#but considering dinosaurs had feathers and scales

[stalkiwi]

I feel like this one is a given due to Bird but fluffy dragons, feathered dragons, or scaled dragons?

have you considered the three at once maybe. dont you want a fluffy, scaled and feathered dragon. because i do

[what-is-love-babey-dont-hurt-me]

Some headcanons I have about King Dedede, Captain Vul, and their species!

Many, many millions of years before the tragedy that befell the dinosaurs, alien researchers tried to study them, and did not plan for their escape from the research facility, and eventual takeover of the planet! Through many years of adaptation to the new planet, you see the feathers and bird-like feathers we know and love in King Dedede and others!

This is related to my OC Sir Meteor, who you can vote for here ! 💫🦖☄️

Transcript + More below the cut below

Vestigial tail + spikes

A far cry from the reptile tails of old, the tails of current day are stubby with little movement, and in a few generations will likely be completely gone.

These guys are descendants of dinosaurs! The tails had been used for mobility, balance, but especially fighting. This connotation created ripples in the culture of what the vestigial tail means for avians, no matter how stubby and useless it is in present day! Since hollow bones had started to emerge in the species, anything that could possibly crush them is considered taboo, including showing off tails freely. A lot of them pretend they don’t exist!

Prehensile feathers

The feathers at the tip of the wings are modified fingers that can grab! If you were to push back the feathers, you would even see vestigial talons that are either too small to be any threat, or kept trip for proper appearance. All of the avians have thumb-like digits as well, but their grip is not a precise as our own.

Avians of high social standing often commission and wear enchanted gloves to aid with their weak grip, and it is why Dedede isn’t seen with his feathers and can use his hammer!

Spines + tail usually covered up

For this study, I focused on just the bodies themselves, but i wanna delve deeper into the culture they have! In particular clothing is important. They usually keep their tail and spines covered up for modesty and cultural norms—the spines are seen as weapons and only shown when living a life of battle! Even Dedede who gets into fights often doesn’t want to show them, but there is exceptions. The gray star warrior having their tail out is due to the position they have in the army. They dedicate their life to a battle. Other factors include needing high mobility! Some avians in gymnastics or on rescue teams, and other professions where mobility is essential are exempt from this rule, but they often have a robe or cover-up when not performing the task.

For Dedede: adapted to be a water-type bird, has flippers and webbed feet, and is unable to fly. His eyes are bigger than normal for the purpose of being able to see in dark waters with barely any light, although the trade off is his long distance vision leaves much to be lacking. His choice of hammer as a weapon is barely any thought to us, but a taboo one in avian society. His distance from any others of his kind is in part due to his refusal to put it down.

For Vul: he is a an avian capable of flight!! This is a rarer trait. He feels at home in the sky, and his eyes even in his old age are unparalleled to anyone else in his crew. Vul, like dedede, normally covers his tail, especially because even though he lives a life of battle, he is rather old fashioned and does not want to admit it, despite being captain to a crew of knights.

For the Star Warrior: a unnamed individual who would turn heads if they walked on their home planet looking like that. Metal armor in of itself is unusual because most avians hate to weight themselves down too much to fly, even if they aren’t a flying type. Under the helmet they have a bright red crest, and for the long legs I based them off of a Sandhill Crane. Their long legs are the best example of another trait I didn’t get to touch on yet: these guys have feathers covering the legs! Where in real life birds usually have scales, these guys have a gene which gives them feathers everywhere but the feet. Similar to silkie chickens or pigeons with muffs!

Most of these guys have some kind of feathered crest above their eyes! It helps keep sun and water out of their face, similar to eyebrows.

Page 2: a doodle comic with the story of how avians were created, along with a visual of them being somewhere between a dinosaur and bird

I have more but MAN this is getting too long

[letteredlettered]

@popqorn asked me what I know about dinosaurs.

Scientists no longer debate that birds evolved from a dinosaur. Almost all of them agree on this; they just debate about which dinosaur. (Most scientists agree that birds only have one common ancestor, so it's not the case that different dinosaurs evolved into birds. It's just one.)

Almost all scientists agree that birds evolved from a therapod. They just debate about which therapod. Therapods stand on two feet, have shortened forearms, and are carnivorous. T. Rex, Deinonychus, and Velociraptor are all therapods. Scientists don't think any of those evolved into birds.

If you don't know Deinonychus--you probably do, actually. The "Velociraptors" in Jurassic Park are actually Deinonychus. Velociraptors were about the size of chickens.

Do not tell children that the Velociraptors in Jurassic Park are not Velociraptors. They will think you don't know your shit and lose all trust in you as a dino expert. And if you convince them they have been fooled for their entire tiny lives, you will break their hearts and their trust in the world. Some people do not think this is a dinosaur fact, but it is perhaps the most important one of all.

Archaeopteryx is important for two reasons: 1) it has sometimes been classified as a bird, sometimes a dinosaur. Now most scientists agree it is a dinosaur. 2) For a while, it was considered the ancestor of all birds, but now many scientists think that Archaeopteryx is only a cousin to the ancestor of birds (sort of like Lucy [the australopithecus afarensis, the fossil that was once the oldest, most complete, biped hominid] is considered the cousin to the "missing link" in human evolution)

A big reason that scientists think birds evolved from dinosaurs is that fossil evidence shows that many dinosaurs had feathers.

Feathers are very similar to scales, and fossil evidence shows scales that are more feather-like and feathers that are more scale-like. Dinosaurs had scales, but birds have them too! Bird legs/feet have scales.

Speaking of bird feet, therapods and birds have similar feet--three toes in front and one big toe in back for balance. If you've seen Jurassic Park, the big "Velociraptor" claw that Dr. Alan Grant draws across the young boy's chest at the very beginning of the movie is the back claw of a Deinonychus.

Birds have hollow bones. Some dinosaurs have hollow bones.

Some birds swallow rocks to help them digest. Fossil evidence suggests some therapods swallowed rocks. These fossils are aptly called gastroliths. Disappointingly, they just look like rocks.

For a long time, scientists had no idea what color dinosaurs were, but in the last decade or so, they have been able to find fossil evidence of pigment. Pigment (such as melanin) is a molecular structure, which is why this took scientists so long to find--you need a pretty powerful microscope to find this data. That said, even when they have found evidence of a certain pigment, it's not clear that they've found all the pigment for a given dinosaur, meaning they still don't know what color the whole dinosaur was. But the first pigment they found evidence for was a reddish brown.

Scientists also don't know what shape dinosaurs were. We know what the skeleton looks like, but some animals can look extremely different than the shape their skeleton suggests. A great example is a whale. A lot of the shape of whales is actually due to their blubber; looking at a whale skeleton, you would probably never guess what some whales look like.

Dinosaurs lived during the Mesozoic Era, which is comprised of three periods: Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous.

There are a lot of different ideas about how and why the dinosaurs disappeared. A famous idea is the asteroid that hit Earth at the end of the Cretaceous Period. Evidence for this impact include a huge crater in the Yucatan Peninsula and a layer in the strata of the Earth. Almost anywhere you dig on Earth, you will come to a very thin layer that contains a bunch of iridium. Iridium, you may have learned from movies, is rare on Earth but common in meteorites. If a huge asteroid containing iridium were to hit Earth, the asteroid would vaporize on contact, and eventually the iridium would settle back onto the ground all around the globe. This layer in the Earth's soil is known as the K-T boundary, aka the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. The time of this boundary in the Earth's strata marks a huge extinction event.

That's about all I remember about dinosaurs.

[squishy-lombax]

Went feral and drew this all in one sitting. Here is a full reference sheet with my refined drawings of my personal Ampersand head-canons (From the book Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis).

I'm not the type of person to highlight or make notes in my books. So trying to remember every detail of how the author described Ampersand's appearance was difficult. Especially since this book isn't wide-spread enough to have the characteristics listed anywhere online from what I could find.

What I remembered and how my brain interpreted it:

A face like a mask, large enough for a hand to spread on. Since I had "gray aliens" in my head when this was brought up, a triangle shape came to my mind.

Large amber/orange eyes with multiple red pupils like "stars". When closed, the eyes have a membrane like film that slides over top. I envisioned it to be slightly transparent based on that description.

Frills like feathers on the head that spread out into a flower-like appearance. Since he was described as robotic, I went with something that looked akin to blades or scales but still inspired by birds and placed in a crown.

Openings on the side of the neck that admitted sound (while reading, I envisioned them as flaps, almost skin like, that vibrated). Since the sounds were described as dolphin or whale-like, I felt this could be the one thing on the body more "organic" and not rigid.

The body itself is said to have the posture like a dinosaur or velociraptor with a rough exoskeleton shell. My feet were also inspired by this dinosaur/bird theme since the amygdala are described as plantigrades, and Cora described his footprints as "bird-like".

The arms are described as always being in a "mantis pose" or, as I like to call it, the "autism t-rex pose." The length of these arms changed in my mind a lot, but in the end, considering how much they use their arms, I went with long instead of short like a t-rex.

The hands were directly inspired by @deanu's drawing here. I loved their design, because it kept in mind the "spider" aspects the hands are described to have, without them being literal scissor fingers like I see in a lot of other fanart. Since that is not how I envisioned them while reading but wasn't exactly sure how I felt before seeing @deanu's fanart.

The fact this raptor body didn't have a tail was jarring for me to envision upon first reading, but a shell casing on his back that ever so slightly curved past the rear quickly formed in my mind. This made him feel less naked in my head and I don't know why.

Edit: I have no concept for how tall 8ft but this is the generally the height i envisioned.

I hope you enjoyed my ramblings and my head-canons <3

[toonqueen]

Duckvember Day 5: Hypnotic Duck

So for Hypnotic Duck I guess I’m just going to explain a Mighty Ducks OC I really never used because she’s so branched off from the main stuff I used to write back in the day that I never got to her. 

Her name is Priscilla Decoy. Pretty much used Priscilla so she could be called Pris for short which is my fave Bladrunner character lolol. Her mom is Lucretia Decoy. Pris happened while she was in dimensional limbo. I have her being Lucretia’s second child. First being Maestro which is Lucretia’s kid with Canard.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Her father is a Saurien named Ricochet. His personality I had vaguely as being like Shaggy from Scooby Doo but not a coward, if that makes any sense. I GUESS I COULD JUST SAY I HAD HIM BE A STONER I GUESS THAT’S WHAT I WAS GOING FOR. Also personality bit like Nosedive so if they ever met Nosedive could gloat to Duke that he was more Lucretia’s type. Ha. I had him being a tan/mustardy colored with his species being duck bill dinosaur based because I thought that would be funny for him to be duck adjacent. But I’ve also thought of him as that one bearded lizard gif, that being his build also works too. HE WAS NEVER FULLY FLESHED OUT so the species of lizard/dino he has was never set in stone ha. 

Priscilla is tan feathered and dark tan haired, matching more her dad’s coloring. Her bill is also not a bright orange but leaning towards the more tan color of her dad’s scales. She also has scales on the outer edge of her beak cheeks but it is really hard to notice since wearing her hair down covers it and it is a pretty fine line of scales. Her build is like her mom’s but you wouldn’t know it because she’s always wearing baggy hoodies and pants. She has a monotone voice like Daria (from Daria lol). She also has brown/amber eyes that match her father’s eye color. 

My headcanon for Limbo is that the majority of the area's physical reality is warped and not stable. There are pockets where it is like normal reality and over the centuries cities have been built there. You can breathe fine in the wide open ‘unreality areas’ but there is lack of gravity and floating areas of land. Even though you don’t technically need protective gear to be out there, it’s considered bad to stay out there for very long periods of time (like weeks.) It can cause madness and other weird stuff. 

With Maestro, Lucretia and Canard had not heard about how being out in the untamed areas of limbo is bad so when Mae was young he was exposed to it a lot. It didn’t affect Lucretia but later down the line Canard gets some madness from it. (Another long store.) Maestro on the other hand gets some reality bending powers that he has to learn to control when he gets older. His abilities are a really wide variety. Stuff like the gun from Portal and to be able to make illusions and disguises. 

Once Priscilla was born, Lucretia knew better and did a better job of not having her being exposed  to whatever the open area of the limbo nonsense was going on. However, as Priscilla became an adult it became evident she had some bit of a power herself. Not as obvious and powerful as her brothers, but she did it without her even knowing it. She figured out on many occasions people could not say no to her requests and she could, accidentally, have some mind control over them. OOPS. I don’t think she would even realize until she was fully an adult. As a child she was spoiled which didn’t seem unusual because hey you’re a cute kid stuck in limbo of course people are gonna spoil you. And as an adult she just thought people had crushes on her like, “okay, this is the kind of shit mom went through so this is normal.”  It isn’t till some town she’s in gets attacked, and she tells the attacker to go walk off a cliff, and he does it, that she realizes OH SHIT. WELP. This explains A LOT. 

She learns to control it for the most part, but what she does best to avoid it is try not to be perceived. Pris is by no means shy but she just RATHER NOT BE NOTICED IN A CROWD. 

Uh, that's about it about Pris. Only duck I have close to hyponic. Ha. 

This sketch was so good I didn’t want to ruin it by coloring it so I had to draw again just to color and yet didn’t come out the same because that is how life is.

[queenlucythevaliant]

🧬🦕

Is it cool if I get a little personal? Let me tell you about one of the coolest things I've ever gotten to do: two summers ago, I got to see the Archaeopteryx fossil at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center, which is also the only specimen on display in North America.

Trust me when I say that the stock clip art that I chose to obscure myself is 100% representative of the face I'm making here. If anything, the smile isn't big or goofy enough.

Here's a close-up and a diagram to show up-close what I'm actually looking at. Note the impressions of wing and tail plumage!

Diagram source

You've probably at least heard of Archaeopteryx: it's a transitional genus dating to the late Jurassic and the earliest example of what we could consider a "bird" which retains many ancestral "reptilian/dinosaur" characteristics.

Now, "bird" and "reptile" are kind of arbitrary words here because reptiles are a paraphyletic group. DNA tree-building models and sequence alignment evidence demonstrate that there's simply no way to define "reptiles" which does not also include birds; the definition of a "reptile" is a sauropsid that is not a bird. Thus, we know that all birds have a reptilian common ancestor because they arose as a branch within the sauropsid clade. Archaeopteryx is an ancient sauropsid with both avian and reptilian features; this is what we mean when we call it a transitional genus. 

But why did this transitional fossil make me smile so big that my cheeks went numb? There are several reasons, I think:

Despite its transitional characteristics, most scientists consider Archaeopteryx the first bird in the fossil record. It was also the first direct evidence that birds evolved from reptilians (the first Archaeopteryx specimen was discovered just three years after On the Origin of Species was published). Just on a basic, fundamental level, this genus is of immense scientific and historical importance and standing next to it felt like meeting a celebrity.

The particular specimen that I got to see was super cool! Unlike most Archaeopteryx fossils, which tend to be preserved on their sides, this one is preserved on its stomach with its head in three-quarter view. Thus, it's the only specimen in which the palate bones are clearly visible, and it's tetraradiate (as in non-avian theropods) rather than triradiate (as in other avians.) The palate is one of the most important features in terms of saying, "yeah, we consider this a modern bird."

Its feet are also really well-preserved! The specimen I saw clearly demonstrates that Archaeopteryx didn't have a reversed toe, but does have a hyperextendable second toe. This means that unlike modern birds, it probably had limited ability to perch; instead, it had tearing claws like a dinosaur. 

But even in contrast with other important transitional fossils - say, the Archeoceti of Wadi al Hitan in Egypt, which are amphibious ancestors of modern whales - Archaeopteryx is something special. There's a certain romance to the idea of the first bird: feathers that actually enable something like flight! (Like Buzz Lightyear, Archaeopteryxes' wings were probably used for "falling with style.") But still, there's beauty in Archeopteryx that we don’t see in other transitional fossils. In his poem "The Archeopteryx's Song," Edwin Morgan captures this glory far better than I ever could:

I am only half out of this rock of scales.

What good is armour when you want to fly?

My tail is like a stony pedestal

and not a rudder. If I sit back on it

I sniff winds, clouds, rains, fogs where

I'd be, where I'd be flying, be flying high.

Dinosaurs are spicks and

all I see when I look back

is tardy turdy bonehead swamps

whose scruples are dumb tons.

Damnable plates and plaques

can't even keep out ticks.

They think when they make the ground thunder

as they lumber for a horn-lock or a rut

that someone is afraid, that everyone is afraid,

but no one is afraid. The lords of creation

are in my mate's next egg's next egg's next egg,

stegosaur. It's feathers I need, more feathers

for the life to come. And these iron teeth

I want away, and a smooth beak

to cut the air. And these claws

on my wings, what use are they

except to drag me down, do you imagine

I am ever going to crawl again?

When I first left the crag

and flapped low and heavy over the ravine

I saw past present and future

like a dying tyrannosaur

and skimmed it with a hiss.

I will teach my sons and daughters to live

on mist and fire and fly to the stars.

And like, that’s it, right? Obviously no Archaeopteryx could possibly have any concept of bird or dinosaur. No fifteen million year-old creature could have dreamed eagles or pigeons or penguins. But God did. 

God knew from eternity that a creature called Archaeopteryx would exist. He knew that it would have a dinosaur’s sharp teeth and bony tail and yet wings and feathers to glide with. He alone could imagine a world in which creatures sharing a close relative with Archaeopteryx would have more feathers for the life to come; that the lords of the skies would be in the next egg’s next egg’s next egg.

He knew that Jesus would tell his disciples to look at birds when they were worried; that Gerard Manley Hopkins would write a poem dedicated “To Christ our Lord” in which he extolled “My heart in hiding/ Stirred for a bird, – the achieve of, the mastery of the thing!” God knew that the albatross, so like and yet unlike Archaeopteryx, would live its life on the wing, flying over oceans ten thousand miles at a time, and that Samuel Taylor Coleridge (a devout Christian) would write a poem in which an albatross was Christlike, and that C.S. Lewis would write a book in which an albatross was Jesus and whispered courage to a little girl in the dark. God knew that one day, in the summer of 2021, I would stand beside this fossilized evidence that Archaeopteryx really lived, staring and squinting to see all its features, grinning like an idiot and thinking, “Do you imagine I am ever going to crawl again?” 

[transingthoseformers]

I had dinosaur hyperfixation as a child, but it fizzled out and i only have outdated books.

What's the latest word on dinosaur feathering?

Basically: most theropods had feathering of some shape or form, but we found scale impressions for Tyrannosaurus meaning it actually likely didn't have any! Which makes sense upon mathing it out, rexes hunted on the savannahs of america and were motherfucking massive, they're like the elephants of the grouping, because other members of tyrannosauroidea have been found with extensive sorta-feather covering (Yutyrannus)

All the raptors had feathers, full stop. Maniraptora is where birds come from

There's a theory that the original dinosaur ancestor had protofeathers (dinofuzz) considering how we know all pterosaurs had pycnofibres (closer to hair than feathers) aaaand mmhm this is another part with no solidified answer.

I've seen depictions of ceratopsians with tail quills thanks to psittacosaurus (such a lovely little fucked up dinosaur), and I mean hey there isn't evidence against it

Now, there's more than just "yes feathers" "no feathers" because there's all sorts of types of filaments

Like we've been able to figure out that Archaeopteryx and microraptor would've been that same almost iridescent black color as say crows or ravens

[czarinakitty]

I'm working on a dragon costume for my sister-in-law and we just had a conversation about whether the dragon should have scales or feathers. If dinosaurs had feathers and evolved into birds, have we considered the implications for dragon design?

[crownofconvergencerp]

𝐙𝐀𝐘𝐀 𝐄𝐙𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐀𝐋𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐓

'primordial witch' and 'alchemist' are just the terms that make sense to those around zaya on the continent, terms ascribed to make sense of what she can do. having come to destarin from her own continent zaya found her soulbonded being and intends to stay with him while sharing her affinity for making creams and tonics for healing, youth and beauty. zaya uses she/they pronouns.

The continent of Zaya's home was a beautiful one, greenery so present that some might think it the only colour to exist. Her father was what could have been considered a king, or an emperor, a leader to their community and the ones that surrounded them. He was appointed due to his aura, something all within their region could see. The shade he was surrounded by the same shade as their world, a vibrant and earthy green that flourished. Many believed that the strength of his aura was in part due to his families long line of historians, people who had been tasked with not only recording their lives but retelling it, and allowing him to make choices for everyone.

Zaya herself was always drawn to her grandparents retellings of the dawn of time, when large monsters of fang and feather roamed the land, and some of scale too - dinosaurs. The story she requested most that of a young leader who had, in their regions tradition, soulbonded with a powerful spinosaurus, the first magical mortal to bond with such a ferocious and self satisfying being.

Everyone in their region soulbonded eventually, their continent believing that all animals held the same soul that humanoid beings did, that their intelligence and sentience was equal and it was their responsibility to allow that soul to flourish and voice their own needs to the community that could aid and provide. It was not uncommon to bond with a being as small as a mouse or one as large and dangerous as a kongamato. Zaya, however, was determined to have a dinosaur.

When she turned fourteen, of age to begin seeking a soulbond, she requested to her father that she travel beyond the land of their own continent, believing that if dinosaurs did not exist there any longer they had to exist somewhere and perhaps needed a voice. In truth, Zaya's aura was not half as selfless as her father's, a muddy cool toned brown he knew she did not desire a dinosaur to help give them a voice but so she could say she had done it, to become a legend of her own. She was his daughter though and no everyone needed to be a leader, not everyone needed to be denied by selflessness and so he gifted his daughter a small crew to travel to nearby lands.

That was how she found herself on the Continent of the Forty Seasons War, of divided Kingdom's that loathed one another. Zaya did not understand this bitterness, for though she was selfish she had never known unnecessary hatred and rivalry. The cold chill of Withermore kept her wrapped in furs, wandering alone north, promising to return to her father's crew in ten days time, but instead, as she shivered, it was a dinosaur she stumbled upon.

In truth, what Zaya believed to be a dinosaur attacked by humanoid beings was a pandok, but it did not stop the witch from asserting her soulbond to the creature, watching as the pandok became a fearsome and large quetzalcoatlus. It was not what the pallid humanoid beings called the creature however, screaming 'dragon!' at the top of their lungs, a word Zaya had yet to understand. They ran and as she recognised a discomfort in the thrashing dinosaur she had created she turned them mortal. They were hers now. So much as she saw it.

Zaya's insistence that he had to stay with her because he was hers now likely held somewhat of a language barrier, a pandok who had grown up speaking one and a witch who had grown up speaking another, all that was purely confirmed was that he could not part from her. She made him come with her to tell the crew that had come with her to go home, tell her father she had found dinosaurs and would not be returning, she needed to keep Yazi in his home, though finding that home certainly took the pair a while. They were children, after all, often taken pity on by strangers but for the most part fending for themselves.

Destarin was the right place to settle as Zaya discovered it was one of the few ports that went to her continent and so allowed for communication with her father, but less people also tried to assert their opinion over her bond with Yazi. She did not understand why they did not think it was okay she changed him to her liking, that she would not let him leave, if he was not meant to be with her then she would not have found him, that was how the young woman had been raised. In Destarin people seemed to understand more that cultures were different and that potentially Zaya's insistence he was meant to be with her was the magical fate she insisted it was. She was also able to find work utilising the herbal skills she had been raised on.

WHAT ARE YOU...?

species: primordial witch. weaknesses: mortal, old memories exhaust her, negative auras can make her ill. strengths: soulbond shapeshift (exclusive to yazi), dermatological potions and plant growing, ability to see and read auras, can touch someone and see ancestral memories. physical description: normal humanoid appearance. additional info: n/a.

zaya eze is played by paris and their fc is tyla

[saritawolff]

Ah, Velociraptor. The dromeosaur that has become a household name, thanks to the Jurassic Park series.

By now, most people know that Jurassic Park got Velociraptor wrong: it was scaled up to be more intimidating (and also to allow for a human to fit in the original costumes), it had pronated humanlike “hands” (also to allow for a manageable costume), the face was shortened and bulked up to make it seem more monitor lizard-like, and of course, it lacked feathers. These very un-raptorlike traits could be excused away by plot: the scientists who manufactured these “dinosaurs” used lizard and frog dna (for some reason) leading to scaly skin and pronated hands, and in later incarnations these iconic features were repeated to keep the raptors exciting and recognizable.

Unfortunately, as JP/JW forms the basis of most of the public’s understanding of dinosaurs, JP’s mutated version of velociraptor has bled into all forms of dinosaur media. Non-JP movies, books, art, video games, toys, even museums have been forced to present velociraptors as lizard-like movie monsters to engage the public. I like to call this version of velociraptor the Raptor™. The average person can tell you quite a bit about Raptors™, but not much about their namesake.

In reality, Velociraptor was a relatively standard dromeosaur. It was around 0.5 m (1 ft 7.5 in) tall at the hip and up to 2.07 m (6 ft 9.5 in) long. It had a long skull with a slightly upturned snout.

There were at least two species of Velociraptor: V. mongoliensis from Cretaceous Mongolia, and V. osmolskae from Cretaceous China. I have drawn V. mongoliensis here as there is a lot more material to go off of, with over a dozen specimens uncovered, including one locked in combat with a Protoceratops! This fossil is called “Fighting Dinosaurs” and is considered one of Mongolia’s national treasures. In the fossil, the Velociraptor is on its back and its right forelimb is being crushed in Protoceratops’ beak, while it slices at the Protoceratops’ neck with its feet. It is the cause of much speculation as to how these dinosaurs managed to be fossilized in this position.

As dromeosaur claws seem to be not quite sharp enough for disemboweling, It is suggested that dromeosaurs used their sickle claw for “raptor prey restraint.” In RPR the raptor would pin its prey down, using its claws to latch on tightly and balancing itself with its wings and stiff tail, then proceed to eat its prey alive. They had relatively weak jaws, so the grip of their “killing” claws, along with the force of them flapping their wings, would help pull meat from a struggling prey animal. Velociraptors also would have scavenged, as evidenced by an Azhdarchid (an animal too large for the raptor to kill) bone found in the gut of a specimen, as well as Velociraptor tooth marks on the jaw bone of a Protoceratops.

While there is some evidence of other dromeosaurs, such as Deinonychus, hunting cooperatively, there is no such evidence found for Velociraptor. All Velociraptor fossils so far have been found as isolated specimens, far from each other. For modern day raptors, the only one known to hunt cooperatively is the Harris Hawk, though Aplomado Falcons, Peregrine Falcons, and Golden Eagles will also sometimes hunt in pairs. “Pack” hunting seems to be an exception and not a rule for modern predatory dinosaurs, but it can’t exactly be ruled out for Velociraptors.

Velociraptor would have lived in an arid environment of sand dunes and intermittent streams, and most fossils seem to have been buried alive in sandstorms. The Mongolian V. mongoliensis (drawn here) would have lived alongside the ankylosaur Pinacosaurus grangeri, and (as mentioned) hunted and scavenged Protoceratops andrewsi, as well as the troodontid Saurornithoides mongoliensis, the oviraptor Oviraptor philoceratops’ chicks, and the halszkaraptorine Mahakala omnogovae, as well as small mammals, reptiles, birds, and insects.

[rubykgrant]

Since I have finished reading all of the books recently... here’s and RVB-His Dark Materials AU (well, mostly just having fun imagining the daemon companions~)

Church; very unusual situation, as he continues to have an ever-changing daemon even after adulthood, and each form of the daemon has a unique name and personality (while it isn’t common, he isn’t the only person like this). Sigma, a large raven that has a red-shimmer to his feathers. Theta, a small otter rabbit with rosy-brown fur (one pink eye, one blue). Delta, a western painted turtle. Eta and Iota, twin betta fish that are mirrored combinations of teal/yellow (they only show up when Church is near a water source that is safe for them, and are always together). Gamma, a large gray macaw that speaks in an odd mechanical tone (somewhat mimicking a music box). Omega, a wolverine with dark fur. There is also a barn owl daemon that doesn’t show up often, but is called Alpha. Another similar daemon is a golden masked owl, called Epsilon

Tucker; before his daemon settled, the favorite forms were various cats and a peacock (for looking flashy and flirty), but the final form turned out to be a strong red fox (with very beautiful fur)

Caboose; the final form of his daemon turned out to be a T-rex. Nobody has ever seen a legit DINOSAUR daemon before, but Caboose got one, and now he can just ride the thing around like it is no big deal (yes, the name of the daemon is Freckles)

Tex; her daemon always liked taking strong and powerful forms, so it wasn’t a surprise when the result was a great big grizzly bear (but considering how much the daemon enjoys being a source of comfort, this hints at Tex’s softer side). She totally impresses the Armored Bears with what a great warrior she is, so Tex’s daemon gets to have armor too

Kai; after many different forms, her daemon settled as a rainbow boa snake (with lovely scales that shine with multiple colors... though, Kai can’t really see it). Although a little unnerving at first, her daemon is more cuddly than creepy (Simmons is TERRIFIED of this thing)

Wash; his daemon’s forms had always been cats, and it just came natural to settle as one, becoming a sleek cheetah

Carolina; in a way, her daemon had been trying to remain a wolf, being in that form often... but when Carolina needed to escape from a dangerous situation and wasn’t able to walk on her own, her daemon became a kiger mustang. They wound up both being fond of the horse form, so that was what was eventually became set

Sarge; lots of animals known for being stubborn and tough when he was younger, but the daemon eventually became a Dutch Bantam rooster (has an attitude problem and some intense spurs)

Simmons; his daemon has gone through mostly small forms like mice, frogs, and crickets... even when the daemon tried for a bigger and more impressive form, they would both get nervous, and it wouldn’t stick. The daemon finally settled as a red deer (arguably still skittish, but they both have a bit of a mean streak, and with some sharp antlers the daemon can actually back-up Simmons when he mouths off)

Grif; he and his daemon have always enjoyed sleeping and snacking, so many of the previous forms were big and built for comfortable naps. Somehow, the daemon settled as a flying squirrel (which still likes sleeping and snacking, but the quick movements are a bit of a surprise... also, nobody understands why Grif is fine with this daemon form, but is still afraid of bats!)

Donut; his daemon settled on a gorilla after various forms like a flamingo and moths. Don’t question it

Lopez; nobody ever imagined a robot created to help with tasks would somehow have a daemon, and it was true that Lopez did not always have a “visible” one... but perhaps it was always there. After going to other worlds and dealing with different Dust experiments, when they all return home, Lopez just... has a daemon now. An armadillo, to be exact

Doc; like Church, his daemon continues to take different forms. One is a bluejay that likes to cause problems and generally be annoying, the other is a cardinal that tries to be more helpful and kind (there are actually more forms his daemon takes, but aren’t seen much by other people. these include a hedgehog and a porcupine)

[savefrog]

That last post is so funny. Besides the whole "GIVING TREX FEATHERS IS LITERALLY GAY. ITS LGBTS RUINING EVERYTHING"

I especially love the "DO YOU NEED TO SEE T REX SHIT TO FEEL SAFE" as though shitting was part of the evil lgbt leftist agenda?? Shitting and pooping propoganda???

But. The irony of them acknowledging T Rex did all these things but depicting it as anything but a brainless death monster is "to make you feel safe" when it's so obvious that they're the one who feels discomforted by not being catered too and is wanting the safe unchallenging depiction back is both so stupid yet unsurprising

And you know what. MY NEW HOT TAKE: MAYBE T REX IS GAY. (Metaphorically)

This is not dead serious but. I have thoughts. Here's my essay based on the gutfelt comradery I feel toward t Rex: Every accusation from the conservative right to anyone/thing being outwardly LGBT is filled with mentions of Safe Spaces and catering and the softening of society. But they're the ones who are deeply uncomfortable, not ok handling their worldview being challenged and wanting to make the world their "Safe Space" by asking people to conform when it's not their damn fucking business (but anyone else existing is "shoving it down their throats). They think they're rebels just because they're being assholes and facing the repercussions.

In reality it's LGBT people who are the ones being rebellious, who are tough as shit for not conforming and being themselves and challenging society. Just because society is becoming more accepting doesn't mean it's easy at all. And science supports LGBT people.

Depicting T rex with feathers is something that CHALLENGES people. It took a long time for it to even reach the public and even now it is scoffed at for shallow reasons. Even with science supporting feathers on dinosaurs (SCIENCE NOTE: It's still unlikely adult T rex was feathered, but likely young t rex was. But the rejection I'm talking about isn't "T rex would've overheated and we only have evidence of its predescors having feathers not first hand evidence-" im talking about the "ITS NOT JURASSIC PARK" kind of rejection) people won't accept it to the point that it took this long for the Jurassic World series to acknowledge it (ANOTHER NOTE: We actually knew velociraptor likely had feathers by the time the movie was made.)

And similarly, depicting T rex as an actual living animal that cared for its young and slept and probably didn't Roar and probably spent most of its time chilling out like most large predators do is CHALLENGING. This is the "rebellious stance" in mainstream media because it challenges the decades old view of dinosaurs as defunct slow lizards that were replaced by something "better". (Theres even something to be said about how Christian Creationist viewpoints drove this thinking) People FLIP when T rex doesn't match what THEY think it should be. They selfishly want a cool movie monster and don't consider that a living animal exists outside of what humans WANT it to be.

Both T rex and LGBT people are called soft and weak just for being true to themselves, when doing so is actually an active battle.

They both have science on their side, and yet people insist it is wrong simply because it doesn't match what THEY feel. They blame realistic depictions (of lgbt couples, youth or just dinosaurs not killing something) for being Too Soft as though we must be ready to KILL at ALL TIMES. (GIVE T REX GUNS) Both are easier for mainstream people to consume when they're exaggerated for show, but when it comes to real life, people are once again uncomfortable with what they aren't used to.

And that side has recently lost in a way. People eventually learn. The scale has gone to the other side in support of LGBT people, and feathers on dinosaurs. But this has created the illusion that these are now just status quo and to oppose them is rebellion, when historically that is not true and historically you are just adhering to inflexibility; their mindset didn't change, but much of society did learn and grow.

And the absurdity of just being true to life and science being "The Rebellious Side" feels so absurd.

And the ignorant only take pride in rebellion when it supports their shortsightedness.

Whereas the rebellion of being gay, trans and believing dinosaurs had feathers is a rebellion based on open-mindedness and learning new things.

Anyway that's my really stupid essay on why I feel a connection to T rex and why its a potential LGBT symbol. Also I want the gays to claim T rex en masse to make that Facebook guy mad.

Also t rex was gay and trans. It's called T rex for fucks sake !!!!! he's trans masc I saw him wearing novelty button up shirts.

[xaallo]

Bit of a follow-up to another post I did a while ago.

Been meaning to do this for a while: the many different inspirations that went into the Margaven! Margs come in a variety of forms, but most margavens are dancers. Here’s your standard marg of ambiguous gender. We make a lot a jokes here about what they are, but within those jokes there seems to be a discrepancy about margs are based on. Some people see a cow, some people see a deer, a horse for some folks, a lion for others, and some people even see a fuzzy dragon. I think that’s all very interesting (and an indication that I mixed my species pretty well if no one animal sticks out!) So, without first ado, let’s take a look~

1 - The Ridge Mane is actually based on equines, particularly zebras and horses. The neck and tail may be connected by a dorsal mane.

2 - The Horns or Antlers are primarily based on Deer or Bovines, but can ultimately be inspired by anything with antlers. The comb antlers were the product of me thinking “what if they had sideburns, but horns instead of hair”. Ironically, I don’t draw many comb margavens lmfao. Like reindeer, both sexes have antlers and like moose, the more symmetrical the rack, the more attractive the wielder.

3 - Margaven ears have a variety of shapes, but they are generally canid in shape. This lad, and Xaallo, both have ears inspired by the god Anubis, who is a jackal. Dobermans were also an inspiration; some margavens with naturally floppy ears will actually get them cropped. It’s considered professional and intimidating.

4 - The eye of the margaven is perhaps it’s only feature that hasn’t changed a bit since the very first iteration of the margaven. They are actually a combination of Kerrigan from Starcraft and Bonobos, the lesser known cousin of the Chimp. The shape of the iris comes from Kerrigan and the black sclera comes from the ape!

5 - The barbels sometimes found on margavens come from both catfish and eastern lungs, moreso the dragons through. Margaven were supposed to be the oldest of the species and the whiskers sort of give them a majesty and implied wisdom the other aliens don’t have (ironically, only Xaallo has barbels at the moment lol). While we’re here, the head shape of the margaven was loosely based on Aladar from the Dinosaurs movie, just mostly fuzzy. Not sure why I kept the snout scaley...

6 - Speaking of Majesty, the wreath mane comes right on down from lions! As a former fan of the lion king, it was only natural one of my favorite animals made it into my original species. The wreath mane would encompass both blue and red lines.

7 - The forearm scales were actually pulled directly out of the furry fandom off of the lesser seen and depicted anthropomorphic avian characters. In particular, from a certain blue jay and griffon.

8 - Naturally, though, I put my own spin on the forearm scales but having them end in cloven claws rather than avian talons. Margavens weren’t birds nor were they true mammals. Cloven hands were borrowed from minotaurs of mythology, particularly the ones from the first Narnia movie.

9 - The body of a Margaven is actually supposed to be more lycan inspired (though my art may not be expressing that very well...). Particularly, the Van Helsing werewolf. I was obsessed with that movie as a kid, and that werewolf is still the best depiction of them, over 15 years later. Margavens can shift from two the six limbs as needed, similar to the werewolves. The decision to add four arms came from Goro, Kintaro, and Four Arms from Mortal Kombat and Ben 10 respectively. Ironically, my main lad only has two arms lmfao

10 - The hooves of the Margaven are primarily reindeer-like; large and wide to prefect sinking in snow or sand. However, they can be full-hooved or one-toed, like a horse, but this is uncommon. Only about a third of the population have this hoof type and the majority of those are clashers. Hooves may have feathering, which of course comes from horses.

11 - And finally the tail. Looks like a wolf, but it’s actually more long-haired feline; like a maine coon. Most margs have big, bushy tails, short tails, or heavy tails.

[iamthekaijuking]

My revised cladogram with frontier monsters minus paolumu because I can’t figure out what it is. There was some changes and slight reclassifications. It runs on the same assumption as my last flying wyvern tree (which can be found here) but with a few differences that should be noted.

An updated 2022 version can be found here

I now think that scansoriopterygids specifically as ancestors isn’t a definitive answer or the best. It works well enough but some sort of paravian with similar hand structures works as well. Plus there’s the possibility that scansoriopterygids might be oviraptorsaurids, and I don’t exactly know what kinds of feather types they had, but I do know that the feather types on various flying wyverns is also present on paraves (also I just like paraves more). So now I personally think that the ancestor of flying wyverns was some of of parave with styliforms like Yi: think a sort of omnipedal dromeosaur with leathery wings.

Additionally, it’s rather hard for a theropod to become quadrupedal due the wish bones and wrists of theropods making quadrupedal locomotion very difficult. So the climbing trees with hands hypothesis doesn’t work since that doesn’t put the same pressures on hands as walking horizontally does. A burrowing theropod is a more likely scenario, as that’s one of the few situations that would force a theropod to become quadrupedal and burrowing animals are more likely to survive extinction events (in this case the K-T extinction). Their large powerful arms would allow them to scale trees, and some would grow a patagium and styliforms. Then most of my previously purposed theory would play out at that point.

Bird wyverns are put as a sister group to flying wyverns as I think most of them are paraves too, although I have their group as a bit of a wastebasket taxon.

I added the origin Wyvern and Wyvern rex because even though they’re slendom mentioned they’re important as the most basal members of both the god wyverns and flying wyverns proper.

The addition of frontier monsters really cleared up and fleshed out the Tigrex family, and Hyujikiki allowed me to finally figure out where Barioth goes. Both are vaguely mammalian and have very similar forelimbs. @eightleggedfiend pointed out that magnamalo’s finger blades look like repurposed styliforms/pseudophalanges, so it felt appropriate to place the fart tiger as a basal flightless member of the Barioth/Hyujikiki family. Pariapuria is a weird member of the rex family that split off early.

Scalebats were a little hard to pin down as they’re fairly derived. I heavily considered the idea of paolumu relatives but I couldn’t find enough similarities between them. So considering their wings which are entirely adapted for flight and not walking, three unfused fingers, and two pseudophalanges, I placed them as derived members of a basal group of bipedal wyverns. Specifically the cave wyverns due to habitat. They’re a bit hard to see on the tree because apparently nobody has actually captioned the icon from the game like most monsters. I initially put cave wyverns as Pariapuria relatives that were unrelated to scale bats, which meant that khezu became bipedal independently of most flying wyverns. But then I realized Pukei has a cloaca on the end of its tail like the cave wyverns and is a brood parasite (which could possibly lead to ectoparasitism), which led to me completely reclassifying all of these monsters and making Pukei+scale bats+cave wyverns a grouping. The larvae of the cave wyverns might have also originally been like normal dinosaur hatchlings (helpless and grubby) but eventually became the larvae we know today as the cave wyverns became endoparasitic.

Pukei is more basal than the scale bats and is close to the ancestor of all cave wyverns.

The astalos/seregios group got placed as a sister group to legiana and it’s relatives. Berukyurosu and it’s relatives cleared the mystery of where legiana lies, as they too went all out on their pseudophalanges, and the structures supporting legiana’s hip wings could be homologous to the segmented hip whips of the Berukyurosu family. The ancestor of the seregios/Berukyurosu likely had a large number of pseudophalanges, which means the wings of astalos is a return to the more conventional flying Wyvern form.

I placed espinas and it’s relative as the most basal member of the ��massive shell wyverns” group, with Gravios and co being a sister group to the blos family.

Poborubarumu got placed as a stem or basal “massive shell wyvern” due to its shell (which is admittedly mostly rubbery), extensive head extremities, and number of pseudophalanges. It also has flying ancestors.

Bazelgeuse got a major reclassification as being related to the Raths. Looking at bazel’s concept art, it turns out it does have pseudophalanges. Three just like the Raths. It, along with Anorupatisu and Gurenzeburu paint a better picture of the Rath family tree as they all have similar wings, are armored, and reasonably good fliers. Bazel got a somewhat close placement to the Raths because it has a flame sack and chin spike.

I made Wing drakes a sister group to the Halks, and reclassified remobra (a snake wyvern) as a Cortos relative.

End note: The tree was once again revised and the text was rewritten to include details I added from reblogs that I have since deleted so that everything can be one cohesive post.

[herecomesaspecialghoul]

Special! If you could have any type of animal in the world as a pet, what would you choose?

Oh, golly, now that is a thinker... I suppose I must first consider the parameters, like, does this question encompass extinct animals? Mythological? Will I be granted also the means to keep my animal well-fed and happy? I know from my own experience and also from being so involved with Copia and the rats that enrichment is quite important in the wellbeing of animals, so I would hate to answer only to be realising I do not have the necessary space or whatever to keep the animal, uhhhh, a happy one. But, I suppose you mean this question to be one of those, uhhhh, "in a perfect world" sort of ones, perhaps? In that case... Well, it is still such a difficult question to consider when you, uhhh, consider the grand pantheon of fauna this world has and does contain. May I perhaps settle down on a, uhh, top three, currently living animals? Otherwise I might, eheheeh, ramble...

First- not that these are in an order of most to least wanted- is a hoatzin. Look at this thing:

A perhaps innocuous sort of bird, but when it is a, uhh, when it is a newly hatched bird, the hoatzin possesses two claws on each wing! Truly a living fossil sort of dinosaur bird, yeah? The also fucking stink, I have read. But I come from Hell, which is not so pleasant in aromas, eheheheheheehheh. All ghouls have a sort of baseline smell of sulfur to them. Our elemental bindings determine the more, uhhh, noticeable "top notes" of our scents... Actually now that I am thinking about it all, if I had a pet hoatzin, and spent much time around it, I might end up smelling like... shitty embers. Uhhh. Second is a pangolin.

It looks quite ferocious with those fore claws and sharp scales, but it is primarily concerned with ingesting insects, not peoples. And the babies cling to the tails of the mother, fucking adorable! Unfortunately, pangolins are extremely endangered, cruelly hunted and killed for those beautiful scales. If I could I would rescue one, I think. I think that would be a good thing to do with this awesome power you have granted me, eheeheheheh. But also, I would face the dilemma of whether it is better to save an endangered animal and have it alone, or find a way to reintroduce it amongst its species... Huh.

Third- This one vulture... I have already named a bird, but, fuck it, this is my fantasy pet, so I can list a second! Anyway- The Bone-Eater Vulture!

I think it is also called a bearded vulture, or a lamb eater? Whatever the name, I simply find them incredibly cool, and very, uhhhh, "metal," you know? They eat bones! They rub their faces with red dirt to look gory and intimidating! My unglamoured hands largely resemble their talons! They don't look so much "bearded" to me, though. Those striking face feathers seem more as eye makeup... Perhaps I should show these vultures to Copia, convince him to change up his current Papal skull paint, eheheheheehehe. There is just something quite stately and badass about them. Though I do not have bones, I find myself wondering if a bearded vulture would take a curious bite of my face plate... "Love nip," maybe?

Hold on, I need to now look for how big these guys are. I am imagining one perched on my shoulder and we both have one wing outstretched looking so cool and ferocious...

"... frequently over 1 metre long, with a wingspread of nearly 3 metres..." Well, fuck, no shoulder bone-eater for me, then.

We would still find a way to pose together. We must find a way...

Thank you for the question!

[crystalgirl259]

Guilty Pleasures Chapter 1

SUMMARY: A demon Kai and an angel Zane, longtime acquaintances who, having grown accustomed to life on Earth as representatives of Heaven and Hell, seek to prevent the coming of the Armageddon...

****************

Current theories on the creation of the universe stated that if it were created at all and didn't just start it came into being about fourteen billion years ago. The Earth was generally supposed to be about four and a half billion years old. These dates were incorrect. Some medieval scholars put the date of the creation at 3760 BC while others put creation as far back as 5508 BC. But these were also incorrect. Archbishop James Ussher claimed that Heaven and the Earth were created on Sunday, the twenty-first of October, 4004 BC, at nine in the morning.

This too was incorrect, by almost a quarter of an hour.

It was created at 9:13 in the morning. The whole business with the fossilized dinosaur skeletons was a joke that paleontologists haven't seen yet. This proved that God did not play dice with the universe. He played an ineffable game of his own devising. For everyone else, it was like playing poker in a pitch-dark room, for infinite stakes, with a dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiled all the time. To understand the true significance of what that means, we need to begin earlier.

A little more than 6,000 years earlier, to be precise.

Just after the beginning. It started, as it will end, with a garden, in this case, the Garden of Eden, and with an apple. It was a nice day, but all the days had been nice. There had been rather more than seven of them so far, and rain hadn't been invented yet. But the storm clouds gathering east of Eden suggested that the first thunderstorm was on its way, and it was going to be a big one...

****************

Zane fretted as he stood near the lip of the stone ledge, his shining robes shining in the light along with the white, almost glowing, feathers of his large wings. The first two humans off in the distance, Adam and Eve, had barely made their way out into the new world and they were both already in danger. A large male lion made a beeline from nowhere toward them and was now intending on making them extinct. The young angel didn't think this was going to go well.

Thank goodness they weren't unarmed, the angel consoled himself.

Before they left, he gave Eve his shurikens of ice gifted to him by the high angels. He was surprised to see Adam wielding a sword of fire, a weapon not of Heaven, but considering what had happened, he wasn't too concerned about it. Knowing that they had means of protection helped Zane's mind rest, but only a little. The weather was fair, aside from the rapidly building clouds. At least that was a comfort to know. A kind, warm breeze fluttered his clean robe around in a playful way.

It felt wonderful to the angel, but even better how it ran through his unsheathed white wings.

He flexed them out to get a better feel. It felt good to have them free from their confines. He had been practicing getting used to having them put away for his assignment on this new planet. They had warned him upstairs that he couldn't afford to be seen by 'God's Little Projects' down here. Those were their words, not his own. Before Zane embarked, God himself told him they wouldn't be able to handle it due to now learning 'jealousy', whatever that meant.

When he asked him what it was, he said the young angel would find out in time, plus all the other ones.

He still didn't know why God didn't tell him, but God had always worked in mysterious ways. Don't interfere too much. That was the rule all angels lived by. Be ever watchful, a mentor if needed, provide guidance if asked, but that was it. Not too difficult, or so they kept telling him, and already he broke the rule. Now he had more trouble on the mind. There was only so much to do when watching over the birth of a new species. To be so limited to what needs to be done simply wasn't fair.

Not that he condoned rules should be broken.

But this was not going to be easy. His toes curled on the hard surface when he felt that other presence approach closer. It was a sort of tugging sensation that came from deep inside him. He thought it was curious. That never happened before, except when that thing first showed up. He knew it was nearby anyway. At times it felt as though it was hovering just out of sight, watching. But he had hoped it would leave. It felt different than anything he had ever known, and he didn't like it one bit.

Not when everything was so new.

So he promptly chose to ignore it. It was just a lowly serpent demon anyway. Granted, that filthy Hell beast was most likely the reason he had a chance of being fired before he could do his job. Perhaps everyone would understand. They were angels, after all, forgiveness and compassion were at the very root of their cores. Zane rubbed his temple. He had only one job. He hadn't even been here for very long and already he morally mucked it up.

He would be the laughing stock upstairs.

The only other thing he could possibly get wrong now is if Eden caught fire. Then he would officially be out of a job. Zane started wondering if he should have been more aggressive about it and really told that serpent what for. He never was very good at this soldier of Heaven thing or asserting himself in general. Zane truly believed that someone else would be better suited for this than he.

"What do you make of it?" A voice suddenly asked, shattering the silence. Zane jumped, the voice startling him from his own musings. He hadn't noticed he was no longer alone. He was shocked that the creature had yet to attack him, wondering if they were friendly, but that would be outlandish because the very thought is preposterous, blasphemous even. Their kind would never mingle with his. Not without bloodshed, anyway. It simply wasn't done.

The angel turned to his left and couldn't help but do a double-take to the creature next to him.

It was male, dressed in dark red robes, with amber snake-like eyes, beautiful tanned skin, a toned body, and brown hair shaped in a way that reminded Zane of fire. The back of the demon's hands and up his arms were dusted with dark red snake scales. His finger and toenails were incredibly sharp and black. Zane couldn't take his eyes off it, completely transfixed. He almost didn't believe that that was the serpent. He didn't know it had a vessel, let alone a silky pair of feathered, crimson wings with black tips.

When Zane saw the wings he realized that this was not just some ordinary demon.

It was one of the Fallen. That was fascinating to Zane, as he had never met one of them. In fact, if Zane was entirely honest with himself, this dark one was a mixture of striking, exotic, and becharming. Now it was staring at him with those amber serpent eyes. For some reason, they didn't repulse the angel. It was then that Zane remembered that the snake had asked him something and it was probably best to respond. He should also stop thinking of it as an 'it'.

That demon was evidently much more than that and Zane suddenly felt like he was being rude, even if the demon couldn't read minds.

Zane smiled awkwardly, then concluded he had no idea what the creature said.

"Sorry, what?" Zane asked and the brunette pointed out towards the humans.

"That, right there, the whole tiger thing." He clarified and Zane followed the demon's finger.

"That's a lion." Zane corrected.

"Whatever, don't you think it's a bit much? I mean, they just got out, are finding their footing, and the first thing they come across on this big round planet is this aggressive beast?"

"No one said it would be easy," Zane said, even if the other had a point.

"It's trying to eat them!" The demon gawked at him.

"Look, I don't like it any more than you do, uh...?" Zane trailed off when he realized he hadn't gotten the demon's name if it had one. The brunette quickly caught on to why Zane paused and smiled faintly.

"Kai." He answered the unasked question.

"Kai, thank you, but these things are not our decisions to make."

"You're not about to sprout some Holier-Than-Thou jibberish at me are you?" Kai asked as he gave him a peculiar look. Zane wasn't sure how to answer that. That was all anyone ever talked about upstairs. The very idea that someone wouldn't want to, let alone calling it jibberish, preach about it and discuss its many glorious wonders was unheard of. When the angel didn't answer, the dark one rolled his eyes.

"You were, weren't you?"

"There's nothing wrong with that." Zane countered.

"No no, of course not." Kai mocked. "You're within your right to justify a reason as to why God's human race failed at the get-go."

"I'm not trying to do any such thing!" Zane said, growing flustered. "B-Besides, look! The male seems to be fending its adversary off brilliantly on his own! They're obviously capable of taking care of themselves; I only hope that this will be the worst of it, at least for today." He frowned in concern as a roll of thunder broke in, causing them both to look around for the source. Detecting it was from the sky, they exchange looks then went back to watching the battle for survival in front of them.

They stood in oddly comfortable silence before Kai broke it.

"Wait, so that's a lion?" He gasped, almost in awe.

"Yes, It is."

"Never seen one of them before."

"Sorry?" Zane blinked in confusion.

"I said, I've never seen one of those before."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I've never seen a lion before, so I would never have known they looked like that." He shrugged and Zane could only stare. "What?" Kai asked in a rather prickly manner.

"Nothing," The angel squeaked as he turned away, a slight blush framing the tips of his ears. He didn't realize he was ogling again. "Just, find it surprising that one dead animal isn't familiar with an equally dangerous one."

"It's not like I was there when they were created, was a little bit busy with another matter at that time, as you well know." Kai returned as another boom of thunder rumbled closer over their heads. Only this time it had been accompanied by a shocking bright snap of light that streaked across the sky. Both of their sets of wings flinched outward and lightly fluffed at the surprise of it. Zane let out an embarrassed chuckle and willed his feathers to settle down.

He could see out of the corner of his eye the other trying to do the same.

He cleared his throat and thought it best to continue where they left off.

"So, therefore, am I left to understand that, based on what you've said, you've never witnessed a tiger as well?" He asked and Kai immediately clammed up.

"Why do you ask?"

"It's a simple question."

"I don't know about that."

"Really? Do tell, I'd love to hear it."

"Has it gotten a bit stuffy out here?"

"No, I find it quite pleasing in all truthfulness."

"More cloudy things are building up."

"Stop trying to change the subject, please." Zane all but begged and Kai eyed him carefully.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm being ridiculed?"

"I would never," He said with all honesty. Kai looked around as if someone might hear, grimaced, and leaned in.

"Promise you won't tell?"

"Oh, may the Lord himself strike me down if I should ever utter a syllable to another living soul," Zane promised and he clasped his hands as if in prayer. Kai gave him a doubtful look, but eventually relented and grumbled with an obnoxious huff.

"No, are you satisfied now?! I've never seen a tiger, a lion, or fucking whale!" The demon cried as he closed his eyes and flinched again when more thunder rumbled closer. The sky was turning all below it several shades darker, growing ever so closer to swallowing the bright sun. The angel was oblivious to this, however.

"If it makes you feel any better, I've never seen a whale either." Zane smiled. It took a moment, but Zane noticed the smirk flit across that surprisingly pretty face.

"It doesn't," Kai replied as he glanced at him all the same with those gemstone eyes and once again they slipped into a pleasant silence. Zane suddenly had a thought. If Kai didn't seem to know about other animals, did he know about himself?

"Now Uhm, don't take this the wrong way but, you do know what you are, correct?" He asked carefully.

"You mean besides an angel-turned-demon who's damned for all eternity?" Kai said in a sarcastic tone.

"Yes."

"Then, of course, I know."

"Excellent! Care to say it out loud?"

"I already told you; my name's Kai," The demon grinned. He felt his heart miss a beat, and not in a good way. The thump was alarmingly prominent like his vessel-body was trying to alert him to take note of what this creature was saying. There was no possible way this demon could be this naive. Something else was amiss.

"Yes, I know your name, but I'm asking if you know what you are; do you know what you are?" He asked again and Kai's expression gradually changed from enjoyment to being perplexed. His brow furrowed as he stared off, eyes flicking around as if searching for something but simply grew more confused.

"What am I?" Kai finally asked, getting annoyed by the question.

"A serpent, dear," Zane replied for the demon. Evidently, Kai's face fell back to puzzlement once more and Zane's mouth fell open. It was evident that word meant nothing to the demon. "You don't know what a serpent is, do you?" He asked, almost sadly, Kai shrugged it off.

"What of it?"

"That's what you are!"

"So? What's so important with needing to know the ins and outs of a serpent? Why do you care if I know or not?" Kai snapped, experimenting with the new word in his mouth.

"No need to get upset, I was only trying to help," Zane said as he raised his arms in defense to try to quickly diffuse the tension. He watched Kai focus on the humans again, and it was clear something he had said or done bothered the demon immensely. He felt terrible, and then suddenly that scent came back. Only recently Zane had caught this aroma in the air. It comes and goes with the wind, but the longer he had been here the less deniable it had become.

Never had it been invasive or overbearing, but the angel noticed he could pick it out no matter what kind of stronger scents surrounded it.

Right now, this very moment, it was hitting him stronger than it ever had before.

"Looks like the lion's down," Kai added, noting how successful the humans were doing so far. Another rumble of thunder accompanied by that bright flash pushed ever closer. Perhaps Kai had caught a whiff of the scent?

"Do you smell that?" The angel asked, sniffing the air.

"What?" Kai asked and Zane realized he had made a poor judgment.

"Never mind." The angel shrugged off awkwardly, but thankfully the demon didn't push it. They stood there in silence for a short while, before Kai glanced over at Zane, and his snake eyes suddenly narrowed.

"Wait, where are your shurikens anyway? I thought you had a pair that froze anything they touched?" He asked and Zane froze in fear. "Did you have one, or didn't you? Because now I'm confused."

"How do you mean?" The angel asked as he began to feel uneasy.

"Well, your presence here no longer makes sense, so what are you doing here Snowflake?"

"I'm-"

"Are you lost?"

"No, I'm... you're trying to confuse me." Zane accused as his heart started to race,

"I'm trying to confuse you?" Kai almost laughed, and this made Zane even more defensive.

"Yes! That's what your kind do and I will not be swayed into it!" He stated in the strongest voice he could muster at that moment, his chest puffing out slightly as he did. Zane knew he was being cornered. He knew this whole thing was a setup to get him to lose ground or faith or doubt himself in his duties for the choices he'd made and how thanks to him everything was ruined. But that wasn't what upset Zane. He was upset that he fell for it.

He had failed again.

God must have been testing him early and he has failed another one. Or perhaps not? He may have caught it in time, he could still redeem himself if he stayed strong.

"You're the one who's doing the confusing here," Kai lectured. "You're supposed to have some freezing shurikens, which I could've sworn you had, and that would make sense for a Cherub to have in order to guard the Garden of Eden, but let's face it, you're terrible at guarding, and you don't have your shurikens so I ask you again; what are you doing here?" He scowled and a boom of thunder emphasized the demon's point. Zane took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, eyes closed.

All he had to do was be honest, true, and stop being distracted by the alluring visage before him.

"I...I gave them away."

"You gave them away?!"

"Shh! Not so loud!" He panicked, already forgetting the pep-talk he gave himself. "I don't want the head office to hear! Besides, they're not lost or anything; they're right there, see? The humans have it now." The angel explained and pointed to the humans slowly fading in the distance with a pair of remarkably bright-looking objects in the hands of one of them. Kai looked back to the tiny figures, then to the angel. Then back to the figures, and once again to the angel.

Then suddenly, what Zane could only describe as a ridiculously big stupid grin spread over the demon's face, the creature did an unexplainable thing.

He started to laugh, laugh, and laugh some more. It became so severe they turned into fits, gripping his stomach. That damned thing lost its balance and fell to the floor. He rolled around, it wracking his body to near spasm levels, and during it all, he had the utter nerve to speak to the angel at the same time.

"Oh, I would love to be there for your first report! Glad to know I'm not the only one who interfered." He cackled, and his grin grew when he saw the confusion on Zane's face. "What? Where did you think Adam got that flaming sword from?" He laughed and Zane gasped at the realization that Kai had been the one to give Adam the sword, a weapon of Hell. "I hope it doesn't turn out that they aren't too bright yet when it comes to violent weaponry and the use of fire and ice so they somehow kill themselves!"

Zane's paled, even more, when Kai's words sank in.

The angel finally realized that he could get in a great deal of trouble for this. Everything Kai pointed out was more than plausibly true and may happen once the humans were out of sight. This was serious. Even so, he couldn't stop a giggle bubble up to the surface. Watching Kai, he found out, was contagious. It started small but soon grew to a level that was painful to hold in. He tried to stifle it, tried to bite it back with his teeth against his tongue, but it was hopeless.

Zane covered his mouth and did his best to hide it from the cackling demon.

"That's not funny, I beseech you, stop laughing!" He tried to say normally but cracked on the last word. He clenched a fist and nearly begged the other to spare him. Kai rolled to face him and Zane was almost lost again when he saw tears running down his cheeks. He had no choice but to turn away and fisted his hands tightly by his sides. "No! No, I refuse to believe in your trickery! This isn't a joke!" The angel yelled, not caring what he said so long as this lark would end.

Within time, Kai calmed down, breathing heavily.

"They're going to be fine, Snowflake, I'm only teasing you," He said while a chuckle or two still found its way out. "Look how well they have handled themselves against their first threat, and they've only just set foot out there; if I hadn't given them that sword and you hadn't given them the shurikens they would be torn to pieces by now, we saved them." Zane heard from behind him a tired sigh. The loudest thunder roll cracked out, the very appearance of the clouds above threatening their next level to come soon.

The flutter from inside Zane's chest came back.

But, somehow it was stronger this time around. He turned back to face the other being and took notice of how Kai laid there. Wings relaxed, hands resting on the stomach, one leg bent. He was comfortable. Kai, an evil enemy, was content to lay there in his presence. Zane could easily smite him. He would technically be within reason, for what Kai had done concerning the apple. It would be simple, quick, and clean. But that never even crossed his pure mind.

He strode over to the brunette and reached down a hand with a winning smile of his own.

"My name is Zane; it's nice to meet you." He introduced and Kai's eyes widened. He wasn't expecting that. He stared at the hand as if he had never seen its kind before. He appeared unsure of what step to take next. Zane gave him time, not pulling away yet. Soon enough, Kai eventually smiled.

"Hello, Zane, it's nice to meet you, too," He replied and reached up with his own hand, clasped the inviting one, and was hoisted up. Zane nearly dropped the demon, however. Once they touched, the contact was not at all what he was expecting. He cried out, yanking his hand away, and jumped back. His other hand clasped it around the wrist and pulled it close. Zane stared from his hand to Kai in either astonishment or fear. He couldn't decide which it was.

Kai just raised an eyebrow at him, perplexed as to what had happened.

"Oh! Forgive me but, you're so hot! To the touch, I mean!" He stammered as he did his best to explain but not offend.

"Naturally." Kai shrugged. Zane shook his head, confused.

"This is a normal occurrence?"

"Of course," The demon said casually, amused by the reaction from the angel. He crossed his arms, took a deep, over-exaggerated breath. "Being a fallen angel, or more accurate, a demon from the fiery pits of Hell now, so to answer your question; being boiling hot is normal for demons like me," He smiled. The next boom of thunder rumbled on for some time. It was as if the sky was growling its impatience for being ignored.

"Is that all?"

"Yep," Kai replied, but he didn't seem to care. The brunette then opened his mouth and exhaled. The air in front of it appeared to ripple several inches outward. Zane walked up to it, mesmerized, and like a baby who was still testing out the world for the first time, he reached out a hand and ran it through it. It was warm, heated air coming out. It wasn't painful in the slightest. The angel beamed as he wiggled his fingers around it. He kept it up until Kai closed his mouth, grinning at Zane's blush.

Zane was about to agree, then stopped himself and wondered why this was brought up in the first place.

"Anywho, going back to your shuriken conversation with His Almighty, if you can't find humor even in the direst situations, then what's the point of it?" He asked and Zane visibly shook his wings at the way Kai mockingly talked about the Lord. Ignoring that, however, Zaen wasn't sure what he thought of that advice, but he secretly tucked it away in the back of his mind all the same.

"You'll be alright, he loves all of you unquestionably," Kai added and Zane paused. Did he hear that right? Had a fallen angel, a being who willfully rebelled against God just casually admit the Lord adored all of them? Without a second thought about it? What was going on here? Zane turned his head and glanced at the demon. The brunette was rigid stiff. Amber eyes hard, staring intently straight ahead. Jaw clenched. He could see the dark one's fingers turning white from how hard he was gripping his own arms.

So it was a mistake.

He didn't mean to say it. Now at least something about this villain makes sense to him.

"I wonder how far up we are?" Kai suddenly blurted out with a jerk of his head, and then just took off, running over and standing right on the edge of the wall cliff. His red and black wings thrusting out just so as to counter the body weight from tumbling over. Zane gasped and ran after but stayed himself some steps later. For a split moment, he chastised himself for the idea of wanting to save the enemy. But most of the time he was too busy worrying about the brunette disappearing suddenly from his sight.

The wind had picked up some, and was a tad rougher on Kai's clothes and hair, yanking and blowing it around like a dare to take another step.

The demon suddenly moaned, but Zane couldn't tell what he meant. The angel moved fast and was standing next to them once the groan had been uttered.

"Are you alright?" He panicked.

"I don't like heights," The demon mumbled. The eyes were closed and they appeared to be swaying.

"Then get away from the edge, you silly thing!" Zane shouted, grasping the other and guiding him down to safety. When he unclosed his eyes, he got defensive.

"I just wanted to see how far down it was!" He hissed angrily, but Zane just rolled his eyes and neither of them said anything more on the subject. Water from the skies began to fall. When it hit them they shied away from it on the first drops. Zane figured it out quicker than the other one did. Kai seemed a little lost to this experience, unsure of what to do or how to react to it. Kai must have sensed eyes on him, for he turned to catch the angel's icy orbs.

Zane, at this point he stopped trying to reason it, opened an arm, lifted a wing, and beckoned the other in.

To say he was surprised the demon actually moved closer was a hardball to juggle. So many unusual and unexpected things happened in such as short time. He wasn't even sure how he felt. He didn't seem the least bit repulsed when Kai stood so close they nearly touched shoulders, and he could feel the heat of the other's temperature radiating onto him. The demon kept glancing at him, shifting on his bare feet. Eventually, he opened his mouth and asked what seemed to be on his mind.

"No hard feelings between us, yes? After all; I was only doing what I was so ordered to, on pain of repercussion, and all that." He said, looking a little nervous. This made the pale angel go quiet. Unsure of whether to trust what this thing was saying or if he was lying to him and this was planned the whole time. Whichever it was, he hadn't the heart to be cruel.

"No, I daresay, no hard feelings; it's too early for that yet." He replied and another silence surrounded them. Every once in a while, they would both stick their hands out to catch the water droplets on their palms then bring them in under the protection of the angel's wing. Even if they both refused to admit it, Kai and Zane felt at peace at that moment. Where it was just the two of them, huddled together as they experienced the first rainfall with the young planet Earth...