#Or at least being omnivores

[c-kiddo]

i havent heard of it before :-o it looks cool. cool choices of dinosaurs !! i like deinonychus, deinocheirus, spinosaurus and stuff so thats cool you can play as them? ! also i saw on the wiki it says upcoming carnivores includes hatzegopteryx :O !!!! and microraptors and tylosaurus (just watched a video abt them lol theyre v cool type of mosasaur) . . but, thing is i dont rly know how to play video games vry well. ik that sounds weird but i just dont rly understand it and cant rly tell whats happening on screen a lot of the time. i think i could play it on my laptop? honestly dont play video games but it does look cool so maybe ill look more in the morning :-o

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Welcome to my Tuesday morning PSA about plastics!

So--I was walking along the Bolstadt beach approach sidewalk here in Long Beach, WA yesterday afternoon, and I started seeing these little orange pellets on the ground that looked a little bit like salmon roe (but probably weren't). So I picked one up, and it was most definitely rubber. I went around picking up every one I could find, and while I didn't keep exact count I probably amassed 50-60 of them. I took this picture before depositing them in the nearest trash can.

These are airsoft gun pellets, and you can buy them in big jars containing thousands of them. That means that someone who decided that the beach was a great place to shoot their airsoft guns could easily litter the place with countless little bits of plastic rubber in less than an hour. We already have a huge problem here with people leaving trash, including tiny bits of plastic, all over the beach (you should see the gigantic mess after 4th of July fireworks when thousands of people come in from out of town, blow things up, and then leave again without picking up after themselves.)

But these airsoft pellets have a particularly nasty side effect. You know how my first thought was "wow, those look kind of like salmon roe?" Well, we have a number of opportunistic omnivore birds like crows, ravens, and several species of gull that commonly scavenge on the beach, especially along the approaches because people often feed them there. If I can catch the resemblance of an orange airsoft pellet to a fish egg, then chances are there are wildlife that will assume they're edible.

Since birds don't chew their food, they probably won't notice that the taste or texture is wrong--it'll just go down the hatch. And since they can't digest the pellets, there's a good chance they might just build up in the bird's digestive system, especially if the bird eats a large number of them--say, fifty or sixty of them dropped on the ground along the same fifty foot stretch of sidewalk. The bird might die of starvation if there's not enough capacity for food in their stomach--or they might just die painfully of an impacted gut, and no way to get help for it. If the pellets end up washed into the ocean, you get the same issue with fish and other marine wildlife eating them, and then of course the pellets eventually breaking up into microplastic particles.

You can get biodegradable airsoft pellets; they appear to mainly be gray or white in color rather than bright screaming orange and green. But "biodegradable" doesn't mean "instantly dissolves the next time it rains." An Amazon listing for Aim Green biodegradable airsoft pellets advertise them as "Our biodegradable BBs are engineered to degrade only with long-term exposure to water and sun and will degrade 180 days after being used." That's half a year for them to be eaten by wildlife.

I don't know, y'all. That handful of carelessly dropped rubber pellets just encapsulates how much people don't factor in the rest of nature when making decisions, even on something that is purely for entertainment like an airsoft gun. We could have had a lot of the same technological advances we have today, but with much less environmental impact, if we had considered the long-term effects on both other people and other living beings, as well as our habitats. We could have found ways from the beginning to make these things in ways that benefited us but also mitigated any harm as much as possible. Instead we're now having to reverse-engineer things we've been using for decades, and sometimes--like the "biodegradable" airsoft pellets--they still have a significant negative impact.

But--at least there are people trying to do things better, thinking ahead instead of just on immediate profit. We're stuck in a heck of a mess here, figuratively and literally, and changing an entire system can't be done in a day. Maybe we can at least keep pushing for a cultural shift that emphasizes planning far into the future--if not the often-cited "seven generations ahead", then at least throughout the potential lifespan of a given product.

[styllwaters]

Hailing from the harsh planet of Ettera, Knights are the only sophont in the Zhagaviit system made of two consciousnesses. ---

At last, here they are! Nearly finished with redesigning every Vivere 44 species. These guys are retconned werewolves which I posted about some time ago. You might have noticed I brought back some space unicorn aspects as well! They've been through so many design changes but I've finally settled on something solid.

More information below!

I'll try to keep this concise. Most of this info is introductory biology.

Knights are the only sophonts living on Ettera, a mostly barren planet where survival is tough. Their civilisation is the least advanced compared to others in Zhagaviit, such as Arrows and Sea Crawlers. They were the third species to be contacted by the ZGC (Zhagaviit Galactic Community) followed by Post Humanity. Knights are known for being hardy, efficient, and motivated.

If it isn't already clear enough, Knights are two species in a symbiotic relationship acting as one individual. Helmets and Hosts have an evolutionary history so intertwined that one cannot survive without the other.

The Helmet is attached to the head of the Host, and will remain there for the rest of their life (unless separation happens - but we'll get into that later). In the relationship, their role is vision and dexterity. Since the Host is effectively blind, it is the Helmet's job to guide them. Their hands are also important, being the Knight's primary manipulators. They played a large part in early tool use. The Helmet lacks a mouth, and receives all its nutrients from the Host through a specialised organ not unlike an umbilical cord.

The Host is essentially the main body of the Knight. Wolflike and mammalian in nature, the Host is the Helmet's mode of transportation. Because they need to eat for two, Hosts are omnivorous and will eat just about anything. Although majority of their diet is comprised of meat, they are capable of digesting plant matter and bones. They are highly skilled and effective hunters.

It is in both party's best interests to assimilate as soon as possible. The Host cannot see without a Helmet, and within a few weeks bonding will become impossible. The stakes are higher for a newborn Helmet, because they cannot feed by themselves and will starve in under a week without a Host or an artificial feeder tube. Prior to first contact with the ZGC, Knights did not have the technology for artificial feeders, and infant death rates were high.

So how do two beings coordinate one body? The fact is that once assimilation occurs, they become one being. The Helmet's brain and the Host's brain are connected by millions of nerves exchanging signals. It's complicated, but the best way to describe the experience would be a 'mutual trance' in which full body coordination is achieved. They have shared interests and intentions. However, a Knight can mentally separate the Helmet and the Host, gaining back individuality; they do this for many reasons, perhaps to discuss something among themselves or simply for company. Yet on the whole, a Knight will spend 80% of their life in this 'trance'.

Both Helmets and Hosts have noticeable sexual dimorphism. Male Helmets are called Pikes, and females are called Guards. Pikes are distinguished by their horn, bold stripes, and more prominent crest spines. Guards lack a horn and have less contrast in their thinner markings.

Female Hosts are called Forts. They are larger than males and have a mane of fur on the back of their necks. Male Hosts, Spires, lack this mane.

In Knight society, individuals are usually referred to based on their combination of Host and Helmet. Since there are four sexes involved, there are four possible combinations.

Guard-spire [female Helmet, male Host]

Pike-fort [male Helmet, female Host]

Guard-fort [female Helmet, female Host]

Pike-spire [male Helmet, male Host]

(Knight languages have their own version of pronouns for each, but in English all are referred to as they/them by default. Of course, each individual has their own preferences. Usually a Knight will refer to themselves as we/us).

____

I'll get into Knight social structure, cultures and more in another post! For now, if you have any questions, feel free to send an ask. Always happy to answer!

[i-draws-dinosaurs]

Just saw ur vulture post. Could a dinosaur have a crown like a chicken? If so, which ones are most likely to have this feature?

I feel like chicken combs are one of those things that's so normal to us because we're familiar with chickens that we don't appreciate how wacky looking it is, like this animal's entire face gets turned into a massive billboard of red skin flaps.

As far as I'm aware there's no underlying bone structure that correlates to chickens' combs, so if an extinct dinosaur did have one we wouldn't see it in the fossil record unless it was exceptionally well preserved. That being said, there are a few guidelines that can help make some generally arm-wavey guesses about what may or may not have had them!

For predator species I'd say large brightly coloured billboards on the face are fairly unlikely since across most land vertebrates predators tend to prioritise stealth and blending in. I don't know for sure, but I would guess that more carrion-eating vultures have adornment because they don't need to stay hidden from their food, cause it's, y'know. dead.

Dromaeosaurs are generally though to be predators, although like most predators they probably incorporated scavenging into their feeding patterns and we don't know whether there were any species that specialised as carrion eaters! I have drawn dromaeosaurs with combs or crests before, and I definitely don't think it's an impossible suggestion, but I think it's most reasonable to give them muted colours like with this Saurornitholestes:

I would guess that smaller omnivorous or herbivorous maniraptorans like oviraptorosaurs or small ground birds are more likely candidates to have flashy skin on their faces, although large oviraptorosaurs with bony crests probably didn't also have a comb on top of that.

Something like Avimimus, which was a small oviraptorosaur that likely lived in groups according to a bonebed of at least ten individuals together. Something like a colourful comb or wattles on these guys could be used for social signalling or species recognition:

As far as I'm aware there's next to no skin data for small ornithischians like heterodontosaurids and ornithopods aside from the funky Kulindadromeus scales, but being small, mostly herbivorous, probably quite social animals I can see an evolutionary benefit to bright signalling structures! Alongside oviraptorosaurs, I think small ornithischians like Manidens here are probably the best non-avian analogue to modern ground fowl that have these kinda of wacky skin structures:

So overall. Yeah I think there's potential that Mesozoic dinosaurs could have had a chickenlike comb! Like with modern fowl, it would have evolutionary value to small social species as a display structure, but tradeoffs like being more visible to predators/prey would definitely be in play here.

I mean obviously the tradeoff is worth it in some cases since we get creatures like this walking around on this earth:

Basically my message with all this is like. When doing palaeoart look into what areas are open to speculation, then think about what factors might constrain those!

[greek-mythology-utmv]

Dust

Species/Figure: Ophiotaurus

Pronouns: he/it/they

Danger: Formidable (4/6)

Power: Strong (3/6)

Magic: Decent (2/6)

Height: 5’9”/170 cm

Abilities: Venomous fangs, constricting grip, tail can switch from skeleton to normal snake tail, power of prophecy

Diet: Omnivore, preference of meat.

Personality: Cold, quiet, observant, and sharply intelligent.

Story: As the legends go, slaying and burning an Ophiotaurus will grant you the divine gift of prophecy. As such, the species is rare and hunted near to extinction, often being on the run for their entire lives. Dust and his brother, Barren, had grown up on the edges of society in a desperate attempt to evade capture— though they could only run for so long. Geno, led by Reaper, captured the two and mortally wounded Barren in preparation of the sacrifice. Dust, enraged, broke its restraints and killed his brother to prevent Geno from gaining the divine gift, goring Geno in the eye and wing in the process. They then fled, leaving his brother’s body with Reaper and Geno, which they buried instead of burned. As such, Dust only gained a half-piece of prophecy, hints and flashes of the future, but no more. Haunted by its actions, they wander the desert in search of the two monsters who wronged him— at least until they catch sight of Cross, whom a fascinating shard of prophecy compelled Dust to follow. He now lurks behind Cross and Killer, close enough that they know someone’s there, but far enough that they don’t know who…or what.

[is-the-owl-video-cute]

okay, i have no one else to say this to, and ARAs make me feel rabid. Sorry for this, lol. I get constantly frustrated by vegans using specism as a reason for their choice,,, outside of the irony that most of the ones i’ve seen online are super racist and ableist with more care for animals than the people who farm their food. I just think the argument is incredibly hollow. There is constantly more evidence that plants have sentience, so why are animal lives prioritized over plants? with this knowledge wouldn’t an omnivorous and sustainable diet be the most ethical from an anti-specist perspective?

They will never care about plants because many of them go by the “I don’t eat it if it has a face” mantra despite that being quite reductive and not even inclusive of most animals let alone plants or fungi which function on such a high level humans can’t even fully perceive its scope.

They’ll say omnivores only eat animals because we see them as “less than” which they acknowledge as being wrong but if you mention plants they go on about how OBVIOUSLY that’s different because a plant doesn’t have REAL feelings because they don’t have brains or even a basic central nervous system, which, is arguable, but more to the point is really not any different from saying a pig doesn’t have REAL value since it can’t read and doesn’t even have opposable thumbs.

They will flaunt that it’s difficult to argue that speciesism is fake without using an argument a white supremacist would make about poc, but it’s difficult for them to argue for the life of a plant or fungus not mattering without it sounding like something a filthy carnist would say about steak.

Point being, the tactic they use to claim comparing black people to livestock as not being racist is a very easy tactic to redirect at them because the fact of the matter is that humans have a very limited perspective. No matter what you do, you’ll always see the world through the lens of a human being.

It’s easy for a human to sympathize with something they can relate to. A pig? One of the closest genetic relatives to humans and express a lot of human-like opinions through their actions. That’s actually why I don’t personally eat pork. It’s easy to sympathize with a pig. Many people are more okay with eating fish because they’re cold blooded, slimy, don’t have arms or lungs or legs or anything a human can easily relate to, they don’t even have eyelids or a complex heart, so of course they don’t bat an eye to fishing in comparison to hunting because a fish is more primal and feels less human. Then there’s invertebrates, very few people feel guilt eating a crab, they’ll even justify boiling lobsters alive if you tell them it tastes better! After all, is that even REALLY a face? Which part is their mouth? What are those creepy antennae? Perhaps it isn’t even fit to eat since it looks so alien to humans.

Even for the plight of an insect most ARAs can stand by their principle, but what is it that makes plants and mushrooms different? No, they don’t have a face, but they still respond to different stimuli, plants and fungi can even send messages to others in their colony to warn of danger and more that we don’t really understand yet.

The average person doesn’t care about squashing a bug because they don’t see enough of themselves in it to care about its life, so why do ARAs see no issue in harming plants and fungi just because they don’t see enough similarity between them and animals?

To live, you have to take away from the life of another. That’s how life works. You can adjust your diet to suit your ethics, I certainly do, but if you’re going to try to guilt and force it on others then you could at least try to be less hypocritical.

[tribbetherium]

Today as abundant and diverse as they were back on their home planet, the ants were among one of the most successful terrestrial invertebrates that had been introduced to HP-02017. Descended from a select few species, introduced as detritivores, pollinators and seed dispersers, these remarkable hymenopterans have since spread across the globe and occupied the niches similar to Earthly ants, such as seed-eaters, leaf-cutters, scavengers, predators, fungus farmers and even honeydew-ranchers: though the livestock of those ranchers are somewhat different, with the niches of sap-sucking true bugs instead filled by beetles and lepidopterans.

Some species, however, have begun taking on niches unlike any of their Terran forebearers. Raftants, aquatic species native to floodplains, developed specialized castes to act as oars and floaters to propel the colony along the surface. Perhaps stranger, at least for ants, are the lonestingers: ants that no longer live in colonies and have become solitary, with all individuals being winged and wasplike, no longer producing wingless sterile workers and taking on a niche akin to solitary wasps and bees.

One of the most unusual species in the Middle Temperocene, however, are the lime ants (Citromyrmex polyregina), an abundant and widespread species found all across South Ecatoria and the neighboring islands. Easily recognizable by their distinct yellow and black coloring, these ants are generalist omnivores diet-wise: consuming both plant and animal matter, though prioritizing carbohydrate-rich sugary food like fruit, sap and nectar for the active adults, while saving protein-rich seeds, bugs and meat to the larvae to encourage their growth. Like most ants, they communicate by pheromones, travelling across the forest floor in single file to scout out food sources they can carry back to the colony. They, too, have specialized castes for their vital activities, such as small minor workers that participate in foraging and nest cleanup, major workers that act as heavy lifters and back-up defense, and soldiers, armed with large heads and powerful mandibles who defend the nest, cut up large pieces of food, and even ferry around the smallest workers hitchhiking on their bodies.

But one truly remarkable characteristic of the lime ant is its behavioral flexibility, thanks to an unusual recessive gene, the Q gene, that causes the species to produce three separate types of queens, depending on which alleles they acquire. Each one lives a completely different lifestyle: one that affects the behavior of their corresponding colonies as well. These genes mix together during nuptial flights, where alates from different colonies pair together queens and drones that in turn, produce offspring that are homozygous QQ, heterozygous Qq, or homozygous qq. This is further complicated by male ants being haploid, and thus males are always only Q or q.

Homozygous QQ queens develop into what is known as the despot morph: a sedentary, highly-aggressive queen with a bulky body and large mandibles. Her colony dwells in a fixed, permanent nest that occupies the same space for as long as she lives, which can be as long as fifteen years. During which time, their nests can grow into immense proportions, spanning tunnels and chambers many meters across and inhabiting up to 100,000 inhabitants. Despot morph queens tolerate no other reproducing female in the colony, and a single despot morph queen rules supreme: aggressively killing any other breeding female in her nest, be they rival invaders, her own alate daughters, or a worker that starts laying unfertilized eggs. All of her genetically fatherless drone offspring will be Q drones. If she mates with a Q drone, all her female offspring will be despot morphs as well, and if she mates with a q drone, half her offspring will be despot morphs, and half her offspring will be Qq heterozygous: the communal morphs.

Communal morphs, the second kind, are long-bodied and capable of traveling long distances on foot, unlike the sedentary despot morph. These queens, the most common kind, are different from despot morphs in another way: they tolerate the presence of other communal morph queens, thus producing a polygyne colony that is much larger than those of despot morphs, with as many as nine or ten queens and colonies growing to up to a million or more. Their large colony size instead favors them to constantly be on the move, foraging for food in an area and building smaller temporary nests and moving on once food becomes depleted in migrations every few months, with the queens marching along in the swarms and the brood carried by the workers as they go. With multiple queens that can be regularly replaced as they die, the colony as a whole can survive significantly longer than those of a despot morph, which is important as their nomadic lifestyle also leaves them with a higher mortality rate due to exposure to environmental factors and predators. Being heterozygous Qq, they can produce either Q drones or q drones, and a communal morph queen that mates with a Q drone will produce half despot morph offspring and half communal morph offspring, and a communal morph queen that mates with a q drone will produce half communal morph offspring and half qq homozygous offspring: the usurper morph.

Usurper morphs are unusual as they do not build colonies at all: they never shed their wings and remain solitary, similar to the lonestingers. As they disperse from their parent colony during the nuptial flight, they mate once with a drone and store his sperm, but do not start laying eggs right away. Instead, over the course of their long lifespan which may last many years (but rarely as long as the despot and communal morphs), the usurper queen instead infiltrates the nests of the other two kinds shortly before the nuptial flights begin, lays her eggs inside, and leaves all the effort of childcare to the workers of the colonies. Covering the eggs with pheromones to trick the colony into accepting them, she functions in essence as a solitary brood parasite whose progeny are raised by others. As she does not form a colony: none of her offspring become workers and soldiers, and instead always hatch into queens or drones: drone offspring are always q as they are born from unfertilized eggs. If she mates with a Q drone, half of her daughters will be communal morphs and half will be usurpers, and if she mates with a q drone, all her daughters will be usurper morphs.

This unusual arrangement likely evolved as an advantageous trait due to fickle, changing seasons and environments, allowing the species as a whole to persist. When food is plenty despot morphs become more common, able to defend a productive patch of land. When food is scarcer, communal morphs dominate, able to travel long distances to scout out new foraging grounds. And when times are the toughest, the most common morph becomes usurpers: being solitary, they need less food than a whole colony and can depend on the few hardy colonies to rear their young. Through a complex set of environmental dynamics, genetic inheritance, and competition between the queen types, the lime ant proves itself an adaptable and tenacious species that finds great success in the forest floor ecosystems of South Ecatoria.

Despite its complicated and bizarre life history, however, the local northhounds that occupy its range, in particular the vulpins, have found a rather mundane use for this abundant species. When threatened, major workers spray formic acid from specialized nozzles in their abdomens as a ranged mechanism. This, however, has been exploited by the vulpins who intentionally provoke the ants to get them to spray their acid onto food items: in effect acting as both a preservative to ward off fungal and bacterial growth on food, and as well as a seasoning that imparts a sour, citrus-like flavor onto said food. While toxic in large quantitities, the ants' formic acid is harmless in small amounts to larger creatures like the northhounds: making for a surprisingly ideal additive in the vulpins' cultural fondness of imparting different tastes in their primitive form of 'cuisine'.

-------------

[fishenjoyer1]

Fish of the Day

Today's fish of the day is the hornyhead chub!

The hornyhead chub, named for their pronounced tuberacles (bony projections) in spawning males, scientific name Nocomis biguttatus. This fish is a kind of minnow found exclusively in North American freshwater. Living in a range from Wyoming to New York, and as far north as North Dakota to Southern Arkansas, although they can occasionally be found outside of their normal range in the Colorado river and as far South as Georgia. This fish lives primarily along the Ohio, Kentucky, and Mississippi rivers, branching off into smaller creeks. Within these creeks the fish prefers to live along rock beds preferring calm clear waters, with a tolerance for darker waters only if there is a lack of turbidity. Young live exclusively near vegetation, using it as a hiding place from predators, but adult populations are entirely unaffected by its presence or lack thereof.

Despite being a minnow, a family often thought to be some of the lower rungs of the aquatic food-web, this fish has no major predators outside of local large omnivore or carnivore fish in certain areas. Yet, despite this they are reducing from their natural ranges and are practically endangered in Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and Kansas for reasons we aren't fully sure of. These fish are essential in these food webs due to their nesting sites sticking around years after the inhabitants have passed, being used by numerous other animals after them. Conservation efforts have taken place in affected areas, preventing excessive human harvesting for bait. On a global scale however, they are of least concern.

The hornyhead chub's diet is wide, as an opportunistic omnivore. Found foraging in both day and night, they are far more active when the sun is up, as they rely almost entirely on sight, possibly the same reason for their prevalence in clear stiller waters.. The juvenile fish forage for smaller fish, insect larvae, small crustaceans, and freshwater plankton, while the adult hornyhead chub's prey on larger fish, insect larvae, snails, worms, clams, and larger crustaceans. This diet allows them to reach a size of as large as 12 inches, with an average of 8.5 inches, rather large for a minnow species.

The life cycle of the hornyhead chub is similar to that of many others. After hatching from their eggs, these fish will live 6 months as fry, before being a juvenile for the next year. Then, at 2-3 years of age these fish sexually mature. This is when the male will build a large mound of pebbles into a nest, which they will spend the entire breeding season and after guarding. These males guard the nest from other male hornyhead chubs, but do not guard from other fish, leading to several cases of hybridization of species, as these nests are a safe area to lay other species eggs in. Even within their own species, females will lay eggs across multiple nests, ensuring diversity. These fish live only 3-4 years, and so they can live for only 1 or 2 breeding season, but are almost certain assured their legacy will live on, as the predation of hornyhead chubs is small, and fertilized eggs are covered by gravel before guarding, such the predators can not find them before hatching either.

That's the hornyhead chub, everybody! Have a wonderful day and a good week ahead!

[goodqueenaly]

If Elia wasn’t at harrenhal would Rhaegar crowning Lyanna have still been a scandal?

I think so, yes - a scandal different in kind, and perhaps to a limit extent different in degree as well, but a scandal nonetheless. While I do not at all want to undersell the extent to which Rhaegar passing over his own wife shocked and offended onlookers at Harrenhal - there is a reason Elia reportedly sat there “stiff-backed and trying to act as if nothing was wrong” in a probable attempt to minimize Rhaegar’s public humiliation of her - Rhaegar’s choice to snub his wife was only part of the Harrenhal tourney scandal. This is a point I made before (in a reblog from the late great Steven Attewell), but to reiterate, while the crowning of a queen of love and beauty is not necessarily and in all cases an expression of romantic sentiment, this act is not also completely free of such implications in every case either - especially when the chosen lady (or, rather, girl) is, by the standards of her (creepy, fetishizing) society, “part child, part woman … [a] ‘maid’ … [f]ertile but innocent, beloved of the singers”. For a man who was himself the son of a monarch infamous (at least in his early reign) for his seemingly omnivorous sexual appetite, offering the crown of queen and love and beauty to a beautiful, as yet unmarried (more on that in a moment) maiden, without any obvious sociopolitical justification for doing so, I think would have been seen as no less than the prince propositioning Lyanna in front of virtually the entire assembled nobility of Westeros - in other words, scandal enough on its own, without the added IOTL insult to Elia.

Moreover, because Lyanna was betrothed - and betrothed to the Lord of Storm’s End, no less - Rhaegar offering her the crown of the queen of love and beauty was a gross political insult, one immediately recognized by the Stark-Baratheon party present. Indeed, not for nothing does Yandel report that “Lady Lyanna's brothers seem[ed] so distraught at the honor the prince had bestowed upon her”, with “Brandon Stark … [having] to be restrained from confronting Rhaegar at what he took as a slight upon his sister's honor”, Eddard being “calmer but no more pleased”, and Robert Baratheon “brood[ing] on the insult”, so much so that “his heart hardened toward the Prince of Dragonstone from that day forth”. Even if Rhaegar, and likely the vast majority of the attendees, probably knew nothing about the specific geopolitical goals of the Stark-Tully-Baratheon-Arryn power bloc, every Westerosi aristocrat could appreciate the standard expectations of alliance represented by diplomatic marriages - expectations threatened by the apparent attempt by the crown prince to seize and use the Stark maiden at his whim, and presumably similarly discard her at his leisure. Again, if I can quote myself, “Lyanna was just sexualized enough to be seriously considered a target of romantic attraction while also being just unavailable enough to make any such attraction from anyone not her betrothed (or, perhaps, one of her brothers or her father’s bannermen) truly scandalous”.

[themodethecitythesoul]

Ludinus Da'leth is clearly a man who has not gone hungry ever in his life--or at least not in a looooooooong while.

"It will only feast upon what it naturally devours"?

My good dude. As an omnivore yourself you should know, even without looking too close at the nearest predator, that a living being will eat ANYTHING if it's hungry enough. Life doesn't care what it's 'supposed' to consume, what it's 'created' to consume. Life just consumes.

It's like he didn't watch hours of movie night with Asha on screen at all lol

[thesoftboiledegg]

I wasn't sure what to make of "That's Amorte" before it aired. When signs pointed toward "the spaghetti comes from aliens," I wondered if we had a rehash of Futurama's "The Problem with Poppers," where the crew finds a delicious treat on a planet only to learn that the "popplers" are underdeveloped alien offspring.

Rick and Morty's take on Soylent Green also seemed likely. Everyone knows the twist: Soylent Green is people! A dark sci-fi concept like that could be a ripe parody for this series.

However, "That's Amorte" adapted a concept that other shows have referenced a thousand times and took a right turn. No one's angry at the humans for eating their suicide victims: in fact, they love the spaghetti and turn it into a corporate product.

This is an obvious shot at capitalism and how companies will destroy the environment, brutally slaughter animals and turn cities into concrete wastelands just to make a buck. And I mean--chowing down on this spaghetti isn't that different from eating meat. I'm an omnivore, but I kept thinking that at least these pasta producers chose to die.

The suicide element gave this episode a poignant touch instead of turning it into an edgelord slog where the humanoids kill people and throw them in a meat grinder. Admittedly, the clones leaned in that direction, and that scene also shows how Rick struggles to understand the world outside himself. He doesn't react when the clones kill each other, but one of his daughters is a clone, and he'd be horrified if anything happened to her.

On its own, "That's Amorte" is a great episode. However, when you take the whole series into account, the plot retreads the same old Morty narrative: Morty tries to do the right thing, it backfires, Rick dodges responsibility while antagonizing Morty to be petty, Rick gets stuck fixing everything and Morty tries to pretend it never happened.

I keep waiting for something good to happen to Morty. Rick has plenty of episodes where he makes positive changes: going to therapy ("Analyze Piss," "Air Force Wong"), improving his relationship with Jerry ("Final DeSmithation," "The Jerrick Trap"), trying to do right by Beth ("Bethic Twinstinct"), being kinder to Morty ("Full Meta Jackrick"), etc.

Season five doesn't emphasize his character development as much, but plenty of scenes show how much he's changing. Even season four has moments where he's gentler.

Rick's being his petty season-two self in "That's Amorte," but even here, he does the right thing by showing the world exactly what--and who--they're eating. In earlier seasons, he would've done that just to be an asshole. Here, I don't think that he was trying to torment people as much as he just knew that this spaghetti shitshow had to end.

Same with the spaghetti itself. He didn't feed it to the Smiths, then show them the dead body just to torture them. I think he genuinely wanted to share the spaghetti because it was delicious, but he also figured that they don't want to know where it comes from.

On a similar note, I enjoyed Rick's moments of physical gentleness. Great animation detail.

So Rick gets a little character development and saves the day again, and Morty gets...nothing. Just a rehash of old storylines. "Mortynight Run" in particular has almost the same plot, beat-for-beat.

"That's Amorte" touched on Morty's depression and his family's coldness toward him but didn't go further than that. Morty keeps cycling through the same issues with no resolution. He blows up in one episode, then shuts down the next. His attempts to do the right thing go astray. When's this kid going to catch a break?

Again, this episode isn't bad. It's funny, original and well-written and has a lot to say about ethics and capitalism. Still, I don't understand why reviews on other sites keep emphasizing Morty's character development because I didn't see much.

I will say that everyone's horror at where the spaghetti comes from was a great takedown of the meat industry. Everyone loves sausage, but nobody wants to see how it's made!

Still, next time we get a Morty episode, I hope that it says more about him and less about the world outside his cartoon.

[teecupangel]

So I had the thought of Desmond becoming a MLP: fim changeling queen. Why a changeling? You may ask, because they are very cool.

If you don't know changelings are these horse-like bugs that can shape shift into pretty much anything even inanimate objects (or many that one is an illusion). They use this ability to collect love from other creatures since that's their main source of energy, seems like they need to eat normal stuff but in smaller quantities.

But for the sake of this Au let's say they can feed on the other emotions as well but the closer to love the emotion (example: happiness) the more energy they get. With love giving out the most energy.

So Desmond wakes up at Solomon's temple and sees he is some kind horse-bug and cause he is a queen changeling he is really big. Like draft horse big, even bigger than the Clydesdale. But still thin and spindly cause you know, bug. He wouldn't be like Chrysalis starved hive but also he wouldn't be rainbow colored like Thorax's. I see Desmond being desert colored for camouflage (dark red, brown, pale, black, sand) while having some white and red mixed in for the colours of the brotherhood.

Desmond curses his luck and wanders around trying to get used to his new body until Altaïr and company come for the apple. He discovers that he is completely armored and his carapace is really resistant and though, he is really strong capable of shatter stone with a kick, he is very flexible and can climb on surfaces like Spiderman, he can lift things with telekinesis through his horn (solves the issue of no hands), has this big bug mandibles that can come from his snout, his fleshy tail is very flexible and has a pair of stingers with a paralyzing venom, he has wings under his carapace like a beetle open it and fly, and he is pretty much an omnivore but absolutely loves flower nectar, honey, bee wax, and other insects.

One night while sneaking in a city he complains about not being at least a normal horse to not catch so much attention and then fiuussh he transforms into one of the smaller horses he saw in the stables he passed, smaller size and everything. He practices his new shape shifting ability and even figures out how to change color and become invisible. For now he can only shape shift into other quadrupeds, horses, dogs and even something as small as a cat. And that's how he discovers his new emotion based diet. Now that he can spend more time in the cities he doesn't feel as hungry and when some kids tried to pet him and play with him while disguised as a dog he felt an energy boost from feeding off the affection they were giving him.

So to kick off plot once the general date of the expedition to the temple comes Desmond comes back to the temple and waits. He turns invisible and when the fight for the apple comes he drops the invisibility and everyone sees his him in his big insect glory, they think Desmond is some Demon/guardian of the apple.

He manages to run off the templars, save Malik and Kadar and with his telekinesis gives Altaïr the apple.

From here I must clarify that Desmond can speak human languages perfectly he just chooses not to at the moment. And mainly uses this bug language of clicking, chittering, buzzing, crooning and hissing.

From here Desmond either goes back to being invisible and sneaks to Masyaf or just follows outright along with them outside the cave and transforms into a normal horse in front of them to travel back to Masyaf. With the second it allows for more interactions, Al Muslim gets to see Desmond at the beginning and they think the guardian of the apple is following them around and chose their faction as worthy of the treasure.

Al Muslim tries to order him around but Desmond just gives him the stink eye and follows Altaïr around. Using his shape shifting ability to help sneak around and get information, eventually learning how to transform into non-quadrupeds, humans and even inanimate objects. Every once in a while Desmond speaks like a human in public but everyone thinks he is just a very clever parrot except Altaïr who spends the more time with Desmond whose Desmond speaks more and more to everyday.

After Al Mualim is defeated Desmond makes Masyaf the place to put his hive without knowing, at this point everyone knows Desmond can speak and it's fully sapient.

When things calm down Desmond gets the surprise of his life when he lays his first clutch of eggs, he is not a Changeling Queen for nothing. And when the eggs hatch among the grubs is Clay (once Altaïr dies he will be reborn like this too).

The other changelings (changeling workers/soldiers) are also sapient and can do everything Desmond can but Clay becomes a sub-queen of sorts. Clay is a changeling whose function is to be the main Queen (Desmond) right hand, therefore Sub-Queen (princess). While the workers are regular horse sized Clay as Sub-Queen is somewhere in the middle is bigger than the workers but smaller than Desmond. Also Clay doesn't lay eggs (to Desmond's complains).

So now the brotherhood is composed of humans and changelings, who can infiltrate pretty much everywhere, their venom is widely used by the assassins and they make the templars incredibly paranoid of everything even their own pot plants.

If anyone in the brotherhood dares to even look at any of Desmond's hundred children wrong both Altaïr and Desmond will make their lives miserable.

(Now I see Altaïr with a handful of grubs who crawl all over him)

Masyaf becomes the main changeling hive and Clay goes on to make a second one in the nearest assassin headquarters (then he begins to lay eggs).

When Altaïr dies he is reborn as a grub that becomes another Sub-Queen. A lot of brotherhoods around now have a changeling hive with a Sub-Queen and all respond to Desmond (the main Queen).

Changelings feed on surrounding emotions and when they go infiltrate but they mostly feed on the affection of each other's and their fellow brotherhood members.

So when it's Ezio's turn he is just surrounded

By this three giant bug-horses and their million children/niblings.

There was a man who visits their home often. He would always be accompanied by a strange bunch. People in hoods and animals of various sizes…

All of them would call him ‘mother’.

Ezio swears the people with hoods and the animals would change at times, even when they had already entered their home.

It was strange.

Sometimes they would visit with one brown dog but leave with no dogs at all but the number of people would rise.

Other times, he would visit with butterflies on his hair and leave with no butterflies at all but cats walking behind him.

He never stays long, talking to Ezio’s father the longest then taking the time to talk to everyone else for a bit.

Ezio liked it when he visited.

He always gave them new toys they had never seen before. Sometimes, he would bring books that sounded interesting and would be read and borrowed between the siblings.

As Ezio grew older, the more he understood who the man he only knew as ‘Desmond’ was.

He was royalty.

The mother queen.

Ezio still didn’t know what that was supposed to mean and why he was called 'mother queen' instead of 'father king'. All he knew was that Desmond was the ruling matriarch of a kingdom they do not know about.

And House Auditore was part of that kingdom.

Ezio always thought they were nobles of Firenze.

But no.

They were spies.

He still remembered the conversation he had unintentionally eavesdropped on while Desmond was visiting them.

“I’ve warned you about being too close to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Giovanni.”

“I am loyal to the Brotherhood.”

“I do not doubt your loyalty. Just as I know that Clay is loyal to me, I also know Clay will do what he believes is right. The same can be said to you.”

“I am honored to be compared to the princess-”

“Clay would tell you that it’s meant to be an insult. But it’s not. I’m just telling you this to make you understand that just because you are loyal to the Brotherhood, it does not mean you are not compromised.”

“I can assure you-”

“If I order you to return to Monteriggioni with your family and to not return to Monteriggioni even if Lorenzo de’ Medici begged you to, would you do it?”

“Ezio Auditore.”

Ezio stepped back from the door and turned to face the unfamiliar voice who called out to him.

He looked a lot like Desmond but with golden eyes.

“I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s fine.” The golden-eyed man said, “You will hear what Desmond has ordered your father to do later anyway. Walk with me.”

“Uuuhh…” Ezio didn’t really have any reason to say no so he began to follow the strange man.

As they exited the hallway and made their way to the main room, a cat meowed and nuzzled the man’s legs before following after him, glancing at Ezio curiously only once.

By the time they reached the inner courtyard, five cats were following the man.

“Uuhhh…”

“Altaïr.”

It took a moment before Ezio realized that the man had introduced himself. He was unsure if he could just call ‘Altaïr’ or if he was a noble of higher standing than them so he just asked, “These cats…”

“My children.” Altaïr answered.

Oh.

He was one of those people.

“Sef.” Altaïr called out and a white cat with black fur on his legs and paws meowed as he sat in front of Altaïr, “Stay with Desmond and tell him that I’ll be training Ezio Auditore until he’s done with Giovanni Auditore.”

Ezio opened his mouth to speak but the cat’s meow was loud enough to stop him. Ezio watched the cat quietly make his way back inside before he turned to face Altaïr as he asked, “Training?”

A hooded man that Ezio swore was not there before handed Altaïr two blunt swords used for training and Altaïr threw the other sword to Ezio who caught it easily.

“Uh- merda!” Ezio shouted as Altaïr suddenly charged him, easily disarming him with enough force to stagger him off his feet.

“Get up faster. You’d be dead if I had followed up on my first attack. Again.” Altaïr ordered as he took a few steps back.

Ezio growled and stood. As soon as he grabbed the sword, Altaïr charged once more. Ezio managed to keep hold of his sword but fell on his ass when Altaïr smacked his cheek with the back of his hand.

“You’re too focused on my sword. If I had a hidden weapon on my left hand, you’d be dead. Again.”

Ezio growled once more.

This bastardo was asking for it.

.

.

Training only ended when a hooded man who looked too much like Desmond and Altaïr that Ezio had to take a doubletake, giving Altaïr an opening to hit him on the side with the pommel of his sword, announced that lunch was ready and Desmond would like Altaïr to eat with him and the rest of the Auditore.

As Ezio wheezed as he held his poor bruised side, Altaïr handed the sword to the hooded man who could have been mistaken as Altaïr and Desmond’s son as he said, “Very well. Check the perimeter before scheduling everyone’s meal time, Sef.”

“Darim is already on it, father.”

Wait.

Sef?

Did Altaïr named a cat after his son???

[ap-kinda-lit]

Saiyan headcanons

Saiyans love hot baths. The kind of temperatures they best enjoy would be boiling to most people but to them is a perfect sauna.

They often take very personal trophies from their victories, like heads, limbs, or skin.

When a Saiyan is banished/exiled, they have their tails cut off as a mark of shame.

Some traditional Saiyan dishes do include bugs.

Before the Cold Empire’s conquest, Saiyan architecture was similar to that of the Aztecs/Mayans and India. You can also see it in the style of their artwork.

They also didn’t use armor much as they didn’t consider it necessary, but when they did the armor they wore included leather, metals, and furs. Common Saiyan armor was styled like the Vikings, while the armor used by the elite were more like the Mongolians.

Like in a lot of species, female Saiyans are not only just as strong as their male counterparts but can even be more dangerous. Females are more agile, methodical, strategic, and better at stealth. Like lionesses, they are capable of both attacking and defending. While female Saiyans are the primary caretakers of children and homesteads, this is because they are seen as reliable and highly capable at leading and protecting. If an army tried to attack a Saiyan camp because it was only wives and mothers, it would be the worst mistake.

Most Saiyans do not know what a “husband/wife” or “boyfriend/girlfriend” is or even what marriage means. They have mates and while there is courting involved it still basically goes if two people like each other a certain way they hook up, move in, and, more often than not, produce children. That’s it. Plain and simple. There are no certain terms, ceremonies, or pageantry.

Surprisingly, Saiyans are normally very loyal partners. They are monogamous and they more often than not mate for life.

A lot of Saiyans actually care about their children and can be super protective of them. As in, think of a mama bear or papa lion on PCP. Don’t mess with their kids.

They also carry them on their bodies, mostly their backs, not much different from how regular monkeys and apes do with their babies.

And when they’re not carried, Saiyan children hold on to their parent’s tail, kind of like with elephants.

Traditional Saiyan music kind of sounds like rock music and their dancing is the same as mosh pitting.

Yes, they hiss like cats. Why wouldn’t they?

Their battle cries sound like gorilla grunts and monkey howls and they bang on their chests like them.

Saiyans are fairly casual about nudity. They have mixed bath-houses and don’t have much problem with walking around naked before or after a bath or being injured. They even consider fighting nude and act of bravery and strength.

Saiyans have a very high tolerance for narcotics and alcohol. It takes quite a bit to make them intoxicated. Which is why their alcohol is extremely strong to the point it could give a man alcohol poisoning in little to no time.

While they prefer meat, they’re omnivores above all. They can eat just about anything. I mean anything. They have super strong stomachs that can store/digest anything. Like sharks, they’ll eat the most unusual things from time to time. If you cut open a Saiyan’s belly, you wouldn’t believe some of the stuff you would find in there, like a lost and found.

A Saiyan’s way of showing affection to their SO or relatives normally includes sharing food, bringing them presents from their hunts and other adventures, and grooming (namely picking out debris or whatnot from their hair). With their mates, they tend to bite (think of like with cats).

Speaking of which, Saiyans are very fierce in the bedroom as they are in the battlefield. Because of this, along with their brute strength and expansive energy, physical intimacy with a Saiyan can be tantamount to wrestling a bear or lion. You will most likely die or at least be seriously injured.

Saiyans have matches that are a lot like flyting, or rap battles. Essentially, they roast each other in rhythmic style. In Saiyan matches, expect some mother/father jokes and unflattering references to Frieza or King Cold.

[bubbletealife]

Shiratorizawa being overlooked so often makes me so damn mad like I’m in 5 Haikyu servers and whenever they do popularity polls Shiratorizawa literally loses first round ALL THE DAMN TIME

Like they worked so hard to get where they are, Top 8 consistently, and being fr if they had a diff coach who let them embrace their individual play styles, let them work as a damn team i genuinely think they could beat some other of the top teams.

No I’m not just glazing my favorite team. I’m being COMPLETELY honest.

Tendou, if Washijo just let him teach some other players to embrace that shit, or if they had an actual system instead of

“Taichi the omnivore and Tendou the Guess monster”

Like thats really effective and all, but what if they further enhanced it?

Don’t even get me started on the setters.

Shirabu is a very good player, but being fr he’s lowkey a hole in their defense. Unlike Hayato, he doesn’t have some extreme receiving skills to get him some ground over being short. Constantly throughout the Karasuno match, they’re scoring over his head.

Now I love Shirabu, I really do. But I love semi more (obviously).

Washijo is wasting SO MUCH TALENT with his damn “cannon” philosophy. Like bro, think abt it. If all of shiratorizawa used their talents to the fullest, wouldn’t it actually make them stronger?

I get sometimes that too much talent will overlap and sabotage each other, but focusing so many individual talents into one simple strength is kind of crazy. Like you literally invite some of the top players in your prefecture, then don’t even use them?

some people won’t understand how damn mad I was when Karasuno won. Like yay to Karasuno, I loved season 3, literally my favourite season ever, we got so much Noya screen time, BUT SERIOUSLY.

THAT MUCH PLOT ARMOR IS INSANE.

I get the writing and all, showing growth, but being fr.

THEYRE ONE OF THE TOP 8 INNTHE WHOLE COUNTRY.

WASHIJO WHEN I CATCH YOU YOU OLD MAN.

It’s giving Ego from blue lock, except at least Ego had a point. At least bro was being logical with his arbitrary decisions.

“Too many cooks spoil the broth” TYPE SHIT BRUH

BUT SHIRATORIZAWA IS LITERALLY SO DAMN ADAPTABLE. ISTG.

IM RAGING

all of them are so different from one another, and despite being the most incomplete team in miyagi, they STILL manage to work together, and have no real hard feelings.

They all worked so hard to get where they were, but then SUDDENLYBTHE PLOT ARMOUR COMES AND JUST DELETES THAT.

These guys literally do 100 serves just cause some old fossil said so. THATS INSANE.

Imagine having to endure so much extreme training, that honestly is so questionable, and still end up losing. You start to lose what the volleyball means to you just cause of some damn short ass man who couldn’t get over his old coach telling him he was a short fuck.

ID CRY TOO.

IF ANYONE CALLS SHIRATORIZAWA WIMPS FOR CRYING AFTER LOSING, ID LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY AND DO WHAT THEY DID.

THEY PUT BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS INTO THIS, AND STILL ENDED UP LOSING TO SOME RAGTAG TEAM THAT JUST STARYED GAINING MOMENTUM.

All they wanted was to take Goshiki to nationals fam.

One last time.

All of them were so well written I’m actually tweaking out that they don’t have a bigger fan base.

Oh I understand I mischaracterize some of them, like listen fam I have barely anything to work with SHUT UP.

But honestly writing them is such an adventure, and I’m literally going on multiple angry rants for them.

Please, somebody, hear me yell out into the void, and respond to what I wish.

Shiratorizawa respect.

[rovingotter]

Hollow

SPOILER WARNING FOR SCAVENGERS REIGN.

Many people have remarked on the parallels between Levi and Hollow. One is a human creation changed and given sentience by the planet, the other is a native of the planet altered by her experiences with a human. Both have a connection to Fiona: Levi because Fiona programmed them, Hollow because memories/visions of Fiona are the primary way she communicates with Kamen.

From the get-go, Levi is established as a character with agency. One of their first on-screen actions is to troll Azi by burying her wrench, and when Azi asks why, Levi replies, "I don't know. I was curious about how you'd react." Levi is bipedal and verbal, things we associate with humanity, so even setting aside their quirky behavior, we are already primed to see them as human-like, if kinda weird. Throughout the show Levi continues to perform autonomous actions, to be motivated by curiosity and wonder, and eventually to assert their own personhood, establish boundaries, and form a meaningful relationship with Azi. They have goals, they have motives, they have an arch. Before this, Levi was just a machine. They are uplifted by the planet.

Hollow, on the other hand, often comes across less as a character and more like a blank slate onto which the viewer is invited to project metaphors: metaphors about Kamen's psychological dysfunction/moral failings, metaphors about the corrupting influence of humans on the natural world, metaphors about avarice or addiction or any number of things, none of them good. Even the name (never spoken but present in subtitles) implies an empty vessel. In contrast to Levi, Hollow is non-verbal (she uses psychic projections to communicate, but has no voice of her own), small, and quadrupedal. We are primed to see her first and foremost as an animal: an innocent, living in (from our outsider human perspective, at least) harmony with nature. A little creepy, a little cute. But also a being lacking in any real self-awareness or moral agency. This, though, is presented as her ideal state. Her growing power and agency, throughout the narrative, is framed as a downgrade, as borrowed, inauthentic, and destructive...and is ultimately ripped away.

True, Hollow is given a bit of characterization when we first meet her. She is being bullied/intimidated by a larger member of her species, and she appears discouraged by this. But for the most part her motives and choices are either impenetrably alien or presented ambiguously. Maybe she decides to adopt Kamen as her thrall, despite his alien nature, because she feels frustrated and powerless and has decided to take a risk on something new...or perhaps even sees him as a kindred spirit, a fellow outcast. Or maybe she just happens across him and is reacting to her environment in the stimulus-response, amoral kind of way we associate with less complex animals.

All her choices after that feel similarly ambiguous. When Kamen first gives her fresh meat and she eats it, it feels like crossing a boundary. She's obviously an omnivore or she wouldn't be able to digest it, but this moment has an almost Original Sin type of vibe, Hollow the Adam of her planet and Kamen as her Eve offering the forbidden fruit...or is she just eating whatever her human puts in front of her, like a Golden Retriever? Does the blame lie with her "owner"?

From there it's a spiral. More and more meat, then experimenting with cannibalism, then becoming increasingly ruthless with her thrall as a means of pushing him to hunt larger prey. Is that her, or is that Kamen's greed and insecurity leaking into her? Is it both?

When Kamen remembers his wife's death and pleads with Hollow to take away the pain and she straight-up unbirths him and bids him sleep, is she doing this out of empathy for him, or is she (again) simply responding in a stimulus-response way to the alien emotions seeping into her? Her face gives few clues; a slight narrowing of the eyes, an implacable blankness.

And yet there are indications that her species has human or near-human intelligence. The ability to psychically manipulate a codependent thrall, to present him with narratives laden with emotional cues that push him to respond in certain ways, is a skill that feels ethically dubious by its nature and therefore linked with personhood. As humans, we are defined by our narratives, by our capacity to manipulate each other through them. She becomes the model of a person she has never met inside another person's head. Does it feel like writing a character?

And she does not merely pick and choose memories, she speaks through them. When Kamen is about to flee the safety of the cave and blunder out into a storm that will likely kill him, Hollow becomes Fiona and reminds him of the time he took the canoe out and nearly drowned. "Remember? You were so helpless," she says. Did Fiona ever speak those words to him? Is it like replaying a recording? Or is Hollow RPing her?

When Hollow found Fiona's corpse, what did she think? What did she feel?

In the end, Levi rips away Hollow's physical strength and power, reducing her to what she was before any of this happened. We are left to assume she will return to the forest, go back to her vegan diet and her pre-verbal ways: human notions of purity. The nobility of beasts.

But she looks back.

I don't think she's forgotten. I don't think Levi, the uplifted being who was so very afraid of losing the ways in which they had changed, would have made her forget.

[a-dragons-journal]

bit of a rant re: that one post about terminology: my biggest pet peeve about it is that it is had made it absolutely impossible to find the kind of stuff I used to come to tumblr for back in 2012. I'm dragonkin and nearly 40. I've known I was 'kin since before the year 2000. i used to be able to follow a couple of kin tags and find art, poetry, and essays on the things we all have in common. once in awhile there would be music. Now all I seem to see is people arguing about who's allowed to use what term, who is 'valid,' and people splitting hairs to the finest down on microlabels. I am, in my head and in an experience sort of way, a big reptile who flies and hunts and, frankly, isn't very bright. I have not really kept up with terms in the past decade because it seems like every time I look, the words mean different things, and I cannot be bothered to follow all that. none of it changes the way I feel my scales or how there is a part of my brain devoted to tracking good hides and good takeoff locations. none of it changes the fact that I have to make rent with a brain that wants to be tracking air currents and chasing small game. And none of it changes how delighted I am every time I eat a good piece of fruit or a slab of chocolate with an omnivore's ability to digest plant matter. obligate carnivores can't enjoy sugar the way my human body does. it's great.

a moose and a tuna are very different creatures, but they would both complain about orcas and sharks in their feeding grounds. someone who is a pterosaur and someone who is an angel can both talk about missing the feel of air beneath their wings. a mantis shrimp and an alien and a bat can all talk about how light looks through human eyes. someone who is a little bit of a werewolf sometimes and someone who is 100% a housecat all the time will probably both be able to talk about managing prey drive. I miss having places on the internet where we could talk about shared experience in this way. I couldn't care less what words people use to argue about how different they are. we are all using human hardware to run incongruous beings. Two bog-standard human siblings who grew up in the same home will argue that the same scene in a movie shows different things. everyone's different. there's always gonna be some way to split yourself off from the group.

I just miss being able to find solidarity with fellow Internet Weirdoes (affectionate). if you only share your stuff with your micro-group you're going to miss out on all the others who you could be talking to who may understand, at least in part, what you're going through.

and most of all, I miss the art.

Yeah, I feel that. I feel that.