#like not a big long one but more like. A dino tail? Or like a lil puppy. cos hes just a baby

[twomystdunstans]

teen doodles but it’s literally all just Taylor & Dood 🫶

[in1-nutshell]

Hi I happy that your open how would the tfa Dino bots react to finding a sparkling Dinobot and becoming attached to glimlock

YYYEEESSS! I love the Dinobots and giving them a child is just perfect!

Hope you enjoy!

Bot Buddy the Dinobot Sparkling with Grimlock, Swoop, and Snarl

SFW, Platonic, Familial, Cybertronain reader

TFA

Buddy was a robot brought to life from the Allspark.

After the events of the Dinobots, the park still needed something to replace the robots.

The first one they did was a baby Spinosaurus with its mother still in the works.

A fragment of the Allspark had gone into the baby’s frame.

The baby woke up and looked around.

Somehow, they knew they needed their parents and began looking around.

They saw the mother bot being worked on and ran up to it purring into its leg.

 The robot did nothing to respond to the affection.

The baby was confused and tried again.

Nothing.

After a few more times the baby decided to leave.

The ‘mother’ wasn’t doing anything which confused and saddened the baby.

 They saw some cargo boxes and hid there. Maybe the next day would be better.

The box as it turned out would be on a ship that would be passing by Dinobot Island before reaching the next port.

As the ship began turning from the island, one of the straps holding the baby’s box had snapped, and the box ended up falling from the ship and straight into the water.

The baby got scared with the sudden feeling of falling and bobbing up and down with the waves created by the ship.

The box somehow stayed bobbing long enough for it to get semi stuck in the shore’s sandy banks.

The baby, shaken, after the rough tumbling and let out a cry.

It was dark, cold, and they were all alone.

Meanwhile Grimlock had decided to take a walk outside before the storm hit the island.

He liked the feeling of the wind against his armor.

Grimlock minding his own business while walking near the shoreline.

“Wind feels nice. Wind noises nice.”--Grmilock

“WAAAAHHHHHHH!”

“Wind sounding strange today.”--Grimlock

“WWWWAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”

“Me Grimlock thinks it not wind. Me Grimlock look for noise!”--Grimlock

He went to go and investigate it.

He got curious when the noise he heard came from a box in the sand.

Grimlock grabbed the box with his mouth and set it down a bit further from the water. With one swipe from his tail, he smashed the inside of the box.

Baby’s helm pokes out.

“You make noise?”--Grimlock

“Chirp?”

“Wait… You Dinobot! Small Dinobot, but still Dinobot!”--Grimlock

BOOOM!

“Big lights—wait where you go?”--Grimlock

Grimlock looks down to see the baby huddled next to his pedes shaking.

“No need to be scared! Big lights are far away! No hurt.”--Grimlock

BAM!

“… That one was closer. Let’s go see Snarl and Swoop.”--Grimlock

“Chirp?”

“You Dinobot. Dinobot’s together strong.”--Grimlock

Grimlock picks up the baby with his mouth and walking back to the cave.

To say that Swoop and Snarl were surprised was an understatement.

Grimlock left for less than 5 minutes and came back with a kid.

Snarl is a bit hostile to the baby, snorting at them.

But Grimlock makes sure that he gets the memo.

Don’t touch the child.

Swoop on the other hand takes a near immediate liking to the baby waddling over to see them.

The baby was chirping up a storm. They liked this a whole lot better than being in the box.

“This new Dinobot.”--Grimlock

“Name?”--Swoop

“Hmmm…”--Grimlock

BAM!

The baby shrieks and hides next to Grimlock’s pedes.

Snarl moves in front of the baby to block out the outside weather and lays down.

Swoop wraps one of his wings over the baby like a blanket.

Baby still shivering in fear.

Grimlock finally curled up around all the Dinobots using his backside to shield them from the outside world.

Baby stops shivering and falls asleep.

“…How about Tiny?”--Grimlock

“Tiny?”--Snarl

“They are really small. Good name.”--Grimlock

“Tiny. Tiny good.”--Swoop

Tiny sneezes a bit before curling closer to Grimlock.

“Good night, Tiny.”--Grimlock

[kicktwine]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[sugar-omi]

Omg I love your mermaid!Cove! Can I request some more please? 🩵

surprisingly i have many ideas on mer!cove lol, i didnt think i did but this is so long!! so enjoy<3 tysm for the ask anon, im glad you liked my mer!cover hehe<33

tags : Fluff, headcanons

eta a bit on cove w sharp teeth <3

mmm... merman cove is so pretty even in human form

in human form, he has scales in a few places

down the side of his hips to the top of his thighs and a few straglers on his ankles

his scales are blue and green. they're iridescent as well, super pretty

the closer to his chest, the lighter his scales are but there's still some dark ones around his hips that are more like a navy blue

his fins are probably on the greener side as well, and im thinking more translucent too

i looked at some fanart, i think his tail would be more on the "capey" side as well

and if i can go as far as you link you to this beautiful kokomi fanart by nataliadsw on twitter: here

in fact i'd even say the fins are like in the art! very sparkly and pretty

how do we feel abt a purple to light blue gradient?

i was thinking abt his ears too n yk how some ppl draw mermaids with fins for ears or whatever?

i think his ears are long like an elf, but the tips have a blue-to-flesh gradient. maybe even

lots of pretty piercings!! has gold and pearls in his ears.

ETA BC I TOTALLY FORGOT ABT THIS

BUT COVE HAS SHARP TEETH <333

well, sharp canines anyway

kinda like this photo: here

imagine his lil sharp smile..... i love him

also don't ask me how he shifts. bc i have no idea

as far as I'm concerned he's like a fucking Dino capsule that you drop in water and inflates

LIKE A FUCKING ORBEEZ

okay that settles it, that's what we're going with LMAO

oh my god

before i forget.. mer cove is Big

know how i said orc!derek was like 7 foot?

cove is like 7 foot 2 or some shit

idk, but derek has competition!!

i don't think that's the normal height for mer-people either. well. not mermaids anyway. orcas and whales? for sure

he has claws as well!! he tries to keep them short bc he's clumsy but he has em

ykw i didn't considered webbed hands.... is that an idea?

...nah. i think his tail makes up for it since i imagine cove is missing some key mermaid qualities due to being part human

in his human form he has the claws as well

back to the big, 7 foot thing!!!

cove has big hands as well, of course in his mer form but also in his human form

even in his human form he's still over 6'5

lots of piercings in his ears. has studs in his ear lobes and has a chain connecting his helix and his stud on one of his ears

a chain of pearls on his wrist!!!!

oh. my. god.

waist chains.

of course he doesn't wear these nice shiny all at once lol, he's not into being blinged out like that, but wears any jewelry he's gifted all the time <33

wears waist chain's mostly when he's in human form, since he doesn't have any fins getting caught or evil pirates to worry about

!!! i almost forgot

he brings you many many gifts

he's like a puppy this way

you have jars of shells and sand, some sand different colors from certain beaches he's visited.

cove even brought you your own string of pearls, and you have mini towers of different colored sea glass

so many gifts that you have a whole book case for them and even then some things spill into other areas of the house

whether or not you met cove at a young age, i think you start to understand what all his different chirps and sounds mean

like a few quick chirps are a sign of happiness

i even imagine he purrs like a cat so he'll put your hand to his heart and let you feel the rumble of his chest

or he'll nuzzle your cheek and you can hear it in your ear <33

[fourlittleocto]

We all know Dew is lactose intolerant (can't have milk or cheese or ice cream), but tiny Dew doesn't. 1272 words. There's a couple big words but I think littles should be able to read it.

mentioned under the cut: a quick kiss, the littles eat ice cream, tummy aches, use of padding/soakers (i just learned of this term im sorry), and a quick mention of german mountain bc lets be honest all of out little ghoul ideas come from @tinymoon-beam and their wonderful brain.

--

When Mountain walks into the common room after a long day, it’s a relief to see Rain and Phantom sitting on the floor, surrounded by their toys which have been abandoned for the ice cream quickly melting into soup in their bowls. He gives Swiss, who’s watching over them, a quick kiss, which is followed by a chorus of ews from the littles and starts trying to help him pick up the scattered plastic dinosaurs so no one trips.

“Stop!” Rain yells, abandoning his ice cream on the coffee table and using his body to shield Mountain from the toys. “You can’t take these ones, we’re playing with them.” He puts his hands on his hips like a superhero, protecting his loyal dinosaur citizens.

“Yeah, we’re playing!” Phantom echoes, also stumbling over to Mountain and then realizing someone needs to stop Swiss too and dances around their dino town to keep him from picking anything else up.

“I just want you to be safe Rainbowfish,” Mountain rumbles, addressing the two by their combined nickname. Rain and Phantom are impossible to separate when they’re dropped, so coming up with a nickname for both of them at the same time was just easier than having to say ‘Phantom and Rain’ over and over again, and everyone had fallen in love instantly when Aether suggested Rainbowfish. He lifts Rain over his shoulder and bounces him around to make the little water ghoul laugh.

“Stop it!” Phantom yells, abandoning Swiss to pull on Mountain’s tail and try to help their friend down. Mountain picks them up too, though a little less smoothly. He almost falls over when Phantom starts flailing against him, but the laughs make it worth it.

The clatter of plastic on wood stops everyone, pulling Mountain’s attention to where Dew, who seemingly came out of nowhere but must have been playing with the littles since he’s clearly dropped too (judging by his bear onesie and plushie held tight in his fist), is staring at Rain’s ice cream bowl, now empty and sitting upside down on the rug.

Dew turns wide eyes up to Mountain. The earth ghoul groans seeing the melting ice cream running down his chin and pressed into the soft fabric around his neck. Carefully, he throws Phantom and Rain on the couch and starts after Dew. The tiny fire ghoul starts giggling and butt-scooting away, trying to make a break for it. Luckily, Mountain’s long legs let him catch up before he can get very far.

"I'm sorry Mountain, I should have been watching him closer. Want me to handle it?" Swiss offers.

"I got it." Mountain shakes his head. "You just keep them out of trouble." He can't keep the smirk off his face anymore as the two ghouls on the couch yell in protest.

"We're not trouble!" Rain pouts.

"Yeah, you started it!" Phantom adds. Rain nods aggressively and pulls Phantom in his arms. They giggle and hug Rain back, which quickly turns into a wrestling match over who loves the other more. Swiss gives Mountain a little smile that says I got this, so Mountain waves goodbye, and with one last glance towards his Rainbowfish, rearranges Dew to sit more comfortably on his hip and makes his way to his room.

They almost make it, but Dew's arms tighten around Mountain's neck and he buries his face further into Mountain's chest. The hood of his little onesie with the bear ears poking out of the top hides his face completely. The new angle means Mountain feels more than hears Dew's groan.

"I know baby," he mumbles into the soft fabric on top of Dew's head, hushing him soothingly. "You weren't supposed to eat that ice cream, huh?" Dew picks up his heavy head as much as he can just to slam it back into Mountain's shoulder. His little horns poke him through the bear hood, but Mountain ignores the pain as he pushes open the door and gets Dew situated in his nest. Dew immediately flops over so he can better smell Mountain in the sheets, grabbing at the blanket and weakly trying to pull it over him. When he realizes that’s not going to work, he switches to rubbing his bunny plushy across his face, breathing heavily.

"One second Bubba," Mountain calls over his shoulder from his closet, grabbing a change of clothes for them both, crocheted padding that Sunshine made for him, and a pacifier to replace the one Swiss gave him that got lost under the couch somewhere in his tirade for a sweet treat. Dew starts to whine and cry, which only gets louder as Mountain turns back around and he sees the soakers in his hands. He tries to hide himself under the blankets but he's not strong enough to get it over his head, just rolling and thrashing around.

Mountain hurries over, leaving the padding on the lip of the nest to cradle Dew and coax the pacifier into his mouth before it can turn into a full-on temper tantrum. He hums and rocks the little fire ghoul until Dew takes the pacifier and grabs onto Mountain's shirt. His eyes start to blink heavily, already tired just from the little outburst.

"Stay awake for me Kleines Feuer, just for a minute," Dew starts to thrash, remembering what Mountain is about to put on him, but he's too tired to put up a real fight. He whines around his paci anyway, to make sure Mountain knows he's unhappy.

Mountain carefully starts to work off his onesie. His low, rumbly singing fills the air and keeps Dew calm enough to let him get the little ghoul redressed, with an extra layer of protection and an ice cream-free onesie this time. "Just in case. You know ice cream doesn't agree with your tummy lovebug," he whispers to Dew, laying a kiss on his forehead as he pulls the bee hood up over his head once again. The little antenna flop into Dew’s face. He lets the pacifier drop out of his mouth and babbles while he weakly pushes at Mountain. The earth ghoul chuckles.

"How about we do blanket burrito? Will that make you like me again?" Dew's eyes widen once again. He nods as much as he can and claps around his bunny, a happy little giggle bubbling out of him. "Ok, Let me get it ready." He stands and lifts Dew to sit on the edge of the nest, laying Dew's favorite blanket out flat and helping Dew crawl himself into the middle of it. He gets Dew into the right spot with his bunny held tightly to his chest, then gets to work wrapping him up in the blanket. The pressure helps relax both his mind and his upset tummy, and he seems calmer as soon as Mountain's done. Now that Dew is contained, he quickly changes into his own PJs before crawling back into the nest behind his little blanket purr-ito. And he lives up to that name, a small, broken purr coming from the roll of blanket and fire ghoul.

Mountain gets Dew positioned on top of him, the little ghouls back to his chest so he can rub softly at Dew's aching tummy. Dew's face screws up as he fights off another round of discomfort. Mountain shushes him gently, using his other hand to grab blindly for the forgotten pacifier, work it gently into Dew's mouth, and rub away the tension in his forehead. He still sings his song, making sure Dew falls asleep before moving a muscle, and even then it's just to reposition them so he can sleep too.

[drakkonyan]

Top 5 reptiles in gross excruciating detail

Boy oh boy it's show time!

Ball Python

Yes I know that's basic bitch taste, but LOOKATIM. CUTIEPATOOTIE

A generally well-size snake, and I adore all the colors they can have! So pretty to look at. I specially love em big snoots. Literally owo-ing 24-7, what else can I ask for?

Galapagos

Just a big ass guy. Look at him. HUGEEEE individual.

Honestly I don't really know, I just think it's cool that there are turtles the size of dogs. My man is titanic. Honestly, if I had the space I would LOVE to house one of these guys (don't let em near dogs, I just thought that pic was a good size approximation)

Satanic leaf tail

LOOK AT HIM, this guy is metal AF and I love everything of it. The heads shape is SOOOOOO fun and I love animals that camouflage. Their tiny Lil feetsies are so CUTE, and I adore their eyes with them tiny pupils. I'm never forgiving treecko for making this concept into "just some guy" who then turns into a generic-ass Dino, so much potential wasted. I gotta give em justice some day and make an honest to god dark-grass type fakemon. Or maybe even just dark-something and the grass is a lurantis scenario.

Chrysopelea

Ok but picture this:

A snake

That fucking GLIDES

Bitch goes in top of trees and then just fucking JUMPS and GLIDES for half a kilometer and then lands unharmed and repeats again. Because that's her locomotion method. Girl just JUMPS from high places and does aerodynamic shit and boom, ur 200 meters from where you started. Metal af

RES

Ok I KNOW this one is polemic, specially knowing they are driving to extinction an endemic species over here, BUT JUST LOOK AT EM

I just adore these guys, all from their silly lil-permanently angry faces to their marking and asking patterns, to the vibrancy of their "ears" marks, just such guys. I also adore how when babies they are such a soft emerald hue but they start getting more and more dark as they age and once they are adults they are all these mixes of rich forest green with light olive green strikes in their shells, they are sosososoooo pretty

Cameo of my Lil guy Olivo being eepy because I adore him to bits

Also a pic of the afro mentioned almost extinct endemic species, because I felt like it. We have some at the zoo and we just went a course on how to teach the public on why it's important to care for em and all that jazz. Pretty cool ngl

sorry for taking so long to asnwer! i just got hit by "honestly i dont really wanna do anything rn ngl" diseas and had to rest for 2 days. Have a painting of my doggo as compensation

[rzyraffek]

I made one cute post about slashers(ghostface and yautja) finding random child in forest. Its still in my head so imma do part 2. Its pure platonic made to be cute and funny😊. (By kid i mean she can talk walk normaly already ect)

Request open

Yaujta with human child

Yall this is part 2 but I know that not everyone seen part 1 so basicly what u missed: he finds kid in forest, looks for her perents, turns out they are bab people, he temporary takes kid to his ship...

Yeaaah Temporary, thats what he thought, he rly hoped to find some good place for her but He kinda failed? Lol

He will be grumpy, well no suprise! He didnt plan having random alien kid in his ship! But he cant Just leave her too

He has No clue about perentship so he will probably fail miseribly (trying to feed kid with raw food or trying to train her isnt top tier parent stuff)

But he tires okay! He may stalk some acuall human families to see how bebis work (misspelling bebi is my job)

Wait till he finds out that humans in fact dont train their kids in hunting/killing

Duble points in cutness if kid loves aliens! Like yknow every kid has phases dinosaurs/ponies/aliens/dolls idk what else its been 11years since i was kid idk what kids do this days (I was dinosaur kid myself)

I can imagine kid being like: 🤯alien dad😊 while hes like: 👽we woo *alien noises*👽

No but He will melt if kid calls him alien dad/ space dad/ just dad. He will be suprisingly very happy and proud

Okay okay he wont train his kid🙄 but dont make him cook pls😩. As long as yall are on earth He will steal some food(he is the reason why take out food you ordered 2hours ago never came)

"How are bebis made?" "uh eh they hatch from eggs?(has No clue how to human)"

Kid is very shmol (in comparison) and the ship is verrry big. Kid gets lost a lot. Yautja panics a lot. wheWHERE IS SHE I- EE NOT AGAIN

They love playing hide and seek, tag is cool too but He never knows if he should let kid win or make them loose in 0.23 seconds

He brings her a lot of stuff, mostly paper crayons, toys(dino plushies pls), clothes ofc, stickers. He will kinda love if she draws him or put stickers on his armor. I mean she shoudlnt be in armory and she is banned from going there due to sharp objects but awwwwe cute stickers on his armor

Mostly He is too busy to multi-task (taking care of kid while doing other stuff is difficult) so he just lets kid vibe on his lap or around him overall.

Yautja is very good in learning kid how to deal with emotions (both positive and negative) and overall respect, self defence ect

When kid grows up(teenager) he is doing his best to support her and show empathy (and yautjas arent know for being very emphatic) but please on love of God do not be mean to him he will be heartbroken. As the kid grows he will kinda try to train them with sertain weapons of just simple self-defence. Its not like kid will ever be in danger but its more like dad trying to show his favorite hobbie to his kid in hope that the kid will like it too

Funfact out of context! I liked yautjas before i saw any movies and I thought they had tails :( u can imagine my disapointment

[msweebyness]

Land Before Time AU!!!

So I decided to expand on the idea from my latest random thought! Here’s a more in-depth look at the little AU I thought of! @artzychic27 @imsparky2002

Background:

All the kids live with their families with all their other Dino friends in the Great Miraculous Valley, a hidden cove safe from sharptooths and other dangerous creatures. That doesn’t stop the kids from wandering out and getting into misadventures though.

Nathaniel:

(Littlefoot)

Species: Long Neck (Apatosaurus)

Bio:

Lost his mother to a sharptooth attack, lives with his grandparents, doesn’t know what happened to his father

Wants to be a responsible and good dinosaur, loves learning wisdom from his elders

Has a bit of a puppy crush on Marc

Wants to help everyone in the Valley get along, and loves to draw in the dirt

Can’t wait for the day he grows up to be big and tall like older long necks

Alix:

(Cera)

Species: Three Horn (Triceratops)

Bio:

Lives with her father and older brother

Feisty and rebellious, always getting into trouble

Likes ramming things with her horn

Frequently butts heads with Nath, but cares about him all the same

Insists she’s not afraid of anything

Rose:

(Petrie)

Species: Flyer (Pteranodon)

Bio:

Lives with her parents in one of the High Caves

Excitable and curious, always in a good mood

Says “Me” in place of “I” and people’s names in place of “You” (Like Petrie does)

Likes Juleka an awful lot

Not the most coordinated in the air

Marinette:

(Ducky)

Species: Swimmer (Parasaurolophus)

Bio:

Lives with her parents and adoptive brother, Marc

Says “Yep yep yep!”/“No No No!” when she’s excited or apprehensive about something

Still more than a little clumsy

Very close and affectionate with her brother

The groups’ voice of reason, much of the time

Marc:

(Spike)

Species: Spike Tail (Stegosaurus)

Bio:

Lost his mothers as an egg, was adopted by Marinette’s parents

Almost never talks, only when it’s important and never more than a couple words

Very protective of his adoptive sister, carries her on his back everywhere

Shares a very close bond with Nathaniel

Still mega shy, and a big eater

Juleka:

(Chomper)

Species: Sharptooth (Tyrannosaurus Rex)

Bio:

Was found by the others as an egg, and became friends as soon as she hatched

Sent back to the valley for safety by her mom, the only sharptooth who lives there

Only eats fish and water food, so no need to worry

Shares a special bond with Rose

Worries that people are afraid of her in the Valley

I’d love to hear more ideas for this AU, I want to add more on to this! What dinosaurs could you see the other kids being? What about other characters? Please leave ideas and thoughts in the comments and reblogs!

[genopaint]

Week 6 of the Daily Dragon Challenge! This is my last week before I start moving, which will likely be a HUGE strain on my time. So hopefully I can keep it up? We'll see?

As always you can follow me on twitter where they’re posted daily

And read more info on each of them below the cut

Daily Dragon #35 - Ghouldrogon

When the knights finally played the dragon tormenting the village... Something went horribly wrong. It didn't decay right. It lingers in the mountain. And it's corrupted soul haunts the lair forever. They have creepy undead magic, spewing foul smelling paranormal green flames. If you somehow successfully steal something from their horde, it's gonna be horribly cursed.

This is a redesign of a 2012 skeleton! Was looking for an old dragon to redraw and settled on this dude! But it's REALLY been changed up I guess. It's barely the same thing anymore lol but I think the new one's way cooler!

Daily Dragon #36 - Floofizard

These more rodent-like dragons are typically found near park trails and in cities with trees to hide in. They love to collect nuts and fruits, but aren't afraid to get close to humans and snatch scraps when the chance comes up. They're fast runners too, so good luck catching them if they snatch a snack out of your bag. You don't commonly see them as pets, but some people love them because of how soft and fluffy they are!

Daily Dragon #37 - Orbodon

Not exactly "man's best friend" as they can be very mischievous! Causing small problems like stealing food, knocking things over, and other trouble, then rolling away before they can be caught and get a little water spritzed in their face.

Had a plan for a big dragon today but ended up feeling a little tired when I sat down to draw tonight so I went with something simple. My brain kept telling me "do a circle one... just make it a circle" and I gave in and now we have the second dog dragon of the challenge lol

Daily Dragon #38 - Dragostein

Dragons slain across the land suddenly go missing, remains of the beast go unaccounted for... Suddenly, a new dragon appears in a long abandoned laboratory. It can't move well, but it doesn't feel pain, is physically power, and has electric powers!

This is the dragon I wanted to draw yesterday! Based on "Dragonstien" that I got from the infinite craft game. For some reason I thought it was so funny, I just had to draw it

Daily Dragon #39 - Rammosaur

A highly aggressive dragon that loves hitting and smashing things with its horns! They can even use those huge horns to shovel dirt and rocks out of their path and territories high up on the mountains! Very versatile creatures!

This creature is a redraw of this weird fella from roughly 2019 I think? Was looking for some random dragons I did in the past and found this thing. It was called the "Rammasaur" but it doesn't really look like a dino? So I wanted to redo it lol

Daily Dragon #40 - Arachnosaur

A strange hybrid of reptile and arachnid! 8 limbs, 7 eyes, Scorpion tail, powerful jaws, and lethal venom make this dragon a feared beast inside most caves. It can also spit webs from its mouth!

Daily Dragon #41 - Magma Dragoon

And of course, this is today's dragon! I actually wanted to draw a nice and simple dragon, but hated how they all came out. So of course the obvious solution was to swap to something complicated!

[rubbarband]

Thank your lucky bugs and bands

closed starter with @ridiculed-baker

'Desmond incoming car!' Desmon's Ai partner assisted him

"Got it!" Desmond the hero in training caught the car, putting it down and saving the family inside too. "Get to safety."

Just another day for the young Bungi band hero Desmond, working alongside another hero Desmond was taking it to one of the big bads, that's the only way young Des would be allowed to, teaming up with RexHemoth Desmond fought off M.T as he teased him, or Monsterous Tengu! It was much more fun calling him a nick name to tease him. There was something different about the big lug, during the bout his portals seemed to shimmer and react differently.

While trading blows with the pair of heroes, a rubber fist and a set of teeth and hard tail from the Dino king himself, The large masked Tengu..seemed like he was being possessed! He jerked and twitched like he was being pulled in many different directions, almost as if opened from the inside a portal popped out of his chest, a vortex of power, He was going through a quirk evolution! His power was increasing; sadly Desmond was on the charge when said portal opened up, Des is pulled inwards towards the portal.

"KID! DAMN!" Rex called out in his dino form trying to reach him, Desmond was sadly pulled in too fast, and following behind M.T was pulled into his own portal too!

It wasn't too long in a vortex of whites, blues and violets that almost blinded him that he was twirling over M.T and a grand visage, was that the eiffel tower?? God damnit M.T you teleported us to the other side of the world, he was unconscious however. A fall from this height would kill him, not Des who's mostly rubber.

"Damn! Gotta catch him." Des stretched into a parachute and using the Eiffel tower stretched his arms and tail around the big fool, and darted around and tied a web of rubber arm around the giant. But at the cost of staining himself, it wasn't enough, if he had just a bit more!

[reversemoon255]

Flame Toys Go! Kara Kuri Power Rangers Dino Megazord

So much to say. Firstly, we've known about this toy since January of 2021. I remember being very excited at the initial reveal, because while it was the Dino Megazord, it was so hyper stylized and cool looking, that I would definitely own a second one for something like that. (Look at the pictures, then think about that statement for a second...)

But it wasn't until August of 2022 that it actually went up for order. And y'know what went up for order shortly before it? The ZAP Megazord. Good job communicating with your third party developers Hasbro. But I was still way more interested in this one. I even had $300 set aside to buy it. But when it went up for order, it was over $400, and I realized that I could be both the ZAP Megazord and the newly unveiled ZAP Dragonzord for less than it combined, which is how I ended up owning them... And then I caved and preordered it anyway.

But we're not done, because this thing was originally supposed to release in June of 2023. But it got delayed. And again. And again. It had multiple production delays that set it back until the last day of February 2024 (thank goodness it was a leap year). And the whole thing just got me feeling a little... jaded. I just felt like I had waited for so long, and that it had been delayed so many times, that I just didn't think it was ever going to come out.

But when I finally got that email saying it had shipped, I let out an audible gasp. The next two days we me antsily waiting for it to get here. And when it did, everything was, like, "they did that?" "Wait, they thought of that?" "That transforms, too?" It was a magical experience I haven't felt since Glacialord. So let's get to why this toy makes me feel like that:

The Good: Where to start? The T-Rex, I suppose. It puts the other three I have to shame. It GaoGaiGar's the legs, so they're able to have more articulation than the others, which fold the legs up onto the back of the thigh. It has pretty decent ankles, fully posable arms, the robot's waist, and a tail with a ton of universal joints in it (not balls, like ZAP Dragonzord). The tail can even expand and compress at every joint. Its only part with subpar articulation is the head, but that's only due to all the transforming it has to do, and even then it's still a great, unique sculpt.

If you've handled the ZAP or Lucky Cat mastodons, you'll understand what they tried to do with this interpretation, but it's just a bit more and feels a bit better. Like, it can balance on its back legs, its front toes can articulate, the trunk has a ton of joints. Its definitely the most brickish of the set, but I can't imagine giving it, say, a neck joint without encumbering it. And speaking of neck, the new head position gives it such a great identity that sets it apart from its predecessors.

The triceratops has legs! But if that's not your thing, they can flip around to reveal those usual treads. Those tiny legs are also very strong, and quite posable. Definitely the second-most brickish, but that's saying a lot considering how many poses you can get it into with what it has.

I find it really hard to get good looking quadruped articulation, but the saber-tooth tiger nails it. Pounce pose, run pose, (I haven't tried sit pose yet) any pose you can put it in looks great. It also has a really emotive neck, which helps a lot.

And the pterodactyl has the biggest glow-up. It has an actual neck like an actual pteranodon! And that head on top is very articulated, giving it a lot of emotiveness. Those wings are also very articulated, and having the hip skirt serve as actual feet makes it feel like such a better package than even the Lucky Cat's version, with the double ptera that mostly ends up as a backpack.

And onto the transformation, it's not actually that complicated. Its big thing is it has a lot of locks all over the toy to prevent certain joints from moving in different modes, but it doesn't take long to realize "if it doesn't move, look for a lock." And there are so many weird and cool transformation bits, like how the head assembles, the T-Rex's nose compressing, the mastodon toes becoming the elbow guards, the shield actually transforming, etc. It's fun.

Now, before we get to the main attraction, lets pivot and talk about the tank mode real quick. There's quite a bit of dedicated engineering for just this mode, with there being a slide in the legs, cuts in the hips, dedicated parts in the T-Rex chest and mastodon head, etc. Also, credit to this one over the others, the pterodactyl really brings it together.

And the actual Megazord is so well engineered. When combined, it feels like a solid piece; I'm not really worried about it falling apart, or untransforming as I play with it. All those locks really do make a ton of difference. And it's incredibly posable. I never had any trouble getting it into the pose I wanted; wings were super smooth to work with, arms never fought me to do anything, ankles are good, tail caused a few problems but only because I was trying not to poke my monitor. And that's the most amazing thing about this toy; that it is a toy. This isn't just some big display piece, it's playable, it's fun, and that's what probably surprised me the most about the whole experience. I was expecting to be scared that I'd shatter this thing if I looked at it funny, but it's just a super solid toy.

And everything is very self-contained, like the original. There's no extra hands, no adapters, no weird super-complex dismantling going on. The guns don't store (from what I've found), but apart from them, there are no spare parts. Heck, even the sword stores away. The sword. It's exceedingly impressive what this accomplishes.

The Bad: Two things. One, some of my glue didn't set? The front of the T-Rex pelvis, and the back of one of my hands both pop off. These aren't super important, load bearing areas or anything; I can glue them myself and they'll be right-as-rain, but I worry about other people where maybe more important areas didn't set right? Hopefully this is a rare issue and never on anywhere important.

And second it the saber-tooth tiger bit me, and it drew blood. Like, it's the next day and I can still see the mark. I also tried to set him on my lap, and his tail poked me right in the ouch. Very spiky, very pointy, be aware.

The Next: When this went up for preorder, they did also show off their grey prototype for a Go! Kara Kuri Dragonzord. And I think the only other time they've mentioned it was when that same proto showed up at a toy show. I follow them on The Twiblies, and they talk about this line maybe once a year, if that, so my hopes are not high that we'll ever get it. But after handling this, I do hope it eventually comes out. Heck, with how much work I've been putting into redesigning Titanus, this feels like the company that might actually do something interesting with it, besides the mono-boot.

Overall, I cannot sing enough high praises about this release. It's a beautiful, well engineered, very playable toy. It is incredibly expensive, though. I just hope that if you walk away from this review with anything, it's that if you do bite the bullet, you'll be getting your money's worth.

[luna-the-bard]

this is an oc x canon lore dump, you've been warned

-> Act II

Just for organization purposes, I'm calling this Act I. I'll add links to other parts as (and if) i write them. Anyways let's hope Tumblr can fit 11 pages of text into one post! :)c

General lore:

Te’rra is a small planet that stopped participating in Big Space Politics about a century ago. Due to this, its existence has been forgotten by most.

It doesn't help that the planet is in the middle of fucking nowhere

It’s fine they chillin

The society populating the planet are called terraninans, and they are an avian species - humanoids with feathered wings and tails, and some other features like blue skin, striking, cat-like eyes, or elaborate skin patterns that are unique to each individual, akin to birthmarks.

Here’s a couple examples:

Note that the Head Priestess (pic. 1) lacks wings, which is normally not the case for the species. Lower image shows more patterning on parts of the body that aren’t the face (mainly arms).

Fun fact: this species is entirely female! This is not relevant to the story tho, so I won’t dwell on it.

The life expectancy of a terranian is somewhere around 1k years. There are old folk still alive who remember Te’rra before it isolated itself from the rest of the world.

Te’rra has pretty high levels of technological progress. However, culturally they put a large emphasis on co-existing with the ecosystem, which makes their technology rather different from what you would normally expect. There is a very developed culture of artisanry, with most goods being produced by individual masters or small guilds.

Main storyline:

Skeets is a relatively young terranian huntress. She is part of a small, about 10-person, hunting group - a common occurrence for her city, as they are located on the edge of a vast jungle. 

She is neither a newbie nor a master of her craft; her position is more akin to a promising junior - not quite ready to lead her own hunting group, but experienced enough to hold a certain amount of weight and respect among her peers.

Hunting groups normally alternate between staying close to the city and going further out into the jungle to balance out their impact on the flora/fauna. Skeets’s group has recently started going further out, as more experienced hunters.

Meanwhile, there is a Space Pirate ship that happened to be passing the planet - a rare occurrence, considering there were no trade routes nearby and ships of any sort were almost never seen in this sector of the galaxy. The Space Pirates were likely taking such an unusual route to avoid a police or military patrol; the reason is really not that important. Identically, it doesn’t matter why exactly the Space Pirates decided to take a closer look at the little blue planet before them, because the impact is the same nonetheless: the small hunting group that ventured a bit too far from the city catches their attention.

Skeets and her group were actually sent to investigate a disturbance in the ecosystem - because of course the Space Pirates have made quite a ruckus, scaring away the local wildlife. What was a result of their ship’s landing got mistakenly interpreted by the city’s lookout post as a sign of a large predator, which would have to be warded off to avoid causing damage to the area.

Unfortunately for everyone, it was not, in fact, a giant blue dino-chicken. 

The Space Pirates decide that “exotic” humanoids would fetch a good price on the black market - especially considering no one has seen their kind for almost a century, and most have forgotten what they look like. This leads to an ambush and the subsequent capture of Skeets’s hunting group.

Having got what they need and not wanting to attract more attention, the Pirates promptly take off; they’re gone from the planet before anyone has time to react. 

—-

Unfortunately for everyone. But especially the Pirates. The ship experiences an engine malfunction, forcing the Pirates to land on a desolate planet that has long been abandoned by civilization; in hopes of either fixing the engine or finding parts to fix it, the Pirates with their precious cargo have to descend into the deteriorated catacombs under the planet’s surface (as the surface itself is inhospitable). They make their home in an empty room that is still structurally sound and fairly close to the surface. It even has some of the basic technology still functioning, likely from an emergency power source (they attempt to locate it, but to no avail). The room only has one entrance, so it’s easy to guard; this was not the last reason on the list of priorities. The bunch of terranians are placed in that room for the same purpose - easy to make sure nothing gets in… or gets out.

Now, you were probably wondering why this circumstance is especially unlucky for the Pirates. As it turns out, the catacombs aren’t as desolate as they appeared. 

As the Pirates find out from their own experience, deeper in the catacombs dwells the apex predator of this planet; whether it’s a result of a genetic mutation or a creature native to the ecosystem is unclear. But the monster is at the top of the food chain for a reason; it’s fast, its spider-like lower body giving it the ability to climb walls and dwell on ceilings. Its limbs have a poison canal underneath each claw, making even minor wounds lethal - the only difference is that this death is much more slow and painful than getting mauled. The creature has a humanoid upper body, but there is nothing human about it: a demethor would be prettier; those at least lack rows of sharp, curved teeth and even more prominent fangs. Its mouth and skin can secrete a slimy substance saturated with its poison; it leaves a wet trail on the walls of tunnels it frequents most.

Not able to retreat back to the surface, and desperately needing to find resources to fix their ship, the Pirates are forced to witness their crewmates being plucked one by one each time they venture out into the planet’s depths; those who manage to escape are subjects to the unsightly fate of being slowly consumed by the poison. The creature knows these catacombs far better than the Pirates do; it calls them its home. The only reason Skeets and her kin are in relative safety is due to the lack of worthy prey closer to the surface - the spider-like abomination has no interest in rodents and other small animals that scurry along the industrial pipes. Terranians see the state in which the Pirates return from their missions; watch their numbers grow smaller and smaller. The ruins are cold, unwelcoming. While the Pirates have to deal with injuries and worry about their resources running low, their captives are faced with a survival issue of a different kind: none of them are suited for the climate. Te’rra is a warm planet. The temperature in the jungle never drops past zero or even close to it; it has no winter.  Hunters almost never have to go into freezing areas, and when they do, they are heavily equipped - a complete opposite of Skeets and her team, who were dressed very lightly. 

For most, it starts as a cold. The average body temperature of a terranian is slightly above human; it runs around 38-39 ℃, and being constantly exposed to the chilly, humid air of the catacombs is taking its toll on each of the ten captives. Colds grow into acute bronchitis; Skeets, who has been secretly sneaking out to look for resources, develops pneumonia.  Before it gets bad, she continues toying with fate: having a much smaller build than Space Pirates, she can fit into tight maintenance corridors and dried-out pipes. Those on guarding duty are delirious from poison, and sneaking out gets less and less challenging with time. Once, early on, she gets lucky and finds a sealed first-aid box - most of the things there expired long ago, but rubbing alcohol and bandages are still safe to use. She brings them back to mend some minor wounds received during the pirate ambush (they were so, so lucky to avoid any serious injuries). Later on, however, her condition worsens too much for her to continue. At this point, everyone is sick, and Skeets and some of her teammates are rapidly declining. The Pirate numbers are so small there is only one of them guarding the door; and even he is near-comatose from wounds and poison. The Pirates decide to take their chances and send out a distress signal - it’s better to get arrested by some Federation patrol than become food for the monster that lives below. Although, the Pirates hoped that the signal would attract a less armed, civilian ship - so they could kill the unsuspecting crew and get off this planet.

Fortunately for everyone but the Pirates themselves :)c the distress signal is received by a lone gunship that happened to be passing through the area. The gunship that, of course, belongs to the universe’s best bounty hunter - Samus Aran.

To no one’s surprise, Samus traverses the catacombs with ease. This is far from the first time she’s had to navigate a labyrinth of rooms and ruins. There is so little left of the Pirates that Samus almost gets suspicious of how… unchallenging it is to defeat them. Then she finds out the reason behind the Pirates’ weakness; whether or not she kills the arachnid creature is unknown. On her way back up, Samus finds one last Pirate - on the brink of death, guarding the entrance to a room. Compared to being slowly digested from the inside, death by Samus’s hand is almost an act of mercy for him.

However, instead of an ammo stash or a navigation room, Samus finds a bunch of very sickly-looking blue humanoids. The readings from her suit indicate that, although their species is not in her database, they clearly require medical attention - even more so since Samus doesn’t know that terranians have an above average body temperature, so to her their state is not much better than the Pirate’s. 

Luckily, the room is close enough to the surface for Samus to be able to contact A.D.A.M. without having to re-emerge. She sends out a request to the Federation - although, really, it’s much more like a firm order, - to direct a rescue vessel their way; she includes just the necessary minimum of information in her message - that there are about ten individuals, species unknown, in need of immediate medical attention; the coordinates of the planet; the instructions on where to safely enter the catacombs.

She does have to leave the terranians briefly, to clear out the path for medical personnel - the last thing she wants is them getting hurt by the local wildlife. She returns quickly, however, making sure that everyone is still there and that no one has declined to the state of comatose (luckily, things are not that dire).

—

It shouldn't surprise anyone that the ship the Galactic Federation sends is not an emergency vehicle. Or even a military patrol vessel. Or anyone directly affiliated with the Federation.

Because, simply put, the Federation officials are cheapskates. 

Why spend money and resources on sending a warship somewhere, when they could just find some cruiser that was the closest to the disclosed location? Paying a random merchant ship is much cheaper than paying for all that fuel.

So, the ship that enters the planet’s atmosphere is not full of paramedics; in fact, there are only two doctors on board, the minimum legal requirement for a small merchant ship like theirs.

Samus has to cast her frustration aside and work with what she’s got. Terranians get evacuated from the catacombs; some on their own two feet, some - on a stretcher, being too weak from fever to properly walk. In case of the latter, the doctors have to make several trips - there’s only one stretcher (they never needed more). When they descend into the catacombs the third time, Samus, who has to accompany the doctors for safety reasons (she already cleared out the path, but it’s better to be safe than sorry), decides that she doesn’t want to do this a fourth time. There are only two terranians left that still needed to be carried to the merchant ship. One of them is being carefully placed onto the stretcher by the medical personnel. The other has spent the entire time that Samus has been there huddled alone in the furthest corner of the room. 

At this point in time it should be obvious to you that the one in the corner is Skeets. The reason she’s distanced herself from others as much as possible is because she is sick. More than others - her pneumonia worsened violently due to her frequently exposing herself to the cold of the tunnels. She was doing her best to not pass it onto others - somewhat successfully, I must note - the other three terranians who were in a similar state suffered from acute bronchitis, not pneumonia.

Not willing to make another trip through the catacombs, Samus simply picks the little avian up - her suit is enough to avoid the biohazard, she is in no danger of getting sick. In a different setting having both her hands - arms? - full would compromise the crew’s safety, but having made close to five trips down and back, Samus knows that there is nothing dangerous left on their path. So she simply trails behind the medics and their stretcher until they’re back on the surface.

No one wants to stay there longer than necessary - the atmosphere is mildly toxic, and it is not recommended to be out in the open for more than a couple hours - the toxins would accumulate in the body. Thus, the two doctors situate their new passengers as fast as they can - and this is where the first issue arises.

In the best traditions of fictional tropes, they are one bed short. 

It’s a small merchant ship. They’ve done what they could. Took in as many people as safety regulations allowed - and even if they could take in one more, their medical bay was simply not equipped for handling this large of a number of people. They would simply not have enough medication.

The nearest multispecies hospital is a week away from this desolate planet. It would just be futile to try and accommodate everyone - someone would inevitably decline beyond what they could heal in that timeframe.

Samus, on the other hand.

Surely, in her line of work, she had to be as self-sufficient as possible and equip her gunship with top-quality medical equipment and supplies?

Judging by the size of it, she can take in one more person no problem. So do you really have a choice, Samus Aran? Are you going to let someone unfamiliar into your personal space because she desperately needs your help, or are you going to refuse and have that on your conscience for the rest of your life when, inevitably, someone dies?

If you don’t know the answer to this, you don’t know Samus, lol.

The second issue surfaces right before Samus is about to bring Skeets over to her ship. 

None among the present know what species they just rescued. There is an apparent language barrier. Skeets, barely even conscious from fever, is still able to see what’s happening -  and draw her own conclusions.

The Pirates disappeared.

There are new, unfamiliar people, and they took all of her kin into their ship - she can’t understand a word they’re saying, and thus their intentions are unknown.

Sure, there are what seem to be medics - but is that really a sign that they are coming to their rescue?

After all, someone who illegally buys sentient creatures to show off their wealth would want their new exotic decor to be in good, presentable shape.

It doesn’t help that she, alone, is not joining her group. No, she is held firmly by someone else - the same person that first entered their shelter. Tall. Imposing. Armed.

Perhaps the mystery byer only wanted nine specimens. Or could afford just this many.

It’s not unusual to divide the product and sell it to several highest bidders, is it?

Samus is almost taken by surprise when the frail, sickly creature in her arms tries to struggle free. Almost. For someone with her reflexes, however, this is more of an annoyance than anything - all she has to do is adjust her grip so that the alien doesn’t accidentally hurt herself.

It is rather uncomfortable, however, when someone you’re carrying is frantically flapping her wings and trying to wriggle out of your grasp. It is also even more annoying when said someone is desperately scratching at your suit - this doesn’t leave so much as a scratch, the powersuit is so much more durable than claws, but the prospect of it is still… irritating. 

Skeets doesn’t stop thrashing around after her first failed attempt to break free. She has to do something, she has no choice - how could she just let someone separate her and her kin? They were all she had left; they depended on her. They could be facing a fate far more terrible than starving to death in abandoned catacombs.

So she scratched. And she kicked and she flapped her wings and she tried everything she could to get away, get back to her group - to her people, whom she may never see again - until she could do it no longer. Until her body harshly reminded her that she was ill; that adrenaline alone is not enough to fight someone far stronger than you.

And so Skeets cried.

She wasn’t trying to accomplish anything with her tears. They weren’t a tool, or a message, or anything intentional at all - they were tears of frustration; tears of powerlessness; tears of anger and tears of giving up; they were the kind of tears that you simply have to cry, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

She did not expect her carrier to stop.

Samus was beyond capable. She was The Ultimate Protector, she was a top-class bounty huntress, she was an unmatched warrior; she’s been on the brink of death and came back, she has saved entire planets and, on the larger scale, the galaxy as a whole, she knew how to survive and get through the most hostile of environments, and then save the universe on top of that.

She had no idea what to do with feelings.

Even less so when she had no ability to verbally communicate. Samus understood that she had to do something, it has become apparent that the girl in her arms was in intense distress, and she couldn’t put it off until they’re at her ship anymore. Sure, she could just ignore the issue and keep walking to her ship, but that would likely only create more problems - ones she would have to deal with until she can find a way to communicate what she was doing. (Which would take weeks; she’d have to identify the girl’s species of find someone who could identify it, then find a translator or at least a textbook on their language, learn said language, all the while potentially fighting off a scared avian who she’s supposed to be treating so she wouldn’t die on her before they got to a hospital - it was clearly a better course of action to solve the problem now).

Regardless of how much Samus would like to get back to her ship and get this whole ordeal over with, she walks back to the merchants. The two doctors are standing at the entrance ramp, talking - no, gesturing, - to one of the rescued aliens. This must be one of the less sick ones - even so, one of the medics has her arm over his shoulder, supporting her weight. The other is holding up a small screen; when Samus gets closer, she can see that the screen is actually a drawing pad filled with doodles. The doodles are… ugly, but readable, and Samus takes note of this being a working form of communication - at least the alien seems a lot more calm and composed than the one currently shivering in her arms. Samus mirrors one of the doctors, carefully lowering her burden so she can stand - still, however, firmly holding her so she doesn’t fall. Even so, the girl can barely stand - but at the moment this was far less important than making sure she can get an explanation of what’s happening. 

It works - even without the help of the crude drawing of nine beds and ten stick figures (no offense to the doctor), the other person immediately starts talking in an unfamiliar language, the avian that Samus is holding answering in a hoarse, strained voice. Samus pretends her and the medic’s arms aren’t in the way when the two aliens awkwardly hug and put their foreheads together. She even ignores the fact that that’s a biohazard - honestly, she just wants to get outta here.

Which she eventually gets to do; finally being able to carry the exhausted alien girl to her ship, get her bed set up with medical equipment (she has to dig out an oxygen can), and leaving the planet. 

Samus charts a course to the nearest hospital and prepares an array of medications - from fever reducers to cough suppressants to an IV (all of the aliens are malnourished and dehydrated after spending a month in the ruins; the Space Pirates didn’t exactly provide them with a five-star buffet, if you know what I mean).

She makes peace with the fact that she’s going to sleep in her pilot’s chair for the next week, since her bed is taken; one thing that kind of compensates for this is the opportunity to research a species she’s never seen before. Samus is a nerd at heart (if Prime logs are any indication), so diving head-first into research is a nice way to spend her time while she has to care for her passenger. Besides, she’ll have to at least try to learn her language. Out of necessity, of course, simply to be able to communicate - this is what she tells herself, but we all know it’s not the only reason, haha.

Now, some closing notes for Act I: 

This storyline takes place after Fusion, but before Dread (closer to Fusion in the timeline). 

Samus definitely saw something vaguely resembling her suit in the doctor’s doodles. It was lopsided and had her arm cannon on the wrong side

The terranian they were communicating with is the leader of the hunting group; Skeets sees her as a mentor figure

Due to being a solely female species, terranians don’t really have a concept of gender. They don’t even have words for it (or men lmao) - when they need to describe a male specimen (like some insect or mammal that inhabits the jungle) they just say something like “non-female” or “opposite” or some other word (I’m still working on a better term for it bc I came up with this literally just now) (also this is completely unrelated to the storyline, just a fun lore fact)

This ship was born before I even knew what metroid was. A friend of mine was infodumping about it, and I thought: Hey, most people probably ship this Samus gal with other humans or themselves; looks to me like she needs a cute alien wife

And so Skeets was made. Literally because I decided to be Not Like Other Girls™ . You're welcome people✌️

-> Act II

[shoppncarticles]

Reshiram, Zekrom, & Kyurem

So finally we come to the big mascot Legendaries of the Generation, starting off with the Dragon/Fire type Reshiram, the mascot of Pokemon... Black. Yeah, they had the mascots reversed, but I guess it was to help them stand out against the thematic backgrounds. There's also potentially clever story reason for it, but I may save that for the retrospective.

Anyways, Reshiram isn't too bad as far as the big dragon icons go. The fact that it consists of one big, solid color is nicely offset but the multitude of different fluffy tufts and spikes making up its coat. The wispy bits at the back of Reshiram's head and its tail resembling smoke is a nice touch and connection to its Fire type too. Its tail looking like a jet turbine and even heating up and glowing red as it flies is pretty amusing too.

Something about it feels off though, like the body is too bottom heavy, or how its arms are always held up and spread out. The detailed look of its calves also doesn't match the rest of its anatomy, which is weird. Not a huge problem, I like Reshiram's overall appearance, but some finer details feel off.

Score: 3.5/5

Zekrom is Reshiram's counterpart, holding the Dragon/Electric typing and being all rad and pure black. Something about Zekrom feels so emblematic of the Generation as a whole, more so than what its fellow mascot holds. I think it's just the sleek jet-black look its got, and all the seams and geometric bits across its body. The aesthetic of Gen 5 was not only all about Black and White contrast, but also hexagonal grid patterns and outlines. Zekrom feels like a perfect encapsulation of that, so it gets some extra points for that too.

It's also just got a nice, cohesive dino-dragon appearance to itself too. Like Reshiram, Zekrom doesn't muddy itself up with too many colors or details, just having shades of black and dark grey defining its body. The light blue shading it's got in the artwork though looks especially nice, giving it a cool electrical sheen that reflects its type well. Its tail isn't quite as fitting as Reshiram's jet engine, but being a conical generator fits its element fine as well.

Score: 4/5

Effectively cool.

Then there's the Dragon/Ice type Kyurem, the Giratina to Reshiram and Zekrom's Dialga and Palkia. Though much more modest in appearance, Kyurem is the far more interesting specimen of the three. This ramshackle, asymmetrical grouch is quite literally shattered, its body left an incomplete husk after some great tragedy in the past split it apart. In Pokemon's lore, Kyurem, Reshiram, and Zekrom were once all the same ultra-powerful dragon deity, before it came crashing to Earth as a terrible meteor, leaving a great impact crater and splitting into three beings, Reshiram and Zekrom both being halves of the original dragon's spirit and leaving Kyurem behind as the empty shell of its original body.

I like how Kyurem's design characterizes this, since not only is it primarily grey (both a cheeky since its a mix of black and white, as well as communicating how unsaturated and lifeless it is), but also with its wings and even face being so lopsided and mismatched. The Ice typing is great too, as the crater left by Kyurem's impact is quite cold, and residing their for so long seems to have left Kyurem partially frozen, its own body not generating any heat to prevent the ice from forming. I just wish it had a liiiittle more ice covering its body, or was broken up just a biiit more. Still great as-is though.

Kyurem is also reduced to a mindless monster in this state, since the town closest to its crater has apparently had to go through history erecting walls to keep it out whenever it wanders outside, with fears that it may break into civilization and start eating people. The story still gets shared in the modern day, but few people can claim to have seen it. I'm glad in addition to being a frozen cadaver of a dragon god Kyurem also gets to be a folktale bogeyman too.

Score: 4.5/5

Come Black 2 and White 2, Kyurem actually does get the opportunity to restore itself to glory somewhat, but still remains incomplete. The full, original dragon has never been shown in a complete state, only these half-measures, but I think that's alright. It's better to keep it a mystery and let the lore stay ambiguous and interesting.

Anyways, White Kyurem here is the fusion between Kyurem and Reshiram. It certainly looks like a haphazard fusion between these two dragons, though not quite in a way I would've liked. I get Kyurem has to still look appealing and marketable in these forms as it's now a mascot legendary too, but I would've enjoyed if it remained messed up and malformed as a fusion, if not more. Just a real disturbing and asymmetrical mess that shows that these two are still not complete without their third wheel. Kyurem's overall shape is a lot more balanced here, but still has weird traits that stick out like the big fluff of Reshiram's tail in the back. It's like it's being pulled in two different directions, one trying to make it more coherent and one trying to keep it weird and mismatched. Make up your mind, guys!

Black Kyurem falls victim to the same problem, but Zekrom's lack of fluffy fur and use of smooth lines helps it feel a little better put together. The tail isn't quite as egregious, for example. I'd still prefer if the arms or wings were more mismatched in shape, though.

Score: 3/5

I'm not a big fan of Pokemon Fusions in general, really.

[Gen 5 Archive]

[howlingdemon13]

Okay but consider the cv3 gang as dinosaurs, what do you think each of them would be? 👀

Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!

My choices have been very carefully considered because it’s so hard to narrow it down when it comes to my two favorite things jwjfjdjsndjdks

Okay okay so, easy one first!

Sypha is a Parasaurolophus. They’re magic-coded - I don’t make the rules. There’s something both ethereal and imposing about Paras that screams “yes, I’m very lovely, but watch out.” Like, it’s kinda nuts just how big Paras are. I wouldn’t want to get charged by one. If that’s not Sypha, then idk what is. Visually, the crest is like a built-in staff that I think would be a good visual link. And this has absolutely nothing to do with Parasaurolophus being my favorite hadrosaur and one of my favorites in general. 👀💦

Grant’s hard to pick a dino for tbh, but if we’re going “small-but-mighty”, then any species of microraptor would fit really well! They were capable of climbing and of gliding, so I think that fits well with Grant’s abilities in-game. That said though, any species of dromeaosaurid like Velociraptor or even Utahraptor works, too. Considering that there’s some fossil evidence to suggest that Utahraptor may have hunted cooperatively (at least in family groups), then I think that’s as good a fit as any for Grant’s role as a team player. Oh, that and the sickle claws. But, going off of that aesthetic alone, then Therizinosaurus or other related species with big, fuck-all claws works, too. Maybe even something like Suchomimus?

Trevor’s hard to pick for, too. I want to say any large dromeaosaur, but then part of me is like “why not a Diplodocus because of its whip tail and long shape?” Which, like, yeah, tall and long is Trevor to a T. Again, hard to pick between the two options, but I think I’m more inclined to say big dromeaosaur. Preferably one that has big feathers since Trevor is “soft-but-sharp-coded” in my lil pea brain. Oops, my favorite family of carnivorous dinosaurs has been discovered.

Alucard has to be a dino with horns or something. Again, I don’t make the rules. But I don’t think any ceratopsian fits him?? So that basically leaves either Ceratosaurus or Carnotaurus. OR something that may have had a really elaborate display feature like Dilophosaurus, and I’m more inclined to pick the Dilo since it’s less bulky than the other contenders. That, and they were pretty big without being massive and losing that streamlined, elegant shape.

(I will say that a large pterosaur like Quetzalcoatlus would fit since they can fly, are huge, and look very graceful, but not a dino.)

Is this subject to change? Maybe, but I like all these options. C:

[sunstormbudgie]

Hello I saw ur tags that you know about dinosaurs please tell me about weird dinosaurs (/not forced)

Thanks for the ask! I'm more than happy to info dump about my interests! Anyway here's a list of my favourite weird dinosaurs:

Yutyrannus

Yutyrannus is so far the largest known feathered dinosaur (the largest known specimen's weight is estimated at about 1.4 metric tons). I love floofy dinos and I think it's interesting that we haven't yet found feathers on dinos of comparable size. Of course there's a loooong debate about whether the really big guys like Tyrannosaurus had feathers but so far there's no definitive evidence one way or another.

I love Yutyrannus I just think they're so cute :) I love big floofy animals <3

Scansoriopterygidae

Scansoriopterygidae is a family of dinosaurs with a very weird and unique body plan. They have wings, but unlike their close relatives, the birds and dromaeosaurs, their wings are made of thin membranes stretched between their fingers, a lot like a bat. This family also happens to contain the dinosaur with the shortest binomial name: Yi qi.

Psittacosaurus

Themost remarkable thing about Psittacosaurus, in my opinion, is just how much we know about it. Many dinosaurs are known from extremely fragmentary remains, with most of their skeletons being inferred from better-known relatives. But we have specimens of Psittacosaurus that are so well-preserved that we can even know what colours it was.

The preserved skin that we have shows that it was mostly brownish, with black spots around its shoulders, and dark patches around its face and cloaca (imagine putting in all that hard work to become a paleontologist, and then you have to spend hours studying a dinosaur's butt. I might die of embarrassment if that was me).

I also love Psittacosaurus because it's just so goofy looking. It's a small, early-offshoot ceratopsian. It didn't have quite the level of ornamentation of, say, triceratops, but it does have two horn-like structures on its cheeks. Another weird thing about Psittacosaurus is the row of long bristles at the base of its tail. Scientists still aren't sure what they are, or why they're there.

Spinosauridae

Spinosauridae is a clade containing the well-known dinosaur Spinosaurus, and many lesser known dinosaurs that are all very weird. Ever since the discovery of Spinosaurus, this clade has baffled scientists. There have been endless arguements over the last few years over the lifestyle of these animals, from how well they could swim, to what they ate, to their hunting style, to just how aquatic they were.

One interesting recent discovery may give us some insight into these animals: a study of the skull of Irritator (yes, they named a dino Irritator, it's a long story) showed that as the jaw opened, it widened, similar to how pelican jaws work.

Honourable mention: Cryodrakon

Not a dinosaur, but a very cool-looking pterosaur! I gotta say, "Cryodrakon" is probably the coolest name given to any extinct animal ever.

I'm probably forgetting some dinos but those are some of my favourites!

[ifuckinglovedinosaurssomuchjesus]

New Jurassic World Dino Trackers Toys Revealed

(All images Courtesy of CollectJurassic on Twitter)

The Dino Tracker Toyline has been slowly trickling in to store shelves and I'm really enjoying it so far, the mix of really strange and unique species with a focus on striking and naturalistic paintjobs is a winning combination. The “story” behind the line is that the dinosaurs have completely integrated into our ecosystems after the events of Dominion, and so the color schemes are themed around biomes like deserts and mountains and the accessories are from people using tracking devices and cameras to observe them.

Irritator

A completely new sculpt from their last go at the species, the new anatomy is much more in line with the real animal and gives it a really unique profile. The mustard yellow on the head and neck is a weird choice and the face and teeth are almost skeletal, but overall a really nice figure in my eyes.

Orkoraptor

Mattel’s second go at a Megaraptoran and they hit it out of the park again. I love this thing, from the naturalist colors to the shaggy, bear-like feathers to the cartoonishly big claws on those stumpy little arms. This thing is right up my alley.

Regaliceratops

Probably my least favorite of the bunch, unfortunately. The sculpt is nice but the paint job is so garish, bright yellow is not a good base especially if you’re going to skimp out on painting the toenails and beak.

Bistahieversor

Part of the larger assortment, it comes with tracking gear accessories and an extra gimmick where the quills on the tail can fold in or pop out. Like the Orkoraptor, this is fantastic looking. I love the colors and the speculative features as well as the more natural proportions compared to some of the earlier releases that can border on chibis.

Tyrannosaurus

Can’t have a JP toyline without a T. rex. This one is interesting because it’s one of only two adult T. rex toys made by Mattel for the JW toyline that isn’t meant to be Rexy herself. I hope we get more, Big and Little Eatie one day please? Whoever decided to put a headset on a Tyrannosaur is braver than I am.

Elasmosaurus

This one I am extremely excited for, I'm so happy we’re getting another large marine reptile and the sculpt and color scheme are fantastic. I love the light white wash that make it look like light coming through the water surface.

Triceratops

This may be the one I'm most hyped for. Sure it’s a Triceratops, we’ve gotten over a dozen of these released over the years, but none have been in scale. They’ve all been so disappointedly tiny, dwarfed by the toyline’s T. rex despite being famous for being rivals. Finally they listened and we’re getting a Trike toy around 17 inches long! It’ll look perfect squaring up to all your plastic carnivores, Triceratops finally gets the love it deserved from the start.