#ysalamir behavior

[ceapa-mica]

Family Life: Exile 🪁 - a Thrawn headcanon

My fingers did a high speed race on the keyboard writing this hc. I'm surprised they didn't fall off. 😄

Enjoy!

🔞 This is slightly NSFW 🔞 + angsty

Taglist: @bingbongooo @dance-like-russia-isnt-watching @ele-millennial-weirdo @enaelyork @jesslove23 @thrawnalani @thrawnsboots @twincesskorisoka @davesrightshoe @shoe-bag @tearyeve @blackddarling @obbicrystaleo

Life in exile is not exactly easy, especially when confronted with the many dangers of Peridea and with an always curious daughter to keep safe…

In the blink of an eye you're confronted with a new reality - exile. (or in Thrawn's case exile from an exile lol) You quickly realize how dangerous Peridea is with the amount of troopers getting killed by faceless bandits while out exploring.

Since then Thrawn only sends out scouts when absolutely necessary and keeps most of the crew aboard the Chimera, safe for those in search of food. Otherwise you couldn't sustain the entire crew for much longer.

At first you're mad at your husband. You blame him for being exiled with no way to contact your family and friends, and you're not the only one.

You try to shield your daughter from the cruelty of the exile. There's a designated safe outpost for your crew where you spend some of your time. Catching fresh air and going for a walk under Peridea’s cloudy sky can lift the spirits.

She loves flying her hand crafted kite on the outpost’s rocky plateau. One time she actually put her little ysalamir on her kite. It survived, but what followed was a reprimand from her dad, telling her not to needlessly put lives at risk and that the lizard certainly didn't have any fun clinging for dear life onto that piece of fabric in the air. She never did it again.

Since there is no holonet connection on Peridea you and Thrawn teach your daughter everything she would usually learn at school in your quarters. That can't replace actual lessons with other children though. You soon realize that your daughter misses her peers from her holonet classes.

Not just the lack of friends her age but the entire situation affects your daughter’s behavior. She becomes less playful and more serious, leading to her being eager to learn more self-defense in her father’s dojo. Thrawn thinks it's a good thing. You are worried though.

Another thing you're worried about is the presence of the nightsisters. They claim that they're able to contact someone from your Galaxy, so Thrawn insists on working with them to return back home. You don't trust them though and keep your daughter as far away from them as possible.

Look, the perfect marriage doesn’t exist. Even your marriage with Thrawn has its ups and downs. You argue quite often during your time in exile. Thrawn never raises his voice though. This maker-forsaken planet weighs down on everyone’s mood, including yours.

Makeup sex helps a lot with that. Thrawn leaves more marks on you than usual. After so many years your sex life is still going strong. It's the perfect way to let out the pent up frustration with your unfortunate situation.

You’re not the only ones using sex to cope. Among your crew a few women end up pregnant and some not so secret weddings are taking place.

Meanwhile your daughter finds joy in learning how to ride a howler. She's not allowed to leave the outpost unaccompanied, a rule she doesn’t like at all. She still has this neverending thirst for knowledge and thinks the death troopers joining her on her trips through the Peridean wasteland are just slowing her down or disrupting her studies of the local flora and fauna.

One day she actually leaves on her own and gets captured by bandits. Fortunately your husband is a strategic mastermind able to track her down before it's too late. To say Thrawn was mad is an understatement. He reprimands her in a dangerously low voice and grounds her for an entire month. He was actually as scared for her safety as you.

Tbh Thrawn feels guilty af since you’re in this exile because of a mistake he made, and during that incident with the bandits he felt he let his family down again. He orders his best people to take out those bandits once and for all to make this place a little safer for all of you.

At the point your kid is 10 years old she's super interested in collecting and documenting rock fossils she finds on trips through the rocky wasteland. Thrawn thinks they are beautiful, telling her that nature is truly the greatest artist. A few fossils even find their way into his art collection.

Most people would consider a 10 year old too young to use a blaster. Thrawn on the other hand thinks it's the right age to get her used to the weapon. He takes it upon himself to teach her to shoot and gifts her her first blaster. He sleeps better at night knowing she can defend herself from a distance. The circumstances make it necessary for her to learn this skill this early, at least that's what he tells himself.

You take your daughter to the outpost almost every day at this point and show her how she can help out. You both help wherever you can. Collecting firewood and herbs for tea, cooking stews, building shelter, and even taming wild howlers.

Thrawn doesn't join you at the outpost, he's busy keeping everything running. Even in exile he takes his job as seriously as ever.

When you and your daughter return to your quarters at nightfall you can barely keep your eyes open. So when Thrawn returns after a busy day of keeping his troops motivated, and finds the loves of his life cuddled up on the sofa waiting for him, he feels at peace. He knows wherever his life takes him, you will follow.

Your daughter shows interest in helping babysit the offspring of your crew. Thrawn agrees, glad his little girl accepts that kind of responsibility. Soon she, and a few junior officers, look after a bunch of rambunctious toddlers. It keeps her occupied and playing with other children, despite them being eight+ years younger, benefits her mental health. She becomes more playful again and no longer feels like she has to grow up fast in this exile.

Thrawn is still busy working on a plan to escape Peridea. Seeing your daughter adapting to this exile makes you less worried for her. In fact, you get used to Peridea as well, without losing hope of returning home one day.

You know how much pressure lasts on Thrawn's shoulders, and you do your best to help him deal with it. He's so glad his family has his back at all times, and he knows that he's not really far from home, because his home is his family - you and your little girl, right there with him. As long as he's got you both, he is exactly where he needs to be the most. He's determined to return to your home galaxy though. He still has his mission that needs to be finished. Then, and only then, he will be able to introduce his loved ones to his homeworld and his people.

There is one more family life hc I'm planning. One thing we haven't explored yet is how Thrawn (+you) will deal with your daughter once she hits puberty. That will be the next and last family life hc coming soon.

[mayhaps-a-blog]

Ysalamir!

I am loving the ysalamir content I see, but I find it curious that so many people seem to default to giving them cat behavior. Cats are adorable, and I love them, but as someone who also adores reptiles, I’d love to see more ysalamir that are just big, fat lizards!

So what does lizard behavior look like?

I admit, I’ve spent more time with snakes than with lizards. But I’ve dealt with some, so here’s what I’ve got:

(This got... so long. Enjoy!)

Reptiles are stupid. Let’s be honest, folks, there is not much going on up in that little head of theirs. They are primarily driven by food, but many lizards may fail to recognize food if it doesn’t look and behave like what they expect.

However, reptiles are also creatures of routine: lights at night, unfamiliar handlers, unfamiliar surroundings can all be highly stressful!

Reptiles can also be curious, and may dig or escape enclosures, then run and hide.

Reptiles generally do not play the same way mammals do. They may enjoy exploring new objects in their enclosure, new scents, and new structures, but likely won’t chase after toys the way cats do.

Reptiles are cold-blooded, which means they cannot regulate their own temperature – instead, they must move to warmer places to warm up, or colder places to cool down. They’ll often find a nice, warm rock or other sunlit surface to just sit and bask.

Reptiles grow sluggish when too cold (or too hot). They move less, they eat less, they shed less often. Lizards that are too hot may take positions (standing up) to maximize airflow, find a cool place to sit, or look for water (and sit in it).

Reptiles don’t tend to see people as friends. People are either 1) large potential predators; run! Hide! Fight! 2) A Big Moving Thing that may hold food! Or might be food? Yay! Food! 3) A Big Warm Rock that moves sometimes. 

Reptiles don’t generally like to be pet, but if habituated to people, likely don’t mind being pet either. Some individuals may enjoy the warmth or interaction; others may prefer not to be touched.

When lizards are stressed or spooked, they may: hiss, puff up and look big, head-bob or display dewlaps, bite at nearby targets, piss or defecate (on the offender, if possible), freeze and/or attempt to run (very fast and will jump off tall objects), attempt to hide (in small cracks they can squeeze into), etc.

Most lizard species can drop their tail if threatened or stressed. These do grow back eventually!

Lizards shed in patches, which they may rub or tear off over a period of a week or two. Don’t pull on the shed - it can tear the skin, and some animals may not wish to be handled at all. Humidity is important as it helps loosen the shed; if patches remain (a bad shed) they may need to be removed manually.

Before shedding the head, lizards shed their eye scales, which leaves them vulnerable with limited eyesight for a few days. They tend to be very skittish.

Males may be more aggressive during mating season, a few months out of the year. Females may be more passive. Some species don’t eat during this time and change their behavior to find or attract mates.

Sick reptiles generally appear lethargic. They may not eat or respond to stimuli.

Like most animals, lizard behavior is highly individual. One paper describes an iguana that sat by the cage door and raised its head for scratches, while another sat above the door and slapped researchers with its tail!

Notably, most lizards are carnivores, but ysalamir are commonly depicted like iguanas, which are herbivores, and have different behaviors. Since they don’t need to chase prey, they tend to be sluggish and spend a lot of time just sitting around.

[solohux]

Imagine Matt giving Techie a small ysalamir as a gift and an apology for Kylo’s behavior

Do you think Matt would also want to keep Techie safe??? If Techie has a little ysalamir with him (Techie calls him 'sunflower'!!), then Kylo's aggressive powers won't be able to touch him!

[mayhaps-a-blog]

Mayhaps a Summary:

My AO3!

Fic Summaries (as of Aug. 30th, 2022)

Fic Summaries (as of Aug. 30th, 2023)

Chiss Speculative Biology

Infrared Vision (Chiss Head Bumpies)

Chiss Eye Color

Chiss Eye Glow

Chiss Skin (part 1) (part 2)

Chiss Names (Linguistics)

Thrawn Speculative Timeline and Ages

Thrawn (2017) Timeline (From Thrawn (2017), Lesser Evil update TBD)

Thrawn’s Age

Eli Vanto’s Age

Karyn Faro’s Age

Commander Hammerly’s Age

Ysalamir Speculative Biology 

Behavior

Fur

Claws

Mouths

Reproduction and Movement

Competition

Nuso Esva Speculative Biology

Insects and Breathing

Iridescense

Bantha Speculative Biology

Bantha Teeth and Diet

[mayhaps-a-blog]

The Natural History of the Ysalamir: Part 3

Following a consideration of the ysalamir’s claws, let us consider: Why have a mouth when ysalamiri absorb nutrients through their claws?

The simplest explanation is that the mouth is or was used for food intake somewhere in the evolutionary line, whether or not it is still used as such. A mouth could still be used to eat if they do still eat, perhaps to gain calories or nutrients not available from the tree. Anchoring to the tree would cut down on movement, which would restrict foraging or hunting opportunities. But so long as the prey is not moving any faster- if it was, for instance, a leaf, or a very slow insect- it’s possible that the ysalamir could very slowly move their way within range and supplement their diet with foliage or other foods. Or, perhaps during certain times of the year or when under stress, the ysalamir could detach in order to hunt higher value food items, or perhaps at a juvenile life stage. Depending on the food, they may or may not require teeth. The vast majority of lizards are carnivores, eating mostly arthropods (insects, arachnids, and other creepy crawlies), but the ysalamir does appear vaguely similar to the iguana, one of the few herbivores. Choice of prey may depend on nutritional requirements or availability.

We could also consider other reasons they might have a mouth despite food intake coming from the claws: defense, for instance. The ysalamir’s natural predator is the vornskr, but other animals may target an ysalamir in a pinch, thus requiring them to defend themselves against attack- perhaps with a mouth full of sharp teeth that can move while the claws are engaged. Or, if ysalamiri are territorial or compete for mates or resources, biting could be used to fight other ysalamiri. This behavior is seen in many species; while fighting is generally not expected to be to the death, the threat of injury and subsequent loss of foraging ability and potential for infection is usually enough to end a fight after some posturing and minor injuries.

In summary, these guys are weird! I love them.