#avian velocity

[sixteenth-days]

avian cleo. :0 please I love cleo so much

The zombie, standing idle in a clearing, raised its head and sniffed the air, swinging around dumbly in search of food.

Cleo hit its shoulders at terminal velocity, driving it straight down to the ground. She dug talons into rotten flesh and felt it give with sickening ease, wrapping claws securely around its collarbone as she pinned it, wriggling weakly, to the dirt.

She sat back for a moment, studying it, brown wings still spread side. A loose feather, pulled free by the velocity, fluttered to the dirt. Yeah, it seemed to be about the right size. It would do.

She picked up one foot and, with one neat stomp, crushed its skull. Its jerky movements stopped abruptly.

She rolled it onto its back, and, with her talons, set about dissecting. She needed a new kidney and maybe a heart, if this one was any good, but one look confirmed that it wasn't. Oh, well- the kidney would be enough to make this worth it, anyways.

She could always eat the rest. Vultures weren't, generally speaking, picky.

(Send me Hermit fanon switcheroo asks!)

[abyssalzones]

I don’t know the name of their species sorry but the birds in escape velocity, do they have a natural colour patterning? I know Venus and Mars dye their feathers (not sure if you specified with Gienah) also generally does their species prefer to dye their feathers? Or is this something specific to these characters? Sorry if this is counts as spoiler territory I love xenofiction stories :-)

excellent question! the species you're referring to are Ikarians, the "avian" sapspecies of andromeda, and the natural coloration of their feathers is highly dependent on both geographic region and sexual dimorphism- though each condition can vary wildly, depending on genetics (some Ikarian geographic groups with more distinct sexual dimorphism may see intersex members of the species with a unique blend of feather pigmentation, though this is not applicable to all intersex Ikarians).

Gienah's feathers are not dyed, as she lives in a recently liberated desert community where the practice is relatively uncommon. However, that doesn't mean it's impossible, or that it's unheard of for various cultures on Alra-Mehra (the Ikarian home planet) to participate in feather dying, either by way of more naturally sourced dyes or chemical ones they produce themselves. In many cultures it's seen as a form of social expression on par with wearing a tie to denote your job, indicating the social position of your family lineage, or even to signify your availability as a nesting partner.

In Venus and Mars's respective cases however, both grew up in very socially-terran environments, and their access to feather dye would have been in commercialized forms that are purely cosmetic. There are a number of natural feather dye products that are supposedly less irritating, but they also tend to need re-applying far more often than their mass-produced counterparts. Many Ikarians raised off Alra-Mehra see it as a form of reclaiming cultural heritage, though the act of full-body feather dyeing is very uncommon back on their home planet, and would probably be viewed as a very off-worlder thing to do.

you can actually also see part of venus's natural coloration here, since they change it up a little later in the comic for... reasons.

thanks for the question!

[frogblast-the-ventcore]

The Ciprians

The Royal Republic of Ciprine is the nationstate inhabited by the majority of the Ciprian species. While vaguely resembling avians and largely covered in a metallic carapace, Ciprians are in fact mammalian, giving live birth and nursing their young. Being descended from an arboreal flight capable predator species has given Ciprians traits such as forward-facing eyes, clawed hands, and a prominent array of teeth. They are omnivores, but their dietary needs skew towards requiring a high amount of meat. Their carapace evolved as a form of natural armor, as their primordial ancestors were not at the top of the food chain - while it offers some protection against blunt force trauma and low velocity impacts, the carapace does not protect against small arms fire, either projectile or directed energy based. Ciprians value the ecosystem of their planet, and have become leading galactic experts at preservation and maintenance of planetary climate and terra/xenoformation. Indeed, it was Ciprian technology, after first contact with humanity in 2153, that enabled the reversal of many of the worst effects of climate change on the human homeworld.

Ciprian society is strictly regimented by educational level, with citizenship tiers beginning at 0 (children who have yet to enter schooling), and ending at 27. Ciprian society retains a monarch (styled as Emperor/Empress; seat currently held by Empress Caela VII), who is largely a figurehead, but who retains a small amount of personal power in executive matters. Citizens may gain promotion to higher tiers via exams held by the government every two years. This process is automatic as part of initial public education, but becomes voluntary and semi-competitive once a citizen has exited public education.

In order to display rank and status, Ciprians wear facial markings in a variety of patterns and colors, with different components to denote different aspects of their highest attained educational level.

For a typical Ciprian, markings concentrated on the forehead denote the Ciprian's home city/town/province (thus these are the first marks ever received, even before entering schooling), while the pattern of marks on the cheeks denote the field of study; mandible markings indicate how long one has studied for, and bands on the crest denote scores achieved in each year of education. Jewelry of varying type and expensive is pierced through the mandibles to denote degrees and honors earned. The color and pattern of all but the crest markings denotes a specific educational institution, which each having a specific pattern and color scheme. Ciprians who attend educational institutions outside the boundaries of Ciprian space are not required to have such markings, but over the centuries, an official register of marking colors/patterns has been developed for such educational institutions. Ciprian language also has an extensive list of honorifics used to refer to others by educational level. These terms do not always fully translate into Astral Confederation Standard with their nuance intact, so the Ciprian government takes pains to educate those non-Ciprians whom frequently interact with their people in their proper use and pronunciation (to the degree afforded by their biological structures).

This system of publically marking education levels has led to three specific cultural anecdotes of note - the phenomenon of "bareface", the expression "goldcrest", and the depiction of the Ciprians primary deity.

While there is no legal requirement to wear educational markings past age of maturity, the practice has become so widespread and ingrained in Ciprian lifestyle that someone choosing not to wear markings into adulthood is regarded as an outlier, usually by someone who wishes to hide their educational past, or else have decided that they do not wish to be associated with it any longer. These "barefaced" Ciprians are commonly stereotyped as uneducated or ashamed of their education, nefarious or wishing to hide their education for deceptive purpose, or arrogant and willingfully ignorant of fact (a state of mind somewhat tantamount to blasphemy for most Ciprians).

The expression "goldcrest" relates to the practice of marking out an individual's attained grades on their crests, with bands composed of copper, silver, gold, or platinum colored paint based on what specific grade was achieved on the relevant exams - copper for a passing grade without distinction, silver for an above average grade, and gold for exemplary marks. The rare platinum crest marks are reserved for the single highest scoring individual taking the exam on a regional level. In this context, "Goldcrest" would, literally speaking, refer to a Ciprian with all, or nearly all, gold exam markings, this indicating a high level of knowledge and ability. Figuratively, to be called a "goldcrest" is an extremely positive complement, implying the speaker sees the addressee as someone who is wise and competent to a great degree.

The Emperor/Empress and their immediate family are traditionally the only Ciprians who wear gold face markings. These marks represent education at the Royal Academy of Darvan, which is traditionally and nearly-exclusively open solely to members of the royal family; an intensely competitive lottery process allows a handful of non-royals to attend every year, but graduating is quite difficult and time-consuming. However, no living Ciprian may be allowed to wear platinum marks (save for on the crest in very specific circumstances, as previously mentioned). Full platinum facial markings are considered the sole province of the Ciprian god of creation and knowledge, Sæar'kalan. Often depicted as being entirely covered in a platinum carapace and covered in markings across their body, Sæar'kalan represents the omnipotence of a being who has attained all the knowledge of the universe. Worshipped by the vast majority of the Ciprian people, Sæar'kalan was, according to legend, once a mortal like any other, but attained access to a mythical realm or state of being which granted them all knowledge, past, present, and future, similar to human concepts such as the Akashic records.

To the Ciprians, scientific disiplines, the arts, recordkeeping, and engineering are the most respected professions, as they enable the discovery, expression, safeguarding, and practical use of the knowledge attained by society as a whole. These professions often interweave with each other, leading Ciprians to build devices that are often just as much art pieces as they are practical items. Drawing from their species' arboreal past and use of natural materials, many Ciprian luxury starships are both built and grown, with aerospace-grade wooden hulls grown around metallic structural skeletons, inlaid with natural material accents like marble, gold, leather, and copper.

The Royal Republic became a full Confederation member in 2164, the first species to join after the original seven.

[let-our-bones-lay-together]

okay time for a birb post!

Today's bird is the Merlin. Merlins are small falcons, between the size of a kestrel and a Peregrine. Merlins are a very widespread raptor species, with populations on every continent except Oceania and Antarctica. Like most other falcons, their diet primarily consists of other avian species.

Merlins are perhaps best known for their usage in falconry, becoming popular falconry birds in medieval Europe. In this time period, what bird you could possess for hunting was indicative of your social status. Generally, the larger the falcon, the higher the status, gyrfalcons, which are the largest falcon species, were reserved for royalty. The smallest of falcons, the kestrels, were for the lowest of social classes. Though merlins are small, they weren't necessarily for the peasantry, they were known as a lady's bird, Mary Queen of Scots was an avid falconer and through her imprisonment continued to fly her merlin. In falconry there are also different names for various birds, with kestrels known as sparrow hawks, merlins known as pigeon hawks, and Peregrines known as duck hawks, in order of the size of their prey, or quarry.

Merlins have all the signature signs of a falcon, with their malar stripes to protect their eyes from glare and the tubercle in their nares (nostrils). The tubercle is a bone baffle in the nostrils that most falcon species have to allow breathing at high velocity dives, though they do not need it in the way a Peregrine does, as merlins only go about 30 miles per hour while a Peregrine has diving speeds of up to 240 miles per hour.

If you have any questions about merlins, falcons, or any other birds of prey, I'm happy to answer to the best of my ability!

[pinkiepiebones]

...Idk how to explain this, but I wish to befriend the Scary Ghoul. I do not think this attempt would be appreciated. But like. Unreasonably tall ominous avians are...actually one of my favorite types of entity. I have basically 0 examples of this to provide, because I do not see it done often, which is...disappointing, to me and probably nobody else. I promise not to science at this one too hard, I feel that would ALSO not be appreciated. How dead would I be if I tried to present the gift of a cool rock I found?

the ghouls of the church actually cannot kill humans, so you're good as far as that goes. As for a cool rock gift, luckily for you Earth ghouls do exhibit what we might call a 'fondness' for rocks, though in the case of Cinnamon, it will not willingly take it from you. Your best bet is to leave it somewhere where a being that regularly stands on the ceiling may be able to see it. Then it's just a matter of what ghoul sees it first/ decides to take it.

If you want just Cinnamon to see/ take the rock, you would need to be somewhere where you know it would be isolated from other Earth ghouls (and somewhere where you wouldn't have an Aether ghoul wanting to check the rock's 'vibes') and not-too-conspicuously drop it. Ghouls will pick dropped shit up because helpfulness is woven into their beings. Then, just say something like "oh, I don't need that one." This gives the ghoul the carte blanche to take it.

I was going to say "or get Spesh to give it to Cinnamon" but Cinnamon would probably return it at great velocity. To Spesh's face.

[anunchartedpursuit]

Fastest Birds in the World: A Symphony of Speed in the Avian Realm. Dive into the exhilarating world of avian velocity with my latest blog post: 'Fastest Birds in the World: A Symphony of Speed in the Avian Realm.' Let's soar together!

[unitednetizen]

Top 5 Fastest Birds in The World | United Netizens

Birds, with their remarkable ability to soar through the skies, showcase an incredible array of adaptations for flight. Among these adaptations is speed, with some birds reaching astonishing velocities as they navigate their habitats. From darting falcons to swift swifts, let’s explore the fastest birds in the world and marvel at their aerial prowess.

The world of birds is populated by an astonishing array of species, each with its unique adaptations for flight. From the Peregrine Falcon’s breathtaking dives to the White-rumped Swift’s agile pursuits, these fastest birds showcase the incredible diversity and ingenuity of nature’s aviators. Whether soaring high above the mountains or darting through dense forests, these avian speedsters remind us of the boundless wonders of the natural world.

[inkdsythe]

"Wings Unleashed: Hawk Girl (dc) vs. Falcon (marvel)- A Battle in the Skies!"

Hey there, Tumblr folks! Brace yourselves for an electrifying aerial showdown between two mighty winged warriors: Hawk Girl  and Falcon! It's time to witness a breathtaking display of abilities as they clash in an epic battle for supremacy. Who will soar above the rest and claim victory? Let's dive into the action!

🦅 Hawk Girl : The Avian Avenger 🦅

Enhanced Strength and Durability: Hawk Girl possesses superhuman strength and durability, allowing her to deliver powerful blows and withstand considerable damage. Her physical prowess makes her a formidable opponent in combat.

Flight: With her majestic wings, Hawk Girl takes to the skies effortlessly. She soars with agility and grace, maneuvering through the air with exceptional speed, making it challenging for her foes to keep up.

Nth Metal Mace: Hawk Girl wields a mace forged from the mystical Nth metal. The mace enhances her strength and grants her the ability to generate powerful shockwaves upon impact, delivering devastating blows to her adversaries.

🦅 Falcon : The Winged Avenger 🦅

Enhanced Flight and Speed: Falcon possesses the ability to fly at incredible speeds, rivaling even the swiftest avian creatures. His mastery of the skies allows him to outmaneuver opponents and attack from advantageous positions.

Razor-Sharp Feathers: Falcons feathers are razor-sharp projectiles, capable of being launched at high velocity. He can rain down a storm of deadly feather attacks, slicing through opponents with precision.

Telepathic Bond with Birds: Falcon shares a telepathic connection with avian species, enabling him to communicate and command birds to aid him in battle. He can summon flocks of birds to swarm and distract his foes.

💥 The Skyward Showdown and the Clear Victor 💥

As the battle takes flight, Hawk Girl and Falcon  engage in a thrilling aerial combat, their wings slicing through the air with ferocity. Hawk Girl's Nth metal mace strikes with bone-shattering force, while Falcon razor-sharp feathers rain down upon her, testing her durability.

With her enhanced strength and combat skills, Hawk Girl unleashes a barrage of powerful strikes, aiming to subdue Falcon. However, Falcon  exceptional speed and evasive maneuvers allow him to dodge her attacks, retaliating with precision strikes from his feather projectiles.

In a sudden twist, Falcon taps into his telepathic bond with birds, summoning a flock of feathered allies to aid him. The birds swarm around Hawk Girl, creating a chaotic distraction and hindering her movements. Though momentarily disoriented, Hawk Girl refuses to yield, fighting back with relentless determination.

In the end, it is Hawk Girl with Mace who emerges as the victorious warrior. Utilizing her exceptional strength and the shockwave-generating capabilities of her Nth metal mace, she delivers a final, devastating blow that incapacitates Falcon. Her unwavering resolve and mastery of aerial combat secure her triumph in this epic clash.

🌟 Conclusion: Hawk Girl  Reigns Supreme 🌟

In this electrifying battle, Hawk Girl  emerges as the clear winner, showcasing her enhanced strength, flight, and mace-wielding skills to overcome Falcon  aerial finesse and feather-based attacks. While Falcon puts up a valiant fight, it is Hawk Girl's indomitable spirit and superior weaponry that prove decisive.

[breath-of-eternity]

Soaring So High Above The World, Never Thought I Could Be So FREE...

Imatar called the wind to lift their avian body into the air and propel them forward. Ereshkigal was astride their back, legs squeezing, hands clutching fistfuls of feathers. Imatar could feel the wind rushing around her and kept any gusts from even grazing her and she damn well knew it, but she would never relent.

They climbed high into the sky and settled the wind to keep them airborne. They passed over the sprawling city, now shrunk to the size of a child’s toy. A large toy, but a toy nonetheless.

They reached the ocean, a blue blanket that looked like it hadn’t been dried properly. After an hour, they passed over the Zeerig Peninsula—or whatever it was called these days—and adjusted their course to the southeast. At their current velocity, they’d reach the Forge in about eight hours. There was nothing to do but keep the wind underneath their wings. And they couldn’t even talk to Ereshkigal to keep their mind occupied. Ugh, this was the most boring thing in the history of the world ever.

Unfortunately, they were at their upper limit for speed with passengers on their back. Any faster and even someone with the resilience of a knight would be complaining about how hard the air was hitting them. A few hours in, they spotted one of those gigantic metal birds. They swooped in for a closer look and their enhanced vision revealed a series of windows dotting the side, and several faces pressed against them.

Did Mel and Agni ride on one of those? Ah, I should have asked what exactly the “transport” was.

Ereshkigal’s fist slammed into their back. She must have thought they were getting too close. They flexed their wings and brought them up to a lower altitude, moving away from the flying metal transport. It was going almost as fast as they were, no magic necessary. Impressive.

Dusk came quickly as they chased the night. When artificial lights popped up, they realized they were over land again, though they didn’t have a good idea of where they were until the mountains dividing Igna and Thedoria, and that was another two hours of flying. The eyesight of a rukh allowed them to make out several peaks which remained unchanged through the millennia since they’d last seen them. They followed the range south to the coast and into the land that Imatar’s earliest memory called Vareesh.

There were so many emirates. It used to be that the richest ones were at the ports to the south, but then once the migrations started… it… they…

They had a flash of a road outside a farm, filled with people. Imatar walked a steed through the crowd, not sure why they would even need a steed, if it was theirs or someone else’s, if they were heading to the Forge or traveling away. Then it was gone, and no matter how much they squeezed the thoughts in their mind, they could not produce an image of the animal they had with them, or even what they happened to look like at the time.

I was dressed too warm, though. The weather was so unseasonable.

The thought fizzled form their mind. The wind ruffled under their wings, and they focused back on the gliding.

A kick thudded into their side, and they craned their neck up to eye Ereshkigal. The sun had risen just enough for them to see her flailing one of her arms in a gesture they assumed meant it was time to land. They eased back on the air and scoped the landscape for a place empty of rectangles indicative of buildings. When they found an empty field, they looped around to land in a lazy spiral.

[ace-of-pythons]

OK so this au has been bouncing around in my head for a little bit now so I figured I'd throw to Tumblr

So post-predacons rising, Knockout works as a medic for the autobots and is the main medic, since ratchet is on earth. Eventually bots, cons and neutrals begin returning. Medics like first aid and velocity then take control of medical facilities. Eventually people don't want a medic without a medical degree. Because of this knockout kinda gets kicked out.

Flash over to shockwave who has been hiding out in one of his underground laboratories. He has been helping predaking, skylinx, and darksteel recreate their species. The lab has a large ceiling and resembles a dome of sorts, but it has little ledges that they perch on.

Somehow, predaking finds knockout and brings him back to shock's lab. Shockwave agrees to give shelter to knockout in return for another approach to restoration of a species. They work on the project and eventually, Knockout starts his own side project. He starts trying to recreate cybertron's flora. Eventually, he recreates a few species of "plants". A type of copper wire vine, energon flowers, a weeping bolt tree, and other things. Soon flowers are all over the lab. Shockwave decided to expand the lab and discovered a natural energonfall. The first one discovered in over 4 million years.

The two scientists decided to not stop at just predacons and a few plants. They recovered fossilized remains of many life forms. Avian species of Vos, the burrowing species of kaon, the marine life of the praxian energon pools, and many many others. They kept many of the flora and fauna in the lab to monitor their behavior. Eventually they released some of the creatures onto the surface.

Sometime after, the autobots discovered the source of the sudden animal re-population of cybertron. They offered shockwave and knockout an official job and started building an above ground lab connected to the original.

So now they have this huge lab where there's animals living in both labs. Eventually bumblebee suggests that anyone struggling to readjust to post-war life, anyone struggling to make a living, and anyone who needs a fresh start, can live at or near the labs and help out with all the chores at the lab. Misfire, fulcrum, blitzwing, whirl, Soundwave, and even starscream will help out. (Even though screamer only stops by occasionally. Soundwave always helps with the feline and Avian species.) They get housing and food, and they don't have to interact with the people they hate. (Knockout keeps track of rivalries to separate them in the schedule). Eventually they start to rehabilitate the planet's diversity and some of the people as well.

And if at one point shockwave saw knockout getting excited about new flower species, and wanted to feel some of that excitement about all of this. And if they worked on a way to slowly reverse the shadowplay, no one has to know.

People do know. They notice it slowly. Shockwave is still a bit cold towards people, but his kindness for the creatures he brought back from extinction is very obvious. Someone who knew him before the war actually started to recognize him again. When he made a small pun knockout couldn't stop smiling. Knockout himself found something that he can finally get behind and adore. He finds himself caring more about the turbofoxes and drones of paradise than his finish. (When he realized this, he had a mental break down.)

Overtime, they helped spread life into cybertron. Although the alspark was starting to create life again, these scientists helped excellerate the process. Beautiful rivers of energon are now filled with aquatic species with banks of delicate flowers, and skies are filled with seekers and bird drones.

When Megatron comes back to cybertron to deposit the djd in prisons, he stood over cybertron and saw that the world he destroyed was healing. He smiled before continuing his journey to right even the smallest bit of the crimes and atrocities he committed.

[eldritchgoats]

thinkin' about wilbur absolutely loathing ace race in every single mcc they play it, and then thinkin' about wilbur being winged in dsmp and just sucking ass at flying and hating it

the first flying session be like

phil: okay son, time to leave the nest *throws him off a cliff, as is customary for avians*

phil, watching as his only son plummets at a very high velocity to the cold, unforgiving ground: any day now, he'll open his wings and fly

wilbur, who is not opening his wings or flying, and is instead screaming his ass off, about to hit the ground:

[rottonfishie]

Afterlife origin headcanons

Lunar mothlings - there life expectancy is about 26 - 30 years for the reason that there digestive system will start deteriorating due to acids in stomach becoming to strong for there digestive system, so they will not be able to eat and will die of starvation.

"Angles" - they have fragile bones and are as light as a feather, not much is known about these divine creatures since for a while they were seen as a legend.

illusioners - villagers who sided with ravgers who were interested in there ability to use dark magic.

Florans - when these creatures are sick anything thing they grow will instead shrivel up and decay.

Shadow-walkers - they can some times be over whelmed by the shear amount of colour in a area.

Shulks - when taken to much damage shulks will go in to hibernation mode, a thick shell will form around it.

Enderians - being close relatives to endermen they are uncomfortable with being stared in the eyes for long periods of time.

Raccoons - Raccoons are very clean creatures and will constantly wash themselves if any sign of dirt appears.

Truffles - Truffles reproduce asexually, they use "xp" from mobs to fertilize there spores.

Candies - they are sentient creatures accidentally created by witchs in witchlands.

Thornlings - they were also created by witchs from the witchlands, they were created to be protection for the witch but amethyst was to fragile.

Blazeborns - blazeborns are constantly on fire but when sick the flame seems to die out which is life threatening if not lit again (they use coal to light it again).

Avians - Avians come in different subspecies of flightless Birds the same as mothling have subspecies aswell.

Giants - giants are known to be walking ecosystems ( e.g Joel having swamp plants growing on him)

Villagers - they seem to have a fear of magic, evokers and illusioners they live in constant fear of being raided which in turn makes them a quite paranoid race of people.

Enderian Florans - these subspecies of floran are found in the end, having been around end plants they have developed luminescent skin tone.

Feline - can easily distracted by sounds such as bells and other "cat toys".

Pixies - the same as the avian tribe, Pixies have long lost the ability to fly because wings being to weak.

Smurfs - they are one of the magical creatures on the servers being used by Wizards for magic.

Vampires - being dead, healing potions do the opposite effect as it should hurting them instead.

Wither hybrids - they are basically dead they are born without a soul or heartbeat, because of this they eat souls to sustain there body...

Robots - (fuck Canon) robots actually run with gears, that's why some times there gears will over work.

Fairies - honey is like a energy drink for them, it's adviced not to give to kids.

Goolings - related to jelly fish, so they can give a low velocity sting if threatened.

Phantoms - these creatures are not purposely hostile, sleep is very important to them and seeing other creatures sleeping worries them a ton!

Dullans - vengeful spirits, who mainly die unfairly ( e.g hitting the ground)

Birbs - they make chirping sounds as stims or when happy!

Gravitals - they come from space based off the planets gravitational pull.

Half dragons - because of the built up of fire in there core it can be dangerous to let build up.

Wyverns - because of venom in there systems they are poisonous to consume.

Shculks - there kinda like big foot.

Kangaroos - because of there trickster antics some people see them as trickster spirits.

Red pandas - because there diet of bamboo they are very slow and lazy.

Ants - follow a Queen like a normal ant (travel alone if they don't have a queen or colony)

Enigma - @#@$@@$$×$@$%@%@%@%^××^#×)-------

[slippinmickeys]

Twitter came to play on the drabble prompts:

The thing was, it was next to impossible to see out the windshield.

Scully loved thunderstorms. Having spent a large portion of her youth in San Diego, they were still a novelty, even after years on other, more weather-prone bases and college campuses, and if she'd been home, she would have pulled up a chair next to her window and curled up there with a mug of tea, watching the light play in the sky and the water ping sharply against the glass.

However, as a driver she was cautious, and with Mulder, well, she had a reputation to uphold: He was the engine. She was the brake.

Other cars had already pulled over, their brake lights a bright smear on the car's glass. She slowed as she approached an overpass, pulled under it and as far onto the shoulder as she could and flipped on her hazards. The rain poured down in front and behind them and it had the cold, insulated feel of a cave behind a waterfall.

Mulder rolled his head towards her in the passenger seat. He had been dozing.

"Everything all right?" he said, sniffing awake and blinking the sleep from his eyes.

"Storm cell," Scully said, eyes still straight ahead. She flicked the wipers on once to clear her field of vision.

Mulder bent forward and peered up, the concrete joists that held the road above them tagged by various local hoodlums, spray painted smears; professions of love, obscenities, Class of '97. A pigeon hooted at him glumly from a wispy nest of straw and leaf detritus, the curling red string of a long-deflated balloon hanging limply from the avian weaving.

"I'm hungry," he said, leaning back into his seat and scratching his chest absently. He hadn't eaten anything since leaving the town of Oden and that had been five hours ago. A rip of lightning flashed overhead and Mulder counted silently in his head, one thousand one, one thousand two- The crash of thunder shook the car with a shaky reverb. The pigeon fluttered down off the nest for a moment and then back up into it -- there was really nowhere for any of them to go.

Scully reached into the backseat and her hand came forward with the sound of crinkling packaging, and she dropped a bag of sunflower seeds and a six-pack of chocolate donettes unceremoniously into his lap.

He brightened, his mood suddenly afloat.

"Scully," he said fondly, "you know the best way to a man's heart."

"The best way to a man's heart is through the fifth left intercostal space at the midclavical line. But I guess donuts are good, too," she replied, throwing him a look and giving him an impish grin.

He shucked the wrapper and popped a mini donut into his mouth, whole. The smell of low-quality chocolate purled through the car's interior and Scully's stomach gave an involuntary gurgle. Mulder held out the sheath of pastry toward her and she hesitated before plucking one delicately with her forefinger and thumb and taking a dainty bite.

"These shouldn't be that good," she said after a moment, shaking her head and tossing the rest of the donut in her mouth.

"And yet..." Mulder said, housing another one before offering her one more. She took one and chewed thoughtfully.

Another clap of thunder. One thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three, one thousand four, one thousand fi-

"Storm is getting further away," Scully said, voicing Mulder's own observations.

The rain on the road ahead seemed to have eased up, and several other cars had pulled back onto the highway, each one rocking their car as they passed close and spraying the driver's side with high velocity mist.

Scully checked her blind spot and then cut the hazards, nosing the car back onto the road. Once she was safely back up to speed, Mulder hedged, "I don't suppose..."

"Coffee in the cup holder should be hot," she smiled, and cut her eyes to him.

He sighed happily, and thunder rumbled low into the distance. They drove.

[gabriel4sam]

Seven times a Padawan had a bad case of hero worship for Mace Windu. 1/7: Obi-Wan

For Mace Windu appreciation week, run by @mace-windu-appreciationweek

The theme today is serene.

The ship is on fire.

Well, not all the ship, of course. It’s an enormous ship, made to carter around the elite in luxury cruises around the stars. A lot of fire would be necessary for the whole ship to be on fire. But Obi-Wan feels like, hurling around space at the impossible velocity offered by hyperspace travel, no part of the ship at all should be burning!

So, the ship is on fire, his Master is unconscious, and so heavy that even with the Force the Padawan is struggling to move him around to escape the pirates.

Because, of course, there are pirates.

It’s always bloody pirates, Quinlan would say, when he came back from the first mission taken with his brand new Master, the end of his black dreads dry-roasted. Obi-Wan always thought his friend exaggerated to make himself more interesting, like it wasn’t enough to have been the first chosen by a Master in their crèche group.

If they survive, Obi-Wan will offer his excuses to Quinlan, because it’s always bloody pirates.

The pirates have surrounded him in what was the dining room for the most fortunate passengers, and the young Padawan pushes his Master more or less sitting against a partition wall and makes himself ready for a last stand.

At the same moment, as the pirates grin cruelly, seeing their young prey cornered, and not realising a hurt baby Jedi still has the capacities to take down a few of them with him, the door leading to the covered deck implodes, and a whirlwind is among them.

There are no other words for it.

The purple light dances among the pirates, cutting down weapons in two, and the man wielding it is even more graceful than the light itself, not a step which isn’t perfectly placed to reach the next pirate, not a kick of booted foot which doesn’t seem like a pirouette of a dancer, or the movement of a great avian predator, one of those animals which defy gravity and split the sky. All fights Obi-Wan had ever seen seem brutal and brutish and grotesque, in comparison of this moment.

Eight seconds, perhaps twelve, and all pirates are groaning on the floor, all of them alive, and all of them definitely harmless for a long time.

It’s only then than Obi-Wan recognizes the Jedi who rescued them, because in his surprise, for a moment, he didn’t connect the dots.

Mace Windu turns to them and Obi-Wan feels a great calm descends on him. The Master of the Order puts a comforting hand on Obi-Wan’ shoulder for a second, before going to Master Jinn. In this simple contact, the serenity of Master Windu bakes the fire of the Padwan’s fear, quenches the steel of his resolution and trust in the Force.

The alarms are still blaring out, the ship is still on fire, Master Jinn is still playing a pretty good impersonation of a dead tree.

All will be well.

Master Windu is there.

[aliveandrestless5]

Hey are aliens able to throw things? Like accurately? We as a species take it for granted all the time but the ability to throw accurately is pretty much, on earth, exclusive to humans. Like from sharp stones to spears to spears thrown with atlatl, our ability to throw accurately was our ace in the hole in nature’s evolutionary arms race, well that and our nifty sweat which I’ve talked about before. Like monkeys and elephants just sorta fling with no great degree of accuracy while we as a species made throwing things with extreme accuracy and velocity into not one but multiple organized incredibly popular public spectacles. Aliens just watching a human throw a baseball at 92.3 mph with perfect accuracy into the mitt of a catcher and then lose their collective shit.

Sorry for the late reply, but great question!

That’s a really interesting point, and I had to spend a lot of time thinking about it. The conclusion I’ve come too is this: It varies dramatically from species to species, and humans have better accuracy overall.

Piglins have the worst accuracy, for balance reasons I’ve discussed before, with most other species, (Shulks, Apains, Elytrans, Avians, Endborn, Etc, Etc,) falling somewhere in the middle of the scale. The alien with the best accuracy would be Tubbo, actually, since he doesn’t really fall into one species or another, and the strengths and weaknesses of each even out.

So, for the most part, aliens have okay accuracy when it comes to throwing things. Like, the unathletic kid trying their best to play dodgeball and sort of succeeding, kind of accuracy. The aliens in this series tend to be either a lot less resilient than humans and therefore unable to apply the necessary force, or too strong to be very accurate.

Also, they have no real reason to try and improve their accuracy. Bows, crossbows, and laser guns are more effective than spears for long-ranged attacks anyways, and the sports they do have don’t really require accuracy. Humans train a ridiculous amount to improve their accuracy, and aliens would have no need to. Phil and Techno have worked on improving theirs some to be better in weapons, sure, but they would still loose their minds watching a game of professional baseball.

[themadauthorshatter]

... This is going to be more triggering than my Sanders Sides Beetlejuice AU, and I deeply apologize.

This is a Happy Tree Friends story I've thought about and it got inspired by a scene in the Asylum season of American Horror Story.

MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING FOR PTSD, AVERSION THERAPY, FORCED/DELIBERATE TRIGGERING OF PTSD AND HALLUCINATIONS, ISOLATION, BEING HELD CAPTIVE/HOSTAGE, ANIMAL DEATH, AND A LOT OF OTHER THINGS!!!!

PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!

Additional note: I'm visualizing the characters as human, so don'tbe caught off guard when I bring up a character's hair or complexion. It makes this story easier for me to picture in my head, that's just how I work. And this is mostly TV perspective, so thought I'd tell you that, too.

We begin with the sun rising and a new day starting, how lovely. No one is fully awake, but two people are and they are having a race.

Who's against who?

Simple.

It's Flippy on his feet and Splendid in the air to see who's faster on which and they're neck and neck in this.

Flippy sees Splendid next to him and asks if he's holding back, because this is not the fastest Flippy can run.

Splendid jokes that maybe it is because this is the SLOWEST he's flown in a long time.

Flippy laughs and kicks it into maximum overdrive, full on sprinting as fast as he can, even faking a turn to throw Splendid off his flight. While he stays on his intended path, and shouts that Splendid fell for it, Splendid calls him a cheating bastard.

Flippy laughs and contunues sprinting until he stops on a sidewalk in the town.

How lovely because Splendid is sitting on the wood of one of the telephone poles and waves at him.

Flippy pants and asks how Splendid both beat him and got up there.

Splendid simply floats down and claims it's just a hop, skip, and leap of faith.

And no cheating, which he points out.

Flippy clarifies that he actually DID NOT cheat. He would've gotten some of kryptonut and put it in his pocket, if he really wanted to.

Splendid gasps that he wouldn't, but Flippy shrugs and says he knows a guy, so don't tempt him.

The two share a laugh, but Flippy freezes as he hears a nearby woodpecker.

Splendid spots it and comments on the lovely avian specimen.

That's when a knife is thrown and (TV perspective) off screen kills the bird.

Splendid sees Flippy threw it and has 'killer instinct' eyes.

Thank goodness it's just them and there's no one else around because just as Flippy readies another knife, Splendid grabs him and flies to a hill, fast enough to get there within a minute or so, but not so fast that Flippy dies from the velocity.

It snowed a little bit, but it's enough for Splendid to toss Flippy into.

The cold instantly snaps him out of it and Flippy quickly looks around and asks where they are.

Splendid shrugs and answers the hill, and the realization sets in as Flippy's face drops, groaning and putting his hands over his face.

Splendid sits next to him as Flippy asks if 'it' happened again.

It did, but there was no one outside, so at least it got stopped before anyone got hurt.

Flippy is still crestfallen and rests his head on his arms, which are on his knees.

Splendid asks if he really can't control when he flips out, and Flippy confirms that as much as he can, but he still can't, mainly because when he feels like there's nothing to worry about, he remembers how he got comfortable and confident before and it ruined everything.

And he can't control the world or what randomly happens.

If his instincts say he's in danger, he's using thise same instuncts to keep himself safe.

Splendid digests those words as Flippy takes a breath and stands up, thanking him for the race and apologizes for talking his ear off and snapping on him.

Splendid stands as well and asks if Flippy needs help getting home, to which Flippy politely declines, not wanting to beat Splendid in another race. Splendid narrows his eyes and dares Flippy to repeat that, but Flippy chuckles and says he'll see him around before leaving.

Splendid watches him go and gets to thinking. He and Flippy have been friends for a while, and this stuff with flipping out and all that has been bothering him for a long time. He'd also been informed that Flippy went to Lumpy for help, but it failed miserably, so he was left to deal with it using the medicine he'd been prescribed. Beyond that, nothing seems to have helped him.

He also remembers how he had once had a doctor friend that helped people with addiction and talked with him about how some people aren't addicted to substances, but to feelings or emotions, as a comfort thing.

We don't get any more thoughts because we return to Flippy as he lets himself inside and leans against the door, very much upset with the fact that he lost it in front of one of his friends, especially one loke Splendid, who he rarely flips out on.

And it doesn't help that he hasn't lost it in a very long time.

Because his instincts are going haywire and he just needs to know HOW bad his episodes get, Flippy gets up, grabs a couple party poppers that were left over from a party he was fashionably late to(he had to do a check-in/catch up call with one of his army higher ups so they knew he was okay), and goes down to a basement, one that has a hatch door in the floor rather than a regular door.

He locks it behind him and goes down to a fully concrete basement that has holes and scratches in the concrete, because he's strong.

Here's where that deliberate triggering of trauma and an additional blackout Trigger Warnings come in, because Flippy sets up a camera, that's recoeding, takes one of the party poppers, and squeezes his eyes shut as he pulls the string and sets it off.

Flippy instantly starts seeing that he's back on the battlefield and not in his own basement, and hyperventilates as he sees an enemy standing over him, smirking and gun ready.

Flippy stares up at this enemy, but that fear melts into anger and throws himself into his enemy, landing next to a gun, which he uses to take this enemy out.

No time to relax because he gets grazed by another enemy soldier.

He smiles and chuckles, readying the gun and a knife from his leg before he races forward.

We don't see anything happen, save for black, but we fade to see Flippy coming to on the floor, sweaty, bruised, and knuckles bloody.

He groans and pushes himself up, rubbing his head for a minute before he finally looks around the basement.

The walls and floor are worse than before, but at least the camera is still intake.

Flippy gets up and stops the camera, sitting down as he reminds it back until plays it.

There's no battlefield, no enemies, no threats at all. In the video, Flippy pops the party popper, and clutches his head as he curls into the ground.

He hyperventilates and looks up backing away from someone that isn't even there. At least before he throws himself into the wall a makes a small shelf of knives fall. He mimes shooting the person before grabbing numerous knives and racing toward and hitting the wall and stabbing the wall, even punching and kicking it.

That explains the busted knuckles and bruises.

We don't see the rest of the video, but we do see Flippy's face grow more distressed and upset as he keeps watching himself fight nothing and just beat himself instead.

It is not easy to watch at all.

The video eventually ends with Flippy passing out on the floor, where we caught up with him.

Flippy puts the camera away and leans against the wall.

Guess he's a lot worse than he thought.

He sighs and rests his head against his knees.

Guess he's not leaving the house today either.

Time jump to a week or so later!

It's bright and sunny, and we're checking in on Flaky now as she struggles with some groceries; it originally started as a trip for shampoo and a new toothbrush, but it became a food run as well because she got hungry. She can't really see where she's going, but is trying her best, okay?

Carrying five bags at once a was huge mistake because she trips on a rock and almost falls down.

Almost, because Flippy catches her and helps her back to her feet.

Flaky shrieks and asks who it is.

Flippy decides to mess with her and lowers his voice, asking for either a hello or her life.

Flaky gasps and says he'll get a shoe to his shin, if he doesn't watch himself.

Flippy chuckles and asks if she skipped breakfast again, seeing all the bags she has. Flaky, turning to look at him, corrects him: she DID eat breakfast, but lunch was calling and she couldn't leave it on voice-mail.

Flippy, following along with the analogy, takes a bag or two and advices she try to learn how to BLOCK those calls when they drain her wallet.

Flaky hums, but thanks him for helping, and for the wallet he got her; it's sleek, but holds a lot of money and cards. Or card, which Flippy mutters as they walk to Flaky's house.

Flaky kicks at him, but they half walk, half run to Flaky's house. Once they arrive, Flaky thanks him again for the help and says she'll have a potatoe, butcher beef, apple soup/curry waiting for him next time he comes over.

Flippy chuckles and agrees, countering he'll bring her a cake SMOTHERED in sugar, cubes, chunks, powered, candy, caramel, all that garbage so that her teeth fall out and he can help her get METAL teeth instead.

Flaky sets down her groceries and stamps her foot, saying Flippy is not her father.

They still hug each other and Flippy leaves, telling her to take care of herself.

He continues on his walk and pays attention to the birds that are singing and wind blowing through the trees.

No time to fully appreciate it because Splendid turns a corner and Flippy waves him over, much to the superhero's delight.

They quickly touch in and ask how the other has been before Flippy interests Splendid for another race, 'the only rule is win' edition.

Splendid has a better idea: coffee. He had just finished some errands and was on his way home when he and Flippy ran into each other.

The invite seems iffy, but Flippy accepts, not wanting to run off like last time.

They walk and Splendid's smile drops a little, which draws Flippy's attention, the ex-soldier asking if everything's okay.

Splendid nods, saying everything's fine. He's just had some stuff on his mind that he can talk about when they get to his house.

Flippy stops for a second and watches Splendid continue walking, following behind more cautiously.

Cut to Splendid's house as the superhero fixes himself and his guest some coffee, though Flippy is slow to drink his because it doesn't smell like black coffee.

When asked, Splendid explains that the grounds were a little stale. He'd bought some that was fresh, but didn't want the old stuff to go to waste.

It calms Flippy enough for him to take a drink of coffee. He also asks what's been eating at Splendid, even apologizing for leaving him hanging last week.

Splendid shakes his head. Water under the bridge, everyone has their moments.

Speaking of moments, Splanedid asks if Flippy's been better since their race.

He shrugs, admitting that he's had worse happen, but that still doesn't make it good or even okay.

Splendid asks if he's ever gotten help for his 'issues' and Flippy asks back if he thinks Lumpy is really as good at everything as he thinks. Splendid supposes not, all things considered.

Done with the interview, and taking a drink of more coffee, because he's tired, Flippy asks what Splendid's deal REALLY is, and why he's so interested in Flippy's personal issues.

Splendid gives it to him straight: he's noticed that Flippy's trauma is bothering him on a pretty big level, and it has him worried for his friend, not because he can hurt people, but because he's seeing how unhappy Flippy is, and how much it tolls on him. He's had SOME experience with people who've had similar problems to Flippy's and there's a sort of therapy that's helped them. Granted, he knows Flippy doesn't enjoy flipping out, but, in a sick sense, his mind and body do. And there's a way to trick his mind into pushing his instincts away and leaving him with a normal life.

Flippy keeps his head propped up on an arm and finishes his coffee, so tired that he's barely listening and is instead asking for a fresh mug, because he doesn't understand either.

Splendid only takes his empty mug and suggests he's probably had enough coffee; he'll be up all night, if he drinks more than one cup and, as he's already said, Lumpy is a terrible doctor and will say he's about to die and overlook that he's just high of caffeine.

Flippy laughs and shakes his head, asking if Splendid is a better doctor and scoffing that he can take Lumpy.

He stops laughing when he sees that Splendid is straight faced and looks a little apologetic.

Yeah. Heavily delayed, 'oh shit!' moment for Flippy, who now realizes that there was something IN his coffee; he knows what stale coffee tastes like because he once suffered through a month of the stuff.

And he can't flip out on Splendid because he's too tired, so he's left to try running for the door.

That fails, too, so he can only pull and push himself away from Splendid, who apologizes for lying and for making Flippy go into such a panic, all the same he's just trying to help him and hopes he both forgives him and understands where he's coming from.

Flippy only keeps trying to get away, weakly telling Splendid to stay away from him.

From Flippy's blurry and world-spinny eyes, Splendid is the General from the Tiger Bomb mission, said General kneeling in front of him and smirking as Flippy knocks out with a sigh/groan.

Flippy doesn't wake up until MUCH later. He's got a splitting headache and, upon seeing all of the white-ish walls around him, sighs that he really must've fucked himself up when he set off that party popper, rubbing his head as he does so.

That's when he notices the handcuff and chain on his wrist, one that keeps him chained to one of the walls. He checks his other hand and sees that there's an identical handcuff on his wrist, also connecting him to the wall.

Not a dream.

Before Flippy can lose it, he sees a door open and Splendid walk in, looking very sheepish despite being the stronger of the two at the moment.

Before he can get any words out, Flippy charges toward him, at least until he's stopped by the chains.

It still makes Splendid jump back; powers be damned, if Flippy's mad at you, your days are numbered.

Splendid, from his place against the opposite wall, asks quite stupidly if Flippy's mad.

No. He's not mad at all. He's having the best damn day of his life, thank you for asking.

Sarcasm. All sarcasm that Splendid misses and is relieved by.

That relief vanished when Flippy charges again, pulling the handcuffs enough to make himself bleed.

Flippy demands to know what the hell is going on and why he's handcuffed in a padded cell.

When Flippy starts pulling a little too hard, like he's pulling hard enough to dent the chain links out of place, Splendid acts fast and aims a spray bottle at Flippy, and sprays water on him.

When Flippy backs down, Splendid repeats what he said upstairs, especially apologizing for not explaining how he was going to help him.

Flippy banks up, stands down, and sits down criss-crossstyle, which makes Splendid let out a sigh of relief, following his friend so they're sitting across from each other.

Flippy asks what EXACTLY Splendid was thinking when he drugged Flippy's coffee and then took Flippy to a loaded cell in his basement.

Splendid explains that he was just thinking and didn't regard what would have happened, even admitting that drugging the coffee wasn't his best or first plan; somehow sneaking up behind him with a nasty was, but that seemed insulting to Flippy's skills, so he thought about just working him out with races and exercise until Flippy passed out. That seemed like the most painful option, and the most tiring because wherever Flippy would fall would be unpredictable, so he just went south putting something in his coffee so he'd go unconscious for a little while.

Flippy takes all of this in and asks why Splendid didn't just ASK him to try this treatment he was babbling about earlier and Splendid admits that it's used for addicts to help them stop using whatever substance they're on. It's a pretty brutal technique, but it has worked.

The brutal part has Flippy concerned, so he asks what that means.

Splendid stops beating around the brush: aversion therapy. Using old war footage and medicine to make Flippy not want to go on a rampage whenever he gets triggeres.

Flippy stares at Splendid for a minute before taking off his boot and throwing it at him, asking if he's out of his damn mind.

That's not how his 'issues' work. Aversion therapy is meant to change another person so they AVERT away from something. Besides, what if they go through the therapy and Flippy's ordered backninto service, but ends up dead because he can't rely on his instincts?

Problem solved already because, as Splendid points out, Flippy's on a paid leave; his job is to stay OUT of the army now.

Flippy readies his other boot and Splendid backs down. Yes, he could've been more open about this to him. Yes, the whole chained to the wall in a basement thing is WAY too far. Yes, he should have told him as soon as he can, and he's sorry he didn't.

Flippy calms down and asks why he thinks it will work. No offense, but this is already working less than anythung Lumpy did, and the fool hypnotized himself into being a chicken.

Splendid admits he isn't sure, but he still wants to try to help.

Flippy asks what he'll do if he refuses to try this therapy. He's already on pills.

Splendid shrugs and says that while he'll be disappointed, he'll understand and won't be mad. Again, he just wants to help his friend and this is something that's worked for other people, not the chaining to the wall thing, but the aversion and sensory friendly environment, hence the padded room that isn't white, just a very light grey mixed with some blue, which is a calming color.

Flippy considers it for a minute before askung Splendid if he absolutely knows what he's doing.

Splendid nods. It took him a little freshing up and some review from a friend of his, yes. He knows what he's doing.

Flippy eyes him for a second before nodding, agreeing. Despite not saying it out loud, he wants to live life without worrying about killing everyone or snapping because his old instincts getting the better of him.

But stipulates that as soon as things get REALLY bad, they're calling this whole thing off and won't have anything to do with each other after that point.

Splendid rightfully agrees to those terms and tells Flippy to follow him to another room.

Flippy holds up his hands, reminding him of the handcuffs.

Those come off and the two leave the room, Flippy hoping Splendid was good on his word that he knew what he was doing.

Splendid shares a similar sentiment, instead hopi g that he can help his friend have a normal life.