#the wildcat and the hare

[direwombat]

syb getting marked by kit >.>

ldajfa;ldjfa paging @socially-awkward-skeleton for this! thank you goose!

not the most nsfw thing i've written, but it's still relatively kinky ;) also i'm a little high so sorry if there are any mistakes i'll maybe go back and fix things when i'm sober. also this is more than five words lmao whoops

If there’s one thing Sybille has learned about Kit, it’s that the woman likes to mark her territory. Long welts left behind by surprisingly sharp nails, fresh cuts from her hunting knife, an encounter between the two of them doesn’t end without Sybille sporting a new bruise. Kit may be under orders not to kill her, but she sure as hell is making staying alive a challenge. 

She’s pinned face-down. One of Kit’s hands holds a knife to her throat. The other holds her wrists, right above where her knee presses into Sybille’s back. She bears down on her, leaning forward to nip at and whisper in her ear. “You surrender?”

Sybille struggles against her, but she’s quickly stopped by Kit tutting as digs the blade of her knife into the soft part underneath her jaw. “I surrender,” she seethes. 

Kit slams her knife into the ground next to Sybille’s head, and her hand replaces the blade. She angles Sybille’s head to expose more of her neck and her teeth scrape across pale skin. Sybille full on shudders. 

And then she shrieks. Pain rips through her veins as Kit’s teeth pierce her skin and sink into the meat of her shoulder. Blood burns as it trickles down, soaking into her shirt. Even the soothing lave of Kit’s tongue against the wound stings. 

In the haze of pain, Kit flips her over so she’s on her back and pins her down again.  Her hand grips her by the jaw, pursing her lips before she crashes their mouths together, forcing her tongue inside. She paints Sybille’s mouth red with her own blood. The coppery metallic taste tangs bitterly at the back of her throat.  

It’s gross. It’s invasive.

It gets her arching her back, pressing herself against Kit’s body as she lets out a low groan.

[socially-awkward-skeleton]

@direwombat​

[parasitoidism]

i still feel really strongly about this being flynn also

[outofangband]

Mammals of Maglor’s Gap and Lothlann

Now that I’ve finished world building posts on birds for each Fëanorian realm pre Amon Ereb, I’m going through mammals next! Mammals of the March of Maedhros can be found here and my environmental world building Masterlist is here!

Maglor’s Gap was the widest break in the mountains and cliffs dividing Beleriand and the lands to the north. It lay between the blue mountains to the east and the March of Maedhros to the west. Lothlann was a wide expanse of plains to the north of the Gap. The rivers greater and little Gelion ran around the western and eastern borders.

Forest steppes: wild goat, wood bison, southern white breasted hedgehog, gray marmot, ground squirrel, dormouse, woolly hares, long eared hedgehog, gray shrews, northern hog badger, sable (rare), steppe mouse, lesser noctule (bat), wildcat, red fox, red deer

Bordering mountain fences: Caucasian Tur, mouflon, chamois, alpine pika, pond bat, marbled polecat, saiga antelope, steppe polecat, mountain weasel, ibex (rare), argali

Plains: goitered gazelle, steppe wolf, wild horse, northern water vole (by the rivers), snow vole, grey dwarf hamster, common hare, common rabbit, striped field mouse, ural field mouse, harvest mouse, mountain hare, field vole (also primarily by rivers), wild horse

World building notes:

The horse based cavalry of Maglor is one of the few details we have about this region. I headcanon that the horses in question are a mixture of the descendants of the Valinor born horses brought by the Fëanorian host as well as wild horses from Estolad, Himlad, Lothlann and the other plains regions of Eastern Beleriand.

Sheep and goats provide the majority of milk and cheese products in the Gap. Some of these species are imported from other regions like sheep from Thargelion.

Domesticated bovine are rare in Eastern Beleriand outside Thargelion and parts of Estolad. There are however wild and semi domesticated bison such as the wood bison, especially on the borders of forested and forest steppe regions. Fur, skin and bones from bison are used by both Noldorin and Avarin elves for clothing and other materials.

Wild hamsters, rabbits, hares and voles were used by a select few of Maglor’s cavalry as companions and even spies.

A regiment of foot based scouts had the sigil of a hare in the form of a light silhouette upon a black background.

[dr4kann]

so, blantantly disregarding where these animals may be found irl, this is what i think the accent of some of the different animals in Redwall would be:

- Hares: definitely British. Can you hear anyone saying something like “Good show, Corporal Rubbadub, compliments to y’sah” in anything other than a British accent? I didn’t think so

- Otters: hear me out on this one.. they sound like either surfer dudes from California or pirates. No in between

- Mice: they’re just boring, plain ol Americans.Maybe the diff. types have a slight difference, like some are more Midwestern? idk. But all Americans for sure

- Voles: any type of vole, they all have a Cockney accent. It just makes sense, y’know?

- Badgers: definitely Russian. Do you understand how scary it would be for a giant badger to rush at you holding a battleaxe or broadsword yelling “EEULALIAAAA!!” at the top of its lungs in a Russian accent? Terrifying, and perfect for a badger Lord/Lady

- Wolverine: there’s only been 2, but they’re totally Aussies. Like, you hear the names Gulo and Askor and they totally sound like Aussies

- Rats: they have that Southern twang. Rats and mice are similar, so both are American (at least, this makes sense to me), but the rats are definitely Southern. I can’t hear them any other way

- Foxes: they have a French accent, but tone it down some. Like, you can hear it but it’s not super strong

- Stoats, Ferrets, & Weasels: they’re Italian. Think like, mafia boss.

- Ermine: while they’re technically in the weasel family, I imagine them sounding differently. They have some sort of Scandinavian accent, not any specific one, just one of them ig

- Wildcats: Fully German. It just makes sense to me

(If you disagree please lmk cause i want to hear what y’all’s thoughts may be?)

[c-casu]

The grasslands of Europe are a collection of areas with sparse tree cover spanning the interiors of the Iberian, Italian, Balkan and Anatolic peninsulas in the south and the plains north of the Black and Caspian Sea in the north, plus a dozen pockets between the forests of central and western Europe.

As the name implies they’re dominated by low and high grasses, along with the occasional bushes and the many wildflower species. Trees are pretty sparsely distributed, and the most successful family here are the Querceae, the descendants of oaks and chestnuts.

The most common browsers are the Elepharrhinidae family, a group descended from modern wild boars. They’ve developed a proboscis from their snout and longer tusks. They aren’t strict browsers and up to half of their diet can be grass.

An another heavy-set clade are the Moschystricidae, strict grazers that evolved from Italian and north-african porcupines, that lost most of their quills, except for a mane around their necks and on their tail, in order to scare off and harm predators and rivals

The faster and lighter herbivores are the descendants of the running hares that evolved in the earliest Epigene, like Metalagus, that grew in size and became, in some cases, as tall as 2 metres, but most species average around 1,50 metres.

Mound building termites expanded from Africa into south-western Europe, opening the doors to a kind of animal Europe had been devoid of for millions of years: myrmecophages. An unlikely candidate took on this role, the hedgehog, that developed long jaws, a long sticky tongue, big sharp claws and knuckle walking, resembling a placental echidna. With their pointy quills and massive claws, even though they’re not really fast or agile, they’re an unlikely prey to the many predators of the grasslands, and are used as protection by similar sized critters, like phasianids and the still hopping rabbits.

Canids survived through the mass extinction, and thanks to their adaptations were able to quickly radiate into various forms. The main groups of the european grasslands are the Thocyon genus, pack hunters that exhaust their prey to kill it, and the Cinocyon genus, cheetah-like canids that are some of then planet’s fastest animals, both descended from the golden jackal.

(She’s based off my friend’s cat)

The apex predator of these areas, tho, is the Fellimus alexandrae, a big ambush predator capable of reaching 200 kg, that evolved from European wildcats, with around 10-20% of their ancestry coming from housecats. The genus is widespread across Eurasia, and this species is represented by three subspecies: the F. alexandrae alexandrae, from Southern Europe, slightly smaller than the other two and with shorter fur; the F. alexandrae auduli, from the pockets of grassland in Central Europe; and the F. alexandrae aikoja, from the northeastern plains and into Central Asia.

[theriu]

I am curious about how others imagine this! To better explain the second option, I typically imagine voles, shrews, and mice are a little shorter than squirrels, who are shorter than hares, who are shorter than otters (otters being quite tall), and everyone is short compared to badgers and wildcats, but not on a “badgers could swallow mice whole” scale.

BUT the first book def describes Matthias falling into the mouth of a barn cat (it also mentions some human contrivances that never come up again). And the birds are CLEARLY still huge compared to the mammals, so we won’t concern ourselves with them rn. So I guess the question is, do you still imagine relative sizes like the first book, or do you follow the retcon Brian Jacques seemed to apply to the rest of the series?

[sea-owl]

I have found Penelope in cat form. Look!

This is the African Black-Footed Wildcat, one smallest and deadliest species there is. Their small size and big eyes make them adorable, but don't let that fool you. They are known to be cunning with a 60% success hunting rate, higher than lions 25% and tigers 10%. Part of their success is due to their smaller size, hunting bugs, rodents, birds, and cape hare, which are bigger than them. They have been observed to lie in wait up to two hour for their prey and ambushing them using other animal's dens.

I'm now headcanoning that when Colin called Penelope a kitten with claws this is what he meant.

[spacefinch]

Star Trek characters as Octonauts characters AU: an update:

TOS crew:

Kirk: Golden retriever.

Spock: Black cat.

Bones: North American River Otter. An old friend of Ranger Marsh, with whom he shares similar opinions about technology.

Uhura: African Grass Owl.

Scotty: Scottish Wildcat.

Sulu: White-tailed Deer.

Chekov: Eurasian pine marten. I originally had him be a Siberian Lynx (since he’s from Russia) but it didn’t quite work. Chekov needs to be a small lanky boy and that is not what lynxes are. Pine martens, however…

Chapel: Tawny Owl.

TNG crew:

Picard: European River Otter

Riker: Alaskan Malamute dog

Data: Still an android, but in this version, he’s modeled after a short-eared owl. His brother Lore is modeled after a long-eared owl.

Tasha: Black-tailed jackrabbit

Geordi: Serval cat. Born blind, but uses a high-tech visor to see. Best friends with Data.

Beverly and Wesley Crusher: Red foxes. Wes has darker, almost brown fur.

Worf: Fisher. (A type of mustelid.)

Deanna: Spotted Owl

DS9 crew:

Ben and Jake Sisko: Swamp rabbits— same species as Tweak and Marsh. The Siskos have dark brown fur, rather than green.

Jadzia: Red Salamander

Garak: Lizard (doesn’t matter what species)

Major Kira: Gray Fox

Odo: Still a Changeling in this AU. Usually assumes the form of a beige-colored cat.

Ezri: Spotted Salamander.

Bashir: Sea Otter

O’Brien: European Hare

Quark (and all other Ferengi characters): Fruit bats. With gigantic ears.

Voyager Crew:

Janeway: Red Fox

Chakotay: Canada Lynx

Tom Paris: Dog.

Harry Kim: Sea Otter

Neelix: Fishing Cat

Kes: Brush Rabbit

Seven of Nine: Cat, with cybernetic implants.

B’Elanna: Badger.

Tuvok: Spectacled Owl

The Doctor: Hologram, takes the appearance of a penguin. (Which looks a lot like Peso’s species.)

Connections to the Octonauts and Octo Agents:

Scotty is an old friend of Shellington, and even recommended him for the position of the Octopod’s head scientist. Barnacles invited Scotty to be Chief Engineer, but Scotty declined the offer. After all, he’d seen Tweak’s work firsthand. The Octonauts would be in good care with her as its engineer.

Similar to Barnacles, Chekov was an old student of Professor Natquik. He’s always boasting about how everything great was invented in Russia.

Voyager’s Doctor was modeled after one of Peso’s many cousins. Despite being a program of a social species, he does have trouble actually socializing.

Jadzia is one of Dashi’s friends from school.

Ben Sisko and Ranger Marsh have been friends for a long time. And their kids get along quite well! Tweak is older than Jake by quite a bit.

Bashir is one of Shellington’s old classmates. The two of them bonded over their love of science and their sea otter heritage.

[direwombat]

💕 OUR MUSES' ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP (+ JACOB) for @socially-awkward-skeleton

happy valentines day skelly~, i was motivated to get this one done today~ bonus wip of the polycule muzzle fic under the cut as a little lightly smutty treat <3

There’s something sadistic and hungry glimmering in their eyes. It’s the same, predatory look a carnivore gets when it closes in on its prey. The chase may be over, but now a different game has begun.  

Swallowing thickly, she fights the urge to shrink back as her heart skips in her chest. She eyes them warily and asks, “What is this?”

“You’ve been misbehaving, Bunny,” Kit says, sliding off the desk and sauntering over to crouch in front of her. Her smile doesn't quite meet her eyes. “You know how we feel about disobedience.”

Sybille’s brow furrows in confusion and it takes her a long moment to figure out what they’re talking about. “This is about the finger?” Her memory of the incident is vague, partially obscured by the red haze of the trials, but she does recall the explosion of warm blood filling her mouth and the crunch of bone between her teeth. She turns furiously to Jacob. “Tell your men to stop stickin’ their damn hands between the bars!”

“Trust me, they’ve learned their lesson,” he says, rising from his seat. He stalks towards her, dragging the chair behind him, smiling wickedly. “But you still need to learn yours.”

She scoffs and rolls her eyes, giving her head a small shake. But then Kit’s frigid hands are sliding underneath her shirt. Her core flexes under her touch and she sucks in a sharp breath. Kit lets out a surprised, but pleased hum when she moves a hand up to cup Sybille’s breast. Her smile widens. “Laundry day?” she asks, hiking her shirt up to reveal her bare tits. 

Indeed, she hadn’t been wearing a bra when Jacob had hauled her back to the Veterans Center. 

Between Kit’s ministrations and the general chilled air of the mountains, Sybille’s nipples are already stiff and peaked. Her head tilts back, clenching her jaw and biting back a moan, as she breathes heavily through her nose. 

“You’ve been acting like an animal, honey” Jacob states simply. “You don’t get to be upset now that we’re treating you like one.”

The growl that rumbles in her throat only emphasizes his point. 

Kit leans forward, taking one of her nipples in her mouth and pinching it between her teeth while she rolls the other one between her thumb and forefinger. The punishing pain jolts straight to Sybille's core and this time she can’t suppress her groan. 

“We gotta punish you first, Bunny,” Kit says as she rises to her feet. “But if you’re strong and take it like a good girl, maybe we’ll give you a treat.”

Sybille takes a deep breath and resigns herself to the game they’re playing.  They’re gonna use her. Chew her up and spit her out like she did that man’s index finger. She’s not sure whether she’s a rung above or below Deputy Pratt in their little fucked up hierarchy, and while it sickens her that she allows herself to be treated this way, a morbid curiosity overwhelms her. Dark desire pools in her gut and she desperately wants to know what they have planned. 

You are meat.

They stare at her, awaiting her response. She supposes she should be grateful that they’re at least giving her the illusion of choice. Her chest heaves and she swallows thickly. “Fine,” she says. Then she challenges, “Do your worst.”

“Attagirl,” Jacob breathes.

[nonbinary-beast]

Got thinking about more stuff regarding AMaton and Ted, and how computer hell changes once AM gets a body.

At first AM does not change a whole lot regarding the sustenance that Ted gets from its methods of keeping him immortal. It merely ups the calorie intake so Ted feels full, but does little to fix the muscle atrophy and emaciation that occurred during the past 109 years.

That is, until AM figures out that Ted is way too easy to catch.

Where the master computer effortlessly raced across the steep cliffs of mountains, charged through simulated savannas and badlands, leaped through branches like some gargantuan wildcat, and prowled the rooftops of twisting streets... It's prey did not display nearly the same level of agility, and often AM would find the pathetic creature hunched over wheezing and hacking from their mild game of chase. Half of the time, Ted would simply give up and accept his fate, refusing to even sidestep as his pursuer rushed and tackled him to the ground. Ted is so used to having to trudge long distances on a stomach filled with frothing acid, keeping a pace that allows him to endure whatever torturous terrain AM throws at him that the mere idea of running or sprinting is nearly alien to his body.

The minute AM realizes this, the master computer makes a few adjustments to its husbandry of its last remaining human. It starts adding more protein and nutrients to Ted's immortality juice to try and kickstart Ted's body into building muscle again.

Next, it stepped up to be Ted's personal trainer, of sorts. At first it simply tried scaring Ted into shape, holding back its usually exuberant pursuit in favor of prodding him into running over long distances. It would chase just close enough to let him feel its breath on the nape of its neck, perhaps letting a claw snag on his clothing to encourage a jolt of adrenaline to shock his human's system into gear.

It was only when the human collapsed that AM would pounce, pinning him to the ground and chiding him for giving up before thoroughly expressing its disappointment in a series of sharp bites and rakes of its claws.

But that was not enough for it, Ted certainly would get used to the pattern of his pursuer holding back and essentially acting the part of a border collie to a sheep. So it did what it did best: it changed up the scenarios to keep its captive trainee from being able to adapt. It drove Ted over jagged rocks that he had to climb in order to keep AM from catching him, it chased him into labyrinthine corridors filled with staircases for him to run up and pits that needed to be jumped over. It would chase him through swamps that could only be crossed by hopping between stones that jutted out above bottomless waters, and through simulated old growth forests that equally required Ted to climb over mammoth sized roots as much as he ran through maze-like paths. It would chase him up steep sand dunes and down mountain sides blanketed in deep snow.

By the time AM was through with him, it was proud of its work. Ted had been torn down and rebuilt into a strong, agile figure, able to dash and duck through whatever situation AM threw him into like a hare. He raced through miles of grasslands, catapulted himself up sheer cliff faces, leapt over pits and across jagged stony platforms. He even kept it guessing in the more labyrinthine settings, doubling back and faking it out; forcing the master computer to rethink its tactics on the fly instead of simply dumping him into a situation that he had to slog through and watching him from its numerous cameras.

AM had raised an athlete out of scrappy pile of bones and withered flesh. But even better it created a far better toy to play with than the Ted it had watched trudge through the complex for the last century and a handful of years.

[happytapirstudio]

Redwall Reread #1: Lord Brocktree

1st in chronological order, 13th in publication order (2001)

(major spoilers under the cut)

Summary: The Badger Lord, Brocktree of Brockhall, journeys to the legendary mountain of his ancestors, Salamandastron, to liberate it from the cruel wildcat tyrant Ungatt Trunn.

Framing Device: A Badger Lord many years after Brocktree's time is sharing this story with the greater Salamandastron community: his wife, two kids, the hares of the Long Patrol, and various seaside neighbors.

The Goodies: Primarily Brocktree (da badger on da quest) and Dotti (a young hare, headed to Salamandastron to visit her aunt.) Along the way they pick up Ruff the river otter, Gurth the mole, and a veritable shitton of other critters, including shrews, hedgehogs, and hares of the regular and mountain variety. Meanwhile, back at the mountain, we've got Brocktree's dad, the elderly Lord Stonepaw, and his host of similarly elderly warrior hares. One of these hares, Fleetscut, is sent on a quest to recruit younger warriors; he is saved and then joined by Jukka and her tribe of squirrels. In the last third of the book, a team of sea otters joins the fight.

The Baddies: Ungatt Trunn (wildcat), leading a horde of vermin (rats, weasels, foxes, etc.) all of which have dyed their fur blue. It is his Blue Horde, and there are a lot of them. There's a major nautical component to the army--they come in on ships, and a lot of their number are former pirates--but Trunn himself is a landlubber from the mountains. Truthfully I don't know where he got this incredibly massive army (arguably the largest in Redwall history), but I'm gonna say it was daddy's money. Notable underlings include the stunted fox magician, Groddil, a ferret called the Grand Fragorl, the rat captain Mirefleck, the stoat captain Fraul, the fox captain Karangool and the searat brothers Ripfang and Doomeye.

The Freakies: CRAB MOMENT 🦀🦀🦀!!! Additionally, a big pike.

The Birdies: A flightless, short-eared owl named Udara Groundslay and a (nonverbal) grey heron named Rulango.

Noteworthy Locations: Primarily Salamandastron and the surrounding coastal area. Also Mossflower Wood, pre-Redwall Abbey. Everything inbetween falls into the category of "somewhat arid open country", though I'd say King Bucko Bigbones' Clearing deserves a special mention as a sort of verdant oasis in all that sad scrubland.

Noteworthy Weapons: My main man Broccoli wields a double-hilted broadsword. With all due respect to the cover artists of both editions, I don't think that's what Mr. Jacques had in mind. I think it looked like a normal sword with a second cross guard on the blade itself. We've also got Tuna's weapon of choice, a three-pronged trident. Very nautical-core of him. Honorable mention to Dotti's carpet bag, swung about with wild abandon, as well as the hareccordion within.

Riddles: None!

Continuity Notes: Brocktree (+ Stonepaw) and Trunn are each part of their own extensive lineage of badgers and wildcats, featured in other books. We've also got a Martin the Warrior cameo (he shows up in one of Brocktree's visions.) Additionally, although Salamandastron and the Badger Lords have already been around for a long time, this book marks the beginning of I guess its "modern" age, with the founding of the Long Patrol.

Other Notes: This is perhaps the one and only Redwall book without a distinctive mouse character. Martin doesn't count, nor do the smattering of mice mentioned once in Bucko's court, as none of them have either a name or a speaking role. Squeaking role, excuse me.

Bonus Note - Homestuck: Trunn is, and I am not shitting you here, Vriska-core. He keeps his ship's stateroom full of spiders and spiderwebs, stocked with flies via the decaying bodies of people who pissed him off. Like the spider-pirate intersection is not one well-traversed in fiction, right? This is not a trope, right?? Also an uncanny coincidence that Trunn's sidekick, the crippled fox, is crippled because Trunn intentionally broke his back as a child. ?!? Alexa play X-files theme

Tapir Takes:

(1) I am a huge fan of the Brocktree-Dotti dynamic (big scary man burdened with the shadow of destiny + a sunny hyperactive little girl who seems apparently oblivious to life's darkness but can in fact dish out some serious ass-kicking.) Unfortunately, this relationship (and several others) are overshadowed by the exponentially increasing cast of characters and the forward momentum of the plot itself.

(2) Realizing for the first time that Redwall does a surprisingly good job at subverting gender roles. Not perfect, but still leagues above many movies and shows that are still coming out in this the year of our lord 2023. The girls can fight about as good as the boys, the boys can cook just like the girls, and nobody in-universe bats an eye. Some of y'all should be taking notes.

(3) Pulling out a quote in chapter 6: "If'n yore bound to take the life of a livin' thing for food, then take only wot you need. Life's too precious a thing t'be wasted." This is said by Ruff as he pulls fish out of the water for dinner. I've wondered about vegetarianism in Redwall before, and although I haven't got much to say on it now, I wanted to mark this passage for later. It's worth noting that fish are non-speaking animals in the Redwall universe.

(3.5) I'd also like to point out that the starving Horde plans to eat their captive hares once they've exhausted Salamandastron's food supply. Is this cannibalism, since the hares can talk and think same as the vermin? It's never explicitly stated in the series, but I think it's pretty clear that the differences between (talking) animals in-universe are more akin to race than species. Anyway, putting a pin in that for now.

(4) On a similar vein, I'm interested in the philosophy of Jukka and her tribe. She and her squirrels live in a patch of woods in the midst of the open grasslands, several days from the shore, but still close enough to consider themselves neighbors. In a world where nearly all non-vermin fight only to defend themselves or the weak, Jukka's squirrels are unusual, in that they fight "for profit". To them, war is a business, a means of acquiring weapons. They kill all and take no prisoners. This is all pretty similar to general vermin philosophy. Perhaps the two main differences here are attitude (vermin are cruel and disloyal even to one another, whereas the squirrels demonstrate compassion for one another and even sometimes strangers) and necessity (vermin tend to steal everything, and are unable to support themselves without exploiting others, while the squirrels really only steal for weapons, and can provide themselves with food, clothes, shelter, etc.) I'm putting a pin in this one too, because the good guy-bad guy dichotomy in Redwall deserves some major analysis, particularly once we get to Taggerung and Outcast of Redwall.

OVERALL: I enjoyed this book tremendously. Bar is high for the rest of the books, but I'm confident they'll measure up. Cheers everyone :D

[envihellbender]

What daemons would the Roy kids have?

I gave each of them animals they are native to Scotland and named them after Scottish islands!

Roman: Orkney the Grey Seal

The grey seal Orkney is a curious and playful dæmon who swims through the air and travels on the ground. Orkney did not have a stable shape until Roman was 16 which means it took the longest of any any of the Roy children. Orkney is quite small for a grey seal with white patches over belly, back, and neck.

In Scottish mythology the legend of the selkie is a seal that can transform into a human on land, it is also shown to have its hide stolen by humans making the selkie devoted to the person who has their coat. This could be shown to be mimicked on Roman’s devotion to his father, his desperation to be perfect for the man, and how he cuts off part of himself to impress him. It’s as if Logan literally has his hide. Seals are known to be playful, which connects to Roman’s tendency to use humour as a defence mechanism.

Kendall: Jura the Scottish Wildcat

Jura is a Scottish wildcat who has a black coat with a brown stripes pattern shining in her fur, and she has piercing green eyes. Kendall’s dæmon actually stabilised when he was ten years old, surprising and impressing Logan greatly. She prefers to sneak around, appearing on Kendall’s shoulder, hidden behind his legs, or may even keep so out of sight Kendall can’t see her.

The Cat-Sith is a fairy creature from Scottish mythology, sometimes thought to be a witch that can transform into a cat nine times. The Cat-Sith was believed to be able to steal a person’s soul if it approached them before their burial. The themes of transformation connect to Kendall’s mood swings, instability, and constant desire to betray his father causing great upheaval in the Roy family. In terms of the Cat-Sith stealing a person’s soul this can be thought of literally in terms of Kendall killing a young man, or symbolically when we see how Kendall mimics which his dad does in trying to break his siblings spirit (such as playing the Nirvana song R+pe Me at Siobhan’s speech.)

Siobhan/Shiv: Kilda the Golden eagle

Kilda is a loyal and proud dæmon, she often sits on Shiv’s shoulder or circles around her establishing the perimeter. She receives a lot of pets and scratches form Shiv who is extremely proud of her dæmon. She doesn’t trust new people, often scowling and aggressive approaching their fellow dæmons. Shiv finds it amusing and considers Kilda to simply strong like her.

A golden eagle is a bird of prey which mimics Shiv’s cutthroat nature and how she is happy to single out and cut down individuals who fight against her. Many early recorded cultures regarded the Golden Eagle with reverence, similar to how Shiv sometimes has the ‘golden child’ role forced upon her by Logan. Despite this however, Golden Eagle’s were considered a threat and brutally hunted around the time of the Industrial Revolution. This ties back to how Logan treats Shiv, she’s the golden child, the perfect daughter… until she upsets him. It’s then that she becomes a threat who needs to be discarded. Golden Eagles are also trained to catch drones, this connects to Shiv being tasked to try and take down Waystar for Gil in season one.

Connor: Tiree the Mountain hare

Tiree is fairly big for his size, with brown greying fur. Despite this however he manages to run around undetected and it seems to have no effect on his speed. Unlike most dæmon’s he is rarely seen to be touching Connor. He will run around his feet, and perch on objects next to him but he will never sit on his shoulder or hide in his coat.

In Native American Folklore, hares are considered tricksters. They are selfish creatures who operate with their own needs in mind (particularly if they involve sex.) This connects to Connor when his desire to keep Willa in his New Mexico ranch and control her life despite it not being her choice, and also knowing she doesn’t love Connor. There is also the English idiom “mad as a March hare”. This relates to the fact that during the hares’ breeding season (March), they act unpredictable and erratic. This connects to Connor’s behaviour whenever Willa is involved, or each simply when he’s around certain women since at Tom’s stag party in season one he tells a woman he has just met that he loves her. Generally speaking, Connor’s behaviour is strange and difficult to predict, this is shown in choices such as him running for president or buying Napoleon’s preserved genitalia.

[sharpestasp]

Mossflower (end)

Tsarmina means to set traps.

The young are being sent to Gingivere and his mate.

The shrews are matching up with the squirrels, and the hares with the otters.

Martin has a plan that needs five otters with experience.

And Martin is armed and armored now!

A white flag to parlay, and of course Tsarmina is looking for a way to abuse it.

OH MARTIN. BOLD AS EVER.

Tsarmina having her archers fire blind is so her.

And Lady Amber gets an attack of her own in that is effective.

Martin beats Brogg and gets the retreat he wanted.

Martin's ultimatum to leave is having an effect on the troops.

Burn the forest, hmm?

Bella carrying Martin to the ship.

I WAS RIGHT!

HEE! I WAS RIGHT ABOUT THE PLAN.

And Tsarmina's mind snaps again, under her fear of water.

Martin's injured and still ready to fight.

Timballisto living up to his name.

Tsarmina abandoning Brogg is par for the course.

Abbess Germaine planning the Redwall Abbey.

Aww. The Kotir troops being rescued and treated well.

Mouse vs wildcat

Oh. Martin. You won. And the water killed her.

Bella giving the enemy a chance to live. Them taking it.

And they go, seeking Martin's fate, with Bella among them.

They're trying to keep him alive long enough for the Abbess to arrive.

They make Bella rest.

And then the Abbess is there to do her healing.

Two days food and water give to the Kotir survivors to leave with.

Skipper and Amber and the hares disapprove.

A SCORE OF DAYS?! Yikes that was a very near death for Martin.

Gonff and Columbine wed.

And it is their grandson that Bella was telling the tale to.

OOOH, Sunflash has appeared!

[millassundries]

This fight from the very start was going to be brutal and she knew that, which had her nervous. Why was Carol so closed up about it? She'd barely been seen and, now she was going in alone? Not even a call nothing it had her worried. Then again Carol could be hyper focused on her success, on victory. To the point of everything else and it reminded her of the days in the scarves. She got that way back then, still this felt different then before. She pulled her phone closer to her face squinting as they were talking. Not into the mics just talking about something. She could see Carol was upset but she didn't catch all of it. Being Deaf had its advantages she could read lips, fairly well a talent she'd learned when she was younger. Still she got enough to know it was something to do with the scarves--- Spade was probably trying to recruit her again? After all this time? He couldn't let it go could he...

The battle itself blew her mind, at first it was what she expected but it didn't stay that way long. Carol used one of Merga's abilities? How was she even doing that? Not that she was mad about it! It was amazing she couldn't even do Merga's triple Rush let alone use her moon phase styles. It was amazing! It certainly gave her the edge she needed. As the fight progressed she could see Carol was holding something in her hand. Maybe that's how she was accessing the Eclipse skill? and how she was able to even use her Dragon Rush? It was impressive! Though she had so many questions but she had quite the smug little smile on her face!

" Beat his Ass Carol..."

She muttered away from prying ears and eyes, and for a moment it seemed like a Glimmer of hope! She had Spade on the ropes and looked like she was going to even win! But of course Zao wasn't having it! Declaring Carol a Cheater! Such anger filled her face, after everything they'd done for him! He pulled a stunt like this! What nerve! how dare he! But she took a breath---Carol would be fine she'd find a way, right? She had to find a way...

" Don't give up Carol..."

She paced back and forth waiting for the second round, Zao's antics had only served to make her more upset. She didn't understand what his game was, or why he was messing with her--- with Carol. Or what Spades ultimate game was! But she reminded herself this was why the scarves needed to be dealt with, someone had to stop there bullshit sooner or later or they'd go on hurting lives. She flopped on her bed and stared up at the screen, thankful that Neera let her stay in her old room at the palace for a few days at least. Still the waiting was driving her crazy.

The moment that she saw Carol exiting the doors she could already see the defeat on her face. She'd already given up hadn't she? all her hard word was for nothing and it had all come down to this. Just her and Spade, and he had the clear advantage. She would rip Zao a new one for this if Carol got hurt. She would be hurt if she got beat, she'd lose her own little dream. She use to talk about being battle sphere champ all the time when they were younger. Now that she had it to get it ripped away?

Still More banter, this time though the camera was to far away for her to catch any of it. Still what ever was said it lit a fire in Carol and her whole demeanor changed. Spade had clearly said something to piss her off, and knowing Carol it was likely a threat toward someone she cared for. Perhaps Sonar? That made the most sense, what ever was said she was on the attack now. She wasn't backing down, and that was the wildcat she knew best! She could be so tenacious when angry!

This battle though, it had some real twists! Carol must have found a way to predict his movements as she was effectively countering his little Warps. Everytime he warped she seemed to count it as if she could sort of tell where he was going. Her ears were twitching every time, was it a sound? Most wouldn't have noticed but knowing he so well she could tell when she was focusing on her haring. Of all the people she knew Carol had the keenest of ears. But it was just a guess maybe she was seeing things? It didn't really matter did it she was making a come back!

Then Carol pulled her Gemerald out, and this actually worried Lilac after what had happened last time. But this time Carol was smart only using her gem, when Spade wasn't using his. To amazing effect to! Countering him, when she could using her bike to full effect, she had the edge clearly now. However that meant the world would know about her gem which could be bad news.

The moment she looked away Carol had warped, only this time with her bike and used it to lay a massive blow to Spade! It was over and she could tell Spade was done. The 10 count followed shortly after and she leaned back in her seat hand on her chin. She was still stuck on what the two had spoke of without the mikes. What got her riled up so badly? She wished she was there in Shang Mu now but...

At least she'd won...

[timothy-haye]

Section 4 / Continent: Europe

General Layout:

Section 4 is a collection of dense forests, vast meadows, and high mountain ranges. There's also a large lake next to an enclosed campsite with free-roaming animals.

The section is marked with pathways and hiking trails, and other ways to get around the section are paddle boats, ziplines, and bicycles.

There's a variety of restaurants, gift shops, and amenities in the section, including an underground cave system, the campsite, and an archery station.

The Animals:

Amphibians: Frogs and Salamanders.

Aquatic/Semi-Aquatic Mammals: Dolphins, Otters, Seals, and Walruses.

Birds: Coots, Cranes, Ducks, Falcons, Finches, Kestrels, Magpies, Owls, Partridges, Puffins, Robins, Swans, and Quails.

Fish: Carp, Perch, Pike, Salmon, Scorpionfish, Seahorses, and Trout.

Insects: Bees, Beetles, Butterflies, Crickets, Grasshoppers, and Shield Bugs.

Misc. Carnivores Animals: Bats, Bears, Lynxes, Moles, Wildcats, and Wolves.

Misc. Herbivorous Animals: Beavers, Bison, Deer, Hares, and Rabbits.

Misc. Omnivorous Animals: Bears, Boars, Flying squirrels, Foxes, Hedgehogs, Mice, and Squirrels.

Reptiles: Lizards, Snakes, and Turtles.