#Celestial bird

[girlwiththegreenhat]

had a photo of a planet in my downloads folder i didn't recognize

until i opened it, and it was DUCKS

DUCK PLANET, BABEY !!!

[jp-nichts]

The Takahe

Curious about the mech on the cover of Reactors & Romance?

The frame is called the Takahe. It's named after a flightless bird from New Zealand of the same name. Even though the mech's "tail feathers" are massive jump jets meant to get this thing soaring!

Lore wise, its a frame designed for mobility and exploration of both terrestrial and space environments. The cockpit is located in the chest, and has an expanded compartment to provide barebones living quarters for extended away missions. Since the pilot isn't located in the head, it's head packed with various sensors and long ranged coms. Perfect for surveying and keeping in contact with distant teammates. It might not have the versatility of arms to pick-up different weapons on the fly, but it's head mounted weapons have exceptional accuracy due to the dampeners in it's neck. These dampeners do have the unintended side effect of making the head bob like a pigeon or chicken when the frame is running pigeon

Like most of my mech designs this one originally started off as a Lego build of mine for the game Mobile Frame Zero. A table top wargame that uses Lego mechs as minis. It's a lot of fun by the way. You should check it out HERE (I think I still have some of my bird mechs featured on their website)

My Lego Takahe build is actually a larger version of my Kiwi mech. Which is very similar in design to the Takahe, just smaller and cuter. I love these little guys and have made so many of them over the years.

Like... sooooo many! I have a whole Pride collection of them with each one colored as a different pride flag.

Here is the first painting I did of the Takahe, which also inspired the color pallet for Reactors & Romance.

I also did some pixel art of the mech too. I was hoping to use for a Lancer game, but that didn't happened. I did get to include it as part of my NPC roster for a game of Celestial Bodies that I ran! The players did a great job completely obliterating my children 😂

[834k]

Teo: Since when were you an expert on bird anatomy?

Aurelio, who watched the annual Quetzlan bird show every year since he met Teo just to see him judging it until it went from hyperfixation to special interest: I saw it on TV

[starflungwaddledee]

Hear me out…Meta Knight and Starstruck

✧˖°.✧ gravity ✧˖°.✧ ɡravɪti (noun) 1. the force that attracts a body towards the centre of the earth or towards any other physical body having mass 2. the degree of intensity of gravity, measured by acceleration 3. extreme importance; seriousness 4. solemnity of manner

[which-item-poll]

[notbecauseofvictories]

caught sight of a starling at my birdfeeder, and had a strange thought: it must be weird to be a bird.

To continue the thought experiment: all day long, you hang out with your flock who---with minor personal and sex variations---look like you. Then you go out into the world, and cross paths constantly with creatures that look vaguely like you (except they're different colors or smaller or bigger or their mouths are different shapes) that speak similar yet distinct languages (chirps vs. songs vs. whistles vs. calls). You might fight over resources, sure, but you're also expected share the world with these meaningfully distinct creatures.

.......are birds just constantly living with aliens? Albeit Hollywood aliens with prosthetics and makeup, not actual aliens. Except we live here too! So not only do birds live with Hollywood aliens, they live in close proximity with actual legitimate aliens, who exist on a level that birds simply can't comprehend, and move according to bizarre inexplicable rhythms. We create mysterious objects, some of which are benevolent (bird feeder, garden) and others of which inflict punishment (windows) and some where it depends (telephone wire, pole). We seem to have other dangerous lifeforms attached to us, though it's unclear how (cats and dogs). We act in ways that are frightening, baffling, and even more alien than the starling perched on the other side of the birdfeeder.

Conclusion: to be a bird is to live with aliens and with gods.

[alonglistofbirds]

[2137/11056] Celestial monarch - Hypothymis coelestis

Order: Passeriformes Suborder: Passeri Superfamily: Corvoidea Family: Monarchidae (monarch flycatchers)

Photo credit: Adrian Constantino via Macaulay Library

[gorgynei]

i have brainworms about them. sorry. not sorry

[odoanaga]

crittermon 4: the saga continues

[rebeccawangart]

"Raven Placing the Stars"

Acrylic painting on linen panel, 16" x 20", September 5, 2023

A legend according to the Tlingit peoples of Alaska say that Raven placed the stars in the sky. Once long ago, the stars belonged to the great heavenly chief, who hoarded them in a sack. One day, Raven turned into a pine needle and was swallowed by the chief's daughter, where he was later born as her son. The chief gave his grandson the sack of stars to play with. Raven seized the opportunity, turned back into a raven, ascending to the heavens with the sack in his beak. As he soared across the heavens, he scattered the stars in his wake.

Story from: "When Raven Placed The Stars in the Sky"

Art Prints · Redbubble · Etsy · Facebook · Instagram

[avetesketches]

A mysterious celestial witch with an affinity for birds 🪶✨

It’s spooky season which means I can’t stop drawing witches if you couldn’t tell :D

[airegin7]

A personal piece that I have been working on and off for a few months, as I've been very busy..!!

Please don't repost my art without my permission <3 Reblogs appreciated!

[834k]

I have a hc that dancing and carnivale is a big thing in the culture of Quetzlan because of their proximity to birds and the importance of courtship rituals for birds. And because of this, all the schools in Quetzlan have a mandatory social dancing unit in core PE when it comes up to the avian breeding season.

[kyrieren]

Doumeki's irezumi

Irezumi (入れ墨, lit. 'inserting ink') is the Japanese word for tattoo, and is used in English to refer to a distinctive style of Japanese tattooing.

In chapter 53, Doumeki's back tattoo is revealed to be a "celestial maiden". Typically, irezumi incorporates motifs such as dragons, Buddhas, samurai, koi fish, and more, each carrying specific cultural and symbolic meanings referred to as wabori (和彫り). Intrigued by Doumeki's tattoo, I went asking if Doumeki’s tattoo is identified as any wabori and received responses suggesting it could represent either Nuwa (女媧) or Benzaiten (弁才天), given the details of snake and the stone in the goddess’ hands. After some research, Nuwa (女媧) seems to be more aligned with the story than Benzaiten (弁才天). However, I still present both of them and their possible interpretations in the story.

I. Nuwa (女媧)

Nüwa, is a mother goddess, cultural heroine in Chinese folk religion, Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. She is credited with creating humanity from clay by the river bank and repairing the Pillar of Heaven. Let’s focus on the myth of “repairing the Pillar of Heaven”.

The world of the first beings was very different from ours now. The earth was just in its infancy and was only separated from the sky by four very large pillars. One day, Gonggong (龔工), the god of water, and the god of fire, Zhurong (祝融) became locked in a massive battle that would determine the ruler of heaven. Gonggong, who was motivated by evil, ultimately lost the fight and crashed his head against Buzhou mountain—one of the four pillars holding up the heavens. The earth began to tremble and the pillar collapsed and ripped a hole in the sky. At this point, the earth was completely in tatters from Zhurong and Gonggong’s epic battle. Fires had scorched the earth, water was pouring incessantly from the hole in the sky. The ancient Chinese historian Sima Qian (司馬遷), recorded the following account of Nüwa’s heroic deed: “Hereupon Nüwa melted stones of the five colours to repair the heavens, and cut off the feet of the tortoise to set upright the four extremities of the earth. Gathering the ashes of reeds she stopped the flooding waters, and thus rescued the land.” From that moment on, the water in the heavenly palace no longer cascades on earth to cause harm to the people.

In mythology, Nuwa played a crucial role in repairing the sky hole and preventing heavenly water from pouring onto the earth. As rain – the water from the sky, the befallen suffering, is one of the main themes of Saezuru, the parallel is pretty evident. Given Doumeki’s persistence to stay in the yakuza world and his decision to have a wabori that big on his back, he is doing everything he can to manifest his devotion to stay on Yashiro’s side, end his suffering and protect him from any potential harms, even though up to the newest developments of the story, it doesn’t seem likely at all. They’re both confused and hurting each other.

II. Benzaiten (弁才天)

Benzaiten ( 弁才天 ) is the “goddess of eloquence" who originated mainly from the Hindu Indian Saraswati, goddess of speech, the arts, and learning. While Benzaiten retains many of the Indic attributes of Saraswati (as patron of music, the arts, eloquence, knowledge), she also has many unique aspects, roles and functions which never applied to the Indian goddess. As such, Benzaiten is now also associated with dragons, snakes, local Japanese deities, wealth, fortune, protection from disease and danger, and the protection of the state. Benzaiten is depicted in a number of ways in Japanese art, one of which is her portrait wielding a sword and a wish-granting jewel (cintāmaṇi). Eloquence and wish-granting? I haven’t been able to draw the parallel to Saezuru yet.

So I’d stick to the interpretation that Doumeki’s tattoo is Nuwa.

[euphorictruths]

Christi Belcourt

[joannabarnum]

Some birds of a feather in progress. This one will become a bag and game mat design for Anthrocon in July. Excited to show off the whole thing, the colors and composition are inspired by NASA photos of the Milky Way.