For the life of me, I don’t know why it took me this long to get to the lion. It could be because I always preferred tigers, but I also kind of gravitated towards animals that people might not already know much about. Still, I guess it’s time to look at the ‘King of the Jungle’ who lives in a grassland environment. Who’s really going to try to correct them anyway?
Diving right into their status, lions are considered vulnerable. They live predominantly in Africa and are extinct in multiple countries there. It is estimated that there are around 20,000 lions left in the wild. Human activity is the major culprit since lions are an apex predator with only alligators, desperate pythons, and other lions to worry about. Poaching and habitat destruction are the big ones. Are we surprised? With humans and lions living so close to each other, there are many violent encounters as well. There are about 100 fatal lion attacks per year, which is about the same as fatal elephant attacks. By the way, the animal that kills the most amount of people per year is the mosquito at around 725,000.
Do I really have to describe a lion? It’s a large cat that lives in a group known as a pride. The males have large manes, which are big things of fur around their necks. Females don’t have this trait. I’ll just jump the list:
The African Lion lives in Africa (duh), but there is another subspecies called the Asiatic Lion. They are a very small population living in western India, which is actually the only ones that live in an actual jungle.
Manes are used to attract females as well as protect the neck and head from injury during a fight.
Females raise the cubs and they do so as a group. A cub can suckle from any female if it is hungry.
Lionesses do the hunting with some driving the prey towards those that are waiting.
Due to their keen night vision, they hunt mostly at night. They will also take advantage of storms where they rain and wind help hide their presence from prey.
A lion’s roar can be heard from 5 miles away. They are also the only cat that roars as a group.
Lions can live in deserts because their bodies are able to get water from plants and prey.
Their tongues are like rasps, which help them scrape meat off the bones.
Male lions do some hunting, but their primary role is to patrol their territory and maintain scent markings. They are always on guard for threats, especially other males that will want to take over the pride.
While not as prevalent as one would think, a male lion will kill the cubs after taking over a pride. Some say this is to remove the bloodline of their defeated rival and cement their claim. Others point out that doing so causes the females to return to fertility and interest in mating faster.
Lions can sleep from 16-20 hours a day.
They are not above scavenging and stealing kills from other animals such as hyenas and leopards.
On to the pictures . . . Okay, I shouldn’t have typed ‘Lion Hunting’. I regret that Google Image Search:
This week didn’t go as planned . . . It also did go to plan.
Since this was the first week back after Spring Break, I had a sense that things wouldn’t go as smooth as I’d like. Students were getting back into the swing of things. Teachers were getting used to waking up early again. My household has both with me struggling with the alarm being back in my life and my son not being thrilled with the return of homework. I think most people understand this as a parent, student, or teacher.
Of course, this meant writing more Darwin & the Demon Game wasn’t going to happen. I used a bunch of time for biking and errands as well as resting. The little writing time I scraped up was used for July blog posts. That wasn’t even much. I’m kind of kicking myself for not trying to get one more chapter section written on Sunday when I had the time. Would have reduced the days I need to finish to 5 instead of 6. Guess I’ll have to make progress next weekend. I might be able to get 5 of the remaining 11 sections done. More than likely, I’m finishing this book on Memorial Day Weekend as well as tinkering with the next outline.
Speaking of books, I’m still thinking about Do I Need to Use a Dragon? and it’s release date. It’s still going to be July 3rd because the school year is crazy as both a TA and a parent. I wouldn’t be able to do anything to promote until that’s over. Instead, I’m wondering if I should hit publish as a pre-order this weekend. The reason isn’t to promote it, but to have an Amazon link that I can put into all of the July and August posts. That way, I don’t have to scramble on July 2nd to do it all. Never did a pre-order before, so I don’t know if this changes anything as far as royalties and release dates go.
Can’t think of anything else worth talking about from this week. Lots of stuff were a blur too. Ever have a week where you know something happened, but you can’t remember what it was? Next week has more events though. My son might be getting inducted into Tri-M music honor society. I’m hoping that I can go to a tenure reception for me at school, but it depends on if my son has something that night too. Need to set up a haircut and find a shirt for an upcoming Bar Mitzvah. Feels like I never get to take a breath and relax unless I’m exhausted. This is why I’m counting down the weeks until the end of the school year.
Actually, this weekend is going to be a bit crazy too. The local library does an anime/comic/video game convention. I’m taking my son in his Halloween costume, which is of Soul King Brook. That’s the character singing in the video. This might be a two day event with him entering a cosplay competition on Sunday. There are some events he wants to enjoy today too. Family is coming this afternoon as well. Not even going to try to write. Maybe I’ll get lucky this week and garner a weeknight to do it. Wednesday looks shakily possible to get a section done.
Only other thing going on is what I’m watching on streaming TV. It’s an anime called ‘Disastrous Life of Saki K.’, which is a weird comedy. Saki K. is a teenager with incredible psychic powers, which he wants to keep secret. Instead, things keep happening around him and he has to use them without getting caught. Every episode has 4-5 stories with each one being a manga chapter. It’s quirky and funny with no overarching plot beyond Saki K. trying to maintaining his secret. Overall, I’m enjoying this series because it’s relaxing and entertaining. No heavy thinking required, which is perfect after a long day.
Goals of the week?
Help son with homework and studying.
Go to son’s Tri-M induction ceremony.
Go to own tenure reception party.
Get ready for Bar Mitzvah. Maybe I can skip the haircut.
Puzzle time as the Lego set collection builds up.
EM-Con this weekend.
Write more Darwin & the Demon Game next weekend at least.
Complete more July blog posts.
Decide on hitting pre-order on Do I Need to Use a Dragon?
I was thinking of doing a long post comparing these three, but I think I’ve done that before. Looking at the Scarlet Witch picture, I realized that she is a character who kind of has all three categories. It really depends on the writer though. So, I figured I’d open the floor and let people get creative. At least I hope so since these posts tend to not go the way I planned.
Would you want to have superpowers, magic, or psionic abilities?
Why did you pick that one?
Which one do you think is the least interesting and why?
(This is just a creative poem I came up with a long time ago. There may have been an intention to create a story around this concept, but I don’t think it got very far.)
Deep within the Umbral Woods
As the morning sun appears
The druid of the dawn awakens
Sitting among the orchids
Where not a petal he has harmed
Carefully he stands
Draped in his mottled cloak
That merges him with trees
Stretching out the kinks
From sleeping on his haunches
A wand emerges from his sleeve
Thin and gnarled by time
He waves it at the orchid
Sending a shower of dew
To the skies above
As the water starts to fall
Feeding its former hosts
The druid drifts away
Stopping at the clearing’s edge
Where he is not allowed to pass
He can hear the orchids singing
While he whispers to a pine
Asking for a precious cone
That gently falls
Into his waiting hand
He mumbles a short prayer
As he taps the cone with wand
Causing both to glow
Bright and amber light
Weaving in the air
With all his strength
He hurls the cone into the air
Pushing it above the trees
Where it soundlessly explodes
Sending seeds to all horizons
The day passes on
As the druid sends more seeds
Orchids and pines
Oaks and grasses
He gives them all a chance to live
A yawn escapes his lips
His energy is spent
The sun sinks into bed
As the druid returns to his patch
To sleep among the purple petals
As I said, touch attacks are fairly niche. They appear in a lot of stories with magic and superpowers. Yet, they tend to also get taken for granted. So, what are some things to consider when using them?
You need to be consistent in how these attacks work. They can’t be 100% lethal in some situations, but leave a scratch during others. If the touch attacks seem to be entirely at the whim of the author, they will lose their urgency.
Duration of touch should be considered when deciding how they work. Some attacks need only a slight contact to have full effect. Others will require that the person hold on for an extended period of time. You need to establish this fairly early on and stick to what you decide. If you wish to change it then you need to demonstrate how or why the consistency has shifted.
If this is a power that cannot be turned off then you have to remember that it exists at all times. The best example is Rogue from the X-Men. Her power was always on and she couldn’t make skin-to-skin contact. The writers and artists had to be sure she wore gloves whenever she touched someone. If she didn’t and her power didn’t work then it would be a clear mistake. Such a thing constantly happening would result in the power being seen as inconsistent and messy.
A magical touch attack requires some type of catalyst. This can be an incantation, gesture, or sprinkling something on the caster’s hands. You really only have to show this a few times before you can make it a given. Although, if you don’t have a visual effect after the spell is activated, you may need to continue the catalyst to make sure the audience knows it’s around.
Try your best to avoid the MIDAS TOUCH ENDING!
As stated on Monday, remember that having to deliver a touch attack means getting within swinging range. The attacker is aware of this danger and will know to act accordingly. This means, they may focus on stealth or dodge around until they have an opening. Some may even have touch attacks that respond to being struck, which means they want to get in close. Play around with this downside to see if you can turn it on its head.
On the other side of the coin, characters who know they are up against someone who uses these attacks will be prepared. They won’t go rushing in if they know that a single tap means death. This turns some fights into a game of strategy and ‘keep away’, which can be fun if you don’t drag it out for too long.
Legends of Windemere 