st legion #star wars #the clone wars #the clone wars fic #jesse #time to hit post before i can decide i hate this loooool

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myth-lord · 3 years

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D&D Monster Madness

Aboleth Abyssal Maw Ahuizotl Air Elemental - Ragewind (Caller in Darkness / Voidwraith) Almiraj Ankheg - Kruthik ANT - Abyss Ant ARCHON - Lantern Archon - Hound Archon Arrowhawk - Steelwing Aurumvorax Axe Beak - Achaierai

Babau Balor Banderhobb Barlgura - Girallon (Yeti) Basidirond Basilisk - Dracolisk BEETLE - Water Beetle - Fire Beetle (Bombardier) - Siege Beetle Behir Beholder Belker - Phiuhl Black Dragon - Shadow Dragon Bladeling Blindheim Blink Dog - Cooshee Bloodthorn Blue Dragon Bodak Boneyard Brown Dragon Bulette Bullywug - Grung - Hezrou (Pod Demon)

Carbuncle Carrion Crawler - Ulgurstasta Catoblepas Cave Fisher - Avalancher Cave Moray Centaur - Armanite CENTIPEDE - Adaru - Remorhaz Chasme Chathrang Chimera Choker - Skulk Chuul Cloaker Clockroach (Clockwork Horror) Cloud Giant - Fog Giant Cockatrice - Pyrolisk Copper Dragon Coral Golem Couatl Crawling Claw Crimson Death Crysmal Crystal Dragon Crystal Ooze Cyclops

DARK TREE - Hangman Tree - Quickwood - Orcwort Darktentacles Deadly Dancer Death Knight Deepspawn Destrachan Deva - Erinyes DIRE BEAST - Dire Rat (Osquip) - Dire Bat (Mobat) - Dire Boar (Fhorge) Displacer Beast - Phane Doppelganger - Maurezhi Dragon Turtle DRAKE - Water Drake (Dimetrodon) - Fire Drake (Zezir) - Air Drake (Wyvern) - Earth Drake (Rock Reptile) Drow - Drider Dryad - Splinterwaif Duergar - Derro - Automaton Dunkleosteus Dust Digger - Silt Horror

Earth Elemental - Tomb Mote Eblis Eidolon Ethereal Defiler Ethereal Dreadnought Ethereal Filcher Ethereal Slayer Ethereal Stalker Ettercap - Vermin Lord Ettin

Faerie Dragon Fetch Feyr Fire Bat Fire Elemental - Fire Effigy Fire Giant Flesh Golem - Rotripper Fomorian - Plague Spewer - Eldritch Giant Froghemoth Frost Giant

Galeb Duhr Gargoyle Gas Spore - Ascomoid Gelatinous Cube Gelugon GENIE - Dao - Djinn - Efreet - Marid Ghaunadan GHOST - Poltergeist - Allip (Wraith) - Banshee Ghoul - Ghast (Witherstench) - Berbalang - Devourer Giant Dragonfly Gibbering Mouther - Argos Glabrezu Gloomwing Gnoll - Witherling - Marrashi - Flind Goblin - Nilbog - Spriggan - Gremlin (Quarrak) Gold Dragon Gorgon Gravorg Gray Render - Cadaver Collector Green Dragon Green Slime - Arcane Ooze - Alkilith Greenvise Grey Dragon Griffon

Hadozee HAG - Bog Hag - Bheur Hag - Night Hag Hamatula Harpy - Siren Hatori Hell Hound - Yeth Hound - Canoloth Hippocampus Hook Horror Hullathoin Hydra

Id Fiend Imp - Mephit - Quasit Intellect Devourer - Cerebrilith (Brain Collector) - Grell Iron Golem - Adamantine Golem - Juggernaut

Kelpie Kenku Kirin (Celestial Stag) Korred Krenshar - Carcass Eater Kyton

Lamia Lemure - Rutterkin Leprechaun Leucrotta Lich - Demilich - Skull Lord Lillend LIZARDFOLK - Drakkoth - Kobold - Pterrax - Salamander - Troglodyte LYCANTHROPE - Werebear (Firbolg) - Werefox (Kitsune) - Wereshark

Magmin - Magma Hurler Manticore - Jarilith Marilith - Spell Weaver Medusa Merman - Merrow Merregon - Barbazu Mimic - Trapper Mind Flayer - Ulitharid Minotaur - Goristro Mohrg Morkoth Mudman Mummy - Grisgol - Skirr Myconid - Phycomid

NAGA - Dark Naga - Water Naga Nereid Nightmare Nightwalker (Death Giant) Nothic - Shardsoul Slayer (Phthisic) Nuckelavee

Obliviax (Puppeteer) Oni Orc - Tulgar Osyluth Otyugh Owlbear

Paeliryon Peryton Phoenix Piercer - Roper POSSESSED OBJECT - Book of Vile Darkness - Carrionette (Soul Puppet) - Helmed Horror - Slithering Hoard - Trap Haunt - Xaver (Deathdrinker) PUDDING - Black Pudding - White Pudding Purple Dragon Purple Worm - Fiendwurm - Neothelid

Quickling

Rakshasa Ravid Red Dragon - Hellfire Wyrm Redcap Roc Rot Grubs Rust Monster

Sahuagin - Skulvyn Sandman - Skriaxit Satyr - Bulezau Scarecrow SCORPION - Hellstinger Shadow Demon Shadow Mastiff Shambling Mound - Tendriculos Shardmind Shocker Sibriex Silver Dragon - Mercury Dragon Simpathetic Skin Kite Solamith (Soul Eater) SNAIL - Balhannoth - Flail Snail - Metalmaster Solar - Angel of Decay Sphinx SPIDER - Phase Spider (Wraith Spider) - Aranea (Tomb Spider) - Darkweaver - Bebilith Sprite Steel Predator Stirge Stone Giant Su-Monster Succubus (Incubus) Swordwing

Tlincalli Treant - Saguaro Sentinel Troll

Umber Hulk Unicorn - Dusk Unicorn Uridezu

Vampire - Varrangoin Vargouille Vrock

WASP - Hellwasp Swarm - Quanlos (Advespa) Wastrilith Water Elemental - Caller from the Deeps Web Golem Wendigo White Dragon Wight - Boneclaw Will o Wisp - Trilloch Winter Wolf

Yellow Dragon (Sunwyrm) Yellow Musk Creeper - Twilight Bloom (corpse flower) Yrthak Yuan-Ti - Abomination

Zombie - Drowned - Dustblight - Entombed Zorbo

UNIQUE Demogorgon Juiblex Tiamat Bahamut Lolth Cryonax Imix Ogremoch Olhydra Yan-C-Bin Pazuzu Kraken Tarrasque Leviathan Eye Tyrant Elder Brain Zuggtmoy

UNDEAD: Shadow / Adherer / Coffer Corpse / Crypt Thing / Huecuva / Necrophidius / Penanggalan / Revenant / Death Slaad / Son of Kyuss / Blazing Bones / Flameskull / Sinister / Skuz / Dracolich / Nightwing / Nightcrawler / Gravecrawler / Charnel Hound / Vitreous Drinker / Atropal / Spectre / Skeleton / Giant Skeleton / Entropic Reaper / Famine Spirit / Wraith / Deadborn / Vampiric Mist /

FIEND: Nalfeshnee / Cornugon / Pit Fiend / Larva / Amnizu / Hellcat / Mezzoloth / Nycaloth / Arcanoloth / Charonaloth / Dergholoth / Hydroloth / Oinoloth / Piscoloth / Ultroloth / Yagnoloth / Demodand / Cambion / Abishai / Spinagon / Yochlol / Molydeus / Nightmare Beast / Wastrel / Jovoc / Zovvut / Advespa / Durzagon / Arrow Demon / Sorrowsworn / Deathdrinker / Whisper Demon / Evistro / Draudnu / Remmanon / Blood Fiend / Echinoloth / Dybbuk / Nabassu / Braxat / Death Dog / Howler / Soul Eater / Tanarukk / Skybleeder / Incubus / Barghest /

ABERRATION: Eyewing / Eye of the Deep / Giant Leech / Lurker Above / Giant Octopus / Giant Jellyfish / Giant Slug / Thought Eater / Xorn / Flumph / Thoqqua / Volt / Xill / Land Urchin / Burbur / Giant Sea Anemone / Giant Clam / Giant Sunstar / Fachan / Neogi / Giant Squid / Decapus / Darkmantle / Delver / Ethereal Marauder / Frost Worm / Grick / Avolakia / Odopi / Rot Reaver / Gorbel / Spectator / Slaad / Digester / Meenlock / Chaos Beast / Balhannoth / Masher / Vodyanoi / Uchuulon / Dharculus / Brain Collector /

HUMANOID: Hill Giant / Halfling / Hobgoblin / Weretiger / Yeti / Aarakocra / Babbler / Dark Creeper / Dark Stalker / Dire Corby / Dune Stalker / Mountain Giant / Gibberling / Grimlock / Meazel / Norker / Quaggoth / Formian / Verbeeg / Selkie / Thri-Kreen / Wemic / Dragonkin / Asabi / Werebat / Athach / Abeil / Death Giant / Lumi / Phoelarch / Storm Giant / Nightshade / Gith / Flind / Bugbear / Wereboar / Wererat / Werewolf / Ogre / Tabaxi / Skindancer / Pit Master / Shadar-Kai / Lizardman / Triton / Kuo-Toa / Nagpa /

OOZE: Ochre Jelly / Slithering Tracker / Stunjelly / Aballin / Flareater / Phasm / Bone Ooze / Flesh Jelly / Teratomorph / Conflagration Ooze / Corrupture / Graveyard Sludge / Brown Pudding / Gray Ooze /

BEAST: Ankylosaurus / Brachiosaurus / Ceratosaurus / Elasmosaurus / Mosasaurus / Pteranodon / Stegosaurus / Triceratops / Tyrannosaurus / Giant Eagle / Giant Eel / Giant Frog / Giant Gar / Giant Lamprey / Subterrean Lizard / Mammoth / Giant Otter / Giant Owl / Giant Sea Horse / Sea Serpent / Giant Constrictor / Giant Cobra / Giant Snapping Turtle / Giant Weasel / Giant Wolverine / Blood Hawk / Bonesnapper / Jaculi / Quipper / Rothe / Behemoth Hippo / Boobrie / Giant Catfish / Compsognathus / Deinonychus / Dimetrodon / Struthiomimus / Tanystropheus / Giant Raven / Verme / Megatherium / Cloud Ray / Quetzalcoatlus / Spinosaurus / Gambol / Moonrat / Guulvorg / Amphisbaena / Dire Bear / Dire Crocodile / Dire Elephant / Dire Shark / Dire Rhinoceros / Dire Stag / Dire Tiger / Dire Wolf / Worg / Muckdweller / Brain Mole / Ixitxachitl / Jackalwere / Pegasus / Sea Lion / Androsphinx / Hieracosphinx / Ice Toad / Bunyip / Disenchanter / Fire Snake / Kamadan / Mantari / Nonafel / Afanc / Baku / Boalisk / Kech / Ascallion / Frost Salamander / Kirre / Dragon Eel / Tojanida / Mudmaw / Rejkar / Zezir / Lodestone Marauder / Rylkar / Julajimus / Sand Hunter / Cranium Rat / Witherstench /

PLANT: Shrieker / Whipweed / Kampfult / Mandragora / Giant Sundew / Vegepygmy / Wolf-In-Sheeps-Clothing / Death’s Head Tree / Thorny / Phantom Fungus / Twig Blight / Dread Blossom Swarm / Night Twist / Burrow Root / Assassin Vine / Bloodsipper / Burnflower / Vine Horror / Tri-Flower Frond / Violet Fungus / Wood Woad / Battlebriar /

FEY: Brownie / Nixie / Nymph / Sylph / Atomie / Boggle / Green Hag / Grig / Hybsil / Frost Fairy / Lhiannan Shee / Ragewalker / Lunar Ravager / Banshrae / Frostwind Virago / Wild Hunt / Eladrin / Grimalkin / Sea Hag / Annis Hag / Kercpa / Skiurid / Pixie / Pech /

CONSTRUCT: Homonculus / Caryatid Column / Iron Cobra / Margoyle / Mongrel / Magic Golem / Bone Golem / Glass Golem / Shield Guardian / Hangman Golem / Merchurion / Clay Golem / Clockwork Horror / Dwarf Ancestor / Stone Golem / Emerald Golem / Retriever / Hellfire Engine /

DRAGON: Bronze Dragon / Dragonne / Pseudo-Dragon / Cloud Dragon / Mist Dragon / Linnorm / Gorynych / Tether Beast / Styx Dragon / Ambush Drake / Guardian Naga / Spirit Naga /

ELEMENTAL: Invisible Stalker / Water Weird / Azer / Mihstu / Ice Elemental / Lightning Elemental / Time Elemental / Energon / Earth Weird / Nishruu / Nyth / Orglash / Immoth / Tempest / Blackball / Breathdrinker / Chraal / Gulgar / Zaratan / Chaos Shard / Kapoacinth / Visilight /

VERMIN: Rhinoceros Beetle / Water Spider / Assassin Bug / Ant Lion / Death Watch Beetle / Slicer Beetle / Megapede / Giant Solifugid / Tenebrous Worm / Fyrefly / Bonespear / Sword Spider / Spider Eater / Spellgaunt / Brood Keeper / Chelicera / Harpoon Spider / Tomb Spider / Boring Beetle / Giant Ant / Giant Crab / Bristle Spider / Death Jumper / Snow Tarantula / Giant Tick / Bloodsilk Spider / Heart Tick / Carcass Crab / Giant Centipede / Giant Mantis / Giant Scorpion / Giant Spider / Wraith Spider / Giant Wasp /

CELESTIAL: Lammasu / Titan / Planetar / Swanmay / Trumpet Archon /

#long post #d&d #monsters

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passionate-reply · 3 years

Video

youtube

This week, on Great Albums, we finally get around to discussing an industrial album--and we’ve started with one of the best there is, from the OGs themselves: Throbbing Gristle! (No, it isn’t jazz funk, I promise.) As always, full transcript under the break.

Welcome to Passionate Reply, and welcome to Great Albums! Today, I’ll be talking about one of the most important albums in the history of industrial music, and certainly one of the most...infamous. If you’ve ever noticed this album hanging on my wall in my other videos, you may well have wondered how an album that looks like this fits in with the rest of the stuff that’s up there. This record is the pioneering industrial group Throbbing Gristle’s classic 20 Jazz Funk Greats, and it’s essentially a bait and switch. It looks like a dorky, “family band” record from the bargain bin, but when you put it on, it sounds like this:

Music: “What a Day”

...well, not really. I’ve fibbed a bit here, much like Throbbing Gristle lied to you with this album cover. “What a Day,” one of the most sonically abrasive tracks on this album, is actually the second to last track! They take a little time to warm you up to the heavier stuff, actually. The first two tracks, the title track and “Beachy Head,” are still not really “jazz funk” by anybody’s standards, but they ARE decidedly softer than some of the other stuff you’ll encounter here.

Music: “20 Jazz Funk Greats”

Things arguably don’t start really heating up until we reach the third track on the album: “Still Walking,” which introduces us to ear-splitting distortion, rapid, disorienting percussion, and buried, albeit deeply ominous vocals, sounding like the first “typical” Throbbing Gristle track. It’s dense and almost comically busy, almost exhausting to listen to--and yet we have only just begun.

Music: “Still Walking”

So, where do we go from here? 20 Jazz Funk Greats wouldn’t be the legendary album that it is, if it was a one-note knock-knock joke, a jack in the box that emerges fully within the first few minutes of the album. What I think it really excels at is its ability to keep us on our toes throughout its entire runtime--it goes back and forth between showing a slightly friendlier face, and peeling back the skin of that face to show us the gory skull underneath. The whole thing vibrates along that contrast. Side two of the album, for instance, opens with one of Throbbing Gristle’s best-known tracks: “Hot on the Heels of Love.”

Music: “Hot on the Heels of Love”

Positioned squarely in the middle of the track listing, and at the crucial point of opening the second side, “Hot on the Heels of Love” certainly seems crucial to the album. It reads as a sort of dark parody of Giorgio Moroder’s famous “I Feel Love,” in which the voice of Donna Summer stands nakedly alone in a sea of pulsating synthesisers. It’s a pretty quick rebuttal, too, given that “I Feel Love” was released just the year before! Despite those sultry, breathy vocals, courtesy of Cosey Fanni Tutti, there’s no mistaking this one for a disco hit--not with its harsh hi-hats and gritty, highly textural synth scrapes. “Hot on the Heels of Love” features minimal lyrics--and they’re almost insultingly vapid--but 20 Jazz Funk Greats also features two prominent tracks that are much heavier in lyrical content, which I like to think as complementary to one another: “Convincing People” and “Persuasion,” which appear on the first and second side of the LP, respectively.

Music: “Convincing People”

Taken alone, “Convincing People” is weird, but it’s so vague and disorganised that it’s hard to come to a firm conclusion about what’s going on the first time you hear it. Unlike “Still Walking,” the fairly minimal instrumental accompaniment makes it easy enough to make out what the words are, without the sleeve handy. But it’s also so repetitive that it’s bound to infect you with semantic satiation, and fog up your brain’s ability to pay attention to those lyrics. The clearest statement “Convincing People” seems to be making is that you’ll never convince people when you come across as someone who’s trying to be convincing...well, alright, I suppose. But what really gives this song a darker significance is its counterpart on the flip, “Persuasion.”

Music: “Persuasion”

Abrasive numbers like “What a Day” and “Still Walking” are physically uncomfortable to listen to, but “Persuasion,” like the earlier Throbbing Gristle number “Slug Bait,” unnerves you with its lyrics instead. It takes up the mantle of a narrator who’s clearly a predatory, sexually violent character, and once again, a fairly simple instrumental makes us confront this vile subject matter head-on, as though we are alone in the room with this creep. “Persuasion” and “Convincing People” are actually extremely similar, but the biggest difference between them is that “Persuasion” is the escalation of their shared basic idea, with its much more explicit lyrics, and use of dissonant, unpredictable human screaming sounds. It’s actually a great metaphor for understanding how this album works--it gradually pushes our boundaries as we listen, worming its way into our consciousness like some masterful manipulator. And it dovetails with how Throbbing Gristle frontman Genesis P-Orridge would later style herself as a charismatic cult leader, with varying shades of irony, in later projects related to “Thee Temple ov Psychic Youth.” As we’ve recently been told, you don’t convince people by coming across as someone trying to be convincing. Or do you?

As I alluded to in the beginning, the name and cover design of 20 Jazz Funk Greats are a sort of musical booby trap, to hopefully ensnare innocent victims. It’s not jazz or funk, it doesn’t have twenty tracks, and its seemingly quaint cover photo, featuring the band in sunny surroundings, actually has a dark secret: the spot it was taken at, Beachy Head, is the most popular suicide destination in Europe, and one of the most popular worldwide. It’s Britain’s highest sea cliff, a stark, sheer wall of chalk that looms over the English Channel, and just a few feet away from where Throbbing Gristle are standing, people regularly throw themselves off of it. It’s a place where delicate natural beauty meets the profound human sickness sown by our twisted, exploitative industrial world. It’s just one more insidious detail, that heightens the cruel spirit of the album’s visual identity. It’s worth remembering that Throbbing Gristle were, first and foremost, provocateurs. I think that may be a better way to think about them overall, compared to thinking of them as “musicians.”

In my day, I’ve often seen 20 Jazz Funk Greats recommended as a good introduction to Throbbing Gristle, and to industrial music as a genre, more broadly. Industrial is one of the very few genres of music that was given its common name by an artist and not an outside critic--and we have Throbbing Gristle to thank for coining it, so they’re inarguably industrial royalty. Their catalogue remains indispensable to understanding what industrial is about--like so many acts we consider seminal or foundational, the seeds contained here inform a great deal of subsequent music. The problem, though, is where to begin, since they were arguably more of a jam band than a studio act, with legendary live performances that probably influenced other artists much more than anything they ever pressed on wax. Their discography is hairy, peppered with live recordings, non-album A-sides, and releases whose official vs. bootleg status is unclear. If you’re looking for a traditional album listening experience--as many music enthusiasts often are--it’s hard to do better than 20 Jazz Funk Greats.

At the same time, though, I think there’s something to be said for respecting the fact that Throbbing Gristle were never trying to offer anyone a traditional listening experience. Just the opposite! 20 Jazz Funk Greats is a Great Album, for sure, and it’s also a bit more of a softball than some of their other work, which arguably makes it a bit more accessible. But is it really all that fair to try and wring an “accessible” experience from a band like Throbbing Gristle, when it isn’t particularly representative of their work? Or is it better to meet them head on and try to tackle them on what appear to have been their own terms? If you’re new to them, but want to understand Throbbing Gristle and feel literate in their work, I think I might recommend their 1981 “greatest hits” compilation, Entertainment Through Pain, better than I would any of their proper albums--particularly if you’re like me, and prefer their more aggressive cuts to the ambient ones.

Music: “Adrenalin”

I think my favourite track is “Walkabout,” even though I would argue it’s one of the least “industrial” sounding tracks here. It isn’t heavy, rhythmic, or sludge-textured, but instead serves as a sort of “breather” between “Persuasion” and “What a Day,” a brief, floating melody that drifts by like a cirrus cloud. It’s both playful as well as devious, wedging itself between some of the hardest-hitting stuff, looking like it might be a reprieve, but ultimately leading right back into harsh musical territory--like an abuser love bombing you between some of their worst behaviour. Perhaps “Walkabout” is something like a masochist’s after-care, a moment of healing and cooldown after the excesses of simulated abuse. Or perhaps it’s the stillness and disquiet peace of the grave, for those who meet their end at the hands of “Persuasion”’s narrator? Ambiguity and possible irony are an integral part of Throbbing Gristle’s particular danse macabre...so I’ll leave the rest of the interpreting up to you. Thanks for watching!

Music: “Walkabout”

#music #album review #album reviews #great albums #music criticism #throbbing gristle #industrial #industrial music #Genesis P-Orridge #cosey fanni tutti #20 jazz funk greats

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askkrenko · 3 years

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Krenko’s Guide to Pokemon: Exeggcute line

They’re not even eggs. You all know that, right? They’re not eggs.

DESIGN:

Exeggcute is a handful of cracked Exeggutor seeds hanging out together. Individually, they’d be kind of boring, but as a bunch of seeds, it gives it a unique appearance that, especially when they bounce and move around each other.

Exeggcute really raises an interesting question of ‘what is a Pokemon’ though, because while Magnemite suddenly gets two more Magnemites on evolution, Exeggcute is clearly six seeds, but they only become one tree. While we know the six seeds are telepathically linked, aren’t they still six different Pokemon? And why do they hatch from one egg?

And it can’t be that the Pokeball just counts minds, because while Exeggcute and Exeggutor are telepathically linked, there’s other multi-headed Pokemon that don’t get along well with themselves at all.

My brain hurts. On to the coconut tree.

Exeggcute’s evolved form, the thing that grows from the seeds, is a tree. A short, stumpy, multi-headed coconut tree.

At six feet tall, it’s pretty short for a tree, but it gets the job across as a tree Pokemon. It has legs for walking, no arms because it’s telekinetic, and three heads that think independently but work together. Supposedly, Exeggcute fall from Exeggcutor, and maybe that is how it works because even though everything comes from eggs, nobody’s ever seen a Pokemon lay an egg.

So here’s my theory: Exeggcute ‘eggs’ grow on Exeggutors but they’re actually nuts. When they break open, there’s six Exeggcute inside, which work together, and then later grow into a full-sized Exeggutor.

Anyway, as far as its design goes, I love this goofy tree thing. It’s clearly a coconut tree, but it’s also clearly some sort of monster, and the big coconut heads give it a unique visual that really nothing else compares to. It’s likely based on a creature from Japanese mythology, but there’s still enough differences between Exeggutor and the Jinmenju that you wouldn’t confuse the two.

Its Alolan form is mostly the same except... more correct.

See, we had hints pretty early on that the Exeggutor we knew and loved was wrong. Pokedex entries stated that it originally came from the tropics, and that harsh sunlight makes it grow more. And the thing is, we first saw Alolan Exeggutor back in 1997, before Pokemon even came to the US, as a piece of art for the TCG featured a “Jungle Exeggutor.”

Nineteen years later, here’s Alolan Exeggutor.

So yeah, that’s our palm tree pokemon. Also it’s a dragon. This thing is basically the same as foreign Exeggutor, except bigger and even sillier, with an extra coconut tail. Why is it a dragon? There’s a few theories on that, but the best theory is that it’s based on one of a few types of trees called “Dragon Trees” that live in Hawaii. There’s a variety of Dragon Trees, and some look more like Exeggutor than others, but considering there’s Dragon Pokemon based off of Sea Dragons, Dragon Slugs, and Dragonflies, and one extended pun involving a Wyrm in an Apple, well... I’m willing to believe “Dragon Tree” is just the sort of thing they’d do.

Art by Ninjendo, which I have to assume is a Nintendo that flips out and kills things

EVOLUTIONS:

Exeggcute evolves with a leaf stone. If you evolve it in Alola, you get a proper Exeggutor, and if you evolve it anywhere else, you get a short Exeggutor. This is a bit of a problem for introducing Alolan Exeggutor to other games. What I'd like to see in the future is some alternate item or something to get an Alolan Exeggutor (maybe just have it evolve with the Sun Stone instead of the Leaf Stone) but I suppose that defeats the purpose of regional forms. If we get another warm region, hopefully we’ll see Alolan Exeggutors there.

Stats are such that there’s no need for anything before Exeggute or after Exeggutor, though a Mega Exeggutor could be fun and funny.

Exeggutor Mirrored by TamberElla

TYPING:

Exeggutor benefits from pretty rare typings, as there’s not much competition for its specific movesets.

Defensively, neither’s particularly special, with more weakensses than resistances, and each coming with a x4 weakness. What is noteworthy about Alolan Exeggutor is that it doubly resists water, grass, and electricity. While there’s plenty of types it’s weak to, those are some very common attacks that it can effectively no-sell.

Offensively, grass is resisted by a lot, but Psychic and Dragon are both hard to stop. Steel stops all three types, but stumpy Exeggutor is super-effective against five types, and Alolan Exeggutor is super-effective against four types. Neither case is anything special, but it’s still a lot better than being pure grass.

Enjoy the Alolan Way by limb92

STATS:

The two forms of Exeggutor basically have the same stats: 125 Special Attack with higher-than-average defenses and low speed. Yes, Alolan has more Attack and less Speed, but Special is still better than Attack by far, and speed is poor on both.

125 is a really solid special attack stat, and while low speed is a problem, Exeggutor can take a few hits as long as the type matchups aren’t actively going against it.

Art by elyoncat

ABILITIES:

Alolan Exeggutor’s normal ability is Frisk. Nobody cares.

Malnourished Exggutor’s normal ability is Chlorophyll. This is quite good. Chlorophyll doubles its speed during Sunny Day, and while Exeggutor is slow, it’s not so slow that doubling its speed won’t make it faster than most opponents. Couple this with the ability to use Solar Beam, and Exeggutor has a place on a Sun team.

Both versions share a hidden ability of Harvest, which has a 50% chance each turn to replenish a consumed (but not otherwise lost) berry. During harsh sunlight, this chance increases to 100%. This requires a lot more strategy to use than Chlorophyll, certainly, but there’s plenty that can be done with it.

Obviously if you don’t plan to use a berry, Alolan Exeggutor gets Frisk, but it’s really not impressive.

MOVES:

Exeggutor has two signature abilities in Barrage and Dragon Hammer, but they’re both Physical and neither’s impressive enough to warrant the 20-30 point stat hit for using physical attacks, so ignore them.

For a Grass type move, the primary question is, of course “am I taking advantage of the sun?” If you are, it’s Solar Beam. If not, even with it making you weaker each time you use it, Leaf Storm is an absurdly powerful hit. On a similar note, Alolan Exeggutor is going to want Draco Meteor. Look, this Pokemon’s not a tank, your goal is to kill the opponent as fast as possible. By the time you get to a third Draco Meteor or Leaf Storm, your Exeggutor’s probably falling down anyway.

On the other hand, if you want to try more defensive fighting, Giga Drain’s a solid special attack that helps keep you going. You could also take both Giga Drain and Leaf Storm, softening them up with Giga Drain and only using Leaf Storm when you expect it to kill.

Psychic Exeggutor’s Psychic move is Psychic. I shouldn’t need to explain that one. It’s been using it since Gen 1. There’s an argument to be made for using Psyshock, but that really depends on the meta.

For coverage purposes, True Exeggutor can learn Flamethrower, which is especially good if using the Sunny Day route, and both can learn Sludge Bomb, though I’d only really recommend it on the Dragon type who wants to have Super Effective damage against Fairies.

Exeggutor naturally learns Hypnosis, which is a great move, but also a trick. With breeding, an Exeggutor can have Sleep Powder, which is the same move but with higher accuracy. Take Sleep Powder.

Art by I don’t know I searched and couldn’t find the original posting

OVERALL:

I love this stupid tree. It’s so goofy. Chlorophyll and Harvest are both interesting, build-around abilities, and it’s got a reasonable stat lineup. My only big problem is that its signature attacks are Physical and it’s primarily Special. Dragon Hammer’s a good move, but with the attack difference an Exeggutor gets more damage out of Dragon Pulse. And Barrage is just garbage.

You know, in the old days, Exeggutor was literally one of the strongest Pokemon there was. Now, it’s basically a relic. It’s still mostly fine, but the Physical/Special move divide isn’t always kind to it.

#Krenko's Pokemon Guide #Exeggutor #Exeggcute

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krinsbez · 5 years

Text

GI Joe: Remixed, Vipers

OK, so..let's talk Vipers.

To begin with, here's Wikipedia's list of Cobra Trooper variations, for reference:

Air Devil - Acrobatic Aerial Assault Trooper

B.A.T.s - Cobra Battle Android Troopers

Cobra Blackstar - Cobra Elite Space Pilot

Cobra C.L.A.W.S. - Combat Light Armored Weapons Specialist; Heavy Weapons Trooper

Cobra Coils - High Speed Pursuit Vehicle Drivers; Cobra Tread Fire Driver

Cobra Eels - Cobra Frogman

Cobra H.I.S.S. Driver - Cobra H.I.S.S. Driver

Cobra Moray - Underwater Elite Trooper

Cobra Officer - Cobra Squad Leader

Cobra Stinger Driver - Cobra Stinger Driver

Cobra Soldier - Cobra Basic Infantry

Desert Scorpion - Cobra Desert Trooper

Incinerators - Cobra Flamethrowers

Lampreys - Cobra Moray Hydrofoil Pilot

Night Creepers - Cobra Mercenary Ninjas

Night Vulture - Cobra Air Recon Trooper

Sea Slugs - Cobra Sea Ray Pilot

Snow Serpent - Cobra Polar Assault

W.O.R.M.S. - Weapons Ordnance Rugged Machine Specialists; Cobra Maggot Driver

List of Viper variations

Aero-Viper - Condor Z25 pilot

Air-Viper - Cobra Air Force trainee

Alley Viper - Cobra urban assault trooper

Astro-Viper - Cobranaut

A.V.A.C. - Air-Viper, Advanced Class; Firebat pilot

Bio-Viper - amphibious Mega-Monster

Cyber-Viper - cybernetic officer

Desert-Viper - Cobra desert trooper

Elite-Viper - elite regiment officer

Fast Blast Viper - field combat

Flak-Viper - Cobra anti-aircraft trooper

Frag-Viper - Cobra grenade thrower

Gyro-Viper - Mamba pilot

Hazard-Viper - toxin specialist

H.E.A.T. Viper - High-Explosive, Anti-Tank; Cobra bazooka trooper

Heli-Viper - Cobra Battle Copter trooper

Hydro-Vipera - Cobra underwater elite trooper. Also known as the "demons of the deep"

Ice-Vipera - Cobra WOLF driver

Jungle-Viper - jungle assault trooper

Kitchen Viper - mentioned in the comics only; never actually seen

Laser-Viper - Cobra laser trooper

Medi-Viper - medical trooper [7]

Mega-Viper - Mega-Monster trainer

Monstro-Viper - savage Mega-Monster

Motor-Viper - Cobra Stun pilot

Nano-Viper - Cobra commando

Neo-Viper - officer/infantryman

Night-Viper - Cobra night fighter

Ninja-Viper - martial arts

Nitro-Viper - Detonator driver

Para-Viper - Cobra paratrooper

Pit-Viper - infiltration trooper

Range-Viper - Cobra wilderness trooper

Raptor-Viper [8] -

Red Ninja-Viper - ninja warrior

Rock-Viper - Cobra mountain trooper

Sand-Viper - desert infiltrator

S.A.W. Viper - Semi-Automatic Weapons; Cobra heavy machine gunner

Secto-Viper - Cobra Bugg driver

Shadow-Viper - counter intelligence

Shock-Viper - fire assault trooper

Sludge-Viper - Cobra hazardous waste Viper

Star-Viper - Cobra Stellar Stiletto pilot

Strato-Viper - Cobra Night Raven S³P pilot [9]

Street-Viper - urban combat trooper

Sub-Viper - underwater demolitions

Swamp-Viper - amphibious assault trooper

Techno-Viper - Cobra battlefield technician

Tele-Viper - Cobra communications

Terra-Viper - Cobra Mole Pod pilot

Toxo-Viper - Cobra hostile environment trooper

Track-Viper - H.I.S.S. II driver

Viper - Cobra infantry

Viper Guard - Cobra infantry

Viper Pilot - attack glider pilot

Now, it's important to note, contrary to their depiction in most media, in our take, Vipers are actually quite competent, being on par with the standard troops of most First World militaries. OTOH, Blueshirts get just enough combat training that they aren't completely useless on the battlefield; Blueshirts can, say, round-up civilians for slave labor, deal with anti-Cobra militias or vigilantes, or serve as security guards or the equivalent of uniformed police in Cobra-controlled areas, but are not expected to fight real soldiers. Rather, Blueshirts do all the other tasks a military needs to operate, although some specialized work is done by Vipers. Cobra recruits are first trained as Blueshirts, and can then apply for Viper training, but military vets are fast-tracked to the point that they can sometimes go straight to Viper training; said training program was designed by Big Boa and Major Bludd, the latter of whom is considered the father of the Viper program, and is idolized by most Vipers. Big Boa is less beloved mostly because he's actively involved in their training and he has no qualms about injuring, maiming, or even killing his trainees.

Anyways, in general, a Viper outranks a Blueshirt, but a Blueshirt Officer outranks a Viper, and is in turn outranked by a Viper Officer; this isn't really a hard and fast rule though, as Cobra's command structure is deliberately fluid. Somewhat similarly, Specialist-Vipers don't technically outrank regular Vipers, but their skills are more valuable to Cobra, so...Each cadre of Specialist-Vipers has it's own leader (or sometimes leader) who get their own name, but generally still wear their cadre's uniform, and are therefore subordinate to those who have names and custom uniforms. Generally. Sometimes several cadres will also answer to another, higher named/uniformed officer specifically (EG all the pilots report to Wild Weasel; Toxo-, Hazard-, and Sludge-Vipers are under Cesspool; Tele-, Techno-, and Medi-Vipers report to Dr. Mindbender, all naval personnel report to She-Wolf, a pseudo-OC who will be discussed later) Beyond this, there's no strict rank structure involved; if you can get people to follow your orders, you're in charge, and if you kill a superior you're just as apt to be given his job as punished. (note that @Night_stalker has created many Specialist-Viper Leaders for us, though some already existed, but I’m not sure how to post ‘em here)

Many Specialist-Vipers not only receive specialized training, but also are given drugs or some form of surgical modification (such as those given to Strato-Vipers to enhance their reflexes and resistance to G-forces) or enhancements (such as the Hydro-Vipers' implanted gills) or both to make them better at their jobs; these often have long-term negative side effects (which is why, despite grumbling from the Jugglers, Gens. Austin and Hawk refuse to reverse-engineer for American use some of Mindbender's Feel-No-Pain Juice or Not-Get-Tired Pills or whatever), but Cobra doesn't care. They also get a hefty dose of extra indoctrination, which of course, includes brainwashing.

Given Cobra Commander's divide-and-conquer approach to management, and the general backstab-happy nature of Cobra, it should not be surprising that inter-service rivalry between Specialist-Viper cadres is encouraged. In addition, many cadres have developed their own unique subcultures, a sampling of which follows:

-You will note that several of the above categories appear redundant. Sometimes they are (EG Sand-Vipers and Desert Scorpions), because see above vis a vis CC's management style, other times not For example, Hazard-Vipers are trained professionals in dealing with hazardous materials, Toxo-Vipers are grunts who handle the manual labor portion of dealing with hazmat stuff under the direction of the Hazard-Vipers (thus decreasing the odds of something untoward happening to a valuable specialist). Being a Toxo-Viper is (usually) a temporary assignment which regular troops will be given as a punishment detail, while Sludge-Vipers are an elite cadre of Hazard-Vipers who work directly under Cesspool, and deal with the creation and use of Plasmatox. Additionally, Incinerators are specifically flamethrower guys while the Shock-Vipers deal with incendiary ordinance in general. There are also examples where it's a bit of both, for instance while Alley-Vipers are heavy shocktroopers trained/equipped specifically for urban combat, the Street-Vipers are a sub-division of the Elite-Vipers for same.

-At some point, the Medi-Vipers became a cult devoted to Asclepius, the Ancient Greek God of medicine and notable snake enthusiast, though obviously they diverge quite heavily from the historical Cult of Asclepius. They are quite feared by other Cobras, because (thanks to @Night_stalker) “on the field, while they'll patch you up, it's more like a ‘Stop bleeding to death and get back to work! FOR COBRA!’, instead of the nice calming normal medic you get, and off the field, they're the guys who implant mods, and pick Dr. Mindbender's experimental subjects.” Note that they are not fond of Dr. Mindbender, because they're the ones who have to clean up the mess when his experiments go awry.

-It is commonly believed by other Vipers that the Range-Vipers are cannibals. This is somewhat unfair; while yes, they're less squeamish about the idea of eating human flesh than normal people, it's still something they'd only do as a last resort.

-Hydro-Vipers are not actually fish-people, and they get really pissed off when you call them that.

-The Pilot-Vipers have picked up Wild Weasel's belief that pilots are a superior breed, and this attitude is only heightened in the Aero-, Heli-, Strato-, and Star-Vipers, who all consider themselves superior to the other Pilot-Vipers; they still basically worship the ground Wild Weasel walks on, though.

-The Tele-Vipers basically live on meth, adderall, and caffeinated energy drinks.

-Every Viper Pilot wants to be an AVAC. The AVACs think their erstwhile comrades are saps, because it actually sucks.

-Since most Hydro-Vipers used to be Morays, and the Morays used to be Eels, they get along pretty well. Ditto the Sub-Vipers. They have nothing but contempt for the Sea Slugs, Lampreys, and other aquatic vehicle pilots.

-Snow Serpents consider Ice-Vipers traitors for cross-training with the Eels.

-Techno- and Tele-Vipers have a notably bitter feud, but also have a sort of "y'all are pitiful scrubs inferior to the Glorious Software/Hardware (remove whichever inappropriate) Master Race, but at least you're better than the rest of these knuckle-dragging ignorami" thing going on towards the other Vipers

#Headcanon #Headcanons #Fanfic #Collaboration #GI Joe #GI Joe Headcanon #GI Joe Headcanons #GI Joe Fanfic #GI Joe Collaboration #GI Joe: Remixed #GI Joe: Remixed Vipers #Cobra #Vipers #Cobra Vipers

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annieboltonworld · 3 years

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Juniper Publishers- Open Access Journal of Environmental Sciences & Natural Resources

Radiological Impacts of NORM and Poly Aromatic ||gg Hydrocarbon in Petroleum Industry Process on Marine Ecosystem at the Red Sea, Egypt

Authored by Kh M Zakaria

Abstract

This study was designed to realize the hazardous effects on marine ecosystem, and assess the impacts of (NORM) 238U, 232Th, and 40K radioactivity and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in petroleum industry at red sea coastline in Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis sites. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) individuals Naphthalene, Acenaphthene, Acenaphthylene, Fluorene, phenanthrene and Fluoranthene were analysed with HPLC with fluorescence detection for sea water, sediments and marine organisms Bivalves, coral reef and starfish. HPGe gamma ray spectrometric technique used for measured. The 238U, 232Th, and 40K radioactivity concentration in sea water, sediments and marine organisms Bivalves, coral reef and starfish in both Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis sites. The data revealed an increase in the 238U, 232Th, and 40K and (PAHs) individuals for sea water, sediments and marine organisms Bivalves, coral reef and starfish in Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis sites respectively as compared to international maximum allowable concentrations. On the other hand, 238U, 232Th, and 40K and (PAHs) individuals for sea water, sediments and marine organisms Bivalves, coral reef and starfish were recorded higher concentration levels in Abu Zenima sites than Abu Rudeis sites. The data revealed an increase in concentration of (NORM) 238U, 232Th and 40K and PAHs individuals for starfish and coral reef than bivalves marine organisms for both Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis sites respectively as compared to international maximum allowable concentrations.

Keywords: NORM; Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbon; Petroleum Industry; Radiological Impacts; Marine Ecosystem

Introduction

Background information

The oil and hence polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are naturally present in the marine environment, although levels have increased significantly following human extraction and use of oil and gas [1]. Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) generally contain radio nuclides found in nature, i.e., thorium, uranium, and their progeny [2]. The TENORM waste is produced from several industrial sectors such as uranium and metal mining, phosphate ores. Processing and petroleum industry [3]. The petroleum waste (scale or sludge) have been produced by two mechanisms: either incorporation or precipitation onto the production equipment such as: pipelines, storage tank, pumps [4]. The precipitated TENORM wastes around walls of the petroleum pipes reduce their efficiency and then disposed and replaced periodically by new ones [5]. In the last decade, attention was focused on the environmental and health impact from the release of TENORM wastes.

Studies of naturally occurring radioisotopes of uranium and thorium decay series and primordial potassium in aquatic environment provide information on the environmental pollutants in water bodies, whereas marine invertebrates include sea slugs, sea anemones, starfish, octopuses, clams, sponges, sea worms, crabs, lobsters, coral reef and Bivalves, most of these animals are found close to the shore [6]. The possible radionuclide transfer provide an easy assimilation of radiation exposure into human body following their consumption [7,8]. Moreover, marine organisms such as filter feeders and piscivorous have the capacity of bioaccumulation more radionuclide's and toxic elements from water due to the physical and chemical nature of their body surfaces and feeding habit in their natural habitat, and thus, the determination of radioactivity in the marine organisms and estuaries marine animals assumes greater importance [8]. The level of natural radionuclides in marine organisms (226Ra, 228Ra and 40K) in mostly consumed marine fishes and shell fishes due to their importance as sources of high-quality protein [9].

Releases of radio-nuclides TE-NORM from marine petroleum industry (226Ra, 228Ra and 40K) effects on aquatic animals and marine food chains [9]. Among the many radio nuclides discharged into marine environments, (226Ra, 228Ra and 40K) the fate of these radio nuclides in the aquatic food chain is essential for a realistic assessment of the risk of their potential impact on human health [10]. The contribution of naturally occurring radio nuclides reflected in the sediments and marine coastline water. The radiation dose received and accumulated in the body by marine fauna comes from the naturally occurring uranium series [11]. On the other hand petroleum industry in marine have the Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) beside 238U, 226Ra, 232Th and 40K are formed during the manufactured oils in marine and sea water [11]. Oil and its derivatives PAHs have been found to be toxic to a wide array of marine organisms from marine invertebrates to large seabirds and marine mammals [12]. The effects of PAH son single organisms may add up to affect populations and communities, as well as whole ecosystems [12]. Phytoplankton, the major primary producer in the marine environment, is also sensitive to environmental stressors such as pollution. Phytoplankton plays a crucial role in the inflow of primary energy to coastal food webs; thereby changes in phytoplankton may cause significant damages to the functioning of marine ecosystems [13]. Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis located on Suez gulf, this area have many oil offshore platform, several of these offshore platforms have been in operation to extract and process oil , processing and petroleum products distribution activities and have resulted in tremendous impacts on the safety and environmental conditions in the Suez Gulf. PAHs leaks and spills have resulted in serious contamination to the Suez gulf. PAHs contain many aromatic generation compounds such as naphthalene, Acenaphthalene, Acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene; Fluoranthene Each PAHs can also be released into the environment, mainly due to offshore oil production or petroleum transportation [14]. Each PAHs have bad impacts contamination on bivalves and particularly mussels coral reef and star fish and marine invertebrates the status of the marine environment for large number of pollutants [15]. Where, PAHs are lipophilic and coplanar; they can accumulate in adipose tissues or secretions. Coral reefs are threatened by small chronic PAHs spills in particular, but larger acute oil spills may also affect coral reefs [15]. Observed biological impacts of oil spills in reef areas range from mass mortality of fish and invertebrates to apparently marine ecosystem devastation [16]. PAHs components can dissolve in water to some extent which exposes the corals to potentially toxic compounds. However, toxic concentrations are only encountered in the uppermost part of the water-column [16]. In the Suez Gulf PAHs easily gets trapped in the mangroves and usually persists for a very long time. The PAHs is subject to microbial degradation which may be a rather rapid process in aerobic environments. However, if the PAHs are buried within the anaerobic sediments, bio-degradation proceeds very slowly [17].

Materials and Methods

Study Area

The investigated area expanded along the coast of Suez gulf, Abu Zenima 29°3’20”N 33°6’11”E to Abu Rudeis 28°53′N 33°11′E.

Sampling and Sample Preparation

Six representative superficial shore sediment, sea water and marine organisms samples (Bivalves, Coral reef and Star fish) were collected from six different stations located along the offshore oil platforms in Abu Zenima (Abu Zenima 1, Abu Zenima 2, Abu Zenima 3), and Abu Rudeis 1, Abu Rudeis 2 and Abu Rudeis 3). An area of about 25x25 cm2 up to a depth of 5cm was cut out using the stainless steel template for guidance [18] . The collected shore sediment and sea water samples were transferred to labelled polyethylene bags, closed and transported to the laboratory for preparation and chemical analysis. The shore sediment samples were air-dried at room temperature for a week. And also were dried in an oven at 80°C (for 48h) till constant dry weight was obtained, crushed and homogenized. Then milled and sieved through 0.4mm mesh sieves and stored for further analysis. Water samples, 5 liter of each, were collected using the water sampler.

They were collected in polyethylene containers. Then, the samples were acidified with Nitric acid to pH lower than 2 to avoid micro-organisms growth. The samples were stored for radioactivity and Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons measurements. The marine organisms samples of Coral reef, Bivalves and Star fish were collected from Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis and transported to the laboratory in ice boxes and stored at (-10oC) until subjected for further analysis, about 20 individuals of each species were collected from the study area; at the same locations of the water samples. The samples of marine organisms were then cut into smaller pieces to ensure effective grinding. The cleaned samples were dried in an oven at 70oC for five days (until there was no detectable change in the mass of the samples) to ensure that the sample were completely moisture free, a constant dry weight being obtained. Dried samples were ground to fine grain sizes by using a stainless steel cutter blender, and sieved in order to obtain homogeneity. All homogenized samples were divided into two parts. The first part was transferred into 250ml sizes Marinelli beaker, sealed hermetically, and left for about 4 weeks at room temperature in order to attain secular equilibrium among the 238U-series and 232Th-series precursors with their short-lived progenies [19] . The second part was kept in laboratory room temperature for using it in analysis the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Individuals.

Radioactivity Measurements

The activity concentration of the natural radioactivity 238U, 232Th and 40K in the investigated samples were determined using a high-resolution HPGe y-spectrometry system with 30�x0025; counting efficiency. This was performed by taking 250 cm3 counting vials filled up to a height of 7 cm, which correspond to 170 cm3. The measurement duration was up to 80,000sec and was carried out in the Laboratory of Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority. The obtained spectra were analyzed. The determination of the presence of radio nuclides and calculation of their activities were based on the following gamma-ray transitions (in keV): the 226Ra activities (or 238U activities for samples assumed to be in radioactive equilibrium) were estimated from 234Th (92.38keV, 5.6%), while y-energies of 214Pb (351.9keV, 35.8%) and 214Bi (609.3,45%), 1764.5keV, 17%) and 226Ra (185.99KeV, 3.5%) were used to estimate the concentration of 226Ra .

PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) Measurements

Water samples (2.5-L) were collected in glass bottles at the water surface and 50 cm below water level from the six different sites on Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis. The bottles were covered with screw caps and the samples were immediately transported to the laboratory for analysis. Water samples were filtered to remove sand and debris. Sediment samples (about 2kg for each sample) were taken from the same locations and time for water sampling at a depth 5cm of sediment surface. The water was removed from the sediments by decantation and then transferred to the laboratory. Samples were air dried in dark for 48 hours before analysis. Marine organisms (Bivalves, coral reef and star fish) were caught by fishermen three representative samples from the different sites at Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis at the same times as water and sediment sampling.

They were transport to the laboratory. Standard solutions of reference materials were prepared in hexane. A stock solution containing the following PAHs was used for quantization: naphthalene, Acenaphthalene, Acenaphthylene, fluorene, and phenanthrene, Fluoranthene by dilution to create a series of calibration standards of PAHs at 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 5.0 and 10μg/ml. All solvents used in this study were of HPLC grade and were purchased from Alliance Bio, USA. Anhydrous Sodium sulfate and potassium hydroxide were of analytical grade PAHs were analyzed by using HPLC with fluorescence detection at at central lab , National Research Center, Egypt. The mobile phase was a mixture of acetonitrile and water with a gradient concentration mode of acetonitrile. The flow rate was 1mL/min. The time program of the fluorescence detector was set to detect at optimum excitation and emission wavelength for each PAHs according to laboratory detection method [22,23].

Results and Discussion

Radioactivity and Radionuclide in Water and Sediment in Coastline in Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis

(Table 1) revealed the activity concentrations of, 238U, 232Th and 40K for sea water coastline in three sites at Abu Zenima1, Abu Zenima2 and Abu Zenima3. The activity concentrations of 238U, 232Th and 40K in seawater at site of Abu Zenima1 19.6mBq/L, 16.8mBq/L and 1340.7mBq/L respectively. On the other hand 238U, 232Th and 40K recorded in Abu Zenima2 highly activity 24.6mBq/L , 20.8mBq/L and 1448.7 mBq/L respectively. Also in site of Abu Zenima3 238U, 232Th and 40K were recorded 25.2mBq/L, 22.6 mBq/L and 1270.4mBq/L respectively. On the other hand (Table 2) reveled 238U, 232Th and 40K in sea water at Abu Rudeis1 recorded 10.2mBq/L, 7.33mBq/L and 632.5mBq/L respectively. Also 238U, 232Th and 40K recorded in sea water at Abu Rudeis2 9.47 mBq/L 13.9 mBq/L and 735.3 mBq/L respectively. Also (Table 3) revealed levels of 238U, 232Th and 40K in sea water at Abu Rudeis (Tables 4 & 5) 14.25mBq/L , 19.3mBq/L and 946.4mBq/L. Regarding to the present data and in compared to International permissible limits for NORMS radionuclide's in (Table 3), where data in the present study for 238U, and 232Th lay under the International permissible limits for NORMS radionuclide's in red sea 25mBq/L and 36mBq/L for 238U, and 232Th respectively. On the other hand El Afifi et al. [24] was recorded high levels activity concentration for 238U, 232Th and 40K in the TE-NORM waste at four different sites for petroleum and gas production in Egypt, in the South Sinai Governorate, in the Suez Gulf area, in the Matrouh Governorate, Abu Rudeis onshore oil and gas field and Gabal El Zeit offshore oil and gas field at the Suez Gulf. The results showed that the average activity concentrations of 226Ra changed between 5.9 and 68.9kBq/kg (dry weight) in the waste samples from Gabal El Zeit and Abu Rudeis fields, respectively. In Gabal El Zeit field, the lower activity concentrations (28.6kBq/kg) of 226R were found in granular sample, while higher values (56.6kBq/kg) were found in the massive samples [25,26]. Regarding the (Table 1) reveled sediment concentration of 238U, 232Th and 40K for sea water coastline at Abu Zenima1, Abu Zenima2 and Abu Zenima3, where 238U, 232Th and 40K recorded in sediment coastline at Abu Zenima1 22.5Bq/kg-1, 24.53Bq/kg-1 and 1658.6Bq/kg-1 respectively? On the other hand Abu Zenima 2 recorded highly concentration in where 238U, 232Th and 40K in costal sediment than Abu Zenima1, where concentrations levels 26.3Bq/kg-1, 28.22Bq/kg-1 and 1680.5Bq/kg-1 respectively. Also Abu Zenima 3 recorded moderate levels for 238U, 232Th and 40K in costal sediment. Also (Table 5) revealed sediment concentration 238U, 232Th and 40K for sea water coastline at Abu Rudeis (1), (2) and (3) sites. The Abu Rudies (3) site recorded highly concentration 238U, 232Th and 40K than Abu Rudeis (1), (2), at levels 18.68Bq/ kg-1, 23.3Bq/kg-1 and 1240.3Bq/kg-1 respectively. These results were confirmed with Uosif et al. [27], who noticed highly activity in 232Th and 40K in beach sediment at Suez gulf. On the other hand (Table 4) highly activity in 232Th and 40K in beach sediment at Suez gulf as compared to North east coast of Tamilnadu, India and other studies in different beaches of the world. The Egyptian beach sediments recorded 238U, 232Th and 40K 26.53Bq/ kg-1, 177Bq/kg-1 and 815Bq/kg-1 respectively. Many causes for increased the level of concentration 238U, 232Th and 40K in Red sea coastline. The petroleum industries in red sea coastline are considered the highly important factors for increased activity concentration in Red sea coastline, the scales and petroleum sludge contains many radioactive nuclides and highly concentration NORMS and TE-NORMS.

By the way many companies in past time follow the regulations and criteria for radiation safety regarding waste of NORMS and TE- NORMS. These regulation which settled by UNSCEAR, and ICRP and IEAE. After year of 2012 most of petroleum companies have many problems in cost for preservation of radioactive waste [28]. The decreased price of petroleum oil effect on regulation issues especially environmental safety and eco-marine safety. So most of the petroleum companies in Red sea coastline discharge the sludge and oil waste in sea water. Also many petroleum accident take place in these industries, which resulting of discharged the huge of petroleum oils in sea water. On the other hand, cracks in petroleum pipelines under sea water led to discharged oils and formed oils spots in coastline of sea water.

Gazineu, Hazin [29], were recorded average activity concentration of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in the scale, sludge and sand samples collected from disposal wasted petroleum pipes concentration of soil (33 and 45 Bqkg_1 for 238 U and 232Th series respectively) which indicates its contamination with radionuclide from TENORM in the wasted petroleum pipes. 228Ra activity concentration is ranged from 2 to 50 kBq kg_1 for Scale and from 1 to 1.9kBq kg_1 for sludge. The sand samples have average 228 Ra activity concentration equal to 0.042kBqkg_1 which within the worldwide average [30]. Many oil-field brines are particularly rich in chloride, enhancing the solubility of other elements including the radioactive element radium. Radium concentrations tend to be higher in more saline water [31]. Some of this saline, radium bearing water is also extracted with the oil and gas. Some radium and radium daughter compounds are slightly soluble in water and may become mobilized when this production water is brought to the surface [32].

Radioactivity and Radionuclide for Marine Organisms in Coastline at Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis Sites

(Table 5) revealed the 238U, 232Th and 40K concentration in marine organisms Bivalves, coral reef and star fish at red sea coastline in Abu Zenima sites. The concentration of 238U, 232Th and 40K in Bivalves in Abu Zenima1 10.55Bq/kg, 9.2Bq/ kg and 355.7Bq/kg respectively. Also the coral reef recorded in Abu Zenima 1 15.86Bq/kg, 19.86 and 575Bq/kg respectively. The star fish was recorded 18.52Bq/kg, 22.36 and 649.7 in Abu Zenima 1. On the other hand (Table 5) reveled the highly concentration for 238U, 232Th and 40K in coral reef and star fish at Abu Zenima 2 and Abu Zenima 3, where coral reef recorded in Abu Zenima2 21.3Bq/kg, 24.85Bq/kg and 650.8 respectively. Also coral reef in Abu zenima3 recorded 24.48Bq/kg, 22.59Bq/ kg and 722.5Bq/kg respectively. On the other hand (Table 6) revealed marine organisms Bivalves, coral reef and star fish Abu Rudeis sites recorded low concentration activity in 238U, 232Th and 40K than Abu Zenima sites. The coral reef and star fish was recorded highly activity concentration than Bivalves in 238U, 232Th and 40K where coral reef in Abu Rudeis1 11.34Bq/kg , 12.61Bq/kg and 346.81Bq/kg respectively, and in Abu Rudeis2 11.37Bq/kg , 13.85Bq/kg and 396.83 Bq/kg respectively, while more activity concentration for 238U, 232Th and 40K in coral reef was recorded in Abu Rudeis3 12.22Bq/kg, 15.49Bq/kg and 466.6Bq/kg respectively.

On the other star fish recorded highly activity concentrations in 238U, 232Th and 40K at Abu Rudeis3 than Abu Rudeis1 and Abu Rudeis2, 19.82Bq/kg, 22.21Bq/kg and 520.4Bq/kg respectively. Regarding to our results and compared to International permissible limits for 238U, 232Th and 40K (Bq/kg dry weight) in some marine biota in sea water. Our results confirmed with IEAE [33] and US EPA [34] in (Table 7) where revealed the activity concentration in red sea of 238U, 232Th and 40K for many biota and marine organisms like Fish (Engraulis encrasicolus), Sepia Officianalis, Crabs, Diatom Amphora, (Om-Elkhlol "Donax trunculus, Gandofelly "Tapes decussates, Bivalves, Coral reef and Star fish. Bivalves were recorded activity concentration for 238U, 232Th and 40K 18Bq/kg, 37Bq/kg and 214Bq/kg respectively. Also coral reef and star fish in red sea were recorded 24Bq/ kg, 33Bq/kg, 176Bq/kg. 16Bq/kg, 25Bq/kg and 188Bq/kg respectively. When compared the activity concentration of 40K in marine biota Bivalves, Coral reef and Star fish at red sea coastline in Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis sites, the highly activity and increased concentration of 40K may be due to the petroleum industry in marine and petroleum platforms. This platform discharged huge amount of petroleum waste in red sea coastline.

On the other hand our results in (Tables 4 & 6) revealed the marine organisms have different concentration in 238U, 232Th and 40K. The Bivalves recorded low concentration for 238U, 232Th and 40K, but coral reef and star fish recorded highly concentration for 238U, 232Th and 40K in Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis sites. The morphological structures and also chemical structures of Bivalves, where Bivalves have smooth surfaces from two sides and have no pores and have no pits on exoskeleton of their body. The morphological structures gained it more resistance against accumulation of oils waste, also the smooth exoskeleton prevents discharged the waste into internal organs for organism. On the other hand coral reef and star fish have roughly surface and contain more small pores on exoskeleton. Also the coral reef and star fish contain many pits and spiny exoskeleton. Morphological structures for coral reef and star fish led to make preservation of these organisms with huge amount form petroleum oil waste. So the elimination process from oil waste in coral reef and star fish become more difficult than any other types of marine organisms. By the way elimination and biodegradation process of 238U, 232Th and 40K and other radioactive waste become very slowly and take more time. This data conformed to Khan [35], who studies the distribution of natural radio nuclides like 226Ra, 228Ra, 40K, 238U and man- made radio nuclides in the dietary sources such as fish, crab, prawn, salt and drinking water from the aquatic environment. The natural radio nuclides activity concentrations of in 238U, 232Th and 40K 14.9,22, 641Bq kg-1 in marine samples fishes, Crab and Prawn. Among different type of marine fishes analysed, the maximum 226Ra activity of 22Bqkg-1 was observed in the fish Sardinella sp. and Liognathus sp. was found to accumulate the highest 228Ra activity level [36]. Among the shells of animals tested, Crustacean exoskeleton registered relatively higher level of 238U, 232Th and 40K as compared to the shell of molluscan species. This is attributed to its chemical nature [37].

Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbons PAHs for Seawater and Coastal Sediments at Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are known as prevalent contaminants in marine environment. (Tables 8 & 9) showed the distribution and concentration levels of Poly aromatic hydrocarbons PAHs found in seawater and coastal sediments in Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis coastline. Our results revealed that increased concentration levels of PAHs in Abu Zenima sites than Abu Rudeis sites. The data recorded that Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene and Fluoranthene in sea water at Abu Zenima1 34.6, 22.8, 18.4, 12.13, 9.23 and 15.3ng/L respectively. On the other hand Abu Zenima2 and Abu Zenima3 recorded highly levels for PAHs, Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene and Fluoranthene 95.3, 37.58, 66.54, 22.16, 21.8 and 34.78ng/L in Abu Zenima2 respectively; 135.68,45.37, 95.56, 35.27, 40.58, 55.38ng/L in in Abu Zenima3 respectively [38] .

On the other hand and regarding to results in (Table 9) showed concentration levels of Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbons PAHs found in seawater at Abu Rudeis. The Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene and Fluoranthene in Abu Rude is 1 were recorded levels 22.2, 11.8, 8.42, 6.75, 4.69, 8.33ng/L respectively. on the other hand (Table 9) showed highly concentration levels of PAHs in seawater at Abu Rudeis2 and Abu Rudeis3 were Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene and Fluoranthene recorded in Abu Rudeis2 45.6, 22.33, 28.35, 12.63, 12.39and 18.73ng/L respectively; also Abu Rudeis3 were recorded 76.21, 25.68, 53.78,16.86, 22.47and 32.48 respectively. Spilled petroleum products are the largest single source of PAHs. Crude oils contain up to 10 percent PAHs, while the PAH content of shale oils and coal-derived synthetics can be as high as 15 percent. Incomplete combustion of wood and fossil fuels are important sources, as are incineration of garbage, steel and coke production, coal liquefaction, and coal gasification.

Although most emissions stem from human activities, there are some natural sources such as microorganisms that are known to produce small amounts of PAHs. Produced water from both oil and gas platforms contains PAHs. Taking into account the large volumes of produced water discharged from oil production, the yearly input of PAHs into the environment, even from a single offshore oil field, may be significant. These results was found to be in agreement with that observed by Omayma [39], who observed that the petroleum company's takes water from Suez bay and mixed it with fresh water to utilize in washing the crude oil and different cooling purposes, some oily smuggling occurs for water. The oily water is characterized by that they contain a high proportion of the oils which is caused by refinery production units (Coking- distillation- oils), liquidation warehouses crude and petroleum products, water waste companies neighboring filter wards pumps, Trenchant grids crude and petroleum products. The increased of PAHs was due to found the more petroleum operations in these sites. On the other hand the treatment plant cannot process in the company anymore, which is directly (untreated) discharged into Abu Zenima sites. Also the conjugated crude and petroleum products, which have TE- NORM and PAHs may be increased for marine environmental pollutants stress.

The sediments and biota, Bivalves, coral reef and starfish were affected by different concentration of PAHs. (Tables 10 & 11) showed an increase in PAHs Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene and Fluoranthene at Abu Zenima sites than Abu Rudeis sites. The sediments in Abu Zenima1 were recorded for PAHs Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene and Fluoranthene 44.3, 28.5, 55.2, 18.3, 16.74 and 25.64ng/g dw respectively as compared to Maximum allowable concentrations (Table 12) . On the other hand PAHs Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene and Fluoranthene in Abu Zenima2 and Abu Zenima3 sites were recorded 122.5 , 64.22, 73.25 , 28.36, 33.59 and 40.22ng/g dw respectively;155.25, 86.49, 112.35, 43.62, 55.93 and 79.24ng/g dw respectively as compared to Maximum allowable Concentrations (Table 12).

By the way Abu Rudeis2and Abu Rudeis3 sites were recorded 62.34, 33.52, 42.29, 15.79, 15.64 and 26.73ng/g dw respectively; 92.57, 37, 65.43, 22.43, 29.77 and 44.82ng/g dw respectively. These results was found to be in agreement with that observed by Hussain et al. [39], who observed the relatively high concentrations of Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene and Fluoranthene at certain locations Suez Gulf Abu Zenima sites. In the present study PAHs individuals for sediment at Abu Zenima sites (Naphthalene, Acenaphthene, Acenaphthylene and Fluoranthene were recorded highly concentration than other PAHs individuals. In this study and when the results compared to the national environmental standard, it was noticed that the low concentration in total and individuals PAHs. This result was found to be in agreement with that observed by El Nemr [40] who recorded that PAHs in the sediments of the Suez Gulf may produce adverse effects on certain organisms living in and coming into contact with the sediments. However, the individual PAH concentrations in this study were lower than the national sediment quality criteria proposed by the USEPA [41] for Fluoranthene (3000ng g-1), Acenaphthylene (2400ng g-1) and phenanthrene (2400ng g-1).

The present work also monitoring the marine organisms (Bivalves, coral reef and starfish) in coastline at Suez Gulf in Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis sites. (Tables 10 & 11) showed the Distribution and concentration levels of PAHs individuals in Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis sites. (Table 10) showed the increased PAHs individuals, Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene and Fluoranthene in starfish and coral reef than Bivalves. On other hand PAHs individuals recorded highly concentration in Abu Zenima3 and Abu Zenima2, than Abu Zenima1. Where levels was recorded in Abu Zenima1 for concentrations of Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene and Fluoranthene in Bivalves 6.4, 1.2, 3.2, 7.4, 4.4 and 1.9μg g-1 dry weight respectively. On the other hand coral reef and starfish recorded highly concentration than Bivalves, where levels reaching to 8.68, 3.2, 2.55, 15.3, 7.9 and 2,6μg g-1 dry weight respectively; 12.3, 6.25, 5.11, 18.7, 18.7 and 4.7μg g-1 dry weight respectively. The Bivalves, coral reef and starfish in Abu Zenima3 and Abu Zenima2 recorded highly levels in concentrations for Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene and Fluoranthene, where Bivalves recorded in Abu Zenima2 9.65, 3.8, 7.8, 9.5, 11.7 and 3.5 μg g-1 dry weights respectively. Also coral reef and starfish were recorded in Abu Zenima2 9.22, 7.24, 8.9, 11.2, 13.8 and 4.6μg g-1 dry weight respectively; 13.7, 11.4, 7.9, 19.3, 17.2 and 6.8μg g-1 dry weight respectively. On the other hand Bivalves were recorded in Abu Zenima3 for Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene and Fluoranthene 12.9, 4.8, 5.3, 14.7, 16.8 and 9.3 μg g-1 dry weights respectively.

The coral reef and starfish also recorded15.3, 9.2, 8.8, 22.6, 19.4 and 12.3 μg g-1 dry weight respectively; 18.7, 12.3, 13.6, 28.4, 22.6 and 16.8μg g-1 dry weight respectively. When compared our results with the data of Maximum allowable Concentrations (MACs) USEPA: 1993 in (Table 12), where recorded for Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene and Fluoranthene 0.007, 0.008, 0.007, 0.001, 0.009 and 0.009μg/kg dry weight respectively. The concentration levels of PAHs individuals in Abu Zenima sites were recorded higher than that in Maximum allowable Concentrations (MACs) USEPA for PAHs in marine organisms in wati [41]. These results was found to be in agreement with Al Deep et al. [42], who was observed the accumulation of total PAHs were more pronounced in the tissues of higher lipids contents, which increase in the large and old individuals, and they found that the coral reef and starfish comes second regarding to their PAHs accumulations ratios after the dwelling fish species.

Size of the marine organisms may be not only contributed to change the accumulation factors responsible for the quantities of pollutants such as time exposure and lipids contents but also in the factors responsible for the pollutants selectivity. For example, Maioli et al. [43] demonstrated that coral reef and starfish of greater size accumulated PAHs of low molecular mass, whereas the smaller mussels had accumulated greater concentrations of high molecular mass PAHs Metabolism may explain this pattern, because it is suspected that PAH of High Molecular Mass (HMW) are more rapidly metabolized than Low Molecular Mass (LMW) due to differences in enzyme affinity [44]. The increased of concentration levels of PAHs individuals in Bivalves , coral reef and starfish at Abu Zenima were be attributed to the presence of many petroleum industrial marine plates in this region at south canal. Also this petroleum plates discharge some oils into the water plus to their incomplete fuel combustion emissions [45].

On the other hand (Table 11) showed the low level concentration of PAHs individuals in Abu Rudeis sites as compared to Abu Zenima sites in (Table 10) and Maximum allowable Concentrations (MACs) USEPA for PAHs in marine organisms in (Table 12). The Naphthalene, Acenaphthylene, Acenaphthene, Fluorene, Phenanthrene and Fluoranthene were recorded in Bivalves at Abu Rudeis1 1.28, 0.79, 0.21, 1.31, 1.73 and 0.28 μg g-1 dry weights respectively. The impact of PAHs individuals and TE- NORM 238U, 232Th and 40K in marine organisms make dangerous effects on marine ecosystem. These effects were to be attributed for spreading the petroleum marine plates in these sites and areas. On the other hand many of these petroleum industries do not have following environmental regulations and marine protection standards during process for removal petroleum waste. Also during the process of oil transportations and drilling for sludge and oil tanks. The accumulation of double effects of and also many effects of hazardous materials like TE- NORM 238U, 232Th ,40K and PAHs individuals may be devastation the marine ecosystems in red sea coastline and Gulf of Suez.

Conclusion

The concentrations of natural radioactive series nuclides varied widely within the oil fields and from one oil field to another through spectrum of this study area. This study revealed the correlation between the effects of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) 238U, 232Th and 40K on marine ecosystem. In this study, the increased of 238U, 232Th and 40K in sea water and sediments were related to increased in PAHs individuals. The 238U, 232Th and 40K in Abu Zenima 3 and Abu Zenima 2 sites were recorded higher concentration than Abu Zenima1. Also Abu Rudeis 3 and Abu Rudeis were recorded highly activity than site of Abu Rudeis1. The levels of 238U, 232Th and 40K in sea water and sediments at Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis were parrled and synchronized with levels of 238U, 232Th and 40K in sea water and sediments at Abu Zenima PAHs individuals in both sites. The study showed the increased level concentrations of 238U, 232Th and 40K and PAHs individuals in sea water and sediments Abu Zenima sites than Abu Rudeis sites as compared to international Maximum allowable concentrations. On the other hand this study revealed the effect of (NORM) 238U, 232Th and 40K and PAHs individuals on marine organisms Bivalves, coral reef and starfish on both sites. The data revealed increased concentration of (NORM) 238U, 232Th and 40K and PAHs individuals for starfish and coral reef than bivalve's marine organisms for both Abu Zenima and Abu Rudeis sites respectively as compared to international maximum allowable concentrations. Regarding to these data, all petroleum industries in this sites must be take into consideration the roles and standers' of protection for marine ecosystem. On the other hand, the Egyptian government must be applied the regulation for marine environmental protection lows.

To know more about Juniper Publishers please click on: https://juniperpublishers.com/manuscript-guidelines.php

For more articles in Open Access Journal of Environmental Sciences & Natural Resources please click on: https://juniperpublishers.com/ijesnr/index.php

#Juniper Publishers Review #Juniper Publishers ISI #Ecological psychology #Human Ecology #Waste Management and Disposal #Oceanography

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beasteon · 6 years

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Bestiary - Chelidora

Despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that 90% of Europa is covered by water, seafaring here may be described as “undeveloped,” comparing to other similar disciplines. It feels logical enough, especially when free flight and teleportation technics are present as available options. Nevertheless, one may find a few shipyards and ports on some islands. The ships present are mostly fishermen boats and merchant galleons, varying in both size and capability. These crafts use both wind and solar sails as means to propel themselves, and often carry ancient weapons for protection.

Those who dare to partake in naval travels may face an oddity that is tempting indeed. Far across the ocean, a watchful eye may spot azure and crimson spires rising from the water’s surface. Sailors would discourage him from visiting such a place, but who would neglect to explore an untouched remnant of Primordial Wonder when it lingers just a hand’s grasp away?

Untouched these spires might be, but not unprotected. Their half-sunken halls are not only filled with ancient treasure; they also give shelter to curious, but deadly creatures called Chelidorae.

At first, they may even look harmless – abnormally big sea slugs, slow and focused on sucking and filtering sludge. Those are only the small workers of the species. Should one tread deep into the Chelidora territory, he will inevitably face the Protectors.

Much larger than workers, protectors are armed with bladed spikes on their backs and surprisingly developed upper limbs. Even more surprising is the material of those spikes, as well as some other body parts. The Chelidora’s limbs are made of a flexible yet hard metal, almost unaffected by salt water corrosion. These natural weapons, along with protectors’ swiftness in water, make them near perfect ambushers, able to attack their foes in a blink of an eye.

Chelidoraes possess a sort of hive mind, so individuals are unable to survive on their own. Despite this, protectors may prove themselves to be quite an intelligent foe, showing good coordination and an apparent telepathic link between them – another ability of nature yet undiscovered. Though strictly herbivore, they also possess the ability to recycle flesh and even metals. It is rumored that they use these as construction material.

Preferring warm climate, Chelidorae inhabit tropical seas. Salt water is somehow crucial for them, but they can survive a certain amount of time on dry land. Another important condition for their hives is remnants of ancient technological sites. Rumors say that Chelidorae are descended from the semi-robotic guardians of a demigod, devolved to an insect-like state. This, however, makes little sense, should one look just a little deeper. Not only do the Chelidorae seem much more keen-witted than any slug should be, their metallic parts develop and evolve much like living tissue instead of remaining static like an ordinary cyber implant.

#beasteon #Bestiary #Monster #creature #creature concept #concept art

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grpgersmtta-blog · 6 years

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The Guide Through Madness

#horror #gore #violence #hp lovecraft #lovecraft #lovecraftian horror #psychological horror #survival horror #madness #my fic #old ones #cosmic horror

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twxntrash · 7 years

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Society’s Broken, So Grab Some Glue Ch. 7

The inside was… well… it looked exactly like someone would think a party scene would look like.

The lights were flashing bright, neon colors all over, strobe lights above. The music was loud, so loud that it shook Lapis to the core. There was a counter by the far wall with what Lapis could only assume was alcohol and a few cheap chips. There was a raised area on the other wall where a DJ’s booth sat. A section in front of it, right under the flashing lights, was a dance floor.

It was jarring, but what was even more jarring was that there were people inside.

They were dancing, drinking, just enjoying themselves. Lapis felt her breath hitch in her throat, they looked so real. Were they real? She didn’t recognize the faces. But, did she and Jasper really leave the mirror, or were they still inside of the mirror?

“Lapis, be careful,” Jasper whispered, hand on her shoulder. Her grip was tight, fingers digging into Lapis shoulder. It was clear just how on edge Jasper was herself.

Lapis nodded and started walking. There was a door at the other side of the room. It was probably a bad idea, but Lapis started to make her way to it. Shoving past the crowds of dancers, past sweaty bodies as they swayed and jumped. They gave no sign that they even noticed Lapis or Jasper pushing against them to get by. It was like the two weren’t there at all.

The room seemed to bigger than originally thought, it took longer than it should have to reach the door, as though it pulled itself farther away from them the closer they got to it. But, eventually the two girls made it.

What was on the other side of the door was another dance floor. Multi-colored tiles. Flashing lights. Except, unlike the previous room, there was no one in here except Lapis and Jasper. Even the music had quieted down somewhat. The room itself... it was less like a room and more like a long hall. It was concerning, yes, but, so far everything they'd come across since entering the mirror had been concerning.

"Lapis, we shouldn't hold off going anywhere," Jasper said slowly as she looked around, "We should try and think of some kind of plan."

"We have a plan," Lapis answered, "find a way out of here, find out why Peridot appeared on the mirror," she said, as though it were obvious. It wasn't much of a plan, but it was better than nothing. So far they had made ground as far as she was concerned. They reached a new place, and if they kept walking, then Lapis was sure they'd uncover something that was useful.

They might even find a door back to their world.

With that, she started walking. Her footsteps echoed on the dance floor hall, firm clicks and clacks with every step. "So far we haven't run into any danger, so what's the harm if we keep moving forward?"

Jasper grumbled but followed after Lapis as she walked. Taking the rear as Lapis kept in front and led the way.

The hall was long, no doors and no windows. Occasionally they came upon a turn here or there. But the path in general was very linear. No forks, no other routes to take. It was a very bland hall, though. Like there was nothing else going for it other than the floor and lights. Lapis thought to herself that it's creator needed a better interior decorator. She couldn't help but laugh to herself at that.

However, their luck proved to be coming to a screeching halt.

Turning the corner on their journey through the warehouse party zone, they saw them. Monsters.

They were like slugs. Four of them pacing the halls. They slithered slowly on the floor, goopy looking masses of black slime with greyish-blue masks on their faces. Lapis wasn't sure what to make of them, but they noticed her and Jasper very quick.

"Lapis, run!" Jasper hissed as she turned to flee, but it proved to be no use.

Whatever she said about slow previously was just proven wrong. They moved fast to reach the girls. As they reached the two, their forms changed. The sludge quickly packed itself together, slipped away to take the form of massive balls that floated in the air, large mouths on their faces and stripes on their bodies. Two of them charged forward, slamming into Lapis and Jasper, knocking them away and blocking their escape route.

The monsters circled them from every angle. Four of them all around the two. Bouncing in the air, watching them with eyeless bodies, grinning with those massive mouths.

Jasper let out a cry of pain and fell to a knee as one rammed itself into her, quickly backing away to take back it's spot in the circle before anyone could do anything. Lapis could see blood start trickling down her arm. There was a chorus of laughter from the creatures, as though they were enjoying it. Disconnected laughter.

Lapis’ heart was in her throat. Fear washing over her. It was as she faced these monsters that she realized that this could very well be her end. She felt instant regret. She regretted everything she had done, regretted all the choices she had made that led her to here.

She shouldn’t have gone into the mirror.

She shouldn’t have kept exploring.

She shouldn’t have gotten herself involved.

One of the monsters hit Lapis from behind. It hurt, her spine trembled as she fell to her knees.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! She was going to die here, wasn’t she? Die here in this bizarre world and no one would know, they’d think she’d run away or something, unaware that she was dead. Got herself killed by her own stupid curiosity and determination. God damn it, why her?

She never should have come here. She should have stayed home and just let things be. She should have shattered the mirror when Kevin appeared on it, not pursue the whole mystery and involve herself like she had.

If she hadn’t done anything, she wouldn’t be here, she wouldn’t be about to die. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to die. Not here. Not now.

“If you don’t want to die, then stop cowering in fear and fight back!”

As the voice echoed in her mind, pain tore through her head. Lapis bit back a cry as her hands came up to grasp her scalp, fingers digging deep as she doubled over. It hurt. A throbbing pain like she’d taken a bat to the face. Pulsing, agonizing. She grit her teeth, whimpering and whining as the pain began to course over her entire body.

“Life is not a given right. If you want to survive and keep living, you have to fight to earn it.”

The more it spoke, the more pain, the more it drove daggers into Lapis. The pain was unbearable; she could barely keep standing. It was like her skull was trying to creak, as though something was trying to break through her from her head, like Athena’s birth from Zeus. It hurt more than anything Lapis had ever felt, it was more than words could describe. Her senses blocked everything around her. She couldn’t hear Jasper calling out to her, couldn’t hear the monsters that surrounded them.

All that Lapis could hear was the pain she suffered and a deep laughter from inside her own mind.

She felt something warm in her hand and the pain slowly numbed. Though her vision was blurred through tears, she was able to make out a blue stone that she held, warm and pulsing, it was shaped like a teardrop. Her respite lasted only a few seconds before she was hit with another wave of agony, her knees buckled under her, it took all she had not to fall to the ground.

“If you wish to live, then open your eyes to your own anger and use my power. Crash over them like the stormy sea, drown them in the rain and thunder and reap your reward of life. I am thou, and thou are I! Let our wrath be released and send all who challenge us back to Hell itself!”

The words were in her mind, the name, the answer to it all. Gripping the blue teardrop stone, Lapis hardened her stare and steeled her nerves. She felt a voice that wasn't her own speak, “Slaughter them, Aigaion!”

What happened next was fire.

The stone vanished from Lapis hand and a burst of blue fire appeared in front of Lapis, between herself and the monsters. It towered high, so close that Lapis could touch it. But, there was no heat. In fact, if anything the fire felt cold. Her heart raced, but, she felt… a sort of resolve at seeing it.

Out of the fire came a monster, clad in armor and chains, it’s armor had arms and hands carved into it, dozens and dozens of hands all over it. Something about it screamed violent, screamed pure destructive. It let out a bloodcurdling scream and Lapis found her head throbbing again. She grasped it with both hands as the beast, as Aigaion, charged towards the smaller monsters.

It threw a chain, wrapped around one of the creature’s necks and with one hard tug—the head came right off. It threw it’s sea-weed and algae coated chains all around, whipping and lashing at the ones surrounding Lapis and Jasper. Blood spewed from wounds, coating the dancefloor. Lapis, though in pain, could only stare at it.

Even as it was clear that Aigaion was the victor, it kept pummeling the defeated monsters until their bodies had completely disintegrated. Lapis could feel the blood lust. Was it the monsters, or was it her own? She couldn’t tell, didn’t know.

All she knew was that it was terrifying.

Standing up straight, Aigaion watched them and Lapis was once more afraid. Afraid that it might attack them. She couldn’t move as it stared at them. But, that’s all it did, stare. But, then it did something else. It spoke.

“Call to me again when you find need of my power. Call on me when you have need to let loose the storm within you and decimate those who cross your path,” was its farewell as it faded away in front of Lapis. The stone returned to her hand.

She stared at the spot that Aigaion had stood, and then her head went dizzy. She crumpled to the ground only for Jasper to catch her and hold her against her larger body.

She could feel Jasper breathing heavily, her heart racing in her chest. Some of the blood from Jasper smeared off onto Lapis, but she was too tired to care, “Just what was that?” Jasper asked.

Lapis couldn’t speak, it was hard enough to keep her eyes open. She was tired, she was weak. She wanted to sleep for a year. “Let’s… let’s get out of here,” she managed. Her entire body hurt, hurt like she’d been run over by a steamroller.

Her friend shook her head, “Yeah, I wish I knew how,” she said and lifted Lapis up into her arms, “Let’s get you out of here. Before more of those things showed up.” Lapis nodded and rested her head against Jasper, ready to doze off, exhaustion rooted deep in her.

But, life had a way of saying fuck you. Nothing ever went as they wanted it to.

That is to say, they barely got out the door before two more creatures appeared. Black ooze that manifested itself into floating balls with mouths, just like the previous four.

Lapis wasn’t sure she had it in her to be able to call forth Aigaion again, to handle the pain again.

Jasper slid Lapis to the ground, letting Lapis cling to the wall for support as her large friend positioned herself between Lapis and the monsters. Lapis weakly called her name out but Jasper let out a small laugh, "I let you deal with the last group, now it's my turn to deal with this one," but, Lapis hadn't dealt with the last group. She still had no idea what happened. But, Jasper turned to the monsters and set her jaw, "Come on, try and fight me," Jasper barked, challenging the beasts as she cracked her knuckles.

She had to know that she couldn't win. There was no way that Jasper could beat those two things with her bare hands. But she stood there, ready to fight.

Crackling laughter filled the hall and the two floating monsters dove right for Jasper. Tongues out and dripping with drool, they dove in for the kill. Lapis clenched her eyes shut, unable to watch the murder she was about to witness.

“Maahes!” a voice shouted.

Lapis' eyes snapped open and in a blink of an eye, the monsters were gone, destroyed.

Lapis, body tense and locked, slowly turned around, lowering her arms from their defensive stance over her face, but still ready to protect or attack if needed to be. She was filled with confusion and fear as she stared across the room. At the young curly haired boy who stood there. But even more importantly, her eyes fell to the figure floating behind him.

She couldn’t help the scream that tore through her throat, couldn’t help but to stumble as she backed away, tripping over her own feet and falling to the ground as she stared up at the beast. A monster massive in size, a body of a man, but the head of a lion. Clad in shining gold armor like that of a knights, it’s face was scared up as it stared at them. But, a few seconds passed and it just… vanished. Faded away right in front of them. Just like the one that had appeared when Lapis and Jasper had first encountered the monsters. Yet this one… it was less destructive.

“Hey, are you okay?” the boy asked as he sprinted over to them. She was small, a little chubby. If Lapis had to guess, he was maybe thirteen or fourteen years old. His eyes were full of worry at the two teenagers.

Jasper shook her head as she helped Lapis up. Lifting her back up. “Forget about us. Just, what were those things? What’s going on?” she demanded, though her voice shook to show that she too was scared.

The boy pursed his lips and then looked around them. “I’ll explain everything, just not here. The Shadows will be back soon. We need to get out of here,” he said and looked back to them, “Follow me, I’ll get you guys back to the real world and I’ll explain everything there, okay?”

If this boy was offering a way to get back out of this mirror, Lapis wasn't going to argue with him.

#Su #Steven Universe #Lapis Lazuli #Jasper #Persona #Cam Writes Shit

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photomaniacs · 7 years

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Finalist Shots of Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017 http://ift.tt/2xjowV2

The prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is now in its 53rd year, and this year’s edition certain won’t disappoint. Today the competition offered a glimpse into this year’s finalists, which will be displayed in an exhibition that will tour museums and galleries around the world.

This year’s competition saw almost 50,000 entries from 92 different countries, with photographers all competing for the top prize of over $6,500. Here are the finalists along with their details and captions:

Animal Portraits

Sergey Gorshkov / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Carrying its trophy from a raid on a snow goose nest, an Arctic fox heads for a suitable burial spot. This is June and bonanza time for the foxes of Wrangel Island in the Russian Far East. Lemmings are the basic diet for Arctic foxes, but Wrangel suffers long, harsh winters and is icebound for much of the year, making it a permanent source of stored food for these opportunist animals. The food convoys arrive at the end of May. Over just a few days, vast flocks of snow geese descend on the tundra of this remote UNESCO World Heritage Site, traveling from wintering grounds some 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles) away in British Columbia and California. Not only is this the biggest breeding colony of snow geese in the world, and the only remaining one in Asia, but it is also growing: from 160,000 geese in 2011 to about 300,000 by 2016. The Arctic foxes catch any weak or sick birds, but what they feast on are the goose eggs, laid in early June in open nests on the tundra. Though the pairs of snow geese actively defend their nests, a fox may still manage to steal up to 40 eggs a day, harassing the geese until there’s a chance to nip in and grab an egg. Most of the eggs are then cached, buried in shallow holes in the tundra, where the soil stays as cold as a refrigerator. These eggs will remain edible long after the brief Arctic summer is over and the geese have migrated south again. And when the new generation of young foxes begins to explore, they too will benefit from the hidden treasures.

Nikon D300S + 600mm f4 lens; 1/1250 sec at f5; ISO 800; Gitzo tripod + Wimberley head.

Animal Portraits

David Lloyd / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

At dusk, in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve, David waited for the herd of elephants on their evening trek to a waterhole. As they got closer to his vehicle, he could see that the mellow light from the fast-setting sun was emphasizing every wrinkle and hair. For a photographer who enjoys working with texture, this was a gift. When they were just a few meters away, he could see the different qualities of different parts of their bodies – the deep ridges of their trunks, the mud-caked ears and the patina of dried dirt on their tusks.

The elephants ambled by in near silence, peaceful and relaxed. The female leading the dozen-strong herd – probably the matriarch – looked straight at him, her eye a glowing amber dot in the heavy folds of skin. Her gaze was, he says, full of respect and intelligence – the essence of sentience.

Nikon D800E + 400mm f2.8 lens; 1/500 sec at f13 (–0.3 e/v); ISO 1000.

Behavior – Invertebrates

Andrey Narchuk / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Andrey was on an expedition to the Sea of Okhotsk in the Russian Far East, and his intention on this day was to photograph salmon. But as soon as he jumped into the water, he found himself surrounded by thousands of mating sea angels. Quickly swapping to his macro equipment, he began photographing the pairs, 3 centimeters (11⁄4 inches) long and swirling around in the current. Sea angels are mollusks related to slugs and snails, without shells and with wing-like lobes used as swimming paddles. They hunt sea butterflies – swimming sea snails – using specialized feeding parts to prise them from their shells. Each individual is both male and female, and here they are getting ready to insert their copulatory organs into each other to transfer sperm in synchrony. One is slightly smaller than the other, as was the case with most of the couples Andrey observed, and they remained joined for 20 minutes. Both would go on to lay 30–40 tiny eggs after fertilization. It was late summer and peak phytoplankton time, so there would be abundant food for the resulting larvae.

To photograph them mating, Andrey had to battle against strong currents and avoid a wall of gill netting, and when he was swept into the net and his equipment became snared, he was forced to make an emergency ascent – but not before he had got his shot. The following day, there wasn’t a single angel to be seen.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II + 100mm f2.8 lens; 1/125 sec at f13; ISO 200; Nexus housing; two Inon strobes.

Under Water

Qing Lin / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The bulbous tips of the aptly named magnificent anemone’s tentacles contain cells that sting most fish. But the clown anemonefish goes unharmed thanks to mucus secreted over its skin, which tricks the anemone into thinking it is brushing against itself. Both species benefit. The anemonefish gains protection from its predators, which daren’t risk being stung, and it also feeds on parasites and debris among the tentacles; at the same time, it improves water circulation (fanning its fins as it swims), scares away the anemone’s predators and may even lure in prey for it.

While diving in the Lembeh Strait in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, Qing noticed something strange about this particular cohabiting group. Each anemonefish had an extra pair of eyes inside its mouth – those of a parasitic isopod (a crustacean related to woodlice). An isopod enters a fish as a larva, via its gills, moves to the fish’s mouth and attaches with its legs to the base of the tongue. As the parasite sucks its host’s blood, the tongue withers, leaving the isopod attached in its place, where it may remain for several years. With great patience and a little luck – the fish darted around unpredictably – Qing captured these three rather curious individuals momentarily lined up, eyes front, mouths open and parasites peeping out.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III + 100mm f2.8 lens; 1/200 sec at f25; ISO 320; Sea & Sea housing; two Inon strobes.

Wildlife Photojournalist Award – Single Image

Justin Hofman / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Seahorses hitch rides on the currents by grabbing floating objects such as seaweed with their delicate prehensile tails. Justin watched with delight as this tiny estuary seahorse ‘almost hopped’ from one bit of bouncing natural debris to the next, bobbing around near the surface on a reef near Sumbawa Island, Indonesia. But as the tide started to come in, the mood changed. The water contained more and more decidedly unnatural objects – mainly bits of plastic – and a film of sewage sludge covered the surface, all sluicing towards the shore.

The seahorse let go of a piece of seagrass and seized a long, wispy piece of clear plastic. As a brisk wind at the surface picked up, making conditions bumpier, the seahorse took advantage of something that offered a more stable raft: a waterlogged plastic cottonbud. Not having a macro lens for the shot ended up being fortuitous, both because of the strengthening current and because it meant that Justin decided to frame the whole scene, sewage bits and all. As Justin, the seahorse and the cottonbud spun through the ocean together, waves splashed into Justin’s snorkel. The next day, he fell ill. Indonesia has the world’s highest levels of marine biodiversity but is second only to China as a contributor to marine plastic debris – debris forecast to outweigh fish in the ocean by 2050. On the other hand, Indonesia has pledged to reduce by 70 per cent the amount of waste it discharges into the ocean.

Sony Alpha 7R II + 16–35mm f4 lens; 1/60 sec at f16; ISO 320; Nauticam housing + Zen 230mm Nauticam N120 Superdome; two Sea & Sea strobes with electronic sync.

Animal Portraits

Klaus Nigge / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

After several days of constant rain, the bald eagle was soaked to the skin. Named after its conspicuous but fully-feathered white head (bald derives from an old word for white), it is an opportunist, eating various prey – captured, scavenged or stolen – with a preference for fish. At Dutch Harbor on Amaknak Island in Alaska, USA, bald eagles gather to take advantage of the fishing industry’s leftovers. Used to people, the birds are bold. ‘I lay on my belly on the beach surrounded by eagles,’ says Klaus. ‘I got to know individuals, and they got to trust me.’

The species was declining dramatically until the 1960s, but reduced persecution, habitat protection, and a ban on the pesticide DDT have led to its recovery. Some threats persist, including lead poisoning – US prohibition on lead ammunition (which ends up in animals the birds eat) has recently been overturned. ‘As the eagle edged nearer, picking up scraps, I lowered my head,’ says Klaus, ‘looking through the camera to avoid direct eye contact.’ It came so close that it towered over him. His low perspective and simple composition, allowing full concentration on the eagle’s expression, created an intimate portrait, enhanced by the overcast light of the rainy day.

Nikon D200 + 200–400mm f4 lens + 1.4x extender; 1/80 sec at f10; ISO 500.

Behavior – Birds

Tyohar Kastiel / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Tyohar watched the pair of resplendent quetzals from dawn to dusk for more than a week as they delivered fruits and the occasional insect or lizard to their two chicks. Resplendent quetzals usually nest in thicker forest, but this pair had picked a tree in a partly logged area in the Costa Rican cloud forest of San Gerardo de Dota. The additional light made it easier for Tyohar to catch the iridescent color of the male’s dazzling emerald and crimson body plumage and tail streamers, despite his fast, erratic flight pattern. But the light also made it easier for the birds to see Tyohar. So he would arrive before dawn, sit in the same place and wear the same jacket, with the result that the pair accepted his presence and continued to stuff food into their chicks’ beaks every hour or so.

On the eighth day, the parents fed the chicks at dawn as usual but then didn’t return for several hours. By 10 am, the chicks were calling ravenously, and Tyohar began to worry. Then something wonderful happened. The male arrived with a wild avocado in his beak. He landed on a nearby branch, scanned around, and then flew to the nest. But instead of feeding the chicks, he flew back to his branch, the avocado still in his beak. Within seconds, one chick hopped out to the nearest perch and was rewarded. Moments later the female appeared and did exactly the same thing, and the second chick jumped out. The family then flew off together into the rainforest, leaving Tyohar bereft – and thrilled.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III + 300mm f2.8 lens; 13200 sec at f4; ISO 800.

Behavior – Mammals

Laurent Ballesta / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

“We were still a few meters from the surface when I heard the strange noises,” says Laurent. Suspecting Weddell seals – known for their repertoire of at least 34 different underwater call types – he approached slowly. It was early spring in east Antarctica, and a mother was introducing her pup to the icy water.

The world’s most southerly breeding mammal, a Weddell seal gives birth on the ice and takes her pup swimming after a week or two. The pair, unbothered by Laurent’s presence, slid effortlessly between the sheets of the frozen labyrinth. Adults are accomplished divers, reaching depths of more than 600 meters (1,970 feet) and submerging for up to 82 minutes. “They looked so at ease, where I felt so inappropriate,” says Laurent. Relying on light through the ice above, he captured the curious gaze of the pup, the arc of its body mirroring that of its watchful mother.

Nikon D4S + 17–35mm f2.8 lens; 1/640 sec at f11; ISO 200; Seacam housing.

Black and White

Mats Andersson / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The red squirrel closed its eyes for just a moment, paws together, fur fluffed, then resumed its search for food. Winter is a tough time for northern animals. Some hibernate to escape its rigors, but not red squirrels. Mats walks every day in the forest near his home in southern Sweden, often stopping to watch the squirrels foraging in the spruce trees. Though their mainly vegetarian diet is varied, their winter survival is linked to a good crop of spruce cones, and they favor woodland with conifers. They also store food to help see them through lean times. On this cold, February morning, the squirrel’s demeanor encapsulated the spirit of winter, captured by Mats using the soft-light grain of black and white.

Nikon D3 + 300mm f2.8 lens; 1/320 sec at f2.8; ISO 800.

Plants and Fungi

Jack Dykin / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

A band of ancient giants commands the expansive arid landscape of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert National Monument in the US. These emblematic saguaro cacti – up to 200 years old – may tower at more than 12 meters (40 feet) but are very slow growing, some sprouting upwardly curved branches as they mature. The roots – aside from one deep tap – weave a maze just below the surface, radiating as far as the plant is tall, to absorb precious rainfall. Most water is stored in sponge-like tissue, defended by hard external spines and a waxy-coated skin to reduce water loss. The surface pleats expand like accordions as the cactus swells, its burgeoning weight supported by woody ribs running along the folds. But the saturated limbs are vulnerable to hard frost – their flesh may freeze and crack, while the mighty arms twist down under their loads. A lifetime of searching out victims near his desert home led Jack to know several that promised interesting compositions. ‘This one allowed me to get right inside its limbs,’ he says. As the gentle dawn light bathed the saguaro’s contorted form, Jack’s wide angle revealed its furrowed arms, perfectly framing its neighbors before the distant Sand Tank Mountains.

Nikon D810 + 14–24mm f2.8 lens at 14mm; 1/3 sec at f20; ISO 64; Really Right Stuff tripod.

Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 11-14

Ashleigh Scully / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

After fishing for clams at low tide, this mother brown bear was leading her young spring cubs back across the beach to the nearby meadow. But one young cub just wanted to stay and play. It was the moment Ashleigh had been waiting for. She had come to Alaska’s Lake Clark National Park intent on photographing the family life of brown bears. This rich estuary environment provides a buffet for bears: grasses in the meadows, salmon in the river and clams on the shore. A large number of families spend their summers here, and with plentiful food, they are tolerant of each other (though wary of males) and of people. ‘I fell in love with brown bears,’ says Ashleigh, ‘and their personalities… This young cub seemed to think that it was big enough to wrestle mum to the sand. As always, she played along, firm, but patient.’ The result is a cameo of brown bear family life.

Canon EOS 5D + 500mm f4 Mark II lens; 1/1250 sec at f8 (+1 e/v); ISO 1250; Gitzo tripod.

Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 11-14

Laura Albiac Vilas / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Laura had seen many of Spain’s wild animals, but never the elusive Iberian lynx, an endangered cat found only in two small populations in southern Spain. Unlike the larger European lynx, the Iberian lynx feeds almost entirely on rabbits. So a disease that wipes out the rabbit population can be catastrophic. They also need a particular blend of open scrub and natural cavities for natal dens. Laura’s family traveled to the Sierra de Andújar Natural Park in search of the lynx – and struck lucky on their second day – a pair were relaxing not far from the road. There were many photographers there but an atmosphere of ‘respect’. Laura watched for an hour and a half, the only sound being the whirr of cameras if a cat glanced in their direction. ‘The animals’ attitude surprised me. They weren’t scared of people – they simply ignored us,’ says Laura. ‘I felt so emotional to be so close to them.’

Canon EOS 5D Mark III + Canon 500mm f4 lens; 1/250 sec at f4; ISO 1600.

Wildlife Photojournalist Award – Single Image

Steve Winter / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

A back leg of this six-month-old Sumatran tiger cub was so badly mangled by a snare that it had to be amputated. He was lucky to survive at all, having been trapped for four days before being discovered in a rainforest in Aceh Province on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The likelihood is that the snare was set by oil‐palm plantation workers to catch bushmeat (though tigers are also deliberately snared). The workers are migrants who have been given small plots to grow their own oil palms but who have to work on the big plantations for about five years until their own crops generate a return. To feed their families, they have to hunt, and this cub’s bones would have fetched a good price on the black market. The population of Sumatran tigers, a subspecies, is as low as 400–500 (the world population of all wild tigers is no more than 3,200) – the result of poaching to fuel the illegal trade in tiger parts for the Chinese-medicine market. Anti-poaching forest patrols are helping to stem the killing, partly by locating and removing snares (now illegal), which is how this cub came to be rescued. The cub, however, will spend the rest of his life in a cage in a Javan zoo. Today, there are probably more Sumatran tigers in zoos than there are left in the wild.

Canon 5D Mark II + 24–105mm lens at 58mm; 1/45 sec at f5.6; ISO 400.

The overall winner, category winners, and other finalists will be announced on October 17th this year.

The exhibition will be on display from October 20th, 2017, until spring 2018 at the Natural History Museum in London, UK. Wildlife Photographer of the Year is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London.

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September 13, 2017 at 12:01AM

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