#book of monsters

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

My mom bought me this book for Christmas

The Resurrectionist by EB Hudspeth, a fantasy field guide full of anatomical illustrations of monsters and cryptids.

The musculoskeletal systems are fun to look at, but not nearly as in-depth as I would have liked. If you have more than a passing knowledge of taxonomy (or in my case, access to Wikipedia), a lot of the details fall apart under scrutiny

The harpy has four upper limbs connected to one shoulder girdle; it shouldn't have arms, only wings

The sphinx is not classified as a mammal, but is still somehow in the family Felidae with cats (and like the harpy is also drawn with only two girdles despite having six limbs. I will give the author credit for giving the sphinx a keel for the wing muscles to attach to)

It lists the Hindu deity Genesha as a cryptid, which is a no-no.

Cerberus is also explicitly not a mammal, but somehow still a canine (literally in the species Canis with wolves, dogs, and coyotes)

Both mermaids and dragons are listed as members of the order Caudata; the only extant members of Caudata are salamanders, which kinda makes sense for dragons, but not so much for mermaids (also, the author keeps playing it fast and loose with cladistics; both mermaids and dragons are in the same order despite being in different classes, and while dragons are explicitly said to be amphibians, mermaids are given the fictional class mammicthyes, which means mammal-fish. At that point, why not just call mermaids amphibians? Why make up a fake latin hybrid name?)

But what bugs me most of all is the classification of the Minotaur as its own order of mammal when in mythology it is explicitly described as a hybrid of two known species (made possible only by the cruel machinations of the divine, but still)

To use actual taxonomical nomenclature, the minotaur's species would be B. taurus × H. sapiens (specifically B. taurus♂ × H. sapiens♀; there are, to my knowledge, no legends of H. sapiens♂ × B. taurus♀). That's how ligers, tigons, mules, zorses, pizzly bears, narlugas, etc., are described.

If I had written this book, I would have leaned more into evolutionary biology. Most land animals have four limbs because they all evolved from boney lobe-finned fish, which split off from the boneless sharks and rays millions of years earlier, so any six-limbed vertebrates would need to be descended from a fictitious category of six-finned fish which would either be an offshoot of boney fish/tetrapods (I guess they'd be hexapods, though that term refers to insect arthropods), OR a precursor to boney and cartilaginous fish that both clades split away from much earlier (it's easier to lose structures than to gain them, so it makes more sense for a six-limbed ancestor to spawn four-limbed descendants than the other way around).

Think about how different elephants are from humans, and humans are from aligators, and aligators are from penguins, and remember that they all evolved from the same ancestor tiktaalik, an amphibious fish that existed some 375 million years ago. Imagine a precursor six-limbed species and how diverse all its descendants would look after 400 million years. Save for the occasional instance of convergent evolution causing two unrelated species to independently evolve similar body plans to fill the same niche, tetrapods and hexapods would look nothing alike. There would be very little recognizable overlap between the two. A six-limbed "pegasus" would not look like a real world horse, and a six-limbed "dragon" would not look reptilian/dinosaur-ish, for much the same reason that giraffes don't look like frogs; they're just too distantly related. Bonless sharks and boney fish and whales/dolphins all have similar looking bodyplans only because their environment requires the same hydrodynamic shape, while terrstrial vertebrates are much more physically diverse.

#biology #anatomy #monsters #cryptids #cryptozoology #book of monsters #evolution #evolutionary biology #evolutionary history #taxonomy #cladistics #science #hard fantasy #hard science fiction #hard science #tetrapod #hexapod

[knightly-bastard]

Snif

SnIIFFFFFFF

is that gay I smell?

its you

#sorry for being inactive a lot #school sucks #nexo knights #knightly-bastard art #shitpost #monstrox #book of monsters

[kydv404]

Monstrox aka the cloud aka the book of monsters

I'm pretty much just using this as an excuse to pretend Nexo Knights s5 actually happened/reference the final wave of toys lol. I wanted to make sure that he looks just slightly off. He's holding the book weird, as if they're not even in the same plane of existence. His lower half is mangled. He's not real. He's just a glitchy virus in the shape of a man.

#my art #art #fanart #digital art #digital illustration #digital drawing #artists on tumblr #illustration #drawing #lego #nexo knights #lego nexo knights #the unlegoing project #nexo knights fanart #lego nexo knights fanart #monstrox #book of monsters

[gingersmidge]

How to get rid of the main problem in Nexo Knights

Step one: grab unsuspecting book

Step 2:

Now you can use him to roast your marshmallows longer!

Oh yeah, also bring peace to Knighton again.

#nexo knights #book of monsters #monstrox #toasty

[merloksdigitaltoes]

some april fools art! You have been, april fooled!

#nexo knights #the knights are nexos #wizard more like rizzard #nexoknights #nexo #nexo knights merlok #milkisvibin #clay moorington #merloks digital toes #lance nexo knights #nexo knights jestro #book of monsters #april fools

[high-fructose-lesbianism]

#book of monsters #lgbtcinema #lesbian film #wlw cinema #wlw movie #lgbt movie #lgbt cinema #lesbian movie #Stewart Sparke #Rose Muirhead #Lyndsey Craine #lesbian cinema #lesbiancinema #lgbt film #sapphic film #sapphic movie #sapphic cinema #sapphiccinema #wlw film #wlwfilmreviews

[festiveva]

A Few of My Favourite Parts of the Liber Monstrorum

I'm currently reading a translation of the Liber Monstrorum for a class. Here are some of my favourite entries so far (with commentary):

"And they say there has been another monster in a certain spot near the Ocean, who saw from the shore a boat slipping on the waves, and the sailors, terrified by the sight of him, hesitating to come to shore, and he snatched the ship and its crew from the midst of the sea and placed it on dry land." (I. 32)

What a lad. Man really went "Oh? you're drowning? No worries, I got you." And then placed the entire boat gently on shore amidst the crews screams of terror.

"It is reckoned that Scylla has been the monster most hostile to sailors in that channel which washes between Italy and Sicily, having indeed the head and chest of a maiden (like the sirens), but the belly of a wolf and the tails of dolphins. And what by their distinguishes the nature of sirens from Scylla is that they deceive seamen by their deadly song, whilst she with the strength of her force, girt about with sea dogs, is said to have mangled the wrecks of the unfortunate." (I. 14)

Breaking News! Local sea witch bewitches sailors with her raw physical strength and power. Oddly more effective than singing. More at 6.

"And they say what is impious to be said, that there is a certain monster of the night, which always used to fly by night through the shade of the sky and the earth, terrifying people in cities with its dreadful cry, and it had as many eyes and ears and mouths, as it had feathers. And it is always said to have been without rest or sleep." (I. 42)

This one's just a rumor, given a physical description by the monk that wrote this.

That's all for now.

#Liber Monstrorum #books #book of monsters #medieval #myths #latin translation #reading #long post

[ninjagozanefan14]

Inktober Day 25, drew Monstrox from Nexo Knights ~Art is mine I don’t own Nexo Knights Do not steal/edit/use/copy/repost -NinjagoZaneFan14/NZF14~

#LEGO Nexo Knights #Nexo Knights #Monstrox #Book Of Monsters #Lego fanart #Nexo #Inktober #Inktober 2022 #Inktober Day 25

[nmellis]

Commissioned by Barcode for the official ROBLOX Book of Monsters Discord!

Play Book of Monsters HERE!

Want to commission me? Click HERE!

#commission #server icon #roblox #book of monsters #milk #the one in the game has a gun I swear

[adorablecrab]

Reading a book on sea monsters on ancient maps and I thought this was such a funny way to put it. They couldn’t even afford sea monsters :///

#blabla #the book is sea monsters on medieval and renaissance maps by chet van duzer

[holylustration]

Book of Monsters (AU)

The sleepy town of Umbermoor boasts beautiful forests, clear blue lakes, and fields filled with flowers. But the villagers have reported strange happenings in recent years, as shadows have prowled the land and taken residence in the abandoned ruins that dot the countryside. Until recently, the grand castle of Leybourne sat empty, until its recent acquisition by Lady Aurelia de Vahl, a woman of impressive means.

And now, Lady de Vahl and her retinue have moved in. Only, it takes more than a roof and some furniture to call a house a home. Sometimes, it takes a greasing of palms, holy water, a stake, and silver bullets. And other times, perhaps all it takes is true love. 

A Rogue Trader Collaborative Writing Effort brought to you by @holylustration, @pallysuune, @kourumi, and @captastra featuring Rogue Trader characters in your favorite monster tropes.

Stay tuned for updates!

#rogue trader #warhammer 40k #warhammer 40000 #rogue trader crpg #fanfic #inspo picture dump #Book of Monsters

[knightly-bastard]

You’ve seen it all folks-

Monstrox gets fucking therapy-

#i did not spend any effort on the background #please help her #shes not having a good time #nexo knights #nexo knights oc #squire bot #nexo knights squirebots #book of monsters #monstrox #shitpost #drawing #now time to get back to requests #knightly-bastard art

[that-butch-archivist]

"Dyke March 1994" by Morgan Gwenwald

source: The Wild Good: Lesbian Photographs & Writings on Love, edited by Beatrix Gates

#lesbian #lesbian literature #dyke #dyke literature #archived #thatbutcharchivist #dyke march #dyke march 1994 #lesbian history #lesbian photography #author: beatrix gates #photographer: morgan gwenwald #the wild good #year: 1996 #publisher: anchor books #publisher: doubleday dell publishing group inc. #butch #butch dyke #butch lesbian #why does it look alright while i'm editing and then hitting the finished button is like unleashing an entirely different monster #ai yai yai #i'll figure it out #asian lesbian

[c-herondale]

Obsessed with how Annabeth isn't spacial, she isn't a chosen one, she has no demigod magic powers, she is for all intents and purposes, a fairly normal girl.

But she poured her blood, sweat and tears into becoming the best warrior she could be. She trained hard for years because she knew she had disadvantages and she didn't want to be seen as weak.

She's literally known in Camp and by monsters like Alecto as the most powerful demigod alive and she doesn't have powers. It's almost as of girls don't need to be magical to be a hero!

#annabeth chase is That Bitch #annabeth chase #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians #percabeth #athena cabin #pjo #pjo series #pjo spoilers #pjo tv show #pjo books #annabeth #percy and annabeth #annabeth pjo #annabeth percy jackson #leah is our annabeth #lightning thief #sea of monsters #titans curse #battle of the labyrinth #last olympian #heroes of olympus #lost hero #son of neptune #mark of athena #house of hades #luke castellan #grover underwood #daughter of athena #percy jackson series

[counting-stars-gayly]

MEDUSA WASN’T A MONSTER BECAUSE SHE HAD SNAKES FOR HAIR BUT BECAUSE SHE HURT PEOPLE WHO DIDN’T DESERVE IT LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOOO

#not everyone who looks like a hero is a hero and not everyone who looks like a monster is a monster!!!!! #they’re not just sticking to the core theme of the books; they’re ENHANCING the message!!! #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo #percy jackson disney+ #disney percy jackson #disney pjo #rick riordan #medusa #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians

[proteidaes]

Happy to reveal my full piece for the Artsy Friends GROWTH art book! 🐉🌳 My piece was inspired by Peridexion Trees and the dragons associated with them.

🌷GROWTH is live now!!🌷 This is a collaboration artbook featuring whimsy illustrations from 19 artists, all themed around the word "growth"! If you're interested in snagging a copy you can find all the details here! 👀📚

#art book #collabs #art #illustration #cute #colorful #growth #books #artists on tumblr #monsters #trees #dragons #artsy friends #medieval #Peridexion tree #dragon tree