#Probably to Lek

[dartalias]

One of the reasons i love reading Kyoshi is her inter monalogue and something i love about it is that she knows about agriculture and its just randomly using this knowledge in her head

(And in her pettiness)

Like in the Daofei city they were worriedly explaining to her how sad and bad it is that they are tied up with a gruop called "Autumn flower society" that have "moon peaches" as their simbol, and how dangerous they were

And Kyoshi first thoght was "moon peaches bloom in the spring, idiots, but of corse they wouldn't know that, they're daofei not farmers"

Or the amont of times they go to a new place and the firt thing she does is cassify the soil as good/bad to plant things

Kyoshi herself acknowledge this trait of hers sometimes

Like she is doing a ditch with earthbending and being like "See that Yokoya??? I can plow land too, i could be a great farmer"

Or when shes eating dust being like "its not eating, its testing, spirits why did i have to know that???"

Love my avatar farmer girly with criminal and artistic genes

[itstimeforstarwars]

Not to be a nerd or anything but I need to make a Togruta headpiece that way I can make reference photos of many poses and angles for someone with a different montral shape than ahsoka.

[atla-suki]

official legacy of yangchen combustion bender art when ???????? WHEN???????

[daisyeyes-sims]

i usually play sims in one big chunk of time and then stagger post through the week

[redbean-nom]

@dragonheartftherpays hope you don't mind me adding on with some rarer colors of Twileks:

Nat Secura (Star Wars 1998 comic) was the first to come to mind: skin tone wise, he seems to have a similar situation as Lyn Me, plus some dark spots around his upper face and lekku. He also has a pretty extensive known family (Aayla is his cousin, plus his dad and uncle Lon and Pol Secura, all of whom are medium-dark blue with light eyes).

left: Nat Secura; right: father Lon Secura

Given that the Secura family are all pretty dark blue (compared to, say, Orn Free Taa) I'm assuming that the dark bluish spots are his 'natural' color (which is actually kind of close to a purple). So based off this he would be En-I with partial leucism causing the lighter parts of his skin, and the unaffected areas showing up as blue patches/spots.

For Bib Fortuna, I looked at Wookiepedia and apparently he has a cousin Beezer Fortuna, who has light eyes and pale beige skin with dark stripes. I also haven't found any other white Twileks with pink tinted skin (most of them have a noticeable yellow/grey or blue/purple tint, which I'll mention later on), so between that and the red eyes, he's probably albino.

left: Bib Fortuna [?? albino]; right: Beezer Fortuna [EnEnii]

The other main family of white Twileks is Clan Fenn (Star Wars 1998 comic), featuring Ro and Kh'aris Fenn. Ro is drawn either with a yellow or greyish-beige tint, while Kh'aris is pale grey or pure white.

left: yellow Ro Fenn [EnEnii]; center: beige/grey Ro Fenn; right: Kh'aris Fenn [EnEnii]

Overall, it seems like the differentiation with white Twileks seems to be based off their tint: a yellow or grey/beige tinted phenotype is low-melanin EnEnii, blue, purple, or green tint is leucism (since iirc leucism doesn't affect the iridophores), and pink tint/red eyes is albinism.

Regarding black Twileks, I did find Tualon Yaluna (Darth Vader 2017), who is apparently a canon Jedi/Inquisitor, and probably melanistic:

Tualon Yaluna [?? melanistic]

For the red mutations, it seems like it's most likely to be option 4 (xanthophore mutation) given that there is one example of partial red pigmentation, notably in an Ex-i Twilek.

Ayy Vida [Ex-i partial xanthophore mutation]

Twi’lek Skin Color Genetics

Hello naughty children, a few weeks ago I spent five hours or so hashing out how Twi’lek skin color works genetically, and now I’m here to make that everyone’s problem. This is going to be a very long post, so I do apologize for that, feel free to hit J on desktop to skip. But it’s interesting, and it’s actually worked for every canon Twi’lek family I’ve tried it for so far (not that there are many to try), so here we go!

And yes, I made APA citations for this. Because I’m a nerd.

How Does Twi’lek Skin Pigmentation Work, Anyway?

Because it’s not as simple as humans. After all, Twi’leks come in a huge range of colors. The first challenge I had to deal with was figuring out how exactly Twi’lek skin coloration works in terms of pigmentation, before I could even start to figure out the genetics behind that.

See, in Earth mammals, most if not all pigmentation comes from melanin. Melanin comes in two forms, eumelanin (black/dark brown) and pheomelanin (reddish), and between the two of them in various concentrations melanin can produce colors ranging between black, brown, gray, red, yellow, and tan (Douma 2008).

Problem: Twi’leks, obviously, come in a lot more colors than that. See, mammals don’t generally produce blue or green pigments. However, you know what does produce green and blue colors? Reptiles and amphibians.

(No, I’m not suggesting Twi’leks are reptiles or amphibians, put that pitchfork down. They can hybridize with Humans, I think it’s pretty solidly canon that they’re mammals.)

So how do reptiles and amphibians produce blue and green colors? Well, instead of their coloration being based solely on melanin like us, many reptiles and amphibians have cells called chromatophores, cells containing certain types of pigments. Chromatophores generally come in three layers, from top to bottom: xanthophores, which contain yellow pigments called pteridines, iridophores, which don’t contain a true pigment but instead contain platelets which reflect mostly bluish light through physical structure and thus act as a blue “pigment,” and melanophores, which produce melanin. The topmost layer can also contain erythrophores, which contain reddish-orange/orange pigments called carotenoids (aka the reason you’re always told that if you eat enough carrots you can turn orange). Between differing amounts of each of these cells and their respective pigments, the three layers of chromatophores can produce a wide array of colors (Douma 2008).

Wide enough to cover all known wild type (naturally occurring, without mutation or intentional genetic manipulation via breeding) Twi’lek skin colors? Let’s find out.

Thanks to Wookieepedia, we do have a list of canon colors Twi’leks can come in, although I take issue with some of them (Twi’lek 2020).

Known wild-type colors: blue, green, tan/pale, orange, pink, purple, teal, yellow Known mutations: Albinism, leucism, red (erythrism?), vitiligo

Cosdra seems to have vitiligo, but it might be paint - it’s hard to tell (Cosdra 2019). Technically, since pink/red eyes do exist as a wild type in Twi’leks, it’s possible Bib Fortuna isn’t actually albino and just happens to have white skin and red eyes, but given how rare white skin seems to be and how he’s portrayed, I’m assuming him to be albino (Bib Fortuna 2020). Leucism, partial loss of pigmentation that most often results in white skin/hair/fur and dark eyes, is also a guess, technically speaking. We see what appears to be leucism in Lyn Me, with “true white” skin and dark eyes, but it’s not confirmed officially; however, due to how rare white skin seems to be, I am comfortable assuming Lyn Me to be an example of a leucistic Twi’lek (if she isn’t, she may instead be an EnEnii genotype with very little melanin production, as discussed later) (Lyn Me 2020).

Wookieepedia claims Twi’leks can have black skin, but it doesn’t have a citation, and I took the time to click through the entire list of canon Twi’lek characters and didn’t find a single black-skinned Twi’lek (”true black,” not dark-skinned). If a Legends character exists with “true black” skin, I feel comfortable assuming that to be an example of a melanism mutation or something similar, rather than a wild type color morph, due to its rarity.

Red being labeled a mutation is interesting, and I believe it’s technically Legends instead of strictly canon material, but I also didn’t find any counterexamples in canon, which leads me to believe it may as well be considered canon (Lethan 2020). I’ll talk more about the “true red” color mutation later in this post.

For now, we have a list of wild type skin colors. Can chromatophores, with variation between the various pigment cells, account for all the different colors Twi’lek skin can take on?

The answer is yes.

I didn’t take the time to chart out a hypothetical melanophore variation chart, since in most phenotypes how much of each type of melanin is present merely affects the saturation and brightness of the dominant color. Anyway, I imagine melanophore genetics would be more similar to human skin color genetics to begin with.

But Dragon, I hear you ask, I don’t see teal on this chart! Patience. We’re getting there. Because in order to talk about teal skin color, we have to talk about the actual genetics - teal comes from two incompletely dominant alleles being expressed together, rather than being a trait with its own allele.

So let’s get into the genetics, then!

The Genetics Behind It All

I’m going to put the Punnett square hell I went through beneath a cut at the bottom of this post for anyone who’s interested in seeing my evidence for this conclusion, and for everyone else I’m just going to put my conclusions.

I’ve assigned each allele an abbreviation, although they don’t display properly on Tumblr because I don’t know how to do subscript and superscript or if Tumblr supports that in the first place:

Ex: Xanthophores (yellow pigment) present. Ee: Erythrophores (reddish-orange/orange pigment) present. En: Neither xanthophores nor erythrophores present/both nonfunctional.

I: Iridophores (blue “pigment”) present. i: Iridophores not present/nonfunctional.

For the purposes of figuring out this system, I actually used a hybrid family, the Lawquanes.

Wait, hold on, why a hybrid family? Well, first off because they’re the ones who started all this, because someone pointed out how the hell did a pink mom and Human dad end up with a teal-and-tan child and an orangey-tan child? So I wanted to answer that question in a way that also fit any other canon Twi’lek families.

However, using this family had another advantage, as I quickly realized: because Cut Lawquane, the father of the children, is Human, we know his genotype for the purposes of the relevant first two layers of chromatophores: he doesn’t have them. He’s homozygous for both non-expression traits: EnEnii. That simplified figuring out the genotypes of the children and his wife a ton - in fact, I’m not sure it would have been possible to extrapolate those answers, if not for the fact that we know his genotype for these traits 100% for certain.

So without putting you through the whole process, this is what I came to:

Suu Lawquane (mother): EeExIi (pink phenotype) Cut Lawquane (father): EnEnii (tan/melanin-only phenotype) Shaeeah Lawquane (daughter): ExEnIi (teal phenotype*) Jek Lawquane (son): EeEnii (orange/tan phenotype**)

* I’m not dealing with the patching Shaeeah has going on because I’m assuming that’s an effect of hybridization on her phenotype, since we haven’t seen markings like that on any canon full-blood Twi’leks. I’m assuming teal to be her “base” phenotype as far as Twi’lek genes go, since teal obviously isn’t a color we see in Humans. ** I’m genuinely not sure whether to call that skin color orange or tan, nor do I know whether Ee or En is dominant or if they even have a simple dominance relationship - more on that in a moment - so I’m leaving that be. The point stands.

So these are the rules of dominance we end up with:

1. I (iridophores present) is dominant over i (no iridophores present/functional). Evidence: Suu Lawquane must be heterozygous Ii in order to have produced both a teal (I phenotype) and tan/orange (i phenotype) child with her homozygous ii husband. Furthermore, Shaeeah would be yellowish-tan if i were dominant over I, since she must be heterozygous due to having a homozygous ii father and yet displaying the I trait as her phenotype.

2. Ex and En are incompletely dominant with each other. Evidence: this is how you get teal children, a mix between blue (EnEn) and green (ExEx). An EeEx x EnEn pairing is capable of producing an ExEn child (Shaeeah), which tracks with this logic.

3. Ee (erythrophores present) is dominant over Ex (xanthophores present). Evidence: Suu Lawquane must be heterozygous EeEx in order to have produced both a teal (ExEn phenotype) and an orange/tan (Ee and/or En phenotype) child with an EnEn husband while still displaying the Ee phenotype (pink) herself. Since she displays a strong Ee phenotype and must also have an Ex allele, the Ee allele must therefore be dominant over the Ex allele.

These rules can be applied to other Twi’lek families, as well - for instance, the Syndullas (not counting Jacen Syndulla, both because he wouldn’t be an interesting addition due to his Twi’lek influence being Also A Green Phenotype and because I will never forgive Rebels for that horrible boring hybrid design) work out to:

Cham Syndulla: EeExii (orange phenotype) Tislera Syndulla: ExExIi or ExExII (green phenotype, not enough data to prove conclusively whether she’s heterozygous Ii or homozygous II) Hera Syndulla: ExExIi (green phenotype)

Because En and Ex are incompletely dominant, neither Tislera nor Hera can be ExEn, and they must be homozygous ExEx because Ee is dominant over Ex. Because Ee is dominant over Ex and his daughter must be homozygous Ex, Cham must therefore be EeEx, showing the Ee phenotype but carrying the recessive Ex allele which he passed on to his daughter.

There is one small problem: We still don’t know for sure the relationship between Ee and En. I just don’t have enough data to figure it out. I went through the entire list of canon Twi’lek characters on Wookieepedia and didn’t find a single family with the right color combinations and enough data to figure it out. I even went through some Clone Wars crowd shots in hopes of finding some, only to discover that apparently the Clone Wars series doesn’t really use child models in their crowd shots, only adults. Maybe someday I’ll go through the entire list of Legends Twi’lek characters in hopes of finding a family with the right genetics to solidify my guesses, but for now, all I have to go on is how common various phenotypes are. Which isn’t perfect, because how common a trait is doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with whether it’s dominant or recessive if it’s an advantageous trait, but it’s all we have. My current hypothesis is that En is dominant over Ee, because blue and tan are both more common phenotypes than purple and orange, but that wouldn’t hold up to the standards of biology by any stretch of the imagination. I simply don’t have enough data to give you a better answer, unfortunately. Maybe some of the new media coming out, like the High Republic series, will give me that - I don’t know. They might not even have a simple dominance relationship; they might be incompletely dominant with each other like Ex and En are, producing bluish-purple, though I find this unlikely given the phenotypes we’ve seen in Star Wars media thus far.

So Why is Red Skin a Mutation?

It’s an oddly specific thing to be labeled a mutation, because you’d think it would just be a variation of the Ee-i phenotype, which normally produces orange or reddish-orange. In order for this to make sense, we have to assume one of two scenarios:

a) Erythrophores in Twi’leks are typically more orange than red, or b) The melanin produced in orange Twi’leks (the Ee-i phenotype) prevents a “true red” from showing as the final skin tone.

In the first option:

1) True red is produced by an erythrophore mutation that causes the carotenoids produced to be more red than normal.

In the second option:

2) True red is produced by a lack of melanin, leaving the final visual color completely dependent on the red/reddish-orange carotenoids rather than mellowing it to orange, or 3) True red is produced by a mutation in the melanophores that cause them to produce only a very red pheomelanin with no eumelanin to balance it out.

Alternatively to both of these:

4) True red is produced by a mutation in the xanthophores in a Twi’lek lacking iridophores (the Ex-i phenotype), causing them to produce a true red pigmentation rather than the yellow pteridines they would normally produce.

Even in Legends, as far as I could find, we don’t have any families of Lethan Twi’leks (Twi’leks with the true red mutation), so I have no evidence to support any of these possibilities (Lethan 2020). However, in any of these cases, the mutation would be rare, not only because the genetic mutation itself is rare, but also because it must occur simultaneously with a specific set of other conditions to produce the true red coloration: 1) and 2) must occur in conjunction with the Ee-i phenotype (and in the case of 1, presumably with melanin that’s light enough to not obscure the true red coloration), 3) must occur either with the Ee-i or En-i phenotype, and 4) must occur in conjunction with the Ex-i phenotype. Since I is dominant over i and seems to be the more common trait, that helps explain why the true red mutation(s) is/are so rare.

Bonus: Why Do Twi’leks Come In So Many Colors, Anyway?

(This section is entirely conjecture and headcanon on my part.)

Because, really, most species tend to consolidate until they’re almost identical color-wise, because the environment tends to select for a given color scheme. However, there are instances in which this is not the case. Personally, my headcanon explanation for this is that Twi’leks as a species tend to have a preference for the unique - if you’re the only person in a group with your skin color (or some other notable physical characteristic), you’re more likely to be found attractive than if you’re in a group of people with the same skin color (or other physical characteristic). This is a form of negative frequency-dependent selection, in which the fitness of a given trait or genotype decreases as it becomes more common (Frequency-Dependent Selection 2020). Negative frequency-dependent selection is itself a form of balancing selection, which serves to actively maintain multiple alleles in a population rather than selecting preferentially for one trait (Balancing Selection 2020).

(What’s the evolutionary advantage behind finding the unique attractive? Who knows. But the point is, it is feasible, and negative frequency-dependent selection is something we see out in the real world.)

In Conclusion

In conclusion, it turns out there actually is a system that works consistently to predict the genotypes and phenotypes of Twi’lek families, with the small exception of not having enough data to determine the dominance relationship in one out of the four allele pair relationships yet. If you know of a canon or Legends Twi’lek family, feel free to try to apply this! If it doesn’t seem to work, feel free to poke me about it, and I’ll see if I can make it work - if I can’t, I’ll have to take another look at the system. (Heck, apply it to your own OCs and see if it works, if you want - or use it to predict offspring traits of various pairings, if you like.) I learned a good bit about chromatophores and pigmentation in animal biology while doing this, and I hope you enjoyed the ride and maybe learned something too. Reblogs are always appreciated if you enjoyed yourself, found this interesting, or learned something! Thank you for reading! (And don’t forget, if you’re interested in reading about the process of how I figured all this out, the screenshots of that are below the cut!)

References

Bib Fortuna. (2020, April 4). In Wookieepedia: the Star Wars Wiki. Retrieved April 20, 2020, from https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Bib_Fortuna.

Balancing Selection. (2020, April 18). In Wikipedia. Retrieved April 20, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balancing_selection.

Cosdra. (2019, September 9). In Wookieepedia: the Star Wars Wiki. Retrieved April 20, 2020, from https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Cosdra.

Douma, M., curator. (2008). Biological Pigments. In Cause of Color. Retrieved 30 March 2020 from http://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/7I.html.

Frequency-Dependent Selection. (2020, April 15). In Wikipedia. Retrieved April 20, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency-dependent_selection.

Lethan. (2020, April 13). In Wookieepedia: the Star Wars Wiki. Retrieved April 20, 2020, from https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Lethan

Lyn Me. (2020, April 4). In Wookieepedia: the Star Wars Wiki. Retrieved April 20, 2020, from https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Lyn_Me.

Twi'lek. (2020, April 20). In Wookieepedia: the Star Wars Wiki. Retrieved April 20, 2020, from https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Twi%27lek.

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[blackkatmagic]

Ooh for the ask game Oola. I love her💕

On Ryloth, every type of bender has their own dance. It’s hard to remember, sometimes, that the rest of the galaxy just sees bodies moving.

Oola stays still, careful, quiet, as Jabba sleeps. There are a handful of people left around the main rooms of his palace, but more of the guests and hangers-on are asleep, sprawled out drunk in corners or having retreated to their rooms. The only one still awake is the Ubese bounty hunter in the heavy mask, settled back against the far wall to watch the room.

It’s a problem, but—Oola is too desperate to care at this point.

Only knowing that this was an option got her through the dance earlier. Oola had been tempted to fight back, to resist even if she knows what happens to slaves who defy Jabba. She’d held herself back, though, because Jabba always drinks heavily when he’s pleased, and getting the smuggler as a wall decoration had pleased him.

It means he won't wake up for anything short of an explosion, now, and that’s all the chance Oola needs.

Carefully, she shifts, slowly enough that the clink of the chains won't draw attention. Boba Fett is still in the palace, probably lurking in the halls somewhere, and he’s dangerous enough, clever enough to make her wary. But—

With her body between her and the bounty hunter, she brings her hands up, breathes out, breathes in again. The foundation of any dance is breathing, even more than motion, and she remembers hours in the sun with her mother, training her breaths in Ryloth’s scorching heat. The hand motions are simple, too, muscle memory now, and she turns her hands, slides her palms past each other, breathes. Tatooine's suns are down, and this would be easier in the day, but that’s fine. This is her only chance to get away, so she has to take it.

Light flickers, fire kindles. A flame leaps between her palms, and Oola curls around it, lets the chain connected to her collar fall right through its heart. Harder to hold it while she’s still, but an actual dance is impossible, so this has to be enough. At least for this, it’s all in the breath, at least.

Oola breathes out, in, out again, and focuses on heat. Focuses on Ryloth’s suns, and the feeling of the traditional dance the firebenders use to call up their flames. She knows the steps, knows the guide they give, and like this her bending is stripped entirely of its grace and beauty, filed down into something utilitarian and rough, but—

She’s escaping. That’s the only important thing.

And then, just a little heavier than silence, there’s a footfall behind her.

Oola jerks her hands down, ducks. The chain is glowing white-hot, though it hasn’t melted yet, and there's no hiding that, but if she plays stupid, if she uses the fact that to Jabba she’s just a plaything—

The bounty hunter’s hand slides into her line of vision, careful to avoid her lek, and catches the chain. Then, sharp, their other hand slashes down—

Fire, a thin and blue-white lance of it that’s hotter than anything Oola has ever felt before, strikes the metal and breaks it in one blow, sending drops of molten steel scattering across the sand.

Quick, the bounty hunter pulls Oola to her feet, still gripping the glowing end of the chain so it can’t fall back against her skin. They jerk their head towards one of the halls, but don’t wait for a response, just pull Oola in that direction at a near run, ducking into the shadows, then down the halls, through several rooms and up a narrow set of stairs meant for the slaves. Near the top, there’s a door standing ajar, and the bounty hunter pushes it all the way open, guides Oola in, then shoves it closed behind her.

Fear rises, and Oola takes three quick steps back, unease warring with relief. The Ubese hasn’t shown any interest in Jabba's personal slaves since their arrival, and they have to know what Jabba will do to them for taking Oola even this far, but still an unsteady sort of fear washes through her veins, makes her hands tremble as she raises them. One on one, she can defend herself if she needs to, without the threat of Jabba's retaliation, but people will notice.

Slowly, deliberately, the bounty hunter raises their hands, palms out, then reaches up. They grip their helmet, pull—

Not an Ubese at all. A Human, a woman with heavy braids of brown hair bound up out of the way, clear brown eyes that meet and hold Oola’s without hesitation.

“Easy,” she says, pitched quiet even though they're alone in the room. “You were trying to escape, weren’t you? I can help.”

“Why should I trust you?” Oola asks, as steady as she can make it. “You work for Jabba.”

The woman snorts, like that accusation is ridiculous. “I'm here to save a friend,” she says. “The one in carbonite.” Hesitates, just for an instant, and then meets Oola’s gaze again and says plainly, “My name is Leia Organa. I'm the princess of Alderaan. If you know that, it means I'm at risk, too. So we’re even. We can trust each other.”

“I don’t think it works like that,” Oola says, but—she knows what happened to Alderaan. She’s heard of its princess, even on Ryloth. Even on Tatooine.

The princess of lost Alderaan saved her. It’s like something out of one of the old tales her father loved.

“Why not?” Leia asks, and smiles. “You don’t have to worry. My brother and I have a plan.”

A plan. Oola didn’t have one beyond breaking the chain, and she puts a hand up to the collar, something shiver through her. If there’s really a way out—all the way out, and not just to die in the desert, free but still doomed—someone like Princess Leia would surely know it, or be able to make it. But—

“Boba Fett is somewhere in the palace,” she says, and it feels a little bit like despair. “He’s too dangerous—”

Leia rolls her eyes. “My brother is distracting him,” she says, and smiles at Oola, like sharing a secret. “That’s part of the plan.”

It seems utterly impossible that the prince and princess of Alderaan are both on Tatooine, both working to free one friend from Jabba's grip. Seems even more ridiculous that they would care about freeing an enslaved dancer, too, without any reason to bother, and Oola has to take a breath, close her eyes. It feels like a dream, like at any moment she’s going to wake up to Jabba's touch, a waking nightmare she’s lived through for months now.

It's not Jabba's touch that makes her open her eyes, though. It’s a Human hand, cooler than her own skin, bare of its heavy glove. Leia touches her cheek, light, careful, and when Oola looks up, Leia holds her gaze with a seriousness that makes Oola’s heart turn over in her chest.

“We can get you out,” Leia promises, and her smile is a warm thing, like Ryloth’s sun. “Your firebending is beautiful. It shouldn’t stay in a place like this.”

Oola shudders, closes her eyes. She presses a hand over Leia's, leans in, and when Leia wraps her up in a tight hug, she twines her lekku around Leia's arms, buries her face in the worn pressure suit, and just breathes.

She was just dancing, before. But Leia saw it for what it was. And right now, that feels like the only thing that matters.

[thelaisydazy]

Band!141 x Reader - Roach

“Thank you, we’ll call in a few days..”

Your stomach churned. Were they really going to call you? Or, was that just what they told the dancers they weren’t satisfied with? 

Your feet carried you down the street, pushing past the crowds of people that flood into the city every day. Your stomach growls. In your rush to get to the audition, you hadn’t eaten breakfast today and you were starving. You take out your phone to check what’s around.There was a little diner open nearby, it wasn’t exactly the fanciest place, but it was cheap enough for your budget. You turn to head towards the diner only to walk directly into someone, your phone clattering to the sidewalk. 

You stumble back to see a young man, perhaps only a few years older than yourself. He’s tall, though certainly not the tallest you’d seen today. He’s got spiky brown hair, which you imagine might be soft and fluffy without all the gel in it, and soft brown eyes. He’s wearing a tight fitting black muscle-tee that cut just slightly too short, showing off his midriff and a pair of fitted black ripped jeans. Just how many punks were you going to run into today?

“Woah, hey sorry,” he said, bending over to pick up your phone and offer it back to you. You quickly take it, frowning as you see the screen is cracked now. “Oh damn it, sorry ‘bout that.”

“It’s… it’s fine,” you say dejectedly. It’s not, but it’s not his fault you walked right into him and dropped your phone. 

“Hey, I’m going to meet some friends for lunch,” he says. “Why don’t you come along? My treat, I feel bad about your phone.”

You look him over cautiously. “I don’t even know your name,” you say. 

“My friends call me Roach,” he says with a grin. “But you can call me Gary if you’d rather.” 

“It’s nice to meet you Gary,” you say, giving him your name as well. “Roach is a funny nickname.”

“Yeah, my mates and I used to mess around with fireworks,” Gary explains. “Couple times I didn’t get away fast enough, somehow I didn’t get hurt though. My mates said I was like a roach, just surviving anything.” He chuckles at the memory. “How about that lunch then?”

You think for a moment. Is it really safe to go with a perfect stranger? The band you met on the subway jumps into your mind. They’d been nice enough to stop the train for you and offer you a seat in the full car, perhaps Gary was just as nice.

“Sure, why not?” you say. “Couldn’t hurt.”

Gary grins at you and you can’t help but smile back. There’s just something friendly about him, you just hope his friends are as nice.

---

“Roach! You made it!” A familiar voice calling from a booth at the back of the bar shouts out. You turn to see the same group of men you’d met just earlier that day. It’s Kyle that spots you first out of them, that amazing smile crossing his face. “I see you met our new friend.”

You and Gary walk over and you take a seat near the middle of the table, between Kyle and Gary. You look at the latter. “You know, when you said you were meeting friends, I should have guessed this is who you meant,” you say with a giggle. Looking around the table, Johnny and Ghost were sitting at the far end from you, Ghost having just pulled his mask back up to cover his face when he saw you walk over. John was sitting on the other side of Kyle from you, he drank from his beer and smiled at you.

“How’d you get on at your audition, love?” John asked, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Did’ya get in?”

“Oh uh.. They said I should hear back in a couple days,” you say, fidgeting with your napkin. You still weren’t so sure the instructors had actually meant it though. 

“I see..” John said thoughtfully. 

“Bonnie thing lek ye?” Johnny chimed in from his seat next to Ghost. “They wis probably speechless or summat.” Ghost nudged him in the ribs with a sharp look.

“Audition?” Gary asked, looking at you. “Whatcha tryin’ out for?”

Before you could answer, Kyle wrapped his arm over your shoulder, though he kept his grip light enough that you could slip away if you wanted to. “Ballet, that fancy place,” he said. “Gonna be a real principal dancer one day.”

Your face feels hot at his confidence. “Oh well… I don’t know about all that,” you say nervously. “I mean.. I’d just be happy in the corps de ballet really.” You’re not really certain you’ve got what it takes for a lead role anyway. “How did that recording go anyway?” you ask, trying to change the subject. 

“Fine, if Soap would focus,” John rumbles, shooting the younger man a look. 

“Haud yer wheesht!” Johnny exclaims looking a bit flustered himself. “Aye wis jus’ think’n alood.”

“An’ not staying on beat,” Kyle teased back.

“Oh I’m sorry..” you say, feeling bad for asking now. 

“Dinna fash, leannan,” Johnny laughs. He starts to stand up. “Am gett’n ‘nother round.” He returns a few moments later and slides a bubbly red drink in front of you with one of those little paper umbrellas in it. 

“What is it?” you ask. Johnny only grins and shrugs at you. Despite your better judgment you take a sip, surprised not to taste any alcohol in the cherry flavored drink at all. “Is this a Shirley Temple?” Your surprised reaction makes the table laugh. 

“They’re not a kid Johnny,” Kyle laughs. He looks at you. “Lemme know if you want a real drink.” All you can do is nod quietly in response as you sip your Shirley Temple.

[vanhelsing-if]

Who would stitch Helsings wounds? Are they used to it? How about if Helsing has to take their shirt off for wound treatment, who would blush

the only people keeping helsing in one piece: osyka, xoese, eli, ren, frankie

would never trust them near helsing’s wounds: vic, dracula, leks

but if one of the ro’s were treating helsing…i don’t think any of them would blush honestly. osyka and eli would be too focused on cleaning and stitching the wound to think about anything else, dracula is definitely the type to say ‘gross’ when they see a wound but in the way that sounds like they’re fascinated by how gross it is, and you’d be too busy running away from vic and their hacksaw to take your shirt off in the first place.

altho there is a medical wing with genuine, professional medical teams so helsing doesn’t need to worry too much and they probably are used to it by now, but that can be a choice you’ll make in-game.

[foibles-fables]

rating the Flying Opera Company members on how well they'd spot you on bench press

Kyoshi: 8.5/10. Strong, reliable, encouraging. Keeps track of your reps and helps you put away your plates when you're done. Gets a little bit distracted when Rangi is working out nearby, though. Needs a strained "don't got it" to snap back to focus every so often.

Rangi: 7/10. A great and knowledgable spotter, but will offer unsolicited and granular critique on your form that might turn into a 15-minute lecture. Resting bitch face makes it initmidating to approach her and ask for a quick spot, but it's worth it.

Kirima: 5.5/10. Not really interested in spotting you, but will (a bit begrudgingly) if you ask. Stares you down while you lift, silent. Will let you sweat for a few seconds if you can't make the press before she assists, to assert dominance.

Wong: 9.5/10. You're safe in his hands. Can curl the bar with one hand if you fail a rep. Conversely, doesn't hesitate to yell at you to do one more rep if he knows you have it in you. Offers both encouragement and advice. Warms up with your working weight, so you don't even have to put any plates away when you're done with your sets.

Lek: 4/10. Is just overly excited to be asked. "Yeah, I got this!" (He might not have this.) Stands close and yells "LIGHT WEIGHT" when you lift off. Grabs your last rep halfway up and tells you "that was ALL you, ALL YOU." (it wasn't all you.) But he's sweet and genuine and it's hard to be frustrated with him when he's all hyped up.

Lao Ge: 1/10. I wouldn't risk it. If the bar crushes you--it's probably on purpose.

[kedreeva]

I knew Berserker Male Syndrome was a thing(mostly thanks to your past posts) but like. Why. If hand-raising literally any of the birds you mentioned(including peahens) makes them more friendly, why does a peacock become a ferocious dinosaur when hand-reared? And if they're capable of that, why aren't outside peacocks like that? Genuinely intrigued here.

Theories abound and honestly I'm not 100% sure the same thing doesn't happen with chickens (hence why so many people tend to with roosters that "turn mean" post puberty but I digress) but I have less means to prove it. The most prevalent theory among peafowl keepers is that peafowl have much stronger family ties (even down to a genetic level we don't understand, considering blood-related males recognize one another as relations and allow blood relatives into the lek *even if they've never met*) than the other birds, with babies staying close to and following their mothers for 2-3 years instead of 2-3 months, and that if you replace that mother role yourself, the cock bird considers you to be another peafowl. For hens that's not a big deal- you're mom, you're probably higher on the pecking order to them, the hens all get along. There are a few people who report an aggressive hen, but it's usually towards other birds and (imo) likely due to improper social upbringing (the raised hen not knowing how to interact with other birds and defaulting to aggression to cope). In the case of a male, however, if you are also a peafowl then you must fall into one of two categories- a mate or a rival. You're not blood related by whatever they sense, and you're not going to mate with them, so the conclusion must then be that you're a rival male. Time to kick your ass out of the territory!

Unfortunately you're probably 10x or more their size, and aren't going to leave (except that you do, since you don't live outside/in their pen), which puts them into a constant state of stress and territorial dominance flux every time they see you (or other humans) that results in an incredibly aggressive male.

By "outside" I assume you mean non-hand-raised ones. When they're raised by actual hens or without a strong parental bond (like incubator hatched and brooder raised) they just... don't make that association with humans. You aren't a peafowl to them in those cases, so as long as you aren't acting like a threat, there's no reason to be aggressive toward you. There's the same chance there is with any animal that he's just naturally a dickhead (I've had it happen once, and I culled him for it because he was just attacking the other birds), but there's no specific predilection for aggression that could have been avoided in those cases, it's just genetic chance at that point.

[shellomantic]

KIRIMA DESIGN !! my first out of a series where i design characters that hasnt gotten a canon design from rise of kyoshi. (shadow of kyoshi will be done later. theres a lot to unpack) i'll be doing lek after this!

Kirima's design notes / headcanons:

if daofei bad why pretty

her only indication really is the "wolf like fetures" and the earth kingodm tunic things,, there arent many official leads on how she looks like SO i implied a bunch of my own headcanons here

first of all, her hair. i love the idea of wolfcut kirima, but i just know that wolfcuts especially long ones aren't very practical in battle so i made her have wolfcut bangs + a braid.

now why does she have a braid? she has water tribe ancestry, spesifically from southern water tribe's wolf cove (where katara and sokka are from) however she's not 100% water tribe, i'd say around 25-50%

i headcanon when she was young, the water tribe side of her family would teach her things about their culture, mostly the hair and the fighting style. Her parents are probably also criminals, thats why she became a daofei, even after going off-contact from her blood relatives and joining jesa and hark, she still kept the hairstyle and accepted her heritage to be a part of herself.

The face paint is slightly inspired by Sokka's though i couldnt incorporate that too much because it doesnt work well in red

i dont know why i gave her blue eyeliner, it really gives her the menacing vibe to contrast her elegant teasing-ish personality, also she is a criminal so she has to apphear scary.

she definitely has siren eyes.

she is known to have a presice bending style. precision over power type of thing, her fighting style looks a lot more "sharp" and agile compared to the typical flowy movements of a waterbender

[dartalias]

Pirate Kyoshi/flying opera AU

I wanted to draw this for i while and i still think i will but in case i cant (no time, but i think i can make it) i just gonna drop my idea here:

Pirate Kyoshi and Flying Opera Company

(This will be SUPER long im thinking about it for a while now)

basically: "what if Kyoshi had accepted Tagata's offer" it would be like "i will go with you if you let everyone go."

I kinda mix a little bit with airbender Kyoshi too, but different, so follow me here:

for this AU specific i thoght in make Kyoshi enter the fitht nation and pretend to be a non-bender to Tagata at the beginning since canonically she dont earthbend in front of her intil the seafloor (dosent happend in this scenario)

Why?? do you remember when Tagata say she dosent have use to earthbenders in a ship? But she look to Kyoshi and see "potential"

[Important detail in this AU: Tagata recognise Jesa's fetures in Kyoshi just like that other pirate did (see this in a coment somewhere and love it), i didnt make a backstory for them but i think it would be cool, the point is: she knows Kyoshi is Jesa and Hark daugther]

Because of that Tagata is divide trying to figure out if Kyoshi is an earthbender or an airbender, and Kyoshi's plan is just pretend she can't bend anything to make Tagata "lose time" intil she finds a way to ether escape or defeat her

But when Tagata try make Kyoshi airbend Kyoshi thinks "this will never work, im obvious not the avatar" what make her relax (which is what was missed in the firebend test in canon btw) and dont think about it much

And then she airbend

And BOOM, suddenly she's the avatar, literally only her knows it, and she is surrounded by a bunch of daufei, while being untrained, scared and lost in a completely unfamiliar territory

So, since she cant go back to Yokoya (Tagata and the deal she made etc etc.) She goes to her cannon next impulsive plan B

The Flying Opera Company

Somehow she convince Tagata to bring them in the ship as her "team" or "guests" bc she needs more training (its true) and they would be the only daufeis who would have some idea of how to help her

So she goes to the tea shop and convince them to joing her (in almost the same way of cannon: "you're our lider's daugther and its offering transportation") and agrees to teach her if she joins they, making their vows instead of Tagata's, this way they would be a gang working for pirates instead of part of tagatas krew, which make its possible to Kyoshi be/go openly againt her (not that something would really stop her, but still..)

And thats would be kinda it, they would be runing with the pirates, making caos. With a airbender in there ship they would be easily the "best"/bigest pirates ever (she can literally control the wind, in a ship) besides, fighting with a airbender is something you wouldn't expected or be prepared to do in the daufey line of work

And Kyoshi would be pretending to be just an airbender (probably making up a history of "i couldnt try it or they would figure out", or "it didnt work before" or "i knew it but couldnt train it" something like that) both for Tagata and the Flying Opera (exept Lao Ge who figure it out, maybe he teach her how to kill people here too)

So besides Kyoshi being almost openly agains Takaga and planing for her dawnfall, (she is BAD at pretend to like someone) and seemed to be more of a willing prisioner then a real part of her crew, having a daufei airbender is a super advantage and Tagata is smart enogth to use Kyoshi in her benefit even when Kyoshis is trying so sabotage her or going agains orders, thats a dangerous dinamic, especially with Kyoshi involved, but i think would be great to see it

I dont know how this would end tho (maybe a postponed seafloor rise?)

Some still untied points:

-Jianzhu would still be a big villan, i have some plans for him (and maybe Hei-Ran) but nothing concret

-Rangshi is obviously the endgame, i just dont know yet when she would join Kyoshi (she would never let Kyoshi go with Tagata, so they would have left before Rangi arrives) but since she would definitely go after her and i think this would be it, at some point she finds her and tags along

-Kelsang dies protecting Yun from Jianzhu

Is killed by Jianzhu when he discoveres Kyoshi to be the avatar

Dies trying to go after Kyoshi

Lives and help Kyoshi with airbender later on♡

-Lek lives

-i have NO IDEA how to make Kyoshi get her things (fans, makeup, diary etc.) but she does

And thats it

Write this make the drawing ispiration grow back stronger so maybe i will do somethings of this later

[sepublic]

Imagine being Mattholomule, Jerbo, and Selene in this scene. Like they’ve just defeated Kikimora to give Luz and the others space to teleport to the skull and defeat the Collector; And as they stay at Hexside, unable to follow due to the Collector’s spies as a threat, they see the Collector themselves at the Grudgby field with Luz, Eda, and King. The LEK trio aren’t puppets so maybe they actually have it handled? But then the Collector spots them and goes up close, and Matt and the others go nope and leave, Luz and King and an actual adult are clearly dealing with it anyway.

And realistically, even if those kids had responded to the Collector, the Collector probably would’ve left them behind to explore the Knee with LEK; No need to be urgent about anything, it’s all been resolved and it’s not like there was any upcoming dilemma, right…?

But now I’m imagining some AU where they follow the Collector and LEK around… And then were there when that whole final battle happened. Maybe helping the Collector save the Archives and the entire population within, because imagine those three in the final battle haha. I hope they didn’t realize Luz died and wished they’d been there to follow and protect her when it happened… But she’s alright now, so what can they do but keep going to Hexside together? Even attend Luz’s quincenera, sans Selene because she’s not even voiced or named lol.

[annoyinglyhardsong]

Codywan Week 2024 Day 2: Beating Rival Suitors off with a Stick

Author Note: Hello again lovelies! Here we are with day 2! This was I believe one of the art prompts for @codywanweek but I am not a talented enough artist yet to do this prompt any justice past some awkward stick figure creatures. So to writing it goes. I had planned on going full crack fic with this because the idea of Obi-Wan literally beating people away from Cody seemed so hilarious, and maybe I'll get around to actually doing that, but for now this was the closest I could get to it. As always, likes, reblogs, comments, are all very much welcomed and appreciated! Happy Codywan Week! Divider by @saradika-graphics, if you are looking for any cute graphics or dividers they have tons of amazing ones!

Tags/Warnings: Mostly SFW, a few suggestive themes, protective Obi-Wan, jealous Obi-Wan, clueless Cody, a highly amused Rex, alcohol.

Mando’a translations: 

Cyare- beloved

Jetii- Jedi

Kriff - fuck

Dank farrik- some kind of curse 

This was supposed to be a nice relaxing night out with friends, but was slowly becoming anything but that. As the night went on Obi-Wan could feel his eye starting to twitch more, and his blood pressure rising. He tried to hide his scowl behind the rim of his glass as another woman slid up next to Cody and Rex and started flirting with his partner.

This woman was a beautiful golden skinned Twi-lek with striking orange freckles, and was the fifth woman who had tried to flirt with the Commander. There had been some men too, and Obi-Wan couldn’t blame them. Cody was a striking man even out of uniform. He was tall and broad, with kind brown eyes and a soothing voice and demeanor. 

He couldn’t hide the self satisfied smirk that spread across his features when the woman slunk away after a few minutes of conversation with Cody. A few had tried to flirt with Rex when they realized they quickly weren’t going to get anywhere with Cody, but Rex could be prickly on the best of days and I guess this woman decided not to press her luck too much and cut her losses. 

But still the almost never ending string of suitors was starting to get to Obi-Wan. Noticing his glass was empty he ordered something a little stronger. A double of Corellian whiskey on the rocks. 

He and Cody had been together for a year and a half at this point. They were stable and happy in what they had for each other. Obi-Wan surely had never felt like this towards anyone else before and he tried to make sure that Cody knew just how much he meant to Obi-Wan. He would worship the ground that man walked on if able to. And he always felt complete and confident knowing Cody was his loyal commander and right hand man when it came to strategizing and charging into battle. 

In fact Obi-Wan would probably say this was the most secure and confident about himself he had ever felt. There was almost always a little bit of doubt lingering in the back of Obi-Wan’s mind that he wasn’t good enough. That he wasn’t dedicated to the Code enough, that he needed to meditate more, that his ‘saber techniques weren’t sharp enough, his battle plans not thorough enough, that if he had even an ounce of time for himself that he needed to be using it to help others and support the Order. He never felt selfless enough, even though he gave almost everything he had and was able to, to those around him. 

But with Cody those nagging thoughts stopped. Almost completely. Cody was able to calm the storm inside his mind with a glance or a touch of the hand. Cody helped inspire a confidence in him that he so rarely actually felt, and on the days when his anxiety started to eat at him or he felt like he had failed his men after a particularly rough mission, Cody was there to catch him and remind him of how much he did right. Of how many men he was able to save, of how he is able to fix almost any negotiation and find some common ground, of how his troops look up to him and trust him, and of how much care he shows them when most other nat-borns treat them like nothing more than flesh droids. 

He was confident in his relationship. So why was this stream of suitors making him so uneasy? Surely he wasn’t one to stoop so low as to be frazzled by possessive jealousy like a hormone addled padawan. 

But as another suitor sidled up to Rex and Cody, nothing hiding the lust in their gaze as they eyed both men, possibly in the hopes of taking both of them home tonight, something in the older man snapped. 

Cody was his, dank farrik. How dare others think they could flirt with his cyare? That was his beloved, and he was going to make sure everyone in the galaxy knew it. 

He knocked back the rest of his drink in one go, wincing momentarily at the burn. He threw down an amount that he thought was enough credits to close out their tab for the evening and purposefully walked up to the trio. 

Sauntering up behind Cody, he slunk an arm around the trim waist of his boyfriend, placing a kiss on the back of his neck mischievously, before propping his chin on the slightly taller man’s shoulder and fixing the interloper with an icy glare that would scare shinies out of their boots. 

Cody brought his free hand up to loosely clasp around Obi-Wan’s. “Hello love, is everything alright?” Cody greeted gently. 

“Perfectly fine darling. Just missed you is all.” Obi-Wan responded keeping his eyes leveled at the interloper.

The housewrecker squinted his eyes at Obi-Wan slightly, gauging what type of threat Obi-Wan was going to make to his evening’s prospects. But little did he know he had just come toe to toe with a durasteel wall that would not be intimidated. He had stared down sith and other nightmares on an almost daily basis his whole life. This was a training exercise. 

“I believe I was just about to buy you boys a drink,” the challenger tried to draw Cody’s attention back to himself.

 Rex had backed away slightly from the stand off that was happening in front of him, not wanting to get any more involved than he already was and with a look on his face that made him appear to be in pain, when in reality he was minutes away from busting out in a peal of laughter at the entire thing. 

Cody went to answer for himself but Obi-Wan beat him to it. Hand tightening further around Cody’s waist as he answered, “Oh really? I thought you had mentioned you wanted to leave soon dear.” A slight edge to his tone. 

Cody’s face had started to flush from the blatant display Obi-Wan was putting on. He was never this forward or possessive, usually allowing Cody to handle himself, while watching from a safe distance in case anything were to go awry. But tonight something had ignited a fire in his other half that he had never seen before and he would be the first to admit he thought it was sexy as hell. 

Flustered he tried to respond calmly, “Oh? Is it getting late already? It really isn’t much of a bother if you wanted to stay longer. Rex and I were just catching up since we haven’t been deployed together in a while.” Cody realized he was rambling and wasn’t entirely sure who he was trying to placate at this point. 

Obi-Wan hummed and started kissing and nibbling up Cody’s neck to the sensitive spot just behind his ear. “Hmm. I would agree with you dear, but I believe we had additional plans for the evening that I am very eager to get to.”

Cody’s blush had deepened to a shade of maroon and stretched from the tips of his ears to where his neck disappeared beneath his blacks. His brain was not working anymore, too distracted by Obi-Wan’s ministrations to his neck trailing fire that seemed to zip down his spine and pool low in his belly. “O-Other..plans?” he almost squeaked out. 

“Oh yes. I believed it involved getting you out of this armor and seeing how quickly I can get you screaming my name.” Obi-Wan stated, voice pitched low and husky, still attacking Cody’s neck and giving a small bite and a tug to his earlobe. 

If the interloper had had any hope left to woo and sway Cody and Rex to coming home with him for the evening it almost immediately evaporated at the display in front of him. One trooper he had targeted, a deep blush coloring his skin nicely, eyes blown wide with lust and desire, sending small smiles at the man wrapped around him. The other trooper he had hoped to woo, was far too entertained by the entire situation, and he had more self respect than to embarrass himself by still trying to entice him to bed. Given the strong reaction of the ginger man to the trooper in orange, he would rather assume that the blonde in blue was spoken for in a similar manner. 

The interloper decided to cut his losses, at this point the ginger might actually bed the trooper he was wrapped around with the entire bar as witnesses, and well after this display he had lost his desire to try and find someone to bring home. Clearing his throat awkwardly and bowing in a quick apology he walked away from the trio and disappeared into the crowd. 

As soon as Obi-Wan lost sight of the person who had been trying to make a move on his cyare, he relaxed just a little and stopped the intense assault on Cody’s neck, but remained wrapped around his boyfriend. Enjoying the presence and warmth of the other man. 

Cody, recovering a little from the onslaught of attention, whipped his head around to glare at Obi-Wan unsuccessfully. No matter what he couldn’t really be mad at the man, at least in this situation. “What. Was that all about?!” Cody asked Obi-Wan incredulously. He really had never seen the man react like that, and bringing up their bedroom activities was a new level of public openness that neither of them ever really breached. They both preferred to keep their private affairs private and sacred between the two of them. 

Rex, seeing the hungry look in Obi-Wan’s eye, decided to silently slip away, giving the two a bit more privacy, and feeling awkward as a third wheel. “I got tired of people flirting with you and trying to make a move on you. You’re my cyare and kriff it, I’m going to make sure everyone knows it,” Obi-Wan practically growled. 

Cody was starting to put the pieces together now. Obi-Wan could be insecure and he couldn’t have his Jetii feeling that way about their relationship. “Obi-Wan. I love you. No matter how many people try to flirt with me or make a move, you’re the one who has my heart. Always,” Cody said seriously. Obi-Wan looked ashamed for a few seconds before Cody continued, interrupting whatever train of thought the ginger had picked up, “But I will say I do like this side of you. It’s kinda hot,” he finished softly.

“Oh yeah?” Obi-Wan started, mischievous glint back in his eye, “Well I guess I better get you home then and follow through with those plans,” before closing the gap between the two for a quick kiss on the lips as he whisked his commander back to his rooms in the Temple. 

[arafainsilver]

Fun fact

Did you know that early 1940 drafts Arafain has been one of the names Tolkien used for Celeborn

§ Tar >> Aran >> Galdaran (TI:261,262)

§ Galathir = Galað-hîr ’tree-lord’ (TI:249)

§ Arafain (TI:256)

These are earlier names of Celeborn.

The first two forms must simply mean ’king’ – the former is most probably from the mentioned TAR- (VT45:17) or TĀ-, TAƷ- ’high, lofty, noble’ (compare also Tarkilmar), the latter is given under ƷAR-; thus the Lords of Lothlórien are Aran and Rhien ’King’ and ’Queen’.

Galdaran contains #gald-, obviously a contraction of GÁLAD- + aran ’king’, thus meaning *’tree-king’. Hence, the Lords are now Galdaran and Galdrien *’Tree-king’ and *’Tree-queen’. Although d becomes lenited in Noldorin after a vowel, as in galadh ’tree’, the medial combination -ld- is apparently allowed – cf. Galdor, later Gallor (GALA-, GÁLAD-).

Galathir is again self-explanatory with the indicated etymology, formed with galadh ’tree’ (GÁLAD-) and hîr ’master’ (KHER-).

And finally the last form should probably mean *’white king’ with the element ara- ’high, noble, royal’ (Silm.index), also S. ara *’king’, ar/ara/aran ’prefixes of excellence especially in royal names’ (PE17:147) and fain *’white’ (The Etymologies give just fein ’white’ under SPAN-, but compare for instance the variation in N. lhein, lhain ’free(d)’ (LEK-)).

?

[tygerbug]

It is funny, in retrospect and with people currently rewatching the show just for Matt Smith, that Smith was an unknown before Doctor Who S5 and it was felt he'd ruin the show. David Tennant was hugely popular. The show was more popular than it had ever been. It was thought that fans would leave and the show would die with him.

Tennant was leaving after 3 seasons and some specials, because there's this superstition since the classic series that that's what you should do. (3 and 4 stayed for 5 and 7 years, and probably thought the show would die when they left. But 2 passed this advice on to 5.)

At 26, Smith was half the age of a more traditional Doctor. Moffat had wanted someone older, and fans thought he'd been coerced into hiring a young romantic Doctor (which Tennant also was).

Some audio leaked from the set, recorded from the next room over, of Matt delivering a line oddly, and it was shared as evidence that Smith couldn't act.

The line was "I am the Doctor and you are the Daleks." Except, presumably due to something happening onset, Smith said Daaaaaaaaaaaaleks.

It is funny, from jeje's reactions and in retrospect, that Matt Smith was an unknown before Doctor Who S5 and it was felt he'd ruin the show. David Tennant was hugely popular. The show was more popular than it had ever been. It was thought that fans would leave and the show would die with him.

Tennant was leaving after 3 seasons and some specials, because there's this superstition since the classic series that that's what you should do. (3 and 4 stayed for 5 and 7 years, and probably thought the show would die when they left. But 2 passed this advice on to 5.)

At 26, Smith was half the age of a more traditional Doctor. Moffat had wanted someone older, and fans thought he'd been coerced into hiring a young romantic Doctor (which Tennant also was).

Some audio leaked from the set, recorded from the next room over, of Matt delivering a line oddly, and it was shared as evidence that Smith couldn't act.

The line was "I am the Doctor and you are the Daleks." Except, presumably due to something happening onset, Smith said Daaaaaaaaaaaa leks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLCUrrAoZag

Anyway, Eleventh Hour aired, viewers liked Smith, and the show remained popular. Sadly the popularity did drop off during the next two eras, for various reasons. Not just because people got used to Matt (after three seasons and some specials). (At the 50th and 60th anniversaries, they relied on nostalgia to get viewers back.)