#predation cw

[tieflingteef]

you like The Magnus Archives? why not try the Fear Mythos? we got

- uncanny-looking malevolent being that masquerades as human

- birds that can generate lightning and carry you into the sky

- hive mind of bugs that inhabit people’s bodies

- smoke monster that drives people to berserker rages by its very presence

- judgmental eye

- shadow people

- disembodied force that manifests by warping reality around it

- puppet who controls YOUR strings

- ice being that targets lonely people

- the afterlife itself (but a monster)

- demon dog that hunts people to the ends of the earth

- fire ghost that manipulates people into destroying their own lives

- techno monster that assimilates both metal and flesh

- force that warps people’s bodies into abominations

- postmodernism

and other fun things :)

[silentstep]

at all times I desperately want to write fic in which Zidian, snakey Zidian, slithers up to coil under Jiang Cheng’s collar whenever it’s cold, warming herself off his body heat; in which she slithers into his hair and tangles herself in among his hairstyles, poking her head over the edge of his guan and flicking her tongue out towards whoever he’s talking to; in which when they go out night-hunting and it’s too far to fly back home in one go, they stay in an inn with a mouse problem, and by morning Zidian comes back to flicker her tongue against Jiang Cheng’s cheek and crawl over his face with three large lumps sitting along the length of her middle, and he grumbles at her for being greedy— “you don’t even need to eat, you’re made of metal, I can’t wear you on my wrist like that—” but he carries her curled up in his palm held cupped close to his body all the way home, dreaming metal-snake dreams about eating the frog on top of Sandu’s pommel—

except that Zidian rides on his wrist and finger precisely so that she is always ready, always to hand, so that he can always go on the attack at a moment’s notice, because Jiang Cheng never feels safe otherwise, because he sleeps with one weapon always within reach and a second literally in his hand.  The one and only time he doesn’t have her there and ready to fight is when he gives her to Jin Ling, because first and foremost Jiang Cheng is in fact always ready to lay down his life for his loved ones and I

[jaguarappreciationblog]

1/2 by Kirk on Flickr.

[silentstep]

not that it didn't hit the beat it was trying to hit but like... Diaval, a raven, should not be any more wigged out by the prospect of eating a dish of birds than a non-vegetarian human would be by a dish of mutton for the sake of it being a fellow mammal. Ravens eat other birds and other birds' eggs all the time.

[abandonedshops]

got a photo i'm very pleased with on my work break today. this silver-sided sector spider (Zygiella x-notata as per an inaturalist IDer) is extending her fangs to try and subdue this millipede (order Julida, possibly genus Ophyiulus?). she lives in a hole in the concrete and i frequently see her butt sticking out as i go outside. this is my first time seeing all of her! i probably don't arrive at work early enough to see her active at night or renewing her web in the morning. apparently this species usually requires examination by an expert to determine if they're male or female, but shes a girl to me in all of my arachnid-ignorant glory.

she kept trying to bite through the exoskeleton, but the millipede rolled and twisted in an attempt to escape. i didn't see the end of the encounter, but when i went for my second smoke break no evidence of predation was left. i wonder if the millipede fell, or if she just gave up...

[eighthdoctor]

Hi, just read your selkie jaina fic (👍) and was wondering what type of seal specifically like the big arctic king or the cuties?

Have a nice day!

I do have an answer in mind for this but since it'll come up in fic I'll save it.

In the meantime:

I wouldn't want to be Arthas when she gets the skin back

[eighthdoctor]

timelordsandkittens replied to your post “date me and you too can be surprised with awful starfish facts”

what if I already have a girlfriend but I want to know the awful starfish facts anyway...

some starfish (specialized starfish, according to wikipedia) have developed internal stomachs and, because echinoderms are fucking bizarre, the ability to turn the stomach inside out and expel it through the mouth, wrap it around the food, and drag it all back inside

some of these starfish have also covered the area between their legs with webbing. they then like to stand on tiptoes so they look like a nice dark cave, wait for something to swim in, and then close off the exits. then they invert their stomach and...yeah...