#humans are space raptors

[katusjuice]

17 for Anais & Harley for the Soft Ship scenario please?

Ok i lied, I will write some dialogue for this-

scenerio: It’s the 2nd day that Human Anarchy is in Finland after Dethklok left them there (Post AnarchyKlok tour)

“Fuck it’s freezing!..”

Anais was shivering as the brutal winds of the small snowstorm blew. It had been a day since Dethklok left the children to freeze in the snow of Finland. It’s been a fucking day and they haven’t realized that the kids weren’t on the plane. Toki didn’t realize that his daughter wasn’t on the plane.

Anais sat on a bench, arms crossed after her as she shivered. Despite having a jacket on, she still felt the abominable snowman. While she sat there, she started to think hard.

“Great fucking parenting dad. You didn’t even notice we weren’t on stupid plane.”

“He’s such a fucking idiot…wait no I shouldn’t say that about my dad..”

“But he should’ve KNOWN we weren’t on the plane! At least one of those old fuckheads should’ve known!”

“GOD I hate Dethklok!…wait I shouldn’t say that..Fuck the cold is messing with my brain..”

As Anais was fighting with herself in her head, Harley walked over. She saw how in distress her girlfriend looked like she was in. So, she did the obvious…and tried to cheer her up!

“Hey, Space Cadet? You alright?”

Harley asked. The nickname really brought Anais out of her headspace. She looked up to see her Harley.

“Oh uh..Not really. I mean, Dethklok left us her in this freezing weather. Not to mention, my dad didn’t go ‘Oh where’s Anais?’ before hopping on that stupid thing…”

Anais stated, mimicking Toki’s accent as she did so. Harley noticed a slight sadness in her lover’s voice as she said those last words. Damn, Harley didn’t really like it when Anais was sad on any occasion. She’ll really have to get back at Dethklok for leaving them here for Anais’s sake. But for right now, a little more cheering up was in order and Anais was right…it was like a deep freezer where they were.

Harley looked around the small village and peeked her eyes on a small cafe in between two larger buildings that had no significance whatsoever. The lights were on and it seemed from the drawing on the small chalkboard, they were selling Hot Chocolate! It was the perfect plan to once again see a small on Anais’s face.

Harley tapped on Anais’s shoulder.

“Say, how about we get some hot coco? It’ll be on me.”

Anais looked at Harley and smiled a little.

“I mean…hot coco doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Great! Let’s go find the others!”

Harley exclaimed as she grabbed Anais’s hand. Harley and Anais ran to find the other girls and as they did, Anais looked down at Harley’s hand. Her hand was warm. It was the warmest thing in this place…she didn’t wanna let go for anything.

Later…

Harley, Anais, and the rest of Human Anarchy were sitting in the cafe, enjoying their hot coco. Reggie was blabbering about the things she had found while being scattered across the small town and CJ was responding to Reggie’s stupid antics. As the other girls were laughing and being silly, Anais looked out the huge window, in the sky. She was looking for something..

“You think they’ll come back for us?”

Anais question.

“Well they gotta! I mean, you’re one of the fuckos daughter and your mother doesn’t fuck around.”

Reggie answered, in her thick Italian-American accent.

“Yeah but..if my dad didn’t even notice I’m gone, there’s no tell how long we’ll be here..”

Anais responded, putting a hand on her face. Harley leaned in close to Anais.

“Well..at least we all have each other. And uh…other sentimental shit that the movies say.”

This causes the group to giggle at Harley’s 6/10 joke. Anais gave a smile to Harley and kissed her on the cheek.

“Thanks..I needed this.”

Harley blushed and smiled back.

“No problem, Space Cadet.”

[herd-reject-arts]

So I'm leaving work and something darts in front of me, maybe 10ft away, too fast for me to see what it is. Peek around the tree blocking my path and I see this

Just like... a whole ass hawk. Dude's gotta be about 1.5ft tall. Massive fucking bird. And it's just staring me straight in my soul like this, even as I try to move ahead. It didn't budge. And there's only this path back to my car unless I want to walk on a busy highway. So I have the option of Death By Raptor or Death By Truck.

So I walk in the poison ivy filled patch off the sidewalk. Guy still isn't moving. Still staring me directly in the eyes. And I do this thing when animals are behaving strangely where I'll talk to them, so I'm just like, "Hey, man. I don't know you. You don't know me. This feels really threatening. I'm just trying to get to my car, dude. Can I get some space please? You're a big fucking bird. I see those claws. You could kill me right now, but I'd appreciate if you didn't, ok?"

It didn't move until I was about 2ft away. Again: I'm as far from it as I can be without walking into the street. It clearly wasn't going to budge. I walk past, thing flies up (silent, btw. Scary) and lands on a brick wall a little further ahead

Anyway. Weird guy. Nearly shit my pants when I noticed a bird big enough to carry off a fully grown cat was just... there, staring me in the face, unwilling to move away from me, a human, something it should see as a threat. I watched behind me the whole rest of the way to my car, just in case this bird decided to help me shed this mortal coil. 10/10 experience. Super cool guy.

[winndycakes]

Winndy Rambles And Gushes About Chuck Tingle

Wanted to ramble a little about one of my favorite authors, creators and overall just super rad people; Chuck Tingle.

Like many people, when I first heard of Chuck, I took him as some sort of meme. A troll, a joke, someone not to be taken seriously. After all, the majority of his works are "silly short erotica stories around dinosaurs, cryptids and even living concepts and items". How COULD this be serious? It's a question I asked before, years ago, and one that many still do to this day.

One holiday season, a friend had made a post on FaceBook saying "first five people to comment I'll gift you a book". So I did. The book I got was a physical copy of the "Space Raptor Butt Invasion Trilogy" by Chuck Tingle. Since I had a book of Tingle's now, I really had no excuse to not read it for myself.

Erotica normally isn't my thing (I'm pretty ace and grey aro too), but very quickly, I was charmed by the prose. As you read Chuck's stories, there's a fact that becomes very apparent. Chuck Tingle is a great writer, a really great writer. How he writes, how the words flow together, one sentence going into the next. The characters, the plot, the little bits of lore, dialogue and all he puts in... You quickly begin to see; this is NOT a joke.

It is not a meme. He is not trolling you. It is art. Passionate, sincere, genuine art. And it's beautiful. The more you read, the more definitive it gets.

I will admit, I have read aloud many a Tingler for friends and others in Discord servers, both to share my joy of Tingle with others, but also, it is fun to look at how different his works are. It's fine to laugh along with them even.

The moment that really was like... angels singing, light shining down and there's bishi sparkles and a heavenly soft pink background appearing for me though was the summer Chuck Tingle released on of his first full novella's; "Trans Wizard Harriet Porber and the Bad Boy Parasaurolophus". Like many, I was crushed and gutted at JKR's extreme turn to committing to transphobia (and of course the hindsight of realizing... the HP books and universe were not as kind and welcoming as I remembered growing up). So when Chuck Tingle (in one weekend mind you) came out with a 50k novel affirming trans people and their belonging in not just queer spaces, but being on this Earth, as fellow human beings, it was... affirming. It was the welcoming feeling I had gotten with the original HP books all those years ago, but it was real. (Also please read both Trans Wizard Harriet Porber books. They're delightful, fun and the magic system Tingle creates is so, so cool and interesting).

The next thing that got me just mega hype for Tingle was his first foray into horror; "Straight". "Straight" is Tingle's answer to the ever popular trope and genre of zombies and the apocalypse that comes with them, and what a fun turn of tables he takes on them. Zombies in the Tingleverse are not undead beings, they're not humans afflicted by a virus, instead a strange cosmic event happens once a year, when one night, all cishet people on Earth get this animalistic, violent urge to brutally harm and even kill all queer people. I won't get too spoilery about it but it is a very fun romp, and as someone who has been fatigued by zombies, it is a welcome new perspective.

Not long after this, Chuck came out with two full, traditionally published horror novels; "Camp Damascus" and "Bury Your Gays". Both are very different experiences in horror, both a joyful celebration of being queer and your authentic self even in the face of those looking to silence you, permanently if they must. I had the pleasure of meeting Chuck (twice!) while he was on tour for both of these books, getting my copies signed (along with my copies of the Trans Wizard duology and my beloved copy of the Space Raptor trilogy) and was able to tell Tingle myself just how important he is to someone like me; another queer autistic creator. (I was also one of the few people to win the little mini games he gave, twice, but that's a different story).

Ultimately that is what I am trying to get at. Growing up, and even for all of my 20s, there wasn't really someone like Tingle. Someone unabashedly authentic, themselves, queer, open and imo most importantly, joyously so. One is often told "just be yourself" but that can be hard to do when it seems like the world is against you for one reason or another.

Seeing a creator like Chuck shows how important it is to have such a presence in the world, and I was glad I got to tell him myself. I've had a lot of hardships in life, a lot of losses, a lot of grief, but someone like Chuck is there to tell you to keep trotting and remind you; Love Is Real.

And that's truly the ending message:

Love Is Real.

[tubbytarchia]

Etho doodles in which I let my inner dinosaur nerd take over 😔 and also have no idea how to shade

Get it cause he's old and washed up haha... ok but actual raptor Etho hybrid justification below cut

To be honest the main reason was because I really wanted a hybrid in the mix who wasn't some furry creature and a reptile or amphibian or smth instead. Etho still ended up feathered but whatever it's close enough! But for ACTUAL reasoning:

He does feel damn ancient, like an old deity of the mcyt space that no one can dislike. Dinosaurs are the same!! They're old but still thought of with great fascination and fondness, everyone loves dinosaurs...

Dinosaurs are ever so mysterious, as many advancements as we make there's still so much we don't know. Just as we know jackshit about mister Kakashi skin man. Also, there are so many incomplete skeletons out there. I didn't have a particular species in mind for Etho, because where's the mystery in that? He can be one of those 5% skeleton 95% speculation dinosaurs like this guy!! Missing jaw and all

"I'm a runner, not a protector" - so, a raptor, or more specifically the Dromaeosauridae family, which literally has "running/runner" in its name

But! I'm always a fan of stuff going against its nature, especially in this case! Etho states he's not a runner yet protects his allies rather fiercely even in total silence. Eg refusing to kill Cleo in SL or to give away Tango's location during the LimL manhunt, same for Grian in SL. He was a bit flaky in 3L I think? And he only started to have genuine care for allies in LL with Bdubs? Though he is still very much a runner in many cases like during the LL Wither fight. Research also strongly suggests that most if not all raptors were solitary hunters, and the way I see Etho (through my shamefully limited watchtime of his POVs...) he feels a lot like someone who ultimately only trusts himself at the start even if he's pleasant and allying with others, and doesn't seem to think he can carry his weight in groups though he doesn't voice this a lot. That's just how Etho is, very composed, but it feels like there's an insecurity there, showcased especially in SL but again I haven't seen almost any of his POVs in full so maybe I'm talking out of my ass!! Sorry ethogirls I'm only a sidegig ethogirl myself... But yeah tldr to me he gives off the vibe of an otherwise solitary animal struggling to find 100% sure footing in a pack. In whichever ways he does go against his nature, its not usually made a show of

At the mention of a raptor, a lot of people will probably think of the glamourized Jurassic Park Velociraptors. But those awesome guys from the movies are actually the size of chickens. In general though, dinosaurs tend to be a bit.. exaggerated in media, despite how inherently fascinating they already are. And I think it fits Etho because we all know how the Lifers seem to fear and mancrush on him when he's just some dork with perfect capability to become pathetic at a moment's notice. Still, he's a clearly skilled player and still respected without question Etho's not some killer machine like some people make dinosaurs out to be. He's just a fellow creature fulfilling his role in the ecosystem 👍

dinosaurs are cool

The hook-like sickle claws on the feet... something something fishing rod

I swear I'm not turning all my Lifers into hybrids I'm not!! Still plenty normal humans in the mix I swear....... But Etho is such a radical dude, I really wanted to do something more for him. The whole Kitsune thing that I often see associated with him is really cool. I don't actually know the reasoning for it but I assume something something naruto, but also, him being this ancient mythical cryptid who people know so little about, you know? It makes SO much sense. So anyway I turned him into a dinosaur instead rawr

As a herbivore advocate I also considered stuff like the triceratops (known for how they protect themselves and their own) but nah the raptor symbolism...

[auroramoon-draws16]

Alright fellas, not a crossover, but I got the goods

Assassin’s Creed Shifters AU

Eagle vision? Nah, full Eagle at will.

I mean, duh, they still have Eagle Vision, they get all the good shit, but they can also turn into a bird at will. It’s not always an eagle, but most of the time it’s raptors. Unless you’re the Frye twins, because Corvids, caw caw bitch.

Desmond freaked the fuck out the first time he shifted, he knew about it, sure, but hell if turning into a goddamn bird wasn’t something to lose your shit about.

Assassins through history could turn into birds at will to help scope their prey- I mean targets- fuck with the Templar’s plans, and get to places faster. (Leonardo would have loved that shit, Ezio, go help your homie learn to fly)

Although that means it’s anyone who have Eagle Vision strong enough can Shift.That means arial fights, claw each other to death bitch.

Also getting kidnapped while shifted and shoved into a cage, look, it’s hard to shift back to human form in small spaces without horrific consequences. Luckily, Assassins keep their human minds while shifted. Oh you wanna keep me hostage? Bitch, I’ll be a fucking problem.

On a lighter note: bird instincts. The best Assassins have them and it can be hilarious.

Have fun fellas!

[vivwritesfics]

Bones

Chapter One

You, a behavioural analyst. Rooster, a trainer. Hangman, a rich kid. Bob, a palaeontologist. Phoenix, an archaeologist. It kinda made sense that you'd all fall for each other

Jurassic Park AU

Eventual Poly!Squad

You kicked your legs as you sat on the walkway above the Velociraptor enclosure. It was high enough up that they couldn’t snap at your legs as you watched them. It was an exercise Bradley hadn’t tried before, all of them together in the enclosure.

The training paddock was small, barren. But it was for a good reason. They gathered by the gate as Bradley tried something new with them. It had been your idea to try training them all together, to see if they could distinguish between the commands given to them and the commands given to their sisters.

“Rio, circle!” Bradley shouted and the Velociraptor at the back of the pack ran to stand in front of the circle symbol attached to the bars of the gate. The rest of the Raptors stayed where they were, eyes trained on Bradley. He clicked the clicker, fed Rio her treat of a dead chick, and turned his attention to the other girls.

You made a note of what he had done, of Rio’s attention. She was the smallest of the Raptors, easily hidden by the others feathers. Bradley’s favourite, and he was bad at hiding it.

He gave more commands and they listened, only sometimes getting confused. Rio was by far the best, obeying every single one of Bradley's commands. Anything for chicks, you knew from studying her.

But, when your walkie talkie made a noise, all eyes were on you. Yellow, eyes like cats, they watched you as if you had become their prey. But you were safe on the walkway, you knew that. Still, you tucked your legs in.

“Hey! Eyes on me!” Bradley snapped his fingers and they looked away from you. “Come on, girls. We were doing so well.”

But their concentration had left and they ran away from the gate Bradley had been safely behind.

You made another note and stood up. You left the walkway, shut the gate behind you and walked down the stairs to get to Bradley. Several chicks remained in the bucket when you got down to him, evidence of the training still left to do.

“Sorry, Rooster,” you mumbled, a gate between you. One for him, to practice training with protected contact, and one for the personnel allowed near this Raptor enclosure, an enclosure built just for training. All of it had been your idea.

Your area of expertise was a niche one, one that professor Tom Kazansky had let you hone. Nobody had ever studied in this field before; it was the first time these animals and humans had coexisted.

It was a tough job, considering you were the only one doing it. You with all the species in the park. You had your favourites, although you tried not to let it show. But the parasaurolophus has a special place in your heart.

“No, it's okay,” Bradley mumbled as he picked up the bucket and pressed the button that released him. “They were probably done for the day anyway.” He gave you a soft smile, a reassurance that you hadn’t done anything wrong. “What did they want?”

You pulled your walkie talkie from your belt and pushed the button on the side. “This is Bones, receiving, over,” you said and pulled your finger from the button, waiting for a response. You couldn’t help but look concentrated as you waited for the response.

To Bradley, it was garbled shit he couldn’t hear. But you gave a nod and an appropriate response. “It’s release time,” you said to him, a grin on his face as you pushed your notebooks into his arms and started back towards the stairs. You ran up them, scanned your pass to enter the walkway.

“All right everyone!” Bradley shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth to project his voice. “Get ready to release!”

Final checks were done, ensuring the enclosure was safe, ensuring there was no way for the Raptors to get out. You leaned over the edge of the walkway, looking into the wide open space they were being released out into. Much, much bigger, with space for them to roam as a group or split off. Their dinner had been released a good ten minutes before, allowing them to hunt for it.

The gate raised up and the girls lifted their heads. They chirped, communicating before they started running, heading towards the open gate.

It had all been your idea, the bigger space for them to run around in. They used to be kept in a little training paddock, but you had watched them run around, pace the edge of the paddock. After that you went to Tom, the owner of the park, and begged him to build them a bigger pasture. He gave you all of the resources you needed to get it built.

They disappeared from view and you pushed away from the railing. Heading off of the walkway, you walked down the stairs and met Bradley at the bottom. You took your notebooks from him and followed him to the Bronco. “Where else have you got to go today?” He asked as he began driving away from the Raptor enclosure.

You flipped through your notebook and found your schedule. Being the only behavioural analyst in the park was hard work, and you relied heavily on cameras. “Wanna help me look at the footage from the Brontosaurus paddock?” You offered, blinking at him in a way that you knew would get him to agree.

His arm was thrown over your seat as he nodded. You didn't really need to ask, Bradley would do anything for you anyway. You climbed out of your seat to give him a kiss on the cheek and sat back down to review your notes from the last time gathering data on the Brontosaurus herd.

The Velociraptors were Bradley's girls, and these were your girls. The first gate into the Brontosaurus paddock swung open, closing behind you as you drove towards the next. Two gates, just in case.

The next gate swung open and the herd looked up. It was an incredible sight, their long necks stretching towards the sky. They made noises, communicating with each other as you and Bradley drove on.

One Brontosaurus broke away from the rest of the herd. You didn't have to look at the tracking app on your phone to know exactly who was approaching you.

Two years ago, after a month in the park, a Brontosaurus had struggled to hatch from her egg. She was a weak baby, struggling with everything they threw at her. But you, a young research assistant who barely had a foot in the door, refused to give up on her.

Big Bertha was a fighter, and you made sure everybody knew it.

She pulled through, eventually becoming strong enough to join the rest of her herd. They didn't have as much of a human connection as she did. Friendly enough, would eat a branch from your hand but that's it.

Bertha, though? She knew you. When you began working closely with Bradley, you introduced the two. He began training her, teaching her tricks that would make veterinary checks easier, all to prove that it could be done.

Now Bertha knew the both of you. She knew the Bronco, approaching it on the rare instances you and Bradley drove into the paddock.

Bradley stopped the Bronco as Bertha approached. Immediately you climbed out, shielding your eyes with your hand as you looked up at her. “Hey, Big girl!” You shouted and she leaned down, as if investigating you for treats.

You were allowed to give her a pet, the reward system you had used when she was still small. Back then you hadn't thought about what the human contact would do to her, that it would turn her into a big dog, but here she was.

Bradley waited for you, unable to hide the grin beneath his moustache. You had a soft spot for everything in the park, he knew. Even Rexy and Taz, the two tyrannosauruses. But Bertha was your baby.

“C'mon,” he called, feeling guilty when you pulled away from your girl. But he had meetings to attend, things he couldn't be late for. Again.

You climbed into the Bronco and Bradley began driving. He drove beneath Bertha and under her tail. You turned around as you drove away from her, watching as she turned to begin to follow you. Her steps were slow and lazy, but she was big enough to keep pace with you.

Bradley drove you around as you gathered all of your cameras. After each one was collected, you kissed his cheek as a reward and he drove on.

For your first year at the park, your studies had focused on the herbivores. You were young and inexperienced and, admittedly, a little scared to attempt to study the carnivores. And then Tom had asked you specifically to study the Tyrannosaurus Rex, to help the team design an appropriate enclosure. Your work with the carnivores started after that, but you still studied one herd of herbivores: your Brontosaurus herd.

All because of Bertha.

“What are we looking for?” Bradley asked, thumb rhythmically tapping against the steering wheel as he headed for the first gate. Bertha stopped behind you, as if she knew she could go no further.

“Any abnormalities,” you said.

“What's abnormal?”

You looked in your notebook, flicked through to your abnormalities page. It wasn't very full, and each behaviour displayed had a date next to it. Few and far between. “You know, fighting, excessive vocalisation, guarding. Stuff the Bronto's don't do.”

Bradley patted your knee. He loved evenings like the one you were about to have, evenings that gave him a glimpse into your brain. Your wonderful, wonderful brain.

“When are we gonna start looking for abnormalities with my girls?”

“When I've studied them enough to know what's abnormal.”

Just outside of the park were two trailers. Two years ago, one had been yours and one had been Bradley's. You were both a little awkward back then, throwing out the occasional ‘good morning!’ and that was it.

But then he started to offer to drive you places. Carpooling meant getting to talk, getting to know each other. The ‘good morning!’s turned into something more.

You both found yourselves lonely, yearning for something unavailable to you on the island. Another person you could share your loneliness with. Someone who could take it away, if only for a few minutes.

The first time you fucked Bradley,the two of your barely knew each other. But that all changed. Late evenings, cuddled up against him with a dinosaur blanket covering the both of you.

It was you and Bradley after that. Rooster and Bones. That was you.

It was easy to fall for each other when each other was all you had.

“What's your meeting with Tom about?” You asked as you flicked through your footage, not actually watching any of the videos. Your entire afternoon was going to be spent watching the footage on double speed, only pausing when your girls did something weird.

Bradley shrugged his shoulders. “I think he just wants an update on The Girls.”

A sigh left his lips. Tom Kazansky was a good man, but his compliance with the military peeved you off. They had been trying to get your research on the Raptors for months now, everything you had on Roosters training with them. But you refused.

There was no way the meeting was just an update about The Girls.

“You gonna start reviewing the footage?” He asked as he changed gear, speeding up towards your trailers.

You nodded. “I think I'm gonna write another email.”

Laughing, Bradley shook his head. “You're cute,” he said, pulling up outside of the trailer. “I'll bring back some food from the canteen,” he said and grabbed your chin, tipping your head towards him.

He kissed you slowly, savouring the feeling of your lips against his before he let you go. With all of your notebooks and cameras, you climbed out of the Bronco and made your way towards the trailer.

Bradley watched as you made your way inside. As soon as the door was shut, he drove off, leaving you there. You didn't mind the solitude, the work you could get done while Bradley was in his meeting.

Music played softly as he drove towards the control room. It was in the centre on the park, the best place to control all of the locks from. It was the main control room, there were several smaller ones that could be controlled by this one dotted on the outskirts. But they were specifically for controlling the enclosures just outside of the park.

It was a slow drive through the park to get to the control room. Tourists with kids that wouldn’t get out of the way when he honked his horn. Even with sunglasses hiding his eyes, he couldn’t help but look grumpy. This was why he didn't go into the main park.

Parking the Bronco, Bradley flashed his badge at the machine. The beep sounded and the elevator doors slid open. He stepped inside and pressed the button for the control room.

It was impressive, the massive screen that displayed the security measures on the whole island. Bradley pulled off his sunglasses as he stepped out of the elevator and strode towards the owner of the park.

Tom Kazansky was a great man with one goal in life; educate the world about dinosaurs. So when Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Blackwood gave him a way to bring dinosaurs to life, he was more than happy to fund it. The park came later, much later.

The park had only been open for a few months, but it was a hit. Every day they were full to capacity, having to turn people away. None of it would have been possible without you and Bradley Bradshaw.

“Rooster!” Tom called as Bradley approached. He shook the older man's hand, let the grumpy expression slip into a grin. “How are my girls?”

Bradley looked around. No unfamiliar faces that could have been military personnel. There was one new guy, but he couldn't have been military. His grin was almost innocent, face somehow boyish, yet he looked as old as you. Mid twenties, at least. You would have liked him, Bradley thought, would find him too cute for your own good.

“They're doing good,” he said. “Rio is the smartest of my girls, for sure. But London, Paris and Florence are getting there.”

“Think you'll be able to do a demonstration for the public.”

Bradley didn't mean to pull a face, but he couldn't help it. He knew where this was leading, to the military using his training, your research to make weapons out of the Raptors. He couldn’t imagine it, Rio being used by the military. He didn’t want to imagine it.

The meeting went on. Bradley told Tom all he could without encouraging the talk of using the Raptors for military purposes. It wasn't what Tom wanted, he knew, but the military had been on his case since Charlie first started creating dinosaurs.

There was a reason she was no longer allowed on the island.

“I need one more thing from you,” Tom said as Bradley placed his sunglasses on his nose. They were pulled down just enough to show his raised eyebrows as he waited for Tom to continue.

He gestured to the young man to his left with the innocent grin and boyish face. “This is my… nephew, Jake Seresin, distant relation. I want you to show him around, introduce him to some of the animals.”

The young man you would find so damn cute. He stepped forward and held his hand out to Bradley. His smile was less innocent, more charming now. You would have been giggling as you took his hand.

And then he opened his mouth.

***

Under your dinosaur blanket, you watched the footage of the Brontosaurus paddock. Scan sampling meant you only had to look up every five minutes and make notes.

Between note taking, you wrote out an email. You had sent so many to them over the two years you had worked at the park. Never before had you received a reply to your emails.

But this was the first time you were debating them.

Their paper on the migration patterns of Hadrosaurs had been so damn interesting, but your research over the last year had proven a couple of their theories to be wrong. You wanted a conversation, to give them a chance to see where your research had come from.

You admired them greatly, had read almost every paper they had put out over the last two years. It had helped develop your own research, helped you with the papers you hadn't published.

‘Dear Professor Floyd and Professor Trace,’

IMPORTANT: My dear friend, @nurse-floyd, made some incredible artwork for this series (which I will be posting chapter by chapter). Recently, she did something incredible in rescuing the sweetest little cat, Lizzie. Lizzie isn't in the best shape, she needs expensive vet care and I want to do everything I can to help my friend.

Nurse-Floyds Ko-Fi

Here is the artwork of my baby Bertha:

tagging people i think would enjoy: @biancathecool

@nurse-floyd

@finnydraws

@sebsxphia

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

My knee-jerk reaction to seeing winged humanoid anatomy is I always feel like the wings coming before the human arms or over the top would mess up the mobility of both the arms(not being able to go up) and the wings(having something obstructing downward movement and less room for muscle attachment as there needs to be a hole for the human arms) and that the wings should go beneath the human arms instead to fix those issues, but is that actually anatomically correct or am I crazy?

there are definitely a lot of factors to consider with the addition of wings to a humanoid figure! unfortunately we don't have any real world animals with a similar six limbed body structure to rely on for reference, so a lot of the design inevitably relies on "well, I think it looks functional, so I guess that will do"

this post I reblogged a while back does a good job of showing potential musculature:

now, personally I put the "human" arm much farther forward on the side of the body, while that post leaves it towards the back. but it does show off the way muscles layer over each other, and it gets the wing muscles accurate to real birds! so no, I don't think having a "hole" between the muscles for the arm is a problem, really. there are just a lot of layers in there.

as for placement, as I said I prefer the arm to be more on the side of the body, forward and a little bit down, almost like the foreleg of a quadrupedal animal. it gives a lot more space for the wing to move without bumping the arm so much. putting the wings lower than the arms would necessitate having one's arms stretched over the head every single time they needed to fly, which is fine if you're going for that superman pose!

but in practice I think it would be tiring, so having the arms below the wings and placed forward on the body is, to me, a better option. that way, the arms can just relax into a folded pose, like how birds hold their legs in flight. classic "raptor hands", if you will. loosely folded, hands by the chest. no extra muscle strain interrupting the wing motion.

(image description: sketches of two winged humanoids. the first is "arms above wings" showing a figure with their arms stretched overhead so the wings lower down can flap freely. the second figure is "wings above arms", with the arms lower and more forward on the body, being held with the hands curled by the chest while the wings flap. end description.)

obviously you get more flashy poses when the arms are above the wings and stretched out like that, so they're fun to draw. but the arms being all curled up and situated below the wings feels a little more natural to me, and certainly more effective for long distance flight. the more the limbs just openly dangle in the air, the more drag they create and the heavier they can feel. so it makes sense to me that the arms would just be held closer to the body, which works better when they're below the wings.

[mouseycometz]

Starscream and Juniper: Dynamic Rundown

Ah, these two…my main ship for my AU!

Early on, Starscream certainly doesn’t like her, but he doesn’t despite her with a passion either. At least, not as much as he says he does. Starscream, although repulsed by humans, does find value in Juni. He was the one who suggested that Megatron should keep her in the first place. After all, the Autobots use humans to their advantage, don’t they?

Of course, he still complains about her, huffing about how high maintenance she is and the like. Similarly, she frequently scowls at him. She hates it whenever he refers to her as “vermin”, and rightfully calls him out on it. She knows that he can’t do anything to harm her with Megatron around. The two snark at each other constantly, but there’s no genuine malice.

After a mission that went awry, Megatron actually tries to beat Starscream for almost murdering her in the cockpit of his jet mode.

(It’s accidental. Starscream wanted to scare her with loop-de-loops, unaware that she required a g-suit and a helmet).

Before Megatron could punish him too severely, Juniper makes it out of the medical bay at just the right moment to stop him. She brings Starscream to the lab to treat his wounds, and then she stays with him for the rest of the night. The Seeker is absolutely puzzled. He believes that she wants something from him; he cannot fathom the fact that she saved him from the kindness of her heart.

This is a crucial moment in their story. It helps the two change their tune about each other. It’s also brought up again much later, during another significant moment in my AU.

During their MECH Arc/Rogue Arc, the two grow closer together. It’s much easier since they’re both away from Megatron and the Nemesis. Well, at least at that point. Season Three is rough on both of them.

Starscream learns to view Juniper as a friend. The feeling is mutual on her part as well. Sure, there’s some ups and downs, even a tremendous mistake on Starscream’s end (which involves the creation of her scar).

It takes PLENTY of time, devotion, patience, and trust for them to reach a certain level of intimacy and closeness together. It’s difficult, but definitely not impossible.

When the two form a connection, Starscream is SUCH a tease towards her, and Juniprr responds with peeps and blushes, just the way he likes it. However, there are instances where she flips the tables on him to surprise him!

Eventually, Starscream vows to never let her be hurt again, especially by him.

He even has two special names for her! It’s either “Mouse/Little Mouse” or “Comet”. The former refers to her cuteness and smallness, a huge step up from the initial “rodent” meaning. The latter pet name, however, comes from her love for outer space. During their shared arc as rogues, they stargazed and Starscream told her about living Cybertron.

Much like him, Juni calls him “Raptor” or “Dove”. The latter, of course, is used during moments of sweetness without teasing (such as the former).

Starscream becomes possessive and a bit jealous sometimes, such as when Juni hangs out with her best friend, Tayden, or the other bots. Still, her heart continues to stay with the same cybertronian.

Besides Dreadwing, Soundwave, and the predacons, Starscream is the only mech who listens to her sing. Initially, he teases her for it (which sucks). However, he grows to appreciate it. Juniprr can sing pretty damn well actually, she just doesn’t outwardly sing in front of others. She’s too shy. She will, however, hum for Starscream. Maybe even sing so, so very softly for him.

After the war and Cybertron’s revival, the two experience nightmares. It requires comfort from both parties. It’s something soft and gentle, just what they need.

Stargazing is still a common pastime for them! Only now, after she receives her upgrade from Primus (the pink and gold suit) Juniper can fly and keep up with him, too. He finally has a flying buddy!

On Earth, Juniper likes to bring him to the beach. As a former lifeguard, the redhead LOVES to swim. Starscream? Not really, but he admires her in her bathing suit.

Although she forms friendships in unlikely places, she shares her strongest bond with Starscream. It’s not hard to see why. The two go through a lot together, but they preserve, a shared trait between them, and I’m proud of them.

Divider Credit: @/saradika

Art Credit: @/destinysquared

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

The Birdcage

Jurassic Park: It's Ironic, by Meig of A-Dinosaur-A-Day

What follows is a retelling of the Jurassic Park story, mainly based on the 1993 film, with portions of the original novel used to supplement the story. The main point of divergence occurs when the park is unable to find workable nonavian dinosaur genetic material for cloning, since - as in the real world - dna degrades much too rapidly. Instead, the park consists only of extinct dinosaurs that can be brought back - birds from the last 2.5 million years. What happens after that is, as Ian Malcolm would say, an emerging pattern.

Thanks to beta readers @plokool, @killdeercheer, and @otussketching! Thanks to logo artist @i-draws-dinosaurs for the killer logo! Happy 30th anniversary of the Jurassic Park film!

Fic Chapter Masterpost

Prologue: The Peck of the Raptor

Robert Muldoon had seen much in his forty-odd years on planet earth. A pride of lions tearing into the carcass of a giraffe. An elephant kicking an African leopard into the air. A swarm of hyenas attempting to hunt the wildebeest, only to flee in panic from their hooves. Nile Crocodiles and Hippos fighting over river space, with no obvious winners. Wild dogs hunting him, with coordination and planning he wouldn’t have believed if he hadn’t seen it for himself. Indeed, if someone were to have asked Robert Muldoon if he had seen everything nature had to offer, he would be tempted to say yes.

At least, until today.  

It was a simple transfer operation. Take the new asset from the hatchery complex to their permanent enclosure. Introduce them to their new flock members. Try to not drown in the torrential rain, to hear each other over the violent wind. Remember that humans are warm-blooded and no matter how much the rain soaked to the bone, warmth would return. Go home in time for dinner.

The thought now, of course, made Muldoon snort out loud, though of course no one could hear him. Flock was the moniker the higher-ups had chosen, ages ago, but he knew flocks. This was no flock. Better, really, to call this grouping a pack. Not that it mattered. After this, Muldoon was certain of his course of action.

He had to recommend termination.

Everything had happened so fast. The loud calls of the other assets, anxious for their flock member far away. The container, raised to the pen entrance. Locked in, safety verified. The animal was silent, but they usually were during transfer. Muldoon had chalked it up to fear or hesitancy, though it was odd that it wasn’t calling back to the others. All workers were in their proper positions, so he called for the gate to be raised. And then, before he could register any of it, the asset had rocked against the container, shaking it loose. It managed to reach out, grab onto Jophery’s hand – the scream chilled Muldoon down to the marrow – and suddenly there was no more Jophery, apart from his second hand, grabbing for dear life to the side of the container. On instinct, Muldoon grabbed his hand, and pulled as hard as he could. Jophrey was still screaming, the other workers were shouting and scampering, alarms were blaring from the cage, a gun or two going off pointlessly. The asset, still, remained silent. It didn’t even bite, or claw, or crunch, or tear.

All it had to do was peck – at the temporal artery

Peck again – at the leg – near the femoral –

Peck again – on the neck – blood was everywhere –

A final peck, Muldoon couldn’t even see where, there were feathers and limbs and blood and screams and –

Jophery went still.

Only a few more seconds, and the asset was also down, multiple tranq darts sticking out of various places. Muldoon hadn’t even had a chance to insist on lethal ammunition, but there was no point now. The asset was neutralized. No one was in immediate danger. The alarms were still blaring, and Muldoon was starting to lose his hearing from it, as loud as it was in his ears. But he couldn’t undo Jophery’s grip – it had been so strong; it didn’t even need rigor mortis to lock in – and he found that the slippery blood oozing from Jophery’s neck and face down the arm weren’t helping matters. But Muldoon had been hired for this position for a reason – a few, actually – and he managed to take a deep breath, grit his teeth, and remove the hand from his.

Now he was walking, slowly, to his employer’s office, tracking mud and rain and blood down the hall with him. People were running, talking in hushed whispers, angrily arguing. He didn’t much care for these lab rats who never entered the tropical sun, never mind interacted with the very things they were working on. Even now, when their concerns should be one and the same, he heard mentions of rehabilitation, modification, and genetic integrity – worries from individuals who did not have blood on their hands refusing to dry in the humid air. So antiseptic they had removed their own humanity.

Muldoon couldn’t wait any longer. The image of Jophrey’s clouded eyes hung in his mind as he shouted into the hallway.

“HAMMOND.”

Ray Arnold stuck his head out from the control room, eyebrows raised over the rims of his glasses. “Hammond isn’t here. Shouldn’t you be getting cleaned up?”

“We have to shut it down.”

Arnold sighed, “You know he won’t do that, Robert.”

“This is the third worker.”

“Yes, but –“

“Third. If you think officials across the water will ignore it at this point, you’re out of your god-damned mind.”

“People die on construction projects, Rob. All the time, in fact.”

“Their corpses don’t usually come back littered with peck marks.”

“We’ve managed all crises up to this point. Hammond insists on moving forward with this asset.”

“All because his impossible pet project didn’t work out, we have to insist on these uncooperative, murder-minded –“

“They’re no more murder minded than a lion or a wolf.”

“Says someone who has never interacted with any of them.”

Arnold sighed, fidgeting with his tie. Muldoon had moved to face him directly, but Arnold continued to look at his computer screen, the lines of code reflected in his glasses.

“I’ll talk to Hammond. If we can’t even get them in the enclosure, maybe it is time to pull the plug.”

“Finally,” Muldoon spat out, “Thank you.”

“Uh-huh.” But Arnold was already back at his computer, not even facing his torso towards Muldoon. So Robert turned and walked back, through the hallway, muddy bloody footprints showing his short journey down the hall and back.

It was time to call up another family.

[whereserpentswalk]

Select an alternate universe to study abroad in for a semester. You'll be sent there with a new body that matches inhabitants of that realm. Little to no time will pass in your world, as time between dimension is entirely diffeent. Wherever you choose to go you won't be known to be from another dimension unless you tell people.

1- an endless forest made of massive trees, so tall no mortal soul has seen the ground or the unobstructed sky. The sentient races of this world consist of slender owl like humanoids, various insectoid races, short squat mushroom people, and a minority of rodent like creatures who live further down the trees. Technology in this world is as advanced as ours, but the aesthetics are more similar to our Victorian age. They say this world's heaven is deep above the trees, and this world's hell is deep below it, with each culture's religion having its own version of God/gods above an devils in the forest floor (outside of the mushroom people, who worship gods below.)

2- an endless system of volcanic caves and tunnels that demons and fallen angels come from. This realm is vast, and is ruled over by countless lords and kings, some truly evil, some merely strange. Demons and fallen angels come is countless forms, most looking somewhat humanoid, though with strange and unnatural distortions, from animal like parts to things humans would find much more horrifying. This is one of the few realms listed where they know what earth is, but they don't know much about it outside of myth.

3- an alternate earth where mythical creatures such as vampires, werewolves, deep ones, dragons, and witches exist. It also has a population of demons and faeries who came over generations ago. While they were in hiding for many millennium, they've now taken over most of earth, with humans being removed or conquered in some regions, and peacefully integrated into others. Though in both cases they are now a minority.

4- a version of earth that's both flat and entirely endless, with many sun's carving safe warm zones in the ice. Even with 21st century technology new lands are still being explored. Most social problems still exist, but things are looking a bit more hopeful, and the world's slightly nicer to live in. Cryptids, gods, magic and the afterlife are all proven to exist, even if humanity doesn't know much about them. Human bodies here naturally trend twords looking however the person inside them wants to look, and sexual attraction and pleasure don't exist.

5- an alternate earth where the kpg mass extinction never occurred. Dinosaurs remained dominant but kept evolving, leading to a sapient race eventually emerging from raptors. The raptors are currently at a similar technology level as us, though due to how they're mind works they've spent more time developing computers and mathematics than they have any other field of technology. Also don't mind the obelisk in the pacific ocean, nobody there knows what it does or who put it there either, and we won't put you anywhere near it.

6- a world filled with giant monsters of all kinds, some looking like massive dragons or Chimeras, others looking like more strange and colorful creatures. Though some animals are smaller, the smallest intelligent creatures are the size of bears, and the largest are much bigger than blue whales. Technology is limited in some regards, mostly as the inhabitants don't always need it.

7- the world of the faeries, strange and complex, and both terrifying and beautiful. Very little is known about this realm other than the strange and often dangerous creatures who come from this place. If you go here it's likely you will remember very little and enjoy very much.

8- a universe where humanity is completely isolated to spaceships and space stations, most of them the size of cities. Humans here are grown artificially, and have completely androgynous bodies that lack biological sex, and most of them combine their bodies with mechanical upgrades becoming cyborgs. Most humans never touch a planet, and those who do don't stay there for long. There are a few alien species with planetary civilizations, but almost all of them are strange and eldrich. Technology is incredibly advanced compared to ours, and quality is life is better. Most humans consider AI taboo, though normal computers are fine and commonplace.

9- a world where humans are entirely missing, but every species of mammal is sapient and humanoid. Birds and reptiles pick up the pace of animals in the ecosystem, as the mammals have created a global civilization. Though magic doesn't exist here, and technology is around a 21st century level, the quirks of each species have created a lot of situations impossible in our world. Though several nations exist, the main powers of the world consist of a group of powerful corporations, an ancient secret society, and the church of the dead gods, all of whom are locked in a cold war, that luckily keeps the nations of this world at peace.

10- a massive city, floating in the void, surrounded by eldritch horrors. Countless humanoids have made their homes in the city, most hailing from diffrent dimensions themselves, but permanently stuck here. Though many races here could pass for humans, none of them truly are, from the sirenia who have wings for arms and hands for feet, to the modutal who can take parts of their bodies off and swap them with other members of their race, to the subterranean vamire who eat raw meat and have albino skin, to the hyven whose minds are each split between two to five bodies. It's estimated between fifty to a hundred humanoids call the city home.

11- the abyss. Do not attempt to enter the abyss. We cannot assure your safety.

[quasi-normalcy]

Another point about the Romulans: They remembered their ancient kinship with the Vulcans, even though most of the Vulcans themselves were unaware of it; they were in fact working behind the scenes to reunify with the Vulcans, right at the time that humanity appeared on the galactic scene.

So basically, they have this rich, 2,000-year-old history with their old enemies/cousins; they've reached out, tentatively, to the highest levels of Vulcan High Command with a plan to merge their empires. They just need to get their boy in place as a dictator on Vulcan, and in order to do that, they need to stage a terrorist attack. Okay, well; against whom? Against the embassy of this absolute nothing-burger bunch of space-hillbillies called the "Humans." Whatever, they only just invented warp drive like 5 minutes ago, who cares about them? Blow up their embassy, blame this pacifist sect, get V'Las some emergency powers and then toast to the 10,000-year reign of the Romulo-Vulcan Empire.

But what's this? The humans are investigating? They've made contact with the pacifist sect and it turns out...that they have Surak's katra and and the true record of his writings? What? And now V'Las is being arrested? And now the Vulcan government is being dissolved, and the entire planetary religion is undergoing a reformation?? And the new government wants lasting peace with its neighbours! Well, we can't have that! We'll send a false-flag ship in to sow chaos between Vulcan, Andor, and Tellar; we'll have them back on a war-footing before they know what's going on, and hopefully get V'Las out of prison--

And our false-flag ship was just destroyed...By the Space-Hillbillies. AGAIN? Well, clearly these "Humans" are more dangerous than we've anticipated. No matter. We shall send our imperial navy to swoop in upon their nascent civilization, just as the unmerciful raptor swoops in upon its pr--

What the FUCK, our fleet was DEFEATED!?! And now the Vulcans are forming a union with these peasants?? They were supposed to be forming a union with US! WE are the ones with the thousands of years of shared history! WE are the ones with the bonds of blood-kinship going back since before our ancestors left Arret bearing tales of the Ganmadan! Who the hell are these people!?

And then they go off to sulk behind the Neutral Zone for the next 200 years.

[lordsovorn]

Raptors

Cruel beasts. Demons, some call them. Scourge.

Lore under the cut:

The simplicity of these things only highlights the contradictions. There is nothing inherently unnatural about them. Nothing supernatural even more so. Understandable why a prouder person might feel indignant that these mere beasts, just a bunch of pack-hunting "bug dogs", are one of the main reasons for the final collapse of human civilization. And yet, it is the fearful who survive, not the proud ones.

The Raptors are the only things in the Under, other than humans, distinctly adapted to light and open spaces. Their keen eyesight is nearly unmatched in an environment with almost no lines of sight, and they are remarkably fast runners for a world of crags and tunnels. At the same time, their strong claws and limbs make them capable climbers, while the tail provides balance in a variety of positions. Bones provide strength, segments of chitinous armor they regularly shed provides renewable protection. Smart and coordinated, deadly and durable. Excellent predators. Entirely unsuited to the environment of the Under.

Just like humans.

It is in this way that Raptors proved to be such a persistent menace. Occupying much the same unstable niche in the world of darkness, they are both a competitor for food and a predator, forced into a rather narrow diet. Nothing about an individual Raptor is extraordinary - perhaps knowledgable Elders might have compared them to wolfs. Dangerous, worthy of fear, but killable. But there is no end to this tangled forest, and no prey except for stranded men. They are hungry and desperate, and fearful too, and so they retreat and come back in bigger numbers, with more complicated strategies. Raptors have ravaged the lines of communications and patrol, starved out of the outposts, raided the Farms to the point they are now completely unmanned. Nothing intimidating about one of them. Nothing unnatural about a pack. But as an endless onslaught of pack after pack of resorceful and adaptive hunters, they are a demonic unstoppable scourge, whose source humans were never able to track down.

They fill the caves with their screeching, grinding vocalizations, and follow the echoes and the sounds of panicked feet. Raptors are careful and vicious in their natural pragmatism, prefering to ambush and wound prey, overwhelm it with a coordinated pack attack, and turn its fear against itself. Like their namesake implies, they need not kill to start eating - grasping an injured creature with their massive talons, Raptors cut through flesh with their sharp mandibles and peel chunks of meat right off the bone.

[power-handmaiden]

Day 366: Bisexually Pounded By The Mysterious New Jersey Drones

As excited as I was yesterday to see an approach to living concepts that I always love as I'm getting ready to end off the year.... I'm just as excited to properly end the year with a current events tingler! I'm so glad this is a leap year. This story truly feels like a fitting end to this journey. Current events tinglers are a huge part of why I planned for this project by organizing a list of tinglers by date of publication. Now I've read them all, spanning back from a decade ago to now, and I feel truly caught up, reading one that's relevant RIGHT NOW, in the moment at the end of 2024!

There's even a TINGLEVERSE CONNECTION here! This tingler makes direct reference to the events of the iconic Space Raptor Butt Trilogy. And, I love how I comes up. Even in a world where humanity has made contact with intelligent life in space, people are still excited at the idea of meeting DIFFERENT aliens. Which feels right for every iteration of humanity, be it here on the top layer or deeper in the Tingleverse. Once our mysteries have been solved, we go looking to answer more.

This tingler also has a wonderful atmosphere that lends to the erotic aspect. The idea of being outdoors but intimate, easily viewed but still mysterious, is very compelling. This tingler really translates the idea of mysterious drones into something incredibly alluring. I'll be thinking of them when I look up at the stars and the fireworks tonight.

Happy new year!

[simonbreeze]

Time to visit the grim, dark of the Black Library once more with a Tyranid invasion story, Leviathan.

'The dream.... it is a portent... of the end.'

A decorated Lieutenant of the Ultramarines recognises the signs of an imminent Tyranid attack and launches a desperate counter-offensive to save Regium, a proud Imperial world.

I didn't find this story as entertaining as I was hoping for. With the book being tied to the 10th edition launch of Warhammer 40,000, I guess I was hoping for.... more.

The writing is good, however the characters and the story felt lacking scale and depth. One element particularly really niggled me. The Tyranids from hive Leviathan in the Warhammer 40,000 universe have evolved beyond other Tyranids and therein is the rub. I expected the Tyranids on this story to be like the raptors from Jurassic Park, outsmart in the humans in ways that they hadn't considered and being really clever and terrorizing and something to actually fear. Instead, what we got was 'dumbed-down' Space marines being out maneuvered by Tyranids consistently throughout the story. There's even a scene where the Tyranids went left instead of right and the space marines always assume they go right, to make if worse, there's scenes before this happens where it's been established by the Space Marines that the Tyranids have adapted and evolved are using new strategies and tactics. But, belligerently the Space Marines still continue doing the same old same old and the constantly surprised and caught out by the Tyranids. I found this element really frustrating to read, and it is a shame, because the rest of the stories okay, and there are some interesting characters. If you want to read a good Tyranid story, go grab a copy of The Great Devourer. It's a fantastic read, and it's one of my favorite Warhammer 40,000 books - it leaves this one in the dust.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

[kit-williams]

Run rabbit run

YANDERE NIGHT LORD RAPTOR TIME

Also trying out this mood board shit please lemme know if its good

tw: Yandere, kidnapping, He's a fucking Night Lord but this is pretty chill, dialogue heavy will probably have to write a follow up for this one.

He watched from his perch the screaming and the crying. But Ghosk Sevyrarek always had a good eye for the unusual like the leggy little thing sliding against the pavement. Pushing what the baseline human body was capable of... his black eyes raking over those thigh muscles as they are pushed to the limit of human ability. He watched the prey driven members of the warband rush after the little rabbit.

Oh this wasn't just a normal human he figured watching how they cleared a jump with ease as three night lords rushed after like newly turned to chaos space wolves. He rolled his eyes at the display of their mindlessness knowing full well what would happen to this darling... he blinked at the thought. When was the last time he called anything a darling....

Nostromo... He recoiled at feeling nostalgic as that would only bring guilt. His decent mood felt soured... it wasn't the rabbit's fault as much as he wanted to blame the darling. Oh she very much was a darling... a pretty thing a pretty little rabbit. He could swoop down and stop the neophytes playtime with just a quick snap of her neck like a good hunter would.

He was losing fun with the warband... Ghosk figured he would lend his services to another warband of brothers... and then another... and then another. He snarled as he eyes watched the little leggy darling. Murder and torture was no longer giving him any thrill and more and more often he found himself feeling the barest emotion of regret. Coward... he hears some foul voice in his mind whisper.

The pretty rabbit was getting tired she was struggling to make those turns... her lungs were burning up probably. His leathery wings spread into the smoke licked night sky as he dove from his perch. She couldn't do it any more! She physically couldn't run anymore and she turned to look at the three monsters with glowing red eyes and skull faces. How they howled with laughter and glee purring and cooing what they would do to her.

The pavement exploded behind her as all she had time was to look behind her... maybe maybe the Emperor did send an angel? But with the leathery wings that came out of the smoke she wondered if they were right... there was no Emperor here. Ghosk ignored the vox messages as he grinned with glee down at the little rabbit before he grabbed her and jumped into the air letting her scream in fear.

"Let go of me!" She screamed.

"Well if you say so." Ghosk cooed and dropped her watching the wind rip through her hair before he dove after her and twirled her back into his arms. "Thought about it... maybe not the best place to let you go." He say laughing.

He played this game with her flying higher and higher and dropping her or tossing her around. Her reuniting with his armor was causing her to bruise and the next time he tried to drop her he watched her cling onto him. "Aww little rabbit are you done flying with me?" He put his hands under her arms and brought her close to his face to have her nuzzle his helm.

He watched her gag at the smell of death coating him but he listened to her whimper, "Please if you're going to kill me just let me go."

"See that's the fun part little rabbit! I don't know if I'm going to kill you yet. I could... though I might not." He says landing on a building with a huff as he sits her down, delicately placing a claw under her chin, "Now if you want your death to be slow and agonizing I would recommend you move from this spot. Got it?"

He watched her nod and he pat her head like the good girl she was. "Now where was I..."

"You said you might not kill me?" His little rabbit spoke as he watched her massage those delicious legs of hers.

"Yes I might not because you little rabbit bring up pesky little memories."

She gave Ghosk a curious look. Ghosk on the other hand pulled off his helmet and shook some of his hair free. "You know you'll probably just get hair in your mouth when you put that helmet back on." His little rabbit squeaked out.

"Oh feeling a bit mouthy then pet?"

"Listen you say I bring back memories. I assume you're just going to kill me in a different way."

"Awww pet do you trust me that little?" He cooed over at her and she just gives him a 'really' look. "No I'm not going to kill you yet." He watches her roll her eyes. Oh he's in a good mood! He likes sassy little darlings though you've half resigned yourself to a fate he has yet to decide. What a pretty little darling you are.

"Alright I'll bite..." He watches her pause as she makes a disgusted face as he returns the look with something more lewd at her suggestion, "Um... I bring back memories."

"Yes you do." Ghosk becomes serious as he paces slightly, "Pesky little memories and feelings of a life long long gone. Yet Oh I don't know... maybe I'm just bored with all of this." He gestures to the burning city though for him he gestures to the dropship with his "brothers" god... the Iron Warriors feel like they have more brother hood... no the fucking World Eaters have far more comradery than he does with his supposed brothers.

"Why don't you just go then?" She holds back a groan as she rubs her sore legs but she looks up at her "savior". "If you're bored with it I'm certain the Emperor can forgive you right?"

Ghosk threw his head back and laughed hard when he finally calmed down he tried to compose himself, "Oh you're a funny little thing. He walked over and his right wing grabbed her and picked her up as she squirmed obviously freaked out by the way the membrane hugged her. "Careful little one... I've suffocated someone with my wings try not to squirm too much." He said looking over the edge before jumping down the few stories. "Now where were we... right. I was laughing at your suggestion. But I might move on... just I hardly have anything holding me here." He looked to his rabbit tucked into his wing as it curled around her like a large hand just holding her and caressing her with its thumb as he looked to her.

"What do you want me to say? That you shouldn't go? Oh yeah no totally stay here with the rest of the psychopaths."

"See that's what I don't want to do. I'm just so bored with it." Ghosk said with some dramatics.

"Then I guess you can leave them behind and we can part on friendly terms."

He dramatically turned his head toward her and cocked it to the side. "And leave my dear little rabbit at the mercy of wolves who will most likely break you in many many ways." He cooed as she shrank slightly.

"I have a feeling you're going to break me too."

He pursed his lips for a moment tapping his chin. "I might try that consent thing. But no my rabbit... you're not leaving my side. We're on this journey of self discovery together! Won't it be fun?"

He hummed as he walked past his brothers holding his prize and put his helmet back on his head and felt annoyingly amused... his little rabbit was right... he did get some of his hair caught in his mouth. "

[lvricist]

@hoovedrycal: 🐻

Daphne’s got about ten minutes left on the clock before she’s permanently stuck in this body that’s not her own. It’s not hard to catch the time on the phones of the pedestrians below her, thanks to her raptor eyes, but the mission she’s given herself isn’t to spy on normal people, it’s to watch one of the entrances to the Yeerk Pool. So yeah, she’s cutting it a little closer to the deadline than she’s comfortable with, which means she can’t be picky about where she demorphs.

She dives between two buildings, the smaller birds gathered on the rooftops taking flight to avoid her, and swoops into the narrow space between the two dumpsters in the otherwise empty alley. Unfortunately, protecting the planet really isn’t as glamorous as the movies make it out to be.

She starts to change the moment she lands, feathers reabsorbing into human skin, bones cracking into place, viscera rearranging. With the loss of her keen avian vision and the softening of her beak into her nose, lips, and chin, the transformation is complete–just to be sure, she pats herself down, checking she has all the parts she should have, and nothing she shouldn’t.

Normally she’d use one of her bird morphs to get back to her dorm, but she’s already tired from morphing a few times today and she’d rather just take the shuttle back to campus. So she stands to leave, but she gets that nagging feeling that she’s not alone.

She takes another look around the alley, but there’s not even so much as a rat running around. Not a rat, but… Remembering the birds on the rooftop, she turns her gaze upward. One of them is back, perching on the edge. It’s not her brother–he’s actually attending his classes today–but she’s not quite convinced it’s a regular bird. It’s watching her. “Hello?” she calls, not sure what else to do, but the moment the word’s out of her mouth, she rolls her eyes at herself. The paranoia’s getting to her. Aside from Atlas, the only other being on Earth capable of morphing is Visser Three, and he wouldn’t be hanging out in bird morph to spy on her. He would’ve just killed her. “Losing it,” she says in a sing-song tone under her breath, turning to leave.