1) I had already been thinking about Ashley devouring death-apples. They're intensely sweet. Possibly other toxin-immune, toxin-making, Invulnerable, etc. people would love it too. Can you just see her with this fruit bowl?
That tree is psychotic. The main reason for doing all that work is to attract fruit-carriers. This one is ... what, trying to murder herbivores or kill things to make fertilizer? That tree is a supervillain. Other plants probably think it's a nutjob.
2) You are right about the crows. They will eat anything, so Day 1, the first crow pecks a berettafly and drops dead.
By day 2, mobs of crows are assisting SPAZMAT in locating the remaining crows.
Word gets back to Stylet, who is then fascinated by how nature is helping clean up his mess. :D
Speaking of eating toxic stuff, I haven't used it in the story yet, but the Myrkalves of the Ravenstone universe (and their cousins the Nua Sidhe) can eat deadly nightshade without any problems. At some point I want to show one of them spreading deadly nightshade jam on toast for breakfast.
In my Ravenstone universe I have something called a glass butterfly that lives in a fairy realm called Tiffiniol. They're beautiful, and look like they're made of delicate, fragile, frosted glass. But they have a very painful sting like a bullet ant and they swarm like killer bees.
Well they *look* like they're made of glass. They aren't, though.
Anyway, I don't actually know what berettaflies are besides dangerous. It's been ages since I read about them. But it's possible they inspired me.
The glass butterflies show up in a scene full of all kinds of other unassuming dangers... cute fluffy rabbits with venomous fangs (pygmy puccas), an adorable deer fawn that bites a knife so hard the metal shatters, and pretty flowers that shoot knock-out darts at people. Oh and of course the woman curating all these horrors looks like a delicate and fragile wisp of a human - like a Victorian maiden with consumption who walks by moonlight because the sun would hurt her delicate skin - with a personality similar to Luna Lovegood, and is in fact an extremely powerful faery with super strength, invulnerability, and extremely powerful magic.
That's how a lot of toxic animals get their toxins, from toxic plants. It's a lot cheaper metabolically to steal it than to make it. So, death-apple would make a great food for some supertoxic animals and/or people.
I could see the berettaflies as symbiotes. Assholes need asshole friends! Berettaflies meet death-apples and fall in love.
Sadly, I could not find any information on death-apple pollination, but this is unsurprising giving its extreme hostility.
I am reminded of the myths in which a fleeing woman turns into a tree to escape a rapist -- laurel tree, olive tree, mulberry tree, etc. Death-apple tree: "Go ahead and touch me, muthafucka, you gone REGRET IT!"
Another hyper-toxic soup's origin story: Well I saw this apple on the ground next to a tree, and I ate it. Then the cramping started and I fell against the tree.
Next thing I know, I'm waking up in the hospital in a SPAS-MAT isolation room...
I like the idea of a woman taking refuge there and turning into one to escape her would-be rapist.
And then taking up mad science to turn the toxins into something that would attack only the Y chromosome, harmless to women, vicious to men. Eve-apple.
Symbiotes! Oh man, that's a horrifying thought. On the other hand, it gives a very visible warning about the trees, if many of them have berettaflies cuddled up to flowers or sap. Big flashing red warning signs!
Pollination... oh, look, it's a Euphorbia! I am not surprised; there are a lot of nasty toxins in that family. Unfortunately, there's a lot of ways to be a Euphorbia, so that doesn't tell me much about pollination. It does seem a lot of them are insect-pollinated, though.
This is a job for a really brave botanist. *lol*
I am now having thoughts about fossilization. I imagine a berettafly wing preserved in amber would be a sight to see, and also something I would not even remotely want to work with.
Eek! What a defense system that is. But of course some animals aren't affected but instead eat the fruit and call the tree itself home - go Iguanas! - and every time I read something like that I think animals have the right ideas. I'm so envious of animals sometimes.
Yup, I've known about them for years. People used to put others under there to execute them. If it rains while you're under one, hoo boy you are in for a bad death.
If you think that's bad, look up "gympie gympie tree."
I have a bit of an obsession with horrifying lifeforms. I blame books like Goosebumps and "Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark" for getting me into reading as a kid. Traipah is full of horrors like carnivorous trees, dog-shaped plants that eat meat, and diseases like a fungus that grows into your brain and drives you crazy before you die.
The fairy realms in the Ravenstone universe are filled with horrors but also wonders. One minute you can be laughing, the next minute you're terrified as something horrible appears to attack the protagonists. A few examples of horrors, apart from previously mentioned ones: * The Devil Tree, which typically magically kills anyone who tries to approach it. * Wishing Wasps, will grant your wishes in very "monkey's paw" ways. * Unicorns, which are bigger than elephants and have a demeanor more like rhinos. * Shadow people and other negative entities. * Hell hounds.
Wonders: * Honeybees that look like they're made of glass, with amber lights inside of them. * Flowers that look like beautiful tiny women and cry tears of nectar to attract said bees, then rapidly become pregnant when fertilization is successful. * They haven't shown up in canon yet, but Thunderbirds are going to be there eventually. They've already been mentioned in book 1. They are basically gods, despite being physical beings, and are capable of human speech. They're quite impressive. Look up the Quetzalcoatlus for an idea of their size.
Kinda creepy but harmless: * Flowers that look like moving eyeballs. * Bogeymen * The Thing With A Hundred Eyes That Lives In The Ceiling (of the Ravenstone house). What it is or where it came from, nobody knows, but it's quite pleasant to be around and is great at minding the kids. It eats garbage and its poop smells like bergamot.
Fae Springs school is pretty safe, but you don't want to piss off the usually friendly pixies, because in one scene I show them hunting deer and swarming its corpse and picking all the meat off its bones in a matter of minutes. They're also very strong, capable of easily wielding blades that if you scaled them up to human sized, most humans wouldn't even be able to lift.
I got my interest from nature and from farmemory. Many of my settings have appalling and/or splendid things, but the proportions vary.
I should note that Stylet's repertoire includes not only berettaflies ("They were never meant for deployment outdoors!") but also guinea raptors, terrarium raptors, enfields, and a particularly elegant rendition of pegasi.
Another faery creature you might like from my Ravenstone series is something called a shadow-cat (felis occultus). They look like normal house cats usually, which makes sense since they evolved from house cats that fell into the faery realm known as Tirffiniol. (Cait Sidhe did the same thing, but Cait Sidhe are a much older species, evolved from the wild cats that house cats evolved from.) What sets shadow-cats apart from house cats is that they can grin like a Cheshire cat, can become invisible, can change the color of their fur and eyes and other body parts, and they can shadow-walk (magical teleportation via shadows). They're also even more intelligent than house cats, and tend to be mischievous. Oh, and they can project their thoughts telepathically.
So yeah, basically a Cheshire cat with the serial numbers filed off, and a few slight alterations.
Okay, I have tried, without much success, to grow a Bone Garden of things like foxglove. (An herbalist friend did once successfully solve a rabbit problem by growing aconite and such.)
Soup it up a bit, and I could see Stylet cultivating a Garden of Botanical Supervillains.
Now, out in the southwest, people sometimes let prickly pear form giant patches to discourage burglers. Soup it up a bit more...
*screams in the night*
"Hi dispatch, it's Stylet again. Some yo-yo tried to burgle me, can you send a cop car and also an ambulance?"
Not quite. He's a gengineer with a knack for making wild and crazy things, and he has some toxin resistance. Since many toxic animals get their arsenal from plants, he probably studies those too. I don't know if he makes plants as well as animals, but it wouldn't surprise me.
Also, given the kinds of things Orpheus Ravenstone (Dalia's dad) grows in his gardens, I could totally see him growing a Bone Garden in one of his greenhouses.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancing_serpent
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-11 05:12 am (UTC)Yes ...
Date: 2020-06-11 05:40 am (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2020-06-12 01:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-11 09:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-11 10:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-11 12:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-11 03:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-11 06:52 pm (UTC)Well ...
Date: 2020-06-11 07:48 pm (UTC)Berettafly scooches around the death-apple further inside the tree.
Seagull brushes against tree and begins screaming.
... well, it's "better" for the berettaflies.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-06-11 07:54 pm (UTC)You won't catch crows making that sort of mistake. Not after even one of the flock makes it. They share info about hazards and *remember*.
\
Ok, now the voices in my head just threw up an image of Ashley (without her isosuit) in the middle of a "flock" of berettaflies.
Don't think she'd actually *do* it, but it is an interesting image.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-06-11 08:02 pm (UTC)That tree is psychotic. The main reason for doing all that work is to attract fruit-carriers. This one is ... what, trying to murder herbivores or kill things to make fertilizer? That tree is a supervillain. Other plants probably think it's a nutjob.
2) You are right about the crows. They will eat anything, so Day 1, the first crow pecks a berettafly and drops dead.
By day 2, mobs of crows are assisting SPAZMAT in locating the remaining crows.
Word gets back to Stylet, who is then fascinated by how nature is helping clean up his mess. :D
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-06-12 12:34 am (UTC)Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-06-12 12:40 am (UTC)In the Sime/Gen universe by Jean Lorrah, Gens (and children) can eat strawberries, but they're toxic to adult Simes.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-06-12 12:29 am (UTC)Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-06-12 12:44 am (UTC)Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-06-13 06:38 pm (UTC)Anyway, I don't actually know what berettaflies are besides dangerous. It's been ages since I read about them. But it's possible they inspired me.
The glass butterflies show up in a scene full of all kinds of other unassuming dangers... cute fluffy rabbits with venomous fangs (pygmy puccas), an adorable deer fawn that bites a knife so hard the metal shatters, and pretty flowers that shoot knock-out darts at people. Oh and of course the woman curating all these horrors looks like a delicate and fragile wisp of a human - like a Victorian maiden with consumption who walks by moonlight because the sun would hurt her delicate skin - with a personality similar to Luna Lovegood, and is in fact an extremely powerful faery with super strength, invulnerability, and extremely powerful magic.
Well ...
Date: 2020-06-11 08:16 pm (UTC)I could see the berettaflies as symbiotes. Assholes need asshole friends! Berettaflies meet death-apples and fall in love.
Sadly, I could not find any information on death-apple pollination, but this is unsurprising giving its extreme hostility.
I am reminded of the myths in which a fleeing woman turns into a tree to escape a rapist -- laurel tree, olive tree, mulberry tree, etc. Death-apple tree: "Go ahead and touch me, muthafucka, you gone REGRET IT!"
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-06-12 12:21 am (UTC)Next thing I know, I'm waking up in the hospital in a SPAS-MAT isolation room...
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-06-12 12:46 am (UTC)I like the idea of a woman taking refuge there and turning into one to escape her would-be rapist.
And then taking up mad science to turn the toxins into something that would attack only the Y chromosome, harmless to women, vicious to men. Eve-apple.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-06-12 02:56 pm (UTC)I was imagining this as someone pursued by Zeus, or the like. Go ahead and try it. See what happens.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-06-12 08:01 pm (UTC)*ponder* One of the Erzulies would probably do it. They sometimes grant petitions with terrifying results.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-06-12 02:55 pm (UTC)Pollination... oh, look, it's a Euphorbia! I am not surprised; there are a lot of nasty toxins in that family. Unfortunately, there's a lot of ways to be a Euphorbia, so that doesn't tell me much about pollination. It does seem a lot of them are insect-pollinated, though.
This is a job for a really brave botanist. *lol*
I am now having thoughts about fossilization. I imagine a berettafly wing preserved in amber would be a sight to see, and also something I would not even remotely want to work with.
Yes ...
Date: 2020-06-11 08:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-11 03:45 pm (UTC)https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D2aeMRoWAE0
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-11 05:13 pm (UTC)~Angel
Yes ...
Date: 2020-06-12 12:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-12 12:26 am (UTC)If you think that's bad, look up "gympie gympie tree."
Well ...
Date: 2020-06-12 12:43 am (UTC)Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-06-13 07:10 pm (UTC)I have a bit of an obsession with horrifying lifeforms. I blame books like Goosebumps and "Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark" for getting me into reading as a kid. Traipah is full of horrors like carnivorous trees, dog-shaped plants that eat meat, and diseases like a fungus that grows into your brain and drives you crazy before you die.
The fairy realms in the Ravenstone universe are filled with horrors but also wonders. One minute you can be laughing, the next minute you're terrified as something horrible appears to attack the protagonists. A few examples of horrors, apart from previously mentioned ones:
* The Devil Tree, which typically magically kills anyone who tries to approach it.
* Wishing Wasps, will grant your wishes in very "monkey's paw" ways.
* Unicorns, which are bigger than elephants and have a demeanor more like rhinos.
* Shadow people and other negative entities.
* Hell hounds.
Wonders:
* Honeybees that look like they're made of glass, with amber lights inside of them.
* Flowers that look like beautiful tiny women and cry tears of nectar to attract said bees, then rapidly become pregnant when fertilization is successful.
* They haven't shown up in canon yet, but Thunderbirds are going to be there eventually. They've already been mentioned in book 1. They are basically gods, despite being physical beings, and are capable of human speech. They're quite impressive. Look up the Quetzalcoatlus for an idea of their size.
Kinda creepy but harmless:
* Flowers that look like moving eyeballs.
* Bogeymen
* The Thing With A Hundred Eyes That Lives In The Ceiling (of the Ravenstone house). What it is or where it came from, nobody knows, but it's quite pleasant to be around and is great at minding the kids. It eats garbage and its poop smells like bergamot.
Fae Springs school is pretty safe, but you don't want to piss off the usually friendly pixies, because in one scene I show them hunting deer and swarming its corpse and picking all the meat off its bones in a matter of minutes. They're also very strong, capable of easily wielding blades that if you scaled them up to human sized, most humans wouldn't even be able to lift.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-06-13 08:06 pm (UTC)I should note that Stylet's repertoire includes not only berettaflies ("They were never meant for deployment outdoors!") but also guinea raptors, terrarium raptors, enfields, and a particularly elegant rendition of pegasi.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-06-13 08:40 pm (UTC)Guinea raptor... is that a velociraptor/guinea pig hybrid? And what are the other two things?
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-06-13 09:29 pm (UTC)https://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/11227271.html
Enfields are heraldic beasts, mentioned here:
https://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/5013268.html
Pegasi are mentioned here:
https://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/11225223.html
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-06-13 09:59 pm (UTC)Another faery creature you might like from my Ravenstone series is something called a shadow-cat (felis occultus). They look like normal house cats usually, which makes sense since they evolved from house cats that fell into the faery realm known as Tirffiniol. (Cait Sidhe did the same thing, but Cait Sidhe are a much older species, evolved from the wild cats that house cats evolved from.) What sets shadow-cats apart from house cats is that they can grin like a Cheshire cat, can become invisible, can change the color of their fur and eyes and other body parts, and they can shadow-walk (magical teleportation via shadows). They're also even more intelligent than house cats, and tend to be mischievous. Oh, and they can project their thoughts telepathically.
So yeah, basically a Cheshire cat with the serial numbers filed off, and a few slight alterations.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-06-12 03:54 pm (UTC)*laugh*
Date: 2020-06-12 08:18 pm (UTC)Okay, I have tried, without much success, to grow a Bone Garden of things like foxglove. (An herbalist friend did once successfully solve a rabbit problem by growing aconite and such.)
Soup it up a bit, and I could see Stylet cultivating a Garden of Botanical Supervillains.
Now, out in the southwest, people sometimes let prickly pear form giant patches to discourage burglers. Soup it up a bit more...
*screams in the night*
"Hi dispatch, it's Stylet again. Some yo-yo tried to burgle me, can you send a cop car and also an ambulance?"
Re: *laugh*
Date: 2020-06-13 07:12 pm (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2020-06-13 07:51 pm (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2020-06-13 08:38 pm (UTC)Re: *laugh*
Date: 2020-06-13 07:13 pm (UTC)