#amelanism

[hylasregillasisopods]

Porcellio scaber 'dark orange' project update

F2

The orange did indeed prove out! I've separated the f2 generation into their het and homo groups. I lost the paper I was keeping count on, but I remember the ratio being consistent with my 50/50 expectation.

Here they are! My camera really wanted to enhance the orange. The video still on the right is more accurate.

Their coloration is noticeably grainy and looks darker than regular 'orange' to me, but I might be imagining things. There's not too much variation.

Dark Orange X Spanish Orange

Now HERE'S where it gets interesting! The 'Dark Orange' X 'Spanish Orange' cross was a little test breeding meant to verify whether the same recessive amelanism gene was responsible for the orange color in both morphs. I expected to see either all grey (meaning they were separate genes) or all orange (meaning they were the same). What I didn't expect to see was three distinct phenotypes.

There's the classic orange that I expected, a browner/darker orange, and three greys for some reason.

So YES! The classic recessive amel gene is responsible for the orange in 'dark orange'.

But did the 'dark' gene just prove out? Is it a dominant or co-dominant allele? Idk! I have to wait until the homozygous f2s are bigger to see if all or any of them share this trait. Their having grainy coloration and being mixed ages makes it frustratingly difficult to tell at this stage.

I attribute the even coloration of this test cross to the 'Spanish Orange' side of the family, since pure Spanish Orange stock is known for its smooth coloration.

Now to address the greys. Yeah, I don't know what happened here. The mother has been isolated with the progenitor in a harem setup since way before she was sexually mature. The only thing I can think is that one of the f2 sons managed to breed with her before I removed them. I'm not sure how that's possible as I removed them when they were absolutely tiny but it's the most likely explanation I can think of. I've separated the three greys into their own bin for now. Maybe the answers will be further down the road.

Unfortunately, I can't find the original dark orange male who started all this. I'm not sure if he passed away or if he somehow eluded me when I sifted. Wherever he is... o7

#porcellio scaber #isopods #isopod genetics #bugblr #bugs #isopodblr #p. scaber dark orange.proj #amelanism

[a-timeless-illness]

[Image ID: A digital drawing of various amounts of different fore arms and hands that surround an image. There are 10 arms, and behind them is a red heart with an off-white background. The arms consist of prosthetic arm, handless arm with vitiligo, two hands with only two fingers that curve into a claw like shape, two hands with very tiny sphere like nubs where one has self harm scars, an arm that has veins and scarring, a hand with an extra finger, and an amelanism arm. The arms vary between skin tones. End ID]

#image id #body positive #body postivity #bodily differences #limb differences #prosthetic #prosthetics #vitiligo #amelanism #scars #i will not tw or cw scars so don't ask #☆ art

[willaux]

that one girl who is so so cold all the time. she wants your coat but won't ask for it

#i still make art sometimes... occasionally i even finish it!! #jolly art tag #oc: amelan

[neonhellscape]

Felt the need to do this

[Dakorin is he/him and Semhein is they/them]

#digital art #character art #illustration #oc #original character #redraw #semhein has gigantism btw thats why theyre so tall. these two are the same age same species and dakorin is normal height #dakorin is normal colours too semhein has amelanism [think of albino pythons where they keep the yellow colouration]

[omg-snakes]

I just wanted to check - there are albino corns, right? I know there are Snows and Blizzard morphs. Snake Discovery did a corn snake hatching vid recently and seemed to think there were no albino corn snakes, so I was a little confused. (They also didn't know the difference between Tessera, Motley, and Stripe though so I think they are just generally uninformed)

Hey friend!

I think the source of confusion here is that the term "albino" is a colloquialism developed for humans that doesn't totally work for reptiles.

The root Latin word, albus, just means "white." The term albino was originally coined by Portuguese and Spanish colonizers (boooo!) to refer to the children of Black slaves who were born without melanin. It then went on to describe any animal without pigment, particularly the black pigment melanin, which resulted in white hair, pink skin, and pink or very light blue eyes.

As science marched on and we gained a better understanding of how genetics and pigment work, we came to realize that there are multiple pigments at play in most animals. Even humans, whose main pigment is melanin, have two different kinds of melanin which result in the rich diversity of skin tones across the human species! Albinism works as a descriptor for humans because we only have melanin, but it falls apart fast when we start applying it to other forms of life.

So in corn snakes there are three main pigments: melanin (black), erythrin (red), and xanthin (yellow).

An amelanistic, or Amel, corn snake is by definition an "albino" with no melanin and red eyes. But they look like this:

That doesn't exactly look white...

If we're looking for white snakes to call albino, a Snow corn snake has amelanism and anerythrism in combination, but they still have yellow xanthin pigment. A Blizzard, on the other hand, is a combination of amelanism and a slightly different mutation called Charcoal that removes both erythrin and xanthin. By the original intent of the word, a Blizzard would probably be an "albino" but a Snow might not fit the bill. Or might, depending on who's deciding, since they technically lack melanin!

To bring up another example of pigment mutations, leucism is the absence of all pigment, not just melanin. This mutation is most commonly found in birds and reptiles. Leucism and albinism look similar, and the mutations do similar things from a "looking at animals on the outside" perspective, but they're genetically distinct from each other!

It falls into semantics and discourse, so I think the easiest way to go about it is to think of albinism as a blanket term to describe a range of genetic color morphs found in mammals, but not a scientific description of what's actually happening. We could probably skip using it to describe reptiles because even when it's technically applicable, it's not the whole story.

I'll end this by saying that YouTubers in general are entertainers, not educators, and I don't think I'd take anything any of them say seriously unless they're providing references. Snakes are a huge and diverse group of lifeforms, and even if one were to know every detail there is to know about one species, that knowledge may only tenuously apply to even a similar-looking species.

This is exactly why exotics veterinarians are expensive and why you should treat them very kindly and with a great deal of respect.

#snake #snakes #reptile #reptiles #reptiblr #corn snake #corn snakes #corn snake morphs #albinism #zoology #biology #answers to questions #text post #long post #oh i'm sorry did you want an answer here have a novel

[gaymingintrovert]

Everyone shut up and look at Giraffe the shark

The people at the aquarium said she’s not actually albino (which I asked if she was). I believe they said she has amelanism but I don’t remember for sure

Here she is next to another zebra shark

#georgia aquarium #as in the one in atlanta georgia #went there a while back and she was in the really big tank #at the zebra shark ray experience the shark handlers told us her name is giraffe #marine biology #zebra shark #shark

[is-the-snake-video-cute]

What's your opinion on lipstick boas? I think they're absolutely beautiful but how ethical are they?

They're absolutely fine! Lipstick is just one line of amelanism in boa constrictors, and it usually produces very bright and lovely coloration. Like any morph that reduces melanin, lipstick boas have eyes that are more sensitive to light, but that's genuinely not an issue for most snakes as long as you're not shining a bright light into their enclosures all day.

I really like lipstick sunglows especially.

#not a rating #snake morphs #boa constrictors

[eukaryotesrool]

Leucism and Kimba

So this is gonna be real life facts (ones I'd say are interesting) mixed with some fan stuff, you don't need to know about the franchise to understand this, but it will be long and only slightly hinged.

Grab a snack, a drink annnnnnd...

What is a Kimba?

(Kimba (1965) running)

This guy, the titular hero of Osamu Tezuka's Kimba the White Lion franchise (AKA Jungle Emperor Leo(direct translation), Janguru Taitei(untranslated title))

For now, all you folks need to know about him is that he comes from a long lineage of lions with uniquely white fur.

Gee, you know what else relates to lions, white fur, and genetics, oh boy, a segway into the next thi-

What is a leucism?

(Pronounced 'luke-ism')

(Animals with a leucistic disorder, leucistic peacocks look neat, though, they all do)

leucism is a variety of conditions causing a lack of pigmentation in animals.

"Isn't that albinism?"

They're comparable, but seperate, their causes are different, also no leucistic condition removes eye pigmentation, so, Kimba's blue eyes aren't a problem.

(Kimba (1965) running, he does that a lot)

Now I'd like to go over every major leucistic condition and compare/contrast them to what we can note about Kimba.

No, I am not joking.

(OH MY GOD ITS SO CUTE I- er, this is a real life white lion cub, owing its white fur to a leucistic disorder)

Something to remember, most of these conditions don't (or don't to our knowledge) affect lions and could be easily swatted aside as such, but KTWL (Kimba the White Lion) is a work of fiction which consistently does absurd things, for example, Great Mother, a surviving mammoth who lives on a magic mountain and has magic powers or a blue lion (no I won't tell you what makes him blue), so I'm willing to brush aside SOME realism... also I researched them so I want to talk about them.

Yes, there is a condition that causes real life white lions, buuuuut I'm saving that can of worms for later.

Easily disproven

These ones don't work for several reasons, I'll be using only the most glaring issues for the sake of brevity.

Vitiligo & flavism: These two conditions happen over the course of one's life, but we see Kimba near birth, and he possessed his white fur.

Chédiak–Higashi syndrome: Causes symptoms (including but not limited to: peripheral neuropathy) which Kimba almost certainly does not have.

Isabellinism: affects only birds and leads to a golden white, not a snowy one.

(An isabellinistic bird, majestic fellow, eh?)

Xanthochromism: Makes things fucking yellow.

(A xanthochromistic (pictured right) and normal (pictured left) Argentine horned frog, so cool.)

Axanthism: only affects things with light reflecting pigments, and can only make things with normally yellow color have white color.

Amelanism: Meaning lacking melanin, so those black tipped ears and tail would be a no-no, yet we observe numerous pelts of his ancestors all with the exact same ears, and, we have reason to believe, the exact same tail (his father also possessed the same tail)

Okay, that was the bulk of the list, we're making good progress.

Maybe

These ones are harder to disprove, but I'd still say they're obviously not what we're looking for.

Piebaldism: Now, this one seems convincing as it can generate black AND white fur, it is genetically dominant, therefore, could lead to the continous lineage (where at least one of few children seems to always inherit it) but it lacks the uniformity, as I said, every white lion posses the same pattern, with few inconsistently appearing exceptions within the franchise, we'll get to that later on, the point is, consistency is the rule, chaos is the exception, and piebaldism is too chaotic.

(Piebaldistic animals. That squirrel looks so neat! Like his back is covered in snow!)

Waardenburg syndrome: Specifically type two is a strong contender, most notably because it causes bright blue eyes (or a blue and brown eye, sometimes) along with its other effects, HOWEVER, it also causes congenital hearing loss, and in cats (Felis Catus or house cats, technically, but they're the closest comparison I have to lions) said hearing loss is more common and more extreme, I doubt Kimba has that. Type 1 and type 3 cause other malformities that Kimba visibly doesn't posses.

Not sure

I tried, but my research was not conclusive, if you have answers, I'd be glad to hear them.

melanophilin: it is listed, but isn't a disorder, it is a carrier protein, I did some research and disorders with this protein don't seem like they'd make the snow white color we're looking for.

Undisputable

Oh, uh, there's nothing here, we've gone over every major leucistic disorder, there ARE more, but we'd be here all day, and so little is known about them it'd be arbitary.

Well, we're not through with every leucistic condition on the agenda, there's still...

THE CAUSE OF REAL WHITE LIONS

That's right, we've made it.

There's obviously a myriad of similarities, Tezuka was probably inspired by the real life white lions.

For example

(Pictured left, Kimba (1989 anime series) and his love inyerest, Raiya, a fellow lion, but not a white lion. Pictured right, two lionesses, one being a white lion)

The jarringly (among other lions) snow white fur.

(Sorry the images of Kimba's paw sucks, you won't believe it, but it was SO difficult to find a pic online with his paw pads in it, real life white lions? Pfft plenty of pictures in an instant.)

(Yes, pink is the unpigmented color for paw pads)

The pink paw pads

(Pictured left, Kimba's father (2009 movie) pictured right OH MY GOD SO CUTE)

The genetic basis allowing for lineages that share the trait

So then, this is it?... no, no, no, no, sadly, no, not so simple, there is one glaring inconsistency.

Firstly, an aside: I tried researching the specific cause of white lion leucism (it comes from a mutation for tyrosinase) but very little is known about it exactly, though, I gleaned something just by using the oldest tool in the zoology briefcase, me own eyes.

Notice a difference between Kimba and EVERY image of a white lion I've provided? Here, have some more white lion.

(Look at 'em all!)

From male to female, newborn, to cub, to adult, one consistency that Kimba does not share, maybe you already noticed and want me to get to the fucking point, maybe I will, maybe I won't, okay, I will.

(Circles denoting where Kimba posseses the trait, 'x's denoting where the real lion cub does not)

Black fur, Kimba has black fur on the tips of his ears and tail, no image of a real life white lion that I've seen has that pattern, or ANY black fur (wait, did I just retread my point about amelanism? Damn), and I'm lead to believe that does not occur amongst real life white lions, so then...

Kimba is a an anomaly

(From top left to bottom right Kimba's aunt (1989) Kimba's father (2009) and Kimba's father (1989)

In the 2009 version the only white lions we see are Kimba and his dad, and his dad lacks the black fur, in the 1989 series the only white lions we see are Kimba, his dad and aunt, both of the latter lack the black fur, but Kimba retains it in all versions.

Perhaps the cause of white lions is the same as real life white lions, and Kimba is a very rare anomaly within an anomaly, I don't know a whole lot about genetics, but that sounds reasonable enough for KTWL standards.

Buuuuuut, every other version, including the manga that started it all has other white lions retain the same color palette, and even show dozens of white lion ancestors, and a DISTANT white lion ancestor who all have the same palette, so, this anomaly theory is ironically only relevent to anomalies, the 1989 series and 2009 movie, what about for the whole franchise, well...

I don't know

Here's where I'd like to pull something out my hat and save the day with the obvious and true answer... but, there isn't one, at least, not one I found, sooooo, yeah, everyone must come to their own conclusion, maybe you even disagree with some of my reasoning and come to a conclusuon I've disregarded!

I'd love to hear your take away, and what comes next is merely my own personal take.

I don't know (good ending)

i don't know, and that's the point, I like that conclusion, the Kimba franchise contains mystisms, but never delves into them, leaving them as strange mysteries, it is a story about the exotic, it is ever out of reach.

I choose to believe white lions are semi-magical, thus why Kimba's lineage is the ONLY white lions we see in a franchise that stretches from 1950 to 2009, with over a hundred episodes, thus why white lions seem to always produce a white lion cub, but usually only ONE white lion cub, and the rest resemble the mother, because it works by magic rules.

In the 1989 version(and possibly others) Kimba is directly or indirectly likened to the supernatural, the Great Mother, a huge mammoth who can summon powerful snow storms in tropical Africa treats Kimba as such.

Simply, it can't be explained IRL, that's pretty cool, not everything needs to be explained, and MAGIC!

Thanks for sticking around through my insanity, hope you learned something and had fun, I did!

(Normally I'd put a pic riiight here to close things off but I hit the Tumblr image limit, didn't even know they had one)

#kimba the white lion #Kimba #white lion #animal facts #animal photography #cute animals #osamu tezuka #theories #theory #rant #long reads #im sorry #If I'm going insane you're going insane with me #I'm infamous IRL for my long unhinged rants #Nice to formulate one and give it to you fine people #leucism #leucistic #Please point out any typos or erroneous information #The curse has been lifted #I can now sleep soundly #FanboyMode

[saint-nevermore]

Smaugust day 3 - Dyschromia

a Speckled Scuttler with amelanism, a genetic anomaly causing a lack of melanin in the skin. dragon scales utilise several pigments for their colours, and in this case the animal is lacking melanin, but still posesses the pigment creating a yellow colour. this species of Scuttler is common in urban settings, and the lack of competition allows for dense populations with less stress on individuals who would struggle in their wild environments, leading to dyschromia in Speckled Scuttlers being a regular sight.

#fraizer draws #smaugust #smaugust 2022 #nevverse #fantasy #creature design #dragons #dragon #scuttler #illustration #art

[demona-andariel]

Object of Obsession - 8 / 46

Fandom: Halloween

Pairing: Michael Myers x OFC

Summary: In Haddonfield everyone knows the legend that was Michael Myers. Content and at ease, they’d forgotten what it was to feel fear in the month of October. But now, he finds himself back and ready for blood but then a bond forms between him and one of his victims. A bond he can’t seem to break. And it starts to make him do things he never thought of doing before.

Warnings: (Encompassing the whole story in no particular order) kidnapping, noncon, explicit sexual content, smut, loss of virginity, rough sex, blood and violence, knifeplay, canon-typical violence

Author Note: Minors DNI!

Word Count: 3,042

Chapter 8 - A Little Walk, A Little Talk

“Could you get me some camomile tea bags?” Her request as well as her name kept running through his brain. Gretchen. He never thought about her name. Why would he? He didn’t have friends, wouldn’t talk about her, wouldn’t talk to her. If she thought he’d whisper sweet words, or talk dirty to her she was delusional. And yet, he now knew her name. Not that it mattered, it didn’t change things between them. 

The sensation of being watched brought him out of his musings. He followed the feeling till his focus landed on a treehouse in the backyard of the house across from where he was stalking. His breathing deepened as his eyes stared back intently at the person who was watching him. 

A little boy stared back at him wide-eyed with terror “safe” in his little treehouse. Michael felt amused. Even from afar, he could feel the kid’s rightful fear. His breathing deepened in anticipation as he squeezed the handle of his knife. His brain perked up with excitement, feeding off the kid’s fear.

He wasn’t going to kill the kid. It wasn’t a moral thing. There was just no need. Their fear was easy, and they weren’t much of a chase, much of a game.

“Jeff? Jeff! Where are you?” a woman’s voice shouted. 

Michael kept his eyes locked on the little boy who seemed petrified with fear. Was he holding something? Some sort of child’s weapon as comfort, perhaps? How amusing

“Jeffery Sean Amelaner!” the woman yelled as she stormed over to the treehouse. 

The moment the kid broke eye contact Michael moved. He watched in fascination from another part of the property, just out of the woman’s sight, but still with a good view of the two.

“Mommy!” the boy cried out as he practically jumped from the treehouse into his mother’s arms. 

“Jesus, Jeffery!” she coughed, staggering in an attempt to find her balance. 

The child whispered something in her ear, making her swiftly turn around. Her eyes scanned the darkness, looking for Michael. Her arms tightly protectively over her son’s body as she took cautious steps back, making her she was on the lookout for possible danger. How amusing.

She let the boy down and opened the back sliding door. He rushed inside. She didn’t move as quickly. Scanning the darkness for the threat. A crooked smile crossed his lips. She would make an interesting target. Judging by her body language alone she was a fighter. She’d give a good chase. Perhaps another day.

He made a mental note of her house, marking it in his mind to return to before strolling away, into the darkness. He huffed.

“I hope you don’t get to kill anyone today,” her hurried last-minute statement followed by the slam of her door almost made him go to her room for an “apology”. But the killer part in him pulled him away from the house and her. Who was he to deny his other desire? She wasn’t going anywhere. He’d punish her when he got back. 

Michael paused beside another house and examined his knife. There was blood on it, but not of a person. He’d killed a dog. He planned to kill the owner, and he had to get the dog out of the way. But the moment the dog was dead he heard a siren. It didn’t frighten him, he had no problem trying to deal with the police. But it made him think, which caused him to wander. 

His killing spree was always cut short by meddling do-gooders. And, although it wasn’t a big deal before now he wasn’t quite yet prepared to disappear. He had no idea how things worked and he didn’t need to know. But, if he disappeared she would be “free” of him. He could already see himself returning, stalking, and finding her. Years would have passed and she’d probably be married, and have a family and she wouldn’t want him. 

He licked his lips. No, he wasn’t quite yet ready for her to leave his life yet. She’d swallowed his cum without him even forcing her to. It was all on her. She could have spat his cum out to show her disgust, could have glared at him. But her eyes were bright with mischief as she swallowed before they widened in surprise. Why did she do that? It made him rather curious. And he wanted to see her do it again. 

Her initiative only confirmed what his mind was suspecting. She wanted him. She kept fighting it, which amused him. But, the way she clutched onto his arm when he slipped his fingers through her labia. It wasn’t to stop him but to hold on. That look she gave him when she leaned back, pressing her body against him, it was a silent begging for him not to stop. She was so slick. He wanted to throw her over his shoulder and carry her up to her room so he could lick her with ease. But, that would require him taking off his mask. 

He paused, bringing up his right hand. Much like his recollection of every kill he had made, he could vividly recall her inner wall feeling as he explored her with his fingers. He had been curious, testing how long would it take her to last on her tip-toes before she relented to having his finger in her. It didn’t last nearly as long as he thought it would. But then again, the way she moved and acted, the look in her eyes, it should have told him what was going to happen. And, in the back of his mind he knew. He was just mesmerized. Her muscles tensing, her pussy spasming around his fingers, he needed to know what that felt like around his cock. 

There was a bit of curiosity why she wanted the lube. He did rather enjoy the feeling of her hand and how it moved with the lube clearly helping her when she stroked his shaft. He didn’t regret putting some on before fucking her again. The slide-in was amazingly easy and smooth. The unfortunate thing was he didn’t get her to spasm over his cock. But he wasn’t worried, he was able to easily reach his end, maybe next time. There was no rush. 

A high pitch whistling sound interrupted his thoughts. He paused in his steps, easily spotting the annoyance. A woman picked up a teapot from a stove and set it to one side. Her movements were easy to follow from the big window she stood in front of. A man, more than likely her husband or boyfriend, snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, making her shriek and then laugh in happiness before they kissed. 

He huffed, moving away from that scene. Boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend. He cocked his head as a curious thought ran through his mind. Focus. It took him some time before he finally made it back to the original site. He stilled, pausing in the exact spot he stood in where he had spied the two in the car. There were no cars in Lover’s Lane, no lovers having sex, their lucky day to have avoided him. She probably would consider it her unlucky day.

Little did she know that her car was in his possession. He had it safely hidden away for his use. Unless she assumed since he did give her back her duffle bag that was stored in her car. He didn't need a car, it was just a convenience for him, not something he would use often. He rather liked walking.

He leisurely walked around the scene, although there were no clear markings. His brain was sufficient enough. He huffed. She had accidentally pushed her would-be-lover toward his doom. The young man had been caught unawares and didn’t really put up much of a fight. Instead of trying to fight Michael off, the young man had desperately grabbed at Gretchen as she tried to help him back into the car. 

Sure, Michael had surprised the young man, but his fear was his undoing, petrifying him.  Michael could still feel his knife easily slide into the man’s chest. A smaller version of the satisfying high and ecstasy that he had received from that kill coursed through his body. He wasn’t sure why. The young man didn’t put up much of a fight. His fake knight’s armor just added to the feeling of disgust at what a simple kill it was. But his enjoyment was almost extra special, extra satisfying.

And then there was Gretchen. She ran kicking in his chase instincts, she fought back despite her fear. She continued to fight back, although her fighting back now was a bit different in nature. His small smile at the enjoyment of their game slipped a little. 

Unfortunately, she’d done something he hadn’t seen yet and it bothered him. After fucking her, knowing even she had thoroughly enjoyed herself, her mood had changed. She’d gone from the fighter and resister to almost a shell of her own being. He didn’t like it. And he didn’t know what had brought that on. But for the briefest of moments, his killer side perked up. His knife, so close behind her, easy to grab, easy to use. Seeing the sudden flare of anger burn in her eyes when he touched her cheeks appeased him. She was still a fighter, still a resister, and still wouldn’t make it easy for him, not the broken shell that had momentarily taken over her. 

A smell caught his attention. Michael turned around and headed into the woods. He didn’t have to go very far. The strong smell of a decomposing body permeated the air. He paused then crouched, far enough away for the smell not to overpower him, but close enough to see. No one had found the young man yet. It wasn’t that Michael had hidden the body particularly well either. His goal in dumping the body into the woods was just to give him a little bit of extra time to kill people before all hell broke loose. But, he had expected the body to be found already. Did anyone even miss him? Did anyone miss her? Did she have a family? He frowned.

He didn’t care. So what if she had a family? They wouldn’t find her, and if they did he’d only get her back. He had no problem killing her family the same way he’d killed her boyfriend. She was his now. 

Idiot, he thought as he stood up and left the body in the forest. How could a small thing like her put up more of a fight than her strong, fit boyfriend? 

The scars on Gretchen’s-

Michael stilled as her name popped into his head. Gretchen. His breathing deepened. No. Do not think it.

The scars on her stomach, the ones not made by him, were bad but extremely attractive. It just proved that she was a fighter. She’d survived something that clearly had been traumatic. Traumatic enough to make her self-conscious about them. Sure, they weren't made by him, but he still liked them. Maybe it was because of the way she fought back when touched them. Her resistance. Yeah, he liked that about her. The little things he kept discovering while dealing with her kept adding more locks to the door that would have freed her from him. 

The sun started to peak out, and his body pulled him back home. Damn, it was a long way back. The last time he'd gone home he had used her car. Oh well, she wasn't going anywhere.

Nathan paced back and forth in his apartment, the sun was barely rising but he was wide awake. What was wrong with her? It was as if she purposefully decided to leave no trace as to where she’d gone. Her bank account hadn’t been touched other than the monthly withdrawals to pay her rent and utilities to her apartment in Chicago. At least she would have been kind enough to forward her mail to her new address. Nope! She hadn’t forwarded it anywhere. She’d put a hold on her mail. Three months. Three full months had passed since she’d done it.

His eyes shifted to his cellphone. He needed to call his father. He didn’t want to. Her phone had started going to voicemail shortly after he visited her apartment. His father would soon call him because of that. He preferred the thought that she had blocked him over her being in trouble. He rubbed his left shoulder. She wasn’t dead. He knew that. She was too stubborn to die. Denial. God, she was good at that. She could probably deny her way back to life. Just refuse to believe she was dead. 

He glanced at his cellphone again. It had only been two days since he’d contacted his “friends” to find her. As much as he wanted results quickly enough, he knew it took time. “Just hang on, Gretch,” he mumbled, although he wasn’t entirely sure she was in trouble. A part of him still hoped she’d found someone and just wanted to fuck him in peace or something before reappearing as if nothing had happened.

Her twenty-third birthday was coming up. And whether she liked it or not, he was going to find her before then. She had to have said something before she “disappeared”. A clue, somewhere. There were hundreds of Brandons in the world and it would take some time to find the face to match her drawing. Getting the last known location for her cellphone was still in the works. He had some strings, but not nearly as many as his father did.

“Fuck, Gretch. Where’d you go?” he growled. He shifted through her mail, tossing the spam letters onto the ground. His body grew cold when he saw a familiar package. “Shit, fuck, shit! Please, Gretch. Don’t let this be what I think it is.” He tentatively reached out and picked up the package. Tapping it with his fingers for a moment, he willed himself to open it, dumping out the contents onto the table. 

“Fuck! Gretchen!” he yelled at nothing. A very familiar pill bottle landed on the table. He picked up the full three months' worth of medication with his left hand shaking his head. She had to have expected to return back home before running out. She knew how important it was for her to take them. She could get away with taking one a day for a short while, but if she quit, stopped altogether, she would lose her god-damn fucking mind. 

He absentmindedly rubbed his left shoulder with his right hand as a throbbing pain pulsed through it. What if she’d already lost her mind? Bringing his right hand down, he tapped his fingers on the table. 

“Fuck,” he whispered again. He needed to involve his father. He didn’t want to. He was going to be so pissed. But he had better connections than Nathan. He’d be able to find her quickly if she somehow wound up in a mental hospital for being such an idiot. She always complained about the pills, hating them, saying she didn’t feel right. But she had to take them. 

Grabbing his cellphone, he dialed his father’s number and held the phone up to his ear. He steeled himself. There was no going back. His father needed to know.

“Hello, Nathan,” his father answered. Fuck! He knew. The tone of his voice already had a firmness to it.

“Hey, dad,” he replied, hating how soft his own voice was. He felt like a small child about to be reprimanded. 

“Where is she?”

Despite preparing himself, Nathan still felt chills run through his body. “I… I don’t know,” he replied. “I just found out a couple days ago. I’ve been sending my guys out. But, she did a really good job of practically disappearing. Only real clue I got is this drawing she made of a guy named Brandon. I’ll send you a copy.”

“Okay,” his father replied. “Anything else?”

“It’s been three months,” Nathan said. He felt like a failure. 

His father let out a heavy sigh. “Alright, well, I know I talked to her a little over a week ago, and she was alright then.”

“Same,” Nathan said in agreement. 

“Anything else?” 

Nathan stared at the full bottle of pills. “Yeah,” he finally admitted. “I’ve got a full bottle of her pills in my hand.”

There was a long pause before his father let out a heavy sigh.

“You don’t think-” Nathan started to ask, but his father interrupted him.

“You know she’s done this once before, Nate,” his father said with another heavy sigh. “I’ll search hospitals. Do you have an idea of where she has gone?”

Nathan shook his head, even though his father couldn’t see him. “Not yet,” he said. “I’ve got my contacts on it.”

“Good.” The way he said it made Nathan frown. He wasn’t sure why. 

“I’ll let you know if I find her in a hospital so you can go to her with her pills.”

“Okay,” Nathan replied. “I’ll let you know if I find her, or at least what city or town she could have gone to.”

“Alright,” his father said. 

Nathan’s shoulder sagged slightly. “Sorry, dad.” The words slipped out before he could stop them. 

“It’s alright, son,” his father replied. “Last time we were able to stop her. This time we weren’t so lucky. I’m sure it won’t happen again.”

He nodded in agreement even though his father couldn’t see him. 

“Check her apartment again, Nate. She’s pretty good at hiding things when she wants to.”

“Well, her apartment was pretty empty, but I’ll give it another thorough check.” He shifted uncomfortably as a small silence engulfed their conversation. “Don’t worry, dad. We’ll find her alive.”

“I know,” his father replied. “She’s too stubborn to die.”

They both let out a pained chuckle. 

“I’m going to make my calls now. Goodbye, son. Love you.”

“Bye, dad. Love you, too.” Nathan set his cellphone on the table and stared at the pills again. He should have called his father the moment he found out she was missing. He had wasted two days. “We’re going to find you soon, Gretchen,” he said, clenching the bottle. “You’ll be okay.”

Chapter 9 - Dining Room Chat

#michael myers x oc #Smut #horror #noncon tw #Slashers #fanfiction #michael myers fanfic #tw noncon

[inaris-pokemon-world]

What could you happily give a two hour lecture on? :3 (info dumb awaaayyyy)

Okay, so SO! I am absolutely obsessed with genetics and color morphs. I read about them all the time when I have downtime. And I love the idea of figuring out Pokémon genetics, or at least how I’d do them.

Seeing pictures of color morphs like melanism, albinism, piebaldism, etc. get me so excited. Especially if you get into less talked about stuff like xanthochromism or isabellinism.

I will literally chat your ear off over things like the differences between albinism, amelanism, leucism, and isabellinism, or how pseudomelanism works. And do NOT get me started on white patching, dilution genes, or stuff like fur length and texture genes.

I’m not sure how understandable this is to people who don’t know about color morphs and such, but I’m always excited to talk about it!

#munday ask #mod kit #color morphs

[hylasregillasisopods]

Porcellio scaber 'Erythristic' (left) vs 'Spanish Orange' (right)

While both orange, the Erythristic morph is still capable of producing melanin, allowing for black eyes and brown head/antennae. While the traditional Spanish Orange is amelanistic, with an all orange body and red eyes.

#erythrism #amelanism #isopods #porcellio scaber #bugblr #isopodblr #isopod genetics #p. scaber erythristic #p. scaber spanish orange #crowded bugs

[dullanyan]

the different breeds of candy corn.

as you can see, on the left we have the Common Candy Corn, or the Lesser Candy Corn.

they start off life with a yellow bottom and no white tip, but as they age it slowly fades in. their families are usually much bigger in numbers.

On the top, we have the Greater Candy Corn, a far less commonly seen type with smaller clutches. Though the two types are nearly indistinguishable when mature, except for the size, you can see the Greater starts off life with a white tip and lack the yellow bottom. this is something they grow later on.

and a rare find, on the right we have either a case of amelanism or xanthochromism on a Greater Candy Corn. This makes a creature usually stand out to predators, and i have to wonder about the scar its parent has... did it obtain that chip from protecting its young?

They all appear to cohabitate peacefully.

#mawcie.txt #food #unreality

[willaux]

trying to be more consistent with how i draw her

#i haven't finished any drawings in awhile because i'm teaching myself how to model in blender :] #i have a bunch of sketches though... #jolly art tag #oc: amelan

[omg-snakes]

Hi I am about 90% sure I'm asking the right snek tumblr but I follow like. fifty of you. Do you know what X% PH means when it's about morphs? Like I'll see something like idk 50% PH albino and what does that MEAN I've tried to look it up but have found nothing, possibly because I'm searching the wrong terms but who knows.

Anyway. Hope you have a lovely day :)

Hey friend!

PH means "possibly heterozygous," and the percentage is about how possible the heterozygous-ness is.

This comes up when you have one or both parent snakes who are known to be heterozygous for a recessive trait, but it's not certain whether or not their offspring are het since it's not visible. This isn't an arbitrary number nor a guarantee of genetics, it's just a statistical probability that the snake is carrying that gene.

For example, let's say you are breeding two wild-type corn snakes and one is het for the recessive Amelanistic gene. The babies will have a 50/50 chance of inheriting the Amel gene, but they would also be het since they can only get one copy of the trait from the one parent who carries it. Since you can't see a heterozygous recessive trait, all of the babies would be listed as 50% possibly heterozygous for Amelanism, or 50% PH Amel.

If both parents are het for Amel and neither are homozygous, statistically about 1/4 of the babies would be homozygous visual Amel, 2/4 would be heterozygous Amel wild-types, and 1/4 would be of the babies would be wild-types with no heterozygous traits at all. Percentage-wise, the wild-type babies would be 66.667% PH Amel.

Of course, nature doesn't exactly adhere to statistics, so any time you see "PH" consider it a possible bonus or advisement, but not a guarantee of genetics.

I hope that helps!

#snake #snakes #reptile #reptiles #reptiblr #answers to questions #text post #snake genetics #snake breeding

[is-the-snake-video-cute]

Why are albino ball pythons usually a mix of yellow and white? Do leucistic ball pythons have any health problems or special care associated with it? I always wanted a pure white snake when I move out, and I sort of fear the additional costs of an already expensive morph.

When we call snakes "albino," we're referring to a pigment mutation that's more accurately described as "amelanism," meaning the mutation causes the absence of the pigment melanin.

In mammals, melanin is the main pigment that determines skin, hair, and eye color. That's why albino mammals are often entirely white. Albinism isn't just a pigment mutation, either, and albino mammals are almost always born with eye and gastrointestinal issues.

In reptiles like snakes, it's a little bit different. Amelanism is strictly a pigment mutation, and albino snakes aren't born with the same issues that albino mammals are. But why aren't amelanistic snakes all-white, like albino mammals?

In snakes, melanin isn't the primary pigment that determines skin/scale/eye color. With ball pythons as our examples, there are two primary pigments - melanin (black) and xanthin (yellow).

The amelanistic gene only removes the melanin, but the xanthin pigment is still fully present. Thus, you get a white and yellow snake!

Leucism gives us an all-white snake because the gene for leucism turns off all those pigments. The only pigment a leucistic snake has is in their eyes (unlike amelanistic snakes, who will appear to have red eyes because the lack of melanin in their eyes means you can see the blood vessels!).

Piebald is actually partial leucism! The white patches are areas with no pigmentation at all.

Pigment-affecting genes in snakes usually aren't associated with any health issues (morphs that cause issues, like spider, are the exception and not the rule). Albino and leucistic snakes do not require any special care! The only note is that snakes with reduced melanin in their eyes, like albinos, are sensitive to bright light, so as long as you don't shine bright lights in their eyes you'll be fine. Leucies are actually a bit better than albinos in that regard; because they still have dark pupils, their eyes aren't as sensitive.

#not a rating #snake morphs