#giant southern lizard

[pocoslip]

I hate to say this but Dino Crisis has a Better Giganotosaurus Design than Jurassic Park/World because Capcom didn’t at least add too many Spikes on their Back and make them look like Spinosaurus Sailback...

[visenyaism]

feastdance dashboard simulator

💋queen-cersei-defense-squad Follow

it’s so sick that people keep criticizing queen cersei as if she’s not the first female ruler of westeros??? literally elevating bastards and women to her small council is super fucking progressive as is creating the precedent of dismissing unfit kingsguard??

🪨dragonstoner Follow

aren’t all of her children literally bastards born of incest

💋 queen-cersei-defense-squad Follow

oh so now you’re going to listen to stannis baratheon, known misogynist, kinslayer, fornicator, team green supporter, and homophobe, huh.

🦑pykedyke

okay guys i know there’s no “perfect candidate” but you have to vote in the kingsmoot anyways not voting is how someone like e****n g*****y wins and literally anyone is better than him. suck it up and row to the polls

🦈reaveherihardlyknowher

ohhhh not this “vote your crew no matter who” “blue lips man bad” bullshit again. fuck off idgaf which godless man sits the seastone chair i’m not voting for asha shes literally a neoliberal

🦷 lastoftheegiants

first i had to give up my rights and then i had to give up my gods just to not get killed by fucking wights but i literally cannot believe the nights watch made me give up my strap as part of the treasure ransom. shit was expensive it was IVORY. i hate southerners so much i hope the lord commander dies

🌪️kinslayerr

DO NOT COME TO THE RIVERLANDS

🍓silverspurs Follow

why

🌪️kinslayerr

there’s riverlands here

🧜‍♂️theythemderly

freys

🌾maidencool

my cousin got eaten by rats in harrenhal

🐎brackennation Follow

dumb cunts wearing raven feather cloaks strutting around who think they’re better than you but they’re not better than you

🌟sevenstar

i saw a guy get killed and then just stand back up and start fighting again because his friend kissed him on the mouth down here once

🦌whitehart

giant feral pack of 60 wolves running around

🍓silverspurs Follow

ok understandable have a nice day

🫧bastardwaters

i hate the fucking sparrows can we be normal for five minutes or can we just not have shit in the crownlands

☠️real-stormlands-patriot Follow

ITS LORD COMMANDOVER #RIPBOZO

🐦‍⬛mormonts-raven-bot Follow

CORN! DEATH! CORN!

(CAW! I follow members of the Night's Watch to remind them of their oaths!)

🦷 lastoftheegiants

????

🍋floriansjonquil

Loras Tyrell x Queen of Love and Beauty!Reader Imagines

Keep Reading

🪻maidens-smile Follow

girl this is notttttt the time he literally just fucking died at dragonstone?

💎oathkeeper

should’ve stanned jaime #LORASFELLOFF

💐flowerknight

one kill yourself jaime lannister is an honorless kingslaying turncloak two i heard loras tyrell was literally fine?

👊fleabottomtop

lord davos seaworth, the class traitor from the stannis baratheon administration, is a nasty little thottie and just died from making it clap in white harbor

🌅girlheir

this tower fucking sucks.

🌅girlheir

i’m just like rhaenyra targaryen for real

🌅girlheir

🐀ratcook5000 Follow

people meat tastes good asf when you don’t have a wench in your ear saying it violates guest right

🐺threeeyedwolf

🍒ladylance

need that targ girl in mereen to get those lizards over here and liberate this website by any means necessary cause what the fuck is going on

[ludibriadormonoteista]

Slay the Dragon

Papa Arc: Son… The time has come. The infamous Yellow Dragon has been terrorizing our village for far too long.

Jaune: I hear you, father. I have been training my whole life for this.

Papa Arc: Indeed, you have. Take the family sword. You shall honor the oath you took and slay that foul creature.

Jaune: I will see that it is done, father. *Takes his leave*

Papa Arc: Now, hold on a minute. *Grabs his shoulder*

Jaune: Yes, father?

Papa Arc: Before you go, I want to make one thing very clear. I said Slay. Not Lay.

Jaune: …Yeah, I got it the first time.

Papa Arc: Slay, son. Not lay, not laid, not bang, not bed, not consummate, not taking her out for dinner. I want you to KILL that dragon.

Jaune: Father, I don’t-

Papa Arc: It’s a giant DRAGON for heaven’s sake. That monster is responsible for wiping out dozens of villages a year and has killed far more people than you will ever meet in your entire life. So PLEASE! Don’t waste your breath trying to woo that blasted creature!

Jaune: Dad, I’m seriously not gonna-

Papa Arc: I cannot stress how much we need that bitch dead, and the very last thing we need is for you to try and stick your dick in it!

Jaune: D-DAD!

Papa Arc: I want you to take this sword and plunge into the beast’s heart! Chop it into pieces if you must! Don’t stop until the life has left its eyes!

Jaune: ALRIGHT, GEESH! *Calms down* For the last time, I’m not gonna seduce the dragon or anything. I don’t even know where you got that idea from.

Papa Arc: I just want to make sure you understand what I’m saying.

Jaune: Father, I’m not one of those dragon-lovin’ degenerates from the southern islands, okay? You don’t have to worry about that.

Papa Arc: Glad to hear it. *Clears throat* Go forward, son. Make your ancestors proud.

Jaune: Yeah, yeah… *Finally leaves*

Papa Arc: Phew! Crisis averted. Ain’t that right, honey?

Mama Arc: It’s not gonna work, Nicky.

Papa Arc: What makes you say that?

Mama Arc: Take a good look. *Shows her dragon tail* I still can’t believe you convinced our son I’m a lizard Faunus.

Papa Arc: So what if I got lucky and got myself a wife because I couldn’t read instructions properly?! I could’ve been killed! I don’t want Jaune to make the same mistake and risk getting scorched to death.

Mama Arc: I don’t know, Taiyang’s spawn did seem very lonely last I checked. And that was 20 years ago.

Papa Arc: Well, then Taiyang’s spawn shall find plenty of companionship in the fiery pits of hell. For our boy Jaune will not rest until the Yellow Dragon’s life has been claimed by the sacred Crocea Mors-

[}}]

Yang: S’up, in-laws! I’ve been meaning to meet you guys. Huge fan of your work here. *Slaps Jaune’s back*

Jaune: *red* Yang, please…

Papa Arc: *Disgruntled noises*

Mama Arc: Oh, you must be our boy’s fiancé he wrote about. Come now sweetie, let me show you around the house.

Yang: You got it, mom! Can’t wait to meet my new sisters. Later, hubby~

Papa Arc: Jaune… What did I tell you?

Jaune: Tell me what?

Papa Arc: The thing we discussed? Before parting on your quest?

Jaune: What thing- Oh. Ooohhh……

Papa Arc: Do you have anything to say for yourself, young man?

Jaune: *Hand on the back of his head* I guess it slipped out of my mind…?

Papa Arc: Oh, something did slip, alright.

Jaune: It-It’s nothing like that! It all happened so fast, and-! Look, she’s on the run from a whole evil cult or some shit and I wondered if you and mom could let her crash here for a few weeks.

Papa Arc: And you didn’t think the neighbors would suspect anything from the blond girl with dragon horns waltzing around our house?

Jaune: I don’t know, I just figured we could tell everyone she’s a Faunus. Just like mom.

Papa Arc: *Wincing* About that, son…

[catfern]

cowboy!ellie headcanons

pairing: ellie williams x afab!reader

music: roses are falling - orville peck

word count: 1.2k

warnings: fingering (briefly), drunk sex-ish, guns??, yearning and just sappy shit mainly im in a vulnerable state

an: this is shit brainrot bc i've played too much rdr2 and i want ellie to let me ride her cowgirl style. this took me for-fucking-ever because i got acrylics and dropped my wpm from 108 to 67. also if i put out a poll asking what fic to post next would people vote

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

✷ cowboy!ellie having the most pornographic, velvet-laced southern accent known to man. drawling out words in a whisper, that reassured wit sitting in her throat with a lopsided smirk. she’s such a tease, knowing how it gets to you, that ‘c’mon, sweetheart, you gonna make me wait f’you?’ after she trots ahead, glancing back at you under the wide brim of her hat. please, trying to make eye contact with ellie after a long day of riding (ifykyk), seeing just a glance of the veins in her neck, beads of sweat sitting in the little crevices as she leans down to her saddle bag. god, her hands!! and she looks at you, that knowing impatience and ‘okay there, darlin’?, and you can’t look at her, your head swimming and drowning in the molasses of her voice and too focused on the up, down, up, down, up trot of your horse.

✷ setting up camp for the night, bed mats a good distance away from each other, and you wake up, fire dying, moon high, and ellie is still awake, hands covered in dirt and ash and rust from her old revolver that she cleans too occasionally. the gentle scratch of charcoal on parchment, her body hunched over, protective like a creature, and when you call out to her, she TOSSES her journal into the dirt like it burned to touch. if the moon wasn’t so faint, you’d see the uncharacteristic blush fleeting across her cheeks, but too quickly, she tells you to go back to sleep, she’s just staying up to take care of the fire. you listen in a haze, and ellie tears out the five, maybe 6 pages?? of rough sketches, harsh lines etching out your body, your smile, your eyes, and stamps them into the cooling embers of the campfire.

✷ if we’re talking historically accurate cowboys, ellie is definitely the type to believe in dinosaurs!! it’s this new, fresh, science fad and everybody laughs at her for it, cause omg?? giant lizards?? nah!! but ellie is so adamant, reading every paper and pamphlet on the subject that she can get her hands on (assuming she can even read lets be so real), and she’ll tell you about it! small, reluctant meanders from more important topics, at first, but you’re kind and you listen to words either of you barely understand, and sure it’s a little bit boring, but she’s happy, and for some reason she makes it incredibly dynamic, crash coursing you on lizards that evolved (a buzz word in all her pamphlets) into BIGGER lizards.

✷ cowboy!ellie, the horse whisperer. she doesn’t teach you to ride, but you’ve never had a way with horses, cantankerous and rough, so you need a lil bit of assistance. ellie will take the lead, letting you rock behind her on your horse, your arms draped around her like common occurrence, and she’ll turn, ‘see? be gentle, she’ll listen. you’re a team, y’know?’

✷ ‘she just likes you more than me.’

✷ her laugh is boisterous, loud, it sounds like it belongs amongst the hills and caverns, like wind against rocks, ‘no one likes me more than you, flower.’

✷ one day, you’re just passing through a small town, nothing more than a few shops and scattered farm houses, and ellie spies an outlaw poster, poorly tacked to the community bulletin board. it’s her, badly sketched, sure. her chin is way too big, nose a bit askew, but it’s definitely her. and you laugh as she presses you frantically, ‘i don’t really look like this? do i?’ and it’s got some ridiculous nickname that definitely over-inflates her ego, ‘ellie 'longshot’ williams (no one has called her that ever) that she’ll parade it around like a medal

✷ ‘aw, love, do you need some help shootin’? don’t call me long shot for nothin’.’

✷ you’d get a bit vulgar, a bit defensive because, yeah, maybe ellie is actually good at shooting, and you could benefit from her teaching. but that fucking nickname, lording over your head with that lilt in her voice, and the childish, goading smile, you’d tell her to shove it somewhere the sun don’t shine and just pray luck guides your bullet.

✷ your now-so-serious scowl eats at her, so ellie has to swallow her boyish pride and shut up, simply falling behind you. gently tapping your shin with her boot to get you to adjust your stance, her hands stretching out over yours to feel out the barrel of the foreign pistol. they’re rough, calloused, unmade for this sort of gentle gesture, but you welcome the heat that they give. with a soft push and pull, like a tide she moves your fingers, your hands, to hold the gun well. her voice is a whisper as she instructs, ‘don’t hold it so loosely. stronger grip helps aim.’ 

✷ she’s shaking in her boots. a moment like this, tender, with you is scarcely shared. the closeness burns her chest as she feels you breathe against her, skittish but assured, ellie’s finger snaking around yours to settle on the trigger. you go to fire, and the recoil sends you backwards in a shock, ellie having to move her hands from the gun to your waist to keep you steady. you laugh something coarse, leaning back into her without a thought. adrenaline intimacy.

✷ ‘okay, maybe y’need a few more lessons before you get it right.’ it’s a selfish thought, but it cements ellie in that moment, with you just in her reach, and her revolver. she’d clean it for you.

✷ cowboy!ellie doing stupid shit, like taking longer detours to show you the scenery, the stretching fields and great mountain waterfalls, stopping to pick wildflowers (she’s a sap), or taking the extra care to saddle up your horse for you, securing the girth and not letting you touch it because ‘i don’t need you slippin’ on me.’ she takes care of you, out on the road, it’s not an official thing, but you’re off limits.

✷ ellie is kind, but sex with her isn’t. the first time, she’s terribly drunk, playing away her night in a saloon, at a poker table (she’s losing), and you’re sat at the bar, wearing that, and it’s violently throwing her off her game, so she decides to make it known that your presence is an interruption. dragging you upstairs, she’s unkind. ‘you’re not helping my luck, looking like that.’

✷ ‘how do you need me, then?’

✷ she tastes like cigarette smoke, and bourbon, and she smells like the sleek of rain on dry dirt, and feeling her all over you is intoxicating, rough. she’s quick, her lips aren’t soft but rather, a grating possession on your skin, a feeling that swallows you, melts you down in the heat of her hands. she swears, a lot, it sounds like disbelief but really, it’s a bribe. a prayer. ‘dear god, give me this, let me have this, and i will be devout.’ it’s primal, something uncontrollable. drunk, it’s worse. she loses herself in the haze, becomes complete disregard, her fingers inside you without hearing you, just feeling you. lost in you and she keeps pounding into you simply because she’s enraptured by the feeling of you clenching around her.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Round Four: Vorombe vs Heracles

Vorombe titan

Artwork by @otussketching, written by @zygodactylus

Name Meaning: Titan of the Big Birds 

Time: 10,000 years ago to sometime in the past 2000 years (Holocene epoch of the Quaternary period) 

Location: Southern Madagascar 

Vorombe is a newly erected genus of Elephant Bird, the largest that we know of! Whereas all species of Elephant Bird used to be put in the same genus, distinct differences among the types of Elephant Bird that we know of indicate they deserve their own genus names - and here we are! Vorombe was significantly larger than the other species of Elephant Bird, and probably was about 3 meters (nearly 10 feet) tall when standing. It was also ridiculously heavy, weighing around 650 kilograms. As such, Vorombe is currently the largest known bird ever recorded. It lived in the arid and succulent woodlands as well as the grassland mosaics, the weirdly unique habitats that charactierize Madagascar, and was a major feature in the functioning of those ecosystem - helping to spread plant seeds and maintain habitats as they lived within them. Vorombe and other Elephant Birds lived alongside a lot of weird animals during the Quaternary of Madadgascar, including dwarf hippos, giant tortoises, and giant lemurs. 

Note: A paper came out literally on the last day of February this year indicating Vorombe may not be its own genus, and as such, it would not qualify as a "rising star". More work is needed to determine if this bird is distinct from Aepyornis. Please take this into account when voting.

Heracles inexpectatus

Artwork by @otussketching, written by @zygodactylus

Name Meaning: Unexpected Herculean Parrot 

Time: 16 to 19 million years ago (Burdigalian stage of the Miocene epoch, Neogene period) 

Location: St. Bathans Fauna, Bannockburn Formation, Aotearoa  

Heracles was a truly alarmingly large parrot, related to modern day Kea, Kaka, and Kakapo, known from the fantastic avifauna of St Bathans. Standing more than two feet tall and weighing about fifteen pounds, this animal was much larger than any expected from the St Bathans fauna, which represented the initial colonization of Aotearoa (Zealandia) after it returned above sea level. Heracles is also the largest known species of parrot, ever. It was presumably flightless, though it is uncertain if it was nocturnal like its living relative the Kakapo. Its exact ecology is still uncertain, given the material known from Heracles is limited and its living relatives have very disparate ecologies, though it is possible it was omnivorous similar to the Kea and Kaka today. The St Bathans fauna lived in a freshwater lake system, in a subtropical emergent rainforest. Separated from land bridges, the fauna was dominated by birds, with early relatives of the Kiwi, New Zealand Wrens, Adzebills, and Wedge-Tailed eagles found in the fauna, as well as somewhat modern looking Moas. Smaller flamingos, large fruit pigeons, and a huge variety of geese and other waterfowl are known. In addition, frogs, tuataras, other lizards, crocodilians, turtles, and many different types of fish are known from this fascinating ecosystem. 

[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.

[dougdimmadodo]

May’s Fossil of the Month - Thrinaxodon (Thrinaxodon liorhinus)

Family: Thrinaxodon Family (Thrinaxodontidae)

Time Period: Early Triassic (251-247 Million Years Ago) 

At the end of the Permian period around 251 million years ago, the earth experienced the most extreme extinction event in its history (known as the Permian-Triassic Extinction Event or “The Great Dying”,) in which some 70% of terrestrial species and 81% of marine species were driven to extinction. As such, the period immediately following the Permian, the early Triassic, was a period of slow recovery as the descendants of the few survivors of the Great Dying began to adapt and diversify to fill the ecological niches left empty by the extinction of their previous occupants. Thrinaxodon liorhinus was one such survivor; a small (roughly 50cm/1.6 feet in length) species of cynodont synapsid (making it a close relative of mammals, but not a mammal itself), it inhabited what is now southern Africa and northern Antarctica (which were fused as part of a single landmass at the time) in the period immediately following the great dying, and was seemingly among the largest and most common carnivores of its time. Thrinaxodon’s survival was likely enabled at least in part due to its lifestyle; the discovery of individuals fossilized in the remains of burrows show that Thrinaxodon, like many similarly-sized mammals today, was a burrower, and the presence of distinct divisions on its spine to aid in flexibility suggests that, like many burrowing mammals and reptiles today, it may have possessed the ability to travel deeper underground and undergo hibernation or aestivation in order to endure prolonged periods of harsh weather conditions and resource scarcity. In life Thrinaxodon would have likely appeared somewhere between a large lizard and a small dog, with its leg bones and joints suggesting that it stood in a “semi-sprawling” posture mid-way between the belly-to-the-ground sprawling of most lizards and the elevated posture of most mammals, while its dog-like skull and sharp-tipped teeth (including prominent canines on both the upper and lower jaw) suggest that it was likely carnivorous, feeding on insects and/or smaller vertebrates. The discovery of the remains of several Thrinaxodon individuals, sometimes including juveniles, preserved in close proximity to one another suggests that members of this species likely provided parental care and may have also been social, and one unusual but extremely famous fossil burrow containing both an adult Thrinaxodon and an injured Broomistega putterilli (a small species of superficially salamander-like amphibian) showing puncture wounds from teeth too large to belong to the burrow’s owner suggests that, like the Gopher Tortoise and Giant Armadillo today, Thrinaxodon may have been a habitat engineer, with its burrows providing shelter for other species of animal (although it is also possible that the Broomistega had been washed into the burrow during a flood that killed both animals, or that the Thrinaxodon had stolen the injured Broomistega from the larger carnivore that wounded it.)

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

Image Sources:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thrinaxodon_liorhinus_BP_1_7199.jpg

and

https://www.pbs.org/video/the-oddest-couple-in-the-fossil-record-rcehau/

[adarkrainbow]

So, recently @drachenwiki has done a very nice reblog of one of my posts (thank you!) and evoked something very interesting. I didn't want to just answer in a simple reblog, so I'll make a new post about it. Here is what drachen said:

I noticed an interesting connection here. In Greek fairy tales, there is a character that’s pretty similar to the ogre, but is called Drakos (Δράκος). The name is obviously derived from Drakon (δράκων), which means serpent and is the origin of the word “dragon”, but the Drakos is a supernatural humanoid, like the ogre sometimes fully human-looking, sometimes with monstrous traits, but almost never with the serpentine traits that define dragons.

I unfortunately do not have enough knowledge about Greek fairytales as a whole to be able to fully answer or react o the character of Drakos - even though I can say, as someone who studied ogre, that there is a very obvious general connection and "family link" between ogres and dragons, the same way there is one between ogres and giants. Ogres and dragons, are the two sides of the "devouring fairytale villain", whose main threat is eating the character ; both of them dwell in usually hostile landscapes such as deep forests or grottos ; and both of them are usually said to have great riches and treasures.

But what I originally wanted to say is this. I don't know if you had heard of it, but in French folklore there is a character that sound very similar to the Greek Drakos, and seems to be very clearly some sort of cousin. He is frequently found in French folktales and oral fairytales collected in various regions of France - and in fact he is one of the most prominent and well-known monster of French legends. It is the Drac.

Long story short...

The Drac is a folkloric being of Southern France. It is a water-dwelling entity that is most commonly said to inhabit rivers and lakes, sometimes streams and wells - some folktales even make him sea-dwelling, though most of the time he is a being of fresh water. There were several dracs around France corresponding to the various important bodies of water - though folktales like to always refer to "THE" Drac.

The Drac obviously comes from the same etymological and cultural roots as the dragon. "Drac" comes from the Latin "draco/draconis", itself from the Greek "drakon" and it is all the same family as "drakkar" for example. If it wasn't enough of proof we have in the Occitan language words such as "dracmarin" for "sea dragon" (marin meaning "of the sea" in modern French). As a result, the Drac is considered to be a reptilian being... But the exact nature of the Drac is unclear.

You see, sometimes the drac is described as a dragon-like entity dwelling at the bottom of the lake or sea (a winged, enormous lizard-being) ; or as a giant water-snake. But that's only sometimes because one of the main features of the Drac is that it owns a power of shapeshifting, meaning one can never be sure of what shape the Drac will appear as. Most often, the drac takes the shape of a beautiful young man (to lure his victims or better wander among humans, as we'll see later), but there are many tales and legends claiming the drac can turn into various animals (black donkey, red she-horse, bunnies, lambs...) or even into objects (like a log, or a basket). Given the two shapes of "reptilian being" and "beautiful human" are the most famous and widespread, it often results in depictions of the drac as a scale-covered humanoid or as a dragon with the head of a beautiful boy.

The other main trait of the drac is that he is known to keep luring and dragging humans under water, off into his under-river or under-lake lair. But the how and the why of it all keeps changing depending on the regions and time. It is most agree that the Drac targets, out of all humans, women - especially pretty young girls (making him more similar to the traditional "dragon haunting damsels"). Washer-woman were heavily warned about the drac, and were depicted as his easiest victims due to being women spending so much time by the water-shore. Sometimes the drac uses his face of a handsome young man, or his beautiful singing voice, to attract his victims (some regions even call him a "male mermaid"); other times, the drac is known to let float at the surface of water gold coins, jewels, mirrors and other precious items. All in all - you are lured into the water, and once far away enough, the drac snatches you and takes you underwater.

Here's however where your fate changes depending on which "aspect" of the Drac you face.

In popular beliefs and superstitions, the drac is a water bogeyman in the same way as Jenny Greenteeth and the other water-hags of England. As such, he is depicted as a man-eater who lures humans to drown them and devour them. (Sometimes he doesn't even eat them, and he is just a demonic and evil being who drowns them for pure fun).

In folktales however the Drac can become more alike to the traditional "capture-maidens dragon", or to the general archetype of the monstrous husband. There is a very famous Gascogne fairytale (precisely the one that, to my knowledge, is the only depicting the drac as sea-dwelling rather than fresh-water-dwelling) that paints him as some sort of elemental spirit, a "king of water" that commands the winds and the storms - he steals away a maiden with which he fell in love to force her to become his bride, but she refuses. He still keeps her trapped in his beautiful underwater palace and gardens - and only allows her to walk for a limited time at the top of the waves and the surface of the waters, with a golden chain tied to her ankle. A hero has to break the chain and gets her to shore as fast as possible - because the drac has no power on land.

The most famous incarnation of the drac however is the drac of the Rhônes, illustrated in stories such as the legend of the drac de Beaucaire. This drac is much more akin to the fair-folk and "good neighbors" of the British Isles - as in, in various stories and tales he is described as stealing away a nurse from the human world so she can take care of his babies and breast-feed his children for seven years. Once she had done her work, the drac allows her to return to the human world above the waters - but something happened. The nurse got one eye "enchanted" so that not only does she see clearly in the water, she also can see the Drac's true appearance even under his human disguises. For some she mistakenly got some of the fat of one of the "snake-cakes" of the Drac into her eyes ; for others, the Drac offered her a box of enchanted human fat (because the dracs are still man-eaters in these tales) that would give strength and health to her baby, with the clear instruction to always wash her hands after using it - and she gets it in her eye... Anyway, all in all she ends up spotting the drac in the middle of her town or village, and she politely salutes him with his real identity. The drac, surprised at having been recognized under his disguise, asks her with which eye she saw him. She tells him, and the drac promptly gouges out the enchanted eye.

And these are just the main aspects and appearances of the drac based on his main "underwater magical being" persona. But you see, the "drac" is actually a bit like the "bogeyman" as in, you have an iconic name, some key traits, but everybody has a different version of it. Same thing for the drac - antagonist sea-prince of fairytales, child-eating water-bogeyman, aquatic "good neighbor" and fair folk... But in some regions the name "drac" will be use for werewolves! Everything in these stories clearly describe a werewolf, except the name. But this seems to be because as France was Christianized there was an habit of making the drac of demon - which is why many tales describe this being as a "water demon", as a "bird-hating demon", as "the son of the devil"... And in the Pyrénées, the drac even got an alternate identity fusing himself with another famous folklore archetype. The magical-but-deadly-horse ; the devil's donkey that snatches children. This creature exists in other regions of France as its own thing, its own being, but in the Pyrénées sometimes it gets fused with the drac into one being. A magical donkey or enchanted horse - sometimes white, sometimes red - that will invite tired travellers or innocent children on its back. It can extend its back to carry as many children as it needs ; or it can enlarge its body to fit the weight and girth of any rider ; but once you are on the beast's back, it will take you on a wild and terrifying ride that will end in a body of water where you will drown.

Usually this identity as the "magical horse" or "magical donkey" is thought to be just one of the various "tricks" of the drac - tricks and "pranks" typical of fair folk and other supernatural beings of Europe. Remember when I evoked his shapeshifting? The "lamb" part comes from a local legend claiming the drac likes to turn into a cute little lamb, but if you try to carry it in your arms or on your back, it will become heavier and heavier until it crushes you. Other local tales evoke stories of the drac turning into a ball of thread, and allowing a girl to weave a dress out of him - but once she wears the dress in public, the thread will disappear, destroying the dress and leaving the girl naked in front of everybody.

Again this all seems tied again to the "demonization" of the Drac - who was considered to be part of those nasty lutins, demonic imps and other annoying little devils that spent their time harassing everybody with cruel or disgusting pranks. But anyway my main point stays - a humanoid man-eating being with dragon roots, and an obvious dragon name despite ending up not looking like a dragon at all...

[stardust948]

Do not be done rambling about opposite au!!

Does the fire nation still has a firelord on the beginning of the story??

And so, are all water tribes united but still independent of each other?

Also love love nonbender zuko!!

What would be a ln appropriate replacement for otter penguins?

Also how does suki and Yue fit into this??

In this Opposite AU, everything is flipped.

The United Water Tribes, lead by the Southern Water Tribe chief, started the 100 year old war by using the Blood Moon that comes once every century to flood the Earth Kingdom in an attempt to wipe out the new Avatar. Balance is thrown off. Most of the EK is submerged with only mountain villages and places like Omashu remaining.

The Air temples are still intact but there's division on whether to return to the ancient ways of Warrior Monks and join the fight or remain pacifists.

The Fire Nation is wiped out saved for a few scattered islands like Hira'a. (And the Sun Warriors but they don't show up until later). The survivors scrap out a humbling living until Water Tribe raiders come based off a lead of a firebender remaining alive. Ursa takes the blame and dies in Azula's place. Shortly after, Ozai and the men of the village leave to aid the Warrior Air Monks.

Years later, Zuko and Azula free a young girl and badgermole fossilized deep in a cavern. She turns out to be the last Earthbender and the missing Avatar.

*cue theme music*

Yue and Suki are Katara’s friends/lackeies like Mai and Ty Lee. Aang is the runaway they found in the circus bc his temple chose the Warrior route and he wanted nothing of it. (Too bad. You gotta train the Avatar)

Ty Lee is a dragon princess who sacrifice herself to save the Sun. Mai's a bounty hunter. Sokka's the banished prince and Katara’s the bloodbender prodigy. For otter peuiguns I guess it could be those giant lizard things.

[todaysbug]

November 3rd, 2023

Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)

Distribution: Found across the United States, up to southern Canada and down to Mexico, Jamaica and Cuba.

Habitat: Mainly found in deciduous forests and citrus orchards.

Diet: Adults feed on nectar and the liquid from animal waste; plants fed on include lantana, azalea, bougainvillea, soapwort, dame's rocket, goldenrod, Japanese honeysuckle and milkweed. Caterpillars feed on the leaves of plants in the citrus family.

Description: The giant swallowtail's larva is also called the orange puppy due to the fact that it's a pest of citrus trees, including orange trees. In order to protect itself from predators, the caterpillar camouflages itself by imitating the appearance of bird or lizard poop. If this doesn't fool a predator, it has a trick up its sleeve—or more accurately, its head; it can deploy an osmeteria, which is a brightly-colored Y-shaped growth, whose appearance is often accompanied by a strong, foul odour. This only really works to startle smaller predators, though, such as lizards and other insects.

Due to global warming, the giant swallowtail's range has gradually expanded northward. However, they're still only able to overwinter in areas of the deep south. They can be spotted fairly easily—adults have a wingspan of up to 19 centimetres, making the giant swallowtail the largest butterfly in North America!

(Pictures by D. Gordon E. Robertson and Lanare Sevi)

[jurassicjoowan]

"Giganotosaur Paddock" - 1/28/2022

A hypothetical piece of art involving a Stan Winston stylized Giganotosaurus taking the rex's place in the original paddock breakout sequence. The set piece was also inspired by the paddock level in the 1999 game, Jurassic Park Warpath.

Hammond thought the Tyrannosaurus rex would be an amazing choice for Jurassic Park, he wanted something large, breathtaking, a true spectacle of an animal. But when he heard about a giant southern lizard, he didn't spare an expense towards its research. She showed an aggressive nature since birth and though Muldoon worked day and night to secure the growing beast, on the night of the Nublar Incident... it showed no mercy.

"Winston styled Albertosaurus" - 5/5/2022

A smaller, quick reflexed relative to the Tyrannosaurus rex, the Albertosaurus is a plains and mountain dwelling theropod on Los Cinco Muertes. Though not as destructive as its larger cousin, the Albertosaurus is still an extremely dangerous animal to encounter, as it utilizes its reinforced head as a sort of battering ram. Its muscular body and lengthy legs allow this dinosaur to rush with hazardous speed, which allows it to take down prey items and potentially unaware survivors.

I was inspired by some artwork used in the creation of Stan Winston's iconic animatronics and decided to take my own hand at making a stylized take on Albertosaurus to make it fit within Jurassic Park, depictions from Warpath and Tresspasser were also utilized. And another frame of reference was the description of the novel's juvenile Rex and the Big Red Rex from the Kenner toyline.

These are all my old fanmade concepts for an alternative interpretation of Jurassic Park, maybe I'll elaborate more on this someday. Who knows.

[katborg82]

Around 200 years ago, English scientists stumbled across something previously unknown to science. Various fossilized bones had been found including a tooth, a partial femur, and a lower jaw. These bones clearly belonged to a large animal not known to the area. The bones had been misidentified as belonging to fish, roman war elephants, and even mythical creatures like giants. During the early 19th century more discoveries had been made, and further research by English Paleontologist William Buckland, led him to believe these bones belonged to a massive extinct reptile.

On the 20th of February in 1824, Buckland formally announced the animal he named, Megalosaurus. The first officially named non-avian dinosaur, 200 years ago today.

Megalosaurus (Great Lizard) was a large theropod dinosaur that lived during the Middle Jurassic, 166 million years ago, in southern England. It's difficult to estimate the exact size and body shape of this animal, as a complete skeleton has yet to be found, current estimates put it at around 20 feet long, weighing about 1500 pounds.

[thegoddamnwordsmith]

Vote the EcoVivarium Reptile Rescue in the 2024 All-in 4 Change grant program!

Hello, everyone!

Harrah’s Resort Southern California has opened voting for their annual “All-in 4 Change” grant program, where fifteen non-profits in the San Diego, Riverside, and Orange County areas are awarded a portion of a $150,000 cash grant to fund their efforts in helping people and animals through the various programs they run. This year, the non-profit reptile rescue and living museum, the EcoVivarium Reptile Sanctuary, is one of the nominees. EcoVivarium is a cause very close to home for me – members of my family either work there or volunteer there, and we have adopted a number of animals through them, which is why I would like to ask that anyone interested please cast a vote for them. Each person can vote once per day, so if you’re so inclined, please help get EcoVivarium to the top slot! Voting is open until August 28th.

What is the EcoVivarium Reptile Sanctuary?

Located in Escondido, EcoVivarium is one of the largest reptile, amphibian, and arthropod rescues in the United States. Since 2009, they have been devoted to the health and well-being of the animals that come through their doors, and educating children and adults alike about these unique, often misunderstood and misrepresented creatures. EcoVivarium handles many educational programs, both on-site and abroad, as well as birthday parties and events, where people can learn about lizards, snakes, turtles, tortoises, frogs, and arthropods first-hand, even gaining hands-on experiences with some of them. The staff is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about these animals, and has the patience to help even the most misgiving of people the chance to understand these wonderful creatures. In addition to their extensive special programs, EcoVivarium hosts regular on-site tours, both for walk-in customers and advanced reservations. Visitors will get the chance to pet and even hold a variety of animals, as well as meet some of the Animal Ambassadors, such as Ed the Galapagos Tortoise or Mac the Giant Water Monitor Lizard.

On top of this, EcoVivarium also has limited adoption options you can explore if you would like to add a new member to your family and provide a forever home to one of these wonderful animals. As a reptile rescue, they receive many animals regularly, either due to owner neglect or inability to provide for them, or due to injuries and special needs. Many animals will end up calling EcoVivarium their home, due to factors requiring special care (injuries, trauma-related temperament issues, and/or permit-related legal issues regarding private ownership), but still many more are ready to find a permanent family beyond the facility, one who is ready to love and care for a unique, but incredible friend. As of this writing, there are over 400 animals in EcoVivarium’s care, and with so many of them needing special attention, finding homes for those who are capable of being adopted out is a high priority.

EcoVivarium is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, with all funds going directly back into animal care and facility maintenance. The organization is handled by a small staff of animal care professionals and educators, supplemented with a number of volunteers of all ages. For more information, please feel free to contact me, or you can contact them directly at Home - EcoVivarium.

Aside from this grant program, they can be donated to directly as well. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law.

[chiefwritesbook]

The worldbuilding in SOTAL, a master post

Something something insert intro let's just get straight into it

(shameless plug: if the worldbuilding below interests you, you can find plenty of it in this book: https://books2read.com/songofthewolf)

Locations

Kies Tor

A landlocked kingdom home to the elves. The south is predominently tropical rainforest and low-lying plains or wetlands, all subject to flooding during the storm season. There are two types of weather in the south: hot and dry (miserable) or slightly less hot and humid (miserable). Going north of the White River puts you in the foothills and mountains of the north, or the Highlands, as the locals will call it. The weather here is much more temperate and nice and won't try to murder you if you set foot outside.

Going east from Kies Tor puts you in unmapped territory: a steep mountain range along the eastern border makes travel near-impossible with the technology they currently have. North also puts you in the mountains, though these are much more navigable, and crossing the range into the frozen wastelands to the far north will land you in Hellhound territory. South of Kies Tor is Astaria, home of the Faefolk, where the entire kingdom is tropical rainforest and difficult terrain. West is the Draconian Empire, one of the biggest empires of the era, whose conquest has won them most of the western world.

The Draconian Empire

Home of the Drakels, lizard-like folk descended from the dragons. Their empire stretches across most of the western mainland due to their highly successful conquest. The northern half of the empire enjoys a nice and temperate climate, except for the northern desert, which is searing hot all year round and freezing cold at night. The south is more tropical, but many of the settlements in the south have been built along the coast, so they enjoy a nice coastal breeze which makes the heat a little more manageable.

The Drakels share their eastern border with both Kies Tor and Astaria. West is the Silver Ocean, past which there has been no recorded land (as of yet). You'll eventually hit the far northern tundra if you keep going past the desert, and northeast will once again put you in the mountains. South is also the Silver Ocean, which curves around the Draconian Empire and all the way into unmapped territory.

The Far North

Braving the cold northern mountain range, you'll eventually find yourself in the Far North, a frozen, mountainous wasteland where little life can flourish. It's said that half-giants live secluded in the mountains, but there have been no sightings of them in centuries, and it's little more than a rumour at this stage. However, the territory itself belongs to the Hellhounds, wolf shapeshifters who keep to semi-isolated packs and only gather together for important cultural or political moments.

East of the Hellhounds' borders is an impassable mountain range, which extends south past the eastern Kies Tor border. South is Kies Tor, home of the elves. North is the Sea of Ice, an ocean filled with glaciers and icebergs that's near-impossible to navigate. West is another mountain range, past which you'll hit the Draconian Empire.

Astaria

Home of the Fae. Like southern Kies Tor, it's comprised entirely of dense, tropical rainforest, making it near-impossible to navigate the wilds. The Faefolk operate under their own independent government under their own king, and have largely resisted the Drakels' advancement into their land. As a result, they have a long-standing truce with the empire.

North of Astaria is Kies Tor, home of the elves. West is the Draconian Empire, and south is the Silver Ocean. East is unmapped territory - all that's known about it is that it's the realm of an unfamiliar group.

Species

Elves

There are two types of elves living in Kies Tor: forest elves and mountain elves. The elves don't particularly care for this distinction, so they refer to themselves as either southerners or Highlanders. In terms of differences, mountain elves have rounded ears and tend to be paler, whereas forest elves have long, pointed ears. They can live for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, and so they measure their age by maturity once they hit adulthood.

Faefolk

The Fae often get mistaken for southern elves these days, but back when magic was still prevalent in the land, the Fae specialised in illusory, transformative magic, while the elves specialised more in elemental magic and magic for combat. They also have much shorter pointed ears than southern elves. Similar to elves, they measure age by maturity after reaching adulthood.

Drakels

Lizard-folk, similar to the Dragonborn of D&D, but with more dragonlike features and a tail. They're the closest descendants of the dragons, which haven't been seen in the known world for the last 500 years. Many now believe the dragons are extinct and the Drakels are all that remains of their bloodline. They have much shorter lifespans than elves or faefolk and measure age by years lived.

Hellhounds

Wolf shifters who are technically a race of demons. This is because they have incredibly long lifespans and (according to mythology) were descended from the stars themselves. They have heightened senses and rapid healing that makes them impossible to kill unless the brain is destroyed. Because they live for so long, they measure age by milestones such as 'adolescent', 'adult', 'elder' etc.

Half-Giants

Either rumoured to be extinct or living in seclusion, depending on who you ask. They were descended from the giants and mountain elves and persecuted alongside their giant ancestors. Not much else is known about them.

Languages

Torrian

Spoken by the elves of Kies Tor, often mistakenly called Elvish. Elvish is the language GROUP that Torrian falls under, and includes both the mountain dialect spoken by half-giants as well as Faerie (spoken by the Fae). Torrian itself was a purely spoken language for many centuries, until the tradition of recording written history came along, at which point a writing system was developed. The language now is split into Old Torrian, which encompasses the period before the development of the written language, and modern Torrian, which is of course just referred to as Torrian.

Faerie

Spoken by the Fae in Astaria. Because of its similarities to Torrian, speakers of the two languages can communicate to some extent without being fluent in both. These similarities also make it easier for Torrian speakers to learn Faerie and vice versa, and settlements along the border between the two countries will often have bilingual speakers who are proficient in both.

Kier Dekkel

A 'bastard tongue' developed from High Draconic and is also part of the Draconic language group. Because most High Draconic sounds were impossible for non-dragons to pronounce, an approximation had to be created so other creatures could communicate with the dragons of old. This 'approximation' eventually evolved into Kier Dekkel through migration and trade, and is now spoken primarily by the Drakels.

Mainland Demonic

Spoken by mainland demons. Another language of the Draconic group, Demonic is believed to have evolved directly from High Draconic as a result of frequent interactions with the dragons. In a few thousand years, this current form of Demonic will become Old Demonic and branch out further into various dialects.

Northern Demonic

Technically a variant of Demonic spoken only by Hellhounds, but the language has evolved to the point that speakers of the northern variant can no longer communicate with speakers of Mainland Demonic.

High Draconic

Also known as Draconic, this is an ancient language spoken by the dragons. It's believed that Draconic existed before the first civilisations in the magical realm, making it the oldest living language in the world. Because such a language predates the era of non-dragon races, many sounds are physically impossible to pronounce without dragon vocal chords.

Elvish

An ancient language developed and once spoken by the elves. Most of it has been lost, but its roots live on in more modern languages such as Torrian and Faerie.

Important Historical Events

The Torrian Civil War

In the early days of Kies Tor's founding, most of the nobility in Kies Tor were northerners who lived in the Highlands, where the temperate climate and open plains made for good farmland, while most of the poor commoners were southerners who lived in the tropics. The northerners eventually started running out of farmland in the north and decided to expand south.

This did not sit well with the southerners, who thought their southern culture was being trampled upon by the northern nobility coming in & just settling here without any consideration for the locals, so they protested strongly against the expansion of land from the north. When the north didn't listen, the southern nobles decided to take up arms against the invaders and a civil war broke out. During this time, some of the northern nobility would come to see the damage they were doing to the Torrian rainforest, and side with the south. The rest would continue trying to expand across the south and failing miserably because the southerners were right at home in the tropics and taught all the northern nobility their guerrilla tactics.

The king would eventually get sick of everyone fighting and officially decided to establish a 'summer palace' in the south, claiming the entirety of the south as the property of the Torrian monarchy and thereby forcing the northern nobility out...but also screwing over the southerners in the process because their land was now private Crown land. To try and fix this problem without giving up his lands & allowing the northern nobility to come back in & continue the civil war, he offered the southerners his personal help in developing their agriculture & trade, bringing in the nobles who had sided with them in the war. A hundred years on, southern civilisation is prospering; the royal family had made the 'summer palace' their permanent residence in Kies Tor and gifted the old palace to House Blackrun, who had always strongly supported the south & who would eventually renovate the palace into the heavily fortified Castle Blackrun.

The king would also, however, underestimate House Blackrun's support of the southerners. Despite their newfound wealth and expansion across the south, the southerners were still bitter about the king's claim over their land as his own property. House Zylvaris & House Vakrish would gather the other southern lords and northern nobility together and plan the biggest act of treason in Torrian history: bringing down the royal family and crowning a southerner as king. House Blackrun, among many northern noble houses, lent their support, and together, they stormed the palace in Belanore & took over it completely. However, in the battle, Lord Vakrish was killed, meaning that the head of House Zylvaris, Talin Zylvaris I, would be crowned the first southern Queen of Kies Tor.

The Inquisition, aka the Purge of Magic

A thousand years ago, King Braenern of Kies Tor visited the half-giant clans of the Far North on a diplomatic trip to maintain relations with these semi-nomadic peoples. While there, he asked the half-giant sages to look into his future and tell him what it held. The sages allowed him to drink from their Pool of Prophecy, and when he did, he interpreted the prophecy shown to him as a terrible omen. Believing that he would be struck down at the hand of a Weaver, a magic user, he returned to Belanore and immediately outlawed all magic in the land.

But as the weeks turned into months, Braenern grew ever more paranoid, believing that perhaps the Weavers would simply resort to some underhanded trickery to assassinate him instead. He ordered his soldiers to round up any and all Weavers in the land and having them executed, citing that magic was a terrible curse upon the land and that the gods deemed it necessary to purge it. The magical races of the land weren't spared either - dragons, giants, and fairies were all hunted down and persecuted in the same way. When news spread to the neighbouring kingdom of Astaria, the Fae King also believed Braenern's superstitions to be true, and enacted a similar purge.

Slowly, over the years, Weavers went into hiding or fled the two kingdoms, and the giants were hunted to extinction. The dragons remained in seclusion in the furthest corners of Kies Tor until the last of them were seen flying east over five hundred years ago. By the time the Draconian conquest spread across the west, magic itself was all but extinct, viewed with fear and suspicion as an oddity that should be quashed.

The Invasion of Kies Tor -> the Elven-Hellhound War

Almost 50 years before the present day, a large splinter group of Hellhounds, led by General Kehlvor, crossed the northern range and entered Kies Tor. Velnora would be the first village to fall to the invaders, with a message from Lord Edric Blackrun detailing this loss only reaching King Gandar months after the first attack. The suddenness of the invasion, combined with the superior military might of the Hellhounds, prompted Gandar to begin construction of a heavily fortified wall along the west. However, he would die of natural causes before this wall could be completed, leaving his successor, King Arnas, to continue the project in his stead. Today, this project is known as the Western Forts, and remains the strongest fortification in Kies Tor.

The First Draconian Civil War

Shortly after Emperor Fillius IV's accession to the Draconian throne, he implemented a series of changes in his goal to dismantle the old social hierarchy and bring about a new age of equality and peace. However, this angered many elitists, who banded together to try and overthrow him. Though Fillius and his allied prevailed in the end, he would lose his wife in the civil war, leaving him to raise his only son alone.

If you made it this far and read everything then I both admire and fear you. Have a cookie 🍪

This post is subject to edits and additions whenever I feel like adding more. Current version: 1.0

[torpublishinggroup]

How to Worship Your Dragon: Julia Vee & Ken Bebelle Advise

Julia Vee & Ken Bebelle wrote a book that’s like female John Wick with dragon magic and it’s called Ebony Gate and guess what! It’s out TODAY. We actually have Julia & Ken with us as special guests for Dragon Week, so check out their scholarly article on rituals of dragon worship, and then check out their high octane urban fantasy full of magic and assassins!

Check it out!

A Brief Description of Rituals to Worship Chinese Dragons by Julia Vee & Ken Bebelle

1. Make Your Annual Pilgrimage to a Local Dragon King and Dragon Mother Temple For Blessings

Dragon King and Dragon Mother temples dot the Asian countryside. If you are in the northern reaches of China, get yourself to the Heilongdawang Temple (literally “Black Dragon Great King”) located in Longwanggou (“Dragon King Valley”) in Shaanxi province where you can njoy six days of festivities.

Modern Chinese scholars note that folkloric traditions and religions are having a revival.1 And why not? Festivities for the Great Black Dragon King include opera, dancers, circus performers, games, fireworks, and of course, gambling. This particular dragon king is more highly regarded than other local dragon kings because of his imperially conferred official title–the Marquis of Efficacious Response (Lingyinghou, 灵应侯).2

The Heilongdawang festival draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, all ready to donate generously to the temple coffers, burn incense, and otherwise eat copious quantities at the food stalls.

Or you can participate in a rain-summoning ceremony. In the drought-prone north, one ritual to summon rain included “casting tiger bones into a pool of water in order to scare dragons into flight, thereby creating rainclouds.”3

If you are in southern China, on the eighth day of the fifth month on the lunar calendar, you can join in with over a hundred thousand pilgrims to visit the Dragon Mother Temple in Guangdong. This temple sits along the Xijiang River and leans against Wulong (Five Dragons) Mountain. The area is known as the Pearl River Delta, and Dragon Mother devotees are spread widely across the West river and into Hong Kong and Macau. The Lung Mo temple on Pengchau island (Hong Kong) is situated on the beach.

The origins of the Dragon Mother reach back longer than the established official story, which goes something like this:

There was a young woman named Wen from Wuzhou. One day while washing clothes in the West River, she found a giant stone. From the stone sprung five lizards, who grew into dragons. She raised them tenderly and when her village had drought, the dragons brought rain. When the river threatened to flood, the dragons were there to divert the floodwaters. When she was quite elderly, the Emperor summoned her to the capital. Her dragon sons prevented the arduous journey (which was by river of course). When she passed away in 211 B.C. her dragon sons were devastated and transformed into five human scholars who held her funeral rites and buried her in Jiangwan.

Later, she was elevated in status to a deity, rising to the heavens as an immortal.

Pilgrims consider this eighth day of the fifth lunar month the Dragon Mother’s birthday and observe time-honored rituals. First, they wash their hands in the Dragon Spring to clean off the worldly dirt. The pilgrims then burn incense and present gifts at the temple. They bow, then kneel on the floor, and pray to the goddess. After this devotion, they light off firecrackers to respectfully invite the Dragon Mother to receive their gifts and fulfill their wishes.4

As one scholar notes, “It is not a coincidence that the pilgrimage to the Dragon Mother Temple falls on the eighth day of the fifth lunar month, as the fifth lunar month was the time when the danger of seasonal flooding of the West River (which is commonly known as “xiliao 西 潦,” literally “west flood”) was the most imminent. The West River therefore was both a lifeline and a constant threat to the local people, who felt a real need to appease the river as well as to express their gratitude to the river goddess on this annual festive occasion.”5

The Dragon Mother and other water goddess (“Shuimu”) traditions go back millennia and it’s not hard to see why. The specter of drought, famine, or flooding was constant. Seafaring populations too, had multiple goddesses they sought blessings from for their safe voyage (Dragon Mother, Sea Goddess Mazu, and the shuimu (“Water Goddess”).

In 1861, John Henry Gray observed a ceremony to the Dragon Mother:

“…On a small temporary altar, which had been erected for the occasion, stood three cups containing Chinese wine. Taking in his hands a live fowl, which he continued to hold until he killed it as a sacrifice, the master proceeded in the first place to perform the Kowtow. He then took the cups from the table, one at a time, and, raising each above his head, poured its contents on the deck as a libation. He next cut the throat of the fowl with a sharp knife, taking care to sprinkle that portion of the deck on which he was standing with the blood of the sacrifice. At this stage of the ceremony several pieces of silver paper were presented to him by one of the crew. These were sprinkled with the blood, and then fastened to the door-posts and lintels of the cabin.”6

It wasn’t just sailors and locals to the West river who observed such pilgrimages and prayer rituals. When there was a drought, even government officials were tasked with conducting prayers to the Dragon King.

2. Failure to Worship the Dragon King, or Worse, Destruction of a Dragon King Temple, Can Lead to Heaven-Sent Disaster!

During the Great Flood of 1931 in Wuhan, one official lamented that the people blamed the flood on the destruction of a Dragon King Temple.7 The Dragon King Temple in Hankou had been demolished in 1930 to make way for a new road, so the timing of the flood was uncanny.

This flood affected 53 million people. The officials of Wuhan had to repent. Several prominent officials of Wuhan participated in rituals designed to placate the Dragon King, including the mayor. They kowtowed to the Dragon King altar, beseeching the deity to spare Wuhan from the flood.

Citizens of the region also blamed officials for outlawing the singing of “spirit operas” traditionally performed to assuage flood dragons.8

To those who worshiped the Dragon King, destroying his temple that sat atop the dyke was clearly a bad idea.

3. Maybe a River Near You Has a Dragon Deity.

Even if a Dragon King or Dragon Mother temple isn’t available, you can still make a pilgrimage to the rivers. At least forty rivers in China are named for dragons including these rivers in Shanghai: Shanghai: Longquangang He 龍泉港河 (Dragon Spring Port River), Bailonggang He 白龍港河 (White Dragon Port River).9

Just be sure to be properly deferential, and perhaps offer a song to the river dragon.

—Julia Vee & Ken Bebelle

We would like to thank Dr. Yasmin Koppen of University Leipzig for her friendship, and generously sharing her expertise and scholarship in East Asian dragons.

Works Cited

Chau, Adam Yuet “Mysterious Response: Doing Popular Religion in Contemporary China” (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2006) 88.

Fan Lizhu and Chen Na “Resurgence of Indigenous Religion in China” (2013) 11.

Courtney, Chris “The Dragon King and the 1931 Wuhan Flood: Religious Rumors and Environmental Disasters in Republican China” (University of Cambridge, Twentieth-Century China 40.2, May 2015) p. 88.

Tan, Weiyun “Dragon mother temple keeps legend alive for 2 millennia” Shine, Nov. 12, 2021 https://www.shine.cn/feature/art-culture/2111128066/

Poon, Shuk-Wah. "Thriving Under an Anti-Superstition Regime: The Dragon Mother Cult in Yuecheng, Guangdong, During the 1930s." Journal of Chinese Religions 43, no. 1 (2015): 34-58. muse.jhu.edu/article/708611.

Poon, pg 41.

Courtney at p. 83.

Courtney at p. 100.

Zhao, Qiguang Chinese Mythology in the Context of Hydraulic Society Asian Folklore Studies Vol. 48, No. 2 (1989), pp. 231-246.

cindyxiong. “Ancient Bronze Dragons Carving in the Ancient Dragon King Temple along Yangtze River,China. Foreign Text Means King. Stock Photo.” Adobe Stock, stock.adobe.com/images/ancient-bronze-dragons-carving-in-the-ancient-dragon-king-temple-along-yangtze-river-china-foreign-text-means-king/100861913?prev_url=detail. Accessed 6 July 2023.

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