@bluedaddysgirl and I have been designing these creatures that accompany their Txepìva na'vi.
Here is our earlier thread on 'viperhounds', domesticated and extremely diverse 'dogs' of these volcanic plains dwelling clans!
The Txepiva clans, also known in some parts as the Ash People, have no ikran and no pa'li. They are long distance runners and hunters, often
...And here is @bluedaddysgirl's original thread on our second creature, the Stunbat!
Distant cousins of the jungle's stingbat, the aptly named stunbat (Tsealìm in Na'vi) is a native of the Txepìva volcanic plains that hunts b
I happened to make new edits and whole illustrations when I was re-formatting the contents of the original Stunbat posts for Twitter/X, so here's an updated version of the Stunbat thread!
Link to the Twitter thread;
https://x.com/knarme/status/1773035137699135920?s=20
Credits;
The Txepìva na'vi, their volcanic plains biome, the illustrations on the 'last page' & and all the text is by @bluedaddysgirl
The basket illustrations and Stunbat lore are collaborations between myself @straydaddy and @bluedaddysgirl.
The designs of the Stunbats and Viperhounds and the rest of the illustrations are by me, @straydaddy
ESRA (European Space Research Agency) has officially launched the second phase of its Many Hands project.
With the motto "Manus multae, mens unum" (many hands, one mind), this scientific endeavour seeks to create and maintain small, mobile teams of recombinant scientists in the field on Pandora, in constant communication with their original donor back on Earth.
ESRA thrives to better understand the encironment of Pandora and continue the interrupted research of its many Na'vi cultures and societies.
The RDA recombinant technology allows for scientists to imprint their mind and knowledge onto multiple copies of avatars, who are awakened and brought up to date on recent discoveries while in orbit. They are then sent down to Pandora with their own individual equipment and research goals. Those are solo missions. Each avatar aims to join a local clan or tribe, for the sake of their research and survival. There are no planet-side ESRA facilities, so our researchers depend on RDA air drops for any support, like tech replacement. Communications are maintained via several relays, and discoveries regularly reported to the original human researcher, who then compiles and publishes the finished papers. They work in collaboration with our entire recombinant team to ensure the relevant exchange of knowledge and set new goals.
Eyris Makri is a an exoanthropologist with ESRA. She is part of a 5 bodied recombinant system spliced from Txepìva DNA. Her human self works in collaboration with four recombinants who underwent specialty training during the months of deceleration and approach to Pandora.
Eyris Prime (above), the lead of the mission, specialises on Na'vi communication and published 'Advanced use of volcanic plains stunbat across clans' (2168), 'History and welfare of the working stunbats of the Tau'un clan' (2170) and 'Mythological impact of the domestication and breeding of the viperhounds' (2172).
Every recombinant is deployed with a failsafe (either a neural guillotine or a heart patch), to help ensure there is no repeat of the J. Sully situation. All of our scientists sign up willingly and are sponsored throughout the shipment years. They retain ownership of their DNA and personality inprint after the creation of their recombinants.
See : research on Viperhounds
Research on Stunbats
Both conducted with Serafiina Hukkala (@straydaddy)
THEM! Look at them!
Look at her being SMOL with her little clenched fists, ready to take on the world!
Look at him being absolute Best Boy(tm)
She's gonna steal all his sweatshirts and wear them for dresses. Then she's gonna pile them on her bed and sleep in them.
He's gonna see her stressing out over schoolwork and sit down beside her, playing a soft tune. As her head gets heavy and she starts to nod, he'll just gently tip her into his lap to curl up.
Kitty Section needs a manager? Kitty section found it's manager. There's no paperwork that can defeat her.
Luka Couffaine was drowning. months of plotting and rallying and carefully preparing, all gone down the great blue ocean, along with his body and soon, his soul.
and just as he is about to accept his fate, while closing his eyes and ceasing his struggle to stay afloat, he catches a glimpse of brilliant orange and shimmering teal, swimming his way quickly.
He awoke to a gorgeous face haloed by the glaring sun, with too many questions and not enough air in his lungs to ask any of them, he began coughing up saltwater.
“Oh, oh my. Are you alright? I'm not sure humans are supposed to do that. Not that I’ve really drowned any myself to know for sure…” The gorgeous face spoke with an equally lovely voice. So lovely, in fact, that it took Luka a second to process the disturbing nature of the sentence.
“What-“ he had to cough and heave and cough again before continuing breathlessly. “What are you?” But the question was redundant. He was saved from drowning by a beautiful woman with a melodious voice who, by her own admission, was expected to drown humans. something she herself was not.
His savior was a siren.
“Calm down, sailor. If I wanted you dead then I wouldn't have bothered saving you, now would I?” the beautiful siren reassured him.
“That’s not nearly as hopeful a sentiment as you believe it to be. After all, what could a siren want with a man that she keeps him alive for?” Luka found himself arguing against his favor in his anxiety.
“The only hunger I wish to satiate with you, sailor - “ the siren leaned in close with the top half of her body, honeyed voice laced with a dangerous edge, closing in on his waist and allowing the suggestive nature of her words to linger for only a moment before innocently submerging her body back in the water and completing her sentence, “is my curiosity!”
“Curiosity? Of what kind?” Luka asked, suspicious and still a bit flustered.
“Oh, just the healthy, intellectual kind.” She explained readily, smirking subtly at having riled him up so successfully over nothing. The other sirens thought her a boring prude, but she just made a sailor blush! “A seafaring man such as yourself, one I found drowning no less, surely has some stories to tell?” She finished her explanation, phrasing the ending more like an invitation, perhaps a request.
What could she say? She loved unraveling a good mystery.
“And what exactly is in it for me if I tell you my whole sad story? You getting entertainment at the expense of me reliving my trauma hardly sounds like a fair trade.” Luka shot back, now slightly more at ease despite his better judgment and bantering freely.
“What? Does my excellent companionship not suffice? You do realize I could've just left once I rescued you and you'd be all alone here for who knows how long. As I've said, I'm no human expert, but even I know you don't do well in isolation.” Her words had a teasing edge to them, something about her tone letting him know that leaving him behind and alone was never an option for her. He found himself feeling just as curious about her as she was about him.
“Be that as it may, I still feel like this isn't an equal exchange. So what if we came to an agreement?” Making a deal with any sort of magical creature was dangerous business, but the siren was right about one thing. It's not like he was going anywhere anytime soon, so he might as well take a chance.
Sabrina's smile widened in excitement and her tail splashed around in the water. “I'm listening…”
“Ask me a question about myself, and I will endeavor to answer to the best of my ability. Then, I ask you one of my many questions and you give me some much-needed answers about yourself. Does that sound acceptable?”
“hmmm… well, sailor, you drive a hard bargain. But I believe you've got yourself a deal!”
Art by the wonderful @the-lavender-creator who helped inspire this fic, along with this song;
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Come Due
(Series: Viperhound)
Written for @kakashiweek Day 8: Best-Laid Plans!
T; 835 words
Orochimaru & Kakashi, Sarutobi Hiruzen, original ANBU (POV)
It was a tragedy, many years ago, when Hound was sent after Orochimaru to stop him only to fail and disappear - but perhaps, it was a tragedy for Konoha now come due, not for the now fully grown Viperhound or his mother.
Happy hols to you too and thank you so much for such a lovely and textured viperhound!! The hands are so grabby, but the face so friendly and intelligent! I want it!
In exchange I give you one from another tribe, so full of treats it can't get up. Wish you the same :p
