#like the meteor with the dinosaurs?? right??

[radiaking]

I know it’s just a video game and a fictional world etc etc but it’s actually really silly that vault tec thought they could just wait shit out and return to the surface one day and be fine. Bc like. Realistically with that many bombs going off and all of those nuclear chemicals etc there’s a very real possibility the very atmosphere of the earth would change completely and a pre-war person would find the new atmosphere uninhabitable and perhaps entire new species would exist and maybe ppl wouldn’t even live off of oxygen or water like before. Which I guess is sort of what ghouls are, new humans that are not adversely affected by radiation the way a pre-war human would be. But like realistically, there’s a strong possibility that no regular pre-bomb human should be able to survive on the surface.

[dogin8]

Honestly. nothing gets to me more than the perpetual "we"-ing of the terrible effects of "humanity" on the planet

Like talk abt species going extinct due to climate change or poaching or similar "We're killing the planet" Who's We?

I didn't pick up a rifle, I didn't dump my fishing net, I don't own a single factory.

Humans are PART of the planet, part of nature, WE are not some sort of scourge or the one thing that is removed from everything else.

And it's like. All intentional too, like some PR exec for BP or similar has made these decisions. The blame for climate change has been divided 8 billion ways and split equally onto all of us when our contributions are Certainly not equal.

It's part of the capitalism machine, to make people believe capitalism and humanity are inextricably tied to one another. "Humanity is a disease" as a phrase highlights this pretty well, shifting the issue from sets of behaviours to just inherent properties of People.

Cause as long as we believe humanity's existence is just inherently problematic for the planet, we won't go dismantling any systems that the people in charge of polluting the entire planet happen to rely upon for their fortunes.

Humanity is fucking great. All of my probably top 50 favourite things in the world are people. We are part of this planet and I'm a big fan of both us and the planet we're on.

blegh idk, it's important to deconstruct how commonly people think capitalism is just part of the human experience because it's not, and there's a lot of propaganda to make you think it is, and a lot of corporations relying on the fact that you believe it

[oneriderratbug101]

OH MY GOD GOOD BARTLEBY UP IN RAVENWOOD THE PLANETS HAVE ALIGNED

KI COOKED SO HARD WITH THIS SUMMER MERCH DROP I WANT SO MUCH OF THIS, NOT DISSING THE ORIGINAL MERCH BUT THIS IS SO FANTASTIC

FINALLY OFFICIAL MERCH THAT CLICKS WITH ME !!!!! HYPE HYPE HYPE

RAHHHHHH I CAN ALREADY FEEL IT, KI JUST CAST "ATTRACT WALLET"

SERIOUSLY THOUGH GO CHECK OUT THE MERCH STORE AGAIN, THEY HAVE SO MUCH AAAAAAAA THIS IS GREAT NEWS FOR THE ME COMMUNITY

[mothusingtheinternet]

REBLOG REBLOG REBLOG REBLOG

[mandoriana]

Percival: Merlin, I'm bored. What do you do for fun?

Merlin: I spend time alone. No problems to solve, no talking, no interacting. When I close my door, my peace begins!

Percival: 😅

Elyan: But wouldn't being alone be boring?

Merlin: I won't be alone, I'll have my own company. I'm on a very restrictive diet that consists of avoiding certain human beings.

Elyan *laughing*: Which human beings?

Gwaine: It will break my little heart if my name is on the list.

Merlin: First Uther, then Morgana, Mordred, and sometimes Arthur, but that one is harder since I have to see him every day every five minutes.

Leon: Don't you think that's a bit exaggerated?

Merlin: Nonsense, even you, who are of the same "species" as the other knights, can't stand being with them all the time, and you should be a united group.

The knights look at Leon expectantly.

Leon *looks away*: 🫣

Knights: 🥺

Leon: Okay, I admit that sometimes I just want a minute of peace...

Merlin: See! That's what I'm talking about. The truth is that the Earth is too small for so many humans! God must think every day, "Oh, I miss the dinosaurs, why did I send that meteor!"

Lancelot: Dinosaurs?

Gwaine: Meteor?

Merlin: I say I'd rather be running from a T-Rex right now than dealing with certain people!

Leon: I think he's going crazy again.

Lancelot: I'll call Gaius.

Elyan: I'll call Arthur.

Merlin: God should send some exclusive, custom-made meteors to hit certain people's heads. To avoid mistakes, he could send the meteor with names like "This one is for Mordred, this meteor is for Uther..."

[delusionalbitchinthehouse]

The quints being fed up with the fire bunch's antics because they're very important to me.

"Have I ever told you fire ghouls are the bane of my existence ?" Omega hums conversationally, carefully wrapping Alpha's sprained wrist. Aether glances up from where he's wiping the blood off Ifrit's forehead, half smile pulling at his lips.

"No, but please, elaborate."

"Well, you see," Omega sighs, handing Phantom tweezers so they can take out the glass shards stuck in Dew's forearm, "they have this habit of roughousing anytime, anywhere, no matter what's around them-"

"Even in the kitchen," Phantom adds sagely, tutting disapprovingly at every low hiss from Dew each time another piece of what used to be a cookie jar is extracted from his flesh. Aether nods, tilting a bashful Ifrit's head this way and that, making sure he hasn't missed any cuts.

"Mmh, true. And sometimes, they kind of forget how strong they are," Aether sighs, with a weighted glance at Ifrit, holding his jaw firmly to stop him from flinching away from the sting of antiseptic, "leading them to throw a glass jar at their fellow ghoul hard enough for it to shatter on said fellow ghoul arm-"

"I thought Dew would catch it !" Ifrit whines, lower lips jutting out in a frankly adorable pout.

"How the fuck was I suppose to catch that, you threw a meteor at me dude, I finally got to feel what dinosaurs felt before going extinct-" Dew protests, yelping when his agitation earns him a slap on the wrist from Phantom.

Alpha snickers.

"If you had just shared the cookies with me like I politely asked, none of this would have happened."

Aether raises an eyebrow, sharing a glance with Omega above the rim of their respective glasses. "Politely", yeah right. They don't even need Dew's indignant splutter to know that's bullshit.

"Motherfucker you sprained your wrist trying to rip the jar from Ifrit's arm ! He wouldn't even had thrown it at me in the first place if you hadn't jumped him !"

Phantom huffs, rolling their eyes as they apply steri strips on Dew's cuts, before handing them to Aether so he can do the same with Ifrit's forehead.

"And how did you end up with those, then ?" Aether inquires, pushing Ifrit's hair out of the way, the light touch to his scalp instantly making the fire ghoul's tail wag despite the pink crawling up his cheek.

Alpha snorts.

"He whacked his head against the table's corner trying to pick up the broken glass, then slipped and fell face first in said broken glass."

"You're fucking lucky it's only a few shallow cuts," Aether grumbles, inspecting his work as Ifrit rests his chin on his sternum, arms coming to wrap around his middle with an apologetic chirp. Alpha's still snickering despite Dew's attempts to kick him.

"I wouldn't act so smug, Al," Omega points out, "it's your right wrist, it's going to be a pain in the ass to navigate for a few days."

Dew sneers at the oldest fire ghoul from where he managed to wrap his legs around Phantom's waist while they were working on his arm.

"Good luck jerking off, asshole."

Alpha only shrugs, taking a hold of Omega's belt buckle to drag him closer.

"I know it's a foreign thought for you, but you don't necessarily need your own hand to get off, right, Megs ? You'd know it if you got any bitches, Dewy."

It's Ifrit's turn to snort.

"At least we don't have a stick so far up our asses we'd rather get our guts rearranged than have a conversation about feelings-"

"I'll rearrange your guts, kit, not in the fun way I'm warning you-"

"All bark no bite," Dew sing-songs.

"Enough !" Omega snaps, looking as exhausted as Aether feels, pinching the bridge of his nose. Phantom, face in their hand, is probably regretting ever deciding to join the other quints at the infirmary.

"If you three disasters of hellborn beings don't pull yourself together, I swear I will have you picking up extra chores, I'm not kidding," Omega warns, glaring a the three ghouls mopping on their respective seats, "now get out of here and be mindful of your injuries. I better not hear of a single commotion you were part of, understood ?"

Grumbling agreements, the three fire ghouls get up, dragging their feet. Ifrit takes the time to nuzzle Aether's shoulder, mumbling soft thanks and pressing a kiss right under his jaw, Dew tussles Phantom's hair affectionately, and even Alpha grumpily presses his forehead to Omega's before leaving.

They barely crossed the infirmary's threshold, though, that the three quints can clearly hear Alpha laughing.

"Ifrit looks like he fought with a box of band aids and lost."

"I'll kick your ass."

"Bite him while you're at it."

"Come at me baby fires, i'll wipe the floor with you two-"

The sighs Phantom let out comes straight from their soul. Omega, deadpaning, takes his glasses off, mimicked by Aether, who's now daydreaming of his bed.

"Bane of my fucking existence."

[evilminji]

:O !!! Wait a second... GHOST DINOSAURS!!!

They died. There are ghost animals. You CAN NOT tell me getting fuckin nuked from space by a GIANT rock that blasted you and everything you've ever known into near instantaneous oblivion, wouldn't leave some Unfinished Business and a shit ton of Ectoplasm.

BILLIONS of things died all at once.

Did most move on? Probably. We're any of them sentient? We have no idea! Maybe! Unlikely, but maybe! Still a MASSIVE, countries wide, molten earth lined, crater of instant death. World shaking and history making. Death in the blink of an eye.

If you're lucky.

But! I hear the arguments now. That was one event. The X or Y dinosaur lived before that! What I'm interested in came AFTER! Good points! But not RELAVENT!!! Because you know what ELSE that giant fuck-off meteor is good for? Aside for Death(tm)?

Television.

Makes for some damn good documentaries. Exciting graphics and neato visual effects. Ooooh~ look at our dramatic recreation! The cute baby animals, unsuspecting of their Doomed Fate~! Tense music! And now, a world from our advertisers!

You know who LIKES Space Documentaries? Danny. He's all ABOUT that Science Channel. Granted, they've been pulling more and more of these mid-tear "aliens built the pyramids" and "look at these swords!" Shows... but! Still! He grew up on this channel! He doesn't WANT to give up on it!

And, yeah, this is... kinda hammy... but it's still watchable!

He's enjoying the live tweeting from paleontologists who are ROASTING the thing to a lovely golden brown. Has choked on his noodles like three times already. It's great! But now? They are arguing over what the dinosaurs actually looked like again... and??

And, look, maybe it's the good mood and boredom. Maybe it's having the house to himself. Maybe it's his parents finally encouraging him to use his "ghostiness" for SCIENCE(tm)(!) the other day. Could even be his bad idea impulse acting up again, buuuuut.....

Teeeeechnically?

Nothing? Is STOPPING him? From finding out? He DOES have Zone compatible cameras. And can probably back trace where they should-ish be? He can find out. The colors might be off, but it's a starting point? Right? And heck, he's pretty sure inverse coloration in standard unless someone's shape-shifting, so he'd just have to inverse it AGAIN to get an approximately correct coloration for them!

....eh, as long as he leaves a "not exact, this was the best I could get" note, it should be fine.

Road Trip time! Better call Dani and see if she wants to ride a few giant mammals and some lizards!

(Needless to say? Some researchers get VERY exciting emails. And only accept they are POSSIBLE, because this is a DC crossover. So there is aliens and magic regularly popping up in their field of expertise, so WHY NOT? Just the other day, a whole ass TOWN that has been wiped out... got UN-wiped out! 23 years later! It's made headlines. Weird shit happens.

So gib. Release to them the Dinosaurs, mystery email man. Fork them over before they begin biting. You think this corduroy jacket means they won't hunt you down? HA! You know NOTHING of academics! WHERE ARE THE EXTINCT ANIMALS? Where are you hiding them!?!?)

@the-witchhunter @hypewinter @nerdpoe @ailithnight @hdgnj @mutable-manifestation

[auntiekno-elle]

Lazy Ramblings

Damon Salvatore x gender neutral!reader

Warnings: None.

(First Time Writing For Tumblr !!)

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

"Do you think dinosaurs are really extinct?"

The question came out of nowhere, but that was how it was with you. Whenever you were bored, your mind would make up its own entertainment. It just so happens that this time you were laying on Damon's chest.

The vampire gave you an incredulous look before a scoff left his lips. "I'm not that old, sweetheart." His tone wasn't offended, but more so amused. His fingers were gently trailing up and down your arm as his mind wandered against his will. How did he end up like this? In a domestic situation where he really couldn't be bothered to move and disturb the one person that genuinely loved being around him. It was stupid, but if they want to continue being like this he wouldn't object.

"No, No—" You corrected hastily, even though in actuality a sarcastic retort laid on your tongue impatiently. "I mean like— are we seriously supposed to believe that one meteor took out all the dinosaurs?" The explanation was more like the start to a long yet detailed rant. You twisted your body in a lazy manner to face him directly as you continued your speech, "We're taught that dinosaurs were all over earth, yet somehow one meteor that hit one singular spot took them all out? Think about it, wouldn't something of that magnitude have more lasting damage?"

Damon made sure that he let you finish your ramble before adding in his own two cents. "Darling, that sounds like a conspiracy." He said in a placating voice that was more mocking than anything. You knew he was joking, but couldn't help the sulking frown that formed on your lips. Just as you were about to turn away you felt his hands firmly grab your shoulders as to prevent you from moving any further. "But if it's really that important to you, I'll compel the truth out of a scientist and tell you, okay?" He mumbled in faux exasperation before bumping your nose with his. In truth, Damon could care less about whatever happened to the dinosaurs. They're fossils now, that's about all he needed to know. But seeing the way the frown that was previously on your face morphed into an excited smile at the prospect that one of your insane theories would be either denied or confirmed, made it worth the trouble.

"Now be a good human heater, and be quiet." The undead man grumbled as he ushered you back into his chest and rested his chin atop your head. You kicked his foot in playful retaliation before relaxing in his arms once more. There was a time where you would've sworn to heaven and earth that you'd never be within a six foot radius of this man. Right now though? You wouldn't rather be anywhere else.

°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

[rapz-rites]

Demon Daughter

Damian Wayne x Reader, Damian Wayne x Daughter!OC, Reader x Daughter!OC

Time travel is tricky. So of course your daughter is accidentally going to come home early, 20 years too early to be exact.

Inspired by @cipheress-to-k-pop

A/N: this was kinda requested after Demon Spawns which some of you really enjoyed so I hope you all enjoy this one too. I did merge several dc worlds together so sorry if it’s a little confusing

Word Count: 1.3k+

Warning(s): idk 🤷🏾‍♀️ (I’m honestly too lazy atm)

Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

“I’m never time traveling with Willow every again!” Milena whispers harshly to herself as she sneaks back into the manor. She sighs as her feet hit her bedroom floor only to realize she forgot something in the Cave from earlier in the day.

After being chased by dinosaurs and almost dying from a meteor shower, Milena decided to be lazy and just boom tube to the Cave. It was only a 5 minute walk but hey, it’s okay to be lazy every now and then. What she didn’t expect to see was strangers in costumes ready to attack her.

“Who the hell are you?” A voice asks as she readies her weapons in response to seeing them. She turns to face the voice.

“I should be the one asking you,” she says as she faces one of her weapons toward them. “Who are you people and the hell did you get in here?”

They could see Milena was a bit shaken up and confused. But it didn’t explain what she was doing in the Cave. After a few moments of silence, Dick was the first to speak.

“How about we all put our weapons down and talk like adults,” he said hands up in surrender. His hands have been up since the moment Milena pointed a weapon at him. Normally, he wouldn’t be fazed but when the weapon looks like one of Cyborg’s, he wasn’t going to take the chance. Especially considering that Cyborg’s canons can easily blast through thick walls of concrete.

“Listen kid-”Jason started thinking he might try and break the tension, only for you to cut him off. “I’m not a kid. I’m 19.”

“Why are you dressed like old heros?” Milena asked. “Those costumes aren’t even sold anymore.”

“What do you mean old?” Dick asked, clearly confused.

“Old as in 2010s-2020s old get with the times,” you say, as if you just stated the obvious. Now they were all confused.

“It’s 2023,” Tim said.

“What?” you questioned in a confused voice. How could it be 2023? How could you be 20 years in the past?

After retracting your weapons you let out a sign. Under your breath you whisper, “I’m going to kill Willow.”

“Willow?” Dick asked.

With slumped shoulders, you turned to look at him.

“Willow West. Wally West and Athemis’ daughter,'' you stated nonchalantly. At this point, you were done with everything. Heading back into the manor you say, “I'll try to reach Willow and get back to my time.I'm going to bed.”

“Hey hey hey! We can't just let you in the manor. You know our identities and we have no idea who you are” Jason retorted. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at him. Was he being serious right now? How does he think you got in the Cave?

‘Dimwit’ Milena thought to herself. But just as she was going to say something three people entered the Cave. It was Bruce, Damian, and you. Milena couldn’t help but stare in awe.

“Who is this?” Bruce asked in a husky voice.

She paid him no mind, eyes trained on you and Damian. You stood 7 inches below Damian’s 6’1 frame, head tilted up to look at him as you spoke to each other. No one could mistake the look of love in Damian’s eyes as he looked at you while you spoke. He listened intently as you talked about God knows what. But what really struck her was your swollen belly. You were possibly 4 or 5 months pregnant: at the stage were it was kinda obvious you were pregnant but your belly wasn’t huge.

In your peripheral, you saw a girl looking at you and Damian. You gave a small smile as you walked towards her to greet her. Every step you took, you realized she looked more and more familiar. However, just as you were about to reach her, Dick stopped you.

“We don't know who she is or how she got in here. She could be dangerous and she could hurt you,” Dick spoke. But the entire time he was speaking you just looked at the girl. Taking in her features you realized who she was. Your daughter.

“Dangerous? Most likely, but i know my daughter wouldn’t hurt me”, you said smiling at her, your hands on her cheek. Milena couldn’t help but smile at you too. She let out a soft, “Hi mom.”

You didn’t even realize the tears streaming off your face until Milena wiped them away. You turned to look at Damian, teary eyed with a huge smile, “She looks exactly like I dreamed.”

Looking back and forth from Milena and Damian you started to list any and all similarities between them. “She has your eyes. The shape is sharp and green like yours, but is kind of softer like mine.Oh her nose. And-”

“Beloved, she’s tired, let's give her a break,” Damian said. If Damian hadn’t stopped you then you would’ve done a full head to toe assessment to find any similarities you could. The others didn’t know how to react. Tim honestly couldn’t care less. He just wanted to finish his work to go to sleep.

With the help of Alfred, Damian ushered everyone back into the manor for bed.

“Well this is my room.. Well it’s supposed to be. It’s probably a nursery now isn’t it?” You mutter shyly, stopping in front of your room. You and Damian stood in front of the room across from her. With a sorry look you gave her a small nod.

“You can stay with us,” you offered without even thinking about it.

“Absolutely not,” Milena and Damian said at the same time. Milena grew up with you. So she knows how you get sometimes, especially when you were pregnant with her siblings. She’d rather let her father deal with a pregnant and hormonal you. “Thanks but I’m pretty sure there’s an empty room somewhere.”

~

The next morning you and Damian were in the kitchen having breakfast with the family. That’s when Milena came rushing in from up stairs. You watched her as she hurriedly greeted everyone while fixing herself a plate. Once she sat she began inhaling her food. You don’t even think she chewed any of her food. “Mina, honey, maybe you want to slow down a bit and actually chew your food.”

“Sorry Mom-” Milena started. She whipped around the kitchen like it was second nature. Like she did this all the time. She placed her dirty dishes in the sink and thanked Alfred for the breakfast. “My ride is going to be here soon.”

Suddenly what even one thought was a boom tube appeared at the entryway of the kitchen. Everyone looked back at it to find a teen girl, not too much younger than Milena walking out of it.

“Sorry to drop in unannounced,” she said with a small smile. You could tell by her fighting to stay still that she was a speedster, most likely Wally’s daughter at that. “Milena time to go.”

Milena came around and gave Damian quick hug and a ‘see you son’ before stopping in front of you. You couldn’t stop the tears in your eyes as she hugged you goodbye.

Walking up to the boom tube, she turned to look at you. “Don’t worry. You’re an amazing mom. I couldn’t ask for a better one,” she says, disappearing.

Hugging your side, Damian rubbing his hand up and down your arm. Tears were flowing down your cheeks as you muttered to yourself . “Damn hormones. I’ll see you in a couple months, Milena.”

~

FUTURE

Walking out of the boom tube, Milena was face to face with her father. She couldn’t help but crumble into his arms. Keeping them both steady, Damian brings them to the floor.

“I saw her. I saw her Dad.” Milena cries into her father’s chest. Damian just rubbed her back, trying to console his crying daughter. “But she’s gone and I miss her so much.”

“I miss her too,” he said in a low whisper. “Every single day.”

Plot twist 🫢

Did y’all enjoy it tho??? 🤔

Taglist:

@devotedlyshadowytheorist

[pushovermediacritic]

The Land Before Time Liveblog 7

The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire

Last Time:

>Cowboy rides into town. >Inspires hero-worship among the children. >The town is ravaged by bad luck. >Refuses to elaborate. >Rides off into the sunset.

This Time: This one is a fan-favorite, and I remember really liking this one and rewatching it a lot as a kid (though my memories aren't nearly as clear as with 1 and 5). Let's see if it stands up to the hype.

The Universal Logo is still not Pangaea.

The last time we heard from the narrator was in movie 5, and Grandpa took over as narrator in 6. So what's going on with 7, do we have a narrator or not?

Petrie: "Long, long time ago, when little blinky lights in big darkness even more shiny. When great night circle real smooth, not pockety like now. When whole world very different, back then, there no Threehorn, no Longneck, not even Sharptooth! No, only one type animal who fill sky with mighty screech and big flappy sound! This most smart, most brave, most handsome creature to ever rule world! The Flyers!"

Cera: "What?! Hold it right there!"

Okay, that's kinda funny. But I can't help but think that it kinda steps on the toes of last movie. That one also started with an in-universe origin myth being delivered as narration by one of the characters.

Also, you may notice a little something going on with the artstyle. Yup, this is the dreaded transition point where the franchise stops being animated with cel animation and starts being animated digitally. I knew this day would come eventually (frankly, I expected it earlier).

Anyway, Cera refutes Petrie's story, and Petrie insists that it's true because his uncle Pterano told him when he was a nestling (so, this was before the main events of Land Before Time 1). This argument is happening while the rest of The Gang eat leaves. Petrie's never mentioned this uncle before now because he "left" shortly after that. Cera's heard otherwise, her dad told her that Pterano was kicked out, though she doesn't remember why.

Petrie's mad about her bad-talking his uncle, but then they hear a rumbling and go see.

A huge herd of mixed dinosaurs (Far-Walkers) is migrating to the Great Valley. Grandpa already told Littlefoot about it, this is the Wandering Time. Far-Walkers are basically Snowbirds, coming from cold lands for food. They're just gonna take a break in the Great Valley before moving on.

Cera (eating a leaf): "Yeah, with a belly full of our tree stars!"

Petrie (muttering): "Only if you not eat them all first..."

Cera: "What did you say?!"

Petrie: "Uh, I say 'oh gee, that sure be the worst!'"

Cera doesn't quite buy it and growls. In lieu of her father, Cera is the next best character to espouse anti-immigrant sentiment. And Petrie still carries a grudge. The adults call the kids back for bed, since it's getting late.

That night, Littlefoot is woken when he rolls over on a pinecone (did pinecones exist back then?), and then he sees a huge meteor fly through the sky right above the Great Valley! The meteor crashes near a distant mountain that looks like a Threehorn.

Littlefoot wakes up his grandparents, but they were asleep. The next day, apparently word has gotten around and rumors of what Littlefoot saw are making the migrating herds nervous, so a bunch of the adults have surrounded Littlefoot to hear him out.

Littlefoot's grandma: "Littlefoot, why don't you tell everyone exactly what you saw."

Littlefoot: "Well I- I saw a flying rock!"

Cera's dad: "There, you see? Nothing unusual about a flying rock, we've all seen them!"

I'm glad they acknowledged that, good continuity. We did see a meteor shower at the start of 3.

Littlefoot insists this one is different because it flew low, glowed bright blue (uh, no, it was definitely yellow, not blue), and it crackled like fire. This works up the others. Littlefoot's grandpa, trying to keep the peace, asks Littlefoot if it's possible it was a normal flying rock and he only thought it was different because he was still sleepy, or if it was all just a dream.

This line of questioning prompts two new voices to chime in.

???: "It's always like this, isn't it?"

??? 2: "Yes, if they don't see it with their own eyes, it doesn't exist. What limited thinking."

These two are Gallimimuses with colorful beaks, one is male and one is female. They raise the possibility that Littlefoot did see something extraordinary, and when Cera's dad interjects, they grill him on whether he's seen everything in this world, and if so, why call the Mysterious Beyond, "Mysterious"? They then jump into singing the first song of this movie, Beyond The Mysterious Beyond.

This is another earworm I sang over and over as a kid. Approaching this with fresh eyes and ears as an adult... I still think it's really good. I was worried it'd be too repetitive and annoying, but the interlude with Cera, her dad, and Littlefoot really helps to keep it interesting and the former two inject some skepticism and humor in it.

And of course Cera's dad has to throw in a microaggression with that "you're all strange" line. I expect nothing less.

This song was a big part of what prompted an interest in space and science in me as a kid, and I can't fault it for that. It encourages keeping an open mind and being interested in the world around you, and that's a good message that has stuck with me to adulthood. The song does a good job of making you feel that message, it feels mysterious and inspires you to want to learn.

The imagination sequence in space is fun, and I like between it and the ending they squeeze in more than just astronomy, they also fit in atomic physics and volcanoology. However, I think one more verse going into more forms of science between Cera's dad's bit and Littlefoot's bit would have improved it, especially if it focused on more branches of science and more mysteries. The lyrics and rhyme scheme is also pretty solid, and I really like the harmonizing and the dramatic zoom-out at the end.

After the song, Littlefoot's grandpa still doesn't get it. We get a name for these two, the "Rainbow Faces". Rainbow Face 1 proposes that this was no ordinary flying rock, but a Stone of Cold Fire, which is said to give off light without heat and either grant miracles like healing or it's a message from Beyond the Mysterious Beyond.

While the Rainbow Faces are talking, they're being spied on by a suspicious Flyer.

Their talk about the Stone of Cold Fire gets the others talking nervously, and Cera's dad puts his foot down. He confirms with them that they're not from around here, and decides to lay down how things work around here.

Cera's dad: "First, a flying rock is a flying rock. Second, fire can't be cold! And third, there is nothing beyond the Mysterious Beyond!"

Male Rainbow Face: "You're suuure?"

Cera's dad: "YES! And I'm also sure I don't want any [???] Rainbow Faces filling our young ones' heads with rubbish!"

Okay, I have no idea what Cera's dad said before "Rainbow Faces". It sounds like he said "rabbing" (which obviously isn't a word), but various scripts online transcribe it as "ranting", "ratty", and "raving". My best guess is "rowdy".

Either way, Cera's dad keeps the racism theme afloat! He really is the MVP of Racism, the load-beating pillar supporting the anti-racism theme. Here, it seems to be viewed through the lens of closed-mindedness.

Littlefoot suggests they go see for themselves, since he knows where it is, but it landed far away in the Mysterious Beyond, and Cera's dad says no and stomps away. Littlefoot's grandpa gently tells Littlefoot to shut up about the flying rock, at least until the Far-Walkers leave. Littlefoot concedes and this satisfies the other adults, and they leave. Grandpa leaves it open for Littlefoot to talk to him about it, and the scene ends.

Later, The Gang is playing, but Littlefoot is down. Spike believes him about the Stone of Cold Fire, but Ducky is confused about the idea of "cold fire", Petrie thinks the story is too spooky to think about, and Cera didn't see it, so she doesn't believe it. That makes Littlefoot realize that if they show everyone the Stone, they'd have to believe it!

Petrie: "Bu- eh bu- but, you hear grown-ups! Smokey Mountain too dangerous!"

???: "NONSENSE!"

With that, an adult Flyer (the one we saw spying earlier) lands on Petrie's branch, shaking him off. Petrie is scared as this Flyer picks him up with one hand and addresses him with familiarity.

???: "Did I startle you, Petrie?"

Petrie: "Yes! No! H- how you know my name?"

???: "Petrie, I'm heartbroken! Don't you recognize your dear old uncle?"

Petrie: "Pterano!"

Petrie hugs his uncle's beak. Pterano here is played by Micheal York, and I can already tell he will be a delight!

Pterano's here because he's part of the migrating herd. He recognizes Cera by her resemblance to her father, and then Petrie introduces the rest of The Gang. He embraces Littlefoot while declaring that he believes Littlefoot about the Stone of Cold Fire and he knows the other grown-ups are stubborn, he actually left the herd because they "had no vision". Pterano is fully on-board with Littlefoot's earlier suggestion of finding the Stone.

Littlefoot immediately gets uncomfortable and says that was just an idea, not a serious plan, and they should be going home. Cera agrees, their parents might be getting worried, and then two more Flyers join Pterano.

???: "Well, we don't want nobody getting worried, now do we?"

??? 2: Oh, noo, noo. They might think something awful has happened to you. Nyehehehehahahaha-"

Pterano gets annoyed and backhands both of them over.

Ducky: "Who are they?"

Pterano: "Rinkus and Sierra, never mind them. They're just tired from our long journey, and not. thinking. clearly!"

Obviously, Pterano is a Pteranodon, same as Petrie. Rinkus is the pink one, a Rhamphorhynchus. Sierra is the brown one, a Cearadactylus. From the same minds that brought you Hyp, Mutt, and Nod!

Petrie wants to hang out with Uncle Pterano more, but Cera insists they go. As The Gang leaves, Pterano cheerfully reminds them that he'll help out if they want to go after the Stone. Pterano then turns toward his goons with a decidedly more unfriendly disposition. This scene is so good, I'm just gonna transcribe the whole thing:

Rinkus: "Oh, you bent my beak."

Pterano: "Then next time, keep it shut."

Sierra: "Why should we? Them brats wadn't falling for your little act. I say we go find that Cold Fire thingy on our own."

Pterano: "I repeat, Mr. Sierra, we don't know where the stone landed!"

Rinkus: "Then why not simply make the Longneck tell us where it is, heh?"

Rinkus slices a finger across his throat.

Rinkus (whispering): "Or else." *Pterano slaps Rinkus* "Ow!"

Pterano: "Mr. Rinkus, if you threaten the young ones, it will put the elders on alert. They will watch our every move, and our cause will be lost! Now, is that what you want?!"

Rinkus: "N-n-n-n-n-no, o-of course not!"

Pterano: "Therefore, we must be calm and patient. Young Littlefoot will talk. And when he does, the Stone of Cold Fire... will be mine!"

Yeah, if it wasn't apparent before, Pterano is the main villain of this movie. These three are already great. Granted, as far as being villains with real personality and dialogue, their only competition is Ozzy and Strut or Ichy and Dil. But they're already better than Ozzy and Strut. Rinkus gives me mild Strut vibes, but Rinkus had more menace in that neck-slice gesture than Strut had in his entire screentime. This scene already does a good job of characterizing the three: Pterano is a schemer and manipulator, Sierra is a straightforward brute, and Rinkus is cowardly but sadistic. And I love how all three of them use body language to portray their wings like dramatic capes, noble robes, or sinister cloaks.

Littlefoot runs home and slips into the water. His grandparents ask him what's all the rush, and he tells them that it's not a big deal. They were just hanging out when they got a visitor, Petrie's uncle Pterano.

This IMMEDIATELY sets off alarm bells in both of them! Littlefoot confesses that he feels guilty for not liking him since he's Petrie's uncle, and Grandpa praises Littlefoot's instincts. Grandpa starts ranting about Pterano, and Littlefoot is confused, so Grandpa just puts it that if Pterano had his way, they would never have made it to the Great Valley!

They refuse to tell Littlefoot what exactly went down, though, saying he's too young and they'll explain it when he's older. They finish by making Littlefoot promise not to trust Pterano.

They're doing a really good job of hyping up whatever Pterano did. I hope it lives up to the hype.

Back with Petrie, Pterano is telling him and his siblings a story of a time he was chased by a Sharptooth. Petrie's mom interrupts to tells him that it's time for the kid's nap. Pterano tells the kids to listen to their mother and "let's all behave", and she shoots back with a "yes, let's" while giving Pterano a glare. He just got here and he's already on thin ice with his... either sister or sister-in-law, it's unclear.

Petrie is about to leave when Pterano grabs his foot and pulls him down to talk some more.

Petrie: "Gee, you sure lead exciting life!"

Pterano: "High praise indeed, coming from you! I understand that you are quite the adventurer yourself!

Petrie: "Ooh, you right about that! Me very brave!"

Petrie's mom: "Petrie, where are you?!"

Pterano: "Well, then, as one adventurer to another, perhaps you could do me one tiny, harmless, favor..."

The scene ends with Pterano covering Petrie with his wing, doubling as a screen wipe. Good cinematography. Also, I like the acknowledgement of the events of prior movies, Petrie really is an adventurer.

Later, Petrie joins The Gang late as Littlefoot and Spike are playing bowling with rocks and pinecones, Littlefoot is up by one. Spike lines up his shot and sends it, hitting two pins and winning the game! Petrie uses the rock bowling to segue into talking about another rock, the Stone of Cold Fire, and he's just curious where it landed. Littlefoot responds that it landed behind Threehorn Peak. Ducky questions why he's interested, and Petrie nervously giggles and poorly lies that it's just pure curiosity. Cera sees right through it and accuses him of spying for Pterano. Petrie backs up nervously while making excuses, then trips and rolls backward into the rest of the pinecones.

Littlefoot: "I'm sorry Petrie, but my grandparents told me to be careful around your uncle. Sometimes he uses his words to fool you."

Petrie: "No, you wrong! He not do that!"

Cera: "I think Pterano is trouble, and so are those other Flyers he was with! My dad says that you can tell a lot about somebody by the quality of his friends!"

Petrie: "OH YEAH?! Well- well then... me in trouble! 'Cause my friends acting like stinkbugs!"

Petrie flies away crying. Ducky calls out to him, but to no avail. Cera dismisses him, but Littlefoot is worried. Petrie lands on a branch and sniffles.

Petrie: "They so mean..."

Pterano: *emerges from the shadows of the leaves with a scare chord* "There, there Petrie. Come to deal old Uncle Pterano. Tell me everything..."

This character drama is delicious. I love all the focus on Petrie and Pterano being a very different type of villain than we've seen before, a manipulative bastard. And, while not nearly this extreme, I can empathize with the struggle of having a family member you have kind and happy memories with, and rejecting claims from other people that he's a bad person, despite mounting evidence.

That night, Ducky can't sleep, she's too worried about Petrie. She tells Spike that she's going to find Petrie and make things all better, and Spike goes back to sleep. She overhears Pterano talking to his goons. Sierra wants to just go already, but Pterano insists they need to be patient. Now that the Great Valley adults know he's here, they might think they're up to no good if they leave in a hurry.

Rinkus: "But, we are up to no good."

Pterano: "Nooooo! I work for the greater good! My purpose is noble! They have never understood. But soon, I will prove I am right! Until then, we must be careful, we will leave with the rest of the Far-Walkers once the Great Night Circle starts to shrink."

Sierra stomps off in a huff.

Rinkus: "Heeheehee, and then we will find the Stone of Cold Fire, yes?"

Pterano: "Yesss. And I shall take my rightful place as leader of the herd, and I will rule over the most beautiful, fertile land in the world: the Great Valley!"

Ducky is shocked and she backs away to tell everyone, but Sierra catches her.

Sierra: "We got us a little spy."

Pterano: "Well, umm, huh. That... forces me to make a small change in our flight plan."

They take off, and Ducky screaming wakes up everyone. Littlefoot realizes what's going on, but the adults have no idea and start panicking randomly about possible Sharpteeth! Petrie sees Ducky being carried off and Littlefoot tells him that's Pterano.

Petrie STILL defends his uncle, until his mother confirms it. Petrie sheds a tear and flies after Pterano!

Petrie: "Stop! Uncle, you make mean Flyer, let Ducky go!"

Pterano: "Petrie, listen to me. Tell the others not to follow, and no harm will come to the Swimmer!"

Petrie: "Ah, I no understand why you do this?!"

Rinkus: "None of your business, you little gnat! Now buzz off!"

Rinkus slaps Petrie out of the air and he falls!

Ducky: "PETRIE!"

Pterano: *slaps Rinkus* "If there's one thing I will not tolerate, it's violence!"

Rinkus: "Then why are you hitting me?"

Pterano: "Right, make that two things: violence and stupid questions!" *Pterano slaps Rinkus again*

This movie has a cool effect where Pterano, Rinkus, and Sierra's wings are transparent while they're flying. Also cool color work at night, but that's generally a good point of this franchise.

Meanwhile, Petrie is plummeting down while screaming. He hits a pond and Littlefoot swims in after him. Littlefoot dives down and surfaces with Petrie on his head, gasping for air, then both look off as Ducky screams again for help.

This is an interesting take on the "character overhears plot and gets kidnapped for it" trope, because Ducky kinda... wins? She still gets kidnapped, but her plan was to alert everyone else of Pterano's nefarious scheme. Just by being discovered, she foils his scheme to stay here and lay low, and then her screaming alerts everyone else to Pterano's nefariousness.

The next day, all the adults have gathered and they're on the same page that the ruckus of last night was Pterano kidnapping Ducky. Ducky's mom demands Ducky back from Petrie's mom. Petrie's mom reassures her that her brother (ah, so that's their relation) is bad, but he wouldn't hurt her. Cera's dad starts ranting, and demands Cera tell him why they didn't tell him. She was afraid he's be angry, and he confirms by yelling (louder than I've ever heard him before) that he's FURIOUS!

Littlefoot's grandpa tells him not to blame the children, since they didn't know what Pterano did. Littlefoot demands they let him know what happened, and Grandma agrees with him. Petrie's mom also reluctantly agrees.

Littlefoot's grandpa: "Well, this all began not long after you little ones were separated from us in the Great Earthshake."

Okay, so this does happen during the events of the first movie. Also, this is BY FAR the most any of the movies have acknowledged the events of that movie. We even get a flashback!

Littlefoot's grandpa: "We, too, set out to find the Great Valley. Then, as now, we made our decisions as a group. No one opinion outweighing the others. But Pterano didn't like being part of the herd. He wanted to be in charge of it. For some reason, he felt that he always knew more than the rest of us."

Petrie: "Maybe he know more because he fly up high, see stuff others could not see?"

Littlefoot's grandpa: "Mmm. As I was saying, for some reason, some of the herd believed Pterano. Soon, he led them away from the rest of us. They were sure he has all the answers. They were sure he would never lead them astray. They were wrong."

We see that Pterano led the others to an idyllic little paradise. A lush green meadow with a waterfall inside of a crevasse in a rock. But then a rockslide sealed the entrance and a ton of raptor-type Sharpteeth came in. It was a trap!

Pterano led the group into a massacre. He watched in horror as the Sharpteeth attacked everyone else! The parasaurolophus on the left panicked and fell off the ledge of a high cliff. Pterano abandoned them to fly away and escape. He returned back to the main herd at night, covering his face.

Littlefoot's grandpa: "He never told us why it happened. Only that it wasn't his fault. And we never saw any of the others again."

Well, the flashback is definitely in-line with the tone of the first movie, between all the violence and death. I'm not sure how I feel about the retcon that the grown-ups traveled and worked together when that was something the kids had to learn by being away from them, but I guess it's possible they learned how to work together before this happened. And we do see them working together by the time of the second movie.

Petrie points out a flaw in the story.

Petrie: "But he right! It not his fault others not know how to fly away!"

Littlefoot's grandpa: "Nevertheless, it was his fault that they got into such danger!"

Littlefoot's grandma: "A real leader must be willing to take the credit when things are good, and the blame when they go bad."

Cera's dad: "But not Pterano, oh no! He just kept changing his story, and lying, and scheming, and-"

Ducky's mom: "Quiet! QUIET!! We all know what happened before, right now, someone has got to go rescue my little Ducky!"

It sounds like there's more to the story. It's not just that Pterano led them into a massacre and abandoned them for dead, but also that he COMPLETELY refused to ever take responsibility for it. Or even give them a straight answer, no matter how much they grilled him on the matter. That's why they kicked him out. And we know from his rants nowadays that he STILL wants to lead and STILL refuses to accept that he was wrong, ever, about anything!

Petrie's mom asks Littlefoot where the flying rock went. When Cera's dad objects, she clarifies that she doesn't believe in it, but she knows her brother would. Littlefoot is happy to tell them, and then we get a match cut to him disappointed that the grown-ups are still arguing and debating instead of just going already. Petrie's blaming himself, and Cera agrees. Spike is doodling something in the sand while crying. Littlefoot wants to just go already and rescue her themselves, regardless of if it's off-limits. Cera and Petrie protest, but Littlefoot remembers when Grandpa told him to trust his instincts.

Suddenly, Spike stops crying, gives a battle cry, and charges off. The others look to see what he was doodling, and it's a picture of Ducky.

The others follow him! In the background, the Rainbow Faces watch.

Male RF: "I told you that the young ones have potential. Especially the little Longneck. Think we should help them out?"

Female RF: "You know that isn't allowed."

Male RF: "Ooh, yes, I- I know."

Interesting.

With Pterano, his goons have trouble landing in an area of rocky cliffs due to the wind, and they crash into each other. Ducky snarks about their landing and Sierra snaps about Ducky's annoyingly incessant whining. Rinkus walks over and suggests they just ditch her here. Ducky warns him, not of ditching her, but of standing on an actively crumbling ledge. He falls and Pterano and Sierra fly down to check on him. While they're gone, Ducky makes a run for it. They fly after her and Sierra takes a few swipes at her, but Ducky falls through the ground into a cave.

Pterano (friendly): "Ducky, can you hear me? Come out now, child, I promise we won't hurt you."

Echo: "Hurt you, hurt you, hurt you, hurt...

Sierra: "Huh, yeah. Must've been quite a drop."

Rinkus: "I can't see a thing, it's way too dark in there."

Pterano (mournful): "Poor thing, so young, so full of life..."

Sierra: "So whaaat?"

Pterano: "I was responsible for that little Swimmer, and now I've lost her!"

Sierra: "Well, Pterano, you should be used to this kind of thing by now..."

So, Pterano's goons know about his backstory. Pterano looks sadly into the hole before they fly off. Inside the cave, Ducky managed to survive by grabbing a stalactite.

Her weight makes it break and fall, but luckily she lands in the water and recovers. She calls out, and is relieved the cave seems empty. As she walks off, though, we see two menacing shadows cross onto the wall (they look like either a pair of raptors or the Rainbow Faces).

The Gang reach the same area of rocky cliffs, but because they're not Flyers, they'll have to find some other way across.

Such as over those vines. Cera has some objections, though.

Cera: "Ohh, no, not this Threehorn!"

Petrie: "Cera a scaredy-egg, Cera a-"

Cera: "Hey, I'm not a scaredy-egg! But every time we sneak off and leave the Great Valley, we end up having to crawl across some giant ditch or pointy rocks or something."

Littlefoot: "Yeah?"

Cera: "And somehow, the only way to do it is if we use some big tippy boulder or rotten old log."

Spike: "Uh-huh."

Cera: "And I always end up at the back of the line, falling off or getting chased by a Sharptooth!"

Okay, this scene is hilarious. Cera gets all meta and calls out the writers for overusing this particular trope. I don't know if history necessarily reflects this opinion, I remember more times that Spike was at the back than Cera, but she is usually near the back, and there usually is something that happens to her. It also matches the earlier scene with Pterano and Petrie, these kids are seasoned adventurers at this point, with 6 movies of experience under their belts. It makes sense that would start to be acknowledged more.

Littlefoot asks her what they should do about it, and Cera says that this time, she's going first, so that she doesn't get chased off. They cross in order of Cera, Littlefoot, then Spike. Petrie obviously just flies. These vines are easily the LEAST stable bridge they've ever had to cross, the kids are barely holding on. Halfway through, Spike sees a flower growing on one and turns back to eat it. This is, of course, a terrible idea that makes the vines snap and the kids swing across, landing in a cave.

Cera scolds Spike, and then it turns out this is the same cave Ducky fall into! Petrie cries and hugs her, apologizing for Pterano, but she tells him that Pterano was a lot nicer to her than his goons, he seemed genuinely sad she fell into the cave. She then leads into Song 2 of this movie, Good Inside.

It's good. Not great, but good. Another song with a good moral, this one based around nuance. This is another thing I say all the time, no-one is perfect, no-one can ever be perfect, perfection is impossible. It's unreasonable to hold others to the standard of perfection. I agree with this song... like 80%.

I do think the song is a little naive. Not everyone always has the best of intentions, some people do want to do bad things. I know the point of the song is to say that even the most evil villains have a light side, and that is true, even in the real world (as HARD as that can be to accept), but it's not always the case that light side is big enough to make them potentially a good person inside. Some people are bad enough that they're still monsters, regardless of their good side.

I really like the bit where Petrie sings about Cera and Cera sings about her dad. I do think the song is a little redundant with Kids Like Us from 3, but it's been a while since 3, and the message is substantially different enough.

Now that they have Ducky, Cera wants to just go home, let Pterano have the stupid rock. But Ducky argues that if it really does have magic powers, they probably shouldn't let the Flyers have it, and that, plus Spike's agreement, is enough to convince her. Ducky walks out to the entrance of the cave and then Sierra grabs her out of nowhere! Pterano orders him to put her down and he shoots back that Pterano needs to make up his mind. Ducky bites Sierra's toe and he drops her a long distance into a rushing river at the bottom of the cliffs. Despite Pterano's protests, Sierra swoops after her enraged.

The Gang slide down the cliff to her and they use the vines still wrapped around Spike to lead a log out with Littlefoot on it. Ducky grabs the vines and climbs onto the log, but the weight of it pulls Spike and Cera out onto some nearby leaves, and suddenly, The Gang is wakeboarding down the river.

Spike and Cera dodge some rocks, then they dodge Sierra and Rinkus diving at them.

Pterano: "Stop this at once! Get a grip, will you?!"

Sierra: "Heh, don't mind if we do."

Sierra uses the claws on one wing to grab Pterano's wrist, and Rinkus follows suit, grabbing his other wrist, and they dive at the kids, forcing Pterano with them. Littlefoot sees something up ahead and taunts them to keep chasing, not looking where they're going. The three Flyers splat into a stone bridge while the kids drift underneath it.

The kids make it to shore and celebrate their victory. Petrie points out that the other Flyers were making Uncle Pterano chase them. The Flyers climb up on the rock and Pterano re-asserts that he's the leader, he's the who gives orders, and they follow. They concede and Pterano spreads his wings. Rinkus and Sierra flinch, expecting him to slap them, but instead he just flies off, and they follow.

This is an interesting moment. It's subtle, but I think it's very important. As much as Pterano thinks himself a great leader, he mostly disciplines subordinates by slapping them, to the point where his goons expect it whenever he's upset. Pterano is abusive, traumatizing his own henchmen. Pterano is a bad leader.

The kids watch the Flyers leave as a storm rolls in, and Petrie tries desperately to call Uncle Pterano back.

Back in the Great Valley, the wind is getting rough. Petrie's mom comes back from searching in vain for the kids.

Littlefoot's grandma: "Oh my! They must have gone after Ducky themselves."

Ducky's mom (angrily): "Of course they did! They saw us just standing around, arguing with Mr. Threehorn here!"

Cera's dad: "What are you saying? That this is my fault?!"

*all of the other adults nod their heads in synch*

Cera's dad: "Oh. We- well, wh- what do we do? We could never catch up to them on land!"

Littlefoot's grandpa (to Petrie's mom): "Find another Flyer to help you, and hurry!"

Petrie's mom flies off, fighting desperately against the wind.

The bit where all of the other adults unanimously blame Cera's dad is really funny. Especially since he immediately accepts it.

Pterano's group is flying through the storm, battered by wind and rain, and dodging near misses with lightning bolts. Sierra demands Pterano lead, and Pterano leads them into a rocky overhang. They crash ungracefully in a heap.

Pterano: "Oh dear, I hope the children were able to find cover."

Sierra: "Who cares?! Once we take over, first thing Imma do is feed them overgrown eggs to the Sharpteeth!"

Pterano: "Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-Sharpteeth?! No! No, I won't hear of it! I'm sorry I ever met either of you! Go on, shoo!"

Pterano's an abusive jerk, but he genuinely cares about the children. He wants to be a good leader, not a tyrant. This transitions into song 3 of the movie: Very Important Creature.

If you know me, you know I love villain songs. One of my favorite musicals is One Piece Film: Red, which is "Oops, All Villain Songs". This is a fantastic villain song! I'm offended that people submitted Eggs to that villain song tourney instead of this or Who Needs You.

All three characters are humanized and go through character arcs. Sierra starts fed up with Pterano, but Rinkus convinces him to relent begrudgingly, and Sierra is finally satisfied when Rinkus offers the double-cross deal. Rinkus genuinely just wants to work together at the start, but eventually he gets sick of Pterano too and proposes the double-cross. Pterano starts at a low point, but he keeps building himself up, deluding himself into believing that he was born too important to ever be a failure.

The sarcastic glances and asides from Sierra and Rinkus are funny and humanizing. They were totally willing to work for Pterano at the start of the song, but his arrogance in this song was the last straw for them. Between that and their earlier flinching, you get why they turn on Pterano. It doesn't feel like a sudden but inevitable betrayal, Pterano could have avoided this if he were just a better leader. But despite what he thinks, Pterano is a bad leader, Rinkus and Sierra are proof of that. This song is all about Pterano thinking he's a great leader while actively losing his only followers because of this song.

The imagination sequence shows Pterano's delusion that everyone will accept and follow him. The flying animation is great, and that "hero shot" of Pterano framed by the lightning is awe-inspiring, almost enough to make you forget what a twit he is. Almost, Rinkus and Sierra remind you enough of that, breaking down their image of Pterano because of him building his own image up. And then the end has it all come together, Sierra and Rinkus have agreed to follow Pterano until they double-cross him, so they sing together with Pterano, pretending to support him for the big finale of the song. I also like how their posing at the end mirrors the intro of the film.

I haven't mentioned it before, but I've been rating the songs, and... this might be the first 10/10 song. As a reminder, 10/10 doesn't mean it's "perfect", like I said earlier: perfection is impossible. 10/10 just means there's no room for major improvement, there are no significant flaws that could be fixed to make it better. There are two things that could be flaws, but not for me:

It's only 2.5 minutes long. But it goes places and is varied and fast-paced enough that it doesn't feel too short.

Sierra and Rinkus don't sing for much of the song, they just talk. Except they do sing at multiple points. Their decision to sing or not happens in-universe, showing the song is diegetic and Pterano is a fucking lunatic for flying around in a thunderstorm.

Anyway, back to the review, The Gang are trudging over the mountains through the storm. Cera's tired, Petrie's cold, and Ducky has a cold. Littlefoot tells them to take shelter in a root hollow. They do, but find something interesting inside:

Threehorn Peak is an active volcano! That's been foreshadowed enough, the horns are always smoking. The kids decide to sleep for the night, and then the Rainbow Faces run across the screen quickly in the foreground.

The next morning, there's a huge pile of leaves sitting out in the open, and the kids dig in. They question who brought the food, but then they see a figure running away and chase after. The figure, which Cera realizes is a Rainbow Face, trips on a rock and the kids catch up. Littlefoot just wants to thank them.

Female RF: *walks in behind the kids* "Ah-ha! You helped them, didn't you?"

Male RF: "Oh, well... they were hungry!"

Cera: "Hey, are you two following us?"

Petrie: "Yeah, and how you get in here?"

Female RF: "Life is full of little mysteries, isn't it?" (whispering to male RF) "and we're giving away far too many of them!"

The two Rainbow Faces proceed to whisper-argue, dodging their questions, which Ducky points out. Littlefoot interrupts to warn them about Petrie's uncle, and Cera asks for help reaching the top. The Female Rainbow Face agrees to help, since the kids already know they're here.

Pterano wakes the others up and tells them it's time to claim their destiny!

The Rainbow Faces lead the kids to a large rock, which they push aside to reveal a hollow smoking shaft of stone.

Petrie: "Yuck, how come it smell so bad?!"

Littlefoot: "Probably an underground river, somewhere way down there!"

Male RF: "Very perceptive! And, whenever the Smoking Mountain heats up, the water... um, bubbles, and shoots up the shaft! Now, if there were something solid between you and the hot water...!"

Littlefoot: "It would push us right to the top!"

At the Rainbow Face's instruction, the kids push a large circular rock into the shaft, then climb onto it. The Rainbow Faces wish them luck and push the rock back into place. The kids wait, until:

They've made a steam-powered elevator! It launches them high into the sky above Threehorn Peak. The kids jump off but then the steam lets up and the rock falls. The rock is about to crush Petrie when Cera tackles him out of the way, and he hugs her for saving him.

Littlefoot sees a carved-out trench in the ground and follows it, the other kids follow him, briefly shaken by an earthshake and steam vent. At the end of the trench they see it, finally. The Stone of Cold Fire!

The kids run up to it and don't exactly know what to do with it. Then Pterano and his gang arrive behind them!

Petrie: "You lie to me, uncle! You lie to everybody!" *Petrie flies onto his arm*

Pterano: "Petrie, believe me, I'm doing this for the good of all Flyers! With the power of the Stone of Cold Fire, I will restore us to our rightful place in the world!"

Petrie: "You already got place in world. We got place too, and we like it just way it is!"

So, Pterano is also a Flyer supremacist, on top of everything else. Considering Petrie's story at the VERY beginning of the movie, which Pterano told him, that makes sense. So the racism theme returns after having been absent most of the movie.

Pterano declares himself the chosen one, places his claw on the Stone of Cold Fire, and beseeches the stone to give him power! The very ground shakes with its power! Then... nothing happens.

Rinkus and Sierra throw him aside and start bashing the Stone with regular rocks, demanding it give them power (the rock strikes make a metallic tinking sound, implying the Stone of Cold Fire is just a big metal asteroid).

Cera: "I KNEW it was just a dumb-old rock!"

Pterano (distraught): "Oh, I wanted to make everything perfect. I was going to create a paradise!"

Petrie: "But we already got paradise back in Great Valley. You no need to fix. Just got to not break!"

Suddenly, the Smoking Mountain starts shaking, and lava starts rising up. But Petrie's mom arrives to save the day, having brought a very large Flyer with her! She hugs Petrie and Ducky, then chews out her brother. While he's making excuses, a steam jet erupts, and Ducky is launched to the stone ledge, clawing to stay on.

We see Pterano's POV, and he flashes back to the parasaurolophus who fell off the cliff in his backstory. I was gonna post a GIF of the scene, but the flashing lights are a little intense, so instead I'll just post a link to the scene on Youtube here, and you can watch at your own discretion (it's at 2:30).

Pterano swoops down to save her from the fall, and Ducky comments that somewhere inside, Pterano is good! But the mountain is still erupting!

The kids get on the backs of the various Flyers, who fly them away. The steam pressure explodes the Stone of Cold Fire, launching Sierra and Rinkus away, back to the little overhang a little charred but otherwise okay (I'm glad they didn't die, half the villains in this series do and I felt kind bad for them). The Flyers return to the Great Valley.

Later, Grandpa hands down a sentence on Pterano. He did kidnap Ducky, but he also saved her and helped return the other kids. In light of that, the adults in the Great Valley have decided his sentence should be reduced to 5 winters banishment in the Mysterious Beyond.

Petrie: "5 cold times?! That so long!"

Cera's dad: "Yes, and SOME of us think it should be a LOT longer!"

Pterano: "Oh now, please. None of the Far-Walkers want anything to do with me! I'll be alone and defenseless in the Mysterious Beyond! Is that really fair?"

All of the other adults, simultaneously: "YES!"

Damn, get his ass! I love that the grown-ups just fucking unrelentingly HATE Pterano.

Petrie begs again, but his mom tells him that it's time Pterano took responsibility. Pterano agrees and says he plans to return when his sentence is up, so that he can contribute to the Great Valley. Petrie hugs him. Not too long, though, because Cera's dad breaks them up to physically chase Pterano out by his horns, growling and snarling all the way!

The kids decide to go watch the Far-Walkers leave. At night, Littlefoot finds the Rainbow Faces, also watching.

Littlefoot: "Are you leaving, too?"

A comet streaks across the sky.

Female RF: "Any time now."

Littlefoot: "That falling rock I saw, it never was a Stone of Cold Fire, was it?"

Male RF: "No. But you see, the Stone never really mattered. It's what you did to discover the truth about it. That is what's important!"

Littlefoot thinks on that for a bit, and that leads into "song 4" of the movie, Beyond the Mysterious Beyond (reprise).

It's really just a few extra lines to Beyond the Mysterious Beyond, not even enough to be worth considering a full song on its own.

But aside from that, HOLY SHIT THE RAINBOW FACES WERE ALIENS THE WHOLE TIME!!! This reveal blew my socks off as a kid, and it still lands for me today!

There's legitimately a TON of foreshadowing for it, from their overall demeanor to the "imagination sequence" of space they show Littlefoot to them knowing a little TOO much about the various branches of science (the male RF has to catch himself to use a word like "bubbles" that the kids would understand), to being places faster than they should be, to them constantly arguing about keeping secrets and not helping (following the prime directive from Star Trek).

This could be seen as a "jumping the shark" moment, but considering the whole movie is about flying, between the Stone of Cold Fire and the Flyers as the villains, and how much it was set up from their first scene, and how they don't actually impact the plot TOO much, I don't mind. It draws comparisons for me to the similar twist in Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (fun fact, both movies came out at the same time, in late 2000, within a couple months of each other).

The gang joins Littlefoot and ask him what's up, and he's vague, not sure what he saw. He tells them the fun is in what they don't know, how much they have yet to learn.

Cera: "Hey! I know lots!"

Petrie: "Me too! Know more than Uncle Pterano, that for sure! He not so smart after all!"

Ducky: "Heheheh, oh no, oh no! But we are plenty smart, right Spike?"

Spike: "Uuuhhhh-huh?"

And the movie ends on that note, panning up to the sky and moon.

Yeah, this film deserves its reputation as a fan-favorite, it's REALLY good.

I can't help but compare it to 6, because they share so many similarities. Such as a genre shift (6 became a Western while 7 flirted with Sci-Fi as much as this franchise can) and both played with big ideas and deep mysteries. But while 6 fell flat, 7 soared.

Both movies are mystery-themed, raising multiple big questions that follow the main characters throughout the narrative. But 6 didn't answer whether Doc was the Lone Dinosaur or whether Saurus Rock can magically cause bad luck or not, it just dropped those questions unceremoniously. 7 actually answers what Pterano did and whether the Stone of Cold Fire is magic or if the Rainbow Faces are just crazy, both of which get fucking insane answers. I really appreciate that 7 just swings for the fences in having FUCKING ALIENS, much more than 6 playing it relatively safe.

I do think it's funny how 6 had Littlefoot imagining himself as a cowboy, and 7 has aliens tell him that he's a nerd.

This movie balances a lot of themes, also like 6, but I think it does so a LOT better. It keeps the racism theme, but splits it up between the "keep an open mind" theme with the Rainbow Faces and Pterano's Flyer supremacy. Pterano himself folds together a few themes, like the responsibility of leadership, sometimes you can't trust family, and everyone has nuance. Both Pterano and Littlefoot have an open mind when it comes to the Stone, but Pterano is incredibly closed-minded regarding his past and his worthiness as a leader.

I like that this is a movie focused heavily on Petrie, he and Spike are the least focused-on members of The Gang, but even Spike got a big moment in 4. Petrie got a LOT of attention here, he gets a whole big character arc with Pterano and Cera!

The writing is EXTREMELY naturalistic, for all the characters, but especially Pterano and the Rainbow Faces. Both are intellectuals, Pterano using his intelligence to manipulate and control and the Rainbow Faces using their intelligence to inspire and uplift. I also really love the franchise acknowledging its history, flashing back to the events of the first film and recognizing that The Gang are seasoned adventurers by this point.

As a kid, I felt like the movie was too nice to Pterano and too harsh on Rinkus and Sierra, but since I put it together that Rinkus and Sierra turning on Pterano is a direct result of Pterano being a bad leader, I've completely come around on it. Pterano's such a bad leader that he MADE Rinkus and Sierra worse! Pterano has good intentions but he's ultimately an arrogant manipulative douchebag who is a terrible leader and still gets banished for 5 winters. And Rinkus and Sierra don't get off too bad, the worst they do is push Pterano out of the way, and the worst they get is some burns and bruising.

That said, Pterano, Rinkus, and Sierra are BY FAR the best villains so far in the franchise. Their closest competition is Ichy and Dil, but while Ichy and Dil had a fun dynamic and a fantastic song, they didn't have any depth or character arc. Pterano, Rinkus, and Sierra ALL had depth and they ALL had character arcs, while ALSO having a fun dynamic and an EVEN BETTER song!

This is the first Land Before Time movie without a big dramatic fight scene for a climax. Given that the villains are much smaller than a Sharptooth, we could have gotten a cool 3-v-5 with the Flyers vs The Gang. However, considering the themes of the film, it didn't really need one. This was a much more cerebral and nuanced film for a reason.

The artstyle is noticeably different, thanks to the shift to digital animation, but honestly, I don't think it's done badly here. The character designs have definitely been smoothed out some, but the animation isn't stiff like digital animation can frequently be. There's a decent amount of squash and stretch, more than I've seen since movie 1. That said, there are a few small errors where a section of a character's body will be the wrong color. There's also quite a bit of off-model animation with Cera's eyes being too small.

Pros: The songs range from good to fantastic to phenomenal, not a bad one in the mix. The best villains so far. The best character writing so far. The intro was actually plot-relevant. Lots of themes, but they were mixed together well. Great plot twists. The shift to digital animation is handled well. The continuity was great.

Cons: The digital animation shift is a little jarring. They could have gone into more depth with Pterano's flashback. There's no big final battle.

Score: 10/10. You read that right. I'm giving The Stone of Cold Fire a 10/10. Again, that doesn't mean it's perfect, perfection is impossible, but there are no significant flaws bringing it down. Even the cons I listed are ultimately subjective nitpicks that I don't really feel.

The Land Before Time: 8/10 (hypothetical uncut version: 9/10)

The Great Valley Adventure: 8/10

The Time of the Great Giving: 7/10

Journey Through The Mists: 7/10

The Mysterious Island: 9/10

The Secret of Saurus Rock: 2/10

The Stone of Cold Fire: 10/10

By the way, if you saw those Asks I got regarding a Magical Girl AU, Pterano is the guy I thought of as the manipulator behind the Sharpteeth. I was thinking Red Claw (the main villain of the tv show) would be the king of the Sharpteeth, but Pterano would be the scheming grand vizier, manipulating everything from behind the scenes and secretly lusting for the throne.

[in1-nutshell]

Can I request, Dragon Ball (it can be any of you like) ?

Buddy who's a female & an Icejin, from Frieza's race. She was sent to Earth when she was an egg after news from Frieza's planet/race heard news about his death and used the egg to take revenge on whoever kill Frieza.

Buddy's egg was found by Goku and with (young/kid) Gohan, and when despite warines about Buddy's from Frieza's race, she was adopted & raised with loved & cared by Son Family & Goku's friends, they would also trained her abilities & powers, when she grows up, & they would planned how to tell her about her race someday

Buddy's personality can be a gentle sweetheart & mortherly, she's mostly pacifist but she can get mad or angry if her (adoptive) Earth family & friends is in harmed or threatened by anyone or by her own race, and she can be smart that she's became Bulma's student or assistant. She's also has abilities like her fellow race, and she's strong as her Adopted brothers/Goku's sons

(If this already been asked, I apologize and thank you in advance!)

Alrighty! First Dragon Ball request is here!

Hope you enjoy!

Buddy the Icejin and being adopted by the Son Family

SFW, Platonic, Familial, Mention of injury, Character death, Icejin Buddy

DBZ

Word spread fast with the news of the death of Emperor Frieza and King Cold.

Those still loyal to the fallen Icejins sought out a way to avenge their fallen leaders.

A plan was made.

A promising Icejin egg was placed in a pod and sent to Frieza’s last known location.

The plan was to have the egg eliminate the Saiyans once it came to age.

Sadly, for them, a meteor shower had caused the computers to crash, completely wiping away the last known location of the pod.

Said pod crash landed on Earth about a week after Son Goku had returned from Yardrat.

A week since Future Trunks had told him about the Android threat coming in 3 years.

And it was the very same Son Goku, the Saiyan who defeated Frieza, who found the pod with his young son Gohan.

Goku picks up the egg. Gohan floats up and sits on his father’s shoulders. Gohan: “Have you seen an egg like that Dad? You think it’s a dinosaur egg?” Goku: “I don’t know. I don’t think it’s a dino—” CRACK! The egg starts cracking in his hands. Both of them stand still, waiting for whatever to come out. A small head pokes out of the egg. A head that looked too familiar. Gohan: “Dad… it looks like…” Goku: “Like a tiny Frieza!” The little thing looks at them both with wide eyes and raises a tiny hand out to Gohan. Hesitantly Gohan removes the shell from the top of the head. The little one uses this moment to grab a hold of one of Gohan’s fingers. He freezes at contact. A series of happy sounding chirps comes out as the hatchling wraps her tail around his wrist. Gohan: “Umm, Dad? What do I do?” Goku: “…What do you think of the name Buddy?”

Goku was of course wary of the alien hatchling that looked like Frieza.

He hadn’t forgotten what he had done to his friends and family.

The right to be cautious was valid.

…but at the same time…

She was just a baby, a baby that was innocent.

He’d be no better than Frieza if he let the poor thing alone in the forest.

It was agreed to bring the little one home.

Gohan, while even more cautious, didn’t last long with the hatchling clinging onto him and chirping happily.

The sounds reminded him of a small bird.

Now was the next challenge.

Telling this to Chichi.

The woman was, understandably, furious that her boys brought in an alien.

And alien who had a striking resemblance to the alien who tried to kill her husband and son.

Chichi is holding a frying pan in one hand. Chichi: “Give me ONE good reason why I shouldn’t cook that thing right now! Give me one good reason Goku!” Goku carefully takes Buddy from Gohan. The tiny tail wraps around his wrist. The Saiyan walks over to his wife. Goku: “You know Chichi, she doesn’t have a mother. Or a father.” Chichi blinks and slowly sets down the frying pan. Goku places Buddy in her hands. Chichi: “Goku! I don’t—” Her voice dies down as the hatchling starts making the happy chirps again. The small tail raps around her wrist and she gives her a smile. Chichi: “I guess it would be cruel to leave a baby out in the woods.” The chirps grow louder as Buddy snuggles closer to Chichi. Chichi smiles warmly. Chichi: “You said her name was Buddy?”

Chichi had always wanted to have a daughter in her family.

Sure, Buddy wasn’t by any means ‘traditional’ but she was her daughter!

Anyone who said otherwise would have to pray to Kami that they don’t come across the fury of the Ox Princess, the Saiyan Son Goku, and Son Gohan.

All three of them were in their right Protective of the youngest member of the family.

Gohan took it upon himself to introduce Buddy to Piccolo.

To say there was a bit of a ‘fight’ was an understatement.

Gohan was lucky enough that Piccolo liked him enough to hear him out.

The Namekian did find Buddy’s origins to be familiar.

Very familiar.

A pathway that showed a lot of resemblance to his own before he first fought Goku.

He tolerated the tiny being for now.

Interest peaked once Buddy started showing fighting potential a year before the Androids would come.

All the men were on edge around the topic of Buddy fighting.

It was already a sore topic to talk about Gohan fighting.

Buddy’s topic was a whole other level of anger and determination.

She did not want her only daughter to fight and get hurt!

Was that so much to ask!

Besides, Buddy was already making great progress in the academic field.

She was already reading some of the books Gohan had and understanding them.

Yes, the little one was only 2, but she could already start speaking almost as well as everyone else.

Finally, the 3 years have passed.

It was time for the Android battle.

Buddy remembered hugging her father, brother and Mr. Piccolo goodbye before they flew off.

As much as she wanted to go, her mother had made it very clear that going to the fight was out of the question.

It would be a couple hours later before there would be a knock at the door.

Buddy would never forget the strange man wearing a gi carrying her screaming father in.

Buddy: “Daddy! Daddy what happen!” Buddy started running towards the pair. Chichi got there first. Chichi: “Yamcha! What happened?!” Yamcha: “The heart virus! We need the medicine—what is that?!” SMACK! Chichi: “That’s my daughter! Now get Goku to the bedroom while I get the medicine!”

After Goku managed to calm down and start sleeping was when Chichi explained about Buddy.

Buddy, in the meantime, stood vigilant by Goku’s side.

She kept on doting him until it was time to transport him to Kame house.

Reuniting with Gohan.

Getting to meet more of her father’s friends.

Krillin is silently having flashbacks and completely thrown off by how nice and thoughtful she is.

But there is one person that takes her existence as a threat.

Vegeta.

Oh Kami…

Buddy was lucky enough that Gohan, Piccolo, Krillin and Future Trunks managed to hold him back and get Buddy to safety.

Poor Buddy has no idea what is going on.

All she wants is her mother and father.

Why is everyone giving her these weird looks?

And why does the guy with the widow’s peak trying to hurt her?

What did she do wrong?

Enter: Cell.

Buddy has now been called to fight much to Chichi’s dismay.

The girl has no idea what is really going on but knows that this Cell guy must be stopped.

Goku, after a tearful reunion, takes his kids with him into the Hyperbolic time chamber.

During that year, Buddy had tapped into her 2nd and 3rd forms.

It was almost bittersweet and ironic that Buddy was around the same age as Gohan when the Saiyans arrived.

Chichi was not happy hearing about the year spent in the chamber but was happy that she at least had her family back… until the Cell games at least.

Everyone thought that Goku had Cell covered.

Buddy felt her heart stop hearing that Gohan would be fighting Cell.

Buddy is grabbing Goku’s hand while watching the fight. Buddy: “Is Gohan really going to be, okay?” Krillin smiles at her. Krillin: “Don’t worry Buddy, Gohan will be okay. I mean he’s wounded, and Gohan is just starting the fight. Gohan’s got this!” Buddy: “Yeah! My brother’s going to beat Cell!” Vegeta: “He is not your brother.” Buddy grumbles a bit and ignores Vegeta. Enter Sensu Bean. Buddy: “HE’S GOING TO GET KILLED!”

Faster than anyone could see, Buddy flew down to the ‘arena’ and surprise kicked Cell in the back of the head.

Unintentionally unlocking her final form.

And after Andriod 16 death, so came Super Saiyan 2 Gohan.

There are flashbacks to Namek when Buddy looks at Cell with murder in her eyes.

Buddy and Gohan tag team to fight Cell.

Sadly, it wasn’t enough.

Not even with the power of a Super Saiyan or Final Form was able to stop him from going into his self-destruct form.

Enter Goku’s sacrifice.

Goku appears in front of Gohan and Buddy. Goku: “I’m so proud of you two.” Gohan: “Dad?” Goku: “Take care of your mother for me.” Buddy: “Wait Dad! What are you—” POP! Goku disappears to the sounds of Gohan and Buddy screaming. Gohan helps a sobbing Buddy get up as the others come down. Buddy: “At least it’s over now…” POP! Cell was back and pointing at an energy beam from his fingers. Both pointed at Trunks. Buddy was the only one who managed to spot them in time. Buddy: “TRUNKS!” Buddy had managed to take the hit. Everyone was stunned by what had just happened. Gohan hurriedly moves to Buddy’s side. She had a hole in her chest and wasn’t moving. Gohan: “B-Buddy? Buddy?! BUDDY! GGGGGYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

It wasn’t a fight against Cell.

It was a simple beat down that had the insect’s cells disintegrated.

Cue the Dragon Balls doing their thing.

And cue Goku deciding to stay in the Otherworld.

Buddy has to promise to Gohan and Chichi several times never to pull a stunt like that again.

With the new peace times Gohan had taken lax on his training to focus more on his studies.

Buddy never saw a problem with this.

She could protect everyone if needed.

As long as the studies continued it would be fine.

There was nothing but pure joy radiating off Buddy the day her little brother Goten was born.

He looked so much like her father…

Becoming Goten’s official babysitter eventually meant that Trunks would come into the picture, not that she minded.

She adored the younger boys.

It was even better since Bulma, Trunk’s mother, had offered to tutor her at Capsule Corp given that she couldn’t exactly go to normal school like everyone.

Vegeta would have been a problem if his attitude hadn’t improved since she had save Future Trunks.

He was a great training partner and great Uncle.

Buddy smiles seeing Vegeta walking to the Gravity Chamber. Buddy: “Hi Uncle Vegeta!” Vegeta stops and scowls. Vegeta: “Tch. I’m not your uncle child.” Buddy: “Anyways, Bulma said that you need to stop by and pick up Trunks and Goten today.” Vegeta: “I will do no such thing. What about Gohan?” Buddy: “He’s still in class.” Vegeta: “And Bulma?” Buddy: “Busy with paperwork. Look Vegeta, I would get them from school if I didn’t look like… this.” Vegeta huffs before starting to the door. Buddy: “Wait! One more thing!” Vegeta rolls his eyes and stops. Vegeta: “What.” Buddy suddenly looks a bit uncomfortable. Buddy: “Do you know why I’m so different?” Vegeta: “You’re adopted.” Buddy: “I know that but what am I? I think Gohan knows, but he won’t tell me. You seem like you know what I am.” Vegeta: “Tch. Listen well girl. You shouldn’t be asking yourself these questions. Just move on and live your life.” He walks off. Buddy: “Oh… okay…”

[lookingforhappy]

Five's Original Apocalypse (aka the one he got stuck in) wasn't caused by the moon

I don't think it was caused by the moon/meteor hitting the earth like at the end of s1, I think it was an alternate apocalypse caused purely by Viktor's unrestrained powers.

The amount of destruction that the moon caused is disproportionate to the destruction we see in Five's apocalypse.

The moon fragment that hits earth is bigger than the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs. The Chicxulub asteroid (type that into google to get a fun little animation!) measured roughly 15 kilometers wide, for reference, this is 15 kilometers:

it's not even big enough to cover all of London or NYC. The crater it made was 10x that:

looking at the size of the smaller moon asteroids, they seem roughly the right size (note that i am terrible at maths and will not be doing any science to reach this conclusion) based on the explosion size - and there's at least 13 of them. 13 dinosaur killers before the big fragment even gets close.

using this guy's estimation, the larger fragment is a minimum of 100 km, which is more than 6x the size of the Chicxulub:

and guessing from the chicxulub crater, this crater would be 10x 100km = 1000km.

which easily eats most of western europe or at least 12 states:

which is more than an extinction event, it's The extinction event, possibly Earth's extinction.

it's not super clear what part of Earth the fragment hits, I think it lands somewhere in the pacific

the strip of dotted lights leading from the bottom right meteor to the middle most meteor is likely California -> Mexico, with the Meteor hitting close to or the east of Hawaii (RIP Hawaiians)

I've said this recently but I think this shot, showing the earth getting wiped out in a fireball shockwave is of California's coast.

with the bright group at the bottom right being LA (where Claire lives) with the sticky out bit being Long Beach. and the bright group at the top being San Francisco with the blue strip being San Pablo Bay and San Francisco Bay

But my main reasoning (because this is a superhero show where u have to suspend ur disbelief) for why the moon wasn't the cause of the original apocalypse is this:

Vik didn't seem interested in ending the world. He was more interested in just playing in his orchestra until Luther and Diego tried to charge him.

He also doesn't do anything even related to the moon on purpose, rather he gets interrupted mid power use, seemingly causing his powers to rebound back into him which he is unable to contain/control causing all that pent up power to release in one strong stream. sort of like how water will, under pressure, release in a stream, but without it will trickle in the direction of least resistance.

In Five's apocalypse, Luther, Allison, Diego and Klaus all die fighting Leonard and Viktor before the world ends

so with Viktor (presumably, unless Leonard survived having his eye socket ripped from his skull) as the last man standing, there's nothing to stop him from finishing his orchestra. which is what I think caused the end of the world.

Viktor's powers are already active before the orchestra begins, his eyes are white. Then as the hargreeves attack he begins to glow as he uses his powers not just to repel them, but to force the orchestra players to stay. But nobody's attacking him when his powers bleach him white, something they never do again. All he's doing is playing the violin, particularly, he's building up to the crescendo, if not at the crescendo when this happens. And soon after than, his powers begin to build in the surrounding area, with visible waves emanating from him.

So what I think the series of events were leading up to the original apocalypse, without Five's interferrance:

Luther, Diego, Allison and Klaus all play Reginald's murder mystery

Leonard finds the Red Book and begins manipulating Viktor

Leonard kills Helen Cho and Viktor gets first chair

Leonard's plan to trigger Viktor's powers by forcing him to watch his boyfriend get beaten up works but causes him to lose an eye

Leonard gets a prosthetic eye fitted

Viktor and Leonard return home for whatever reason - possibly to confront the Umbrella's with Viktor's new powers and learn their part in the cover up

Leonard is very obviously manipulating Viktor and using him to attack the Umbrellas, possibly even revealing his true motives

A fight breaks out causing Luther to rip Leonard's eye from the socket and for Viktor to crumble the entire building and kill Luther, Diego, Allison and Klaus

Viktor, pissed and betrayed, continues to attend his orchestra

Viktor's emotions doubled with his sound-controlled powers cause him to accidentally overload and destroy the world, but not destroy the moon in the process

We've seen Viktor do something similar in s2, in the FBI building. And while he was able to recover and only destroy one building, it was still an uncontrolled blast of power which wasn't even aided by Viktor's violin, complete with bleaching and new flight abilities.

We've also seen Viktor's powers kill people without any real root cause, complete with burned out eye sockets and withering bodies

but each time we see this element of his powers, he's interrupted before he can finish, so potentially, prolonged exposure to his life draining power could cause someone to end up looking charred

(i personally think this body is leonard but that's neither here nor there)

whilst those who were already dead prior to the activation of Vik's energy draining beams, may not have taken much if any damage (as there is no life or ebbs of life left to take)

this also has the added bonus of not burning literally everything (the hargreeves' bodies included, as well as the multiple books and newspapers and the glass eye that Five owns in the apocalypse).

and without the asteroid impact there is no mega tsunami to worry about either (which, if it hit close to Hawaii, would flood the entire west coast of America at the very least.) no acid rain or nuclear winter obscuring the sun for years. no acidic oceans. and it won't take 1000 years for plants to come back (and seeing as Five is already seeing plants return a mere 45 years after, this kinda tracks).

so basically what I'm saying is, the apocalypse that Five grew up in is not the same apocalypse that Viktor caused at the end of s1. Five probably did have the moon present, which probably contributed to him not suspecting meteor or outer space origins for the apocalypse, but rather human based causes such as the owner of the eyeball.

[baratiddyappreciator]

Can you please do the baki boys for the first time meeting their S/Os child that is either from a past relationship or just adopted a while back. I really feel like Restu and Koshou will not really have a general idea of how to interact but they're really trying to get along ^v^

P.s the kid really like dinosaur to the point that they start calling the baki boys different dinosaur names 💕

Oh this wins for the cutest ask I've ever gotten!! Thank you!!! I'm operating off of the basis that they know the reader already has a kid and that this isn't just a "oh btw I have a child. Surprise!" type deal. Also I am SO SORRY that this took so long lmao.

Baki:

Awkward as hell. He knows you have a kid, and you'd been talking about introducing them for a while but he was so worried that this kid wouldn't like him and that you'd leave him because of it, but He apparently had literally nothing to worry about because he immediately got roped into playing with your kids toy dinosaurs in a dramatic re-creation of the moment the meteor hit, and they then proceeded to throw a temper-tantrum when it was time for him to leave. Safe to say, Baki stayed the night.

They bond very quickly, to the point where Baki just full on accepts "yes, this is fatherhood, I am prepared for fatherhood, this is my child as well." He isn't the step father, he's the father that stepped up. He's fiercely protective of your kid, and nobody, not even his father, is going to mess with them if he can help it.

Speaking of Yujiro, he throws a bit of a fit that Baki so quickly takes in another man's child because "The Bloodline Must Continue" but he gets over it pretty quick, seeing this one as more of a practice run for Baki for when it comes time for him to have his own kids, because surely this is just temporary... Right?

He introduces the kid to the other fighters in the arena. By the end of introductions, this kid has gained several uncles and a few grandpas. At that point, just accept that you're going to have a lot of people in your house spending time with your kid. Which, on the plus side: free babysitting, and you kid will literally be the safest person in Japan. Possibly the whole world if they can win over Yujiro enough to be seen as respected, but too pathetic to even think of fighting.

If they do wind up pestering you for another sibling, they're going to have to wait. Baki's got no problem with making them an older sibling, but he's barely an adult himself. That can wait until he's got some stuff sorted out on his end and you've both had the chance to have a long talk about your future together.

Learning about your kids love of dinosaurs is something that benefits Baki because he also loves dinosaurs and he can take the chance to flex that he's eaten t-rex meat before. If your child is given the opportunity to watch Baki fight, they'd probably nickname him after some form of dromaeosaur, likely velociraptor because he may be small but he's damn deadly given the chance. Bonus points if they have trouble pronouncing it, like kids often do, so it just sounds garbled in that cute way.

Hanayama:

It takes a while for him to agree to meet your kid. Not because he's scared, but because he's not nearly patient enough to be near kids for extended periods of time. If your kid is rowdy and loud, there is a very high chance that Hanayama will simply ignore them given the chance, but a more mellow child wins him over pretty quickly. Especially if they're happy to just sit there and chill out for a while, though his boys don't mind roughhousing with them if they need to get some energy out. Hanayama is an intimidating man, and likely even more so in the eyes of a child, but if they can be brave and trust you then they gain a staunch protector.

It's a slowly established bond, but once it's in place it's unbreakable. Even if you and Hanayama wind up splitting, he's going to be in that kid's life. He's at every event, big or small. Even if he gets dragged into a fight, he's normally ale to finish it up quickly enough to still make it on time as long as they don't mind him looking a bit rough and not picking them up as eagerly because he's probably at least a little bit sore. This kid now has not only a super tough father-figure, but a large system of uncles and cousins too!

Said uncles and cousins are also incredibly devoted, you will walk into your own home and find them just chilling with your child like "Oh tell uncle Kizaki how your day was! Any trouble?" Just know that if they're ever bullied... Well, simply put, no they won't, because that gets very swiftly shut down by the bullies parents. Nobody wants to deal with the yakuza, this group especially considering how scary Hanayama can be when those he cares about are put in harms way.

He's reluctant to bring the kid around other fighters purely for the reason that he's not there as much as the others. He knows that he can keep them safe, but it's a matter of protecting both you and your child from any unfavorable individuals that might show up to challenge the other fighters, though they definitely get to know Baki because of how close he and Hanayama are.

Your kid can pester you as much as they want for another sibling, Hanayama's waiting for a few more years before he even considers having a kid, especially because they'd take up the mantle of the family after he's gone. While he definitely doesn't mind having a kid, he's nowhere near ready right now. In the meantime, they can play with the kids of the gang members have have them.

Your kid likes dinosaurs? Cool. He doesn't have any real strong opinions on dinosaurs. Granted, the first time your kid looked him dead in the eyes and told him that he reminded them of an ankylosaurus, he did feel a bit weak in the knees because nobody has ever basically outright told him that he's a tanky hard-hitter quite like that. He's happy to be their ankylosaurus, he loves the kid and that's pretty final. Besides, it's not like anyone's going to say anything to him about it.

Chiharu:

It also takes him a while to meet your child, but not because he doesn't want to or is nervous (he is nervous, but he won't tell you that), he's just a genuinely busy guy. He's got some stuff to get done, making sure that not only is he safe, but that you and your child are safe too. He does have enemies in his line of "work" that wouldn't be above using some pretty deplorable methods to get their point across. When he does finally meet your kid though, he's shockingly calm, eager to meet them and happy to be there! They want to play? Hell yeah, he'll get on the ground and playing with them within the first five minutes, and they are inseparable. He doesn't want to leave, he winds up sleeping on your couch, passed out watching a movie with your child. Land Before Time, specifically, because he has TASTE!

Bond established within five minutes. Really, all that needed to be said was "Hi! I like dinosaurs!" and Chiharu was won over. He bonds with kids so easily it's almost scary, but it's because he's got an incredibly sense of whimsy and can easily see things the way that kids do. You may see a messy pile of leaves, but Chiharu sees a potential castle. He's perfectly happy to take your child under his wing. He's honestly more of a cool older brother than a father figure, but he's got his moments of paternal wisdom, such as telling them not to lick batteries or stick a fork in the electrical outlets. Really, common sense things, but sometimes kids just need to be told not to do dangerous stuff.

Much like with Hanayama's guys, his guys don't mind spending time with your kid. That's their bosses adopted little one, and they're going to treat them like family regardless. That is their little buddy now, and nobody is gonna get between them and their little buddy. They'll always have a ride to and from school, they'll always have someone able to bring them snacks or lunch, and they have an entire army of bodyguards at their beck and call.

No hesitation, just "THIS IS MY MINI ME!! LOOK UPON THEM AND WEEP BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER BE HALF AS COOL AS US!" And you know what? He's right. The two of them are cool, and your kid has become his mini-me. When they're old enough, if they wanted a tattoo, Chiharu would 100% take them to get one where he got his. It's good quality, and his partner in crime deserves only the best of the best! The other fighters will probably get attached too, because being around Chiharu is bound to increase the confidence of any child.

Your kid wants a little sibling? Well, shit, better start building that crib because he won't hesitate to give them exactly that. He'll take your opinion into consideration. If he could spontaneously pop out a kid himself, he would. Rest assured, him being unable to do this is a good thing, otherwise you'd both have about 10 toddlers to take care of on top of your own child. If you're persuasive enough though, you can convince him to just wait a little bit. Unless, of course, you are also spontaneous, in which case, congratulations, another child is on their way! Be it adopted or biological, this one will absolutely just wind up being another Chiharu 2.0, though if that's a good thing is up to you.

He'd probably get called Pterodactyl or something along those lines because of his back tattoo, but also: He's bird-like in his tendencies. He wears the nickname with pride though, and he doesn't need an explanation. Any nickname given to him by your little one is going to stick no matter what, and he wouldn't have it any other way. Hell, he'll even do his best to come up with a good one for your kid in return, his dino knowledge is, admittedly, very limited.

Katsumi:

Perfectly at ease, an absolute natural when it comes to stuff like this, despite never potentially being a father himself. Literally almost everyone loves him, so he's not too worried about your kid taking a liking to him as well, but that doesn't mean he won't try to win them over first. Bribes are brought and provided (with your permission, of course). Even if they like him right away, he's very quickly cemented as a favorite in their books because of all the cool stuff that he brought! He's not above getting on the ground and playing around with them too. Leaving them alone together is dangerous however, because you'll come back and Katsumi has taught your kid how to punch through a wooden board, and your coffee table is now less structurally sound than it was the last time you were in the room.

There's a very strong bond, but it takes a while to actually set in. Katsumi isn't worried about it being an instant thing, he knows that these things take time, probably better than anyone else, and he's definitely not going to push. That being said, he thinks he's doing worse than he really is. They don't talk to him about something because they got distracted and he immediately jumps to "oh god, they hate me, I need to call my dad for help because I can't have my beloved's kid hate me!" Even if it's your younger sibling being protective because that's just how kids can be sometimes. He immediately goes running to Doppo for help, only to basically be told to calm down.

Yeah, this child absolutely will be absorbed into Katsumi's friend group. They're going to grow up calling Katou and Suedo their uncles, and they're absolutely going to be able to keep up with their quips and jabs. Congrats, you're now raising a witty karate nerd and their three mentors. Of course, Doppo and Natsue are there to help if need-be, so you at least have reliable baby-sitters that are always willing to take the little one so you and Katsumi can go on a date or even if you just need a minute, even if it's just to sit down and not do anything for a hot minute.

This is his star pupil. Adults that have trained under him for months? Years? Nothing in comparison to the bond between Katsumi and his new partner in crime. And they do commit crimes. Innocent crimes, to be fair, but still crimes. One will distract you while the other steals food and snacks for the both of them. If they get caught, then they're making a break for it and you'll never catch up to them until they come back later with puppy eyes wanting more food, and you won't even be able to stay mad, because they just look so innocent and adorable (they aren't, they have committed crimes and will commit them again), so surely a little treat before supper couldn't hurt!

A sibling? They want a sibling? A niece or nephew?? His body is ready, he'll get pregnant if he has to. He doesn't care if it's impossible, his little baby will get whatever they want from him and they know it too. He's the worst at saying no, and eventually his partner in crime learns this. You're going to have to help Katsumi when it comes to letting the little ball of energy down easy. That being said, him actually telling them no will take a few years, though it's going to take a while for him to actually get the hang of it without feeling guilty.

Katsumi will most likely get called Stegosaurus, especially if he ever demonstrates his skills anywhere in front of this small, impressionable child. Is it to brag? Probably. Is it to show how cool karate is so they agree to take lessons? Mayhaps. Does he get upset about this? No, absolutely not, and the second this small human learns that Katsumi once fought a caveman, it's all over, they're gonna be asking a billion questions and Katsumi will barely be able to keep up. They'll convert him to the dark side (liking dinosaurs) in no time, just watch.

Jack:

He's so quiet. Just in general, yes, but beyond saying hi, he's not doing much initially, just sorta relaxing. There's no reason for him to get worked up, the kid's not going to be able to do anything to him, and he doubts that you'd ever leave him just because he was being himself around someone. As for the reaction to meeting Jack, there's most likely going to be either "WOAH! That guy's HUGE!!" and "Woah. That guy's huge." though after the first few minutes they'll likely realize that Jack is pretty chill. They'll most likely wind up sitting together and watching a movie, and because it's Jack he's going to want to sleep over so he can get his cuddles in before he has to go back to working out.

Any bond with Jack comes with the assurance that he's not going anywhere unless you either act like a jerk or unless you ask him to leave, and that's the same case for this child. All it takes is him being there during a few nightmares or rough days for them to realize that Jack is, simply put, there for them. He's going to be just as protective of them as he is of you as well, you're both a part of his family now and nobody is going to bother either of you on his watch. Once they get more comfortable with each-other, they'll likely rough-house a bit. Jack controls his strength well, and the kid doesn't have to worry about hurting him, so be prepared to just occasionally watch them get tossed onto the couch by Jack, only to run over begging for it to be done again.

Yujiro might give Jack a hard time about not having kids of his own and taking care of someone else's child, but Jack honest to god doesn't care. Yujiro can keep yapping at him, he's perfectly happy doing what he's doing, which is most likely enjoying a really nice outing with you, your kid as well as Baki and Kozue, he's not about to let his old man ruin that. One of the few times Jack might actually crack back at Yujiro, because while this isn't his kid, at least he's parenting. Will that start a fight? There's a decent chance Yujiro might be insulted enough, but it's the truth and deep down he knows it, so he can't really say anything.

Jack doesn't really care if he introduces them (and you) to the other fighters or not. These are good people who wouldn't hurt either of you, and if they were then you wouldn't even know about them. The first person he introduces the both of you to is Tokugawa, he needs to get the old man's approval to bring you two around to the arena on occasion, though Baki isn't long after for an introduction. He'll want all of the important people in his life to know about the both of you in case anything happens to him so you'll both be safe and taken care of. It's a morbid thought and he'd likely never say it out loud, but he likes to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

They want a sibling? They want him to give them a sibling? Well, he's conflicted about that one. On one hand, the idea of having a kid with you is fun, and he certainly doesn't mind trying even if it's not physically possible, but on the other hand: he really doesn't know if he can have kids. Not just because of the steroid abuse, but because of all the mental hang-ups he has about being an unwanted child. Would it be wrong of him to bring a life into this world? Would he be a good parent? What if they're sick, or his father does something to them because they're not strong enough? He's got all sorts of fears and concerns, but given time he'll come to you about them so you can both talk about it.

It takes a hot minute to figure out what dinosaur to nickname Jack, but eventually, given a lot of thought (and maybe a Jurassic World binge) they settle on Giganotosaurus. Because like Jack, this dinosaur is big and has a horrific bite, both powerful and fast, even if they aren't the strongest, much like Jack. Though Jack doesn't really know how to feel about being nicknamed after a dinosaur in particular, he does appreciate their knowledge and the effort they put into finding the right one to call him, even if he's not really one for nicknames. If they try hard enough, they can even get Baki on board with it. Jack will suffer the entire time, but he doesn't actually mind.

Kosho:

Awkward as all hell. He doesn't mind kids, he's just not good with them. Like, at all. He doesn't know what to do to entertain them, he doesn't know how to bond with them, he doesn't even know what they like doing other than being weirdly sticky all the time. He doesn't understand how or why, but it's a thing that they do. That being said, this kid is absolutely infatuated with him. No explanation, no reasoning, they just decide instantly that they want to be near him very often, and you're going to have to literally pry them away from him. It's like when cats find the one person in the room that don't like them and proceed to stick to them like glue. Doe she understand? No. Is he trying? Desperately trying, yes. Is it getting him anywhere? Nah. Do they still love him? Absolutely, take joy in his misery while it lasts, because he will eventually get used to it.

Kosho is pretty damn loyal. He cares for his people, and he likes to show that in his own weird way. He's like a cat, where he doesn't want to be given affection unless he's the one to initiate. At some point in time, he'll just walk past the kid while they're doing regular things to just pat them on the top of the head and then promptly walk away like he didn't do anything. If they try to hug him or lean into him, he'll act like they've burnt him, but he's not against the affection, he's just not used to kids trying to get closer to him and show him that they love him.

They never have to suffer through long and dragging on doctors appointments ever again. Given a little bit of time, both of the brothers will get used to them and be absolutely in love. Kureha is 100% willing to offer up fake doctors notes if it means he can get out of dancing around the awkward conversation between him and some macho man that refuses to admit that he's got a bright pink vibe up his butt and can't get it out. Speaking of, this kid is about to be traumatized by both Kureha and Kosho telling them horrifying stories about messed up stuff, but they're going to have fun while it's happening so I guess it's a win?

Does Kosho want to introduce this kid to the other fighters? Oddly enough, yes. He wants to brag about his new little buddy and flex that he's got the new fun cool person to hang around with. There's no hesitation, no second thoughts, he just shows up one day like "HEY FUCKERS LOOK WHAT I FOUND!! THEY ARE STRANGE AND STICKY BUT I STILL LOVE THEM!" Only for your child to just be sitting there shitting bricks because oh my god look at the size of that guy- Hey is that a caveman?? They eventually just sorta accept that Kosho is just going to show up at some points in time, and he may or may not be accompanied by a small borderline feral child, and that they may or may not have to endure (happily so) their shenanigans (talking about dinosaurs and about how cool they think all the fighters are).

Sibling? Yeah, nah, sorry kiddo. He's not too interested in having his own kids, and he's a bit worried about having another kid only for them to wind up going through a "I HATE MY OLDER SIBLING!!" phase that he went through with Kureha, not realizing that he is the exception and not the norm. It'll take a long time for him to realize that as well, but seeing the two of you interact if you're siblings does help him slowly start to figure it out. He might warm up to the idea down the line, but he's initially very against the idea and will outright deny ever wanting kids. He might never change his mind, because one might just be enough for him.

They 100% call him therizinosaurus. He cuts stuff with his nails, the connection gets made almost immediately. Does he enjoy being called a dinosaur? Not really, no. Does he appreciate the effort that was put into finding the right one that suits him? Absolutely, so they can call him a therizinosaurus all they want, he won't stop them. He never really gets the point of it, but he does appreciate their knowledge and will actively encourage their interests with random cool dinosaur things that he happens to find, be it while he's out on some adventure training or if he's getting groceries. Eventually he starts learning about dinosaur stuff against his will and just accepts that this is his life now.

Kureha:

He's not awkward per se, but he isn't super fond of kids, especially not loud energetic ones. He might warm up to them eventually if they are more energetic, but only be assured it's because they matter so much to you. He'll never admit that he was nervous before meeting them though, there's no way he'll ever tell you that he feared a young child holding the potential to ruin his relationship simply because they didn't like him. He played really nice with them for the first few months, and then he started being himself a bit more. They either get along just fine or they constantly butt heads about some things, either way, it's a playfully bitchy relationship where they give each-other a hard time to show that they care about each-other.

They will never have to worry about long wait times to get checked out for anything. Runny nose? Kureha's got it. Sore knee? He's got that too. Kureha is fully willing to spoil the living daylights out of this kid and he makes that very clear. They want dinosaur stuff? They get an exclusive tour of the paleontology wing of a museum and they get to raid the gift-shop for souvenirs after. Not feeling well? They've got doctors notes on demand. Lord help whoever manages to upset them, because Shinogi can and will give them the worst health scare of their lives. You've got a cough? Well, we took a chest x-ray and we found some weird spots so we'd better check for something more serious!

Kureha hangs around Jack often enough that eventually you'll just wind up adopting him into the family as some sort of uncle. If the kid struggled with bullies before, then the second Jack goes to pick them up from school that is over. They now have the cool massive scary uncle and the cunty scary father figure who just so happens to be a doctor. They literally can't do anything because if Kureha complains to their parents it's all over for them, especially since he's so well respected in the medical field. Otherwise, a quick call to Jack for a quick favor can really get things moving in the right direction.

Would he bring them around the arena? Not likely. He'll introduce them to Tokugawa, his brother and Jack, but the others aren't likely to meet them unless they happen to run into you all in public or at the hospital when you're visiting Kureha. Them coming around the arena wouldn't be likely until they're much older, like in their late teens or early twenties simply because he doesn't want to have to patch them up because they gain an interest in fighting. ESPECIALLY if Pickle is around. Jack, Katsumi and Retsu weren't the hardest to patch up, but it's not something he wants to do for someone that he's supposed to help raise.

They can ask him for a sibling all they want, his answer isn't likely to change from a firm no. Now if you want a kid, that's a different answer entirely, and it's more of a conversation he's willing to have because you're both adults and that's the healthy thing to do, but a kid asking him to bring another kid into the world? That's an automatic no. He doesn't even really want kids of his own simply because of how his family is (thank you Iya for the lovely lovely Shinogi brothers HCs I love you pookie) but he's open to at least talking about it and thinking about it for longer than five seconds. That being said, if he does agree for whatever reason, then he's going to be an absolute bitch about it, even if he was the one to initiate obtaining said child.

He expects to be nicknamed after some glorious majestic dinosaur, and then the kid hits him with the Synosauropteryx and he just needs to sit down for a few minutes when he finally looks the lil guy up only to realize that the only reason they chose that one in particular was because he's got red hair. It's a devastating realization for him, but please wait to bring out the chihuahua comparison, because he'll go from devastated to murderous in about half a second and you will NOT be able to outrun him. Pointing out that he's then proving you right will simply make him even angrier, and you will 100% wind up duct-taped to the ceiling, your kid will help him.

Retsu:

This man is a MOTHER. He is a MOTHER! He knows how to handle kids and he does so very well! How and where did he learn how to do all of this? No idea! He didn't help raise other kids, as a matter of fact, he was pretty much an only child the entire time he was growing up, but he does remember how he was raised. Despite him being a mother, don't be overly shocked if you come home one day and he's taught them how to kick a hole in the wall (that was not intentional and he doesn't know how to make them stop please help he is scared) and then there are also the random skills that they also learn from him passively. There's no fear, they almost instantly both click with each-other, the vibes are immaculate, it's like finding peace for the first time.

Retsu is nothing if not loyal to his loved ones. They want something? They've got it, and if he can't get it for them, then he knows someone that can get it for them in almost no time at all. Having his connections, stuff like that is child's play. They want an archeologist at their birthday party to tell them about their most interesting dig? Why not go to the actual dig site and help out? He can get that organized, he promises, just give him a few weeks to get all the ducks in a row, and he'll make this the best damn birthday party they've ever seen. How is he going to top it next year? Don't know, but he will. You just gotta trust the process!

He might take them back to the temple he was born and raised in to go meet some of the other Chinese Kempo practitioners he grew up with, though he doesn't really want to take them to meet Kaiou Kaku and his family, simply because he'd rather not put them in the potential path to be judged and treated poorly, as the old man can be pretty prejudiced, though he doesn't really have much to worry about because Kaiou Kaku is a father, grandfather and great grandfather, so he's used to kids not sharing his interests and is actually decently chill about that. It's a large family that, upon learning that Retsu has taken in this child, will do anything to protect them.

He'd be torn between bringing them to the arena or just keeping them introduced to a few people that he's close to, like Tokugawa and the Orochi family, though he might eventually just bring them with him because they pester him enough. He's decently protective and might be weary of Jack and Baki getting close to them simply because of Yujiro being... Well, Yujiro, but eventually he does give in and they wind up rough-housing with one of the brothers or Katsumi while he does something else, like fighting so they don't have to see him whooping ass. Though he does wind up absolutely thrilled that the others would care for his adopted child this much and he'll tell you as much with a big emotional smile and a tear in his eyes. You'll have to comfort him a little, he's easily made emotional.

A SIBLING?!? MY WORD!! Why are they asking HIM this question?! (He's stunned and shocked and oh my word he is appalled and doesn't at all realize that this means they see him as a parent and obviously parents are the ones who have kids right?) He's not really sure how to react other than a flustered and desperate request for your help please god he doesn't know what he's doing please help him. Once he calms down and thinks for a second though, he gets it, really he does. He's open to the idea as long as you're both stable enough in your lives to bring another one into the family. He's going to be just as good of a parental figure to this one, he promises, and honestly, he's one of the few people you can trust when he says that.

He doesn't mind being nicknamed after a dinosaur, he's actually highly flattered because of it and is incredibly proud when he gets to witness their knowledge firsthand! All of those late nights staying up with them to figure out what the coolest dinosaurs are were definitely worth it, because the one time he asks what dinosaur they think he is he gets hit with "Oh! You're definitely a Tarbosaurs!" A ruthless and efficient predator, thought to be a dedicated parent? That sums him up perfectly! He's got no problem calling them his little tarbosaurus either, even going as far as to learn as much as he can so he can occasionally drop interesting facts onto your childs head and watch them light up in excitement and delight.

Doppo:

He's done this before, he's willing to do it again. Younger kids are a bit of a challenge because he adopted Katsumi at a bit older, but he doesn't mind, he adapts quick. That and he's got a bunch of eager students that either know someone or are someone that works with kids and can do whatever he needs them to when it comes to child care. If he's busy for whatever reason, he knows that either Katsumi or one of the hired babysitters have them covered, especially if it's a date night. Katsumi's a bit old to be expecting a new sibling, but that won't stop Doppo. Truth be told, he did enjoy fatherhood and having someone looking up to him with that child-like wonder and amazement, so the first time he meets them he wants to immediately hit them with a wow-factor. And the fun part is that it works! Enjoy peace and quiet for the next six hours, because Doppo's got this covered! Go take a nap or get your nails done, you'll find them tuckered out and ready for a nap of their own when you get back.

Devoted and loyal aren't nearly enough to describe Doppo. You need him on the PTA? He's there, and he's getting things done! His name carries weight, and he uses that to his full advantage if he needs to. He did it for Katsumi, and he knows for a fact that the teachers and parents still at that school remember how he ruled the PTA with an iron fist, though he was always hidden in the background. They want to go to a museum with dinosaurs? He's organizing a field trip for the entire grade, and of course he's there as a chaperone to supervise and get some quality dad time in, just like he did with Katsumi when he was at the age where he didn't realize that that's what Doppo was doing.

He definitely is not letting Yujiro get wind of this one. That's the last thing he needs. This child is peaceful, interested in things like dinosaurs and learning, The Ogre would eat them alive, and there's no way he would ever let that happen. Baki is safe, Jack is a maybe, but Yujiro? Definitely a no. Absolutely not. If he sees him while out in public he's distancing himself from you and the kid just to be sure that you don't look associated with him in the slightest. He's not playing games, you and your kid will be safe no matter what, and if it means having you be whisked away by someone he knows to go back home and wait out Yujiro being... Well, his awful self, then that's simply going to be a factor. He'll let you know about that upfront though, so you know what you're getting into.

Oh he does bring them around the arena when he knows Yujiro isn't in the country. He's reluctant around Jack, but Shibukawa, Retsu and Tokugawa? They all meet his new kid, and they all weep because oh my god, they're so cute, and so clever!!! Tokugawa hopes that they'll become a fighting prodigy, much like Katsumi, but it only takes him about a month to accept that they don't really have an interest in that. They will learn Karate, because of course, Doppo wants to bond with them in his own little way and make sure they know how to defend themselves, so eventually someone will say that dinosaurs are boring and Doppo will bring them home crying laughing because someone said dinosaurs were stupid and they karate chopped them in the leg because they're wrong dinosaurs are cool don't be a dummy. Bonus points if it's some big showy fighter was trying to act hard and cool that immediately shut down once he got slapped.

A sibling? They already have a sibling! Katsumi is right there! They want a younger one? Well hell, Doppo's already in his fifties! It's a bit late to think about having another one, but yet again, if you ask real nicely he might consider it. In all seriousness though, he doubts that they'll need another sibling, they, as well as Katsumi, are more than enough for him, but if you say you want to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, he doesn't mind helping you achieve that goal. ;)

Oh he doesn't mind getting nicknamed after a dinosaur! As a matter of fact, he's entirely pleased by it. Especially when they decide that the perfect nickname for him was triceratops. Big, strong and intimidating. If he was a more insecure man, he'd be worried that he was scaring his new kid, but no, he knows that they feel safe around him. They wouldn't give him a nickname if they didn't! He wears his nickname as a badge of honor, and proudly brags about being seen as strong by his children. Katsumi might give him a hard time about it, but he's just jealous that Doppo got a cool nickname first.

[what-is-love-babey-dont-hurt-me]

He’s a work in progress still but I wanted to share the first pass of his completed look so badly X)

I’ve had Sir Meteor in progress since August 2023, if you want to see the progress it will be under the read more!

Sir Meteor’s story starts with my fist kirby OC I made, Terra Knight! I won’t talk about him too much except that I knew from early on he had a older brother. TK originally has a skull mask in his very early concepts, but then I learned Axe Knight existed, and they looked too similar. I shelved the concept for a while until I had more ideas.

In August 2023, I started to sketch out allosaurus skulls because I had wanted to revisit the concept and thought maybe I would redesign Terra Knight to have a dinosaur skull mask. It did not happen, but that planted the seed.

In November, I had been struck with inspiration and started doodling. The name is very important to the lore of my OCs and is very deliberate, so once I figured out the name for Sir Meteor, a lot of elements fell into place instantly!!

This is the first time I gave Meteor colors, and I also put him next to his siblings so they would look cohesive. Me mentioning how he doesn’t even have shoes yet is foreshadowing.

In the following day, I sketched him more to get a feeling for his design!!

The most notable thing about this is probably 1.) here I cemented the twin-tail cape because it looks like the tail of a comet and 2.) since it looked like a comet, I wanted the pauldron to include a star somehow

Also fun fact!!! The shape of his horns is directly inspired by Triceratops horns!!

Which led to the designing of his pauldrons later in November!

I ended up combining elements of the first and third design because together they would look like shooting stars!

This is also when I decided on giving him the four pointed star blushing! Around this time I posted a sketch of Meta Knight with star blushes and I wanted to include more fun blush shapes. Also the four pointed star is a subtle Galacta Knight reference! Sir Meteor is genuinely old, prehistoric even, and he comes from that time period, and I wanted the star shapes to reflect that

After this I was stuck. I was extremely stuck and could not figure out how to design his shoes. Since everything else was so themed, it had to mean the shoes had to match as well. I wanted to keep the prehistoric/star themes, going strong. I tried a few times to give him plain armor but it did not look correct at all!

I took a few months to think about it. Another important thing is that whatever shoe I drew had to look good and cohesive with AND without his skull mask. It was hard to balance but yesterday (21 February) I began to cook.

On the sketch page, you can see how the thought process evolved from the top of the page downwards. You can see the “haha drawing smiles with sharp teeth- oh wait a minute hold on” happen in real time.

On the page on the right, is when I finally designed his shoes!!! THE EVIL IS DEFEATED!!!!

This character is so heavily themed and I thought about it so much. So. Much. If anyone actually read this breakdown you deserve a gold star thank you for listening to my insane, several month long thought process. I’m so proud of him for a reason. Now I need to finalize the colors and stuff but for now enjoy!

EDIT: while making Meteor’s reference, i also went through a LOT of altered color pallets.

[askthelightsides]

Virgil do you have any song recommendations for when you're anxious?

V: I do actually, yeah. I mean it changes? Depending on where I am in the panic process? Like if I’m starting to feel anxious sometimes I’ll listen to really loud stuff to try to block everyone out, including myself. If I’m already in a the anxiety attack though, I have a playlist of stuff that usually calms me down. I know Logan tried to get me to listen to like classic or lowfi when I’m spiraling, but that doesn’t work for me personally. I need lyrics to latch onto otherwise my anxiety just has a soundtrack…if that makes sense. I don’t know if it does.

The lyrics don’t even really need to make sense every time, sometimes it’s just the vibe of the sound or even just how it sounds in headphones. There are certain songs that are mixed to like wrap around you? I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore. So yeah…I have that. Isn’t not really the usual music I listen to, and actually some of them are songs that I only listen to when I’m trying to calm down so they’ll like trigger that in my brain? It doesn’t always work, but then again what does am I right?

There are two that aren’t on Spotify, so I’ll I guess I’ll put them here. This one is from a cartoon series that is…a lot, but this song calms me down. Even though I guess it’s a little depressing.

And then this might for some reason be the song that calms me down the most??? This and the Steven universe one. I don’t know why. It’s from this show called Puppet History that Logan showed me. It’s a duet between the meteor that called the dinosaurs and the creatures on the ground and that should be upsetting and not make me feel better but somehow it does…I got nothing.

[sibillascribbles08]

Here have another one

ID under the cut

[ID: A compilation of images into one. The text at the top of it reads, "No Context Another Crab's Treasure Spoilers." Images described from left to right, one row at a time. The first picture is a red box of Cap'n Crunch. The second image is part of a screenshot of a text conversation where the grey bubbles read: "RISE. RISE. RISE. Where's your anger? Where's your fucking rage?" The third image is a picture of the Rock Bottom sign from Spongebob. The fourth is the Monopoly Man. The fifth is a screenshot from Spongebob where Mr. Krabs says, "Hello, I like money." Starting on the second row is a faded out stock photo of a preacher with a toilet paper roll edited onto his head. The second image is the golden ratio swirl in front of a blue background. The third image is a roller from Splatoon. The fourth is a screenshot of the moon from Majora's Mask. The fifth image is a photograph of a peacock mantis shrimp attacking another crustacean with aggressive text in the corner that says, "VS." On the final row are two images on top of each other. The upper one is a ruined sandcastle. The one below it is a clipart image of a crab with an arrow going around. The text on the picture reads, "The Crab Cycle. There is only one step. And it is crab." The second image is the meme of a spider crab blasting another crab with lasers from its eyes. And the third and final image in the picture is the edited image of the meteor striking the dinosaurs and one dinosaur says, "Oh shit! The economy!" End ID.]