#i love watching pigeons and seagulls

[lena-oleanderson]

The Crow from Side Wounds

[thediktatortot]

I think Billy is the kind of guy who knows basically everything he can manage to know about marine life and animal life in general. He's smart, he holds information easily especially when he's interested in it and it's definitely something he's interested in.

He loves otters and seals, but his favorite creatures of the sea are sea slugs because he thinks they look badass and so pretty at the same time and he likes those vibes. Pretty, dramatic, vibrant but deadly sometimes.

I think he would also be the kind of guy who likes birds too. He's not into them like he's into marine life, but he knows a lot about corvids and seagulls. He's also an advocate for pigeons because he thinks it's sad that these birds got moved and trained to be a certain way, and then were abandoned by the people who did it and now they basically bumble around in an environment they weren't meant for.

But his passion is the water and he'll be the first to tell you not to watch shark week because it's "stupid, misinformation and fear mongering."

If he's high however and you mention anything to do with any marine animal or fish he WILL go on a two hour rant about the state of the environment, how stupid politicians and the average civilian is and exactly how he'd fix it.

[wuh2k]

I’ve taught my daughter to love pigeons. That one’s easyish…they’re fluffy and dorky in a cutesy way.

But I’ve also taught her to love gulls (seagulls aren’t real), but naturally there won’t be any videos of her feeding them out of her hands.

And if you ask her at 6yrs old, she’ll tell you that the reason we need to love them the most is because people hate them the most.

And I don’t know why.

I know the reasons people give…

They’re noisy.

They make a mess (poop & torn open garbage bags)

They steal people’s food.

And I’m like…is that it? Minor inconveniences also caused by your average drunk crowd on a Friday night? That’s it? You’re calling for culling because of slight annoyances?

We destroyed their nesting sites so they adapted and moved to the artificial cliffs of the coastal cities.

We stole all their fish, so they root through our garbage and occasionally steal someone’s chips.

And for that you want to cull them?

I love watching them on stormy days, killing it as they ride, dipping and diving, on the drafts. It makes me smile watching them wing their way home to bed at sunset, calling out to their kin and friends to join them.

Just fucking let them be. We’ve stolen enough.

[todaysbird]

i love bird watching while walking my dog! to day we sawwwww

sap sucker

turkuy

looooots of finches of course

barn sparrows

cat birds (my personal favorite)

seagulls

the pigeons that always sit on top of the bank.

yayyy i love catbirds! my dog usually accompanies me too bc she requires so much exercise that if im walking i find it hard to not justify bringing her lol

[mockingbirdshymn]

way too many camp camp headcanons? why not

part seven: nikki

she has adhd but i think we all probably knew that

dyslexia!! she has dyslexia and it pisses neil off to no end when she spells something wrong. she thinks its funny

step-siblings nikki and neil!!! their parents eventually got together and nikki begged neil's dad to get her a bunk bed to share with neil. neil is not happy with this arrangement

lesbian nikki. you cannot look at her and think shes even slightly straight. "juliet should've done karate instead of kissing boys. maybe she wouldn't have died then." you are so right nikki

nikki has a pet bearded dragon, a fish tank, a terrarium of pet frogs, and a pet pigeon. she begged her mother for all of the animals and eventually her mother relented. the pigeon is one she grabbed from the streets on the way back from some store with her mother and snuck into her house, and said pigeon loves nikki to death. the pets' names are...

Bearded Dragon - Bernred. she spelled bearded as bernred and decided that was the name. neil suggested she named it bernard instead, because that's an actual name, but she hissed at him like a rabid cat

Fish - John, Jason, Josh, Jim, Jeremy, and Clark. nikki named clark different because "he's adopted". all of the fish are technically adopted.

Frogs - The Croaker, The Ribbler, and Batman. neil is frustrated at how batman's name isnt a pun. she just says she couldnt think of one

Pigeon - Seagull. this is because her mother called it a seagull at first and she found that funny

she has trained seagull the pigeon to attack at her command. she uses this to her advantage

nikki requires every house she lives in to have a foresty area in the backyard

carl made nikki a treehouse as a gift. nikki had never been so excited about something before. she sleeps in the treehouse sometimes, despite candy and carl's protests.

nikki nearly fails every one of her classes, except for science, somehow. she barely passes close enough to make it to the next grade. sometimes, neil gets so frustrated he does her schoolwork for her when she gets an obvious answer wrong.

nikki is pretty affectionate to her new step-brother, because she always wanted a sibling. she gives neil rocks and sticks and leaves she finds cool. she was under the impression he usually threw them out after she gave them to him, but when trying to find something or other in their room, she found a hidden box full of all the sticks, leaves, and rocks she'd given him before.

nikki wants to be a zoologist when she's older, because she thinks she'd be good at it. (she ends up becoming one, and a pretty well-known one because of her ability to handle even the most feared of animals. like hippos. up close)

nikki idolizes ered, but as they get older, they become better friends with more of an equal dynamic.

ered, nerris and her have a 'girls night out' every so often. when nerris told them they were non-binary and went by she/they, nikki changed it to 'girls night out plus nerris', even though nerris said they were fine with it not changing

nikki hangs out with dolph and nerris as much as she can. they still get into adventures, but never get much done during them. they still have fun doing their adventures, which is what matters most.

nikki and nerris' mothers do not like each other

nikki insisted the camp campbell campers stayed connected in some way, and made the first group chat, titled: "Probably Entitled to Financial Compensation"

every halloween, nikki forces max, neil and her to do matching costumes.

max, david, and gwen are invited to a new year's eve 'party' with nikki, neil, and their parents. the party is just them watching tv, playing board games, setting off fireworks for an hour and a half, eating junk food and staying up till midnight. its become their collective tradition, one they wouldnt miss for the world despite how some claim it's boring or they hate it.

nikki balances neil's anxiety by pushing him to be more confident, and neil balances nikki's wildness by making sure she doesn't do anything too risky

nikki's favorite food is a pb&j sandwich

nikki's favorite color is red "like blood"

nikki is always energetic, and on christmas morning wakes everyone in her family up at 5:30am to unwrap presents

nikki generally wakes up before anyone else in the house

nikki has a nintendo 2ds, on which she plays pokemon X and only pokemon X. her starter is froakie

nikki, who has the top bunk of her and neil's bunk bed, has blankets strung up from the ceiling as fort walls

the only books nikki likes to read are comics

[myceliumtoaster]

Aphrodite + Freya have been tag-teaming me at the lake, sending me ducks, geese, seagulls, pigeons, rabbits, birds, and now swans!! Swans are one of my favorite birds so it felt very magickal being there at just the right time. I love getting signs from them. It's 10/10 it makes me feel very loved, because I've always loved nature and spending time with animals. And this is something that's free, so long as the weather permits!! I can walk there whenever.

My partner and I love to go and just say hi, spend time watching them. And the flock seems to like us, too- they quite literally follow us around. We've never fed them or anything, but they seem to really enjoy our company as much as we enjoy theirs. It's guaranteed serotonin, in this economy?? Yes please *crONCH*

Anyways if anyone else has a heartwarming deity story add it below!! I'll keep it going :)

[patriciavetinari]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers 🩵

(if you feel like participating)

Oooooh, an activity! Love those. Greatly appreciate.

1. An early night. You know the kind. When everything has been just exhausting, when you get home and maybe have a lazy snack, kick your shoes off, claw off the bra and the jewelry, wash the face with warm water or find courage for a whole shower, and then just crawl into nice sheets and Exist for a while in peace. Maybe read or watch something, scroll through comrade's blogs and memes. And the best part, you think you've wasted time and stayed up too long despite everything, and then you check the time and it's a wholesome 10:07 pm and you turn off the light and fall asleep and the world seems decent for one night. I am criminally bad in arranging those for myself.

2. Some sort of a creature I get to see. A dog being walked. A cat chilling on the windowsill. An butterfly doing her thing. Some crows that hang out near my bus stop every morning. A ladybug on a leaf, snail on a fence post. Another dog being walked. Surprisingly, a horse being led past my front window (? i'm still not sure why but hey, a creature). Bumblee butt sticking out of a flower. Seagull on the head of a statue: classic. Horse part of the horse drawn carriage as a tourist attraction in the city center. Pigeons. Once back in winter, on a freezing morning after an even more freezing night, I saw two seagulls trying SO HARD to break into a completely frozen discarded slice of pizza, probably someone's dinner from last night. One of them was grabbing it by the crust and shaking its head violently to break it apart, at some point slapping its mate with the said pizza across the beak. Peak comedy.

3. When it's raining and picking up to a thunderstorm and you get to stay home. Perfect no plans Saturday weather. You get your little bowl of soup and your cup of tea and it gets 'worse' outside, maybe the wind even tears your cracked window wide open (yeah I keep my window open during thunderstorms and I will die on this well ventilated hill). And you don't have plans, nothing pressing anyway, you can just sit and enjoy this. Extremely pleasant stuff.

4. A nice outfit on my favorite me. I mean, I have a streak of vanity, not gonna lie, and I enjoy the aesthetics. Feeling nice, looking nice, making something in the wardrobe work, this small act of creation of an image of self – it's nice. It doesn't exist in vacuum of course and there's some baggage to unpack there, but it still makes me happy when dress pretty and hair sets good.

5. Libraries. I know I know, nerd tumblerette answer, but genuinely. I've never seen a library I didn't like, be it a small town one with no copies of Marx or big Historical Importance one with columns and hard wooden floors. The atmosphere itself is an instant calm. Usually very nice muted noise level. Smell of books and books and books. Feels like time stands still, like the world is decent again. Books ranging from stupid to lifechanging and you get to prticipate in figuring out which is which.

Putting all of the above together, it must mean if I could be in a library while wearing a nice outfit, with a creature like a cat at the fingertips, a thunderstorm raging outside and a bed also present in the library to have an early night in right there – I would probably have an orgasm.

[pink-pumpkin-princess-bitch]

Someone else’s Morning, someone else’s Sunrise.

Couldn’t sleep cus a combo of 2 energy drinks not 1 (there’s reasons) and how hot it’s been. Also just the underlying harder to sleep at a different house, since I’m over a friend’s. I had breakfast on their deck in their garden and watched the sun rise.

Really nice sky, I’ve been loving some of the sunrises we get around Brittain recently. Sunsets too but I don’t see them as often. Just love all the colours, and my phone is actually good enough to capture them. I’d post the pictures of this one up but I’m gonna ask the friend first since it’s not my house ect ect.

Since I well and truly can’t sleep I’m sitting on my puter listening to the birds wake up out the window. Seagulls and Pigeons and Starlings and Blackbirds, and the occasional Corvid too.

Reminds me so much of watching the birds with another friend I cut ties with a long time ago out their window. They had a crow that kept coming back to their garden over and over, always had rucked up feathers. I think they named it after an OC of theirs. I hope they’re doing ok nowdays.

Enjoy the mornings everyone, even if you’re not a morning person. (Enjoy the nights too, we get bats and the occasional owl here it’s so fun)

[jezmmart]

Chamomile Comic Trivia #24

#125 - Speaking

This phone call is pretty much verbatim one I had at work, including incorrect shop name, incorrect town, asking for a confirmation that I was definitely not in a completely different shop in a completely different town, and that sign-off.  I was dumbfounded, but my first thought was “well, thanks for the free comic, stranger.”  It didn’t feel like substantial enough a comic on it’s own though so I decided to double-down on funny customer stuff with what came next, which I’m thankful to say, was an original exaggerated scenario on my part.

Lyndhurst is an intentional shout-out to a real, lovely little town in the New Forest area of the UK which I visited on holiday and had a lovely slice of cake and coffee in a corner tea shop that Google Maps tells me no longer exists, boo.

Layla’s box warns not to place any items on top of it, which of course the present annoying customer does.  The final quick little joke that I hoped everyone picked up on is said customer complaining that the radio plays awful music, considering, y’know, the music that comes out of a radio is at least partially the user’s own selection.

#126 - Previously

A personal little favourite one of mine.  The original joke was just “parody “Previously On...” segments in TV shows that makes it very obvious the seagull will have something to do with the comic, and then have it not show up”.  But I kept riffing on the initial non-reveal of the pigeon at the window and just got sillier and sillier to the point where I was like “is this too far for the tone of the comic?” but I was chuckling away to myself making it so much that I just decided to roll with it.

Turns out “Pizza Boys” is a real TV show - not the gritty crime drama genre that Cammie appears to be watching though, and I believe my comic predates it too, so maybe I did google it at the time and found nothing.  The pigeon at the window is a rather strange design because it is in fact the same pigeon from my 2015 24-Hour Comic Day Comic: “Nuts” (to read: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3).  Future Cammie is using a ladder, but the window cleaner isn’t. He canonically has terrifyingly long legs.  Future Cammie’s inexplicable maid outfit comes from this End of Month Pin-Up (and popped up again for Apricot Calendar 2019).  The eyepatch, shaved haircut and trench coat just come naturally from being from the future, of course.

I remember a bunch of webcomics I grew up with in my teenage years like Dragon Tails and maybe Real Life Comics used to enjoy doing a bit of time travel stuff where they’d plan stuff out in advance so when you went back to earlier comics, there’d be background events that show those time travel plots were always destined to happen!  I have no such plans for Cammie, and as said, this comic was just the result of me having a bit of a silly, but now it’s done and part of the comic, it feels like a sort of subtle homage to those time travel plots that once seemed like a thing all webcomics ought to do sooner or later (or earlier!  dohoho time travel!!).

#127 - Unreasonable

Another one I really like.  It’s a pretty-well covered joke but I’m just happy with how my own take on it came out here.  Brianna continues to be my spirit animal here, I truly hate how christmas overshadows all other holidays towards the latter half of the year. It’s funny seeing any pre-2020 reference to the year 2020. That number fills us all with such dread now.

Hard to tell at web size but of course the advent calendar Brianna has picked up is Frogy themed:

Those penguin toys on the shelves... I have a default way of drawing penguins if I don’t put effort into them that is absolutely basically entirely the “penguin” design from “Bang on the Door”:

This brand was everywhere in the early 2000′s with a focus on stationary (”groovy chick” was probably the most popular design, you probably knew someone or two with a folder or pencil case at school/college). I love this penguin, I had that toy too.  It’s permanently overwritten what my brain thinks cartoon penguins look like. This lil’ guy just lives in my head rent free and I have to look at a picture of an actual penguin to draw them anything close to properly.

#128 - Wireless

A silly physical comedy one - I’m pretty sure it’s physically impossible to knock wireless headphones out with a hair fluff, but this is Cammie’s hair we’re talking about.  It was fun to learn how to actually draw a street drain for that close-up (as oppose to how I’ve always drawn them which is a rectangle with a load of lines down it), and Jez is always allowed a little Draw Cammie In Her Sports Bra Again, as a treat.

[More Chamomile Comic Trivia] (Above link may not work correctly on tumblr app)  

[changingplumbob]

Knightstone Household: Chapter 7, Part 1

Next household for this rotation is the Knightstone household. Just your regular neighbourhood aliens. Hot-headed art critic Adam, toddler Silas and scientist Suzanna. In part 1 the family have a pretty chill Saturday, playing with Silas and doing chores. Then I have the audacity to host a dinner party and send the charmer toddler to bed before the chatter begins.

The Knightstone household. Or as I think of it, the lot where the bird life mod goes manic. Pictured are three different areas where the birds love to pile up.

6am and toddler Silas is up! He's an early riser. He goes in to his parents room and wakes up Suzanna.

Silas: Mummy! *cries*

Suzanna: I'm awake, I'm awake

Adam: I'm not

Suzanna: Liar

Silas: Mummy I sad, made potty mess

Adam: Eww

Suzanna: Don't worry starshine, pops will fix it

Adam: I will?

Suzanna: Just as soon as he wakes up

Adam: *pretends to snore*

Silas: Mummy I did bad

Suzanna: What do you mean

Silas: Big puddle

Suzanna: Come here, don't worry about that now starshine, you're still learning

Silas: Breakfast

Adam: Not cereal, can't trust it

Suzanna: How about some nice yogurt huh

Silas: Mummy, why yoghurt not come with spoon

Suzanna: I don't know

Silas: It should

Suzanna: I agree

Silas: Mummy not sad about my potty mess

Suzanna: Do I look sad *pulls funny face*

Silas: *giggles*

Adam: My squeamish self is sad

Silas: Pops sad

Adam: Don't worry son, I'll be fine, keep up trying

Silas: Pop look bad

Adam: It's those frogs, so slimy

Silas: Don't worry pop, I sing, make it better

Suzanna: How kind of you Silas

Silas: I made this

He launches into a new composition, featuring words such as yoghurt, cube, and frog, mixed with the traditional nonsense sounds. Adam rates it 7/10

Suzanna: What do you want to do this morning

Silas: Outside time

Suzanna: You got it, let me help you out

Silas: Thank you

Adam: Good boy using your manners

Silas: Thank you *beams*

He spins into his hot weather outfit and is ready to have fun while his parents tend to chores.

Adam practices his cooking to stock the fridge while Silas toddles outside.

Silas: Birdies!

The seagulls and pigeons carry on, undisturbed by the tiny alien.

Silas: Come here birdies

And Silas launches himself forward, scaring all the birds away in the process. He laughs it off, funny things happen.

I remembered to set all the plants to blossoming stage so Suzanna is able to harvest her garden this morning.

Silas: Vroom vroom, watch out birdies

Suzanna: Drive careful starshine

Silas: Mummy you want food

Suzanna: Do you have a menu

Silas: Burger, fries, shake shake, it milkshake with extra shake

Suzanna continues tending the garden, whistling away. Silas joins the whistling with his songs now and then before he's finished with the food truck.

Silas: Mummy time how fast I do tunnel

Suzanna: Okay Silas

Silas: I ready

Suzanna: Go!

Silas squeezes himself through the tunnel

Suzanna: So fast

Adam comes to check on Silas as soon as he's finished his work prep task.

Silas: Pops play with me

Adam: What do we want to play

Silas: Adventure

Adam: Watch out, we dropped into a pit! Oh no, I have lost Silas in the dark

Silas: *giggles*

Adam: I hear you cheeky monster. Let's fly out of here!

Silas: Pops have to work today

Adam: Yeah son

Silas: *sulks*

Adam: How about I try working from home, then we can still see each other

Silas: YES. Will I be big brother soon

Adam: Maybe, mummy and pops are trying

Silas: I be great big brother, I fun

Adam: Hello fun, nice to meet you

Silas: *giggles*

Work task 1 is to write a book. Adam has only done columns before. Since he's feeling flirty he tries to craft a romance novel. Silas busies himself playing with toys and occasionally singing to himself. Suzanna has some expert repairs to do and gets a head start on this weeks laundry.

Silas is fascinated with disguises. He tries applying make up to see if he can be disguised without going full human. He seems upset but then he laughs, deciding he looks fabulous.

Suzanna: Who are you? What have you done with my son

Silas: *laughs* It's me mummy

Suzanna: Silas? surely not

Silas: Mummy pretty, can I make more pretty

Suzanna: You want to give me a makeover

Silas: Yes, I very good

Suzanna: Okay then

Silas: This goes on pips

Suzanna: Lips

Silas: lips, and powder make the shapes on face

Suzanna: *coughs*

Silas: Now we do nails, they be colourful like us

Suzanna: Wonderful

Silas: All done

Adam: You are- a vision

Suzanna: All thanks to Silas. Now come on, this vision wants afternoon tea

Adam: Brownie time

Silas: What pops writing

Adam: A romance book

Silas: What romance?

Suzanna: Kissy love

Silas: kissy kissy *blows kiss*

Adam: That's my boy

Suzanna: Let's see what you remember about shapes

Silas: Cube has squares for sides

Suzanna: You got it. What shape is the steering wheel on the truck

Silas: Circle!

Suzanna: And this one *positions hands*

Silas: Tri- Triangle!

Suzanna: You're learning so well starshine

Silas: Learning fun, I fun

Adam finished his book and now has one task left, recommending hangouts. That means it's time to invite over some humans Suzanna knows for dinner. Silas is angry at being fed early and missing out on the fun. He chews angrily while Suzanna introduces everyone to Adam.

Jessica: Aliens in artwork, how strange

Faye: Oh I don't believe in aliens

Suzanna: All finished

Silas: Yes but why I have to go to bed, I fun

Suzanna: You are fun but you're also sleepy and grumpy from the brownies

Silas: I *yawns* I not

Suzanna: Snuggle in starshine, have good dreams

Nalani: This pasta doesn't have fish does it

Adam: No fish

Faye: It tastes pretty good

Kayleigh: Will Suzanna be back soon

Adam: Oh yeah, sometimes it just takes a while for Silas to settle

Jessica: I hope you don't mind me wearing a hat inside

Adam: That thing? I didn't even notice it

*group laughter*

Suzanna: I'm back, what did I miss

Faye: I was just wondering how we're meant to tell your husband Adam and fitness instructor Adam apart

Kayleigh: It seems rude to call one "the other Adam"

Jessica: We can't separate by hair colour

Nalani: Or having tattoos

Human Adam: Maybe bulky Adam and skinny Adam

Alien Adam: Hey, I have some muscles

Human Adam: But dude, I'm ripped

Suzanna: Maybe clean plate Adam and non eating Adam

Alien Adam: Oh shoot I forgot to eat

Suzanna begins to clean up the plates while Adam remembers to recommend some restaurants and museums for the dinner guests. Work task 2, check.

Everyone heads home and the exhaustion hits Adam.

Adam: Pretending to be human is tiring

Suzanna: Having to ask about personalities instead of mind reading

Adam: Ridiculous. You know, Silas was going on about being a brother

Suzanna: He was

Adam: Shall we try again starlight

Suzanna: We shall

Previous Part (Goth) ... Next Part

[ai-luni]

Tag Game!

Was tagged by @thesaintofanarchy and I'm literally buzzing with excitement because of it

1). Are you named after anyone?

No.

2). When was the last time you cried?

Watched the Banshee of Inisherin this morning so… this morning.

3). Do you have any kids?

Nope. And truthfully I don’t think I ever will. 

4). Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Yea kinda… I got an aussie sense of humour where I'll blatantly lie to your face about the dumbest, most harmless thing just to see if you’d fall for it. 

5). What's the first thing you notice about people?

How they dress and carry themselves. I have a theory that people are either a pigeon or a seagull. 

6). What's your eye colour?

Blue :)

7). Scary movies or happy endings?

Both! To quote @thesaintofanarchy directly “Depends on the day, the weather, the horoscope.”

Today my horoscope is recommending a romance? Who am I to deny hmm?

8). Any special talents?

I’m a dog whisperer. True fact. (it’s not a true fact).

9). Where were you born?

Australia :D

10). What are your hobbies?

I’m a big knitter! Cannot crochet for my dear little life. But I also rollerskate and run. 

11). Have any pets?

I got an old dachshund called Fritz. I call him my crusty old sailor <3 he’s so mean to everyone. 

12). Sports that you play/played?

I used to do competitive inline races and for about a year roller hockey in high school, recently I’ve switched to skates tho and prefer to run drills rather than go fast. It’s been a while since i’ve been to a rink tho so it may come out of me again who knows. 

13). How tall are you?

5” Don’t even mention it. 

14). Favourite subject in school?

In high school it was actually geography. Because I was boring and writing those essays were easy!

15). Dream job?

Until my dying day, to be a production manager for an animation/vfx studio.

And so now I pass the baton on if y'all would like to play as well, take my tags with love <3 @lylesx @southernbluebellereader

[ben-the-hyena]

I love reaction videos of movies I like. I always ever since I was small wanted my family and friends to share shows and movies I loved and even kind of forced them to turn their head and watch or wake them up not to miss the best part so seeing these people discover those emulate that same childhood feeling in me

However I must share my concern about how so many of them lack general knowledge. I don't mean it a snobbish or disdainful way nor want to rub how I had access to information or whatever ! What I mean is I am legetimately worried so many people had no access to information in 2023 especially for stuff that are very simple and seemed like common knowledge to me I knew in first grade

A reactor to Eris from Sinbad and the Seven Seas wondering why she is evil if gods are supposed to be good and why she interfers so much

A group of reactors to The Hunchback of Notre Dame keeping searching for the Eiffel Tower the whole movie

The same ones not recognizing the seaguls from Finding Nemo as seaguls but supposing they have to be pigeons

A reactor watching Lady and the Tramp and no matter how everybody looks Edwardian assuming it must be the 1950's since it's a 50's movie

A reactor not recognizing the Wall of China and keeping wondering what Asian country it is and realizing it's China only when the soldier says the meme sentence

A reactor keeping mixing up China and Japan for Kung Fu Panda when it comes to names, food and objects

A reactor not knowing almost any piece of music in Fantasia

Again I don't say it a way to look down on them. Just I grew up in a nerd family so we have encyclopedias and we watch documentaries so I suppose not all do, but damn does it worry me and even sadden me a little not all do

[nuesetine]

Fugi-Dove Headcanons

My little pigeon feeding blorbo has been selected for my nightly brain rot. More information about my thoughts below the cut!

Bear with me, it has been a few years since I last revisited S11. Fugi-dove is a forming and human hybrid, ending up with him being a little bit silly in the mind. For most physical qualities they go back to human roots and mental/(ig) spiritual are more formling aligned. There are few execptions like the small fluffy tuffs/markings along his cheeks. His formling qualities are garnered from his mother, a formling who had been brought to Ninjago via the Master of Ice before Zane. She was tasked with watching over the new master in hopes that the powers would be in good hands, that no harm would be brought upon them due to the new abilities. Her form was the falcon who had inspired Dr. Julien to create the robotic one later with Zane's life as something that would hold great symbolism within his life, and something that he could use to all ways remember him. The reason behind bringing a formling into Ninjago, and how even did that happen!? In this head canon the Master of Ice knew that since he bore no offspring that his element would find a new master though they chose to manually transmit the power as it would be randomized anyways once he departs from this realm. Since he is completely randomizing who he gives the gifts too he brings the formling in order to make sure that once the power is obtained the right stands remain in good morals. The reason behind the formling is partially because of the way of watching over them in plain sight, and knowing that the FSM distanced himself from the Never-Realm, the Master of Ice being the first to not blood related transmit the element, made this in a way that his acts could not be rather noticed and frowned upon within the departed realm. The ability of bring Fugi-dove's mother is unknown though most likely had some connection with the elemental power of ice and the Never-realm being a flat land of ice and snow.

The reason behind the acceptance of the offer relates to how in the animated scenes/episodes of S11, we see the leader of the formlings have some sort of eagle as their creature. Fugi-dove's mother is the sibling of them and was rather regarded rather poorly compared to her brother who seemed to a wish upon a falling star, leaving the formling village although in the slightest bit painful to cut ties was nothing much and a new start in Ninjago sounded like a ticket to a new life. Falcon formling fell in love, had a child, had a another, and bam modern S11. Since the Falcon held symbolism with Zane, so does/was Fugi-dove. Seeing as he appears to be within the Ice-Chapter, his sole appearance is to symbolize Zane's change of becoming the Ice Emperor and going to the Never-Realm. Where his mother was to represent the past he is too showcase the future, sort of. His pure curiosity and friendship towards Jay is mostly reasoned (in my opinion) with that he has a stronger connection and lead towards Echo (Zane) as he was not directly tasked watch over the ice elemental descendants. Jay had gone through Skybound and uncovered Echo's existence instilling the oathly connection that run's through the formling blood within Fugi-dove's veins. With Skybound and the final wish washing that timeline away, it screws up the connection and leaves the only him with the one-sided connection towards Jay but for an unknown reason. His formling gene's are showcased with his connections to doves, the creature that he would be able to shift into if he had been pure blood. Though he also has a bit more meek connection with other birds, pigeons and seagulls he enjoys to hang out and feed regarding their place in the social class of animal kingdom and how he feels about himself and his rank in the social classes. In addition to the fact that seagulls guard Echo's lighthouse out at a sea. What was your main though process behind all of this? The formling hats and Fugi-dove's mask look oddly similar in a way I will base my connection with them.

[riwritingrn]

Echo of Flight

I often think of the birds that roam the sky. The defiers of gravity’s stubborn demands. 

The clever crows. Tiny, tweeting sparrows. Quick and slender swifts. Careless pigeons trotting by. Keen and slender cranes by the water. Silly looking crab-plowers and terns. Seagulls that curse like a sailor. Mynas that fight for their fair share. Shimmering kingfishers. Sweet-sounding songbirds. Parrots with their lipstick-red beaks. Intimidating eagles and falcons,  graceful in flight. Vultures with their heads low, tending to the dead. I think of them all. 

But there are two, in particular, I can never forget: a pair of red-vented bulbuls. 

Outside the house I grew up in, there was a tree that was older than me, older than my parents’ marriage. Every morning, when the sun peeked to catch a glimpse of the moon, on the blank canvas of the world against the audible landscape, a burst of bright, vivid birdsong colored the universe, awakening every being. A lot many years later, however, we heard a subtle difference in the morning songs. An addition. 

Two new voices. Two new sounds. A harmonious duet. 

After a great many laborious days of trying to find the owners of that sound, one fine day, on the brink of early spring when the earth began to blossom, we finally did. To our delight, we found a pair of bulbuls making their nest in the bushiest part of the tree, in its very heart. They had black spiked heads and a very bright red, almost vermillion, patch on the bottom of their brown tail, towards the base of their greyish-white belly.

My mother told me that the female was about to lay eggs. And she was right. 

In a month, there were three new hungry sounds. A while later, the parents took their little birds on their first flight. We watched them as they fell down. We watched the parents offer them fat worms that wiggled in its beak when they got it right and how that influenced them to fly better. And they did. They soared and conquered the skies and we, along with their parents, watched with pride. I have never before been so invested in the lives of birds, not to this extent. 

The years ticked away, like hands on a clock. The vermillion under their tails dulled with each year. Every year, the pair laid eggs, fed their babies, taught them how to fly, and then let them go. Through all this, the pair always returned to the tree. It was their home. It was the nest of many. The tree from which generations branched out, their family tree. 

Though they would disappear seasonally, every morning, I was always greeted with the familiar two sounds. It was like a conversation. One of them would begin, the other would answer its call, and so it went on. One note after another; like learning to walk, one step in front of the other; like learning to soar. 

Like a word after another forming a sentence; a sentence without an end. 

A question and an affirmation: 

Are you here?

I am here. 

Where are you? 

With you. 

Always? 

Always. 

A song. A continuity till eternity. 

I don't know if bulbuls are monogamous or if they mate for life, but they surely seemed to be. And I don't know if birds can be in love, or feel love at all. I don't think they're supposed to. But I'm sure they did.

Every morning they would take flight together and finish each other's sentences. When their wings grew weary, their lungs gave out and their stomachs full, they would come and rest on our tree, on their tree. They seemed more in love with the world and with each other than anyone I knew. They seemed to know more about love than I do. 

They reappeared every year. Every now and then. Always together.  

Somewhere in between, they were gone for too long. Perhaps they had found a better place. Perhaps they had found a better tree to reside in. Maybe they had new kids, I don't know. But I thought of them, often. 

And then one day, on the cusp of late spring, just before the earth undressed, a familiar sound perched on my window sill in the luminous dark; in the short, secret space between night and morning. Right when the moon gazed longingly at the sun, and the sun greeted the moon with goodbye, that's when I was greeted with the first note: Are you here? 

A pause. 

The first note again for the second time. 

A pause. 

Desperately, the first note again for the third time. 

A pause. 

Nothing.

No reply.

A call into the void, there was no one to reply, no one to echo. Just a lone voice barely bouncing off of the too-far-away walls of the world. Maybe this is the price for loving, the price for a lifetime of companionship and intimacy. 

My heart sank. 

I wonder if it knew. I wonder if it knew it would never hear a call back. I wonder if it knew its sentence had been punctuated. Its call now sounded like the last strings plucked on the guitar, the last lone sustained notes of a song. The end of a song that tries to persist but fails to because all things, all good things, must come to an end. This is the way it is, the way everything was, is, and will be. So it lingers, like a ghost, like reminiscence. 

It came to the tree, revisited it every day. It called out for its other half every morning. It searched all morning until dusk when the sun professes its love for the moon in a spectacle of a display, its daily last ribbons of goodbye. 

The world doesn't wait for the sun to meet the moon, it doesn't wait for a lonely bird that does not mourn the loss of its mate because it is still searching, desperately, frantically.

Maybe it knows. Maybe it is aware it will never find what it is looking for, just like the sun and the moon. Though they can never exist together, their every movement is for each other. Though they exist worlds away from each other, their very existence is in hopes, is an attempt, to catch the slightest glimpse of each other. And they wait patiently in their solitude, waiting, hoping, for an eclipse, desperately, frantically, quietly.

Maybe hope is the price for a bond forged. So we search and wait, desperately, frantically, like the bird, like the sun and the moon. Maybe that is the testament for love, for intimacy, for companionship. To wait and be important enough to be waited for. To hope, despite and regardless, of the odds being stacked against.

In the evening when its wings turned heavy and its lungs had given out, it came back and perched upon the leafless tree, their family tree. And it called out: 

Are you here?

At some point, its call diminished, like a flame in the wind, until it was stifled out and only its embers remained, smoldering; the smoke being the only reminder that the fire once existed. 

What happened next, I do not know. I try to not think of it. But I hope when it did happen, it happened softly, tenderly, while it was asleep in its nest. I hope the ghost of the other greeted it in its eternal dream with the song only it would sing, to the song only it would respond to. 

I'd like to think they still fly around in invisible realms until their wings are heavy and then they come and rest in the heart of their tree, that they still sing in frequencies I can’t hear. 

Are you here?

I am here. 

Where are you? 

With you. 

Always? 

Always. 

A song. A continuity till eternity. 

[kitsuneinjapan]

Tokyo Day 2

I sweat, I did not forget about this blog. I have another solely for family and filling in that took a lot of time, apart from studying and doing everything else lol.

Anyway, let’s resume with my first travel before I arrived at school!

On my second day in Tokyo I didn’t meet any friend but ventured by myself. In the morning, after breakfast, I headed to Rikugien, a garden in northern Tokyo.

It was a nice day, sunshine and a few clouds. The garden itself was lovely, the cherry clossoms were still visible and the hidden paths were nice to explore.

After that I headed to Akihabara, to re-visit Kanda Myoujin, a shrine. Like the last time I’ve been there, the weather was crisp and clear, the cherry trees were blooming and the red of the shrine was marvellous. I think the shrine got even more popular, because there were lots of tourists. A lot more than expected. (Although, I did come from a garden that is not right in the very centre, so I guess that’s why? *shrugs*)

Once done, I felt my knee getting even worse. (Remember? Me climbing a mountain? Yeah... not good.) I took escalators and elevators whenever I could. Walking down stairs in the subway was already impossible.

I somehow managed to find my way to Asakusa, were I wanted to visit the smaller Asakusa Shrine! In Sensoji, there were... many people. Like, MANY people. It was hot and sticky and just annoying. I couldn’t walk well too, so after a while I walked along the side-paths, but there were also people. I somehow got to Asakusa Shrine in the end. Do not recommend, really.

Once I paid my visit to the gods and got a new Omamori, I walked towards the river and through the Sumida ward. It suddenly got very quiet once I left the premises of Sensoji, finally.

The river side was lovely, many cherry trees lined up along the water and many took the chance to sit there and have lunch. Me too, btw.

I watched the Sky Tree from the distance while eating (and evading the seats were all those seagulls and pigeons were lurking).

After lunch, I walked to the Sky Tree. My main aim was to go to the Jump Shop (for haikyuu!! merch), but ended up exploring some other shops. I also didn’t end up getting anything haikyuu related, but bought a sticker sheet from a science shop!

On my way back to the hotel, I stopped at Ginza, visited Itoya, a store with more than 8 stories specialised on stationary (I really recommend that! It has a lot, like: a LOT, and very lovely things), and went to the Kabuki theater while I was already in GInza.

Then I had some time left and thought to go to Ueno and the Tokugawa Shrine. Yet, once I went out and walked towards the Ueno Park, it became clear that I wouldn’t get far. My knee was about to collapse.

I walked back to the station and took a break in a konbini, where I found some stickers from the suica penguin!

Finally in the hotel, I rested my knee.

The Rikugien Garden.

The Asakusa Shrine.

View on the Sky Tree with cherry trees along the river.

[system-of-a-feather]

Related to the previous post, we don't really "kin" cockatoos / cockatiels - we have like two parts that morph into cockatoos and our system has a innersystem culture of giving everyone a bird representative / icon / symbolic bird that "belongs to them", but we do entirely consider ourselves "raised by birds" with how we've been around and with parrots most of our lives, how one of our only consistent supports growing up was a cockatiel hen, and how much our system as a whole has learned and internalized a lot of parrot body language and communication styles

On top of that, I have lived the last three or four years of my life with a pair of cockatiels that I basically consider my siblings and spend any time I'm not in class or at work hanging out with from showers to meals. I feel it is extremely under represented on this blog just how deeply enmeshed our system is with birds and honestly how integral them, their welfare, and their wellbeing are for us.

We primarily care specifically for psittacines (parrots) and ESPECIALY the cacatuidae family, but we are actually decently educated in poultry care, wellfare and management, have helped rehabilitating wetland birds for 3 years of high school, and are really into bird watching. Along with our psych degree, we are wrapping up a minor in Avian Sciences and probably getting involved in a pullet (young laying hens before maturity) behavior lab and man...

Seeing birds makes me so happy and so sad at the same time XD We were originally going to be an avian veterinarian when we entered university but got side tracked with our fixation on behavior over all the biology and chemistry that it would require so we swapped over but man.

We really love and need birds as a system. I still remember the one year I was living on campus and couldn't bring my flock with me and I near cried when I was able to see and hold a chicken for the first time in two months.

Guys just a PSA, love the birds around you. They're all special and good babies from seagulls to pigeons to raptors to parrots to finches and flycatchers and everything in-between and beyond. Birds are good love them for me ;w;