#bird speed comparison

[sea-lanterns]

I thought of a peregrine falcon because that statue in Inazuma has wings. Plus, Ei is very powerful and peregrine falcons can dive at 240 miles per hour which makes them fastest bird and faster than a cheetah’s speed (80 mph) and Mexican free-tailed bat’s speed (100 mph) combined. Also, one of the peregrine falcons I work with as part of also being a falconer is named Shogun. Another thing, what if Cat! Lynette is a chartreux?

-🎬

Wait, that’s an interesting reason for Ei to be a falcon! I can just imagine Crow! Sara being her closest companion like always, but she dwarfs in comparison to the absolute behemoth of a bird that Ei is 😭😭 (I actually don’t know how big Peregrine Falcons are but I imagine they’re huge compared to crows)

Crow! Sara is so loyal and stays right by Falcon! Ei’s side, but it’s always comical to see her being like half Ei’s size and unafraid that Ei could demolish her if she could. (Ei would never, she’s just a big, gentle baby <33) As for Lynette, I’ve actually never heard of a Chartruex cat before, but looking it up I squealed at how cute it is because THE FACE IS SO ROUND.

ROUND FACE LYNETTE. AWGWJDHE I just know that the Vet loves cupping her face and smooshing it in her hands, maybe massaging her chubby cheeks and making Lynette grouchy but not mad enough to pull away. It also says that Chartreux cats are from France and are used as a hunting breed which I think is perfect. Lynette is definitely a skilled hunter thanks to her breed —and being raised by Panther! Arlecchino— so the Vet will oftentimes find dead rodents at the doorstop of her clinic as food offerings since Lynette thinks the Vet can’t hunt for herself.

What a good girl Lynette! The goodest of good girls!!

[new-dinosaurs]

Patagona chaski Williamson et al., 2024 (new species)

(Illustration of the type specimen of Patagona chaski by Jillian Ditner, from Williamson et al., 2024)

Meaning of name: chaski = messenger [in Quechua, referring to relay runners of the former Inka Empire, who exhibited exceptional speed, endurance, and memory, similar to this bird species]

Suggested common name: Northern giant hummingbird

Age: Holocene (Meghalayan), extant

Where found: Arid and semiarid habitats along the west slope of the Andes and in intermontane valleys, at altitudes of 1800–4300 m above sea level

How much is known: At least 193 collected specimens are held in museum collections.

Notes: P. chaski is a hummingbird. Weighing between 16–26 g, it is the largest known hummingbird in the world. Until recently, it was considered the same species as the closely related P. gigas. However, a new study on the migratory habits, genetics, and morphology of these hummingbirds suggests that two distinct species should be recognized.

Whereas P. gigas breeds at low elevations and migrates northward to higher elevations, P. chaski remains at high elevations all year round. P. chaski can be found further north than P. gigas (hence the proposed common name "northern giant hummingbird"), but it overlaps with the non-breeding range of P. gigas in the southern parts of its range.

Genetic comparisons suggest that the two species diverged from one another over 2 million years ago, though they remain difficult to tell apart based on appearance. In addition to being slightly larger than P. gigas on average, P. chaski generally has a whitish (as opposed to brownish) throat and a more obvious white ring around the eye.

Reference: Williamson, J.L., E.F. Gyllenhaal, S.M. Bauernfeind, E. Bautista, M.J. Baumann, C.R. Gadek, P.P. Marra, N. Ricote, T. Valqui, F. Bozinovic, N.D. Singh, and C.C. Witt. 2024. Extreme elevational migration spurred cryptic speciation in giant hummingbirds. PNAS 121: e2313599121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2313599121

[reverberation-layla]

This notion that character design and animation in Wuthering Waves is somehow less then Genshin is ridiculous.

First off Genshin has 5 character models and 3 (maybe 4 eye) styles they reuse. Which makes total sense because it save their team a lot of time, but it also leads to a lot of characters that look the same face wise.

Wuthering Waves has unique face shapes, noses and eyes for most characters. This is just a fact, though the females can look a little samey here as well.

Listen, Genshin puts a lot in to their clothing because they don’t have a lot to fall back on in other areas, but if you’re telling me that you could tell Navia was a defacto mob boss, Lisa was a librarian or Garou (or Cyno or Kokami for that matter) are leaders of an army just by looking at them you are a fucking liar.

Gaming? He’s just a kid in street clothes that doesn’t fit in with the fantasy setting that is Genshin and he most certainly doesn’t scream lion dancer by looking at him.

You know these things because you were told these things. Let’s be honest. These characters always appear in game before banner and if not in game they are plastered over every YouTube video, livestream and drip marketing.

For fucks sake. You’d have to have your head in the sand to not anything at all about these characters before release.

Next the super special Genshin animations that take oh so long to do.

Most characters, especially outside of 5* characters (and even then some of the 5*) use the same attack animation at varying speeds. It’s noticeable in everyone, but most of all archers and lancers.

Again, it is to save time and that is understandable, but we are not going to pretend that Genshin does not recycle assets to a degree that characters are beginning to blend together visually as well as play wise. After all, you only have 3 buttons to utilize.

Buuut Layla, there is only so much you can do with a bow?!? Yeah sort of. I guess and if it was just limited to that I would understand, but it’s not. Heavy attack broadsword? Spin.

Go ahead. Tell me I am wrong. I have played Genshin and I played it for a very long time.

In comparison Aalto, Chixia, and Mortefi all feel and look different in their movements. Aalto feels and looks like he flows with the wind, Chixia playful and fast, Mortefi flashy and arrogant and it shows in their animation.

As for catalysts they too play different. Verina rides her vines on heavy attack, Baizhi uses her bird thing, and Encore literally lobs sheep.

Short swords. Everyone I have poked at is unique. Yangyang has a quick step with very purposeful moves, Spectro Rover quick finesse, Havoc Rover slow and sweeping. This also turns in to a scythe by the way. Danjin girl a mix of low and high stance and she stumbles a bit on heavy.

Broad sword. Jiyan uses both his sword and a flipping lance to fight as well as his whole body. He kicks and there is very little wasted movement. Cal I have not tried yet, but I promise you none of them heave attacks involve spin to win as is the case with every great sword user in Genshin.

The most unique characters so far in Genshin is Wrio and Heizou. Both catalysts and both punch boys. Lingyang punches and Yanwu kicks and they are both unique. Neither requires spam plummeting to play.

Lastly, Genshin recycles movement in talking cutscenes. Characters, if they have a mouth, are not visually expressive a lot of the time due to the limitations of their game. Pretending otherwise is being disingenuous.

WW has not only facial expressions, but unique animations that coincide with the words coming out of faces which have mouths, noses and sync animations.

Clothing is not personality (behavior, expression and even the way they fight is) and the characters and their designs do tell you a lot about them if you bother to actually play the game.

There are 2 known regions in this game, these characters all look like they come from one of these two places and they all fit in to the world that has been built. You shouldn’t need over the top outfits to carry your characters, but this “I can’t tell anything about them” bull shit is from people who haven’t touched the game.

Little touches like Yangyang’s feathers, Jiyan and Mertefis scales, Lingyang as a whole, Verina’s vine tail? That tells you nothing? lol

If you can’t tell anything about them by looking at them it’s because you haven’t played the game or bothered to learn about the world and thus it is a you problem and your “criticism” is invalid.

Everything can always be better and Wuthering Waves is far from perfect, but at the end of the day this shit is from Hoyo bots and it simply holds no water.

[assortedvillainvault]

Hello! Can I request Starscream with a reader who loves video games, especially older "retro" ones please?

Anon you have waited so long, please accept this humble word train of inconveivale proportions, becuase this went from 'haha Screamy vs tetris' to 'holy shit I can't stop typing-'

Starscream x RetroGamer!Reader

HA!

Such primitive, meagre entertainment. How can you engage in something barely even fit for newsparks??

Yeah, Starscream is waving his ‘technological-race superiority’ around again. You’ve long since learned to roll your eyes, tune him out and turn the tinny volume on your console to maximum just to annoy him.

For all that he snorts and rolls his optics and waxes lyrical about how his games were played in high-speed roulette 5D stratospheric-chess - or whatever - you don’t fail to smugly notice how his wings twitch in time with the music. (Don’t bring it up or he’ll screech about how he can’t get the bouncy little tunes out of his head at 3am. It’s not worth your eardrums.)

And when he DOES pay attention, he’s the kind to aggressively backseat drive.

What’s worse, is that after breathing down your neck and screeching at you to “Jump HIGHER-” (Mario Bros is a relationship tester), he’ll cluck his tongue and smarmily coo at your game over screen until you finally snap and shove the comparatively tiny controller in his face.

The affronted shock lasts a millisecond before he huffs and says such childish little things are beneath him. Obviously.

Your petty revenge is to chat obnoxiously loud to Knockout and spread a rumour on the Nemesis that the Mighty Commander Starscream is too outdated to try anything new, clearly, I mean he’s just so old-

- much screeching shouting and scratched paintjobs later, you find out that he’s simply downloaded the games into his brain and fully intended to not breathe a word to you about it apparently until you died. Prideful bastard.

He HAD intended to tell you, but only after he had gotten an impossibly high score to beat so he could rub it in your cute squishy face.

In a beautifully ironic twist of fate, being as advanced as cybertronians are, the highly simple nature of most retro games actually renders them incompatible, like trying to run a floppy disk through a hadron collider. So while yes Star can play tetris on his break, he cannot simply blitz the levels as expected and call it a day, because the old games have such simple parameters in comparison to how he usually operates.

So he has to actually play.

With no instructions because of course this high strung high maintenance metal bird could not possibly deign to ask you how to play first. That would be demeaning. And he won’t google it either.

You can sit in smug, satisfied peace as you watch him slowly tick through several layers of frustration: wings twitching, claws tapping, optics whizzing to focus on platforms and little 8 bit enemies you can’t see.

But Starscream is still the Second in Command of the Decepticons. And the Decepticons have very stringent security measures.

Soundwave fucking manifesting outside your window one evening was enough to have you pray to every god you’ve ever heard of. Inscrutable, all knowing fucking Soundwave. You regret every conversation you’ve ever had on the Nemesis, oh god your house is probably bugged-

His face screen flickers to life. You blink, as a live stream of the Nemesis command deck appears.

You have, by dint of hanging around too much and a few close encounters with the Autobots, seen cybertronians on the battlefield before. It is nothing compared to the later levels of Pacman on the Nemesis bridge at 1 am.

Soundwaves inscrutable smiley face emoji pings your phone, almong with a simple, translated glyph.

“More? :)”

PS-

Soundwave is Pacman god. Knockout has a soft spot for the Mario games. Starscream fucking loves Galaxian and will die before he ever tells you this. Shockwave, logically, finds Tetris soothing.

Megatron plays pong on his throne sometimes when his usual brooding gives way to inevitable drug induced boredom. It spaces his eyes out to either side nearly completely. Starscream has screenshots of his gormless mug taped to his hab wall to shoot on occasion.

[breannasfluff]

LU Wing Bois - Avian AU Links

Tag: #lu wing bois

Main Character Reference

Wild (Taiwan Blue Magpie)

Hyrule (Brown Thrasher)

Legend (Flame Bowerbird)

Wind (Tropicbird)

Sky (Magnificent Frigatebird)

Four (European Bee-eater)

Warriors (Ferruginous Hawk)

Twilight (Harris’s Hawk)

Time (Swallow Tailed Kite)

Ravio (Satin Bowerbird)

Character Art

Wild stolen shirt frostbite armor

Sitting

Hyrule overalls overalls updated

Legend silly face puffed coffee WB Bunny

Wind old intro fluffy wind waker portrait

Sky old intro Flying

Four Option 2 Old Intro napping

Warriors Inside of wing and clothes ref old intro Perching

Twilight Intro flying Stacking on Wars

Time old intro

Ravio Old Intro stretch maid outfit sitting

Downfall Duo Shut up hug

Triple Threat Smile! laughing nap hay cuddles gossip

Ravioli heart gaze

Other Characters

Zelda Birds - info Malon (Barn Owl) Spirit Tracks Link || Zelda || Full art Shadow Bonnie Sun Flora Dot - drawn by Muse Artemis - drawn by Muse Zia/Zelda

Headcanons

Grounded Biology Genetics Cute things music Wind & Warriors extra energy grounded WB Ravioli Wedding Relationship Jewelry Marta vs. Ravio subflocks Sky & Wind Secondaries & Flirting bird fashion Hyrule Pre-Canon Nesting Bees & Twi Instinct Seasons Skyloft & Loftwings how flocks form

Lore Info

jewelry hair feathers size comparison flying speeds stamina

AO3 Series

Here

WB Commissioned art: Winter Kiss, Squishy

[evolutionsvoid]

Those who live around the great conifer forests know this resident well, either from the hoots and hollers that can be heard through the canopy, or from the lumps on their head from previous encounters with this temperamental species. The agropelter is the arboreal ape of the north, living atop the pines and making sure no one forgets that. While some would say that they are famous for their bizarre boneless limbs and elastic reach, their real infamy comes from what they do with them. At this point, everyone on the continent should know that agropelters are extremely territorial, and do not take kindly to larger beasts wandering below their tree top homes. Those that intrude will hear angry hooting coming from up above, and that is your first warning. If you do not turn tail and run at the mere sound of that, the agropelter will give one more chance. What comes shortly after is the sharp cracking sound of splitting wood, like someone just snapped off a tree branch. It sounds like that because it is that, as the agropelter starts grabbing tree limbs and ripping them off. That noise is the last warning you get, as what follows is the ape opening fire. While agropelters have weaker limbs compared to other primates, they make up for it by whipping their arms with extreme speed and force. Some compare it to a whip, others see it like an atlatl, but no matter the comparison, the agropelter has one hell of a baseball pitch. When it throws its woody projectiles, it does so with enough force to crack bone and leave splinters in the flesh. They launch as many missiles as they need until the intruder is either gone or dead. And if they run out of branches? Well, that doesn't bother them, as they will just grab anything in reach and fire away. They can use pine cones, chunks of bark or even bird nests to assault the trespasser. During the winter, they may also grab handfuls of ice and snow to launch, starting a one sided snowball fight that can easily result in missing teeth. 

When not raging war on any creature that intrudes on their territory, the agropelter swings effortlessly through the conifer canopy in search of food. Agropelters are avivores, with a particular taste for owls and woodpeckers. They may hide in hollow trees in wait for these birds, then lash out with a tendriled arm to snag them. Some have used their incredible throwing power and aim to snipe them from the skies, exploding flying birds into a ball of feathers and then rushing after the falling corpse. These hollow trees aren't only for hunting, but also act as their nests when it is time to sleep and a musical instrument when the breeding season kicks in. This special season only comes every four years, and the forests explode into a cacophony of noise when it happens. Male agropelters snap off tree branches and drum them against their hollow tree trunk, all while adding a serenade of booming hoots and yelps. Females seek out the loudest of them all, which means that sometimes lesser males will team up and attempt to "tone down" the bigger competition. Some males have been found sabotaging tree trunks before the breeding season kicks in, using their arms and weaponry to bust them up and ruin their drumming potential. The bigger males must keep an eye out for these saboteurs, and they unleash a flurry of angry whipping arms at them til they scatter. Those that succeed in winning over a female will soon be father to three or five pups, which will spend their early years hiding in the hollow tree. They will be raised on the mother's milk while the male goes out to fetch birds for them. The young will also dine on owl and woodpecker, and will use the leftover bones to practice their throwing arm. Trees, birds and their siblings will be the target of their aim, but at such an age their throws are harmless. 

For the people who lived around these forests, the agropelter was either one of two things. To those who loved the forest as it was, they were the guardians of it. To those who saw the forest as a profit, they were a menace. Agropelters are universally hated by all lumberjacks and loggers, as every job in a conifer forest is dealing with a painful rain of wood and pine cones. Their assaults on logging camps and the axe-wielding men within became so bad, that CTE was listed as the number one condition and death associated with being a lumberjack. Quite a few injuries came to be when some of the loggers decided to fight back, usually in a drunken state. After putting back a few, some of the men would take to throwing beer cans and bottles at the apes, giving them a taste of their own medicine. However, the apes would simply grab these lobbed missiles and do an ol' "return to sender." When doctors found themselves picking glass shards out of a logger's skull, they knew how such a grievous wound came to be.

With the agropelters furiously guarding their domain, many forest loving folk came to believe that these massive pine forests would remain untouched. No logging company would risk the men and insurance costs to chop down these trees, so thus they would be left in peace. Sadly, that is not how things work in this day and age. The agropelters had their powerful throw and arsenal behind them, but at the end of the day, they were still fighting a war with sticks. A man with an axe was no match to that, and a man with a chainsaw fared no better. But when man in armored bulldozers and feller bunchers rolled onto the battlefield, they finally knew defeat. Logging companies fitted their vehicles like they were going to war, with extra armor and bulletproof glass. Some even went literal with it and hired sharpshooters to snipe the apes from the branches. The agropelters gave all they could, but mere sticks and pine cones did little against the unstoppable march of man and his machines. Many agropelter forests were logged, destroying their homes and scaring off their food source. Whenever the owls and woodpeckers left, the agropelters were forced to follow. Plenty of people in the public argued against this destruction and the eviction of these species, but lobbyists and lumber mills had the agropelter's infamy on their side. With those nasty apes gone, now you can hike in what's left of these woods in peace! Aren't you glad you can go for a walk through the pines without getting a concussion? And they eat precious owls and woodpeckers too! Why, if it wasn't for agropelters, we probably would still have the ivory-billed woodpecker around! The notoriety of these apes severely dampened whatever sympathy their fate garnered, and soon their numbers began to fall. 

Though many of their habitat were lost, there were still forests left untouched and several pockets of these agropelters left in peace. Protests and legislation halted logging in some places, which added to the number of sanctuaries remaining. Here the agropelter can still remain, though threats to woodpecker and owl populations in general can still mean trouble for them. But these pine forests aren't the only place these apes are found now, as those who lost their homes didn't always lose their lives. When a forest was cleared out to set up residential areas and suburbs, what agropelters remained decided to move right in. Though their hollow trees are now gone, they found something appealing in the shiny lattice transmission towers and electrical poles. The sight of a bunch of dead branches and junk jammed into the center of these hollow towers is confirmation that an agropelter has set up shop. Some have broken into attics and chimneys, trying to make nests there, though the human residents are quick to evict them.

While the owls and woodpeckers have left these areas, these urban agropelters have seemed to develop a taste for different birds, like crows, pigeons and geese. They still have a love for owls, which was an early problem during their settlement when agropelters were tricked by decoy owls people put on their roofs. The excited primate would rush to snag this prized treat, only to find it mere inedible plastic. Depriving them of this joy puts them in a foul mood, which meant lots of property damage. Folk in these areas have banned decoy owls, as the freak out that comes from frustrated agropelters has ruined many roofs, windows and cars. To make matters worse, they have substituted their weaponry as well, since tree branches aren't readily available. Shingles, gutters, bricks, even satellite dishes are launched at people who get too close. Multiple power outages have occurred when power company employees have tried to get rid of nesting agropelters and one of these primates started ripping at the transformers and cables.

One infamous case had an agropelter taking up residence in the local church's steeple. When the church's minister was found brained by the cross that once sat atop the spire, police and animal control were called in to put the beast down. Though the agropelter was eventually shot, the famous photo of a church bell through a police car's windshield was slapped onto every paper in the country. 

As of now, the fate of the agropelter seems up in the air. Those that still live in their forest homes may perhaps be safe from what the future brings, but those that still struggle to exist in the land of man may not be so lucky. They fight fiercely, but everyone knows what happens to the animal that dares bite the hand of humanity. Some believe it is only a matter of time before these urban agropelters are wiped out, and the species is kept confined to the pine trees. But some believers hold out the hope that a peace can be brokered, and that the two species can coexist. Despite their reputation, there are certainly people who have a love for the agropelter, and wish them a better fate. Most assume that these people watched the movie "Ed" as children, which was about a baseball loving agropelter. Who couldn't fall in love with Ed's wacky antics and mean pitch? Those who hold this fondness for this movie probably never looked up what happened behind the scenes during the sequel. In hindsight, it was a real dumb idea to let one of these apes near a bucket of real baseballs. You ever hear of that pitcher that killed a bird with his throw? Yeah, Ed has got him pretty beat on pitch speed and body count....      

-----------------------------------------------

Lets toss in an ol Fearsome Critter with the crowd. Discussed this one with Lediblock2 !

[seat-safety-switch]

Me and boats don’t get along. Because of my unique upbringing, I never learned how to swim. This hasn’t been too much of a problem, except when one of my beleaguered cars decides that it’s tired of having more than one ball joint and augurs directly for the nearest drainage pond. You don’t need to know how to swim to drive a boat, I hear you say, and you’re correct. This is really just an elaborate excuse for being poor.

Even though your average boat costs the approximate GDP of Guatemala to own and operate, this is nothing in comparison to speedboats, the drag racers of the seasickness world. They have big engines (and a lot of them,) drink fuel like crazy and need a lot of space in order to operate. They also attract the most expensive members of the opposite (or same) sex. If that form of imminent death isn’t enough for you, they also make cigarette boats, which abandon all pretence of comfort and practicality in favour of pure speed. They’re so fast that the coast guard needs special helicopters to catch up to ‘em, which means that every minute you’ve got that throttle pinned wide open is another good citizen’s entire lifetime of 1040s being chewed up in the military-industrial machine.

Of course, as we’ve already established, I can’t enjoy any of these mysterious sea-going vehicles. Sure, sometimes I can get a ticket on the local slow ferry, and enjoy the company of Birding Mable (she likes birds, but be very, very careful which ones you talk to her about) and her husband, Trashbag Stan, the origin of whose nickname is unknown to everyone in town, including Mable. As long as nothing goes wrong. If something does go wrong, due to the aforementioned not-swimming, I’ll probably drown in the middle of the bay, which makes it about as dangerous as taking a city bus downtown.

Because of my addiction to buying scrap and near-scrap land-going automobiles, it seems unlikely that I’ll ever make cigarette boat money. There is one thing that I can do, though, and that’s buy a little wind-up toy boat, and play with it in the tub. That’s the life. There’s still something missing, though, and that’s why I’ve got this old Mercury outboard from some dude that ran into a bridge while the coast guard was chasing him.

[inverswayart]

On Orlais fashion

So, while i was trying to design an outfit for Julie, I stumbled upon a problem - what the hell was considered fashionable in Orlais during Awakening? I scanned through wiki and concept art and then got an idea for a big cool post about it, but my da high is closing in to an end so I'll just ramble for a bit instead.

It's evolving (and too fast)

So yeah, if we look at the concept art and what have appeared in Inquisition, Orlais fashion seems to change at break-neck speed - on par with modern fast fashion. Why is it a problem? Because modern fashion operates in a world of mass-production, which whole kinda alluded to in Thedas, is allegedly haven't been achieved yet. But still, in DAI we see at least 3 pretty distinct silhouettes of women's clothes that feel like different stages of one evolutionary line. I'm talking those beauties:

So, as we can see, one more-or-less consistent thing about all of them is waistline - fairly high one, like something out of 16th century Italy or first two decades of 19th century. But everything else is varied - the neckline from completely closed to pretty plunging, sleeve length and form, construction of skirt...

But looking at them in this order they do resemble a solid development line - tho for me it feels like there should be at least one more phase between first and second stages - no way such high and tight wheel ruffles would collapse without a trace of their existence... Otherwise, there's a couple of noticeable trends here - first, slight widening of skirts; second, slow rising of sleeves; descending neckline.

At third image it feels like someone suddenly invented the crinoline straight out of 1850's, completely foregoing farthingale and panniers (here's all of them for comparison, in the same order):

To be clear, neither panniers or farthingale are prerequisite for crinoline to appear - but considering the alleged time period Dragon Age was inspired by and the fairly 1770's like hairdo's Leliana alludes to in DAO (the "I like your hair" dialogue where she mentions a noblewoman incorporating entire birdcage with living birds into her hair) one would expect them rather then mid-19th century invention.

Still, to line up those dresses is to insert at the very least 5 or so years between them, maybe even 10 or 15 (once again, those high ruffled collars would have not dissapered so smoothly... Imagine orlesians with those huge-ass Elizabethan lacey standing collars, wouldn't that be sick?) But to be honest, at least i can see how Origins noble dress could've evolved into the first one.

All the prerequisites are there - standing collar ready to get taller and rufflier, kinda puffed up sleeves, little cape-like decoration at shoulders, waist accentuated by fairly wide belt ready to turn even wider and more decorative, fairly narrow skirt to expand... And it would've ecen work with the timeline we have - there's roughly 11 years between DAO and DAI, and the silhouette would've had time to change - but then the Inquisition dress would be the latest fashion, not the fairly outdated one we see.

There are also two distinct outliers - Florianne de Chalons and empress Celine with their dresses more or less out of common trends we saw before:

And while Celene's dress I can still place in the general climate we got - like yeah, she's the Empress, she can be the most fashion-forward one and outclass everyone around, and her dress does look like evolution of what we saw, it would be at least 5 more tears before crinoline would start to change it's shape (ironically getting closer to panniers) and while I can read her overdress as on of the exposed underdresses in a "I'm above your backroom dealings and behind the stage machinations and so I have nothing to hide" kinda gesture, it feels like a stretch.

Florianne, on the other hand, while being more in tune with others silhouette-wise... Why does she has those pagoda sleeves? Why the train when even the Empress does not have one? Mystery for ages.

A bit unrelated but one cool canon thing about Orlesian fashion is that codex in DAI that says that it's all about hiding the actuall contour of body behind augmented forms - shoulder pads, structured garments and so on. That actually is pretty close to Elizabethan conception of man as something completely separate from nature that found it's reflection in geometrical fashions of the era.

So yeah, in the end, while very pretty, Orlesian fashion is kind of a mess (as is every other fashion in Thedas we have seen. Can't wait for Dreadwolf to throw even more aestetics wrenches in here).

[jonquilandlace]

So anyway I was bored and this was fully out of my typical fandom but I found this forest fairy maker by @elequinoa on my old favorite dress up game website from when I was a kid, Doll Divine, and proceeded to brainrot and say hey what if I made all the Disney Fairies in this, except creepy and weird and more my idea of fey? So anyway here's all of the fairies and the goofy redesigns (under the cut because I feel horrible for people who were never in this fandom having to scroll past seven sets of fairies lol)

Tumblr crop is bad so I apologize in advance. (Also disclaimer for minor photoshop on Rosetta and Periwinkle to make their body colors more unearthly, as my intent was None Of These Fairies Should Look Human, and to make Periwinkle's mask an arctic fox instead of a fox; I attempted to look at TOU and it seemed like this should be alright, but if not, I apologize for overstepping!) (Also minor edit for less pixelated banner image)

Fawn - She was the first one I did and wound up more muted in color scheme, but I really like how she turned out. She was meant to look somewhat like a moth or bark, with some faun-ish inspiration, as well.

Iridessa - As a fairy focused on light, there were two ways I could see taking her (the alternate being distinctly holographic), but in the end liked the double entendre of "light" when leaning towards "biblically accurate angel," so there's bird motifs and just general cherub vibes.

Vidia - The opposite of Iridessa, really; the goal here was to lean into lightning motifs and dark or gothic elements to emphasize the opposite elements in comparison to Iridessa's classical elements. Dragonfly wings for speed, of course.

Rosetta - As in her original, meant to resemble a flower, just amped up a bit to where she resembles a rococo/art deco fusion when viewed naturally, but could literally flip upside down and pretend to be a flower if she wanted to.

Silvermist - Yes this picture isn't from the first movie I couldn't find a good one lmao. Anyway, her wings reminded me of that specific type of dragonfly that skims over my uncle's lake, so I riffed on that alongside the almost pseudo-waves of the petal shirt. She is more directly meant to be an embodiment of water, but more lake or even bog-ish water, where she could peek out of the water at the top and an onlooker would only register her as perhaps a frog, as emphasized in the monochrome eyes, or a ripple in the waves.

Periwinkle - Where options did really start to limit what I could do, lol. I decided to lean into the mysterious and crystalline vibes of the winter, with her visage taking on the arctic fox and even reindeer-ish antler look of something moving in the snowy woods, but yet draped in a finery like freshly fallen snow. She's also the only one with "normal" fairy wings, but I could see it for her, with them perhaps being made of frost.

And finally, Tinkerbell - One that I definitely took some more risks with in design, she is nevertheless the most openly friendly-looking of the fey batch, despite her green hue, which is really in character for a fairy best known for hanging out with Peter Pan and being fascinated by humans. For clothing, I leaned heavily into artificer and witch vibes, mirroring a bit more of the human world, with a touch of goblin to temper it. I did shift away from her typical dress in favor of more adventurous wear, more suited for pretending to be a mushroom or even mouse in the corner of someone's eye.

Overall, idk, I just really had fun with this mini-project. I don't intend to do anything with it, ofc; it was just for fun, but I had a fun time with it!

[strqyr]

Me just chewing on the Summer working with Salem theory. Just... As someone else pointed out Summer is the only stepmother we've seen in the entire show about fairytales. And very specifically Yang has both abandonment issues and the family absolutely imploded when Summer died or "died". Bonus that's messed up points: Raven at least occasionally visits as a raven. I'm all for this theory because oh it makes sense and it finally puts the spotlight on the family implosion.

More on the whole Summer Rose possibly joining Salem makes the whole STRQ situation stupidly complex - Yang and Ruby nearly ended up Grimm chow because went looking for Raven. Qrow saved them - but given Raven's semblance she possibly could have also. Or what I'm saying is that I'm considering the option that Raven's reintroduction to the narrative is her bailing out RWBY after they come across Summer working for Salem. Because Raven is extremely set up for high powered evac from nowhere.

my mind always goes back to red like roses part ii bc with every new revelation that make the picture just a little bit more clearer, the more relevant it becomes. i made a sacrifice but forced a bigger sacrifice on you is often read as "summer took a risk going against salem and died trying to end this war once and for all, and thus the weight of being the simple, more honest soul fell on ruby" but reading it in the light of summer working with salem, and it becomes "summer made a sacrifice by essentially faking her own death and never making any contact with her family, perhaps hoping that one day she could return to them when it's all over, but in doing so forced ruby, the little girl with silver eyes, her own daughter, into the spotlight" which i find 100x more interesting characterwise.

and god is the reveal going to have an impact on the whole family; the comparisons between summer and raven are apt bc so far, they could have not been spoken more differently about, but the more the curtains get peeled back, the more similar they become (not the same, never the same, but i do think summer and raven are more similar to each other than even they themselves may think). and it's so interesting bc we know how the family was affected after summer's alleged death (at least from yang's perspective) but nothing after raven left other than they all eventually moved on and what tai said about it doing a number on their family (which rings odd when the focus has been more on how they were handling things post-summer's 'death' rather than raven's departure).

the bridging of the gap between heroes and monsters is already well on its way; a world is a lot more complex than a simple black-and-white morality might suggest, being a hero and doing good doesn't equal never failing, people you trust or don't trust can both be right about one thing and wrong about another, everything that ruby is going through mirrors plenty of villains, it's just a matter of perspective, etc; finding out that summer, the best of the heroes the world has to offer, is working with salem is definitely going to speed things up even further.

i'm not willing to try and predict when raven is going to come back properly (i.e. excluding potential summer flashbacks) bc, well. she's kind of unpredictable. like, her first appearance was 'foreshadowed' by yang talking about her family to blake, but that was as much about summer as it was about raven, and what it left us with was "yang is searching for her mom", not "her mom is going to drop in out of nowhere to save yang."

like the setup is there, the warrior in the woods made it clear—"next time you enter the woods, you're on your own." -> "i knew you'd still come to my rescue." is not being subtle—but it could also do with summer potentially going to ask for raven's help during her final mission that took a turn, and. ya know. "promises are like birds; they taste great, but always escape." or something like that. idk.

i jinxed myself not so long ago by saying that i don't think any of my long running, serious theories are going to get proven or debunked this volume and now i've been told to buckle up and the strq brainworms are having a unannounced party that has kept going way past into the quiet hours.

like. ten years of waiting and i might actually get all of team strq in the same episode this saturday? trying to keep my expectations in check but also i might just cry.

[neverlandfaerai]

(sialia flies over to investigate the shadow, seeming suprised when he saw it was a pokemon) oh. hey there! are you here for the party too? what are you doing all the way over here?"

The Octorai looked to the skies and saw the little bird among the stars. Perhaps she wasn’t being as discrete as she thought she was. Maybe the crowd was simply more perceptive this year. In comparison to the speed and number of individuals she interacted with from the other year, it was greater now.

Then again, she wasn’t doing anything differently this time around.

Nonetheless, everyone who’d approached her had been friendly, so it was more of a surprise than anything.

Agatha waved to Sialia with a claw, “hellooo! I’m moreso here to visit the Magi, but I might join the party. I’ve been thinking about it, so I’m taking some time out here first to observe. What’s it like on shore? Is there anything you like so far?” She squints at his wings. “Oh that’s a nice accessory you have there! Did you get it from over there?”

Of course, she referred to the party, and nodded in its direction.

@ask-serafinas-harem

[bethanythebogwitch]

Wet Beast Wednesday: Nile crocodile

Humans in general often have a fear of large reptiles. This may have an evolutionary advantage as it helped our smaller ancestors avoid large predators like snakes and crocodiles. Whatever the reason, the fear has entered into many belief systems and one common feature in many myths, legends, and religions of Africa and the Middle East is the Nile crocodile. While their reputation as man-eaters is somewhat exaggerated, Nile crocs are one of the most dangerous reptiles to humans, with only the saltwater crocodile matching them in human deaths. However, like most animals, the danger can be avoided if you know what to do and what not to do.

(Image ID: a Nile crocodile walking on land, seen from the front. It is a quadruped with short limbs on the side of its body, scaly skin, and an elongated set of jaws with protruding teeth. The tail is out of view. Its body is dark brown on top and yellowish on the sides. End ID)

The Nile crocodile, Crocodylus niloticus, is the second largest crocodilian and (depending on how you measure some snakes) possibly the second largest living reptile after the saltwater crocodile. Average adult males (which are larger than females) reach between 3.5 and 5 meters (11.5 to 16.5 ft) and and 255 to 270 kg (500 to 1,650 lbs), but some specimens have gotten considerably larger, with the largest confirmed size on record being a male who broke the scale at 6.45 m (21 ft) and between 1,043 and 1,089 kg (2,300 - 2,400 lbs). Nile crocodiles are fairly typical crocodilians. They are large quadrupeds with scaly skin covered with scutes and osteoderms, long and powerful jaws, and eyes, ears, and nostrils on top of their heads. Their eyes are protected with transparent eyelids called nictitating membranes and their skin has many sense organs whose purpose is poorly understood but may help detect changes in water pressure. While on land, the crocodiles are fairly slow and ungainly, but they can swim at high speeds when needed. The broad jaws and powerful muscles give the crocodiles an enormous bite force, being able to bite down on prey with 22 kilonewtons of force. For comparison, humans max out at about 0.7 kilonewtons. This force can also be continuously applies for long periods of time, allowing the crocodiles to hold struggling prey in their mouth and drag it underwater. Famously, though crocodilians can close their jaws with incredible force, the muscles for opening their jaws are much weaker and can be held shut with a person's bare hands or some duct tape. They have dark bronze scales on the back and lighter yellow scales on the sides and underbelly, marked with dark spots. The color darkens as the animal ages. As with all crocodilians, the Nile crocodile has a four-chambered heart that is highly efficient at oxygenating blood and is similar to the hearts of birds. Crocodilians and birds are actually more closely related to each other than they are to anything else still alive. All crocodilians have high lactic acid levels in their blood. This allows them to sit motionless for long periods of time, but increased levels due to overexertion can kill them.

(Image ID: a Nile crocodile resting in the water just offshore, with most of its body still visible. This one is a lighter brown. Its tail is visible. It is long and thick, with two rows of scutes running down it. Its mouth is open. End ID)

Nile crocodiles are found throughout a large portion of Africa and are the most widespread crocodiles, with only the saltwater crocodile having a wider distribution. Their current range is smaller than it used to be and now it is known that areas there were once thought to be part of the Nile croc's range are actually home to the similar species known as the West African crocodile. The West African crocodile was formerly believed to be the same species as the Nile crocodile and was only reclassified in 2011. Their habitat is freshwater lakes, waterways, and swamps throughout Africa. They can tolerate brackish or marine water, but but prefer fresh water. Like other crocodilians, Nile crocs are largely sedentary ambush predators. They can remain motionless for long periods of time, often submerged with only their eyes, ears, and nostrils exposed. A crocodile submerged like this can easily be mistaken for a log. When prey comes close, the crocodile will lunge forward and bite down. Larger prey that is not killed outright will be dragged into the water and drowned. Almost uniquely among crocodilians, nile crocodiles are known to hunt on land. They still employ ambush tactics, usually hiding in brush along paths at night and attacking animals passing by. They have even been known to try to steal kills from land predators and get into tug-of-war battles with lions over pieces of carrion. While clips of a massive crocodile leaping out of the water to drag a zebra to its doom make for entertaining documentaries, about 70% of a Nile crocodile's diet is composed of fish. As an individual grows, larger land animals will make up more of its diet. Nile crocs have been known to cooperate to herd fish into tight spots where they are easier to catch and eat. While famous for their skill and hunting and killing prey, Nile crocodiles are anything but voracious eaters. Their stomachs are pretty small for their size, only around the volume of a basketball. They can also go long periods of time between meals, sometimes several months without signs of starvation. Nile crocodiles are a classic case of apex predators. An adult Nile crocodile has no natural predators, though young ones do get attacked and eaten by larger predators, including other crocodiles. Curiously, they are known to swallow stones. Swallowing stones, known as gastroliths, it a well-known behavior in the animal kingdom. They are usually held in the digestive tract and used to help grind up tough food. Most species that use gastroliths are herbivores or omnivores who use them to help grind up tough plant matter, so it's not clear why the carnivorous crocodiles need gastroliths.

(Image ID: a nile crocodile's had visible above water. Its mouth is open and in it is a silvery fish known as a tilapia. End ID)

(Video ID: a clip from the BBC Earth showing a Nile crocodile successfully attacking a wildebeest. End ID)

When not attacking prey, Nile crocs are pretty sedentary. They can easily spend most of the day basking in the sun, behavior common to large reptiles who need a long time in the heat to warm their bodies enough to perform daily functions. While basking, they sit on land, often with their mouths open. The open mouths are vital for thermoregulation (a crocodile with its mouth sealed shut can overheat and die), but may also serve as a warning to others who may want to steal their spot. In the southernmost reach of their range, Nile crocodiles may wait out the cool, dry months of May to August by digging burrows and entering aestivation, a state similar to hibernation. Nile crocodiles are social creatures that live, bask, and hunt together. They follow a social order with the largest individual around (almost always an old male) being in charge and having first access to food and the best territory. Males are territorial and will try to force other males out of their range. Larger males will be able to maintain the best territories while smaller males are forced to live on the outskirts. Females are not territorial and will seek out the best male territories to live in. While territorial, crocs of all sizes will come together while basking and their interaction then are mostly peaceful. they are known to communicate through posturing, touch, and vocalizations. Males are known to compete over territory and while most of these competitions are settled through threat displays, they may escalate to violence.

(Image ID: four crocodiles resting on a sandy shoreline. End ID)

Territoriality is especially prominent during mating. The mating season begins around the beginning of the dry season and varies based on location. Males will signal for females with several noises, including bellowing, blowing water out of their noses, and slapping the water with their heads. Males will also attempt to drive other males away to reduce competition. When a female chooses a male, she will approach him and the pair rub their jaws together while making a warbling sound. Males like it rough, roaring and pining the females down, sometimes underwater, while mating. Most males will only mate with a single female each year, though some particularly successful males in certain regions will can multiple mates each year. After two months, the female lays her eggs. While most crocodilians incubate their eggs in piles of rotting leaves, Nile crocodiles use sandy banks or beaches. The female digs a nest, lays up to 80 eggs in it, then buries the eggs. The heat of the sun is used to incubate the eggs and to determine the sex of the offspring. Eggs incubated between 31.7 and 34.5 degrees C will be male. All others will be female. Nests used to be laid extremely close to each other, but but to increased disturbances along the nesting sites, this has become rare. During the incubation period, the mother guards the nest continuously, only leaving to avoid overheating by resting in the shade or entering the water. The father also plays a role, patrolling the area around the nest to drive away predators who would eat the eggs. Incubation lasts about 90 days and the female usually will not eat during this time. The hatchlings will make chirping noises before hatching to signal to the mother that she needs to dig out the nest. Once uncovered, the mother may use her jaws to crack the eggs and assist hatching. Hatchings start at around 280 mm (11 in) long and 70 grams (2.5 oz) and will increase by that rate for the first few years. The mother will protect her offspring for up to two years, often carrying them on her back or in her mouth or throat pouch to keep them safe from predators. The juveniles feed on insects for the first few years of life. Even after leaving their mother, hatchlings will often live in groups until they are large enough to not have to worry about predators. It is estimated that only 10% of eggs hatch and 1% of hatchlings survive to adulthood. Sexual maturity is reached at around 11 to 12 years and the maximum lifespan is estimated to be 70 to 100 years.

(Image ID: a Nile crocodile mother standing at the edge of her nest, a pit in the ground. Multiple white eggs are visible, as are newly-hatched crocodiles, which are far smaller version of an adult. End ID)

(Image ID: Nile crocodile eggs hatching. Four eggs are visible and two are actively hatching, with only the hatchling's heads having emerged. Two other crocodiles have already hatched. End ID)

Nile crocodiles are threatened by habitat loss, pollution, prey loss, bycatch, and human hunting. From the 1940s to the 60s, Nile crocodiles were hunted in massive numbers for the leather trade and were near extinction until new laws, international trade regulations, and conservation efforts largely stopped the hunting efforts. Despite this, their population has not returned to pre-hunting levels and they have been extirpated from many locations. Poaching still happens, as does hunting due to their perceived status as man-eaters, which is actively hindering conservation efforts. Like with sharks, the public image of an animal as being dangerous to humans directly harms its survivability and conservation efforts. Loss of habitat and suitable nesting sites due to damming and other human-caused changes to wetlands have also damaged crocodile populations. An invasive plant, Chromolaena odorata, is harming the crocodiles due to it growing out of control in nesting grounds. The shade from the plants keeps the sun from warming the eggs, causing them to die. Nile crocodiles and saltwater crocodiles are responsible fro the vast majority of attacks on humans and it is estimated that Nile crocs may be responsible for hundreds of deaths (most of them unreported) a year. Only the largest individuals pose a threat to adult humans, though children are at risk to smaller crocs. In fact, Nile crocodiles kill more humans per year through direct attacks than any other wild animal. Those numbers are still dwarfed by deaths due to disease spreading animals, animals acting in self-defense, or attacks or injuries from domesticated animals. For the most part, the crocodiles do not seem to target humans, the number of attacks comes from humans and the crocodiles both living near the water's edge and the crocodiles' nature as generalist predators of large animals. People who study and interact with the crocodiles report that if the right precautions are taken, the danger from being around the animals is negligible and many people and groups have tried to spread safety precautions, especially to poor and remote areas where attacks are likely the most common.

(Image ID: several juvenile Nile crocodiles in a tank being fed. Someone is using a grabber on a stick to drop meat into the tank. Four of the crocodiles are rearing out of the water to get the food. End ID)

[ferahntics]

Kirby species wing headcanons

This was on my mind during work so I just wanted to scribble this down sjdhg

It gets lengthy, and this is completely my subjective view, and it might most likely change over time c: Also I am in no way an expert on wings and I am most likely messing up a lot so bare with me XDD

So, Kirby wings: I imagine there’s no real ‘limit’ to what kind of wings they have, but I do think they’ve each got their own rarity, kinda like with cat genetics (except kirby’s species doesn’t have genetics so there’s no real lineage to go off of). I kinda compiled how I feel they’d go with rarities, from common to legendary that only happen under extremely specific circumstances.

Common wings would include wings from smaller birds like sparrows, just large and strong enough to enable flight. Though they do require frequent flapping, which can lead to exhaustion since those wings are rather small and they can only hold so much strain before rest is necessary.

Tiny round wings, like that of a cartoon bee almost, are also a relatively common sight, though they’re more sensitive compared to the bird-like wings and can be fragile, so caution with them would be advised.

Bat wings would fall under the uncommon territory, and sometimes may be confused with something negative due to their appearance, though they can fly faster than the common wings. 

Dwarf wings are also a possibility, however, because they’re even smaller than the common ones, these can be seen as a hinderance. More often than not, they are not capable of flight - maybe enough to serve as a spring in a jump, but not enough for actual flight.

There are cases where they don’t have any wings period. This can cause them trouble as they lack flight all together and will need to improvise and adapt if they wish to handle themselves in danger.

These are considered some of the rarest wings that could be asked for. First in line would be large wings, more often than not reminiscing the ones from a hawk or an eagle, sometimes an angel even. These are fully capable of long flights, however the large size of them could be a downside if they happen to be stuck on the ground, as they can be hefty to drag around. They’re surprisingly durable, and capable of great speed and agility.

Though less durable than the aforementioned ones, insect wings like that of dragonflies, butterflies, moths, etc., these are specifically for agility. They’re much more fragile in comparison to the feathered ones, but thanks to their light weight, they allow room for swifter movements and give them the chance to catch an opponent off-guard with quick movements.

Finally, we’ve reached the wings that are deemed so rare, they might as well be called legendary. These almost never happen normally, more often than not they are something that requires extremely specific circumstances to achieve. These are typically depicted in possible murals from the time of the ancients (I imagine for Galacta Knight he might’ve been depicted with multiple wings as a sign how powerful and terrifying he was at his prime).

[blackbutlerfandomnerddomain]

Space.

The beautiful and mysterious world of stars and galaxies and world hidden among worlds. For many years we’ve always been fascinated by the idea and view of space, some it’s an escape of reality, others it’s proof there’s more in life than what we see in our eyes.

The rain poured down hard on The City as a blue truck drove the black road at night. The city lights paint the wet roads in bright colors as the buildings slowly come to view from the dense country landscape. Black leather gloves grip the steering wheel as tired brown eyes stare at the road, the truck radio droning on and on about some news stuff happening this week that’s pretty much being muffled by the rain hitting the metal roof and windows of the outside. 

Professor Manuel Membrane, a world known scientists in such a young age of his adulthood, has just finished his shift at the labs at the wee late hours of the night merging the very early minutes of the morning, his mind and body tired from all the work his fellow men and women of science weighted onto him.

BANG!

The scientists leaned forward and looked to the dark stormy skies, his foot lifting off the gas a bit just in case, his thick eyebrows shift in a frown-like knot of worry and confusion. Another bang signals out of the quiet, barely being masked by the thunder. With that bang a bright light source zips out of the clouds and gets into the ground just by the outer edge of the city grounds in a thunderous crash, a light rumble shaking the truck’s tires.

The man gasped at the sight, hurriedly driving to the area at top speed. Once there, he climbs out the truck and runs to the nearly smoking dent of the soil in careful movements. Now, he was expecting as he walked closer and closer for this to be a strange yet rare case of lightning hitting the sand making glass, or maybe a meteorite, or something his large brain can correct and accept without worry… But what he was instead met was something smaller than a rock from space, or rarer than the beautiful glass made of two kinds of nature bash together on a night much like this. There, sitting in a crater no bigger than an aircraft, is a small blackened machine of sorts with arms like metal noodles and a head mimicking a soup can. It withered and writhed in the nearly burnt muddy soil of Earth, his big eyes like light bulbs blink and close at a rapid pace as broken high pitch wails leave the speaker of a throat.

Manuel crawled down slowly to examine further. What happened next left his whole body colder than the rain is making him; The top part of the head opened and a little green thing rolled out limp.

It was small, barely noticeable thanks to the wind and rain and thunder, but as soon as some drops hit that green flesh a small whine keens out of the creature. Manuel quickly scoops the small thing, almost an instinct, his body blocking the rain as much as it can as he examines the little one. It was smaller than his palms, the head slightly bigger than the rest of it’s tiny tiny body that can be crushed if he closes his hands into a fist, their green skin suffering with small patches of already brown dots of burns and bumps here and there, two thin tiny black things sticking out of their head and shaking roughly against the downturn of their position, big large ruby like eyes opening and staring up at the human slowly as the tiny mouth still whines and squeals like a teeny tiny mouse or a baby bird chirp perhaps.

The man carefully brings his thumb to the side of the little one’s head, silently marveling how small they are in comparison, those ruby gems shiming like little stars. “What are you…?” He mumbled aloud, his back shivering in the cold but not bothered to hide away as he stood still. His brown eyes look down to the machine, who still makes slight noises though it isn't moving much anymore, “You…protected this child…?”

Quickly and quietly, Manuel knelt down and scooped the robot into his arms and hurried to his truck, making sure to block the rain for the creatures from the great unknown. He made it to his truck, slamming the door shut after he carefully placed the two small mysteries on the passenger seat beside him. By this point the little green creature full on wails, it’s cries much like an infant child on Earth but slightly higher pitch with a ripple effect like popping bubbles along the vocal range in the air. The little robot lightly put it’s head against the little one, giving the only human slight anxiety of the idea that could hurt them both, it’s voice very screwy and messy like a harsh rewind of a tape machine that’s cloggy and yet still the wheels turned, “Z….im…. On…teeee…” “Zim On Tee? Z-Zimothy? Are you saying Zimothy??” Manuel tries to figure it out, eyeing the hunk of junk metal in curiosity and awe. He lowers his volume when seeing the machine “sleep” as it seems.

As the rain hits the truck’s roof and window, seemingly harsher than earlier, Manuel Membrane glances to his dashboard at a picture of two wrapped bundles of joys he barely got six months prior to this fateful night. He looks back at the two in front of him. “If… I report this, they might—” He frowns at the idea of his home being raided. Even more when he thinks of what someone will do to this strange yet arguably adorable creature.

Careful as ever, he reaches and rubs his index finger against the large green head before him, listening as the little one slowly quiets down and even purrs. A pair of tiny green hands of three fingers grab onto the finger and hug it, causing Manuel to lose his breath for a second. His shoulders relax as he watches it calm down further.

“Don’t you worry, I won’t let anything hurt you… Never again…”

I made a AU based off a recent role play!!!

ngl I want to redraw this promo art cause I think his eye is weird but that'll be for later!

Symphonist: Zimothy "Zim" Membrane is a normal teenage boy. Well, as normal as he can with his unique birth defects and rare skin condition. Lives in a nice home with his father, the most famous scientists Professor Membrane, and his two amazing siblings Dib and Gaz, oh and their silly dog GIR. Life for Zim is normal, normal friends, normal gossips, normal bullies who don't understand to not pick on someone different looking, the usual life for a very normal boy. That all changed after one faithful Halloween act of rebellion when he's taken to a strange place called "Irk" where these Irkens change everything he and his family knows... Will Zim stay with these aliens and learn more of himself or rebel and try and get back home to Earth for answers of the lies his father spoke?

Based of Volume 37 of the comic, me and my friend became obsessed with the idea of Zim being raised on Earth after being found as a Smeet from Prof. Membrane. It's going to be angsty, cute, PRAZR (Red x Purple x Zim) being end-game, will touch on identity crises and depression.

In this AU Zim has a bedroom in the attic area after 12 years sharing a room with Dib after their interests changed just slightly. Here's his room reference:

And here's Zim's wardrobe and Part 1 of his body headcanons of this AU

For those who can barely read my handwriting (sorry in advance) since Prof. Membrane didn't know Irken Biology/Anatomy he more so assumed Zim was a baby girl and raised him as such until Zim was around 6 in human years when Zim expressed wanting to be a boy, which means sadly Prof. Membrane accidentally create gender dysphoria for our lil cutie (Oops lol), but Zim's anatomy is a normal male Irken but on Earth he identifies as a transmale (This is just my AU/headcanon, if you don't like it than that's okay)

Normally once a PAK is removed the Irken ends up in a vegetated like/maybe dead state within 10 minutes after it's removal, so in this Zim's PAK was removed kind of immidentally after being "hatched" and then GIR ended up taking Zim and that's when they crashed to Earth. Just trust me, science is an answer

I shared some spoilers with @reptile-ruler so if you want a peek click here and here here!

Soundtrack:

I'll explain the arcs (so far) in a bit after I screenshot enough and also when me and me friend get those arcs done

[foldingfittedsheets]

are wyverns really dragons

What a wonderful question! The short answer is that wyverns are dragons in the same way foxes are wolves- they both belong to the larger genus: draconis.

Now, if we're looking only at the outer physiology it's clear why there was such heavy debate on this topic. These two creatures appear to have a different number of limbs, something which you'd think would categorically separate them. (You'll have to forgive the mess, I can't find my source books and had to make do with quick sketches to illustrate my points).

The wyvern (draconis parum) appears to have only four limbs, whereas draconis noble, which most people will simply shorthand to "dragon" rather than it's specific breed, appears to have six limbs. For the purposes of this I'll be using a rather generic European wyrm rather than any eastern counterparts as the physiology is a closer match for comparisons sake.

When looking at why these limbs vary, we first have to break down their niches. Wyrms of this sort tend to be ambush predators. They use claws, teeth, and combustion gas sacs to take down prey.

The wyvern is missing these advantages and has instead opted for speed. We can see on skulls that proportionately the wyvern has bigger fangs in relation to it's size, which is our first clue to it's hunting style. Wyverns can circle in the air almost indefinitely, and we can see from it's greater optic cavity on the skull that it has invested more into vision than wyrms have.

This is perfect for the wyvern as they will often circle a spot for days at a time before spotting prey worth taking the dive for. The prey can seldom see up into the clouds well enough to spot a circling wyvern, and their pale grey coloration helps them blend in with cloud cover.

Overall though looking at these two skulls side by side we see two creatures that are far more similar than different.

So let's take a look lower down and address their fascinating rib structure.

Now, draconis noble has one very distinct feature that separates it from the wyvern- a keel. Much like birds all those powerful flight muscles need a corresponding ridge of bone to attach to, and that's where the keel comes in. Draconis scapula are very unique among the animal kingdom, being somewhat similar to the floating scapula seen among birds. Instead of lying flat however it has a twist, allowing the lower humerus to attach as a ball socket.

There are two sets of what we'd consider "arm" bones, with an alar humerus for flight and a lower humerus for mobility. Continuing on the wing there's an alar radius and ulna as well, consistent again with human arms and bird wings.

In other respects it follows similar physiology to birds or bats depending on the genus of wyrm. Now let's take a look at the wyvern.

Here we see the wyvern ribs, and first off we see that the scapula is formed similarly. It lies flat along the rib and twists to form a socket. However the first noticeable different is the alar humerus. Instead of going up, it's moved down. And where's the keel? Well, from what we can gather wyverns needed a lot more flexibility in their chest than wyrms, and it all comes down to air.

A wyrm couldn't hang around in the sky for days, all that flapping would get exhausting. But remember those combustion sacs from earlier that we have only observed in wyrms? From dissections it's now clear wyverns didn't toss out such a potent evolutionary advantage. They've simply readapted it. Wyverns use those sacs to produce and hold lighter than air gases, buoying themselves up for their long flights. However a static keel wouldn't be able to expand and contract in the way a wyvern needs. Enter the alar arm.

The alar humerus almost takes the place of a human clavicle, coming down in front of the ribs as it does. The alar radius and ulna have almost fused, but we do still see two separate bones, indicating that wyrms and wyverns were starting with the same base ancestor here. When the wyvern needs to take a deep breath and really hold it, these bones let the ribs expand to encompass the additional air for as long as it's needed.

This is also one of the reasons wyverns strikes appear so fast. To go from a lazy buoy to a missile is an impressive visual feat, and often their prey dies on impact. If not they have their impressive fangs to sever spinal columns.

I hope this was helpful and informative!

[i-am-beckyu]

Prompt 3 bc you said I'm in a chaos mood

You said you lost it, was this it?

Treat Spiders the way you want to be treated. Killed without hesitation.

3D my gorgeous child. When you first sent your prompts, I was hyper fixating on jornos. But at 11pm we had an idea and brain said: WRITE IT! and speed wrote it. So I hope you like this extremely angsty fic because it is just angst on angst on angst :D

cw: death mentions (there's a lot but no one other than a mention bugs actually dying), fear, panic, anxiety, spider hybrids (arachnophobes I gotchu) death, a bit graphic with descriptions. In other words: I went hard with angst lol promise it has happy ending one shot words: 1204

Disclaimer! This story is based on the characters of the Dream SMP and not the real life content creators. Anything that occurs in this story is purely fiction and should be treated as such. Thank you.

Shroud knew he wasn't going to make it. His own mother had made that clear to him the day he had hatched, but he had never thought he was going to meet his end this way. It was a cruel life to be born into, but he had managed and now he was fully grown to a good 2 inches tall. All his siblings had long since left the cocoon leaving him to fend for himself. In a world that was kill or be killed, he was lucky he had survived this long. Even if it was through hiding in the unreachable crevices of his old home to avoid being picked off. But without anyone or anything left in the cocoon to provide him nutrients with, he’d eventually been forced to leave and find somewhere that had more food available. 

He’d seen many things on his journey looking for a safe haven to call home. Many terrible and horrible things. He’d watched as helpless other spiders had been snatched up and devoured by birds. Watched as heavy rains drowned other insects and bugs. He’d witnessed how insects and bugs fought others of their own species and eaten the remains of their dead foes. He was lucky in the sense of being a spider hybrid, having the smarts of a person rather than just another mindless prey, but having witnessed such horrors the world could cause, made him ever restless in his search for safety. But even they were nothing in comparison to how he was to meet his end. 

He’d only heard of them in legend. One of the few stories his mother had told him when they went to sleep at night. Out of all the predators in this world, none are more ruthless and terrifying than humans. 100x a spider hybrids size with triple the smarts. While they seem just like them minus 4 arms and a few other features, never mistake: they will only ever bring about your doom. For every way you could possibly think of dying, they had 10 plus more unimaginable ways to bring about your death. They could squish you beneath their gigantic thumbs, use their despicable sprays to poison the air, suck you up and leave you to die in their monstrous machines, trap you in jars and use you for experimentation or perhaps even burn you alive! The humans were creatures that could and would only bring about your demise. And Shroud was trapped in one’s cabinet. 

He didn’t know it was a humans’ home he had stumbled upon. The space he’d been scouting had been clear of any living creature for several hours before he had even dared getting closer and climbing up with the help of his webs. But as he had made his way about looking for food, the loud voices of people approaching could be heard, along with the vibrations of their footsteps shaking the earth as they went. It wasn’t hard to guess what was coming. Shroud didn’t have time to think as the door to the cabinet was flung open. He tried to hide behind one of the boxes on the shelf in attempts of not being seen, but unfortunately for him, it was the very box he was hidden behind that the human grabbed.

 A loud scream filled the air, as did the sound of a box crashing harshly down and onto the floor. “THERE’S A SPIDER IN THE CABINET!!!” The human shrieked. Shroud threw his hands over his ears at the sheer volume the human spoke in. “TOMMY!!!! GET IN HERE AND KILL IT!!!” Shroud froze at the humans’ words. He tried to turn and run, but his legs felt like jelly and he barely stumbled a few steps before falling to the cabinets floor. “TUBBO?!? TUBBO WHAT’S WRONG??” A second humans’ voice appeared yelling in alarm. Shroud continued to try and get away, till he had scrambled into the corner of the cabinet. 

“It's in the Cabinet Tommy. Top shelf! Kill it!! Please kill it! Kill it! Kill it!!!” the first human shouted again. 

A shadow was suddenly cast over Shroud, blocking out the light. He scrunched his eyes tightly shut, as his entire body began to shake uncontrollably. His breathing became short and staggered as he waited for his impending doom. He didn’t want to see how he was going to die. He’d tried so hard to make it. He’d survived with so little for so long. He just wanted to find someplace safe! 

“A spider is not going to hurt you Tubbo so just- oh. Hello.” The human spoke above him, surprise laced in their voice. When nothing happened, Shroud peaked an eye open and was surprised to see not the human ready to kill him, but instead adorned with a soft gentle smile. “Just look at you.” They exclaimed, reaching their hand towards him, their pointer finger outstretched. Shroud shut his eyes once more and buried his face into his 6 arms tighter, willing himself to just disappear from existence.

“Tubbo you d*** head, this isn’t a spider. It’s a tiny spider-human-like hybrid.”

The human began to gently scratch the top of Shrouds head. He relaxed slightly at the contact. No one had ever touched him like this before. “Well just hurry up and kill it Tommy! It’s still a spider!” the other human screeched at its human friend. 

“Tubbo! You can’t say s*** like that!” The human replied as he stopped scratching Shrouds head. Shroud whined at the loss of contact lifting his head as if to follow after the giant appendage. He didn’t want them to stop. 

“Like that huh?” The human said, smirking a little at his display. 

Shroud looked the human over once more. They were like nothing he’d ever imagined. They had blond curly hair and bright blue eyes and were staring at him like he was the most precious thing in the entire world. But that didn’t make sense? Humans were supposed to be ruthless killing machines? Even their friend had seemed desperate for their companion to dispose of him! Why were they being so kind? 

Suddenly the human's hands reappeared and scooped him up off the shelf and into its grasp. He wanted to fight it and get away, but Shroud couldn’t help himself from melting into the warmth beneath him. It was so nice and it felt safe. “Oh you’re such a sweetie.” The human said, raising him up higher to his face to get a better look at him. “What’s your name?” they asked. Oh so quietly, he responded “Shroud.” he said semi trying to hide himself at being so close to the apex predator. 

“It’s nice to meet you Shroud. I’m Tommy.” The human- Tommy said with a smile. “Would you like to get something to eat?” He asked. Shroud gave a very hesitant nod, and Tommy began to walk out of wherever it was they were in and to somewhere new. Not even acknowledging the other freaked out human as they went. 

And it was after that day that two things happened to Shroud. He finally had found himself a safe place to call home, and somehow gained a loving protecting father.

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wow. just wow. I just chose angst writing this. like man. Just how many different ways can I cram in death in one fic? A lot it seems. If you read to the end, thanks for doing so and I hope you enjoyed the fic ❤️