#but I LOVE infodumps so stupidly much and I WANT the details there just in case yknow

[glasscitadel]

Desert Ibaxi

"An uncommon species native to Alexei's home planet, the ibaxi is a fierce and cunning predator known for its ability to bellow, burying itself into sand to lie in wait for scavengers to mistake its bony back and fleshy protrusions for an uncleaned corpse."

Here's the "I ain't reading all that" part <3

Alexei claimed this shift at 11 years old and frequents it for comfort :>

Age Average: 28y

Adult Weight Average: 95-120lbs

Height Average: 32-36 inches

Planet of Origin: Signa 32A

Conservation Status: Vulnerable

Temperament:

Aggressive

Protective

Cautious

While other unique variations of the ibaxi species are also found scattered primarily across the northern hemisphere of the planet where the suns' concentration are highest, the ones that thrive in the deepest areas of the desert are the most uncommon and the most feared.

Domestication of this specific breed has been long since abandoned and highly discouraged due to their wildly aggressive nature, but it's still surprisingly common to hear of trainer deaths as a result of eclectic animal collectors' desire to own them. Otherwise, this desert breed is protected as a wild variant, and anyone smart knows to leave them alone.

While their primary strategy is defensive, luring their prey to them, they are still very capable of hunting, which they actively do individually in the early hours just before the suns when the desert is coolest and small prey forage.

Their nostrils close while buried under sand, and they then breathe through the holes along their necks and backs, which push out a noxious gas that very accurately smells like baking decay. The protruding spines resemble picked at remains (that may appear fleshy and gross, but act much more like cartilage and feel pleasantly smooth to the touch), the perfect combination of smell and sight to trick scavengers into coming closer for a nibble.

If those curious and with good eyesight become wiser the closer they approach, the released smell is overwhelmingly enough effective to convince them there's no danger.

Chasing speeds average about 35mph (57km/h) and can reach up to 50mph (80km/h) in short bursts, with quick turns and reflexes. When in the need to cool down, the scaled ridges along their forehead, upper back, and tail will part to reveal sensitive tissue that rapidly shed body heat. In the afternoon, once the suns have firmly settled and the day is at its hottest, packs will gather to try and secure their big meal for the day if there was little individual morning luck. Proceeding finding areas with recently cleaned kills, they bury themselves among the bone remains and wait for unsuspecting scavengers.

Their growls are much less dog-like and more closely resemble the bellowing tremors of alligators (though not as extreme, and not limited to males), and work the same way, allowing them to shake and displace the sand around them while they lie to quickly burrow and hide. When large packs gather and bellow together, the sound and vibrations can be heard and felt for nearly half a mile, terrifying and alarming to anyone or anything close-by.

In the case of territory breach, bellows are an effective communication tool to determine power and age. Those in their prime, large in size, and leaders of packs have the deepest, most guttural voices, able to intimidate away their competition from a considerable distance.

As ibaxi age, their lungs lose the elasticity needed to bellow deeply enough to bury, and instead will stay within their territory sleeping grounds and wait for the pack to bring back food.

Pack sizes have been recorded to reach up to 20 members, but most are not seen with more than 16, with typically 3-5 of those elders.

Pups are born no more than two at a time and are not able to bury themselves until they reach adolescence when their lungs fully develop, so mothers will bellow gently close to them in their dens to sink them before heading out to hunt.

So if you come across what looks like an abandoned den with a few bones left in it and a very awful smell, you may want to hit the road before the momma returns... if the stay-at-home grandparents haven't gotten to you yet.

[dansedan]

Top 5 cute shit for Harry/Jean/Kim mwah

UHH LISTEN you are getting my absolute bottom shelf bullshit feat. the franctic notes I take on evernote bc I have brainworms

5. I just like their sizes. Like before we get into the actual psychological nitty-gritty of the thing I have to appreciate ZA/UM’s incidental stroke of genius in creating a mentally-ill homoerotic trio composed of a small middle aged man with a delicious waist, a youngish on-his-way-to-bear (complimentary) buff dude and a middle aged ex-gym teacher bear (derogatory, but loving). Like that is one fine package of both h*rny and emotional per cm of sad cop man. All the cuddle possibilities are great. All the s*x possibilities are great. It’s all just great.

4. they’re just fucked up little dudes. I cannot stand thinking about how stupidly screwed these dudes are and I think about it all the time. Fucking... people talk about like, Harry having been pretty bad-off and maybe not having a proper support system but I swear to god not a single day goes by where I do not have to sit down when I am reminded of the fact that I literally can not image kim kitsuragi having any real friends at his age. Like I will confess I very much make kim a bit of a Hot Mess(tm) past what canon suggests but this is one point where I am like genuinely defensive ANYWAY let us not even talk about Jean mr “he’s so screwed over you can naturally slot in some daddy issues and it’s immediately believable” (although I do like to think Jean at least has pretty solid comradery with his fellow cops and has like... acceptable socialising levels.) But despite being royally fucked they’re also like... they’re there for each other, and they understand how it can get to be hard even though it’s hard in very different directions for all of them (your fic was so good with this dude) and they also like, (well I like to write them like this JA but yknow. my characters now im already ranting this much) know they can’t just codependency-it-up forever and have to grow for themselves and as people, y’know? I have a lot of feelings about them going through that sort of uh. “clearly I have a bad social life and also I am literally in love with you so of course I want to dedicate all my time to you and sink into these feelings but also that’s bad” from mainly harry/kim and all the sludge of “maybe being rabidly codependent was bad” from harry/jean and “god it’s strange to find ourselves in this crossroads with this insane amnesiac alcoholic with voices in his head and we are in many ways very different and can feel animosity but we respect each other and know we need to work through it and that we can come to more than an understanding, eventually to an affection” of jean/kim. It’s good also wow this is long maybe I should stop hee hee

3. I love how they have real conflicts and step over each other a lot but they really are just working to be good about it. I like post-mart Harry struggling with how much to close the distance between him and Jean, I have a whole stupid little fanfic outline note dedicated to Jean feeling messy about being jealous of Kim and how to react to his relationship to harry and how to react to all this change in general and anyway I think that’s great and I hate it when people make him just be a jerk because I think Jean is mature enough to recognize that he actually doesnt dislike Kim yknow anyway also just. Kim thinking about Jean and trying to understand his anger and desperation is also good and just harry and kim as a dynamic alone has a lot of interesting crossed wires that end up organized to create a powerful partnership and I think Jean as an anchor to the past makes it even better. It’s good.

2. let’s get back to cute: I think it’s cute how they’re both of the older dudes are super slated towards nerdy but Jean is 100% the type to like know Man Topic Facts and not really have specifically obsessive passions outside of that. Like especially because Jean is the younger one and I love that reversed “are you winning son” dynamic I think it’s really great to picture sort of Jean lovingly putting up with long infodumps from them and then when it comes to his own interests it’s like. “Oh I like this author” or “I enjoy watching movies” and then Harry can give him a lame jokey speech about his generation and their lack of artistic movements and how they really should shape up to it because between Disco and the new, youngest kids, they’re really gonna get swept away from the annals of history or whatever and then Kim can be the one who’s just poignantly detail-oriented about procuring the few things Jean really does feel stronger about, like a particular brand of licquor (I like the whole “they both drink scotch except kim judges Jean’s stupid macho taste” thing from that one fic) or a particular rhythm of daily routine.

1. I like how they all have really bad facial hair. I am a bad facial hair aficcionado.