#and possible effects...

[mist-the-wannabe-linguist]

Hot take

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

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

(also tw animal death via predator)

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

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

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

Compare to

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Unless

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

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

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

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

Ok, rant over

[tachvintlogic]

Humans are a bad influence

Human: It really is an amazing coincidence...

Ztsaxhi: Hey guys, the food replicator glitched out and gave me way more food than it should. Want some? It's kind of like human "chips."

Käfavayarlop: Is it safe for my species?

Ztsaxhi: Let me check... no poisons but...oh damn, the food guide says it has capsaicin that's painful for you. Sorry.

Human: Ooh, Let me have some then!

Ztsaxhi: Go ahead.

Käfavayarlop: But wait, weren't we just saying that Käfavayarlopen and humans have weirdly similar taste buds—

Human *bites into chip*: Wow! Hggh, that is— REALLY spicy! You were not kidding about capsaicin.

Ztsaxhi: Are you okay?

Human: Fine! It's actually good, I swear. *eats the rest of the chip*

Käfavayarlop: Your face is turning red.

Human: Yeah, capsaicin does cause pain, that's the spiciness, but it's a good kind of pain. It adds to the flavor. *takes another chip*

Ztsaxhi: So "spiciness" is just pain?

Human: Kind of. It's—It's an acquired taste.

Käfavayarlop: ...I want to try.

Ztsaxhi: No!

Human: Let them! Though I will warn you this is not beginner friendly.

Käfavayarlop: *bites* Sacred Gonork! My mouth is on fire!

Human: You good?

Käfavayarlop: No. *takes another bite*

Ztsaxhi: No, don't keep eating it!

Käfavayarlop: But it's good.

Human: Is bovine milk safe for them? We probably need it.

Ztsaxhi: I'll check, yes it is. Wait, is this what all those jokes about humans pairing Ztsaxhi cuisine with milk are about?

Human: Yeah, it helps with the pain.

Ztsaxhi: Why would you even eat food that hurts you?

Human and Käfavayarlop: It's an acquired taste.

[technically-human]

First kiss! Robotnik totally forgot that kisses are a thing

[friedricebunny]

i'm really so curious how deeply tbhx is gonna go with its whole premise of "heroes are made and gain powers based on trust" because i really wasn't anticipating that

1) moon/xiao yueqing has teleportation-based powers but because everyone wants her and nice to stick together, her teleportation leads back to nice which was INSANE to me

and

2) lin ling is becoming increasingly more worried about being clean and perfect which is a side effect of nice's image of perfection which is indicating that this whole trust system can have mental effects??? and that's horrifying to me???

we are 2 episodes in, how deep is this gonna go

[sunlight-shunlight]

anyway dai solas you will always be famous to me. nothing but respect for my boy who wandered off mid-cutscene in the hinterlands to go help out refugees, is extremely good at Lies Of Omission™️, has a whole spy/agent/informant network of elves who followed him, fervently argues that it's unethical to be happy about killing bandits bc they had lives and loved ones, describes his own temple(?) prison(?) as having "indecipherable" elven writing, has ferocious debates with dorian and iron bull about slavery, set himself on fire once by mistake, and within about a year of his 10000 year lifespan, went from seeing all the world as disposable emotionless husks, to developing actual friendships and even falling in love.

and then! still thought it was necessary to destroy and reset the world! but he would treasure the chance to be wrong again!!

[egophiliac]

tsum events continue to be just the best

[ghostryders]

your honor that man is an american

[canon-gabriel-quotes]

Transcript:

LET'S SETTLE THI- Oh hang on. Hang on, Machine, um.

It's 8 PM I need to take my testosterone.

Sorry I'll just be a second. Uh wait here, alright?

Audio Source

[lostsometime]

SecUnit 3 worrying about its first-ever retrieval mission done as a free agent like “I want to get a good grade in Rogue SecUnit retrieval, which might be normal to want but I don’t know because there’s no protocol for that”

[otaku553]

I really wanna here more about the time travel au. What would c!vanilla and r!vanilla think of each other?

Tbh! I can’t really tell by the abbreviations which one is c and r so I’m sorry about that 😔

But here’s a summary of what I think they think of each other:

On a conscious level both of them realize that the other is themself but they are so removed from each other in age and demeanor that they treat each other as different people, if that makes sense.

In young Pure Vanilla’s mind, he of course is scared of what in the future makes him turn so apathetic to the world, and so reluctant to give and receive kindness. But more importantly, his adult self needs comforting and healing and that’s what he can control and can do for him.

In Truthless Recluse’s (I’ve been calling him Dark Vanilla for the most part as an alias he would use in the AU) mind, he is prepared to protect his child self from Shadow Milk by any means possible and is initially on a hair trigger looking for any signs of Shadow Milk Cookie’s early influence. However, he is slowly but gradually realizing that Shadow Milk Cookie influenced his memories when they interacted, and re-experiencing them from this outside perspective is giving him a tiny bit more peace of mind for the safety of his child self. But this also means that he’s done a lot to himself in the future based on the words of Shadow Milk and is blaming himself for having changed so drastically. He doesn’t believe that he himself will ever be fit to hold the title of hero again, but he does believe that his child self’s potential is separate from his and that child Pure Vanilla, with his boundless kindness, is fully deserving of all the status and power to come his way in the future.

[tezerenotameiki]

[mera-mann-kehne-laga]

200 notes on this and I'll start learning how to play a guitar and post covers because someone recently said I reeaalllyy should

[mankindsbadhabitz]

WHY ISNT ANYONE TLAKIGJ ABOUT THIS IM GOING INSANE?

LOOK. LOOK AT IT.

I’m seeing like NOBODY talk about it and I’ve literally been FREAKING the FREAK out about it for HOURS. I’M SO EXCITED FOR THE RELEASE OF PART ONE!

[sunderwight]

SV AU where transmigrator Shen Yuan and reincarnated PIDW Shen Jiu are the twin sons of one of Luo Binghe's prominent vassals. Specifically, a demon king of near-equivalence to Mobei Jun in terms of personal power, who has suffered the past couple of centuries due to a lack of influence on Luo Binghe's political decisions (no daughters to marry off to him, no personal relationship or ability to form one, so no clout at court).

But after PIDW Luo Binghe returns following the Bingge vs Bingmei extra, rumors begin to spread that his lordship might like to add a man or two to his harem. SJ & SY's dad smells an opportunity, and brings his sons to court. Demon Dad is sure to emphasize his sons' great scholarly pursuits, ethereal beauty, and impressive qi reserves.

Now of course, both Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan have different ideas of what is going on. Both of them think they're the only one with memories of a past life, and that their brother's oddities are a result of being an actual demon child (whereas they are, of course, weird for completely different reasons). Shen Yuan completely misses the subtext of what their father is trying to do (of course Luo Binghe wouldn't be interested in men, he's the stallion protagonist!), and is just excited for the chance to catch a glimpse of the legendary xin mo sword or see the hero in action, while also hoping to stay out of range of the death curse that befalls any guy who gets too close to the protagonist's aura. He also needs to keep his brother safe from that same effect, and ensure neither of them are accused of snooping around Luo Binghe's wives!

Shen Jiu, on the other hand, knows exactly what their father is trying to do and smells an opportunity to take revenge on the beast who killed Yue Qingyuan. He's spent years figuring out the demon emperor's weaknesses, both the physical kind and the kind uncovered via things like discontent wives and conquered enemies. Now he just needs to get close enough to his target actually use that information. Preferably before anything happens to his witless brother, who clearly has no idea that their father has just offered them both up to a terrifying monster like prime cuts of beef!

End result: Shen Yuan and Shen Jiu keep unintentionally getting in one another's way, while Luo Binghe himself has an existential crisis about these two guys who seem to embody both what he would expect from the reborn Shen Qingqiu he's been searching for, and that strange Nice Shizun that he actually experienced in the other world he stumbled across. But why are there two of him???

[redflaggreenlight]

guess gi-hun's got a type (x)

[stars-obsession-pit]

The Ghosts of Gotham City

Danny shuddered involuntarily as he stepped out of the plane and onto the soil of Gotham City.

Mentally, he was already crossing Gotham University off his list of potential colleges. He wasn’t even into the city proper, and he could already feel that there was something wrong with this place.

But he had promised to check the place out, so he couldn’t turn around just yet. ‘Plus,’ he thought sardonically, ‘It’s not like my ticket leaves yet anyway.’

Exiting the airport, the feelings only strengthened. His breath caught in his throat, his ghost sense almost but not quite going off. Or maybe that was just the air pollution he’d heard rumors about.

If it was the air, getting into a cab didn’t make the feeling subside in the slightest. Though luckily it didn’t make it worse either.

After he told the driver the address of his hotel, the ride began to pass in silence. Danny was thankful for the driver’s choice not to attempt to strike up a conversation, though the absence of music was a bit more awkward.

And then he started to hear whispers.

“What was that?”

“Huh?” The driver glanced back at him. “Didn’t say anythin’.”

“Never mind.” Danny replied, then mentally added, ‘Guess I’m just going nuts, then.’

He turned to look out the window, and nearly jerked back in surprise. He hadn’t been paying attention to their surroundings, but at some point they’d entered an area almost filled with pale, translucent figures.

Yet no one else seemed to react to them, or even to notice their presence at all. Cars and pedestrians alike passed through them as if they weren’t even there.

Were they ghosts? But if so, why were they so… lifeless? The ones he’d fought in Amity were all so animated, absolutely filled with the emotions that drove them. Yet these figures barely seemed to move at all, their voices speaking only in whispers. He couldn’t quite make out what any of them were saying, but it their words seemed almost rhythmic, like they were repeating the same phrases over and over again.

Maybe he really should have turned around and left immediately, promises and plane tickets be damned. But he knew he wouldn’t be able to get these memories out of his head.

What the hell was happening in Gotham City?