#black-tailed kite

[wingedjewels]

Hover Bird by Lee Greengrass Via Flickr: Ed Levin Park, Milpitas, CA

[great-and-small]

Lots of discussion about which bird has the most beautiful high-contrast plumage on my other post so I say we put it to a vote. Who’s your pick?

[redrcs]

Close-ups of Black Tailed Kites. Also known as Fork-tailed Kites.

I walked out to a dam about a kilometer from the Middleton Hotel and was followed by about 20 of them. I think they were hoping I'd scare up some prey for them.

On my travels

[pearl-kite]

I've got a hunch that the monstera I got for my office might like the sun

Just a hunch, tho

[0vinosparv]

I think we can all agree that this song fits most, if not every single animal xenofiction story out there

[dansnaturepictures]

Post 1 of my wildlife and photography highlights posts of the year: 10 key moments/themes of my birdwatching year

Seeing Short-eared Owl, my first ever Merlins, Cattle Egret, lots of Razorbills and more in an amazing first week of the year

From my traditional New Year’s Day bird year list building walk at Lakeside Country Park, to a big day trip to Slimbridge, my birding year started amazingly with so many species seen on a week off to start the year and top ones, Goldeneye, Common Crane, Bewick’s Swan, Common Gull, Jay, Barn Owl, Whimbrel, Black-throated Diver, Great Northern Diver, Knot, Gannet and Black-necked Grebe among other highlights. I took the first picture in this photoset of Dunlins at Hayling Island that week.

A post about it at the time: https://dansnaturepictures.tumblr.com/post/672305722906820608/2122-lymington-greenshank-goldeneye

Seeing Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Goshawk at Millyford Bridge in the New Forest on a gloriously sunny morning and then Grey Partridge, Skylark, Corn Bunting and Linnet at Martin Down on one March Saturday

What a day, one of my best ever in wildlife watching! I took the second picture in this photoset of a Corn Bunting that day.

Blog at the time: https://dansnaturepictures.tumblr.com/post/679191179908300800/19032022-blog-2-of-2-martin-down-following-on

Seeing an Osprey fly over Skomer Island whilst looking at Puffins and other seabirds, with Chough and Red Kite seen soon after

A joyful year defining moment when some of my favourite birds collided. Both Puffin and Osprey were birds I had an amazing year for with multiple sightings. I took the third picture in this photoset of the Osprey over Skomer.

Blog about it at the time: https://dansnaturepictures.tumblr.com/post/682628385522008064/26042022-blog-1-of-3-skomer-island-and-martins

Seeing Tawny Owl at Hoe Lane and Dippers that had bred in Hampshire at War Memorial Park in Romsey two weeks apart

Two smashing moments from a brilliant few weeks before and around the Jubilee bank holiday weekend with two of my favourite birds in another strong year I had for them. I got the fourth picture in this photoset of the Tawny Owl.

Blog at the time: https://dansnaturepictures.tumblr.com/post/684985624455938048/22nd-may-2022-blog-2-of-2-fishlake-meadows-me-and

The Black-browed Albatross of Bempton Cliffs and Bee-eaters of Trimingham

Two of the stars of a strong crop of new birds full of big name species I saw this year on trips away over the summer months, Albie the returning bird to Bempton Cliffs and the history making Bee-eaters both iconic species. And truly beautiful and stunning ones too. I took the fifth picture in this photoset of the Black-browed Albatross.

A blog at the time: https://dansnaturepictures.tumblr.com/post/687615349094580224/20th-june-2022-bempton-cliffs-post-one-of-two-the

My two favourite breeding birds to follow, Winchester Cathedral’s Peregrines and Lakeside’s Great Crested Grebes in an amazing year I had for seeing and photographing young birds overall

A key theme of my year with the two particular families it was a pleasure to follow at the head of it seeing so much of the young birds. I got the sixth picture in this photoset of a young Peregrine.

A blog at the time: https://dansnaturepictures.tumblr.com/post/691417131306418176/1822-winchester-and-lakeside-photos-i-took

A strong set of birds seen in summer going into autumn: Pied Flycatchers, Spotted Flycatchers, Yellow Wagtails, Whinchat and Curlew Sandpipers with Little Stint, Pectoral Sandpiper and Black Tern seen on a brilliant August bank holiday Monday at Lymington-Keyhaven nature reserve

A memorable time of year that I look back on as key to my successful birding year going into migration with a lot of these species I loved seeing multiple times. I took the seventh picture in this photoset of a Spotted Flycatcher at Pig Bush in the New Forest.

A blog at the time: https://dansnaturepictures.tumblr.com/post/692503439224307712/130822-curlew-sandpipers-and-more-at-farlington

White-tailed Eagle at Poole Harbour

I know the re-introduction of White-tailed Eagles on the Isle of Wight has been polarising within birding, however aside from the aspects of my hobby concerned with lists and what is wild or not, I do admire this re-introduction project and love these birds. So when I finally saw one of them after a few years or hoping and a few attempts in 2022 on the brilliant boat trip with Birds of Poole Harbour in September, it was simply one of my most joyous and favourite moments with a bird this year. I took the eighth picture in this photoset of a beautiful view the day I saw the eagle at Poole Harbour.

Blog on the day: https://dansnaturepictures.tumblr.com/post/695761688752996352/18th-september-2022-post-1-of-2-boat-trip-with

Seeing the Wryneck at Lepe in late September, a fitting 200th bird species seen this year for me

A real wow moment as we got exquisite views of this phenomenal and distinctive bird, a true pleasure to see, it was only my second ever sighting of one and was one of the best moments of my 2022. I took the ninth picture in this photoset of it.

Blog at the time: https://dansnaturepictures.tumblr.com/post/696306561053802496/24092022-wryneck-and-more-at-lepe-we-came-to

Seeing Black Redstarts at Southsea Castle in November, my 201st bird of the year making my year list my highest ever and seeing a Hen Harrier at Pig Bush in the New Forest and Snow Bunting at Milford-on-Sea that month

Sensational birding moments towards the end of the year, the Black Redstarts a euphoric high of my incredible year of birds with an eyecatching species I adore and have a strong personal bond with a fitting way to make my year list my highest ever. The Hen Harrier a surprise and thrilling moment at a place close to my heart, the Snow Bunting phenomenal views of a gorgeous and electrifying bird I took the tenth picture in this photoset of it.

A blog at the time:

https://dansnaturepictures.tumblr.com/post/701476570069696512/201122-pig-bush-in-the-new-forest-we-came-here

[whatnext10]

Here is My Latest Piece of Hand Drawn Artwork

Swallow Tailed Kite It has taken me quite awhile, but I have finally finished my latest drawing. I don’t get time to draw every day, and I usually like to put something away for a few days and then revisit it before I move on anyhow. I find that sometimes when I look at something with fresh eyes, I find things that need improvement or that I thought I liked, but I really don’t. This drawing is…

[absolutebl]

Meet You At the Blossom - Watch Along

Maybe a trash watch? We will find out.

But first what do we know about this show?

Well, I can't for the life of me remember the title. The article placement it too weird so it will henceforth be called Blossom okay?

Here's what I learned from @renafire

Duck daddy!!!!! I bring news! China didn't kill the gays! Meet You at the Blossom is an HEA! Golden retriever XiaoBao x ice prince Huaien (who gets the shit stabbed out of him an awful lot for being a ML). A side CP of dumb, pretty bodyguard x eccentric doctor. The background plot was basically a bunch of middle age men fighting about the ML's long dead mother. Needles! So many needles! (It was practically a sickfic tbh) Flapping sleeves! Flowing hair! Poison! Politics! A villain weirdly into kites! Prisoners in chains you can easily slip your hand through! Dimples! Loyal bodyguards becoming family! It's not the best thing ever, but it ends happily! There was even a line about "true love has nothing to do with gender" which I feel like is a big deal for something associated with China?

This convinced me to watch, so I thought I'd just post it verbatim to convince you, too.

So I'd refused to watch Blossom because I assumed the leads would die or at least be torn asunder at the end, and that there would be no kisses.

So this Watch Along is going to be me eating crow.

China pretty much always does censored BL (when they do it at all) since 2017 or so. You can watch something like My E-Sports Genius Brother for the style of "happy but censored BL" that I've grown to expect from China. (Although I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.)

They didn't used to do this! Time once was that China was this chaotic minefield of tasty mess meets terrible tropes (like kidnapping, stepbrothers, rape, whipping boy, and dub con). I had a weird love for it at the time because it was the Wild Wild World of BL beck then and I didn't know to expect better.

I come from 90s Yaoi. Remember?

Ah the bad old days. (You can read a history of CBL here. Not updated in ages.)

Where was I?

So, what I knew about Blossom was that it was a Wuxia BL and that it was made with Thailand, or for Thailand, or something to do with Thailand (there is Thai script on the promo material) and that it wasn't being distributed inside Mainland China. (I still worry about the actors but that's kinda a natural state for me and BL outside of Japan.)

Outside of China Blossom got wide distribution showing up everywhere iQIYI (China based), Viki (Japan based), Gaga (Taiwan based) WeTV (US Based) and YouTube (Thai Channel Artop Media is serving it).

It also looks like Heavenly is involved and they are Korea based. So like, everyone had their mitts on this thing. We live in crazy times.

Okay so, here are my 20 expectations:

Pony tails with a ribbon or two

Lots of questionable older tropes, especially dub-con & kidnapping (the herb that makes you horny maybe?)

Flowing filmy robes wafting everywhere

EXTREMELY PRETTY men, costumes, make up, setting... well, everything

No consent whatsoever

Pokey pokey, but not with the right kind of swords (a naked blade will be grabbed by a naked hand, sadly also not in the preferred way)

A bodyguard hotter than he has any right to be, wearing black

Floaty fighty fighty, including but not limited to: skid backwards through puffs of dust, a leap to land + one knee down + holding sword + head bowed, a twirly protect baby from baddies

A boat in a lotus pond

Poison, probably green, glittery if I'm lucky

Circular architecture

A big fuck off fan

Puppy-cat pairing

They wander through bamboo, sit down at the edge of a lake, probubly on a log

Wound tending, of course, because there will be lots of wounds

Someone pushed onto a platform bed (also kneeling in front of it)

A jail with straw in it

Older men with sparse beards detracting from the romance

Fruit or some other food being thrown

Some serious SLEEVE action.

Li Le as Zong Zheng Huai En

Probably the reserved unhinged one. Has sword, will prod.

He has a solid track record of shows under his belt. So to speak. One wonders how they persuaded him to do BL. He sure is pretty tho.

Wang Yun Kai as Jin Xiao Bao

The son of the wealthiest man in the Jiangnan region, probably the cheerful cute one.

He's an entirely green actor.

Most of the cast is from mainland China, with the exception of Achi Sukonlaphat Sribubpha, who is Thai (obvs) and under Artop Media.

Nancy Chen is directing

She is a Taiwanese director and screenwriter, who directed HIStory 4 and HIStory 5 (neither all that great) and was behind very queer friendly Pappy & Daddy.

I wouldn't call her a stellar director. I would say I've been reserving judgement, but if you pin me down I'd call her Taiwan's New.

Pitch

Xiao Bao (cute) falls in love with icy, white-robed stunner Huai En due to an unexpected meeting. Discovers she is actually a boy (and a baddie). Hijinx ensue.

Adapted from the novel Hua Kai You Shi Tui Mi Wu Sheng 花开有时, 颓靡无声 by Shui Qian Cheng 水千丞

Co-production with China and Taiwan. But the country of origin is listed as Thailand.

12 Episodes, 40 min each (or so) for a total fresh content run time of 8 hours.

Aired: Jul 11, 2024 - Aug 15, 2024 on iQiyi, Viki, WeTV, Gaga

Shall we get started?

I had a surfeit of options since Viki, Gaga, and iQIYI all had Blossom. I like Viki's interface best, want to support Gaga the most, but in this case, I opted for iQIYI because... screen shots. So it's all your fault.

EPISODE 1: Nicknames, pretty men, dimples, twirly, stabby, floof!

I don't like the intro music, it's too slow and tinkly, but classic for the genre I suppose. Still I'm fast forwarding through all the falling cherry blossoms.

All right. Now it's about time for... YES...

Emperor Infodump

Chancellor of Extraneous Explanations

As You Know Bo

Sorry sorry. The puns must flow.

The deets: layabout emperor = chaos & suffering. New emp = strong & popular but his baby bro wants to rule. New emp exiles bro to obscurity. New emp = good ruler. Order established through patriarchal dominance. Children laughing in the street. Got it.

I will not be remembering names, FYI.

We open on kid in trouble over a kite killed(?) by baddie.

Enter pretty spangled skippy puppy McDimples. I shall call him Dimples. Dimples = spoiled rich kid having trouble finding a wife - presumably because they all know he gay.

Enter hottie evil cut-glass cheekbones McPoutypants. Haven't decided what I shall call him. It'll come to me.

Extremely pretty men. CHECK.

Ooo, a big hat on horse back!

Of course, how could I not have had that trope on my checklist? My bad.

And a bunch of assassins slow-dropping out of trees like lazy fruit. I forgot that, too.

I gotta say, fairy prince or high elf is not a bad moniker for twirly-sword cheekbones supreme.

Floaty fighty fighty! CHECK

Oh, I thought they'd go in for crossdressing at the very least but I guess they went for Dimples is an idiot instead. Interesting choice. I see we also have the "baby is a clumsy bunny" trope all set to deploy. Carry on.

Grab the sword and skid through the dirt. CHECK!

And a fainting!

Pony tail with ribbons. CHECK

Dimples might be a bit too much of a prat and an idiot for me.

[Have begun watching at 1.25 speed. Don't fault me.]

I always find the orange/yellow eye makeup that Cdramas put on characters of questionable morality fascinating. Why those colors specifically? And why eye makeup specifically?

We arrive home. It fancy. Daddy doesn't want an unknown lady for his baby (silly daddy, ladies are for ladies, boys are for boys).

Everyone acknowledging that elf prince is, in fact, The Prettiest is very pleasing to me.

Meanwhile, there is some kind of list/stuff/thingy and Prince Shen wants it and is a bad guy, maybe? I can't remember names from the beginning so I have no idea what's going on with the plot but also, it is only going to get more convoluted. Plus the weekend is coming so I'll eventually be drinking and watching this. Plot is for people who don't like BL. And don't have six bottles of sake in their fridge.

Snicker.

Where was I?

Oh yes. Judiciously NOT following the plot.

Dimples and his 2 enablers seem to share about 1/3 of a braincell between them. But they're sincere about it.

Engage secret identity trope and the expected cross dressing.

Ooo Shen is The Prettiest's uncle? Damn it I'm trying to follow the plot again. Must not get sucked into plot. This is a Cdrama therein lies madness. Ah, Prettiest is the son of the emperor's exiled younger bro? Got it.

Twirly protect baby from baddies! CHECK

And that's episode 1 in the bag. In the sheath?

My thoughts so far:

This couldn't be more exactly what I expected if it tried. I mean it is trying. And it's succeeding in being a Wuxia BL. So. Yay! Performing to the packaging. I appreciate that in a show.

I'm looking forward to more.

(On the advice of one of my spies I've switched to watching on YT when I can, YT and Gaga are supposed to have the better subs than iQIYI and Viki. That said I found iQIYI's serviceable.)

EPISODE 2: Checking a bunch of stuff off my list in rapid succession

Poisoning?

No. Sex herb? CHECK

Discovery that she is in fact he?

Dominance Tussle? Dub con? Rape? Already? CHECK

Well that came fast (presumably so did he).

There’s a lot happening all at once at the beginning of just ep 2. 

It’s an ACCOUNT BOOK that’s causing all this fuss? Hilarious. 

Enter the anticipated hottie (bodyguard? spy?) in all black wearing a hedgehog. CHECK

(I didn’t expect the hedgehog, I have to admit.)

Oh is the single brain cell society is trying to grow additional brain cells? That's not gonna work.

Cheekbones is still the prettiest.

Oh HELLO stern grabby Daddy not-older brother of yummy. We likey.

Who do you belong to?

Why do you have The Biggest Sleeves?

Do I take that as a sign of gayness?

Please? 

Ooo looks like I’m right. 

Also this is very silly.

And "I never said she was a woman."

It’s just so funny.

OH NO!

Stern prince bro is leaving already?

I only had Grabby McDaddy for a very short length of time. I already miss him. 

Meanwhile, Dimples apparently has no compunction about being in love with a man, we blew through a bisexual identity crisis while I wasn't looking, and now we exist inside the gay=okay bubble? I did not expect The Bubble(tm) to show up in a Wuxia, but I guess this is a BL universe and we all just float around in it… 

Cheekbones is a bit of an asshole. Quite apart from the, ya know, bit of rapey rape thing.

I also did not have absolutely terrible VO dubbing on my bingo card. I forgot about that one in Cdramas.

EPISODE 3: Distracted by the pretty

Some kind of dark past for dimples and his little (not blood ) sister. 

Sniff test, the greatest trope of 2024 apparently. Nice to see the execution of a modern trope in a vintage style BL.

Aa ha! Kneeling next to a platform bed. CHECK

And more poisoning and drugs.

Wound tending. CHECK

Aweeeee Dimples is worried about Cheekbones! How cute.

Also, the ice queen appears to be melting.

Ooo. More sexitimes? Consensual this time. Okay. I guess Taiwan did get its nuts all over this show. (Honestly, that was a mistype but I'm keeping it in.)

The bit with all the bodyguards was great.

And my love for Mr. All-Black Clued-in Hottie persists.

We are now in the “does he like me back?” phase of the high school narrative. We are also in the "do I like him at all?" part of the narrative. Suddenly, this is an angsty YA. 

Ice queen has melted and is now turning into jelly. (Can you tell I’m very pleased with myself and this metaphor?) 

And now, Dimples is sick?

Boy, is this fast moving! I have to say, that is something I did not expect at all. Usually Cdramas are much slower than this.

I do love how shameless D imples is. It’s kind of delightful. He’s definitely in his bisexual awakening slut phase.

Cheekbones is also a doctor, apparently. Useful man. 

In other news: I would really like to add a full length crossover wafting robe into my wardrobe. I have no idea why I feel compelled by such a thing.

EPISODE 4: Gay sleeves AT last

Not a lot happened in this episode. Mostly flirting. More backstory and plot that doesn’t really matter. Presumably this intended to be character motivation?

We do not need him to be motivated we need him to be pretty. Understand the brief please.

Why no more floaty floaty sleeves?

Oooo, because sleeves in gay! CHECK

I did like the scene of the blood being cleaned up after the assassination attempt(?). It’s kind of nice to see that depicted for a change. I always worry about all that blood on that nice stone work.

Oh the handholding it was very cute.

Ice queen has melted and now turned entirely to jelly. Very very jelly.

Dimples is so stupid proud of his tall deadly wife. It's flipping adorable in a very goofy way.

I guess Cheekbones has come around and now Dimples has officially been claimed, multiple times and in multiple ways. He can't change his mind or anything now. Trouble is afoot...

asleeve?

ahead...

ahem.

I'll stop now.

EPISODE 5 - It is a Thing I guess?

OMG Cheekbones just loves his stilly bint of a bf. It’s absolutely absurd. The ultimate puppy/cat pairing.

I love it that he’s just casually walking around with a knife sticking out of his back and only cares that baby may have gotten a splinter in his finger.

Now we are in the vows portion of the early romance. I am assuming betrayal is coming soon? 

Grabby McDaddy! I missed you! Here to perform the part of Basil Exposition I see? No grabby for me? Sad. Unfortunately, if you aren’t flirting with a man I’m going to be fast forwarding. Although your sleeves are very nice.

Uh oh, Dimples is in trouble. 

Okay that was that. No screen caps, I lazy.

EPISODE 6 - DOOOMMMM

Oh lovely. More rape. I guess Dimples went looking for that response? Is that the implication? Does Dimples have a rape kink? What is with this show? 

No brothels for a baby I guess.

It’s not gay... it’s poison? 

It’s not bisexuality... it’s the slut herb? 

The single brain cell club is now the wailing fates. 

I guess cutting off a man’s hand out of jealousy is no biggie? Well this is a BL. Jealousy is the #1 excuse!

Fighty floaty blood spatter death! This time on wooden planks. Those are impossible to get clean. 

Meanwhile, there’s a lot of backstory and stuff I don’t care about, and probably can’t follow even if I did care about it.

I don’t like the Emperor at all. But then I don’t think I meant to. I am a little shocked that there aren’t more men with sparse beards distracting from the romance. But I guess this is a BL, they go for youth even in wuxia.

EPISODE 7 - You know what they say about a man with big sleeves?

Oh, Daddy McGrabby is back and he's a good guy (?)! He’s also in love with Dimples. 

Oh no!

What is this sensation I feel being thrust upon me?

Is that…? Is that second lead syndrome?  I think it is.

Oh well, it was fated the moment I saw the length of his... sleeves in episode 2.

Meanwhile?

Dimples gets tortured by acupuncture. 

Poisonings are always so elegant and classy in Cdramas.

Blah blah captured rescued captured rescued again sort of. Cheekbones is now seriously imperiled. We swap one for the other in Grave Danger (TM).

Enter the Divine Doctor character! Who (Dr) I have been told reliably by previous witnesses is A Favorite. I do love this particular archetype (quirky healer wise beyond his years - sometimes actual immortal. ) I am prepared to be delighted.  

EPISODE 8 - Divine Doctor is Emperor of the Gays

The divine doctor and 1/3 brain cell is not a pairing I thought was going to happen. Frankly it doesn't seem like the writers thought about it much either.

But it did make me laugh out loud.

It’s fantastic. I love them. I love this for me. I love a secondary couple for this show. Carry-on.

I LOVE THE DOCTOR SO MUCH. 

Everyone was absolutely correct. He is the best character. He is my favorite. He is openly gay and a troublemaker and absolute queen. And I adore him forever. No notes.

King Emperor behavior!

The evil crown prince has a crush on Daddy McGrabby. With good reason, he does have the biggest sleeves.

(I have a crush on Daddy McGrabby.) And he clearly likes brats, so I think the crown prince is in with a chance, actually.

(Not me, sadly. Despite the rumors I am not a brat. I make no case for this.)

EPISODE 9 - The Plot Thickens like Shampoo

Oh, Cheekbones is the new crown prince? We have a whole Snape situation going on here?

And finally Cheekbone knows what is happened to his poor little tortured Dimples. (oof that acting tho. before you say "what acting" i KNOW.)

In all honesty, I’m quite engaged by the drama of the show at this point and kind of losing my snark because of it. Don't get mad at me.

It’s not a bad show. I mean it’s a melodramatic soap opera, but that’s to be expected. It's so soapy it's like one of those extra foamy soap dispenser soaps.

To be entirely fair most gay men of my acquaintances have very similar relationship trajectories. Minus some of the casual murder (aside from character assassinations of course). 

EPISODE 10 - Oh Noes All Round

Not enough of my beloved divine doctor emperor of the gays. But you can’t have everything. 

Oh noes, my babies are fighting. 

But he brought you a big thistle! Don't fight!

Oh they get to kind of make up, or something. It’s sweet. Puppy Dimples accidentally caught himself a psychopath. To be fair tho, all cats are psychopaths at heart.

Oh noes Daddy McGrabby is planning on killing Cheekbones. No Daddy. Not the Cheekbones!

The cheek kiss from Cheekbones was so romantic. Normally I’m not a huge fan of this particular smooch, but under these circumstances it was very good.

EPISODE 11 - So Many Gay Emperors no one cares about the actual emperor

I wish I could shut somebody up by a simple double tap to the collarbone. It’s like the wuxia version of a block feature on tumblr.

Meanwhile, the part where 2/3 of a brain cell are comparing how hot their respective fierce gay emperors are to each other is truly hilarious. I actually clapped.

This is so ridiculous.

Epic eye roll from the remaining 1/3 of a brain cell. And I have to say I’m on his side in this matter.

Oh noes Daddy McGrabby is not, in fact, on the side of twrew lurve after all.

How sad. 

EPISODE 12 - The Bisexual In the Bathtub & other nursery rhymes of my youth

I love this silly bint of a bisexual in the bath between two fierce gay dudes who are about to give their life force to keep him alive.

Someone definitely once drew this as Lord of the Rings fanart 20 years ago.

I guess our single brain cell has been torn asunder. And Daddy McGrabby never did get his man.

Next series?

Bing him back to me.

With EVEN BIGGER SLEEVES!

IN CONCLUSION

All cards on the table?

This was undeniably a wuxia and most definitely a BL.

Evil stunning princely Cheekbones meets and falls in love with the bisexual Disaster dimples of his dreams. There’s a lot of floaty fighting, tangled plot, and overworked emotions. From start to finish it was exactly as it claimed to be, including more than the expected amount of sexual claiming.

I’m not wild about the wuxia genre, but I will tell you what I do like:

Very pretty men in flowing robes + eye makeup + hair ribbons wafting about stabbing and kissing each other plus ridiculous soap opera machinations. I also like cheekbones and dimples. AND I love a stupid gay sleeve, okay? There was also truly epic levels of stink-eye, and that too is to be lauded.

This show left me grinning like crazy. Was it great? Not really, but it was a great experience and I enjoyed it immensely.

I’m so glad you all persuaded me to watch it in the end.

Thank you! 

I should probably give it an 9/10 because I had such a good time watching it. But I’m not going to, because it isn’t a 9/10 drama. It had a lot of flaws chewing at that pretty (boom mic riddled) scenery, not to mention all the rapey rape.

It’s a solid 8/10

(source)

[purplealmonds]

Continuing to fire on all cylinders to make this Sky 🤝Mononoke collab a reality! 🐲⚖️🌊

Process GIFs and artist commentary below the cut. ⬇️

Left: Process GIF Middle: Just the background, cos I really like how it looks! Right: Illustration without the collab logo

And here are my notes on my inspirations and references. There's a lot of 'em, so instead of embedding relevant images one by one I put them in a callout sheet! For accessibility, I also included transcript (with bonus ramblings) below each sheet.

Ofuda circle modeled in Google Sketchup 2017, then lightly transformed in Photoshop to flare out. I tried my best to hand-draw these, but it the results came out really clunky and stiff. I figured if Mononoke shamelessly utilizes 3D in their show, I can too!

Krill and sky kid composition roughly inspired by the Ayakashi DVD cover illustration. On the surface level, the krill's black-and-red color scheme mirrored that of the bake-neko. Not to mention, in the world of Sky, the krill would be the best fit of a mononoke-like entity. The red background is also a nod to the red skies seen during a shard eruption in Sky.

Sky kid gesture based on the Festival Spin Dancer's Tier 3 poses and the Medicine Seller's iconic pose in the Zakishiwarahi episode as inspiration. This was the idea which springboarded this illustration into existence. I wanted to do my take of the Medicine Seller's pose, but in a more dynamic manner: rotate the pose to a profile position and set the ofuda in a diagonal, flared out arrangement.

Cape inspired by tenbin design featured in the 2024 Mononoke movie. This one's an interesting one - I wanted the cape to be a stiff material that doesn't "flap" when in flight - similar to the Aurora wing capes. It ended up looking like a kite of sorts, which I'm not entirely opposed to! I haven't had the opportunity to showcase the back view of this cape design, but I envision it having some mechanical aspects to it - the "wing" which are flared out in this illustration fold in like moth wings, and a little bell is attached to the "tail" part and it jingles a little whenever the sky kid flaps!

Bandana is based on the Scaredy Cadet's hairstyle from the Season of Assembly. Mask design utilizes the 2023 Days of Style mask and the Nintendo Pack mask as bases. Pretty self-explanatory. I basically went onto the Sky wiki and found the cosmetics that most closely matched what I was looking for. Then if necessary, I went to the Office space to do photoshoots to get the appropriate camera angles for them all.

Seasonal pendant inspired by the classic Medicine Seller's necklace and the eye motif featured in the 2024 Mononoke movie. Possibly the only one-to-one homage to the classic Medicine Seller design here, but his garnet necklace was too good of a match to the seasonal pendant. A side tangent: does the new Medicine Seller possess a necklace, let alone a mirror? So far all the shots of him don't feature it. Fascinating.

Dark dragon krill anatomy references a custom figurine crafted by @/escaflowne_n07 on Twitter. Until I found this, I was honestly at a loss finding reference for this - be it on the internet or during in-game photoshoots. The lighting on the krill in-game focused on its menacing silhouette rather than its structure. And not to mention, getting a close-up shot almost always set off the dark creature's aggro. I have no idea how this guy found the references to put this model together - well done!

Mantas, elder constellations, and sun dog references murals in the Cave of Prophecy. Krill aside, the overall illustration was leaning a little too much towards Mononoke so I tried finding opportunities to insert more Sky into it. Added bonus is that now there's storytelling in the background: during a shard eruption, a giant krill rises from the frothing waves of dark water to hunt down a flock of mantas.

Clouds behind the sun dog reference the ones featuring heavily in the Umibozu episode. This illustration has a lot of ocean theming, so I figured this would be appropriate.

Rendering style of the background is lightly inspired by the 2007 Mononoke illustration. Mainly having a 2D inked style to contrast with the more polished render of the sky kid. Funnily enough, this was a tertiary inspiration, which lead to the discovery in the next point!

Dark water waves and sun dog composition heavily references Hokusai's "The Great Wave". The waves were modified to be bottle-green of the Golden Wasteland's dark waters. The sun dog is in the spot where Mt. Fuji is in the original composition. these were all hand-drawn by the way! I merely emulated the style of the source material. As a side note, I also borrowed the spotted sea spray rendering for the krill's red spotlight.

Background pattern taken from the ofuda design featured in the 2024 Mononoke movie poster. Mainly to add some gritty texture to the sky. I worked pretty hard to replicate this ofuda design as a high-res asset so I wanted to use it more!

[nonaserpent]

Disney Villains as Birds

This idea just came in mind combining two fields I’m interested. Not just looking for the color but appearance, feeling and behavior also matters.

Very personal opinion you may disagree but friendly discussion welcomed :)

HERE WE GO!

Hans: Blue-breasted Fairywren (Malleus pulcherrimus)

Very cute and pretty-looking bird! Known for their unique courtship of delivering petals.

©Disney

©Laurie Boyle

Judge Claude Frollo: Demoiselle Crane (Grus virgo)

#That Hair

©Disney

©salis-

Hades: Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)

HE HAS TO BE A CORVIDAE. And just look at that hairstyle and that…eyebrows?

©Disney

©Daniel Plumer

Queen of Hearts: Papyrus Gonolek (Laniarius mufumbiri)

Fun fact: Like shrikes, they impale their prey on thorns.

©Disney

©Nik Borrow

Queen Grimhilde: Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axillaris)

Fairest bird of all

©Disney

©I Am birdsaspoetry.com 

Jafar: Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus)

One of my fav. Now Iago has someone his same class.

©Disney

©pilot_micha

Yzma: Lesser Florican (Sypheotides indicus)

#THAT EYELASH

©Disney

There’s no copyright restriction on the other pic from website so I guess I’m good.

Cruella De Vil: Houbara Bustard (Chlamydotis undulata)

She would see the bird as her greatest accessory.

©Disney

©Frank Vassen

Dr. Facilier: Long-tailed Glossy Starling (Lamprotornis caudatus)

The metallic effect of their plumage just matches Facilier’s shadow power and colorful effects made by his friends on the other side.

©Disney

©Nik Borrow

Mother Gothel: Long-tailed Paradise Whydah (Vidua paradisaea)

Known to be brood parasites like cuckoos.

©Disney

©Brian Henderson

Gaston: Western Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus)

No one makes that mating call like Gaston!

©Disney

©sighmanb

Ursula: Peruvian Pelican (Pelecanus thagus)

Those who couldn’t pay their price were devoured, FOR SURE

©Disney

©Rogerio Camboim S A

Maleficent: Common Raven (Corvus corax)

Need I say more?

©Disney

©Henry

Captain Hook: Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens)

Obviously

©Disney

©Andy Morffew

Lady Tremaine: Ruff (Calidris pugnax)

Her daughters would LOVE this outfit

©Disney

©Mibby23

THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING!

BONUS: Kuzco

©Richard Gibbons

[porcelana-r0ta]

The Curse of Sight, Part 6

DCxDP

[Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7]

[Ao3 Link] (locked for Ao3 members only)

Summary: When Wes Weston meets Tim Drake-Wayne, the dots start connecting. And those dots form a bat. 

xxXxx

The screen focuses on a woman with her hair pulled back in a braid. The wall behind her is just a blank gray. She smiles into the camera, half-nervous and half-calm. She says, “We are five minutes into active lockdown at WE. Everyone is taking bets on which villain is holding the CEO captive.” 

Off-screen, someone says, “We’re going to be fired for this.” 

���No way, Mr. Wayne will probably think it’s funny.” The woman looks into the camera, “Anyway, my name is Rebecca, and I think that Poison Ivy is holding Bruce Wayne ransom until he personally solves the climate crisis.” 

The camera switches to a black woman, “My name is Kourtnie and I think Mr. Wayne is being held captive by The Joker.” She waves a scolding finger at the camera. “He never got over the electric car thing.” 

The next person is an older man who clears his throat before speaking, “Ahem, I’m Johnny. I think Mr. Wayne is being held by Two-Face, and he’s just angry that our boss skipped out on poker night, or something.” He turns to someone off-camera and asks quietly, “Will I get fired for that? Or will Two-Face shoot me for saying that?” 

Someone answers, “Just hope it’s a quick death. And if you’re fired, you get unemployment.” 

Johnny looks into the camera with a deadpan expression, “Party.” 

The camera is switched from employee to employee, each placing their predictions and theories. Finally, the camera is handed to Wes, who just sighs. 

“I’m Wes, the intern. I think Mr. Wayne is being held captive by no -name villains with guns, and that he’s just getting the typical American public school experience.” 

A few moments of silence. Then, off-screen, Johnny quips, “Good to hear I won’t be the only one called into HR tomorrow.” 

When the TikTok is somehow approved and is posted, it is captioned, “It was Kite Man #onlyingotham.” 

xxXxx

Wes is relieved when he finishes his fitting, and is secretly excited with the idea of seeing animals. He knows that Damian Wayne is a little tetchy, but he’s pretty sure that Dick Grayson will be all too happy to let him pet his dog, Haley. 

It’s basically free zoo time, like going to a pet store just to look at the animals. And he’s getting paid for it! 

When they get to Wayne Manor, Wes blinks at the grandeur of it all, especially the imperial staircase in the interior entrance of the Manor and the crystal chandelier hanging from the high ceiling. 

Ugh. Eat the rich. 

“Do you guys want any snacks or drinks?” Tim asks as they walk in, the butler (introduced as Alfred Pennyworth, but everyone knows he’s basically the Wayne Grandpa) closing the door behind them. 

“I think we’re good,” Wes says. 

“Yeah,” Rebecca agrees. “We should mic up everyone who’s gonna be talking. Thanks for asking, though.” 

“I’ll have cookies and refreshments ready after you come back from the barn nonetheless,” Mr. Pennyworth says. “It is hot outside, after all.” 

Before Wes or Rebecca can say anything, Tim says, “You’re gonna want to try Alfred’s cookies. They’re legendary.” 

“You flatter me, Master Tim.”

“Well, we gotta have legendary cookies,” Rebecca laughs. 

Tim leads them into a sitting room where Dick and Damian are petting each other’s pets—Dick petting Titus and Damian petting the three-legged Haley, and Alfred the Cat overseeing her common citizens from the top of the sofa, her tail flicking imperiously behind her. 

“Guys,” Tim says, clearing his throat. He motions to Wes and Rebecca, “This is Wes Weston, my friend. And PR intern. Oh, and, uh, this is Rebecca Grey, social media support specialist.”

“Thanks for remembering me, boss!” Rebecca chimes, then silently mouths, “support specialist” to herself, as if she’s never heard herself referred to as such. 

Tim rolls his eyes, an action that Wes copies, and finishes the introductions, “And these are my brothers, Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne.”

“It’s great to meet you!” Dick says, jumping up from his crouch. He shakes hands with Rebecca, winking—always a performer, not just as a Flying Grayson, but also as a Wayne adoptee and the first Boy Wonder, surely. Rebecca nevertheless giggles. 

Then it’s Wes’s turn for a handshake, and Wes wants to think he’s imagining things. He really, really does. But, Ancients curse him (as Danny and his group would say), he’s too observant to be making things up. So that means that Dick Grayson’s smile really does widen upon making eye contact, and his eyes really do narrow in what Wes hopes is interest and not suspicion. 

When can Wes retire peacefully in the Maldives? Fifteen going on sixteen isn’t too young to consider early retirement, right? 

Dick’s handshake is blessedly done with normal strength on his end, and Wes is just a puny basketball player from Amity Park, disregarding the minor ectoplasmic contamination that most Amity teens have. It’s not enough for superpowers like it is for Danny or his older sister (and that last bit is just a suspicion on Wes’s part, given that she lives above the damn ghost portal and all). The Fentons had officially proclaimed any contamination below 20% a “non-issue,” which isn’t as reassuring as they think it is, but it’s enough to keep the GIW off the average Amity Parker’s back, so there’s that at least. 

At the intrusive thought of the Guys In White, his hands break out into a sweat, and he’s glad that he’s not shaking the first Robin’s hand anymore. That would be humiliating. 

“Okay, so we should go ahead and mic you guys up,” Rebecca says. “Mr. Drake, do you want to be in this? We have enough mics.” 

“Oh, yes, sure,” Tim says, and before he can say much else, Dick cheerfully says, “Great! I’m so excited to be in a TikTok with my little brothers. Hey, Wes, why don’t you mic up Tim? I’ll take Rebecca—” he throws her another wink, and Wes already knows from her dress specifications that she’s not straight, but she still flushes and giggles—”and then help her mic up Baby Dami, yeah?”

“Call me that again, Grayson, and Haley will have a new owner.”

Tim is also slightly flushed, so maybe it’s just hot in here as he responds, “Yes, yes, excellent idea!” 

Dick just laughs while Rebecca pulls out the mic packs from one of the smaller AV bags meant for travel. She hands one of the packs to him, and then winks at him. 

“Why did you—” But she’s already walking away to Dick, giving him a high-five before asking where he’d like the mic. 

What the hell was that? What just happened? 

Perplexed, Wes turns to Tim, but the other won’t look at him. 

“Uh, Tim? You good?”

He coughs, “Ye-yeah! Yeah! I’m great. Fantastic. So. Miking up?”

“Uh, yeah. Where do you want….” Wes waves the mic in the air. 

“Oh, just on my collar is fine. It’s not like I have to hide it, right?”

“Right.” Wes steps closer so they’re face to face, gently clipping the mic to the white collar beneath his work suit. He’s so close that he can feel the heat of Tim’s face, and when he’s done clipping the mic on, he smooths the clothes down with his palms. 

Then, he makes the mistake of looking at Tim’s eyes. 

Blue. Very blue and vibrant, like the sky while up in the airplane on his way. Not like the sky here in Gotham, sick with desperation, or in Amity, where it was more green most days now. No, Tim was alive, in a way that was foreign to both this city and Amity Park. And those blue eyes are focused squarely on him. 

Wes’s heart stops. Then it starts running. 

Tim bites his lower lip, and the movement jolts Wes into looking down. He’s never looked at another guy’s lips before, but Tim’s are pink and soft. He probably uses some kind of fancy rich people chapstick. 

Wes wonders what it tastes like. 

“Umm… Wes?”

“Yeah? Oh! Sorry, Tim.” Wes suddenly feels the heat that Rebecca and Tim must have been feeling this whole time, every part of his body burning in embarrassment. He takes a step back, clearing his throat, “Sorry, sorry… I got lost in thought.” 

“No, it’s okay! ….I did, too.” 

Wes can’t look up at him, fidgeting with the transmitter that now has to go onto Tim’s waistband. 

“Um, can you turn around? I need to, uh, hook this up to your belt….” This was humiliating. 

“Yeah, yes! Of course.” Tim turns around, and Wes makes quick work of slipping under the suit jacket and clipping the transmitter to his pants, refusing to accidentally draw out any unnecessary contact. He’s grateful that the Waynes are absurdly wealthy because at least there’s no wire to worry about threading beneath any shirts….

“You’re done now,” Wes says, and in unison, they both jump away, leaving five feet of space between them. 

“Unbelievable,” Damian Wayne mutters, glaring at them, and Wes looks up from his embarrassment to see that Dick and Damian are already both miked up, and Dick and Rebecca are looking a little too happy with the situation. Rebecca is even already wearing the headphones that will catch the audio. 

“Shut up, Demon,” Tim says, but it lacks any bite. Damian rolls his eyes. 

“Let’s do a mic check,” Rebecca says. “Mr. Drake, we’ll start with you. Say anything.” 

“Anything,” he deadpans. 

“Good. Mr. Grayson?”

“Just Dick, please!”

“Got it. Mr. Wayne?”

“Sound check.” 

“We’re on a roll, it looks like! Here, Wes, you take the headset to keep monitoring the sound, I’ll actually handle the camera.” 

Wes dutifully takes the headset from her and puts it on, adjusting the connected mic so it wasn’t so close to his mouth. 

“Alright!” Rebecca grins, delighted, and says, “Let’s get down to business!”

xxXxx

They wrap up filming at the barn where Wes can’t look away from the cow’s face. 

She has a goddamn Bat symbol painted across her forehead. She is named Bat-Cow. Sure, Tim told him about her, but seeing it?

How do these people have secret identities?

Wes thinks about that time Brucie Wayne went viral for not knowing how much frozen garlic bread cost, or that time Dickie Grayson did an acrobat routine from a chandelier at a Wayne Gala when he was a child, and he understands.

Right. Some of them pretend to be idiots.

Wes is just the idiot who can see through it, for whatever accursed reason. 

“Are cookies still on the table?” Rebecca asks, breaking through Wes’s internal thoughts. 

“Yes, always!” 

“Awesome! Let’s head back inside and remove the mic packs, then snack.” 

“A woman after my own heart!” Dick pretends to swoon, and she laughs. Tim makes eye contact with Wes and rolls his eyes pointedly. Wes has to smother a chortle. 

Damian gives one last head scratch to Bat-Cow before they start moving back up to the Manor, Tim falling in line with Wes farther back from the others. 

“Hey,” he says.

“Hey,” Wes says back. 

“I was wondering….”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, do you wanna just stay the night and ride in to work with me tomorrow? Would your mom be cool with it?” 

His mom would be more than cool with him staying at a friend’s house. Because that’s what Tim was, right? Just a friend. And his mom used to be so worried about his social development. 

“Yeah,” he says. “She knows who to hunt down if I end up in Gotham Harbor. I’ll text her.” 

Tim smiles and elbows his ribs, “Scaryyy.”

“Yeah, well. Moms.” Moms who were Amity Park natives transplanted to Gotham City? A different breed of terrifying, probably. Even if his mom moved to Gotham before the portal opened, there was always something unsettling about Amity Park, Illinois.

“True,” Tim notes. 

As casually as he can, he says, “I’ll need to borrow clothes.”

“Right, obviously. You… can borrow mine, if that’s cool.”

“Super cool. Obviously.” Wes takes his turn to softly elbow Tim, even though he knows that he could put all his strength into it and it would be nothing more than a light brush against Tim’s Red Robin vigilante muscles. 

Tim’s smile is soft and kind and his eyes are blue and alive. 

Wes’s heart pounds. His skin prickles. He feels hotter, hotter than he did a few seconds ago, but surely it’s just because he’s under Gotham City’s June sun.

Still… he kind of likes the heat. 

xxXxx

Taglist: @theamazingfox @quietlyscared @lumosfeather18581   @blankliferain @amercurio @gin2212 @starscreamlover @hoarder-of-gender @the-ghost-trader @iariinay @ectoplasm024 @theblackcatscratchpost @chaos-n-kindness @overtherose @roseinbloom02 @jaguarthecat @i23432i

If you want to be added to the Tag List, just ask in the replies! 

Ao3 is updated first BUT I upload onto Tumblr 10-30 minutes after uploading on Ao3, so don’t worry about missing out on early content or anything. Everything is updated within the hour :)

[psiroller]

gaymers preview

i blacked out and what is this

au where everyone is playing an mmo that simulates dungeon meshi world but theyre all regular dudes named like larry and charles and stuff. the worst thing they do in this excerpt is cuss. im going to go finish chapter 4 but a friend needed a juicy carrot dangled in their face to finish their job applications. i am the picture of benevolence

cw: excessive gamer references and lingo

“Sorry, guys,” Laios mumbled into his crisp, high-fidelity mic. “I drew aggro early again.”

Chilchuck’s sigh came out in a raspy crackle. “We’re four rooms behind you, moron, what am I supposed to do about that?”

“I’m kiting the dragon back to you,” said Laios, hammering at his mechanical keyboard to try to get his speed buff cast while navigating the winding dungeon instance.

“You’re what!?” Chilchuck’s busted old Logitech headset clipped due to the volume. Laios’ hand slipped and he parried needlessly, locking him in place for a fraction of a second, the overlapping footfalls of the red dragon growing louder behind him. His ears were sweating under the cuffs.

“Laios, take the path on your right and keep running,” Marcille instructed, exasperated. “This is why you stay with the party, okay?”

“But we were talking for so long, I got bored,” Laios whined.

“Then why are you on the RP server, dumbass!?” Chilchuck hissed. Laios misfired a spell, alerting the party to his presence. The spatial audio on his headphones alerted him to his party moving up the tunnel perpendicular to the path he’d been assigned, chasing after the dragon.

“Because this is the one Marcille is on, Falin,” Laios jeered. Falin sent a winking smiley in party chat.

“Don’t deflect, Laios. You’re in deep shit if you die,” Chilchuck growled. Laios’ brainwaves flatlined as the dragon caught up to him, dousing him in crustily-textured flames that obscured his character. He kept aimlessly running, finding himself sliding along a wall once the flames cleared. The dragon wound up for its deadly right-armed strike and chunked a hefty amount of his health bar. Just as he regained his bearings, the dragon galloped and slid into a tail swipe that he managed to parry—it bought him just enough time for Falin to heal him, a glittery golden glow enveloping the screen. Laios slumped into the headrest of his gaming chair and breathed.

“Oh my God, thank you thank you thank you thank you—”

Another smiley, this one without the teasing wink. One day they’d talk her into turning her mic on, but she always worried about breathing too loudly. The dragon spun in the opposite direction for its follow-up attack, staggering Laios despite another successful parry. Chilchuck’s scrawny rouge dashed in after everyone else, buffed to the nines and firing poison arrows from the mouth of the arena. Marcille hammered the dragon with a barrage of fireballs, so overleveled for this dungeon that the dragon’s fire resistance was negated by the sheer amount of damage. A bunch of pre-cooked meals appeared in his inventory, dropped onto him by Senshi. The dragon turned its ire upon the dwarf, being within melee range, and hit him with a jet of flame—his health dropped by fractions of fractions. He ate another tail swipe without moving, his stout character waving at Laios and dancing a delightful high-kicking jig. The dragon tried in vein to get him below 75% of his max health before it all healed back in a few seconds. He continued tanking all the attacks, ramming the dragon with his shield every time the cooldown reset, and Laios hopped back into the fray. They alternated taking heavy swings, keeping the dragon stunlocked and helpless as Marcille charged her nuke spell, the one that made Chilchuck’s shitty Gateway lag for minutes on end.

Ka-choom. The dragon had collapsed before the animation was completed, the particle effects whipping away to reveal the corpse, glittering to indicate there was loot to be claimed. Laios cheered along with the bombastic fanfare; he heard Falin whoop from her room next door.

“Well done, newbies,” Senshi laughed. His beard brushed against his microphone, a strangely comforting sound. “You had me worried for a second!”

“Why? It’s just a game,” Laios said, clueless. “I’d just respawn, wouldn’t I?”

“Well, for one thing, I don’t think our characters like dying very much,” Chilchuck said flatly. He’d dropped character, knowing that the night was drawing to a close.

“That, and it’s a huge hassle to run all the way from the start of the instance to come get your corpse,” Marcille huffed. “We’d have to wait for you to come back so you wouldn’t miss experience or loot… and Senshi has to log off in thirty minutes.”

“Gotta prep for the breakfast rush,” he said with grim resignation.

Laios briefly tabbed out to check his system clock. “At two in the morning?”

“Three here, son. I got to get the croissants rolled before five so they’re in the oven by five thirty, or the kids who come here to mooch off my wifi will buy something more than the cheapest coffee I have.”

“Oh.” Laios scratched his cheek. “Well, uh, have a good day at work?”

Senshi laughed, raspy and warm. “Someone’s never worked food service. Take care, everyone.” He accepted his share of the loot, giving away anything that couldn’t be crafted into a meal, and blinked out of the instance. When they emerged from the dungeon, he was long gone.

“I think I’m calling it here, too,” said Marcille. “Great work, you two. Until our next adventure!”

Her character bowed, and she too faded away.

I think this is a good stopping point, Falin typed. Laios smirked. “Oh yeah, I bet.”

>:( Don’t stay up too late, big brother! You have an exam in the morning.

Laios rolled his eyes, but he typed the emote shortcut to wave her off. Falin logged out. All that remained of his guild at this ungodly hour was Chilchuck, his character sat on the ground, likely checking the stats on the loot he’d acquired. He didn’t back out of the call; Laios could hear a long, whistling inhale, a holding of breath, and a satisfied exhale. He’d already lit up his post-raid cigarette.

“Well, uh, sorry for that,” Laios laughed. His chair squeaked as he shifted around in it. “I’m used to games where you can just run in and start pummeling the bad guys.”

Another long inhale. “What kind of games do you play? Call of Duty?”

“Ew, no,” Laios said, nose wrinkled. “I like Monster Hunter.”

Chilchuck snorted.

“What? Not good enough for you?”

“Can’t say it’s my kind of game, no,” Chilchuck said. There was a hint of a smile in his voice. “I know a girl that plays it. She loves it. But I guess I like more of a storyline in mine.”

“Ooh. Do you play JRPGs? Final Fantasy?”

Chilchuck barked out a laugh. “Final Fantasy was never my style either. I guess I prefer those old ones based on Dungeons and Dragons. That’s why I gravitated to this game.”

Laios sat his character down next to Chilchuck, loathe to log off but too tired to tackle his solo quests.

“Stuff like Divinity and Baldur’s Gate, then?”

“Yeah, Baldur’s Gate, that’s the one.” Chilchuck sounded a little brighter on the line. “So you’ve got some taste, eh?”

“Never played it.”

“Ah.” Chilchuck took another drag. “Elder Scrolls?”

“I played Skyrim,” Laios said. Chilchuck sniffed.

“Of course,” he grumbled. “Morrowind? Oblivion?”

“I always wanted Oblivion, but my mom wouldn’t let me buy it. Witchcraft.”

“That’s a shame,” Chilchuck hummed. “It’s good. A bitch to get running on modern machines, but I think it holds up.”

“How long have you been gaming?” Laios asked.

“Since the  late eighties, early nineties.” Laios gasped, and Chilchuck laughed it off. The sound made Laios buzz. “Yeah, yeah, I’m old, get it out of your system.”

“That’s so cool! You’re into retro stuff?”

“I guess that’s what the stuff I grew up with counts as now,” Chilchuck sighed. “I heard someone call Aerosmith an ‘oldie’ and almost had a cardiac event.”

“You are old, then.”

“Yep. But I also got to play Fallout when it first came out. That ending was nuts. I’m glad I didn’t get spoiled for it.”

“The old, isometric Fallout games? You like those? I like Fallout.”

“Yeah. I’m guessing you played Fallout 3?”

“Shooting people’s heads off in VATS is fun,” Laios said giddily.

“Sure it is,” Chilchuck drawled, and Laios had the sinking feeling he’d given the wrong answer. “New Vegas?”

“I was never into cowboys,” Laios admitted. “Never tried it.”

Chilchuck clicked his tongue. “God. I got some things to teach you.”

Laios sat ramrod straight in his chair.

“I’d—I’d like that,” he sputtered, before he could second-guess it. There was a long pause as Chilchuck polished off the last of his cigarette, a distorted shuffling sound as he moved to stamp out the butt.

“Yeah?” Chilchuck’s voice was low and warm, the hiss of his terrible mic like the soft noise of a record player. “I guess I could dig around in my boxes and rip a few CDs for you. For the sake of education.”

Laios was no stranger to wrestling with his rig to play older games. He had a PSX emulator for Monster Rancher that he’d managed to get to read discs properly, and some old PC simulator games that they just didn’t make anymore. Yet still:

“Could you—help me set them up? On call? Sometime?”

“I don’t see why not,” Chilchuck said. “I got nothing better to do.”

[redrcs]

Black Tailed Kites, hunting for nesting sticks. They skim over the ground and grab a suitable stick, then fly to a nest building tree.

Cawnpore Lookout

On my travels

[stepmarchen]

Animal Motifs in A Stepmother's Marchen

I'll be breaking down the (main) characters and their respective animal motifs in A Stepmother's Marchen. Potential spoilers ahead.

Shuri: Rabbit

Animal Characteristics: Gentle, Kind, Swift, Alert, Patient

Visual Symbolism: Split hair = bunny ears, large round eyes

Story Motif: Shuri is literally a prey animal caught in a world of predator animals, including her children. While her nature is gentle, she doesn't hesitate to fight against injustices done to her or her family. While headstrong, Shuri often requires help from her stronger (physically and politically) allies to help her overcome or escape various conflict.

More Below

Nora: Wolf

Animal Characteristics: Adaptable, Brave, Loyal, Wildness, Intuitive

Visual Symbolism: Dark hair, blue eyes, often seen wearing informal (messy) clothes, Nuremberg Crest = Wolves

Story Motif: Nora is a lone wolf amongst the Nuremberg Family and prefers lurking in the shadows. While he seen as wild and brooding to those he dislikes, he is loyal and eager to please to those in his favor. He is quick to adapt to social situations and observes his opponents from afar before striking.

Jeremy: Lion

Animal Characteristics: Confident, Aggressive, Direct, Stubborn

Visual Symbolism: Golden hair, Feral grin, Neuschwanstein Crest = Lions

Story Motif: Jeremy has shown himself to be self-confident and aggressive, choosing to use his fists over mental tactics to get his way. He is fiercely protective towards his family and is a natural leader among his peers.

Theo: Eagle

Animal Characteristics: Tenacious, Authoritative, Egocentric, Leader

Visual Symbolism: White hair, golden (single exposed "eagle") eye, Baden Bismark Crest = Eagles

Story Motif: While Theo is distinctly selfish and possessive, he puts forward a facade of humility that is expected of a future leader. He is guilty of using underhanded methods to get what he wants, even at the expense of his subject of desire (Shuri).

Richelieu: Raven

Animal Characteristics: Prophetic, Transformation, Intelligent, Cunning, Partnership, Guidance

Visual Symbolism: Black hair, eye bags, long black robes

Story Motif: Cardinal Richelieu has once experienced "rebirth" and follows a deep devotion towards God. He works at the hand of nobody but often gives mysterious words of (sometimes manipulative) advice to others. He has expressed an interest in partnering with Shuri in recent chapters.

Ludovika: Swallow tailed kite

Animal Characteristics: Divinity, Freedom, Awakening, Playful, Transformation

Visual Symbolism: Split hair = split tail

Story Motif: Ludovika was initially a commoner turned Empress, with a bright personality and desire for power. Johannes has expressed a desire to cage her, but since her death, she has flown beyond his grasp.

Bonus: Alberon as a fox(?) and Everette as a chipmunk

[magnetothemagnificent]

I am on Spring break so I finally get to focus on birding again! Today's birds:

Little blue heron

Black vulture

Great egret

Sandhill crane

Mourning dove

Cattle egret

Great blue heron

Anhinga

Double crested cormorant

Red winged Blackbird

Limpkin

Wood stork

White ibis

Muskovy duck

Boat-tailed grackle

American crow

American coot

Common gallinule

Common grackle

Glossy ibis

Palm warbler

Common grackle

Osprey

American purple gallinule

Wood duck

Red shouldered hawk

Pied billed grebe

Royal tern

Eastern Phoebe

Roseate spoonbill

Black-bellied Whistling duck

Tricolor heron

Northern harrier

Yellow rumped warbler

Tree swallow

Swallow tailed kite

Ring billed gull

Turkey vulture

Little blue heron

Mallard

White pelican

Red eyed vireo

Mulard

Pekin x Mallard Hybrid (there was this fascinating flock of ducks consisting of mallards, feral pekins, muskovy ducks, mulards (muskovy x mallard hybrid), and Pekin/mallard hybrids)

Feral American pekin

[dansnaturepictures]

24/06/2024-My first Garden Grass-veneer moth of the year, Greylag Goose goslings, view, plantain, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen and Azure Damselfly on walks at Lakeside Country Park and buddleia out the back today.

My first Small Skipper of the year another great summer butterfly to get into my year, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Marbled White, Black-tailed Skimmer, Robin, Swift, Red Kite seen from my room, my first great willowherb of the year, purple loosestrife, red valerian, forget-me-not, scabious and meadow crane's-bill were other highlights today.