#Horses and donkeys are closely related.

[stromuprisahat]

Bella would never be so surprised by her pregnancy, if she were a horse girl.

[skyscrapergods]

in your au is zecora an earth pony, or does a different species such as a zebra or something closer to donkeys/asses exist? how does zecora, coming from a foreign land, feel about giant gods walking around everywhere - is this a new sight for her, a complete surprise or perhaps something whispered about in tales in her lands, or is there something similar to living, giant where she is from and in other regions as well?

There are many sentient species in the world beyond the main 3 "ponies" which are not all equines. Earth ponies are horses, unicorns are a species of deer, and pegasus share a common ancestor with griffins.

Horses, pegasus, and unicorns are only considered one species socially, because they can interbreed due to compatible chromosomes. However, the foal will always be either a horse, pegasus, or unicorn with no physical traits from the other species. It will be fully one thing or another, as will its children.

Zebras and donkeys are not earth ponies (horses) but they are closely related enough that they can hybridize with them. Non-horse "ponies" (pegasus and unicorns) cannot hybridize with zebras/donkeys. Hybrid offspring within the equines are sterile.

Unicorns can breed freely with horses and pegasus, as well as their relatives, the Kirin. Kirin/unicorn hybrids are sterile. They cannot breed with zebras/donkeys/griffins.

Pegasus can breed freely with horses and unicorns, but cannot breed with kirin, zebras, or donkeys. Pegasus can breed with griffins, and their offspring are known as hippogriffs, which are not sterile and have grown to create an entire new species. They have hybrid vigor and grow larger than either of their ancestor species.

Zecora is not surprised to see Celestia, as she carries the sun around the entire planet, including her home continent. Celestia is known through the world, and worshiped in some way or another through most of it.

Before and after her imprisonment in the moon, Luna is also known throughout the world as the bringer of night and keeper of dreams.

There are other gods besides alicorns. In Zecora's homeland, there are four great trees that stretch into the sky. These trees are actually the legs of Boabab, God of Life. Many thousand years ago, Boabab walked among Zecora's people, before its long neck stretched into the heavens to look for life among the stars. This god is much older and taller than Celestia, so Zecora was not particularly overwhelmed upon seeing her or any of the smaller princesses.

Other regions also have gods, but ponies tend to only care about equestria and often do not believe other species are important enough to become gods.

[hoperays-song]

A Theory About Sing's Animal Genetics

Throughout both Sing movies, we see a lot of different animals of all shapes and sizes. From Black Widow Spiders to African Elephants, the sheer range of species is remarkable. However, one thing stands out, the genetics of it all.

Part 1: The Apparent Genetics Behind Sing

Now, that might not make sense at first, but throughout both movies and all the shorts, we see no “extreme” hybridization. Like no random horse with scales or wings, or a spider with fins, etc etc. Every animal looks realistic. There are no extreme hybrids at all (trust me, I've scanned these movies scene by scene). And yet despite this, we see all kinds of interspecies relationships ranging from a cow and giraffe to an iguana and a crocodile or a snake and bull. Which to me means that genetics can work one of two ways: random species selection or hybridization.

Now, both of these are popular kinds of genetic species determination in anthropomorphic pieces of media. But I actually want to talk about random species selection first. Namely, how this is not what we see happening in Sing.

See, basically, how random species selection works is this. If the biological parents of an offspring are different species, the child will be one of the two species, but not a hybrid of them. An either-or situation. However, while I am willing to admit we do not see many children in the series, the few we see do not come from wildly different parents, in fact they all come from same species parents or parents who are from very visibly similar species, making this seem rather unlikely.

However, that isn't the only form of random species selection. Some variations of random species selection include certain species dominance, where some species will always be more likely to appear, a kind of dominant recessive type of deal. However, this is also not what we see happening in Sing. See the issue with this type of genetic species determination can lead to the over presence of certain species in the population. But we don't see that happening. We instead see what one would expect in terms of species prevalence based on their real-world animals.

So, if those two have not a lot of evidence going for them, that just leaves hybridization. And all of you are likely going "wait, but I thought you said earlier there were no visible hybrids in the series?" And you would be partially correct. There are no visual extreme hybrids. Regular ones that we can see in real life, however? Well, that's a different story.

See, there are animals we see that are likely hybrids. Heck, even a named character is all but confirmed to be one in my opinion. But how? What are the rules? Simple, like with species prevalence, Sing based its genetics off the real world.

What exactly do I mean by that? Well, Sing appears to follow real world hybridization rules in animals. Meaning two species must be extremely closely related in order for a hybrid offspring to occur. Think of some great cats, hoofed animals, and any animal with subspecies. Things like ligers, mules, and golden-crowned manakins are real world hybrids.

So, hybrids that exist in the real world are able to exist in Sing, what's my proof? I said there were characters who appear to be hybrids after all. Which ones? Well, there's four, namely: a background equine in the first movie, a background bear from the Sing Thriller Short, Johnny, and most noticeably, Porsha Crystal.

Let's go in order of least plausible evidence to most, starting with a character that shows up for less than twenty seconds in the first movie, an equine animal I have been dubbing Jack.

I will admit that this is a bit of a stretch primarily due to the lack of screen time. However, as we see both donkeys and horses in Sing 2, Jack here seems to be a mix between the two with the ears of a donkey and the longer mane of a horse and a white muzzle that we only see on horses. They also have what I have always heard be called a “classic mule colourations” aka what a mule looks like in most art I’ve ever been around. Here’s some photos to illustrate my point here.

So yeah, Jack looks a lot like what a mix of Sing horses and donkeys would look like, though they could just be one or the other as we do not really get another look at them.

Next is our lovely bear friend from Thriller, who I've been calling Terry in my notes.

See our friend Terry here does not look like the brown bears we have seen in the series in the slightest. But! They do not look exactly like the other species of bear we have seen in the series either (polar and panda).

But what do they look like then?

This is a grolar bear. Also known as a brown bear/polar bear hybrid. And the first thing that sprang to mind when I laid eyes on Terry here. With a similar build to both polar bears and brown bears that have appeared in the series before, combined with the similar coloration to a grolar bear, Terry seems like a genuine candidate for being a hybrid species. The only reason they are not higher on my list is the existence of Syrian brown bears, which could also fit them though I do not believe to be as likely just due to the bear species distribution we have seen.

Which is also why we come with more than one example for evidence! Our next candidate is.... the world's worst rebel, Johnny!

Now, Johnny being small is a topic I've touched on before. Because well... it's really noticeable when you put him even remotely near other gorillas. Which is further compounded by the fact that Johnny is called a mountain gorilla. You know, the second largest gorilla subspecies in the world?

So, there's a chance that Johnny is so small because he's not solely mountain gorilla, and instead is part or even half western lowland gorilla or cross river gorilla. Not only has he not had proper nutrition, but genetics are at play. This would also explain the more prominent brownish hue to his hair than the hair of his father and uncles.

However, like I mentioned and posted about previously, there is also a lot of evidence that Johnny likely has stunted growth due to malnutrition as a child, which often has permanent effects. So really, Johnny could be either of the two possibilities, or even potentially both a hybrid and stunted in growth.

And last but not least, the most obvious, all but confirmed hybrid (in my opinion), Porsha Crystal.

See, everywhere I check, I see Jimmy Crystal being described as an arctic wolf. And honestly? That checks out. He has a stockier build and solid white fur, as well as a smaller head. Very arctic wolf, down to the design of his fur.

But Porsha just isn't. She has a larger head, slender build, and most noticeably, coloured fur.

Arctic wolves have to have, despite being shades of brown/grey when they are born, solid white fur. It typically turns that way within about a year, with some patches occasionally sticking around a few years longer. But nowhere near as long as Porsha has seemingly been alive. And her colourations are pretty obviously part of her natural fur pattern, not tufts of baby hair sticking through.

"So what, she has a patterned coat? We’re seen character’s use hair dye before, that can't be the only reason-" Her build does not make sense for an arctic wolf. We see one due to her father. And the other children of the series that we are 100% sure are likely not hybrids look like their parents in terms of builds (think the piglets). Porsha does not. She looks more like the wolf bodyguard in that sense than her own father. She is much willowier with a notably different face shape that aligns with a different wolf subspecies than an arctic wolf, along with the coat pattern.

But which one?

Meet the northwestern wolf. A wolf that is a bit willowier than the arctic wolf, with a larger head shape, and most times, coloured fur. And a dead ringer for Porsha.

Which would make it seem like she is just a northwestern wolf right? Well, except one thing. Porsha is the same size as her dad, and arctic wolves are smaller than northwestern wolves. Which could be evidence of the arctic wolf dna. Same with the identical ear shapes. Those things are exactly why Porsha seemingly screams hybrid in terms of design, as well as the fact that she is simply called a wolf, with no subspecies designation. Because she's more than one.

Part Two: The Conservation Posters Theory

I promised a theory at the start and a theory you shall receive.

So throughout Sing 1 and 2, there are a ton of background posters. And only a few of those are fully legible. However, two (one in each movie) really stand out.

What can we see in these posters? Well, simple. A small build, light yellowish, feline with green eyes, round ears, compact head, and a rosette spot pattern. Besides this character, are the words "Love, Respect, Protect".

And that is super interesting. Because that cat? It's surprisingly hard to identify in terms of species. Now from the rosette pattern with the spots, we can immediately assume that this cat is a jaguar along with the proportionally large ears.

What makes that assumption weird though, is the head.

Jaguars have broader heads than what we see on the poster. And notably broader heads than leopards. However, the poster cat has a narrow head. Which reads like a leopard in all but shape, with the head being slightly more round than a leopard's is, but still far too narrow to be considered a jaguar's. It looks like a mix of the two.

The leopard similarities don't just end there either, as we look at the eyes. See, jaguars don't have green eyes, but you know who do? Leopards. Notably so even, with yellow-ish green being the primary colour seen in leopard eyes. (Yes, I understand Sing does not care about eye colour genetics. It also doesn’t care about physics or proper medical treatment. I’m ignoring all those factors rn lol.)

All of this leads me to one conclusion: that cat is either a jagulep or a lepjag/leguar aka, a hybrid of a jaguar and leopard of some kind.

This animal being a hybrid makes this poster make a ton more sense than a just standard predator species. Because we don’t see any discrimination between herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. Seriously, within the cast we see, there isn’t any of the Zootopia type of discrimination at play. What we don’t see a lot of however, are likely hybrids.

If that poster is in fact about hybrids, it raises a new question about the lack of hybrids we see, which is, why don’t we?

A lot of animals can create hybrids. Any animal with a subspecies, a lot of canines, all the big cats, the list goes on. You would think that we would see way more than the four I mentioned above. And sure, we could count all the dog mixes (not really but we could try), and a lot of subspecies hybrids would look just like a regular one of that species to explain the low numbers, but the word choice of “protect” adds a weird taste to that story.

Because it implies that this is a reminder that needs to be said. A reminder to love and respect hybrids, fellow members of your community, needs to be told to the other community members. What’s more, it has to be added on that they need to be protected as well. Protected from what? By the looks of it, the community as a whole.

These posters are very similar to real world conservation and anti-bullying posters/billboards that are aimed at the general public in order to spread awareness. So, the fact that these posters are seemingly specifically about hybrids makes it clear that hybrids are likely not treated the best in the Sing universe. And while we don’t see this explicitly on screen, we can see potential effects it might have had, namely here: what an “acceptable” hybrid is.

See, the wording of the posters show that this group is discriminated against right? Well, we see Porsha and Johnny in particular not being treated differently from anyone else, so why? Well, let’s look at the hybrid on the poster.

Like I mentioned earlier, you have to look twice to realise that that cat is likely a hybrid. You have to know what you’re looking for. Same with Johnny. If he is a hybrid, it isn’t extremely noticeable besides his size, which again he can dismiss as just being small. Porsha is the only really noticeable hybrid of the three and the fact she is in the upper echelons of society should not be dismissed. She is not going to be treated the same as people not in that social class. So, her treatment in society as a whole is likely not going to be that different from a non-hybrid.

So, are they ideal hybrids? Well from what we can see in the movies and in the posters, it seems to be hybrids that are not noticeable are the least likely to face issues, hence the hybrid on the poster being legitimately the poster child for being a hybrid. In the Sing universe, hybrids are alright, but only when you don’t know they are there.

This would explain the small amount of them in the movies and shorts, not only are there not many possible ones, but the most noticeable ones would also likely be heavily discriminated against. So much so that groups are having to put up posters in order to hopefully raise awareness to stop this from happening. They are having to beg with these communities that the hybrids amongst them deserve love, respect, and safety just like everyone else. And we as viewers? Well, we don’t know if they are listening.

----------

Disclaimer: It is important to note that we do not see much of Porsha’s life or any of these character’s lives outside of a few snapshots from work. We do not see if Johnny had to deal with issues at school or if Porsha had to deal with issues online or with the media. We do not know. So they could have faced issues for potentially being hybrids that we just did not see on screen. Also, we do know species discrimination does exist, Buster and Mike in the first movie, as well as Jimmy in the second make several comments that are discriminatory. However, these do not seem to be widespread ideas in the Sing Universe, and it is nowhere near the level of predator/prey divides we see in other anthropomorphic media like Zootopia and Beastars. In fact, none of the remarks are even about a predator/prey divide at all.

[dynamoterror1011]

Some sketches of Equus ovodovi, a species of horse once found throughout northeastern Asia during the Pleistocene and Holocene (going extinct only around 3,500 years ago). It was the last surviving member of the subgenus Sussemionus, a clade of horses most closely related to zebras and donkeys but diverging earlier than the split between those two groups. The colored sketch of the two stallions is primarily based on the coloration/pattern of Asiatic Wild Asses, while the black-and-white sketch is more zebra-inspired.

[hotpotatopotat]

This might be an odd question coming straight from my biology nerd side, but have you thought on the taxonomy/biology of the mers?

Are all mer species related to each other, or are they closer to the species they resemble? Are the different mers even different species? Are they all one species with multiple subspecies? Are they branched off of a human ancestor, explaining their compatibility with humans? Are all types of mers are compatible with humans? Are all types of mers compatible with one another? Do mer/human pairings all result in more mers?

Feel completely free to ignore these questions and just answer whatever biology stuff you want if you have any.

Again, I'm just a biology nerd and always curious, especially animal and fantasy biology. 😅

Hello fellow taxonomy/biology nerd, let me take a crack at it. Also this is fantasy so go easy on me XD In my head, while not completely fleshed out mind you, there are two lines of thought here. One of divergent evolution, where there is a common ancestor, and two is convergent evolution, in which case two animals might develop similar traits, but are very distantly related, or not very related at all. True Mers and humans essentially started to diversify at the same time, branching off from a Mer-like ancestor while maintaining simularities to eachother. Bakumer and Deku, for example, is divergent evolution. However, only certain mers can produce young with humans, and only certain Mer can breed with eachother. Just as the word "Fish" describes and organism with gills, fins, scales, pretty much phenotypical characteristics, "Mer" is an extremely broad term to refer to these phenotypical traits (semi-aquatic, human/fish/seal/shrimp thing). So Kiriseal is an example of convergent evolution, in which he is a completely different organism, but just so happens to look like a "Human-like Mer". He cannot breed with humans. Same with Shoto Shrimp - Shrimp mer and Bakumer couldn't produce young. The only reason Bakumer and Deku Human could produce young is probably more of a hybridization because the genus is close enough. Think of horses and donkeys making a mule. They're different species, but they produce offspring. Of course, you know the consequences of such hybrids, and Bakumer's offspring are not free from those consequences. Hope this makes any sense.

[curiouscorvidcreaturecompendium]

Also known as the "Skolex" in the Indus River Valley region., W. indicus is a very large species of saw-toothed worm, closely related and morphologically similar to its closest cousin, the now-extinct marine worm W. armstrongi.

Pale and carnivorous, Indus worms are native to the Indus river valley, characterized by long, white bodies, large venomous mandibles, and symmetrical pairs of parapodium (lateral outgrowths or protrusions from the body used to assist movement) on each body segment.. They tend to burrow in the mud of the river bed during the day, emerging in the cool of night to hunt easy livestock prey like horses, cows, donkeys, camels, but also occasionally humans. They will also attack potential prey who happen to walk over their sleeping place, though this is more likely to occur near sunset or sunrise.

[vidavalor]

Story Analysis Meta Masterlist

I'm spring cleaning up the blog a bit here and have been making a meta masterlist. As you know, Tumblr only likes so many links per post so all meta related to Good Omens story analysis is here in this post beneath the cut. You can find additional meta related to analysis of language, characters, some theories and just silly stuff in the pinned post on my blog. Thanks. 💕

Story Analysis

A short look at non-linear storytelling & what it suggests about 2.06

Historical context of eccles cakes

Aziraphale's snakeskin patterned vest & feather boa flirting in 1941

On symbolism of coffee and America

The other S2 kisses...

Humans are ants, angels are bees... on insect analogies

Aziraphale's journal entry in 1827 says for how long Crowley was gone

One reason we needed to see where Mrs. Sandwich lives/works in S2

You Can Leave Your Hat On: On when Crowley's wearing his hat in 1941 & why

The Ball & 'The Sound of Music'

High on a hill in the Job minisode was a lonely goatherd...

Do-Re-Mi

You Love Trains: Crowley & Aziraphale inspired 'North by Northwest'

The wine Crowley drinks at Marguerite's and horses

On Maggie's individual scene with Crowley

I Have Confidence

"Moonlight Serenade" in S2

Gabriel's S2 bookseller outfit & the Ineffable Husbands

Underrated humorous Ineffable Husbands moment in S2

Flirting in the Job minisode at the start of the cellar scenes

Scenes showing C&A looking after each other & A helping with C's PTSD in S1

On scenes relating to C&A, touch & Gabriel

On Crowley not getting another apartment after S1 because he basically lives in the bookshop

On the trauma-related ties between Crowley pulled to Hell in 1827 and the wall slam at Tadfield Manor

Gabriel subtly mocking Sandalphon to Aziraphale in S1

Why viewing the 2.06 kiss as a first kiss doesn't work with the rest of the scenes the show has already put forth

This is the face of an angel who is going to burn this place to the ground...

The wall slam & sex games

Crowley magically drawing Aziraphale to him by his bowtie in 1827

"You look me in the eye and tell me..."

Crowley caressing in the parallel 1967 and S2 Dirty Donkey scenes

On whales, The Them and ice cream and probably some other stuff

The S2 poster with the frou frou cocktails with little umbrellas

When the Lord closes a door...

This way Up

"That'll Be the Day"

"Toast"/"It's Toasted": A nod to 'Mad Men' in S2

"Funny old world"

The Horsehead Nebula

On Maggie, parrots, crows and flying free

[sketch-shepherd-art]

Did some random designs for some MLP donkey and mule OC’s because let’s face it, as much as I love the show I’m not a fan of the fact that for donkey/mule characters like Cranky, Matilda, and Mulia Mild they went with the cliche “dumb ugly donkey” design. Donkeys and mules irl can actually have a cute and soft/fluffy aesthetic to them, I had to do them justice and make them as cute as the ponies. 

You could probably tell I modeled these guys heavily after Zecora, considering donkeys are more closely related to zebras than they are with common horses. 

(btw the ones on the top are donkeys, the ones on the bottom are mules)

[dapper-lil-arts]

Fun fact: zebras are more closely related to donkeys than they are to horses

Also, a unicorn zebra sounds like an awesome idea

indeed, Zecora is already clearly doing some sort of magic, she might as well have been a unicorn! Though Earth ponies being capable of alchemy and whatnot is naturally very fun!

[xenosaurus]

How closely related are the wizard, witch, and warlock species? Like are they completely separate despite having convergent evolution to look similar to each other (like with hares and rabbits), or are they close enough to hybridize (like donkeys and horses producing mules)? Or could they produce fertile hybrids (like grizzly bears and polar bears producing pizzly/grolar bears and wolves and dogs producing wolf dogs)? And for that matter with humans too.

Warlocks and Wizards are close enough to hybridize, though the children are always infertile and conflicts in their magical “genes” tend to cause health problems. 9 in 10 viable offspring come from a Wizard mother/gestating parent because of differences in immune systems— Warlock bodies are more likely to reject a fetus as a foreign body.

Witches and humans are too genetically separate from any others for reproduction!

[devilsrecreation]

Thoughts about The Zebra Mastermind since it’s one of my favorite episodes

Honestly I only watch clips of this episode for the Outlanders

I love how this ep is basically an idiot contest

Doesn’t have the best song, but it’s cute

I swear to god Chungu and Cheezi are the hyena equivalent of Spongebob and Patrick. They share exactly one braincell and I love them

“Cheezi, did we just get an idea???”

“Yeah! Our first one!”

“WE’RE anybody!”

“Oh yeah! We are!”

PLEASE

Chungu how to you know exactly what someone’s talking about with such vague information you actually have a gift

I know they had worse intentions but just the thought of the hyenas and crocodiles giving the Lion Guard flowers and belly rubs is actually kinda cute.

Get yourselves a partner who calls you cute nicknames like Goigoi does to Reirei

I love how Goigoi’s always trying to make Reirei happy

Goigoi…honey….that’s not how stripes work-

I love how this implies Kiburi has his own version of the term “furbrains”. We deserved to hear Kiburi call Tamka and Nduli “fish-for-brains”

“Speaking of fish, let’s go find something to eat!”

Same, Tamka. Same

SO CANON FACT ABOUT TAMKA: RUBBING HIS TUMMY PUTS HIM TO SLEEP AND THAT’S LIKE THE CUTEST THING EVER

I love to imagine Pua was the one to discover that. Like a baby Tamka was fussing and Pua, desperate to get him to calm down, took his mate’s suggestion and gently rubbed his son’s tummy with his tail. Turns out it worked

Nduli saying how they should tell Kiburi about Thurston’s advice just adds to my headcanon that they’re close

Tamka how did you know zebras were more related to donkeys than horses? I’m so proud of you!

Nduli actually acted like he wanted to straight up murder Thurston. To be fair, they were planning to eat him anyway but holy shit Nduli was ahead of everyone.

Look at this shit. Even Tamka’s like “Oh shit dude, calm down”. He really said 👀

It’s kinda sweet of Tamka to make sure everyone gets a fair portion of zebra. Lot of other Outlanders would just take however much they wanted, but Tamka’s like “nah, if we were all tricked by the zebra, we all get out fair share of him”. Sweet boy

Anybody gonna tell Chungu zebras don’t have wings? No?

Why couldn’t we get more sassy Nduli? “Back off and hush up!” like damn ok

Stop they all look so cute when they’re annoyed. Especially Chungu. His face is the best

I love to think Nne and Tano were watching everything go down placing bets on how long they can stand before the guard kicks their fellow Outlanders’ tails

“Betcha half my lunch they won’t last a minute”

“You’re on!”

[daddycardan]

Holly said she doesn’t think Jude is as pretty as a faerie but the books mentions faeries find her very beautiful. Like they mention her beauty more often than any of Holly black’s heroines. Than it got to me, Jude’s beauty could be different from the faeries. Like she’s extremely beautiful in a human way but not beautiful in the same way as them. Because someone said Holly once said in 2019 Jude was unnaturally pretty for a mortal and unusually attractive. And the books always have faeries mention their beauty. What do you think is the case?

It's pretty clear that Jude is very different from the faeries. It's hard to gauge what exactly she looks like & therefore how pretty she is, because Jude can be an unreliable narrator sometimes (like when it comes to interpreting Cardan, she often gets it wrong, so I wouldn't be surprised if she underplayed her own looks, too). She doesn't often mention her physical appearance and when she does, it's not overly positive, which indicates that she either doesn't consider herself pretty, or doesn't attribute much importance to it.

NOW, that doesn't mean she isn't pretty. I actually think that she's really fucking attractive. From the story, we know that faeries are tall and slender and aren't well endowed with curves. We also know that Jude (& Taryn) are on the curvier side, especially when it comes to their breasts. Jude is also a very physically active person, so she's got muscle mass. As for her face, it's safe to assume that it's pretty; remember the incident at the mall where some emo dude tried hitting on her? In human standards, she is definitely attractive.

Jude is a different kind of pretty compared to the standard faerie beauty ideal, but I think the fey actually appreciate that. It seems they are fascinated and allured by Jude and Taryn. (Edir wrote love songs for Taryn while admiring her from a distance.)

There's also an element of the fey being surprised with themselves for finding them attractive (Cardan spiraled into an existential crisis over his crush), which I think nicely demonstrates that humans and fey are actually more similar as a species than the faeries would like to admit. Like, this is getting a bit off-topic, but the fact there's this organic mutual attraction between them and that the two species can procreate, really shows that they are as closely related as species can get. Not even horses & donkeys can produce fertile offspring, yet faeries and humans can.

But to answer your question, yes, I think Jude is very attractive, and both humans and faeries know it!

[vasa-boattours]

HWS Switzerland headcanons

Multilingual by default. Also speaks the language of his business partners fluently.

Speaks extra thick Schwyzerdütsch with Gilbert, Ludwig, and Roderich just because he can. Gradually elevates difficulty levels to Berndütsch if they seem to slowly understand the previous levels of Schwytzerdütsch

A lot of Norse countries get credit for surviving harsh winters but he's equally tough. Surviving in a mountainy region with drastic winters is tough work.

Survivalist to the max. MacGuyver's himself through any rural environment.

Good with animals, especially more "difficult to handle" farm animals, like goats, cows, and donkeys. Trains his shepheard dogs perfectly. Doesn't like horses though. Not sturdy enough and too much maintenance. Adores his wildlife, especially vultures.

Usually he doesn't like talking more personally to people but will hold an entire lecture on vultures and their significance in the ecosystem when prompted.

Also trains avalanche-rescue dogs.

Crafty in many departments: Can make his own food (from wheat to bread, milking to tasty aged cheese, etc.), expert forager, knits comfiest socks, hats, and sweaters, excellent first aid skills, expert woodworker, understands the physics of technology in extreme weather conditions, knows how to handle animals (wild or domestic), can fix almost any machinery. For some reason believes that qualifies him to cut his own bangs.

A bit intense when organizing. He's always organized about every event: Winter, business, travel trips, party planning. But he gets irritated if others are lax in this department when they're trying to organize the same thing.

Likes the finer things in life. Everything he surrounds himself with is of good quality whereas not boisterous. It's all very tasteful.

Likes to eat well.

Still drives over the border to shop at the grocery stores of his neighbor countries because the prices are much lower. Still complains about the cheese quality though.

Can be surprisingly charming at first meetings. Treats people with reserved politeness, makes small, light hearted jokes. But he's extremely difficult to get close to on a personal level.

Even spontaneous meeting just to chat are already too familiar to him.

Not uninterested in others but enjoys being mostly by himself.

Actually can be very funny. It's mostly dry humor yet he has an unmatched timing. When he doesn't laugh at anyone else's jokes it's not for not getting them but because he purposefully wants to signal that he doesn't want to dignify that comment with a laugh.

Deadpan comments are politely formulated yet ice-cold.

Quiet interested in culture. Loves to go to art exhibits, museums, or watch movies. Even enjoys experimental stuff. Yet, if he doesn't like something he will tear it verbally to shreds for having wasted his time.

Uses many food metaphors without him noticing.

In modern days he has fun creating hip-hop-tracks. Nobody but him likes that.

Although he enjoys the refinery of urban environments, when he gets overwhelmed he retreats into the mountains to do craftswork, tend animals, and generally avoid human contact.

Terrific at any sport related to winter and mountains. Has to ski well by necessity although his first attempts at snowboarding were hilariously clumsy. Equally passionate about hockey and figure skating.

Hiking and mountain climbing are his summer time passions. Very convinced by his climbing skills, so he died on several occassions doing freestyle climbing. Stubbornly doesn't accept his failure though.

Many of his early deaths include death by avalanche, guessing what herb is edible or not, freezing to death, and getting in a wresting match with a billy goat once.

Interested in science as so far as it serves to better human living conditions in natural environments, or how to do things more practically. Loves riding the train to watch the panorama although not keen on Ludwig nerding out about trains.

If he had to choose, his favourite neighbour might be Francois (don't tell him that though).

Of course he's a pretentious schmuck about his chocolatier skills. Belgium and him have a silent rivalry about who's chocolate gets more praise.

Never leaves the house without a Swiss army knife.

[skyward-floored]

For the Incredibles AU Malon, is this correct for her powers;

She can technically understand all mammals, just that those she grew up with on the farm are understood best?

Ergo this;

Is canon, its root just "Malon has a loose grasp on Whale Language is all"?

So she understands hippos, seals, llamas and other mammals based on zoo trips to a degree, just "I would understand them better if I talked to them regularly"?

I mean yeah, kinda. All mammals she understands to a degree. It’s not like she can exactly “talk” to them though, it’s like... hm, she sort of just... gets what they mean? Like reads body language? But it’s not super clear.

But horses and animals specifically closely related to horses (donkeys zebras etc) are the ones she can understand no problem 100%. Other animals with hooves (cows, goats, bison... etc) she can usually communicate with semi-reliably, and everything else it’s like the above, she can usually figure out what they mean, but can’t exactly talk to them.

So... yeah she can sorta speak whale

[objecthusbandry]

any info on forks?

yes! forks are a cutlery species, obviously. they tend to stay in packs of between three and up to a dozen mixed with other cutlery objects like spoons of different types and butter knives. they are omnivores, though they primarily consume meat. like other cutlery objects the primary reason for their domestication was to hunt vermin like mice and rats. they use their tines (colloquially called prongs) to spear their prey. they tend to be more aggressive than spoons and are therefor less common as pets.

they are notable for their ability to hybridize with spoons, a closely related species in the same genus. their offspring, sporks, are always sterile and unable to reproduce - think of it like how horses and donkeys can produce mules.

[taggthewanderer]

When you think about a zebra's temperament, remember that they're more closely related to donkeys than horses.