wolfchic

[wolfchic]

Hot take

Night furies are actually perfectly evolved for hunting and killing other dragons and the only reason they aren't a dragon-hunting species like the death song or deathgrippers are is because DreamWorks couldn't have their adorable main character dragon be a "cannibal"

(below I'm gonna try to summarize what we've figured out in a convo with friends on discord)

(also tw animal death via predator)

First of all yes I'm aware that pretty much every decision made about their design was with consideration of the effect it would make on human audiences but hear me out

Night furies are most iconically known as dive-bombers. They are built for speed, high maneuverability, night-time camouflage and for striking targets from above. If we remove human settlements out of the equation (which would not have existed long enough to actually influence night fury evolution, come on), what does that leave us with?

They aren't built for catching fish for sure, they aren't very hydrodynamic and their head is round, wide, and their teeth are dull. Honestly, the monstrous nightmare is much better suited for catching fish, with its long neck, almost pelican-like jaw and rhamphorhynchus teeth

Compare to

Yeah the jaws look kinda like a porpoise of some sort but for that the whole body would have to be a lot more aquatic imo. The light fury looks a lot closer to an aquatic diver, it has a sleeker body, rounded fins instead of spikes, and a long neck.

I don't really see them hunting land animals either, they just don't look like they're adapted for that minus the resemblance with large felines and even then, they're too large to effectively hunt in forests.

The one thing I can kinda imagine them hunting is large mainland megafauna, but we're working with a setting that takes place pretty much exclusively on islands. And overall, dragons are the only abundant species there with the exception of fish and human-bred sheep and chickens.

In general, night furies have duller teeth, smaller claws and are smaller than most dragons. Disregarding the movies making Toothless weirdly OP, a night fury would be disadvantaged against most dragons in a 1v1 fight and besides, it has four huge weak spots that would highly discourage it from a direct physical fight - the primary and secondary tail fins. One unlucky rip in the membrane and the night fury is fucked.

The night fury however noticeably resembles falcons, given their dive-bombing ability and high maneuverability.

Falcons too have smaller beaks and weaker claws compared to most birds of prey, and for that they compensate by simply picking up speed, balling up their talons and Punching. Really. Hard.

And they use that ability to kill other birds, even much larger ones, by knocking them right from the sky.

Here, the night fury's plasma blast works the same way as a falcon's punch. Dragons are fire-resistant, so what the plasma blast does is really just a densely packed bolt of energy that has the effect of either stunning or outright killing prey by damaging its spine. And what the plasma bolt doesn't do, rapid contact with the ground would finish. And if even that doesn't do it, the night fury's wide jaws and dull teeth are just fine for simply clamping around the unlucky dragon's neck and strangling it, like a lion or a pitbull.

The night-time camouflage allows the night fury to soar for extended periods of time perfectly unnoticed in the night sky, and by the time it strikes, the dragon wouldn't even know what's coming.

Unless

Say the hunting night fury is aware of other dragons sleeping under the trees, as most dragons probably would at night (village raids aside, most dragons seem to be diurnal), so how does the night fury get them in position where it can use its signature attack? Well, there's That Iconic Screech Of Death. Since in the movies it tends to appear not just during dive-bombings but also when charging up a blast, I imagine it's something the night fury is able to control to some degree. So by simply fake-diving in close proximity to sleeping dragons, it can effectively terrify them into leaving their hideout and fly out into the open where it can easily take them out.

I dunno, the possibility of night furies as predators to other dragons just makes so much sense to me, I really don't know what other reasons there would be for them to evolve these particular adaptations.

And one more little headcanon to add to this whole rant - since night furies are significantly smaller and less equipped for dragon vs dragon fights and are primarily speed-based predators, I imagine there is this very likely scenario:

There is one dragon who resembles a hyena, a lil bit

Ok, rant over

[wolfchic]

How did anyone survive the explosion of the Temple of Sacred Ashes?

I'm not talking about the Inquisitor. We know how that goes. More specifically, I'm talking about if you play an Adaar inquisitor, there are War Table operations and messages that references survivors of the Valo-Kas (Adaar's former mercenary group).

According to the wiki, the Valo-Kas were hired to keep the peace at the Conclave. Security, basically. Keeping fights from breaking out, stopping an irate mage from throwing a fireball across the room at a templar, I imagine.

Also according to the wiki, the Inquisitor is the only survivor. Just walking through the place in the prologue, it's not hard to see why. But then, coming back to the War Table operations, when you're contacted by Shokrakar (the leader of the Valo-Kas) who asks you to help search for the surviving members of the group.

Except...there wouldn't be any survivors. The wiki only names eleven members (including Adaar), but I seriously cannot imagine there being many more than that. They're mercenaries, like the Chargers. They wouldn't have an obscene amount of members, because that's just impractical--having to feed a large number of people (and qunari at that, as I imagine qunari eat more than the average human, though this is admittedly just my own headcanon) would be a logistical nightmare.

So, if the Valo-Kas were hired as security for the Conclave, for there to be any survivors, that means they would not have been in the Temple itself when it was destroyed. Except why have any of your members hang back if your company was hired for a job? Did they all suddenly come down with the flu? So they should all be there in the Temple, and they should all be dead.

(photo courtesy of metatiki, where you can see the sheer scale of the destruction. Tiny person at the bottom for comparison.)

[wolfchic]

ORIGINS TRAVEL TIMES

distances taken from this

denerim to lothering : orange

230 miles on roads 11 days on foot | 7 ½ days forced march | 6 days on horseback | 4 days fast carriage | 3 days horse relay

lothering to ostagar : red

80 miles on the imperial hwy 4 days on foot | 2 ½ days forced march | 2 days on horseback | 1 day horse relay

lothering to redcliffe : purple

105 miles on roads 5 days on foot | 3 ½ days forced march | 2 ½ days on horseback | 2 days fast carriage | 1 ½ days horse relay

lothering to kinloch hold : light blue

195 miles on roads 10 days on foot | 6 ½ days forced march | 5 days on horseback | 3 days fast carriage | 2 ½ days horse relay + 11 miles in a boat 3 hours rowing

redcliffe to gherlen’s pass : dark green

160 miles on mountainous roads 16 days on foot | 8 days on horseback | 6 days fast carriage | 4 days horse relay

denerim to soldier’s peak : light green

100 miles on the pilgrim’s path 5 days on foot | 3 ½ days forced march | 2 ½ days on horseback | 1 ½ days fast carriage | 1 day horse relay + 20 miles on mountainous roads 2 days on foot | 1 day on horseback | ½ day horse relay

lothering to the dalish camp : orange + dark blue

80 miles on roads 4 days on foot | 2 ½ days forced march | 2 days on horseback | 1 ½ days fast carriage | 1 day horse relay + 40 miles off road 5 days on foot | 2 days on horseback

redcliffe to honnleath :  yellow

35 miles on hilly roads 2 ½ days on foot | 1 ½ days forced march | 1 day on horseback | ½ day horse relay

redcliffe to haven : dark green + pink

100 miles on mountainous roads 11 days on foot | 5 days on horseback | 2 ½ days horse relay + 20 miles off road 3 days on foot | 2 days on horseback

[wolfchic]

I have this headcanon that the Darksaber is made with a telescoping beskar blade and powered by a kyber crystal. To me, I feel it explains a lot, such as why it has such a distinct shape and edge, and why the blade appears black (beskar resists the Force and kyber crystals channel it). It's kinda like a glorified vibroblade.

Also, it would make the Darksaber that much more unique, combining both Jedi technology (the creation of lightsabers) and Mandalorian technology (weapon technology), which I feel really suits the one and only Mandalorian Jedi.

[wolfchic]

REBLOG if you are old enough to remember what a VCR is.

[wolfchic]

*staring in desperation at all my empty word documents, fingers crossed*

Saw a post like this with negative outlook so I asked for it to be fixed

[wolfchic]

// Pokémon Fangames & ROM Hacks:

This is a remake of my Masterlist from before, added some new games, fixed some links, and so on. Overall, just a ton of games.

— Must Play (In My Eyes);

// Fangames:

Pokemon Parallax

Pokémon Flux

Project Untamed

Pokémon Uranium

Pokémon Infinity

Pokémon Realidea System

// ROM Hacks:

Pokémon Glazed

Pokémon Renegade Platinum

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of the Spirit

— I Quite Enjoy(ed);

// Fangames:

Xenoverse: Per Aspera Ad Astra

Pokemon Insurgence

Pokémon Solar Light & Pokémon Lunar Dark

Pokémon Bushido

Pokemon Void

Pokémon Forêt Éternelle

Phoenix Rising

The Looker

Pokemon Azure

A Zoroark Among Us

Pokémon Taiseiyo

Pokémon Reminiscencia

HELL†GIRL

Pokémon and the Last Wish: Part II

Pokémon Outbounds

Pokémon: Chaos in Vesita

Pokemon This Gym of Mine

Pokemon Acceptance

Pokémon Shattered Light

The World Inside my Room

Pokémon: Abstract Version

ULTRALITE

Pokémon Zeta and Pokémon Omicron

Pokémon Sage

// ROM Hacks:

Sovereign of The Skies

Pokémon Crystal Legacy

Pokémon GS Chronicles

Pokémon Gaia Version

Pokémon Sacred Gold & Pokémon Storm Silver

Pokémon Inclement Emerald

Pokémon Unbound

Staro's Explorers of Skies

Ancestral X

Pokemon Emerald Rogue

Pokémon Blaze Black 2 & Pokémon Volt White 2 Redux

Pokémon Blaze Black 2 & Pokémon Volt White 2

Pokémon Radical Red

Pokémon Blaze Black & Pokémon Volt White

Pokémon Emerald Horizons

// Browser Games:

PokéFarm Q

— Not My Cup Of Tea, But Are Good;

// Fangames:

Littleroot Researchers

Pokémon Rejuvenation

Pokemon Soulstones 2: Time Wardens

Pokemon Infinite Fusion

Tales of the Outskirt Stand

Pokémon Tectonic

Pokémon Wilds

Pokémon Syvin

Pokemon Snow Warning

Pokémon Castaway

Pokémon Eon Guardians

Pokémon Floral Tempus

Pokémon Reborn

Pokemon: MewYou!

pokémon añil (NEW!)

Pokemon Radiant Topaz

Pokémon Banished Platinum (NEW!)

Pokémon Flower Jam

Pokemon Myth

Pokemon Recruitment

Pokémon Edge Rising

Pokémon Desolation

Pokémon Crimson & Cobalt

Pokémon Daybreak

// ROM Hacks:

Pokémon FireRed: Rocket Edition

Pokémon Modern Emerald

Pokémon AlteRed Version

Pokémon Crown

Pokémon Elite Redux

Pokémon Odyssey

// Browser Games:

Pokémon Vortex

PokéClicker

PokéHeroes

— One's That Aren't Out Yet;

// Fangames:

Pokémon Umbra

Secrets of the Ages

Pokémon Sea & Sky

// ROM Hacks:

Pokémon Corundum

Pokémon Aurora Crystal

The "(NEW!)" mark means it's newly added to the list, not that it's a new game. This is for those keeping up with the list to see the newest things added!

[wolfchic]

Legend has it she still flops around ireland👀

[wolfchic]

my random HP family headcanons that i firmly stand by

(not canon compliant)

creature blood was remarkably common in the older family lines that existed before modern-day laws. it is rather rare that these families produce true creatures themselves, even half-blooded creatures, but the blood can often manifest into family gifts. for example, creature blood is how the slytherin line have their ability to speak parseltongue.

the black family are world-renowned in various fields. they’ve produced countless scholars, and some of the finest duellists of each generation. but the family specialty, that everyone learns, is curse-breaking and it’s inverse. there’s a terrible item in the family vault that could kill you if you touch it? contact the blacks. you need an object enchanted to persuade someone into supporting a wizengamot bill? contact the blacks. expensive as their services may be, it’s always worth the money. customer satisfaction guaranteed.

the black family have held their reputation for dabbling in the darkest of arts, even black magic, since their very beginning. their family name comes from their reputation of practicing black magic. this is separate from dark magic, and is a dead art today. whilst books exist in the darkest corners of very few family’s vaults and libraries, the sacrifices required have deterred anyone who picked them up for centuries. a branch of black magic involves the summoning of beings from beyond our world, ‘demons’ as they are often referred to. the summoning of a shape-shifting demon, and subsequent procreation with, is a potential reason why only the black family have metamorphmagi in britain today- though this claim is unproven, and no longer proudly claimed by the family itself.

the malfoys have veela blood, especially these days. it was a rather scandalous affair when abraxas malfoy married a french witch, amelie bonnacord, who had been adopted into a notable pureblood family and happened to be a veela. the malfoys already had distant veela ancestry, making abraxas resistant to the veela allure. their children, lucius and lydia malfoy, were therefore half veela, and her grandchildren, including draco malfoy, a quarter veela. the veela allure seemed to work differently with men, and little was known about it as men born to those with veela blood was rare. the malfoys spend most holiday seasons in france, visiting family, and all speak fluent french.

the potter family never have been, and never should be seen as, a sparkling beacon for light magic. as necromancers by blood, no matter how much time passes since their amalgamation with the peverells, they naturally lean towards darker magic to facilitate practicing the art. not every potter has dabbled in their family gift, it’s not a requirement, but the ancient books in the family vault cannot be destroyed and will always return to the vault after a necromancer passes.

a few centuries into the past, the potter family migrated to india before a couple of branches returned to britain in the early 20th century. fleamont potter and his cousin, charlus potter, were the first potters to be born on british soil for centuries. fleamont potter married euphemia patil, a half-indian british witch, and had james potter. james potter, upon marrying lily evans, had harry potter- who was half indian.

the lupin family have a long history of naturally born werewolves, hence their family name. as time went on, and laws changed, werewolves born into the family would assimilate into packs instead of living as wizards with a dark secret. with time, fewer and fewer werewolves were born into the family, and the werewolf blood appeared dormant. remus lupin became a werewolf through an attack from fenrir greyback- the first werewolf in the family in several generations. his condition did not pass onto his son, but it is possible that remus being a werewolf may awaken the possibility of future werewolves in the lupin line in generations to come.

the weasleys hail from an old irish clan, one which they no longer practice the traditions and magic of- deeming them outdated in an age where they are deemed ‘blood traitors’ for their love and acceptance of muggleborns. the family magic is largely based around the elements, and is only really practiced by bill and charlie- though fred and george dabble in it from time to time. due to turning their backs on tradition, the weasley manor wards refused to grant entry to those in the family who did not practice their family magics- which is why they live in the burrow instead.

the weasleys fall from grace is infamous in pureblood circles. before the first war, they were actually a rather wealthy family. arthur weasley’s auror wage was enough to live off with two less children, and their vault was plentiful. molly added to their income by authoring books on household charms and tutoring pureblood daughters in etiquette. unfortunately, molly encouraged arthur to funnel money into the order of the phoenix to help with the war- they were not active participants, rather financial backers. by the war’s end, the family vault had been halved, they had two more children, and molly had quit authoring books to raise the children. she soon quit tutoring too, turning her back on other pureblood families due to her paranoia that anyone who hadn’t aided the order in the war were all dark and thus contributed somehow to her brothers deaths. soon after, arthur left the aurors and moved to head the misuse of muggle artifices office at molly’s insistence, due to her persistent paranoia- this time that something horrible would befall him as an auror. this caused another significant drop in the family’s finances, gaining them their reputation of being a poor family with more children than they can clothe.

the nott family are descended from viking clansmen in norway, and the majority of the family are still based there today. they’re very proud of this heritage, and every child born into the family is trained extensively in hand to hand combat from a young age. the nott family additional pre-schooling education also includes the language of old norse, nordic history, ancient runes, and runic magic. the england-based branch of the family add norwegian on to this as well.

the gaunt line, and subsequently the slytherin line, are only extinct in britain (the cursed child is not canon to me idc about delphini). a branch of the family, descended from one ominis gaunt, live on in france and have long abandoned their practices of inbreeding. the branch or branches of the family that remained on british soil rapidly squandered all that remained in their vaults by the turn of the 20th century, leading the family to financial and societal ruin with only their heritage and a few heirlooms remaining intact.

the lovegood family are rather notable as one of the few remaining seer lines in britain. pandora lovegood, upon marrying xenophilius ollivander, found her own seer ability passed down to her daughter luna. many overlook their seer lineage and focus more on the family’s eccentricity, forgetting that true seers rarely speak in plain language- they cannot always just speak the truth of what their visions show them, they must relay what they have seen in a way that makes others search for the answer. it’s not that hard to understand when you actually try it.

[wolfchic]

I wish there was a shuffle option on pinterest. Like when you're making a board and you're adding a bunch of stuff, I wish you could randomize the order of all the pins without having to move them one by one.

(I just get these large clumps of similar looking pins and it's annoying.)

(It's entirely possible this is, in fact, a feature and I just don't know about it.)

[wolfchic]

Thought: If Crookshanks is supposed to be half-kneazle, and kneazles are supposed to be able to tell when someone is trustworthy, then why the hell didn't he know about Crouch? Why didn't we see him hissing at Umbridge?

Follow-up thought: Where the hell is Crookshanks during Deathly Hallows?

[wolfchic]

On the vein of Pokemon Legends...

One thing I would really like to see, if they release another Pokemon Legends, is for the Johto or the Kalos regions to get a little bit of love. The Johto region has a lot of lore that I feel like is really slept on, or just wasn’t given quite as much backstory and meaning as other, later generations. Yes, it’s already had a remake in Heart Gold and Soul Silver, but Sinnoh’s had two remakes: Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl and Arceus, obviously. So it’s not outside the realm of possibilities.

Now Kalos would be really interesting, I think, because we could see a return of Mega Evolution and we could see the origin of it, like the people who discovered it, and even the deal with the super weapon and the war and all of that. The storyline would be awesome and I feel like they could do a lot with it. Plus, Kalos is another one of those regions that as the Pokemon games got away from the DS era and into the Switch, that newer fans might not know about or never got the chance to play.

Me? I just really, really, really want them to bring back Mega Evolution. Gigantamaxing and Terastyllizing (I probably spelled both of those wrong, but oh well) is a cool gimmick and all, but Mega Evolution already did what both of those do by giving a pokemon a cool new look and making them extra powerful and blah blah blah. Mega Evolution, I feel, personally, was the peak of pokemon power-ups.

Other regions I’d like to see return? Unova would be a good one. We could see Kyurem as a Whole Dragon, that would be neat as hell. Hoenn is one of my favorite regions (Sapphire, my beloved), so of course I want to see that. We could see Groudon and Kyogre battle it out, Rayquaza put them in time-out, get little cameos with Latios and Latias. Hoenn was already remade with Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, but, again, Sinnoh had a remake too, soo....

There’s just a lot that they could do with it if they decide to make it into a series type thing. There’s so much potential and I really, desperately hope they do more.

[wolfchic]

For Context: I am twenty-six years old. I have been playing Pokemon since I was a child--since Sapphire (and Ruby, but Sapphire was my first completed playthrough) came out in 2002. Just recently, with the release of Scarlet and Violet, I have been going back through my games and playing through them again.

In Pokemon X and Y, there is an NPC that you can talk to--I don’t even remember where they are--that tells you something I never knew. In all my years of playing Pokemon, I was today years old when I found out that if you use Rain Dance, and then use Thunder, it has a 100% chance of hitting your opponent.

Like--what? Has that always been a thing and I just didn’t know about it? Is that something that’s only in the 3DS generation games? All my life I have avoided using Thunder because I am the unluckiest bitch ever (Thunder never hits for me), and then one random NPC tells me that, AND IT WORKS!

I can’t be the only one who didn’t know about this, right? Right???

[wolfchic]

Honestly, they missed a HUGE opportunity to introduce a new Eeveelution. With the lackluster reception of the game as a whole, the surprise of a new form would have done wonders for the reputation of the new game that the general glitchiness upon launch has sullied.

Not to MENTION, you got PENNY, probably the biggest Eevee trainer, and Eevee fan, to ever appear in the games, and let me TELL YOU the shock value they could've had when Penny's last pokemon during her fight was this NEVER BEFORE SEEN Eevee evolution--people would have been LOSING. THEIR. MINDS.

I honestly think one of the things that people hope for most in new pokemon games is a new Eeveelution, and I'm guilty of the same.

So, Nintendo, that was a big ol miss on your part.

[wolfchic]

On the vein of Pokémon Violet and the Paradox Pokémon...I hate their names. Like their designs are cool, but why are they all just "Iron Whatever"? Like, I get it, they're all made out of metal. But so is Skarmory. And Aggron. And Bisharp. But you didn't call them Metal Bird or Blady Boi, Nintendo, so why did you name that one Paradox Iron Hands? So fucking dumb.

Scarlet got cool, interesting names (Scream Tail, Flutter Mane), so why not Violet? It just seems really lazy to me.

[wolfchic]

Things I would like to see in House of the Dragon

Dragons.

More dragons. All the dragons. Every dragon. Up close and personal, with detail and sounds and unique colors. Literally every dragon in existence ever.

Another dragon like Caraxes. Another dragon like Syrax. Another dragon like Meleys. Unique shapes and breeds. Hybrids, dragons like Caraxes with horns like Syrax.

I want to know why some eggs hatch and others don’t. I want to know if magic is involved, and if so, I want to see it.

I want to see the wild dragons, like the Cannibal and Grey Ghost. I know we’ll eventually see Sheepstealer, because Nettle claims him during the Dance. I want to see why the Cannibal is so frightening. I want to have to squint at the screen trying to see Grey Ghost and be like “oh, so that’s why it’s named that”.

I want to see Balerion in a flashback. I want to see him so fucking bad. Viserys lived 17 years in Balerion’s time and I want to see the Black Dread himself.

And Vermithor, I want to see all of him. The Bronze Fury. And Silverwing. Let me see them nesting together, curled around one another like cats. Show me domestic dragons.

Show me wild dragons.

Show me personality.

Show me intelligent creatures. Show me creatures of magic.

Show me more than just flying flamethrowers and weapons of war.

Show. Me.

I. Want. To. See. It.

[wolfchic]

Chapters: 11/? Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Sokka/Original Character Characters: Original Female Character(s), Sokka (Avatar), Katara (Avatar) Additional Tags: Coming of Age, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Not Canon Compliant Summary:

Coming of age is a trial for everyone. Especially for those who have to grow up faster due to war. Sokka thought his path was clear. Keep his sister and tribe safe. Be a man and warrior his dad would be proud of. But then he finds a stranded girl. And then his sister finds a boy trapped in ice, and his path turns out to not be as straight-forward as he had thought.