#RUFF CYCLES

[tmt-sketch-a-day]

Sketch a Day 2562- Leia Ruff Walk Cycle- 1/3/23  

[papaya-twinks]

emerald green - l.n

Warnings: None!

Pairing: Lando Norris x rfem!reader

Summary: WOOF WOOF RUFF RUFF (@maxiemclaren THQNKS FOR THE IDEA POOKIE) WOOF WOOF RUFF RUFF AWOO AWOO RUFF BWRK BWRK BARK

As someone born into money, you truly weren’t a stranger to spoiling your significant other, the joy on Lando’s face when you chose a gift tailored just for him was addictive. And wow, the first time he wore green? You wanted to keel onto the floor and die. He was GORGEOUS. And the next time? The feelings times one hundred. Like a never ending cycle. So what better than to prompt him to wear it more?

“Lan?” you batted your eyelashes, walking into the room, gift clutched behind your back as he watched you suspiciously. “Do you have a bomb?” he slid his phone onto the table, turning to you as you sat beside him. “Not this time, no,” you joked, a sigh of mock relief exiting his lips. “Well, it’s getting cold, no?” you shrugged, fiddling with the gift bag in your lap. “Another present? Y/N, you’re spoiling me,” he cursed, pressing a kiss to your cheek. “It’s just a little thing, baby, don’t worry,” you waved it off, pushing the bag into his hand.

He sighed, digging his hand into the bag before pulling out an emerald green beanie, a Pom Pom on top, just how he liked it. “Y/N,” Lando grinned, placing it on his heads so his curls peeled out through the front. “It’s gorgeous,” he grinned as you laughed, pressing your lips to his, before letting him take it off to admire. It was a good pick if you said so yourself. And the beanie complimented him very well.

Three days later, another gift. “Again? Really, Y/N,” he said, clearly getting a little embarrassed to be receiving so many presents without giving any. “Please, it’s good,” you said, pressing another bag into his hands. “You’re too much,” he laughed, kissing you once more. “Shoes?” he asked, an unusual gift to be getting, what with his already infamously large collection as it stood. “It’s good, no?” you said, admiring the stitching and line work. “It’s beautiful, baby,” he smiled, making you grin.

“Y/N!” your boyfriend groaned as you approached him with the same expression. “Lando, it’s just a thing,” you waved it off, pressing the bag once more into him. “I swear to god…” he trailed off, pulling a green watch out from it, hand in his face. “Why’s everything green?” he asked, realising as you flushed. “It’s cool, I guess,” you shrugged, trying to wave it off, but he grabbed your wrist, pulling you onto his lap. “Someone got an obsession with green? You never even wear green,” Lando frowned.

“An obsession with you wearing green,” you corrected, cheeks red as he rolled his eyes. “You like me in green?” he asked, making you flush and turn away. “Yeah, you’re cute and stuff,” you shrugged, waving it off as he laughed, letting you clip the watch onto his wrist. Lando wore green for the rest of the week. Kept you happy. Very happy.

[espionn]

SkyWing tribe sheet!

my computer always fucks up colors in export for some reason and its really obvious with these guys :( i promise they're more saturated my computer just sucks

anyway i really liked doing these guys, skywings are fun and i think they have a lot of potential. enjoy!

Physical Appearance + Traits:

-SkyWings, as their name suggests, are dragons made for the wind and sky. They are better fliers than any other tribe, with enormous wings and several birdlike features. Some can fly for more than a day without landing, and even when they aren’t flying they make their homes at the peaks of mountains, with the entire world beneath them.

-They are quite large, taller than any other tribe, with long necks, long tails, and regal figures. They don’t have any obviously deadly weapons, but they have no clear weaknesses either; they are generally successful dragons.

-Their coloration consists of almost entirely warm colors, specifically red and orange. Yellows and golds are sometimes seen too, and more uncommonly, purples and browns. Their colors are bold and striking; they are one of the few Pyrrhian tribes that has no need for camouflage. 

-Young dragonets are hatched with a coating of feathers, particularly on their wings, necks and tails. Most dragons simply shed their feathers as they grow; some, though, carry a few into adulthood, usually lining their wings or making a thin ruff around their necks. These feathers are often even brighter than their scales.

-SkyWing horns are a mark of pride, and they continue to grow for as long as they live, meaning some of the oldest SkyWings have horns that resemble enormous and heavy antlers. Sometimes their horns are decorated with wires strung with jewels.

-SkyWing fire is the hottest and most powerful fire any tribe can produce. At its hottest it scorches through bone, and it can be used with accuracy from a long distance. It is their main weapon in combat, and quite a devastating one if their opponents don’t know how to properly fight it. They also use it for a number of other things, though. (More on this in the “society and culture” section.)

-Their wings are stronger than those of most tribes, allowing them to temporarily use them for balance rather than their front legs. This lets them hold and work on things more easily. (This headcanon belongs to @sidyashchiy-na-plakhe!! i saw your post and really liked it, hope you dont mind me adopting it)

-Not dissimilar to SandWings, they have darker streaks near their eyes to help with the glare of the sun when they’re flying, often facing the horizon directly.

Life Cycle:

-SkyWings are hatched in clutches between one and five, although four and five are a bit less common than one through three. SkyWing parents are not involved much with their dragonets. By tradition, they lay eggs in nests high in the mountain peaks, and return occasionally with food once they hatch. The rare unlucky SkyWing newborn may be snatched up by a large bird, but they’re big enough that it isn’t usually an issue. They are also hatched with disproportionately massive wings, big enough to make the fall less likely to be lethal if they fall before they learn to fly.

-Once the dragonets are large enough, though, or once they get hungry enough to search for their own food, they will leave the nest, often simply jumping out and letting the wind carry them, learning to properly fly quite quickly. Once parents notice that the nest is empty, they simply stop bringing food. They will never know who their dragonets are, but SkyWing superstition says all dragonets will eventually make their way to the kingdom, where they will be made a part of the tribe. And, truthfully, they almost always do.

-This practice, which some tribes find strange or even barbaric, is seen by Skywings as an important part of their life and tradition. Each of them took the same journey, and so did the generation before them, so they have faith that it will continue to work out well. It’s in their nature to leave their nest and find the kingdom, and it doesn’t result in enough casualties for them to try to halt the tradition. The only dragons this practice does not apply to is the royal family, for the sake of tracking bloodlines.

-By the time they are entered into the wider kingdom, dragonets usually know how to hunt and avoid danger, so all tribe life offers them is the ability to meet other dragons and find work. There isn’t much of an education system in place, with the exception of mentorships for some careers, such as metalworking, and military training. If they take part in work for the kingdom, they’ll have societal benefits and a secure place in the tribe, and most end up in that position eventually. But there are always a few SkyWings who simply live on the outskirts, uninterested in the larger tribe.

-They don’t form many close relationships, being fairly solitary dragons as soon as they leave their siblings. They do not very often form genuine romantic relationships, but marriage is fairly common simply as a formality or political maneuver. Royals in particular almost always get married, though they don’t usually form natural bonds with their spouses. The only responsibilities parents have is bringing food to their nest until the dragonets abandon it.

Culture and Society:

-SkyWings are proud and solitary; these things combined have given them a reputation of being rude, aloof and uncharismatic. They are powerful fighters and fliers, but their strength is not in diplomacy. Their kingdom norms, though, which allow every dragon to simply utilize for the tribe whatever talents they may have, at their own leisure and for whatever profit might be available to them, suits them well and has made for an uncomplicated but successful society. (This is excluding a few periods such as the reign of Queen Scarlet, who reshaped the tribe into something more dictatorial.)

-They are generally quite matriarchal; every tribe has a queen, but SkyWings tend to have a more overall unbalanced system. Females are a bit larger than males and are usually in higher positions of command.

-Fire is extremely important to SkyWing culture - it produces light, warmth, and without it they would be much less deadly in combat. It has its place in almost every tradition and is used in almost every career path. 

-They are the most superstitious tribe in some ways, their lives dictated heavily by tradition and spirituality. The way dragonets are raised is one example; there are countless others, including funeral rites that involve burning, gladiator fights performed for glory, a general belief of night marking bad luck, and others. 

-Continuing on this note, SkyWings - though most would never admit it aloud - are almost universally afraid of the dark. The caves and caverns in which they live are always warm and well-lit, via torches lit by their own fire, and they are almost exclusively out by day. They worship the sun and daytime, believing it to chase away the shadows in its glory. NightWings, for similar reasons, tend to be unnerving to them.

-And to elaborate on gladiator fights: The arena near the palace was originally constructed for SkyWings to prove their prowess by fighting other SkyWings and completing various challenges. During these fights they would wear a special set of ceremonial armor, which they could then keep if they succeeded. (Scarlet, of course, transformed this arena into a convenient way to execute prisoners, and later Queen Ruby reinvented it completely by erecting a hospital where it had once stood.)

-In general, SkyWings are one of the only tribes to wear armor, and the only tribe that has used it for entire armies during war. A particular emphasis is placed on wing armor that allows for comfortable flight while still protecting the wing membranes, as a flightless SkyWing is considered as good as dead by its tribe.

-Jewelry almost always involves precious stones, particularly rubies, diamonds and citrine. It’s very common to have these jewels embedded in scales; some royals have done this with such excess that they appear to have crystals growing out of them.

Diet: Carnivorous. They eat birds, mountain goats, deer, and occasionally fish, rodents or whatever else they can catch. Sometimes raw, sometimes scorched. They don’t typically make full and elaborate meals like other tribes; the only common seasoning they use is salt. Other than the rare use of herbs for flavoring, they eat no plants at all.

[violet-moonstone]

Hiccup has dad-brain and needs to cycle through a series of names before getting his kids' names right and eventually he just gives up, especially when he's flustered.

Example of him calling Zephyr when she's causing trouble: "Nuffink! Toothless! Ruff-! Snot-! You! Goblin child! Come here please, thank you. I said *no* biting!"

[myemuisemo]

Doyle makes the kind of mistake that faithful readers send letters about in chapter IV of The Valley of Fear, the most recent Letters from Watson in my in-box.

At the end of the chapter, the big news is that a bicycle has been found that might belong to the killer.

It was a well used Rudge-Whitworth, splashed as from a considerable journey. There was a saddlebag with spanner and oilcan, but no clue as to the owner.

Rudge-Whitworth was a real brand... that originated from a merger in 1894. In the late 1880s, the cycle would have been a Rudge or a Whitworth, but not both. My sympathy is completely with Doyle on this one, as I've been trying just this past week to reconcile memories of the early/mid-1990s with verifiable dates of historic events.

As far as the Pennsylvania Small Arms Company, consensus is that it's fictional.

Meanwhile, I was distracted by the description of the murder mansion as Jacobean (1603-1714) and started wondering if the American victim actually lived in a 200-year-old home -- or in a newer exurban build in a revival style.

There was a Jacobean Revival in the UK (spreading to the US, Canada, and other former and then-current British possessions), starting around 1830! It continued all the way into the 1920s, which is why there are so many official buildings with liver-colored or yellow brick, big flat front gables, and those nice many-paned sets of windows.

Since I'm having to squint to read the text in the helpful handout, above, from Old Home Living, I'll summarize:

Stone or brick

Cement window trim and casement windows

Steep roofs finished with slate

Prominent chimneys

Often semi-hexagonal bays with parapets

The Jacobean Revival style (now often called Jacobethan, since it has merged with Elizabethan/Tudor Revival) hearkened to an ideal of Merrie Olde England, with everyone wearing ruffs, eating roast beast, and watching Shakespeare plays.

If you check RightMove in East Grinstead, there are new homes being built with Jacobethan facades even now.

The presence of a moat says nothing for the murder mansion's authenticity, since follies like moats were exactly what wealthy exurbanites would adore. So my headcanon for the moment is that our victim is a wealthy American parvenue who wants to play country squire but positively has no roots in that world.

Perhaps next time, we shall learn what Holmes' "gleam of light" in this case might be. Since all the assorted detectives and doctors are discoursing with supreme rationality, I believe everyone, and they're likely all wrong.

[nettleclanstale]

To every Badger kit: start looking over your shoulders and stick together. There is Clearly a cat out to get all of Badgers Bloodline. Be careful, I’m going to get sick of this ‘sins of the parent, are sins of the child’ cycle that seems to exist here. Also, hey little Hazelnut kits. Sorry that you are going to have ruff kit and apprentice-hoods, just try and stay happy despite it.

they're staying happy :)

the first part cannot be answered at this second.

[filmnoirsbian]

Hi !! I was wondering if you had any book recs/favorite books? Things that you think of as inspiration or just plain like? Genuinely curious. <3 im in love with your work btw i spent the other day binging your patreon

Some favorites that deeply impacted me from a young age up into teenagedom: the Animorphs series by K. A. Applegate, Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein, Oddly Enough by Bruce Coville, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Little Sister by Kara Dalkey, The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede, The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo, A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander, Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage, Piratica by Tanith Lee, the Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, Holes by Louis Sachar, The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg, Shizuko's Daughter by Kyoko Mori, The Sea-Wolf by Jack London, Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins, Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath, Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan, The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg, The Iliad and Odyssey (allegedly) by Homer, The Táin by many people, Harlem by Walter Dean Myers, Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, The Wall and the Wing by Laura Ruby, The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein, The Hainish Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin, Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis, The Ethical Vampire series by Susan Hubbard, The Howl Series by Diana Wynne Jones, the Curseworkers series by Holly Black, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick, Android Karenina by Ben H. Winters, An Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson, Beloved by Toni Morrison, A Stir of Bones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson, Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente, World War Z by Max Brooks, This is Not A Drill by K. A. Holt, Fade to Blue by Sean Beaudoin, Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu, The Moth Diaries by Rachel Klein, Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, Crush by Richard Siken, Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo, Devotions by Mary Oliver, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Some favorites read more recently: The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey, Engine Summer by John Crowley, Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot, My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix, Reprieve by James Han Mattson, House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, Kindred by Octavia Butler, Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, Station Eleven by Emily St. John-Mandel, The Crown Ain't Worth Much by Hanif Abdurraqib, The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente, Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica, The Girl with All the Gifts by Mike Carey, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, She had some horses by Joy Harjo, Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón, The King Must Die by Mary Renault, Books of Blood by Clive Barker, Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin, Cassandra by Christa Wolfe

Plays: The Oresteia by Aeschylus, Electra by Sophocles, Los Reyes by Julio Cortázar, Angels in America by Tony Kushner, August: Osage County by Tracy Letts, The Bald Soprano by Eugène Ionesco, The Trojan Women by Euripides, Salome by Oscar Wilde, Girl on an Altar by Marina Carr, Fences by August Wilson, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang, Our Town by Thornton Wilder, Sweeney Todd by Christopher Bond

Graphic novels: The Crow by James O'Barr, DMZ by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli, Eternals (2021) by Kieron Gillen and Esad Ribić, Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons and John Higgins, My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris, Maus by Art Spiegelman, Tank Girl by Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Through the Woods by Emily Carroll, Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol

[kangals]

Curiosity question - if you shaved Stellina completely, like almost down to the skin, how long would it take for her to return to full wool?

oh gosh, that's a mildly terrifying scenario to think about. i'd guess probably at least 6-9 months to get most of the coverage back but likely you'd be looking at well over a year for a full coat restore. IIRC from reading this article a while back, double-coated dogs grow their hair out in cycles, and only shed about a third of the coat at a time, so depending on how things line up it could be a very long time before all of the coat is back to normal (that's always why a lot of people claim shaving ruins the coat permanently - it doesn't, unless your dog has alopecia or some other illness, but it can take so long to grow back that it will look awful for a long time).

when stellina had her leg shaved for her surgery that took about 6 months to blend back in, and she was in a much shorter coat at that age. if she ever has to have a procedure that involves shaving part of her ruff i WILL cry lmao.

[redbuddi]

Hey I was watching the vod for Ruff Trigger and you mentioned reading a whole bunch of 'Person Dies and is Reincarnated into the World of a Book Series They Already Read' books and so I was wondering if you've read 'I Favor The Villainess'? Because I may be a little biased because gay women but that one is really good.

Also do you have any specific recommendations for books/manga/etc in that genre?

I have! I tried it once a while back but for whatever reason it didn't hold my attention. I read a few chapters again after getting this and I dunno what I was thinking before, I like it a lot.

As for the many Reincarnation Manhua I am reading, and I am reading a LOT so do not question my knowledge, I have a data sheet and everything, here are my top five in no particular order. Note that these are specifically "Reincarnated into a Pre-Existing Story" Manhuas and not just "Reincarnated" ones, if they were the list would probably look a little different haha. Don't even get me started on the "Rebirth" category.

#1: Not-Sew-Wicked Stepmom

Status: Ongoing. Currently on season hiatus.

Synopsis: An overworked korean seamstress dies and finds herself reincarnated into the body of the evil step-mother from Snow White. Luckily she wakes up before the story proper begins, while the princess is still a small child, and so she decides to bow out of her bid for the throne and spend her days spoiling her adorable step-child. However, she soon realizes that her former self wasn't the only person trying to exploit the system for power, and that the world of royalty hosts beneath-the-surface a cycle of cruelty and abuse that could destroy the future of any child. Thus, she must do whatever it takes to ensure that the lovable little girl grows up as happily and healthily as possible.

Story Quality: 4/5 A well-paced and expertly woven narrative that keeps the story moving at all times without burning out the reader with too many rapid developments or twists. The only reason it isn't a 5/5 is because I don't know how it'll end.

Art Quality: 5/5 A sweet and expressive art style that does a good job blending in the typical CSP assets while still standing on it's own.

The Drip: 5/5 Every outfit the characters wear is stunning and suits them perfectly, which is to be expected given the series' fashion theme but still greatly appreciated in execution.

The Love Interest: 3/5 While he's a good character and I like him, I don't particularly care if he and the main character hook up. This could change as the series goes on, however.

Spiciness: 3/5 Occasionally suggestive, but overall fairly tame and normal.

Is it worth paying for? Absolutely.

#2: Beware the Villainess!

Status: Complete

Synopsis: A college student is reincarnated into the body of the nasty villainess of a romance story she had read shortly before dying. Determined to not suffer the same fate, she does everything she can to completely sequence-break the narrative and do things her own way, up to and including befriending the main character, rejecting her princely fiancee, and recruiting a derelict side-character as her right-hand man. But little does she realize that this world won't take her changes lightly, and the characters she knows are not as one-dimensional as they first appear....

Story Quality: 4/5 Clearly thought out and well-executed, the story does an excellent job conveying the ideas it presents. Currently my gold-standard for the "Villainess Sequence-Break" subcategory.

Art Quality: 4/5 Well-executed and expressive, but a little too generic for my liking. It does what's expected of it well, but rarely goes above and beyond.

The Drip: 4/5 Good outfits, including some that make me very gay, but nothing spectacular.

The Love Interest: 4/5 I wasn't with it in the beginning but ngl, by the end of the series I was really rooting for these two.

Spiciness: 4/5 Generally a 3/5, but occasional moments of sexuality do occur, although it doesn't really hit until the special episodes.

Is it Worth Paying For? Debatable. I don't regret paying for the whole thing but if you have better restraint than me you can tough out the wait-until-free episodes and save yourself some coin.

#3: Surviving Romance

Status: Ongoing. Currently on it's second season.

Synopsis: Chaerin Eun has been trapped in a romance novel for a while now, and today is the day her love interest will finally confess to her and the two can live happily-ever-after!

Things do not go as planned.

Story Quality: 5/5 While I am being careful to not reveal too much, the quality of the story doesn't just hinge on how surprising it's twists and turns are. It has something to say and so far it is doing an extremely good job saying it.

Art Quality: 3/5 I get what it's going for but I do still feel like it could be better.

The Drip: 5/5 This series doesn't let the fact that everyone is in school uniforms stop it from having some striking and downright iconic looks.

The Love Interest: ???/5 : )

Spiciness: 2/5 Good lord, could you imagine?

Is it Worth Paying For? I say yes, but only because it's a currently running webtoon and therefore the only episodes you need to pay for are the most recent ones. I don't know if my answer would be the same if this was a completed webtoon or a series on Tapas.

#4: Villainesses Have More Fun

Status: Ongoing

Synopsis: A bad-bitch korean business woman is reincarnated into the body of Reilynn Candimon, the villainess of the novel she had been reading, and a character that had greatly frustrated her. Using nothing but her powerful personality, she decides to make the best of this life and peace out from the main story to enjoy her riches. So why does the main character keep picking fights with her?

Story Quality: 3/5 A fun read that doesn't take itself too seriously. You wont be enraptured in a deep and complex narrative, but you'll have a good time and enjoy some genuinely engaging characters.

Art Quality: 3/5 Exactly what you expect from this kind of series and nothing more.

The Drip: 3/5 Some outfits are nice, but some of the ensembles the main character walks around in are downright tragic.

The Love Interest: 1/5 I deadass keep forgetting who it's supposed to be, and then I remember he's a cop.

Spiciness: 2/5 Pretty mild.

Is it worth Paying For? Only if the scanlation is really bad.

#5: The Villainess' Stationary Shop

Status: Ongoing. Currently on Season Hiatus.

Synopsis: A korean woman wakes up in the body of Meldenique Bebelloa, the villainess of a romance novel. In the original story, her character dies after trying to stop a romance between her fiance and her half-sister. Determined to not end up like that (and not too interested in the prince anyway,) Mel ditches her terrible family in order to live out her life's dream of running a stationary shop! (Essentially a store for school supplies that typically also sells toys and candy.)

Story Quality: 4/5 A kind of generic story is elevated by a cute and likeable characters, a lighthearted tone, and highly satisfying moments of catharsis. Be warned, this manhua is kind of addictive.

Art Quality: 3/5 Passable quality but nothing noteworthy.

The Drip: 4/5 With the extravagance and glitter of most other manhua, this series offers a delightful palette cleanser of cute and modest outfits that greatly demonstrate the character's personalities.

The Love Interest: 4/5 I'm not terribly invested in the romance, but the love interest is a stoic bad boy who is extremely easily flustered by the idea of kissing or even... holding hands?????? It's a fun change-of-pace and makes scenes that would typically be eye-rolling a little more enjoyable as the coolguy is the blushy one.

Spiciness: 2/5 The love interest would probably die if he saw a boob.

Is it Worth Paying For? I had fun with it but again, be warned, it is highly addictive.

[solidshrimplet]

I love your fic series! Could you explain what some of your inspirations are for Vash's alien biology? Why you gave him certain features or the biological purpose behind some of it. A lot is clear in the text but I wanna hear it from an author perspective. Also, are there more biology headcanons that have little to do with reproduction that you just haven't been able to show?

An excuse to ramble! This one's gonna be long, so readmore below.

In terms of inspiration, I guess I was just thinking about how there's always fics about heat (especially in the Trigun fandom since Vash isn't human) but it's always just an excuse for characters to fuck nasty without considering the wider implications. I mean, most animals that have seasonal reproductive cycles don't really go for that outside of a particular window. And then if you combine that with literal plants from our world, not only is it dependant on the season, they physically don't have the parts for reproduction the rest of the year. And, well, Trigun plants have very malleable forms (in the manga at least, stampede hasn't explored that yet). So… that gave rise to the general idea I was going for with weird sort-of ace Vash.

In terms of how it all looks, I was imagining a mix between flowers and sea anemones. I wanted it to be strange. Mostly people just tend to write a pussy with petals or a plant dick (no hate, that can be plenty fun!) but there's so much room to explore other ideas. It's lowkey hilarious to me that Vash describes it as ‘noodley’. Like… Sir, that is not what a bowl of noodles looks like. (Although someone else described him as being full of worm-on-a-string and that's infinitely more hilarious).

Making it so physically different, it only made sense to me to make the behaviour different too. Plant sex, I think, is slow and tender - they just go in for a weird kind of hug and stay like that while everything moves around internally. It looks very static from the outside, particularly since plants communicate telepathically. Then they lock together to make sure there's time for those filaments to properly coat the corresponding parts with pollen and for that to start absorbing. I didn't need it to be sexy, it's the intimacy that matters.

I do want to explain what the whole deal is with Vash getting weird about lights, but that'll either be covered in ‘bad timing’ or another side fic. I don't think I've said anything about the feathers though? I like the idea that plants grow a decorative kind of ruff over their shoulders/upper back when they're in season, and that's appealing to other plants? Vash would be incredibly embarrassed about it but if you put a feather boa on Meryl or Wolfwood at that time of year he'd think that was hot.

And the other thing I didn't go into too much detail on was the dependant plants views on gender. Vash was obviously raised by humans and is very comfortable ‘being a dude’ (although I don't think he'd really care if someone used different pronouns for him) but the dependant plants don't really ‘get’ it. To them, a physical sex is something they only have for a few days a year, and might be different the following year. It can alter their behaviour but they don't have much attachment to it, and don't understand how it corresponds to things like gender roles / stereotypes, or how someone identifies.

To them I guess it's sort of... what meal you order on the rare occasion you go out for dinner. Some people have a preference, some people like to switch things up, maybe environmental factors get in the way (the kitchen is out of your first choice) and you have to order something different. But you wouldn't consider it a significant part of your identity.

Human's baffle them. Men like cars and women cook? Wtf does that have to do with anything? But that's not actually true and some men cook and some women like cars? And long hair is for women but men can have it too? And some women have male parts and vice versa? Some people skip out on the gender nonsense but still have a physical sex? Vash has never been able to explain in a way they understand.

But I also think they're happy to be referred to with female pronouns, but for them it's more like… the way you'd call a ship ‘she’? As a mark of fondness/respect and not in the literal sense.

Honestly, for this au, Knives probably doesn't bother with the whole gender thing and considers the notion that he might vaguely insulting (yellow_caballero wrote a role reversal where Knives prefers to go by ‘it/its’ and that's so valid to me).

Other headcanons… I think plants make sound outside of the human range of hearing quite a lot? But it's not speech, more sort of… an indication of mood? They're not as facially expressive as humans and wouldn't be able to read expressions if they're curled up in bulb form, so they hum. Vash does it too sometimes if he's feeling a particularly strong emotion, but he's also usually careful about doing it around the dependant plants if it's a bad one (doesn't want to worry them). He's been humming various notes of ‘I am miserable’ and ‘I want attention’ for a good portion of ‘bad timing’ though.

There was probably a bit of confusion early on in their life before him and Knives finally twigged that Rem couldn't hear them, and it's not something humans do. Definitely got huffy at her if she was 'ignoring' the mood they were broadcasting and not answering what they were saying to her telepathically.

Although they're usually kept separately on No Man's Land, plants are a pretty social species, it's just that a lot of the ways they communicate/interact isn't stuff that humans notice. They like to live in groups. It's kinda sad that most of them don't get the opportunity.

Hopefully some of that was interesting to you? I'm thinking I should probably do a post rec-ing the three (?) other trigun fics I can think of that do something weird with the plant biology? I really, really wish there were more than that.

[shima-draws]

Yeah my opinion on HW is very.. two sided. On the one hand YOU DONT BREAK UP A FOUND FAMILY HICCUP LOOKED AT TOOTHLESS AND SAW HIMSELF AND TOOTHLESS CHOSE TO FLY WITH HICCUP OR NOT AT ALL IM SHAKING YOU CLAWING AT THE WALLS CHEWING ON THE FURNITURE. On the other hand I watched a video that like,, kinda justified HW?? or like explained it at the very least as like staying together puts the dragons and vikings in continuous danger that theyd need to separate from each other to avoid 1/2 RAGE anon

[[Like there will always be Dragons and Hunters and HW Villain Whatshisface and there could thoretically always be Hiccups but how long would the cycle repeat until dragons are all dead or all safe?? like keeping the dragons on Berk isnt best for the dragons or the vikings and i get that!! but on the other hand arguing this would disregard all the implications of Found Family and dragons being more than just animals and HTTYD's Never Give Up On What You Believe message. 2/2 Rage anon

Surprise RAGE anon 3/2 BUT ALSO Ruff going from Badass Wonder Girl in RTTE to Lets Annoy This Man Into Letting Me Go (Great Idea!!) and Then LEAD HIM TO THE THINGS HE WANTS TO KILL (Bad Idea!!) was... uugh you were doing so well rtte came out before hw why didnt they add in her character development dreamworks whyyy. And dont even get me started on Tuff just suddenly not even caring about Ruff at all NOT IN MY FOUND AND IN THIS CASE BIRTH FAMILY BITCH]]

Honestly I never really agreed with that;; The big argument about HTTYD 3's ending is the whole "Well, all the dragons leaving is how the book ended" deal but like. It doesn't have to follow the book to the letter. It HASN'T been doing that, do you know how vastly different the film franchise is from the book series? If the first movie had started with "There were dragons when I was a boy" YEAH it would make sense if you had the trilogy end that way, because you'd already hinted at it. But they made no indication of that being the ending UNTIL the third film. And they could have chosen not to end it that way and people would probably have better opinions about the movie then.

If you spent two films building up the central theme that humans and dragons can and should coexist and have found true companions in each other, why would you suddenly decide to toss that out. If Hiccup spent two films protecting the dragons from harm why can't he continue to do that. Why did he give up. It's completely contradictory to his character, to the fundamentals of who Hiccup is as a person. Hiccup is stubborn. He's STUPIDLY stubborn and we've seen that over and over. And that stubbornness is usually what leads him to saving the day and coming up with some plan to keep everyone safe without having to run away. It's just frustrating 😔

And the concluding message of "We're going to wait until the world is safe and dragons can live among humans peacefully again" is really shallow bc how are you going to convince the world that dragons are good WITHOUT dragons. If they aren't there to set the example how are you going to sway people to the good side without any proof. Going off of that how is Hiccup going to change anybody's mind if he's sitting on an island in the middle of nowhere 'guarding the dragon's secret' or whatever bullshit lmao it's just so contradictory. Honestly that whole argument felt really rushed and not thought out well, like they needed some excuse and that was the best they could come up with. And honestly? The world is NEVER going to be completely safe, that's just not how the world works. There will always be danger and terrible awful people like Drago and Grimmel. But sitting on and island and hoping they might change their ways isn't going to do jack shit lmao you can't stop bad people from doing bad things by just twiddling your thumbs and praying for the world to be safe for dragons again. You gotta WORK for that, you need to put in the effort, and I just never got that impression from THW's ending. It really just felt like they were expecting all their problems to magically be fixed and I'm like BRO. You PROVED in the first two movies that you can do anything as long as you have your dragons. You can change the entire world view of an island, or a country, or the world if you put your mind to it. But I guess we're going to disregard all of that suddenly for no reason 🙃

And yeah YEAH I definitely agree with you on the whole found family thing. They seemed to forget all about that in THW too >:(

Don't get me started on how they ruined everyone's character development in 3 😭 They did Ruff dirty. AND Snotlout and Fishlegs and Tuff.

Anyway rant over LOL I'm glad that most people agree with me about THW! I know when it first came out people were getting angry defending it and I'm like no listen you gotta look past your nostalgia and love for the movies and criticize it properly. You cannot look me in the eyes and tell me that Toothless would choose a random female dragon over Hiccup. LIES and SLANDER

[tagedeszorns]

Any good (non Warhammer) book recommendations?

If you haven't read it yet: Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. An increasingly detailed world with very subtle humour and a lot of social criticism/comment in the attractive guise of a hilariously funny fantasy series. Each novel can be read on its own, but they are even better if you follow the internal chronology, as there are often inside jokes that refer to previous books. Discworld is definitely now literary canon and so much of modern media refers to it.

When it comes to darker fantasy, the Thieves' World anthologies by Robert Asprin are highly recommended. These are also classics, but have unfortunately been largely forgotten. Very bloody, brutal and with no good endings for anyone.

(Brief mention of the "Lankhmar" books by Fritz Leiber - Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser-books to be precise - , because they are the classics of the sword & sorcery genre that have probably influenced Warhammer Fantasy stylistically the most. Discuss!)

More hopeful are the novels by Matt Ruff. I really like both his Public Works trilogy and Fool on the Hill. Urban fantasy in a way. But you can't really categorise them.

At the fun, light end of the spectrum are Allan Dean Foster's Spellsinger novels. Talking, very adult-ish animals and sword & sorcery!

Also just light reading are the "Xanth" novels by Piers Anthony. A whole, huge cycle of novels based solely on puns!

These are the first things that come to my mind when I think about fantasy. I forgot so many!

Let me know if you want me to continue with science fiction, very special interest non-fiction or "normal" novels!

[feliniakattus]

Character Card: Opte

Name: Opte

Role: Companion to Tirone Oak of the Coalition

Family: Mara (Mother), Sere (father), Moke (brother), Myla (sister)

Description: A short, speckled lycavet with brown eyes. He has brown paws with white legs, all but one of which are mostly white with golden and brown speckles. His head is mostly brown and gold, with a mask-like face marking and big ears. He has a small ruff of black fur, with white tufts on his shoulders and by his ears. His tail is white-tipped, and he wears a bracelet of leaves. He has a leather colour with four bands of varying shades of green on it, and a sharp rock hanging from it. He also carries a bundle of herbs.

Age: 3 cycles, or 15 human years

Orientation/Gender: Homosexual, cis male (he/him)

Personality: Devoted, Gullible, Dependable

[espionn]

RainWing tribe sheet!

honestly i'm not 100% sure i like this sheet visually. its ok but not my best. i do like my more in-depth headcanon stuff for rainwings, though, so i hope people like it anyway!

fyi the next few tribes are giving me a bit of trouble so i might post these a little slower, but i still plan to get out all 10 tribes!! they just might be more than a few days apart.

Physical Appearance + Traits:

-RainWings live in the dense and tropical rainforest. Similarly to chameleons, they have prehensile tails and claws well-adapted to cling to branches; and, most strikingly, their coloration can be changed at will, to any color under the sun. This can be used for perfect and uncanny camouflage, for intimidation, for beauty and expression, and to communicate emotions. (Below is a chart of emotions corresponding with their colors; note, though, that they can be combined with each other, and patterned, to mean slightly different and more complex things.)

-Like birds of paradise, they are fond of bright and bold colors, but when they want they can also make themselves virtually undetectable. What exactly this skill is used for depends on the period of history; showing off, playing hide-and-seek, hunting, silent warfare.

-RainWings also have fangs that can be used to expel “venom” - called such for lack of a better word. It does not need to be injected to be deadly, unlike most venom, and rather seems to have a burning, warping and generally destructive effect on cells upon contact. Whether it is deadly depends on the level and location of exposure.

-Neck, chest and sometimes tail frills are used for expression and dance; the floatiness of these frills, and their color-changing abilities, make them hypnotizing. Neck ruffs in particular are commonly used for communication: perked up to show curiosity, drooping to show discomfort or sadness, and flared to show anger and to intimidate. 

-Their fifth claw - the dew claw - is larger and more opposable than those of other tribes, more like a human thumb. This, and their extra (and also more dextrous) wing claw, lets them climb and cling to trees with swiftness and ease. It also makes it easier to use tools, and crack open fruits and nuts, while keeping themselves steady and balanced. 

Life Cycle:

-RainWings are typically laid in clutches of 4-9 eggs. They take the longest of any tribe to develop within the egg; they incubate for nearly half a year, and still are hatched with pale and dull colors. As they grow, though, they get better control over their color-changing abilities through play under the watch of the rest of the tribe.

-RainWings do not form partnerships at all, and rarely mate with the same dragon twice. They also do not raise dragonets on their own; all dragonets are raised communally by the wider tribe. RainWings make friends and have positive relationships, but the idea of parental or romantic relationships are odd to the vast majority of them. Romantic partnerships are not completely unheard of, but they’re seen as unusual.

-Dragonets are naturally playful and learn to harness their abilities through games and competitions. This, though other tribes scoff at it, is quite effective, and other than a lack of structure and discipline in certain eras depending on the queen, RainWings are not less powerful than any other tribes, through nature or nurture. 

-The oldest they usually live is to 90 -100. It's uncommon to go much longer than that, which makes RainWings one of the shorter-lived tribes. Old RainWings tend to live together in their own communities within the tribe, and likewise, younger RainWings prefer each other's company. These boundaries aren't strict, but social norms expect dragons to generally stick to their age groups.

Society and Culture:

-RainWings’ societal structure has varied through time. Their ranged venom and near-invisibility makes them excellent assassins and spies, and several times in history they have been organized or hired in this way. Their nature, though, tends to be easygoing and nonviolent on the whole, and their culture tends to drift in that direction in the absence of external pressure. 

-RainWings are social dragons, and while they do not have a particularly ranked and organized society structure, like SeaWings, their social and personal dynamics are complex and important. Popular and well-liked RainWings are more successful in their tribe than those who are disliked and outcast. Their emotions are very openly communicated, and the idea of hiding thoughts and feelings is strange to them. That isn’t to say they lack subtlety and tact, but they rarely try to suppress their natural scale fluctuations. 

-A lot of RainWing culture rests on colors. They use colors to communicate and associate objects with different emotions based on their color. They sometimes set distinct color palettes in order to appear a certain way in front of others, but some level of fluctuation is impossible to avoid.

-RainWings are the only tribe that has no written language. They are completely illiterate not out of laziness or inability, but because historically they have never had need for communication that isn’t direct and in the present. Their visual signals are so complex that they might be called a crude type of sign language, less refined than Aquatic but not entirely dissimilar, but the only RainWings taught to read and write are those involved in diplomacy or other inter-tribe interactions where it may be necessary. For their own tribe affairs, verbal communication is all they need.

-One of the ultimate staples of RainWing culture is performance - theater and dance. Their dances, often synchronized, with their agile bodies, floating frills and shifting colors, are famously breathtaking and mesmerizing. There was a time when RainWing dancers would travel and perform for different tribes, and dragons scrambled to watch them. For RainWings themselves, though, the performances take on their own meanings, as emotional expression comes through in the colors and some dances tell elaborate stories through these visual cues. Silent theater, similarly, relies on color to tell stories, and these shows aren’t as popular among other tribes simply because other dragons can’t fully comprehend the meanings of different scenes.

-RainWings don’t use facial expressions much, because their scales are so adept at showing emotion, and sometimes that causes communication issues with dragons from other tribes. Similarly, they struggle to separate different tribes from their color associations; for example, it’s hard to get over the subconscious assumptions that all SkyWings are angry, all IceWings are in pain/distress, and all NightWings are constantly overflowing with rage and hatred. (@puzzled-pegasus inspired this one - hope you don’t mind me adopting it!)

-Sleep schedules are loose to non-existent, best compared to that of cats; RainWings generally sleep at midnight and midday, and are awake at dawn and dusk, but short naps throughout the day are considered normal and acceptable.

-Because of the diversity of plant life in the rainforest, RainWings have a more in-depth knowledge of toxins and medicines than any other tribe, and their medics can cure a vast number of ailments. They also have access to - and use - a great variety of stimulants and hallucinogens, usually in a festive or celebratory context.

Diet: Selectively herbivorous. RainWings can eat meat, and sometimes do, but generally they prefer to put time and energy toward gathering rather than hunting. They eat just about every type of fruit under the sun, having adapted to a high-glucose and low-protein diet, and their dishes are elaborate and flavorful with spices and sweeteners; just about every other tribe that eats plants is happy to invite RainWing fruit merchants into their towns. RainWings were also the first Pyrrhian tribe to produce chocolate.

[gaphic]

good worldbuilding tool: fashion happens extremely consistently in 20 year cycles, but it also has irregular cycles that are almost always the result of a group romanticizing a point in history as being a counterexample of whatever the current social paranoia/fixation is. you can see this in how current conservatives are obsessed with the 50s, but more liberal sorts are more drawn to the 60s and 70s- decades associated with civil rights and the birth of environmentalism

nobility will often stick to whatever era of fashion coincided with the peak of their power and influence, both of their own accord and in the view of others (elizabethan ruffs and huge french court panniers are great examples) and governments will promote periods when their country was at its height in art and culture (see chinese period dramas) romanticizing those periods in the eyes of the public and causing a fashion resurgence (see hanfu street style)

this is one of the best mechanics for using fashion to communicate information about people/history/society beyond just who is rich and trendy

[boyinafandom]

OOOKKK SO I wrote this originally on ✨wattpad✨ and it got like 2k reads? But I deleted it (because I’m an ungrateful brat that doesn’t deserve love or whatever) but anyway here’s some story notes before we start

(Also my dumb ass accidentally posted this when it was unfinished and then had to delete it and start all over so…😔😔)

•y/n is a 25 y/o MALE because we need more male y/n content

•ej,jeff and Toby have a a brother like relationship, Jeff’s the oldest and ej and Toby are around the same age so you can decide for yourself who YOU think is older MMMKAYYY (i say as I bat my pretty little eyelashes at you)

•TW hint at y/n having a past sh problem

•this story is one of those biker sand pit show thingys (i don’t know what there called) but anyway short summary, ej and Toby work there part time (and so does Kate but that’s a minor thing) they find y/n they tell them to leave, they don’t so they tell y/n to get in the cage and if they don’t cry they can stay, and Toby ruffs em up or whatever blah blah blah *blows raspberry*

•also ej and y/n are lowkey in a relationship/Situationship and he gets mad jealous when Toby so much as talks to you, so be ready shawty 😈

______GAY PEOPLE<3______

A story by Me…LN :3

(THATS NOT THE NAME OF THE STORY I SWEAR😭😭😭)

“You’re not going,Y/N. It’s not safe.”

-Jeff a total of 5 hours ago when him and the pastas that could conceal there identities said they were going to a “cool motor party” or somthin I don’t know I heard party and saw my change to finally get out of the house. So I took it and snuck away when Jeff wasn’t paying attention and now I’m at this big ass party- more like event. Jesus have you seen this place???

I roll my eyes at the thought, and take a look around, the first thing I see is Kate selling drinks,and I knew it was Kate because Of that jacket she always wears, with a motorcycle cycle helmet on, I guess the employees have to wear them? I don't fuckin no, so I walk over to the stand, the top of the gazebo is blue, probably one of those cheap ones from Walmart or some shit, anyway | greet her, she recognizes me and hands me a red solo cup of [insert what you want to drink here lolz] and I wave bye and walk off.

I stop at the gate, the motorists are practicing before the show, so everyone here has a chance to roam and stuff, and y' know, get robbed or something, anyway I'm completely focused on these men, just wandering about,engines blare, sand is getting thrown from the weals.

And then I feel it, hands,No knuckles, rubbing up and down my back, I whip around, about to slap the bee-Jesus (ya like jazz 🐝??) out of the person who had the nerve to touch me…and then I paused.

“Oh…hey Jack.”

He had a helmet on, to hide his..demonic..appearance but I knew it was him, from his gloves, he wore them so no one would see his claws

“Hello love, I thought you weren’t aloud to be out here?”

“Because Jeff told me it was “dangerous”? He literally uses me as a “get out of ass beating free” card every time we’re on a mission together, I don’t value a single thing he says.”

He places his hands on my hips, lightly pulling me in

“Well, it’s good to see you.”

He smiles. God why do I fall for the dorks..?

“It’s good to see you to.”

Then Toby comes up behind him, rolling his deep, dark umber eyes (yes I did google “different types of brown” for this,SHUT-)

“Jesus could you be any more gay???? Like seri-seriously. This is just sad.”

He says with a stutter

“Kind of hard to be a dick when you have a chronic stutter problem gay boy”

(GOD I FUCKINH LOVE COLOR CODING.)

He rolles his eyes, his face mask slipping lightly off his nose,so he moves it back up, then his phone rings,he huffs and pulls it out of his pocket and picks it up.

“WHAT.?”

Me and Jack look at each-other

“Jesus fuck Ben are you serious??? You had one job. One fucking job.”

He looks pissed, he wasn’t usually this easy to aggravate.Maybe his bipolar is acting up?I think he might’ve been out of those meds.

“You.”

Toby points at me.

“What.”

“You’re getting in the cage.”

“No the actual fuck he is not.”

Jack says, I can feel his grip on my waist tightening

“Fuck off Toby.”

“No. There not even supposed to be here. You heard Jeff.”

Jack let’s go of my waist, getting in Toby’s face

“Oh yea? And you’re gonna do what. Make them??”

“No. But how about this? They get in the cage, and if they make it out without pissing there pants they can stay. Ok!?”

Jack turns to look at me

“Sure I guess”

I say with a shrug

_____________________________________-_~____

As I get into the cage I feel Toby eyeing me from afar

“Ok so all you have to do is keep your arms up or close to your body, and if me or Toby hands you anything keep it close to your body ok?”

I nod

“Ok great, the show will start soon, so just be ready.”

Then he walks out of the cage and after a few minutes I hear engines blaring, people cheering, so I throw my arms up and wait, the black tank top I was wearing lightly rising up, and in a moment there was a man in the cage with me,the visor on the helmet lifted so I could tell who it was,it was Jack, I’m surprised he could operate a motorcycle with such lack of vision.

He did rings around the cage, as he went his hands layed on my chest, shoulders, waist and back, he loved to touch me, that was evident, his favorite activity when we were alone together was to trace my scars, getting visibly upset when I told him there was more then the ones on my arms, he hated the idea that I wanted to hurt myself, and that I used to.

After about 5 minutes of spinning he exits the cage, it goes silent for a minute, and it stays silent..and it stays silent.. I want to turn around, to see why it was so silent, and then the noise started back up again, thankfully, and Toby entered the cage.

He however was not as fun to be around as Jack, he was going insanely fast around the cage. Batting at me with his nails, leaving red marks and lashes all over my upper body, one on my face to, this went on for what felt like hours.

_________________<—>_______________________

Yet another unsatisfying ending from me :3