#Penguin Chicks Jumping

[xtruss]

Why Are These Emperor Penguin Chicks Jumping From a 50-Foot Cliff?

The First-of-Its-Kind Footage, Taken in January 2024 Via Drone, Captures a Rare Event that May Become More Common as Sea Ice Declines and Penguins are Forced to Adapt.

— Photographs and Video By Bertie Gregory | By Rene Ebersole | April 11, 2024

Emperor penguin chicks jump off a 50-foot cliff to take their first swim in Atka Bay, Antarctica. Photographer Bertie Gregory used his drone's powerful zoom lens to maintain distance from the captivating scene.

Like a group of teenagers crowding at the top of a cliff, waiting to see if someone will be brave enough to jump into the lake first, hundreds of months-old emperor penguins gather at the top of an Antarctic ice shelf towering roughly 50 feet above the sea.

Motivated by hunger, the fledglings peer over the edge, as if considering whether they might survive a polar plunge from such a height.

Then one bird goes for it

For the first time, experts have filmed emperor penguin chicks leaping 50 feet off an Antarctic cliff. The incredible footage will appear in the series "Secrets of the Penguins," which will debut on Earth Day 2025 on National Geographic and Disney+.

Some of the onlookers crane their necks to watch it plummet and splash into the icy water below. Seconds later, the chick surfaces and swims away—off to fill its belly with fresh fish, krill, and squid. Gradually, other fledglings follow, tumbling and flapping wings built for traversing water, not air.

Filmmakers producing a documentary series called Secrets of the Penguins, which will debut on Earth Day 2025 on National Geographic and Disney+, captured the extraordinarily rare scene by drone in January in Atka Bay, on the edge of the Weddell Sea in West Antarctica. It’s the first video footage of emperor penguin chicks leaping from such a high cliff, according to scientists.

As climate change melts sea ice in Antarctica, more emperor penguin chicks are breeding on the permanent ice shelf—forcing them to jump from higher heights into the ocean.

“I cannot believe they caught it on film,” says Michelle LaRue, a conservation biologist based at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. LaRue, who did not witness the jump, had visited Atka Bay to consult on the film crew’s third year of documenting emperor penguin behavior, from egg laying to chick fledging.

Ordinarily, emperor penguins nest on free-floating sea ice that thaws and blows away each year, not on the ice shelf, which is firmly attached to the land. But lately, some colonies have been nesting on the shelf. Scientists theorize that the shift could be related to increasingly earlier seasonal thawing of the sea ice caused by climate change.

At about five months old, Emperor Penguin chicks began to shed their down and grow their adult feathers, preparing for a life spent partially at sea.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the world emperor penguin population, estimated to be about 500,000 birds, as near threatened due in large part to how climate change is impacting its icy realm.

In early January 2024, in the final weeks before the sea ice broke up at the end of the Southern Hemisphere summer, filmmakers spotted a group of chicks that LaRue thinks were likely raised on the ice shelf waddling north toward the cliff. Curious about where they were headed, the filmmakers dispatched a drone for a bird’s-eye view. Gradually, more chicks joined the dawdling group, growing in numbers until there were a couple hundred standing at the top of the bluff.

‘I’m Gonna Have To Go’

Gerald Kooyman, a research physiologist who has spent more than five decades studying emperor penguins in Antarctica, says he has only seen such an event once—more than 30 years ago.

“Drifting snow had formed a gently sloping ramp from the sea ice onto a grounded iceberg, and a flock of departing chicks had marched up the ramp onto the berg,” Kooyman writes in his book Journeys with Emperors, published in November 2023.

“They were stopped by a 20-meter [roughly 67-foot] cliff over a sea that was sometimes open water and other times crowded with ice floes.” Over the course of a couple days, almost 2,000 chicks assembled at the ledge.

“Finally, they started walking off the cliff,” writes Kooyman, an Emeritus Professor with the Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California.

“Not jumping or leaping, just stepping out and falling head over heels, sometimes doing two flips before hitting the water with a resounding plop.”

Most of the fledglings survived the jump into the icy waters. The chick on the left that fell into a crevasse used its beak to climb out and leap the rest of the way.

This phenomenon is rare, say scientists who monitor penguins from satellites in space. Peter Fretwell, a British Antarctic Survey Scientist who has studied Satellite imagery of the Atka Bay emperor colony for several years, occasionally sees penguin tracks going north toward that cliff. He theorizes that the chicks in January may have followed one or two vagrant adults that “went the wrong way, basically.”

Juvenile emperors usually fledge from the sea ice, hopping just a couple feet into the ocean. But these fledglings found themselves in a tricky location for entering the water while likely feeling extremely hungry, the scientists say. Their parents had already gone to sea, sending the message that it’s time for them to fish for themselves, and the chicks had been sitting tight waiting for their sleek, waterproof adult feathers to grow in, replacing their down.

“When they get to this cliff face, they’re like, ‘Alright, I see the ocean and I need to get in there,’” LaRue says. “This does not look like a fun jump, but I guess I’m gonna have to go.”

Resilient Birds

While the scientists do not think the cliff-jumping incident was directly related to climate change warming Antarctica, Fretwell says the continuing decline of sea ice on the continent may force more emperors to breed on ice shelves, therefore making the behavior more common in the future.

Scientists have been concerned about the sudden decrease in Antarctic Sea ice since 2016 and the likely dire consequences for emperor penguins’ long-term survival.

“We estimate that we could lose the whole population by the end of the century,” Fretwell says. “It’s heartbreaking to think that the whole species may be gone if climate change continues on the path that it’s on at the moment.”

LaRue remains hopeful about the emperors’ ability to adapt, and she considers the recent high dive caught on film a testament to their hardiness.

“They’re incredibly resilient,” she says. “They have been around for millions of years; they’ve seen lots of different changes in their environment. It’s a question of how rapidly they’re able to deal with the changes that are happening—and how far they can be pushed.”

[naffeclipse]

Okay, I made myself laugh watching a penguin documentary, and imagining Penguin Harpy Y/N having chicks of their own, and the chicks are ready to enter the water for the first time and Eclipse is so excited...But the chicks have to jump from a cliff like in said documentary and Eclipse is nervous because he's never seen this before, meanwhile Y/N is completely chill with this, and both Y/N and the babies yeet themselves off the massive cliff into the water and Y/N's like "See? It's fine" meanwhile Eclipse had to resist the urge not to catch them and is startled out of his mind but trying to play it cool, idk if that's actually accurate to their characterization but it was funny to imagine lol

Eclipse would be on edge seeing Harpy Y/N and their chicks on a cliff, but he knows they wouldn't do anything to harm their babies. It just makes him very aggravated and flicking back and forth, prowling the waters, waiting for Harpy Y/N and the babies. When they do jump, his heart about stops before they reach the water then he snatches all of them up into his arms. Harpy Y/N asks if he is worried about them, and he tells them no, of course not. He knew they would be just fine, they're born for such adventurous entrances but Harpy Y/N smiles to themselves when he is extra cuddly with the babies and checks them from head to wingtip.

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Emperor penguin chicks jump off a 50-foot cliff to take their first swim in Atka Bay, Antarctica. Photographer Bertie Gregory used his drone's powerful zoom lens to maintain distance from the captivating scene. 

Photograph byBertie Gregory

[asher-agere]

any hcs for little Haruka? i feel like she’d probably be a stress regressor.. though mmj are always there to help her. little baby penguin guy

Absolutely! Poor stressed baby :( She deserves all the penguins!

Little Haruka + Caregivers MORE MORE Jump!

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☘︎ ݁˖ I definitely agree that Haruka is a stress regressor! I think she regresses completely involuntarily in fact! She’ll work herself so hard, not even thinking to stop and take a look at how she’s doing. Her headspace just gives out on her (,,>﹏<,,) Next thing she knows and she’s just a little baby!

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི I think that sometimes Haruka doesn’t even realize she’s regressed! She’ll be working on some schedules and stuff for the rest of MORE MORE Jump! and then all of a sudden the words are twisting together and overlapping… Her hand won’t move how she wants them to… What are the words she’s trying to write anyway? Luckily her friends check in on her!

☘︎ ݁˖ When Haruka regresses a convenient meet up place is in Sekai of course! However I think that sometimes when she regresses she gets scared of going on stage (·•᷄‎ࡇ•᷅ ) But if her amazing caregivers put on a show for her she’ll be excited and ready to join them in no time! Bonus points if there’s pretty blue lights for her!!!

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི All the penguin themed things ever! Haruka canonically has a large collection of penguin stuffed animals and a penguin onesie. She’s so baby-coded 🥹 She also likes penguin pacifiers, sippy cups, and even teethers! She’d love watching penguin cartoons, eating penguin themed snacks… This baby loves her penguins!

☘︎ ݁˖ Haruka loves her caregivers!!! Minori will always help the baby feel better about herself! Showering her in praise and making her feel absolutely cherished! Minori will use pet names such as “Sweetheart” “Love” and “Precious”. Her number one priority is to always keep her baby happy and remind her how loved she is!

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི Airi is the silly caregiver of the group! She’ll always make jokes and tickle the baby to hear her little laugh. Airi uses pet names like “Little Chick” “Cutie Pie” and “Pingu”(@babyniigo helped me come up with that last one! Thank you so much! Always remember how amazing you are!). All the silly adorable nicknames!

☘︎ ݁˖ Shizuku is super gentle! If Haruka is ever overwhelmed Shizuku is the one to go to! The other two have so much energy it can be overwhelming sometimes (๑-﹏-๑) Shizuku will use super soft nicknames! Things like “Beautiful” “Little One” and “Darling”! She treats the baby so gently hehe

ᡣ𐭩ྀིྀིྀི The rest of MORE MORE Jump is always super careful to keep an eye on Haruka! If she’s working a lot and isn’t taking enough time for herself they’ll meet up for a regression day! Starts off with some nice snacks and hugging plushies, ends with a happy clingy baby! Some of the best days ever hehe

☘︎ ݁˖ I don’t think Haruka would ever have a problem with regressing necessarily? She just doesn’t think about it! Haruka will keep herself so busy that she doesn’t notice her own needs! But if it’s pointed out to her that it’s been awhile or she’s been working a lot, she’s quick to agree! She reeally likes regressing! She’d be super sad without it of course (｡•́︿•̀｡)

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I hope you enjoyed!!! I love baby Haruka! The penguin obsessed baby ever :0 Have a wonderful day to everyone reading!

[oddlyhale]

I really like the penguin allusion to Atlas, so here's another idea:

The same way penguin chicks jump from cliffs, it is the same for Atlas Academy First-Years doing a landing strategy. Instead of jumping into the water, they are flung across the water and have to land in the icefields to begin picking teammates. The icefields can still threaten to break and the students can fall into the water, but thankfully the temperature doesn't attract too much Grimm.

Just the Grimmed Petrels that fly around and look for prey, no big deal. /j

Though, they're not very big Grimm. They still behave the same as normal petrels: they wait for any first-year to trip and fall, and then the Grimm Petrel dives in to try and snatch them. But if they are outnumbered, they may abandon the plan and fly away. Grimm Petrels are devious creatures but they are not the strongest.

Also, we totally missed out on GRIMM WALRUS. Well, if we go to Vacuo, I hope we get Grimm Camels.

[lavender-bundle-blithe]

Wrong Tiger

“Hey… Midoriya?

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know if it’s just me, or did your white tiger get bigger? Like massively bigger that it’s unheard of for a tiger to grow this big since this morning.”

Midoriya stared at his classmates before looking up to meet the tiger’s eyes.

“Midoriya, did you somehow lose your white tiger and unknowingly started taking care of another white tiger?”

“I-I don’t… know?”

“HOW THE HELL DO YOU NOT KNOW?!”

“K-Kaachan, I can’t tell the difference between two white tigers!”

“IDIOT! The tiger you took care of on day one is small and with blue eyes! This is twice as big and with yellow eyes!” Bakugou screeches, wildly gesturing at the large tiger while the lion he was taking care of and Uraraka look closer, a red panda perched on her head.

“Actually, there might be some purple in there.” she remarks, carefully outstretching a hand and yelping when the red panda took that as a platform and jumped on top of the tiger’s head. Before they could react though, the tiger simply jolted on the spot before not at all minding as the red panda played on them.

“At least they are docile!” Asui points out as she holds a bucket with a seal inside.

“Thank goodness for that,” Todoroki comments as he feeds his penguin another fish. “This reminds me of some stray news about a white tiger terrorizing towns and cities a few months ago.”

“Okay, that sounds terrifying.” Kaminari shudders, clutching the basket of baby chicks.

“Guys, this isn’t the time to be scared over old news,” Jirou points out with a snowy owl perched on her shoulder. “Right now, we have a different tiger in hand from the one Midoriya should be taking care of.”

“But how do we find a missing tiger? NOT TO MENTION where this one came from?” Kirishima asks as he leans against the rhino.

Midoriya frowned in thought and looked at the tiger who watched them with an observing eye. “Do you know where you are, where you came from?” he asks.

“Deku, are you seriously trying to copy Koda-?”

The tiger suddenly chuffs and moves its head elsewhere. They all turned their heads towards the entrance into the room.

“You… came from the entrance?” Midoriya tries.

The tiger lets out a quiet moan before shifting up to their paws. Leaning their head down, they transferred the red panda back to Uraraka and headed to the door.

“W-Wait a second, I don’t think you could make it through those doors!” Midoriya panics, making the tiger stop. “We can go through the gate! You want to go outside this enclosure?” he asks.

The tiger blinked before turning back around and gazed at the boy. He just stared back. “You… seem to understand me.” The tiger blinks again before ducking their head, ears lowered slightly. “N-Not that it’s weird!” He looks at the others.

“Guess we’re taking these guys to see the guests.”

---MEANWHILE---

“Atsushi-kun became small.”

Dazai, Chuuya, and Akutagawa turn around to see Kyouka resting a hand against a tiger that was a head taller than her, curled around and rubbing their chin against the top of her head.

“Huh, you’re right.” Chuuya remarks as they walk over. “Last I remember, the tiger kid is a lot bigger than this. Probably two-three times bigger?”

“And usually he wouldn’t want to keep this form on for much longer,” frowned Akutagawa, reaching a hand to pet the tiger’s head who chuffed happily under the attention. “Nor does he seek much affection.”

Dazai sighs in a fond manner, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head. “My my, Atsushi-kun. I suppose us coming to the zoo would have done something.” He reaches a hand. “Now come on, stop playi—”

Dazai’s eyes snapped open to come into contact with soft fur, and… nothing else. Chuuya, Akutagawa, and Kyouka stare with wide eyes at the Dazai and the tiger, the brunet’s hand firmly planted on the tiger’s head all while the animal chuffed happily at the new contact and rubbed itself against his head.

“He didn’t change back.” Kyouka instantly snapped her head to give Dazai a blank but threatening stare. “Why isn’t Atsushi-kun changing back?”

Dazai just stared and pulled back and used his other hand. Nothing. No bright flash of light of No Longer Human canceling out Beast Beneath the Moonlight, no human under his hand, and the tiger just being happy in their company. And last they remembered, Atsushi woke up on his wrong side in the closet that gave him a bad knick in his neck, causing him further aching that he more or less brushed off, albeit with a grimace and a bad mood.

That was actually the entire reason Dazai decided to drag him invite him on a trip to the zoo, and may as well bring the two mafiosi and Kyouka.

“Wait a second, isn’t there a white tiger enclosure?” Chuuya asks, looking at them. “Do you think the tiger kid is able to sneak off and another tiger just started following us?”

“Or maybe one of the keepers mistook Atsushi-kun if he did turn into a tiger,” Kyouka suggests.

“Does this count as another Jinko-kidnapping?” Akutagawa inquires.

“Boy, your boyfriend is missing!” Chuuya scolds and promptly bonks him on the head.

“This zoo is massive, and it’s closing soon.” Kyouka adds.

“Guess we have to go and see,” sighs Dazai.

“YOU TOO, S--TTY MACKEREL! FOCUS!”

“Ow, ow, Chuuya!”

“Come on, move it! Gosh, are me and Kyouka-chan the only ones worried about this or something?! YOU TWO ARE HIS BOYFRIEND AND MENTOR, DAMNIT!”

“Aww, but we get to see you’re caring side more~”

“DAZAI-”

“You really have to stop provoking him, Dazai-san.”

“It’s mostly empty, guests are leaving because of the early closing.” Jirou said as she looked around.

“But that would be easier, right?” Midoriya asks.

“I guess,” hums Kaminari.

The tiger looked around, letting out quiet roars and sniffing the air.

“Hear anything?” Midoriya asks.

The tiger shook its head and pawed at its face, moaning and shaking its head more.

“Too many smells,” Todoroki suggests. “They must’ve come from somewhere else.”

“Hey, we’ll help you buddy.” Kirishima pets the tiger’s head, smiling reassuringly. “But I need you to be real with me; can you actually understand us?”

The tiger looks at him and looks at the rest who all looked back. Sheepishly, it nodded.

“Did you come with people from outside the zoo?” Midoriya asks.

Another nod.

“How?” Asui asks, confused.

“Are you someone’s pet? I feel like rich people are able to own tigers or lions or just exotic pets.” Uraraka whispers, staring at the tiger. Instantly the tiger recoiled, growling threateningly. “Not a pet, not a pet! Sorry!” she panics. “It has too much human sentience for a tiger. And to be fair, I don’t think anyone would want to be called someone’s pet.”

“That’s cringe,” Kaminari blurts out.

“But it’s odd that you can both understand us and respond as if you are a human.” Midoriya said, looking at the tiger.

“Ah, there you are Atsushi-kun!”

They all turn their heads to see four people also with a white tiger walk over.

“There you are!” Midoriya exclaims in relief, opening his arms and letting the small tiger barrel into him.

“Who?” Uraraka asks, confused.

“Atsushi-kun,” the short girl said, pointing at the large white tiger.

“You… named your tiger Atsushi?” Kaminari asked, confused.

“No no, you misunderstand.” the brunet smiles. “This tiger here is actually my mentee!”

“But it’s a tiger.” Bakugou glares.

“Nope!” He reached over and booped the tiger’s nose.

A bright flash of blue light caused them to look away, but when they looked back, there stood a young man with platinum blonde hair in one-sided choppy bangs, bi-colored purple and yellow eyes that could parallel ametrines, and a face entirely red in embarrassment.

“A-Apologies for all the trouble I’ve caused,” he bowed his head.

The students all stared with their jaws to the ground while the white tiger happily trotted over and nudged against him. They blink in slight surprise before smiling quietly and pets the tiger.

“W-Wait- What?” Kirishima asks, confused. “Is that your Quirk?”

“Quirk? Oh no, not that. Something different.” the man smiles. “But anyways! We shouldn’t keep you long, nor should we overwelcome our stay. Best we be off now!”

And with that the brunet ushers his group off. And calling over his shoulder, “And please do keep an eye on your little tiger! They’re quite curious creatures.”

At the mention, Midoriya looks to where he last saw the tiger only to see an open space from where it stood.

“Oh no, not again!”

(A/N): This helped my crossover brainrot, don't mind me-

[laughingsquid]

Incredible Footage of Emperor Penguin Chicks Jumping Off a 50 Foot Cliff in Antarctica Into the Water Below

[kylosbreedingkink]

Zookeeper AU for @outofsuchlonging There's more! I could talk about this AU for hours even though it doesn't really have that big a plot just characters and some interpersonal issues. Under the cut again, maybe it will let me post a longer post this time. I don't have loads for Poe sorry, just that he really likes his orang utans and quite likes the new start, but the new start seems to quite like Rey and has also got the curators nephew pining after him so who knows how that will play out

Phasma: Works on LVI specifically, runs the tropical house including all the planting and theming and cares for all the inhabitants other than the birds. She gets annoyed at the amount of unwanted plants that grow such as tomatoes, as the birds shit out the seed from the food their eating. She's constantly asking Kylo to ensure the seeds are removed from the tomatoes before the fresh chop is given to the birds. He never listens. There's a few token nocturnal mammals on the section too, though not loads. Giant jumping rats, slow loris. She's ok with that. Until the powers that be decided to add aye-aye to the mix and now she feels the need to remind everyone that she's 'not a fucking primate keeper'.

She's extremely rushed all the time running around doing everything on the section which isn't an invertebrate. This is simply as Snoke refuses to hire enough staff (He does, she just makes them quit all the time) and Hux refuses to do anything which isn't invertebrate related.

Hux: The insect man. Mainly into beetles but spiders are fun for him too. He's the reason the zoo has such a good reputation for invertebrates. Mostly beetles. They're pretty much all he talks about. They're pretty much all he cares about. He looks down on pretty much everyone else but Phasma, as he knows Phasma will knock him out if he talks to her like he talks to others especially when he's already on thin ice with her. He's worked there for years, from volunteering as a young kid to now. Always with the invertebrates. But he so rarely leaves his section that people barely even know he exists. He always presumed he would be the choice that Snoke would make for assistant - Snoke still not having hired one since he himself was moved from assistant to full curator after Palpatine retired. It's been years now but any day…

Until Kylo suddenly appears and Snoke spends a lot of time with him. Snoke was always preferential to birds, but Hux took that to mean he would like someone into the other stuff to be his assistant and do the LVI part for him. He was wrong.

Hux and Kylo almost had a fling until Hux came to realise this and now hates him. Kylo is either oblivious or doesn't care - whichever it is, it makes Hux angrier.

One day though the livefood order is late and Kylo had birds rearing chicks that would only accept livefood. So Kylo goes into the invertebrate rooms and takes many nymphs of all sorts of species, including the larvae of the rare Fregate island beetle that Hux was breeding up for conservation purposes, all for his pekin robins. Hux confronted him, they had a massive argument which evolved into the angriest sex, and now Hux refuses to even look at him.

A few lightside people:

Rey: Did an internship on mammals, but Leia had to force Luke to take her on, as he was still sulking about Kylo not doing what he wanted. She loved it. Got good experience on all the mammals. Including the token bird on the mammal section - the penguins, a large flock of magellenics. Only on the mammal section as Snoke refuses to have anything to do with them and the bird keepers can't stand them, plus they are right next to the seals and sealion pools. Rey fell in love and got a penguin and pinnepeds keeper job after her internship. This also kinda annoyed Luke who was hoping to finally have a big cat protege but he supposes at least she's still on the mammal section?

Poe: He is the senior primate keeper and mostly hangs with the orang utans. The zoo is unique as one of the few with both Bornean and Sumatran and he loves telling anyone who will listen about the minute differences between them. He and the new start on the primate section have a bit of a thing going. As far as he knows anyway. Finn himself just seems to be open and friendly with absolutely anyone. But mostly Rey.

Finn: He has just finished an internship on the LVI & Birds part of the zoo and whilst he thought he got on with Phasma and may get a job there after, it didn't actually happen. That's ok though as a job with the 'primitive primates' opened up working with callitrichids and lemurs. His favourite part of the tropical house was the slow loris, so he goes for it, and gets it! He's brand new and very friendly with everyone. Mammal section keepers are all delighted that he has 'seen the light'. LVI & Bird keeper wise, Hux had no idea he even existed and Phasma just complains about her now increased workload without the intern to boss around. Kylo acts indifferent sometimes and other times looks at Finn like he has been betrayed deeper than anyone could ever betray him.

….I'll stop there as this is super long lmao. Maybe I'll do another post tonight with some of the other characters, we will see

[saveourskinship]

15 Questions/15 People

Rules: answer these 15 questions and tag 15 people

Unrules: I don’t actually know 15 people. So I’m not gonna do that. I also might not actually answer the questions but just ramble instead.

Thanks for the tag @akorah  I’m procrastinating so this is perfect.

1. Are you named after anyone? Names are so weird, aren’t they? We don’t get to pick them and they just hang around for the entirety of your life and if you decide you want to change it for any reason there is so much PAPERWORK. I am partially named after someone who no longer knows who I am or even who they are half the time. 2. When was the last time you cried? Today because I accidentally created a painting spirit by being too in love with someone and then had to abandon said love to hunt the painting spirit down (it kept putting people into comas). The spirit trapped me and my love in a mirage and tried to burn us alive but my love saved me but he remained stuck inside the mirage for three whole years. We finally reunited at the Festival of Lanterns and it was beautiful. Tears of Themis is wild y’all. 

3. Do you have kids? No, I live in a tiny apartment. If I ever own a cottage though, I will buy a couple to eat the brambles around my hedge-witch lawn.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot? I used sarcasm to type that question. So no, of course not.

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people? If their eyes match their expression. Followed by where their centre of gravity is.

6. What’s your eye colour? Line 1, Verse 2 of Christmas Day by Dido.

7. Scary movies or happy endings? Is this boiling down to Marlon Wayans versus Damon Wayans Jr? I’ve definitely seen Scary Movie’s more often but have been thinking I should give Happy Endings another go.

8. Any special talents? I can put my leg behind my head and can glide down a flight of stairs absolutely beautifully. Not at the same time though.

9. Where were you born? In a hospital room with ten very disappointed training doctors who all thought I was going to be what they called an ‘abnormal’ birth. They were rather put out I came out ‘normal’. If they’d just waited twenty or so years...

10. What are your hobbies? Writing, reading, board games, video games, tabletop rpgs, assassinations, lying to people on the internet about how dangerous I am.

11. Do you have any pets? There is a cat which resides in my house but I live in fear she will get offended if I call her a pet. 

12. What sports do you play/have you played? That is a very long list and I don’t find it terribly fascinating. I would like to invent a sport, but... owning a team is weird, too, isn’t it? Like, owning people who run and jump and get concussions for you? You take their best years and they earn you money? It’s all very crossroads/brimstone vibes, huh. But if I HAD to invent a sport, I think I would combine the Running Man name-tag rip off game with handball except you have to play in bare feet tand the scoring area is covered in acupuncture mats (the goalies are allowed shoes).

13. How tall are you? 1 cat and 78 dice ranging from d4 to d20 in varying sizes. I tried doing dice only but the cat wasn’t having it.

14. Favourite subject in school? This does not specify which school so it’s a toss up between Look After The Penguin Chicks from pirmary and Sex and Sensuality from university. 

15. Dream job? The job I have most often in my dreams is being a pirate captain but my boat only sails through wheat fields. The hull (for whatever reason) is made out of sponge cake so stale is has turned rock hard, however whenever I try to sail my ship in water, the sponge cake softens and my ship begins breaking apart.

Tagging @they-call-me-megs 

[ammg-old2]

A gentoo penguin leaps from the water onto a rocky shoreline near Port Lockroy on Wiencke Island (Antarctica).

One adult king penguin in a large crowd of king penguin chicks, in a breeding-colony group on South Georgia island.

King penguins gather along St Andrews Bay on the island of South Georgia.

Chinstrap penguins swim through the surf toward Bailey Head on Deception Island.

Close-up view of a rock-hopper penguin.

A group of crested penguins dart past one another underwater.

A colony of emperor penguins with their chicks on Snow Hill Island (Antarctica).

An emperor penguin cares for its chick on Snow Hill Island.

An Adélie penguin looks out from behind a pile of snow in the Yalour Islands.

A gentoo penguin pokes its head under the water's surface near Horseshoe Island.

An elephant seal, surrounded by king penguins, on Île de la Possession.

A penguin swims along Arpoador beach in Rio de Janeiro (July 2012), during the annual migration from Argentila, Chile, and the Falkland Islands.

Penguins gather on the Punta Tombo peninsula in Patagonia (Argentina, 2017).

A gentoo penguin walks through an Antarctic storm.

Penguin footprints on Danco Island (Antarctica).

Adélie penguins jump off an iceberg into the water off Paulet Island (Antarctica).

A leopard seal hunts for gentoo penguins on Cuverville Island.

Three king penguins.

A massive colony of king penguins on South Georgia island.

A gentoo penguin nips at a camera along Orne Harbor, on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula (March 2016).

[peterxwade24]

Safety Found in Red Sleeves Shorts

Grave Talks

I hope you enjoy this little short about some of the graves in the SFiRS 'verse, and I hope you enjoy this little snapshot into Oswald's past.

Without further ado, on with the short.

It didn’t take long after it happened before Oswald Cobblepot was watching his friend be lowered into the ground. He had known Liuxian for a long time, longer than he would admit to anyone else, and couldn’t believe that she was gone.

Oswald and Liuxian, more commonly called Ozzy and Lucy, had been friends in high school, when they had both moved to town. Ozzy might have grown up down the road, in the next town over, but Liuxian had grown up in Shang Hai.

Ozzy had loved Lucy from the minute they met, two awkward twelve-year-olds who didn’t fit in with their peers. Lucy had been the one to push Ozzy into ornithology, noticing his love of birds and pushing him to take it further. Some would say that Lucy was the reason he became The Penguin but Ozzy liked to think that Lucy was the reason he was around for his chick.

Pere and Gale had silently been standing next to Oswald, letting him lose himself in his thoughts. They knew how hard it was for the man, as he had so few friends. They knew that he needed the time to reminisce as he watched his oldest friend go into the ground. Pere and Gale had never actually known Lucy, Ozzy and Lucy having had fallen out of touch when Lucy started working the streets and Ozzy started actively fighting against Batman.

Ozzy swore that Lucy would have loved the two of them, that she would have introduced the two to Thana as her aunts, just as Ozzy was her uncle.

Oswald turned away from his oldest friend, towards the two women who stood at his side through everything and with a smile offered them his hands. “Shall we go?”

The trio of birds walked out of the cemetery, their arms linked and Oswald’s head down as he left more than just his oldest and dearest friend behind, he left a good chunk of his very being in the cemetery too.

-*-*-*

Jason looked at his grave, a grimace on his face. “Did anyone even visit me here?”

Dick frowned and shrugged. “I don’t even know. I know I did a couple of times before I was shipped off to Jump City.”

Tim leaned against his brothers and nodded. “I visited once a week for a couple of months then it turned into once a month. I arranged for flowers to be delivered every week after the headstone was put in. I made sure the flowers were native flowers and that they rotate them according to when the flower blooms.”

“That’s really nice but also really weird Timbers.” Jason ruffled his brother’s hair and smiled. “We should probably get back before Kutlat Saghira drives the girls and Duke crazy.”

“Your kid? Drive anyone crazy?” Dick laughed as he dodged a hit aimed his way. “Jace, Baby Wing is a sweetheart. We love him, and all of us would do anything to help the two of you. He’s the next generation of this family.”

“Shut up Dickhead.” Jason pushed Dick’s shoulder before the three set off back towards the apartment. “It’s not just him. Mar’i and Jai and Irey, they’re the next generation too. The four of them? They’re this family’s future.”

“So what you’re saying is any children the rest of us have are the next generation of this family, even if they’re technically apart of the same generation as someone apart of this generation of the family.”

“Yes Timmy. Why? Are you thinking of having kids soon?” Dick smiled and laughed as Tim blushed bright red. “If you do decide to have kids, you’ll let someone know, right?”

Tim shrugged and looked at his older brothers. “Thanks, for being so understanding of my situation.”

“You’ll always be our little brother Replacement, no matter what anyone else has to say about the matter.” Jason slipped his arm around Tim’s shoulders and pulled him close. “You can tell us anything.”

“Thanks Jay.”

[wildlife-film]

Emperor penguin chicks jump off a 50-foot cliff in Antarctica NEVER-BEFORE-FILMED FOR TV | Nat Geo

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Huddling etiquette is a survival skill all young emperor penguins must learn. Instead of waiting their turn to reach the warm center, impatient chicks will often jump right in. “It’s just a big mess,” photographer Stefan Christmann says. “But a really cute mess.”

PHOTOGRAPH BY STEFAN CHRISTMANN

[thefreshdolls]

Emperor penguin chicks jump off a 50-foot cliff in Antarctica

http://dlvr.it/T61rbq

[defyperception]

Emperor penguin chicks jump off a 50-foot cliff in Antarctica NEVER-BEFORE-FILMED FOR TV | Nat Geo