#Hunting ground

[earanemith]

Hunting Ground: Kill Ari

Ziva hated flying, hated being confined for the 13 hour flight it took her to get from Israel to the United States. Flying in the cargo planes she was used to wasn’t so bad most of the time, though the flights were usually shorter. She had more space to move around, less smells all around, over all she felt less trapped. The commercial flight she had just taken had grated on her nerves. All the smells of the people around her overwhelmed her nose while at the same time the air-conditioning in the plane dulled it. Being on unfamiliar territory in the airport also did not help. Ziva’s extra senses were tingling and her wolf was restless. She wanted to stretch, to run but most of all to get out of the crowd. Read more

Tagging people who liked my other one shot in this universe: @benedettabeby @mrsmungus @happygirl-0408

If you want to be added or taken off the tag list just let me know.

[r0ttendata]

Thou Sacred Limb

details ૮ ˶´ ᵕˋ ˶ა

[smol-nemesis]

Me going back in time to make Hunting Ground a success so it can get re-released to death like Resident Evil 4

[whats-in-a-sentence]

Walker offered FitzRoy a practical plan to address the problem: he would refuse the assistance of the Native Police to squatters who cleared their land:

As every black has his own hunting ground from which he is thus expelled, and he is not allowed to trespass for any length of time on that of others he is compelled for his own subsistence to kill cattle.

It is my wish that the marauding parties which now infest the brigalow should be broken up, which can only be done by allowing each native to return to his own ground.

"Killing for Country: A Family History" - David Marr

[tenth-sentence]

He could see that they had lost their hunting grounds.

"Killing for Country: A Family History" - David Marr

[mist-the-wannabe-linguist]

Hot take

Night furies are actually perfectly evolved for hunting and killing other dragons and the only reason they aren't a dragon-hunting species like the death song or deathgrippers are is because DreamWorks couldn't have their adorable main character dragon be a "cannibal"

(below I'm gonna try to summarize what we've figured out in a convo with friends on discord)

(also tw animal death via predator)

First of all yes I'm aware that pretty much every decision made about their design was with consideration of the effect it would make on human audiences but hear me out

Night furies are most iconically known as dive-bombers. They are built for speed, high maneuverability, night-time camouflage and for striking targets from above. If we remove human settlements out of the equation (which would not have existed long enough to actually influence night fury evolution, come on), what does that leave us with?

They aren't built for catching fish for sure, they aren't very hydrodynamic and their head is round, wide, and their teeth are dull. Honestly, the monstrous nightmare is much better suited for catching fish, with its long neck, almost pelican-like jaw and rhamphorhynchus teeth

Compare to

Yeah the jaws look kinda like a porpoise of some sort but for that the whole body would have to be a lot more aquatic imo. The light fury looks a lot closer to an aquatic diver, it has a sleeker body, rounded fins instead of spikes, and a long neck.

I don't really see them hunting land animals either, they just don't look like they're adapted for that minus the resemblance with large felines and even then, they're too large to effectively hunt in forests.

The one thing I can kinda imagine them hunting is large mainland megafauna, but we're working with a setting that takes place pretty much exclusively on islands. And overall, dragons are the only abundant species there with the exception of fish and human-bred sheep and chickens.

In general, night furies have duller teeth, smaller claws and are smaller than most dragons. Disregarding the movies making Toothless weirdly OP, a night fury would be disadvantaged against most dragons in a 1v1 fight and besides, it has four huge weak spots that would highly discourage it from a direct physical fight - the primary and secondary tail fins. One unlucky rip in the membrane and the night fury is fucked.

The night fury however noticeably resembles falcons, given their dive-bombing ability and high maneuverability.

Falcons too have smaller beaks and weaker claws compared to most birds of prey, and for that they compensate by simply picking up speed, balling up their talons and Punching. Really. Hard.

And they use that ability to kill other birds, even much larger ones, by knocking them right from the sky.

Here, the night fury's plasma blast works the same way as a falcon's punch. Dragons are fire-resistant, so what the plasma blast does is really just a densely packed bolt of energy that has the effect of either stunning or outright killing prey by damaging its spine. And what the plasma bolt doesn't do, rapid contact with the ground would finish. And if even that doesn't do it, the night fury's wide jaws and dull teeth are just fine for simply clamping around the unlucky dragon's neck and strangling it, like a lion or a pitbull.

The night-time camouflage allows the night fury to soar for extended periods of time perfectly unnoticed in the night sky, and by the time it strikes, the dragon wouldn't even know what's coming.

Unless

Say the hunting night fury is aware of other dragons sleeping under the trees, as most dragons probably would at night (village raids aside, most dragons seem to be diurnal), so how does the night fury get them in position where it can use its signature attack? Well, there's That Iconic Screech Of Death. Since in the movies it tends to appear not just during dive-bombings but also when charging up a blast, I imagine it's something the night fury is able to control to some degree. So by simply fake-diving in close proximity to sleeping dragons, it can effectively terrify them into leaving their hideout and fly out into the open where it can easily take them out.

I dunno, the possibility of night furies as predators to other dragons just makes so much sense to me, I really don't know what other reasons there would be for them to evolve these particular adaptations.

And one more little headcanon to add to this whole rant - since night furies are significantly smaller and less equipped for dragon vs dragon fights and are primarily speed-based predators, I imagine there is this very likely scenario:

There is one dragon who resembles a hyena, a lil bit

Ok, rant over

[eaissilyy]

Life of the omen children

[mipexch]

since layer 7 dropped you can send literally any enemy to go kill something wicked repeatedly & v2 being the one to do that is just really funny to me

[givemearmstopraywith]

every time i learn about another legislative attempt by isr*el to eradicate palestine, palestinians, and palestinian culture it just sounds more ghoulishly evil- like that in 1977 israel made foraging for wild za'atar a punishable offence. not only za'atar but akkoub and wild sage as well (please watch foragers by jumana manna!). or making it illegal for palestinians to collect rainwater. the 800,000 olive trees that have been destroyed by israel since 1967. the colonizer's playbook, as if you can legislate a people out of existence by cutting them off from the earth, the dirt, the soil, the water, the fundamental parts of humanity. genocide and this type of ecological terrorism walk hand in hand, as if the earth doesn't yearn like a heart.

[fatedroses]

I offer the frankly hilarious scenario of zenos and estinien having to work together (probably because of tataru) and a little bit of headcanon-ing I have in regards to the one main issue they run in to when theyre a duo.

[earanemith]

Here is the second chapter of Hunting Grounds. What happens when Ziva returns with Ari's body to Israel.

Read here or on ao3

Sadness was all she had been able to feel down in agent Gibbs’ basement. Pain followed her back to Israel in the plane, where she could do nothing but look at the casket that carried her brothers body during the 12 hour flight. Grief was all she felt as they buried her brother. 

All of that made place for the anger she now felt. Anger focussed on her father. How could he have let this happen. A wolf did not turn rogue from one day to the next. Was it all a ploy? To get her to do his bidding, to test how far she was willing to go? Did he really sacrifice his own son to gain a closer relationship with the American agency? Ziva could have understood if Eli had sacrificed her. In the last eight years he had not had any love left for her. But surely for Ari, his one son, the one he had always been proud of, he still had love left? Ari might not have been born to his true mate. But to just a Palestinian doctor, a human none the less, which he left the moment he met his soul mate.  

“Did you know?” Ziva asked not stopping with the pacing she was doing in Eli’s office.  

“Did I know what Ziva? Speak plainly” Eli answered. Knowing what question was about to come. So he did not even bother with more than a glance to his only living child. 

“Did you know Ari turned rogue?!” She asked with much more force then maybe necessary. This was not Ziva asking alone. Both Ziva and her wolf wanted answers. Demanding them now felt like the only way to cope with the grief they felt over losing their last sibling. By their own hand none the less.  

Taking of his glasses Eli spared a longer look at Ziva. “I suspected it.” 

“Then why was I not told about this. You made me Ari’s control officer. If you suspected should I not know? Why was that information excluded from me?” In her mind Ziva felt her wolf taking up a protective stance. Wanting to bare her teeth. If Ziva had been told then maybe she could have prevented the foulness from setting in from taking over. “I could have stopped it, helped him, I could…” 

“There was nothing to be done. Ziva, you know once a wolf turns rogue there is no turning back.” 

“You do not know that!” 

Before Eli answered her this time he threw just a bit of his alpha vibes out at her. Making her pay attention, forcing her to remain silent. “Ari was only part shifter, his human side in conflict with his wolf. He always had a higher chance of turning rogue than a full shifter. You know this. He can now rest.” Pulling his alpha vibes back let more air into the room again. No longer filling Ziva’s senses with it. With a short nod Ziva knew this would be the end of it. Eli no longer wishing to discuss it. 

Turning on her heels she did not say goodbye before she left his office. Walking outside of the building and taking the car as fast as she could to pack territory. She needed an outlet for all the emotions she felt. She nor her wolf being satisfied with the answers they had gotten. Feeling as if her heart was nothing but a mix of anger and sadness. 

Barely was she there or she parked the car, not caring where it went or if it was in anyone’s way. She undressed and shifted. Hands and feet becoming paws, naked skin being covered in fur. Always having been able to shift faster than was average came in handy now. For barely had the change finished or she was off. Running through familiar paths. Trying to outrun the pain.  

Ari was gone. He had left her. Sure, she had been the one to end his life by pulling the trigger. Even so Eli had been right. Once a shifter turned rogue, lost the balance between human and wolf, there was nothing that could be done. Why had Ari not confided in her. Ziva kept thinking that if she had known at the start no matter what anyone said she might have been able to turn it all around. To not lose another person she cared for. 

Now there was no one left. The last person that loved her died. Her mother, murdered. Her father, practically rejected her from his personal life. Her sister Tali, murdered. Her brother, turned rogue and killed by her. Where throughout her life she had felt lonely this was the first time she truly was that. Alone. Had she been in human form she would have felt the tears stinging in her eyes. Threatening to fall down, sobs wanting to be heard. In her wolf form however she did the only thing she could, she howled. Having a pack, a home, but still feeling as nothing but a lone wolf. Unloved. While she continued to run that feeling almost overwhelmed her. When she felt close to breaking was when her mind pictured a face. Before she could comprehend what exactly she saw part of the hurt left her. For the face she saw settled her if even slightly. Not wanting to give in to this she continued running until the moon was high in the nights sky. It was a mistake her wolf was wrong. How could she think about such a thing when she had just buried her brother. The last of her siblings, her brother that she killed with a single bullet. As if it meant nothing. The green eyes she saw were the ones of who her wolf made out to be her other half. Try as she might, she was not able to shake them from her mind. Stopping only from exhaustion she curled up, still in her wolf form. Being comforted by only one thought…Tony.  

tagging list: @mrsmungus @happygirl-0408 @loud looks @benedettabeby @tivafanfic @hopeless-nostalgiac

If you want to be added let me know

[haysey-draws]

Yukari has entered... the Hunting Grounds!

[smol-nemesis]

[swainathan]

My first shiny from Safari Week 2024, Sarah the Sandshrew from Soul Silver!

(This is so late but it's okkkkkk))

Time-lapse under the cut

[c-rowlesdraws]

started sketching this comic for Day 13 of @thebeardlyben’s “Gnollvember” prompt list... decided to use it to practice a more casual sort of inking style, and finished yesterday in between working on art people are actually waiting on me for.

Day 13 - “Think Twice”! Sweet Pea knows what money is, but Nettle wishes she'd be more mindful of their food budget.

[kissmyaft]

Another edit for the Yautja lady lovers

Tumblr is definitely going to bug and fuck with the quality a bit so I apologise in advance

@yaut-jaknowit pookie new female Yautja edit dropped