#and thats why birds do it

[bigfatbreak]

Birds of a Feather previous / next

[sluckythewizard]

FIIIINALLY almost nailed my designs for lizzie and caspian can i get a HEEEELLL YEAAH???? i think these two make a vvery cute duo and i cannt wait to see them again. i also hope they both get hurt reaaaallly really badly. togeter

[chaotixx-stims]

gregory house stimboard with red, fire, and explosions for anon!

💉/🔥/💊

🔥/☆/🔥

💉/🔥/💊

[clumsypuppy]

Tell me about a song you like right now, maybe an animation you just watched that made you think thoughts and feel things

Only Acting by Kero Kero Bonito!! I want to make an animatic for Macaque using this song and some parts of Shadow Play and the s4 special.. although im still mapping it and deciding whether I want to use the radio edit or not lol

[abirddogmoment]

I love seeing Rory run in the field!! Bird dog doing bird dog things!! You said in the tags you had different training and priorities with her vs Mav re: offleash running like that. What kinds of things did you do differently with Rory to be comfortable having her offleash at a distance with reliable recall?

I was writing a whole novel but really it boils down to this chart. Under the cut because it's (vertically) long.

In short, it's just as much about what I didn't do with Maverick as what I did do with Aurora.

(Edited to add: I am extremely fortunate to live in the prairies where the kind of visibility I need is easy to find. Use my experience to inspire your own training if you like, but don't use it as a recipe. I have my own goals and my own priorities and those are likely different than yours.)

Maverick:

🔵 Supremely confident from day 1

🔵 Came home in August (extremely good and exciting time for outdoor adventures)

🔵 Prioritized specific sports behaviours over foundational building blocks like engagement and cooperation

🔵 Learned bad habits from my older dog at the time (prey drive > recall)

🔵 Was indiscriminately prey driven. If it moved, he wanted to kill it.

🔵 I phased out treats too fast and didn't want to use an ecollar or long line

🔵 I focused on "social media dog behaviours" (think like walking extremely close to me on trails) and got frustrated when we couldn't meet these rather than meeting my dog where he was at. This created a lot of frustration in our dog adventures.

🔵 I practiced recalls constantly when I didn't have to, making them a tedious behaviour for him. I would recall him 20-50 times a hike for everything from "you're too far away from me" to "I want to take a photo".

Aurora

🟣 Came to me a little insecure and looked to me for reassurance

🟣 Came home in December (a cold and relatively boring time for outdoor adventures)

🟣 I prioritized engagement, cooperation, and name recognition from day 1

🟣 Practiced good habits by walking offleash in the snow either alone or with Pike (amazing recall)

🟣 Is extremely birdy, but is very very focused. She easily calls off deer or people/dogs in the distance because she mostly cares about birds.

🟣 Literally always gets offered a high value snack for recalling or voluntary check ins (I will never phase this out, I will carry chunks of cheese on offleash walks for the rest of her life)

🟣 I never practice recalls if I don't need them. This one is hard to explain, but once Rory understood that long whistle = come back as fast as you can, I don't whistle unless I really need to. I recall her an average of 0-3 times per hike (*based on visibility or wildlife*) and trust her to make good decisions otherwise. I keep my eyeballs on her 100% of the time and choose areas with good visibility, but I don't recall her just for being far away.

🟣 I limit hikes where I have to nag her often (think, in the woods where I dont have a great line of sight and have to remind her to stay close to me) to a few times a month or less so she doesn't start getting frustrated about it.

🟣 I trust the training I put into her and choose to run her in areas with (relatively) reduced risk if she makes the "wrong" choice. I don't nitpick everything she does and I let her make her own choices, within reason.

🟣 I have an interrupter cue to ask her to stop doing something before I call her back (if she's digging a hole and I want her to move on, I use "Rory, enough! Here!") instead of whistling at her.

🟣 I don't force her attention on check ins. If she runs back to me and doesn't want a snack and wants to run straight back out, I let her run back out.

🟣 I have anticipatory cues for the end of a walk so I don't have to recall her when we get to the end of the field.

I want to say that it's nerve wracking to watch my dog sprint at full speed hundreds of yards away from me. I have to fight the impulse to recall her just because she's far away. It's an exercise in trust because I'm always worried about her going over the horizon, or running into a wildlife, or falling into a hole, but it's an important thing to work on if you have a dog that needs that trust to thrive.

Mav and I were a good team, but I never fully trusted him outdoors. I always had my finger on the ecollar buttons ready for him to do an evil and need to be vibrated. It was exhilarating to watch him in the field, but it wasn't really fun or relaxing.

Rory and I built a much stronger foundation of trust (I personally never would have been able to do this if I had more than one dog). She doesn't know any tricks yet, but I'm super confident in her recall and ability to take direction in the field, even when she's sprinting as fast as possible.

[vigilskeep]

at least in times of trouble i’ll always have the most nonsense aus my brain can provide

[rxttenfish]

Stole this from an anon; what fish would be improved with teeth, do you think? And which one would be better without any?

i think there should be a freshwater shark species with no teeth, preferably a parasite or a detritivore of some variety. something that most people would unilaterally agree is gross and preferably be more familiar with it than with all the oceanic species so that everyone will be surprised that the cool marine predators are actually just a version of this one. maybe something like the shark answer to the candiru, though maybe there are multiple species of these freshwater toothless sharks, and just one really small one ended up convergent with the candiru.

likewise because i go by all tetrapods being counted as fish (because ancestry is actually rather important to understanding anatomy and how species have evolved can tell you clues about how they will respond to other things in the future etc etc), i think more frogs should have the african bullfrogs' bone spikes. this will not make the world better but it will make it more interesting.

there should also be a species of betta that looks exactly like normal betta but with sharp little teeth in there. just to add some spice to the world. there should also be a type of pleco with teeth like a cookiecutter shark, everything else the same, that can also just creep up on other fish and take chunks out of them. maybe even a very small species of sturgeon too, especially if this lets them slurp up lamprey into a mouth like a lamprey.

i'd like to give seahorses teeth just because i'm curious where they'd put them. i'm imagining something like a cartoon grate, where if something gets forcibly pulled through it just comes out in meat chunks on the other side. even better if the teeth are fused top-to-bottom for this.

also i think there should be a species of parrotfish that retroactively lost their teeth. perhaps pufferfish too. mostly i'm curious what kinda niches they would end up in but also as a nice contrast to how weird those types of fish are to begin with. i like the compounding weirdness. i think there should be more freaks^2. i also think there should be a species of rodent that also has an entirely toothless sucking mouth, and they can be convergent with the fish too, or otherwise just nicely parallel their existence.

[creaturefeaster]

How do you manage to take care of all those animals and still have time to do color quest? This may be the half time day job in me talking but I feel like I don't have time to do any of my hobbies with the 6 animals I have

I try my hardest to make some time.

The bird pens are set up so that, aside from daily feeding, and cleaning of the geeses water and pool, they do not need to be heavily maintained. I clean out their runs and pens more often in the wetter months, so I have less time in the fall and spring... Those days I can be outside for a couple hours at least. But the daily tasks don't take more than maybe 20 minutes. Sunny days I let them free range so I have to supervise because of eagles and hawks, so that can take another couple hours out of my day.

But I have that system, so I often have a lot of time inside. I have a dog to walk and feed, I spend at least a couple of hours in the kitchen cleaning and making food throughout the day, I have other stuff to manage in the house, I do commission work and I help my husband with projects for his haunted house. I'm actually very behind on some smaller things I need to take care of, but that's life, because somewhere I need to stop and indulge in my hobbies, lol.

Almost every drawing you see from me, are all that I have time to do. There is very little in terms of drawings that go unshared, so you guys basically get every morsel I have time to produce. I'm lucky, in a way, that I spent my time growing up learning how to draw fast, otherwise I'd never get anything done.

One factor in having just enough time to doodle or write a little, is that my work is commission work and I can dictate how much free time I have, basically. The other factor is that my husband makes enough to support us both right now. If I had a job outside of the house, I would probably not have time for CQ. That, or I wouldn't have time for healthy meals or keeping clean. Considering I have stomach disabilities, I'd rather eat well and sit clean than draw if it came down to it. Luckily I don't need to choose between those, at least not right now.

[turgidmuff]

his dumb stupid face when he has muffleys undivided attention

[semothekat]

me when im crazy about two characters that dont even know each other.

Thank you to @oathofkaslana for writing the id for this!!

[penisbilt]

hi i dont know who else uses mastodon but i made one here hiiiii so ueah im thinking of basically considering this as kind of an extension to my neocities probably maybe .?? like ill have my art threads and in hashtags and i can also truly go ramble about nothing and whatever if the mood ever strikes. iunno

[inlovewithsidecharacters]

A Whisper Away

So, guys, referencing my recent post (which is way too recent, I'm addicted to this fandom I'm sorry), I decided to write a little something to answer that question for myself. I already posted it on ao3, but I wanna get it out here, too!

Words: 1500+

Summary: A fan.

He could have sworn the door was locked. Positive. He remembered checking before he crawled into bed, his mind consumed by just how tired he was, how desperate for sleep. But now his pulse pounded in his ears, and every inch of his body was on high alert. His limbs felt heavy, like they weren't his own.

TW: Past sexual assault, implied sexual assault

His room was too quiet. Too still. Even the gentle hum of the air conditioning was an intrusion, cutting through that heavy silence. Lister's eyes flickered open. His brain was late off the mark. The soft glow from the bedside lamp cast long shadows on the walls, but something was different. The air was heavy, tight, as if the walls were closing in.

He blinked, groggy and disoriented, until he saw her.

A girl.

A fan.

She stood there, no more than a few feet away from him, her eyes wide with that disconcerting adoration-obsession mix in them. She was too close, way too close for comfort, and every fiber in his body was screaming to move, to run, to get out of the situation. But his body didn't respond. It wouldn't.

His mind whipped into overdrive. How did she get in here?

He could have sworn the door was locked. Positive. He remembered checking before he crawled into bed, his mind consumed by just how tired he was, how desperate for sleep. But now his pulse pounded in his ears, and every inch of his body was on high alert. His limbs felt heavy, like they weren't his own.

She took one step closer, and then pure fear hit him. He couldn't move; his body froze while being smothered by a tidal wave of trapped terror.

"Get-" his breathing starts to restrict as the fan inches closer, "Stop..." It feels like a bad dream. One where all you want to do is scream for help and run away. But Lister is trapped. His mind is lost, imaginary hands pinning him down.

They're not real. they're not real they're not real they're not-

Suddenly, his mind comes back to reality just enough to focus on the fan. She breathes shallowly, her animalistic eyes torn between her hunger and apprehension towards the future. She began climbing onto the bed, crumpling the soft white sheets (that were Listers Roman empire), steadily crawling over to him.

In that moment, Lister, thanks whoever is watching over him because he surges back into his body, clumsy long arms (longer than a few hours ago) whipping his torso off of the bed while simultaneously kicking both of his feet towards the side of the bed, reaching the floor as fast as he can. He's suddenly aware of his heart exploding as he rolls and falls out onto the floor, stumbling away and gripping the wall with all of his might. He contemplates trying to run out of the closed door, but his freakishly shaky hands put an end to that question immediately.

He just wants it to be over. He wants to go home. But this is his home. No, it isn't. His home is in Rowan and Jimmy's arms as they all huddle together on a couch and watch Star Wars because Rowan's such a nerd and-

Rowan.

Gaining all the strength he has left, vaguely hearing the girls seductive murmurs of,

"Come back to bed," his tongue fumbles around his lips, feeling so much heavier than before, and then he's shouting out, loud enough for the entire apartment to hear no doubt, "Rowan!" He gasped at the end, amazed as to how much breath that took.

For a while it's quiet, and surely Rowan is about to yell at him from his own room to shut up, but then the fan begins shrieking in outrage, and he instantly hears someone clambering out of bed and throwing their door open.

He hears Rowan's footsteps booming through the hallway, and the fans shriek of, "HOW COULD YOU?" His eyes flit back to the girl, and she looks both horrified and infuriated. She sprints to him, trapping his back against the wall by grabbing his wrists and keeping them pinned to their sides. He can feel her hot, rancid breath. She must have been drinking. Scotch? Whisky? One of the two. Listers brain stops working as he's pinned, and her lips inch closer to his in a predatory, evil way while one of her hands goes to his t-shirt, and all he can think of is Rowan. How long had it been? Fifteen, thirty seconds? It felt like much more. As she leans in closer, he shakes his head frantically, not trusting himself with any more words.

Finally, he sees the door on his left open savagely, a fierce Rowan and a panicked but equally threatening Jimmy trailing behind. Rowan locks onto him, eyes widening immensely before screaming at the fan various things that Lister can't seem to make out at the moment. Fractions of a second later, his body is freed from the wall as Rowan tackles her to the ground. He still feels suffocated, though. His hands grabbed around his shirt, ungracefully pushing down the parts that were aggressively thrusted above his abs.

From the floor, the fan wrestles against Rowan's tall form, lashing out against him. Rowan bellows to Jimmy, who's been hovering awkwardly looking at Lister, "Call security. Now!" He's cut off as the girl kicks at his legs.

Jimmy runs, swerving around Rowan and the fan to the bedside table, picking up Listers' phone and pressing on various buttons, definitely calling the apartments security site.

It remains like that, with Jimmy panting out simple answers to whoever is on the line and Rowan fighting to keep the girl away from him. Away from Lister. Lister feels guilty for being such a piece of work, interrupting his two best friends from their peaceful sleep. Goodness knows they needed it.

Eventually, four big burly men claw their way in, sweeping the beastly fan into their arms and escorting her out like it's second nature. Lister hear the entrance door to our apartment slam shut, and suddenly, their part of the building is sent into tense silence, with only the panting of the three filling the room. Both Jimmy and Rowan are standing at their respective spaces, Jimmy at the bedside table, and Rowan kneeling on the floor, scratches on his arms. Lister was still glued to the wall, his face feeling numb and his body feeling too big. He wanted to disappear - there were too many eyes on him. So much worry embedded into the two forms surrounding him. At least there's silence.

Jimmy staggers over, his face pale and wide-eyed, still catching his breath. His voice trembles, but there’s a thread of urgency holding it together.

"Lister… Are you okay?" Jimmy’s hand hovers awkwardly, as though he’s not sure if he should touch him or give him space. His concern feels heavy, almost crushing, as he studies Lister’s disheveled form. "You’re… you’re shaking, mate."

Lister can’t meet his eyes. His own hands are trembling, clutching at his shirt like it’s the only thing that matters to him. He tries to swallow, but his throat closes up.

"Lister," Jimmy says again, firmer this time. "She’s gone. You’re safe now."

"Safe?" The word tumbles out before he can stop it, sharp and bitter. His voice cracks. He lets out a hollow laugh that sounds more like a sob. "She broke into our apartment, Jimmy. I woke up, and she was just-" He shudders, hugging himself tightly. "I don’t even know how she got in."

Jimmy exchanges a glance with Rowan, who has stood up, still catching his breath. His jaw is tight, scratches along his arms red and raw. Rowan’s voice cuts through the thick silence, steady but low, like he’s trying not to spook Lister further.

"We’ll figure that out later. Right now…" Rowan steps closer, his tone softening. "You need to sit down. You’re in shock, Lister."

"I’m fine," Lister snaps, but his knees buckle as he says it, his back sliding down the wall. He ends up crumpled on the floor, knees pulled up to his chest. "I just need-" His voice wavers again. "I need this to stop. All of it."

Jimmy crouches next to him, moving slowly, like he’s trying not to scare a wounded animal. "We’re here, okay? Rowan and I, we’re not going anywhere. I called security. They’ll make sure she doesn’t come back."

"Doesn’t matter," Lister mutters, his voice so quiet it’s almost a whisper. "It’s not just her. It’s all of them. It’s… everywhere" He squeezes his eyes shut, pressing the heels of his palms against them. God, he can feel the phantom hands on him. "I can’t-" He exhales shakily. "I can’t even breathe in my own room anymore."

Rowan kneels beside him now, his voice firm but gentle. "Then we fix it. We’ll get better security. We’ll get out of this apartment if we have to. But you’re not dealing with this alone."

Jimmy nods, his hand finally settling on Lister’s shoulder. "He’s right. You’ve got us, Lister. Always."

For a long moment, Lister doesn’t move. Then, slowly, he nods, his breathing still uneven. "I… I just need a second," he says, his voice barely audible. "Just… one second."

Rowan glances at Jimmy again, and they both seem to understand. They sit down on either side of him, not saying a word, just letting the silence stretch out. It’s heavy, but not suffocating. It’s grounding, in its own way.

And for the first time in what feels like hours, Lister allows himself to believe that maybe, just maybe, he’s not alone in this nightmare.

[savage-rhi]

😭😂

[cathalbravecog]

junior!! their design isn't fully decided on yet but i rlly care abt them so i drew them ! they're a very young cog outside of cogs inc and cassie's child (thus, belle's grand grand child). they are an iphone ipad baby. they are very autistic about birds :]

and yes they would walk up to you and say "you're so skibidi!!!!!!!!!!!"

[hana-bobo-finch]

tis here!! My stupid little beta pdbc comic!! UHHHHH

additional ramblings because I don’t know how to stop yapping:

I know the ending is extremely abrupt but honestly? I can’t even lie I think it’s funnier and somehow more in character that way. There is no way in hell he’d question what just happened he’d just lay on the floor and say “alas!” As if that is in any way is a proper response to what just happened. So no apologies for that, I genuinely think the ending is amazing and won’t hear anything else. Alas.

I WAS REALLY SCREWED OVER WITH THE TEN IMAGE MOBILE LIMIT SO THE PACING IS VERY IFFY!! That alongside the fact I wanted to get this out as quickly as possible to gauge opinions and such—therefore making this much less detailed than I’d like to have made it, yes that’s my own fault I know—means that I couldn’t properly show what the briar zome is like (HEARTBREAKING). It’s a lot more spacious and unending than what’s shown here. In this it only looks like you’re there for a few minutes but experiences there can last up to a week. There are also a lot more thorns and spiked vines, it’s just that, like I said, I wanted to get this posted quickly and coloring in all of those spikes probably took more time than some of the drawings themselves. Had I made this as accurate to canon as possible, it would be much more visually cluttered. The briar zome is VERY hard to traverse because almost everything is covered in thorns (hence the name). Also worth noting that although it’s seemingly wintry there, there’s no actual temperature in the briar zome which is why pumpkin daddy is not fucking freezing to death (you have to look DAPPER when you’re illegally eating crabs)

This technically isn’t canon. This is a mishmash of all of the stuff I have about the briar zome, but in canon it’s all much more spread out, e.g. the eyes weren’t discovered until a few trips in when they actually bothered trying to figure out if/where the briar zome ends, in which BAM they found a buncha eyes!! Speaking of the eyes, their official names are Sotes, and where they’re found is called the “Eyes Rink” (GET IT!!! EYES!!! ICE!!! GET I-💥💥💥)

you’re probably wondering what the Miika chimp incident is, which is a fair thing to be wondering, however I will not be elaborating because I think it’s funnier that way. sorry (I am not at all sorry)

AND THE TIIIIIIME yes indeed the time works differently there. As one could. Probably guess by the wack-ass watch positions. The briar zome does in fact have its own time system that’s displayed differently than most would be used to. Alas, I had to cut that part short because I realized I was quickly running out of pages and I really wanted space to draw some of those beautiful beautiful eyeballs. I has this whole lecture about different types of watch hand designs and their names but that was unfortunately cut for time (ironically)

anyway uh. hope this was somewhat enjoyable? *EXPLODES*

[medicalunprofessional]

sorry for greebleposting but you should download stimuli with me.