#intelligent species

[cathchicken]

Returning to Stilts, I love them! I want to Linda get a skeletal reference down eventually

[the-way-astray]

it is so funny to me that the elves, gnomes, dwarves, and ogres have supernatural/paranormal powers, but the trolls and goblins are just. good fighters.

[disappointedcreeper]

CBD worldbuilding: Dwarves

Dwarves as a species are one of the oldest humanoids still around today. They are shorter, rounder, humanoids. They have adapted to live in cold areas. They tend to have more body hair, and are known for their long beards.

Culturally they tend to live in large cities, mostly found in tundras or taigas, but some have been known to live on mountains. Dwarves are especially proud of their exquisite stonework, which is highly sought after.

Dwarves tend to be better at using fire magic, especially spells that create heat, using it to help survive in such harsh climates. Some dwarves have used this to melt metals and create weapons or armor, but those who do that are not very common, meaning typically humans and maybe elves do metalwork (saying maybe elves because currently I don't have much to think about for elves.)

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Some notes about where I got the ideas for dwarves:

-Taking inspiration from dwarves and hobbits/halflings from typical high fantasy

-since they are shorter and rounder than humans logically according to the square-cube law (higher volume to surface area ratio) they would logically not live near forges, and more likely live in colder areas, due to them loosing heat slower.

-them being good at stonework is inspired by dwarf fortress, but also I thought it would be cool to have them live in large stone cities, and potentially having a cliffside city in the game.

[animalpayback]

[cathchicken]

Using this based post as an excuse to show my uh funny dragon designs!! I’ve always been somewhat bored of the scary lizard beast dragon type and while it doesn’t really have any problems it’s really just a me thing. So I do what o do and make a design so different I still hope it counts as a dragon haha

I know there’s more sketches of them somewhere, this was just sort of old and I don’t feel like scrolling through my camera roll for an hour ;-,

Western style dragons are profoundly mid to me, but i try to keep my trap shut about that because i don't want to be the no fun allowed guy for a very popular creature design. But i cannot contain my rage about spoon wings. I hate them so much. Nothing with a patagium looks like that or flies like that. It doesnt matter how many polygons your beast has, my immersion has been shattered by half of its flight surface being straight up gone

[capableism]

Humans aren’t the smartest creatures on Earth

For centuries, humans have assumed they are the most intelligent creatures on Earth. Human inventions, from essential tools to modern-day social media, must be proof of that. No other species has taken advantage of the Earth as much as we humans have. But human inventions are not necessarily superior to other species' cultures. They are just more bombastic. 

"Conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were  far more intelligent than man — for precisely the same reasons." (Learn)  

Humans have transformed the Earth to fit our needs above other animals and  plants. The ecosystem of Earth needs to be balanced to keep all life healthy for species to live on.  

Ecocriticism is important in examining human impacts on the world. It also helps us recognize other animals' value. 

"Ecocriticism directs literary  criticism into a social and public role by paying attention to the natural  environment." (The Impact of Human Behavior on Dolphins' Life in the Dolphin  Tale Series 2011 & 2014, 124) 

Dolphins are proven to be intelligent animals with  language, communication, and culture. Yet, for decades, dolphins and other animals have been trained to perform in circuses and other shows for human entertainment. 

Photo by Mick Haupt from Unsplash

This is because ordinary people are focused on themselves when supporting these events. They likely don't think about being superior to other  animals. They are "indifferent" to consequences to the animals that entertain them (therefore benefiting them.) In the case of Winter, the dolphin people are thinking and projecting themselves onto her. As a result, they are more likely to empathize with Winter. This is positive as she brings awareness to negative human impacts. And that awareness sometimes brings human intervention that benefits animals.

"Not all humans have a sense of responsibility in managing nature. In fact, there  are so many humans who often act as if they are separated from nature and  assume as if they can live without nature." (Schultz, 2002: 62).  

The "indifference" of people toward the environment is the main problem.  Focusing on human behavior can positively and negatively affect the animal kingdom. The story of Winter the dolphin demonstrates the good and bad aspects of humans' impact on intelligent species.

Sources

Learn, J. R. (2021, March 26). Just How Intelligent Are Dolphins? Discover Magazine. https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/just-how-intelligent-are-dolphins

Maskurotal, A. K., Aminah, S. M., & Rizki, F. (2020). The Impact of Human Behavior on Dolphin’s Life in the Dolphin Tale Series (2011 & 2014). J-Lalite: Journal of English Studies, 1(2), 123-135. http://jos.unsoed.ac.id/index.php/jes

Schultz, P.W. (2002). “Inclusion with nature. In P. Schmuck and W.P. Schultz (eds.)” Psychology of Sustainable Development, 61-95. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

[okaybagel]

It’s better to cum in the ass then ass in the cum

[penofwildfire]

It's actually insane how much Ninjago can get away with tormenting dragons because they're not humanoid and people don't think about their pain as much. The OG 4 became Ultra and then got killed and eaten. Other dragons were also victims of the Hunters. Zanth was tortured and experimented on for years. Heatwave got kidnapped and has watched several of his tribe members die of a terminal disease, an illness that Egalt also has and is apparently very painful. Riyu watched his tribe mother die violently in front of him. Multiple other Arch Dragons were murdered off screen. If this shit was happening to humanoid characters there'd be hundreds of fics and fanart about it. We talk a lot about how characters don't really die permanently in Ninjago but this isn't a rule that's ever applied to the dragons and that makes me crazy.

[informationatlas]

Scientists believe that the remarkable intelligence of beluga whales is demonstrated by their ability to learn and communicate using the complex language of whistles and clicks. This has been observed in a specific case where a beluga whale, living in captivity alongside a pod of bottlenose dolphins, has successfully acquired and adopted their unique language.

(via Beluga whale learns to 'talk' to pod of bottlenose dolphins )

[sk-yay-sk]

I've gotta say I'm not a huge fan of putting Dragonese into the HTTYD movie franchise. The concept of a full-on dragon language they all share, that can just easily be translated into English, just really doesn't fit imo

I imagine they're a lot more like Orcas

There are universal ways to communicate with strangers of different species, like it's pretty easy to signal things like "i want to fight you" "i want you to leave" "it's dangerous here" "i'm in pain" etc. by just body language and vocalizations- but ways to communicate more complex ideas have to be developed and learned as unique dialects by different groups, especially flocks of dragons consisting of different species.

I imagine a terrible terror flock or a group of Speed Stingers have a lot of an easier time communicating with each other than a Thunderdrum and a whispering death do.

Dragons with their own dialects, cultures, and habits depending on location and group is really cool- I just don't think it should be a direct translation of how humans do these things, such as straight up language or mythologies or such.

[cathchicken]

Fancy Stilt

[rinzay]

*Stomps my foot* That's it! I'm makin my own Bracken lore!!

hehe lil 'guy,

ooo look! He's gonna have company!

as long as the company ain't letha-

ah

[disappointedcreeper]

CBD worldbuilding: Dragons

Dragons are a species of (very) large birds, and are the closest living relatives to dinosaurs. They like collecting shiny objects to decorate their homes with. Their wings double as front legs to stand on for stability. Physically the adults are about 7 feet tall standing upright, and about 5 feet when on all fours. Their feathers are a wide range of colors, but are always very vibrant. (also baby dragons are very fluffy like other baby birds)

Since dragons are not related to humanoids they do not have mana. Their magic instead is used mostly to help them fly, and makes their feathers fire retardant, but can be used defencively to cause nearby air to superheat, causing fire.

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[bonefall]

Something like this?

Yeah! Very close to that!

From the top view, the toes would still be pretty indistinguishable because the fur would still obscure where one ends and another begins, but that's about right.

At this point in their evolution, you'd be able to tell right away from the tool claw that they're not Felis Catus Domesticus anymore. I had a specbio project I worked on for a while where I called them something like Felis Narrans I think.

[dont-tell-my-mom-im-here]

When I was a kid I had the silly idea that the world became more and more accepting with the passage of time