#ice age week

[pleistocene-pride]

Happy Ice Age Week: Homotherium is an extinct genus of machairodontine scimitar-toothed cat that inhabited North America, South America, Eurasia, and Africa from the Pliocene to the Pleistocene epochs around 4 million to 12,000 years ago. Making them to be one of the most widespread of all felines throughout time second only to the domestic cat. The first fossils known to belong to homotherium consisting of a partial skeleton were described in 1846 by Richard Owen as the species Machairodus latidens. It wouldn’t be until 1890 after several addition specimens where recovered that one Emilio Fabrini would determine them to be a distinct genus which he dubbed Homotherium for the Greek homos meaning same and therion meaning beast. Over the next century and a half hundreds of specimens have been recovered representing over a dozen species including: H aethiopicum,‭ ‬H crenatidens,‭ ‬H crusafonti,‭ ‬H hadarensis,‭ ‬H idahoensis,‭ ‬H ischyrus,‭ ‬H johnstoni,‭ ‬H latidens,‭ ‬H nestianus,‭ ‬H nihowanensis,‭ ‬H sainzelli,‭ ‬H serum,‭ ‬H ultimum,‭ ‬and H venezuelensis. Reaching on average 3.5ft (1.1m) tall at the shoulder and 425lbs (190kg) in weight, homotherium was around the size of a male African lion. Homotherium had shorter upper canines than other machariodonts such as Smilodon or Megantereon, but these were still longer than those of extant cats. The incisors and lower canines of Homotherium formed a powerful puncturing and gripping device, and its jaws were adapted to clamp and hold prey while inflicting damage with the canine teeth. Homotherium is notable for its unusual shape and proportions, with a comparatively compact torso and long legs. They had thick necks, large shoulders, and a sloped back giving them a profile more akin to a hyena than other big cats. These adaptations mean that Homotherium was built for energy efficient travel,‭ ‬and may have used this advantage to wear prey down in a manner similar to how wolves will constantly harass a prey animal until it collapses from exhaustion. This anatomy coupled with findings of multiple homotherium individuals found to have died together, points to Homotherium being a well adapted diurnal social pursuit/ persistence predator.

Art utilized was made by the following creators

Scimitar Toothed Cat: Michael Westbury https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/583429

Homotherium: allotyrannosaurus https://www.deviantart.com/allotyrannosaurus/art/White-Homotherium-909661018

Homotherium: Mauricio Anton

Homotherium: Julio Lacerda https://paleoart.tumblr.com/post/629421596985196544/commission-for-a-client-homotherium-latidens-and

[footballandshit]

these options are just based on what i've heard from people. if you have more than one reason, try to pick the MAIN reason. feel free to tell me what your supported teams/clubs/players are and explain further in the tags!

reblog for larger sample size and all that!

[icewindandboringhorror]

sneeping with his legs up over his head for some reason... weird boye

[skipblebee]

I am MOURNING

[lobotomyladylives]

Your career changes give me whiplash in the time I've been following you alone you've talked about being a dog trainer/walker, working with schizophrenics (or addicts idr), various customer service jobs, writing, deliveries, and now you're trying to be a sailor? Cannot keep up!

it's called having no direction in life & being terminally unemployable to the point of losing every job within 9 months

[sedlex]

This is running gag material at this point...

[colucana]

WORKING AT THE FORGE AND FATHER OF TWO DAUGHTERS

Don't worry Brant is using safe fire, none of his girls are in any danger of getting burned

[snailwitdamail2]

maturing is going from having a crush on diego to having a crush on manny

[yeonban]

@isolov, cont'd!

❝ it's no problem ! i'm just happy i could help. ❞

the blond offers him a bright smile as he dusts his palms off, paying no mind the pile of adults off to the side of him. it's not everyday that someone he didn't know got chased down by a group of angry men, much less another kid his age. the other didn't look like he was from around here, so maybe he was on the run ? hopefully he didn't do anything bad, because aiding a criminal wasn't on his to do list. pushing that aside, kenji offered his hand out to the other, now free from dirt.

❝ my name's kenji, by the way ! what's yours ? ❞

❛ Kenji! What a nice name! ❜ It most definitely doesn't sound anything like the ones he's grown up hearing back at home, but it does feel refreshing to come to that realization. There are so many things he's never seen nor heard before around this part of the world! Grasping Kenji's hand and vigorously shaking it, the brunette subsequently brings his free hand to rest on top of their joined ones and he prods rather than let go, interpreting Kenji's question as an invitation to talk freely. The other seems like a warm person... maybe they could get along? Having a friend would certainly be a first! ❛ I'm Marin! Are you an ability user too? Or are people here just that strong? ❜

[omtai]

best shift ever i spent my entire shift deep cleaning the walk-in freezer and making it beautiful and it was SO fun and i only served like three people before that AND my manager sent me home one and a half hours early!!!!!!! i’m WINNING

[lastmurianwarrior]

💭 !!

((HOo boy, I had fun - settling on a scene was tough though. With this blog's Solo pulling from the games and anime most, it's an interesting dance to incorporate as much lore from either media as possible, while fleshing out the details and making sense of it. I want to do Laplace too, but this ended up long enough, that I think I'll save that for a new post. This is a window into a particularly pivotal day for Solo, from long long ago.))

FLASHBACK: Aching eyes from bright sunlight that poured in through the pale-green air shuttle's sliding door, was the first greeting from this ground-dwelling destination to meet the passengers from Mu as they arrived for a diplomatic meeting that would inevitably unravel into unamusing discourse.

Solo followed from behind as the small crew of Mu officials ambled out onto a wide dusty circle. At 13 he was deemed mature and expected to take on the responsibilities of his noble position. Getting to know the world and involving himself in geopolitical discussions would be a start. But Mu’s tactician always wanted him to play along and read from a script; becoming furious if Solo changed any of the details.

It was too embarrassing to admit he hadn’t paid enough attention to what was happening between Mu and the tribes on the ground. But some of the things he’d had to say, never set well with him, and he at least knew from faces in the crowds that it didn’t set well with the tribes either. Mulling over that fact, Solo didn’t feel like involving himself this time, and the spectacle of this foreign town was enough to tempt him into skipping the day’s meeting altogether to go explore on his own; to get to know the people and sniff out some local treats.

The tactician; Mu’s master-planner, a tall old man, dressed darkly and with a hat like a tower on his head, flattened at the top, marched in front, expecting everyone to keep up with his long stride. He threw a few indignant sneers back at Solo for lagging behind, but didn’t waste any time waiting around.

Jagged megaliths with the visages of important people and revered animals; as though guarding the walkways, guided the visitors to a stone brick roadway populated by village-folk; merchants, carvers, toolmakers, and farmers all with their fare and animals to offer.

There was little hope of convincing the locals that Mu technology wasn’t all powered by some magic or divine force; even many of Mu’s people themselves still believed this. A small portion of the village dawned their most elaborate garb to dance, while musicians of woodwind and bone instruments played tunes almost magical in their own way. Such flamboyance was motivated by hopes of earning favor from their sky visitors, of course.

Each of the Mu officials strolled on, paying no heed to the garish ensemble, stopping only briefly to look back with steely eyes as they entered the tallest building for miles; a relic of stone architecture from a time when the floating continent of Mu was still rooted firmly in the ground; a mere hundred years prior. Newer construction surrounding it seemed oddly more primitive; distinguished by a framework of wood, mastodon tusks, and painted animal hides.

Rather than join his party inside, Solo took a turn on his own to walk further down the street. Breaking the sunlight induced glare, his eyes filled with wonder at the rocky scrublands, patched with temperate foliage and exotic flowers, then shifted to soaking in the sight of all the people; many of them thoroughly tanned, wrapped in lightweight yellow, green, orange, or red textiles, and leather garb. Camelids and barely tame village-dogs moseyed about the street, which narrowed, then broke off into a dead end marked by spiny overgrowth that trailed off in the direction of a distantly roaring waterfall from glacial melt.

As he kept his pace along the bustling street, the thought of moving aside for others hadn’t so much as cross his mind. In spite of the open airspace, the walkway was claustrophobic compared to the vast halls within the upper floors of Mu that he’d grown up in. Roughly brushing shoulders with folk disinterested in showing the noble Murian respect, however, struck Solo with the gut-wrenching sense that something had changed in the atmosphere; there was a rising tension distinctly in opposition to the affection, wonder, intrigue, and most importantly; respect, that his presence once garnered.

Suspicious and apprehensive eyes began to track his white-haired, ruby-eyed presence from all sides, and seemed to grow in number with every step. He had no choice but to stand out. Even the sheen of his perfectly angular earrings set him apart from the largely stone-age folk occupying this territory. Attempting to pay no mind to them, he chose a collection of produce to fixate on; legumes, wild grains, and various medicinal herbs sorted into piles atop mats, or stuffed into laboriously hand-woven baskets. The merchant’s most prized however, were dainty yellow-orange squash whose flowers had been hand pollinated to ensure a pure, sweeter new strain; a dozen of them to the side, clean and neatly ordered.

While small-scale efforts were made to farm on the floating continent, ground dwelling villages such as this one were agriculturally vital to Mu’s food line. Few peoples in the world had proven so dedicated to cultivating new resilient and appetizing crop varieties as here. It was both a necessity and a luxury Mu couldn’t afford to loose by getting into a war with.

“Give me your best one.”

Solo stiffly ordered, absentminded of his entitled tone; after all, why shouldn’t he want the best, when the best is what his people always seemed to expect of him? He was taken aback when the seller chided him for his complex, and refused to give him one unless he had something of value to offer, like his earrings, which was a definite no.

Unsettled, he made a silent turn, landing him unexpectedly in front of a much taller man, that suddenly reprimanded the young noble for his poor manners, sparking a whole onset of village-folk spitting their dissatisfaction with Mu in Solo’s general direction. Before anyone had even said a negative word, his innocent curiosity had already given way, replaced by a confused panic, that he fought to entirely conceal. Up to that point, he’d never personally encountered a crowd that would so readily turn on him; that would band together like this.

“You always get more than we could ever dream to ask for! Yet you have the nerve to want the best that we have!”

“You claim Mu is our security!? You threaten us with the very same power and weapons you claim to protect us with!”

“Do you even remember the villages that were burned for the sake of cooperation with Mu!? Or is that just another necessary sacrifice to you!?”

“The powers of Mu are unnatural! - This world would be better off without your kind, you monsters!”

Mu’s very recent exercise of dominance through displays of great destructive power across the world was likely to blame for igniting the sudden hostility. Offerings made to Mu that were once given out of love and hope of blessing, were now bribes for mere survival or an advantage over other tribes.

None took too kindly to being viewed as tools by much of the higher Murian caste. Some were bursting at the seams to make those feelings clear; viewing this moment as an opportunity to do so; to make a demonstration of one of Mu’s supposedly treasured individuals.

The now quite unpopular noble, snapped a reply,

“Isn’t that how the world works? - Those with power, get to make the rules! They can take what they want!”

Yet somehow, speaking only made him look more foolish to the crowd.

The fuss continued, yet fell into the background of Solo’s mind as an almost sly-looking young man, came within arm’s reach of the lone Murian, and with him, a few others trickled in to form a feisty-looking circle around their flustered visitor. Solo’s first instinct was to tuck his chin into the high teal turtleneck of his uniform, wishing he could just hide within an impenetrable shell, like some kind of turtle. Goading him on, the other young man questioned,

“So you think you can just do what you want huh?”

Without a second thought, Solo snapped back,

“Yes, I’ll do as I please.”

The other young man, keeping his smug cool, continued as though setting up some kind of hostile joke,

“Oh yeah, and what makes you so special?”

The Mu noble spewed whatever came to mind first, everything he said was going to be used against him at this point; but loosing his temper made it impossible to keep his mouth shut.

“The blood of Mu that courses through my veins!”

Swiftly came the interrogator's searing punchline,

“Mhm, and if that’s so valuable, maybe spilling it on the streets will finally pay for all the food and labor you’ve taken from my people!”

“Now tell me Mu child - If you really can see more than us with those unearthly eyes. Can you see this?”

Solo indignantly glanced around with puzzled frustration. But a mere second later the young man’s fist made a hard landing across the noble kid’s face. Enraged shock filled every ounce of Solo’s being, as he finally let out a sharp shout; though almost swallowing his own breath in the process,

“GAAAHH, I-I could take any of you on!”

The prompt response of the crowd was by no means reassuring for the loner in its middle. Someone interjected from behind,

“Shut up! Maybe you could. But not all of us together!”

With that, Solo felt his legs kicked out from behind. Others worked to keep him on the ground. As a soft faced wiry kid, Solo was tough, but against the gang surrounding him, he seemed more akin to a small bird surrounded by lions. They were rugged and strong, they knew they were always lifting more than their share of weight in this world.

The young Murian wasn’t ready for this; he wasn’t ready to just EM Wave change on a whim. Let alone, in the midst of such confusion. But enraged by the insults of the crowd, he used all his strength to prop himself back up with his arms, just to look them in the eyes.

“I’ll hunt you down! …I’ll-I’ll make you know what it really means to suffer!”

At that, they only beat him harder. Face to the bricks, Solo froze up completely, and by the time three thunderous shouts from the other Mu officials broke up the crowd, their child of Mu was already in a limp haze.

Solo hadn’t known true fear or suffering before this. It was his first taste; his first bite, and it made his stomach sick. No one had so much as asked him to think over the fate of the peoples that might’ve opposed Mu. The mere thought of opposing Mu was a pill so foreign, nothing could make him swallow it; they must have been enemies…

As the first of multiple incidents following a similar theme, Solo grew to immensely despise crowds.

Though word spread of decimated villages who opposed Mu’s total reign, many continued to view those of Mu as auspicious, brushing other tribe’s grievances off as rumors, or unconcerning to those that remained loyal to their empire.

However, Solo never got over the feeling that others could turn on him at any moment should Mu fail to ensure they felt blessed with fortunate harvests or secure infrastructure; or for that matter, any reason they wanted. Trusting others became an only barely surpassable obstacle for him.

… The reign of his people lasted only a mere three years after.

[pleistocene-pride]

Teratornis is a now extinct genus of large bird of prey which lived throughout North and Central America as well as the Caribbean and possibly South America from the early Pleistocene to the early Holocene approximately 2.5 million to 8,000 years ago. The first scientifically known Teratornis remains were recovered from the la brea tar pits in 1909 by Loye Holmes Miller who named the animal Teratornis from the Greek teretos meaning "wonder" and ornis meaning "bird". Since then a large number of fossil and subfossil remains, representing more than 100 individuals, have been found in locations in California, Oregon, southern Nevada, Arizona, Cuba, and Florida. Today there are 2 valid species being Teratornis merriami and Teratornis woodburnensis and a third species Teratornis olsoni being possibly its own genus Oscaravis although this is up for debate. Reaching around 2 ½ - 3 ½ft (.75 -1m) tall, 25-50lbs (11 -23kg) in weight, with an 11-15ft (3.35 -4.67m) wingspan, teratornis ranks amongst the largest birds ever to fly being over a third larger than even the biggest extant condors. It shared many similarities to modern condors particularly in there wings which were well adapted for soaring. Teratorns short, stouter legs and more flexible pelvic girdle indicate they were well suited for walking about on land as well as jumping. Teratornis also possessed a long hooked beak and flexible wide opening jaws, indicating that in addition to scavenging on the carcasses of large megafauna these mammoth birds likely hunted some live prey such as reptiles, amphibians, fish, small mammals, and other birds, which they would have swallowed whole.

Art used belongs to the following creators

Teratornis: Peter Schouten

Teratornis: Mark Witton http://markwitton-com.blogspot.com/2019/08/we-need-to-talk-about-teratorns.html

Teratornis: Notiomastodon https://www.sci.news/paleontology/argentina-teratorns-10036.html

La Brea: Beth Zaiken https://bethzaiken.com/ice-age-fossils-state-park-sunset-scavengers

[savoies]

5 times he saw his friends being in love + one time he experienced being in love - conor geekie.

summary: conor is always on the sidelines watching his friends fall in love, until he meets you.

specified pronouns: she/her

word count: 1.3k

warnings: maybe one bad word.

a/n: draft fic baby!! we love side character conor but he also deserves to be the main character of his story every once in a while. shoutout to q (@shanerwright ) because she helped with the outline of this. enjoy (: i literally added all of my fave ice boys so you guys could fall in love with them too. (search up winnipeg ice roster)

sidenote: this is one of these fics where some things are altered/exaggerated to an extent for them to make sense with the plot. That's why some of the guys have gfs living in the states because I didn't want all of them to have a girlfriend that they met through a friend. Plus conor's relationship is literally everything so this is purely a work of fiction for one of my favorite 2022 draft boys.

(*credit to gif owner*)

matt.

Matt was Conor’s best friend, them always doing everything together. If that was going to Tim’s together and then going to Mcdonalds to get Conor’s coffee, goofing off, and just being two eighteen year olds trying to navigate the WHL together. Together until Matt got a girlfriend. She was great of course and Conor loved her but he also missed hanging out with his best friend.

~~~

“Matt, let's hang out!” Conor told his best friend as the game had ended and the boys were slowly trickling out of the locker room.

“I can’t today im going on a date.” Matt told his best friend as he put on his coat.

“Wait what, with who?” Conor said as he looked over at his best friend, surprised because he was unaware that he was seeing anyone.

“That girl I met at Tim’s.” Matt said as they continued walking outside into the chilly Winnipeg air and to their cars.

~~~

Ahh the girl who Matt had met at Tim’s. After ordering so many coffees the young girl started to take notice and after a while they started talking. And after many dates Tim’s girl actually had a name and soon after became Matt’s girlfriend.

carson.

"Carson, who was that girl you were talking to over facetime before practice?" Zach asked the older Winnipeg ice player.

"She's my girlfriend." Carson spoke up with a soft smile on his face.

"Girlfriend. Since when do you have a girlfriend? And how come we've never met her?" Conor asked his teammate and friend.

"Well we've been dating for about six months. And you've never met her because she lives in Minnesota." Carson told his younger friend.

"There's no way, how did you even meet her, did you change your location on tinder!?!" Conor said in shock looking over at Carson.

"No, I met her when I went to Minnesota and we hit it off right away. After a while I asked her to be my girlfriend and now we're doing long distance." Carson said.

"How is it that you can date someone 1,000 miles away and I can't even get a girlfriend." Conor said, shaking his head.

"It's only 500 miles." Carson looked over at his friend, rolling his eyes at his friend's exaggeration.

"Well then guys there's hope, my girlfriend is at least 3,000 miles away.” Conor said.

gage.

"Wait let me get this straight. Carson isn't the only one doing long distance." Conor said as he looked at the Winnipeg ice goalie.

"We're still in the talking stages so technically we aren't dating yet." Gage told him.

"I'm done. I swear I'm done with everyone having girlfriends but me. Please enlighten me on how you met her." Conor said.

"Olen introduced us after I accidently bumped into her after practice." Gage told him.

"So you're fraternizing with the enemy?" Conor said, looking over at his friend.

"Technically not because she is a friend of the enemy. Plus he's gonna be my teammate in a few years." Gage explained.

"How are you guys getting girlfriends when I can't even get a girl to look at me." Conor said walking away from Gage, Gage just laughing at Conor's exasperated state.

chase.

Matt and Conor were hanging out at Conor's house. Both sitting in the backyard talking about whatever came to mind.

"Matt Matt Matt did you see this!" Conor said, shaking his friend's shoulder quite viciously.

"Conor what. I swear if it's another reason Mcdonald's coffee is better than Tim’s I'm leaving." Matt said, rolling his eyes at his best friend.

"No no it's not that. Chase has a girlfriend." He told his older by a few months best friend.

On the screen was a photo of Chase with a girl. Both wearing flames jerseys as the girl was tucked into Chase's shoulder. Huge smiles on their faces.

"They're cute together." Matt said.

"Yes they are super cute together but I can't believe he has a girlfriend back home. This just adds to the list of all of you guys having girlfriends." He told Matt.

"You'll get a girlfriend soon enough. What's the rush?" Matt looked over at this best friend.

"You're just saying that cause you already have someone who makes you happy." Conor said, a sad smile on his face.

zach.

The boys had an afternoon practice and after Conor thought that maybe he could hang out with one of the guys. Matt was hanging out with his girlfriend and the other guys had already left. Except that Zach was still in the locker room, Conor taking it as the perfect opportunity to ask the youngest ice player if he wanted to hang out.

"Hey Benny, want to order pizza and watch a movie at my place?" He asked as Zach grabbed his stuff.

"Sorry I can't. My girlfriend and I have a date." He told Conor.

"What, since when do you have a girlfriend?!" Conor looked over at Zach.

"We've been together for like a year. Where have you been?" He asked.

"A year. How come you never bring her around." Conor asked.

"I brought her to your birthday party last year." Zach told him.

"Oh that was your girlfriend. Yeah she's definitely your type. But also how is it that you're the baby and have a girlfriend." Conor looked at him baffled.

Zach shrugging his shoulders before saying goodbye. Leaving Conor there stunned. Thinking about how was it that someone younger than him could get a girlfriend but he couldn't.

+1

Matt and Conor had come to Tim Horton's before going to their game. Something they had done basically every game but have been doing more often since Matt had started dating his girlfriend.

Conor waiting outside for Matt, saying that if he went inside it would be like he was betraying his beloved Mcdonald's coffee.

And then that's when he saw you. You were working on some homework assignment on your laptop and decided to come to Tim's for some timbits except that you couldn't have done it before getting your mccafe.

He couldn't believe this. Was this a dream? Someone had to pinch him. He turned around to see Matt still talking to his girlfriend so he started walking towards you.

"You're drinking McDonald's coffee." He said, blurting it out before actually forming a complete sentence to tell you.

"Hmm." You said taking out one of your earphones and looking at the guy in front of you, who looked around your age.

"Your coffee. It's from mcdonald's." He said. You raised your eyebrows at the boy, who was stating the obvious. I guess it was kind of weird that you were at Tim's not drinking their coffee.

"Oh yeah I like it better." You said with a small smile on your face.

"I think you're my dream girl," His words coming out of his mouth once again before he could stop himself. "I'm sorry that was straightforward." He said, covering his face with his hands.

“It’s fine, you're cute.” You said as you looked at the boy in front of you.

Matt coming out with his coffee in hand and some timbits for the two. “Come on Con, let's go before we're late.”

“Can I maybe get your number?” Conor said as he looked at you. Hey you were basically his dream girl and he didn't want to let you go now before anything could happen.

“Sure. Maybe we can get coffee sometime.” You said, writing your number down on a napkin.

“Yeah definitely. Of course it would have to be mccafe.” He said with a small smile on his face.

“Of course.” You said. Both of you with smiles on your face and Conor left with Matt and let’s just say after all his friends had met someone he had finally met someone too.

.☆☆☆.

taglist: ​( send in ask if you want to be added) ​@hartsyhart @nhlpetey @mitch-slap @frostythegoalman @marohares  @aria253264  @josty @kaitieskidmore1 @alxvlasic @hockeyallthetime @barzy-baby @martynecass @joshsandersons  @jessebisonking @maattamatthews @joelsfarabees @boqvistsbabe @ana-maa @stars-canucks @bordeleau @ilyasorokinn @2manytabsopen @wildflowermarns @rutgersmcgroarty @three-headed-monster @kindaahockeyblog @b-brz @bbrissonn @kniesys

[corvidmagicae]

When you squint at your reflection and wonder if you should purposefully try to make yourself look older than what you've been defaulting to for the last 400 years or so.

[hua-fei-hua]

pre-pandemic i had a playlist for when i was studying chemistry, but at some point during lockdown i got rid of it bc i never used it anymore bc online classes bounce off smooth rubber brain; however, i wish i still had it bc at this rate the romcom hijinks playlist i spent days slaving over (bc i have like fucking Three unambiguously non-angsty songs in my mp3 files by default) to cue the brain into reading mode will be rendered moot bc of all the executively dysfunctioning tumblr scrolling i've been doing to it instead

[justisco]

covid round 2 day 1: definitely worse than the first time 10/10 would not recommend