#combat ostriches

[funnyscienceman]

i think one thing i'm never gonna get over about the movie is that the memorial wall full of art — some of the drawings are of shadow nimona. i can't get screenshots right now but like. shadow nimona smiling. beaming. getting hearts and smiles and hugs, from the kids, from other shadow creatures. it's just. it's so sweet. like it's the kids who drew that taking all that raw hurt and vulnerability from the final act and giving it the hug and empathy and solidarity it needed. and it's like, look at nimona's line after the kwispy incident, look at the cereal ad, the board game billboard; look at gloreth being taught hate, and then look at the drawings. and i just lose it every time i think about it

[stinkylandersuwu]

name headcanons

i *really* like the idea of codenames/stage names in place of proper existing names here, so i threw together some names + some additional headcanons. please enjoy <3

*putting transcripts in case you can't read my garbage handwriting

Mack Thresher "Terrafin" (he/him)

Despite being a dirt shark, Terrafin isn't quite the same species of dirt shark as the others in Iron Jaw Gulch

He's been off-duty a long time, but still tends to find himself acting on lifeguard instincts.

Probably trains people in boxing sessions in his off-time

Liang Xià "Flameslinger" (he/they)

While they do wear a blindfold, he does see through the flame on the tip of his arrows

He is trilingual and speaks English, Elvish, and French*. Elvish being his first.

Ambivert. Usually loves being around people, but every now and again, HAS to shut themselves in.

*he learned French solely because he thought it'd sound cool. Very likely also forces the accent.

Finnigan "Finni" Ryder "Fright Rider" (he/they)

He's rather disconnected from his culture compared to his fellow elves, isn't entirely familiar with his native language, traditions, etc. He often feels alienated from the other elves in this aspect.

Ozzy, his ostrich, serves as emotional support for him, even if Ozzy is much more fearful.*

Additionally, Ozzy serves as physical support, as Rider also deals with OSD and has episodes of being unable to stand (at least not without being in pain.)

(* Headcanon loosely based on something someone once said here, raise your hand please <3)

Hura Crepitan "Stump Smash" (he/it)

It constantly feels chronically unwell/unrested since being logged, usually being what contributes to his mood.

He dehydrates far easier, and often needs to soak before doing anything combat related -- being on the dryer side makes it difficult for him to move.

Despite being generally bitter, being around Flameslinger has taught him significant patience (although likely, not a whole lot)

(these may change with time, and these definitely won't be the last of the skylanders. I plan on doing npcs for my next one of these though <3.)

[armisteadrevellion]

Nothing much, just me being cringe about AtLA/my oc

Xinyi, a somewhat-Earthbender who doesn't care much about excelling at it, travels the expansive land of the Earth Kingdom trying to find her place in life. Often being mistaken as a man from afar, Xinyi has found solace in her masculine side as an added layer of protection while being on her own. When she does occasionally earthbend (only when she feels like it), it's usually on a much smaller scale than most benders utilize, preferring glassbending over any other style. She is terrible at combat bending.

With nothing but the necessary means to survive and her trusty ostrich-horse Clay at her side, Xinyi comes to find that while being a wanderer grants her the freedom to do whatever she wishes, it's also a very lonely life. . . that is until she stumbles upon a ragged traveler unused to a nomad's life and his unusual pet bear. Agreeing to team up benefitted both parties-- Kuei and Bosco were now able to learn how to properly survive in the wild, and Xinyi finally had two new friends on the road.

:3

[blurds]

What bird could you take in a fight of hand to hand combat?

Most of them? The clue's really in the "hand" part. Birds are very graspable and that negates many of their advantages.

Probably easier to list the ones I couldn't - your cassowaries, ostriches, emu, some but not all birds of prey, and large parrots, particularly the kea. I wouldn't take on a kea if you paid me.

[anonymous-ace72]

Some of my favorite ToA quotes

I was a dramatic god.

 I thought my last statement was a great line. I expected gasps, perhaps some organ music in the background. Maybe the lights would go out just before I could say more. Moments later, I would be found dead with a knife in my back. That would be exciting! Wait. I’m mortal. Murder would kill me. Nevermind.

Hidden Oracle, p.201

--

“If you pull out a brochure, I will make you eat it.”

Hidden Oracle, p. 235

--

VERILY, THOU ART DENSER THAN A COMBAT OSTRICH CUBE. 

Dark Prophecy, 125.

--

What was proper? Commodus intended to live forever. He would drive away the darkness with the roar of the crowds and the glitter of spectacle.

But he generated no light. 

Not like the Waystation. Marcus Aurelius would have approved of this place. Emmie and Josephine lived properly with what time they had left, creating light for everyone who came here. No wonder Commodus hated them. No wonder he was so bent on destroying this threat to his power. 

Dark Prophecy, p.370

--

Leave it to McCaffery to be tactless about love to a child of Aphrodite, while simultaneously starting a fire in front of a satyr.

Burning Maze, p.122

--

I remembered how disgusted Poseidon had been, watching Caligula tootle around the Bay of Baiae, though I think Poseidon was just jealous his palace didn’t have rotating statues.

Burning Maze, p.221

--

I had never been a fan of felines. They were self-centered, smug, and thought they ruled the world. In other words… All right, I’ll say it. I didn’t like the competition.

Tyrant’s Tomb, p.76

--

Nothing is quite so disconcerting as having science explained to you by a supernatural creature.

Tyrants Tomb, p.116

--

I could imagine a younger Meg exploring these tunnels, doing cartwheels in the muck, and growing mushrooms in forgotten locations.

Tower of Nero, p.28

--

NERO IS NOT WORTH A FIG, HE SEES NOT MY BRILLIANCE.

Tower of Nero, p.247

[ask-paradox-and-friends]

Redoing jurrasic park monsters.

Starting with the Eighties.

Eightie one.

Would show up in jurrasic Park one. He is the result of a few raptors accidentally laying their eggs in a nest made of radioactive dirt. This mutated his body and damaged his dna making him a mutant.

Due to severe Polydactyly he has extra claws. (Normal its 3 on hand and 4 on feet.) He has 5 on each hand and 6 on his feet with the extra foot ones on his ankle theyre also bigger. He is also much much bigger then other raptors. Hes roughly seven feet long and 6 feet tall. He unlike the others dosent have feathers due to his genome. His scales are still dark green due to him living in a jungle.

Hes git both a thick hide and a thick skeleton so he can ram...HARD. he can see in the dark due to the biological equivalent of night vision goggles. He has perfect night vision.

He'd be by himself. He attacks anything that isn't a raptor and well the other raptors dont like him.

His scales are thick enough to be resistant to blunt force and other dinosaurs teeth.

His claws and teeth are bigger and sharper. He also has a second set of teeth for grabbing on tighter to bigger prey.

Despite him not using it in combat his tail is sharp enough to cut skin.

He'd survive because he'd hear the rex (Slaughterhouse) and make a run for it. [He knows he cant fight a rex 1 on 1 and he lost the suprise element.]

He'd be hard to fight...he understands guns he understands how the electric fence works and he can rip open doors and work doorknobs. But he still an animal [fooled by a hologram. Slammed his face into a mirror seeing his reflection. Got distracted by both a rolling ostrich egg and a loud bullfrog.]

He'd die off camera between movies 1 and 3.

[same-picture-of-benson-every-day]

How to beat an ostrich. Why are there answers, holy shit, there's a WikiHow. You think you can take me? Think you can take me?

"Can you give us, like, a dramatic reading?"

"Use a long weapon. If you are forced to defend yourself against an ostrich, avoid close-quarters combat. Keep as far out of reach of its legs as you can. Use the nearest, longest object that could be used as a weapon"

There's a sidenote here: "If you have a gun. AIM for the ostrich's main body"

"Keep to the ostrich's side. Consider yourself at the most risk when the two of you are face-to-face. Stay behind or to the side of the bird as much as possible to keep clear of its most powerful weapon."

STEP THREE

"Aim for the neck. Consider this to be the ostrich's weakest body part, despite their considerable size. Strike it where it is most vulnerable and least protected to defeat it more quickly."

"Go for its legs. If you find yourself behind or to the side of the ostrich with an easy shot to one of its legs, comma, take it. PERIOD. If given the chance, deliver one or both a blow to upset its balance, speed, and striking power."

Anyway, I'm gonna leave you guys with this image. POV: You're Ostrich.

[noddytheornithopod]

Time to watch Season 2 of Gretel and Hamster. Unfortunately, Disney+ doesn't have it up yet, so I'm gonna have to watch it in other ways.🏴‍☠️

Hakuna Ma Kevin

"I'm still single." Good to know, Veronica.

hey it's richard ayoade, wait didn't he defend graham linehan or some shit, is nobody safe

Fine start. By the end it was decent enough, though I do like the premise being set up that all this stuff for Kevin made him snap. Would've been nice if we got to see more of that. Villain was appropriately goofy yet creative. Highlight was probably Veronica desperately looking for love.

The Great American Telenovela

Not too much to say, pretty normal HaG fare, nice to use the telenovela setting. La Cebolla also actually using onions for combat too.

Lair Necessities

kevin u can say bullshit it's ok, maybe u need the lair for that in case the parents hear tho

Okay making the lair and stuff was neat but honestly didn't care much for the villains, it's like we just stopped to attend a less interesting plot before they could tie it back into the superhero lair thing. Hamster also makes lairs singlehandedly now I guess. :P

Tobor or Not Tobor

nordle drunk on milkshakes, lol

Alright ep. Tobor was good. Nothing too extraordinary but it was interesting to see Nordle after the S1 finale. Were those combat maneuvers Kevin told Gretel when Tobot lost it properly set up? IDK.

Evil Upheaval

"Dr Heinz" did people lose their shit over this even if this Heinz is a brain transplant guy apparently

adult ball pit

oh yeah the therapist is bailey's mum right, also huh she's voiced by debra wilson, cool

Well, status quo shift for Destructress and Fistpuncher. Was neat to see that development, but again, no too strong feelings here.

Ay, Ay, A.I.

Heh I thought that voice was familiar, the crossing lady is voiced by Carol Kane aka Nana Shapiro

Okay ep didn't seem like it was gonna be much but the whole robot crossing guard taking its job too seriously angle was pretty amusing. Pretty obvious commentary on AI and automation and stuff with the cliche "human touch is missed" stuff, but the silliness of the premise made it worth it.

Stress Brawl

was that a hamilton reference, also yeah makes sense it would be expensive as fuck

wow kevin is doing the fake date to try and make it look like he's moved on, rip, also wait pamela i thought you ran off with some other guy earlier

also funny that pamela is voiced by hiromi's va

wait is the lunch lady bolgylvanian

Okay this is the best ep so far this season. I did notice before Hiromi seemed to have a lot on her plate, being involved in a lot of school related stuff, but it's more than even I expected. The stress ball monster was a great addition, weird monster of the week but also represents Hiromi bottling up her feelings and being a people pleaser. And even if they didn't really get to say anything to each other, Kevin at least knows Hiromi's been struggling. Also accidentally fake dating someone who screwed her over in kindergarten, RIP.

I Love Luchie

dave x luchador?

Honestly not too bad! Was nice to see Luchador showing signs of reforming, or at least him being nicer out of the ring, and also the twist that the actual villain was his new partner.

The More The Meteor

So they introduced the new big bad. Cool, I guess. Neat space set pieces. Not much else to say TBH.

My Hammie Vice

did the ostrich make a chicken noise

Okay ep I guess, I did find the conflict of Hamster not being taken seriously kinda contrived tho, cuz it never really seemed to be an issue before. Like I guess he's never the one really suggesting anything, but he never really said much. Eh, whatever, shows like this always do this. Hamster's mob pal was aight I guess. The outsmarting each other at the end was also kinda amusing I guess.

Last Fred Standing

lol the calendar says it's april 2024... in the flashback... so hamster and gretel is in the 2030s... except it isn't... because it's clearly just a mistake...

why are fred's glasses purple in some shots now

OH IT WAS INTENTIONAL, THEY WERE SWAPPED OUT, FUCK

fredrick sucks, hiromi's right, fuck this shit

Ep was decent. Different side to Fred here. The things she'll do for impossible bottles (inside impossible bottles), huh? I know it was kinda the point but the rivalry was kinda dumb. Might've been better if Fred just ditched his ass (and maybe stealing her bottle anyway). The subplot with the main characters was amusing enough.

From Dust Till Dawn

little abuelita is actually... cute? rare case of this for the kids here

she's right, piranhas actually aren't bloodthirsty swarm hunters lol

hamster x dust might otp

also huh kimberly brooks voices her, hey jasper/allura/many other roles

oh so this is also in spring lol

Heh, that was nice. Abuelita episodes always seem to be hits it seems. Hidden family trauma discovered that's then resolved. Kevin does point out why her own abuelita didn't just tell her directly, but if it was a note like that, I guess this was a realisation late in life. Also weirdly works as something discovered only now because of how everyone refuses to touch them. But yeah, this was a nice story, and a surprisingly enjoyable villain (which Hamster seems surprisingly smitten by, or at least her capoeira moves).

I Think, Therefore I Slam

why is the credits text orange

fred cannot resist the cuteness of her cousin and her cousin's bestie

wait have we seen bailey without glasses

That was neat. Another appropriately silly villain, and while the message was pretty cliche and standard kids show fare, it was at least nice to see the "cool kids" were acting just as much as Gretel and Bailey were trying to.

Thanks, But No Pranks

wow not one but two different additional animation styles this ep, someone's feeling experimental

Buildingcraft????

This was neat enough. Pretty predictable, though the final act where they had to stop the prank guy was cool. Hooray for Bailey using structural knowledge to save the day, lol.

[finnieganfinn]

hol on wheres my Kiwi picture- oh there it is

This si a kiwi bird, a smol flightless bird in the island of New Zealand and they are related to:

The ostrich, Emu and Cassowary

But all of the other flightless birds traded flying for soemthing useful for example: Emus are fast, Cassowarys have a combat knife attached to their foot and Ostriches have long necks to spot predators. But the kiwi, traded flying, for just being smaller because before the Bri'ish did Bri'ish things, New Zealand didn't have that much predators. And unfortunately they are now Endangered

Wow! Coral how evolution does that..

Boat I hope Kiwis stay around!.. They're shore-ta funny looking.. Hehe...

Tanks for the fact!

[thephonemenarentreal]

FINALIZED CONCEPT FOR HUBBLE! MY DARLING CHICKEN SON! <3

NAME: Cameraman 621; Hubble

NICKNAMES: Chicken Bot, Ostrich, Phone Enthusiast, 360 No Scope, Fumble Shot, Dorknugget, Spaced for Chips, Hubbs, Flappy Bot (...he doesn't get a lot of flattering nicknames...)

ALLIANCE CLASS: Cameraman; Special Sniper Class (Discontinued)

WORK CLASS: Combat Sniper Class; Experimental Build into Non-human anatomy for units

GENDER: He/him

CLASSIFICATION: AI Created Mind; Specialized Build for Combat

RANK: Communication Officer; The Phoneman Expert

Cameraman 621, known by the name Hubble, was part of an experimental unit build in the early part of the war and he and his siblings were created to be the ultimate snipers. Light framed, flexible, designed to reach incredible speeds to move in and out of combat, Hubble only knew how to fight and take shots with unnerving accuracy.

However, he befriended another Cameraman named Razor and started to see more to life than just the end of his rifle...and then a horrific tragedy happened and Hubble's mind broke. He latched onto an obsession with the phonemen to avoid talking about what happened and his own inability to follow his only calling in life. Sent to Outpost 51, he tries his best to just keep out of everyone's way, friendly to everyone and eager to please...and always excited to explain his phonemen obsession.

But...are his theories as crazy as everyone thinks?

MORE LORE UNDER THE CUT <3

Hubble is the fastest at Outpost 51, clocking in at a flat sustained speed of 80 KHM and can go faster when engaging the rockets on his legs. The build of his legs allows him a wider stride and more spring to them, helping him to move.

He doesn't cover the leg rockets which can activate forward or backwards, depending on which direction he wants to go in. He doesn't want to set his pants on fire ....

Hubble is born to move and cannot sit still. It is ironic he got a desk job when he got a hardwired program to be on the move. To this extent, he goes running in the mornings and evenings, and tends to pace about the office a lot while working or using stim toys.

He has incredible vision, able to hit targets from great distances. This is why his sniper rifle has no scope. He is the scope. However, he sometimes forgets to zoom out and has trouble seeing things up close...

Hubble prefers to perch as it is more comfortable than sitting, but gets made fun of being "a chicken" when he does

Hubble is EXTREMELY SELF CONSCIOUS about his ear flaps. So much so he started to try and rubber band them down as they are very expressive and like to pop up and wiggle. The Twins made him some weighted headphones that keeps them pinned. The flaps DO have a purpose other than projecting his emotions. They help to stabilize and steer when he is going at higher speeds so when he IS in need of them, he will take off the headphones.

Hubble was an AI-mind made for his purpose...and not having that purpose has put him in a strange limbo where he isn't sure what he is or what to do. Thus he people pleases and does what anyone else tells him to do with little questioning...

Hubble got his space and dinosaur obsessions from the stories Razor would tell him during down time. He latched on tight to those stories and took them to obsession...mostly to cope.

Hubble is very friendly and outgoing, will answer questions, and usually he just spirals into rants to avoid continuing a conversation he doesn't like.

Hubble likes to parkour and always jumping about things. He has a bunk bed just so he can jump up into it for recharge.

He prefers to use the window rather than the door because it is more fun.

When Hubble is scared he will run and look for high ground to set up in. Prattle and Tattle jokingly say he's "sniper nesting".

When standing, he usually moves to balance on one leg or stretch out a lot as he can't stand still well.

His head doesn't move when he runs. There are mechanisms that lock the neck into place to help keep him steady to take shots and keep his eyes focused on his next jumps. His head also can do a 360 turn, allowing for greater range of vision.

Hubble used to have an accuracy rating of 99% when it came to his shots. After the tragedy, he can't hit any moving target or living target. Stationary non-living targets like a can though are still able to be hit.

Hubble is very confident he will one day get his sniping skills back. Just a setback and he'll get there! He practices everyday to try and get back up to snuff.... just has to stop thinking about...things.

A very optimistic soul and always believes the best is going to happen and looks for the good and positive in everything. He is known to motivate and improve the moods of his fellows...except for the Meanie TV.

Paralipsis has an absolute HUGE disdain for Hubble and goes out of his way to torment the chicken bot in particular. If Paralipsis is in a bad mood, Hubble is the prime target....and Hubble just tries to appease him and doesn't get why he gets targeted. Out of everyone at Outpost 51, it is very clear Paralipsis is out to grind Hubble down...and Hubble just takes it and tries to laugh it off and be positive about it, which makes things worse (Paralipsis can't stand how optimistic he is and how stupid happy he is....)

Looks up to the Titan Cameraman as his idol and role-model and has posters and figures in his room. Everyday he tells himself he has to be brave and strong like the Titan and then he'll get his shot back! Prattle and Tattle got him a poster signed by the Titan.

He has heely shoes and is very skilled at using them and at skating in general. Just helps him to zoomie more around the Outpost.

Hubble can hyperfixate on things. The phonemen are his hyperfixation to the point he has probably gotten into things he shouldn't to collect all the data he can and build his conspiracy theory. Despite this, he isn't paranoid about the government or anything. Phonemen are just nifty and one day he will make contact and get them to come to Earth to help the Alliance!

The twins and Hubble are very close friends and he is the only person that knows anything really about the twins.

He can't say no to people and so gets wrapped up in their mischief. Medic has to usually step in and shoo people away and stand up to him against Paralipsis.

For all his happy outward appearance, Hubble lives with an incredible amount of guilt... due to the fact he killed Razor. It was in the middle of a battle and he had to take a shot to take a toilet with Razor danger close, had to be accurate....and he missed. And fatally shot the one person who had always looked out for him. The incident broke Hubble and he froze up, unable to leave, in complete shock, completely unresponsive. A fatally wounded Razor used the last of his life to get Hubble to safety.

Hubble sat there with the body of his friend and mentor, that he had killed until medic units found him. He was still unresponsive and it would take weeks before he would talk. In that time, he refused to take off Razor's coat, wearing it for some macabre comfort.

Hubble still wears that same coat as it is the only thing left of Razor now. When he is very stressed or thinking about that horrific moment, he plays with the hole in the jacket that was where the fateful bullet entered.

In his own mind, Hubble sees himself as a murderer, even if he was forgiven. Even if the court found it a case of friendly fire that was unfortunate. Even if the Alliance and everyone else tells him it wasn't his fault. People miss shots. Now all Hubble does is miss shots.

He talks about Razor and his advice a lot, but seems unable to really take that same advice to heart. Knows he is a disappointment, but can't seem to get started to not be one... Hubble just slaps his usual optimism of if he just works harder, it will fix itself!

Talking about the phonemen is a means of coping with all those feelings to the point he is convinced that the phonemen will "fix" everything that's wrong.

[libraryofmoths]

Moth of the Week

African Wild Silk Moth

Gonometa postica

The African wild silk moth is a part of the family Lasiocampidae. It was first described in 1855 by Francis Walker. It is also known as the Brandwurm in its larval stage in Afrikaans, Kweena in its pupal stage in Tshwana, and Molopo moth/mot in English and Afrikaans.

Description The female of this moth is much longer and larger than the male due to having to carry eggs. The male is about half the size of the female and much thinner.

The female has a light brown abdomen with a dark brown thorax and head. The female’s forewings are striped light brown, dark brown, and gray. The hindwings are a yellow-brown with a dark brown edge.

The male has a dark body and wings with a transparent portion of the hindwing.

Female Forewing Range: 35–42 mm (

Male Forewing Range: 21–25 mm (

Diet and Habitat Larva of this species eat Acacia erioloba, A. tortilis, A. melifera, Burkea africana, Brachystegia spp., and Prosopis glandulosa. The larva will feed from the same tree it’s entire life unless there are two many other caterpillars. When there is a large number of caterpillars, they may defoliate the whole tree and the larva must move in order to not starve.

This moth mainly inhabits savannas with many Acacia trees, especially in drier areas. These moths contribute to the Acacia environment by providing food to predators and nutrients to plants through feces. Cocoons are usually found on Acacia tees.

Mating Males detect females’ mating pheromones with their antennae. Males fly to the females because the females are weighed down by the eggs. The female contains about 200 eggs which are laid on the food plant after fertilization. Eggs hatch in about two weeks. Eggs are laid in clumps and the newly hatched caterpillars grow as a group and become more solitary with time.

Predators This moth is preyed on by parasitic wasps and flies. These insects lay their eggs on the caterpillar and feed off of its resources until the moth larva cocoons. The parasites live off the cocoon and grow to adulthood while killing the pupa. Specifically, these larva are subject to parasitism by Diptera and Hymenoptera, the most common parasitoids being Palexorista species from the Tachinidae and Goryphus species from the Ichneumonidae.[6]

To combat external predators and weather, the caterpillars build a tough cocoon. Caterpillars and their cocoons are also covered in stinging hairs to deter predators from touching them. Female cocoons are larger than male cocoons.

Fun Fact In Madagascar, wild silk has been harvested for centuries, and this knowledge has been introduced to southern Africa. The cocoons are harvested commercially in Namibia, Botswana, Kenya and South Africa, and the species also occurs in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. They are difficult to harvest due to the cocoons being covered in calcium oxalate. Oxford University discovered and patented a method known as demineralizing using a warm solution of EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) that soften the cocoons by dissolving the sericin. This lets the silk unravel without weakening it.

- Wild African silk moth cocoons are also used as ankle rattles in southern Africa by San and Bantu tribes. They are filled with materials such as fine gravel, seeds, glass beads, broken sea shells, or pieces of ostrich eggshell.

- Furthermore, the cocoons have long been known to cause the death of cattle, antelope and other ruminants in the Kalahari. During drought periods, the cocoons are eaten, probably because they resemble acacia pods. The silk is indigestible and blocks the rumen of multiple-stomach animals, causing starvation.

- Finally, the protein found in this species’s slik contains many basic amino acids making it a potentially useful biomaterial in cell and tissue culture.

(Source: Wikipedia, SANBI)

[molagboop]

What are your headcanons regarding chozo newborns/fledgelings?

OH BOY do I have information for you.

A few basics:

Chozo lay eggs.

Most Chozo are born with an egg tooth on the tip of their beak which helps them break free of the shell to be born.

"Boriha" is a Chozo word used to describe children who have yet to fledge.

Chozo hatchling (very new guy edition) with an egg tooth.

The Chozo tribes evolved with different traits on their homeworld, which have only diverged further following their departure.

Mawkin and Thoha hatchlings are altricial: they're born blind and depend wholly upon their parents for the first few months. It takes two weeks for altricial babies to gain a full coat of down.

Thiloo (a tribe of penguin-like Chozo) hatchlings are semi-altricial: they open their eyes within the first 24 hours of hatching, and are born with a thin coat of down that reaches full thickness within three days.

Hatzu (ratite Chozo: think emu, ostriches, and cassowaries) babies are precocial upon hatching: their eyes are open, and they're covered in natal feathers. The strong-legged Chozo of the Hatzu tribe are the only ones capable of walking fresh out of the shell. The Hatzu are the only Chozo who lack an egg tooth: instead, their babies kick their way out of their shells.

There are more tribes than I've listed here, but the Thiloo and Hatzu have the most notable differences upon birth.

Pictured below: a Thoha baby, a Thiloo baby, a Hatzu baby, and two images of newly-hatched baby Raven Beak. The altricial babies look like little naked old men (not unlike many real baby birds: shout outs to baby pelican).

The Hatzu kid pictured above is being picked up by an adult: the most stable method is to place your hands under the kid's chest and lift. Most Hatzu hatchlings will start to panic if their legs are restrained: it's a survival instinct.

Most Chozo babies use their sharp talons to grasp the downy feathers on a trusted adult's neck, chest, and back. It takes about two months for a hatchling to be able to reliably grasp. Grasping is how baby Chozo get around for the first few years of their lives. 18 months is around the time Chozo will be able to stand and walk independently, but they still rely on their parents to carry them around long distances.

That's not to say they'll rely solely on their parents for locomotion: once those babies can run, they run.

A few examples. The large compilation image is of Raven Beak's mother with a cameo from the big (little) guy himself.

Baby Chozo ask for food by nudging the nearest adult's throat or negging them with screechy cries. The corners of their beaks are flexible and pronounced at this age so they can open their gullet wide for room service. They can eat some solid food (little bits torn off of an adult's dinner, grubs, small insects), or their parents can regurgitate nutritious, partially-digested matter from their crop.

Raven Beak and his dad. Baby guy opens very wide for optimal screechage and to ensure oncoming food makes it into his face-hole.

Pictured above: a Thiloo hatchling (left) and a Thoha hatchling (right). The corners of the Thoha kid's mouth are brighter and more flexible than that of an adult, allowing it to open comically wide.

Doodles of a newborn baby Mawkin and one with natal feathers (not to scale).

Hatzu hatchling doodles.

Chozo kids begin to fledge properly around five years old and learn to fly at seven. Mawkin children can start the preliminaries for their combat training as early as four and a half, but training starts in earnest at six.

This post talks about child-rearing practices and feeding. This post has more information about Chozo eggs and a basic child development roadmap.

[mysticwolfshadows]

Taken - Zutara - Part 81

First / Previous / Next / Masterpost

Katara spent the weeks leading up to the Peace summit feeling rather... Bored.

With the school in place, and both healers and combat benders from the North, the only thing Katara could really do is teach them to sense the flow. Of course, each could feel the push and pull as the bend, which was a good start, few were able to feel the water moving around them.

She taught them meditation exercises, adapted from firebending, where they sat with three bowls in front of them. When Katara believed they were ready, she'd pull the water up from one bowl, and they would try to tell her what bowl she had bent. It was slow progress, with the men finding the exercise more difficult than the women.

Aang had left just two days in, having to go deliver the letter to the Northern tribe. Katara wondered if Chief Arnook would bring Yue with him. As long as Hahn wasn't invited, everything would be fine.

The Wani returned, in time for them to leave for Ba Sing Se together. Captain Jee seemed rather impressed with the progress that they had made in his two weeks of absence. She climbed aboard gleefully, Sokka and their parents right behind them. Rinzo and Taka of course slipped in right behind them. Bato would be in charge of the tribe while they were gone.

They would sail for approximately three days to Cameleon Bay, where they would then make the day long trip on ostrich horse to the city proper.

It was the ostrich horse that Katara was nervous about. She had spent so long, traveling from the relative comfort of Appa's saddle, she wondered if she could keep herself up on an ostrich horse.

Her parents ended up having more trouble than she did. Her mother nearly fell a few minutes in, and her father gave up entirely and had climbed on to ride behind Sokka, who was most surprisingly a competent rider. Rinzo and Taka were at the back of the formation, as Jee took the lead. A small crew would stay with the Wani until they returned.

In all, it was the Southern Water Tribes 'royal' family, being escorted by five Fire Nation soldiers. To be fair, most of them were honorary members of the tribe. Still, it was sure to be quite the sight.

They had to make camp for a night, which her mother found more comforting than the ostrich horse saddle. It was far more familiar to her. She cooked, with Katara giving pointers where she thought it appropriate. The tribe hadn't been cooking much rice while Katara and Sokka were gone.

It was when they arrived in Ba Sing Se, a day before the summits opening ceremony, that the fun began.

"It's..." Her mother gaped as they stepped onto an earthbender trolly. It shot off, her mother holding tight to her father. She had never been out of the South Pole before. "It's so big. It's just... Wow."

"You should see Caldera," Katara said, grinning as she watched the city roll by. "It's not as big as Ba Sing Se, but the people... The color... Oh, mom, it's just amazing."

Sokka groaned. "We get it! You wanna go back already."

Pressing her lips into a thin line, Katara turned away from her family. She had missed the Fire Nation, in the years she had been home. There was just... so much more, than the white expanse of the South Pole. She missed it.

As they reached the inner ring, where the palace was, Katara was momentarily distracted by spotting Appa in the distance. She could see the little figures of Aang and Toph standing beside the bison, along with a plethora of Earth Kingdom officials milling about.

"Mom!" Katara jumped up as the trolley wobbled to a stop, and pulled her mother up. "Come on. I want you to meet Toph!"

She was soon pulling her mother out of the trolley, pulling her to the little earthbender. Her mother was quick to smile and worry, which made Toph squirm, but also praise her skill, which made Toph preen. With her mother distracted for a moment, Katara moved to give Aang a hug.

"How was the North?" Katara asked, smiling. "Did you get to see Yue? Is she coming? I need to thank her again for the vial of spirit water."

Aang's smile dropped as she pulled away. "I don't know. Even though they helped with the invasion- A collaboration on Yue and Pakku's part apparently -Chief Arnook wasn't to excited about the idea of the North getting more involved than they already have. And Pakku wasn't giving any support this time. Appearently, people have been going 'missing', especially women, and they're think about closing the city again."

Under her breath, Katara cursed. The people that came to the South. To many, all at once. Since the first wave right after Katara had returned, there had been almost two dozen more. Nearly forty people, leaving the North almost all at once. No wonder Arnook was nervous. And it wasn't like Yue could admit she was the one leading the effort.

"When is Zuko supposed to be here?" Katara asked.

"Today," Aang said, frowning. "Actually, I think he said he was planning to get here before you. So I'm not sure where he is."

Chewing her lip, Katara turned to look out in the direction of the Fire Nation, nearly a full continent and an ocean away. Had something happened?

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[martincrushcameback]

Got a fan-theory I wanna pick your brain about, and warning you now, this is a long one.

Keep seeing a lot of fanart about the bros with Lion cps that have the manes match the color of their actual hair.

I agree, it looks better than what we have now, but what if what we have now is for a reason?

We have multiple instances of the bros being affected by the instincts of whatever animal they've turned into, so what if Aviva decided to make the manes blue and green to combat that? A way for Chris and Martin, upon seeing their reflections, to mentally separate the cat from the Kratt, if you will.

Thoughts?

Its definitely a deliberate design choice to show its a suit that they're wearing and that it's not altering their actual bodies but I think k it would have been fine with their hair colours because like... the ostrich and flamingo suits clearly stretch their necks and its impossible to be in a lot of these suits without it shifting how their bodies work lol.

Ultimately each suit highlights significant parts of the creature and the manes are a big part of male lions, hence it being green and blue for the suits.

[ecargmura]

Wonderful Precure Episode 2 Review - Cure Friendy Takes No L's

This episode surprised me a lot. First, there’s the debut of a second Precure already. Second, the formula seems a lot different than previous iterations. Third, it makes me wonder what will happen later on. Regardless, I really liked what I saw in this episode.

I’m still new to Precure, but is it normal to have the second Precure debut in the second episode? Hirogaru Sky had it so that Prism debuted in Episode 4, as well as Delicious Party. I feel like this was to make it so that Wonderful has a motive to keep doing Precure stuff. Despite that, Cure Friendy’s transformation sequence was legit amazing. While Wonderful’s is good, Friendy’s is super well done from the hair animation to the brooch animation to the running animation. I love it a lot! My only gripe about Cure Friendy is that her skirt is poofy like Wonderful’s. Given that Nyammy and Lillian have different skirt patterns, it made me wonder why both Wonderful and Friendy have the same skirt. Also, Friendy? Really? That’s the name you’re going with? Not Friendly? I guess her design and transformation rocked so hard they took the L off of her name. She takes no L’s.

The formula is a bit different from previous series as it seems to revolve around healing corrupted animals without using finishers or combat. I guess it’s to tell kids to not hurt animals in a way? I said that it’s a bit different because the focus character isn’t Komugi but Iroha in a way. She feels more like the main character, which makes sense because she’s a human while Komugi is a dog meaning she has the intelligence of a dog and not a human’s. Because of that Komugi is rather simplistic as a character compared to Iroha who’s more prone to worrying about Komugi because she cares about her so much. I really liked the part where she starts thinking back to the day she met her dog and how her life changed because of her. Despite Animal Town being known as a harmonious place where humans and animals coincide, Komugi was abandoned. This means that Komugi is from outside of the town or there’s someone in Animal Town cruel enough to abandon their pet. I legit felt a bit emotional when I saw Iroha shielding Komugi from the rain with her umbrella. I am a HUGE sucker for any scene where someone shields the other from the rain.

Speaking of Komugi, I was worried about how they were going to handle her human form but it turns out that she can change back into a dog; as a dog, she can finally talk now, which is a whole new set of shenanigans for her as Komugi’s animal instincts have a hard time helping her keep things a secret. She accidentally tries to speak to Yoko, which Iroha covers her mouth and then speaks again when Satoru was nearby. Dogs do have short term memory, so it makes sense if she had forgotten about keeping her newfound talking abilities a secret.

Mayu makes another appearance in Iroha’s family’s pet center. It turns out that Yoko is a veterinarian and Tsuyoshi is a pet groomer as he’s the one who made the collars that Mayu seems interested in. I hope Mayu paid for that blue collar. Satoru seems to be a familiar face at Iroha’s place as he comes in with Daifuku and asks if he could use the dog park. Daifuku is so adorable. There’s a very soothing aspect about Satoru in a way, like his demeanor and aura. The official website for Wonderful Precure states that Daifuku is male, so I will be using male pronouns when talking about Daifuku going forth. I do wonder if Daifuku and Satoru will be mid season Precures.

The animals of this show are so cute. The ostrich was cute and the GaruGaru form was rather adorable looking compared to Mey Mey’s GaruGaru form last episode.  Mey Mey is super adorable! Maybe I’m just biased because I like sheep but look at him! He’s a fluffy sheep! His schtick of saying “Dameeeee” with him crossing his arms reminds me of Lacey in the Indigo Disk DLC who does the same thing with her arms. Mey Mey is from Niko Garden where animals live harmoniously, like Animal Town. I do wonder what sort of darkness befell the garden that it caused all of them to become GaruGarus. It’s also the first time I’ve seen a Precure show where the villains haven’t shown up—just the monster of the day but not sight of a villainous team anywhere. Will they appear later on? Or is the villain just darkness? Mey Mey is voiced by Shinnosuke Tachibana. He’s actually not a newcomer to Precure as he voiced Prince Kanata in Go! Princess Precure. I haven’t watched that show yet, but I’ve heard so many good things about it. Speaking of returning casts, I looked up that Atsumi Tanezaki, Cure Friendy’s voice actress, has voiced Puka in the All Stars F movie, which I haven’t seen yet. It’s cool that they’re getting many returning voice actors to play new characters.

I can’t wait to see what Niko Garden looks like and what our heroes need to do to restore peace and balance to the other world. What are your thoughts about this episode?