#arrow facts

[o0kawaii0o]

Ace Attorney x Hades

[blumineck]

I love trick shooting, but what we do wouldn't always hold up in an actual battle!

(I do at least try to be honest about the downsides though)

Patreon - Youtube

[shippingmyworld]

As a bisexual living for tigerghost I can’t help but imagine Sam and Frida as well, like goth/punk gfs. That’s so powerful. At the very least they must get along right and holy fuck they have to be dogging in Manny and Danny.

That time when your ex-boyfriend hook ups with a guy from another universe so you pull the ultimate power move and hook up his boyfriend's goth ex-girlfriend.

Sam and Frida would absolutely spend the nights when they're all hanging out together just dragging Manny and Danny through the dirt (with love). They spent years being part of the sassy sidekick gang, so you know that their smack talking game is peak. They immediately call out Manny and Danny any time either of them starts being affectionate with the other, and then the boys would start shooting back.

Meanwhile, Tucker is brooding in the corner wondering why he keeps agreeing to hang out with them when he knows he's just going to become the fifth wheel.

Edit: SamxFrida now known as Atomicgoth

[amphibianaday]

day 1421

[arthursfuckinghat]

I know I've shown it before but I can't stop looking at this picture and smiling to myself without thinking about the fact that Charles taught Arthur how to use a bow.

And not just any bow - Charles' own bow. Even with the rough circumstances they were in at the time, Charles was still patient enough to teach Arthur how to use the bow efficiently. He didn't make fun of Arthur's skill level, he didn't criticize him, he didn't shout or yell at him afterwards, Charles simply guided Arthur and let him learn at his own pace.

If you shoot the deer but it doesn't die? He still helps you. If you miss completely? He still helps you and encourages you to try again. If you need to track down the deer again? He will still help you. He will still help Arthur. This wasn’t just a lesson in hunting; it was a moment of trust and respect.

Charles knew that Arthur was perfectly capable with a gun, but he still taught him an incredibly valuable life skill that day - a skill Arthur eventually honed.

[iguessthisisanewobsession]

Before Bruce revealed his identity

He stated in a game of truth or dare that he has slept with a least one person in the Justice League before finally extracting himself from the stupid game.

The League promptly lost their collective shit.

[sillysealll]

Imagine Daddy Issues by The Neighborhood playing in the background

[non-un-topo]

Trying to kick my art block by doing the opposite of an easy drawing

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

treats for best girl!!

[sbd-laytall]

LMAO, the fact that he calls them fascists.

Green Arrow (2001) #33

[bethanythebogwitch]

Wet Beast Wednesday: arrow worms

Get ready for a wriggly Wednesday, because we have wormsign! When people think of animals, we tend to think of things like dogs, cats, elephants, and so on. However, animals like that are actually on the large side, most animals are much smaller. There are whole ecosystems out there filled with creatures so small you wouldn't even notice them unless you were looking. And any ecosystem needs a predator. This is where arrow worms come in, the apex predators of the planktonic realm.

(Image: a microscope image of an arrow worm. It is an elongated, tube-shaped animal with fins on either side and a small tail fin. The animal is a translucent white and organs are visible through the skin. Next to it are a measuring instrument and a small crustacean. End ID)

Arrow worms are members of the phylum Chaetognatha, which means "bristle jaw". They used to be thought of as their own thing with no surviving relatives, but they have recently been grouped together with rotifers and other tiny animals in a clade called Gnathifera. You know how there's no such thing as a fish because all the different things we call fish are actually really distinct from each other? Yeah, it's even worse for worms. At least most things we call fish are all in the same phylum. Arrow worms are in a completely different phylum from roundworms, flatworms, proboscis worms, segmented worms, etc, but most people just lump them all together as worms. Arrow worms are really small, the largest species getting to about 10 cm long and most being considerably smaller than that. They have torpedo-shaped bodies with external fins that are the source of the name. People thought they looked like the fletching on arrows. Most species are transparent, but some deep-sea species are orange.

(Image: the front end of an arrow worm seen biting a larval fish. The fish is translucent and skeletal. The worm has sharp bristles at the bout that are gripping the fish. End ID)

Arrow worms have three body segments, the head, trunk, and tail, divided from each other by internal membranes. The outside of the body is protected by a tough but flexible cuticle. The head is elongated and at the tip is the mouth. On either side of the mouth 4 - 14 curved spines that are attached to flexible muscle. The spines are used to grab prey and move it into the mouth. In some species, the spines can inject neurotoxin into prey to help kill it. When not in use, the mouth and spines are covered by a membrane to help streamline the animal. The mouth leads to a muscular pharynx (throat) that uses mucus to help food pass into the intestine, where the food is digested. I have found sources that say the intestine leads to an anus and other sources that say that arrow worms have no anus and excrete their waste through the skin. Most sources go with the worms having no anus. Also on the head are a pair of compound eyes (which are reduced or absent in some deep-sea or cave species) and a ring of cilia that probably sense chemicals. All over the body are bristles that sense the movement of the water. The nervous system is very simple and is centered on a nerve ring that circles the pharynx and leads out to the rest of the body. Arrow worms have no respiratory system, they absorb dissolved oxygen through the skin. The circulatory system is very simple. Arrow worms have a pair of lateral fins on either side of the body and a tail fin post-anus. Arrow worms are also one of the few animals species that act as host for giant viruses.

(Image: an image of an arrow worm with the organs and body parts labeled. Sourced from Wikipedia. End ID))

Arrow worms are simultaneous hermaphrodites, meaning they possess male and female sex organs at the same time. The male gonads develop first, making them protandric. The testicles are located at the base of the neck. Sperm is placed in a capsule called the spermatophore and ejected from the body at an organ called the seminal vesicle. During mating, each partner puts a spermatophore on the other's back. The spermatophore then releases sperm, which swim down a groove on the back to reach the oviduct, where eggs are released from the ovaries, along the tail. Fertilization happens either as the eggs are released or just after. Most species release their eggs to the water, but some will attach them to algae or carry them in a pouch on the back. Most arrow worms are semelparous, meaning they mate only once then die. Unusually for marine invertebrates, arrow worms do not have a larval stage. The offspring are miniature adults. The maximum observed lifespan for an arrow worm was 15 months.

(Image: an electron microscope image of the head of an arrow worm. The mouth is wide and has the scythe-like bristles emerging from either side. The head is attached to a long neck that is narrower than the mouth. End ID)

Arrow worms live worldwide in every marine habitat, including the deep sea and caves. Of all the marine zooplankton, only copepods have a greater global biomass. Most species are swimmers, but about 20% of known species live on the seafloor. They are ambush predators, moving slowly or staying still until prey comes within range, then darting forward to catch it. Arrow worms have the fastest muscle contractions of any animal, which helps with their quick charges. To swim, they wriggle their bodies up and down. A common swimming pattern is to swim upwards then glide downwards, over and over again. Pelagic species are known to practice diel vertical migration, a mass migration of countless species of animal that migrate to shallow water at night, then back to deep water in the day. Juveniles tend to live in shallower water than adults and larger species are generally found in colder water. Their primarily prey is copepods and water fleas, but they will also eat amphipods, krill, and the eggs and larvae of fish and invertebrates. Some species are cannibalistic. Some reports indicate certain species may be omnivores who also feed on algae and organic detritus. Arrow worms are a crucial food source for many larger animals, including commercially important species. Not a lot is known about their natural behavior as it is hard to simulate their conditions in the lab and hard to observe them in the wild.

(Image: the head of an arrow worm emerging from off-screen. The mouth is open and a copepod is in the process of being consumed. End ID)

[thatsrightice]

F-14 FUN FACT OF THE DAY #13

The F-14 Tomcat was affectionately nicknamed the “Turkey” due to its appearance when coming in for a landing on an aircraft carrier. During the landing approach there are tons of moving parts; the flaps and slats are out, the wings are extended, the air brake is up, the stabilizers are wobblin’ all over the place, and all four spoilers. To the pilots, Landing Signal Officers, and other personnel on deck, the aircraft appeared to look like the waddling, awkward flight of a turkey.

[reiney-weather]

a bedman I made while writing papers (I should not have been drawing bedman)

[fallentheatre]

each other's world, torn apart

minecraft end poem as a conversation between two broken brothers.

(@hoverboards-and-dragons heyyyyy)

[thatradfailure]

Hey chat, how come there's not that many anthro kiwi Sniper designs? Not like I looked for any but the kiwi Sniper tag is mainly just fuzzy orbs.

Anyway his parents are dingos in this specific furry AU-

[royboyfanpage]

Hello, please don't take this the wrong way but when I first started getting into comics I really disliked Ollie for how he treated/reacted to Roy and the whole drug thing but many years and more experience later (I know the characters a bit better now and stopped reading bad takes on tumblr) I'm realising that theres a lot more nuance and apparently they've got a really close relationship these days?? So I was just wondering if you might be able to explain that to me because I'd love to get into more arrow stuff (honestly mostly fanficton because lbr comics are crazy confusing and expensive) but I'm struggling to shake the assumptions I made about Ollies character when I was younger

Hi anon! Thank you soooo much for this ask, I've been looking forward to answering it for hours and now I finally have the time. Ollie's one of my favourite fictional archers, and I adore talking about him at any opportunity because he is SUCH a nuanced character. So here's-

Why Oliver Queen Doesn't Suck

Mandatory disclaimer that this is my own opinions, other people may have different interpretations which is totally fine! Ollie's been around for over 80 years, there's a lot of content to read and a lot of conflicting characterisations, so other people may see him differently than me. Also disclaimer that much of this was written from memory. I fact-checked the date of Nixon's declaration of the War on Drugs and the Denny O'Neil quote, but the rest of this was from memory. Apologies for any innaccuracies, both for comics and context.

Now that that's out of the way, lets talk Snowbirds.

In order to discuss Snowbirds Don't Fly, one of the most important things to factor in is context. I understand it can be difficult to see through the historical lense of a time period in which the majority of people on this website, myself included, were not even born let alone reading comic books. However, it's still crucially vital to discuss what was going on in the real world at the time of its publication in order to engage in a rich discussion of the comic. Snowbirds was published the year that the War on Drugs officially began following Nixon's declaration of drugs as "public enemy number one" on June 17th 1971, just under two months before the release of Snowbirds part 1 in August of that year. At the time, drug addiction was very much seen as a moral failing, and the war on drugs focused heavily on the incarceration of drug users (particularly ones that the US Government wanted an excuse to lock away such as people of colour and pacifists against the war in Vietnam, but that's not relevant to Snowbirds.) While Snowbirds was absolutely not a perfect comic, it was created to show a more humanising side of addicts than the usual demonisation seen on the news. In the words of writer Denny O'Neil, “we chose Roy [...] to show that addiction was not limited to 'bad' or 'misguided' kids.” It was created to show that addiction was not a moral failing, and that anyone could fall into it due to circumstances, even someone we've already accepted as 'one of the good guys' for the past 30 years. Roy was used as the symbol of a good kid who made a bad mistake in order to humanise real young people who'd gone through similar circumstances. And where there's a kid, there's a parent, which is where Ollie came in.

Now, I very strongly believe that Ollie was not written to be the bad guy of Snowbirds. Not only was he also an established 'good guy', but he was a symbolic stand-in for much of America at that time, including the people who would be reading it. And, while Green Arrow is very much a character who brings with him a lot of strong political takes, villainising their readerbase would be a step too far. Ollie was a stand-in for the concerned and ill-informed parent, a character who's consumed all the anti-addict propaganda being spread at the time and internalised it. That's why the fact that it was his own ward struggling with addiction was so poignant to the story. Ollie was forced to re-evaluate his worldview after seeing someone who he knows isn't what the media says addicts are struggling with addiction. Snowbirds has such an interesting character arc for Ollie, seeing him struggle to combine the ideas of what he's heard and what he's actively seeing in his mind.

Now, the most infamous part of Snowbirds is, obviously, the slap. Full disclaimer, I am not saying that Ollie is in the right for that. He was 100% undeniably in the wrong for how he responded to Roy's addiction. However, I think a key component of comic books that people tend to ignore is the component of marketing. The writers wanted this comic to sell. It was a very important story for the time, and with the amount of comics being released it was crucial to them that people actually found the comic and read it, especially since it was one of the first comics released outside of the strict rules of the Comics Code. And what would catch readers' eyes more than seeing a superhero hitting his sidekick whilst said sidekick is surrounded by drugs? I'm not trying to discredit the panel, it was obviously a very significant part of the story, but there were external factors at play too.

A lot of the development of Roy and Ollie's relationship is seen in comics released post-Snowbirds, but even in the comic itself there's clear development, particularly at the end. Snowbirds Don't Fly is a character arc for Ollie of him adjusting his worldview in order to grow and better himself after recognising his own biases. And people tend to forget that Snowbirds ends with Roy hitting Ollie back, and what does Ollie do? He listens. He lets Roy get his frustrations out, and listens to Roy's perspective, and he's proud of him by the end of it, proud of the young man he is.

Okay, now that we've gotten Snowbirds out of the way, let's talk about-

Post-Snowbirds

There's a common misconception that Roy and Ollie having a close relationship is a recent development, which just isn't true. While it could've absolutely been explored in more detail, it's clear that Roy and Ollie reconciled post-Snowbirds. The earliest example that comes to mind is 1993's Green Arrow vol 2 #75, wherein Ollie and Roy refer to each other as father and son.

Keep in mind that this was written by Grell who is, at least in my opinion, one of the best references for Ollie. While they did have some issues in the later issues of the run preceding Ollie's death (the causes of the conflict I'm unsure of, they were on rocky terms during Connor's introduction but I don't know why, if anyone has context for that please let me know but that could've just been a choice Dixon made), it's clear to see that Snowbirds was not something that permenantly damaged their relationship. Ollie put in the effort following his actions, to better himself both as a father and as a person, and Roy recognised that and forgave him. Parent/child relationships are hard anyway, let alone under the circumstances Roy and Ollie are under as heroes, and the fact that Ollie actually recognised his own flaws is far more than many parents do.

If we go later, we can see Roy talking fondly about Ollie whilst Ollie was dead in Titans (1999), fondly recalling memories with him from his youth, as well as keeping a photograph of him on his wall.

While Roy does recognise that things with Ollie weren't always perfect, he does also acknowledge the good times between him and Ollie, and it's clear from the way he speaks that he holds a lot of love for him.

Later still, when Ollie returns from the dead, the duo reunite with fondness

One thing particularly that stands out to me is that, at this point, Ollie was missing many of his memories and Snowbirds was still fresh in his mind, with him bringing up Roy's addiction multiple times throughout Quiver as if it happened within at most the span of two years. Despite this, he still embraces Roy and treats him with love, making it clear that Ollie loved Roy even near to the Snowbirds era. There are more instances I could go into in Green Arrow (2001), but I'm running out of free time, so I'd highly recommend reading it :)

Aaaand later still, Ollie openly admits to having fucked up with Roy during Snowbirds.

He admits his failings, and demonstrates that he's got Roy's best interests at heart. He's not being selfish, he's letting Roy have his moment in his initiation as Red Arrow and staying in the background because he believes that's what's best for Roy. And-

He openly states that he loves Roy.

There's more in the current continuity I could reference, but I don't have the time to go through them right now and I'm definitely more familiar with content pre-52 (particularly 1994-2004 is the ten years I'd say I know the best), so hopefully this is enough.

Roy and Ollie's relationship isn't perfect. It has clear ups and downs, which is what makes them so interesting! Oliver Queen is a very loving, yet very flawed man, and to go either way of "evil abuser" or "perfect father" discredits who he is.

Anyway, your faves don't have to be unproblematic to love them. Ollie has a really compelling character arc during and after Snowbirds, and I like him a lot :)

For further reading, check out my masterlist on my pinned post, particularly Oliver Queen's B- Parenting, Snowbirds (1), and Snowbirds (2)