#iron the pangolin

[trucetale]

I just had a urge to make a Pangolin Sonic OC

Meet Iron the Pangolin. He’s a gentle giant as he is a head taller than the main cast. He does tend to be a little bit of a pushover at times but he makes up for it in being an absolute tank in battle.

[greenbirdred]

why is a pangolin wearing armor ?!

[siren-of-fire]

Immortal stuck between the cycle of Death and Life

[a interesting journey of a little cursed immortal from being in hands of DEATH and next being devoted to LIFE]

An immortal being who is a interdimensional traveller and finds his immortality a curse rather than a blessing. You have lived enough years that you can't remember from a certain time back and just make new identities whenever it gets too much and when bored would instigate things on purpose. Would let himself be manipulated willingly if it makes his boredom less.

And then you arrive on a new Realm as the pirates. Part of a red faction whose entire mission is to have a kill each week and it can't be just a simple thing, it needs to be special and creative. Entire fate of your faction is already sealed, you didn't get a choice to be part of it and neither will you get a choice to depart. The faction exists in order for the other three factions to unite and fight against you.

Immediately greeted with hostility by the yellow you soon realise it's just you and one other person who will have to take that task of killing on your shoulder. That other person isn't up for killing but you want to survive so you go to the cathedral to make a deal with the devil himself. A deal with death to help you survive by killing, his goals align with something you need and that is the start of your path down into chaos.

With the help of this demon you survive each week. He gives you knowledge, gear and trains you to become stronger.

Ironic how death itself is willing to help you survive and cause more deaths of others. But he is still your saviour at the end of the day.

Then comes the first day of week of reckoning where you have to get a kill or your entire faction loses one life. Out of nowhere the Noble king of Yellow asks you to take his final life. A sacrifice of a Monarch to Red faction

You don't view Monarchy in high regard thanks to your past experiences and because you have seen the people working under a ruler be exploited. The first day of Yellow harassing also didn't help that view change but then suddenly the King itself sacrifices his life……that was a moment that changed Mocha’s view about the Foolish. He still disliked Yellow but not the King. He wasn't fond of monarchies and Kings but the totem god of life changed that view a little for sure.

And it was also Mocha's first kill that was the begining of his eyes turning red and his path down to more bloodshed on his hands.

Later down the line Foolish is also one of the people who even wanted to figure out some sort of way to help the Red faction but it did not work out because the kill needed to be intentional. But the King did understand that red needed to be killers to survive even if others in his faction didn't and called Mocha a serial killer as if a part of it wasn't just for surviving.

And then comes a moment where this immortal cursed being starts challenging a certain Clown. Their are so many reasons to picking a fight against this Clown maybe it's to prove something to him, maybe it is about taking that revenge of day 1 or maybe it about proving you are strong and want to be respected. Either way you already know the outcome of this fight you pick and you know you are gonna die but being a Immortal death is the last thing you care or are scared about.

Even before the fight happens you are more worried about being made fun of rather than dying and losing everything you have worked hard for. You also know after dying you won't come back.

It becomes painfully obvious this being seeks death. You walk into that fight fully knowing you are gonna lose, your allies don't want to lose you, you know your faction is gonna die without you and you know there's nothing to gain in this fight and only losses for you.

SELFISH OF YOU, that's the best way to put it

But was it selfish of you when you pushed a Pangolin away because you cared about him and didn't want him to get hurt because you knew your own actions could cause harm to this other person. You would rather see him feel the hurt of you pushing him away then seeing him get hurt because of you. Is that selfish?

SELFISH but hasn't this life been selfish to you since day 1?

Not given a choice to be part of something,

Harassed by Yellow when you hadn't even done anything,

You didn't get to leave that faction even if you wanted to,

Had to pick up that mantle of faction weekly task,

You never got help from the faction mates when you were working hard to keep them alive,

Carrying blood on your hands and making your faction survive when most of them didn't even appreciate it,

People who were never invited to watch the fight forcing you to arrive early when the fight wasn't even something they were ever part of,

No one other then your faction worrying that without you the everyone in red would die,

Your entire living is selfish thanks to this immortality of yours which you wanna escape from…

So no seeking death isn't selfish when your entire existence and life on this Realm has been selfish and doomed since the start (The Keepers called red faction a mistake)

This walk to death, This dance with Clown was the one thing Mocha himself wanted, One thing that was about himself , The one time where the worry about his faction and others didn't matter and he did work hard to get this fight (even using Ros to instigate Clown) and prepared day and night for this [quite literally ccPili doing potions even in fever and Christmas and alot less sleep lmao] just so he could prove he was strong and give Clown a fight he remembers and prove he is worthy opponent..

A part of it was to gain respect but there were two people who did give that to him and believed in him until the very end.

Selfish of you to walk in a fight that is making you lose everything, selfish of you to pick up the mantle of red when nobody else did and selfish to try and survive and finish weekly faction tasks just like every other faction does but unlike others you are named the "Serial Killer” when other then killing Ros all your kills were for faction or instigated by other first (aka Tubbo fight near the king's bridge)

"I owe everything to you Bad" - Mocha

You would have not survived even the first week if it wasn't for this deathly being. Ironic how this devilish angel of death saved you and helped you in causing deaths (maybe it was to help you or maybe it also aligned with something he also wanted or a mix of both). Either way this other ancient immortal being was your saviour, and someone who was a mentor and close friend and family. He was the strong figure in Mocha's life who he trusted was strong enough and didn't push him away.

He was the strong pillar in Mocha's life who he owed everything to, ironic how death itself being a saviour to him. Bad gained nothing out of helping Mocha but he still did it that and yes it did also work to his advantage.

Mocha did want to live and was constantly worried about faction tasks until they were finished. He did care about surviving, even clinged to his last life for a very long time. Until he started seeking death and became more and more obsessive and chaotic.

When Mocha seeked death and all this while Death had been standing right by his side since the very beginning, helping him, protecting him and even stood next to Mocha and walked to the nether arena with him, giving him instructions the whole while he was getting closer and closer to getting lost forever.

And after the fight was over and Mocha was gone he wished he had prepared him more and checked his inventory before the fight.

"Pili and Pangi are like my family"

"Pili i am so proud of you”

"Your life was worth 7 lifes"

- Tr!Bad

"Bad and Pangi were my closest allies and like a family to me" - Mocha

And then comes the journey of Realms Eternal Crying Cat:-

You are a mayor of a snow town and was kidnapped from your home to this very different place you know nothing about and among these strangers who are calling you by your name and look at you like they know you and accuse you of things like amnesia when you are perfectly fine and have all your memories.

"Pili you should be less harsh with your words" WHY? Strangers telling you to be less harsh when you are simply just denying that you are not related in any way to the old cat they knew. There is no lie in that statement.

A certain someone telling you to be friends with him immediately and a certain someone else telling you that "you are not my Pili" and all this while your only goal is to find a way back home and not form attachments and they get annoyed when you simply just follow those two things. Others don't understand you so why do they expect the same?

And then there is this Totem god of life who immediately accepted you as a different and separate being from the old cat that once walked this Realm. He treats you kindly and does not use harsh names like Pili 1 and Pili 2. He is also the only person who doesn't relate you in any way shape or form to Mocha. It's almost as if he understands how life works. You are Pili 5 apples tall (a name Foolish gave him when they met on the day of end fight on the king's bridge)

You make a white room to test who you can trust on the Realm. There are simply two rules-you are only allowed to enter the room with no armour or weapons. The Totem walks without thinking twice.

(The paranoid angelic demon thinks twice before deciding but he also enters the white room in the end.)

And then the King does something no one else has seemingly even done and tried doing, HELPING YOU FIND A WAY BACK HOME.

The god of life calls the keepers to find a way back to your snowy town and even though it results in a bit of disappointment, that is still the most far someone has gone out to help you achieve that goal of going back home for you.

And the next couple of moments later you see him die in front of your very eyes, this is not only your first death you witnessed on the Realm but you also are not able to help stop it. You are dissociating in the white room and dealing with all other chaos happening and then you are killed. And then you kills yourself again through a beautiful purple crystal.

You decide to go to this Totem King and offer him your last life. You add with it an offer to join yellow and give your life because you know Mocha in the past had taken his life so you want to give him yours in return. He refuses saying you don't need to pay back for anything that part version of you did because you are different and also refuses to do it for any other reason unless you are simply looking for a reset. You agree and let him take your life.

You like your death to be a special occasion and only give others the pleasure of killing you when it's a special occasion or they are a special person to you. Foolish was the only one who did understand your need to be looked at as your own person and he gave you exactly that from day 1 on the end fight.

And then the god of life disagrees with everyone else who is still very untrusting of you and fully believes you are a different person from old Mocha. He even goes against words of his royal architect and smith father who are both a little untrusting of you due to Mocha's actions in the past. The King makes a decision as the ruler and you become part of his faction. He gives you a CHANCE to see where this decision of his will lead.

“its like having a family again”

��king I am gonna make sure I never let you down and will make you proud” - Pili

“I think I would like to give Pili 5 apples tall a chance a home. Since coming back he has been purple and been basically told by everyone- "I hate you, i liked the old Pili more" and you know its kind of been a lonely world out there for him. So I just think it would be nice to give him a chance and I would still like to prove that this is not the same Pili, this a completely different Pili and any actions of the different Pili should not be held against this Pili” - Foolish

He knows it can be risky but he still wishes to see where your addition to the kingdom will lead before harbouring any doubts towards you. Willing to always take a gamble this king and see where it will lead (a commen immortal trait to have)

You talk with King every time he is around. He gives you good advice- tells you to get strong but also be in control, to try and stop the cycle of back and forth you have got going on (Foolish was also one of the reason Pili simply handed Pedro back to Pangi) and has always got your back.

You trust him and he is the first person you confide in once the words of others about you having corruption and being the Mocha start getting to you (said by Beky and Pangi to Pili, at first he ignored it but later it did start getting to him)

The king simply tells you to stop believing in what others say about you to let those people “Royally fuck off”

You trust him with all of your secrets and thoughts. You are as transparent as you can be to him and promise to be loyal and fully mean those words (Foolish was the only person who knew entire truth about how the conflict between Pili and Pangi went. Pili confessed everything to him without leaving out any details or being biased in his words)

“you are one of the only people I trust in this place” - Pili

Over time you try your best to be helpful to the kingdom. You want to grow strong for them. From collecting flowers for the royal architect to being honest about everything with the King to also being there when Sneeg reached nirvana and helping him with the potions in the end. You contribute as much as you can.

The kingdom members also start trusting you from Ros protecting you when you felt unsafe in the throne room to Sneeg coming to help out when green stormed the castle or when you were unfairly murdered for no reason even though you didn't want the death to happen.

Soon even Ros starts opening up to you, talking about her feelings towards green and it seems like you are starting to get along with everyone in the kingdom.

“I feel like I have found a family”

“I am on the right side of history for once”

- Pili

A stage of Pili reconsidering if he should leave yellow so his conflict with Pangi wouldn't affect the kingdom also comes. He is happy in the Kingdom and likes being part of it but also doens't want anyone from Kingdom to suffer the consequences if his actions. That one classic move he is known to do, pushing people away so they wouldn't suffer because of him (this straight of his character both stems from being attachment avoidant and definitely has some undertones of being a independent individual).

And then comes the Royal Ball 2, an event that is supposed to be entirely to fix Ros’s time sickness. You, the King and Ros spend alot of time building for it and finally after hours finish all the work.

Then you accidentally die a hour before the party begins but Ros trades her time for you to come back and attend the event. Same Ros who once doubted you joining yellow and was not the most happy with that decision of the king.

And when you are having the best day ever you are killed in the middle of the room and the consequences of that are felt by the entire faction. Sneeg starts hunting down your murderer (maybe it's because a rule is broken but he is also frustrated it's always you getting killed over and over again) and Ros is caught in the crossfire.

The King asks the Keepers to trade two of his lives, one for the heart of yellow, the Royal architect Roscumber and another for you, Sir Pili of DTown. A life for PILI!

For Ros its expected since she was a lot high level player and Foolish finds giving one of his lifes to her so she could survive much more important but Pili...he doesn't need to do that for him since he was reset and at 0 already...but he still asks the keepers to do it. But sadly it doens't go his way.

“Pili has been one of the loyalest member of our kingdom” - Foolish

“After I showed up here Foolish is literally the only person who treats me with kindness and still defends me and thinks I am my own person and i should be treated like my own person”

- Pili

And that's where his journey ends.

Just a rough analysis and writing thoughts down of parallels some between Mocha and Pili. Mocha was best understood by Bad out of everyone else on the Realm. He knew Mocha had to kill and he wanted to survive and needed to do that. Bad has nothing to gain with helping red and he wasn't even a fan of red to begin with but Mocha was someone he was close to and he still misses that companionship. Also one of the reasons why he could never get along with Pili 2. He was different but also acted similarly but he still wasn't his Mocha.

On the other side we have Foolish whose faction suffered the most because of Mocha still immediately understood Pili 2’s situation and treated him like his own person since the start and later down the line even was willing to give a chance to him and let him join yellow. Even going against what the heart of the kingdom Ros wanted. It was a Kingly decision made solely by him and he was a right. Pili 2 was loyal to yellow. And let's not forget the three times Pili calling him older brother figure.

There is definitely something poetic in both those journeys. Mocha survived and tried to live and this death immortal helping him achieve that (he could have chosen not to help and the red faction would have not survived). He was someone Mocha owed his life to and wasn't mad when Bad accidentally took one of it. Mocha didn't push him away because he knew he could trust Bad, he wouldn't get hurt, he was a strong person in his eyes. He quite literally had a big part in Mocha's life from becoming what he did and even till the very end. Bad didn't care about the red faction but he cared about Mocha, and helping red did work in his favour since later down the line he got some red members in green.

“Pili 1 was the arbitrator of red faction” - Bad

Foolish was a very large part of Pili 2’s life. I genuinely sometimes sit down and think what would have happened if he hadn't been compassionate and open with him. He was the one person who always had Pili's back in his own way even going against what everyone was saying. He believed what Pili told him and was willing to take the risk and see where the road leads to and show he was right about trusting Pili, he was different from Mocha. This totem was the only person who treated him fairly and Pili also in return never took advantage of it, simply followed him. A strong pillar in Pili 2’s life. If it wasn't for this immortal inviting him to be part of his kingdom this little cursed immortal would have been very chaotic since even his will to go home had been broken by them.

A CHANCE, that's what Bad and Foolish both gave Mocha & Pili, and in the end neither of them regrets doing that risky gamble. It worked in their favour but also became emotionally closer and attached to this cursed Immortal.

And that's where the tale ends for now. A little cursed immortal quite literally stuck in a cycle of life and death finding ways to escape it. From being drawn to people who have a death aura surrounding them but also at the same time having that little will to live and live those happy moments at times (even if it comes at the expense of him getting manipulated or dying).

In the end Death is still clinging to the memories and Life is moving on like it always does. Wonder what the new storm Pili 3 will bring.

[todaysbug]

December 17th, 2023

Scaly-foot Gastropod (Chrysomallon squamiferum)

Distribution: Found exclusively in the Indian Ocean.

Habitat: Lives in deep-sea ridges, at a depth of around 2800 metres, around hydrothermal vents.

Diet: Does not feed; forms associations with chemotrophic gammaproteobacteria that provide it with nutrition.

Description: Also known as the volcano snail or sea pangolin, the scaly-foot gastropod is named for the armor-like sclerites found on either side of its foot, composed partially of mineralised iron. Its shell is just as unique, composed of an iron sulphide outer layer and an inner layer composed of aragonite (which is a type of calcium carbonate crystal often present in the shells of molluscs and in coral). It's the only animal known to use iron sulfide in its skeleton.

Because it doesn't feed, this snail species has a remarkably small radula, a tongue-like structure many snails use to scrape rocks or exoskeletons to access food and nutrients. The bacteria housed in its body are autotrophs, much like cyanobacteria or plants—except, in this case, they use the chemicals present near hydrothermal vents to produce energy.

This species is listed as endangered, as its habitat is a prime target for deep-sea mining.

(Images by Dr. Chong Chen and David Shale)

[nitewrighter]

Once upon a time, i was a wonderbat shipper. Years later and finding out more about Wonder Woman’s mythos, i now recognize it as one of the few weak points of the dcau (still better than Brucexbabs)

So I imagine a plot from jlu with batcat, with wonderbat dialed down to friendship

——————————————

Alana: one of your league friends is here to see you. The bat guy. Though you probably guessed that seeing the bat shaped plane on the roof.

Diana enters her office to find Batman pacing around it, his cape closed around him looking almost like a shadow

Diana: Batman, what was so important you couldn’t call me on the league comm?

Batman: (still appearing stoic, but she can sense his barley restrained desperation) catwoman had broken into a museum, stolen several large gems. I was chasing her across the gotham square rooftops.

Diana: so your usual Saturday night.

Batman: (either ignoring that or not listening) we were suddenly interrupted. A woman appeared in a cloud of dark mist, with long purple hair, wearing a black and silver dress.

Diana: circe!

Batman: that’s the name she gave, yes.

Diana: but why would she be after you?

Batman: she wanted revenge on you for foiling her plans, so she wants to hurt your loved ones, friends and allies. She said she was going to start with your league teammates, than work her way up to those closest to you. She must have figured i’d be an easy target.

Diana: but you seem fine.

Batman: that’s why i’m here. Since circe is one of your enemies, I figured you’d have some idea of what to do.

He opens his cape, revealing he’s holding a black cat with white/grey markings around her eyes looking like a mask/goggles

Cat!selena: meow

Diana: (at first suprised, than rolls her eyes in annoyance) indeed, this has circe written all over it. Alana, is anyone on staff willing to pet-sit for a few days? This could be a long one.

Wonder Woman: Come on, Circe. Animal transformations are a bit Silver Age, don't you think?

Circe: I prefer to think of it as getting back to my roots.

Wonder Woman: Tch.

Circe: You could stand to do the same. You hardly ever do those fun little spins anymore.

Wonder Woman: *cracking her knuckles* Oh I can show you a spin or two.

Circe: Oh, but you don't understand the whole picture yet, Diana! If turning a petty thief into a cat can flummox the world's greatest detective, I wonder how our dear princess will cope... when her entire precious Justice League is animals?!

*distant magic poof noise*

Wonder Woman: ...

Circe: ...this is the part where you fly into a panic because you now have to pick up the slack for all of your allies who are now animals.

Wonder Woman: I can talk to animals.

Circe: ...

Circe: Wait, seriousl---*gets punched*

--Later---

Wonder Woman: So Zatanna's a rabbit, right? Like a white rabbit?

Circe, covered in bruises and tied up with the lasso of truth: For the last time, yes. Everyone's animal choice is thematically appropriate and ironic.

Wonder Woman: And the Flash is--

Circe: A tortoise! Yes! Obviously!

Wonder Woman: *pause* So what's Kal?

Circe: I actually have no idea. He looks like a giant blue pangolin.

[atcharachara]

Just a colored sketch page for now, no rendering. Russian dragons. Not up to scale (don’t trust that visual on the right)

Of these, only the Russian Gray and Ironwing are named in the book (The Gray only in LoD). Both the Ironwing and Cossack dragon didn’t come with descriptions of any sort so I just winged it. Thoughts under the cut.

Russian Heavyweight - Big, green, and mean. Well, Vosyem was green, so this guy is green. Overlapping plates made me lean more on pangolin scales than thyreophoran but doing all the scales is killing me. I gave it a large nasal boss(I think thats the term?) to resemble the tapir-faced depictions of Zmei that had enraptured me since I was young.

The tortoise resemblance was not realized until after I colored everything, but theres only so many ways for long neck and humped back and thick rolls over shoulders read to me. Well, there’s the sauropod type but I prefer a more sprawling pose. I do want it a bit longer but I just like long dragons in general. Need to hold back on it. If everything is long then nothing is Long.

Russian Gray - Mostly gray and white with a narrow arrow-shaped head. They were described as stippled with spots of gray and black. I had on my notes that it was six to seven, but I lacked context on whether it was the number of individuals in the scene or its weight.

Heads being described as arrow shaped confuse me a little. Maybe my English is not good because I keep thinking it’s like… diplocaulus, which is NOT narrow. Yu-Lung, described with the same head shape, was also described to be vulpine, so that’s what I did here.

Russian Black - One of the other lightweights held in the Russian grounds along with the Russian Gray. Described as black dragons smaller than the Grays. Resembles the Russian couriers. Nothing much to say. Slavic dragons seem to be depicted with a crown every so often, so I gave it a crown of small horns.

Every time there’s a black dragon breed from Europe I keep remembering Laurence saying something about how there’s no black dragons known in Europe back when he was still a Naval captain.

Courier - Two red courier dragons were snoozing next to a flag. I’m inclined to think it’s a Russian breed, but it described the flag they were sleeping beside as white and red. Granted, I’m not really familiar with European history or flags. Maybe it’s a company flag?

Cossack - No description other than being courier weight or fly weight, the size of winchesters. Did you know that the Russian Don, cavalry horses of the Cossack, originated from Russian Steppe horses and Oriental breeds obtained from raids? I gave it a more camelid head, but didn’t want the horse inspiration to be too obvious. Not happy with the coloration just yet.

I kinda wanted it to be slightly bigger for some size variety, but it’s unlikely to be that much bigger than the other Russian lightweights. In the British (European?) weight system a flyweight is barely combat weight, isn’t it? So larger than courier weight but not that much…

Ironwing - Venomous. Thats it for textual description. Not much to go off of, so I put a lesser version of the heavyweight armor on it to help bridge the heavyweight to the others and slapped rusty iron colors. I wanted to give it some more resemblance(Is that the word?)for being an ancestor of the Longwing, so I gave it some familiar wing markings. Might add bone spurs but maybe I should keep that a sharpspitter thing.

[from-bugs-to-birds]

Scaly-Foot Snail

CONSERVATION STATUS: Endangered

Dubbed "The Pangolin of the Sea", these badass looking snails hang out at Ocean ridges that reach 400°c / 750°f.

These snails make their home along hydrothermal vents, an environment rich in minerals. They are covered from shell to foot in protective iron, the only animal known to use iron in its exoskeleton.

Beyond that, they utilize gregite to become magnetic !

They are at great risk, being found in only three spots on earth, all in the Indian Ocean. Their known habitat totals a mere 300km² / 116²miles.

What makes them so unique and fascinating is the same thing that's threatening their species: deep sea mining. The Scaly-Foot Snail is the first animal to become endangered as a result of deep sea mining.

If you find an injured animal, contact a rehabber. Do not try to do it yourself. Click here to find a rehabber near you.

[pokemoncenter]

Is Rhyperior an organic or inorganic pokemon? I suspect mine is ill, as he has been slowing down as of late and is visibly frustrated by it, but the clinic we went to gave conflicting information about treatment… We work in construction, and thankfully the foreman has put the current project on hold to get this treated properly, but we can’t do that indefinitely.

It is organic. Rhyperior is... a rather unique case, associated frequently with Magmortar and Electivire, as all three of them evolve using specific items not found in nature.

It is, perhaps surprisingly, a mammal. Many believe they are reptiles, and their rocky skin is an adaptation of reptilian scales, but the non-Pokemon animal most closely related to Rhyhorn is, shockingly, the pangolin. (Not, in fact, the rhinoceros, as is commonly believed.)

The evolution of Rhyhorn throughout history is assumed that it began as a pangolin that crossbred with Mew. With Mew's genes, it began to take in extra iron and soil compounds, causing its scales to take on rockier properties. This mutation caused them to become exceedingly heavy, and so further mutations were required, causing the bones of the Rhyhorn to further develop, until the species had enlarged and become the extremely heavy specimen we see today.

Rhydon is thought to have been an evolutionary pressure that caused the back to become too heavy, its own misbalanced weight forcing it to take a bipedal posture.

... I apologize for the digression. Rhyperior is a Pokemon who has taken in an inorganic structure, the Protector, to augment its own already-superheavy body. If it is slowing down, there are many possible causes, from absorbing too much in the way of iron and soil to become even rockier, or a deficit in calcium that its bones cannot keep up with the strain. The matter could also be psychological, or it could simply be age.

They are organic, but with hard plating that can make it extremely hard to treat.

[miscuentosysentimientos]

Pangolins is Pangolins

@grubus has pangolins on Wan Jian peak in their fics and I was like, I don't want to take that idea but it'd be fun to have an animal unique to Wan Jian? And I remembered there's real life snails that have iron shells and "foot" armor. So I'm like, cool!!!

Looks them up: "Chrysomallon squamiferum, also known as sea pangolins"

Me: ...LMAO

So in conclusion: Grubus, your mind is huge. Wrinkles galore.

Edit: Apparently the pangolins are canon! Still funny tho XD

[mutant-distraction]

No matter how much research is done on the flora and fauna of our world, there will always be things that amaze us. Such is the case with the Scaly-legged Snail, also known as the Volcanic Snail, which is the only animal in the world that has iron in its skeleton.

This clam, also known as the Sea Pangolin, uses iron to build its shell and generate metallic scales that cover its flesh, essentially becoming a snail with a metal armor, making it the only living being with these unique features.

More details: http://bit.ly/3XVnXtk

[byrdstrolls]

Daseos truth or dare do you have any crushes OR hide Mondes’ favorite bow

"I HAVE A CRUSH!!!!!!!!!!" She says.

"I've got my eyes on a guy who is brooding, sensitive, mysterious, has a colorful inner world and coy charm and rigid iron exterior shell" She says.

"THATS RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

THE SCALY FOOT GASTROPOD!!! THE SEA PANGOLIN!!!! THE ONE AND ONLY VOLCANO SNAILLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[catcas22]

Creature design I was experimenting with for a story idea. Evolved as cave-dwellers. Mammalian (the "scales" on the male are similar in structure to pangolin scales). Very nimble climbers. The tails are typically used for hunting, snagging small, quick prey such as bats or cave lizards.

Ironically, I'm probably going to stick with a more bog-standard demon design for my project. But I like the climbing spurs and the eye structure, will probably keep those going forward.

Don't ask me what the mandible tusks do. I don't know. I just thought they looked neat.

[wildtige429]

Human Alternates of the Autobots and Decepticons

For @julayla and @neogirlart so you guys can add in your ideas.

So, I have been brainstorming on what Team Arcadia, the human version of Team Prime and the Arcadians will be like. Arcadia is a fantasy land in the human verse where the elf Kinjiru and her family and the elven Commission live. As for where the human verse Decepticons, they live in a very dark continent where demons of Ars Goetia and such dwelled, seeking to claim Arcadia as their own land called Nidhogg.

Human Verse Autobots:

Optimus Prime - Aron (He's a male descendant of the Amazons whose magic amulet turns him into a manticore. Has dragonkin blood)

Ratchet - Rustlen (A tanuki and his amulet helps hide his animal form)

Bumblebee - Beckett (A plains elf whose animal form is a jackalope and has lightning magic)

Bulkhead - Trayne (A minotaur. He avoids beef, cause he feels that its considered cannibalism since a minotaur is part bull)

Prowl - Kitsu (He's a kitsune ninja whose an expert in illusions and controls black fox fire. He can transform at will)

Jazz - Tenko (An arctic fox-type kitsune ninja who controls snow and ice)

Sentinel Prime - Cyrrus (A male descendant of the Amazons and his magic turns him into a tigon)

Ultra Magnus - Leonidas (King of Arcadia, leader of the Elite Knights and friend of Elf Kougato. He has the power of lightning and transforms into a Nemean lion)

Rodimus Prime - Akira (Male descendant of the Amazons, Aron's half-brother whom they share the same dragonkin mother, and animal form is a tiger)

Hotshot - Rammot (Fire elf whose animal form is a fire lizard)

Kup - Copper (A retired war veteran who still stays around to teach cadets and the members of the Elite Knights. He's a mountain elf whose animal form is a mountain goat)

Brawn - Knuckle (A dwarf with Herculean strength. His amulet changes him into a splinter cat, a pangolin-bobcat hybrid beast with a superthick skull capable of powerful headbutts)

Ironhide - Nero (A descendant of the Nemean lion and has the ability to turn his body into indestructible diamonds)

Red Alert - Nikke (A savannah elf, was mentored by Rustlen, and her animal form is a gazelle)

Jetfire and Jetstorm - Orobas and Eligos (Human Phango's mentees who look up to him as their father figure, raised in Arcadia as fellow Arcadians as well as the first demon Elite Knights, and they can fuse together to become Gamigin, a giant winged anthro unicorn with two horns and wings who controls both wind and fire. Orobas' true form is an anthro demon stallion with flames for a mane and tail and Eligos' true form is an anthro unicorn stallion with two horns and glowing blue wings)

Alpha Trion - Merlin (The one and only Merlin himself. His animal form is a majestic kirin)

Perceptor - Percival (A robot-like golem made of metal but is extremely intelligent despite his robotically monotonous character)

Blurr - Hermes (A storm elf birn with lightning speed and runs as fast as The Flash. His animal form is a cheetah with spots shaped like pluses and minuses and a lightning bolt-shaped tail)

Wreck-Gar - Rumpel (He's a troll who was an old elementary school drawing but was splashed by the waters of the Holy Grail, a very friendly but nit-witted troll who enjoys eating trash which helps the environment)

Grimlock - Sword (Leader of the Dino-Men, cavemen frozen and preserved in ice until they were freed into the modern world. Posesses a pyronite (lava magicked gems only found in prehistoric time) sword and has a pet T-Rex named Grimey)

Swoop - Flail (The smartest yet quiet member of the Dino-Men, wields a pyronite flail and has a pet pterodactyl named Flappy)

Snarl - Club (The strongest yet slowest but good-hearted member of the Dino-Men, wields a pyrobite club and has a pet triceratops named Growly)

Cliffjumper - Clifford (An iron elf whose animal form is a big-horned ox)

Omega Supreme - Zhu Long (A ginormous gold and red Chinese dragon who helped the Elite Knights and the kingdom of Arcadia to defeat Marbas and his army of demons, banishing them to the dark reaches of Nidhogg as well as sealing them away with his own breath. After the war, he transforms into his human form which is a huge dark-skinned man wearing Chinese robes and he only turns into his true form to help carry Team Aron on his back when they want to fly somewhere far and to aid them combating large evil forces)

Arcee - Himari (A light elf who suffered amnesia when she and Rustlen were captured by Sitri during the war. Now recovered, she works as a teacher to teach humans how to use magic now that both fantasy and human worlds are one. Her animal form is a mink)

Human Verse Decepticons:

Megatron - Marbas (His true form is a demonic lion-dragon-lizard hybrid)

Starscream - Astaroth (True form is a winged wolf-eagle humanoid hybrid)

Skywarp - Seir, Astaroth's cowardly brother

Thundercracker - Vassago, Astaroth's arrogant brother

Sunstorm - Vual, Astaroth's over-flattering brother

Ramjet - Valac, Astaroth's pathologically lying brother

Slipstream - Gremory, Astaroth's bitchy sister

Acidstorm - Sabnock, Astaroth's bloodthirsty brother

Novastorm - Flauros, Astaroth's seductive brother

Dirge - Phenex, Astaroth's greedy brother

Thrust - Raum, Astaroth's greedy brother

Lugnut - Dantalion (True form is a six-horned demon minotaur)

Blitzwing - Naberius, Aamon and Marchosias (True forms are demonic werewolves that can fuse together to become a three-headed demon wolfman with four arms and massive wings)

Blackarachnia - Vapula (Was an Amazon woman named Artime but was corrupted by dark magic in when she, Aron and Cyrrus ventured to Tartaros, a very dark land only inhabited by monsters and spirits corrupted by dark magic. Her demon form is a massive lioness with eight eyes with the first two above her original eyes and the second and third pairs on either sides of her torso, four massive spider legs on her back and massive insect-like fangs containing paralytic venom. Her spider legs can fuse together to become insectoid wings when she wants to fly.)

Shockwave - Paimon (True form is a pale humanoid demon with horns taking the top half of his head with the eyes on his palms and wings. His elf form is called Pollux)

Swindle - Mephistopheles (MP for short; true form is a yellow and purple anthro cobra with a fox's face and tail)

Lockdown - Sitri (True form is a winged leopard with horns, claws and tail of a dragon and breathes black smoke that causes blindness, paralysis and causes the victim to fall asleep)

Spittor - Baal (True form is a giant demon toad with an insatiable appetite and three tongues)

Strika - Purson (True form is a bear-lion hybrid beast with a viper for a tail)

Cyclonus - Focalor (True form is an anthro tiger with eagle claws for hands, crocodilian tail, ram horns and feet like a velociraptor's)

Oil Slick - Crocell (True form is a black-winged angel wearing bone and skull trinkets, a leopard skin kilt and has a head of a hyena and a tail and fangs of a snake)

Blackout - Furfur (True form is a demonic anthro stag with metallic horns, dragon-like claws and wings and feet like an elephant's)

Scrapper - Agares (Was a normal construction worker named Igor until he, Sal and Zippo, their mean boss, accidentally drank from the Holy Grail (Human world version of the AllSpark) and turned them into demons. His true form is an muscular anthro crocodile with large boar-like tusks)

Mixmaster - Saleos (Was formerly Sal until the Holy Grail turned him into Saleos. His true form is a big bellied anthro alligator who can project cement-like vomit that quickly hardens to trap opponents)

Dirtboss - Zepar (was formerly Zippo until the Holy Grail turned him into Zepar. His true form is an anthro caiman in red armor and has a spiky tail that shoots quills. When the quills hit someone, they become his puppets)

Soundwave - Tsugumomo (A radio tsukumogami that bears a hatred to humans for how they treat their items and tsukumogami familiars and wishes to liberate all tsukumogamis to rule over them.)

[codenamehazard]

.:Embers in the Forge:.

Chapter 19: Embers in the Forge

Hey guys!

This was also a chapter that gave me some grief trying to write out and sound right, but hopefully it does and everything looks and sounds good! Big thanks to @rogueshadeaux for helping me get my head on straight! I was really overthinking it. Everyone go check out InFAMOUS: Erosion! Especially the latest chapter! It's really good and you won't regret it!

Let's jump in!

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I lean my back against the wall of the workshop, music fills the room as Kestrel pulls out the tools and the cart that I had put the pieces of the Amp on. I’m thankful that she gave me permission to be here a few days ago when I asked her to fix it… Not that I needed it. Permission or not, I’m not letting the Amp out of my sight, not until she’s fixed and back slinged onto my backpack, but the permission makes it easier on the both of us. Besides, if she has any questions or I remember something that could be useful, I’m here to help

I watch as the silvery snakes grow from the spot in the middle of her back, the seat of all Conduits’ power, coiling and writhing like living vines 2… 3… 4 of them, maybe more. It’s still so fascinating to see power expression like that, and now that Kestrel wasn’t panicking over some cancer-tumor monster barreling into town ready to turn everyone into lunch, she’s much more relaxed, more in her element. It shows in how she moves, everything just flowing more naturally, she can take her time. I ain’t gonna rush her, I’m willing to give her all the time in the world to make sure the Amp is back in her prime.

However…

My mind flicks back to that day and the nuclear meltdown that was Pangolin verbally tearing into Kestrel like a rabid dog over the goddamned prototype. I don’t know how stubborn or idiotic the brain-dead buckethead is, but I wouldn’t put it past him to try and pull something stupid. Showing up to harass Kestrel while she’s working and like hell I’m going to let that walking liability fuck up her concentration, putting the Amp at risk of being damaged more because the bastard can’t leave well enough alone. Hopefully that idiot will be smart enough to read the sign she left for him out front and leave her alone.

My keen ears pick up the sound of thudding footsteps and the opening of a door, speak of the devil and he shall appear. Guess he’s as big of an idiot as I’m thinking of him now.

Pangolin steps in, his eyes looking around as he peeks in. I can feel my energy surge from the spot on my own back into my arms as I go on high alert. Pango’s eyes widen in fear as he sees me, good. He knows I’m here. I curl my scarred lips into a snarl as I notice him look at Kestrel, who has just turned around. He better not be thinking about doing what I think he’s going to do. If that bastard starts giving Kes shit, I will not hesitate to drag him outside for a good “talking to.” He approaches the Gunsmith, I’m about to step in and she’s about to say something, but he speaks before anything can happen.

“Kestrel… I’m sorry.”

We both stare at him with a look of shock (and my mind lets out a sigh of slight relief) at the sound of that, but Kestrel’s surprise is short lived as she narrows her eyes, the once relaxed and lifeful shine turning to something hardened and cold, like the very steel she could mold and shape.

“What…?” The Gunsmith questions with venom in her voice.

“Look…” Pangolin starts. “I’m sorry for… Riding your ass as hard as I’ve been when I should have been cutting you some slack.” Kestrel just shakes her head.

“That’s it?” She snaps, the Brick Spartan looks at her with a confused expression. “You think that you’re going to waltz into my shop like you own the place, apologize and then everything’s gonna go back to normal?” I watch her tendrils start to take on a biomechanical look as they darken into a wrought iron color.

“I get it Kestrel, I get it!” The brickheaded idiot blabbers out. “I got a little to in my emotions and I got carried away!” Carried away?! Is that what they’re calling it now?? The tendrils quickly move away from the Amp before twitching and writhing like enraged serpents.

“If you had “got it,” you would have read the sign!” She snarls out.

“He’s here and he’s barged in before!” Pangolin gestures towards me and I am about to deck him before Kestrel interrupts.

“I gave Cole permission, I revoked yours!” She hisses out. “Just cut the crap, Pangolin. Why are you here?”

“To apologize to you for how I’ve been treating you lately!” He balks out. 

“No, that’s not why. Because if you were truly sorry, you would have taken the fucking hint and not have barged in here. So I have to question, are you really sorry for what you did or are you just saying it because you oh-so suddenly remembered who was the one making the weapons for everyone? Huh?! You just apologizing to get back in my good graces so you can get your toy privileges back, hm?”

The fucker had the audacity to look shocked at Kestrel doubting his authenticity; guess what jackass, people tend to do that when you treat them like shit and start questioning their authenticity over petty bullshit.

“Kes, I-” The idiot is quickly cut off with a loud screeching hiss from the Gunsmith.

“Don’t call me that.” She snaps. “And I don’t want to hear any of your excuses, not a single one. All the things you snarled at me, holding a mistake over my head, calling me a child when I was in the middle of a fucking breakdown, accusing me of things you know damn well I didn’t do, all of that? You can’t take that back. Those words won’t be easily forgotten. Those wounds will scar and my trust in you is fractured. A pitiful little “I’m sorry” isn’t going to fucking cut it.”

“How else am I supposed to show that I’m genuine?” He questions, I resist the urge to facepalm.

“You can start by getting out and leaving me alone!!” The Gunsmith damn near roars at Pangolin. He has the nerve to look hurt, but thankfully for him, he takes the hint and leaves, but not before giving me a questioning glance. Tch, whatever. Kestrel sighs, sounding exhausted, before turning around and back to her workstation.

I let out a breath before going back to leaning on the wall, uncrossing my arms and popping my knuckles before turning my head toward Kes. I frown when I notice there is a little bit of a… “Hitch in her giddyup” as my cousin would have put it. Her movements, they have become more timid, hesitant even, and her eyes glance back at the door from time to time.

“This is stupid…” She mutters to herself. “I should just forgive him and get it over with….” My eyebrows furrow at that, now I know what’s going on. Doubt is infecting her thoughts, harshing her focus. Just as I feared Pangolin’s presence would do. She continues to ramble and mutter, going on about forgiveness and its virtue, but also how she’s hurting inside and debating on if she should forgive him at all. Almost on instinct, I blurt out.

“Don’t question your choice, Kes.”

I hold back a small chuckle as I see the girl jump as she turns around to look at me, her tendrils gently placing the parts and tools back on the table.

“What?” She questions, looking confused. “What brought that up?”

“Your movements and mutterings.” I state simply as I gesture with my hand. “Sounds like you’re doubting yourself.” She lets out a defeated sigh and slumps a bit, the tendrils losing their shine and wilting like plants.

“It’s… A mix of doubt and guilt…” She admits, looking at the scrap of the damned weapon that started all this mess in the first place, sitting in a crucible to be melted down. “The logical part of me wants to forgive this mess. The quickest way to put it behind us and get things back on track and back to normal. After all, it’s pointless to hold grudges and they end up being a waste of energy in the long run… But… I’m still so hurt… That he said all that to me…” She glares at the crucible before a tendril grabs it and shoves it into the forge.

“So does that mean you want that brick idiot to keep treating you like shit?” I ask, she looks at me like I’m crazy and shakes her head. “I don’t know if all of this is normal or not, but from what I've been seeing, he appears to be a bit too comfortable with how he’s been treating you to be a one-off thing.” She shakes her head.

“No… Normally he’s even keeled… He’s never treated me this badly before… At least, not that I can remember… This is all recent and I have no idea what’s gotten into him.” The Gunsmith picks up a small piece of smooth metal and starts to rub her thumb over it, looking down at it. “I don’t… I just don’t understand… I do want him to stop and just… Let me breathe.” I sigh and walk over to the table, pulling up a box and propping my foot up onto it, allowing myself to rest my weight on my knee.

“Regardless if this is old or new behavior, the result is still the same.” I point out. “He treated you poorly, held something over your head even though we had all promised to let it go and blamed you for something you didn’t do all because of a malfunction you had no control over.”

The look in her eyes tells me she’s still fighting with herself, I sigh softly. Maybe a little life experience might help her, seeing as Pangolin is her friend and all.

“Look… Kestrel…” I start slowly, trying to find the right tone before taking a breath. “The one who made the Amp? Me and him had a… Falling out… If you will…. He hurt me real bad and I wanted nothing to do with him… Didn’t stop him from trying to make it right.”

The girl tilts her head at me, but she stays silent, just as she did the night I asked her to repair the weapon in question…. “She’s listening to me….” My thoughts whisper in my mind. Trying not to show my surprise, I take her silence as permission to continue.

“Point is… It took me a long time for me to forgive him after what he did. Granted, I treated him like shit and I still regret that to this day… But at the time, I wasn’t ready to forgive him. I still needed to heal.” I murmur softly, my eyes cast downwards as I remember those bitter memories. “Forgiveness is a privilege, not a right, It’s up to you to decide when the privilege is earned.”

I can see her eyes darting as she processes the information before looking towards me.

“Why are you telling me this?” She questions. I take a moment to think. It is a good question. Why am I doing this? All I can do is shrug.

“Guess I wanted to give you some food for thought… Or maybe to let you know I get where you’re coming from.”

She narrows her eyes a little, but she shrugs before taking a deep breath and sighing. I can see in her eyes there’s something still bothering her, but she seems to be putting a pin in it for now.

“ Thanks…” She whispers softly. “For having my back…”

“Mmm.” I hum in response before nodding my head. I watch her stretch her arms and tendrils out before going back to working on the Amp. The tension now more relaxed and loose. I watch her as she works her magic.

I can’t help but to think to myself what a sight this is to watch, granted I have seen it before with me barging in when she was working on the core of the brickzooka, but this… This is something else entirely.

The tendrils shine with a renewed splendor as they move gracefully around. Every piece of the Amp is picked up with gentlest of grasps, akin to handling the most delicate of jewelry. Every action deliberate and methodical, purposeful. Her hands ghost over the remains with a touch analytical, yet respectful. Both hand and tentacle working together to study the Amp down to the smallest of details, the tendrils would split into filaments to get into the nooks and crannies. It made me nervous, but it is clear what she was doing. She’s trying to get to know the weapon…

She’s trying to know it not only as I do, but as Zeke did. Down to the very components and materials used.

My mind starts to slip into the similar spell that it fell into the last time as I watch her fluid movements, now more flowy with her more relaxed mind, and I begin to notice something interesting. Her methodical actions flowed with the rhythm, like she’s part of the music. My ears can hear how the sounds of her tinkering and work synced with the melody, the whole thing almost like a performance. Everything just moving so smoothly and in time… It is… Quite the sight.

I close my eyes and just… Listen to the music. My head almost instinctively started to bob and sway to the beat. Everything is just… So soothing. When my mind figures out the rhythm of the song, I start to hum along. I don’t care if the Gunsmith could hear it. I guess one could say I’m getting into the zone right along with her.

I hate to admit it, I really do, but I’d be lying to myself if I said that I’m not enjoying the shared calm. Turns out that when Kestrel isn’t being an absolute pain in my ass and wanting to start trouble and provoke me, she’s… Not too bad to be around… Though it could be the isolation talking. Been alone for so long that the human need for comradery is latching onto any human who would be willing to give me the time of day.

Still… The fact that she’s even doing this despite all the shit we put each-other through? Speaks volumes of her character.

I can feel the ghost of a smile form on my face as I continue to hum, getting lost in the music and the company. I got so lost in it that I didn’t hear the door open and Mako walk inside. "Hey Kes!"

[qhazomb]

I can't do much but random animal facts help me like when my meds aren't working as well I wish, if you want a specific critter or one that can do something you didn't expect etc. just ask. Violet backed starling is a beautiful bird. The sea pangolin is a snail with iron in its shell and can survive 400c (752f).

maybe give me facts about your personal favorite animal

[sp-by-april]

wait now i'm confused, the impersonation/parody of trump in s21 was cartman or heidi? at first it seems like cartman but in the pandemic special he put down the pangolin and ironically garrison trump appears with a flamethrower and does exactly what he was meant to do?

I got confused reading this. 😭

Garrison was the Trump analog. Cartman was giving the pangolin back so they could make a vaccine. Garrison killed it because the pandemic was good for him and he wants it to continue.

IIRC they toyed with on having Cartman do Trump but did Garrison instead.

Cartman has Trump-like qualities but that's just who he's always been. You can't be surprised one selfish, racist piece of shit resembles another selfish, racist piece of shit lol.