#mongoose&son

[blackknight-100]

Kacha's presence in this story is so, so insidious oh my gods. He is insanely manipulative and the way he earns Devayani's adoration is so, so horrifying. Especially given that the gods tell him to do so. Again, I'm not sure how much nuance is lost in translation but the line in my pdf reads something like, "By gratifying Devayani with your <insert different virtuous conducts> you will be able to obtain <that> knowledge". As far as my memory goes there is no mention of Shukra - the person who actually knows the mantra - here in this sentence, it is exclusively for Devayani. In fact she is mentioned nearly as many times as her father in this discourse and the fact they are using someone at least in part of their own royal line seems to matter very little. Or maybe because she was part Deva they thought she'd be down for it but that seems unlikely.

Even more upsetting is that Kacha himself was young, so he is pretty fond of Devayani too, whether it is simply as a sister or a potential lover, and when he refuses her offer of marriage he ends up with a curse similar to Karna i.e. his knowledge will never bear fruition (with his own well-placed caveat that he can teach it to others). And then he curses Devayani back. Because this whole situation is very normal and not at all because two youngsters were placed between a horrible war between clans. (Side note: people please don't curse/hurt people for any reason, but especially not for rejecting you.)

And then, because this story is tailored to descend to ruin, Kacha, presumably still miserable about not being able to use his hard-earned powers, blows away and mixes up Devayani and Sharmistha's clothes and the rest is history.

I don't think it's really fair to say Devayani bullied Sharmistha and that was why she pushed her into the well because Sharmistha gave back as good as she got (and the things she said were arguably worse) and things only got physical when Devayani tried to snatch her clothes back. And then Sharmistha, who was convinced Devayani was dead, returned home and did not bother informing anyone. It took Ghurnika going to Shukra for him to even know that his daughter was in danger. To say that Sharmistha was initially victimised IMO takes away a lot from her sacrifice to protect her family.

Women in Mahabharata - Devayani

Abandoned by her mother Jayanti, she is swindled easily by Kacha, Vrihaspati's son. Kacha sees a vulnerable adolescent, who he woos with stories of svarga, a place where her absent, idolized mother resides, and uses her as a human shield against the danavas, all while buttering up her father to gain access to a very coveted magic trick that is the key to win the war ongoing from the previous generation.

When Kacha breaks her young heart, this destruction of her first love fundamentally shifts something in Devayani's brain, and she slides into an ultra-fundamentalist school of thought, using her identity on her father's side as a brahmin to bully Sharmishtha, the danava king's daughter.

After Sharmishtha, tired of her behaviour, tries to kill her, Devayani is rescued by Viraja's son Yayati.

Devayani uses her father's unconditional, compensatory devotion to herself to force Sharmishtha into submitting to be her slave, and then forcing Yayati later to marry her despite both his and her father's unwillingness and a documented caste-incompatibility.

She develops a chip on her shoulder, where even after several years she is unable to allow Sharmishtha any happiness, disproportionately punishing her by effectively keeping her prisoner in a garden mansion.

She later shortsightedly forces her father to curse Yayati after the latter has an affair with Sharmishtha, effectively pushing her own children, Yadu, Turvasu and Madhavi, out of the order of succession.

Her story seems to embody the saying: "Hurt people hurt people."

[docgold13]

Cartoon Heroes Paper Cut-Outs

Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

Based on a short story from The Panchatantra (an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose) Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was adapted into an English story in Rudyard Kipling’s 1894 anthology, The Jungle Book.    

Chuck Jones directed and animated a 1975 half-hour television special about the story, based mostly on Kipling’s adaptation of the tale.  Actor Orson Wells provided the narration.  

In the story, a seasonal thunderstorm nearly drowns a curious and adventurous mongoose who is rescued by a small British family, a man and wife and their son Teddy, residing in a large home and garden in rural India. They name the mongoose ‘Rikki-Tikki-Tavi’ for his chattering vocalizations.  After Rikki revives he explores the house and property, making friends with the other animals about the garden and endearing himself to the British family.  The mongoose becomes especially bonded with and protective of young Teddy.   

Teddy’s mother is initially hesitant over keeping a wild animal in the home.  Although her apprehension is dispelled when Rikki heroically saves Teddy from a snake.  Not long thereafter, a quiver of cobras invade the garden and Rikki valiantly dispatches these dangerous serpents.   

[brucewaynehater101]

I had a rather angst idea for a Good Dad Bruce au. One where he actually loves his kids and Jason never died (they still took Tim in because they found him taking pictures of them on patrol) and everyone is a lot healthier. The family spends time together and while they do squabble, like all families, they don't fight like they do in canon.

Then one day, they get an alert that the cave has been broken into and when they rush to check it out, they find.... Tim? Which shouldn't be possible as Tim is following behind Bruce and was literally at breakfast with everyone else. The new Tim's head snaps up when they enter and he just sighs, "Damn it, I was hoping to avoid you guys. Well, Multiversal Code Lima Omega Sigma Tango. Is that still the code here?" Which is the Bat code for "someone fucked up and sent me through a multiverse portal and now I gotta get home". Before anyone can fully comprehend what's going on with New Tim, he turns back to the Batcomputer, where he's currently pulling up information on Zatanna and Constantine.

Bruce walks over to the computer, worried about this version of his son being lost so far from home and says, "well help you get home. Do you know what world you're from?" And Tim simply raises an eyebrow and says, "oh. Is this one of *those* dimensions? How annoying. You can help by getting me some coffee, keeping Bat Brat and Hood away from me, and I'll be out of your hair soon enough. I won't even be here long enough to make your paranoia to bad if things go right."

All that is. Rather concerning. Especially because none if them have Hood in their names. Of course these Healthy Bats insist on helping New Tim out for as much as he will let them. It can be noted that he only accepts food from Alfred, Steph, and Cass and only drink from them and Dick. Anything Jason, Bruce, or Damian tries to give him is completely ignored, Tim acting like it isn't even there. He also is isn't refusing to interact with Damian and Jason but unlike the others, he won't say anything to them until they say something first.

Eventually Damian snaps and says, "Drake, why are you ignoring myself and Jason?!" Tim simply slowly places the tablet he was typing on down and turns to Damian and Jason who are a little pissed and also worried about Tim and why he's acting the way he is. After a deep breath, Tim says, "simply by observing I can tell that our families are extremely different. For example, both of you get along very well with your Tim. It is not so on my world. I will not go into details for all of our sakes, but both of you have made *multiple* attempts on my life. I don't blame either of you and things have been almost peaceful recently. I don't blame either of them, it's simply instinct for them. But that doesn't erase the fact that someone with each of your faces has nearly killed me at least 5 times *each*. I understand that it wasn't you two who did it, but I would still rather not become complacent around any version of either of you to avoid becoming complacent around them. So just. Stay away from me." Tim then turns back to what he was doing and resumes research on how to get back to his own world.

Jason is shocked and horrified that any version of himself would make any attempt on Tim's life, let alone almost half a dozen! He snarls, "what do you mean it's *instinct* for them? What, is only one person allowed to be in the family at a time or some bullshit?!"

Tim and Jason go back and forth a few times with Tim refusing to explain fully, simply calling it Instincts and everyone calling bullshit on that until Tim snaps, scales spreading across his hands and face as his pupils become slits and a hood flares out of his neck that was previously hidden. In a blink, Tim has become some kind of human animal hybrid as he hisses, "because I'm a Viper, Jason is a Hawk, and Damian is a Mongoose!! They naturally hunt my kind, I don't blame them for not trusting me or attacking me if I don't warn them that I'm there! I don't blame either of them for trying to kill me on sight the first two times each of them met because I'm a Cobra!" Once Tim settles down he pinches the bridge of his nose and deshifts back to fully human as he grumbles, "I apologize. I shouldn't have snapped like that just. Just leave it."

Jason and Damian attacking him on instinct is all a lie. They just don't want to accept Tim into the family and this is an easy way to excuse any murder attempts. If Bruce or Dick catches them, they just lie through their teeth that Thr Pit makes it harder to control the more instinct driven side of them, or its lingering effects from whatever Rouge they got Poisoned by last, or Tim was shifted and didn't warn them when he walked up. Sure it's fine for everyone else in the family, hell in 99% of the world its considered perfectly OK to be shifted at all times, or at least it is for animal hybrids like mice and birds and dogs, but not as much for Spiders, Snakes, and Pathners.

As for what the rest of Snake Tim's family is, Bruce is some kind of Fancy Dog (as was his mother) and when he's Batman he fluffy up and puts temporary dye in his fur to look like a Rottweiler or Doberman, Dick is a Swan who used basically spray on hair dye that Bruce made special for his feathers so people thought he was a Robin Shifter, Jason is a Hawk who's wings got the same treatment, Tim is a King Cobra like his mom but when on patrol he keeps the hood hidden and chews black gum so the inside of his mouth looks black like a Mamba's, and Damian is a Mongoose like Ras and Talia but the public thinks he's a ferret. Steph is either a Possum or a Raccoon and makes jokes about having switched animals with Tim as birth. Cass is a black panther who loves the groom her family.

Shifter AU!!!!!!

I was not expecting that, so I was pleasantly surprised ^^

Snake comparisons for Tim are underutilized and beloved. I'd be down to see way more of them. As for this AU, I'm curious about what seems to be Shifter-ism (not sure if there's a better word for that), their instincts, and how often Jason and Damian get away with attacking Tim. Are they at least doing better now? It seems that Tim is weary of them, that they attacked him even with full control of their actions, but that he doesn't blame them.

Also, is one of Tim's instincts to take naps in sunny spots? Is he slower when he's cold?

For the cover-up that Tim did, it was brilliant. He crafted a perfectly logical reason for why they would attack him (especially for Bats who are presumably unfamiliar with shifter instincts and thus unable to call him out).

[ryin-silverfish]

When Wukong sued Li Jing, he mentioned all his children which are Nezha, Muzha, and Jinzha. But then he said he also has a daughter that is 7 years old named Zhenyang.

I'm familiar with his son's but I don't think I know much about his daughter, or the fact he even has a daughter(there is the Rat demon but that is another story). Do you know any myth that involved her or is she purely just existing/original character in JTTW?

Yes, Li Zhenying is just an one-off JTTW original character the novel dedicates one sentence to, and never appears anywhere else.

My own speculation is that she's mostly a plot device to make the lawsuit scene work——like, Lady Earth Flow the adopted mice daughter likely comes from Kubera/Vaisravana's treasure-spewing mongoose, which, as Buddhism spreads to China, gets turned into a rat and spawns a series of magical golden rodent legends in relation to Pishamen worship (recorded in the historical Xuanzang's travel diary!).

So, for the author-compiler to insert the rodent image into the story as a character related to Li Jing, adopted daughter might have been the most suitable choice: as a rat demon, she can't be an actual daughter, and she's just too tiny and lowly an animal to be a typical escaped steed/pet of the gods.

The arc is then built around the adopted mice daughter, with Li Zhenying the OC daughter being dropped in there as a background plot device that lends more credence to Li Jing's claim that he can't possibly have a monk-kidnapping demon daughter.

On a sidenote, in Tang texts, Pishamen was said to have 5 sons, tho only two get named——Dujian (2nd) and Nezha (3rd). The JTTW version of Li Jing's family, with three sons, one daughter, and one adopted mice daughter, does unintentionally coincide with the "5" number of older legends.

[emositecc]

Ooh! What was your process for coming up with Arthur?

Well doubts was supposed to be a one shot. I wasn't planning on actually showing Sir Pentious' kid, but alot of people really wanted me to do a part 2 so I did it. People suggested his son should be a mouse or a mongoose etc. But I chose frog cuz i thought it was cute. Everything else in his design came after, the red marks on his cheek are obvs the frog design u see in cartoons but I figured it would also make sense as a symbol of the blood he coughed out when he died. His color scheme is obvs from Pentious but if u look closely his skin is a bit lighter than his dad's. aaaaand that's basically it.

[multifandomfanfiction]

The Ghost of You

TITLE: The Ghost of You PAIRING: Past Iceman/Mongoose (OC) RATING: T CHAPTER: One-shot SUMMARY: A ghost from Iceman and Maverick's past comes back.

[A/N - I've been missing Mongoose for a while now, but this was actually requested on one of my other accounts.]

Iceman and Maverick entered Iceman’s office.

They stood at the desk and looked at the files sitting on top.

It was time to choose the next Top Gun class. They flipped through them, pulling out ones that looked like good prospects.

Bradshaw (Maverick hesitated on this one, but finally placed it in the accepted pile).

Trace.

Seresin.

Grenier.

That last name stopped Iceman in his tracks.

Maverick watched the blood drain from Iceman’s face.

He cautiously opened the file and the face that had haunted him for decades was staring up at him.

She looked exactly as she had in the 80’s, down to the defiant look in her eye. “It’s her.”

Maverick glanced over his shoulder. “Mongoose.”

“Minx.”

“She did tell us she wasn’t from our time.”

Iceman chuckled. “No wonder she was such a good pilot. She’d already gone through the training.”

“Not to mention that she said learned from me.”

But Mongoose had been very cagey with what she revealed and the men had seen enough time travel movies to understand why.

Maverick took the file from him and placed it in the accepted pile.

“She could be hurt or killed!” Iceman argued.

“But she wasn’t. otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to meet us in the first place. She said it was after her, Rooster, and Hangman became a squadron and that hasn’t happened yet,” Maverick reasoned with him.

Iceman finally nodded and they went back to looking at the files.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Once Maverick had left, Iceman glanced through Mongoose’s file again. He read about her schooling and her family and what she had accomplished. He would have been very proud to be have been…

Iceman sighed and pulled a wooden box off the shelf. It contained all the letters he’d written to her over the years.

In the bottom, was a letter he’d read many times over the years. He’d taken it with him on deployments and read it when he was feeling lonely. He was teased by his fellow pilots, but he always claimed it was from an old sweetheart, which wasn’t a complete lie.

He carefully unfolded it and began to read again.

Dear Ice,

           I didn’t know how to tell you this, so I settled for putting it in a letter instead. My name is Noel Grenier and I’m from the future. 30 years in the future. In the future you’re a four-star Admiral, which is how I knew you. Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, uncle to Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw. That’s right. Rooster is Goose’s son. Funny how their callsigns are so similar. You may not believe all this now, but you will one day. If by some chance I’m ever sent back, please look after Bradley for me? Be there for him because he’ll need it. I won’t spoil anything for you, but Maverick does something pretty stupid and he’ll need someone in his corner. I already told Mav about being from the future because I kind of let it slip. Sorry. If you don’t want anything to do with me after this letter, I’ll understand. I’ll strike out on my own and make sure you never see me again, but if you still wanna be with me I’ll meet you at the O Club when we get back to California.

                                                                                                    Your Minx

Iceman set the letter back in the box and placed it back on the shelf. He looked at the file on his desk and smiled.

This Mongoose wasn’t his, but once she had been.

“Welcome to Top Gun, princess. We’ll meet again soon.”

[ashen-sky]

Personal highlights from...

Red vs Blue The Ultimate Fan Guide

In honor of s19 and the continuation of where s13 left off, here are some highlights from the ultimate fan guide published back in 2015. I've been re-watching the show and it made me want to flip back through the guide. (Everything is sort of in the order it appears in the book, with a few exceptions)

Delta appears as a guide of sorts with fun facts

Caboose's position is listed as "Team Rookie/Occasional Captain/ Church's Best Friend" (it is actually struck out in the book)

He is also the only one listed with the title Captain, appearing as "Private/Captain Michael J. Caboose" (due to Wash "promoting" him, in the canyon on chorus)

Tucker is "Private First Class", Church, Donut, and Simmons are "Private"s, Sarge is listed as a "Colonel" under rank (the other Red's and Blue's ranks appears with their name while his is under "position"), and Grif is "Minor Junior Private, Negative First Class"

Wash used to be a chronic bed wetter (thanks D)

There's also a six page transcript of his psych eval prior to PF where we find out he injured a commanding officer because he wanted to "send everyone to their deaths", he also put a former bully through a mirror in fifth-grade

Grif is stated to have been assigned to Blood Gulch because he was the only survivor of an alien attack on a colony during the great war, he fell asleep at his post and everyone assumed he was KIA

Donut's position is listed as "On all fours... cleaning Red bade"

Doc's profile is "Doc/ O'Malley" and the whole thing lists both their interests, i.e "Position: Canyon Medic, Galactic Overlord"

Andy's (the bomb) name is "Andrew D. Kaboom"

Sheila and Filss share a page

Tex's notable attributes are "Kicking ass (and nuts), being a mean lady, and resurrection"

The password to unlock the file on Beta that CT left behind was "Allison" (Thanks again D)

York's page comments "Several reports were filed against Agent York claiming he and Agent Carolina had something of a "personal" relationship [...] Freelancer Command was unable to find any proof to support these accusations."

One of his notable attributes is "watching his right side" and his position is "team scoundrel"

Eta and iota (Carolina's AIs) were "fear and happiness"

According to the official time line, Carolina was around 6 when Allison died (Allison died 23 years before Blood Gulch and Carolina was born 29 years before)

Wyoming's real name is Reginald

South Dakota's Status is listed as "Extra Crispy"

Smith once spent two days contemplating in silence what Caboose meant when he said his favorite color was "Happy"

Dr. Grey's position is "(Mad) Doctor", she was considered a prodigy at age 11 when she diagnosed every patient in House M.D. within five minutes of their introduction, and she thinks Grey's Anatomy is "far too trite"

Felix and Locus' names are listed as Unknown in the book, but I do believe their names were revealed in a s14 episode

The counselor advised the director to tell Tex that Alpha was in Blood Gulch to protect him and stop her from investigating the project

Notable Features of Blood Gulch include "Avoid Tucker's Rock at all costs, as it has not been properly sterilized"

BTS from D: The opening shot of Season 6 was created by shooting players moving in different quadrants and combining the shots"

Important events at High Ground, "Washington killed Agent south in cold blood- with a much less cold flamethrower."

Fact from D: "Once a year, Reds and Blues stationed at Rat's Nest still pay tribute to Agent Alabama by sending a flaming mongoose soaring through the night sky."

Donut likes to spend his leisure time in Federal Army Outpost 37, in the jail cells in handcuffs

The statistics pages, 9 pages of stats from number of robots murdered (112) to Church's sniper rifle accuracy (9.3%)

Bow Chicka Bow Wow was first said in season 4, and Simmons never sucked up in season 12, season one had the most "son of a bitch"s at 14 Donut made 32 accidental innuendos, and the odd number of pedals in vehicles was called out on five occasions Tucker has the highest kill count of all reds and blues (counting wash and Tex), at 24 followed by donut at 22 and Tex at 21, Caboose is the lowest at 2 raised by Lopez and 3 and Church at 8 Sarge has threatened/wished death on Grif 56 times, and Donut has nearly died five times Seasons 2 and 9 had the lowest kill counts Carolina had the highest flash back kills at 68 in season ten, and the twins are tied at 23 kills in season nine

Tex's attack to free Alpha was 2 years before Blood Gulch, the great war ended 1 year after Alpha arrived in Blood Gulch and after the Wyoming incident in Blood Gulch (where they tried to kidnap junior), Chorus takes place 5 years after Alpha initially arrived in Blood Gulch

The mission books has adorable illustrations (they look like Caboose's guides from s14)

There's a mindmap for all the Leonard and Allison iterations and they they connect

Sarge has a guide on how to build a robot, scented lube is preferred, along with mad scientist goggles, a cup of baking soda, and seventeen tablespoons of sugar

More silly plans with fun diagrams

Donut's diary, D tells us that Donut washes his underwear on tuesday's

Caboose's Wisdom section on: feelings, relationships, army etiquette (including gems like crayons don't work as bullets. Use markers.), life, and the reds and blues

Simmons made a text based adventure games

BTS from D, the story of Simmons refusing to go to the Vegas Quadrant is a reference to Gus Sorola (Simmons' VA) refusing to go to Las Vegas with the rest of the rvb creators

You can find the case against Sergeant Grif from the reds at rat's Nest (he was selling red team's ammo to Caboose before he was locked up in the brig, Private Jones wore a wire tap to help the red's catch Grif's under the table dealings)

Leonard met Allison in the mess hall during basic training where he pissed off another recruit and Allison had to save his ass (Church was right, Carolina get's her temper from her mom)

I'm Church. private Church. Leonard. Leonard Church." the only thing I cared about in that moment was that she knew my name. She smiled. Her smile could light up solar systems. "Kind of a funny name. Church." "It's Jewish."

I spent the rest of basic chasing after her. In some ways, I never stopped.

Here's hoping non of our beloved idiots die in season 19! I mean, I know Church will be gone, but the others... they deserve a happy ending.

Also I miss the freelancers and AI...

[preservationofnormalcy]

For Jenny: you've mentioned your godfather is mothman and your partner's father is Santa, do you know any other famous extranormal folk?

So, point of order, and I hate to be a pedant here, but Norm was the one who said that Mothman is my godfather-

Yeah, my bad. Didn’t mean to out you like that. 

-It’s fine, Norm. Mr. Kringle said that Reggie, my girlfriend, is his daughter. I don’t know if the vibe came across during his interview, but Mr. Kringle is not the kind of person you correct.

I’m actually a little self conscious about my connections with the community, I get really bad imposter syndrome, and the knowledge that my grandfather got me the job I have right now doesn’t help with that, so I try really hard not to namedrop.

Listen, your grandad is a good judge of character on top of being a friend. He wouldn’t have brought you up if he didn’t think you’d fit. I was in the…hospital when he visited. “I have….just the…per-son for the…..job,” he said.

My grandad also hijacked a- wait, are the records on that one still sealed?

Yeah, anything in the 70s we can’t–

Right. Beyond that, uhhh, my ex claimed he was the mocap actor for Benecio del Toro’s werewolf form in the 2010 Wolfman remake?  And that they asked him to come in because his grandfather was Lon Cheney’s body double?

Which, we know who that was, we have the files. I could bring them up right now.

No, yeah, I’m almost a hundred percent certain he’s full of ████.

Rudy could have been the body double in 2010? He was at least that old, so you – he –

Can we not talk about my bad relationship decisions on a public forum please?

Yeah, sorry. Just, you know.

I know.

If I can chime in, I know her grandad as a friend. Hadn’t met Jenny until she came here, but he and I had worked together in West Virginia, being a Virginian myself. I was friends with Yth’Wa before her metamorphosis and appointment as leader of the Yellow Circle. Dogsat for her a couple times. Oh, I also met Gef the mongoose when I visited HMES that one time when I was a junior agent.

Oh I met Flatwoods once!

Oh, really? What’s she doing now? Modeling on Glammr, right?

Yeah, she has millions of followers.

[fatehbaz]

In April 2024, scientists from the Natural History Museum of Jamaica and The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus accepted a very rare and historic specimen: a 16-inch lizard called the Jamaican giant galliwasp (Celestus occiduus). It had previously been stored in the Hunterian museum at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. “‘Celeste’ is home!” announced one Jamaican news outlet [...]. Celeste was collected in the 1850s and represents a species that was endemic to Jamaica but is now classified as critically endangered and possibly extinct. Scientists in Jamaica, who have never seen or handled one of these lizards, are elated [...]. As scholars of Jamaican landscape histories who are interested in environmental justice, we believe this repatriation illustrates important truths about colonialism and its legacies.

Celeste’s 170-year residence in a Scottish university collection speaks to uncomfortable connections between colonialism and natural history.

---

[O]fficials, physicians, naturalists and amateurs from Europe traveled across the colonized world, collecting local plants and animals [...]. Many objects they brought back [...] are housed today in European libraries and museums. [...] “The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica,” by Patrick Browne, published in 1755, was the first text in the English language to use the system of classifying plants developed by Carl Linnaeus. The book shows how major advancements in natural history, botany and biology relied on field work conducted far beyond metropolitan Europe. [...] Exploration and collecting specimens often relied on the knowledge and labor of enslaved persons who acted as field assistants and guides – but the historical record has little to say about their roles. Today, organizations such as Kew Royal Botanical Gardens in England and the New York Botanical Garden continue to rely on the knowledge and collections derived from colonial-era tropical botanical gardens in places like the Caribbean islands of St. Vincent and Jamaica.

In Jamaica, there was a direct relationship between geological exploration and the plantation system. The first geological surveys of Jamaica were conducted by naturalist Sir Henry De la Beche, the son of a Jamaican plantation owner and first director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain.

British physician and naturalist Sir Hans Sloane’s extensive holdings of books, manuscripts and specimens became the founding collection of the British Museum. [...] His collections include more than 1,500 plant specimens from Jamaica, which he acquired there from 1687 to 1689. After England gained formal possession of Jamaica in 1670, it established monoculture production of sugarcane across the island. Extensive land clearance, damage to local ecosystems [...] exacted a heavy toll. Some of the plant and animal specimens that collectors extracted and exported abroad may be the only ones that exist today.

---

Colonizers also introduced harmful species, such as the Indian gray mongoose (H. edwardsii), which was brought to Jamaica to prey on rats in plantation sugarcane fields. [...] The Indian grey mongoose quickly became a major threat to numerous species, including the Jamaican giant galliwasp.

It remains a key adversary today in the struggle to stabilize the population of the critically endangered Jamaican iguana. [...]

The Jamaican giant galliwasp’s classification as possibly extinct in the wild reflects optimism from the almost unbelievable rediscovery of the Jamaican iguana (Cyclura collei). Prior to 1990, this species was presumed extinct, but then scientists discovered a remnant population in the island’s Hellshire Hills.

---

All text above by: Alex A. Houghton and Thera Edwards. "Returning a 170-year-old preserved lizard to Jamaica is a step toward redressing colonial harms". The Conversation. 3 June 2024. At: theconversation.com/returning-a-170-year-old-preserved-lizard-to-jamaica-is-a-step-toward-redressing-colonial-harms-229339 [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism purposes.] Image and caption are shown unaltered as they originally appear published with the article. Image is CC BY-ND 4.0, available at biodiversitylibrary.org/page/188786.

[spartanguard]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love

ahhhh thanks dev! (and @idoltina!)

this is always so hard—it's like picking favorite children. but I guess my top 5 would have to be:

A Tall Tail—my first MC (10 years ago what the hell). I didn't think I could handle one before then, but then my imagination ran away with the idea and here we are. There's still a number of half-finished ficlets within this universe that may or may not get published someday, because I just can't resist merman!Killian.

Savage Garden—combining sweet deckhand Killian from Operation Mongoose with Dark Hook was a lot of fun to play with (thanks to thesschesthair for the inspo) as I didn't think we got enough of either of them in canon. plus: angst!!!

Sons of Love and Death—it was so nice to finally get this one DONE, as I think I'd been picking at it on and off for about 8 years. literally the only reason I read The Picture of Dorian Gray was to help me write this. and I am a sucker for Killian having magic (see previous fic) so any excuse to put that in his hand is something I will jump on.

Still Got It—because Killian will still be sexy AF when he's old and gray and Emma will always be there to remind him of it.

When Emma Falls In Love—the newest fic on this list, but I'd wanted to try my hand at cursed!Killian for a long time and TayTay gave the perfect inspiration for it.

honorable mentions to Something In The Water, Most Wanted, and Until the End of the Line!

[superscourge]

hi, I have to agree that Sonic genetics, especially in Archie, is absolutely hell- there's the examples the other asker pointed out as well as with interspecies couples and their kids, there is no chance for hybrids period even with some wildly different combinations. Bunnie and Antoine had two kids, a Coyote son and a Rabbit daughter, iirc, same with Tails and Mina at one point in one of the Mobius X Years Later arcs, Fox son, Mongoose daughter, it's always that the son matches the dad and the daughter matches the mom but like??? where's the variation??? the one outlier was Rob O' the Hedge and Mari-An's son somehow?? Because he was an echidna like his mom instead of a hedgehog like Rob. not to mention the number of times twins seem to be born to Mobian families. I'm pretty sure it can reasonably be blamed on the fact that in the Archie continuity, Mobius was the result of an alien race basically nuking Earth several times over which even resulted in the Mobian/Mobianized species to begin with

archie is a mess i think <3 JADFKFDLSJK

[fledercanons]

Dada Wanne: A closer look at four sisters

Sarabi is the firstborn of the litter. Being the first, and the stockier of the cubs, her negligent parents tasked her with the responsibilities of caring for her sisters. From an extremely young age, she was taught how to hunt, and was expected to at least go out and catch small prey for herself and for her sisters. If she did not do the tasks she was told to do, she was berated heavily and, at times, beaten. She is by far, the least well-treated of the litter, expected to do everything for little recognition. She is unsure of her interests, given she has too many responsibilities to focus on just being a kid.

Diku was born second, and is the clear favorite among her parents. Being born with a small tuft of a mane, which grew only a bit over time, Diku was titled as "the son they never had" and the closest they could get to bearing a cub that was king-worthy. She is often misgendered by her parents, which she usually appears fine with, but deep down, it has caused trauma. Because she is only perfect to them for being perceived as something she is not, she struggles deeply with self-esteem. She is a very athletic cub, interested in racing and rough-housing. She can seem very mean-spirited and much like a bully.

In most iterations, Diku does not make it to adulthood. She either dies as a cub or teen from a number of things, usually hyenas or flash flooding.

Naanda was born third, being the more timid and reserved of them all. She is outwardly kind to everyone, and is very gentle, if not a little clumsy on herself. Her littermates seem to scoff at her for her tendency to pick up imaginary friends — her favorites being what she describes as a mongoose named Shimo and an elephant named Furaha. Neither of them are actually real, but she insists they are. She takes an interest in making things — Such as toys out of twigs, sticks, and bone, and later in her teens, she becomes interested in medicinal healing.

Dwala was born last, and is the closest to Sarabi. Dwala is hot-headed, and unafraid to speak her mind, which gets her in trouble. She is usually the only one to defend Sarabi when she is overworked, though she doesn't always engage in the arguments between them. Her talent and interest is in telling stories — Ones she makes up. She's able to improvise very easily, making her a skilled liar when needed. She loves telling her sisters all sorts of tales, and will tell a story to anyone who will listen.

[mongoosemisc]

I watched the first episode of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man today, so I shall now compose my official proclamation about the episode to all of my loyal subjects, a.k.a...

✨🎺Mongoose's Monumental Commentary on Marvel Media🎺✨

I watched this with my friend at school so the experience was greatly enhanced. I'll include what they thought about the first episode, too.

Spoilers ahead for episode 1, Amazing Fantasy.

Overview: The first episode was pretty okay, and it served as a good way to introduce us to the characters and setting.

Things I Liked:

I liked that Spider-Man didn't fight a supervillain in this episode. It would've upset plot and felt like a forced cameo to catch attention.

I actually ended up not minding the animation, which I was surprised by. It could've used more shading/detail, but the Silver Age comic art style they were going for still looked okay. They'll never be on BeaStars' level with the 3d animation that looks 2d, though.

KELLEN GOFF IS IN THIS LET'S GO 🔥🔥🔥! He voices the "Symbiotic Alien," mhm, not a suspicious name at all...

Doctor Strange shows up in the beginning to fight the alien that falls out of the giant green portal in the sky, a fact that goes unmentioned for the rest of the episode

Spider-Man kills someone in an alleyway (proof GIF below)

HE CRACKED HIS SKULL WITH A SPEEDING BRICK THAT KID IS NOT GETTING BACK UP AFTER THAT

Things I Didn't Like:

Lonnie Lincoln (Tombstone) is a high-schooler in this. In the comics, Tombstone is about the same age as Robbie Robertson, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle, and Robbie's son, Randy, is around Peter Parker's age. I thought this was a weird decision, but it might be explained in the second episode, which I haven't watched yet.

They... they made Harry Osborn... Bl- bla- WEAR EARRINGS! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! IN ALL 60 YEARS OF COMICS HARRY HAS NEVER HAD PIERCED EARS! (source: one Google search in which I looked at three whole images of Harry)*

My friend's review: "I greatly enjoyed it, lovely animation, a great cast, really nice plot, and great diversity. The characters they did race change have really good designs. I love lesbians. Also like, a kid got his skull cracked with a brick moving at light speed. I don’t really have anything negative to say."

My friend clearly lacks my literary mind, or they would have certainly written a scathing review about the woke-ification -I mean animation that looked wonky in some places.*

*My lawyers have just informed me that racism and homophobia is bad and that I must clarify that I do not, in fact, think that race-swapping or lesbianism are actions that you should be burned at the stake for. Honestly, though, the reviews I saw that were only upset about the race-swapping and lesbian girl were so awful 😿

[silver-blooded-synthetics]

Anonymous asked:

"Ain't nobody here to help...not by a long shot, son." A mongoose wearing a cowboy hat and wielding a ping pong paddle is idly bouncing one of the balls on it, shrugging at Alma. "You either let yourself sink, or you pull yourself up and find a use out of all of it. It's all we can really do in this life."

His sleep cycle had offered up some pretty interesting dreams in the past but this was a new one on him... At least, he hoped he was dreaming. The words of wisdom... Or what he hoped was wisdom... Seemed so out of place among all the ping pong balls, especially coming from a mongoose of all things. "I think... I may need to recalibrate."

[finniestoncrane]

ooooooooh tagged by precious wonderful @doctorvondooms

three ships (these work for me as friendships too!!):

canon x oc obviously, and i don't care who

batjokes fuck you

quiddler

first ship: oh god like actively? i am going to have to embarrass mysef and say johnlock

last song: uranium rock by warren smith (i am deep in it boys, i'm playing red dead with the fallout soundtrack on)

last movie: i cannot believe this. but my husband put the bill murray garfield movie on yesterday. so that.

currently reading: my pile of books i started and then stopped is ridiculous. probably most recently picked up would be peter vronsky's "sons of cain" and "gef! the strange tale of an extra-special talking mongoose"

currently watching: fellas, it happened again. i am on what now must be my 400th watch-through of peep show. and i still haven't finished hannibal

no pressure tags: @selkymaiden @cornetespoir @thesquishypenguin @valentineenjoyer @it-is-i-zim @glorified-monster @paprikaspice @honkytonka @just-a-girl-living-in-gotham @riddle-me-ri

[sundewhasaudhd]

If I have to suffer you do too

Let me tell a little story about a man long time agoHe was the quickest draw in the wild west by the name of Smokin' JoeIt's Smokin' Joe!Hit the floorBut he didn't own no six-gunLemme tell you what he'd doWhen the varmint rode into townHe'd shoot 'em down with a big fat "fuck you!"Smokin' Joe! (it's Smokin' Joe Rudeboy!)Lemme make sure I heard you right$7.50 for large soy cappucinoLemme get my walletFuck you!Smokin' Joe! (it's Smokin' Joe Rudeboy!)Lemme make sure I heard you rightEven though I'm not with Amazon you're calling me to tell meThat my profile has been hacked?Fuck you!And so Joe held the law in the town in which he livedYeah! Only stupid motherfuckers would talk shit around RudeboyWith his whiplash wristGon' get it now!Leroy "two gun" Jenkins thought that he could surely winBut before Leroy could blink he was told to sit and spinWhy don't you take it for a ride now?The Mongoose Mountain Gang played dirty with a twenty-man crewBut tales are told that Joe grew eighteen armsThat day as a gift from VishnuAnd as he rose in fameEvery quickdraw outlaw came to the manThey heard whose fists would burn when he flipped the birdSmokin' Joe! (it's Smokin' Joe Rudeboy!)Lemme make sure I heard you rightYou wanna refund the money that I spentIn your shop with a store credit?Fuck you!Smokin' Joe! (it's Smokin' Joe Rudeboy!)Lemme make sure I heard you rightEverybody brought a platter to my fancy birthday dinnerBut you brought soda water?Fuck you!He got that name because his finger burns hot like the sunAnd leaves you smokin' when he's doneIt's just as well that Joe is fast as hell'Cause in every duel he won I'm not sureJoe knew that they had a literal gunI know that they're packing heatAnd I know that they know that I'm the man to beatBut when I step onto the street with a jingle in my feetThey know that I know that they know that they canFuck themself!Some say many years agoBefore Joseph Rudeboy was Smokin' JoeHe had a wife, her name was BoBo was with child in a happy homeBut into town an outlaw cameWho wore a velvet cloak like a bloodstainNow Bo didn't like Joe using no gunSo Bo told Joe to fucking run"You gotta bring back help!" (run fast Joe, fast Joe)Lemme stay and fight!But Bo said "no guns, you've got to go!"Joseph Rudeboy was too slowFor a child that he'd never knowJoeseph Rudeboy you're too slowBurning inside Joseph died but from the ash the man who rose wasSmokin' Joe! (it's Smokin' Joe Rudeboy!)He's a human pheonixYes, that's the wordI heard he was born in a fireAnd rides a pair of flamin' birdsSmokin' Joe! (it's Smokin' Joe Rudeboy!)I heard he's never shot no-one but he'sStill locked up half of the wild westLookin' for a velvet-wearing son-of-a-gunOne day an outlaw came to townCome out here Smokin' JoeYou're just as well already deadHe wore a velvet cloak but Joe saw redAnd on the street the fateful pair did meetAll the townsfolk came to watch when they knewJoe was gonna tell someone to f-Their eyes were locked what seemed like three eternitiesTo Joe the velvet man seemed differentFrom how he remembered him to beBut it was all the same to Smokin' Joe, who'd been through hellHe'd dreamt every night the last eighteen yearsOf telling this guy to fuck himselfBut when Joe went to ball his hand into a flamin' fistThe outlaw shot him first with aMiddle finger that looked just like hisAnd as Joe fell he beheld the outlaw's faceA young girl who'd seen it allAnd grew up in a terrible placeWhose mother once told JosephTo run and bring back helpA girl who thought her father had run out to save himselfSmokin' Joe! (it's Smokin' Joe Rudeboy!)Lemme make sure I heard you rightYou been telling everybody I'm a deadbeat daddyDidn't know I tried to save ya?YeahFuck you, daughter!Smokin' Joe! (it's Smokin' Joe Rudeboy!)Lemme make sure I heard you rightNow I found my father and I learnt the truth we can be reunited?That's rightFuck you, old man!

This song has not left me yet

Good for you Evan