#moss bear

Some of my favorite arts from 2022! WIPs, sketches and finished pieces included

So! Here's a short story for my friend @whore-of-socks

:3

“It’s just a tiny bear of moss.”

The audience stops dead, gasps. The Grand Dame looks like she will swoon into the All Hallow’s cake. The gentlemen with salmon heads gawk, the aristocratic ladies with their elaborate dresses spin around twice in disbelief. Effectively, all eyes are on her. Grace is c o n f u s e d. And suddenly self-conscious of the dark flowers blooming from her scalp and flowing into her brown braids.

“That moss bear is a tiny monster, dearest niece. Please, just throw it in the river, and let’s get on with your Flowering party. Don’t you know it’s special when you first flower on one of the eves where our veils are thinnest? Why would you bring something like that here?” The Grand Dame gently scolds when she has recovered. To Grace, it is anything but gentle.

She looks down at the creature resting in her palm, the tiny, fuzzy green bear staring right into her soul. Helpless. Innocent. It nibbles at her thumb, oblivious to the spidery hand reaching-

Grace doesn’t think, she just reacts. She gingerly places him in her lining pocket of her many-pocketed adventuring coat and draws her runed sword to the Dame’s porcelain chin. It makes a little stone tap, the threat implicit. 

“Too late, his name is Deku, and he’s my son. Fight me for his life if you dare, for his life is now yours and mine.”

Her aunt scoffs, taking a step back, tapping a needle-y finger against her black button necklace. Your aunt gained her beauty from the Wood Beast, but her wealth is from seamstressing fine button coats, the staticy voice that only you seem to hear supplied. Her too-pale face scowls, and even when she scowls her round face is pretty. All black eyes burn coldly for the first time at her beloved niece.

“Grace Woolii, I know you’re going through a lot since your dad was taken, but don’t you dare raise your sword to me over a vicious beast in the making! If your dad were here, he would say the same thing.” She snarl-whispered, rage just under the skin.

“You would know a lot about vicious beasts, wouldn’t you?”, Grace said, once again not thinking.

“You take that back! Now!”

“No, it’s true!”

“One. Two. THREE.”

She briefly notices that the guests have all evacuated to under the many tables in the candle-lit hall, but then the Grand Dame is upon them. Your legs are swept out from under you. Deku squeals, you hold a hand to keep him secure, the other going up to block your aunt’s metal hand. You shriek, realising the other hand is coming down to Deku. A huge piece of cake hits her face, though. You hightail it out of there, only looking back to wave to this weird wooden doll boy standing sheepishly near the cake, your aunt splutters in the background. Oh hey its Max, the voice unhelpfully comments. Past the wooden, intricate oak doors. Into the woods. Across the stream. And finally, finally home in The Nothing.

Grace heaves, slowly sinking down into the outline of dark grass. Her aunt would have another conniption if she ever found out that she’s been visiting the dark parts of the woods. Ha! Like she’s never!

She lays down into the darkness, careful not to squish Deku. The forest sounds feeling like it half belongs to static, half to the gods. Soothing. The mushrooms are not here to judge, just here for all. Grace gently untangles Deku from the inside of her pocket. He clings to her palm.

“It’s ok bud. Nothing is going to hurt you.”

She starts to hum a familiar tune, but you’re not sure where you’ve heard it. Oh well. It calms Deku down, and that’s good enough for you. She adds, almost to herself, “I promise.”

“Back so soon? It’s just been an hour, little rose.” The static, but rich voice asks, just behind her head, almost whispering into her ear. To her credit, she doesn’t flinch. You do. Dammit. 

She simply side eyes him, holding a sleeping Deku into her chest.

“Who are you?”

“Oh, sorry. I’m the Wood Beast. I took a ride with you when you last left my humble little corner of The Nothing. I see that you’ve become a tad attached to this little one,” he points to the tiny mass of green mush nuzzled into her chest, “And that may become a problem for both of us.”

She bares her sharp teeth at it. They weren’t very threatening.

“What’s your angle?” Things like it usually wanted from the living.

“I feel we better make a deal. I will let you keep it, teach you how to care for it. If you just do the odd favor for me. Sound fair?”

Grace relaxed only a small bit. The Wood Beast, like any other being here, cannot lie. But by the stories she heard from her father, trusting in things like it is what cost her aunt her eyes.

She had to take this chance, for him.

“You made Deku, and every other moss bear?”

“I did.”

“You’ve made other things, and other deals.”

“I have.”

“Make me your apprentice.”

Glowing whites blink slowly. It tilts its head, thin antlers rustling their leaves. You can’t see its mouth, but you swear it’s grinning.

LEVEL END.

Moss Bear awayyyyy! 🌱🐻🌈

I am so pleased to bid this spacecraft adieu and watch them fly off to their new home.

I painted Moss Bear in 2018, and believe me it doesn't feel like 6+ years have passed. It was my first year focusing on making art full-time, and it's fun to see which paintings have since sold and which are still hanging out, waiting for their perfect person. I will miss this fella's mellow presence on my wall, but I always hoped this day would come :')

Keep an eye on your gardens; if you're lucky enough to be in the flight path of a Moss Bear your plants are about to flourish.

Happy Spring!

Now I know what you’re thinking, “Wtf is a tardigrade?” and I fully expect you to not understand what it is.

A tardigrade, or water bear or moss bear, is a microscopic animal that lives in moist environments and is virtually indestructible.

Indestructible? You’re making this up! I can assure you I am not!  First, check out this gif:

Behold, a naked biped!!

Jk, it’s a tardigrade! Now, these things are herbivores and cause no known health problems to humans, so they are completely harmless. Yet, they are the most resilient animal known as they can survive without water for decades, withstand the crushing pressure that is found at the deepest parts of the ocean, withstand high levels of radiation, and even survive in the harsh vacuum of space! A team of Japanese scientists even thawed a group of tardigrades that were frozen for 30 years! And the tardigrades woke up and began going about business as if not being frozen for 30 years.

When I say “indestructible,” I quite literally mean indestructible.

While tardigrades are extremely resilient, they are still living creatures and must expire at some point. Ironically for the majority of tardigrades, this is a short few months, maximum 2.5 years.

How in the hell can an animal that is so indestructible only live for so long? 

Let me walk you through the science of this. :)

So there are thousands of species of tardigrades. Each one possessing different adaptations that allows them to survive different conditions better than others. Some live on the deep ocean floor, others in hot springs, some are frozen in glaciers. But what adaptation allows all of them to survive these conditions?

When a tardigrade is faced with an extremely hostile environment, they tuck their legs in, expel all moisture from the bodies, reduce their metabolism by 99.99%, and produce an organic molecule called glycerol and another molecule known as trehalose. The desiccated body of the tardigrade is now called a tun. The glycerol in the tun acts as an antifreeze, something that many other organisms do as well (like frogs), and keeps the tun from completely frozen. Trehalose is secreted from the tun and encases it, creating a glassy cocoon-like structure that protects the tun and keeps it in the glycerol.

On the left is a tardigrade just wondering about, and on the right is the tun.

How do they revert back to their original state and out of their tun state?

Just add water and wait :)