#i love this trio more than anything

[tending-the-hearth]

seeing percy, annabeth, and grover in the show, finally getting our first, real looks at them, and i can't stop thinking about the bridge from "try", one of the cut songs from the lightning thief musical.

The weight of the world's on my shoulders Like Atlas is crushing me down We're not brave, we're not strong, we're not soldiers My heart's just a drum, and, damn, does it pound

(not even touching on the atlas foreshadowing bc that gets me in a completely different way)

they're CHILDREN. this trio is a group of twelve-year-olds who have never faced this sort of danger before. not to mention what they've been through prior to this quest.

annabeth's run away from home because of her stepmother's hatred towards her. she's lost the person she sees as her older sister, and has pretty much no one who understands her.

percy has no one. from where he stands, his mother is dead, and his father doesn't care about him. he's been thrown into this world and all he knows is that everyone either thinks he should be dead or wants him dead.

grover's a failure. his father and uncle were killed, and his first time escorting half-bloods, he gets mixed around, and the daughter of zeus dies. this is his only chance to prove himself and find pan.

they're not soldiers. they're just trying to prove themselves and find somewhere they belong. they're not being brave, they're literally doing this because they have to. percy's the only one in the group with some kind of power, but even then, he hasn't been trained long, and doesn't know how to control it.

the tv series is going to absolutely wreck me because we know how traumatized and changed this trio becomes. we're going to see percy go from being bright-eyed and hopeful to weighed down and realistic. we're going to watch annabeth's heart break so many times, between thalia's death, luke's betrayal, and further down the road, thalia's departure with the hunt and luke's death. we're going to see grover's grief, his guilt, his desperation to be accepted and respected.

but we're also going to see them become a family, become an inseparable tangle of threads woven together by fate, and i cannot wait to see that.

#i love this trio more than anything #but i don't know how i'm going to handle watching them go through all of that #they're just kids #and they're going to go through (literal) hell #and this isn't even touching on the other books in pjo OR hoo #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo series #pjo show #percy jackson and the lightning thief #percy jackson #annabeth chase #grover underwood

[scribz-ag24]

i saw some posts about grovyle and dusknoir and possession and it got out of hand.

#yes this is about sincerely-sophie's text posts theyre in my brain now lmao #it doesnt help that i love tve ghost bf/possession idea so goddamn much #connection deeper and more intimate than anything else #so yeah #hear me out. consensual possession #for silly reasons #or to get nearly unconcious grovyle out of danger -gets hit by a chair- #pmd2 #grovyle #dusknoir #celebi #future trio #futuretrioshipping #actaeonshipping #pmd hero #sunflora #my art

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

do you ever just sit there thinking about your favorite ocs while violently shaking. god. clenches fist. They're So.

#every time a song from their Joint Playlist comes on i go fucking feral #the betrayal the refusal to Let Go the haunting the persisting love the renunciation the resentment the abandonment the resignation #the overwhelming desire to do good vs the fear of admitting you were wrong vs the two people you love most tearing each other apart #AGHHHHH FUCK FUCK FUCK IM SUDDENLY DEEP IN THE ORIGINAL SAUCE #five seconds i was Normal. scribbling welcome home #then One Of The Songs Came On and now im losing my fucking marbles #perceived betrayals leading to real betrayals.... #going too far and now its too late you're Committed you cant go back #he came to you thinking he could make you understand and you could work together to make things Better #and instead you ripped his heart out and left it bleeding on the floor for everyone to see #THEY MAKE ME MORE INSANE THAN LITERALLY ANYTHING #absolutely unprompted #the oc Unwellness comes and goes in waves but its the only true constant obsession with my life #god those three... my dearest darling Trio.... how old are they turning this year? #is it year eight of having them? year nine? #one of the two is for sure how long ive had My Specialest Boy Light Of My Life The Reason I Am Still Alive #the other two came after... maybe only mere months after but he was the first and he is just. i love him so fucking much #he is so so personal to me. he has a permanent place carved out in my chest #he sleeps on my ribs <3 #the other day i was reminiscing about his development over the years. his changes his different Versions #and fuck... he's really changed with me huh?? #his past selves are echoes of my own self over the years #like he is Very different from me but at the same time. i created him with little pieces of myself sewn in #we hold the same views the same beliefs. im not him and hes not me but we're Kindred yk yk #i think i need to go listen to his playlist.... how long is it now... let me check... 15 hours 13 mins... 228 songs... #my gay 5'2 powerhouse of a guy. him <3 #maybe 'them' too he's played fast and loose with gender over the years. holy shit wait #his development echoes mine... i characterized him as 'fucks with gender norms' long before i realized my own gender fuckery #god damn. i love him even more now. i didnt think that was possible. im going to cry. hes so important to me #he has been with me through my worst years... and will be with me through all the hard times to come <3

[fionnaskyborn]

Was tagged by @oceancamp to post my current five favorite songs! (They should invent a stages-of-grief-esque model that encompasses and accurately describes both types of anguish I had to go through making this list - the one of limiting myself to only five songs, and the one of trying to put as little videogame music on here as possible so that I don't end up looking like an absolute goddamn geek, which... I am... Oh well!)

Thank you so much for tagging me - here are the songs!

Heaven Pierce Her - War Without Reason

Tatsuro Yamashita - Love Space

This specific arrangement of Death And Republic + Meet Again

Winger - Junkyard Dog (Tears On Stone)

The Protomen - Light Up The Night

Is it courtesy to tag other people after you've been tagged in a post like this? If that's the case, I'll tag @spiralled-fury, @solradguy, @swamppossum, @five-by-five, @northstarring, @ineedmoredragons and @tbonechessor!

#logs #ya don't have to participate if you don't want to‚ from what i've gathered - it's all just for fun anyway :] #The link to Yamashita's song is actually a link to a website that hosts city pop songs‚ since those keep getting taken down on YouTube due #to the strictness of Japan's copyright laws with regards to music. Uploads of Yamashita's songs in particular get taken down quite #frequently... The rest are either Bandcamp or YouTube (in case of Junkyard Dog) links #Very out-of-character of me not to put a Кино song on here‚ haha #I had a hard time deciding whether to put HOLD BACK THE NIGHT or Light Up The Night here‚ but ultimately decided on Light Up The Night #because... hoo boy #okay storytime. i've known of the protomen since somewhere around 2021. got The Good Doctor in my recommended feed‚ clicked on it because #i thought the album cover was cool + the title was appealing‚ but i never really listened to anything theirs beyond that song after that. #fast forward to 2022. be me‚ watching the greatest videoessay on planet earth (Steak Bentley's Metal Gear Solid 4 Was A Mistake). #the fucking MONTAGE comes on‚ and I fall in love with my second Protomen song. second fast forward to 2023 going into 2024‚ finally got #around to playing the Violence update. i learn of the name of level 7-2. the widest‚ most mischievous grin appears on my face. #i enter the level‚ proclaim ''ULTRAKlLL IS NOW A STEAK BENTLEY REFERENCE'' and blast the song as i get my ass beat by every single thing in #that level. #and let me tell you. getting mollywhopped ten thousand times by the FUCKING GUTTERTANK TRIO AT THE END OF THE LEVEL WAS. not a pleasant #experience. but the song made it better. :) (i played the level before the balance patch came out and uh let's just say i had more deaths on #that level than on 2gabe and 1gabe. SEVENTY-FOUR. FUCKING. RESTARTS. JESUS /CHRIST/. #goodness how i yearn to make a 3d animation of v1 going through 7-4 with that song in the background as a tribute to the man himself but #alas i am a student who has everything in the world but time #thanks for the tag again!! ^^

[poolsidepanic]

I like to imagine that because Billy is so tactile with Chrissy and Heather there’s a great deal of confusion in Hawkins over which of them he’s dating.

Some people are adamant that he’s dating Chrissy, since he pressed a kiss to her brow after a basketball game. Others are adamant that it’s Heather he’s dating, obviously, since Heather throws herself half-across his lap in the cafeteria.

Billy sort of accidentally became both half of Cunningway’s beards just by being affectionate with his best friends <3

#billy hargrove #heather holloway #chrissy cunningham #i love them being friends more than anything #snippets 🌸✨ #trio of besties 🧍‍♀️🧍‍♀️🧍‍♂️

[blackbatcass]

can you believe dc finally gave me a story where dick, steph and cass get to hang out. and it was a fucking. backup in a tom taylor issue

#tuesday spoilers #nightwing #dick grayson #cassandra cain #stephanie brown #longest sigh of all time. it was pretty cute though #*grips the sniper rifle i have trained on tom taylor with shaking hands* #i’ll take what i can get. i’ll take what i can get. ill take what i can fuckign getttttt #i do LOVE the potential dynamic of these three though and think it’s a tragedy they’ve never really interacted as a trio. #stephcass obviously god tier relationship dick and cass have a really sweet dynamic when they’re actually allowed to interact #and dick & steph’s personalities + interests are SOO conducive to the two of them just. hanging out. having fun together #AND ITS NEVER UTILIZEDDDDDDDD WAGH #anyway. need more of dick with his baby sisters one of whom is not really is sister and is his sister in law. #but. was kind of his sister anyway first. weird family structure! #i did enjoy dick teaching cass how to cook and the implication that the three of them have regular movie nights. #there’s been so little interaction with dick and the girls than anything feels special yknow. even if it was goofy.

[spacedlexi]

hey! i know you make violentine art (don’t get me wrong i LIVE for it.) but id love to see some clouis in your style! i feel like the way you draw clem and however you’ll draw louis will go really well together! <3

if you want like Actual clouis youll have to pay me for it im sorry,, i like drawing them being best friends but nothing more 😔

#even tho i think theyre an unbreakable trio i still just personally see clem as being so In Love with violet just like big ass heart eyes #like.. she loves louis... but shes In love with violet.. ya know? #either way the 3 of them are inseparable regardless and i do love drawing them all together even tho i like never post it #the only clouis i ever think about is part of my messy messy modern au :) but i keep it to myself. i want to avoid fandom frustrations #people on the internet will yell at you instead of blocking something they dont want to see and moving on and i cant be assed #but i Have been thinking about it a lot more lately for some reason 😏 its the only way i can really explore vinerva too #so unless thats something you want to see you probably wont see it at all #i Do want to draw louis some more just like in general i have a few wips with him atm but just like.. no time for anything more than doodle #replies with lexi #incognito

[derpy-thebdayclown]

it’s almost parents day!

#camp camp #camp camp fanart #cc nikki #cc nerris #cc dolph #camp camp nikki #camp camp nerris #camp camp dolph #a camp camp christmas or whatever #new adventure trio #camp camp new adventure! #I love them more than anything #baby all i want for christmas is new adventure trio content

[cinnamon-phrog]

Had a dream about............... three of them <3

#no but it was so lucid and it's the first dream i've had about them in literal years #we just vibed and messed around and they were so in-character i just 🥺 #🍝👄 #🦆📋 #🎨🌻 #🚦🏠 #putting up my little banner feels almost like a dog muzzle so no one assumes i'm a 'threat' to them is a little.......... sad? #because when i see the trio i don't see a child and two adults. two dads and a son. i see three silly puppets that i love dearly #i'd 'pretend' to see them like that without even knowing i saw them differently #because seeing the fandom made me think 'well i must be crazy then. best try to be like them' #but that hurt me. inside. a lot. #like playing 'creep' nonstop hurt it was that bad xfghfdfgh #i can joke on it now because there are more who just see silly puppet men now. #but bAcK iN mY dAy there was this person who thought they were all that because they were popular in 2015 #saying that if you saw yellow as anything other than a helpless little baby you don't deserve to be in the fandom and should just not exist #assuminng that EVERY person who does that just does to partake in pr*shitty actions and not actually see him as ageless or an adult #duck and red i know would be fine to have as f/o's but yellow kinda made my head spin with the Logic of it all #but dhmis doesn't HAVE logic. #the trio's faces are on missing posters of cartons of milk #reserved for children #and yet they have debt. a joint lawyer. yellow partakers in gambling and ages the same as red. #and yet he loves his dad and holds his hand and loves spaghetti #and 38 is a a joke that goes both ways #so your honour i declare this man boy puppet to be whoever you want him to be because Becky says he's an 'everyman'. or 'everyboy'. #or just 'everypuppet'. #sorry to rant at 7:30 in the morning but this has been stuck in my chest for a whole darn year. #there are others like me out there. some are good some enforce their ideas. some are just lying to condone their lewds. #and i see people go around saying 'yeah we can win this' or 'we're TRUTHERS' no.... i'm so sorry. but you're not. #and even if you are do you think it's even fair? what if it were the other way around? would you still be as petty as you were? #not that everyone is out to get me or people similar to me. most of my dhmis mutuals do indeed see them as two dads and a son

[yeonban]

★ for the wonder dorks

Send me a ★ and I’ll bold what applies to your muse.

I like you / I hate you / I dislike you/ I love you / You are family (will be soon!!) / I would take a bullet for you / I would shoot you / I would lie to your face / I would say something cruel to you on purpose / I would say something cruel to you accidentally / I would cheat on you / I would physically hurt you / You annoy me / You amuse me / I’d laugh at you / I’d laugh with you / I’d manipulate you / You scare me / You confuse me / I wish I knew you better / I trust you / I don’t trust you / You inspire me / I consider you an equal / You are beneath me / You’re better than me / I would trust you with my life / I think you’re mean / I think you’re petty / I think you’re childish / I think you’re smart / I think you’re stupid / I think you’re a bad person / I think you’re a good person / I’m not sure what kind of person you are / I wish you would listen to me / I want to make you proud / I wish you would notice me / I want to impress you / I would hurt other people for you / I’m not sure how to make you happy / I’m a bad influence on you / You deserve better than me / We make a great team / I’d have a one night stand with you / I’d have a relationship with you / I would marry you / I fantasize about our life together / I would trust you with my most treasured belonging / I would tell you my darkest secrets / You disgust me / You intimidate me / I hope I intimidate you / I’d hug you / I’d let you hug me / I’m scared of losing you / I don’t think you like me / I want to be better for you / I respect you / I don’t respect you / You’re my mentor / You’re my friend / You’re my best friend / I have a crush on you / I could easily watch you die / I’d get drunk with you / I’d party with you / I’d comfort you / I’d prank you / I’d spike your drink / I’d act behind your back / I’d abandon you / I’d hurt you to get what I want / I would choose my happiness over yours / I would choose your happiness over mine / I despise how much I care for you / I need you / I’m dependent on you / I don’t know what I’d do without you / I’m scared of you leaving me / I’d give my life for you / You frustrate me / I’d call for you in a time of need / I would protect you / I’d visit you in the hospital / I’d carry you if you were hurt / I’d feel guilty if I hurt you / I’d let you be near me when I am vulnerable / I’d ignore a phone call from you / I’d call you at 3am / I’d break you out of jail / I’d get angry at you / I would shout at you / You’re too loud / You’re too quiet / You’re too sensitive / You can’t take a joke / You embarrass me / I feel nothing for you / You’re reckless / You’re bossy / You bore me / I would ask your advice / I would blame you for something I did / I would cry in your arms / You have the power to hurt affect me more than anyone else /

#muse: takeda naotora. #ofdraiocht #I'm laughing at but I'm also incredibly fond of just how SMITTEN Naotora is for Naoe. just outright down horrendously #Him bolding every technically-an-insult part (mean; petty; childish) and then Immediately following that with an yearning sigh #Naoe beefs with a trio of 16 year olds and smacks his 19 year old retainer over the head w a brush and Naotora's still <333 #I'm crying about how Naotora went from keeping everything a secret from Naoe to willingly spilling all the beans tho... #He REALLY didn't want to confess anything of importance just a year ago and yet now Naoe knows everything. from childhood to present day #which IS more than even Tatsuomi knows :') bc Naotora didn't tell Tatsuomi about how Aijiro is his father instead of older brother #nor did Naotora tell him /everything/ he went through as a child at the Takeda. but he DID tell Naoe both of the above and beyond! #The sheer trust and love Naotora has for Naoe to open up that thoroughly and to put his heart in Naoe's hands... augh I ADORE them!!

[aroacehanzawa]

gay ppl in my idol anime

#this a joke btw. i love their friendship so much. i love this trio more than anything #re:vale #idolish7 third beat part 2 #idolish7 #orikasa yukito #sunohara momose #ogami banri

[bmpmp3]

listen to my tuning attempts boy (svp by ryu)

#vocal synth wip #synthv #asterian #i always struggle with volume mixing but i think this is the best ive got for now orz #hopefully i will get better with practice #and lemme tell you this lite version is incredibily generous like i have played with some WACK sounding lite voicebanks in my time #but he already sounds fantastic for the lite limitations #and man you know i think asterian is far more versatile than people give him credit for. #i know everyone knows his range goes down to e2 but people seem scared to figure out how to use him it seems? #not enough covers out there with him i think. but if anything i found him easier to work with than other lite voicebanks LOL #and really the whole eclipsed sounds roster. the celestial polycule. are all absolutely absurdly versatile voicebanks #like everyone knows solaria and we all love asterian BUT the new one saros #they also sound fantastic through the demos weve heard which is exciting #i cant wait to see even more covers. i hope someone who has all three will make the celestial polycule all sing together #i want to hear that duet. three-et? trio.....

[im-smart-i-swear]

What's your favourite FNIN book and why?

IM GLAD YOU ASKED-

its 'trzecia kuzynka'!

it just really stands out of the series, starting with the setting: - instead of Warsaw, a big city, the whole book takes place in the polish mountains(which ones??? who knows. i dont). usually the action of fnin books takes place in a big city(there are exceptions to this rule ofc) but this time the closest urban area is a small town.

the feeling of uneasiness also shows itsel in the book's cast. in most books we have a bunch of reoccuring characters: felix and net's parents, teachers, classmates - but here the only other familiar person is manfred(and even still hes not as prevelant bc theres no internet and stuff). just like the trio, the reader doesnt know anybody. theyre alone. everyone and everything here is strange and the lack of familiar faces only makes it more apparent. theres also the fact that when usually the trio are the best informed and oriented people in a given situation, here theyre.... lost. everyone(alright maybe not everyone, but you get the point) has secrets and hidden motives.

another thing is how the trio separates - although thats not uncommon in fnin, the way they do it is dffrent from usual - instead of net and felix having another one of their dramatic breakups, its nika who distances herself from her friends. thats also another thing i love about 'trzecia kuzynka' - the way it focuses on nika and her relationship with f&n. the change of setting allows for the common 'what if people find out nika is an orphan' thing to fade into the background for once, wnich means theres room to explore other aspects of nikas life and personality. her lack of friends aside from felix&net, her emphaty and selflesnes, her persistance to do the right thing - all those qualities are allowed to shine here and its great!

this book subverts expectations of a long time fnin reader and it feels so fresh and unique beacuse of that. the way the tension gradually builds up as more and more weird things happen makes it so fun to read! and, in a truly shocking twist, morten isnt behind everything this time!!(i know, impossible). even the fact the trio is separated during the finale instead of sticking toghether as per usual - 'trzecia kuzynka' flips the typical fnin formula on its head and i love it.

the new side characters are pretty cool too! when i first read this book, i thought laura's very cool - and honestly i still think that - she has a motive here, shes doing her own thing, and also shes hilarious. the others are pretty entertaining too! oh, and how could i forget - the 'false trio'. oh my frickin god the reveal of them being secret fucking agents was glorious-

and one other thing i have to mention - the horrors. there are times while reading this book when i have to stop and ask myself 'wait.why is this actually scary.' in other books there are moments or longer scary scenes, sure, but the one is dripping with tension and anticipation from start to finish, and the finale is the perfect culmination of that. there are so many scenes that just stuck with me - the graveyard, laura's mam-moth(get it) story, the whole castle sequence(i was a bit uncomfortable tho..), the reveal of the giANT FUCKING *THING* UNDER THE HOUSE-, and of course the entirety of nika's side of the finale!

i have no idea what other people think about this book, but i absolutely love it!(crap now i want to reread it for the gazillionth time)

thank you for the ask!

#fnin #felix net i nika #woagh how did i write so many words this fast. #i. i have THOUGHTS about this frickin book. so many of em.. #i really hope we'll get to see the false trio again one day. that would be nice i think #SHIT i forgot to talk about the third cousin herself... #buuut im kinda cautious about talking about her cause i dont want to accidentally say anything ableist. i dont want to get into all that rn #but i think shes great! the dream sequences especially give her a lot of depth #can you tell from this post wnich one out of the trio is my favourite? #i LOVE nika's portrayal in this book........ #the other two are fine! i love them! but its nika time babey!! #WHY cant i draw her????? felix and net were really easy to figure out but nika is a pain in my ass for some reason. ughahghauhghhh #ask #miiight post a fnin doodle dump later beacuse drawing the silly fictional teenagers is way more fun than. yknow. doing math. in math class.

[neuronspider]

call me a hater or smth idc anymore i'm just gonna say that i really, really fucking hate bonten timeline it's so overrated for a timeline that has only gotten like 2 chapters tops lmao you can't even call it an arc

(bonten gang-centric rant on the tags lmao i honestly can't remember much about the main characters during that time to even talk about it)

#it was alright at first #but honestly i just dislike seeing it everywhere after some time #the hype just does not appeal to me alright #salty because the amount of “bonten trio” on my fyp is insane #the chemistry between the three doesn't even make sense lmao #it would've made more sense if it's the haitanis with like kaku or mocchi given their history but no #just pair the siblings with the guy who is literally stuck like glue to their boss #for aesthetic reasons? #???? #look i love the haitanis more than anything but their bonten looks were blown out the water by koko by a large margin imho #best thing to come out of that shitshow is koko mocchi and kakucho #kazutora too #oh actually i love timeskip draken omg never change my beloved timeskip draken mua #one thing i also don't like about the bonten hype is it constantly excludes MOCCHI #WHAT TF #in the first place i wouldn't be complaining this much if there was actually an ample amount of mocchi content at all #also bonten haitani bros < every other era haitani bros #this is pure salt lmaoaooa now that i've read it again ToT

[morningmarionette]

im currently writing an atsugawa (I hate the name shin soukoku or whatever I'm sorry but I'm actually not. also I cannot pronounce soukoku {this is the real reason I don't use soukoku}) and I don't even ship it lmaoo

#maris bsd 🗞️ #like its not a bad ship for my personal tastes #I like them alot more in trios tho I've realized #absolutely adore anytime atsu aku and kyouka are together #two disaters and a teenage girl going through the inexplicable horrors #my favorite #I also desparately wish more people saw the atsulucygawa vision..... #anyways the fic is actually more like before an establish relationship but you can read it as romantic if you want #you'd have to work extra hard though because their bickering isn't like #romantic bickering they're actually kinda getting on each others nerves #but then they have a cute moment talking about their respective agency co workers and realize they do have common ground and that's how muc #they love their lil found dysfunctional families #actually its mostly akutagawa talking Abt port mafia (IM SICK OF PPL SAYING HE DOESNT CARE ABT THEM IDC I wRITE CANON NOW TY) and atsu #realizing that akus never rlly been in a position where he could safely and openly show his affection for anyone #and the one time he did they left (dazai) (this is how the conversation starts) #(aku says smth Abt gin and atsus like “awhh you care alot :3” and akus like “no I don't” and then atsus like “ykw its okay to care Abt ppl” #and akus like “:(( but what if they leave again” and atsus like “but what if they stay?” and basically lists all the reasons why they'd sta #and then akus gets all soft and has a nice moment of caring about everyone he works with #(except maybe chuuya I cant rmb any times they've interacted and i cant think of anything fun or like core memory things they'd do together #and then aku is like “what Abt you and your family? how are they?” and then it's atsus turn to be all sappy about their family #and so then they end up having a way better day than expected AND they walked away from it with a new friend and an even better #understanding of each other and stuff #yeah #reminder I don't even ship atsugawa but wow I feel deeply abt them both. #maybe Id like them as like QPR?? #I can see that alot better #but man atsulucygawa.... #even they'd probably be QPR though imo #anyways pushing my “aku doesn't feel like he can allow himself to share his affection for people because he doesn't want them to leave” #agenda ty for coming to my Ted talk

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I promised you some lions! Let's talk about manes, males, and management.

This is Tandie, the current male lion at the Woodland Park Zoo.

Notice anything odd about him? He's got one of those hilarious awkward teenager manes. Except... this cat is nine years old.

I was, of course, immediately curious.

Manes serve a lot of purposes for male lions, including being an indicator of health and fitness - it's actually a sexually selected trait and a social signal. Mane texture / hair quality / length is dependent on nutrition and the body having energy to grow (and carry around!) that much hair! The color is also a signal: males with darker manes have been found to have higher testosterone levels.

In one research report, wild males were much more likely to avoid a lion decoy when it had a longer or darker mane - but the girls really loved a dark mane. It's thought this is because a long, dark mane is an indicator of mate quality. Males with longer, darker manes have higher testosterone and were pretty healthy: meaning they had more energy for fighting, had a better chance of recovering if they got injured, and generally had a higher rate of offspring survival. Manes matter!

So, back to Tandie. He was actually born at the Woodland Park Zoo in 2014 alongside two brothers, to dad Xerxes and mother Adia.

This was Xerxes (rip).

Obviously, a very large, dark, lush mane on Xerxes here. So where did these blond muttonchops come from on his son?

I asked the zoo docents and got an answer that didn't make a lot of sense. They told me that after the three cubs grew into adolescents, they were moved to the Oakland Zoo together. But living together suppressed his testosterone, and he never grew a mane.

Hmmmm.

Here's a photo from 2016, when the brothers debuted at Oakland. They're a year and a half old in this photo.

(Photo Credit: Oakland Zoo)

And here's from an announcement for their third birthday.

(Photo credit: Oakland Zoo)

Okay, so these dudes obviously all were growing manes as of 2017. I think Tandie is the one on the left in the first photo, and laying down in the middle on the second. What happened?

I was just in the Bay Area for a zoo road trip, of course I went to Oakland and tracked down a docent to ask some questions.

It turns out that shortly after the brothers turned three, they started acting like adult male lions: they started scuffling regularly. It's a normal social thing for male lions to live in groups, called coalitions, but according to my lion experts there's generally a baseline level of some social jostling within them. It wasn't quite clear from what the docent said if they couldn't manage the boys together, or if they just wanted to avoid the scratches and small wounds that result from normal lion behavior. Regardless, they put all three of the boys on testosterone blockers in order to be able to keep them together as a social group.

Now, I don't know a lot about the use of hormone alteration as a form of captive animal management, except in the case of birth control. I don't think it's something that's unethical - there was just a webinar on it that I saw go by - but I don't think it's commonly done with big cats. Lions have kind of complicated reproductive cycles, and for instance, we've been learning that female lions can take much longer to come into estrus again than expected after coming off hormonal birth control.

In males, testosterone blockers (or being neutered) means they lose their manes. This is why a lot of rescues will do a vasectomy on their males instead of a neuter - it allows them to keep their mane and the social signals that accompany it.

Tandie returned home to Woodland Park Zoo after Xerxes passed in early 2022, and the docent told me all of the lions had been off their blockers "for while." I'd guess those things happened around the same time, since bringing the trio down to a duo at Oakland would reduce some of the social tensions.

Hormones are such interesting things, though. One of Tandie's brothers has a full mane again, and the other is still totally mane-less.

As for Tandie, his mane is growing back in, and it looks like he might rival his dad for length and coloration.

He started here, in February:

Yesterday:

What a difference four months (and maybe proximity to a girl) makes!

#big cats #lion #african lion #big cat behavior #zoo animals #zoo animal welfare #captive animal management #zoos