- LIKES DO NOTHING BUT BOOKMARK.

Battle of Skandia is def one of his best books, the Will he warning the water hits me like a fucken bullet train every single time

Also consider:

- Halt telling Will he can do whatever the the fuck he wants to while training the Skandians to shoot

- The fact that the women and children aren’t just locked up somewhere and actually play a role in the battle unlike every other book/film I’ve read recently

- Actual good reason to use volleys instead of free firing

- Halt telling Horace not to give a shit about companionship when the Skandians are running alongside their horses

- Skandians straight up just keeping up with horses on foot just bc they don’t like riding them

underrated scenes from the battle of skandia

read this book in one sitting in a hotel hot tub… here we go

(every scene. it’s every scene)

- the very first page, when it takes Will a solid five minutes to figure out that the sound of dripping water means Thaw

- when Halt and Horace are heading to Skandia from Teutlandt, and Halt can tell that Horace is holding in a question, except Horace has decided not to ask the question, and Halt is going *absolutely nuts* because he wants to know what the question is

- Will tracking Evanlyn and the Temujai who captured her for hours on foot through the snow, despite being desperately out of shape, and he continues on by remembering everything Evanlyn’s done for him

- Halt arriving just in time to save will from the Temujai, and they’re both crying at the reunion. also Tug going batshit crazy when he senses Will in the vicinity and then refusing to leave his side…. yes these are tears in my eyes

- Halt: “I left what I considered a fair price” for the Temujai horses… the fair price being Absolutely Nothing, of course. also, he says this was two decades ago. also, Halt is thirty-six in this scene.

- when Halt and Erak scout the Temujai army for the first time and Halt shoots the Temujai scout from behind cover by picturing where he is in his mind!! what the fuck!!!

- when Halt and Erak escape from the Temujai army and Halt slaps Erak’s horse with his bow to keep it galloping and Erak is clinging on for dear fucking life

- when Halt and Erak return from scouting the Temujai army and Erak dismounts his horse by falling face-first into a snowdrift

- Will regaining his shooting ability, and Erak returning his double knife scabbard because he hoards everything he gets his hands on

- Evanlyn going nuts because she can’t help with the war effort, sneaking onto Slagor’s ship, being trapped there for eighteen hours, discovering an undercover plot, getting exposed as Duncan’s daughter and invoking Ragnak’s Vallasvow to kill her, and turning the fuckin tables on Slagor by exposing him in turn

- Halt dressing up as a Skandian in extremely oversized clothing and subsequently throwing up in the Skandian helmet

- Will and Halt recruiting and training a hundred slaves as archers for the battle, and Will demonstrating incredible leadership skills despite being?? seventeen??

- every moment during the battle, when the little plots and counterattacks that Halt has devised goes exactly to plan, including: Will’s first archer volley taking down an entire Ulan (group of sixty), Will facing literally fifty Kaijin sharpshooters, Horace being the ultimate shieldmate, and Evanlyn directing volleys like a badass. this trio is unmatched.

- also, randomly, POVs from FOUR temujai characters, including the intelligence colonel that exposes Will and Horace’s archers. honestly appreciated because they broke up the battle scenes and Flanagan actually did a fair bit of worldbuilding and characterization

- Horace and Will fighting back-to-back, and Horace tells Will to duck and he flips his sword behind him and stabs the Temujai that Will is fighting

- Evanlyn facing down the deputy general of the Temujai army and his personal bodyguard, not being the slightest bit afraid, and the moment before the downstroke Will throws a knife and kills him

- Halt: “there is not the SLIGHTEST chance Erak becomes Oberjarl” then Erak: “i’m the new Oberjarl” Halt: “i fuckin called it. reverse psychology”

- Horace being knighted by Duncan and appointed to the Royal Guard.

- when Crowley returns Halt’s silver oakleaf and Halt knows that he’s home at last.

reblog to remove 1 hair from joe bidens body

TikTok

The Kratt Brothers on TikTok

Happy #InternationalCatDay Creature Adventurers! #wildkratts #cats #catsoftiktok #learnontiktok #krattbrothers

ok I just saw this and I love leopards so I’m legally required to info dump about leopards. DISCLAIMER: mostly I’m talking about African leopards as I’m not very familiar with the other subspecies but they are all fairly similar just the comparisons will be different.

Okay here we go:

- leopards claws are specialised in a way that allows them to climb trees facing both forwards and backwards

- leopards are one of the strongest mammals for their size and are capable of carrying around 3-4 times their own body weight vertically up trees

- leopards carry and hang their prey in trees in order to protect it from lions and hyenas

- like all big cats (and most African wildlife) a leopards coat is designed to help it blend in with its environment

- they need this camouflage as leopards hunt in a very similar way to, say, cheetahs. They will stalk their prey and get close enough to them that they won’t have to waste energy running them down

- how they differ to cheetahs is that, unlike a cheetah who will run the last distance to their prey, a leopard will often jump it - from a crouched start they can leap 6 meters (20ft) horizontally and 3 meters (10ft) vertically

- while a leopard will often flee from a large pack of hyenas or a pride of lions they are in fact one of the most capable of the big (African) cats in terms of fighting. A lion will usually only use its front claws and teeth to fight, a cheetah is just all around terrible at fighting a target that isn’t running away, whereas a leopard is know to fight with all four claws plus teeth at the same time - and due to rotting animal flesh on their teeth and claws leopard wounds will often become infected quickly and fatally.

- a leopards favourite type of meat baboon but they are opportunists and will go for just about anything, including fish

- There are currently 9 subspecies of leopards recognised by the AWF, these are: African, Indian, Javan, Amur, Arabian, North Chinese, Indochinese, Persian/Caucasian, and Sri Lankan

- Leopards coats differ from leopard to leopard, similar to wild dogs

- Leopards, unlike the other African big cats, basically cannot be made to be your friend :(. this is because of their solitary and opportunistic life and their brain is hardwired to see anything that isn’t a leopard as potential food. Leopard cubs do not have this tendency though so they can seem all sweet but one day they will turn against you

- they are extremely solitary animals, the most solitary of the African big cats, and have very wide hunting ranges that they, well, hunt in. These ranges are often marked by claw marks or urine

- male leopards are significantly bigger than female and have far bigger ranges that often meet with several female ranges

- leopard cubs first eat meet at about 6-7 weeks old but don’t stop suckling until about 2-3 months, they will stay with the mother for about 2 years. The father does not help the mother raise the children

- leopard hunt during the night hours in order to catch their prey off guard and aid their camouflage as baboons have very good eyesight (which is similar to humans in that they can see colour, but equivalent to a 8x zoom magnifier if a pair of binoculars). However, leopards can also be seen active during the day

- a leopards can make purring and meowing sounds like a house cat but their main call is often compared to that of a saw cutting through wood

- leopards often reach speeds of up to 56km/h (35mph) but when hungry can reach 64km/h (40mph) - slow compared to other big cats.

- leopards like most felines have retractable claws to help them move more quietly. Notably cheetahs do not have these because they are way too specialised for running really fast

- leopards are cool

- they are my favourite animal

- cheetahs are way too specialised for their own good

sometimes "he would not fucking say that" isn't just about fanfic. sometimes a new season of the show comes out and in canon he is now saying things he just would not fucking say

I find it extremely funny how the most basic of traits become alien when aspecs are involved

Like, most people can understand that there are some people who are inherently uncomfortable with sex. Who for some reason (or no reason) are just not comfortable with the subject and that doesn't mean that they can't have sex, or won't or even that they will or any other thing except that they are uncomfortable with it. And most people can accept that until you mention the word asexual and then it's a completely foreign idea and you need to get your hormones checked

People can also date without already being romantically interested in each other. That's the whole basis of dating apps and arranged marriages. And most people understand that too. But mention aromantics and then you're an abuser

Or having sex without a romantic or even sexual interest. Everyone is aware and mostly accepting of hook-up culture, sometimes you just want sex for the hell of it. But as soon as they find out about alloaros they clutch their pearls, the same with aces that have sex for fun. Because in their fervor or hating aspecs they forgot that sex feels good. Sometimes I legitimately wonder if aphobic allos even enjoy sex at all, considering how horrified they are when they hear about aspecs enjoying it

And that's probably because most are too brainwashed by amatonormativity to realize that they too can set these boundaries. If you are uncomfortable by sex say it, discuss it with your partner. IF you don't want to call your partnership romantic say it. If you want something with strictly no romantic feelings involved say it. If you have sex with someone you are not actually attracted to that doesn't make you a bad person, you both (or more) had fun, that's what's important

These are not strictly aspec things, everyone can do it. Because, and I need alloallos to read this very carefully, because although they know it few actually internalize it, it's better to die alone then to live your entire life in a relationship you hate just because you're scared to be alone

It’s insane how many organs will just Make Rocks if left up to their own devices. Kidneys. Gall bladder. Pancreas. Tonsils, what’s that about???

remembering so many people being like “well actually salt lamps don’t have any REAL benefits” as if having a pink glowing rock in the room is not a benefit. it helps me

“Having sex is what makes us human!” Ohohoho buddy wait until you find out about literally every other animal species

"Cartoons are for little kids, adults shouldn't--"

BITCH WHO DO YOU THINK MADE THE GODDAMN CARTOON