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blackopals-world · 1 year

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how does the rest of the cast treat harpy yuu? does harpy yuu gossip with the flamingoes of heartslabyul and the peacocks of pomefiore, does she attempt to unionize all of the birds in NRC to overthrow crowley?

To be frank, Harpy!Yuu is a bird of prey which makes anything smaller than them fair game. As in food.

Thankfully they won't eat flamingos due to their bright coloring or peacocks because they have too many feathers for their taste. They do like hanging out with crows though but can't communicate (this depends on Yuu's breed.) They can call the crows to attack Crowley on command.

There are several versions of Harpy!Yuu, one of which is the hen harpy. Think of them as a big fluffy chicken. Another is the raptor which is a predator like a falcon. There is a third known as lovebird harpy but I'm not getting into that one today.

The students react differently depending on the species of Yuu.

Heartslabyul

Raptor:

The Heartslabyul boys are rightfully afraid of Raptor Harpy!Yuu. Riddle especially doesn't like them due to them attempting to eat a hedgehog when they first met. The only reason they still come to Heartslabyul is that Ace and Deuce are entertaining to watch.

Hen

Hen Harpy!Yuu is better for them. They enjoy the garden and will bask in the sun during tea time. They are a bit of a mother hen to the boys and constantly try to keep them out of trouble. Riddle isn't a fan of having a wing shoved in his face when the Harpy decides it's nap time

Savanaclaw

Raptor:

They fit right in. Harpies are rare but there are one or two living in the dorm. Unfortunately, they aren't compatible species. Like owls and crows, they don't get along. That's why they spend time with Jack and Ruggie more than other harpies. It's about mutualism.

Jack was afraid of the harpy at first but they became good friends who enjoy racing together. Ruggie uses them for pranks and stealing food like a seagull. Leona will chase off the nosy bird whenever he's eating and when Yuu's eating he'll chase them off to eat their food. They are like a lion and a vulture. When he has to babysit Cheka he will sneak the cub under Yuu to convince them to watch him. I works but Leona has to fight to get his nephew back every time.

Hen:

A big cuddly bird like them has a lot a trouble from Ruggie who will startle them when their nesting just to get an egg. Ruggie is like a fox in a chicken coop. Every encounter ends up with him covered in feathers and scratches.

Jack is protective of the hen due to Ruggie constantly bullying the poor chicken. He worries a lot about them losing feathers and an instance of them breaking a blood feather led to panic then he had to pull it for them.

Leona likes using the hen's wings as down feather pillows. Their warm and soft which is enough for him. Whenever they try to escape Leona threatens to turn them into a real pillow by plucking their wings bald.

Octavinelle

Raptor:

Yuu loves flying over the waves but the lounge doesn't suit them. They like fish and enjoy catching food.

Azul makes use of the harpy as he can. They are good at fishing using a net, not that fish is in short supply. He had hoped the harpy could at least sing but they aren't a songbird and don't sing for free.

Jade enjoys studying the harpy. His favorite so far is seeing the harpy eat. They don't need to cook their food and he watched as they gutted a fish and swallowed it whole. It was horrifying. Jade was amazed and has since showed everyone. Yuu however had to stop due to it not being good to eat fish bones constantly.

Floyd enjoys using his raptor friend for when he gets into a fight. He once got bored and picked a fight but when he got punched the bird tackled them mid-flight.

Hen:

They are not a big fan of swimming outside of floating on the water. The lounge is at least safe, mostly.

Azul is not allowed near their wings without permission. He always wants to takes their best feathers for quills. Yuu let's him take a limited number due to their high quality.

Jade is an egg thief who tries to get his hands on one to cook. Yuu is willing to peck his glowing eye out if he doesn't just ask for an egg. But where is the fun in that?

Floyd loves a game of chicken chasing. Spook the hen into a frenzy and turn then into a tornado of flying feathers.

They don't always get along but the hen still stays around. It's not all bad. The food is good and when the boys aren't agitating it's nice.

Scarabia

Raptor:

Polly doesn't want a cracker, Polly wants fresh meat. The dorm too hot for them but the water helps keep them cool so they stick with Kalim

Kalim loves his birdy friend. The harpy is very patient with him and lets him do as he pleases. The raptor learned to tolerate the constant touching. Kalim will at least race with Yuu on his flying carpet so they don't get bored.

Jamil has boundaries at least. He takes advantage of the talents of the harpy to find lost objects. He pays in food so the harpy is always willing to help.

Hen:

Polly wants crackers, lots and lots of crackers!

Hen Yuu loves Kalim and doesn't mind the affection. Will willingly let him dye their feathers. Kalim at least asks for feathers so he can turn them into earrings and necklaces.

Jamil likes that Yuu likes to clean since they are more domestic than feral like their Raptor counterpart. Yuu also helps cook.

During the winter Hen wraps her wings around the boys to keep them warm with their fluffy feathers.

Pomefiore

Raptor:

Yuu only comes to steal nesting material from the peacocks and fabric scraps. At least initially.

Vil isn't a fan of the foul fowl that causes trouble. The bird enjoys ripping up his curtains to decorate their nest. He had to relent eventually when he made a deal for help with the nest if they stop. This ended with Vil being covered in dirt and twigs. He refuses to help again.

Rook started to hunt the Harpy like game fowl until Yuu took notice. They managed to strike a deal where they help each other hunt. Like a falcon and their handler Yuu tips Rook off to the locations of his prey. In exchange Yuu gets snacks.

Epel uses the harpy as an escape. When Vil is looking for him he grabs the bird by the talons and they fly off. They are partners in crime now and steal material together.

Hen:

Is a thief as well but doesn't steal. They collect discarded fabric and fallen feathers.

Vil took interest in the pretty bird and chose to help them. He found clothes that would suit the harpy since pants aren't easy to put on when you have bird talons. The harpy stuck to Greco-Roman-style robes but they were too plain for Vil. He found small gold chains and beads to decorate their wings.

Rook is sensible not to startle the hen. He likes watching and studying them through. He is kind enough to tend to their wings. Removing broken feathers(to collect), preening, and cleaning. In response, the hen likes to try to preen their human.

Epel is used to chickens but this is one big chicken. That being said he knows what those feathered furys do. He is wise to not cause trouble around them. He would never fight in front of Yuu.

Ignihyde

Raptor:

The harpy feels at home here. Perfect nesting spots and the language is familiar. People are very afraid of them as well.

Idia is scared of harpies. They are known in stories for earing people and everyone knows that. Sure he's never met a human-eating harpy and Yuu probably doesn't want to eat blue fire but he's sure he'll be eaten.

Ortho is curious about the harpy but the harpy doesn't notice him. They don't interact.

Hen:

The hen finds the technology of the dorm disarming. They don't care for sparks, fire or metal. Is to dark here. So they flew the coop.

Idia is less afraid but still won't be caught near the bird and Ortho does the same.

Diasomnia

Raptor:

The perfect place to rest. The gargoyles seem to agree. Feels right at home among the crows.

Lilia hadn't met another harpy in a while and enjoys talking to Yuu. They fly together after dark.

Sebek is constantly about to get a talon to the face. The harpy doesn't like his attitude and will attack.

Silver and Yuu don't talk often but Yuu will rest in a tree while Silver sleeps under the shade.

Malleus is Yuu's ally. Birds and lizards stick together. They actually share an interest in gargoyles unexpectedly due to Yuu nesting and high places so often.

Hen:

Yuu doesn't fit but still enjoys the dorm.

Lilia loves to tease the hen and gets hit with a wing flap when they get mad. Yuu does come by to cook sometimes with him.

Sebek doesn't know that chickens have a pecking order. When he speaks out of turn or yells he gets a wing smack or the hen will pin him down until he submits.

Silver is so calming that Yuu will sleep next to him while basking in the sun.

Malleus has good vibes. Yuu trusts him to tend to their feathers. When Yuu's mother visited to have them watch her egg Yuu trusted Malleus to help tend to a nest. Egg sitting doesn't come naturally to him since he would rather light a fire under it and bury it in the ground like a dragon.

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fatehbaz · 1 year

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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?

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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 [...].

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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’ [...].

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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.

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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]

#ecology #abolition #imperial #interspecies

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rosedominatesyou · 7 months

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Bedtime Stories w/ Rose

ੈ✩‧˚ In The Clouds ‧˚ੈ✩

(Bedtime Story #4)

Hello again my little pups. Mommy is here with another tale to help ease you to sleep. It isn’t as exciting as the last ones but maybe that’ll help make your eyes heavy anyway. Keep this in your likes until you’re cozy and ready for bed. 💗

Before reading: Although I wish I could tell you all the names of the beautiful places I went to in this story, I’ve withheld certain details out of respect for my own privacy.

Everyone in my life knows how much I love birds. That’s sorta my main personality trait. Their imagery is everywhere, and you’ll start to understand why when you look a little deeper. Here’s what’s been captivating my thoughts lately, besides all of you. I hope you enjoy.

~'*•.¸♡¸.•*'.・。゜✭・.・✫・。.'*•.¸♡¸.•*'~

Please make a queue of the following 2 songs: “Fill Into Me” by Anju, and “Slow Dancing - Hazel Remix” by Aly & Aj.

Both therapists I’ve ever had at some point said to me, “It sounds like you know what all your problems are.”

As the person experiencing them/inflicting them upon myself, yeah, I knew exactly what was happening to me, but isn’t the point of sharing your feelings and negative actions with someone else supposed to make you want to be a better person? To let you hear those things out loud so that you’d want to change?

I didn’t think I was going to, and after talking to professional help, even they seemed conflicted if maybe I was just making it all up for the drama. Maybe I really was the cause of my own misery.

I was tired of it all, even if at the time I couldn’t stop myself. There was a person in my life that I’m not ready to talk about that really fucked me over and changed the way I think. It was 2020, and with everything going on in the world, all I wanted was to hang on to a friend. They left. And they were the only friend I had.

It was late into the evening at my current job, but back then I used to work nights. I was walking through the part of the warehouse that has all of our truck receiving docks when I heard a familiar sound, the little chirps of baby birds.

They had built the nest years ago inside one of the truck docks, and year after year they came back and rebuild it in the same spot. If you roll up the doors to let a truck driver in, the birds would get scared and fly deep into the warehouse, typically not finding their way out.

I stood there, alone late one night, staring up at the little nest that was caked to the side of the cement wall. I have no idea what kind of bird that is, I remember thinking to myself. I knew what a dove was, they used to nest every year at my childhood home, but these little birds were something totally different. I realized at that moment that I didn’t know jack-shit about birds, and they are everywhere. It sorta hit me harder than I thought it was going to.

If you can’t tell by my lead-up to this story, I was looking for something to captivate my thoughts - something to make me stop thinking about that friend that left me hurt and used.

Asking myself about the little birds that evening made me go to a book store on my next day off and buy a pocket field guide to the birds in my area. I read the whole thing cover to cover. I hadn’t absorbed a book like that in a long time. So many amazing variations with such unique range maps, plumage, and living habits.

If you were curious (and my hint about the description of their nest didn’t give it away), the birds that I see at my work are Barn Swallows.

I was hooked. I purchased some more detailed field guides and started joining groups online that were into birdwatching. “Birders” as they call themselves, people in my own town were posting the most beautiful pictures I’d ever seen, with captions that described the exact species down to the Latin name and seasonal variety.

I wasn’t even planning on going out the day that I did. I wanted to try to take some pictures like I had been seeing in my group. I had a camera, but nothing like what some of the people were sporting. I also had no clue where to go; sure you can just go walk around anywhere, but where was I likely to see the most? Basically at random with no input from my group, I picked a local reservoir to drive out to.

I was shaking as I got out of the car at the first ever ‘birding’ location i’d go to, feeling nauseous as I set up my camera. “This is stupid this is stupid you look like a creep this is so stupid,” I couldn’t help repeating to myself out loud as I began down the first walking path I saw.

My own words work, making me turn around suddenly and go back to the car. There’s barely anyone around but the 2 or 3 people who glance across to me is too much to bear. My hands could hardly put the lens cap back on because of how much I was trembling.

You drove all the way here, I try to encourage myself as I conceal my body behind the open trunk, other people do it. Just go walk around.

I stop putting everything away and just stand there for a second, breathing and feeling.

You wanted this.

I get my dslr back out, the lens attached to it being the biggest one I owned: 200mm. I had gotten it as a present many years ago, and loved taking pictures around my house, but had never taken my camera with me out in public. Something about walking around with it in my hands made me feel so out of place, but I tried to just push past that and start walking again.

Unknown to me back then, the location and time of year I picked were both rather dismal. The lake was desolate of animal life. If there aren’t any fish, rodents, or trees to perch on, birds won’t be attracted. It was also summer, and though that may seem like a good time of year for a person, the best time to witness a large variety of birds is during their two migrations each year: spring and fall. Most birds, besides natives that stay year round, have already settled into their northern territories for the Summer. I live in California, and while we are blessed with an insane number of species, we are also basically just a giant highway for birds traveling between their summer territories in Canada/Alaska, and their wintering nesting sites in Mexico/South America.

When I got home from my first outing and took a look at my pictures, I was very disappointed. Most were too dark, too far away, or way too blurry to make anything out. The only birds I managed a decent photo of were a Western Bluebird pair, but even then I was not happy with what I had taken. I was being too hard on myself, expecting a lot out of a person who was just starting out something new.

Two days later I went to a local camera store and bought a 300mm lens. Not a huge difference, but my confidence became more noticeable in the shots I took the next few outings.

The songs I had you add to a queue are just a couple that I would listen to when out birding. Calming, peaceful songs, i naturally always hear birds chirping and grasses swaying in the wind overlapping with the music while I listen now.

The feeling of discovering birds was overwhelming. I’d see something new and my heart would race so fast. It felt like falling in love. My feet would start to run without looking down as my eyes remained glued on the bird in my vision.

One time my partner Jamie and I were out at a wildlife reserve when we saw what we thought was a Golden Eagle. The massive raptor was dark overall and was calling loudly as it soared above us. We ran down the winding paths, loosing sight of it and only being able to follow the bird by the shrill call it made overhead.

Finally we found it again, perched on a tree that hung sideways over a cliff. The sun was shinning right on its face and I started snapping away, taking shot after shot of the magnificent bird. It didn’t like how long we were watching it, and took off while I continued to take pictures.

Ecstatic with what we had seen, I quickly uploaded the photos to the group I’m in asking if I was correct with what I thought.

Many people chimed in right away to let me know that, even though they were great pictures, the bird in the photos was actually just a Red-Tailed Hawk.

RTH’s, as their name is abbreviated, are the most abundant hawks in North America, and are also the most easily mistaken for another raptor. The specific bird I had seen was a large, dark-morph female, meaning her plumage was a much darker brown than most buteo’s.

The thrill of going out birding was something my heart craved so heavily the more and more I did it. I’d get so excited to come home and look through my pictures, trying to see if I caught any new species and if I could figure out what its name was. It felt a lot like Pokémon and filling up my Pokédex. ☺️

The field guides weren’t enough, I wanted to know more. I now had a better understanding of the seasons, and knew I had to wait out the summer until I’d see the next migration. I bought two books off of Amazon: a cute little yellow book called “Birdpedia” that has hundreds of quick facts about all things avian lore, and a novel/memoir called “H is for Hawk” by Helen Macdonald.

Helen’s book would launch me into a reading craze like I’ve never felt before, buying bird book after bird book, reading them within a few weeks and moving on to another. I had never been one to read very much (not unless you count manga), so to feel myself still craving more words was a very new feeling. Here’s a list of a few more books I’d recommend if you’re interested, they’re my favorites:

‘Bird Brother’ by Rodney Stotts. Very relatable slice of life from a person who never thought he’d write a book, or own raptors.

‘The Falcon Thief’ by Joshua Hammer. True crime novel meets bird study in this gripping story about a detective who’s after a man wanted for stealing endangered eggs.

‘Red-Tails in Love’ by Marie Winn. You gotta really like birds and reading to get through this one; a woman’s true account of her observations in New York’s Central Park, along with the other birders who accompany her.

Including all of my field guides (mostly local but I have one about Japan!), I’ve read 16 books that have something to do with falconry. My brain is truly stuffed with bird lore. Upon making the poll about this bedtime story, two of you asked me to tell you a bird fact. 🤭 Here’s what I told them, my go-to bird fact:

All avian species had many goals during their evolutionary periods, but nothing like their need to be more aerodynamic. Their quest to be lighter led them to lose a few organs over time that mammals couldn’t imagine living without, including the bladder! That is why it seems like birds poop completely at random, it is truly because they have no way to hold it.

Second special fun fact, people always ask me, “What’s your favorite kind of bird?!” and that’s a hard one because I love all of them so much, but I like to say it’s the Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher since I can almost perfectly mimic their mating call. 😋

Over several months, I added more equipment to my build. I got a Sigma AF 600mm lens, as well as a teleconverter, a small attachment that goes between the camera and the lens to double the distance of whatever you’re shooting. Now I was able shoot 1200mm! I could see the blood on the beak of a hawk from half a mile away.

Birding trips would take me and Jamie all across California, going to every state park and wildlife reserve we could to see what kinds of birds were there. We’d bring picnic lunches and listen to music before starting our hikes. Eventually I bought a second Nikon off of some lady that I met up with in a Five Bellow parking lot, wanting to have a second camera for landscape shots.

I still love going out and taking pictures, though the newbie excitement I used to feel has since died down. The joy of closing your eyes and taking a deep breath of fresh air as you listen to all the birds around you is a peace I would want anyone to feel. It’s my favorite way to exist.

I know this one was a bit of a boring read this time, so as a reward for getting through it, here’s some of the pictures that I’m most proud of 🥰 Please note, they all have been cropped to remove my artist’s signature:

The photo of the Western Bluebird pair from my first ever outing.

2. Red-winged Blackbird. Proof that the 200mm lens can absolutely get you a good shot if the subject is close enough. This guy landed on a branch less than 10 feet away from me.

3. Cedar Waxwings. If you’re familiar with these regal-looking birds, then you can probably hear how loud this photo is 🤭

4. White-faced Ibis. One of the first shots I had taken with my 300mm lens.

5. Red-shouldered Hawk. A sub-species of the RTH, this RSH is seen covered in dew on a cold, early January morning. 600mm.

6. And finally, my favorite picture that I’ve ever taken, this is a first summer Pygmy Nuthatch, seen here with a beak full of grubs that it was bringing back to it’s siblings in the nest. 1200mm.

That’s the end of our story. Thank you so much for reading ❤️ Please let Momma about what you think of the story and the pictures. 🤭

Sweet dreams 💋 xoxo

~'*•.¸♡¸.•*'.・。゜✭・.・✫・。.'*•.¸♡¸.•*'~

#rosebtstory #enjoy my puppies 💋

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uncharismatic-fauna · 1 year

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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

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4izawas · 2 years

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— 𝐢’𝐦 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 ; 𝐳𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢, 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞.

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 !! — it had been a long time since the dragon king had seen a human so beautiful that they caught his eye, but two within a month? yes, zhongli had to consider himself more than lucky.

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 !! — zhongli/f!reader, childe/f!reader, zhongli/childe.

𝐰𝐜 !! — 8.05k.

𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 !! — nsfw ; minors dni.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 !! — dark content (kidnapping, dubcon ), bondage, pet names ( pet ), dragon!zhongli, anal sex, vaginal sex, crying, biting, licking, wrestling ( sexual ), mild predator/prey play, scratching, mxm, mxf, fxmxm, slapping, blowjob, gagging, choking, cum swallowing, creampie, breeding kink, begging, pheromone aphrodisiacs, overstimulation, dragon cock!zhongli, mentions of rut season, mentions of egg laying, zhongli doesn’t know how human reproductive systems work, mentions of hibernation.

— 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐦𝐞 !!

A cool wind blew into the mouth of the vast cavern that Zhongli called home, and he rumbled lowly in appreciation as it rolled over his overheated body. Living in a volcano was the best case scenario for any beast of his species, and as the king of his territory he was more than well off when it came to dens, but sometimes the heat was just too much, even for him. Coupled with the fierce feeling of loneliness he’d had since he’d woken up from his twenty year hibernation a month ago more or less kept him restless and uncomfortable in both the cavern and his mind.

Perhaps a flight would soothe me, he thinks quietly, and he slowly begins to push himself to his feet. Despite his monumental size, his head still doesn’t near the ceiling of his cave, and he absentmindedly gets a rush of pride; he’d picked a good den when he’d finally finished leading the seventy or so dragons to this vast continent from the one that mortals had destroyed across the sea. That had been a few hundred years ago, and the others had all gone their separate ways with the intent of finding homes of their own. Those that had mated with one another over the course of the long journey shared dens, but most who mated after the fact that had found mates of other species either did or didn’t.

His massive wings stir up ash beneath him as he takes off, and the wind beats against his face in a way he’d found pleasant for years; the feeling of the batterringly cold breeze against scales heated by the volcanic cave he called home was always soothing. His eyes close as he glides high above the treeline; he knew this land like he knew his own scales, so he ran no risk of crashing like a hatchling taking their first flight.

His eyes shoot open in surprise as a woman’s voice, soft and lilting with an accent he hardly recognized, reached his ears after being carried his way by the breeze; turning away from his intended flight pattern, he dutifully follows it, staring down with his eyes roving over the softly distant ground below him in search of the source. After ten or so minutes of rapid flight, he soars over a small lake and discovers a beautiful village woman singing to a small group of three glaze lilies that had grown alongside each other on the bank of the lake.

Enamoured by the sound of her voice and the sight of her beauty, Zhongli’s eyes glow a sudden gold, and a surge of desire fills his massive form so suddenly that he doesn’t even notice the singing stop or the woman looking up at him once the sun is blocked out by the massive shadow of his body. She was absolutely beautiful, her hair braided so nicely and her figure slightly on display due to her peasant’s clothes… He wanted her, he had to have her — there would be no excuse should he just leave her here! Besides, she’d be better off with him anyway, safe and warm, her stomach always full…

He doesn’t even realize that he’s dove down and snatched her up like a bird of prey does to a field rat until her screams of fear shake him from his lustful stupor. He’s snatched her up in one clawed hand that’s bigger than her body, and she’s wailing and sobbing and struggling to escape his grip, her hands pushing at his sharp claws in a fruitless attempt to get him off of her. Concerned that her hand will slip and she’s accidentally cut herself badly on the sharp edge of his claws, he carefully tightens his grip, cutting off her panicked screams with a pained wheeze. Guilt fills him for but a moment before leaving his mind, because obviously this was for her own good, and a little pain never killed anyone, it just put things into perspective.

“Stop struggling, jewel — you won’t escape my grip, you’ only hurt yourself,” he growls lowly, and with a hiccuped sob she goes limp in his grasp. Regardless, he doesn’t let up his grip on her until he reaches his den when he lands at the top of the largest mountain that, by the sharp inhalefrom the village woman, was the largest she’d ever seen. It’s circled by active volcanoes spewing up surge after surge of lava than scalds the ground it rolls across before flowing into a vast lake of the same stuff that encircled the entire area; there is no plant life to be seen anywhere, all of it destroyed by the heat and fiery conditions, and as she’s takig it all in the air in her lungs is forced out as he drops her down onto the ground outside a vast cave entrance.

It takes a moment for her to catch her breath, her heart racing as she gasps for air, but once she gets it back she leaps to her feet and tries to run, letting out a shriek when she nearly falls off the side of the mountain. There’s nowhere for her to go, and the wicked beast behind her just noses his new pet closer to the nearby cave until finally she’s pushed inside, screaming all the while and crying. She scrambles away once he stands back up at halfway to his full height, trying to figure out how to navigate the cave when she didn’t even know where exactly she was.

Mountainous heaps of gold and jewels, silver and crystals — the smallest being taller than she is — fill the room, and she rushes to hide behind one of them, her entire body shaking and tears of fear running down her cheeks.

“Come now, little treasure, don’t hide where I cannot see you,” Zhongli purrs softly, his eyes locked on the crystal she was behind. “It does you no good to hide when your scent fills my senses — I can already taste you on my tongue.”

A shrill wail follows his words, and Zhongli chuckles softly to himself when he realizes how what he’d said sounded; he had no intentions to eat his newest prize, she was far too beautiful to be rid of so quickly. With a deep yawn he stretches once, twice, then lays down at the entrance, forcing himself to ignore the sounds of her crying while thinking to himself that she’d get over it soon.

Contrary to his expectations, she does not get over it. Not soon, and not at all.

In fact, a month or so later, she’s even worse off, and it’s worrying him. She’s refusing to eat, hasn’t bathed on her own without him carefully cleaning her tiny body himself, and is completely depressed. His rumbled urges for her to take care of herself go either unanswered because of choice, or because she’s beyond terrified. Even when he hunts for her, sure that she won’t try to escape due to high up they were on the volcano, and drops his catches before her, she refuses him. The various animals he hunts for her specially get tears and trembling bottom lips as she just shakes her head, tears rolling down her cheeks at the sight of the bloody chunks of flesh awaiting her. Scorching them with his flames only makes her scream in fear from the heat, and she refuses to go near the charred meat he offered up — and it’s straining Zhongli’s last nerve.

“YOU NEED TO EAT!” he roars on the sixth day of her refusing food in a row, unable to hold himself back. “IF YOU DON’T EAT, YOU DIE, AND I DON’T WISH TO THROW YOUR LIMP CORPSE FROM THE MOUNTAINTOP!” The strength of his voice shakes the walls and makes his already trembling treasure burst into tears. The salty liquid he’s licked off her cheeks more than once in the past few months that he's had her glitters prettily in the light from the cave entrance, and he lets out a snarl of frustration that makes her cover her jewel-like eyes and sob into her hands, whimpering about him ‘eating her’ that made him yell, “I’M NOT GOING TO EAT YOU, YOU STUPID GIRL!”

With another stray snarl he storms out of the cave and takes flight, the sounds of her crying slowly getting farther and farther away the further he flies from the den. The entire time he’s shaking his head violently and growling, furious that she refused to understand him. Were all humans like this, or had he just picked one who was far too simple of mind? All he truly knew of her was her looks and her voice, it wasn’t as if he’d quizzed her on the wonders of the cosmos before bringing her home — but there was no way he’d made a mistake, she just wasn’t used to him yet. Then again, she’d never be able to if she refused to eat like she had been for the past week.

The majority of his thoughts run this way, to the point of him not noticing just how far he’s flown into the Coldlands until the snow falling onto his nose startles him mid-flight. Looking around, he pauses; even at top speeds, reaching the Coldlands takes at least a full day of constant flight should he take no rests… had he truly been so caught up in his thoughts that he’d flown this far?

His golden eyes peer around the land blanketed in white; as one would surmise from the title ‘Coldlands’, the air was colder than he was comfortable with and the muscles beneath his hide twitch at the prickly feeling of the temperature setting into his body. It was triggering his senses for later in the year, the thoughts of hibernation that were far in his mind were now slowly tickling at the corners of it — unlike the dragon that claimed these lands, The Tsaritsa, he was not built for the cold. He wasn’t even built for the heat; the only reason he could stand the heat from the volcanoes was because that was all molten rock, and he was most comfortable surrounded by the earth.

Soft crunching reaches his ears somewhere to the east, and he rapidly focuses on that should it be some sort of predator ( though few could ever manage to bring down a dragon of all creatures, he wouldn’t doubt some would try ). He discovers it’s somewhere in the slightly distant forest, and with one side of his brow raised in curiosity he flies over, as quiet as death during sleep.

He lands carefully just outside the small smattering of trees, large to a human but small to a dragon of his size ( then again, he was the largest considering he was the oldest and dragons never stopped growing ), and looks around curiously before the small crunch-crunch! of footsteps on snow reaches his ears again. Zeroing in on it, his eyes lock on a small human figure — clad in a heavy fur coat with a hood over his face, and much larger than his treasure back at the den, but still so, so small. His eyes follow it almost predatorily, watching as it gather various nuts and things in a basket over its shoulder ( though Zhongli wondered what on earth he could possibly be gathering, since little grew in the Coldlands this time of year — the Tsaritsa herself had complained the lack of food that came with her territory to him when they’d met up around fifty years ago, and he’d hunted her a rather sizeable amount of flesh to take home with her, which had put him in her good graces. She still called for him to visit her sometime; maybe he should today? ). Looking into the basket, Zhongli did make note that it was mostly empty, a few groundnuts rattling around in there along with some mint and three sweet flowers that were half-wilted; it really was a pathetic little catch.

The sudden movement of the man drawing a bow he’d had over his other shoulder and aiming it against the base of a distant tree had Zhongli glancing over to it; a snow hare was snuffling around at the tree’s base, no doubt also scavenging for food. A sudden thump and the arrow hitting the tree just above the hare’s head and in between it’s ears send it racing off into the white plain. The human who had tried to capture it lets out a shrill whine of a groan and mumbles something to itself, pulling off its hood to get cool air to its no doubt now frustration-heated neck and ears.

Zhongli’s pupils dilate at the sight before him. The human had pulled down his hood to show him reddish-orange hair, which was fine, but he had turned and looked around tiredly to reveal a beautiful face with glittering blue jewels for eyes. His cheeks were pinkened from the cold, and soft puffs of steam filled the air from between his lips whenever he breathed. Zhongli watched him, his own breathing shaky, and as the man tried to decide what to do, Zhongli came to his own decision.

This human would join his precious treasure back at the den, whether he liked it or not; maybe with human companionship she’d have the urge to eat something — and it wasn’t like this human was ugly! No, he’d be a fine addition to his collection of jewels back home. He’d send the Tsaritsa an apologetic kill for stealing one of her subjects later.

Still, he waited patiently, never taking his eyes off the human man until finally, finally the man stepped out from the woods, which is when he took off and glided over. The shadow overtaking the man on the white tundra made him turn back for a moment to look up, and with a startled scream at the sight of Zhongli flying directly in his direction he starts sprinting back to the trees. Zhongli reaches a clawed fist out and makes a try at grabbing him, only just missing when the human makes it back into the trees.

Following along with the scared human’s running form, Zhongli figures where that he will try to make his escape from and leaps over to it. “Little gemstone, surely you don’t think you can hide from me in there?” Zhongli purrs lowly, locking eyes with him. The man shrieks again and falls backwards onto his ass, throwing a fistful of powdery snow into his face before scrambling away. Zhongli just chuckles, shaking the powder from his nose before walking over to cut off the human’s other means of escape. “Come now, you know your resistance is futile — just come to me, precious, it won’t hurt.”

“FUCK OFF!” the man screams, but this time he doesn’t run fast enough to escape Zhongli when he reaches one fistful of claws his way, and he’s scooped up rather quickly. Holding tight to his prize and drawing the man back to cradle him against his chest, Zhongli watches through an amused gaze as the human tries his hardest to throw himself from his grip despite knowing that he was so high up he’d break bones — and Zhongli hadn’t even taken off yet.

A loud, earth-shaking thud sounds behind him as a creature of a similar size to himself lands behind him, and Zhongli tears his gaze from the human and looks straight forward, listening carefully. His muscles are tensed and he’s ready to defend himself and his newest little pet if necessary, but the sound of familiar steps have him relaxing.

“I was wondering when you’d come to visit me, Morax,” a smooth, enchantingly feminine voice murmurs behind him. He grins softly, baring his teeth in a way that makes the human screech again and try harder to escape his grip.

Zhongli turns around, still smiling and carefully holding his pet. “Ah, Tsaritsa — it’s been quite a few seasons, hasn’t it?”

The lighter toned dragoness ( every dragon was lighter than his black and gold frame, though ) behind him grins just as brightly and nods, a wicked glint in her eye as she takes notice of the struggling human in his grasp. “Ah, Morax — you’ve captured one of my devotees, I see.”

Zhongli looks down at the human, whose chest is heaving with the exertion of fighting off the touches of a being so much bigger than him. It seemed he was listening closely to the crooning voice of the Tsaritsa, most likely expecting her to save him.

She would not.

“His name?” Zhongli asks, running one claw over his hair absentmindedly.

“Ajax, though I renamed him Tartaglia when he came into my service amd he works under the name Childe. What business do you have with him?”

He begans speaking. “I took on a life mate earlier this year—“

“Congratulations!” The Tsaritsa interrupted, looking surprised.

Zhongli nodded appreciatively. “Thank you. She’s mortal, though, and I'm afraid she’s been so nervous and afraid after moving into my territory that she can't bring herself to do much of anything. We got into an argument, however one-sided, and it seems I flew through the lands where our territory overlaps and ended up passing through your tundra,” he explains, noting that the Tsaritsa didn’t seem upset in the slightest ( and looked rather interested ). “I spotted this human, Childe, while passing through and watched him for a bit, intending on leaving once I was done — but then I truly laid eyes on him and was positively enraptured. I decided I would have to take him home with me — after all, he is not only beautiful, but perhaps he could also raise my mate’s spirits, you know?”

The Tsaritsa hums thoughtfully. “Hmm, you may be right… but then again, you’d be taking one of my closest devotees away from me…” Childe looked hopeful for a second, wide eyed and silently pleading in the direction of the Tsaritsa as she thought it over. His hopes were crushed when she shrugged. “You know what? It’s fine with me.”

“No!” he wails, “Please, Your Majesty—!”, but he is ignored as she continues speaking.

“I have many servants, and you’ve been good to me Morax — you may have him. There will be no need for return gifts, either.” Her voice is simple as she looks over her claws, clear and glittering like the finest ice as Childe struggles even harder to escape Zhongli’s hold.

Zhongli chuckles. “Unfortunately, you could not stop me from sending you something in return — I will send you some fine pieces from my personal hoard in thanks.”

The Tsaritsa’s eyes glitter sharply at the phrase ‘personal hoard’, and she dips her head in acknowledgement. “In that case, thank you very much. Would you like me to fly with you back to the border?”

“I assure you I know the way, but I wouldn’t be opposed to company should you have no other duties to attend to,” Zhongli replies warmly, and she grins again. Her fangs are longer, Zhongli notes absently, and her bite looks even more dangerous than before. It’s a good look for her.

“Then let us go — You have quite the distance to fly, after all.”

The entire return flight to Zhongli’s territory Childe is fighting against his grip, kicking and screaming and making such a fuss that for a moment ( just a single one! ) Zhongli wonders if this small human was even worth it. The journey to the den took longer than the journey away had due to the ferocity of his struggles, even accidentally dropping him as he struggled out of his grip. Zhongli let Childe fall around a hundred feet before diving after him and catching him again as he fell screaming through the air. Childe was much more still after that, and an hour later Zhongli has finally made it back to the den. He’s pleased to see that, instead of a rotted carcass, bones of the creature he’d ‘cooked’ for her are licked clean and she’s waiting for him. The thin skirt that he’d fashioned for hee out of shed hide whipped around in the wind, and he could see tears in her eyes as he landed.

He plops Childe down in front of her, the man landing with a grunt on his ass ( yet again ) as he’s winded from the short fall, and they just look at each other in surprise. Y/N’s eyes sparkle with unshed tears, and Childe doesn’t look away from her figure as he tries to catch his breath again. His eyes rove over her body, her half bared breasts in the hide top Zhongli had fashioned her to go with the long skirt, her feet bare and hair loose, her bottom lip trembling and tears running down her cheeks.

Shaking himself from the stupor he’d fallen i to at the sight of the captive woman before him, Child regains his senses and whirls around to stand protectively in front of her while yelling at Zhongli. “LET US BOTH GO AND TAKE ME BACK TO THE COLDLANDS, YOU MONSTER!” Zhongli just rumbles out a laugh, more than amused at the spectacle before him.

While the dragon is distracted, Childe looks around frantically for a place he can escape to and, while doing so, locks eyes with Y/N again. He can feel himself begin to get lost in the depths of her gaze, as he’s absolutely captivated by her, but he shakes his head to clear it again. He runs to her and grabs her hand before yanking her away to hide amongst the gold, their feet slapping against the heated ground beneath them as he leads them away from the beast at the opening to the cave.

Zhongli doesn’t mind and lets Childe get away with yelling at him, letting them both run deeper inside the den. He knows that there’s no way for them to escape unless they went through the only entrance while he slept, and even then he’d wake up before they got far enough for it to actually matter. He lays down slowly; in the distance, further in the cave, he can hear Childe sweetly comforting Y/N. He was asking her questions while telling her that everything would be alright and no doubt holding her close, and Zhongli smiles at the fact that his pets are getting along. Taking Childe from the Tsaritsa’s territory had been the perfect idea! He slowly eases into a light, light sleep, dozing off to the sounds of Y/N actually talking to her new companion, and a smile flicks up the corners of his mouth and ever so slightly reveals his teeth.

This was perfect.

“Are you sure we can do this?” Y/N asks quietly, playing with the sleeve of Ajax’s long coat. He’d long taken it off, right after introducing himself to her actually, and he’d told her it was more than okay to touch it when she’d pensively asked; she’d not let it go since.

Ajax paces before the spot where she’s knelt with his coat over her lap, trying to figure out the best course of action. His gut is telling him not to do this, but his brain is arguing against it — and Ajax prides himself on his quick thinking, so he listens to his head. They needed to escape, end of story — and he’d make sure they did.

“Y-Yeah — we can do it,, Y/N — and I mean no offense, I promise, but I’m not gonna sit on my ass in this cave and wait for him to eat us,” Ajax replies, voice earnest.

Y/N sighs. “He — He won’t eat us, I don’t think,” she admits quietly, and Ajax turns to look at her in confusion. “I’ve been here for months now, and he told me two days before he came back with you that he wasn’t going to eat me.”

“Then what else could he possibly want from us?” Ajax asks, sounding urgent. Y/N just trembles a little when Zhongli lets out a snore at the cave entrance then shrugs.

“I don’t know,” she admits, but Ajax isn’t paying attention. No, he’s peeking around a heap of gold at the titanic form of Zhongli at the entrance, watching the way the shoulder and back of the beast rise and fall with each inhale and exhale. Once he was certain that the monster was asleep, he turned back to Y/N and extended one of his work-roughened hands.

“C’mon, he’s asleep — now’s our chance,” he says urgently, but she doesn’t look so sure.

“I don’t think we should,” she murmurs, but he just grabs her wrist gently and pulls her up. She doesn’t let go of his winter coat, which he appreciates; he didn’t want to leave it behind.

“We have to,” he says sternly, before leading the way and tugging her along — then he pauses. “You’re barefoot,” he says, and she nods. Sighing, he carefully balances himself on one leg while he pulls off one shoe, then does the same with the other before handing them to her. “Put those on, the ground’s gonna be hot.”

“But what about you?” she asks weakly, and he just smiles boyishly at her.

“I’ll manage,” he says, sounding so sure of himself. He begins leading the way once again, and as they approach the dragon, Y/N could almost swear he was awake — she just couldn’t prove it.

And unfortunately, he was.

Just as he’d expected, they try to escape while he sleeps. Zhongli wakes to the sight of Childe hurrying towards the exit, his hand tight around Y/N’s wrist as he tugs her along behind him insistently. She’s slowed down a little because she’s wearing his too-big shoes ( apparently Zhongli’s little gemstone had given his pair to her since he noticed she’d been barefoot, something that warmed him up inside ). After such a long journey to fetch Y/N company, though, Zhongli was too tired for this, though, and didn’t feel like yelling so he groggily slaps a clawed down on top of them both. The sudden strike doesn’t hurt them in the slightest, though, and they scream in unison since they’d thought he was asleep. Zhongli ignores this and just sleepily wraps his hand around their bodies and pulls them close to his chest before falling back asleep, and this time there’s no way for them to run.

No, all they can do is listen to the skull-shaking thump-thump! of his enormous heartbeat next to their shaking bodies and hold each other.

The next day Childe talks to Y/N again, and he tells her that from then on out they’d need to wait until they felt like they couldn’t anymore. After being caught like that, the monster that held them captive would definitely expect them to run again, so they lay low for a long while. He just urges her to eat and build up her strength so she’d be able to keep running once they got down from this gods-forsaken volcano.

Zhongli does in fact suspect that they are planning to run away, which is why he keeps a close eye on them both, which how he learns Childe has been sweetly convincing Y/N to eat by hand-feeding her cooked bits of whatever Zhongli brought them back from hunts. Slowly but surely he begins taking longer and longer flights out, leaving his living treasures back in the den and allowing them to entertain themselves. Quietly he preens over how good an idea it was to fetch Childe; along with the human man convincing Zhongli’s little treasure to eat, he helps her keep a strict bathing schedule ( they do so together, even! ), lets her cling to him at night to sleep, and makes sure she’s always well-rested and healthy, and it makes him more than pleased.

But as always, good things do tend to come to an end.

Over the past few months Zhongli had been beyond pleased with their behavior — they even allowed him to lay nearby the hot spring that he took them to and watch them bathe ( human bodies were ever so curious looking ), which was more than a win in his book. Because they’d given him this clear sign of trust ( or so he thought ), he was more than willing to trust them in return — which was why he told them that he was going to be gone for a few days to go see the Tsaritsa as he’d promised.

After all this beautiful behavior paired with the long months they’d been together made Zhongli more than comfortable leaving them there alone, which was why when he returned because he’d forgotten a gift and found them halfway out of the den in a new escape attempt he’d been furious. Once they’d been discovered, Childe had thrown a massive stone his way, and when it had slammed into his eye almost painfully that had been the final straw. Enraged, he’d dove down, scooped them both up, and practically thrown them back in the den, not caring about whether it hurt them or not and roaring at them all the while. The two humans do indeed get a little scraped up, but considering he could have killed them they count it as good luck.

Zhongli stalks towards them angrily, fangs bared and claws sparking against stone, and Childe once again grabs Y/N by the hand and drags her through the endless piles of treasure that Zhongli had collected over the centuries, finally stumbling upon a crevice in the stone wall that there was no possible way for Zhongli — as massive as his frame was — to fit through.

He advances on their hiding place regardless, scales around his crotch, neck, and wrists practically vibrating as they assault glands beneath the hard plating and expel an invisible, earthy-smelling mist through the den with the intent of his treasures breathing it in; this pitiful display of stubborness had gone on too long, and he was beyond sick of this repetitive behavior.

As he paces around in front of their little crevice, Childe and Y/N hide in there and hold one another close, both shaking at the sound of roaring and snarling and the sight of massive feet pacing outside. Their noses itch as the air becomes noticeably thicker and their heads begin to feel like they’re filled with cotton, but they ignore it in favor of screaming in fear when the dragon that held them captive dips a razor sharp claw inside to fruitlessly scratch at them. Sparks fly off the hardened magma as the claw slides across it before withdrawing, and the sounds of what seems like leather ripping and bones snapping echoes through the cave outside, what looks like blood dripping down slightly through the opening.

Y/N lets out a startled cry when a strange looking handsome man appears and forces his way inside, his golden eyes flashing with a fury unmatched, and grabs them both by their shoulders, dragging them from the crevice and throwing them down on the ground at his feet. Childe, stunned from being thrown, doesn’t notice the fangs revealed as the handsome man throws a snarl their way, but Y/N does, and it makes her shriek again.

Zhongli grabs Y/N by the wrists, wrapping beautiful golden chains around them and binding her before casting her aside and doing the same to a still shocked Childe, whose head is still spinning from when it cracked slightly against the inside of the crevice as he was forced out. Unlike with Y/N, a weighty golden collar and an attached leash of the same golden chains as were wrapped around their wrists clicks shut around his neck as Zhongli speaks. “You know, I tried my best to do right by the two of you. I tried so hard — but you still chose to fight me. Why? Why, when I’ve shared with you more riches than any mortal man will ever know and have granted you safety beyond your wildest measures?” The man’s voice is a smooth, velvety croon despite the anger sparking in his eyes, and he continues, “I didn’t want to resort to something as… primitive as this, you know, but I’m going to — and you can only blame yourselves. My patience can only run so thin before it snaps.”

The air grows thick again, this time even more so than before, and Y/N’s head begins to feel fuzzy. Her pussy clenches around nothing as an unusual heat settles in her abdomen, and she lets out a soft whimper as she rolls her hips against nothing but the empty air.

Childe isn’t doing much better; he’d only just gotten his wits about him again when his cock began to harden in his pants, his hips twitching up slightly as it strains against his pants buttons. He was so hard it was almost painful, and no matter how much he clenched his thighs the stiffness didn’t abate. he needed something, but he just didn’t know what.

Both of them are so wrapped up in their own arousal that they don’t notice Zhongli’s own, the beast-turned-man’s massive cock lifting the loincloth that had been hiding his crotch — and judging from the size of of the bulge, it isn’t a normal cock. Gasping and drooling slightly as he approaches them, the two gemstones he’d added to his collection struggle with their arousal, too focused on themselves to notice the sound of Zhongli ripping his loincloth away to reveal his lengthy cock, a longer than average thick thing with scales at the base that were a shining mixture of black and gold with only a few smatterings of red that faded up his length and gave way to human flesh.

He stands with his legs spread before Childe and yanks the chain leash, jerking Childe up into a kneeling position. His cock slaps the human man across the cheek and leaves a soft wet patch of precum there, and before Childe even knows what he’s doing he has a good several inches of the monstrous thing in his mouth, slobber dripping down the length of it as well as his chin.

Snapping his fingers, Zhongli calls Y/N over, and she crawls on her hands and knees before listening aptly when the dragon king rumbles, “Worship your god,” and sucking his hefty balls in her mouth, sucking and nipping at them greedily until she finally sidles up to kneel next to Childe, who pulls off the cock for a second to breathe only to let out a complaining whine when she sucks Zhongli’s tip into her mouth. He pushes her away and she responds in kind, the two of them going back and forth before Zhongli discards the chain leash and fists a hand around a good amount of both of their hair and pushes their head back down to his cock at the same time, his displeasure made known through a low growl.

Shivering and clenching their thighs, they kneel next to one another, each running their mouth up and down one side of his massive cock, their tongues curling around the heated flesh and their misty eyes shining up at him as he moans appreciatively at the proper behaviour. Thrusting up into their hot tongues, he succeeds in sinking his cock into Childe’s mouth. The ginger man gags and whimpers, but his complaints go ignored as Zhongli basks in the feelings his mouth was giving him and forces the human man further down onto his length. His cock penetrates Childe’s throat and has him moaning around it, the human’s nails scratching at Zhongli’s thighs as he rests with his cock all the way down his throat, before he slowly pulls out then begins thrusting into the wet heat. Childe chokes around Zhongli’s thickness, gagging as it bullies its way down his throat and whining when the heavy balls at the end of it slap his chin hard. With the speed the dragon was going, there was no doubt Childe’s throat and chin would be bruised come tomorrow.

“Hnghh — So good, Childe, so hot ‘nd tight for me,” Zhongli groans. Tears spring up in Childe’s eyes at the abuse on his throat, but Zhongli doesn’t give a damn — the dragon can feel his balls tightening, can feel the knot that had been growing in his abdomen under the touches of his beautiful little pets about to snap, so he doesn’t stop fucking Childe’s face — even despite the way the man was grabbing at his ass and scratching him in desperation for air — until he’s finally, finally cumming, and a pleased roar leaves his lips and echoes through the cave. Gods, he’s waited months for pleasure like this — and it was more than worth the wait.

Childe chokes again on the hot cum being forced down his throat even as Zhongli pulls out, so much of the thick cream being shot down his throat that it pleasantly fills his stomach, giving the man a soft little roundness that’s barely noticeable to the human eye but more than pleasing to the dragon that put it there.

Leaving Childe to gasp for the air he’d been denied, Zhongli turns to a whimpering Y/N, who was rubbing at her pussy through her panties needily. He rips them away, eyeing the slick cunt the cloth being torn away revealed before circling his thumb around her swollen clit just enough so that when her pussy clenches again it forces even more of her precious slickness to bubble out of her, dripping down the rest of her slit and coating her thighs and ass in it.

His eyes flashing, he climbs up the length of her body before pressing his length against her entrance, ignoring her whimpers and cries that it’s, “T-Too big! It won’ fit — too big!”, in favor of pressing inside all the same.

“It’ll fit — it has to if I’m gonna breed this soft cunt,” he growls, then watches greedily as her eyes roll back at the feeling of his thick cock forcing its way inside her tight, plump pussy, which tightened around him for a moment in an attempt to get used to the sudden stretch he’d forced upon it.

He pulls out slowly before pushing back inside, growling lowly at the feeling of her gummy walls stroking his length before he begins hammering his cock into her cruelly, his eyes wicked and teeth flashing in the faint light of the den, saliva dripping from his fangs and dripping down her bouncing breasts. Leaning back, he rears a hand back and slaps her across the face before gripping her by the chin and staring into her sexdrunk eyes. “You keep those pretty fuckin’ eyes on me while I fuck you stupid,” he growls. He can’t fit his entire length in her pussy, so his balls don’t slap against her ass like he wanted to feel, but that doesn’t stop him from fucking her until she’s limp and shaking, cream oozing out around his cock to form a frothy, milky-white ring around his cock where he couldn’t force any more in.

“Oh — yes, my love, so good — you’re being s-so good for me,” he moans, the muscles in his ass clenching with every thrust and the feeling of her long nails digging into his back spurring him on. “F-Fuck, treasure—!”

She’s wailing for him, begging for more, and he can’t resist the urge to bite down on her shoulder mid thrust, ushering a shrill scream to fall from her lips and a sudden orgasm to overtake her body as blood begins to drip down her arm. He releases her shoulder and cums again with a second roar, his hot cum filling her up so much that it’s forcing itself out around his cock and soaking both of their thighs.

Her chest heaves in exertion as he pulls himself out quickly and watches with dilated pupils as his cum comes pouring out of her swollen, abused cunt, drool threatening to drip down his chin at the sight of her clenching pussy forcing out more of his cream. He can hear Childe whimpering behind them and the sounds of the human desperately fisting his cock at the sight of them fucking, but whining when he can’t find release on his own. He ignores it, however, in favor of using two clawed fingers to carefully push his cum back inside her, only to watch it all drip out all over again. He grins at the sight, licking his lips, and finally turns back to Childe. His pupils dilate further at the sight of how quick his fist stroked up and down the length of his cock, but when Zhongli went over to him to help him out, Childe pushed him away. Pausig and tilting his head to the side in surprise, Zhongli raised an eyebrow, then tried again, only to be met with the same result — so he pushed forward unrelented, churring happily when Childe began wrestling with him while rolling his hips and grinding his cock against Zhongli’s muscled thigh. Childe was playing with him!

He growls appreciatively, grinning down at him as the struggle between them continues until Zhongli ‘manages’ to flip Childe over so he’s presenting his plump ass to him, his ass is in the air and his legs slightly spread as Zhongli spreads his asscheeks with. orh thumbs and runs his tongue up from between Childe’s taut balls along his asshole, swirling the spit-slick appendage around it before carefully pushing it inside and starting to tongue childe’s asshole open, the long non-human appendage swirling around viciously in the man’s insides and making him shriek and writhe in pleasure at the feeling of the rough forked length stretching him out and toying with such a hidden place.

Two fingers, clawed but careful, slide into him alongside Zhongli’s tongue and begin stretching him even more, the dragon not wanting to rip up his toy with the pretty pink cock unless Childe asked for it. The human had to be prepared to take him if he wanted to stuff all eleven inches of his cock inside and breed him until his stomach was that much rounder; Y/N was still regaining her own strength after their earlier romp, so Childe could certainly have all of his attention for the time being.

Scissoring his fingers deep inside, Zhongli watched with lust darkened eyes as Childe moans and pleads beneath him, bagging for more and pushing his ass back into the dragon king’s touch.

“Please — please, fuck-!” he whines, his entire body shaking, and Zhonli removes his fingers from Childe’s already sensitive hole with a loud, wet shhlk!, his own saliva clinging to his fingertips and connecting them to the quivering entrance before him for just a moment before snapping. Zhongli props himself up on his knees behind the ginger haired human, running both hands across the globes of his ass before squeezing each cheek twice; his hand releases one cheek, trailing down his own body before gripping his cock at the base. He slaps it against Childe’s twitching hole, grinning wickedly at the whimpers the man let out before he carefully lined himself up and began applying pressure carefully. It takes a second ( and several whines from Childe ), but eventually his thick length pops into the tight entrance. He groans lowly, his hands flying back down to Childe’s hips as he sits there for a second and soaks in the warmth, then gently pulls out. It takes a second, but before long only his tip remains inside the hot, quivering hole before him, and he can’t hold himself back from fucking into it aggressively.

His balls slap harshly against Childe’s pale ass, heavy and full of cum that he was more than ready to pump the human man full of. Childe was crying out and moaning beneath him, letting out loud, “Ah — Ah — Ah!”s with each thrust, his noises picking up the pace whenever Zhongli did the same with his thrusts. The man from the Coldlands was anything but on the inside, burning hot and so slick thanks to Zhongli’s saliva, and he took all of him so well…

Cum spurts out of Childe’s smaller cock in several quick, sudden ropes, puddling messily on the cooled magma floor beneath him. Zhongli doesn’t stop fucking into him, set on filling him up as he pleases, and Childe lets out a shrill cry at the overstimulated feelings taking over his body; the dragon’s fat cockhead was beating against his swollen prostate relentlessly, not granting him a single moment’s reprieve, and as his arms gave out beneath him and his ass remained in the air, Childe watched through tear-filled eyes as the bulge in his abdomen appeared and disappeared repeatedly.

Childe’s screaming at the top of his lungs from the overdrimulation, thinner spurts of cum making their way oht of his poor cock as Zhobgli fucks him like a rabid beast. His throat feels beyond raw and black dot’s swim in the corners of his vision as he cums a third time, and when Zhongli doesn’t show any signs of stopping he whimpers desperately, “Please, no more — I can’t cum again, if I cum again I’ll die!”

Zhongli ignores him, instead reaching over and dragging Y/N over to him by the leg. He plays with her sloppy, used, sensitive cunt with one hand, slapping it hard twice so he can hear her scream, as Childe goes completely limp beneath him; it seems that the dragon has fucked him so good that he’s fallen unconscious.

Fresh cum shoots from the tip of Childe’s cock even in unconsciousness, and Y/N wails as Zhongli brings her to two orgasms within a few minutes of each other with just his fingers alone. His cum still dribbles from her sore cunt as her body shakes violently in orgasm, tears springing up in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks until she too is completely limp, more of his cum oozing out of her. The sight of his seed making a reappearance is what sends Shongli over the edge the final time, and his claws prick deep into a still unconscious Childe’s hips as he cums hard. His thick seed floods Childe’s guts, making the man whimper into the inky blackness of his lack of vision as Zhongli pumps him as full as he had Y/N.

Dragging Childe over to Y/N and letting him plop down on top of her with the human man’s face in her tits and Y/N’s back on a glittering pile of gold — which was no doubt uncomfortable, but it wasn’t as if they were aware of it as Zhongli’s cum bubbled out of both of their used holes. They rest there together easily due to their exhaustion as Zhongli pulls some silks and furs together to form a makeshift nest, which he finishes all while thinking, Hmm, my rut is to start soon — I’ll have to break them in before then or they’ll die… or maybe the job is already done?, then proceeds to carry them both to it. He’d never allowed them in this area of the cave before, but it’s a good thing he’s got a head start on setting his little mates up for egg laying season with this early breeding. If he’d been successful, he wouldn’t be going into rut at all — and maybe he’ll even have hatchlings to wake up to after his upcoming hibernation. After all, with them both so swollen with his seed and dripping with it, there was no doubt in his mind that they’d surely both be carrying a clutch each within a few weeks, a thought that filled him with a pleasant warmth; now that he had his little mates safely secured and filled to the brim, he was beyond glad that he’d held out on breeding through season after season.

Yawning loudly, Zhongli settles himself between his two little mates and closes his eyes, a purr rumbling up in his throat. Yes, picking them both up during flights was the perfect plan after all.

𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐭𝐰𝐨, 𝐨𝐜𝐭. 𝟗 ; 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 © { 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 } 𝐛𝐲 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐘𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐀. 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐲, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭.

#zhongli x reader #childe x reader #morax x reader #tartaglia x reader #ajax x reader #rex lapis x reader #genshin impact x reader #zhongli x you #childe x you #morax x you #tartaglia x you #genshin impact x you #kinktober22.neptune #deep ocean.🦑

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welcome-to-green-hills · 2 months

Note

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.

#Sonic Prime #I miss you Sonic Prime 🫡🥺#mystery anon #off topic

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averagetmntfan · 1 month

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Portals gone wrong!

(“The 4 servants Au” & “time beats a dead man Au” ((collab w/ @mikey-rottmnt)) Crossover fic!)

1/???

tbadm universe, 11:38 am.

“Well, shit. We’re screwed.” Bendy slumped, watching koi pace back and fourth in the tent.

“I CANT BELIEVE I FORGOT! I SWEAR I WROTE IT ON MY PHONE!!” Koi panicked, running his hand through his fluffy hair.

“well I mean, shouldn’t you know this kind of stuff? Since ur Mugs boyfri-“

“SHSHSH!!” He put a firm grip on bendys shoulders.

“Keep your voice down, dude!”

“Ok, ok! Jeez! js let go of me, please.”

Koi Immediately retracted his hands away. his face looked strained, as his body shook ever so slightly. He had no idea what to get his partner for his birthday. Which was today.

clearly, he wasn’t great at hiding it either. Because as soon as bendy got a look at him, he knew immediately.

“Look, if you’re so worried on what to get him. Why not ask cup?”

Bendy suggested

“HE’LL JUST LAUGH AT ME! OR GET MAD AT ME!!” Sweat was pouring down his face, making him look like he just got out of a pool.

“Okay, okay!! Fine!! just, chill. I’ll ask him for ya-“ He hopped of the cot, walking out of the tent. As koi watched in horror, he lays on his sleeping bag, getting lost in his thoughts.

As he stared as the ceiling of the tent. He saw an orange spark. Immediately, he blinked. And the spark was gone.

‘I must me imagining things.’

———————————————————————

T4S Universe, 11:38 am.

Mikey groans, laying flat on the couch. His whole head pounding with pain.

His mouth throbbed, his teeth hurt, and his tongue was sore. All because of those stupid braces.

he couldn’t even eat anything! That’s how bad his mouth hurt. He still didn’t understand why he needed braces in the first place. His teeth looked okay to him, anyway.

He wanted to just..scream and cry. But his eyes were dry, and his voice was weak. He had no idea how to even feel right now.

“you okay, Angie?” Leo asked, slowly leaning on his baby brother.

..riiiight, his brothers came home early to “comfort him”

“No, my mouth hurts like shit.”

He said, slumping even further in his sweater.

“Leo, ur not making it better.” Donnie commented, smirking ever so slightly at his phone.

Leo gave him an annoyed glare, before turning his attention back to Mikey.

they all go silent, js watching another Jupiter Jim movie. When suddenly..

“Mikey..W-Why’re you glowing?”

Raph jolts up, looking at his lightbulb of a brother.

The twins turn their attention to their little brother. Leo stares at Mikey in disbelief. Sure, it wasn’t an impossible event, but he never expected it from his own brother!!

Suddenly, a glowing orange spark awoken from the floor. Soon getting bigger, and bigger. And within seconds..

The portal had swallowed them whole.

_________________________________________

Tbadm universe, 12:30 pm.

ah yes, the sound of a peaceful brunch. The birds chirped, the sun shined. It was almost perfect!!! “GIVE IT BACK!!!”

“NO!! I FOUND IT FIRST!!!! I WANNA EXAMINE IT!!”

“YOU’RE GONNA HURT IT!!”

..almost, perfect. The chipmunks siblings were fighting again. Typical siblings, battling over what seemed to be a rare species of caterpillar? Interesting. But one thing was for sure…

This was giving vins a serious question about her life choices. Are her and cup doing the right thing? should they..not? What would everyone think? As if on que, a thump had hit the ground. Actually, it was Multiple thumps. Repeatedly!! Mugs was the first to react. Well, if u call screaming and jumping to Koi’s arms a reaction…

“ughhhh..” The strange creature groaned, starling nearly everyone.

“WHAT ARE THOSE?!?” Mugs yelped, holding onto koi tightly.

“Excuse you, teakettle!! We are turtles, clearly.” One of the other creatures said. As raph was getting himself up, he was shown down by a tall figure. Taller them him, that’s for sure. “Alright, buddy. Start explainin’, who you, and your little goons are.” Cup demanded, Looking dead serious. (As usual, I guess-)

“Look uh..sir? We don’t want any trouble-“

“YES WE DO!! FIGHT ME YOU COWARD!!” Mikey shouted, raising a fist in the air

The crew awkwardly stare at the littlest one. Bendy snickers ever so slightly. I think these 2 would get along just fine!!..if Boris let him get closer then 18 feet away.

“wait- soo, how’d you all get here?? No one rlly just..comes to the middle of the forest..” koi gently placed his love down, now resting a hand on his hip.

the brothers proceed to look at eachother, then all their eyes fall upon mikey.

“great question, why don’t we ask the damn lightbulb, eh mike?” Leo stood up, crossing his arms in disappointment and blame. Starring daggers at his lil bro.

“OH, SO ITS MY FAULT I MAGICALLY STARTED GLOWING?!” Mikey shouted, making this nearly more awkward for our beloved crew of cartoons. “Ok, how about we all just..calm down, okay?” Vinnie suggested, standing between the 2 turtles.

“whaaaaat is even happening right now??” Donnie whispered, moving ever so slightly to his older bro.

“honestly? I have no idea, don.” He whispered back. This one definitely in top 5 weirdest shit any Of them have ever been in. And ohoho boy, was it just gonna get weirder and weirder from here…

MASTERPOST NEXT

You have no idea how long this took to make..

I was gonna put drawings in here too, but I couldn’t draw one thing and then another, then…I ran out of motivation.

But maybe eventually, I’ll go back and add drawings :]

#<3 #tmnt 2018 #rottmnt mikey #rottmnt leo #rottmnt au #rottmnt donnie #the 4 servants au #t4s au #tbadm #tbadm au #tbadm chip #tbadm dale #Tbadm boris #Tbadm bendy #tbadm cuphead #tbadm mugs #tbadm koi #Tbadm vins

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total-convergence · 9 months

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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.

#artists on tumblr #creature design #digital art #speculative evolution #worldbuilding #spec bio #spec evo #speculative fiction #oc art #small artist #art

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artechoceneexplorer · 9 months

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Salmonids of Artechocene Antarctica:

While thawing, the glaciers of Antarctica created an abundance of meltwater streams that now feed countless kilometres of freshwater ecosystems. At first nothing more than insect larvae and some crustaceans called these new environments home, but eventually fish entered the equation and quickly dominated.

One group of these fish were salmonids coming from South American coasts, descendants of invasive species such as the brown trout. They weren't the first, but they were much better at filling a lot of niches than the native Nothotenioids, which lacked hemoglobin and swim bladders.

And so they almost outcompeted these to extinction, and diversified into several genera classified roughly in three distinct groups: Helaks, Helerrets, and Valhallaks.

Most of the Helaks species are amongst the largest predators of the continent, and the Golden Helaks (Gjollsalmo fulgens) is the largest of them all, measuring up to 2 meters (7ft) long and more than 100kg (250lb) in weight. They're apex predators, using their size to block scape routes for prey fish of any size and swallowing them whole, preventing them from scaping thanks to its huge backwards facing teeth. They're also known to eat crustaceans and even birds that venture too deep into the water. They live in every waterway across Antarctica, with the adults being confined to the deeper canals and lakes.

Helerrets are the most common salmonids that can be found in the rivers, lakes and wetlands of the continent. These medium sized predators mainly feed on the abundance of mollusks and other hard shelled invertebrates, as well as smaller vertebrates occasionally. This diet is enabled by their strong jaws, combined with blunt teeth that can crack open the shells of most freshwater invertebrates in their habitats. They're also the only Antarctic salmonids that retain the anadromous habits of its ancestors, living in freshwater but migrating to coastal waters to reproduce and release their young into the rich waters of the Southern Ocean.

The Bullheart Helerret (Slidrsalmo oatensis) in particular is native to the drainage basins that flow into Oates bay, where members of this species comes to spawn.

Valhallaks are a group of salmonids with remarkable sexual dimorphism compared to their close relatives. They are typically found in shallow rivers all across the continent, where they feed on invertebrates and vegetation.

Although not as common as Helerrets, they are abundant, specially in alpine streams and lakes during the end of the summer, where they come to spawn, away from predators so their eggs are protected by ice during the winter.

The Bearded Valhallaks (Valholsalmo auratops) specifically is endemic to the Vostok river drainage basin, which originates in Vostok Lake where they reproduce.

Range of the species featured:

#art #speculative biology #illustration #speculative evolution #speculative #fish #salmon #antarctica

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gavroche-le-moineau · 6 months

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Bird time! As a certified Bird Nerd I loved all the references to bird species in this chapter so I figured I would show them off in case you want a visual in your mind.

To try to figure out exactly which species are mentioned (even though I know Hugo was not concerned with what genus and species he was referring to), I looked up the frequency of bird species seen in the Luxembourg Gardens in the first quarter of June on eBird! Granted, I have no idea how much avian diversity has changed in the city of Paris from the 1800s to now, but I don't know my European species very well so this was a huge help.

1. "fauvettes" / "linnets" According to wikipedia, "fauvette" is generally agreed to refer to the family Sylviidae , specifically the genus Sylvia, though it can refer to other passerine species. "Linnet," meanwhile, seems to refer to the family Fringillidæ (true finches). I'm going to go with the original French and say that these are what in English we would call "warblers" rather than finches. The only member of the genus Sylvia seen in the Luxembourg Gardens in early June on eBird is the Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) (pictured). The other Sylvia species seen in the gardens but more rarely is the Garden Warbler (Sylvia borin).

2. "passereaux" / "sparrows" In ornithology, "passeraux" in English would be "passerines" which is the biggest order of birds, comprising about half of all bird species! However, the TLFi states that "passereau" can be a synonym for "moineau," or "sparrow." So I think Hapgood is correct in that translation and we can narrow down the species a bit. The only sparrow that is seen in the Luxembourg Gardens at any time of year is the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus).

3. "pique-bois" / "woodpeckers" Finally a straight-forward translation! According to eBird data, there are two species of woodpeckers seen in the Luxembourg Gardens. The only one seen at the correct time of year is the Eurasian Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis) (pictured), although the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (Dryobates minor) has been seen just a little earlier in the year.

4. "les hirondelles" / "the swallows" A species I know quite a lot about! This is undoubtedly referring to the Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica), which I had the privilege of studying for a few years to research their movement patterns. The line in the text is so wonderful and shows that Hugo has definitely watched these graceful birds before, as he captured the nature in which they glide and skim with speed near the ground, foraging for flying insects: “the swallows indulged in the charming threat of flying low.”

5. "le ramier" / "ring-dove" I believe this is pretty straight-forwardly referring to the Common Wood-Pigeon (Columba palumbus) which is the most commonly seen bird overall in the gardens in early June!

6. "le pinson" / "chaffinch" According to wikipedia, the term "pinson" is another common-name term given to multiple species of grain-eating passerines, however, there are two "true" pinson species, one of which is seen in the Luxembourg Gardens at this time: the Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs).

7. "le chardonneret" / "goldfinch" We're once again dealing with an ambiguous term here for birds in the family Fringillidae. Unfortunately, the birds that have "Chardonneret" in their common name do not appear on any eBird lists for the Luxembourg Gardens. The only other Fringillidae species that are recorded in the gardens (besides the Common Chaffinch) are the European Greenfinch (Chloris chloris) and the European Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis). While neither have been seen in early June, the European Greenfinch is seen more commonly. However, I think this could be a toss up.

8. "le rouge-gorge" / "red-breast" This one is pretty straightforward, "le Rouge-gorge familier" is none other than the European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) (aka extreme borb).

9. "le verdier" / "the green finch" We've already discussed all of the finches that have been documented in the Luxembourg Gardens, and since "verdier" refers to birds in the genus Chloris, this last bird mention is again talking about our friend the European Greenfinch (Chloris chloris).

After reading this chapter I thought Hugo was listing so many bird species... which he certainly did, but after poking around on eBird for what's been seen at the Luxembourg Gardens in the past I want to know why he focused so much on the finches and didn't mention any thrushes, swifts, tits, wrens, treecreepers, or so many more!

#les mis letters #lm 5.1.16 #birds #mytranslation #les mis meta

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lilacargent · 5 months

Text

This is an add on to my previous idea of old weapons being redundant and everything being rays/plasma/energy based. But humans are weird little things that like hoarding weapons…

This story plays on a spaceship called 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-

~~~~~~

Ouroboros

The mood on the Serpentine is at an all time low. Right now they were supposed to be on planet earth, getting a tour from the deathworld residents. Krag was very disappointed that the humans celebration for their 15 year tenure on the ship had to be cancelled, after all the stories he had really wanted to see the planet, at least more than the embassy or a space travel base.

Sadly this had to be put on hold, as the Counsel is at war. The big four armed alienwas looking at his brother, the captain, pacing the bridge while they slowly moved to the deserted front lines of the attack, hoping to maybe find something that gives the Unity an edge.

This had started no more than a month ago, an exploratory vessel had found a planet beyond the borders of Avian territory, on the southern side of Unity (direction is always measured from Unity as that is the point of convergence for most species and space faring) now new planets were interesting but not usually to the average person. The last message received was a voice note screaming about a wormhole in the planet the sent hundreds of ships and the ship it self failing on all fronts and shutting down.

From that day a line of dark crude ships started eating away at the Avian territory, within a week they had lost 19 colonies. Nothing is stopping them, ships that got too close shut down for no reason and were never recovered as the unstoppable line of enemy ships progressed. Weapons fired from far away did nothing as whatever beam they threw vanished when it gets close.

All that and the Unity still kept sending forces, because what else were they going to do?

So here they are, on their way to a probable death sentence with no clue about the enemy. Through his somber thoughts Krag hears laughing from the mess hall, yes, these are the moments he is extra thankful for the humans. After 15 years they were pillars in the crew, right now Lilly and Petrus were teaching the crew human “sea shanties” which were apparently doing their job of lifting spirits as the humans had explained, Lilly is writing the english words down for Kit who is learning the language in her analog book, one of her human oddities. Markus is showing some of the newer recruits the ins and outs of the weapon systems. Lastly Kamari, their leader and confidant, she has made herself indispensable to Ortez over the years. Now she was sitting in a corner listening to people pour their hearts out, giving the best advice she can.

As the ship is approaching the seemingly desolate piece of space where 23 ships float without direction or crew, hulls torn open and ransacked, the crew of the Serpentine watches in horror as there are only Unity ships, non of their enemy.

Artex and Petrus helm the out board arms in trying to get any information or remnants that are usable, when the ship shivers and stills. As the sound of something attaching to the outer hull comes through, the ships lights and computers shut down.

“DO NOT PANIC” the captain yells, “grab your weapons, and prepare for battle” as everyone prepares Markus grabs a weapon from his bag, a long gun, which Primoz recognises as an old earth weapon. “Why would you carry that?” Primoz grabs Markus’ arm, who contorts his face in one of the more terrifying human grins, one usually reserved for enemies “well we know the blasters don’t work. I thought let’s try this!” Now that the captain is looking he sees that the humans are all carrying an old weapon, Kamari seems to have a smaller version of Markus’ gun, Petrus has a sword on his hip and Lilly had several sheets with daggers strapped to her hips. Primoz turns around as Krag grabs his shoulder “if it gives them hope, let it go, what are they gonna do?”

Lugea catches their attention “something is boarding in sector three!” Immediately the armed crew members ran toward the sector, Markus directing people into an ambush formation. Blasters ready they wait.

The doors as everything else have lost power, but with a flash electricity runs through it the doors open and two tall lanky aliens skitter in (the silence from doctor who but in body armour) with voices that sound like nails on a chalk board they use the captains language “sssurendderrr, and youuu won’t ssssssufffer. Yourrr weaponsssss aree ussssseelll-“ with a swoosh Lilly’s knife flew past the ranks and embedded itself a bit in the body armour. Three blaster shots follow her knife but dissipate in mid air. Kamari’s eyes light up as she grabs her glock “looks like old does the trick!” A big bang makes the other crew members cover their ears. But the bullet hits its target, and dark yellow blood pours from a head wound.

“Thats it!” Petrus runs in and goes for a decapitation, sadly no such luck as the left over alien grabs his sword and not caring for life and limb tries to touch the human. Before he can a second loud shot rings out, Markus got a good aim.

Now there are two dead aliens but still no power. Through some investigation Kit figures out the aliens are like leeches for energy, electricity and a lot of what their stuff runs on. The ship the creatures came with is empty and sending out a signal, worried more enemy troops are coming the crew discusses. No useful ideas come up until Petrus starts speaking: “what if we make thrusters like the old ones on earth? Y’know like a fire powered one. Heck i know we have several things that are flammable in high quantities. If we put that behind the other ship we could propel ourselves away maybe find council ship? And while we are at it we could Ouroboros this ship when those leech man comeback. right Markus?" Markus gets a pensive look on his face “yea we probably could, but even if we can propel the other ship far enough how do we stop our people from trying to blow us up?’ Now Lilly speaks up ‘we can paint it? I have paints in my room, our space suit will still keep the pressure out but won’t supply oxygen. We could hold our breath.’ Rumbling Lugea intercepts ‘while i do need a little oxygen i can survive up to 58 kliks without it, i could do it?’ More and more of the crew start to speak up, Artez offers to help Petrus with the thrusters. Kit knows several flammable liquids she keeps in the med bay and has enough chemical knowledge to know what can be used as fuel so she is in on gathering the necessary ingredients. The two brothers started with decking out Lugea, and gathered several steel ropes to pull the ship in so people could get on with as little exposure as possible.

Ortez realises noone asked what ‘ouroboros’ meant and finds Kamari in a fight with Markus ‘you’re right that we’re gonna need the push if we want to get anywhere but there has to be another way?!’ The dark woman whisper shouts with a resigned look Markus grabs her flailing arm ‘we have no electricity to make a remote to do it from a distance moon, I don’t see another option.’ The fact that Markus is using Kamaris nickname and gets no scolding look makes the insectoid realise this is very serious ‘what about Lilly then? You know she won’t let you.’ Now the man looks stern ‘we dont tell her until it is too late.’ Skittering into the light Ortez speaks up ‘what exactly does ‘ouroboros’ a ship mean and why can’t you tell Lilly?’ Startled the two humans look at him, Kamari takes the word ‘ouroboros is a plan we made up for blowing the ship up, without power source. Ya know- serpentine -serpent -ouroboros is a serpent eating its own tail’ as she is speaking Ortez gets more anxious ‘okay several things 1, you made plans to blow up the ship?! 2, you just said you don’t have a remote which means you are planning on staying behind’ focussing all six eyes on Marks. Who squares his shoulders and nods.

It took two hours to get things in place, another hour to prepare and calculate the blast range.

Almost everyone has boarded the enemy ship, save for Primoz, Kamari, Krag and Markus. With tears in her eyes Kamari hugs him, Primoz grabs him by the shoulders ‘are you aure? The thrusters might be enough.’ A sad smile crosses his face ‘but it most likely won’t be captain. It was an honour serving with you.’ The three salute him while he walks to the bridge so he can see the ship and calculate when to start the chain reaction.

As the captain and his brother close the secondary doors behind Kamari, Lilly realises what has happened ‘NO,’ running for the door Petrus grabs her ‘PLEASE NO,’ as she fights and struggles the man starts whispering to her while she screams for Markus. Krag looks away towards Artez ‘start the thrusters’ now weeping Lilly cries out ‘WE LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND, we leave no one behind.’ the ships starts moving and as calculated their beautiful Serpentine blows up the shock wave propelling the now brightly coloured ship to safety.

It takes 5 hours for them to be found, after explaining the situation they are immediately transported to Unity. Where the group of humans show Lillies notes and the enemy ship. Plans are made and the human civilisation shows exactly why they are so scary when in les than a week they mass produce weapons that can hurt the newly dubbed leeches.

With the crew on the frontlines scattered over separate ships they beat back the leeches, destroying the wormhole and any stragglers are mercilessly killed off.

Humans are terrifying if you hurt them, because they never come after you alone.

~~~~~~~~~

This is technically the end of the serpentine but much room for stories in the 15 years before.

Hopefully people enjoy this.

#humans are space orcs #humans are space oddities #humans in space #humans are deathworlders #humans are space australians

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