#there's a species of bird called a swallow

[andy-clutterbuck]

[herpsandbirds]

I have a friend who likes to see pictures of bright coloured birds when they are sad and your blog is the first place I go when I need to find coloured bird pics to make them less sad thank you for your service I hope you see many birds irl and have some of your favourite food to eat

Hey there, thank you.

I'm glad the birds help improve their mood.

I'm going out to Utah (Arches and Canyonlands) in a couple of weeks, and here are a few birds I'm hoping to see...

Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana), male, family Cardinalidae, southern Arizona, USA

Though it is called a tanager, this species is actually in the cardinal family.

photograph by jc_wings

Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina), family Hirundinidae, order Passeriformes, Idaho, USA

photograph by Darren Clark

[twomiddlefingersforthehaters]

Orochimaru calls Sasuke a "ひよっこ = Hiyoko". ひよっこ which means newbie. ひよっこ derives from the word 「ひよこ」 which means Chick.

Snakes are certainly experts at preying on bird eggs and hatchlings. They can dash into nests, swallow whole eggs, or wrap around the chicks/baby birds and crush them to death. With their elongated body, sharp teeth, striking speed, and venom, birds will have no escape when these slimy predators select them as prey. Some larger snake species have been seen preying on hawks, especially when the birds are nesting or otherwise defenseless on the ground.

Some hawk species are specialized in hunting, catching, killing, and eating snakes. Hawks possess defenses, including sharp talons, strong beaks, keen eyesight, and agile flight maneuvers. Since it has keen eyesight, it can spot a snake from far up in the sky. On seeing a snake, the bird swoops down and catches it with its extremely sharp and powerful talons. While some snakes die upon being attacked with the talons. Then, the hawk will often fly off with the snake to feed on it somewhere else.

In here, Sasuke was a hatchling hawk, so it was easy for Orochimaru to manipulate him. Just like Sasuke says: “If I weren't a baby bird/chick you wouldn't have come near me, right? Itachi was too much for you/impossible for you, so you chose a chick, right? ”

Sasuke (Literal): “A snake squirming on the ground dreaming about flying up into the sky. An impossible dream for you. Regardless of that you went after the chick in the nest, but now you find yourself as the prey. I'm going to soar into the sky...like the eyes of a hawk ”

The word usage Sasuke used in here is the Japanese idiom: 鷹の目 ("taka no me"), literally meaning "eyes of a hawk".

This is from Japanese idiom ``Uno-me, Taka-no-me''. This is used as a figure of speech to indicate that ``cormorant'' and ``hawk'' are both ``birds'' that are associated with hunting prey, and ``with a sharp gaze as if aiming for prey.'' This idiomatic expression means : eyes of a predator, keen eyes, eyes of a cormorant, eyes of a hawk.

Birds have extremely good eyesight, and the eyesight of cormorants and hawks, which are able to detect and capture small, fast-moving prey, is many times better than that of humans. when they search for prey, their eyes are full of what is now known as ``powerful eyes/piercing eyes,'' and if the target were to look into those eyes, they would have a chilling effect. They will feel scared.

This proverb is also used to refer to the look in someone's eyes when trying to find faults or weaknesses in someone else. When animals hunt, they generally target the easiest to catch when there is more than one prey. The easiest prey is usually the one that is slow or lagging behind the pack, or the one that has some other disadvantage or weakness. A good hunter, such as a cormorant or hawk, does not miss its prey, but captures it without fail. This is why "the eye of the cormorant and the eye of the hawk" has come to refer to the way they look for rough edges by observing their prey.

Just like how Sasuke waited and observed for his prey's (Orochimaru) weakness and attacked him. Even Oro was surprised "I've never seen such a transformation before", it mean that Sasuke was training for that "transformation (chidori variants)" by himself without telling Orochimaru.

Sasuke was once a baby hawk...who was targeted by a snake. The snake trained him...as he was looking forward to that day when he finally achieve what he wants. But it turned out to be an impossible dream for him…. because now the baby hawk transformed into a matured hawk who targets the snake instead. Hawk soaring high above the sky, using their exceptional vision to spot its potential prey and descending rapidly toward its prey. Here, Snake (Orochimaru) goes from predator to prey when the hawk (Sasuke) flips the script. He's a matured hawk now, one who's capable of defending itself from the "snake".

[sanctus-ingenium]

What role/niche do dragons fulfill in their environment? Or, if that is [secret]/redacted/Unknown [by universe parameters], are there other, smaller beasts - creatures not within our world, but common in theirs?

I've been meaning to draw a lot of these for a while now and this was a nice prompt thank you :)

Dragons support a large and surprisingly diverse community of animals. The primary producers are the unique photosynthetic cyanobacteria which are found lining the transparent flotation sacs of cloud fleas. 'Cloud fleas' can refer to any type of airborne zooplankton - that is, animals which do not actively fly but rather drift. Pictured is a daphnia type but there are a few others. The bacteria produce lighter than air gases as a byproduct of photosynthesis as well as nutrients for their hosts. The daphnia type pictured retain their large claws and use them to cling onto other individuals, sometimes producing really large structures which can form fantastic shapes at times. This is how they reproduce also (unlike in the water, they can't just externally fertilise eggs because gravity exists)

When they aggregate in large numbers (swarms reaching billions and billions of individuals), they become easy prey for dragons. The dragons capture the fleas using a dense array of rictal bristles. Living in and among the bristles are the monkey birds, a unique species of flightless bird which act as kleptoparasites, stealing the clumps of fleas bound up in dragon mucous before they can be transported to the dragon's mouth. The bristles are so dense that in order to get in there where the fleas are most concentrated, you wouldn't be able to fly. They spend their lives clinging among the bristles with their feet and wing claws, and they make their nests out of woven strands of mucous. New individuals join the birds' colonies when dragons are mating and their bristles come into contact with one another. Bird populations are controlled by hive serpents, who pick them off for a nice snack.

Barnacles and other filter-feeders are common on the windward-facing side of the dragon (what you'd call the front of the dragon). These do not harm the dragons and offer not much useful food for serpents while being very annoying to eat so they're usually left to their own devices.

The vampire chiton exoparasites can be found basically all over a dragon. They find a piece of cuticle that is thin enough to pierce and drill their siphons down into it to suck the watery connective tissue beneath. They are about a foot long and the main food source for hive serpents.

The serpents themselves are mammals. Nearly every dragon hosts a hive. Despite spending most of their lives on their hosts, they are quite strong fliers; they need to be, in order for the young queens to set out to make their own hives. The 'hive' consists of a reproductive pair and 20-50 of their offspring, with the queen being 1.5x larger than the others and by far the most aggressive. They have one tooth, a single elongated tusk which is used like a crowbar to lever the chitons off the dragon's cuticle. When working on the underside of a dragon, it takes a certain amount of skill to catch the chiton before it falls away. The serpent's neck and legs are very strong to produce enough force to dislodge a chiton, which are often so deeply attached that a human with a pickaxe would struggle to knock one off. The chiton is swallowed whole, and the shell digested.

Serpents viciously defend their dragons, controlling parasite populations and fighting off and attacking humans or large metal creatures they perceive as a threat. The name 'serpent' is given to them in the Mezian theocracy because they are associated with sin; hive serpents can be among the most dangerous combatants a holy beast might face. When the dragon has been killed, its serpents will flee and, more often than not, restart their hive on the ground if they aren't killed first. Outside of the theocracy, humans do raise serpents and use them for various tasks - a baby queen is taken from the wild (by killing every other hive member) and raised to imprint on humans. If their diets are not heavily supplemented with calcium carbonate, they fail to thrive.

[fishenjoyer1]

Fish of the Day

Today's fish of the day is the muskellunge!

The muskellunge, also called a musky, lunge, ski, and scientific name Esox masquinongy, is known for being the largest species of pike. Muskellunge can be found around the rivers of Michigan, specifically the Great Lakes region, Canadian waters, St Lawrence River, and around the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys. Outside of their natural range, they can also be found around the Tennessee river, South Carolina rivers, and as far South as Upper Georgia, where they are kept stocked intentionally for recreational fishing. They live around clean and clear waters with little silt, preferring to surround themselves with aquatic vegetation and weeds. This is because they tend to lurk near weedy shores and rocky outcroppings, although they can be found in deeper waters during the summer.

The diet of the muskie is made up primarily of other fish, although they will also eat: frogs, water birds, rats, and other animals that can be found in and around their environments. On rare occasions, muskellunge have been reported attacking dogs and children They attack other animals in an ambush, where the muskie will swiftly bite and swallow, not allowing any time for prey to fight back or escape. They can get as large as 50 inches in length, but there are claims of fish getting as large as 6ft. They have few predators, only large birds, such as bald eagles, other larger muskellunge or pike, and human fishing. With human fish thought to be the cause of their declining numbers.

Similar to other pikes, the muskellunge form small schools, and will claim territories that they fiercely defend, only becoming more aggressive during the breeding season. They spawn in the spring, like other pike, finding clean rocks or sandy bottomed rivers to lay their eggs. Spawning is only around a week to two weeks in length, and eggs are abandoned almost immediately. Once born, juveniles are only a few cm in length, but can get as large as 12 inches by their first year of life, and can get as old as 12-18 years.

That's the muskie fish, have a good day, everyone!

[moonbaby26]

As we know, Oda made the original seven warlords all animal themed. With Doflamingo -duh- being a flamingo 🦩💖. But in this post I wanted to add the additional reasons I find it funny that my favorite warlord is indeed, a bird. Because most birds are chaotic, evil trainwrecks if you didn’t know! Do not be fooled by their elegant propaganda of the American bald eagle, peacock, and such.

Far more bird species are of the hissing/unpredictable/possessive/oversexed/homicidal/drama queen variety.

And as part of my example, I will be introducing my pet cockatiel! He is a male, lutino color variant. I took him to the avian vet recently to get a quick nail trim (he treats my arm like a bloodied ski slope with his little feet razors otherwise).

The likeness is uncanny, right? Spiked up blond hairdo and all. 🤣

But here is my rambling list below of why Doflamingo fits the bird theming beyond just his aesthetics. Note, all species are different. These are just generalities.

1. Birds are needy, attention whores. Realistically, this comes from wanting the attention and safety of their flock. And my bird gets plenty of out of cage time with us. But oh my god, sometimes if he hears me so much as sneeze and he can’t see me…WHY AM I IN THE HOUSE, BUT NOT WITH HIM!? WHY!? RED ALERT. He starts flock calling for me, and I must respond with at least a whistle or he will begin screaming. Because surely, someone must be murdering me if I don’t come to him immediately.

2. They are complete horndogs. Seriously, everyone thinks humping inappropriate things is a male dog exclusive problem. Nope. There are professional bird behaviorists that people literally pay to come teach them how to calm their pet birds’ sexual aggression and the nightmare that can become. You have to be mindful of how you interact with them, lest they start thinking YOU are their mate and begin attacking anyone else in the house who is not you. Because they are jealous. So jealous. I only pet/preen my bird on his head. As that is perfectly platonic flock behavior. But touching anywhere else (back or chest for example) can make them think it’s sexy time. Male birds will hump the utter hell out of “favorite” objects. Birds kept with others must be monitored that no one is getting ganged up on. But it happens in the wild too. Female ducks need pepper spray or self defense classes. I’ll just leave it at that.

3. They are murderous/violent, and easily overstimulated. So my bird weighs around 80 grams give or take. As an adult human, he’s not going to take me down anytime soon. But if he wanted to, he likely could bite me hard enough to go to the bone. He never has truly bitten me, but I watch his body language. He runs up wanting to be petted. Or sits on me long enough that he falls asleep. He likes to be together, but always on his terms. If I touched him too much, or when he didn’t want it, he’d definitely bite me. People have lost eyes to larger birds. People have had to have reconstructive surgery from parrot bites. They can crush whole nuts in their beak. So what do you think they’ll do to your face when they are sitting on your shoulder and suddenly get triggered (which they very easily are)? Humans have been drowned by swans. And forget it when it comes to something like the Cassowary. You’re already dead if they really wanted you to be.

4. They are opportunistic. Oh look, more murder! People think only birds of prey are the true meat eaters. But a pelican would eat you if it thought it could swallow you. Even the smallest birds have been observed killing other birds and small mammals if they can. Food is food. They are not cute to their victims. They are survivalists. No mercy. Ever. Some baby birds actually eat their own nestmates if one sibling is stronger than the others (sorry Rosi, there really was a precedent for that 😰).

5. They are territorial. And still more murder! In my own yard we have birdhouses made for Eastern bluebirds. They’re a species that legit benefits from human intervention as bluebirds will only nest in cavities, which they have less of now because of deforestation and competition with non native species taking said cavities. Non native species (for the US anyway) of the European house sparrow in particular. House sparrows are tiny. Smaller than a bluebird. But they will slaughter a bluebird family. All over territory during breeding season. They enter the bluebird nest and will peck even the adult bluebirds to death if they can catch them on the nest. They killed a male bluebird of ours this way. Now we put up “sparrow spookers” on our active bluebird nests once eggs are in the box. It’s just mylar streamers that blow in the wind, and the sparrows are afraid to fly through it. But every breeding season we have to go through this again. Basically Riku dynasty versus Donquixote dynasty in our backyard with the invading house sparrows.

And I could go on and on really, about greed, mood swings, vanity, etc. But you get the idea now. Murder, sex, and bright plumage. Heavy emphasis on the murder especially. He really is a bird in every sense of the word. 😅

Edit: Oh! And I forgot grudges! Some birds will hold a grudge for ages. Just ask a crow. I thought my bird would be over my betrayal of the vet visit by today. Nah. He’s still pissed. He won’t come to me right now. He fakes me out to offer my hand to him, then says, nah, bitch! And opens his mouth like he rather bite. It’ll be a few days I guess. 🤣 Never betray a Donquixote!

[lilacargent]

At it again, from another angle this time.

‘Old’ weapons. Or at least redundant, as a species traverses into space the new technology makes an old gun or even older sword/arrow/spear and so on useless and nearly powerless. The new weapons are ‘ray this’ and ‘beam that’ ‘plasma so and so’ .

Ofcourse this makes sense, the energy based weapons are far less wasteful and lighter, easier to carry and easier to handle. No need to sharpen weapons with a plasma blade and even then, why use close quarters weapons if you have access to stun, kill or poison rays and many more.

On top of that many civilisations prefer to forget their less then stellar past and make analog weapons obsolete. When the humans joined the council many expected them to do the same. They didn’t, production stopped yes, but interested people could still partake in lessons and the old fashioned ways were shown off in museums. Training to be part of a spaceship crew still included lessons in their old weapons as an opportunity to be prepared for going to “newer” worlds.

So with that in mind i have a few little vignettes ideas and for ease’ sake its gonna be on the same ship, the Serpentine.

Important crew:

Primoz, captain -Limoyh a four armed species-

Krag, second in command (brother of Primoz)

Kit, dokter -avian, bird like, she has feathers like a swallow-

Ortez, ASR (all species resources, human resources in space) -kiltak, insectoid species, think ants but exoskeleton-

Lugea, helmsperson (does the steering) -rock like alien-

Artex, engineer/mechanic 1 -also Kiltak-

And then our humans:

Kamari, navigator -Eritrean woman- (has cat named Sidra)

Markus, weapons expert (knows how to use them and upkeep, also shields) -Swedish man-

Petrus, mechanic/engineer 2 -Italian man-

Lilly, administrator/note keeper (learns languages for fun)-english woman-

Yes i know all of this could have also been accomplished by saying they are all from America… nope this is more fun. This is under the assumption that to get into the joint academy for space faring you need to be able to speak and write English.

Obviously there are more people on the ship but these are most important

~~~~~~~~

1. Sparring

Ortez was having a good day, the serpentine had left port and was making good progress toward their next destination on w-kl-18, referred to as deltax by it’s residents, for a routine drop off.

In port on Unity (the planet where the council resides and the universal court is) they picked up the final crew members among who a ‘team’ of humans. Pre bonded humans were supposed to be less chaos inducing and easier bonded with the rest of the crew. Ortez was rather happy the captain listened to him on this matter.

The humans had been more diverse than he expected and were currently what they called ‘settling in’. He was on his way to the rooms they had.

‘Stop it please we’ve been here less than 4 hours!’ The soft voice he recognises as Lilly’s is barely audible over the loud clanging sounds. Rounding the corner Ortez sees a terrifying scene. The two human males locked together with two sticks made of metal baring teeth at each other, with a push the olive skinned man, he remembers is called Petrus, breaks the hold and goes in low swiping at the tall mans legs making Markus fall over.

Ortez is about to intervene when without a sound the dark skinned leader of the group seemingly appears without a sound behind him and runs into the fray with a similar stick.

Whacking Petrus stick away from Markus’ throat she steps inbetween “stop it. You’re scaring our ASR. We want to make a good impression remember.” The men look right at him and both put down the sticks, Markus puts his hand up in a ‘wave’ “sorry about that, Ortez it was right? We were just sparring.’ Moving further into the room he uncurls his front two claws tapping at the metal poles “sparring with this? We usually only do body to body training, this seems rather old.” Petrus speaks up to that “ah yes those are old earth weapons, we like keeping up a bit of skill with several kinds as a side activity. Don’t worry tho, we train with blunt weapons.”

Not entirely appeased the insectoid looks to the imposing woman, who seems entirely at ease even though two people had been fighting. When she caught his eyes, she smiled that terrible toothy grin “truly don’t worry, like Petrus said they are blunt and it is a way for us to let of some steam and keep in shape. But next time we’ll do it in the training rooms… right boys?” Pinning the two men with withering stares they nodded quickly.

Ortez did not know humans released steam, but he felt right now was not the moment to go into that. Saying his goodbye he skittered to inform the captain.

This was bound to be interesting.

~~~~~~~~~~~

2. “The Roman empire”

“So you are telling me that at any given moment you could be thinking about a several thousand years old society that no longer exists and it would surprise nobody?” Artex was perplexed, when he and Petrus were working on the reactor core Lilly had wandered through and mentioned this old civilisation sparking heated debate. She thought the greeks were far more interesting but Petrus had been unmoved by her arguments. The other man speaks while pushing some buttons “well yea, the empire made great strides and amazing structures, Lilly just prefers the mythos of the greek while i enjoy the focus on millitary prowess.” Shrugging he looks up “don’t you guys have something like that?” Artex stretches his legs, all 6 of them in a wave like motion “not really, when change happened the history books were changed to make it seem like it was always that way” the human makes eye contact “wait so how do you know how to play -old civilisation- as a kid? We play fought with wooden sticks, wooden swords and branches we cut to look like guns…” that horrofied the insectoid, raised with violence like it was a normal thing.

Almost like they never left their dark ages

~~~~~~~~~~~~

3. Whats in a name (bit off topic but the idea just kinda happened)

Te very first time the humans were introduced to their new crew there was a bit of a hiccup. When Kamari introduced herself they looked up a bit confused but went further down the row. After Lilly they came back around and referred to Kamari as moon. Now Kamari recognised the strange look, they had translators that only had basic human translation, which means that her name “Kamari” which comes from Arabic and is a word for moon/soft glow of the moon, is translated fully but not as name so when they speak to her it translates out of their language to English which would be moon. This is luckily easily fixed with an update, but it was something that stil spoke of how new the human race was to the cosmos.

Her cat Sidra made them laugh as that means Star so she was the moon with her star.

(Random thought about how multiple human languages could screw with translations)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soooooo kinda had a 4th story that is pretty sad but also bad ass, but this is getting too long already

Imma write that in a new post over the coming days

Hopefully people like this, if you have prompts you’d like to see with this crew feel free to ask.

[bethanythebogwitch]

Wet Beast Wednesday: leatherback sea turtle

When most people think of big turtles they think of the giant tortoises of the Galapagos. Those may be the biggest land turtles., but in the water, life can get bigger. Much like how whales get bigger than any land mammal, the viscous and buoyant properties of water helping counteract gravity lets sea turtles get bigger than their land counterparts. This Wet Beast Wednesday I'm discussing the largest of all turtles, the mighty leatherback.

(Image: a leatherback sea turtle swimming just below the ocean's surface. It is a very large turtle with ridges running down its shell and its front and hind legs modified into large, paddle-like flippers. It is dark gray all over, with white spots. End ID)

Leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) is not only the largest turtle, it's the heaviest of all living reptiles that aren't crocodilians. Adults average 1.8-2.2 m (6-7.2 ft) in length and 250-700 kg (550-1,540) lbs, with some variation in size based on region. Leatherbacks are the only living members of the family Dermochelyidae while the other 6 living species are all in the family Cheloniidae. This gives leatherbacks multiple anatomical differences from other sea turtles. One of these differences gives the leatherbacks their common names. Instead of a bony shell made of scutes, their shells are made of thick, oily and leathery skin that is embedded with small bony growths called osteoderms. The thick skin and osteoderms provide protection and allow pressure to distribute across the shell, making the shells highly resistant to being bitten trhough and highly resistant to cracking. Seven prominent ridges run down the length of the shell. The shape of the shell makes leatherbacks the most hydrodynamic of all sea turtles. The shell's shape and structure provides it with a high resistance to pressure, useful as leatherbacks dive deeper than any other sea turtle.

(Image: a leatherback sea turtle seen from the front with its mouth open. The head has a beak instead of teeth and the interior of the mouth is fleshy and pink. End ID)

Leatherback sea turtles are powerful swimmers. Their powerful front flipper provide propulsion while the rear flippers are used for steering. The flippers can grow up to 2.7 m (8.9 ft) long, making them the largest of all sea turtles both in overall size and in relation to body size. Those flippers make the leatherback the fastest non-bird reptile, able to reach 35.3 km/h (21.9 mph), though they usually swim much slower. Of all the reptiles to be the fastest, I would never have guessed it would be a turtle. Leatherback beaks are fragile and not suited for biting through anything but soft-bodied animals, so they swallow most of their food whole. The throat is lined with backwards-facing spines that prevent prey from swimming back up the throat. While leatherbacks have scaly hides like other reptiles, they are the only reptile whose scales do not contain the structural protein beta-keratin.

(Image: the mouth of a leatherback being held open to reveal the interior. It is pink and fleshy and lined with backwards-pointing spikes. End ID)

Unlike most (non-bird) reptiles, leatherbacks maintain a core body temperature higher than the surrounding environment. It was formerly believed that this endothermy was established through an increased metabolism, though more recent measurements have establised that leatherbacks do not have a metabolic rate much higher than would be expected for a turtle of their size. It is now thought that body heat is maintained through heavy muscle activity. Leatherbacks are almost always actively swimming and spend at little as 0.1% of their day resting. By constantly swimming, their muscles generate heat. This body heat is then retained through a countercurrent heat exchange system that warms blood before it reaches the core and a thick layer of fat, allowing leatherbacks to inhabit water much colder than any other sea turtle.

(Image: a leatherback sea turtle on the beach, presumably a mother laying eggs. Multiple children are watching it and an adult is roping off the area around it to keep it safe. End ID)

Leatherback sea turtles are found worldwide and have the largest range of any turtle. Thanks to their high body heat, leatherbacks can live in waters as far north as Alaska and as far south as Aotearoa/New Zealand. Scientists have observed three genetically distinct populations, one in the Atlantic ocean and one each in the east and west Pacific Ocean. In addition, there are two other proposed populations, one in the Indian Ocean that is understudied and one in the South China Sea that is nearing extinction. They spend most of their lives in the open ocean, hunting prey. The primary prey of the leatherback sea turtle is jellyfish and they have to eat a lot of them to maintain their size. Other food sources include siphonophores, salps and pyrosomes, small fish, small crustaceans, and seagrass and seaweed. Leatherbacks play an important role in their environments by keeping jellyfish populations under control. Excessive jellyfish can overfeed on the plankton population, removing food sources for small animals and killing larval fish. A lot of jellyfish follow diel vertical migration; moving to deep water during the day and shallow water at night. Leatherbacks are adapted to follow their food and are among the deepest diving of all air-breathing marine animals, having been observed diving over 1,000 m (3281 ft) deep. Only sperm whales and beaked whales are known to dive deeper. Their high body temperature and shell structure allows leatherbacks to survive the frigid temperature and immense pressure of the deep sea. Dives can last up to 70 minutes, though most last from 3 - 8 minutes.

(Image: a leatherback sea turtle underwater, aiming downwards. End ID)

Leatherbacks migrate vast distances between their cold feeding grounds and the warm, tropical waters where they mate. Females may release pheromones into the water to attract males. Once a male find a female, he will attempt to woo her through head and flipper movements, nuzzling, and biting. When the female accepts, the two mate while in the water and then depart. Females must haul out of the water and onto shore to lay their eggs. Like other sea turtles, they tend to return to the beach of their birth, though they may also choose nearby beaches. Their preferred beaches have soft sand and a low angle of entry that face deep water. They also prefer beaches that have forests or dunes on the edge. Females lay eggs at night to avoid predators and overheating, but they have poor night vision. Thus, they prefer the forests and dunes to give a clear distinction between the moonlit ocean and the darkness at the edge of the beach. That way they can find they way onto shore by following the shadows and back to sea by following the light. Eggs must be laid above the high tide line and are buried in the sand. Females will mate multiple times each mating season and can lay a new clutch of eggs for each mating. An average clutch has 110 eggs, half of which will hatch. Eggs hatch in 60-70 days and the temperature of the sand around them determines whether the young will develop into males or females. In addition, eggs laid in colder sand usually develop into larger and more robust juveniles. Eggs hatch in groups during night and the hatchlings will follow moonlight reflected off of the water to find the ocean. During the trip to the water, many hatchlings will be lost to predation by opportunistic land predators and seabirds. Those who reach the water have a chance at survival, but are still preyed upon by squid, large fish, and sharks. Only a very few hatchlings will live long enough to reach adulthood.

(Image: a leatherback laying eggs. She has dug out a pit behind her and is releasing small, spherical, white eggs into it. End ID)

Leatherback sea turtles are classified as vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN, with some populations being more endangered than others. In particular, the east Pacific, west Pacific, southwest Indian, and southwest Atlantic subpopulations are listed as critically endangered, with the rest being either endangered or data deficient. Human activity is a major threat to the turtles. Leatherbacks can be caught as bycatch in nets or lines, leading to drowning and they are too large for some turtle safety mechanisms (like escape hatches on nets) to work. Pollution is also a major problem as floating plastic bags can be mistaken for jellyfish and swallowed. These bags can then obstruct the digestive system, ultimately killing the turtle. Another major problem is light pollution. Because hatchlings follow the brightest lights to reach the ocean, they can end up following artificial light instead of moonlight and end up moving away from the ocean instead of toward it. While adults are rarely caught for food, eggs are heavily harvested in southeast Asia and the Caribbean, where they are seen as delicacies or medicinal. It has been suggested that the population collapse in the South China Sea is largely due to overharvesting eggs for use in cuisine. Multiple countries around the world have given the turtles legal protection and local government and private agencies are aiding in turtle conservation through methods like helping juveniles reach the sea, artificial incubation of eggs, and raising awareness through ecotourism.

(Image: a hatchling leatherback. It is a miniature version of an adult and is climbing over other eggs, many of which are in the process of hatching. End ID)

[bittersweetresilience]

author's commentary part one

now that we've reached the end of the fic, i will finally explain the beginning.

i named this piece after 大鱼, a song whose title means big fish. in the fic, jing yuan references void songs twice, which i imagine are the sounds that void song whales make. if you remember, yukong talks about these whales in her visitor dialogue. they swim freely through the stellar seas while their sibling species on the luofu has disappeared into history.

whale songs. dream fish. the call of the void. the language of longing. to me, renjing.

author's imagery only the most important bits

the sky is freedom and departure, and it is jing yuan, eventually. the sea is the dissolution of the self and the thing that will swallow him, and it is yingxing. the lightning is the portent of death, but also the electricity of being in love. the wine is the representation of shared wishes and togetherness and history. the starskiffs are the memorials of the past and the vessels into the empyrean. the fire is desire and destruction. the ink is the color of blade's hair and the sincerity of the letters jing yuan writes. the bandages and the iron are blade and the violence of his existence. the paper birds are the fragility of jing yuan's memories, which cannot be buried. the nightclothes are the vulnerability he will shed in the morning. the string is the red string of fate between renjing, but also the strings that tether jing yuan to the luofu and to his ending. the womb and the egg are the places of rebirth and the representation of returning to the beginning. the sun is the stellaron, and it is jing yuan before the sky and the sea consume him, and it is the end of the dream.

author's commentary part two

below is my translation of the song.

大鱼 big fish

海浪无声将夜幕深深淹没 the waves soundlessly submerge the night 漫过天空尽头的角落 rising over the corners of the edge of the sky 大鱼在梦境的缝隙里��过 the big fish swims in the rifts between dreams 凝望你沉睡的轮廓 watching your sleeping visage

看海天一色 听风起雨落 seeing the sky and the sea in one color, hearing the winds stir and the rain fall 执子手 吹散苍茫茫烟波 holding my son's hand, i blow away the hazy ripples of smoke 大鱼的翅膀 已经太辽阔 the wings of the big fish are already too vast 我松开 时间的绳索 i let go of the thread of time

怕你飞远去 怕你离我而去 afraid you'll fly far away, afraid you'll leave me 更怕你 永远停留在这里 even more afraid you'll stop here forever 每一滴泪水 都向你流淌去 every tear flows toward you 倒流进 天空的海底 flowing backward into the ocean floor of the sky

(...)

看你飞远去 看你离我而去 seeing you fly far away, seeing you leave me 原来你生来就属于天际 so you were born to belong to the sky all along 每一滴泪水 都向你流淌去 every tear flows toward you 倒流回最初的相遇 flowing backward into our first meeting

without this song, this fic wouldn't exist. every part of the two was intimately interwoven. in particular, the line about the thread of time was what made me certain it would be a nonlinear narrative and the mixing of the sky and the sea was the image that created the entire story.

i further drew from the lyrics the most important imagery, the idea of ending on the beginning, and the son's hand as not only yanqing but everyone jing yuan leans on today in order to support himself against the weight of history. i drew the themes of dreams and reality, the dialogue on leaving, and the breathless, surreal atmosphere of melancholy and yearning. but in addition to all of that there is a double meaning in this song to me.

the first time you hear it, you think it's about jing yuan. and it is, of course. everything is about him. he is the holder, the sleeper, the one submerging. but by the last verse, you realize it is also blade, talking to him as he walks into scalegorge waterscape. trying and failing to call him back from within the endless dream.

both of them were born to belong to the sky. only one of them truly died in it.

author's dictionary

rèn, 刃, word for 'Blade' (lit. 'blade's edge') jiāngjūn, 将军, word for 'general' gānbēi, 干杯, word for 'cheers' (lit. 'dry cups') mèngdié, 梦蝶, word for the shortness of life (lit. 'butterfly dream') (this was not said explicitly but alluded to in the first dream) shīfù, 师父, word for 'martial master' bàitáng, 拜堂, word for the act of bowing to the heavens and the earth, the parents, and then each other in marriage (this is what the high-cloud quintet was joking about) yǐnyuè-jūn, 饮月君, word for 'Imbibitor Lunae' (lit. 'moon-drinker') nàih�� qiáo, 奈何桥, word for the Bridge of Oblivion where souls drink Meng Po soup to forget the memories of their past life in preparation for reincarnation húlu, 葫芦, word for 'gourd' (this is what bailu uses to dispense medicine) qīng, 卿, word for 'senior official' (this is the honorific jing yuan uses for fu xuan in light of her position as master diviner) xiàngqí, 象棋, word for 'Chinese chess' (this is what starchess is based on, where my vision designates aurumatons as cannons, starskiffs as elephants, and cloud knights as pawns) gē, 哥, word for 'older brother' (this is a casual term of address for older men) shíhuǒ mèngshēn, 石火梦身, word for 'Starfall Reverie' (lit. 'sparks in stone, body in dream')

author's references

all of the xianzhou trailblaze missions. all of the relevant characters' character stories and companion missions. character dialogues. visitor dialogues. battle dialogues. battle mechanics. lightcones. relics. readables. item descriptions. character designs. character messages. the new trailblaze continuance. area maps. chinese voiceovers and their english translations. character trailers. combat guides. animated shorts. possibly more things i'm forgetting to mention. my wealth of insanity.

author's appreciation

wiki editors who came before me. people who upload youtube videos of different dubs of each trailblaze mission. spouses and ssswips. my beloved commenters. the composer of 大鱼. renjing.

[fatehbaz]

In one of the oldest poems in English literature, [...] The Seafarer not only provides us with one of our first ornithological references in the English language, but also [...] written description of birds evoking place, being associated with a distinct landscape. This poem is not alone, however, in suggesting to us how birds could inspire a feeling for place more than 1,000 years ago. [...] Hidden in the names of towns and villages are the ghostly traces of birds conjuring powerful identities for people in the landscapes and settlements of early medieval England. [...]

Among this rich repository of names [in Britain], birds rank in their many hundreds as vitalising elements and markers of medieval places – more than any other class of wild animal [...]. Among the cranes and crows, eagles and pigeons and geese (to mention some of the more commonly named birds), there are also less expected species. Who would imagine the mulch-and-mud snipe secretly probing the worm house as place markers in Snitterfield (Warwickshire), or fairy-flitting titmice roving through trees as the spirits of Masongill (Yorkshire), or yellowhammers like fireside embers in the winter hedgerows in Amberley (Sussex)? [...] What was it about birds that so caught people’s place-imaginations?

---

One avian order that demonstrates birds’ place-shaping potential especially well is the owls. [...] [T]he tiny village of Ulcombe [is] nestled in a gentle fold of the North Downs. Its name is listed in the Domesday Book (1086 CE), and it means ‘the owl’s valley’. [...] [O]ur word for this order of birds descends from one of just two Old English words for all owls: ule, pronounced ‘oooo-l’ (the other is uf, of which there are very few records.) Ule is a very ancient [...] utterance. [...] The onomatopoeic potency of ule implies not only how owls themselves materialised and existed as sound [...], but that this also affected how people experienced the places in which they heard these sounds. On some level, those places named after owls (Ulgham, Outchester, Oldberrow, Ullenhall, Ullenwood) were identified as soundscapes as much as landscapes [...].

---

Other ‘sound birds’ appearing in place names besides owls, however, suggest [...] bioacoustics as [...] distinguishing properties of a place’s atmosphere. Take bitterns, for instance, those specialists of reed-bed living, who have perfected invisibility [...]. We know bitterns best by the eerie, sonorous booming of male bitterns that ‘bombleth in the myre’, as Geoffrey Chaucer describes it in ‘The Wife of Bath’s Tale’. In names like Purleigh (pūr + lēah = ‘bittern clearing’), then, we are confronted again by places defined according to a particular, evocative sound. Even in the 18th century, when the draining of much of the old Fens surrounding the Ouse Washes was already well underway, Daniel Defoe is drawn to ‘the uncouth Music of the Bittern … so loud that it is heard two or three Miles Distance’ [...].

---

Like the tawny owl, of course, [the cuckoo] has a very distinctive song. Its famous call (immortalised in the medieval song ‘Sumer Is Icumen In’) is equally matched by the bird’s reputation as a herald of summer. Species such as cuckoos and swallows are only present for part of the year in Britain, meaning they were mostly absent from those places that came to bear their names. How was it, then, that they still came to imbue locations such as Swallowcliffe or Yaxley (the Old English for cuckoo is geac, pronounced ‘yay-ack’) with such defining and enduring resonance? These summer birds bring a place to life, as it were. [...] Cuckoos, like so many British birds that are threatened or extinct, would have been much more abundant in the Middle Ages. Yaxley, on the edge of surviving cuckoo strongholds in the former Fens, would have thronged to their calls. Now these places, and many like them where the birds of their names are absent, are solemnly displaced, the names creaking in the wind like dilapidated pub signs [...]. We can sense that displacement in the sprawl of modern suburban environments too, which [...] assign bird nomenclatures to roads and residential spaces (Sandpiper Drive, Nightingale Way, Lark Rise, Goldcrest Mews…) where the species named are nowhere to be seen [...].

[B]ird place names [...] alert us [...] [to] the rich forms and possibilities of ecological dwelling, which shaped how people perceived and responded to the local worlds around them. [...] We need these spirits of place.

---

All text above by: Michael J. Warren. “Home and the birdsong.” Aeon. 12 December 2022. Essay edited by Sam Haselby. [In this post, bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism purposes.] Essay published by Aeon at: [aeon.co/essays/british-place-names-resonate-with-the-song-of-missing-birds]

[solemnv0id]

Gigan design for a Godzilla au im working on !!

Ramblings about him below cut

OK SO Gigan in this au is a member of a species of Giant bird things called Quetgarons that hunt the M space hunter nebula aliens (but in my au they’re just called the Star Bugs).

The climate Gigan’s specific subspecies lived was a more desert-y climate full of sand. So they were very good at digging since the Star Bugs usually dig their cities underground. Their long beaks and tongues also help to snatch up whatever they can get. Quetgarons are far from picky eaters, they perfer organic food, but they’ll eat whatever they can swallow, and recently have even been seen eating metal. They need whatever nutrition they can to keep their massive (generally 60m+ tall) bodies going. And the appendage on their tail is meant to look like their beaks and is used both to fool prey and to grab things.

With the help of a certain other group of Aliens, the Star Bugs created Gigan by capturing a nearly dead Quetgaron and bringing it back to life using certain modifications. A lot of modifications were added to him, like his entire skeleton being reinforced with metal and other materials due to the gravity on earth being greater than their own planet (and also made him a bit taller for shits and giggles). All parts of him that originally had structures made of cartilage (or the similar material they use) are now also coated in metal to make them resistant to Earth’s weapons since originally, they were weak points. Quetgarons have eyelids that cover most of their eyes in order to avoid sand and other gunk getting into them, but these were removed on Gigan and was given a long red visor to protect his eyes instead.

Before Gigan was sent to Earth, he was purposefully starved for a while in order to make sure he’d fuck up as much stuff as possible on Earth. He is the 40th kaiju this earth has ever documented, followed by 41st being Megalon who popped up shortly after Gigan’s arrival. They fucked a LOT of stuff before Jet Jaguar and Mothra were able to take them both down. Gigan now primarily resides in Earth’s deserts reminiscent of his home, waiting for the day where he can fuck shit up again.

He’s just a funny dude that causes destruction on a mass scale and eats people. We love him for that

[sorensolsikke]

this is me in details btw. i have drawn a reference sheet. if anyone cares?

this is my dragonkin's look, and it felt awesome to work on the details. maybe maybe i have spent too much time on an easy little reference sheet (10 hours), but i just COULDN'T not make it aesthetic.

so me in detail!

i am from one half of a twin exoplanet called Magna Soror ("big sister"), from a solar system called Familia, not too far from here. the system's star is Avia ("grandmother"), and is more or less like our Sun, although significantly older. the Familia system is pretty stable and safe, featuring also a gas giant called Avunculus ("uncle"), and a small planet orbiting the star close and backwards, named Frater (brother).

Magna Soror's twin is Parum Soror. their system was probably formed when Parum crashed into the bigger planet, tossing it out from its previous, more avarage looking track. enormous bodies of water can be found on both of the planets, but in terms of proportion, Parum has the lead. its environment is far more unified than magna's, and more resembling Earth.

Magna Soror is an unusually big planet of rock. its environment is quite extreme due to its size, rotation around the Avia, and the frequent solar eclipses and floods caused by Parum. the life on the planet is breathtakingly diverse, and also cyclic, as it has to adapt to to the everchanging climate throughout the year (which year is around 11 times of Earth's). in spite of its quirks, Magna Soror is an excellent planet for the blossoming life, requiring such unity (instead of competition) between species that is unknown on planet Earth.

one of the most dominant group of species there are the dragons. i am one of them, traveled here with a group of my companions. we consider everything to be our brothers and sisters here on Earth, as we have never seen a planet so familiar to ours before.

here on Earth, my ideal habitats are around the fjords and pine forests of norway. these are the most similar to my home on Magna Soror.

standing on two feet, i am slightly smaller than an avarage human, tho this pose hurts my spine.

my whole lenght from nose to end of tail is 3.6 meters, although more than half of that lenght is my tail (used for maneuvering). my wingspan is over 4 meters.

i have a broad chest, narrow waist, and four short legs, back ones are longer and even more muscular than front ones. i am nimble, but not really a fast runner, and a great jumper – which is needed as i have a hard time getting up into the air. i need to run before and jump forcefully to take off, or i need to climb high and start glinding.

my paws are big, elongated. forth finger is facing backwards, therefore it's great for climbing. i have fins between my fingers, which makes me a great swimmer, but worsens my running abilities. my claws cannot be retracted.

i mostly eat fish (or on my home planet, fish-like creatures), and i hunt like aquatic birds of prey, flying over the water and diving in to catch my prey. when the water freezes, i hunt animals between the sizes of a rabbit and a deer calf. things like oysters, shrimps, smaller octopuses and berries are beloved treats of mine.

ideally, i swallow in whole, as i don't have teeth for gnawing. however, i have four fangs, four so-called abutment teeth and twenty-four small teeth.

i don't have fur to keep me warm, but i do have some fire breathing abilities. in my throat, i bear with a pair of flint organs that i can crush together by pulling the muscles in my throat, so to create sparks. with these sparks, i am able to light up fires, for example out of wood, to keep me warm, or to defend myself from attacks.

my scales and skin are fireproof. i shred them regularly.

i have a deep blue color, but white stomach and wings. my camouflage works like great white sharks' in water. in snow, i can hide under my white wings.

thorns are both for protection and for finding a mate.

i am a social creature, i love my flight (pack) a lot and would do anything for them. tho i mostly hunt and nest alone, until i can do it with my mate.

i can't roar or purr, but i have a weird noise that resembles crushing gravels, i have some squeeks, and a soft, melody like gurgling noise.

my eyesight is spectecular, and i have a special eyelid for seeing underwater, tho i definitely see colors differently than humans. my hearing is reliable. my sense of smell is very very good. i have nostrils, and can also smell with my tongue underwater.

that's all about me in facts. i'll soon make some more art about my dragonform, but i was so excited to show this!!!

anyways, i hope you'll have a great day, please don't forget to drink water and stay safe<3

[total-convergence]

This is a sandwalker, common in the “african” deserts of AfroEuroAustralAsia. These animals belong to a diverse group often called “the Headless”, or “Bluebloods” because most of them look like they lack necks, which isn’t quite true. Their ancestors, the giant malaysian cockroach, ironicaly has a very flexible “neck” for an insect. Some call them “Bluebloods” because they have blue, copper based blood, and also a lot more efficient vascular system than their sixty million years old ancestor. The sandwalkers are rather primitive compared to the other headless, but evolved extremely rapidly like the rest of them.

The malaysian roaches were one of the first animals to re-colonize the islands in oceania devastated by human activity (it was also very common for them to raft since the ocean levels were quickly rising) and so they appeared in an environment with many unoccupied niches and no predators with the exception of birds, that later established populations on said islands too. A lot of the already big roaches grew even bigger because the bigger you are, the more you can eat and the harder it is for the birds to swallow you. Larger individuals would also have slightly different calls due to their body shape, and so they would more likely socialize and mate with similarly sized roaches, resulting in a very slow sympatric speciation contributing to the headless’ / bluebloods’ evolution. The manmade nanite activity has driven many species to extinction, but in case of these giant roaches, they speeded up their enlargement process, because the odds we on their side and the nanites caused several random mutations that contributed to the developement of active respiration and later complex vascular system. As the sea levels were decreasing, the islands of what was previously Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua new Guinea and the neighbouring countries, increased in numbers, size and diversity, and so did the headless. They later dispersed into what used to be Australia, where they also thrived. When Australia started colliding with Asia (ca. 50my after human extinction), the headless experienced a huge decline because of the competition from mainland animals, but a few of them have managed to spread far into the west into Africa, which by now was separated from Asia and Europe by tall mountains instead of the sea. And among these bluebloods are the sandwalkers.

Oh and about the organ on the male’s back? These are modified wings. Giant malaysian cockroach females lack wings completely, and so do the sandwalker females. Males use these “wings” to serenade for the females with chirps and buzzes. The hind wing became a stump, while the fore wing went harder and immobile, completely encircled the hind wing and fused with the carapace. Males create these sounds by stridulation, vibrating the hind wing while it is in contact with the grooved carapace. The immobile fore wing acts as a sound amplifier. Different headless species have different shapes of these structures, creating vastly different mating calls. The larger ones make sounds similar to a pitched-down chainsaw and can travel for houndreds of meters.

And here’s a bit more cartoonish one. Her name is Head and she belongs to a young Yuo Yowa (a species not introduced yet) merchant who travels around the desert and sells low quality salt for high prices.

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Carve Out Some Time for the Cassowary

Famous for their bright colors and short tempers, cassowaries are a group of flightless birds in the genus Casuarius. There are three species: the Northern Cassowary (C. unappendiculatus) which is found in New Guinea; the Southern Cassowary (C. casuarius), native southern New Guinea and northern Australia; and the Dwarf Cassowary (C. bennetti), endemic to New Guinea and the surrounding islands. All three species prefer tropical forests, though they are known to venture into savannahs, wetlands, and suburban areas in search of food.

Cassowaries are mainly active at dawn and dusk, and spend the time in between in their nests-- large pads of vegetation built on the ground. They opportunistic omnivores; their primary source of food is fruit and fungi, but they will also eat insects, frogs, fish, birds, small mammals, and carrion when available. Much of the fruit they eat is swallowed whole, which makes cassowaries invaluable for spreading seeds throughout their range. Additionally, due to their large size, adult cassowaries have no natural predators, and will aggressively defend their young from predators like snakes, monitor lizards, birds of prey, and wild dogs. When startled this birds can run up to 50 kph (31 mph), or lash out with their powerful legs.

Members of the Casuarius genus are solitary, save for the reproductive season. This season runs from May to September, when fruit is most abundant. Males maintain and defend territories, and call to attract mates. These calls are extremely loud, and at one of the lowest frequencies of any known bird, at about 23 Hertz. When a female approaches, the male crouches and allows the female to inspect him. She may also chase him, typically into water where the two perform a ritualistic fight before she submits. After laying her eggs, the female will move on to another male’s territory.

The eggs are extremely large and bright green, and usually laid in clutches of four. The male alone tends these eggs, incubating them and maintaining the nest for 50-52 days. The chicks that emerge stay with him for an additional 8-9 months until they become independent. Individuals take up to three years to become fully mature, and the average lifespan of wild Casuarius is anywhere from 30 to 50 years.

Southern Cassowaries are the largest of the three species, at up to 1.8 m (5ft 11 in) tall and weighing 58 kg (130 lbs) on average. Females tend to be much larger than males, and the species is considered to be the largest in Asia and the 3rd largest in the world. The Dwarf Cassowary, as the name implies, is significantly smaller at only 1.5m (4ft 11in) tall and 26 kg (57 lbs) at maximum. Northern Cassowaries lie between the two extremes. While all three species have black bodies, the coloration of their heads and necks vary significantly. Both the Northern and Southern Cassowary species have wattles-- pouches of skin that dangle from the neck-- that can be red, gold, purple, or white, which contrasts sharply with their blue necks. The Dwarf Cassowary lacks a wattle, and has a darker blue neck. In addition, it has the smallest head crest, or casque,; the Southern Cassowary’s casque is blade-shaped, and larger than the Dwarf Cassowary’s. The Northern Cassowary’s casque is more flared, and the largest of the three species.

Conservation Status: The Dwarf and Northern Cassowary species are considered Near Threatened and Least Concern respectively by the IUCN, while the Southern Cassowary is classified as endangered. All three are threatened primarily by habitat loss.

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Photos

Steve Parish

Kevin Schafer

San Diego Zoo

[yupuffin]

"...Mortefi?"

One could almost certainly hear all sorts of gossip just from hanging around Panhua's restaurant around mealtime. Whether that gossip was decipherable to the average Jinzhou resident was, however, a different question entirely.

For instance, if a group of scientists decided to stop by for a nice dinner, said gossip would almost certainly leave any layman scratching their head in confusion.

This evening was one such occasion, with the pair of scientists in question clearly employed in very different fields. Granted, their bond seemed no weaker for it, if their intense focus on their conversation was any indication; perhaps this was, in part, due to them both being expats from other nations, as observant onlookers might be able to discern from their dress. They occupied a table close to the railing, from where they could see Jinzhou's city hall towering above the terraces -- presumably, they had at least glanced in that direction since arriving? -- the sky beyond it rapidly growing dark with night's approach.

At hearing his name called, one of the scientists -- the one wearing a pristine white coat, and with bright red hair that seemed to glow in the lamplight -- straightened his posture just a bit, separating from where the robust talons on his right hand pressed contemplatively into his temple.

"Hmm?"

His voice was low, with a distinctive growl matching the piercing light in his eyes, their appearance all the fiercer in the warm atmosphere of the restaurant; yet his relaxed demeanor, the way he'd slouched against his hand just up until the previous moment, was anything but intimidating, and his gaze rested easily on his conversation partner, as though there was no question in where else he could possibly be looking.

Said conversation partner had paused right in the middle of an illustrative gesture to catch his attention. Their hand rested against the wood of the tabletop as if to find purchase, or perhaps to jog their memory.

"Are you following what I'm saying?"

As they spoke, their voice considerably higher and meeker than Mortefi's, their furred white ears drooped in the beginnings of dejection. Indeed, their appearance was much less imposing than their colleague's; their wardrobe hinted that they might sooner be seen with a performance troupe than within a laboratory, and their silhouette was all but swallowed by the fabric that draped loosely about their otherwise diminutive frame.

Knowing a few things about Mortefi -- a lead researcher from Huaxu Academy's Department of Safety -- anyone familiar with the Academy's faculty might be able to make a few deductions and thereby determine this researcher was his companion, Quay -- not because Quay worked at the Academy itself, but because they frequented its campus despite their status as a mere collaborator.

Evidently, though, the relationship between the two encompassed more than just their professional connections.

"...Oh. Of course."

Mortefi acknowledged Quay's question after a substantial silence suggesting that he may, in fact, not have been following. The way Mortefi further straightened his back, the hand previously supporting his chin now resting on the table, only further implied his culpability.

"You were talking about identifying the bird species you found," Mortefi eventually prompted, filling the void supplied by Quay's skepticism.

The furrow in Quay's brow deepened. "I didn't realize you knew what a gular pouch is."

After a beat, Mortefi replied, no less interested, "I don't. Please enlighten me."

Quay broke into a lopsided grin -- but it was a chuckle of fondness that left their lungs, rather than one of exasperation, as they rolled their shoulders. "You silly. You know you can ask questions."

Likewise, a faint smile found its way to Mortefi's face, the creases under his eyes deepening. "Yes, I'm well aware. I was just so enraptured by your ongoing explanation that I would have hated to interrupt."

"Mortefi, please." Another laugh punctuated Quay's words. "Isn't asking questions your job?"

"Wouldn't that make it yours, as well?" Mortefi countered, the smile not leaving his lips.

"My job is to do what I'm told." Quay leaned back in their chair, distancing themselves from the table. "I'm not the one leading the research."

"Surely you must be curious about something, though, are you not?" Mortefi pressed, now crossing his arms in front of his chest. "For instance, this bird you were telling me about. Please continue your story."

Quay gave an airy groan, but their expression remained good-natured. "A gular pouch is the featherless area of skin on a bird's neck. In double-crested cormorants, it's orange, while in Brandt's cormorants, it's blue. That's one way to tell the difference."

Mortefi cocked an eyebrow. "...Just one way?"

"Well, there are others, but..." Quay shifted forward again, resting their palm on their chin as they considered the question. "The range of the double-crested cormorant is a fair bit larger, while Brandt's cormorants are usually only found on the coast. That's about it, actually. Oh, but in breeding season, the double-crested cormorants have feathers above their eyes that stick out. That's where the name comes from."

Mortefi nodded slowly. "And I take it it's not breeding season currently, hence the difficulties in identification?"

"No -- breeding season doesn't usually start until later -- about March. But it depends on the species. There are kinds of seabirds -- like tufted puffins, for example -- that gain their breeding plumage in March, and don't lose it until about September or so."

Apparently Mortefi had no follow-up questions for this particular explanation, as he continued to stare at Quay intently, and in complete silence.

Quay blinked. "...Did you understand that part, too?"

"Yes, yes, I understood it." Mortefi nodded again, this time adjusting the position of his glasses with a claw. "I was waiting for you to continue."

Quay pursed their lips, perhaps the first indication of any genuine negative emotion they'd displayed all night. "You seem like you're spacing out a little more than usual. Wait..."

Quay's attention fell to the small, ornate-looking glass perched patiently on the table, next to a plate that had long since been cleared. "How much have you had to drink?"

"Oh, not much. Just this." Mortefi, prompted by Quay's gaze, picked up the glass and swirled it around, its remaining contents hitting the sides with a satisfying clink.

Quay now looked incredulously at Mortefi, a mix of thoughts swimming behind their lone visible eye. Come to think of it, it was difficult to discern how much of the color in Mortefi's cheeks was from the mood lighting, and how much of it was from the warmth of his own blood.

However, they said nothing.

Mortefi, though, seemed more displeased with their question remaining unspoken. He set the glass down, the furrows in his brow settling.

"Quay, don't worry. I'm not drunk."

Quay's ears folded back towards their skull. "Are you sure?"

"I am certain." Indeed, Mortefi's voice was even, maintaining its usual rumble. "Just a little buzzed is all." He lifted the glass to his lips. "You trust me, don't you?"

"Of course." Quay's voice, on the other hand, wavered, and their gaze once again rested on the table. "I'm just making sure."

Mortefi's shoulders lifted in a deep, slow sigh as he set his glass back down.

"Quay, listen."

Having abandoned his glass, Mortefi outstretched his right hand across the table, turning his palm upwards and allowing his claws to unfurl towards Quay. He coaxed their gaze to his, the candlelight in his eyes burning steadily.

As Mortefi took a breath to speak, Quay reached out to rest their hand in his. In return, Mortefi's grip was the epitome of 'firm, but gentle.'

"I'm not going to drink enough to cause harm to anyone around me. And if you witness me instigating any unruly behavior, you have my full permission to physically restrain me yourself, through whatever means necessary."

Quay smiled in response, though their eyebrows quirked inwards. "You make it sound like I'd be physically capable of that."

"You have my full permission to do your utmost." Mortefi tilted his head. "Or, if you can't bring yourself to do it, you can always ask someone else to do it in your stead. I'm sure Jinzhou is crawling with capable people willing to knock me upside the head just for laughs."

A breathy laugh left Quay's lips; they seemed to take this remark as ample reassurance, as they didn't complain when Mortefi's hand left theirs.

Mortefi cast his glance aside. "It's getting late. We should start thinking about heading out for the night."

Sure enough, Quay perked up again, as though their previous concern had vanished from their memory in an instant. "Oh, you're right. Let's close out our tab..."

It wasn't without more conversation that the two concluded their business at the restaurant. Quay continued to wax poetic about ornithology as they and Mortefi rose from their chairs; they led Mortefi out, hardly removing their eyes from him, and Mortefi followed dutifully, not speaking another word since he stood.

And, once they had fully left the restaurant and made their way out onto the streets of Jinzhou, now enveloped in dusk's curtain, Quay, having turned their attention to the pathway before them, suddenly felt a solid weight leaning into their side. They stopped walking for fear of toppling over; Mortefi, in turn, curved one arm staunchly around their waist and tilted his nose into their hair, and the telltale pressure against Quay's ankles indicated that even his tail had started to curl around them.

Quay, however, seemed completely unbothered by the dragon apparently about to gobble them up -- the grin that squeezed their cheeks rather seemed to confirm that they enjoyed the attention, in spite of their earlier bashfulness.

They lightly grasped the arm around their waist, but made no move to extricate themselves.

"I take it you're staying at my place tonight?"

The noise that Mortefi made in response was not unlike the murmur of someone on the verge of falling asleep, or perhaps a low purr -- albeit one whose volume matched a creature of his stature. His breath fluttered against the hair atop the crown of Quay's head, inciting from them a soft chuckle.

"I'm going to take that as a 'yes.'"

-

This fic idea was endorsed by @unrealistic-ideas-for-writers and @hobbysognodilibri, who originally posed the concept of Mortefi being enamored with Quay while they ramble, particularly with Mortefi... a bit tipsy, shall we say! The initial concept involved Quay's impassioned speech being incomprehensible to Mortefi due to being in Rinascitan language; I think that's certainly a possibility, and not incompatible with the concept I more explicitly adopted here, which is Quay getting way too into ornithology terms for anyone without a solid background in biological sciences. 🤣

This took a bit more of a feelsy turn than I initially anticipated but y'know what, it's fiiiine, that's the complexity of human emotion 😛

[welcome-to-green-hills]

Sonic Prime positivity headcanons?

Hello, my dear!❤️✨

Positivity headcanons… hmm! Okay, I’ve got some:

When Green Hill was restored—just a bit after Shadow took the prism and before the picnic on the beach—Sonic made sure to give each of his friends a very, very long hug. Especially Tails.

Shadow learns to accept hugs from Sonic and to not fight him. Sure, he still flops around like a noodle in Sonic’s arms, but he grows to like them.

Sonic has an irrational fear of the dentist. It’s usually a team effort to get him to go and stay with him. He’s much more willing to go if he gets either a lollipop at the end, or gets to dig around in the prize box for a small Cracker Jack toy.

Shadow and Sonic use the prism every once in a while to check in on everyone in different shatter spaces.

Shadow and Sonic are very, very close after restoring the shatter-verse.😏

All of the palm trees have names, as well as a back storySonic and Amy get really offended if you don’t address them by their names (Their personal favorite is “Steve,” he lives by the beach and daydreams of being a chef).

None of them (except for Amy) knows how to cook. Sonic and Tails are notorious for setting fires in the kitchen and burning food.

Rebel and Renegade run for public office and win in a landslide. They’re marketing campaign consisted of eco-friendly reconstruction and more palm trees to plant.

Rusty and Black Rose sail across No Place in search of mystical gems and shiny gold rings. They’re also an old sea tale (that Catfish 100% “did not” make up) of them slaying a water monster that swallowed glowing rocks.

Prim and Thorn learn to mend their relationship and talk a bit more about their feelings. They bond over throwing spears and planting trees.

Gnarly is convinced that werehogs are real and sets traps for them all around the Bozcage Maze.

Nine reprogram the Alphas to have free will. They think and feel, but keep him company. Nine knows that it’s not the same, but he’s content with the company.

The Chaos Council are still drifting through the Void and spend more time arguing with each other than before.

Sonic has severe separation anxiety.

Big, New Yoke Big (would his name be “Smalls?” I’m calling him Smalls), Hangry, and Catfish like to take naps in high places. Whether it’s in trees, the ship’s sails, or on the roof, he likes to find a quiet place to nap.

Of all of the crew members on the Kracken that have a bounty on their head, Froggy has the biggest reward money. His crimes are too horrific to ignore.

Mangey makes a really good fruit salad.

Rouge knows everyone’s deepest and darkest secrets. She likes to playfully tease her friends about it once in a blue moon.

If Sonic and his friends go on walks in the forest, everyone needs to stop and let Amy talk to the birds. She loves the Flickies and can name every species.

Shadow guards the damned 4th chaos emerald (and the Paradox Prism) with his life.