proofofahero

[proofofahero]

inbox call!

[proofofahero]

As the two bantered, Orgo felt the last few hairs bristling out of his tail smooth down. One definitive swish cemented his assurance there wasn't a lick of animosity to be found there anymore; just plenty of good-natured rivalry. When they laughed, he couldn't help but join them.

"Oh, yea? Huh! No foolin'. Usually you hunter types make it loud and clear when you've lent a paw in bringing down a monster," his whiskers twitched in lieu of having two good eyes to wink with. "Well, my bad for not givin' credit where credit is due. Thank you both for savin' the world's tail back there!"

"But hey, it's pawsitively clawdacious to hear about how you two have become purrfect pals! Bet our shared pawtners are also enjoyin' the change of pace."

The mention of Tsukino and Navirou gave him pause. Tilting his head back to watch cloud roll by, he scratched his chin in thought.

"How've those two been, anyhow? Haven't had a chance to catch up with either of 'em with all the rebuildin' fuss." He shrugged, "just been barkin' out orders. That's no way to say 'meowdy-doo', I'll tell ya."

SHE HAD A FEELING HE MIGHT BRING THAT UP, and to be honest, Mari doesn't mind it. She could see Kyle sheepishly rub at his spiky head again, and look away. In that moment, she wondered what the other teen was thinking. The other youth could be gruff and dishonest with his feelings at the best of times, often facading his kindness with a tough, cold exterior. But when it came to those he cared most about, he was more willing to wear his heart on his sleeve.

The way he acted, it seemed as if he still had some hang-ups he hadn't fully come forward with. It was possible he harbored an awful lot of guilt for past actions, even after atoning for them.

Mari offers Kyle a reassuring smile. "Yeah, we been there, done that. But Kyle's actually pretty strategic in battle. If not for him we probably wouldn' have figured out that thing's weakspot, right Kyle?"

"Oh—yeah. But Ratha gave us the boost I needed to make that shot." Kyle tittered humbly.

"You jumped off his back fully prepared to take one for the team, I saw that!" "Yeah, like you're one to talk, rider—scaring us all with that fall you had!" The hunter teases.

And surprisingly, they both laugh if off. Mari could sense Chama and Chunma rolling their eyes at the humans' friendly banter as they trailed behind.

"We'll keep in touch. When we met up in Lulucion to come here, I met his dad." Mari snickered, "You should have seen the look on that man's face when he saw you petting Red!"

"Only after Ratha begged me to!" "You're not helpin' your case, man." Mari chuckles and picks up her stride.

[proofofahero]

Kyle approached, and Orgo did his best to keep his tail from bristling. Ears flicked back as he reached out, and whiskers twitched as the hand touched her shoulder. There suddenly wasn't a breeze anymore - not one he could feel. His one good eye darted between the two, wide.

They exchanged barbs instead of fists, and only the playful glimmer in Mari's eye got him to relax.

Right, right, they're friends now. He still wasn't used to that.

Orgo released a breath he didn't realize he was holding and replaced it with a more confident smile.

"Sure thing C'mon, this way."

The walk back to the felyne shelter wasn't a long walk by any means. It also wasn't short enough to avoid small talk, and the longer Orgo followed the pair, the harder it became to not start up conversation.

His chewing stick got a good chomp first.

"Y'know," he started, "it's nice to see you two not going at it like felynes and canynes for once - if you don't mind me sayin'."

"I get why you were," though his tone said otherwise, "me n' Navirou had our hissing matches, now and again. but I tell ya, between you two and the ragin' meowsters, it felt like I was gonna lose several of my nine lives!"

There was a chuckle at the end there as he shook his head. He straightened his back and sighed, looking to the sky.

"Glad it all worked out, though. Y'think you two are gonna stay in touch after the village is back on its paws?" He paused to mull over what he'd just said. When he spoke next, his voice quavered with an apologetic twang, "...Ooorr am I missing something again?"

"EN' SHOULD BE JUST ABOUT DONE adjusting the slings, so whenever you're ready, sir." Wherever they could, they'd been making themselves useful. Obviously Mari was in charge of leading the monsties, but where Ena had lacked in muscle, she made up for in strategy, morale and helping with equipment in a few areas. One thing the wyverian had a particular talent with was listening to instructions, which she in turn, gave to others with finesse.

The monsties had had empty slings strapped to their gear and saddles, and were prepared to carry possibly heavy loads like pack mules. As it turns out, Ratha and Streak were both well suited for it; the latter was used to the work after helping rebuild Kuan, and Ratha had that natural strength.

As for Chama and Chunma, while they weren't the best in terms of brute strength, their dexterous, lengthy tongues could be used to lift up pails full of materials and tools. Mari wasn't about to risk letting her two pukeis get mouths full of splinters by handling lumber!

The comment about taking a break gets a small, reassuring nod and a smile. "You're welcome." Silently, she thought to herself that it would be a while before she'd earn a 'proper' break. It would be a while before everything returned to a semblance of normalcy, and it wasn't like they could just make those leftover pits go away.

"Mari," She hears a voice call from beside her. She turns just in time to see Kyle, who plants a hand on her shoulder and gives it a small, friendly squeeze. "So. How can I help you guys?"

"I thought you were helping Tsukino?" Mari raised her brows at him. "Yeah, well—herding gargwa flocks isn't exactly my specialty." With a clear of his throat, the other teen looks away almost sheepishly.

"Aww, branching out a bit, huh hunter boy?" Mari teases back. Orgo would be able see the looks in their eyes. They weren't looks of disdain or even a hint of spite. It was the look shared between two friendly rivals, friends, even.

Such a long way they both had come . . .

With a strong pat on his back, Mari grins chipperly at the young hunter. "Then you can help me load supplies into the monsties' slings. Orgo? Let's get these foundations set up, what do ya say?"

[proofofahero]

Quick as a flash, her knife was on the board again; shoving an eye-boggling large cut onto a waiting spread of burlap. With the row disturbed, it became clear that only one other cut was made so thick, whilst the rest remained a more reasonable (by Hunter standards) size. The Grammeowster crinkled her nose just so, the firelight catching the glass of her spectacles in such a way that it almost looked like she winked.

"Already ahead of you," she purred.

She turned away and began wrapping the first cut. The old felyne was more than happy to gab as she did.

"Don't go apawlogizin' for wanting to keep people fed, girl." She paused. "Well, people and meowsters, that is. Point being, every living thing's gotta eat."

With barely a huff of exertion, she lifted the mighty parcel off the table. She waddled quick-like over to where Mari was sat, setting the first package before her. The Grammeowster took a second to exhale and adjust her spectacles. She leaned around to give a warm smile.

"Can't think of nothing sweeter than making sure they do."

Then she was back at the cutting board, setting up a new burlap spread to place the second cut on.

"Besides, you wish you were putting a dent in my inventory!" She continued. "Nice thing about working with hunters is that the only place I'll ever run out of meat is in my dreams. Why, the Admiral was just in here this meowrning. Purractically dragged an entire Larinoth through my door!"

She twisted about to point her knife at the meat still on the cutting board, "that's where your cut came from."

Turning back to bundling, she paused again. Her ear flicked as she tilted her head upwards, searching the ceiling for a memory.

She scoffed when it came back.

"Now, if you wanna talk about ruinin' my larder, there was this pawsitively ravenous trouble-maker in here just a week ago who decimated the bakery. Rude little beast, that one!"

"HEHE . . ." COMMENT EARNS A SHEEPISH CHUCKLE. She's a stubborn girl, but even Mari has learned her lesson from a previous canteen visit. At least this time, she didn't have a reason to rush a meal! "Yes ma'am . . ."

Mari didn't pursue cooking as a passionate hobby. Though she prided herself in what she could make with casual ingredients, she didn't spend hours upon hours creating feasts for herself and others. Still . . . she was a foodie, and someone who respected culinary masters through her own mentorship under Calico. Mari wonders how the old cat is doing . . .

"Three cuts. One to divide among the others. The other two are for the monsties. You mind, uh . . . making one of them a bit bigger? I can pay extra." Aside from just respecting her elders, Mari felt a bit bad. "I hope we aren't putting too much of a dent in your inventory . . . Probably never had to cater to so many monsters in addition to the rest of us, til' I showed up."

[proofofahero]

Ratha was sweet and gentle towards Orgo, as he often is with just about everyone. But the boys—Chama and Chunma—are not so much. Chama dangles upside-down from a tree, his long tongue sweeping across to latch onto the donut in Orgo's paw and scoop it up. Rather than devour it, he hangs it tauntingly over the stout felyne, gekkering and bobbing his head as if he were giggling with amusement.

"Bwuh -- HEY!!"

Talk about ruined relaxation! Just when Orgo'd gotten cozy, a thieving tongue swooped out of the canopy to steal his treat! The felyne nearly bolted, and it was only sound of cheeky warbling that stopped him in his tracks. When he looked up, he discovered not an attack, but a donut hanging in the wind.

His donut.

He recognized that Pukei-Pukei's chittering anywhere. Orgo's tail, already poofed out, practically buzzed with frustration.

He made to jump for it. "Gimme that back, ya big --"

"-- OOF!"

And promptly landed on his face. Above him, the donut dropped back down to where it previously dangled.

Groaning, Orgo rolled onto his back. He locked eyes with the mischievous Chama, and raised his paw with a shaking fist.

"Wait until Mari hears about this!" He yowled, "Pawsitively purrposterous, I tell ya!!"

[proofofahero]

If Orgo had known that there'd be so much hustle and bustle after the end of the world got averted, he'd have asked for vacation days. As it was, he'd been up on his feet for so long that he'd about forgotten that they weren't supposed to be so sore. Eager felynes buzzed about him like vigorwasps, practically yowling for tasks to complete. His chewing stick became a baton; flailing here and there as he sent the lot to various chores.

When he'd finally a moment to himself, he slumped against a box with a weary sigh. It was times like these that he wasn't sure he was cut out for being the boss of such a big operation.

Mari's call was sweet relief to his tingling ear, which swiveled faster than his body could to meet her.

"Mari! Good to see ya."

He was back up on his paws at once, massaging a sore muscle in his shoulder as he addressed her.

"Helpin', huh? Well, if the monsties are up for some heavy liftin', we can start bringin' in the bricks for house foundations. Got 'em stockpiled in the shelter. I'll help guide where they need to go - the new road'll make things easier, too. Marks out the plots of land that everyone's new homes will eventually be on. Pawsitively clawdacious stuff, huh?"

A sweeping arm gestured to the impressive stretch of dirt path that made for a future main street. A dozen offshoots gave the affair the appearance of a young sapling in the earth, preparing to sprout its first few leaves. Orgo stood back on his haunches, taking a moment to admire it.

Just a month ago, he would've shaken his head at the idea of building things back so soon. Crazy how things changed in just a whisker's length of time, huh?

Maybe it wasn't so impossible to be head honcho. Not with miracles on his side.

An idle claw tapped the end of his chewing stick. He looked to his miracle-worker and smiled, warmly.

"You and your pals oughta be takin' a break, after savin' the world and all," he mused, "But I can't say I don't appreciate the help. Thanks again, Mari."

"SO. ORGO." A hand plants on her hip, and she looks expectantly down at the old felyne with a smile. "What do you want me to do, chief?"

A month had passed since Oltura's defeat, but while the threat of mass-extinction had been eliminated for now, it still left plenty of clean-up to do. Monsters run amok, and whole ecosystems had been upheaved by the rage-rays and the massive pits. Among these things, the felynes of Pomore had been one of the more unfortunate victims, their entire community displaced when their village had been swallowed up.

Seeing as Hakolo Island was steadily returning to a vague routine, and his allies had recovered from their endeavors, Navirou expressed that he wanted to go to Pomore to help old friends. Tsukino joined in, and—well, given that they'd been attached to the hip for so long, Mari felt it wrong to let her felyne friends go by themselves.

Somehow, this eventually translated into her entire party coming along—even Ena. Despite her lack of connections, she'd grown a fondness for Pomore and its denizens. And she felt that lending a hand would certainly make all the work ahead far more attainable.

Navirou and Tsukino had already split off to do their respective tasks. Kyle had naturally gone to Tsukino first, but saw Mari conversing with the felyne and set aside his bundle of wood. Lately, the hunter had been gravitating towards her like she was some sort of magnet.

. . . Honestly, Mari didn't mind so much.

"I got the monsties, so heavy-lifting shouldn't be a problem. Just point me to where you need to go." Mari suggests.

@proofofahero - orgo

[proofofahero]

ESPINAS ECOLOGY HCS.

Espinas fill a similar ecological niche to grizzly bears; solitary, opportunistic tertiary consumers with an emphasis on scavenging, small game, fatty invertebrates, and plant matter. They prefer nutrient-rich, fatty, low-effort foods when compared to other flying wyverns. Arzuros fills a similar niche in more temperate regions, though it lacks Espinas’s dominance over inter-specific dynamics within the food web. 

Espinas spend a majority of the day sleeping. They prefer to forage diurnally. This, with their diet, allows them to conserve incredible bursts of energy. 

Whilst the chemical compounds in affliction toads and hornetaurs are key to Espinas’s deadly venom, they aren’t as much a main-stay in its diet as one might believe. These organisms simply don’t offer enough nutrition outside their toxins to justify it. Instead, they serve a supplementary role. The closest analog in our world would be macro-fauna like elephants eating salt and clay for the added minerals, though this is an imperfect comparison. 

Some Espinas individuals have been recorded forgoing toads and bugs altogether; preferring more convenient foods like parashrooms and toadstools.

Fascinatingly, recent breakthroughs have proposed that Espinas's chemical fire may have different properties based on what toxic organisms it eats. For example, fire that releases more potent gasses has been connected to higher ratios of affliction toads within an Espinas's diet. Meanwhile, chemical fire that burns from thicker, corrosive saliva has been connected to a preference for hornetaurs.

The belief that Espinas has one of the toughest hides of all monsters is a bit of a misconception. Its scales are a bit on the thicker side to be sure, but they certainly don’t hold a candle to the likes of Gravios. What actually makes Espinas so hard to hit are its spines. Durable, needle-sharp, and packed with venom, an Espinas’s spines practically cover every inch of its body. There just isn’t anywhere to land a good hit. 

Combine the above with how Espinas’s low-energy lifestyle allows bursts of intense aggression when threatened, and for most competitors, an Espinas simply isn’t worth the trouble of fighting. As such, Espinas populations tend to dominate ecosystems in which they are found. Other predators have been seen avoiding Espinas territories entirely whenever possible.

Due to Espinas's place in the food web as a low-energy apex that most creatures give a wide berth, there has been a history of humans actively encouraging Espinas to claim an area around a settlement as its territory. Some cultures view Espinas as a protector animal, saving villages from the smallest pest to the most cataclysmic of elders. As such, the relationship between humans and Espinas is extremely tenuous. The guild has been debating whether to crack down on these interactions for some time now. One side argues that it endangers both the people and the monster, whilst the other argues that it encourages conservation and a deeper respect for nature.

Another misconception, born from eyewitness accounts and folklore, is the idea that Espinas is as dangerous as an elder dragon. Whilst it is true that there are credible reports of an Espinas chasing a Kushala Daora out of its territory, this isn’t a result of categorical power scaling. Rather, for yet-to-be-understood reasons, the poor toxicity tolerance within the Daora genus makes it easy for Espinas to deter the elder in the right circumstances. If challenged by an elder with proper toxic tolerance, it can be assumed Espinas will be out-competed. Espinas is simply not worth the time of most elders, who often have wildly different resource needs when compared to the Thorny Wyvern.

More research must be done into whether Daora and Espinas conflicts are common, how common it is for Espinas to emerge as the victor, as well as to why Daoras would seek out intersperse competition that it’s at such a clear disadvantage at.

[proofofahero]

Mun talks about the Muse

Send one of the following to ask the mun… (please specify muse for multis)

✍ Favorite thing about writing the muse? 👀Favorite thing about the muse’s appearance? 🌌Favorite alternate version of the muse? 💕Favorite ship for the muse?  💔Least favorite ship for the muse? 💢Something about the muse that annoys you? 😈Worst thing you’ve ever done to your muse?  😂Funniest thing that’s ever happened to your muse?  💡 What inspires you to write the muse?  📷 Favorite picture/screencap of your muse? 📑 Favorite part of your muse’s backstory?  📝 Favorite headcanon for your muse?  😒 Is there anything canon about your muse that you ignore?  🔮 What do you see in your muse’s future?  🔥 Unpopular opinion about your muse?  💭 Favorite memory of the muse?  😩 Hardest thing about writing the muse?  ⌨ What’s a situation you’ve always wanted to RP with the muse?  🎭 How similar are you and the muse? 

[proofofahero]

His mewls were met by a twitch of her whiskers in kind; her lip pursed tight and her brows furrowed. Her tail swished as she turned away. Without a word, she plucked the lid back off the offending stew pot. A burst of steam fogged her spectacles, only to dissipate in the relative cool. She pushed up her glasses, fished a spoonful out with her ladle, and brought the warm broth up to her mouth.

A sip, a thoughtful smacking of the lips, and a nod. Her ladle returned to her side as she replaced the lid with a heavy clnk.

"Ten more minutes," she concluded. "And you'll have to starve until then, young man! Stars guide me, you've darn near cleared my kitchen out of bread! My poor appurentices are running on overtime to bake the diffurence!"

Her sweeping arm gestured to the top of the stairs, where a pair of ragged-looking felynes hunched dismally over mountains of dough. Piles of baskets, emptied of all but a few crumbs, boxed them into their workstations. Their trembling paws worked slow and meekly, barely able to manage kneading the mounds into workable balls. One hissed as they snatched their paw away, rubbing the wrist.

"I'll NOT have you spoiling your appurtite like that! You want the stew of the day, and all the fixin's?" She glowered at him over the tip of a scolding claw, "Get back in your seat, sit purroper and polite. I mean paws folded, silverware set. And wait!"

She moved quick -- out came the ladle, prodding him in the chest.

"I can throw you out myself if I got to."

A ladle, still steaming hot with stew residue, squarely pointed itself towards his nose like how one might point a blade.

"They're still cookin'," The Grammeowster said, nibbling on her chef's treat, "Be patient."

The ladle said the or else for her.

[proofofahero]

Sweet-red medallions of glistening meat fell into a tidy, single-file line on the cutting board. The Grammeowster's ear twitched beneath her hood. She chuckled; crackling oven-fire giving the sound a pleasantly rumbling undertone. A soft, orange glow glinted off the knife as she turned away from the table. Fishing a rag from her apron, she gave Mari a smile.

"Well," she hummed, wiping the blade, "so long as you're minding your meow-nners and aren't skipping your meals, I can't see me ever needing to."

"Now, how many cuts are you wanting, child? Need anything set aside for tomorrow?"

SHE WATCHES AS THE GRAMMEOWSTER CARVES straight through the hide of the meat she was preparing, all without so much as blunting the knife. Suddenly, Mari feels very intimidated. "Remind me not to get on your bad side."

@proofofahero liked for a one-liner!

[proofofahero]

Redraw of last year's Rathalos/Rathian design! Might do a few more of these, it's always fun to revisit old pieces.

[proofofahero]

What the hell does he want. (twitter ref)

[proofofahero]

Hi there

Sorry for the lack of art, anyway here’s a quick Deviljho

[proofofahero]

when wil/ds releases and we get to see their full ecology im absolutely adding a dosha/guma to this blog. i love them so much. are you kidding me

[proofofahero]

guess what i learned yesterday.

[proofofahero]

Girl Dinner ✨

[proofofahero]

A retouch of an old old piece! Still super proud of it, didn't need all that much work to bring it up to standard. Mizutsune taking a cozy lil nap!