Cetacean Blue @sreabhadh - Tumblr Blog

The bumpy jelly stings with their whole body, no tentacles necessary 🪼✨

This jelly launched decades of discovery at MBARI. Researchers first encountered the bumpy jelly (Stellamedusa ventana) in 1990 while exploring Monterey Bay with the remotely operated vehicle Ventana.

The lack of tentacles immediately caught our attention. Most jellies trail long, fine tentacles to stun prey, but the bumpy jelly is covered in tiny bumps loaded with stinging cells. Stellamedusa can capture prey across their entire surface. As they swim, those stinging cells immobilize plankton in their path. Four lacy mouth-arms then sweep the bell's edge to collect the catch—a hunting strategy known in only a small number of deep-sea jellies.

MBARI's growing fleet of autonomous robots, equipped with advanced imaging systems, gives us a persistent presence in the twilight waters Stellamedusa calls home. Long-term studies have revealed that the bumpy jelly is far more common than we first thought, sometimes appearing in blooms deep underwater. Instead of sporadic snapshots, we now have a fuller picture of life in the twilight zone, a reminder of how much more there is to learn as ocean exploration technology advances.

Learn more: https://www.mbari.org/animal/bumpy-jelly

star-mom-selkie

happy pride month

star-angel-selkie

this one kinda hurts when i see it every pride month. im glad to see an art piece of mine still circulating, and with nearly 100,000 notes too! it just hurts that im separated from it. everyone in the notes thinks im gone. im still here, but my potential community and connection is lost because im forgotten in place of the art. yeah, my deactivated profile does add to the profoundness of what i was saying, but i am still removed.

briarhearts-art

my sillies <3 <3 <3

foxtherad

Thank you to everyone who put in a request for this :] I had a great time getting to draw a few new characters.

keferon

Okay so this is DEFINITELY reaching BUT- mirage's wing tip is tinted darker on the same side that shockwave is holding onto blurr's wing. Is it possible that that is a sign for how mirage is tracking blurr? Their wings are connected in some way? And part of why he's so upset with blurr choosing shockwave? (Beyond the obvious reasons he's mad lol)

It is darkened on the side where Shocky bit off a piece of his wing

Also. It is a tiny thing and I don't think it counts as plot relevant enough to explain it in the comic itself. But the reason Blurr chose to be on Shockwave's right side is because Shockwave doesn't have an eye on the right side. So Blurr is kind of covering the blind spot. Since. As we all know now. Accidentally bumping into someone can be pretty traumatic in fae land :)

keferon

Interesting the contrast between Mirage and Blurr at this point. How they both show power in their recent interactions, are clearly more equal to each other now than perhaps they were in the past, but for each it’s a very different kind of power. Mirage’s is the same kind of control that it seems he’s always had. Attempts at making deals, etc.

And Blurr presumably knows all this. Seems to know fae powers, know how fae bargains work, how benefits are gained from them. And yet. He doesn’t respond to Mirage in kind. Doesn’t meet Mirage’s power with an attempt use the same tactics to exert more control than Mirage. He, in fact, seems to do quite the opposite. Giving himself a firmer standing in the conversation through rejecting the idea of control over others rather than embracing it. Blurr seems to benefit far more from knowledge and understanding Mirage and also understanding how flawed what Mirage is doing is, than he would from attempting to benefit from meeting Mirage with the same tactics (where either he would get outmaneuvered likely anyways or if not, even if by some result Blurr theoretically ended up benefiting there would he really? or would he just have become like Mirage in return? and what would have been lost in that case?)

Mirage has a solid number of years where he would deploy this exact strategy and it would work like a charm.

And then Blurr ran away.

And then Mirage got him back.

And for whatever unknown to Mirage reason. The strategy does not work as it used to~ Mirage tries to bargain with Blurr for something that Blurr wants and LOOK I am doing the thing that past you would definitely like! Why are you being weird? Why are you looking at me like that?

Which is. Mirage is used to playing with past version of Blurr. Present Blurr is the Blurr who learned a bunch of lessons. And Mirage stayed the same. So their whole dynamic is weirdly lopsided now~

keferon

Based on everything recently revealed about Mirage from a character standpoint, wondering, in a metaphorical scenario of Mirage having to do everyone else’s dishes, so to speak, would Mirage learn anything from it about his own behavior? Or see such a scenario as a sort of injustice towards himself without making the connection to how others might have felt?

I guess if something forces him to do the dishes for everyone he would eventually understand. Not without being insufferable and pathetic at first. Not without trying every possible tactic to pass the dirty dishes to someone else. Not without acting like everyone should give him special treatment for his suffering.

If something really fucking gripped him by the throat - eventually he would. Slowly.

Which is. Mirage is designed to be a character who is almost impossible to force into anything. From the writing point - I wanted to make him really powerful and I wanted him to use his overpowered abilities cleverly. And that is. A setup for a stupidly undefeatable character. So then I had to balance this out and I figured that. Hey. He is gonna be REALLY powerful but will only exercise his power for his personal goals. So he isn't on the Senate's side and he isn't on the protagonists dide. He is on his own side so he gets to play god:D

keferon

Serious question who hurt Mirage to make him like this?

I know he’s fae and emotional intelligence points tend to be fairly low in fae as a general rule, but Mirage is next level. And it’s so clear that he genuinely wants to be loved, but has no idea what that should even look like.

Yes he’s selfish (he’s fae after all) but he also seems to genuinely think he’s being helpful at times too. For example offering to make Shockwave “love” Blurr back after just realizing that Blurr has tied himself to Shockwave. (Yes I caught that implication/confirmation that Blurr’s wing on Shockwave’s wrist has major cultural significance that Blurr is self-indulging in while he can!) Sure it’s misguided but Mirage genuinely thought it was something Blurr would want when he offered. It makes me wonder who treated him like that (or what relationship did he witness) to teach him that this is how love works?

As always a beautiful update and thanks for sharing it with us!

He got spoiled beyond imaginable as a newspark. Was never denied anything. Was never punished for whatever he did. Fully believed his wants and needs were supposed to be prioritised above other peoples interests/needs/feelings. A robot version of a real world billionaires-child youknow.

So now when he wants to get something or someone he only ever thinks about what he wants. He wants love but in the form of being unconditionally loved and doing nothing in return if he doesn’t feel like it.

I want to separately specify that his obliviousness to other peoples feelings is not like. A neurodivergence thing. It is a choice. He COULD understand what Blurr feels, for example. He just doesn’t want to bother himself with really getting it. Mirage doesn’t understand feelings because he is too lazy to care about anyone’s feelings except for his own. He asks Blurr questions but he doesn’t really absorb the answers is he doesn’t agree with them.

(A good example would probably be a person who never does their dishes and then expects everyone else to handle their dishes for them. Because living like that is comfortable for them and they couldn’t be bothered to think about someone else being uncomfortable. And then you try to explain to them how you don’t want to constantly clean their mess you feel used and they start behaving like you are the weird illogical one and “bruh you already do your dishes anyway why do you have to be so weird about doing a couple more”)

There is also a certain aspect of fae culture that I haven’t shown in the comic yet. It will be explained pretty soon, I don’t want to spoil it here. But basically, on top of being rich greedy questionable scammers all fae also have uhhhhhh a bit of a physiological aspect to why they are the way they are. You’ll see. It’s gonna be fun, it is such an interesting mechanic to play with hehe

heyjart

Avian August Day 14 – Nicobar pigeon / Caloenas nicobarica

For this piece I decided to go back to my initial obsession of tiny paintings. Maybe it's time to stop pretending I'm someone I'm not. I love creating tiny artworks, especially birds.

The entire page is 7,5x10cm (a bit less than 3x4in for the Imperial folk) so the bird is about 3x4cm in size. Even though it's such a small painting, it still takes time, layering and drying and then layering again.

[Holbein watercolours, Etchr A7 sketchbook, 3x4cm]

todaysbird

the beautiful nuthatch is a large member of the nuthatch family, found through most of southeast asia’s mainland. the nuthatch is named for its vibrant coloration, unusual in the nuthatch family. like its relatives, the bird feeds on mainly small insects. the species does not exhibit sexual dimorphism, with both the male and female showing brilliant plumage.

hotvampireadjacent

whencallstheart

Having this made into vinyl stickers!!!! Anyone interested? 👀

ijustwannawritepls

How to Write When You Don't Feel Like Yourself

There are going to be days (or weeks, or months) where you sit down to write and feel... disconnected. From your voice, from your characters, from your ideas. Like the person who used to write your stories just packed up and left.

They didn't. They're just tired. Here's how to keep writing anyway:

Lower the bar (Until it's on the floor) You are not here to write something brilliant. You are here to write something. A paragraph. A sentence. A single line of dialogue. Movement matters way more than quality.

Write around the story Don't force it. If you can't write the scene, try: ⋆ A character ramble / journal entry ⋆ A conversation that won't be included in the final draft ⋆ A list of things the character would never admit out loud ⋆ A messy summary of what should happen Engage with the story from a different angle.

Borrow a voice until yours comes back No, not with AI. Read something that feels close to what you want to write, or watch a scene that captures the tone, then write immediately after. Not to copy, to reignite your instincts.

Write the emotion, not the plot. What is your character feeling in this moment? What are they afraid of? What do they want but won't say? What's being kept from them? The emotion leads, the plot catches up later.

Stop trying to "feel like a writer" first. You don't write when you feel like a writer. You feel like a writer because you write.

You are still a writer, even on the days it feels distant. Especially then.