#Horses and donkeys are closely related.

[stromuprisahat]

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

[shukraastro]

Planets, Animals and their association with your spouse

In this post I will show you a fun technique on how to find out which animals your spouse could be associated with in terms of their pets or other ways like symbolisms or nicknames they could be linked with, with certain type of animals.

Firstly, for this method we look at the 7th house in the D1 chart. We look if there are any planets located inside the 7th house. If there are any planets placed in the 7th house, those planets can tell you with what type of animals your spouse could be personally associated with, because the 7th house represents the physical being of your spouse, especially the face. Planets inside the 7th house can manifest on the appearance of the spouse and according to the animal that is represented by that planet it can give similar features in the appearance of your spouse.

Next, if no planets are placed inside the 7th house we then look at the 7th lord, the planet which rules over the 7th house will tell us with what kind of an animal they will be generally associated with, in this case this does not have to do with their appearance since that 7th lord will be placed somewhere else in the chart and leaves the 7th house empty. But it can manifest in other ways, like as a pet or their favorite animal or something they are symbolically associated with or even their nationality (as some nations have a spirit animal). We also include the Darakaraka planet into this method, we apply the same thing to the Darakaraka planet as well, just like we did with the 7th lord planet.

Lastly, what we also include are the planets which are placed with the 7th lord and the Darakaraka planet in the same house, they can also play a role (it might not be too closely linked with them but there could be some rare circumstances in which they could be related or linked with it.

Btw you can never categorize one type of animal to only one planet, there are many cases in which certain types of animals will be attributed by two or more planets.

Now to the planets and the animals...

Sun: animals which represent bravery and loyalty, which are loud and bold, have to be tamed and get lots of praises and attention and are majestic - lion, tiger, dog, wolf, peacock, eagle

Moon: animals which represent innocence, intuition, fertility, nurturing, timidness/shyness, quite and delicate animals - deer, cat, rabbit, dove, butterfly (winged animals)

Mercury: animals which are small, make too much noises (even speak), restless/move too much/can't stay still, are handy - parrot, chicken (birds in general), fish, turtle (for their size), mouse, hamster, bunny

Venus: animals which are feminine, elegant, beautiful, even seductive, which represent extravagance, and creativity, are very colorful - swan, snake, peacock, bigger and more colorful breeds of parrots/birds, butterfly, cow

Mars: animals which are fast and strong, stubborn, protective, aggressive/dangerous even, need to be disciplined and trained - dog, leopard/puma/panther/cheetah (basically all sprinting big cats), bear, wolf, horse, ram, shark

Jupiter: animals which are very big in size and represent freedom/expansion and wildlife, jungles, forrests, mountains, seas, symbolizing optimizm - horse, eagle, bear, elephant, dolphin, whale, koala, panda, raccoon, squirrel, lama

Saturn: animals which represent humilty, service, hardships, burdens (load animals), suffering, endurance and longevity - donkey, camel, ox, horse, elephant, goat, turtoise, crocodile

Rahu: animals which represent worldly desires, enchantment, ambition, obsession, attachment, illusion, exoticness - dog, snake/serpent/dragon, spider, eye catching reptiles

Ketu: animals which represent the underworld, soul realm, detachment, isolation, intuition, transformation, darkness - cat, snake/serpent/dragon, scorpion (dark colored reptiles), owl, deer, raven

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

As you can see some animals can be categorized into 2~3 planets archetypes. But these are the themes and animals for each planet. I really tried to include as many kinds of animals as I could. I personally have lots of fun looking into this method when I analyse peoples charts, because I have seen this play out with their spouses a lot. I hope this was helpful and can give you some more clues about your future spouse.

Thanks for reading. 🌺

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Some Fantasy Creatures

Fantasy species are types of fictional creatures that inhabit the pages of fantasy books. Crucially, these different species do not exist in the real world. Some fantasy species are the creation of individual authors, but a great number come from longstanding folklore and may have appeared in fantasy stories for generations.

Common Fantasy Species

Dragons: Massive, flying, fire-breathing reptiles. They are often portrayed as ferocious and untamable, but some dragons allow humans to ride them. They appear in countless fantasy works from The Hobbit to Game of Thrones.

Wizards: Wizards—sometimes called sorcerers—are human-like beings who possess magical abilities. Some wizards can only access magical powers sometimes; others seem nearly omnipotent. Many wizards are shapeshifters and can assume different identities.

Giants: Giants are massive beings that tower over humans. There are many different types of giants, including brutish ogres and the one-eyed cyclops.

Merfolk: Merfolk, including mermaids and mermen, share qualities with both fish and humans. Most live exclusively in water but have amphibious qualities that briefly sustain them on land.

Lizard folk: These reptilian hybrids fall somewhere between lizards and humanoids. Friendly lizard folk often resemble geckos while evil lizard folk may take on the appearance of crocodiles.

Hobbits: Also called halflings, these creatures are among the central protagonists of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series. They are noted for their small size and sage wisdom.

Elves: Wood elves typically live in the forest. High elves live in marble palaces. Dark elves typically live underground and may behave wickedly, while other elves tend to have noble intentions. Still other types of elves include night elves, snow elves, moon elves, and aquatic elves.

Dwarves: Dwarves are typically depicted as an ancient humanoid species. Dwarves are squat, burly, and master craftsmen. They are often associated with mining and tunneling.

Gnomes: Gnomes are short and squat like dwarves, but they tend to have a friendlier disposition in fantasy stories. They tend to be tinkerers more than craftsmen. Their signature accessory is a pointy red cap.

Trolls: In standard fantasy literature, trolls are massive, primordial creatures that humane recruit for major battles. During peacetime, they are typically regarded as a nuisance prone to ransacking villages.

Nymphs: Characterized as protectors of the wilderness—particularly trees and plants. In most works of fiction, they are closely related to fairies.

Dryads: Dryads are also known as tree nymphs. In works of fantasy, most dryads bond with a particular tree and consider it an extension of themselves.

Satyrs: Half human and half donkey; typically have an appetite for carousing.

Centaurs: Closely related to satyrs, they are half human and half horse. These hybrid mammals tend to avoid human civilizations in works of fantasy. Sometimes they appear as barbarians and sometimes they appear as stewards of nature.

Demons: Demons can take many forms in fantasy stories, but they are almost always motivated by evil and malice.

Imps: Imps are connected to both demons and fairies. Most are motivated by mischief more than evil. Like dryads, imps closely associate with trees; some are even born grafted to trees in fantasy novels.

Orcs: Orcs are commonly depicted as brutish monsters motivated by evil and cruelty. In some traditions, orcs are corrupted elves. Orcs had fallen out of standard fantasy tropes until J.R.R. Tolkien made them the key horde of antagonists in the Lord of the Rings series.

Goblins: Closely related to orcs, they are smaller, smarter, and easily spotted thanks to their green skin. Hobgoblins are larger goblins that closely resemble orcs.

Werewolves: Werewolves are typically depicted as humans that turn into wolves during a full moon. In some folklore, they are revenants—the undead corpse of a human killed by another werewolf.

Hydra: A many-headed serpent that traces back to ancient Greek mythology. Depending on the work of fiction, some are aquatic and some live on land.

Some fantasy novels describe worlds entirely inhabited by fantasy creatures:

The Goblin Emperor (2014) by Sarah Monette (pen name Katherine Addison)

The Crucible of Time (1983) by John Brunner

More commonly, fantasy settings feature invented creatures interacting with humans and real-world animals. Examples include: 

The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin

Source ⚜ More: References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[jelloapocalypse]

Two unrelated things I wanted to put in this ask:

On your most recent drawstream, you wondered why sheep and goats have different latinized adjective forms (ovine and caprine, respectively). I'm not 100% sure why, but it might have to do with the fact that they're descended from two different species: sheep (probably) from the asiatic mouflon (Ovis gmelini), and goats from the wild goat (Capra aegagrus), and within their subfamily, the caprines, they're not very closely related, to the point that, unlike donkey x horse hybrids, sheep x goat hybrids are pretty rare, despite the two often sharing the same pasturage.

My brother and I, inspired by your and Yam's anime OP videos, are looking at doing a similar list of anime EDs, and I was wondering if, going from one to the other, there was anything you might tweak about the criteria you used. Your criteria seem pretty broadly applicable, but the general character of anime OPs and EDs is noticeably different, so I wonder if/how that might change how you interpret/apply said criteria.

Well the biggest thing is that in the past OPs were used to signify a show was coming up next on TV and serve as a bite-sized intro to grab a new viewer's attention. EDs don't do that at all, so that wouldn't be part of the rubric.

I guess offhand I would look at how well an ED winds down from the show itself? Like, if the show is dramatic and serious and the ED has an abrupt or goofy start, that creates a tone clash and that's bad. But there are also ways that a lighter OP can feel like a breath of fresh air if it's not too dissonant.

Link Click's first season has this incredible ED that they use as a "twist revelation" moment at the end of most episodes before cutting directly to the ending and it REALLY makes you want to keep watching. So maybe EDs that make you want to keep watching the next episode could get points?

We developed our rubric while skimming through openings and slowly realizing why we liked certain OPs more than others. I would recommend watching a bunch of EDs and trying to pinpoint which ones resonate with you and why.

I think to do an ED list you'd need to be much more intimately familiar with the shows themselves, which is one of the reasons I have no interest in looking into endings. The OP list was already a huge amount of work and I think an ED list with the same level of scrutiny would be way harder.

[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.

[toast-tales]

Cursed Cravings, Chapter 18: Kill the Beast

In which Danny leads the mob to the home of a giant. Contains: 3.4k words | Chapter 1 | Read this story on A03!

For a man as loathsome and disgusting as Cyrus—at least, in Danny's eyes—it was surprisingly easy for him to get people on his side.

Cyrus left Nathan, Danny, and all the preparations for the trip ahead in the hands of the cronies he’d brought with him. Meanwhile, he left with only a couple of them and came back less than an hour later with what seemed to be most of the town's capable men and a few audacious women besides, armed with anything and everything from torches to axes to fireplace pokers, all shouting along behind Cyrus. There had to have been at least a hundred—maybe more.

“We can't have a monster threaten the village!”

“No one is safe!”

“Not until it's dead!”

Cyrus looked so incredibly pleased with himself as he walked on ahead of the crowd towards Danny, who had her hands tied behind her back as she sat in front of Max on the horse that she'd borrowed from Christopher. Maria whinnied nervously as the man approached, kicking up her hooves—though it seemed that she had submitted to complacency since Danny had gotten astride her. 

“It's such a comfort to know that I have the support of our village in this endeavor,” he sneered. “Who knew years of public relations would pay off like this?” 

Danny glared back at him. “We had a donkey that was just as loud as you, and still, somehow, less of an ass.” 

Cyrus shook his head as if he truly felt pity for Danny. “Such a shame what that monster did to your mind. Making you resent your savior like this.” 

It wasn't even a good act. Cyrus didn't believe a word he said about mind control. 

“What's this really about, Cyrus?” Danny snapped. “I know you. You're not some fucking hero. What exactly do you hope to gain from killing Christopher?” 

He couldn't, right? There's no way. Sam can stop them. Christopher could literally crush Cyrus under his foot. He doesn't stand a chance.

Cyrus's smile twitched, and his beady eyes darkened. “A world with one less man-eating giant in it.” 

Danny wanted to scream. “Even if there was a giant, you wouldn’t stand a fucking chance. How the hell did you convince these people they could take down a giant?” 

Cyrus leaned in close enough for her to smell the putrid scent of cigars on his breath. “I didn’t,” he sneered. “Turns out the threat of a magical, mind-controlling monster is enough to rile everyone up.” 

He only laughed loudly as he turned to walk away. Danny screamed in frustration, which prompted Max to throw one of his elbows into her side. “Shut up, bitch. You'd better cooperate, unless you want your friend to die in the cold.” 

There were times that anger could be useful, or at least, felt useful. When she'd had nothing to do but pace around a gilded cage, alone, anger had felt good. Even if it had been pointless, it made her feel like she was still fighting back, like she was doing something instead of just rolling over and giving up.

Her anger wouldn't do anything here—not when Nathan's life was on the line. Any risk she took would be a risk for Nathan, and any detour or distraction would only prolong the bitter cold he'd have to endure. And she had no doubt at all that Cyrus wouldn't hesitate to hurt him further, if she didn't comply.

It tasted like bile to swallow her anger now, but she did. She took a deep breath, stared straight ahead, and imagined herself strangling Max. She played over and over in her head the many different ways she could hurt him, and Cyrus, and every one of the people he'd brought with him. 

“Lead the way, Danny,” came Cyrus's arrogant voice from behind her. She tried to look to the side to see if she could get a glimpse of Nathan, but Max gave her a subtle, but still painful shove.

“Get moving,” he hissed.

First, I'll put my hands around his neck and squeeze until his face turns blue. She gestured towards the woods with her head, since her hands were still tied. “That way. Down the path.” Then I'll punch him right in the gut, right where it hurts. After that—

* * * * * * * * * *

Danny hoped that they would get as lost as Christopher seemed to think they would without the mirror—which she had managed to keep with her during all the commotion, though she kept it hidden beneath her dress. Maybe there was some sort of illusion Sam could pull off to hide the mansion from view, or turn them all around in the woods.

She had little choice but to lead Cyrus and his now much larger mob of people down the path she'd taken to Christopher's residence. To her dismay, the huge mansion came into view, with its dark spires rising up into the gray sky above.

“This is the place,” she snarled as they approached the iron gate that led to the mansion’s grounds. 

Max pulled the reins on Maria to stop her in her tracks, and the rest of the mob behind followed suit. Cyrus hopped off his own horse and sauntered up to the huge, wrought iron gate—shut and locked tight, with no lock or handle in sight. It was the only way in—the stone walls would have been too high to climb over easily.

She seemed to be the only one to notice one of the iron bars bending just slightly at the bottom, before it swiped under the feet of one of the people standing too close to the gate. 

“W-what the fuck?” The man’s head snapped side to side, trying to find the source of whatever had tripped him up. “What the fuck was that?” 

“Get the gate open!” Cyrus shouted, ignoring the man’s distress. After a few men threw their shoulders into the metal to try and make the gate give way, a group eventually used a large log nearby as a battering ram to try and force it open. A thunderous CLANG echoed with each attempt. 

Max dismounted and yanked Danny off the horse after. She fought against his hold on her, trying to at least find Nathan in all the commotion, and though she couldn’t see him, she heard him coughing further back. Fuck. He needs to get indoors. 

The screeching, horrible sound of metal giving way accompanied the sound of one of the attempts to break down the gate, and Danny saw the gates regretfully swing open, enough for the mob to begin pouring through. She was herded along with them all, pushed unceremoniously by Max, who still held her bound hands behind her. 

“LOOK OUT!” 

Something large whizzed over her head, and as it clattered against the walkway, she realized it was a paving stone that had been lobbed through the air. She tried to crane her neck to see ahead, and just as she did another paving stone came loose from the walkway, seemingly of its own accord, and aimed squarely at Cyrus’s head. 

The bastard dodged, but the brick managed to catch someone else on the side of their head before it dropped to the ground. A shocked clamor rose up from the people, with shouts of an invisible enemy beginning to emerge from the crowd.

“Is the place haunted?” one man cried out. 

A dark, familiar chuckle echoed from all around, as though the voice passed through every stone in the pavement beneath. “You bet your fucking ass it is.” 

More paving stones removed themselves from the ground, one at a time, flying towards the crowd with a vengeance. Some were able to find their mark, sending the odd person falling to their knees in pain. Others were able to be swatted away by the clubs and axes. The whole commotion was enough to send at least a few people running back towards the gates. 

“LeEeAaVE~” Sam wailed, as menacing as they could. Danny’s grin quirked up a bit. 

“Don’t be fooled by these tricks!” Cyrus bellows above the crowd. “Keep moving forward!” 

And so the crowd did, for the most part undeterred by the seemingly haunted grounds of the mansion as they pressed forward in a huge and increasingly furious wave towards the mansion’s front door. 

Before they could storm the door, Cyrus held up his hand. “Stay back!” The mob halted as Cyrus began to march up to the front door alone, though he made another gesture behind him. “Max. Bring her here.” 

Max shoved Danny forward through the crowd. The sea of people gave her mostly distrustful and disgusted glances as she passed, but she didn’t even bother acknowledging them. Max pushed her forward until she stood at the base of the stairs that led up to the elaborate front door.

As Cyrus stepped up to it, ready to knock, the door swung violently open and nearly hit Cyrus square on. 

And there, standing calmly on the threshold, was Christopher—looking by all accounts nothing more than a normal man.

Almost. Danny’s eyes couldn’t help but search for the dark horns atop his head, for any trace of his appearance that could give his true nature away. His horns were dark and short enough now to almost be unnoticeable, hidden by his hair. He looked nothing but refined and distinguished—whatever sadness had lingered about him before, Danny saw no traces of it now. It was effectively covered up—if she had seen it correctly to begin with. 

The giant’s eyes immediately went over Cyrus’s shoulder to Danny, but he looked away just as quickly, smoothing out his expression. 

“I’m afraid I’m not entertaining guests today,” he said curtly, as though he had simply misjudged the nature of the raucous crowd of angry villagers standing on his front lawn. “I’ll have to ask you all to leave.” 

There was a chorus of hushed whispers and gasps traveling through the crowd now. Danny thought she could hear fragments of what several of them were saying.

“That’s him.”

“I’ve…I’ve been here before. He—”

“Oh my god, he ate—”

“It’s the giant. How—”

A cold chill seeped into her bones as she realized that the mere sight of the giant was enough to bring back memory to those he’d taken it away from. How…how many of these people had Christopher…?

“You and I have some unfinished business, Penn,” Cyrus snarled, quiet enough for Danny and Max to be the only ones to hear. 

“I’m sorry…who are you?” Christopher asked blithely, his voice carrying an almost genuine ignorance. There was enough condescension, though, to make Cyrus growl back at him through gritted teeth.

Danny snorted. Max retaliated by driving his foot into the back of her heel, prompting her to wince sharply. 

She noticed that Christopher’s lips tightened slightly, but the giant did not otherwise react.

“You know damn well who I am,” Cyrus hissed in Christopher’s face. “You got your nose into business you shouldn’t have.” 

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean,” Christopher replied. His eyes kept darting back to Danny, his lips still set in a fine line. “Though I would ask that you refrain from hurting my friend there. She doesn’t seem very comfortable.” 

Cyrus chuckled darkly. “Friend?” He turned slightly so that his voice now projected out toward the crowd. “The way I hear it, you kidnapped this innocent young woman. Messed with her mind to the point she’d defend you, even now.” 

Danny strained against Max’s grip on her. “He’s lying!” she cried out, trying desperately to squirm from his hold. “I wasn’t kidnapped!” 

Max growled in frustration as he tried to keep her restrained. 

“Christopher’s not a monster!” Danny yelled. “Can’t you idiots see?” 

Cyrus whipped around and gave Danny a poisonous glare. “Max, shut her up.” 

Max sent a sharp elbow into Danny’s back, causing her to stumble on her feet. A sharp cry was forced out from her lungs. “You forget we have your OTHER friend here, too?” 

Her eyes on the ground, Danny almost didn’t see it—the instinctive step Christopher took forward, with his hand slightly outstretched, before he met with the invisible barrier of the doorframe, and hastily pulled back.

A sense of dread fell over her. Did Cyrus notice? The giant attempted to cover up his mistake and stand straight up again, as if nothing had happened. 

“I’m not sure I appreciate the way you’re treating my friend, Mr. Livingston.” Each word Christopher spoke was as sharp as ice. “You seem to have a problem with me, not her. Let her go.” 

“Oh?” Cyrus took a bold step closer to the doorframe, smirking maliciously. “And just what are you going to do about it, pretty boy? You’re not going to rush to her aid?” 

Christopher’s lip twitched, the beginning of a snarl that he repressed. “Perhaps you’d like to come inside to discuss this business you have with me?” Each word was pointed and clipped, propriety being stretched as thin as possible. 

Cyrus looked unfazed, studying Christopher for just a moment before his smile widened. He scratched his chin idly. “Max. Come here. Have someone else keep a hold on her.” 

Danny thought that she could hear Max’s heartbeat increase tenfold. “O-of course.” The man ushered another of Cyrus’s brutish thugs forward, who grabbed Danny’s arms and held her back with much more force than the weasely man had been able to. 

Max crept forward timidly until he stood by Cyrus’s side. Danny could see the way the man trembled like a leaf before Christopher, who only glared down at the man coldly. 

“Do you remember him?” Cyrus asked scornfully as he grasped Max’s arm, something like amusement dancing in his expression.

“No.” Christopher was, by Danny’s estimations, a remarkable liar. If she didn’t know better, she thought he could almost be telling the truth.

Cyrus sneered unkindly. “Well, he certainly remembers you.” 

Without a warning, Cyrus shoved Max over the doorframe towards Christopher—in such a way that it should have meant that Max would collide squarely with Christopher, and yet, from everyone’s perspective, it appeared that Max had suddenly disappeared into thin air.

Cyrus pulled his own hand back from the doorframe immediately, Max no longer held within it. 

The cries from the crowd became louder all of a sudden as they witnessed a man vanish before their eyes. 

Christopher snarled as he glanced down, like he’d noticed a bug near his feet, and bent down swiftly before returning to his standing height, something tiny held between his fingers. Only those standing close to the door—Cyrus, Danny, and the man who held her back—would be able to see that it was Max Christopher held between his fingers. 

“If you’d like him returned safely,” Christopher hissed, “I suggest you let my friend Danny go, and take your business elsewhere.”

Cyrus eyed Christopher up for a moment, his eyes landing on Max only briefly. “Well, why don’t you come and get her then, giant?” he taunted, his voice just barely above a whisper as he grinned devilishly. 

The fury in Christopher’s eyes was unmistakable—and his silence was damning. 

“Do what you like with him,” Cyrus laughed. “I’ve learned all I need to.” 

It sounded like Max yelled something undistinguishable to Danny’s ears—just the high-pitched squeak of a mouse—before Cyrus turned to address the crowd gathered before him. 

“Don’t be fooled by these illusions!” he shouted. “While he may seem like a normal man, he is little more than a monster in disguise.” 

“Yeah!” shouted a man from the crowd. “He’s a giant! He ate me—I remember!”

“He tricked me into coming here!” another voice cried out. “And then he made me forget!” 

“What’s going to stop him from doing it again!” 

Cyrus had done little more than effectively light the match beneath the coals of the mob’s anger, standing and watching as it quickly caught fire and took off before him. The cries continued on and on—people shouting about how they’d been tricked, put in a cage, eaten. There was hardly any deceit necessary from Cyrus anymore—the people he’d gathered were assured now of the nature of the beast they needed to slay. 

And Christopher—Christopher did nothing but watch. Desperately, Danny tried to meet his eyes—but the giant could only stare out in horror at the sea of people, hearing his own victims shouting out his crimes. Something broke, then, in his countenance. His eyes swam with a desperate, hopeless sort of look to them, like a frightened animal caught in a trap.

Despite everything—despite the fact that her voice ought to have been among the people gathered here, and under different circumstances it very well might have—sympathy pierced her heart painfully. He has to face all these people that he ate. They’re all calling him a monster, but they don’t know—

Eventually, Cyrus seemed satisfied with the level of vitriol that had been stirred up in the crowd. He gestured behind him with an arrogant flick of his wrist. “Luckily, the monster is imprisoned in his own home. He can’t step over the threshold.” 

A rush of whispers, confused and shocked, flew through the crowd. Danny tried not to let anything show on her face to suggest that what Cyrus said was true, but panic clenched her heart. 

“Even if that was true, that means he wouldn’t be able to get out. He’s not a danger to anyone. Why are you all—”

She received a harsher jab in the back, enough to knock the wind out of her.

“How many of you have seen this monster’s true colors?” Cyrus’s voice boomed out, to a chorus of thundering assent. “How many has he already fooled? Bewitched? Consumed?” 

Cyrus turned around slowly to face Christopher again. “And by all means, if I do not speak the truth…” He waved his hand before him, as if to invite Christopher outside with him. “Feel free to prove me wrong, Penn. Join us out here, and prove your innocence. Save your friend.” 

Danny looked to Christopher, hoping for a miracle. Please, she begged silently. Say something. Do something. Please. 

Christopher didn’t move. He didn’t speak. His eyes hardly met with Cyrus at all, or any of the people standing in his front yard. 

The longer he remained still, the louder the cries of anger from the crowd became. It wasn’t hard to tell that they were all now eager for blood. Their shouts and cries became a distant buzz in Danny’s ears—all she could focus on was Christopher.

What could she do? 

What could he do?

Finally, the giant’s lips parted, and Danny had to strain to hear the words he muttered.

“Please, you can do whatever you want with me…” Christopher’s dark eyes finally went back to Danny, flowing over with emotion. “But don’t hurt her. She has nothing to do with this. Let her go.” 

“I don’t believe you’re in a position to bargain, monster,” Cyrus sneered. 

He faced the crowd once more—and the tension in the air felt on the verge of snapping then. “Against all of us, even a giant is powerless!” His voice boomed triumphantly, as though he meant to lead an army into battle. “It’s time to put an end to this madness once and for all!” 

A horrible, stomach-churning cheer erupted from the mob, and before Cyrus could even direct them to, they rushed forward towards the house in a mad dash to cross the threshold. Cyrus’s eyes widened as he realized they would not stop for him, and in the madness of it all he was pushed into the house by the swarm of people screaming bloody murder, wielding all the weapons they’d soon find to be rather inadequate. 

Danny, too, couldn’t resist as she was rather forcefully shoved along in the chaos, until she was faced with the only somewhat familiar feeling of vertigo as her feet stepped over the doorframe and onto the giant tile of the inside of Christopher’s mansion.

The giant himself only took a single step backward, caught in the horror and confusion of the moment as hundreds of people tried to force their way into his home, and became nothing but a small, confused assortment of tiny creatures scurrying at his feet. 

The change in perspective had certainly thrown more than a couple of people for a loop, and Danny could see that many were trying to force their way back, to get to the safety of the outside again, but the crowd just kept pushing forward as the mob streamed into the mansion. 

There was a loud THUD as the doors forced themselves shut, keeping what remained of the mob out—and locking the ones here in. 

“There! Fuck,” Danny heard Sam exclaim from the doors themselves, causing several people to jump and flip around, as though they expected another giant to appear. 

A voice cried out then, one of the many people who’d been unfortunate and delusional enough to force themselves in, who now saw that their enemy was not one that could be taken down by a simple fireplace poker, who was slightly more intimidating in stature than Cyrus’s rallying cries had suggested they were in any way capable of defeating. 

“RUN!”

* * * * * * * * * *

What kind of danger could a bunch of humans really pose to a giant?

It's certainly been a while, hasn't it? The good news is that I do believe I've gotten over the writing block snag of what comes next in this story! Will I be able to publish a new chapter every week? Eh, less likely, but I'd like to wrap this story up within the next few months at least!

Thank you for continuing along with this story with me, and I hope you enjoy the ending as much as I have enjoyed thinking about it for the past...oh gosh. Year?

Thanks for bearing with me, and as always, for reading. Until the next chapter!

[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.

[canis-lupus-caspi]

I had a bit of an autism moment in the @biodiversesv discord (everyone go check it out, its great in there!) and I thought I would share here

Thinking about how there is no actual definition of what a wolf is. Because like, obviously, when you talk about wolves, most people think of the grey wolf and subsequent subspecies. But the red wolf is also discussed as a wolf despite not being a grey wolf subspecies (taxonomic designation of the red wolf is still up to slight debate, but more times then not they are described as being closely related but distinct from the grey wolf. Some still describe them as a hybridization of the grey wolf and coyotes, but other times they are seen as a separate species that has had recent interbreeding with coyotes)

The red wolf (Canis rufus) and the grey wolf (Canis lupus) are both still wolves, but are only in the same genus (Canis) which is most often associated with wolves but also includes all other canines, like coyotes (Canis latrans) and the golden jackal (Canis aureus). They are seperste from other canids, which include animals outside of the genus Canis but within the family Canidae, such as the red and grey fox (Vulpes vulpes and Urocyon cinereoargenteus) and the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus)

This also goes into how a species is not clearly defined either. The most common definition of species is "a group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding." Furthermore, people will say that the offspring of the interbreeding pair must have the possibility of being fertile; this is what separates donkeys and horses as different species since, despite being able to interbreed, a mule cannot be fertile. A coyote and wolf, however, are able to interbreed and create fertile offspring, which would push the two into one species given the working definition. And yet, the two are still put as two different species within the same genus

[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!

[unicornismonokern]

Translation Errors and Opinions

Throughout the years, there have been different interpretations and opinions on the unicorn. Writers like Ctesias, Aristotle, Shepard, Pliny the Elder, and Marco Polo have submitted their own thoughts and descriptions on that mythical creature.  

Ctesias, who I have written about before, wrote “Their bodies are white, their heads dark red, and their eyes blue. They have a horn on the forehead which is about a foot and a half-length. The dust filed from this horn is administered in a potion as a protection against deadly drugs. The base of this horn, for some two hands’-breadth above the brow, is pure white: the upper part is sharp and of a vivid crimson; and the remainder, or middle portion, is black.” This description comes from a book Ctesias wrote around 398 B.C. called Indika after a trip to Persia. Ctesias’s unicorn writings shaped the way others wrote about them as well. I think that an interesting detail about this depiction is Ctesias saying they had dark red heads. Most of the paintings and illustrations I have seen of unicorns never included a red head. If you were to look up a unicorn picture, they’re mostly all white. The horn is also not depicted as fully white either. Ctesias of course did not see a real unicorn because, well, they do not exist, so he relied on what people told him about these animals. In The Lore of The Unicorn by Odell Shepard, he makes the point that this version of the unicorn closely matches the Indian rhinoceros. Ctesias wrote that the horn had healing properties which people believed was true for rhinoceroses' horns in this part of the world. The horn color variation is also another characteristic of Indian rhinoceros. So, did he purposefully write this false depiction for notoriety, or did he simply misinterpret what those people told him? I like to think that without Ctesias incorrect telling of the unicorn, there would be a lot of different writing about them. Especially the horn’s medicinal properties. Maybe people would have been hunting rhinoceros instead? Maybe the rhinoceros would be on the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom instead?  

 Shepard was not the only one to point out these flaws. Many years before Shepard, Aristotle criticized Ctesias description of the unicorn. Aristotle claimed that Ctesias was not a trustworthy source and questioned his depiction of the unicorn as a misinterpretation. In Aristotle’s History of Animals, he wrote “We have not observed any single-hooved, two-horned animals. But there are a few animals that are single-horned and single-hooved, like the Indian donkey.” By single-single hooved he means hooves like a horse that do not have a separation in their hooves like a goat has. He is suggested that the unicorn Ctesias is talking about is actually an Indian donkey.  

Pliny the Elder wrote a slightly different description of the unicorn in his Natural History book in 100 C.E. He wrote “the unicorn has a body like a horse, a head like a deer, feet like an elephant, a tail like a boar; it has a deep bellow, a singly black horn two cubits long projecting from the middle of its forehead.” “Feet like an elephant” is also another depiction that is not seen in most of the paintings and illustrations. Marco Polo in fact wrote a similar depiction for Pliny's that also included the elephant feet characteristic in 1298 C.E. But a different twist that Polo claims “They are very ugly brutes to look at. They are not at all such as we describe them when we relate that they let themselves by captured by virgins, but clean contrary to our notions.” This is the first time I am seeing someone claim that the unicorn is ugly. A lot of the readings I have done for my research includes them being called beautiful and majestic.  

These different descriptions of the unicorns from different writes are very interesting and fascinating to read what they believed was the truth.  

Source for the Ctesias quote comes from The Lore of The Unicorn by Odell Shepard

[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!”