#but most dragons have spines or feathers

[thirsty-4-ghouls]

I have three thoughts that pop up every time I see a dusthide. Not all of them each time, but at least one

Most common thought: he have no ears 😭

Second most common: armadillo (armadillos have ears though, so I guess more pangolin? But the way they are segmented… the pangolin thing reminds me of their claws more though. Hmm, overthinks what species of real animals one can compare them to)

And the final one: so, remember those toys from the 2000s that you put on a magnet and they went from a ball to a little guy?

Update, I have gotten sleep and am now confused about why I was so sad every time I saw that they had no ears

[enchantedanimal]

All of the QSMP eggs as dragons!

Now for my design notes/headcanons! (There's a lot lol)

- The color pallettes are (for the most part) based off of their parent/parents. In lore terms, l'd imagine that more time they spent around their parents before they hatched, the more their color developed to mimic them. It would usually be used as a survival strategy with their dragon parents, however sometimes their personality overcomes this and they develop their own color.

- Being dragonets, none of them can fly due to their currently underdeveloped wings.

- Tilin's yellow spots would make Quackity think that Wilbur was supposed to be the other parent.

- Tallulah's colors/features are close to that of a duck. It would likely be a coincidence, but it'd be enough to Quackity to feel like the island was mocking him.

- Tallulah's "hair" is feathers. She's the only one with feathers, and it may either be a cause or effect of her being left in the attic (possibly being mistaken to be an egg from a different species and not a dragon, or the coldness of the attic caused feathers to form).

- Tallulah and Tilin have the same colored eyes since Quackity once said that she reminds him of Tilin.

- Chayanne has fins bc he likes doing mlg water bucket clutches and fishing with Missa.

- Chayanne's tail fin, Leonarda's ear, and Richarlyson's wing are ripped in a spot due to loosing a life. Bobby lost one of his after I designed him but one of his horns would be chipped, and forgot Ramón only had one as well so let's just pretend he's got a scar on his left leg lol.

- Its kinda subtle, but Chayanne has protruding bottom canines, similar to my (and many others') Techno design.

- Fun fact that usually in my style I have the neck spines start from the top of the head. Ramon is purposely "bald".

- Ngl I don't have much to say about Trump bc he died so quick (rip) and I never saw much about him; but his hat is too big for his head.

- Bobby is a wyvern bc it's easier to slap everyone with his wings. He also headbutts and slaps ppl with his tail (those hurt more).

- Bobby's colors are less based after his parents, but the orange/blue complementary colors are kinda more of a nod to Jaiden being an artist (which doesn't make a whole lot of sense now idk my brain just defaulted to that), but feel they match his personality as well. Also his scleras (part of eye that's not the iris/pupil) are black unlike the rest who's are normal.

- Leonarda has a tiny mushroom pin on her hat and their back has mushroom-like spots for the hat she always wears.

- People keep saying that Leo somehow looks like Foolish which is funny bc that wasn't even intentional- in fact was worried that she would be one of the only ones who didn't resemble her parents enough. I did try to make her slightly taller but I'm going to guess that it's the jawline lol

- [Edit bc I just thought of it] Leo's wings are bigger bc they've grown faster due to using them more to glide off of Foolish's/Veg's builds

- Dapper is built to be more bipedal than quadrupedal (their dewclaws on their back feet act more like a normal toe for better traction/ stabilization). This makes it easier to grab (or steal) things for their collection. And hold a taser.

- Richarlyson is based after an iguana! thought it would fit well (it's kinda hard to base him off of 5 different people lol)

- Had to go off of a secondhand info + auto translations (I can understand a decent amount of Spanish but have no idea when it comes to Portuguese so this could be off) but think there was something about Richarlyson having a bad leg both in and out of rp, and think maybe Cellbit said something about him having a prosthetic for it and I thought that was so so cool! It's based semi loosely off of a dog hind leg prosthetic and a human running one; probably wouldn't actually be functional but tried to keep the general shape of the leg.

- Richas and his dads cover it in stickers :)

- Juanaflippa's tail and probably the lower half of her front legs (which aren't visible) are semi transparent from Charlie (yellow comes from Mariana), and it shifts around a bit! It looks more like slime than it feels like it. I've been calling her Bananaflippa endearingly

- Gegg intentionally looks like Juanaflippa a bit (but he's way more slimy)

- Gegg's inventory basically consists of him absorbing random things which are sometimes visible (he is so full of avocado toast). He's like Bob from Monsters vs Aliens or smth idk haven't seen that movie in forever.

There some smaller less exciting details and other headcanons I have for them (such as extra accessories they'd have like Tallulah wearing sweaters) but that's about it! Feel free to ask about anything I like talking about them lol

[yestrday]

do u have ayato or heizou crumbs 🐦

you might like: genshin hybrids au

let's do some hybrid crumbs because i miss my animal harem:

ayato 🦈

while ayato's lounging around the house, ayato has a bluish-grey tint to his skin with scales covering some parts, often at the end of his limbs, his temples, and his neck. he's got rows of small yet sharp teeth and a long scaly tail coming out from just the end of his spine.

ayato has been living at the mansion even before the mansion was built. minding his business... chilling in the lake, till some construction workers ruined it for him. he would've honestly ripped them all to shreds if it weren't for the fact that he saw cute lil you peeking out from behind your father's back

he shares the lake with most of the water-based animals, although he has a territorial feud with neuvillette. he knows it's a losing battle for him though, so ever since the water dragon moved in he's been hanging out at the mansion more often

if there's the unofficial security team (glorified stalkers) then there's the sortaaa official education team. your dad commissioned zhongli to take care of your homeschooling and prepare you for your debut in society. zhongli has appointed ayato to brush youu up on etiquette

as with all the other tail-having animals in the mansion, he also likes to wrap his tail around your legs. but while their furry tails evoke a sense of comfort and warmth within you, his sandpaper-like tail makes chills run up your spine.

to make matters worse, he likes scaring you with his spiky teeth. they might be small, but they're numerous, and the teasing glint in his eyes make you second guessing what he might do. he often likes to nip playful little bites along your skin while you're cuddled on his lap. if you squirm too much and distract him from his work, he bites you as a warning. he often gets scolded by thoma as the dog hybrid patches up your wound.

kinda has a bad rep in your house. he doesn't show his face often, and when he does he likes to pull small pranks that he doesn't even bother owing up to.

heizou 🦉

around your house, heizou's hybrid form has two puffy reddish-brown wings protruding from his back and feathery talon-legs. in the dark, you can often spot him thanks to his round, glowing eyes.

there's a village on the foot of the hill where your mansion resides, and heizou is pretty famous around there. there's no thrilling mystery there, but he likes to help out people find their missing pets and whatnot.

when your managerial team (neuvi, zhongli, ayato) needs to sleuth something out (get dirt on your rivals <- usually ayato, try to protect you from possible danger <- neuvi & zhongli, get the upperhand <- ayato again), they often go to heizou. he often takes the commission with glee (moreso if ayato commissions it)

enjoys his position on your shoulder, though he has to fight most of the avian hybrids for it. he makes these pleasant hoot noises whenever you scratch his head juuust right. when he's feeling a bit mischievous, he will suddenly pop into his human form so he can squish you under his weight

makes these hoot noises in between his words, has a slightly higher pitch when pronouncing 'oo' sounds. he doesn't quite care much about this habit when he's in the mansion, but in more human company he finds himself slipping a bit and gets embarrassed about it.

doesn't really care much for preening his feathers, but the other avians pester him about it so it still gets preened. he thinks he can do more useful stuff than just sitting in a circle with the other avians and preening each other's feathers.

a bit flirty with almost everyone and anyone under the sun. he doesn't fail to throw flirty remarks towards the other hybrids just to mess with them, but he gets a bolder when it's with you. no matter your personality, you've still got a bit of naivete thanks to your sheltered upbringing, and he likes to take advantage of it.

[eludin]

THE CROWN'S WHORE | CHAPTER ONE

WARNINGS: Addiction themes, sexual content, manipulation, dark themes, incest (this is Westeros people), grooming, and possibly more in the future.

The Realm's Delight wasn't Rhaenyra Targaryen once Vyera Waters started walking and talking. She was unaffected by the sexual moments held within the brothel she called home and would often approach the clients without hesitation. The whores around her try to coral her away, but she had her father's stubbornness. She slipped out of their grasp and pestered the clients for their stories since most were knights, children of lords, or lords in general.

She grinned widely and listened with apt attention, easily washing away the agitation they may have had with a bastard brat bothering their fun times. She made cute and sometimes strange noises at certain parts of the story, dramatically reacting at the more messy bits. They laughed at her very open reactions.

The Gold Cloaks quickly turned into regulars, bearing toys, books, and whatever a little princess could wish for. One smile from Vyera and they melted. They proudly told her stories, not only of themselves but also of her father. They listened just as attentively when she shared stories from her dreams; of talking cats whose grins sent a chill down one's spine and who vanished and reappeared before your eyes, hot deserts with horses made from sand threatening to bury you deep within the dunes, or riding the back of a bird the size of a dragon with feathers made of steal.

Ariston Algood smiled as the girl flipped through her new book. Many prayed for the poor girl to be the occasional late bloomer. That was the only thing keeping her from being thrown into the beasts' den.

Just one more day, one more month, one more year without that light that shone from within her being snuffed out by scum who desired to torment and corrupt that light.

Yet, no Gods answered their prayers.

She had bled a day prior and was now dressed in provocative clothing. No longer the baggy rags she used to wore, but a dress made of thin, almost see through, fabric. It looked peculiar on a girl of nine name days. Only the worst of scum would find pleasure in the sight.

"Riz?"

He smiled and patted her head. "Thinking, squirrel."

Vyera rolled her and scowled at the words sprawled on the page. "Dragon, not squirrel." Her words didn't fit her cuteness as she pouted and patted the thick pages. "And you're supposed to be teaching me how to pronounce these words."

Ariston laughed and joined her on the bed. Books with varying thickness surrounded her and most he never cared to read until Vyera. They never seemed all that interesting. It was just words on the page. What good were words when actions could be seen centuries after the person had passed? Yet, she hugged them close as if they were a fine treasure worth more than the gold mines at Casterly Rock. She brightened up at the usual pleasures, like jewels and beautiful dresses and gifts, but books got a loud and vibrant reaction.

She bounced off the walls of the Whore's Blood Brothel with each book, eagerly snatching from any offering hand and pestering the person to read it with her.

Some of the married lords who visited bonded more with her than their own children. "I wish my children had such a hunger for knowledge as you," said the Heir of Blanetree, running his fingers through her locks. She had preened under his touch and giggled, like a dog eager for treats and praises.

Lord Broom sighed, "A whore's daughter knows duty and grace better than my own daughter."

"Such a pity."

None did anything to change her situation; not that the girl complained. She clung to her mother and the brothel as any child would cling to their home and their mother. A year or two more and that opinion would certainly change.

Ariston leaned closer to Vyera and looked over the page. "Where are you finding difficulty understanding?"

"What does this mean?" she taps at the word abomination.

Fuck.

He peaked at the book's name. Just as he thought, it spoke of the Faith. "Uh... Something going against the order of the Gods. Like, um... the... the Children of the Forest with their magic." Sweat gathered at the base of his neck. "Don't you want to read something else?"

Vyera frowned and stared at him. For a Dragonseed, she resembled her father incredibly close yet there were a few traits none knew where they came from. They knew without uncertainty that Narelle of the Whore's Blood was the girl's mother. Yet she carried traits neither side of her lineage granted. Her eyes were golden and flecked with silver. Her canine teeth were ever so slightly pointier and sharper than most. Even as a child, her features were already showing a sharpness no girl her age naturally possessed. Unlike either parent, she possessed an innate glow that simply compelled every man who entered her presence to shower her with gifts, praises, and affection. Some were less pure than others, but she paid little mind to those types.

Her expression softened once she saw whatever there was in his eyes. "No need. Tis' truly fascinating to read how certain sorts of individuals view the world." She paused, and added, "And don't worry about the stuff on bastards. It doesn't hurt me. I know who I am, and I am not everything that is written in this."

"You are none of what is written."

She smiled and pressed against his side. "Riz?"

"Hm?"

Vyera curled up and hugged herself. Instead of the girl he'd grown to care for, a child frightened off the future revealed herself to him. "The brothel master will want me to lose my maidenhead. Doesn't matter I am a child, he's gonna want evidence." She peaked at him through her dense locks. "I don't want it to be any of the others. I care for them, and I know they would never intend to hurt me. I... Please... Please be the first once my moonblood ends. I... I don't want it to be anyone else."

Oh, fuck… She… As much as he gagged at the thought of any of the Lords lusting over Vyera, it made painful sense.

Ariston was not that far in age from her. Only seven namedays apart. It was still strange yet… 

He looked down at the girl who skipped up to him, even when he was running his hands along her mother’s sides. Now that had been mortifying. She smiled widely and rushed him with a hundred different questions. Their second meeting didn’t go any better either. Neither did their third. Yet, she cared for him, eagerly listened to his stories of his home, of his older siblings, of his parents, and now… looked to him for protection from any who wished to destroy whatever innocence she protected with a tiny dagger.

He had no doubt she’d ask any of her other friends the same favor. After all, he couldn’t spend the entire day with her. His pockets did not boast such a fortune. And yet…

“If that is your wish.”

He couldn’t free her from the brothel’s clutches; he couldn’t shower her with luxurious gifts; he couldn’t protect her as he wished. But he could do this.

Vyera Waters smiled. A waning moon in comparison to the usual exuberance.

Want to be tagged? Comment down below "AYE"

@sanya-prose

@gpr2149

@prettylittlelady

@thirteenth-fangirl

@daughterofadream

[dismas-n-dismay]

Please I need to see the ship kids? Is Laios a good uncle? Do they have scales/feathers or sharp teeth? Horns? Claws? (This series has me in a chokehold rn)

*SQUEEZES YOU IN MY GRASP*

I had to put everything under the cut because this is a hella long post so everyone else just look at these cute farcille babies and rock on

HI HOWDY!! Laios is obsessed with these little freaks (he would never call them that though cause he would literally die for them if needed) He’s essentially been right by Falin and Marcille’s side since day one when it came to the babies! He’s a surprisingly good uncle but definitely that one where he gives the kids gifts that the parents are like “YEAH NO- he’s 8 he doesn’t need a crossbow”

He definitely gives the kids little trinkets he gets from foreign dignitaries since I don’t picture Laios really liking all the gifts and gold and money people will give him to butter him up when he catches onto it. The cool monster stuff stays with him though, but he’ll let the kids look at anything cool he gets that he decides to keep for his personal collection. I like to imagine that when he holds them he always keeps them to the side of his hip, real mom type stance when he’s holding them.

Secondly, GREAT QUESTION!! They have a little bit of both! Haru (the cream colored baby) has feathery down covering his ears, chest, and wings as well as basically anywhere else that he isn’t scaly or covered in soon to be thought flesh. He’s more of a dragon from the waist down but bird from the waist up like Falin was.

His sister Haize (the apple red one) has the most scales! (But the least feathers out of the pair) Haize has more of that traditional dragon look and unlike Haru, she’s dragon basically to the neck up. She has scrawny little forearms that aren’t quite attuned to walking yet but once she grows they’ll become a lot more useful for the crawling around stage of her infancy! Haru will often try to climb on her back because he wants to be fast too- he’s only a little guy but he still hates that she got the extra limb genes where he didn’t.

Both have wings though the down that Haru has makes it a bit difficult for him to fly, though he really grows to enjoy flapping and the flutter of his wings! Haize has more sleek featherless dragon wings which make her flight process a bit easier, though her longer body means that her flying is quite silly (it’s like when you pick a cat up by their middle and they just dangle, imagine that but with flight and her trying to tuck her limbs in to have less weight pulling her down). Both have claws on their dragon halves as well as spikes/spines on their backs though only Haize has been born with the making for clawed hands, Haru grows into his later in life!

Really Falin and Marcille are glad that the kids are in relative captivity, Haru’s inherited the “head empty, no thoughts, tee hee” touden genes and they’re like 75 percent certain that he would get eaten if natural selection had its way - assuming Haize didn’t protect him ofc. Haru is very sleepy as a baby while Haize is very cranky. She likes to sleep on her back but her itty bitty dragon wings get cramped when she does and sleeping on her side isn’t as a comfy. Aside from that she just likes attention and being with her parents which is tough due to their jobs.

Haru has colic due to the light magic that manifests in his stomach pouch organ! He was born with an organ similar to the one red dragons have that allows them to breathe fire! It allows him to conjure and manifest light and can be weaponized if a dragon knows what they’re doing. Really it’s much more useful as bioluminescence for dragons who dwell in darker dungeons as it allows them to lure in prey and the pouch’s brightness grows as a dragon approaches somewhere stacked with mana and magic which is an easy way to find enemies or food! Typically light dragons are very powerful but a rare find as they’re often incredibly soft and unable to protect themselves as babies as well as their newly born pouches which let off a lot of glow due to basically incubating for a year or so and refuse to dampen until they learn to properly dispel their magic via spells. Not to mention how easy of a target it is for their obvious weak spot, one bad slash to the tummy and ur done.

Most dragon babies learn early as having that much magic in you hurts a LOT but Haru takes a lot while to learn it, though Falin soon learns that pressing on his stomach and conjuring her own light magic to siphon Haru’s own eases a lot of his tummy aches and pains.

(I got way more facts about these guys so if you wanna know more just send another ask!! :]!! /gen)

[mad-raptorzzz]

[ID: A fullbody drawing of a red-orange SkyWing dragon named Peril from Wings of Fire. She is sitting on all fours hunched over awkwardly with and awkward smile on her face. She is thing and gangly. She has bright re-orange scales and a bright yellow belly and wings. There are feathers along her spine and sprouting off her shoulders. Her tail ends in a large feathery fan with two smaller feathers sticking out to the sides. Her horns, claws, and teeth are a bright white. The horns on her head curve up slightly. She has bright electric blue eyes. In her right hand she is holding a small trans flag. There is steam arising from her and her body emits a slight yellow glow. The background is mustard yellow. ./End]

Peril is my favorite arc one character (minus Scarlet because Scarlet). The firescales mechanic is cool. She for sure has blue fire, the same color as her eyes, and when she's made she glows blue and leaks blue fire from her mouth and vents along the sides of her neck. I think she's skinny because she eat a lot of rocks and charred food. Also, not too buff because most of her enemies burn up before real fighting starts. But she's super fast in the air.

I really relate to her a lot and support any and all trans Peril and/or trans Sky headcannons. Again, mostly because I relate to her a lot. Plus, I like the new genre of villains who are evil but not homophobic or transphobic. Scarlet having Peril murder countless dragons, then one day little Peril says "Queen Scarlet I feel more like a dragoness." And Scarlet, while sipping wine, replies, "great get your she/her ass back in the arena doll-face." And that was that.

I have heard some people remark that trans Peril/Sky headcannons can be pushing stereotypes that all trans women are bold and loud and that all trans men are quiet and soft. Which is, first off, absolutely not true. Second, I do respect that argument, however I just relate in my gender identity a lot to Peril and imagine she is a she/they trans dragoness. Everyone thought maybe she would be more quiet and subdued after transitioning, but no her personality stayed the same because that's just Peril. Let her be her.

[kicktwine]

wahhh just went through your ffxiv specbio tags they’re so cool!!! do you perchance have any more hcs for au ra

I HAVENT DONE AU RA YET but I love the lizards…. My best friends lizardguys. I haven’t gotten to endwalker yet and I know there’s a few more auri characters in there so…maybe my ideas will change But

au ra are I think probably the most diverse species out there just based on HOW MANY lizards exist and how BIG the azim steppes/doma/their reach is. I don’t know if I’d divide species traits by xaela/raen or if they all share that diversity, but I’m tempted to say there are fewer raen, most of whom are either in solitude or hanging out in doma, and they kind of remain proud of their celestial lineage, so they on the whole have more often “draconic” traits, while xaela with their many different lifestyles on the steppe on the whole will be more diverse. Like eastern dragons versus every other dragon species

so! between everyone I think their scales are Way More, most of which are very very hard and difficult to scratch or dent but some of which are soft like some reptiles wherein it’s not necessarily a scale, which sheds layers (like turtles shed their scutes), and more like skin, which sheds in flakes (like snakes or geckos). Au ra whose scales are soft like that are generally the same types of au ra who can pop their (also often soft and thick!) tails off at will and regrow them. Most au ra have very tough, muscly scaly tails, anywhere from big thick crocodile tails to thin draconic tails to tails that have ossified spines or clubs at the end (like dinosaurs!). Since they’re so strong, they can be used to emote — hitting them against the ground is a happy sign, while dragging it against things is Not. Also kids tend to grab and pull them a lot, which leads to the common thought of tail pulling being seen as kiddy. It is quite rude to do to an au ra as an adult. Their scales can sometimes spread to cover most of their body, and sometimes be restricted to the forearms, face, tail, and legs. their horns (aside from being basically ears which I think is cool, they must be pretty complex organs on the inside — I think they can shed but only the tips, like goats, and breaking any further is both really hard and very harmful not only to their ears but because they’re full of blood vessels!! Be careful! ) aren’t really used for fighting or anything they are there for hearing and temperature regulation and in defense. Au ra don’t really, like, sweat? They’re warm-blooded, but don’t sweat. So an important thing to keep in mind if you’re going into the desert is that overheating looks different in an au ra vs another race (lethargy, drooling, and unfocused eyes are your main tells). many of their horns point forwards to block their face. so no, sleeping isn’t that hard bc they sleep like loafs, but yes kissing is hard :( that’s not really a thing they do unless someone else wants to they snuggle and rub scales. so says yoshi p

Protofeathers are basically dinosaur fur - they are NOT feathers. They’re little hollow filaments somewhere between a feather shaft and hair. These ones are pretty stiff. That’s why au ra hair can so easily stick right up like a cockatiel. Some au ra have been noted to have protofeathers on their neck and arms like fur too :0

i have been. Speaking for a long time. uhhhh let’s see they have feets anywhere from plantigrade (clawed, kinda geckoey) to digitigrade (DINO!!!), their claws really need trimming often bc they don’t stop growing, they are not obligate carnivores like hrothgar but like miqote they need more meat than they do veggies, and it’s sometimes very hard for a non- au ra to tell if the big growl they’re doing is happy or not because big growl is how they purr! Like wolves going HHRHRRRRRR (happy). Also im obsessed with their limbal rings im so sad they’re so faded in the graphical update. they gotta glow. Most au ra are also colorblind in some way BUT! They can faintly see infrared

Also in researching lizards i found out that some lizards and frogs have like a third eye that can’t See like images but it CAN detect light and darkness and stuff? It’s called a parietal eye! Garleans… is amphibian (taking notes) /j

[smallgodseries]

[image description: A great golden dragon – with many long whiskers, spines, and fingers – rises up from a cliff face against a dark blue sky to admire a very shiny white sphere. A massive pearl? Text reads, “176, Jin Jin Jin, the Small God of Bright Shiny Objects”]

• • • • •

She is with us from the moment we open our eyes or hold out our hands, fingers spread to understand the world. She is with us before we can focus, and at the end, when the focus slips away. She is in the sparkle of the sunlight on the pavement, in the bright chime of silverware against crystal, in the brush of a bird’s feathered wing against a cheek, and she is fleeting, and she is perfect. She has always been perfect. She has always been flawed.

She has always loved us.

For some, her worship can become an obsession. They chase from bright, shiny object to bright, shiny object, never content, never complete, casting every piece aside in their eager search for the next one. They are never happy, never fulfilled, and they are convinced that they, and they alone, serve her in her truest form. They have no savor, but they have faith, and she welcomes them.

For others, her worship is seen as frivolous. They live lives devoid of fripperies, eschewing the sparkly or the novel for the tried and true. They do not feel the need to ornament themselves, preferring to cleave to the strictly functional. They are happy in their own way, and she does not understand them, and she leaves them be, subjects of other gods, and she is not welcome at their door.

But for many, her worship is a casual thing, as fleeting and as frequent as the small joys which spangle their lives. She is with them when they find a quarter dropped in a parking lot, or when they spot a perfect ripe blackberry hanging heavy on the vine. She is with them at the yard sales and in the second hand shops, and she rejoices in every treasure they discover, and she loves them, and she loves them, and she loves them. Souls such as theirs are the bright, shiny things she loves the most.

She will love you, if you let her. If you never shut yourself away from joy.

She will love you.

• • • • •

Please join Lee Moyer (Icon) and Seanan McGuire (Story) each week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for a guide to the many tiny divinities:

WordPress: https://leemoyer.wordpress.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/smallgodseries/

Homepage: http://smallgodseries.com

Mastodon: @SmallGods@mastodon.world

[league-of-blorbos]

My Theories for what each Darkin was as an Ascended

(to preserve my sanity, i'm only gonna talk about the main 5 darkin, which are all the darkin champions and xolaani, and i'll put them in order starting with the one with the most supporting evidence and the going down to the ones that i purely made up)

Xolaani: Bird

We already know this one, we can see her statue in The Call cinematic and you can see feathers on her chest and a bird-like head shape. We can't tell what exact kind of bird she was, but she was definitely avian.

Aatrox: Angel

First off, it's never said that Ascended have to be based on animals. Every fan interpretation I see of Valeeva, a Darkin described in Twilight of the Gods, looks like a humanoid with venomous spines, so Ascended beings could theoretically also be humanoids with extra apendages (like Valeeva's spines or Aatrox's wings) but are just more commonly animals.

Second, we know Aatrox is trying to morph his vessel into looking as close to his former appearance as possible and it's implied he envies Kayle since she resembles himself as an Ascended. Kayle is an angelic human with wings, plus I feel Aatrox would try to reform himself with animal traits if he had them, but instead he looks, again, like a human with wings. Also there's the metaphors with Darkin being fallen gods, and the Darkin (mostly Aatrox and Rhaast) looking like demons, and that fits the trope of the fallen angel, you get the point, Aatrox is basically meant to be Satan so it works for him to be a corrupted angel.

Rhaast: Goat

This is one I've seen a few other people headcanon, and it comes from one of Kayn's taunts as the Shadow Assassin where he calls the enemy a "two-legged goat" which is so oddly specific and I can't find anything it could be referencing, so the theory is he's taunting his opponent by comparing them to Rhaast, who as SA, Kayn has already defeated. I would also like to mention that Kayn's baggy pants paired with Rhaast's hooved feet and horns give him a satyr-like silhouette.

On the more symbolic side, goats are often associated with the devil (again, Darkin are based off demons) and to death and the occult in a similar way a scythe is despite both being common things found on a farm; they both seem innocent until put in the right contexts, which is perfectly ironic for a violent being like Rhaast.

Varus: Lizard

In his short comic, we see a vague fanged head that wasn't shown when just Kai and Valmar walked these same stairs, so some theorized that this is what Varus looked like before being trapped. To me, the head looks most like it's reptilian. He could also be a snake or even a dragon, but in Runeterra we already have a snake Ascended with Naganeka and a humanoid dragon with Shyvana so I went with a lizard since it felt the most unique.

Naafiri: Feline

I remember seeing some people guess she used to be a cat when one of her teasers said that her becoming a hound was "ironic", and felines are seen as the opposite of canines. That's pretty much where the evidence ends, I'm just going based off vibes that maybe she was a big cat like a panther or a tiger.

[wuzhere75]

Nightwing headcanons. I wasn’t going to continue the headcanon’s sheet, but I was feeling inspired.

-Anyways the OG Nightwings where fairly close in genetic relation to Skywings (they’re original post-Scorching territory was the southern half of the Claws of the Clouds Mountains before the Skywings kicked them out under the logic of “any point of high elevation belongs to us”). They take a lot of inspiration from assorted birds (wink wink @aphoniaa Nightwing raven and barn owl variations). They’re feathers are very glossy/iridescent, especially their hummingbird-like gorgets. They’re colors are typically very saturated but still dark (like a sunset or those very pretty pictures of the night sky).

-Despite being very superstitious, there was still a sizable section of the population (about 1/5-ish) that where skeptical of Clearsights prophecies (mostly the more rural parts of the population). They tried to stay behind, but either bad luck or Darkstalker’s magic led to a lot disasters (e.g, flooding, crop failure, livestock plagues), and eventually an invasion by Sandwings in order to claim riches from the weakened population. The diaspora went assorted ways, mostly ending up in the eastern side of the continent to avoid Ice and Sandwings. The most popular location was ironically deep inside the western Rainforest Kingdom, which I envision having nice, dense tree cover and lots of sinkholes and caves.

-Volcano Nightwings are practically a different tribe from the OG Nightwings. They’re designs are influenced by assorted bats (such as micro bats and hammerhead bats), Komodo dragons and other monitor lizards, and, oddly enough, shar pei dogs. From my very poor understanding of the dog breeds; shar peis and thus their wrinklies where bred for fighting. This is beneficial for the Nightwings when you need to fight a dozen other giant lizards over a dead seagull.

-All of the spines are made of fleshy skin. I’m sorry.

-Volcano Nightwings aren’t just partially lava-proof; they also have very “armored” lungs. They accidentally discovered they needed to keep non Nightwing prisoners in well ventilated cells on side islands otherwise they would just die from nasty volcano fumes in a few hours.

-I don’t have much to say about the Rainforest version (evolved both out of the OG Nightwings that ended up in the Rainforest and the Volcano Nightwing refugees). They are mostly based of geckos. I kind of half-assed this one.

[spirits-art-blog]

Time for some qsmp egg designs! Since I was working off of the idea that dragons adapt and change to look similar to their caregivers before they hatch, it was really difficult for some eggs since I don't know most of the members of the server + Pomme and Richarlyson have more than two parents. I also based the spots on their shells on their favorite colors, which was also difficult since the wiki doesn't have them all listed.

Anyways I'm glad with how these turned out.

Leaving explanations for all the design choices below for anyone curious.

Some basic details about the eggs, so far their colors have not completely set in so some of their original purple coloring can still be seen; this is most notable for Tilin, JuanaFlippa, and Trump, who all died before their new colors could get past their shells. All of the eggs started out quadrupedal but quickly adapted to stand on their hind legs as well as adapting to have opposable thumbs allowing them to pick up and use items.

Tallulah: Starting off, she has hair coming from the top of her head and the tip of her tail, the color and style are from Wilbur, however she hasn't seen much of his avian form so the positioning actually comes from Phil. Speaking of Phil, because she has been under his care for quite a while she has also gained many traits from him, such as an extra talon on the side of her heels and pin feathers sprouting from her front legs/arms. Her scales have also started changing to an orange hue, similar to that of my Wilbur's markings, and her secondary colors are a darker green because of Phil.

Bobby: Bobby is my favorite egg but gave me a lot of trouble due to not really knowing much about Roier so he pulls a lot of traits from Jaiden and the common traits of the fandom's designs. Like Tallulah he has pin feathers coming from his arms and extra talons, however his talons are on the back if his heel. Like Jaiden, he has a feathers on the tip of his tail. While his secondary is a lilac from Jaiden's influence his main color is a duller blue as the fandom has convinced me that he would've been blue if he got to hatch. I had drawn him alive for this, but once dead, he would have a large hole in his shell just under his overalls.

Chayanne: Probably the easiest design as his traits are about the same as Tallulah's. His tail feathers however are both shaped and patterned like Phil's own tail feathers. His scales are also green and gold to match Phil's clothing. Now that Missa is back, Chayanne's secondary may start to change into a purple/blue or, after he hatches, he may gain bone markings. Leonarda: Unfortunately most of her design comes from Foolish, such as her webbed feet, finned tail, and gold and silver coloring, the best I could figure out to add some of Vegetta's influence was to have the silver be more purple than the blue that Foolish has.

Ramon: Honestly just made Ramón shades of brown since I couldn't figure out much colorwise form Fit. However he does have other features such as a longer tail than most of the eggs, plus he is also the largest of his siblings. His iconic mustache is also made up of his larger spots, which he uniquely has white spots over top of the brown ones.

Dapper: Dapper was also an easy egg design since Bbh is his only parent, so I gave him the typical black and red palette as well as a longer tail with long fur coming from the bottom. His design might change a bit as I eventually figure out my design for Bbh.

Richarlyson: I'll be honest, I kinda gave up, I don't really know enough about the brazilian streamers to add any specific feature, so for color he is made up of a light green with alternating yellow and a dark green. He is also the only egg with spines running down his back, however they aren't sharp at all yet.

Pomme: While Pomme also has the problem of having many parents, I've seen her the most around Baghera, who has a very distinct look. So because of this, Pomme has many duck features, such as tail feathers, pin feathers on her arms, webbing between her toes, an extra talon on the back of her heel, and her main scale color being a more pastel yellow. For main colors, I decided to take the main color from the other french members, make the pastel, and have them alternate on Pomme.

Tilín: Like father like son, Tilín is, or at least would have been, very blue. He doesn't have any duck features due to his death being so early and that I also haven't decided if I want Quackity to be an avian or not. Tilín is also the smallest egg. :)

JuanaFlippa: Once again, due to dying so early, she wasn't able to develop a lot of traits or color. The traits she did get was a longer tail and she would've been a light green with yellow accents.

Trump: Unlike Tilín or JuanaFlippa who have large cracks in their shells to represent their deaths, Trump's shell has become soft and discolored, to the point his spots' original color cant be determined, to represent his death to neglect. Because of this, his limbs are thinner, tail is shorter and his scales are duller; any possible change in his colors is barely noticeable.

[thevoidofwinter]

this is SUPER late bc its been A Time lately and i also kinda forgot for a while oops. BUT. a little bit of rambling about my cccc/hms designs + interpretation as requested by @keruukat :]

so first off, all three of them in my "main" designs for them are incredibly creature coded. this is literally just because i wanted to and enjoy that type of theme. mind is dragon themed, heart is... bird creature thing. themed. and soul is cockatrice themed which was actually not my idea and a big brain suggestion my friend @atticustimestwo came up with (thank you forever atticus btw. probably never would have thought of that myself sLJFKSL) !!! as a result of this, they're all incredibly instinct driven and highly reactionary. yes mind hates this.

side note, i also have different names i like using for them! mind is helios, heart is lunaris, and soul is anularis. this was mostly just to separate them when doing rps with friends but i've come to really enjoy these names :]

but with that out of the way! i'll start with my mind design bc i'm biased towards blue and dragons oops.

originally, he started out being the least creature coded of the three, both in terms how i was messing around with design and actually in how i read the "timeline" of the album, as it were. in character wise, he absolutely hated being "inferior" to the other two. he didn't have any claws to speak of, no scales, no feathers. he was the most human looking and he didnt like that. so what does he do? oh yknow.

design wise, i realized i liked leaning more into the robotic theming like a lot of people do bc idk! it's fun. why not. and then my dragon bias hit when i heard that One Line in RoE while drawing one day and the gears started turning. i still haven't ironed it out 100% drawing wise, but here's what i have so far:

a good part of the left side of his face is a screen! its default is just an eye, though it can be just about anything. it definitely turns to a clock during RoE and i do imagine it becoming super animated during TME. also glitchy from Be Born into TME as well.

his floating crown is a hologram he keeps up at most times, but the sun halo is just kind of. always there.

there's a lot of metal. like. a LOT. his neck is plated + his modulator is built into that. his entire spine is reinforced with metal. metal arms, probably some metal patches elsewhere too. and yknow the robotic dragon tail

he glows ominously in the dark. you can see that here- just kind of an aura type thing along with the glowy robotic bits on him.

he has irises and pupils, though most of the time they aren't visible bc he is. Tired. they snap into visibility when he's focused or angry though. (i have a very vivid mental image of them snapping into focus during the intro of TME)

he has mechanical wings! they're retractable and mostly are just there because, again, he couldn't bear to be "inferior" to heart and soul, who both also have wings. he can fly with them, though most of the time they're literally just for threat display. also yes, there are slits in the back of his jacket for the wings i just forget to draw them lol

he has an innate need to Be The Tallest. they're literally all the same height but this bitch wears heeled boots with metal on the soles to make himself taller.

the sun patch on his right jacket sleeve was put there by heart; the crown on the left he did himself.

he kinda??? has electricity abilities that he gained over the process of turning himself more robotic. this is important to note for a later note with soul :)

...that's all i can think of for now but i'm sure there's more i'm forgetting. its fine! onto heart :D

heart has always been the most creature coded to me, as the representation of emotion. and yknow. emotions can be pretty damn innate, instinctual, and visceral. or maybe that's just my take on it cause mine sure are lfsdkjhdfjk

i couldn't choose between black and white wings so his are both! a gradient from white into black with white speckles and purple heart-shaped markings on a few of the primary feathers :] he also has a lot of feathers in other places, such as covering his ears, his neck, chest, arms, legs, and of course tail.

his eyes aren't actually physically damaged! his near-blindness and extreme light sensitivity are actually a result of mind glowing blindingly bright (something something don't stare at the sun) after the shot, and then later the harsh red glow of soul's trident when he got the scars on his face.

his halo is a crescent moon most of the time, though it can change to different phases either on command or in reaction to his emotions. i haven't quite decided which phase stands for what yet, i'll figure it out eventually...

he loves loves loves putting patches on things, especially different textured ones. the heart patch on his hoodie sleeve is soft!

his blindfold has the phases of the moon on it! they weren't initially there as the blindfold was given to him by soul, but mind later embroidered the phases onto it during a concord loop.

his tail is actually kinda prehensile and really strong- he can totally use it to hang onto stuff and even hang off a branch upside down.

he used to be able to fly easily, but after getting his wings broken one too many times in scuffles, it's a lot more difficult to do so now. theoretically he still could with enough adrenaline, though.

he slouches a lot because of his wings, so he usually appears to be the shortest of the group. he can and will stand up straight for threat displays, though.

guy really doesn't like wearing shoes most of the time. socks it is.

aaand i think that's all i have for heart atm!

soooo, soul moment :] soul is such an intriguing guy to me. we really don't see (or hear, ig) a lot of him for a good part of the album, so tbh even to me he's still kinda an enigma. i do adore him a lot though. this guy is SO tired and done with heart and mind's shit, please let him have one (1) nap.

i went back and forth on this guy's design a whole lot before atticus suggested the cockatrice idea, and even a little bit after that i debated it for a while. should he be the most human, or appear so far disconnected that he's barely recognizable? WELL. turns out i went kinda midline with that lmao.

he has both scales and feathers to mirror heart and mind's respective features. i love a symbolism

he has a mane of feathers going down his spine, though it's usually only visible on his tail cause. yknow. clothes.

his wings are summonable, and he doesn't usually have them out cause they're HEAVY. they're a mix of draconic and feathered wings as well. he can also fly with them, though it's usually too much effort for him to even consider.

he has four red diamond-shaped lights hovering above his head at all times, like heart and mind have their respective permanent halos.

when under extreme stress/emotions, he has three light horns that manifest, reminiscent of his trident. he also glitches the fuck out

^ the visual glitching is actually a result of mind. what happened during the shot was that heart shot at mind (and missed, but the fact that heart even tried was the problem) -> when he finds out, soul unintentionally snaps and freaks the fuck out, attacking heart and mind -> mind panics and absolutely electrocutes soul, causing his form to glitch and go black and white -> ever since then, extreme emotions causes him to start glitching again!

the shadow half of him is also reactive to his emotions, though is there more often and easier than the glitching. it's pretty much his default, especially during cacophony. (i have a pretty vivid mental image of it fading into view during dream)

the back of his jacket has a trident, crown, and heart embroidered on it, something that all three of them worked on together :]

this is literally just for comedy reasons, but soul's shirt is usually a basic t-shirt, but sometimes it has text on it and the text can change at will

also have a few misc notes that i think are fun :]

while i do adore these creature-esque designs, i also want to do more abstract designs (that they're probably liable to shift to under extreme stress/it being their "true" forms), as well as closer to human designs :]

same thing with clothing designs. i'm so indecisive help. i think im gonna do all of one or two color designs, and then some alt designs where they mix and match colors some!

i do like to imagine heart is physically the strongest out of the three, mind mentally the strongest, and soul the strongest overall. just in relation to each other, of course.

...and i think that's all! at least all that i can remember right now lol, i'm likely to come back and edit this or reblog with additions when i think of more things. it's kinda intimidating to finally be posting this bc im usually so quiet on this front, but i hope whoever manages to read this giant wall of text enjoys! :D

[apphiarothowrites]

A sneak peek

High Noon on the Summit is not dead, it's just fighting me with everything it's got. I am Struggling hard with it, but the first two chapters are (mostly) done. The other four are.....there.

Anyway, I know that @mangyraccooon @xamaxenta @lerya-fanfic and @itsthefandommash have been interested in how it's going. So I'm gunna post a sneak peak from the first chapter. Hopefully I can make more progress before the new year (the whole fic will go up next year, probably starting in late february sometime), so this will have to tide people over while I wrestle this monster into submission.

“Dragon’s son, is it?” Crocodile says, something weird about his voice. 

Ace turns his head back once more. Crocodile’s face is still expressionless, stoic as stone. He sighs, chains clinking as he shifts around. “You know him? Luffy never did, that I know of. Or his mom.”

“I knew him briefly. He’s not really the type to have a kid.” Crocodile says quietly, voice still a little strange. Ace squints, but the other man still isn’t really giving him an expression to work with. 

“Well yeah, he dumped Luffy with Garp who dumped him on the same mountain bandits that he also dumped me with!” Ace says with a snort. “Nobody in the Monkey family is really suited to raising a kid. Those bandits were better parents to us than anybody could have ever been!”

Talking about it makes him think of Dadan. He raises his free hand up, the chain clinking, and runs his fingers over the beads around his neck. He knows that Dadan never took off the one he made for her, she probably still wears the damn thing. He’d made it just after his eleventh birthday, because Sabo told him that her birthday was close to his own. He’d left it on her pillow and even though she never said a word about it, once she’d seen him wearing the exact same one she never took it off that he saw. 

Crocodile grunts in his cell and shifts around, shadows falling over his shoulders. “I don’t doubt that. Dragon is dedicated to what he does, a kid would have been an unnecessary and unwanted distraction for him.”

“Huh.” Ace hums, trying to think on that. His hand falls back down to his lap next to the one gripping the feathers. “What does he do? What’s so important that he’d give up his own son to focus on instead?”

“The Revolutionary Army.” Crocodile says simply, leaning his own head back against the wall of his cell. Darkness shadows him once more, reducing him to an outline and a bright pair of eyes again.

Ace jolts a little, sitting forward. “No shit!?”

Crocodile just nods slowly, the outline bobbing up and down.

Ace leans back again, looking up at the ceiling once more. Luffy’s dad works for the Revolutionary Army? No fucking wonder he didn’t want Luffy around. He thinks on the strangeness of it-how Luffy’s dad is among the most wanted in the world while his grandfather is one of the Navy’s biggest heroes and mascots. How much shame did Garp carry around, that his son and grandson are both failures and that the boy he was charged to protect against explicit execution orders also became a failure? How did Garp bear it?

Another thought pops into his mind. One that’s lingered in the darkened background of his life a few times, hidden in the shadow cast by his own… “Did you ever meet Luffy’s mom?”

When no answer comes, Ace turns his head to look. Crocodile is staring at him again, eyes sharp and cold and piercing. The shadow has fallen away. He looks almost angry, with a slight downward clench between his eyebrows and his mouth tugged down at the edges. There’s something weirdly familiar about it, a familiar chill runs up his spine-different from before-but he can’t place why.

“Yikes, what a glare.” He can’t help but say. “Sorry I asked!”

The silence drags on and on. Down the hall, the Marines’ movements start getting louder. Then, after a pause so long that Ace begins to think that Crocodile isn’t ever going to answer:

“I might have known her. If she’s who I think she is, she’s long gone.” And with that, his eyes close and he tilts his head back. The shadow comes back, swallowing Crocodile’s upper body and hiding him from view once more. Done with the conversation and checking out.

“So she’s like my mom, then.” Ace says, not expecting Crocodile to keep engaging. “Mine apparently died right after giving birth to me.”

Crocodile hums lightly under his breath, barely audible to Ace, but says nothing.

[iamthekaijuking]

The new 2022 Flying Wyvern tree, with much more in depth explanations for the families and an overview for every monster (this is a very long post). Some things had to be chosen or ignored due to the inconsistent nature of monster designs and wing anatomy. Links to the previous version and first pencil and paper tree.

The Common Ancestor

My hypothesized ancestor of flying wyverns and likely even most bird wyverns (or was at least closely related to it) would have been a small paravian dinosaur. This creature, related to troodontids, dromeosaurs, and birds, would have been fully feathered and likely very similar to its relatives save for its arms. The arms of this creature would have been a little more like those of Scansoriopterygids, with a styliform supporting a membrane, but with shorter, more robust hands like those of larger theropods and a little more flexibility in the forearm and wrist region. These adaptations would have allowed it to occasionally walk on all fours in a somewhat pterosaur-like gait or tigrex-like gait, and allowed it to climb trees and even burrow somewhat. This small jack of all stats creature would be one of the few dinosaur families to survive the KT extinction event (yes I think the same extinction events that happened irl happened in monhun), and would be destined for greatness. In later descendants many would lose the gastralia and have a proper waist, and the styliform would gain joints and even duplicate, forming false fingers in addition to the three true fingers. So I will be referring to the styliforms as “Pseudophalanges”.

The God Wyverns

Early on in the evolutionary history of flying wyverns after the KT extinction there was a split between flying wyverns that stayed somewhat small and able to climb and glide, and flying wyverns that became entirely land dwelling and fully quadrupedal. These entirely ground dwelling wyverns eventually became the family of long lived, massive, and powerful wyverns we know today as the god wyverns. These animals are so powerful that most elder dragons avoid them and some were mistaken as dragons as well. It was likely that they were more numerous in the past, but today there are only six genre alive.

The origin Wyvern: One of the most ancient flying wyverns, it shared a common ancestor with modern day god wyverns, but is a long since extinct species only known from sparse remains. What it looked like isn’t something scientists are 100% certain on, but it likely had many features in common with prehistoric and anatomically primitive wyverns like tigrex, Wyvern rex, and akantor.

Akantor: One of the most primitive flying wyverns species still alive in modern day. The species are held in reverence and fear by people who live close to akantor territory, and they are even called the “Infernal Black Gods”. It’s easy to see how these volcanic apex predators earn their reputation, but interestingly they have articulate spines on their back. This anti predator defense implies that in the recent past there was larger predators that preyed on akantor. What exactly these predators were are unknown, but likely were either powerful elder dragons such as black dragons or dalamadur, larger god wyverns, or massive tyrannosaur brute wyverns related to the owner of the massive skull in the Jurassic frontier.

Ukanlos and the Sand/Mountain wyvern: These are two very closely related wyverns, possibly even being in the same genus and having diverged from each other after the end of the most recent ice age. Both have very similar craniums and are adapted to deserts, albeit ones of vastly different temperatures. Ukanlos is adapted to polar regions and is even semi aquatic, using its large fat stores and extensive avian respiratory system to remain buoyant and carving through ice sheets with its jagged shell. The Sand Wyvern is adapted to the harsh equatorial deserts and is more lean and combats heat exhaustion via two organs protruding from its back, possibly being able to flush with blood like many primitive wyverns like akantor and tigrex. We have never faced a Sand Wyvern in any of the games.

Odibatorasu: A god wyvern with an extensive shell and chin like the aforementioned Ukanlos and Sand wyvern, and might even be related to them. To avoid competition with the sand wyvern, Odibas are durophages. Interestingly, they have modified their avian respiratory system by using some of the air sacks in their back to launch sand from the front of their shells like a canon. This is not the only time a flying wyvern has repurposed air sacks. Reports of this monster are greatly exaggerated, as is usual for any report given by a Mezeporta hunter. Hunters from Mezeporta have been a constant thorn in the side of the scientific community, as they seem to prioritize being seen as superhuman legends that regularly kill supernatural gods than being protectors of villages and scientific assistants. So far they have not been found guilty of illegal hunting activity, but the hunters guild is searching for any excuse to send Guild Knights after them.

Keoaruboru: A very poorly known god wyvern. So little is known about it that the guild still has it classified as an elder dragon, although its forearms betray its ancestry. Not much else can be said due to a lack of reliable information as they have only been encountered by Mezeporta hunters.

Bogabadorumu: Another poorly known god wyvern. It has modified its air sacks to spew explosive gas out from vents, not unlike magnamalo. Some individuals have 4 fingers, and the presence of four fingers on a maniraptorian is odd, but it is because of a mutation that sometimes occurs in quadrupedal wyverns. Some god wyverns and “pseudowyverns” are born with a second first digit, and in many cases this digit is so small it doesn’t even touch the ground.

Wyvern Rex and the Tigrex/Barioth Family

The other side of the first big split in the flying wyvern family, these wyverns that were able to climb and glide eventually became larger fully ground dwelling creatures just like the god wyverns, but didn’t grow as large as the god wyverns and kept their large Pseudophalanges and wing membranes.

Wyvern Rex: One of the earliest known member of this family and just like the origin wyvern it was already quite anatomically distinct from its more bird-like ancestors, indicating that there are gaps in the fossil record for flying wyverns.

Pariapuria: This wyvern is quite unusual and split off early in comparison to its non-god wyvern relatives. Parias are semi-aquatic and seem to have stayed that way for a large portion of their evolutionary history, and even evolved semi permeable skin covered in mucus in between their scales. They also have very strange and violent digestive systems and a unique way of processing poisons. Instead of using their liver they seem to be able to separate poisons from food in their stomach and then vomit them back up. This has resulted in their livers becoming smaller over time.

Tigrex: One of the most famous wyverns, the appearance of the nomadic tigrex has changed little over its evolutionary history. It’s behavior, size, and internal anatomy has though. Its ancestors likely weren’t as large or nomadic, and could have even been slightly feathered like many related pseudowyverns. Tigrex has also evolved a highly specialized larynx and syrinx in order to create and withstand their iconic calls, and their trachea loops far back into their body in order to provide enough space for their calls to resonate like whooping cranes. The calls of this wyvern, and other extremely loud monsters like Akantor, can actually cause hearing and internal organ damage in humans, and in some cases even hit the once hypothesized “brown note”; a sound frequency that makes a human lose control of their bowels.

Diorekkusu: A Wyvern genus very closely related to tigrex, “Diorex” are quite distinct in their anatomy and native range. Unlike tigrex, Diorex are only found in the great forest and have very weak shells with little in the way of pigmentation. Instead they protect themselves with electrical organs and ores they attach to their bodies via electromagnetism. As expected of Mezeporta hunters, recounts of this monster are unreliable.

Dyuragaua: These wyverns are distinct for their odd colorations and cryogenic abilities. Their colors are thought to be a warning against predators due to their toxins that induce sleep.

Mi Ru: Very little is known about these wyverns. Due to the fact they’re only found near the Tower (a megastructure built by the ancient civilization out of Kushala Daoras) and that they have shape shifting abilities, some scientists think they might have been modified from a now extinct Dyuragaua relative, although this has not been accepted by the larger scientific community. Despite the appearance of Mi Ru and Dyuragaua, they are actually closer related to Barioths than they are to Tigrex (although still closely related) due to their convergently more mammalian facial features and that Mi Ru has pinnae derived from cartilaginous skin extensions around the ear like Barioth.

Hyujikiki: A sister genus to Barioth, these fully feathered wyverns do not occupy an apex predator status in the areas where they live and have toxic quills as an anti-predator defense. They have a zigzagged tooth line containing tusks, not unlike their closest relative. Despite what Mezeporta hunters say, they do not instantly regrow spines, but they are occasionally launched at attackers.

Barioth: Apex predators of polar and desert regions, Barioths are expert climbers despite their size thanks to studs on their paws and Pseudophalanges. They have a single pair of tusks dominating their face and few other teeth. Barioth are organ and fat specialists who store oils from their food in their spiraling crop which are then spewed at opponents in a spinning gust of air. In polar individuals these oils instantly freeze in the cold air.

Magnamalo: An aberrant member of the Barioth/Hyujikiki group, these creatures are still misidentified as fanged wyverns by the guild. Magnamalo are heavily adapted for cursorial movement and normally hold their arms in an erect position as opposed to the sprawling arms of its relatives. They have lost their wing membranes and have repurposed their Pseudophalanges into swords. Magnamalo also have erectable spines and articulate spade-like thagomizers. These are extensive anti-predator defenses, although their violent life style wears these down, and old individuals can be identified by their unique scars and spine and shell wear. Males have elaborate horns and without them they cannot gain the attention of female individuals. Just like Hyujikiki and Barioths, magnamalo have tusks, however in magnamalo these are multicusped and can fold backwards like fangs. These tusks are for ripping out the throats of prey before folding back into protective grooves so that the anterior cusps can be used as normal canines. Magnamalo have dramatically repurposed many of their avian air sacks into various canals going across their bodies to specialized vent pores, and their large humpback houses a “holding cell” air sack. This extremely derived and separated portion of their respiratory system houses their hellfire, which is a mix of gasses extracted from their digestive system and the highly volatile chemical nitrogen triiodide. Their hellfire is kept from exploding inside their bodies thanks to vacuums and internal pressure, although in old individuals their vent pores are weaker and attacking them can cause the hellfire to go off in their canals.

Nargacuga and the evolution of Flying Wyverns with multiple Pseudophalanges

Another family of the non-god flying wyverns that adapted for life on the ground, these flying wyverns distinguished themselves from the tigrex/barioth line by duplicating their Pseudophalanges, and in many later groups these would form fully functional wings along with the fingers of the hand. After Nargacuga, members of this family are overwhelmingly bipedal.

Nargacuga: The most basal living member of the multi-pseudophalanges flying wyvern family, these feathered wyverns are notable for their Pseudophalanges and tail adaptations. Being animals that live in dense forested environments, Nargacugas have turned their Pseudophalanges into sharp biomineralized blades that can cut through underbrush and create game trails. Nargacugas have also turned their tails into powerful weapons. Their tail vertebrae are loosely connected and have nerves not unlike those in the mouths of baleen whales, able to stretch and snap back in place like elastic. Their tail feathers are also stiff and mineralized, and can be raised and even flung at attackers. Interestingly, both new world and Lucent nargs can secrete a debilitating compound onto their tails. It is likely that the ancestral Nargacuga could secrete poison and that this was retained in lucent nargs and turned into anticoagulants in the new world species, and that old world nargacugas only recently lost their ability to secrete toxins.

Pukei, Paolumu, and the cave wyverns

Many members of this family of flying wyverns may seem unrelated, but are linked together by crucial anatomical features that some members have lost in their evolution. The common ancestor of this family was a brood parasite with a cloaca on the tip of its tail, a more muscular face than most wyverns, and a more extensive respiratory system with air sacks in its neck. Many members of this family have also incorporated their digits into their wings. This family grouping was influenced by @glavenychus’s own theory.

Pukei-Pukei: Odd new world wyverns initially thought of as bird wyverns, but are in reality flying wyverns. Pukei have lost the more muscular face of their ancestors, but are still brood parasites and have evolved arboreal and frugivorous adaptations. Interestingly, the colon of pukeis can retain poison from their diets or suck up liquids (depending on the species) and spray it at attackers in a mist or pressurized blast.

Paolumu: Unusual new world wyverns that look like massive bats. They have abandoned brood parasitism and their cloaca is located back at the base of their tail, but they have gone all out with their neck sacks and face muscles. Their muscles on their face allow for more precise suction feeding (as they feed on the floating eggs of terrestrial coral) and the air sacks in their neck can actually inflate with air and lighter than air gases to allow it to float and save on energy expenditure when flying.

Scale bats: Perhaps the smallest of the flying wyverns, they share common ancestry with the cave wyverns, but curiously have lost all three defining features of the cave wyvern/Pukei/Paolumu group. However it is not unusual for a member of a family to lose what defines it during evolution.

Khezu: The most common and most basal of the cave wyverns we know of. These creepy and sluggish wyverns show many of the adaptations that cave wyverns have. Non-ossified neck vertebrae, strong smell, vibration sensitivity (which are detected by small specialized feathers across the body), carbon dioxide detection, suckers on the ends of digits, slow metabolism, and wet moist skin. Khezu itself has large fat stores that fuel its electrical abilities. The third digits of their hands have also fused with their first Pseudophilanges. Khezu retains a muscular face and the air sacks in its neck are complex and can inflate to extend its neck towards prey. Khezu has also taken the final step in reproductive parasitism and have become parasitoids, shocking prey to stun them and implanting young into the victim through its toothy sucker-like cloaca, or dumping young on carcasses. Because cave wyverns likely will never run into another individual of their species, they reproduce via parthenogenesis.

Gigginox: Flying wyverns who have adapted into even stranger forms. Few bones in their body are ossified and as such they have reverted back into quadrupedal creatures to better support their weight. All three of their fingers make contact with the ground. Their quadratojugal and quadrate have become an extra jaw joint and another joint has developed between the surangular and prearticular and the dentaries and splenial. This gives gigginox three places for jaw articulation and allows them to make incredible gapes. They also lack any true teeth, and instead have keratin spikes lining their lips. Gigginox have also turned their entire undersides into something akin to the pads on gecko feet, allowing them to cling to walls and ceilings with ease. Gigginox have parental investment, and adult individuals often have several highly neotenous young living inside their vagina, which they feed through shedding specialized nutrient rich layers of the vaginal wall.

Qurio: Aberrant even by cave wyvern standards, these paraves have been so altered by the forces of evolution that they seemingly have abandoned conventional tetrapod anatomy. Qurio are also incredibly neotenic, to the point of being fetal, and seem to be social giggi capable of flight for all intents and purposes. They likely share a common ancestor with gigginox, but then adapted to the extensive worldwide cave network dug out by subterranean monsters before becoming parasites of elder dragons and then becoming symbiotes of the incredibly basal true elder dragon Gaismagorm. Qurio secrete compounds that allow them to calm or even appear invisible to elder dragon immune systems. They also have an endogenous virus that causes infected monsters to hemorrhage. Qurio often try to give nutrients to their primary host, and this backwash (aside from containing diseases) also contains blast ailment components, explaining how Gaismagorm has access to blast and the explosion “risen” elders create when reaching a risen state. They normally are not as active as seen on the surface, which was caused by the stress of being separated from their main host in a new environment. Qurio seem to be evolving towards eusociality, as certain Qurio in a colony specialize for different tasks, such as procuring food and being eaten by Gaisma after their first outing, to nuptial individuals who start new colonies.

Seregios, Legiana, Yurosus, and the evolution of excessive Pseudophalanges

One radiation of bipedal flying wyverns would take their Pseudophalanges to the next level, and actually lose some of their true fingers as they were no longer needed. Be it through evolving an overabundance of them, or evolving excessive joints on some to produce whips, these very aerially capable predators are defined by their unusual styliform adaptations.

Astalos: While an unusual Wyvern on it’s own, it isn’t immediately obvious how astalos qualifies for this family. This is partly because it has evolved more towards a more traditional bipedal flying wyvern appearance while also having unusual insectoid traits that distract from its odd hand anatomy. Surprisingly, many anatomical features suggest Seregios is actually the closest living relative of Astalos, despite what the flawed ramblings of the guild might say. Such odd anatomical similarities are a jointed crest, occasional quadrupedal tendencies (although obligate in Seregios), forked tails, the loss of the first finger (Seregios having evolved a palm spur to compensate for this loss), and a wing supported entirely by the Pseudophalanges with the leading one being quite robust. Astalos itself has many unusual characteristics. The feet of astalos have very large third toes while digits two and four are rather small, indicating that astalos could be evolving towards a foot configuration like that of an ostrich in order to run faster on the ground. Muscles in its crest, wrists, and tail are also rich in quartz crystals and have uniquely coiled DNA, and by rhythmic flexing astalos is able to take advantage of piezoelectricity. Astalos’s blood is rich in biliverdin, giving its flesh an unusual green color and bad taste. The insect-like appearance of this flying wyvern might also be an extremely unusual case of “you are what you eat”. Many large insects make up a sizable portion of astalos’s diet, particularly in its infancy, and it could be that the species might have picked up insect genes after fighting off an ancient virus that jumped from their food to them.

Seregios: Unusual desert dwellers with adaptations for nest raiding and predation of mesopredators in its environment. Seregios is linked to astalos by the aforementioned traits, but has many unique adaptations itself. The scales that cover seregios can be articulated so that they’re flat against the body for aerodynamic purposes or raised up in a threat display. These scales are jagged, brittle, and loosely connected to the body, allowing them to rattle against each other to intimidate rivals, cut anything trying to attack them, or even be flung at attackers. Any scales that break on attackers may leave small pieces embedded in wounds. The feet of seregios ore zygodactyl and both strong and flexible, and like an owl they are the primary way seregios dispatches prey. However, these adaptations for dexterity come at the cost of being able to fully support seregios’s weight, and so seregios also uses its wings when walking on the ground (unless it is running). The two existing fingers on their hands are small and recurved, indicating that they are primarily climbing instruments. The wings of seregios have four Pseudophalanges in total, one more than astalos, and these wings give seregios incredible maneuverability in the air. Both astalos and seregios’s aerial capabilities rival those of rathalos. During the frenzy virus outbreak several thousand seregios were seen fleeing from an unknown area in the desert occupied at the time by an individual infected with the virus. This area was possibly a nesting ground. Like many birds, seregios might have a communal nesting ground they return to every year in mass to raise young. If the infected individual attacked others in the nesting site and caused all the members to leave, then that individual likely caused the breeding year for that colony, if not the whole species, to fail.

Legiana: A flying wyvern with unique wing anatomy, legiana operates much like a supersized falcon. The wings of legiana are supported by four Pseudophalanges, and the only true finger left is the thumb. These Pseudophalanges aren’t actually joined by a membrane and instead support large lobes of skin that overlap with each other and give it slotted wings. This set up decreases drag and increases thrust. The hip and horn membranes also increase its surface area and allow it to ride updrafts and thermals. Indeed, legiana could potentially be the single most aerially capable flying wyvern. The feet of legiana are unique in that they’re designed for taking out other volant animals on the wing, with their massive talons and slim toes and legs. Legiana also have teeth near the rear of their mouth that resemble the tomial of falcons. This is an adaptation for snapping the neck or crushing the skull of small and difficult prey. Legiana is over-equipped to take down the raphinos in their environment, and this is likely because they ate more, larger prey in the recent past, and that these are now extinct and legiana survived by being generalists when it came to their prey choices.

Zenaserisu: These wyverns are part of a radiation that lost their third fingers or fused them to their second fingers and hypertrophied their first pseudophalange, giving it several joints and claws. These tassels trail behind the body and are good indicators of fitness while also functioning as whips. Zenaserisu itself seems to eat small animals and fish, tracking the movement of small terrestrial prey with its ears and pursuing fish with its webbed toes and fluked tail. It then incapacitates prey with a pressurized blast of water from its crop. Zenaserisu is likely just now evolving into a more aquatic lifestyle. Hunting records of this parave have been exaggerated by Mezeporta hunters.

Berukyurosu & Doragyurosu: Sister species of one another that live in canyons and elevated habitats, these seldom seen wyverns are contenders for the smartest wyverns and are known for outsmarting hunters and changing tactics on the spot, showing that they have advanced problem solving skills and can strategize and plan ahead. Berukyurosu itself has electricity generating cells and unique insulatory tissues. Doragyurosu has dragon element, suggesting a lifestyle necessitating a strong immune system; possibly switching to obligate scavenging in times of scarcity. Most information we have to go off of these wyverns is unfortunately from the hunting reports of Mezeporta hunters, and is thus somewhat unreliable.

Poborubarumu, Diablos, Raths & and the evolution of hard shelled flying wyverns

A sister family of wyverns to the seregios/doragyurosu family, these wyverns are defined by their tough shells, wing structure, and ancestrally toxic and flame based abilities as well as metabolism control, although many members have secondarily lost some of these features. The ancestral member of this family had a tough spiny shell, cranial ornaments, fire breath, defensive toxins, “mandible” crests, thagomizers, control over its metabolism, three pseudophalanges, and the second and third fingers forming the leading edge of the wing (which would either fuse together or come back to join the thumb in making a proper hand in its many descendants). Interestingly, the raths and espinas genus are rather close in appearance to this ancestor.

Poborubarumu: This cetacean-like wyvern split off from the rest of its family quite early and has reverted back to a pseudowyvern body plan. Competition with a now extinct aerial competitor forced the ancestors of Poborus into a fully terrestrial lifestyle, and from there they became apex predators of the highland. Growing so large and front heavy that their second and third fingers reverted back into non-wing bearing digits in order to join the thumbs in bearing the immense bulk of this parave, and losing a pair of their now vestigial pseudophalanges. So large is it that the guild thought this species was another god wyvern upon its initial discovery. The unusual mouth and tooth rows of Poborubarumu are built so that any prey they ambush cannot escape and is swallowed whole. This wyvern incapacitates prey by using its specialized air sacks. In the evolutionary history of Poborus they modified the air sacks in their respiratory system to create a variety of sounds for long range communication; turning their whole body into a bagpipe of sorts. Today this is also used to disorient and even kill prey, as the loud sounds burst ear drums and the vibrations rip internal organs. These constant vocalizations are responsible for the more outlandish claims hunters make when recounting their experiences with the reptiles, as the frequencies can cause humans to hallucinate. They may sometimes even reach the “brown note” frequency. The presence of a fluked tail and symbiotic barnacles imply Poborubarumu were semi aquatic and lived along coastlines in their recent evolutionary history.

Espinas: Basal shelled wyverns who live life in the slow lane, they are defined by their spiny appearance and toxicity. Espinas have wings of similar structure to raths, with a wing supported by three pseudophalanges and digits two and three which have fused like in the distantly related aves. The thumbs are free and blend in with the various spurs on the leading edge of the second digit, which could potentially be modified from the flight feathers that attached to the finger in their distant ancestors. Espinas is the shelled wyvern equivalent of a bear; eating a wide variety of animals, carrion, and flora and spending a lot of time sleeping while their large guts process their meals. In emergencies though they can accelerate their metabolism and flush various body parts with blood to aid in oxygenation. Espinas also emit two toxins, but only one of them is one they produce themselves. The other is stolen from the various carapaceons, frogs, and plants they eat.

Meraginasu: Close relatives of espinas who may even be within the same genus. These wyverns have adapted to live both on the surface and in the extensive cave systems dug out by ancient subterranean monsters. They were thought to be extinct but were recently discovered alive and well.

Karagumosu: This extinct shelled flying wyvern shares ancestry with gravios and monoblos line wyverns, and has many of the hallmark adaptations of the subgroup. Loss of flight, wings supported only by pseudophalanges while the fingers are used for digging, horns, a diet mostly consisting of plants and minerals, and tough biomineralized shells.

Gravios: Wyverns with some of the toughest shells and slowest metabolisms, these paraves go through an ontogenetic niche shift as they grow from basarios to gravios. Juveniles spend decades eating plants, animals, and dirt to carefully grow their gut biome. If they survive long enough to complete this they migrate to volcanic regions as their body changes to a gravios, and for the rest of their life they will subsist mostly off the waste products their gut microbes produce as they slowly break down minerals the gravios ingests. Their shells are the most biomineralized of any wyvern and most of their poisons are derived from the plants they eat. Different diets result in slightly different shell composition. The third finger is the leading edge of the wing in this genus, and the membrane is supported by two pseudophalanges. Interestingly, some individuals around the kamura region have a mutation giving them an extra pseudophalange.

Gureadomosu: A poorly researched sister genus to gravios, these desert dwelling wyverns include more plants in their diet than their relative. They reside in underground waterways where they have a steady supply of minerals and plants, but when these dry up or they need to leave, Gureadomusu can suck up water into many of their air sacks to use as an internal reservoir as they travel to new feeding grounds. Records of this monster are unfortunately mostly from Mezeporta hunters.

Monoblos: An iconic species that is unfortunately the target of many illegal or cultural trophy hunts. These violent wyverns can tackle almost any plant in the desert thanks to their tough beak and teeth batteries. They use their hands to dig elaborate tunnels across their territory so they can travel great distances away from the heat of the sun, and their highly vascular wing membranes allow them to shed excess heat. The hump on their back anchors many powerful neck and wing muscles that make facing this wyvern a death sentence.

Varusaborosu: Not much is known about this elusive, fire breathing, volcanic blos wyvern, other than their penchant for meat, minerals, and a cactus species with high caloric content. Their low population size might be due to decreasing numbers of this special cactus, and Varusaborosu may be on its way to extinction. Many of the air sacks of this species have been adapted into combustion chambers, and when angry, purple flames spew from vents across their bodies. This serves to make incredibly intimidating displays and burn attackers, but also burns the wyverns themselves. It’s unknown if this species or monoblos are the closest living relatives to diablos. Accounts of the behavior of these wyverns is mostly from Mezeporta hunters, and so is exaggerated.

Diablos: A blos wyvern nearly as iconic as their single horned relatives, diablos are cactus specialist. Due to their more restricted diets in such harsh environments, they have heavily competitive lives and often engage in physical ritualistic combat as opposed to the display based competitions of monoblos. Not even mated diablos are spared from this hostility as males must leave the female’s territory after mating or she will make him. Females spend their entire pregnancy surging with testosterone and other hormones, which gives them their iconic black color. Diablos lay eggs and so must steadily give their embryos these crucial hormones over the course of the pregnancy and cannot give the young a last minute hormone dump like live bearing animals. Some individuals huff smoke when angry, indicating that the species has a vestigial flame sack.

Gurenzeburu: This dangerous shelled wyvern of the highlands is one of uncertain taxonomic affinity. Whether or not it is a basal rath or blos line shelled wyvern is unclear, but current evidence supports the rath hypothesis. Physical features that define this wyvern is an unusual pubic bone, loss of a pair of pseudophalanges, and a tail similar to that of rath wyverns.

Anorupatisu: Another shelled wyvern of unknown affinity but currently thought to be the closest living relative of Gurenzeburu due to the singular large nasal horn, exposed teeth, and loss of pseudophalanges (in the case of anorupatisu it has lost all of them). Some records of it are highly exaggerated. These are from the obvious Mezeporta culprits.

Canopus: Little is known about this recently extinct shelled wyvern but from the incomplete fossil remains it seems to have been a strange rath relative. It did not go extinct for the reasons the guild says, as that’s not how evolution works.

Bazelgeuse: The largest volant flying wyvern known, this shelled wyvern has abandoned tough shells in favor of the production of a highly explosive chemical that is secreted from its underside and a life lived primarily on the wing. Bazelgeuse are obligate scavengers and are found anywhere in the world where thermals can be ridden (with the exception of individuals that become trapped in the frost isles). Bazel is very closely related to raths, and has a similar wing set up and a tail thagomizer. Bazel wings are composed of a free thumb, digits two and three fused together and forming the leading edge of the wing, and three pseudophalanges that were only visible upon dissection as well as cartilaginous rods. These wings are proportionately more like the active soaring wings of many seabirds, as opposed to the more elliptical wings of raths. Bazelgeuse can alter the speed of their metabolism depending on the situation, just like espinas. Eldest individuals are known as seething bazelgeuse.

The Raths: The flying wyvern, this fire breathing genus is extremely adaptable and widespread, boasting a worldwide distribution. These Kings of the Skies and Queens of the Land have captured the imagination of cultures everywhere. Raths have distinct sexual dimorphism and different hunting strategies between the sexes. The female rathians are green and spend more time on the ground, and have defensive feather derived quills on her tail and shoulders. The red males spend more time in the air and have larger mandible crests and thagomizers. Raths produce venom, which is delivered through the claws in males and the tail quills in females. While it’s agreed that venom production is ancestral to shelled wyverns, it is also entirely possible that venom convergently evolved in the group multiple times. The wings of raths are much like those of bazelgeuse and espinas; a free thumb and fused second and third fingers (and in some populations both still grow claws) forming the leading edge of the wing, which is further supported by three pseudophalanges. The wings of raths are elliptical, which allows for their aerial maneuverability and high speed in short bursts at the cost of needing to be constantly flapped to stay airborne. There are three recognized “species” living across the world (new world, old world, and Val Harbar), and each has its own pink/blue and gold/silver “subspecies”. Whether or not these are actually different species or regional variants and color morphs is the subject of intense academic debate, as while the numerous subspecies rarely breed outside their own kind (greens of Val Harbar only only mate with reds of Val Harbar, blues of the new world only mate with pinks of the new world, etc) they have occasionally interbred and produced viable offspring. It is highly likely that the Raths collectively form a species complex. Single nesting rathian might slow her metabolism down when guarding eggs to better preserve energy in an environment with less prey and to lessen the amount of times she needs to leave the nest, as eggs and hatchlings can be easily preyed upon and in desert regions seregios is often the perpetrator.

Zerureusu: A poorly researched sister genus to the raths, but its widely agreed that the more fantastical events that happen in the stories of the few who have fought it were likely illusions brought upon by the bright flashes of light it produces, and the exaggerated stories of Mezeporta hunters. It’s likely both male and females display the male phenotype.

Unknown Black Flying Wyvern: Another sister genus to the raths whose abilities have been exaggerated and possibly hallucinated by the Mezeporta hunters who have hunted it due to intense fear and envenomation. The few individuals found resemble black rathians with red extremities and rathalos-like tails.

Halks, Remobra, & Wing Drakes

While technically shelled wyverns, these smaller flying wyverns collectively known as wing drakes have lost their extensive armor and large size as adaptations for social life, flocking behavior, communal nesting, and less carnivorous lifestyles. It’s unknown if wing drakes evolved small size on their own or if the common ancestor of wing drakes and raths was a small mesopredator and raths re-evolved large size.

Halks: Wing drakes with a resemblance to the closely related raths, there is no longer wild halks as the species has been domesticated since the fall of the ancient civilization or perhaps even before. Much like kinsects (although not as drastic as them) halks have a variety of different phenotypes that can be activated upon eating certain foods. This activation of genes in response to environmental conditions is called epigenetics. It’s possible that this was an adaptation that allowed halks to live in any environment, and that this was taken advantage of as they were domesticated. But there are others who theorize that like Mi Ru and kinsects, the halks are genetically modified organisms. The wings of halks are like those of raths, but with one less pseudophalange.

Remobra: Wing drakes erroneously classified as snake wyverns by guild quacks due to their superficial snake like appearance. Remobra are viewed by many cultures as bad omens due to their habit of following elder dragons and scavenging off their kills. The wing anatomy of remobra is like that of halks, but their proportionately massive wings have vestigial pseudophalanges. The massive wings of remobra and the related bazelgeuse has sparked theories as to if the ancestor of bazels, raths, and wing drakes had massive wings for riding thermals. The closest living relative of remobra lives in the new world, while remobra itself can only be found in the old world. It’s possible that its recent ancestors lived in the new world but rode thermals or the backs of massive migrating elder dragons like Zorah or dalamadur to the old world or migrated through the worldwide cave network.

Cortos: Hardy wing drakes living in the hoarfrost reach. These scavengers and predators of small creatures survive the freezing conditions thanks to antifreeze in their blood. Their wing anatomy is similar to halks, but their snake-like head puts them firmly as the closest living relatives of remobra.

Regitrice: These small old world wing drakes are only found in the sandy planes and are known for the lustrous colors on the males. Interestingly, the second digit has unfused with the third.

Barnos: Aggressive new world wyverns, barnos do whatever they can to survive in the harsh environment of the everstream and elder’s recess and display pack hunting and swarming behaviors. Their wing anatomy is like that of halks and cortos, but they have lost another pair of pseudophalanges, leaving them with a single pair left.

Raphinos: Skittish new world wing drakes endemic to the coral highlands, they feed on coral eggs and a variety of “flora” using their beak. Their wing anatomy is nearly identical to that of a barnos, making them their closest living relatives.

Mernos: Timid new world wing drakes endemic to the ancient forest. Unlike raphinos and barnos, their wing anatomy is more like those of other wing drakes like halks and cortos. Mernos proved to be very easy to tame, take care of, and train, so they have become vital modes of transportation for the Research Commission.

Noios: These close relatives to Mernos are defined by their vulture-like appearance, distinctive calls vaguely mimicking diablos roars, and the fact that they’re only found in the wildspire waste. Noios are more omnivorous than their relative, and take advantage of what resources they can in the harsh desert. It’s thought that the common ancestor of the mernos and noios lived in the ancient ancient forest, and that during tropical storms the winds carried some individuals into the wastes. Those that became stranded became noios.

[thesunofalcoritres]

CHICKENS

Chickens, named verbally by humans after the Old World creatures of a similar disposition, are a widely distributed livestock animal kept for their meat and feathers. Chickens have been shaped by generations of selective breeding prior to Human arrival to grow and shed an impressive amount of their coats, which are comprised of sturdy, hollow “pinfeathers” that contain softer fibers within, much like a flax plant. The sheddings are then collected and woven into a material called featherwool, which was the most common textile prior to the appearance of Human animals with the Santiago and still sees prolific use to the modern day, though it sees fair competition with the introduction of manewool (see Sheep). The Dragonsign name for chickens can be roughly translated to “featherfriend”*.

Traditionally, chicken feathers were collected from the ground with a wide rake and then sieved and washed to remove dirt and debris before being processed. Since the arrival of humans gave birth to widespread industrial revolution, this process has been automated in various manners, though it’s still done manually in many smaller settlements.

*Many widespread dialects of Dragonsign have two base words for animals, one meaning, generally, “animal who is a friend”, referring to domesticated animals and pets, and one meaning “animal who is not a friend”, referring to any non-domesticated animal (regardless of hostility). Prefixes are then attached to these words to give more specific meaning. The sign that has been translated here as feather for brevity refers specifically to the hollow fiber-feathers grown by domestic chickens, as opposed to other types of flimsier branching feathers that make up the decorative frills of many Dragons.

SHEEP

Sheep were named so as the successors of Old World sheep, who were introduced to Alcoritrés with the Santiago and, after mingling extensively with several local species of wild herbivores – most notably the cold-blooded greenrunners* native to nearby prairies, which led to the predominant modern-day hybrid pictured above – proceeded to thin out and almost entirely die off after a few generations or so due to their inability to evolve fast enough to survive the harsh weather that differentiated Alcoritrés grasslands from their previous pastures, leaving their genes behind in the form of their fortified hybrid offspring.

As a result, the sustained wide-scale rearing of domestic sheep on Alcoritrés only truly dates back about ~2950 years, by which time the recently-arrived Humans had recovered both the resource capacity to settle down with livestock and the hands-on knowledge of how to raise and interact with the newly-bred species.

In the modern day, sheep are kept for their meat, lanolin and wool, which is commonly referred to as manewool to differentiate it from the featherwool produced by Alcoritrés chickens. Sheep scales, spines and claws are also sometimes sold and eaten for their nutritional benefits: they contain high amounts of calcium and magnesium, similar to fish scales.

*Though the syntax resembles many Dragonsign verbal name translations, greenrunner was an epithet given to the animals (in Dragonsign called roughly grassclaw-notfriend – see the chickens footnote for further translation context)) by early Humans, whose initial encounters with them were most often when flocks of them approached the edges of the northern forest the Santiago had crashed in to search for food and shelter during harsher storm seasons. The fleeting glimpses of them along with their warbling vocalizations gave them a more eerie reputation than they rightfully deserved to the wary settlers, who weren’t entirely sure if they were observing a sentient species or not.

[talon-dragonbeast]

Hello, welcome to my blog!

Name: you can call me Talon!

Pronouns: i use voi/void, drei/drem, cryp/cryptid, they/them and that thing/its pronouns! she/her is also okay :}

hello everyone! this is a blog for my nonhuman identity, specifically dragonkin, endermankin, corvidhearted and spacehearted. i created this blog as an archive of my journey, to help me figure out stuff and know more critters like me

here you'll find my personal experiences as a dragon and enderman, quality shitposts about my nonhumanity and maybe some drawings. asks, interactions and tag games are very welcome, you can talk to me about whatever at any time :}

⬇ click on the read more for a ramble about my identities ⬇

about my dragon identity

i believe my species is semi-digitigrade and quadrupedal, but i can stand on my feet for short periods of time. i have greyish blue scales on every part of my body, the ones in the chest and neck area being bigger and pale yellow, as well as dark spines on my back that go from head to tail. i have four claws on each hand and feet, two half-feathered wings and a long tail. the feathered half of my wings is dark blue while the membraned half is pale yellow. i have a long snout that ends on a pointy beak shape, two horns and two long ears. my eyes are amberine with sliced pupils.

dragonkin is my primary kintype, so i experience it very intensely in almost every moment of my life. from when i wake up to when i go to sleep, i am a dragon; its such an incredibly important part of myself that if it was forcibly removed from me, there would be no "me" anymore. almost every day, i get phantom, mental, envisage, and sensory shifts (there are other types of shifts like dream or spiritual, but i dont experience those).

my phantom limbs are most often of wings, teeth, ears and claws. sometimes a tail, horns, spines and a snout, but they're not as intense as the others. i can move them at will and they react to stimuli as if they were physically there, but i cant touch them and they phase through stuff.

about my enderman identity

here is a post with details about my species! I'll attempt to summarise it here:

so as I see myself, I'm a tall and dark creature with very long limbs that end in claws. my hands look a bit like human hands, but padded and with longer fingers. my legs are digitigrade and long. i have a tail, it's thin and very mobile, and ends in a tuft of hair. i have glowing purple eyes with darker, oval irises and no pupil. i have two fangs fused with my upper lip; my mouth is very rigid along with the rest of my face, which makes it difficult to show human emotion. and I have big long ears that are able to move a little.

endermankin is my secondary kintype, so I don't experience shifts as often and when I do they're mainly mental and envisage shifts.

when I'm mentally shifted (which can be triggered by eye contact, social anxiety, being alone, or nothing at all), it becomes more difficult to show emotions with my face, and instead i rely on body language or phantom limbs (it can also come with a difficulty to remember words, which can be frustrating). if i mentally shift, i cannot hold eye contact for longer than a second, if at all, and will become increasingly distressed if forced to, as it actually hurts to maintain. the main instinct I get is just holding objects with my two hands (preferably block-shaped things), it's soothing and gives us enderman a lot of comfort. m-shifting also gives me urges like start wandering around the room I'm in, stand on my tiptoes to mimic my digitigrade legs, and sway from side to side to mimic moving my tail.

other identities

im corvidhearted! i heavily relate to corvids on a personal level, so i see myself reflected in them and they are a big part of my identity. i consider crows and ravens (and sometimes magpies) like family, because they have a symbiotic relationship with dragons, and help eachother in the wild (kinda like ravens and wolves!). because of this, i experience cameo shifts with raven wings sometimes! :D

i also got something going on with space that ive labelled as spacehearted for now. its a very profound feeling, a longing that i feel in my chest every time i look at the stars. i think its probably related to a special interest in astronomy i had when i was a kid, but its really difficult to tell whether its a hearttype or a hearthome.

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dividers