#humans are space raptors

[malewifehenrycooldown]

I was going to write up a post about my ship with Android 18 but then realised I had to explain the whole 'But what about Krillin?!' question. So here's a meme I quickly put together to demonstrate how the ship works.

[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.

[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!

[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.

[cometchasinglove]

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.

[bleedingichorhearts]

𝐑𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 & 𝐒𝐰𝐚𝐧 (𝐏𝐭. 2/3)

𝕬𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗: Something short for my feathered boi: Zedikel in “𝐄𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐲 & 𝐈𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐲”

𝕾𝖚𝖒𝖒𝖆𝖗𝖞: A little raven finds a mourning swan and well… attempts to court them. (He’s got the spirit at least.)

𝕿𝖆𝖌𝖌𝖊𝖉: @kit-williams, @egrets-not-regrets, @bispecsual, @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan, @sleepyfan-blog.

+@c-u-c-koo-4-40k.

TW // None.

|°ᴛᴀɢ ʟɪꜱᴛ ᴀᴘᴘʟɪᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ°| |°ɪᴄʜᴏʀ’ꜱ ᴀᴏ3°| |°𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕃𝕚𝕤𝕥°| • {Pt. 1} • {Pt. 3}

The little raven flys long and far to find what he think is the best for the mourning swan. His wings beating against the harsh winds of the snow the longer he is out. His feathered being packed with snow.

He’s very admeant about his task that he has set before him. Going through the coldest weathers, and even the toughest territory’s to try and find what is worth the swans eye. He has even traded a few items to present to the swan. Doing everything within his power to capture the swans broken love.

He presents her the most shiniest things like: coins of new, glinting buttons and caps, shimmering metal things the female humans wear on their heads, just below their hair. He, of course, didn’t just bring her shiny things, but he also gave her things he saw she had an interest in before. He seen her pull at certain sticks, and tear into some fish and berries. How else is he to become a potential partner if he doesn’t notice these things?

The first thing he presented her however, is the silver coins. His wings flapping down as he lands onto the top of the snow; near by where the swan would lay, piled in snow. His little talons hopping throw the snow, creating marks as he gets confidently closer to the snow-covered swan.

Setting down the coin on top of the snow from his beak. He try’s to gently caw at the swan first to get her attention. Wanting to see her beautiful, wilted feathers rise up to his appearance. Yet, it doesn’t work. So, he try’s again, a bit more louder. His head tilting in all directions, and his body hopping around the mound in the snow to try and figure out how to get her attention.

He feels a bit… dejected at her unresponsive behavior, and perhaps worried. He has never quite see another mourn so much as a swan. Sure, he was a bird of mourning and death himself, but a swans was different. She didn’t move nor go out to satisfy herself to make sure she lives. She didn’t provide for herself like she once has. She simply took the event head on.

He try’s to caw for her again, daring to get anymore closer. Hopping around, hoping for any movement from the bigger bird of white, and he’s lucky on his third attempt when the mound of snow begins to break up. His little form hopping back to give the swan her space. His eyes going back to watch the snow fall of the swan once more.

The swan trills at him, wondering why he would disturb her peace. He wings extending slightly to overshadow him from the blinding white of the snow and cloud-covered sun. Her head coming slightly down to observe the tiny raptor that interrupted her sleep.

In quick movement, he takes a hop back and plucks the silver coin back into his beak and precents the coin to the swan. His form a little low to show he doesn’t mean any harm. He just wishes to present his first gift.

He coos lowly as the swan lowers herself, her beak next to his. Her eyes looking into his own. Grief, mourning, saddens and even… curiosity glinting in them. Such a beautiful sight to see the little raven thinks.

Too couped up to notice how the swan doesn’t accept his gift nor pushes him away. He just watches the swan like he’s star stuck while she moves her head back; away from him. Then, he gives out another caw at the realization.

He however, is not swayed by her rejection, he takes it as a win of sorts. She leaned down to check what he had presented, she didn’t accept it, but she didn’t chase him off either. Oh, that’s definitely a win in his feathery books.

So, he tries again. This time with the shiny caps of glass bottles and glinting buttons. He surrounds the still swan in them (much to her bemusement.) Hopping all around her, and making sure to position them the perfect distance away from another and the swan herself. His mind set on trying to get her to notice anyone of them while she would rise up against and shake the snow off her feathers to look at what he presents.

He coos and caws gently at her, moving his beak upwards towards her, trying to get her reaction; to urge her. Trying to get a word or a sound out of her, whether it would be a form of appreciation or not. He will continue either way.

This continues for quite a while. Risking himself to the blizzards to gather anything that might appease the swan. Never stopping for a rest until he has everything he wants to present to the swan.

Until his wings and talons start to freeze.

His form shivers as he has a hard time trying to fold his wings against his body. His feathers all ruffled and have patches of clumped snow in them. Although, he still has some energy to give a limp hop back when the swan rises once again to acknowledge what he has tried to gift to night.

However, the swan never acknowledges his gifts at all this time. Instead, she acknowledges him, looking him over. Noticing how frail he was looking, but he was still willing to push through and gift her things…

Silently, she extends one of her wings and drapes it over the frosted raven. Pulling him closer to her feathered body. His nearly solid body practically rolling into her form while she slowly lays down into her spot she rises from. Folding her wings around him, and willing to warm up the little raven at his impressive efforts.

She can feel as the little raven nuzzles into her warmth, reminding her of her past lover… The swan shakes her head, but doesn’t move the raven at the thought. She’ll let the raven rest within her feathers until he is ready to fly again.

[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.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

[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.

[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.

[xpaintedladyx]

Attention fans of the Bad Batch and Jurassic World! New story idea!

Considering the similarities between these two groups, a story line has sprung forth and I would like to share it. And get some help to anyone interested in the idea.

Essentially before, during and post the bad batch show. The raptor squad ( yes I’m keeping that name) are a team of highly trained hybrids for animal rescue and rehabilitation. The animals in question are the dinosaurs created by Ingen (similar to the clones but the dinosaurs were created for entertainment)

After the events of the first JW movie but in space. The dinosaurs have escaped or have been taken from the now destroyed park. They are wondering the galaxy or are some rich imperial’s pet. The girls are more humanoid in this. Appearance wise they are human but with raptor traits. Sharp elongated claws/ fingers, tails, serrated curved teeth, and yellow eyes. Their pupils change depending on extreme mood shift (or going feral as they call it) and they’re all around 7 ft tall not counting Charlie. She’s around Hunter’s height.

And as some of you might have guessed I will be shipping them.

Hunter x Blue: they’re both the leaders of their respective parties, they have a mutual interest and respect for each other.

Wrecker x Delta: the first ship that came to mind honestly. Both are headstrong and reckless. Delta is more aggressive than her sisters. She’d see a challenge in Wrecker in the best way possible. Wrecker gives me Himbo energy and I think that’s perfect.

Crosshair x Charlie: this one starts more one sided like a school crush. She’s Cross’ opposite in every way. She loves the tall, dark, and broody boy. All while Cross is oblivious to it.

Echo x Echo: (same name hah) this one was more funny than anything else. Both have something about themselves that makes them insecure/ different from the others. Tbb Echo is more mechanical and JW Echo has a scar on her mouth. (She hides it via face mask) both are interested in the other’s differences and what caused them. Still deciding if theirs will be romantic or platonic.

Of course Omega is still in this and so is Tech (he lives) Phee is with him so no Dino romance for him. But he does get to absorb all the new knowledge on dinosaurs. And the girls love a nerd who knows his stuff. Claire and Owen are here too, I made Claire a twi'lek (unless someone has a different idea) Owen is human as he’s the girls dad both as a mentor and they have his genetic material.

If any of this interests you and would like to discuss more, please leave your comments below or dm me for a discord invite.