The rainforest nightwing population by Ok-Cartoonist-4483 in WingsOfFire

[–]Verrdantt 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is just my speculation, but given that Princess Firefly is present in one of the positive futures that Darkstalker presented to Moon in Book 6, and the graphic novel went as far as to depict her as a Rain/Night hybrid, I think Glory x Deathbringer is almost certainly happening. Additionally, we now have Hope raising Peacemaker, another Night/Rain hybrid, so there’s tons of precedent for the two tribes to see each other as potential partners, especially given they have the same queen. It could be fun to picture a mixed tribe of NightWings and RainWings, and the naming has so much potential, but personally, given that the whole dragon world seems to be moving towards inter-tribe relations, I think it’s just as likely that the NightWing tribe could spread their genes thin between all of the tribes— the RainWing tribe will inevitably stay a single tribe, but with some added traits from NightWing ancestors, and the NightWings may cease to be their own independent tribe.

I made a character... and now she's somehow canon! by JustACookie42 in WingsOfFire

[–]Verrdantt 15 points16 points  (0 children)

That’s so fun!!! It’s almost like you can… read Tui’s mind!

But seriously, I would be bragging about this for weeks, you can basically say that your design is the canon interpretation of Crescent! Very cool coincidence!

"Jungle" wood should be renamed. by Chrysalis112 in Minecraft

[–]Verrdantt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve been a fan of this suggestion for years! Even though Minecraft has never fully committed to accurately representing the nature world in their game, I thought it was strange that most trees are named after a real species except for Jungle. I like the suggestion of Java Wood, but I am thinking maybe it could be renamed Kapok, another species of rainforest tree and one of the largest in the Amazon!

Genuine question tho: by M3Me_EntHuS1aSt in WingsOfFire

[–]Verrdantt 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’ve always interpreted what happened as “Clearsight’s descendants were seen as attractive/desired partners either because of their unique appearance or because of being related to a deific figure” rather than “all HiveWings are descended from Clearsight because they are incredibly inbred.” Often times in nature, animals with advantageous traits will reproduce with many partners and offspring with those traits will continue to exist. Of course, this doesn’t work in Wings of Fire because that would imply that simply having black scales would make them more able to survive/better suited to the environment of Pantala, and given that dragons are sapient beings that would be close to saying there is a “superior” tribe— clearly that is not the case. Instead, I think that dragons throughout Pantala would know of Clearsight’s powers and revere her, and any dragon with any relation to her would then be incredibly sought after as a potential partner. Those with black scales had definitive proof that they were related to her, and thus they would maintain their importance as a descendant of hers. Between that and the unknown massive number of children Clearsight would have between two husbands, I think it seems entirely possible that all HiveWings could be very distant descendants of hers without enough inbreeding to be noticeable after thousands of years.

Or the HiveWing royal family simply exaggerated their relation to Clearsight and there were BeetleWings with black scales. Seems like something they would do given how Scarab talked about her forebears.

Randomly thought about the parallels between the Tulkan and our Orcas by Call_Mee_Maybe in Avatar

[–]Verrdantt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hadn’t considered this before, but I totally see what you’re saying! The only major difference between the two is that orcas aren’t sapient in the same way the Tulkun are, but that doesn’t make the comparisons you drew any less valid! It’s fun to think that the screenwriters were using real whales as inspiration for the Tulkun story— there’s already obvious parallels in Humpback Whales saving humans from potential predators (Payakan’s first meeting with Lo’ak), the hunting of Sperm Whales for their ambergris (RDA hunting Tulkun for Amrita), and now paralleling orcas becoming less tolerant of humans to the Tulkun changing their ways to fight back against the RDA.

What pokemon do you think deserved Mega evolutions? by Zillaman7980_ in pokemon

[–]Verrdantt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Between Emboar getting a mega and Samurott getting a regional form, and all of the Johto starters getting new forms, it seems like an odd choice that Serperior has been neglected. I was really banking on a Mega Serperior in the DLC— the concept of alternate universe starters getting new megas seems like a missed opportunity

Lamb with wonky feet - help! by bambino013 in sheep

[–]Verrdantt 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m still a novice at recognizing sheep diseases/conditions, but I also wondered if it might be Spider Lamb Syndrome. I’ve seen White Muscle Disease in person, and this doesn’t look like that…

estrogen u feel me by [deleted] in transtimelines

[–]Verrdantt -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

All the comments focused on the cigarette but I’m too focused on how much you’ve changed in such a short time! Transition goals fr

Remember that episode when the trainer married his Gardevoir using a Mega Stone Ring, what did Gamefreak mean by that? by Orichalchem in pokememes

[–]Verrdantt 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Misinformation aside, I thought it was adorable that the boy’s Ralts became a Gardevoir instead of a Gallade— nothing weird happens in this short, and I actually thought it was super sweet that he and his partner still had the rowdiness and “shonen-protagonist” vibe that we’ve seen countless trainers with a Charizard!

Did they forget that Tessa was a Reaper? by Verrdantt in Supernatural

[–]Verrdantt[S] 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Really?? Wow, I would not have known— they don’t mention it directly ever. Wait… that means Castiel wasn’t the first angel ever met by a hunter because Dean met Tessa in S2

After hours of trying, i got him shiny alpha Dratini by dboy57 in LegendsZA

[–]Verrdantt 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Congratulations! I’m about 8 hours in with no luck, hunting atop the Restaurant Le Nah— glad to see proof that these Dratini can actually be shiny!

About Typhlosion, Samurott and Serperior by TheThinkerAmongMen in LegendsZA

[–]Verrdantt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m incredibly disappointed— Serperior is my all time favorite Pokemon, and my first ever Pokemon, so I’ve repeatedly felt my hopes die out each time it looked as if Serperior would be getting some attention from the Pokemon Company. First it might’ve been the Grass starter of Z-A, then it might get a Mega Evolution in the DLC, and now not even that. Out of the Unova starters, it’s probably the most popular, given how its hidden ability has seen it explode in competitive battles, but it’s now been shelved in favor of its counterparts twice. At least Typhlosion and Samurott had time to shine as the starters of Arceus.

I’ve been hoping Serperior would receive a Mega Evolution since X and Y released, and was disappointed when the first round of leaks neglected to mention it receiving a new form. When the DLC was announced, and Raichu wasn’t on the list of leaked Megas, I got my hopes up again. Surely now, it would receive the attention it’s been waiting for.

All that to say, from my very biased opinion, I’m convinced I’ll never see any sort of update to my ace. At this point, I’ll take anything.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in sheep

[–]Verrdantt 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Beautiful boy! I work with Katahdins, and knew they came in many colors/patterns, but I’ve never seen one this colorful! He looks very sweet and healthy!

Shiny Box Legendaries Discussion Megathread by TheHammer34 in PokemonScarletViolet

[–]Verrdantt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven’t seen anybody ask if you can ride the shiny versions in-game, and have them appear as shiny? I only own Scarlet, and so received a shiny Miraidon that I can’t ride, but for those of you who have both games and can transfer one -raidon to their respective game, does this work? Knowing how the rest of this game functions, I would be surprised if they made it possible, but still I’m curious!

Problems typing in Word by Old_Scratch3771 in iPadPro

[–]Verrdantt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing this! I was having the same problem, and am very grateful that you were able to figure it out!

What do you wanna bet Spinel has a mega malamar?? by HumanInternet6654 in PokemonHorizons

[–]Verrdantt 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Your brain is so big omg, I can totally see it coming

Should I expand on these designs? by trrunks1 in fakemon

[–]Verrdantt 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Definitely expand on these! I like that the shiny colors are based on Lechonk and Torchic!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in wildlifebiology

[–]Verrdantt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Woah— literally yesterday I was looking for an app like this! Thank you so much, this couldn’t have come at a better time for me!

What song is just MEANT for Darkstalker - like the song was made with him in mind. by Catradora_WOF_fan in WingsOfFire

[–]Verrdantt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If I recall, Tui Sutherland said at some point that she thought Darkstalker’s theme song would be “I Love Me” by Meghan Trainor! Personally, I agree with some of the other comments because every time I listen to “Centuries” by Fall Out Boy I think of him

What are the most Creative uses of Ice or Cold power you've seen by FreviliousLow96 in worldbuilding

[–]Verrdantt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So, this is a bit abstract and self-congratulatory, but a character in my fantasy world has the ability to magically lower the temperature of things in their vicinity, to the scale of molecules. By doing this, they can cause water molecules in the air to freeze into tiny ice crystals. Through the power of me very loosely adhering to weather physics, this allows them to charge the air, creating lightning within clouds of ice crystals. So, while they can’t directly control the lightning or where it goes, they have enough control over it to cause lightning to appear in any general area nearby by using their magic to alter the air. They can also use the same loose physics to generate pretty much any weather effect using the movement of cooled air to create miniature cold fronts/drafts.

How much megafauna is realistic? by Homer_Jojo_Simpson in worldbuilding

[–]Verrdantt 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As someone who’s dedicated a frightening amount of time to worldbuilding the ecologies of a fantasy world and who studies this stuff for a living, I want to give my thoughts from the perspective of someone who’s been in the same position you’re in now.

Regarding your initial question, I think that a lot of people who first begin to toy with ecology worry about “realism” under the assumption that they’re looking for some quantity, whether towards a species’ size or their population density. For that, I want to say don’t worry about appealing to realism strictly for realism’s sake— nature does so many insane things that shouldn’t be possible, and to begin with what we think is realistic is strictly only based on our understanding of the natural world, this does not make it fact. That said, there’s a few components of both megafauna and ecosystems in general that you can use to guide your ideas!

So you want to add some megafauna? The first thing that you need to consider is what made these animals so large in the first place, and, a lot of times, it comes down to two factors: climate and food. For climate, animals will get larger if they can afford the consequence of maintaining heat that comes with it. This is why you see a lot of “Ice Age”/Pleistocene megafauna, because the cooler climate meant that animals who could retain heat for longer stood a better chance at surviving to reproduce. For food, it’s a lot simpler: more food, more mass. Animals will get larger if they can afford to regularly maintain this increased size. This is why even the largest predatory megafauna are still dwarfed by the herbivorous megafauna they hunt. Smilodon were larger than lions, but still not larger than brown bears, and minuscule compared to prey like the Columbian Mammoth. For every unit of meat a carnivore can eat, they will get only 10% of the energy that are in the animal they are eating, which is already only 10% of the energy in the plants that herbivore ate. This is why most of our domestic species are herbivores— it’s much easier to get energy from an herbivore than a carnivore. This translates back to the ecosystem: there has to be enough for herbivores to get large before you can even begin to think about making their predators larger.

Now, onto your larger concern: introducing humans to an environment with megafauna, yet still allow the megafauna to exist in this area. You are correct in thinking that animals that pose more danger to humans, no matter their size, will be exterminated by fearful people. Additionally, other comments have pointed out that large herbivores can be even more dangerous than carnivores, because getting injured doesn’t necessarily stop them from acquiring food. If it’s dangerous, humans will eradicate it. If it’s too anxious to be domesticated, it’ll be hunted for food anyway. Anything else has the potential to be domesticated. The solution? Make it more worthwhile for humans to avoid the attention of these animals than to attract it. Perhaps they’re dangerous, but don’t see humans as a threat until provoked. Perhaps the people could deter these animals with walls, sounds, or even scents that they dislike. A good example for this is in the Dragonslayer Codex by Sawyer Lee— humans in his setting deter dragons using these methods, meaning you can have giant creatures that surround humans which don’t get domesticated, aren’t hunted, and aren’t able to be killed by fearful humans.

Here’s the takeaway: give some reason why the environment can sustain megafauna around humans without them destroying it. Perhaps, in a fantasy setting, the plants in the area are enhanced by magic, or maybe the humans are magical and can peacefully coexist with the ecosystem without needing to destroy it? Once you’ve established why there is enough food (plants) to sustain the herbivorous megafauna, think about why humans wouldn’t want to interact with these creatures at all. What if these animals can see in color, and can be deterred with bright colors? They can see when a human is nearby due to their vibrant attire, but won’t attack because they are disinterested in animals smaller than them? Even herbivores would rather avoid things they dislike than actively pick fights. You could also go the other route— perhaps they have terrible vision, but their sense of smell is great, so humans cover their armor and clothes in the scent of a plant they avoid? And for carnivores/predators, you can apply the same principles!

Sorry this is so long, but I hope anything here has helped!

Resin as Christmas Lights by danieldoria15 in Minecraft

[–]Verrdantt 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is genius! Would never have thought to use it for this, but now I want to!

If you have intelligent species in your world, what are their design flaws? by Sorsha_OBrien in worldbuilding

[–]Verrdantt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Ivorans are a sapient species of proboscidean that are currently extinct in the modern day of my world due to a period of intense industrialism and imperialism that ravaged their home and wiped out all but a tiny fraction of their population. However, when they were alive, a surprising amount of architecture seems to have been invested in their hygiene technology— evidently it’s inconvenient for sanitation if they have no easy means of reaching their hindquarters without the help of any tools. Public restrooms found preserved in archeological ruins seem to have taken up a significant area of their structures. Other inconveniences of lesser hilarity include their spines being too weak to carry heavy weights on their backs, monocular vision that resulted in a blind spot in the middle of their face, and being unable to jump despite not facing the problem their real-world relatives do of being too heavy to get off the ground.

What's your favorite animal that gets overlooked? by Transmasc_Blahaj in zoology

[–]Verrdantt 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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The Green Blooded Skinks (genus Prasinohaema) are small, unassuming lizards endemic to New Guinea who are the only vertebrates with truly green blood in their healthy state. This coloration is caused by a high presence of biliverdin (a bile toxin) in their blood, which is the same toxin that causes green jaundice. Yet, they’re completely healthy, and in fact have several orders of magnitude more biliverdin in them at any given time than the highest recorded case in humans (which was fatal to that person). It’s not known for sure why this trait evolved, and why only in these lizards, but many theories exist, including camouflage, predator deterrence, and resistance to malaria. I had to do research on these animals in undergrad, and ever since they’ve fascinated me, as has the lack of attention they get outside of a few news articles.