#here you go. biology speculations <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[maulfucker]

Ok so. This is less concrete thoughts and more scattered ideas but.

Dathomirian Zabrak biology speculations/thoughts!

While at first glance it looks like males are the only ones who have different skin colors and the females are all pale, we do see at least one Nightsister with darker skin (the one whose facial markings are white and resemble a skull), meaning skin pigmentation is present in both but manifests differently in males vs females!

(This is much like birds where the females are the neutral-colored ones while the males have more vibrant colorations and are expected to impress the females to be picked as a mate)

And it's very curious to me that iridonians have very human-like skin tones, while dathomirians ended up having two extremes, either having very vibrant skin ranging from yellow to red, or very pale skin ranging from white to dark gray, both outside the human (and iridonian) range

I think if a transgender dathomirian had HRT their skin color would gradually change with it (much like how birds can change coloration depending on their hormones)

The fact that males have no hair and females have no horns seems very random to me and I will not be thinking about the hair thing but I will say:

Have you looked at Mother Talzin's head shape. Have you seen how strangely tall it looks. What if. What if females "lack" horns because instead of growing at just a few specific points their entire skulls grow and elongate over their lifetimes.

This makes sense if you consider that they live in a "dense jungle" type environment where things (fruits, branches, predators..) can fall on their heads all the time. Having a thicker skull would probably help avoid a cracked skull from constantly getting hit in the head by falling stuff

(No idea what about the hair thing though. Maybe it's something to do with gene interactions. Like whatever gene makes their skin so saturated also deactivates the "have hair" genes. or maybe nightsisters are all wearing wigs and none of them actually grow hair)

Speaking of the geography of the planet, I think it's pretty sad that we never really get a good look of what the Nightbrothers' region looks like outside the village and some mountain terrain around it. Is it more sunny than the Nightsisters' side and that's why their skin adapted to have more color while the females' adapted to lose color? Or is it a seasonal thing and we just never got to see another season in the shows? Or is the village just built in a place that's so high the mist doesn't reach it? We get the sense that it's cold, at least at night, so why are they dressed in such light clothes? In fact, is it hot where the Nightsisters live, or is the entire species more adapted to colder temperatures and that's why they all wear so little?

What would happen if you crossed a dathomirian zabrak with a species that also has non-human skin tones but not linked to sexual dimorphism. Like what if you had a pantoran-zabrak cross, since pantorans are on the opposite side of the color wheel. Do you think they'd be an extremely vibrant blue or yellow-orange-red, or a middle ground, like green? Or perhaps an extreme outside both species' range, like purple? Do you think the "no saturation" gene would take over and make them gray no matter the gender?

[copperpipes]

I spec bio'ed Ultraman from Ultraman:Rising for fun (part 1)

the actual file I've written (and still writing) is now far over 2k words, so I desided to break it down to a series of posts so that it would be easier to digest, but if you don't want to wait for me to get them one by one out you can just go and read that long ass file yourself/lh

I understand that the film wasn't meant to be looked into on this level, at the end of the day this is just fan speculative biology, not an official theory, nor is it law, if you find a scientific inaccuracy i'll gladly hear you out in the comments to this post. but essentially what i'm doing here is having fun in my own silly little way :]

I've done some research into ultra physiology and some things didn't make sense to me, partially because there are more than one iteration all with their own worldbuilding, but I'll do my best to try and piece them all together without losing the source material too much.

[updated ultra Kenji design]

(The rest under cut) vvv

fact no.1

ultras are aliens and before they were ultras they were humans (or humanoids, or human-like, i'd like to believe so and i will do you one better).

not going to spoil much but something happened, and they were forced to build this thing called the ultra-spark to keep their civilization going, and the ultra-spark turned them all into giants, ultras.

fact no.2

the weapons ultraman uses (those buzzsaws thingies, shields, beams and glowing fists) are made out of something called spacium energy, positive running through the right side of ultraman’s body and negative running through the left, with the spacium beam appearing when he connects those energies by crossing his arms.

fact no.3

Ultraman himself is made of spacium energy and its presence is vital for him to exist. the ultra-spark is what gave and gives the ultra species spacium energy, ultras can also produce it on their own using other types of energy (solar energy on earth for example) but are not as efficient as the source material, hence why on earth ultraman’s energy runs out quicker then it would for example in space where energy is more abundant.

What is spacium wasn't completely clear to me, what I understood was that Ultraman has it (I think it was his skin that was made out of spacium?) and uses it to convert solar energy into spacium energy. 

I think spacium is meant to be an original element. and from what a mutual kindly told me (thank you @bazookaboi!!) its atomic number is 133. very very unstable in natural environments and extremely radioactive, so with all due respect allow me to ignore that entirely and let it remain a mystery for everyone’s sake.

fact no.4

ultras as a culture have a very strong sense of justice and moral code. (and I guess very emotionally intelligent? empathetic? but i'm not sure about this part ;-;)

Now let us finally start with the Ultra spec bio:

i'll start from the less obvious half for my own sake, you may skip this part if you're here just for Kenji’s human part (which i won't blame you for the designers cooked with this one) but just so you know there would be parts you won't be able to understand.

general ultra spec bio: physiology and body structure (my favorite part):

Do ultras breathe? was my first question and my answer would be, i don't think so.

down to the cellular level cells use oxygen in order to generate chemical energy that comes in the form of ATP, out of glucose and oxygen with ATP and CO2 as the outcome. (The difference between animal and plant cells is how they get their glucose.)

Now ultras don't seem to eat, and why would they? and breathing is not necessary since they already get the energy they need from spacium converting outside energy into spacium energy, on the outside there’s the spacium, and on the inside there’s the spacium energy just running around. it can be let out in certain areas of the body, but essentially this energy is all held together by the ultra’s skin (also probably why ultras have no openings on their body, so there wouldn't be a leakage of their life soup).

An ultra's internal structure is unknown, or at least I haven't been able to find anything on the matter, but in the movie both Kenji and his dad get injured, which means that there is something to be damaged.

i really like how the film handles injury actually, it shows explicitly the consequences of a serious injury and how it can sometimes be a life changing thing. It has a blatant effect long or short term and I need someone to analyze it more in depth. I know someone will eventually.

part 1

All the people who wanted this, i call thee.

next, part 2

@wtf-a-psychoanalysis @fantasma-espacial @spuuks-s @theviewer @whimsicalloser @m1lf-hunter-69

[giulliadella]

Speculative Biology of Euclydians (and Bill Cipher) part 1

Part 2

We're doing this, babies!

This analysis is based on two assumptions:

Before Bill Cipher became a demigod, he was a biological, living organism and so were the rest of his species.

Even after Bill Cipher became a demigod, he still retained some physical characteristics of his biological form.

I will clearly specify which of his abilities are innate abilities of his species, which ones are definitely his divine abilities and which ones could be both.

This is part one. This analysis became VERY long, so I'll separate it into FIVE parts:

Part 1: What is Euclydia and what are Euclydians?

Part 2: How Euclydians function as animals? (This is where I explain how are they built, what their organs do, how they feed, move, speak etc.)

Part 3: Reproduction NSFW (this one I separated because it's NSFW. It'll be nothing explicit, but I doubt your boss would be thrilled if he found out that you're reading about how triangles fuck in your office)

Part 4: Growth and development (here I will also talk about Bill's deformity and Euclydean society)

Part 5: How Bill Cipher destroyed Euclydia and got his god like powers?

SO, without further ado:

What is Euclydia and what are Euclydians?

I'm gonna drop a bomb first.

Euclydia IS NOT a flat two dimensional plane. Before you load your shotguns, let me explain!

There are many proofs both in the Gravity Falls show and The Book of Bill that Euclydia isn't a flat plane like the imaginary two dimensional world from Flatland by Edwin A. Abbot.

The first one is actually Bill himself. Bill's species has complex camera lens type of eyes. Such eyes are possible in 2D world, but not on the front, like Bill has. He was born like that, so that is proof that Euclydia isn't 2D.

Next, when Bill is talking about his home in Weirdmageddon part 3, he shows an image of his home planet:

This planet has RINGS. That is COMPLETELY impossible in 2D. Even if the planet was completely flat, the rings would go through it. They would never be able to actually encircle this planet. So, if Euclydia was two dimensional, Bill's home planet would not be able to exist.

In the Book of Bill, we see image of Bill as a baby. In that image he's standing on some kind of field with grass and you can clearly see that there's grass in front of him and behind him, and that's impossible in 2D:

(also sorry for the shit quality of this pic)

But the best proof is that image from thisisnotawebsitedotcom.com that you get when you type VALLIS CINERIS in the computer. It shows Bill Cipher as a child with his parents. The parents are holding him in a manner that is completely impossible in 2D:

The image quality sucks, but you can clearly see that his parent's hands are IN FRONT OF him and he is also IN FRONT OF his parents. The position of "in front of" isn't possible in two dimensions and yet on this image the overlap happens many times. (I circled his parents' hands in red where they overlap with Bill and I circled him in blue where he overlaps with his parents. Bill's bow tie is also in front of him.).

With all that being said, what is Euclydia?

Well, just like Bill said, it's a flat world. Not two dimensional, but flat. The third dimension of Euclydia is limited somehow. Basically, in 3D, creatures are defined by 3 axis:

x axis is left and right (width)

y axis is up and down (height)

z axis is towards and away from (depth)

All three dimensional objects have both width, height and depth. Two dimensional objects have just width and height, so just x and y axis. And Bill has depth. It's a very limited depth, but it is depth nonetheless. So he's not really a triangle, more like a very thin pyramid. This is his side profile lmao:

So Euclydeans have some depth, but for whatever reason, they can't move on z axis. They can only move left, right, up and down. They also can't turn around.

This is how thisisnotawebsitedotcom.com explains Euclydian movements:

Two dimension to and fro, you always know which way to go. If you're lost, don't be afraid, in Euclydia you've got it made. Run too far right to right of frame, you'll appear on left again. Jump too high don’t cry or fret, pop up from the ground I bet. In this place, there is no fear, loved ones will be ever near. Roles and rules always flea/clear. Euclydia, we hold you dear.

So, if they move too far left, they'll come from the other side. This is actually something that in possible ONLY in non-euclidean geometry, which means that Euclydia, ironically, is a non-euclidean place. It's actually a sphere (or a similar elliptical body).

In non-euclidean geometry of the sphere, there exists something that sounds paradoxical: a straight line is actually a circle. But it's actually very easy to understand with this example:

Imagine that you're flying a plane in a straight line. You feel like you're going in a straight line, but your plane is actually following the curvature of the Earth. If you manage to fly around the entire Earth, you will appear on the same spot where you started flying. You were flying in a straight line, but because Earth is a non-euclidean sphere, you were actually flying in a circle. And both of those are true!

The plane is very very small compared to the size of the Earth. So, to the plane, Earth's curvature is so negligent that we could say that in a small radius around it the Earth is actually a flat plane. So, for example, houses, neighborhoods, even cities are built relying only on euclidean geometry (the geometry of a flat plane) because the Earth is so goddamn big.

And Euclydia is actually a whole fucking dimension. Let's say that our dimension is our universe. Our universe is approximately 93 billion light-years wide. So let's say that that's the size of Euclydia. How tiny is Earth compared to the Universe? That's why planets and everything else in Euclydia can be treated as a flat plane: every object is so small compared to the size of this giant sphere that the curvature could be completely omitted from the equation.

Now this is my theory, but I imagine that Euclydia looks like a giant soap bubble. Soap bubbles are made when two thin layers of soap molecules trap a thin layer of water:

Euclydia is the water - that thin layer is where all the planets, stars and living beings on them are located. That's why movement on z axis is so limited. The soap molecules are membranes that separate Euclydia from the other dimensions, one inside the bubble and one outside.

Since Euclydians can't move across z axis, they have eyes on their sides that can see only left and right. Their vision is limited to one dimension. But Bill's eye is located in a spot that allows him to see both left and right, but also up and down. He can see two dimensions, just like us! Here's a diagram I made, so you can understand better:

(there are stars outside too, but I didn't want to clutter this image more)

So, now that I've spent SO MUCH TIME explaining what is Euclydia, let me tell you what are Euclydeans.

Euclideans are animals (or their equivalent in their dimension). Animals are defined as multicellular heterotrophic organisms with an internal digestive tract. This basically means multicellular organisms that eat.

Euclydeans have to be multicellular because they have extremely complex structures such as: camera lens eyes, teeth, fingerprints, exoskeleton and so on. These traits cannot be achieved by a unicellular organism. And they definitely eat their food, we've seen Bill do it. So they are (their dimension's equivalent of) animals.

And how they function? What type of animal are they? Well, see you at part two, if this didn't bore you to death already!

Thank you to @forseenconsequences @extremereader and @ok1237 for asking me to do this. Hope you like it, guys!

[nexlikestoyap101]

Happy Pride Month 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️...check out Splatoon!!🦑🐙

Splatoon is so diverse when it comes to sexuality and gender. Don't believe me? Here's a list:

Pearl and Marina, also known as Off the Hook - the most unsubtle non-confirmed lesbian couple (but it's pretty much canon by now). Check out this post full of evidence!

Acht - the series' first major confirmed nonbinary character, using they/them pronouns, correcting mistranslations from both official sources and fan translations. (Also commonly headcanoned as aroace or other variations, based on their reactions to romantic scenes between Off the Hook)

Orion (the green one) - nonbinary character from the supporting cast, confirmed by this dialogue from their friend. (Only video I could find of the dialogue in quesiton)

The band Diss-Pair - commonly headcanoned as a gay couple based on the fact that they appear in the Valentine's Day artwork for 2019 (by extension, the giant group in the front can be a polycule, if you really want them to be)

Cipher...

And

6. Smollusk - ^ both characters who use it/its pronouns. Listed on their individual wiki pages.

7. Finn - a presumed transgender female fish if we think about real life betta fish biology.

8. Shiver - initially speculated to be nonbinary, based on their pronouns in the Japanese version. Later confirmed to be female in English.

Some of these are more canon than others, but let's just have fun regardless, yeah? And celebrate what we do have!

Some more things I can think of:

Craig Cuttlefish and DJ Octavio - popularly headcanoned as the 'textbook definition of old men yaoi lovers to enemies 🎵'

Agent 24 - popular ship between Agent 3 and Agent 8 (3x8=24, math puns!), due to promotional art + 2020's Valentines Day Artwork. (The characters often change in gender in appearence in promotional artwork)

Multiple ships between the games large cast of female characters

Removal of gendered hair/clothing options in Splatoon 3.

Various same-sex ships from the spin-off manga, Coroika.

Multiple of the above pairings listed are Inkling/Octoling ships (Squid/Octopus) - a reoccuring theme in the game is the opression of Octolings, mirroring real world issues of discrimination and 'forbidden love.'

Jumping off from that middle point, the game is female-centric (with lots of female characters + the default for the playable character being female-presenting), as the developers discuss in a 2015 Famitsu interview:

Splatoon has always been a franchise where hopefully people can see themselves represented in game, particularly young girls. As the franchise develops, more and more diverse characters are added for this exact purpose.

This is an amazing series where hopefully all sorts of people can feel represented in one way or another!

Sorry if I got any details about any of the characters/events wrong - I'm going off of my memory and observations about the fandom, mostly. I just really wanted to share these facts with everyone! You're welcome to share your own intrepratations and facts in the reblogs too! :) Let me know if I missed anything!

Happy pride! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦑🐙

[flip-fop]

Remember you asked for this. Here's the fairy sex ed post

Partially cross posting from twitter but without nearly as much of a character limit, if you recognize it no you don't <3

Vaguely nsft under the cut; this is intended to be a psuedoscientific exploration of speculative biology and fairy reproduction, please don't reply to this post with highly sexual commentary (jokes are fine lmao) because this is primarily a family friendly blog.

Prefix:

Starting this off by saying that, while this post is going to focus on reproduction via their physical forms, fairies are essentially made of magic and can, for the most part, manipulate those forms at will. Think of these like the default settings of physical manifestation. Also it's worth noting that while I'm for the most part using human biology terms, fairies themselves probably have ridiculously whimsical names for all these organs that have existed for billions of years, but this isn't a language post. This is not meant to be a full comprehensive medical guide to the complexities of gender in fairy culture, nor will it cover every possible variation of default physical forms. This is your middle school "where do babies come from" level of documentation. The terms "male" and "female" are used to describe fairies as they are "assigned" at birth, however, please don't take this to mean trans and nonbinary fairies don't exist, they definitely do.

Anatomy:

When manifesting physical forms, fairies develop traits based on the dominant species of the world they will primarily engage with, in this case, humans. (1) This leads to the development of secondary sex characteristics such as breast tissue and facial hair. While these traits have evolved over millennia spent alongside humans, they are still derived from magic, and can not be used to qualify fairies as mammals. Fairies are an oviviparous species, meaning an embryo will develop within a fertilized egg and depend on that egg for nutrients, but will hatch inside the parent's body and result in a live birth. (2)

Females produce eggs and lay them via an ovipositor. Males produce sperm via internal testes used to fertilize eggs as they pass through the birth canal towards the brood pouch via penetration by ovipositor. The birth canal and ovipositor are both is self lubricating when aroused to assist the transfer of eggs, and the internal pelvic muscular structure in male fairies is designed to pull the eggs as deep as possible to increase chances of fertilization within the brood pouch. The urinary and reproductive systems are completely separate because they keep canonically arguing about leaving the toilet seat up and while I'm only loosely respectful of canon I can also do whatever I want forever. The female urethra exists behind the ovipositor while the male urethra is connected to a non-reproductively functional penis. Ovipositors tend to be slightly larger than penises, and female fairies tend to be slightly larger than males in general, but this is primarily dependent on the individuals Both the ovipositor and penis have an abundance of nerve endings and experience arousal, though male ejaculation is entirely internal. The brood pouch is functionally a uterus in human terms, however, as the developing embryo derives nutrients from the egg and has no need to fully attach, the brood pouch does not have a lining and, sorry everyone, men don't get periods, nobody has to get periods in my world because I'm a benevolent god. Fairies experience 3 types of puberty, "pooferty(3)" "pasta puberty(4)" and sexual maturation. The first two of these involve developmental milestones and magic-hormone interactions, so they are best set to the wayside for a different post, though I will note here that most secondary sex characteristics will develop in manifest forms at the end stages of pasta puberty. The sexual maturation stage of puberty is the only stage in which hormone production is more of an active cause than magic. Females may begin laying eggs during this time, and nocturnal depositing is very common in teenagers and nothing to be ashamed of, it's a very normal experience to wake up to the occasional egg or two. At the end of class you'll receive a pamphlet with a section on proper disposal spells. Males may experience abdominal cramping during third puberty, as their brood pouch swells slightly to accommodate possible eggs, this is not cyclical in the way human periods are, and once they've had their last growth spurt and the pouch settles in its more spacious form, any residual cramping should subside. Until then, the pamphlets offered at the end of class will also have a section on magical pain relief.

Reproduction:

A female fairy can lay between 1-5 eggs, which are semi-gelatinous in texture and range from .5"-1" (1.27-2.54cm) in size. Egg coloration comes in a myriad of pastels, but despite some outdated theories, the coloration of the egg indicates nothing about the potential appearance of the baby. As previously stated, when the female lays her egg/s inside the male they are fertilized internally. The male will carry the fertilized egg/s in his brood pouch, but the embryo will remain inside the egg through development, using it as a source of magical nutrients If an egg laid inside a partner in whatever orifice is not successfully fertilized, it dissolves within a matter of 6-12 hours. Birth control looks a lot different for fairies because it's essentially exclusive to a morning after spell to forcibly dissolve the eggs anyway. After a 3 month gestation period, the embryo will have fully absorbed the nutrients from the egg and will essentially have "eaten" it's way out, which will trigger the father going into labor and, theoretically, delivering the baby via birth canal. In practice however, magical c-sections(5) were the go-to long before the baby ban. Seriously this has been the preferred method for millennia. Only holier-than-tho crunchy granola weirdos get superior about non-magically assisted delivery.

Citations:

In s3ep12 Abracatastrophy we learn that fairies take on godparenting duties and physical traits of the earths dominant species.

https://byjus.com/biology/viviparous-oviparous-embryo-development/#ovoviviparity

s9ep38 School of Crock Peri goes through pooferty, but this is also one of those concepts I've entirely restructured in my mind.

ANW s1ep18 Growing Pains introduces pasta puberty, and I'm keeping that canon on the grounds that it's funny.

In s6ep1 Fairly Odd Baby we gain a basic and superficial overview of fairy gestation. It's the mpreg episode.

[jaybug-jabbers]

Gen 3 Beta Pokemon 'Dex - Page 3

Continuing the beta pokemon, previous post is here.

Name: Hipo [ヒポ]

My Notes: A pastel blue hippo that seems to have a baby bonnet-inspired frill on its head.

Name: Charmin [チャーミン]

My Notes: Some kind of baby pokemon. Might be a beta Happiny, just based on the egg and the pink coloration, as well as the frills on the side of the head. There are no evo notes or data though.

Name: Piper [ピッパー]

Type: Normal

Category: Lottery

Height/Weight: 1'4'', 17.6 lbs

Pokedex Entries:

It changes into different forms during evolution, but the cause of these transformations is unknown, attracting the attention of Pokémon researchers.

--

Its biology is mostly unknown. It doesn't seem to have a visible mouth or ears, but it reacts to sounds and light, which has been confirmed.

Additional Gamefreak Notes:

A Pokémon that evolves through transformation. When it evolves, it transforms into various different Pokémon.

Evolution: Supposedly able to randomly evolve into any pokemon

My Notes: Unlike Ditto which can transform temporarily into any pokemon, this guy would have been able to evolve into any pokemon pernamently. I imagine if they went through with this they probably would have put a few limits on it and prevented it from evolving into legendaries/mythicals, though. I also imagine Piper probably would not learn many moves before evolution, since anything it evolved into would also have access to those moves-- unless they were to make an exception for Piper and have it forget the moves of its previous incarnation.

Name: Snoun [スノウン]

My Notes: Apparently it's a snowman moth. Honestly a cute idea, though the sprite can use some refinement. We did eventually get Frosmoth of course, but this shows they were thinking of an icy moth for a long time.

Name: Panpamu [パンパム]

My Notes: A toy monkey with cymbals. By the way, if you google 'Jolly Chimp,' a vintage cymbal-banging monkey toy, be prepared for some very creepy photos. Anyway, this pokemon was probably based on it; the toy itself was based on organ grinders training monkeys to bang symbols.

Name: Bonbongo [ボンボンゴ]

My Notes: These two do not have index numbers next to each other, but it's still possible Panpamu would have evolved into Bonbongo here. Keep in mind, there is a vintage boxing monkey toy that was made in Japan.

Name: Shiomagune [シオマグネ]

My Notes: A crab with magnets for claws. The "hair" are magnetic metal filings. The use of magnetic filings as hair would later be seen in Probopass and in Sandy Shocks. We also have "hairy" crabs with Crabominable (based on the yeti crab) and Klawf. Despite all that, I wish we had this magnet crab, a Water/Electric crab (my speculation on typing) would have been cool. This is one of my favorites.

Name: Torchin [トーチン]

My Notes: A strange snake with four stubby legs and a tail on fire. HRP's notes say that this pokemon was reworked into Seviper. I don't see much in common with Seviper, other than the fact they are snakes. But until I gain access to the original files, I'll have to take their word for it.

Name: Ponku [ポンク]

Evolution: Evolves into Tanpu

Name: Tanpu [タンプ]

Evolution: Evolves from Ponku

My Notes: TCRF calls these vacuum cleaner pokemon. I . . . guess they are? They're pretty weird looking vacuums if that's what they are. Interestingly, this guy seems to have fins and looks fish-like.

Name: Paootsu [パオーツ]

Evolution: Evolves from Spinda

My Notes: We could have had a badass Spinda evolution! I'm sad.

Name: Suiba [スイバ]

My Notes: I can't figure out what they were going for here. At any rate it seems part Steel-type.

Name: Lighli [ライライ]

Type: Flying/Dragon

Category: White Dragon

Height/Weight: 11'10'', 385.8 lbs

Pokedex Entries:

Lives a nomadic life without a fixed home, attacking by wrapping its long body around opponents and striking with a sharp beak.

--

Its entire body is covered in white scales. When it flies through the sky, its scales scatter, creating a sparkling trail of light in the sky.

Additional Gamefreak Notes: A Pokémon that does not settle in one place. It has no sense of territory and lives a nomadic life. Its entire body is covered in thin, hard, white scales. When it flies, the scales scatter and sparkle. It wraps around the enemy's body, constricting them, and finishes by striking with its beak

Evolution: Evolved from Swablu

My Notes: Believe it or not this was beta Altaria. Altaria went on to be refined into a very different kind of birdlike dragon, and it's possible that elements of Lighli were then used for Rayquaza (a long, snakelike flying Dragon). In the sprite scratchpads, Lighli's design was updated to be closer to its concept art:

Name: Shaboo [シャボー]

My Notes: This thing terrifies me. That is all.

Name: Hakogame [ハコガメ]

My Notes: I feel like they were cooking with this one, they just needed to refine the idea some more. Possibly this guy was scrapped in favor of-- or changed into-- Torkoal.

[leohtttbriar]

I think Michael like for all that she is she is definitely an anthropologist like I think she takes a very great cultural lense before a scientific

you know, i think you are absolutely right! thank you so much for bringing this up! i wasn't even thinking about her academic specialties when i wrote this post. her first question being about "praying" could very easily just have been the way she was trained to meet alien peoples where they are first before obnoxiously being like "what is that, tho"

and, to your point about the cultural v scientific lens:

for better or worse, i'd say star trek collapses the boundaries between a lot of academic disciplines. "hard" v "soft" science doesn't seem to be a distinction in the star trek speculative world, where linguistics and anthropology are as much about physics and biology and no one is going to pretend like learning languages is a different kind of Study to learning chemistry. this sometimes does not work, imo, because sometimes the writing will accidentally slip into an unexamined essentialism with the alien cultures, which renders the whole of the allegory sort of silly and potentially all kinds of offensive. but it sometimes does work.

discovery, from what i remember of the first two seasons (i'm only just now starting the third, bc i lost my cbs account between 2 and 3, alas! etc), seems more able than other series to collapse the distance between disciplines and walk the line between what is cultural and what is material culture informed by biology. like saru constantly talks of his alien species and how their history of being hunted on his planet manifests in a perpetual anxiety and tamed-curiosity for him but also lends a level of care and sensitivity that he excels in---all of which fleshes out the character while giving him the awareness and consciousness to know why he may be acting a certain way compared to others and why he shouldn't ever be demeaned for it and where his body and his body's millions-of-years-old natural history can be challenged with that consciousness and how his consciousness can be valued precisely for its origins.

the klingons and vulcans, while not as sophisticated as the character saru, also seem to be largely cultural products that are informed by their specific biology. michael, somewhat caught between the cultural product and her own biological reality, can affect vulcan mannerisms and is very often portayed as thinking like a vulcan, while remaining very recognizable to us. her phrasing and her pattern of speech, while not monotone, are normally utterances that move from established fact to logical conclusion. I have nowhere to go back to...the only thing I can do right now is trust something, she says, upon being thrust nine-hundred years in the future. it's the statement of a stoic philosopher (probably one of the "vulcan" influences). she is concerned with what is material and what is real and what is real to others.

which is why i really like what you pointed out about her anthropology expertise--culture is real and often naturalized to those who live in it. michael is definitely someone, what with her studies and how she was raised, who is intimately aware of how the alien can be made familiar, how bodies can't be denied but you can learn to know them, how consciousness is strange and existence-in-causal-time stranger, and how people (all creatures included) are never all one thing or another.

obviously there's no perfect speculative fiction creating speculative cultures. the hurdles of making a sell-able show and the ingrained biases and limitations of the writers are not insignificant. but the storytelling here is engaging with conceits concerning the preciousness of life and the immutability of that preciousness--even if you don't understand it.

(also i just love michael burnham with all my heart. don't think it was a coincidence she was named after the angel who carries a sword.)

[microraptorreactor]

Hello! It's time, I'm making my (somewhat rabid) speculation on eliksli biology while waiting for the next act of Revenant. This speculation is wholly mundane, but good fun for me. Long post, so it's below the cut!

Now, my first note that informed much of this post:

Riis was fucking DANGEROUS.

Or dangerous for pre-Traveler Eliksni, anyways. I have a pretty simple reason for this, and that's because Eliksni have a lot of kids. Seriously.

Irl, often the more babies an animal has per pregnancy is linked to how likely any individual is to survive to adulthood. I'm going to drastically oversimplify things here, but the more likely any individual offspring is to die, the more offspring the animal has. Any individual juvenile insect is very, VERY likely to die, so most insect species have hundreds. Tiger cubs have a 40% chance to make it to adulthood, so tigers have 2-4 cubs in a litter. Only animals with very high infant survival rates (humans, elephants, whales, etc.) can afford to put all their resources into one offspring.

Eliksni have about four offspring per gestation. Probably. We'll get into the nitty-gritty later. To my knowledge, there aren't any crustations that have clutch sizes that small, so to figure out approximate survival rates, I'm looking to mammals. For lions, another large social apex species that also has between 1-4 offspring per gestation, the survival rate for offspring is about 20%. This lines up perfectly with Eliksni. To me, that says it was tough being an Eliksni and shit was killing them all the time. Pre-Traveler contact, those adorable hatchlings were dying all the time.

"But Spire, why did you say probably an average of four?" You may cry, shaking your screen. Or not, I don't know. That's because of the exitance of Eggcloth! While, to my knowledge, the exact way eggcloth is created is unknown, one thing we do know is that it's made of the shells of eliksni eggs. And the only time this is mentioned it is in reference to crushing an egg. The specific line I'm getting this from I'm going to dig into, so I'll put the full thing here.

I should have crushed his egg and woven it into cloth; a regret I will always carry. "

Inaaks' great life regrets aside (no wonder Misraaks has mommy issues), she mentions destroying an egg and turning it into cloth. While it could be argued that this IS drastic, and she's just desperate, why would she turn it into cloth if it was? And eggcloth is a relatively common material made of broken eggs, as can be gathered elsewhere[1][2]. While in Achilles Weaves A Cocoon those broken eggs may have been broken on accident, with the other mention of crushing eggs in The Long Dark, I'm really not sure that's the case.

So, my theory is it's possible Eliksni clutches are larger then 4. It's just that more then four hatchlings need more recourses then most Eliksni can give, and the excess eggs are crushed and turned to eggcloth. One could argue eggcloth is usually made from the discarded shells of hatched eggs, but the fibrous material inside Eliksni eggs [1] may be ruined when the egg hatches, since it's only ever referenced to be made from broken eggs.

And now, let's talk about Eliksni teeth! It's confusing. I'll start by breaking it down.

I've divided Eliksni jaws into three sections (yes, I did figure out Blender just for this post lmao). It appears there might be a fourth section of teeth behind 3, but I can't get a good enough shot to figure out what those teeth would be used for.

This is the outermost section of teeth that are definetly for eating. They appear long and thin, with the exception of two cusped-like teeth on the front of the upper jaw. Thanks to this being an old model, the teeth are INCREADIBLY low-poly. What I can tell is that this layer of teeth is long, thin, sharp, and close together.

This is a pair of sharp and large teeth. While similar in appearence to rodent teeth, there is no corrisponding teeth on the upper jaw. I'll dig into this one soon.

This is the inner section of teeth. I have problems with how this inner section was handled. I will get to those problems in time.

I'll start with what's clear to me. Section 1, the outer teeth, are most likely for eating fish. Long, thin teeth like that are usually seen in aquatic animals that eat fish, as those thin teeth pierce fish like a spear and keep them in place, or hold fish within the animal's mouth depending on the size.

Section 2 is strange. The main option that appeals to me is that these teeth are for cracking open fruits or nuts. These teeth also could be used for separating fruit from rinds, as Achilles uses his section 2 teeth for separating egg materials. The top of the mouth's corresponding structure doesn't quite line up for this. There isn't quite as much of a structure on the upper jaw to press against as one would expect for that purpose. Section 2 might also be for display.

Section 3.... how I dislike section 3. This is plain old lazy modeling. A second set of thin sharp teeth, point blank, does not make sense. With the current tooth setup, it would appear that Eliksni are purely piscivores. They are not. While the full diet of Eliksni is never mentioned, they are treated as if they are omnivorous. Most omnivores possess grinding teeth. The reasonable location for grinding teeth would be behind the piercing teeth, but these are not grinding teeth, so that caught fish wouldn't have to go far through the mouth to be chewed. The reason for this is because in 2014 Bungie wanted to design a monster. Not a creature that lived in an alien ecosystem, but another thing to mow down en-mass. It makes sense from a monster design standpoint, but ugh.

Anyways, notes I have for now! As I get The Garden-Way I may have more thoughts. Or this may be completely disproven! Who knows!

[labrxnth]

Prison Break- Part 5 (Leon Kennedy x Reader Series)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

CW: Death Island spoilers, suicidal thoughts/tendencies

WC: 5350 (whoops)

Summary: You and your co-worker Leon Kennedy are sent on a mission to rescue a kidnapped robotic engineer Dr. Antonio Taylor. The journey for him leads the two of you to somewhere you thought you would never go, Alcatraz.

A/n: IM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG. I graduated my students, I fell ill, and I had an ADHD fueled hyperfixation on a specific pale elf made by Larion Studios so here it finally it. I hope the length makes up for the month of silence.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───

January 27th, 2015 

You and Leon had been working together for a year and a half. Last year, you two defeated Glen Arias alongside Chris Redfield and Rebecca Chambers. This year, things were relatively quiet. You hated to say it, but it was quiet. 

You were sitting at your desk that was against the wall in now you and Leon’s shared office. A crate of ice coffee was melting, the condensation dripping from the cups onto the top of your desk. Glancing at the clock, you bit your lip. Normally, Leon would be out of a meeting with the President within an hour, but it was now an hour and 15 minutes, something was up. 

And with it being quiet lately, you could only speculate another big mission was popping up. 

The door opened and Leon walked into the office, looking exhausted and drained. Over the past half a year he had really pulled himself together. His eyes looked more present, less glossed over. He had grown his hair out more, stopped dying it, and styled it like he used to when you first joined. He was also very proud that he started lifting again, something he said that he did all the time in his 20s. 

And all that personal care paid off, because even though he was exhausted from his meeting, he still looked gorgeous. You thought he was really attractive when you joined the D.S.O. and even last year when he had lost a bit of weight and had his depressed alcoholic arc. But you didn’t know just how attractive he could be, and it still amazed you. 

“Are you going to tell me… or….” You said and looked at him. 

He took his coffee out of the tray on your desk and pat your head. Your eyes trailed him to his desk. 

“We have another mission coming up,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose as he sat down. He took a sip of his coffee and relaxed in his chair. 

Leon had told you multiple times about his relationship with the past few presidents. Apparently, President Graham scared him shitless when he “asked” Leon to rescue his daughter and he was intimidated by him until his terms ended. President Benford was like a mentor to him and helped found the D.S.O. with Leon; they were pretty close until Leon had to kill him a few years ago. Now, Leon was drained from all the politics of the new guy. 

You smiled to yourself a little bit because you were right about the mission. “You know that’s just watered down coffee, right?” You asked, looking at his iced americano, trying to lighten the mood.

He looked at you from his desk, almost scoffing in reply. “Like I’m gonna take coffee advice from you. You’d guzzle the grounds if you could,” He said, turning his attention back to the folder in his hands. 

You sat there with your mouth open, not knowing how to reply to that. Closing your mouth, you turned back to your laptop, typing away at a case file. 

“We have to go to New York,” Leon said after a few seconds of silence. “We’re going to attend an upcoming biology summit and check in on a few things.” 

“Meaning, there’s a potential virus being sold?” You asked. The past few months after dealing with Arias had been mostly doing work for the government, so bounty hunting and few and far between B.O.W. hunting. 

Leon nodded and your heart jumped with excitement. It was kind of morbid to put it this way, but you loved work like this. This was why you joined the D.S.O.

“We’ll be undercover so be on your best behavior,” Leon said. 

“Yessir,” you said and jokingly saluted. 

“And another thing…. We’ll be undercover as a couple… so try to pretend like you like me,” Leon said and grinned. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───

January 30, 2015

Ingrid’s eyes trailed up and down your figure, looking at the dress and seeing if it complimented your skin tone and hair color. The D.S.O. was providing the wardrobe for the mission, the racks of dresses they had filled you and Leon’s office. 

When the racks were brought in, Ingrid didn’t explain why the D.S.O. had so many when you and Sherry were technically the only female agents. She also kicked Leon out of the office so she could help you try on the dresses and pick out the one. 

You were standing in the middle of the office, a burgundy coloured dress hugging your figure. The bodice had straps that fell off the shoulder, corset ribbing, and enough cleavage to make your mother pass out while still keeping it classy. The bottom hugged your figure on one side and had a long slit on the other, trailing up to your thigh. It felt Greek and Romantic, while also being modern. 

You felt like a million bucks. 

“Wow,” Ingrid said, looking over you again. “With your hair and makeup done, you could probably get it at the summit,” she added and chuckled. 

You looked down at the dress. “Why does the D.S.O. have this?” You asked again, clearly stuck on the question. Sherry Birkin hadn’t been back from traveling for a mission in years, and she was pretty young, so it genuinely made no sense to you. 

“Does it matter?” Ingrid replied. “The D.S.O. keeps them just in case. A lot of times they’re purchased for the mission. Tax write offs and stuff.”

You nodded in reply, letting Ingrid touch up the dress a little bit. 

“This will go nicely with what Leon’s wearing…” she said, mentally taking notes. She walked over to a box and pulled out a pair of heels higher than you had ever worn before. 

“Are you trying to get my ankle snapped in half?” You asked and looked at her in shock. 

“You’ve worn heels before, what’s a few more inches? And they’re designer, when else will you get a chance to wear them?” She asked. 

If you weren’t in awe of the shoes, you would have glared at her. “True…” you trailed off and tried the heels on. 

“Okay, now take everything off and I’ll pack them away,” Ingrid said and turned around so you could change. 

After handing the dress and shoes to her, you put your regular clothes on, feeling less like a million bucks. Ingrid put the dress and shoes in a suitcase along with a box of jewelry. 

“Alright… I’ll leave these with you. Good luck,” She said and smiled at you. 

You walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. No amount of hugs could make up for her landing you this job, or even just being your friend when you got lost in the sea of USSTRATCOM agents. But still, it was the thought that counted.

The two of you hugged each other for a good while, making a silent promise to work hard and for you to make it back in one piece. “I’ll try not to drive you insane this time,” you said and smiled at her. 

“You know better than making promises you can’t keep,” she replied and chuckled. The two of you broke the hug. 

The room was littered with clothing racks and  discarded dresses. “I’ll help you bring the racks back,” You said, looking around the room. 

“Don’t bother, I’ll have it done in two trips tops. And you need to get going, check in time for the hotel ends at 11pm,” she said. 

You nodded and picked up your bag and suitcase. “Talk to you later,” you said and gave her a toothy, warm, smile as you walked out the door. 

Walked through the D.S.O. office, you made your way to your locker, grabbing the duffel bag you carried around on missions. It had your knives, guns, and pretty much a small armory in it. 

“Ready to get going?” Leon asked, walking up next to you to go through his locker. 

“Yup,” you replied, slinging the duffel bag over your shoulder. 

“Let’s get going then,” he said, smiling at you. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───

January 31, 2015

“Name?” 

“Nathalie Oakes,” you replied, confident in your fake persona. The two of you, you and Leon were putting the finishing touches on your outfits. With a job like this, all of the details mattered, how he cuffed his sleeves, what you wore for jewelry, everything. 

“My name?” Leon asked, fixing the collar of his blazer and undershirt. He was wearing a suit that was matching the dress shade, his blazer and undershirt being the same shade. His tie was black and so were the pants. The way he had his shirt and blazer, the shirt was unbuttoned a little bit so his chest was slightly out. Almost like he had cleavage, which if you were honest he kind of did. That man worked on his chest like he was paid to do it. 

“Edward Wingate,” you answered. Your fingers gently pulled the top off of the velvet covered jewelry box, staring at the almost blinding gold necklace. Picking it up, you were trying to figure out how to clasp and unclasp it with your nails.

Ingrid had treated you to a manicure the other day. Adorning your fingertips were acrylics, nude colored and almond shaped. When you had asked how to shoot or fight in them, you were met with snickers and were told to figure it out yourself. 

So you did. Spending the last few days in the shooting ring and training rooms, making sure you were confident in your abilities with the nails on your hands. A chuckle came from behind you and Leon’s hand gently grabbed the necklace. “Need help?” He asked. 

You nodded in reply and pulled your hair up so he could put the necklace on you. 

“It's funny, I’ve seen you kick ass hundreds of times and you’re getting stuck on trying to put a necklace on,” He said, the everpresent teasing fronting his voice. 

“It’s these damn nails. I have so much respect for people that function with these things. And I can still kick your ass with these on,” You retorted, earning another chuckle from the man behind you. 

Looking at the mirror, you saw a reflection of a life you could only dream of. A woman dressed up to the nines and her partner helping with her jewelry. The juxtaposition to what your reality was was almost taunting. Where there were ivory colored gloves in the mirror, there was usually blood; yours and others’. The hair that fell smoothly like silk sat on top of the head that was filled with nightmares. Nothing in the mirror was a true reflection, except for the man behind you. 

You dreamed of finding the one person who got you, emotionally and physically. One who always had your back and would be there for you on the nights where you remembered the blood filled apartment in Manchester. Leon was the one person in your life who could quell the cold isolation, the icy, crushing feeling of your past. He didn’t know about your feelings for him, he couldn’t. 

Even if the feelings for him overwhelmed you in only a way that a full symphonic orchestra could. His smile made the world feel a little brighter, his laughter made life sweeter, He was like honey added to coffee, something that made a bitter drink sweet and a different palate. 

“Alright, done,” Leon said and pat your shoulder lightly. 

Your eyes looked at the gold adorning your neck and you smiled. “Thanks,” you said warmly and turned around to get the purse that matched your dress. The feeling of someone staring at you made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, something you had from the STRATCOM training. 

Looking in the mirror to your left you saw Leon staring at you, something that happened quite a bit, but this time it was differently charged. Something was fueling the look on his face, but as usual, he was hard to read. He noticed you looking at him in the reflection of the mirror and he turned his face towards the wall, pretending like he wasn't staring at you.

“You ready?” You asked, willing to ignore that he was blatantly staring at you. 

“Yeah,” He replied and grabbed his Sentinel 9, sliding it into his blazer and through his shoulder holster under the jacket. 

Turning towards your bed, you grabbed your holster, fastening it to your thigh under the dress. The slit was on the other thigh so it wouldn’t reveal the holster. 

“Ready Miss Oakes?” Leon mused, holding his arm out for you. 

“Ready Mr. Wingate,” You replied, smiling a bit and taking his arm. This all felt wrong, but right at the same time. What would it feel like if instead of a mission, this was your reality? What if instead of heaving Edward Wingate on your side you had Leon Kennedy? It was jarring, as jarring as the emotions you had been trying to sort out the last few months. Swimming somewhere between your heart and your brain were your complicated emotions. 

They really weren’t complicated, your situation was. 

If Leon wasn’t your coworker and technically your superior, you would’ve tried to go for it, but the reality was that your lives could get messy. You didn’t want him to potentially get in trouble for fraternization, you didn’t want your relationship to change if there was rejection, and most importantly you didn’t want either of your potential deaths to hurt more. 

If you left your feelings unsaid, the chance of you or Leon dying wouldn’t sting as much. So, your feelings were buried between your tight lips, unspoken and never going to be explored.

“You okay? You seem lost in thought,” Leon said, his eyes meeting yours. The clicks of your high heels and his shoes were echoing through the hall on the way to the elevator. 

“Yeah, I’m fine, just thinking about the mission,” You replied as the two of you stepped into the elevator. Your gloved finger pressed the 6 button.

“Our target is a potential C-virus sample. Most of the summit will be held on the 6th floor and a lot of the vendors will be here starting tomorrow. Tonight is the dinner party that starts off the summit. Everyone will be busy socializing and drinking,” Leon reminded you. 

“Meaning tonight is our best bet to get in and out unnoticed,” You said, smiling. 

“Meaning, our job will be a lot easier if we get it tonight,” He said. 

The elevator opened to the 6th floor, warm yellow lights illuminating the space. The room was open, the venue taking up the whole floor. Across the walls were floor to ceiling windows, the city lights coloring the dark horizon and sky. The floor was dark wood, glossy in finish, and the ceiling was an off gray color with golden details. All over the room were circular tables with chairs around them, the tables adorned with empty champagne glasses, cutlery, napkins, plates, and candles. 

“I feel like I don’t belong here,” You said quietly. The last undercover mission you went on was almost the polar opposite of this. 

“Don’t let them make you feel inferior. They’ll see through the disguise,” Leon assured you as you two walked into the room more. “And don’t sell yourself short. More importantly, don’t let rich assholes sell yourself short. You’re worth more than everything in this room put together,” He added. 

You smiled a bit, redness slightly painting the tips of your ears. “Thanks for the confidence boost. I’ll make sure to put this down as one of the only times you were sweet to me,” You said, looking at him. He opened his lips to say something, but closed them as someone was making their way over to you two with a clipboard. 

“Good evening, I presume you’re here for the North Eastern Biotech Summit?” The man said. He was dressed in a usual black tie suit. He stood around 5’11”, being only a few inches taller than Leon and looked to be around your age. 

You didn’t miss how Leon almost changed into a completely new person with his energy level and atmosphere. You also didn’t miss how his arm suddenly snaked around your waist, pulling you close to him. The corners of your mouth upturned into a warm friendly smile at the contact and the man in front of the two of you. 

It was all for the mission, that’s what you convinced yourself. Being a couple, that was for the mission, but enjoying it? That wasn’t part of the mission. 

“Of course! Edward Wingate, and this is my lovely fiancé, soon to be Mrs. Wingate,” Leon said, his voice sounding like silk. As he spoke, he pulled you close to him, squeezing the two of you in a side hug. 

The man in front of the two of you checked his clipboard, his eyes skimming down the list of names on his sheet. His eyes lit up when he saw the two names you presented. 

“Ah yes, Mr. Wingate and Ms. Oakes,” He replied, putting the clipboard down and gesturing to a table. “Let me help you find your seat,” He added. The two of you followed the man to a table in the corner of the room. 

As you got closer to the table, you tried to process all the people here, their fancy clothes, and their arm candies. The people paired with the lights, and the complete lack of smell in the room was almost too much for you to handle. 

Leon and you sat down at the table, your hands immediately going to the glass filled with water. The cool liquid made its way down your throat and relief was evident on your face. As you put your glass down, another couple sat next to Leon, their outfits as extravagant as the venue. There was a man and a woman, the woman looking slightly older than the man. 

“Hello! You weren’t here last year, it’s always good to meet a new supporter,” The woman said and outstretched her hand to Leon. After they shook hands, she outstretched the same hand to you, which you took as elegantly as you could. 

“Finally got invited to join in on the summit this year. We’re excited to see what the latest developments in biotech are,” Leon replied, smiling at the two of them. He lightly put his hand on your thigh, the warmth spreading through your body. If you were drinking, you would have almost choked on the water. 

“Nice to meet you, I’m Blaire, this is Ambrose,” The woman said and gestured to the young man next to her. Looking at his hand, you could see the two of them were engaged, the gold engagement rings sparkling. You slid your hand onto the tablecloth, so the two of them could observe that you and Leon were also “engaged”. 

“Pleasure’s all mine, Im Edward, this is Nathalie,” Leon gestured to you, almost showing you off. Your mind wandered off to thinking about what if it was Leon who was showing you off, not Edward showing off Nathalie. Could you ever make him proud to introduce other people to you?

“The summit this year is said to be the biggest yet,” Blaire said. Her midnight blue dress was stunning against her skin. The gold jewelry could catch anyone’s eyes. 

“That so? It certainly is a special night,” Leon said and chuckled a bit. You were surveying the room, seeing where the wait staff and other people were coming out of, making it look like you were taking in the decor. 

A frazzled worker coming out a door directly across the room from your table caught your eye. From your seat, you could see shelves and what looked like a storage room, or a green room that the items being showcased in could stay while waiting for tomorrow. 

Your eyes glanced back over to the couple sitting next to Leon and you smiled warmly at them, playing the role of the pretty arm candy that didn’t talk much. 

“We’re going to the bar for a few drinks, want to come?” Ambrose asked warmly and gestured to the bar on the opposite end of the room. It was close to the storage room you saw earlier.

Before Leon could object, you spoke for the two of you. “Of course,” You replied with a smile. 

As the two of them got up, Leon looked at you, his eyes asking for an explanation. Giving him a look back, your eyes told him, trust me, I have a plan already. He nodded in acknowledgement and you two got up, following Blaire and Ambrose. 

The four of you got to the bar counter and you looked up at Leon. “Hey, honey, I’m gonna head to the bathroom, could you just get me a vodka lemonade?” You asked and held his elbow lightly. 

Leon’s eyes twinkled a little bit, him knowing what you were really saying. “Of course, I’ll hold your drink for you,” He said. Before you walked away, he leaned in and kissed the top of your head. 

Your rational side knew why he did it, it was strictly to play your parts, but the part of you that dreamt about a different life fluttered when his lips met your head. Heat ran to your face as you blushed and started walking towards the bathroom. 

If there was one thing you didn’t want, it was for Leon to see the red painted across your cheeks. Then your feelings would be questioned. 

Making sure no one was watching, you walked past the bathroom and towards the storage closet. 

The first thing you noticed about the room was that it was cold, like a walk in freezer. The next thing you noticed were the lights, they were a cold blue hue, no warmth found in them at all. The very last thing you noticed was the lack of smell. Where the scent of mildew and/or dust would be filling your noses there was nothing. Not even the various cleaners on the shelf were creating a smell. 

Looking around the room, you saw various gadgets and displays set up for the summit. Each piece was on its own roll out table,but one in particular caught your eye. On a smaller display table, there was a closed briefcase. If you were lucky, the vial containing the virus sample would be in there, if not, you would have to survive more socializing. 

Walking over to it, your eyes traced over the case, looking for any signs of vents or anything else that could be a trap. Clearing the case, you brought your finger up to your earpiece. 

“Condor 2 to Roost, I found the delivery. Am I cleared to grab it?” You asked.  

“Condor 2, good job. You’re cleared to grab it,” Ingrid’s voice rang out in your earpiece. 

You nodded to yourself and studied the case again, making sure it wasn’t trapped. Flicking the clasps open, you saw the vial. Inside of the small glass container was a red substance that looked almost sticky. Reaching out to it, your hand went to grab it. 

Suddenly, you felt a strong sting of heat course through your hand. Smelling a burning sort of smell, you ripped your hand away from the glass and looked at it, seeing a second degree burn forming through the glove you were wearing. Snickering in annoyance, you bunched up both of your gloves and picked up the vial, stuffing it in your purse and thinking of a way to conceal the burn on your hand. 

Walking out of the storage room, you made your way back to Leon and the others getting their drinks. Leon went to hand you your glass, but his eyes immediately caught on to the burned palm of your hand. His eyebrow raised in questioning and the look you gave in response didn’t ease his worries. 

“Well, it’s been good to meet you two, I think Nathalie is feeling rather ill. We’re gonna head back to our room,” Leon said, looking over at the two he had walked to the bar with. 

Blaire and Ambrose nodded in respect and left to go back to the table. Leon’s eyes went back to your hand, concern written across his face. 

“You gonna tell me what happened?” He asked. 

“I suggest that we get back to the room then have this conversation before the sample vial burns a hole through my purse,” You retorted quietly and walked with him. 

The two of you slipped out of the party, unnoticed, just like how you had gotten in. The job was as easy as Hunnigan had said, in and out, and other than the burn on your hand you both came out unscathed. 

“We’re talking and walking,” Leon said as the two of you got out of the elevator, walking down the hallway to your room. His voice told you that he wasn’t asking, more telling you that you two were going to talk. 

“The glass burned my hand, that was it, everything else was fine,” You replied as you made your way to the door to your room. 

“I’m patching that up when we get inside,” Leon said, again leaving no room for debate. 

“Fine,” You mumbled and swiped the keycard, opening the door. 

The two of you walked in, you immediately getting out of your heels and leaving them by the door. You were about to head into the shower, before Leon closed the bathroom door from behind you. You didn’t have to see his face to know he was staring intently at you. 

“Before anything, I’m fixing that hand of yours,” He said, his breath hot on your neck. You turned around, looking him in the face. 

“I want to get out of my makeup and this dress,” You replied, a slight whine in your tone. 

“You’ll get to later,” He said, almost pulling you to the bed. Begrudgingly, you sat down on the edge of the bed and watched him walk to the bathroom. While you were getting ready, earlier today, you didn’t notice how soft the bedsheets were. The silk pooled under your fingers, wanting to lull you to sleep. 

Leon returned from the bathroom, with a bowl filled with water, a first aid kit, and a couple hand towels. Your face scrunched a bit, uncomfortable with the idea of someone doing something that you could do yourself. 

“Leon, I’ll be fine. I can bandage myself up after I get changed,” You said, trying to quell him. However, one of the things that you had learned early on while working with Leon Kennedy was that he never walked away from someone needing help, no matter how small or big the need was. 

The bed dipped as he sat next to you, pulling your hand so that it was face up on his thigh. “And what happens when you don’t fix it and you get scarring or can’t use your hand as well as you used to? This is your shooting hand, don’t be stubborn,” He insisted. 

“‘Don’t be stubborn?’ That’s rich coming from you,” You replied, eyes scrunched together waiting for the pain of him putting your hand in the bowl of cold water. 

Where you expected there to be pain from the water, there was relief. Part of you wished that it was running water, but the other part of you knew it might’ve been rough on the freshly buried skin. 

“Just relax, I’ll take good care of you,” Leon said, his hands going to open the first aid kit. 

“That really makes me feel better,” You said back snarkily. 

“Good to hear that you didn’t lose your sense of humor,” 

“I got a burn on my hand, I didn’t get impaled,” 

Leon chuckled a little bit and took your hand out of the bowl, putting it down on one of the hand towels. “I thought I trained you to say ‘thank you’ when someone helps,” He replied, a glint of teasing in his eyes. 

“You didn’t teach me shit other than how to shotgun a beer,” You replied, a smirk on your face. 

Leon’s small chuckle turned into a hearty laugh. “Fair, fair,” He replied and started to bandage your hand. “Good eye, seeing where the displays were held. The job was easy thanks to you.”

“Is that praise from Leon Kennedy?” You asked, feigning shock. “Oh my god, the world is ending.”

“Hey, I give you enough praise,” He retorted and lighting wrapped the bandages around your hand, lightly tying them. “Okay, your hand is all set and will be as pretty as it usually is soon,” He added with a toothy grin. 

“Thanks,” You said and looked at the bandaging, your voice softening. 

“Before you change, I have something else for you,” Leon said, walking over to the fridge in the room. Your eyes followed him and watched him pull a box out of the fridge and a large bottle of sparkling cider. 

“What’s the occasion?” You asked as he walked back to the bed with two forks and two flutes. 

“It’s January 31st….” Leon trailed off.

“Oh,” You replied softly and looked at the box. Leon opened it up and revealed a tiramisu cake, simple and plain, just like you liked it. 

“I’m sorry you had to be on a mission tonight, but our lives are what they are,” He said and handed you a fork. “I know you like tiramisu cake and you hate most types of alcohol so I got you some goodies,” He added with a soft smile.

“Thank you, I haven’t had anyone to spend tonight with for a long time,” You replied, taking the fork and flute. 

“Before we eat, actually, I think it’s a waste that we didn’t get to dance while in these fancy ass clothes,” Leon stood up, walking to the radio in the room and putting on a classical music station. 

“I don’t know how to dance,” You said. 

“If you can fight, you can dance, it’s pretty much the same thing,” He replied and held his hand out to you. 

“You say that now, but you won't be laughing when I step on your foot,” You warned, taking his hand with your good one and standing up. Leon laughed in reply and pulled you close to him, his hand finding a respectful spot on your waist. 

“How do I put up with you?” He asked dramatically, his eyes sparkling with humor. 

“I should be asking that question,” You replied. “Maybe, we were meant to annoy the shit out of each other.”

The two of you chuckled as you swayed together to the music. Leon’s eyes never left yours and the way he was looking at you felt… intimate. Like you were the only person in the world to him and you were all he wanted. 

“Happy birthday, (Y/n),” He said after a few seconds of silence and smiled. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───

Present Day

You saw Leon’s mouth moving on the other side of the prison cell bars, but couldn’t hear a word he was saying. His blue eyes were staring at you, squeezing shut in a grimace every few seconds. If you were going to get infected after all the missions the two of you had gone through, you were happy that at least you could lose your minds together. Nothing else mattered to you other than the feeling of closeness you two had in the moment and your fingers laced together through the jail cell bars. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ｡ﾟ☆. ───

Catch this fic early on my AO3!

[lostshots]

thoughts on shadow generation

now that im done playing the story here are some of my thoughts:

the cut scenes are so good, although the detail on the model's fur/texture is a bit distracting (it's not a bad thing)

the flavour text is great! we get to see some insight on maria's and shadow's relationship on the ark, as well as the other characters relationship towards shadow

maybe it's the fact that this is my 2nd sonic game, but it's boring that all enemies have the same attack pattern: staying still until you come closer, then they shoot projectiles

hades 2 spoiled me for combat lol

it's so nice to see shadowing emoting again

i approve this game for people awful at platformers (signed by me, a person who sucks at them)

its really easy to fall off the ledge or miss homing shots at enemies/bounce pads if you arent paying attention

removing lives is handy

there were some areas i couldnt find, so i had to use a walkthrough just to get back to mephiles' area once i had all the keys

actually i fell off the path going to the black moon, so i had recollect rings and figure out how to get back up there again. not fun

i spent so long on the last phase of neo devil doom bc i kept running out of rings

sucks there's no checkpoint for that, but it is the final boss

would have been cool to see shadow introduce his friends to his family, but time paradox i guess

wish the doom morph could be activated at will so i can show maria squidow

actually rouge not commenting on his wings is a missed moment (dont think i saw mention of it in the compilations)

There are a lot of callbacks and references to past events

The anniversary manga is one of them (shadows name origin)

Shadow and Maria's relationship is a standout

some speculation:

Sad that shadow probably ended worse off emotionally at the end of it

if the timeline is intact, gerald probably died enraged at shadow too, since even his past fatherly feelings didnt stop him from writing over shadow's mind

there's no way they wouldnt expand on maria's little sister since they added her in

they probably dont know about ivo/eggman since there's no mention of him in the journals, and maria doesnt mention cousins

so eggman might have been born after the ark tragedy

which makes it funnier that shadow will be older than eggman, and his adoptive uncle

someone else mentioned it, but it's surprising that they deconfirmed the mural theory, since gerald respected the land too much to explore it or see the master emerald shrine

maria mentioned being surprised that he popped out as a hedgehog, and gerald's journal just calls him a sturdy biped. which means the species was not planned

so shadow really is a black arms in the shape of a hedgehog

there goes the theory that there's a hedgehog donor out there

would have been funny if it was a male hedgehog that donated some samples

then shadow gets 3 dads yay

actually would gerald go far enough to use maria's DNA to create shadow? for the gene compatibility if he managed to remove some of the markers for NIDs?

the manga showed blood transfusion, and that would only work if he had a suitable blood type

apparently it is possible for animal blood to be used in transfusion, just not worth it bc of antibodies?

someone who knows about biology correct me, i just did a quick google search

that would make shadow a black arms/human/hedgehog hybrid (if hedgehog dna was even used)

overall, very fun, and the main story can be completed in 6 hours.

now let's see if i can finish all the achievements after beating sonic gens...

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 1/30/2024

a good 60% of my brain is screaming in unemployment terror at all times so these will be somewhat abbreviated until that situation resolves itself

listening

sleeping on the ceiling by friday pilots club. this is a song by a five-piece alt-rock band from chicago that could EASILY open for mid-aughts fall out boy. i would like to think it is from the point of view of a freshly-turned vampire. listen this slot isn't about the best song i heard this week it's about the one that got stuck in my head the most

Hey, I swear I'm okay Honey, I been sleepin' on the ceiling all day Yes way, like hey I swear I feel great Looky, looky, love the feeling of being okay Yes way

spotify.

reading

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and the Amulet of Power by Mike Resnick. it was in a dollar book bin and i got it as a joke gift for a friend. mike resnick is a remarkably prolific writer who's done a lot of tie-ins. i don't have anything particularly notable to say about his star wars books but they are a sort of minimum viable product? they feel star warsy and don't annoy me on every page.

this book was published in 2003 and treats the people of the Nile delta and their beliefs with all the delicacy you might expect from a 2003 video game tie in novel. i do think the twist is being telegraphed way too hard. perhaps i should say instead of sending a telegram mr resnick has simply set the telegraph office ablaze as a signal fire. the titular triangle-pointed woman herself ms croft is VERY insistent she's just as good as the boys. this is pretty on par for my experience of 2003 empowering womens' feminism AND my experience in a male-dominated field so i can't really ding it too hard? aside from the racism, in the notably racism-free fields of archaeology and video games and archaeology video games, this book is aging a little strangely overall. i do not know if i will finish it before i mail it out to my friend, but despite its sins it is a very fast read.

watching

watched the four dungeon meshi episodes. it's cute! ProzD was an unexpected delight! it made me want to make something fancy for dinner but alas i still have to go food shopping!

some posts on my dash were talking about how the episode with the mollusks inside the living armor really got them hooked and i have to agree. i also saw the full potential of the show's speculative biology unspooling before me. i don't know if i currently have the brainwidth for the manga but it is going on my reading list for after i finish berserk. which is kind of like saying i'm going to watch chopped after i finish up hannibal

playing

forgot i had an original gen switch, given to me through a complex series in a complex series of friend barters back in uhhhh late '21? early '22? i got through 3/4 of the divine beasts the first time around and then could not crack the camel. it was well past time to create a new switch profile so i could start a new game without losing the old one.

omg twinnsssssssss

i did forget how goddamn big the map is. i have just now unlocked the camera and the memory quests, i have not really. done much more than basic tutorial and beginning of game stuff.

making

anxiously junebugging between a whole bunch of shit. finally figured out the correct charger/extension cord setup for my bedroom. replaced all the fluorescent lightbulbs and took them to be recycled. fixed the hall door enough so it latches closed and an irritated cat can't claw it open. tidied up the balcony and patio and repotted the surviving houseplants.

in textile news, started this cross stitch. this is a Bless This Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy Star Wars themed sampler, i have made two as gifts and had to throw out a mostly-completed one i made for me bc of the moths. but i now know exactly where this will go in this apartment and i already have the frame and i bought all the floss pre-being fired, so might as well? the real bitch of the situation here is backstitching the buildings. it's so start and stop. it's so much tan. i talked about this on the weekly siblingchat facetime and now my brother has requested one lmao. that's his christmas gift settled. i suppose.

i had somehow forgotten how loadbearing textile crimes are for me. i haven't done much of anything since the moth debacle, and that was almost two years ago. last night i found some suspicious holes in a camisole and i'm really really hoping it's just cat claws and not moths or carpet beetles or any other fun things that eat clothes.

[amiharana]

Passing zora fan here and I personally think you are more correct when you pointed out eldest daughter curse with regards to Mipha's age. It's easy to not notice since we never see her stand next to full grown zora women (which are probably around 7-8 feet tall) but she is VERY SHORT, shorter than Link and he's also short. Since she's so small, it makes more sense for her to not be an adult. Which isn't to say you don't grow as an adult, but an adult Zora who's still growing wouldn't be as short as her.

The way she carries herself is 100% the eldest daughter curse. Her situation is extremely similar and somewhat parallels what Zelda (who was 16 just turned 17) goes through in botw. They both have societies with high expectations, and an important magical ability. The main difference between the two was that Mipha had a considerably more loving (though not perfect) environment and was able to channel her emotions, and use her power, which Zelda couldn't do till the last moment unfortunately due to her environment. This parallel is acknowledged by Mipha trying to give Zelda advice, but getting cut off just before she can speak. I also think the way Mipha handles herself is not that of an adult, but that of a teenager who is forced to be an adult.

I know it's possible my point might be countered by the one NPC named Finley who looks like a child but "is a young woman who hasn't hit her growth spurt yet" but I 100% believe that Finley is NOT in fact an adult, but a fresh teenager who is going through the "I'm practically an adult" phase. I know the game tries to say otherwise but it's some goofy and contradictory writing in my opinion.

I'm sorry if this sounded super emotionally charged realized it might T-T I'm just very autistic about the zoras and very passionate. I'm genuinely not trying to sound like an ass. Tumblr just decided to show me your post and I wanted to post my own opinion, I apologize if I bothered you

hi anon your passion is appreciated and you did not bother me, i'm happy to see that my little post inspired you enough to write me something too, so dw :3

i don't have a particularly strong opinion about mipha's age like i do with revali, so i think you and the other anon are just going to have to duke it out on the field together about it LOL. i won't debate about the correlation between height and age as a 20 year old asian afab person, but i do think if zora genetics have any similarities with hylian/human genetics, then there could be a possibility of mipha being older and still tiny. perhaps she was a late bloomer or inherited a recessive gene/condition/etc that caused her be much smaller than the rest of her peers. seeing as that king dorephan is fucking massive and we never see her mother (as far as i know, i haven't played loz in a while), the speculations we can have on the extent of zora puberty, especially regarding mipha and sidon's genetics, is pretty limited bc the game obviously doesn't focus on biology and the details are likely kept intentionally vague to encourage players to ship mipha and link etc.

i don't have anything substantial to say regarding finley LOL i agree that nintendo was a bit messy with the localization for whatever that story was supposed to be about. i do quite like your reasoning about her still being a teenager forced to act an an adult in lieu of the Eldest Daughter Curse since i have had similar experiences and caught onto that immediately as well. that parallel between her and zelda haunts me; they could have been so close, bonding over their similar circumstances but we get that all taken away by the calamity.

[smackins]

Not to be THAT guy, but I really need to bare my soul here.

I don't know if I want to do Artfight anymore.

While I'm extremely grateful for the attacks I did receive this year (I still owe 2 revenge pieces, don't worry, I'm working on them ❤️) it's become less fun and more of a reminder of how isolated I feel as an artist. I got a total of five attacks this year. I have friends who were attacked right out of the gate, on the very first day, by a barrage folks who were chomping at the bit to draw their ocs.

It's not Artfight's fault, and not really other people's fault, either. I'm not like, "How dare you not attack me!!111!!" It's just it amplifies so many insecurities I've had for years and makes it hard to ignore them.

I get an overwhelming feeling like there's something wrong with me as an artist, not even that I'm medicocre skill wise (though I feel that, too), but that I'm just fundamentally uninteresting and forgettable. My characters and my stories aren't worth asking about. They aren't worth anyone's enthusiasm or curiosity, they're not worth the encouragement. I can share a piece that I spent 6 hours on and just get "cute" as a response, while others could share a non-serious doodle of their ocs that took 5 minutes tops and get responses like "AHHH I LOVE THEM THEYRE SO AMAZING YOURE SO FUNNY."

And I know it's not good to compare yourself to others, but sometimes it's hard not to when everywhere I go, it feels so blatantly obvious how I'm barely worth anyone's time.

At first I thought it was the fact I draw non-human characters, because those are hard for people, so I made a little note on Artfight that I'll accept humanized versions. But plenty of people draw nonhuman characters, all the time, and recieve lots of encouragement and feedback from other people. Then I thought, "maybe it's my original comic characters that intimidate people" you know, my weird scorpion aliens. But that's not it either, because they're admittedly a lot less "alien" than they could be, and I know people with some absolutely WILD speculative-biology-type character designs who, again, get loads of enthusiasm and feedback. Plus, that doesn't explain why my fan ocs go ignored- plenty of people like Digimon, Mass Effect, and DBZ.

I feel like I'm just weird and tainted and cursed somehow, which I KNOW is absurd, but that's the best way I can describe this frustration. And yeah, I know if I posted more art and more about my characters, I MIGHT get a little more traction, but when I get so little encouragement from so few people, it's so hard to feel motivated to share. And it's not like I'm looking for huge, detailed responses or specifics about why people like my technique or whatever, because God knows I struggle to form specific words as to why EXACTLY I like something, but I just want to feel like people give a damn and ACTUALLY want to know more. Very few people ask questions or get curious. I have a lore blog for my original comic that has been up for 7 whole years, yet the only questions or comments I get are from the same 2 or 3 (very lovely and appreciated) people. Most of those posts have zero notes, a ton of them have been reblogged to my personal blog over, and over, and over again and still get ignored.

This isn't about popularity, or notes, or anything like that. I just want to feel like what I put into the world matters. Yes, I do get satisfaction from drawing for myself, but that can only go so far when I feel like I'm the little kid in the corner playing alone because the other kids don't notice me.

[haganezukawaifu]

Rosa Dolce Chapter 3

~ Previous ~ Masterlist ~ Next ~

The dream starts the same. It put me here in the same hallway. But somehow, it was different. The picture wasn't the same as before. They were filled with classics. Among them were Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Vincent van Gosh, and the door was very different. And I felt it pulling me in, telling me to open it. But every time I do, I wake up and never know why. Who's calling me? Why can't I open that door? Why can't I see them? Why. Am. I. So. Afraid?

"Christine."

"Hmm." I snap out of my thoughts. I saw Bella concerned about me. "Are you okay? You just drifted into a daze while I was talking to you," Bella asked, concerned. I nodded my head. "Yeah. I have just been having weird dreams lately, and I can't get them out of my head, and I don't know what they mean." "Like what?" she asked curiously. I froze. I didn't know what to say. I mean, what do you expect me to say?

'Oh well, throughout the night, I dreamed of a 15th-century palace. I have been walking down the same halls, looking at the same pictures, and standing in front of doors I'm afraid to open. I can't seem to understand why I'm here or what's there. Oh, and some voices call out to me every night in my dream.' 

She will probably think I'm crazy or freaked out. So... "It's nothing." I lied. She nodded her head. "But continue. You were talking about Edward." "Yeah. He's-," she continued. I can't believe that she has been here for a week and sitting with me at the same table. I can say Cordelia was ecstatic to see her. She couldn't ever let her go. If I remember correctly, she said, "Oh my gosh. It's little bells. All grown up. Look at you. Isn't she just precious, Christine?" Yeah, those were the words. Her first week was weird, especially in biology. Edward was acting odd, to say the least, and she wanted to know why. She thought she smelled terrible, but that wasn't it. Or maybe she did something wrong, but that wasn't the problem either. So why was he acting odd? He almost missed a week of school. Must have been sick if it was serious.

"It was just weird," Bella said as she tapped her tray. "Maybe he was unwell," I speculated. "I don't know," Bella muttered as she shook her head. Then the bell rang, but before I stood up from my seat, I leaned in and said, "Well, try asking him when you see him. I'll see you later." I stood up and walked to my next class, Spanish. Soon, the day carried on as it should as school ended. Now it was time to go to the garden and work. I had to work on a few batch orders while Cordelia attended a conference call. The order consisted of nothing but simple table décor for newly constructed homes as well as centerpieces and wedding bouquets for winter. Why must people get married in January? After finishing orders and handling customers, it was time to close the shop for the day. Cordelia offered to cook chicken pesto pasta, which was my favorite. After dinner, I took my shower and dressed in an oversized band t-shirt belonging to Anthony that he left behind and sweatpants. I figured I would check over my assignment before bed. As soon as I did that, I slipped under my comforter and fell asleep, expecting the same dream. But as I slept, I noticed something different about this dream.

The darkness enveloped me. The air was cold. It doesn't seem like there is a single speck of snow emanating from the sky. The ground was slick with ice. This is not the same dream. This is a novelty. I could hear a sound. The sound of a car, but where was it coming from? Despite turning in every direction, I could not locate the sound. Until I froze, the sound came from behind. I turned around and stood there. The engine was loud and came closer and closer. I couldn't see the car until I saw the headlights. It was a gray van, and from the look of it, it wasn't stopping. It was heading straight toward me at high speed and coming out of control. I couldn't move as I stood there in shock. I raised my arm to defend myself, but

"AAHH."

I jumped up in fear as I panted. Just when I expected to feel the impact, I awakened from my sleep. I check the clock on my dresser by my bed. 2 am. I sigh as I flop back on my bed. It was a nightmare. I haven't had those since I was 9 years old, but the question I ask myself is: why did that happen? Why did I dream of a crash? Am I in danger of getting hurt—or someone else? After that nightmare, I was unable to sleep, so I got dressed for school instead. Today's weather was different. The temperature had dropped, and the ground was slick. Talk about coincidence. Time passed, and the day proceeded as it normally did. I had trouble focusing on class due to the nightmare. Even during my conversation with Bella, I barely focused. I never expected a nightmare to make me lose focus like this before. 

"You look tired," Bella mentioned. Resting my head on my knuckles, I said, "I didn't have a good sleep last night. " How come?" she asked.

'Don't tell her about the car crash.'

"I um.. forgot to start my project. It's due Friday, and I'm worried about it." I lied, and she nodded her head. "Oh. I'm sure it will be okay. You'll finish it," she said. "Yeah, me too." Soon, the bell rang. "I have to get to class. I'll see you after school in the parking lot," I said as I gathered my belongings. "Hey. I was thinking, Do you want to hang out today? I'm heading to the bookstore after school," Bella replied. I stood there and thought about it. I didn't have to work today at Aphrodite, so technically, I am free. I nodded my head in response.

"Sure, I'll come with."

I began to walk down the hall to Spanish class. Maybe I overreacted to this nightmare; maybe it's just nothing but my imagination. As soon as Spanish ended, gym class began. We had to play volleyball. Hate volleyball with a passion. If I hit the ball, I always end up hitting someone in the back of the head. I would stand there and apologize in response. I got changed out of my gym uniform and left the gym. I saw Bella waiting for me as we walked towards the parking lot, talking about the bookstore in Port Angeles.

"You mind if we use your car? I don't think my truck would make it," Bella suggested. "Sure. That would be fine with me. I'll meet you at your place." "Sounds like a plan," she replies. I nodded my head. I told her I had to return home and change before heading over, which she responded to with a nod. We parted ways as I headed to my car, which was 3 cars away from her truck. Grabbing my key to press the unlock button, I heard an odd sound. A familiar sound.

SCREECH

I turn toward the sound, and my eyes widen in shock. There it was. A dark blue van skidded out of control on the ice road in the parking lot. You could hear the brakes squealing loudly. But the thing I noticed about the van was its direction toward Bella. What do I do? Am I just willing to stand here and do nothing while my friend gets hurt? I dropped my bag and keys instantly and ran straight toward her. Please. Not my friend. Anyone but her. However, as I heard the shattered crunch of the van hitting the truck, I thought I was too late. I continued my pace as I went around her truck.

'God, please be okay. Please be alright.'

As I reached the passenger side, I worried about her being squished between the van and the truck. I was also worried about her bleeding out an arm or leg or being unconscious. She was lying on the pavement as she slowly sat up, but Edward was sitting there.... by Bella. His hands were on each side of the truck and the van. How did he get there so fast? He was four cars away, and yet he was there to prevent it as the accident occurred. A hundred, maybe a thousand questions were running through my head, but all I could think about was Bella as I kneeled beside her.

"Bella. Bella. Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I asked, worried. "I'm fine," she said, nodding her head as she tried to sit up. I noticed that Edward held her against him by her side. Edward warned Bella, "I think you hit your head pretty hard. Be careful." I examined her as she questioned him, and she didn't look injured, but as I touched her head, she hissed in pain. She has a bump on her head. There was something that caught my attention from the corner of my eye...

The dent on her truck. Strange; that wasn't there before.

but the van was in worse condition. Finally, Bella could sit up as Edward let go of her waist. I could hear the siren in the distance. It took six EMTs and two teachers to move the van far away from us to get the stretcher in. Of course, Chief Swan arrived before they could get her away safely, but she reassured him that she was fine. Edward insists that he didn't need a stretcher and that Bella needed one because she might have a concussion. As soon as she was loaded into the ambulance and Edward rode in the front, I saw them drive off. I sped off to my car, got in, started up, and followed them. All I could think about was how Edward got there so fast. I just couldn't shake the feeling that there was really something off about him.

I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something off about him—something not quite human. As I weaved through traffic, my mind raced with questions. How did he manage to reach Bella so quickly? And why did he seem so protective of her? The pieces of the puzzle didn't quite fit together, and I was determined to find out the truth. As I followed the ambulance to the hospital, my curiosity only grew stronger. Little did I know, this was just the beginning of a series of events that would change everything I thought I knew.

[saskiavalentineapologist]

sketch time

you will sit down. you will look at my horrible little women. And You Will Appreciate Them

no this is NOT going under a cut you will see the blood sweat and tears i put into belialah's demon form and you will appreciate it, me, and saskia's off the charts world class monsterfucker status

we got saskia. we're familiar with saskia--or at least you should be. go look at the art by korppipoika and give them so many notes--this post will wait. and while you're out, look at the post about the matriarchs too. and if you're not up to date on saskia and belialah, here's another one for your list. i'll be here when you get back.

up to date? excited? horny? me too!!

so we got those two. in order for the images: saskia (recent), belialah (first draft, still happy with this and haven't been able to capture this vision since)

we got their dynamic:

saskia being a bitch and belialah being, despite everything, head over heels. still can't quite nail belialah's human face, but we're learning

...it took me a long time to nail down belialah's demon form. it went through a lot of drafts---many of which i am not sharing. this one is the oldest one i'm willing to share:

i believe this is draft 3? patch notes from earlier drafts: 4 fingers instead of three, took out "humanoid" eyes, added floaty halo bits. other than that, this is what it's mostly stayed true to. chase gave me an inspo and i remixed it and made it worse because i love body horror. so we have this! extra joint between the wrist and elbow, loads and loads of eyes, sharp teeth (yum!), wings, and a broken halo plus the big horn. love her. she has spider legs below her waist--she has "skirts" that are made from her skin that she usually wears (has?) over them.

made some eensy sketches for ideas:

i tinkered on size, proportion, posture, etc. it's vague, but not exact for either of them. i want a bigger height difference and this is for me first and foremost

i settled on this body type for saskia:

no nipples so she's not naked :) this is for anatomy reference, tumblr. ANATOMY. be so nice to me ;-;

ignore the stuff at the edges, this is part of a larger project idk if i'll finish where i look at all the matriarchs and their body types. saskia is the most...well, besides ethalind, the most hourglass shape. this is the most recent drawing of her i have besides the one at the very end, this is the one i would say is most canon. hence why it is included--the last one i have doesn't quite hit right for me. still working on consistency.

as i improved my art, i wanted to take another stab at belialah. which meant figuring out her lower half.

i did these ones reeaaally recently. i looked at so many things for inspo: crabs, spiders, human pelvises, centaur speculative biology, drider speculative biology, an introspective look at how much of a monsterfucker i am, etc. until i found something i was happy with. these are within the last few days. the lil sketches at the far bottom right of the first page are what i settled on. after that, i tinkered with how she looks with skirts vs no skirts---ignore the sword, it's no longer accurate to what it actually looks like, but that's endgame shit and no spoilers :)

i'm really happy with how she's turned out and i think she's kickass and awesome and i can't wait to beat her and saskia into the ground.

and then we have:

team gaslight gatekeep girlboss :)

i drew this last night!! really happy with how my art is coming along. i hesitated on whether to draw the skirts, because i think the spider legs are so fucking cool and i know logically the skirts are there but tbh its funner drawing the spider legs than the skirts :(

i want to make it very clear: belialah is submissive in the way a guard dog is submissive, to quote a post i once tagged as gilt and lost. belialah is loyal, devoted, willing to protect--but will wait for an order before acting

btw, to make something else clear: saskia? saw the demon form first. is more attracted to the demon form than the human form. is far more willing to smash with belialah in demon form. i love my weirdest little freak of a woman <3

ok that's all bye

[aikoiya]

LoZ - Wolf Link & the Búralupán Race

Okay, new theory. I know that werewolves aren't technically part of the LoZ universe, but what if Twilight Link was descended from the Búraló-mná (wolf women; a type of wolf fae or spirit, which, the leader of is Twilight's mother, but he is unaware) of Ordona & turning into a wolf in game turns him into the first "werewolf" in Hyrule history?

Hell, maybe he had a Sheikah ancestor, thus making him capable of Twilight Magic &, judging by the Yiga, this could allow one access to shapeshifting. Which, when mixed with him having the Soul of the Hero (which I headcanon is actually the soul of the Fierce Deity, who I also hc created the Sheikah & thus would naturally have access to Twilight Magic himself, which is a mix of Light & Shadow Magic, & one of his sacred animals is the wolf), the Triforce of Courage reacted to the Twilight in Link's defense & used what was already present in his own biology to become something totally new.

I also subscribe to the theory that the Twili are actually a branch of Sheikah who called themselves "the Interlopers," turned against Hyrule, & when they were banished to the Twilight Realm, managed to adapt to it due to their Twilight Magic, specifically being more focused on the Shadow half here. The reason being that Twilight is very closely related to Shadow, being a mix of light & shadow, which allowed them to bridge the gap.

Unless those 2 Yiga (Fake Zelda Yiga & All-Seeing Cucco Yiga) were just masters of disguise. Or if it's specifically a case where the transformation is just an illusion, which could be possible. Though, considering the fact that the Sheikah are literally references to ninja, you could go full Henge no Jutsu from Naruto in which Shadow/Twilight Magic substitutes Chakra & allows them to actively transform their bodies physically.

I'm speculating all these things because I tend to come from a perspective of wanting there to be a biological basis for things. I mean, there has to be a reason he didn't just turn into a spirit like damn near everyone else. And it can't just be because he has the Soul of the Hero. In my mind, the Soul can't just do shit just because.

Yes, the Triforce of Courage, but it couldn't have just been the Triforce. If it was, then he'd be able to maintain his Hylian form in the Twilight like Zelda is able to before she gives the Triforce of Wisdom to Midna. (And it isn't just Zelda either. Ganon walks through that shit just fine & doesn't need to take on animal form.) Because isn't the whole point of the Triforce that no 1 side is greater than the others?

Like, yes, power, but just being powerful doesn't automatically mean you're gonna win, obviously. However, I can get behind the idea of the Triforce being the catalyst, but there must be something more going on beyond that.

Because why would Link's part of the Triforce react differently to the Twilight from the other 2 pieces unless there was something going on?

Anyway, once Midna takes the Twilight Crystal with her (which, I assume is what happened, otherwise it's likely out there somewhere in BotW & TotK if it really is a fusion of all 3 timelines like we're told or that the Wild Series is just an inevitable event no matter the timeline), Twilight Link begins transforming into what we in the real world call a werewolf with Wolf Link's coloration on full moon nights. The reason being that I see the moon as being a very direct & natural source of Twilight Magic (due to its phases), specifically Lunar Magic, & the full moon being when it's most intense.

Or, perhaps just the moon being out at night at all would be enough? That could also work.

Just BTW, in this instance, I consider being a werewolf to be having something called an active werewolf gene. But, here, they're called Búralupáns.

Having a Lupán gene means that when transformed under the full moon, they have thick, bushy, healthy-looking fur (so long as they eat a certain amount of red meat per day), a short lupine muzzle, being tulip-eared with them situated at the top of their head, a long, bushy tail, strong musculature, taller than when human (including Hylian, Sheikah, or Gerudo, though there have yet to be any Gerudo). This form is referred to as their Lupos(ian) form. They are forced to fully transform under the full moon & transforming is uncomfortable at first, but not painful & the transforming becomes less so with experience. And the danger sense or "vibe check" that most animals seem to have.

Basically, it's Wednesday werewolves.

And, much like the Wednesday werewolves, Búralupáns can also take on lupine features at any time, but not fully transform unless it's the full moon. Things like elongated & noticeable canines, longer canid claws (meaning that they aren't actually sharp like a cat's & their danger comes in the strength put behind them), also lucidum tapetum. Not to mention the improved senses that they generally have at all times, though not nearly to the same extent as when transformed. Lupáns with cuspated ears (Hylian, Sheikah, Gerudo) also have almost full range of motion.

Búralupáns can also eventually learn to turn into actual wolves whenever. Not a lot of Lupáns are able to achieve it though & it's considered a point of pride if they do. It involves embracing both Twilight & Wild magic; embracing one's instincts while still retaining one's mind.

Also, Alfa Lupáns grow bigger than other Lupáns in all forms, but only once they become the Alfa. Thus becoming giant wolves. (Yes, this is a Stephenie Meyer's Twilight reference. It's one of the only things I still actively like about it.) My thoughts are that this is the most difficult form to acquire & is the strongest. It's basically like how in the animal kingdom, some species of animals grow bigger than others when they become alphas. Similar to how the Zora seem to.

And even when in their human form, Búralupáns always have slightly pronounced canines, enhanced physicality (including strength & speed), enhanced senses (hearing & smell specifically), & wolf-like instincts, tendencies, & mannerisms. As well as being taller, more hirsute, men having incredible sideburns, & having more potential for muscle definition on average than regular humans. These things becoming even more pronounced when transformed & the more wolf-like they appear, the stronger these qualities become. Not to mention having naturally higher physicality.

Of course, you can also have a dormant Lupán gene, which means you don't transform on your own at all, ever. And if you reproduce there is a chance that those cubs may also have a dormant gene. However, with the right catalyst (whether it's a spell or something else), your Lupán gene can be activated.

One other thing, people descended from Lupáns, whether their gene is active or not, are completely incapable of becoming vegetarians, let alone vegans, because wolves are carnivores, this plus being a subrace of human, makes them obligate omnivores, meaning they can live without plant matter. Not comfortably or healthily, but they can. However, they absolutely require meat in order to survive. Not just be healthy! Survive!

Moving on, I feel like a fic like this could be cool. Whether exploring Twilight Link's life after the game as he navigates this new feature of his or Wild Link being a descendant of Twilight Link & the complications of that as he goes through BotW & TotK.

It'd create a totally new subrace in Hyrule.

Only those directly descended from the Hero of Twilight have his Mark of the Wolf on their foreheads. You know, the pattern that Wolf Link has?

Anyway, I'd make their inspired cultures Gaelic, Celtic, Welsh, & slightly Nordic!

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LoZ My Fanfic Masterlist

LoZ Cultural Masterlist