I Hope They Find Many Shiny Things

I want to make him a little fairy house so he has a cozy place too sleep 🥹

Wintertale Advent Calendar Day 23: A Late Krampus! He runs past you in a hurry with only a brief hello! Its a busy season for him!

I drew Zim with his spider arms... I’m going to be doing a digital version of this because i know i can make it look better on procreate. And yes, I know I don’t have good lighting. #invaderzim #zim #entertheflorpus #invaderzimentertheflorpus #traditionalart https://www.instagram.com/p/B1KoqEwFeAL/?igshid=199iujm7hrzia

This is why I love mermay🥹

There are many creatures in this world that earn the definition of "people." Their paths to sentience are as diverse as the shapes and sizes in which they come. For mermaids, mimicking humans and hunting them in packs led to intelligence, language, and society.

Mollusks never hunted humans. They stayed in the depths and communed amongst themselves and eventually with the mermaids who shared their habitat. Long before humans knew of their existence, mollusk and cephalopod people were part of many bustling mermaid societies.

Small wonder, then, that humans referred to as mermaids on every occasion in which we encountered them. As far as sailors knew, things that swim are fish, and thus octopus are fish, and thus octopus people are mermaids.

In truth, mermaids evolved from fully formed fish, which had long split off from the ancestor of mollusks. The other phylum was forging a new path without bones. Thus, sentient creatures who arose from mollusks could not be mermaids any more than they could be fish.

But the name has stuck around. "Octopus mermaid" is more easily parsed than "Octopus person," despite the scientific community's insistence on the latter. Those that make a distinction have coined the term Cecaelia for them, but this has yet to catch on. Beneath the waves, mermaids refer to them by a variety of names, depending on the language. In sea common, the term they use directly translates to "Mirror."

This arose because cephalopods have skin made of chromatophores; cells that flex to reveal and hide their color. These "mermaids" use this trick to create a pseudo face on the top of their mantle, with which they interface with actual fish-mermaids. Their real eyes are held on either side of their head, in the place where our ears would be. To further the illusion, the arms branch and split in a simulacrum of mermaid form: head accessories, two arms, a chest, waist, and tail. So creatures that evolved to mimic humans were in turn imitated, though for different reasons.

There are none more talented at disguise than the mirror known as the Mimic Octopus. This creature is able to stretch its form and change its colors to look like a variety of animals to hide, intimidate, or entertain.

This specimen is seen conversing with a lionfish mermaid on a peaceful coral reef. At first, the colors and shape shift only gently, as the mimic is relaxed in its natural form. Suddenly, it stretches out its spiraled tentacles, the subtle stripes growing into thick bands to match the venomous spines of its lionfish companion.

The two of them continue their conversation, punctuated by the cecaelia's kaleidoscope of shifting skin. Perhaps this is how they laugh.

If you are curious about other people of the sea, you can find more research in the following libraries: High Resolution || Mermaid Requests || Discord || @worldofvonder

WE’VE BEEN FED! OM NOMNOMNOMN

Copia

Happy Easter from Mindy and Wilma!!! https://www.instagram.com/quokkatoons/p/BwiQO11FgvO/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=iepnnqa9ceun

Saving this for later because I want to try out a more “goth” style!

#drawthesquadmeme I don’t know who did the original, but I just want to clarify that it wasn’t me.... #drawthesquadmeme https://www.instagram.com/quokkatoons/p/BxOZaMjl62k/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=eiwbqmqgq41f

Continuation of what I've dubbed the "cornchip comic"; Terzo was just trying to warn him... sort of. (part one here)

ID in ALT text!

Bonus extra panel of the culprit:

This makes me miss winterguard season ;-;

Also holy fuck she’s INCREDIBLE

Taisiia Onofriichuk from Ukraine performs her hoop routine to the sound of "Thriller" by Michael Jackson at the 2024 Paris Olympics Rhythmic Gymnastics Individual Qualifiers

Selfie of me and my OC’s Mayella and Atlas! #drawing # oc’s #selfie #traditionalart https://www.instagram.com/quokkatoons/p/BuNEnWMFyHO/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=34ls6tcvz03k