#a talking birb!

[birdhism]

[paused-waterfall]

Rating the photoshop for bird products I found on Amazon

It's a classic story: You want to sell a product for bird owners on Amazon. Your potential customers may just need some reference for how big your product is, or may need to be shown how a bird might use such an exotic item as a "perch". But you don't want to wrangle one or more birds for the sake of a product image. So you turn to photoshop.

Let's take a moment to rank some of these works of art:

Delightful. The masking is a bit off around the crest, but I don't think it needs to be fixed. 9/10, you got the point across.

A rare example of a bird that is not lost in a white void. Based on the product description, this perch should actually be several inches smaller than a cockatiel, but as we'll see we can't get too picky about scale. 6/10, perspective could use some work.

Interesting color of macaw, FASCINATING take on the relative sizes of macaws and lovebirds. 4/10, the lovebird seems to be enjoying themself but I think you're trying to pretend a macaw wouldn't toss this thing around like an overpriced foot toy.

Why doesn't the cockatiel get to play? 4/10, this makes me sad.

That bird might have actually been standing on that skateboard when they were sucked into the white void! Amazing! 13/10, cockatiel finally gets to play!

This toy's largest dimension is 18.5 inches. Blue-and-gold macaws are around 30–34 inches. 2/10, please the lies have to stop.

This is just a collage. It no longer feels like they're trying to tell me how big these things are; I might not know how big your wicker heart with streamers is, but I know a lorikeet is smaller than a macaw. Incredulity has stretched far enough to snap. 3/10, still pretty birds.

2/10, hey wait I know that macaw--

The birds and toys hang in a void. There is no suggestion that these birds were ever near these toys, but the blue parakeet has been artfully depicted as perching on one of them. I do not feel deceived, I feel informed. 10/10.

No. No. What have you done?? Did the mirror eat his face? Why did you let the mirror eat his face? Please, destroy the mirror before it comes for us all. 1/10, I swear I've seen that bird somewhere else.

oh my fucking god

[felassan]

.

[whirlybirbs]

True form All Might maybe?

TOSHINORI YAGI's voice is like melted butter; warm and rich. It's decadent and it spills across your skin as his mouth ghosts up the line of your throat.

The bedroom is dark, but you don't need to see him to know that he's lost his hold on sensibility. It's the cadence of his voice, the stutter-step of his hips, the desperate feel of his hands around your face.

"God, baby, I love you," he babbles, his long, lean torso pressed against yours as he fucks you slow and steady and thorough into the mattress, "You're so perfect, you're so beautiful — Sh-Shit! I fucking l-love you—"

His heavy cock draws in and out of you languidly, the feeling hiking your pleasure up a notch as he buries a bruising kiss against your lips; his large, calloused hands hold your face close to his.

"You're s-so perfect," he's muttering roughly, the heat of the words scorching your skin as he kisses your neck. He's fucking you a little rougher now, his thrusts a bit harsher, his hold a bit less tender, "Y-You take me so well, don't you? You like it, f-fuck, when I get a little rough? When I can't control myself?"

You do. God, you do. In the heat of it all, in the darkness, you nod feebly as a gasp is wrung out of you — the pad of his thumb dances in a rough circle across your clit as his pace increases. It makes you drag him down for a rough kiss, one that makes you tug on his bangs and earns you a throaty hum. He pulls away long enough to grit out a shaky moan.

He's close. You're closer.

It's delicious.

In the dark, it's just him and his voice. It's just a tenderness that bleeds into desperation, it's just a need that makes you both dissolve into bitten kisses and rough hands.

His voice, though, is still so damn warm.

"What's it like", he gasps into your mouth, "To know you make All Might lose control?"

He gets his answer:

You cum.

— [ send an ask: birbs' smut blurbs ; minors dni ]

[solargeist]

do you think xelqua likes the chaos snails

yeag I think he’d find them so funny

[redbowkid-27]

Sleepover

[puppetmaster13u]

So Anyway I Started Another Cryptid Batfam Au

Yeaah, they were human, and might've been the first vigilantes before the JL formed. Might've gotten caught by some mad scientist cultists. Might've gotten gene spliced a bit, but shhh. Don't worry about it :) They're fine. Absolutely Fine. This is Fine.

But anyway, they have wings now. And talons. And a lot of other things they have to adjust to and might straight up not have a civilian identity for a while- becomes more than a bit of social recluses while they figure this shit out.

So anyway, I haven't finished drawing or designing them, if I ever will, so have what each is based off of. There's a lot of robins. :) Also have how old everyone is at the start of the story. (Timelines are a fake thing that never make sense)

Bruce- Black Drongo (31 years old)

Kate- Scarlet Robin (31 years old)

Barbara- Red Backed Scrub Robin (16 years old)

Dick- Blue Fronted Robin (15 year old)

Cass- Hooded Robin (12 years old)

Jason- Red Capped Robin (12 years old)

Steph- Pink Robin (10 years old)

Tim- Collared Bush Robin (10 years old)

Duke- White Starred Robin (10 years old)

Damian- Olive Backed Forest Robin (8 years old)

Jarro- Rose Robin (4 year old equivalent)

Terry- Black Robin (4 years old)

Helena- Bagobo Robin (1 year old)

Matt- Norfolk Robin (1 year old)

[ashen-vulture]

Can you even comprehend how cute Miss Dragon is? She is very cute. I love this chicken. I love the way she looks at me.

Video Description: Dragon the lavender orpington hen, daintily eating chicken feed out of the palm of my hand. She is very gentle, and makes very little mess.

Dragon also LOVES being hand-fed, to the point where if I put a large bowl filled with food on the ground, and then hold just a little out in my palm, she would ignore the full bowl and eat from my hand. She also gives me little chicken kisses by gently pecking on my clothes.

She is so wonderful and she loves people. Whenever we step outside to do anything, she is hollering at us to get our attention.

[miriena]

Things I hope we get in Rite Here Rite Now :

Soft/sad Copia

Copia calling Sister "Mom" instead of avoiding it

Sister being Mother of The Year

GHOUL LORE PLEASE

Please Tobias I am BEGGING YOU to give the ghouls personalities off the stage

Plz let the ghouls talk

GHOULS

Previous Papa ghosts (like peepaw Nihil)

Copia breakdown maybe? (I adore him but I need angst)

THE RATS

Plushia cameo

I know we won't get any of those things but I can hope, yah? Regardless, I'll love the movie no matter what tho :>

[limboni]

✨The first steps, the first friends✨

Next chapter>

I really liked making it! But I feel if I'm to continue it, I either need to change how I am doing or I don't know... It took me a month per page, and it is ignoring a great blank where I wasn't drawing it..

But I like sky:cotl! I would like to do more fanart!

P.s. I will add the alt text a bit later I did it :D

(also have different kinda overall shading variants, but I liked this one a bit more)

[salty-an-disco]

I just know Shifty would love getting to personally meet the voices.

They were born out of a need for change and adaptability within the construct, after all, and are what molded her vessels, she’d love getting to know more of their unique perspectives.

[kydnexploded]

I see we can send art suggestions, might I suggest Oswald all snuggly in a blanket :3

hehehehe :•3

[paused-waterfall]

Little Details of Feather Preening

I love reading fics in which a character with feathers gets help preening them from another character. I think part of it is because it explores the alienness of the winged/feathered character in a grounded, tactile way, while also exploring the dynamic between two characters. It's worldbuilding and character development all rolled into one! But another huge reason why I like it is just cause my parakeet sometimes lets me help with her feathers, and it's the best experience ever omfg.

I figured, for the sake of fic writers who don't have access to the cutest most patient bird in the world (and for me, who feels like rambling) I'd vomit out a ton of little details of what it's like to help a bird preen, and how it might translate to characters with both human and bird features:

(Note, this isn't exactly researched. My sample size is literally one bird and some casual reading about other species (sounds like crow feathers work similarly to parakeets, for instance: https://urbannature.blog/2022/09/23/the-unbearable-itchiness-of-moulting/). Please take this as an account of what preening a bird is like, and not as advice for things to do to a real bird.)

The exact term for preening something other than oneself is "allopreening". It's a social behavior and not all species do it. But if you're writing about a bird-human hybrid, ehhh humans have grooming instincts to add to the mix, so IMO the species of bird shouldn't hold you back!

Allopreening is most needed on areas the bird can't access themself. Wings and tails are mostly accessible-- the long feathers can be gently bent into reach. The back of the head/neck is the most prime location for allopreening. A humanoid trying to preen on their own would probably try to use a mirror to see what they're doing, and seriously tire out their arms reaching back there to do such finicky work.

Birds are pretty good at spinning their heads to see and work on anything below their necks, but an avian-ish character without that range of motion might need more help on the base of their wings, shoulders, and back.

My bird gets pissed when I so much as touch any feathers that are critical to flight (the longest wing and tail feathers). Care for those feathers is super important, and trusting someone else with that task would be a huge deal!

To request a preening, my bird angles her head at me, shakes it, and gently poofs up her feathers. If it's going well, she'll stay poofed up and maybe close her eyes.

A completed preening session always ends with feathers being shaken out.

Molting!

Often, the first sign of an impending molt is a fluffy down feather floating in the air. These feathers will cling to anything they touch.

The start of molting involves a lot of old feathers falling out, and some chill allopreening can be involved in this. Just lightly ruffling their feathers can help dislodge ones that are ready to go.

After getting rid of the old feathers, pin feathers start to grow in. They start out covered in a waxy sheath and with a blood supply running through them. While the blood supply is there, these are also called blood feathers, and damaging them can cause a lot of bleeding.

Pin/blood feathers are very sensitive. A wrong move can cause them to poke into the skin. Add this to the general vulnerability of not being at peak flight ability and the body's exhaustion at having to produce the feathers, and you've got an irritable and skittish bird. This is all a whole lot like a feathery version of a period.

Allopreening pin feathers is a lot more delicate than helping dislodge old ones. There's a careful art involved in telling which ones are ready to have their sheaths removed. Learning this art as a non-feather-haver involved, for me, a lot of sudden nipping from an unsatisfied customer. These days, I can tell I'm working on the wrong feather if my bird tenses up or glares at me.

Removing the sheath from a feather is SO SATISFYING. You take a dull-colored, irritating pin, and gently unwrap it to reveal a soft, beautiful new feather. Any time I see my bird all disheveled by pin feathers, it takes serious willpower to resist pestering her to let me fix them.

Non-molt preening!

Fully grown feathers also need daily upkeep

Birds secrete oils that they spread over their feathers with their beaks. A bird-person or their allopreening partner might choose to work other oils into the feathers, similar to how we use skincare products.

Feathers lost outside of the molting cycle can start regrowing immediately. However, a partially damaged feather will not regrow until it is removed or falls out during a molt.

Clipped wings are essentially damaged feathers-- an intelligent bird-person might be inclined to rip these out so that new, full feathers will be faster to grow... but, that would mean going without the partial feathers, and the gliding/slight lift they allow. That's a pretty big risk!

Hope someone gets some use out of this :) Happy bird-fic'ing!

[yuesya]

The Pier Point Shopping Street is always a bustling hub of activity. As a well-known landmark of Pier Point and an attraction for visitors to the IPC’s seat of power, the shops lining the sprawling commercial district truly live up to the reputation of being a dazzling center of wealth. Food, drinks, clothing. Entertainment at its finest –and everything in-between.

There have been many who’ve lost themselves to the glamour of these gilded streets, luxuriating in the allure of satisfaction and gratification stacked upon gleaming credits.

The young Halovian girl sitting across the table from him in the high-class restaurant does not lack for wealth. Nonetheless, she is not one to consciously indulge in materialistic desires… save for her love of sharp weaponry, perhaps.

Aventurine smiles. “It’s been awhile hasn’t it, Lyra?”

Soft white hair, wide blue eyes. Contrary to her soft and seemingly-harmless appearance, though, Lyra of the Oak Family is anything but harmless. Aventurine would know, considering the manner in which they met each other for the first time.

“It’s been awhile,” Lyra agrees. Then, “Is there something wrong?”

“Wow, it’s always straight to the point with you, isn’t it?” Aventurine blinks, and laughs. Something inside his chest sinks helplessly at the girl’s immediate perceptiveness –for all her awkwardness navigating social niceties, Lyra could also be shockingly observant at the same time. “… What gave me away?”

His voice is careless, flippant. Teasing, the way it would be for a light joke. Aventurine maintains the expression of a smile unwaveringly.

Lyra shrugs, a non-response that Aventurine somehow finds himself automatically understanding anyways. Just a feeling. You don’t make a habit of inviting me to Pier Point.

Aventurine lets out a long, exaggerated sigh.

“Can’t hide anything from you, can I?” He straightens, and bats his eyes winsomely. “Y’know, if you ever stepped inside a casino someday, I bet you could–”

“My brother says no,” Lyra responds without batting an eye, and frowns lightly. “… Aventurine, what is this about, really? Do you need me to kill someone?”

This girl. The blond man huffs, wondering what it says about his own mental state that he actually feels a surge of fondness at this offer from her.

“We’ve got to talk about your habit of spontaneously offering to kill things for people at the drop of a hat,” he tells her. “Have you tried buying presents instead?”

Lyra tilts her head, wings fluttering in accompanying confusion with the motion. “… But I don’t offer to kill for just anyone?”

“… No, I don’t need you to kill anyone for me,” Aventurine sighs. For someone who could be so astonishingly perceptive, she could also be very obtuse. “It’s rather the opposite, really.”

Lyra stills, making the connection in a heartbeat. “There’s someone you don’t want me to kill?”

“Oswaldo Schneider,” Aventurine confirms, continuing to carefully maintain his perfectly pleasant smile.

Lyra takes one look at him and frowns anyways. Then, proving that she truly does know Aventurine a little too well to be good for either of them, “This is an order from the IPC?”

It is.

Aventurine holds no love for Oswaldo Schneider. Even putting aside the bad blood between their respective departments within the IPC… the man had been involved in the negotiations that had taken place on Sigonia-IV, which eventually led to what was now known as the Katica-Avgin Extinction Event. And Aventurine –as far as he knew– was the only survivor from that hell, a young boy who’d been captured by slavers and sold to the highest bidder.

Now… now, he was a slave to the IPC. Which wasn’t so bad, sometimes; nowadays, Aventurine was rich enough to never want for any materialistic goods again. But this did not change the fact that the IPC owned him.

The IPC wanted Oswaldo Schneider to live, and the IPC also knew that Aventurine was friends with the girl who’d nearly killed their rising head of the Marketing Development Department. The next course of action, then, was obvious.

Negotiate. Convince her to stand down.

Diamond had been the one to pass on the orders to him. An additional deal had also been brokered between the Marketing Development and Strategic Investment Departments, and there was a certain sense of vindication in seeing Oswaldo depart from Pier Point for ‘business’ just as Lyra arrived. Vindication… and also frustration.

But, this isn’t something that Aventurine can involve Lyra in.

(… ‘Can’t,’ or ‘won’t?’)

“One of Oswaldo Schneider’s ‘projects’ nearly resulted in my sister being killed by a stray bullet to the throat,” Lyra says eventually, blue eyes focused unerringly on Aventurine. “… I won’t go out of my way to hunt him down. But if I come across him, then don’t expect me to show mercy.”

That’s a lifetime ban from Penacony for Oswaldo, then.

“The higher ups should accept that,” Aventurine nods. “And what do you want in exchange for it?”

The look that Lyra gives him is one of uncomprehending confusion. Inwardly, Aventurine despairs.

“… If it were any other executive sitting in front of you right now, you would’ve very well walked away from this meeting with nothing.”

Lyra’s expression flattens into something unimpressed. “I’m not dealing with the IPC. I only agreed because you’re asking me.”

“And I’m negotiating on behalf of the IPC,” Aventurine reminds her.

“So the agreement stands in place only as long as you do not change your mind, regardless of what the IPC thinks,” Lyra shrugs. As if it’s nothing, the power and influence that she’s handing over to him so easily with this one act –if Aventurine is the one with the final say, then that’s another chip in his hands. Another card up his sleeve. Another point for him to gamble with, and Aventurine is nothing if not a consummate gambler.

“… So again I ask you, what do you want for it?”

Nothing in this world comes for free. No one does anything for no reason.

Lyra blinks, raising a finger to tap at her chin in thought. Aventurine studies her carefully.

“… I want dinner,” she finally says. “I’m hungry.”

…

Aventurine is no stranger to taking gambles. But when it comes to Lyra…

All, or nothing.

(… Which one is it? Really, which one is it?)

[phenikas]

Reposting this one cause I was very dissatisfied with how the lighting looked. Original request from @/lore_selector on Instagram, @hyperion-birb asked for a fully body shot, so you can thank them ;)

[f1-birb]

I know people have been talking a lot about Nico's response yesterday, but I think DC's was another important perspective too and really highlighted how abusive and manipulative those radio messages were. He even described the “You're going to need the team” comment as triggering to him. He was pretty lighthearted and joking about things until that comment came up, and then he mentioned how getting team ordered for Mika to get his maiden win was undermining and set the tone for how McLaren would treat him for the rest of his career with them after that; he went as far as saying it impacted him mentally and that he personally regretted ever listening to those team orders. I know Andrea Stella just kind of brushed Nico’s comments off, but maybe if he has multiple people telling him he's mistreating his driver, he should actually listen. It was harrowing to watch DC go from laughing and kind of joking around about the situation to no sign of a smile, dead serious the second that threat was made — and we already know Lando suffers with his mental health sometimes regardless, I hope this isn't something that sticks with him the way DC seemed to think it would.

I didn't see it because I was watching Sky, but I had heard about people who watched DC and they said the exact same thing

that watching the way his whole demeanour changed, his expression, was actually awful to witness

what I do like is that social media won't shut up about it, how people are still pointing out how fucked up those radio messages were, and I hope this means it won't just be swept under the rug and that Lando sees just how many people don't agree with what was done to him