#creature prompt

[archive-of-artprompts]

Emoji Kitchen Prompts: Unicorn 🦄

Send in a number for a drawing based on that emoji!

(Emojis form Emoji Kitchen)

[puddleorganism]

Organism Prompt #3

Saprotroph (a creature that feeds on decaying organic matter, decomposers)

Small

Terrestrial

Stands on only a few of its limbs

Bonus relationship prompt: Charismatic (popular or appealing)

This is little project to expand the biodiversity of my own worlds. I have many space-faring aliens, but few of their homeworlds are fleshed out. Anyone is more than welcome to use these prompts as well! Please tag me if you do, I’d love to see what you come up with :)

My organism below the cut:

These organisms are native to the Fireback homeworld. A cold, volcanic world only habitable along its equator.

These organisms are mangroves (many mangrove species are already a result of convergent evolution, so I feel like I get a pass to call these mangroves)!

These mangroves inhabit the wetlands along certain island coasts within the Firebacks’ range, most of which are salt marshes. Being volcanic and usually tropical, these islands have incredible biodiversity, meaning there’s plenty of organic matter in the muck of these marshes. Muck that these mangroves love to eat! They have a complex system of mycelium-like structures that grow below the water and filter organic matter out of the water and mud. Additionally, they have a cluster of limbs that grow above the water which allow them to sequester oxygen from the air and to grow flowers.

How exactly they grow depends on the species, environment, and age. Sometimes, they are rooted in the ground with a few - or even just one - limbs that stick up through the water, that then branch out into more limbs. Other times, they are just a floating mat of limbs that drifts in the water with their feeding structures hanging down into the water. Most species of these mangroves start out like the latter, then send down limbs into the water, eventually grounding themselves and allowing them to grow into a structure more similar to the former. Some stay as mats for their entire lives. It’s not terribly uncommon for the free-floating kind to be swept out to sea, where they seldom survive for long.

These mangroves are mostly bare except for the flowers at the top of their limbs. These flowers are typically clusters of vivid reds, oranges, and golds, and are very much multipurpose. During the plant’s youth, these flowers are a more dull maroon color, and are used to pull the gases the mangrove needs to survive out of the air. However, as they get older these blooms start to lose their effectiveness and the mangrove will begin to grow new ones, usually on newly-grown limbs higher in the air. The old flowers are not wasted, though! Once they lose their effectiveness they will rapidly change, turning colors and growing reproductive organs. Essentially, at this point they turn into an actual flower, which is then pollinated by various other creatures in this world and falls off.

These flowers (in their actual flower stage) are primarily what makes this organism appealing to Firebacks. They feature in many stories and legends, most notably the legend of their god, Consumption. It is said that, as a mortal, Consumption stole one of these flowers from the Sea King for her mother, which led to her exile. These flowers are often used in rituals, associated with superstition, and given as gifts. What exactly they symbolize is variable, but they often represent luck, new beginnings, favorable weather (especially at sea), familial love, and rarely pacifism or peace.

If a stranded free-floating mangrove is found at sea, there are a million different superstitions about that whole situation. Generally it’s seen as a symbol of luck and good weather - being an indicator of Consumption’s good will and approval. Sometimes it’s seem as a harbinger of imminent doom - a herald of Consumption herself and her wrath. What to do with it afterwards is equally contentious. Maybe you should just leave it alone, maybe you should hide some sort of offering within the limbs to show gratitude or plead for mercy, maybe you should fish it out of the water and return it to shore. Sailing is a less common practice these days, but it’s still paramount that you pick your sailors carefully because physical fights will absolutely break out over these things if found at sea.

[seaside-writings]

Prompt #1,251

"I believe there are horrible things in the ocean, horrible things that no one, not even the fish themselves should see,"

[krumsprompts]

prompt # 133

You don’t run with the wolves and expect not to see the hunt.

[nicaswritingandprompts]

Creature Prompt

Ice cats

[person-1n-progress]

Prompt 3

Dark dragons were dangerous. Fast as lightning and several times the size of the average human. It was quite unfortunate, then, that he found himself looking straight at one.

[just-a-few-prompts]

A thud startled A, and they stumbled backwards onto the ground. Some creature - something big - was now between them and the approaching woman in the dark. They could see dark fur, smooth-skinned claws and a tail that ended in a feathery silk line. It was taller than A, it had to be. That was before it unfolded its leathery wings, green mist seeping from random places all over its fur.

“You are breaking the rules.”

The woman raised an eyebrow. Rolling her eyes, her expression turned into a feigned sob. “Oh… punishment,” she whined, dramatically, putting a hand to her chest and closing her eyes, lip jutted out into a deep frown.

Another growl erupted from the creature’s chest, and the woman chuckled in response. Opening her eyes slowly, she turned back to them, a dark grin on her face as she brought her hand up to her side. “My favorite.”

[goblinfruit]

So the loathly lady is a tale type/character motif from medieval times, in which: 1. a beautiful woman is transformed to appear unattractive (loathly), 2. is approached by a man in spite of her looks, and 3. the woman is revealed to have been cursed, a curse which was broken by the man’s action.

It’s a neat little reverse beauty and the beast plot which has a lot to unpack - from beauty expectations and gender dynamics and how women have been perceived/their role and freedom in marriage. Often the medieval loathly ladies are outspoken and directly affect the plot of their tales. In both the Arthurian and Chaucer tales, the loathly lady discusses and examines how much control wives have (can have, should have, etc) in marriage in a world that talks a big game about courtly behavior but still is full of rapists, conquering, and ignoble behavior.

Honestly, I think these tales and what they talk about are still relevant today, but I can’t think of that many modern loathly lady tales or stories that play around with the tale’s elements. This is surprising to me, because I think this tale type/archetype is so rich. With how many beauty and beast varieties we have, I thought there would have been more of the reverse. Here is my ongoing list of modern examples, so far:

Shrek

Howl’s Moving Castle (if you conflate old age with loathliness, which in our society, I think we totally do)

The salt hag in the “The Man Trap” episode of Star Trek the Original Series (this one may be a little obscure but I love Star Trek, sue me)

If anyone wants to add anything to the list, please feel free!