#learning how beaks work with my style and such

[pikachu-deluxe]

it's honestly so relieving to realize what you were missing for your creative projects no matter how dumb and obvious you think it should have been

[bluginkgo]

"Nice Corpse House My Guy" Remastered Behind Scenes!

The most glaring and obviously annoying thing that's evident in this comic- if you even wanna call it that- are the god forsaken BACKGROUNDS. There was a lot of experimentation going on for backgrounds here. Because the first couple pictures, THAT is what I used to draw backgrounds as. Trees are sticks and grass is flat. I realized that wasn't gonna cut it. I didn't like it at all. So I started experimenting and boy was it messy. It finally sorta settled on the style by the end of the comic. I'm still unhappy with it, but it'll have to do for now.

Here's a small comparison

One thing that I ran into was how I was gonna show that N was in his "killer mode." I could have placed the X's over the pupils, but found it unnatural looking in my style. So instead, it was settled to a concentrated light in the pupils.

Best seen between these two. The second N snaps out of it, the X/light in his pupils disappears, and the normal light returns to his eyes, which is similar to Uzi's.

Another thing I started slowly including was Uzi's little tooth on her beak.

The jutting out portion on her beak is a personal touch. Although it doesn't really matter, I included it to separate her from the rest of the "worker drones." Seen as she's an absolute solver host and has a solver form, something was going to creep up in her crow design, hence the little teeth. Doll would have them too, given I draw her in the form I've been thinking about.

Another thing I ran into, was WHAT WAS UZI GONNA TAKE N DOWN WITH?! This is a bird vs. a dog! No way was a bird gonna decommission a whole dog! Then this scene came up in my recent rewatch of Murder Drones.

And it clicked. Loooong long time ago, I had a very specific hyperfixation: birds. One thing I learned that some pigeons do, was they're capable of doing a somersault. And in mid-air, too!

I was finally set. The SICK AS HELL RAILGUN was downgraded to a simple piece of shiny glass/pebble that attracted Uzi- and crows love shiny things. And the same pebble will be used to launch at N's sensor that made him trip over. Because I was also not going to draw N doggo losing his head. I love gorey and bloody shows and art- hence why I watched Murder Drones- but I honestly had no idea how to recreate that, and I suck at drawing gore in general, I mean, did you SEE the crow N was chewing on? That was my best try honestly.

Here are some progress shots and how the layers worked in the scene where N is bonked with a stick.

As per usual, start with a sketch, this is actually 2nd sketch. The first is much rougher, just some circles and random shapes to outline his body form.

Then, this is all outlined and rendered. Along with some additions like the stick and the little rock.

The background was the hardest, aside from some weird angles I picked to draw Uzi and N at. I suck at backgrounds, like I've mentioned many times before. So, this needed a lot of testing and experimenting. Most of this works because I found some cool brushes to use. But aside from that, I honestly still don't like how it looks. It's slightly better than my stick trees and flat grass though, I guess.

Put it all together, add a black layer to simulate nighttime, put some lights to show moonlight through trees and voila, you've got an N doggo that got bonked by a stick! I see this project/comic mostly as practice and testing. Background testing mostly, and some brushes. The background/brush testing actually spilled over into another post of the solver Uzi I made a bit back. I'd say I was pretty happy how it turned out, but brush wise, I was going to test around a little more.

NUzi comic 'Sleep' is my next project. Uhhh, don't ask me when I'm gonna have it out, I have no idea. I'm guessing sometime end of Jan and beginning of Feb. But that might be delayed seeing as Murder Drones ep7 should be out sometime soon too, so I'll need to go crazy about that for a bit and then I'll go back to my usual thing ^_^ 'Sleep' will take place still between the Pilot and Heartbeat.

P.S. I have all 26 pages story boarded... good god what happened to the 'mini' part of the comic 😭

Anyways, why are you still here?! Have a cookie ^_^ you made it! Have a nice day now, bye bye <3

[adobe-outdesign]

Could you review the Eyrie? They're one of my favorite Neopets.

(Note: I don't have any Pokemon review requests right now, so I'm doing one extra Neopet review to backlog through those a bit.)

I always thought Eyries were really nice-looking pets. They're basically griffins, but with these really distinct owl-like feathery "ears" on their head that have edge markings dividing the front from the side. It gives them a really nice head shape when combined with the beak, and the overall anatomy is surprisingly realistic (wings are a bit off technically speaking, but that's okay). Like out of all the Neopets, Eyrie are one of a few that you could picture IRL without many changes.

In addition to the head markings, they also sport several lighter areas on their wings and tail, along with a thick fluffy mane that's usually darker but not always (even the base colors don't have this consistent). These break up the body in classic Neopets style and make it easy to read. Their beaks are traditionally orange, which is accented by their eyes so the color is carried through.

Eyries are one of a few species that benefited from customization. Their old art wasn't bad, but the wings were all wrong (they were going backwards against the body lengthwise for some reason, and were halfway down the torso instead of coming out of the mane) and elements like the mane shape and tail position look a lot better. Otherwise, the changes were minimal.

Favorite Colours:

Chocolate: The chocolate Eyrie does everything you want it to do. Whipped cream for the areas with long fur, wafer wings, chocolate swirl ears, white chocolate accents, and some fancy decorative filigree markings. It is completely over-the-top and looks delicious. My only nitpick is that the waver texture is flat, when it should go back in space at an angle and have more of a bend to it.

Darigan: The Darigan Eyrie honestly doesn't event look that different than the regular Eyrie, but it does emphasize how well griffons work as vaguely demonic high-fantasy creatures. While subtle, changes include a different beak shape, more fur, extra-thick wings, a fluffier mane that goes behind the head, and giant claws.

Both the converted and UC/styled versions are fine, though they have their pros and cons. The converted version looks a bit too much like a normal Eyrie due to the change in pose, and the lose of the spearhead tail-tip and subtle feather wing textures is criminal. However, it is much better shaded than the UC version, and it fixes some of the janky anatomy like the weird fold in the wings and the screwed up haunch and foreleg.

Maraquan: A lot of Maraquan pets nowadays tend to be based off of specific aquatic animals, and while that's fine, I really like it when they just take the base Neopet and adapt it to living underwater in a more abstract way. Such is the case of the Maraquan Eyrie, which has pretty fin-like wings, fins on the head instead of feathers, a swisy, extra furry tail, and a beautiful orange and blue color scheme. Little details, like the speckles and the lighter orange on the underbelly and paws, dd a lot to the design, and the whole thing flows beautifully.

It has a UC/styled version, though the differences are fairly negligible. The UC version has a slightly better pose, high-contrast thick and thin lineart, a wavier mane, and a better head shape. However, the converted version is still pretty spot-on, and it fixes the wing anatomy by putting them on the shoulders where they belong (Neopets artists learn to draw wings challenge) (impossible). In other words, both are great.

[2d-dreams]

The Four Horsemen of Flatland Art Styles

+ a personal style i came up with.

These are the ones I know of/have seen/draw, and how I refer to them. If you have come up with or seen any other styles let me know ::D

I usually alternate between these styles when drawing depending on mood or the drawing's scene's tone or what characters I'm drawing.

1- "Simply shapes" or faceless or plain style idk

basically they are Just shapes and lines. Colorless/grayscale perhaps. No organs or facial features: merely shapes. Maybe ur tired of this anti chromatist non sense, you just wanna have fun with the shapes, so you color their insides. Pretty simple.

The 1965 Flatland short film is a great example. It is also very great. Go watch it! ::D

2- "Bi-dimensional cellular organisms" AKA Flatland Film style

They look like bacteria lol. Pretty identifiable! have one eye and mouth on one of their sides and little hairs all over! Usually also have simple visible organs, and a characteristic cog shaped brain.

You may either draw Women as stiff lines like in the film, or as bendy lines like snakes.

3- "Bill Cipher" or "Flat Dreamers" style

The shapes are simple, occasionally colored on the insides or bearing patterns. Occasionally also wear clothes or accessories! They usually have one eye on their inside and limbs.

4- "Insides out" or charseraph style

I believe it was charseraph who came up w/this. Correct me if I am wrong ::D

This style portrays a more realistic organ design/arrangement, and is most prominent by the fangs or beaks of the Flatlanders! It is easier to distinguish from the bacteria style because it lacks eyes and hairs/cilia.

Bonus: I made the last/extra style based on non-Euclidean geometry. The style and the world of Flatland inspired by it arent finished yet as I am barely learning about this topic. I will post about it soon though ::D it also bears my view of Flatlander organs, with really the only interesting thing to note being that they have 1 lung and it works more like an accordion than a balloon. Kinda like bug breathing. Will make post on Flat Biology laterrr.

Note: Yeah I forgot about Shapehumans, Humanified Flatlanders, and the Flatland Movie. Cuz I don't draw in those styles. But hey I'm acknowledging them right now !!!

[loving-apparitions]

Swatch is very polite and a charmer. From first courting you to well into your relationship, they treat you with chivalry. Pulling out and pushing in your seat, opening doors for you, kissing the back of your hand, buying you flowers, all of it. They think you deserve to be treated like treasure.

They dish out compliments often. Maybe it's how nicely coordinated your outfit is, how nice a particular top looks on you, the joy in your smile, the sound of your laugh, how quickly you find a solution to a problem, how hard you've worked on a project...they have something sweet to say about nearly everything!

It's not hot air, so you know. They genuinely see a lot of beauty in the world and thus a lot of wonderful attributes in you. They're happy if they can tell you these thoughts they have, for it's both a chance for them to express and they hope their words make you happy.

They are often busy with work, so your date nights usually have to be scheduled.

They don't take you to Color Cafe for dates as it's their workplace. They'd rather go somewhere that they can be treated as a guest rather than employee.

One of their favorite types of date is sightseeing. They like taking you to the Ferris Wheel, where you can sit next to each other and hold hands while you look over the city. Or out of downtown where you can watch fireworks. Or walking around the city and browsing for interesting venues.

They like the opportunity to sightsee, and the chance to be as quiet or talkative as they’d like. Sometimes silence while you share space or touch is calming, and sometimes it brightens their mood to listen to you.

Swatch’s other favorite type of date is staying at home. They love relaxing, especially when they can get cozy with you. To them, just putting on music or a movie and cuddling can be a date.

Their kisses are always soft, and they have to tilt their head in order to kiss you without poking you. They frequently caress you with the end of their beak in lieu of a kiss when giving affection to your hand, cheek, or forehead.

They love soft physical affection, giving and receiving. They’ll nuzzle you, gently caress you, delicately hold your hands, rub your back. They love to play with your hair, sometimes just running their hands through it slowly, and sometimes, if it’s long enough, silently styling it.

As for them, they love if you scratch their head or chin, if you carefully stroke or preen their feathers, or massage their shoulders. They also find it wonderfully relaxing to bathe or shower with you.

They pepper their talk to you with pet names like they pepper your skin with nuzzles and kisses. They love the expression you make when they call you something sweet. Their favorites are “darling,” “dearest,” “my sweet,” “love,” and “beautiful/handsome.”

Swatch is a sucker for being called names too. When you call them something affectionate, their head feathers puff up a bit.

They love to learn about your interests. They’re naturally curious and as stated before, they see beauty in just about everything. So they love knowing all about your opinions and skills. And they just adore watching and listening when you talk excitedly.

They understand communication is important, but they still tend to avoid telling you anything that might trouble you. When they have a stressful day, they try to calm themself before going to see you so they don't bring that stressful energy to you. When they're worried about something they're dealing with, they prefer to journal and think about it rather than vent to you.

[lavitaofdeath]

Rescue Bots fighting style in my AU

So regarding This post again where I mentioned several things, the main one being about Blades fighting like Ty Lee from ATLA

So I´ve brought myself to do Heatwave, Boulder and Chase fighting style in their holoforms! /can also be considered in their bot forms

That and explaining more about Blades one of course!

Blades

As I´ve stated before, since Blades is the team official medic, he must know all about Cybertronian; biology, anatomy and medicine. Since rescue missions sometimes, or most of the time, end up with the rescuers or the rescued injured. And having a medic in the team ,or at least someone with medical knowledge till help arrive, must be if not needed then OBLIGATORY.

So for me Blades fighting like Ty Lee works in his Holoform, because her fighting style is called "White Crane Fist" or “beak hands” or gōu shǒu, and this type of style emphasizes on circular movements, grace, and subtlety. The style also requires strong balance, reach, agility, and speed over brute force.

Also in this type of fighting style, it is necessary to know about human anatomy, or precisely about pressure points (if they actually belong to the branch of biology I apologize for the confusion). By hitting a sequence of pressure points, you can paralyze or even kill enemies.

I don´t know how but I think this could be aplied, somehow to their Cybertronian form!

Boulder

Now, while Boulder has a huge frame and powerful alternate mode, his gentle nature might prevent him from acting violently, he may dislike violence and his main focus is on rescue missions. However, if necessary, he must resort to violence to protect his comrades.

He is absolutedly the most peaceful bot in his team and with his little innocent fascination about Earth´s Flora and Fauna, he is definitely the most protected of his team.

And even if he doesn´t recurs to violence, his team, mostly Blades and Heatwave insist that he needs to AT LEAST know personal defence or carry a weapon around, a small weapon.

So I imagine him using "nunchucks" or "nunchaku", like TMNT Mikey. He is good fighting with his nunchucks and decent at hand to hand combat.

Chase

Now while Boulder is the peaceful one that doesn´t like to use violence unless necessary, Chase on the other hand is capable of using violence but he strongly belief in the law, meaning that he will rather use legal police procedures that using violence.

But he agreed, by order of Heatwave, to resort to violence if necessary or in case of life or death, he without a doubt follows the orders of his superiors and Heatwave is the leader of his team therefore he must obey him, also because he understands his concerns.

So like Boulder, I imagine that Chase also carries a weapon around, and he is better at fighting than Boulder. So in my perspective his fighting style is kinda like Tanjiro Kamado from Kny, but without the Breathing Style, he is good with his katana.

Or like in many headcannons he knows about the Cyberninjas style of fighting.

Heatwave

Believe me or not I was in PAIN trying to figure out how Heatwave´s fighting should be (well his and Chase´s) so I will just say this.

Heatwave already has the will to fight, even though he is a Rescue Bot and his main objective is to save people, he wants to join Team Prime to be able to fight!

But even though that he NEEDS and WANTS to fight, he knows down deep in his Spark, that he cannot leave his team, his family, alone, he knows that there are dangers and that his team is the only full and functional Rescue team left. They are the only thing he has left, they and the Burns family are his home.

So even if he knows he can´t leave his home, that does not stop him from learning to figh. He already is very strong and he is really focused on improving, but he must be a great fighter, if not the best of his team(Blades following him).

He is accurate and lethal, he makes sure to study his opponent's movements when fighting them, if he sees a pattern he can predict his opponent's next movement and stop it in time with a blow.

It might not look at it but he can adjust his water cannons so that they have more pressure and cause damage to his enemy.

So I see him as a less deathly but still good fighter like the Winter Soldier AKA Bucky Barnes!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ThisIsFinallyDoneOmG-

This took me FOREVER, I´m in Spain WITHOUT THE S!

[soggy-bread]

Progress pictures for my cormorant! I had a fun time and learned a lot working on this. It took about a month working on and off, and is my biggest stamp project so far. These are in chronological order and I’m going to talk about them bellow the cut as a reflection/journal entry for myself.

A lot changed over time as I worked on this. I started with the cormorant, knowing I wanted something that would fit on my jacket and be worn daily. I wanted to include aspects inspired by the song The Cormorant by San Fermin, such as the beak and the eyes. In the first sketch, the cormorant was holding a small orb in its beak, also referencing the song, and something I changed later. I also changed the perspective of the bird, having its back turned to the viewer based on the reference photo I was using.

While lining, I felt like I was focusing so much on photo realism and getting every detail that I was unsure of how to translate that onto the stamp. I talked through this with a friend and was able to go a more fun (whimsical?) route, adding the spirals on the wings and simplifying the feathers.

Out of all of it, and probably my least favorite part of making larger and/or more detailed prints, is transferring the sketch. There has got to be a more efficient and less stressful way than the way I’m doing it, but that’s going to come with learning and practice. For now, I’m pleased with how the cormorant transferred.

My favorite part of the carving ended up being the swirls on the wings. Carving was also where I feel like I learned the most. I really like the more rough style of other stamp carvings, and compared to the last piece I did, this had a lot more negative space. Before, I had been focused on line detail, but while carving out the negatives I realized that I could be making my lines that way, carving around them instead of lining around them. It felt like I had found a way to stop stressing over the tiny details and also get that different style I wanted.

What I would change. Mostly, sticking to the design elements that reflected lines in the song, such as stylizing the eyes to look more diamond and geometric, and the beak to be sharper. Also, keeping the orb, representing the heart of the person in the song. I’d also change the perspective on the shorter left wing, as the feather layers near the top don’t quite follow the wing shape how I’d like them too.

Overall, I am super proud of this piece, and it’s made even more special by the fact that I finished it (on the morning of the concert lol) and got to wear it to said concert, and that I was able to talk to and get to show one of the band members, Ellis. I’m really excited to keep working as well, I’ve got some sketches for Mother’s Day cards that I feel like I’m much more inspired to do, having a new way of looking at the progress. I want to come back and redo this one day.

Pretend there’s a link to the song here, I’m unable to link it myself for some reason. If anyone reads this far I highly recommend the entire Cormorant I & II album by San Fermin (Or anything by them but I’m a huge fan and biased lol). I don’t really have the proper words to describe it, but the vocals are incredible, and I love the way the different layers and instruments interact. At this point I’m tired and running out of steam, so I might come back and edit the link in later. If not, oh well, this is mostly for my own reflection and enjoyment ✌️

[forthedancingandthethriving]

Two. Two people who can potentially figure out his whole scheme. Tama Leora and Tiresias.

He'd only come to know of Tama recently. He'd been slowly setting up private group - the Teeth in the Dark. They were an old guild in Devos that had been disbanded, but now he had brought them back together. They were the only ones who got to see his 'true personality'.

"So, what'd you call this meeting for?" Lumiere lounges on a windowsill far about the meeting room.

King Damien deadpans. "Would it kill you to come down, first?"

"I'd rather not."

Clicking his tongue, Damien turns his head to look at the rest of the room. A large and round, dark oak meeting table is in the center of the room. He sits at it, with Queen Fluerette beside him. Members of the Teeth in the Dark also sit around.

"Alright, let's get started." Damien sighs before narrowing his eyes at the leader of the Teeth in the Dark. "To start, how the hell did you end up losing 20 toms to Queen Melody's aides?!"

The leader held up his paws. "I have no clue either, sire. Those two were like monsters cutting through them, especially that Dolin." He sighs. "His fighting style was familiar too. But I can't remember from where."

"That's irrelevant." Queen Fluerette narrows her eyes. "I gave you cloaking spells, and yet the kit still found you out."

"It's like she could hear us-!"

"Quiet, idiot." The leader hisses, whacking the one who spoke up over the head. "We used Wind runes. There's no feasible way she could have."

Lumiere, from his little perch, let's out a hum. Damien flicks an ear and glances up at him. He's come to learn that's the other's 'I know something you don't' hum. "Do you have something to say, Lumiere?"

"Yeah, why are you keeping the bird?"

Everyone's eyes drift up to the cage on the ceiling, where Auyrn was kept. A cloth kept the bird's beak shut, and a rune was place on him so that no one could track the bird.

Damien shrugs. "I can't have news of this getting to Luminos. Even if I can.. pluck some strings, it's still dangerous. Especially if you or Fluerette is implicated."

He gives a warm smile to said queen, who looks away as if to hide a blush. Lumiere narrows his eyes before rolling them. "Riiiiight." He then gives a small smirk. "But that's not what you wanted me to say, hm?"

The king flicks an ear. ".. yes. Lumiere, do you know something about Tama that we don't?"

He hums, looking out the window. "Well, we're all well aware that I'm a Mandana. My father was famous for his connection to how our magic actually works." He chuckles. "He passed down some things onto me. Particularly, about.. Blessings."

"Get to the point." Fluerette narrows her eyes.

"It's a pretty good chance that Tama has the Blessing of Zephyr. More specifically.." Lumiere looks down at them and grins. Coincidentally, the setting sun's rays of light pour into the room, bathing him in an eerie glow. "It seems like she's been given the ability to hear anyone and anything, anywhere." He chuckles. "Any type of concealment spells are useless against a Muse."

"And you couldn't have told us sooner?!" The leader of the Teeth in the Dark hisses, his tail puffing up.

"You never asked." Lumiere continues to grin.

King Damien rubs his forehead before sighing. "That's something to keep in mind then. Now.. moving on."

He hums, and a large, rolled up map appears in his paw. He sets it down and allows it to roll out. It's a map of Harmonia, with nine spots marked.

"Look. The marks here are seals. They're the way we can win this whole thing before it even begins."

Lumiere's ears swivel towards them. Damien had been talking about a country-wide coup..

"They contain copious amounts of magical energy." Damien explains smoothly. "If we open the seals all at once, we'll have that magic for ourselves, and we'll able to take our rightful places atop Harmonia."

The villain narrows his eyes as he thinks over those words.

"So.. I would have a monopoly over ice magic?" Queen Fluerette tilts her head. Though she blushes lightly when Damien places his paws on her shoulders and leans over.

"Ice and wind magic." He smiles. "I intend to give you both seals. The rest of the seals will be divided between us evenly."

"Sounds.. good." Lumiere speaks up amongst the other noises of agreement. But his tail flicks from irritation. There was definitely something Damien wasn't telling them..

That, and something his father once said was nagging at him. Something about.. some things needing two souls to open? Or something like that.

He crosses his arms, eyes glowing as the sun finally goes beneath the horizon. He couldn't care less about Damien underestimating him.. but if he finds out the king was trying to dupe him in some way?

Then he'll make sure to show the king why all the kingdoms were so wary (if not scared) of Lumiere.

[sublimenol]

Sonic Villain OCs!

So I've peddled about Deirdre a lot, but in her little AU world, I've got several villains that are her recurring baddies. I wrote up a few profiles on them for anyone interested for what bubbles at my headspace lately.

Gyre the Ibis

“My stratagems are sound. I simply need better soldiers.”

Gender: Male

Affiliation: Independent, Resistance(Formerly), Battle-Bird Armada(Formerly)

Description: Primary Color: White body. Orange-red masking around his eyes resembling goggles. Yellow beak. Fingertips are black feathers. Stylized take on an American White Ibis. Looks similar to Babylon Rogues. Lank, “Geek shaped”.

Wears a knee length, drab olive all weather coat buttoned up to his neck. Shoes are boot polish black. Attempts to look imposing and militaristic and serious.

Weapon of Choice: Gyre has a reprogrammed Valkeen that he brings out if he feels there is going to be a threat to his person. He prefers to keep it hidden to call it in should he need to escape.

Personality: Gyre is a legend in his own mind. He is a tactical genius. He is a clear headed, rational thinker who knows how to make the tough calls. In his mind, every decision is one of cruel calculus that no one but him seems to be willing to do. He is surrounded by a world of tools and fools, how he treats others is based on where he decides they fall. On a positive side, he can be cunning and prudent and his ego is not borne of overconfidence. He knows when to fold ‘em should the situation turn against him.

Background: Gyre’s background is simple. He grew in simple circumstances and found enjoyment in testing his mind against others; enjoying feeling superior and basking in adulation for his successes in education, games and glory. He did well in his small hamlet, and the taste of superiority led him to looking toward the Battle Bird Armada as his chance to become a figure of greatness. He learned quickly that he was a small fish in a very big pond. Unable to move upward, he stewed until Eggman’s conquest smashed through the Armada, GUN, and most of the world. Gyre took his chance and took leave of the Armada, cutting loose and escaping with his hide.

From there, he joined the resistance, inflating his military background for leverage. It did not take long for the Resistance to push back his influence. Much of his grand strategy was to expend as many resources as possible in order to secure any victory no matter how meaningless. He proved himself too willing to sacrifice others for the sake of scraps. He once again quickly found himself out of favor. Made worse when the war finally ended and the Resistance dissolved.

Gyre’s attention turned toward the scattered Eggman Empire. They could possibly use his intel, and his desire to get revenge on the Restoration for their slight to his ego. However, this plan was cut short by the Metal Virus. One of countless victims, in the aftermath Gyre determined the Eggman Empire to be just as much an enemy as every other power. He would not serve, he would command. He would finally work his way to becoming “General Gyre”. If he could only get good, loyal, proper soldiers as an army for his superior mind.

Boxcars the Badger

“Three rules in life; don’t apologize, don’t hold grudges, and always get while the getting’s good.”

Gender: Male

Affiliation: Gyre

Description: Tall and broad, little chunky. Upsized Sonic character model. Smithy or Tumble from IDW. Color pattern is the same as an American badger, though substitute the black for a very dark blue tone. Eyes are brown.

His wardrobe is minimal and standard for Sonic styled males. big simple brown boots and heavy cuffed gloves. Wears a newsie cap.

Weapon of Choice: Generally his hands. When he feels serious, he slips on a pair of narrow, thick knuckledusters.

Personality:  Boxcars is a genial, emotionally intelligent guy. Genuinely friendly and outgoing, he is loud, almost always presenting good humor and quick to laugh a deep belly laugh. This is no lie, nor a ruse. However, Boxcars is also a deeply self-interested person and a consummate survivor. He does what he wants, as he wants, and he’s quick to get out whenever things possibly present too much of a threat. He is an outlaw because it allows him a good fight and a degree of freedom that he craves. Particularly so because he can trust heroic types to always pull punches in ways that more murderous villains do not. Prone to using pet names(Sweetheart, Sunshine, etc) in lieu of names because he never really wants to get too close to people.

Background: Boxcars keeps a lot of his past close to his chest, so most of the detail is not well known. He is originally from Central City and while he didn’t have much to his name, he was always a little bigger and tougher than everyone around him. He learned young that he could leverage that into getting what he wanted through leveraging size and through learning to enjoy a good fight if his target had more mettle than he expected. At times he worked with others, other times he worked solo, but he was never much more than a pugnacious goon. And that was all well and good for him.

Crisis after crisis, Shattered Worlds and Eggman’s conquest, taught Boxcars how to survive while looking out for himself. He knew that groups like The Resistance would only be problems for him once the big threats went away, so he made it a point to keep a low profile and to live in the corners around the greater conflict. While he was a bruiser, he knew people liked you if you were friendly, which was easy for him to be. He never had anything against anyone, it was just that he enjoyed his lifestyle the way it was. He could live meager, and whenever things settled down, he would appear again.

Metal Virus was the same routine to Boxcars. When things went to hell, the badger went underground and out of the way. He maintains that he never once was in danger of being infected. Just another example of whenever the grave danger shows up, Boxcars’ puts his experience into making certain he can avoid having to deal with it as much as possible. Only in the aftermath did Gyre finally seek him out, looking to hire muscle for a robbery of some leftover Eggtech lab. Boxcars saw a predictable egotist, but not a threat. It would be a simple job to help the latest wannabe.

Cathode the Basenji

“. . .no.”

Gender: Female

Affiliation: Gyre

Description: A creamsicle orange canine with pointed ears and a tightly curled tail. Her eyes are a dark blue. She lacks any “head hair”, but has more fluff at the back of her neck to mimic longer ends.

Her outfit is overalls or a jumpsuit, usually tied at the waist, colored blue. 

Weapon of Choice: Homemade shock baton attached to a modified battery pack she carries at her hip.

Personality: Cathode is taciturn, focused, and curious. She consistently holds a high opinion of herself compared to others, primarily because of the high level of priority she places on things she considers “tangible”. Machines, mechanics, math, functional and provable skill are all things that she enjoys. Otherwise, she finds herself in insecure positions and insecure positions are, to her, to be avoided entirely. Other people, with their inconsistency and idiosyncrasies, are troublesome. Her desires are to get her hands on whatever kind of machinery or gear that the likes of Tails and Eggman have created so she can take them apart for her own study. 

Background: Born on a small, isolated island, Cathode’s interest in machines defined a lot of her formative years. She learned to fix and repair the shared equipment of her family and the few other families that shared their small rock of a home. With few other children, she spent most of her time with adults and functioned mostly as a set of hands to help out. Over time, she grew resentful despite her rapidly growing knowledge as the scarce resources and constant repair needs of the aging equipment meant that while she was invaluable, she wasn’t able to spread her wings and truly experiment and tinker.

The news of the great technological advances of Eggman astounded her. She craved getting her hands on those machines. She wanted nothing more than to dissect them, and to learn how they tick. But still she was kept from her desires by the short sighted, pragmatic minds of the others in her village. This bitter resentment was made all the worse when she heard about Tails and the young genius’ capabilities just reminded her of her own stolen opportunity. She blamed the others for needing her, demanding of her, and under the cover of night she slowly dismantled equipment around the island to cobble together a small boat in order to make her escape.

Unfortunately for Cathode, she arrived in Sunset City just in time for the Metal Virus to be dumped upon her.

In the aftermath, she has struggled to find footing. Her interests in getting ahold of Eggtech to dissect has required her to involve herself with shadier figures. When Gyre presented her with the opportunity to get ahold of the real deal, possibly without battle damage, Cathode could hardly pass that up.

Pierce the Wolf

“Every heart pleads for a “better world”, but no two minds can agree on a definition.”

Gender: Male

Affiliation: Eggman Empire

Description: A tall male wolf with leaner, pointier features than normal. Color is primarily a desaturated, pale blue, close to an off-white. He has a small scar on his right cheek underlining his eye Outfit is a standard red and black Eggman Empire uniform. He has an affectation of diamond stud cufflinks added to the uniform

Weapon of choice: Stiletto. One regular, a secondary spring assisted one hidden on his person. 

Personality: Broadly speaking, his personality and demeanor is malleable given the needs of the situation. He will be self effacing one moment, bragging the next. He will be cruel and calculating, or he will present the noblest of faces. Who he seems to be in a moment may not be the person he is in the next. The only truth is that Pierce cares only for himself and what furthers his own ambitions toward power. Everything else is a pawn or a player in the game of power. He is still an empathic person, however, that talent and honed skill is tuned primarily toward his enormous self-interest.

Background: Pierce is from a long standing family of leaders on a small, cold island chain. He was the latest to inherit the charge of his town, having taken over the unofficial but de facto role from his late parents. He found that town leadership was dull and ultimately limited, though he continued with it as was his duty. The global assault by Eggman, however, rocked the wolf’s world deep to the core. He saw in that moment just how small everything around him was. He saw that all he could accomplish was leading a tiny series of specks that were nothing more than crumbs for the real giants to clean up. And he wanted to be one of those giants.

Eggman’s swift success told him plainly that the Empire was the faction in which to throw his lot. It was not difficult to convince his people that it was the best idea. That they were small and not noticeable. Some he promised that they would be overlooked. Some he promised industrial potential in the new Empire. And soon he had followers behind his plan. A false show of support toward GUN. They were struck quickly and Pierce promised their small fishing villages would be safe for them to hide and recover from the devastation. Only to swiftly turn on them, envelop, and claim GUN materiel and hostages for himself. All a present to appease Eggman. His proposal worked well enough. Eggman wasn’t going to be impressed by GUN soldiers or technology, but the kind of social skills and cutthroat cunning could be useful for future endeavors. That said, Eggman also knew that Pierce needed to be separated from his home, and from easily manipulated flesh and blood soldiers as well. Pierce was made an offer, but it would cost him his people and home. Pierce only delayed responding as to not appear too eager.

Pierce found himself repositioned and given a small base of operations and a contingent of badniks. His goal would be to seed himself in the region in preparation for a new invasion. One that would be curtailed when the metal virus infected the world. And while he recovered, he knew then that Eggman was not going to be the one to lose this war in the end. The Doctor was simply too capable in an emergency to be counted on losing. If anything, it told Pierce that his decisions to become and remain an Egg Boss was the right one.

Once again he is returned to his base, still chafing under the provisions given to him by Eggman. He knows he is being watched and controlled. That he is a pawn in a greater game. But he has time. And he has patience. And when he looks out from the window of his quarters, he can see the sparkling lights of the city that is his prey.

[alephnol]

First of all what are your main pros and cons of art, like body shapes and such?

And if you have the time, can you draw patty? My angst cursed earth witch teenager oc? You can choose her mood!

Pros: you get to take a character in your head n make it more real

You get to draw which for me is very therapeutic.

you always get to be creative and learn new things or ways to draw things! And you can put a story behind it too! art can be a good therapy, as for I know, it has lowered my panic.

Cons:

I have a hard time with body shapes, I’ve just now figured out how to draw Klaus chubby, so there’s that.

With the way I draw being very much layer out as shapes for everything, it’s difficult sometimes for certain angles n whatnot. I have a very hard time with muzzles or beaks because of my art style.

Im trying to understand feet, but I’m having a hard time…

Perspective is what I’m currently working on… very difficult though..

Despite all f these struggles, I love drawing! It makes me more happy than you all will ever know that I get to share my love for art and storytelling with you all!

Also, as per request!

[rise-fall-rage-and-repeat]

AFHDJCKSCJEO SOMEONE ELSE HEADCANNONS THIS TOO???????? IT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!!!!! HANG ON I GOTTA WORD VOMIT!!!!

ALSO THIS ART IS SO CUTE?! LIKE???? PLEASE!!!!

An Analysis of Gargoyles, Season 1, Episode 7, Temptation:

And yes, I mean the WHOLE episode, fight me!

(Skip to the asterisks if you want to just get to the analysis of Brooklyn and Demona’s relationship.)

Gotta love the shade the trio throw at each other in the beginning of this episode. And setting Brooklyn up as the character that ABSOLUTELY stole the show is 👌🏼 *chef’s kiss* Setting him up as the “bad boy” trope is quality shit with such a snarky, but kind character, and I WILL die on this hill. Am I biased? MAYBE. I neither confirm nor deny.

Anyway.

A liiiiiitle sus that Brooklyn knew IMMEDIATELY how to ride a motorcycle. Love you boo, but what kind of sorcery?

Did Elisa not think to mention to the trio about speed limits? Like, it took some time for Lex to learn how to and then BUILD the bike. It actually took 4 days (Yes I realize Brooklyn could have learned to ride a motorcycle in this time shut up-). Remember, he can only work at night. (I’m just now realizing how fucking GENIUS Lex is cause what?!) Anyway my POINT here is: Girl, did you not think to tell the gargoyle equivalent of college age boys about SPEED LIMITS?! Also where’d they get the gas from? And Jesus when did they fill the tank?! Cause the beginning of this episode Lex was using a blowtorch! ON THE BIKE! DID IT HAVE A FULL TANK THEN???? HIS ASS IS NOT BEING SAFE.

ANYWAY.

DAMN! Nice moves Brooklyn! (*cough, conveniently placed ramp at the end of an alley, cough* What? I didn’t say anything…)

Love Morgan’s “cop loves doughnuts” joke. (As the daughter of a cop it feels like it resonates… idk... Lmao)

These bikers are REALLY dumb if they didn’t realize Brooklyn wasn’t human until he took off the helmet. Like really? The beak wasn’t a give away? Like if it were Lex or Broadway, with more human looking faces (the colour of their skin could be explained by a mask or paint or the lighting), then sure, okay. But. The beak…

Never mind…

It’s a conveniently placed ramp at the end of an alley…

PLOT ADVANCEMENT!!!

We carry on…

This sweet boy literally says “I was just trying to fit in!” And then gets literally DOG PILED. (Gargoyles are strong but. That was a LOT of BIG men. I know, I know “it’s a cartoon”, “it’s a joke”. But, that’s not really Gargoyles’s vibe or style. It just feels really out of place…)

This fool really thinks a WRENCH is gonna do ANYTHING in this situation. Brooklyn literally FLIPS this man over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes (Brooklyn said YEET).

When I tell you the very first time I ever saw this episode (I was like, maybe two?) the GASP I made when the bike exploded would have broken a kazoo it was so forceful.

Core memory.

I really wish they had tried to hide the fact that it was Demona a little better.

I DESPERATELY need to redraw the scene of the chain wrapping around Brooklyn’s arm. That shot is GORGEOUS.

Honestly this fight is one of the coolest in the series to me. Even though it’s short it’s beautifully choreographed and the art is stunning. The lighting is amazing when the bike blows up. *chef’s kiss*

I was always sad I couldn’t climb up walls like the gargoyles could. Even broke my nails back to the quick trying one time when I was I think five?

Another core memory.

Anyway.

TENSION! WHO COULD IT BE?! lol (Seriously thank you for reading all of this if you did.)

***

Okay! So! When Brooklyn backs away and says Demona’s name, the tone of his voice has… almost a hopeful edge to it? More like “is it actually you” rather than “oh god it’s you”. Like he knew she was bad news but… maybe…

Brooklyn is shown to be an extremely intelligent character. So WHY was he so easily convinced when Demona asked to talk? (“Don’t be afraid. I just want to talk.”) He went from on the defensive (the amount of times I quote “last time we met you just wanted to blow me away with a bazooka” in my childhood and even now honestly is astounding) to somewhat relaxed FAR too quickly after all Demona said was “I saved your life just now. Doesn’t that at least entitle me to a moment of your time?” Brooklyn is far too smart to be manipulated by ONE LINE ALONE no matter how true it may be.

Even after that, why did Brooklyn follow her? Rationally, the best thing to do would be to get away from Demona as quickly as possible. It’s shown later on in the episode Demona is stronger than Brooklyn at this point in the series, and there’s no way he doesn’t know that. Why would Brooklyn want to be alone with someone who tried to KILL GOLIATH, and who is physically stronger than him? Because maybe, MAYBE, there’s some connection there from before. MAYBE there’s a hope that she’s still the same gargoyle he knew back then. So when she CASUALLY drops that she’s been “dealing with the humans” “for hundred of years” he believes her. He probably doesn’t fully comprehend the fact that she’s been alive for over 1000 years, because for him, it’s only been THIRTY-EIGHT DAYS since the massacre!

For Demona, it’s been in the hundreds of thousands.

She no longer remembers what happiness feels like. Glee, sure, every human she kills (because let’s be real, Demona did NOT live for 1000 years without killing humans (possibly even for fun)) FILLS her with glee. But it’s not true HAPPINESS. She doesn’t feel almost anything but rage anymore.

And then Goliath wakes up.

We saw how much she loved him in her backstory arc and ‘Vows’ so it’s not unreasonable to think that something reawakened in her after holding her literal long lost love in her arms again. To touch him again; hold him; SMELL him again! To stroke his horns and hair and be with her MATE AGAIN. ANOTHER GARGOYLE after 1000 years to hold.

Demona let her guard down too much with Goliath and she wasn’t able to manipulate him the way she hoped. But someone YOUNGER than her? Who LOOKED UP to her? Demona is bitter and jaded now. She has NO QUALMS using her past connection to Brooklyn to sway him, because she remembers how smart he is because she KNEW HIM. She no longer feels what she felt for Brooklyn because she doesn’t REMEMBER WHAT IT FEELS LIKE. She doesn’t remember any other love than Goliath’s, because she severed the ties in her heart to her memories but, apparently (a fact that makes her angrier than anything else), Goliath’s to keep herself sane LONG AGO (“Even after all these centuries you still carry a torch.” - Puck to Demona (while looking at GOLIATH’S IMAGE), Season 2, Episode 5, The Mirror).

But she DOES remember she USED to feel some kind of love for Brooklyn, because they were CLOSE. And she remembers Brooklyn is an emotional gargoyle as is shown MANY times in the series. It’s not unreasonable to think she used this fact to her advantage. She played with his emotions, showing him the WORST humanity had to offer while playing the part of a concerned elder trying to steer his path right, and she honestly believes her words. She soothes him and scares him at the same time. She has a rebuttal for every ‘if’, ‘and’, or ‘but’. She STROKES HIS BEAK. Physical touch and affection are INTIMATE acts in gargoyle culture. They are the equivalent to kissing. You CANNOT tell me that didn’t affect Brooklyn. Again, he’s a very emotional gargoyle. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s a little bit touch starved either. The only other gargoyles around are his rookery brothers, his leader, the only remaining ‘father’ he has, and a beast. The likelihood any of them showing INTIMATE affection for him by stroking his horns or tangling their fingers in his hair is probably low. So for Demona to touch him in such an intimate way could easily have swayed him.

Everything she said made sense after what she had showed him. She showed him how lazy the justice system can be (“He’ll be out of jail and back on the streets in a day.”). She showed him how families treat each other at home (“They can’t even share their own homes without fighting. And you think they would share this world with us?”). She showed him a MURDER (“They hold each other’s lives completely without worth.”).

**First of all, the TRAUMA, because it’s not really confirmed WHEN Brooklyn and Demona arrived at the scene of the murder, who knows how much they actually SAW. It wouldn’t have been the first dead human Brooklyn saw obviously, he’s a warrior after all, but maybe it WAS the first SENSELESS dead body he experienced. The first MURDER. (I don’t get the impression that gargoyles really went around killing each other very often but maybe that’s just me? And Castle Wyvern seemed pretty peaceful before the Vikings (though I suppose that could change with the new comics)???)**

So when she touched him, he folded and agreed to help her.

Brooklyn is also shown to be VERY ANGRY about Demona’s betrayal (“Brooklyn is still too angry at Demona. I need someone I can rely on.” - Goliath to Hudson, Season 1, Episode 11, Long Way to Morning). Sure, you could argue anyone would still be angry after only 2 months and some change, but he’s RATIONAL too. He doesn’t jump head first into anything and he’s loyal to a fault. So to be so willing to go BEHIND HIS LEADER’S BACK for someone who TRIED TO KILL HIM, Demona HAD to be someone whose word held A LOT of weight for Brooklyn. She betrayed his trust and hurt him DEEPLY, FAR deeper than just the former-mate-of-Goliath-and-former-second-in-command would have.

***

Anyway I’m high and Gargoyles is basically my Roman Empire so I word vomited a little. I hope it makes sense. XD Beyond this point is just more ramblings for the rest of the episode.

***

I feel so bad for Brooklyn here. Like I know he screwed up but he had the BEST of intentions. He REALLY thought he was doing what was right. And he was betrayed by someone who he thought he could still TRUST. (Because also, who knows what all Demona may have said to him since it seems like he was out all night seeing as how they all turn to stone very shortly after Brooklyn arrives back to the castle.) He just sighs, knowing he has to face his family. And it takes a WHILE for Elisa to figure out the loophole (it’s canonically the day after that she figures it out I believe).

The end. Of this episode. I stg my friends and I (shout out to @timetravelerspayupfront) used to quote:

“Hey! What happened to the motorcycle?”

“Um, it blew up…”

“Oh… WHAT?!”

All. The. Time. Gotta be one of my top quotes from the show!

A younger Demona with a child Brooklyn, because I headcanon that the two of them were once very close before everything happened

[thetwistedcryptid]

(art made by my sister) [twst styled pic/sprite of him in uniform soon to come]

“The bird who dares to fall is the bird who learns to fly.”

School: Royal Sword Academy

[Sneewittchen] [the dorm was founded upon the kindness of The Fairest of All.]

Full Name: Cailean Atharrais

Nicknames: Cae, Callie, and Bird-Brain (by nrc students)

Grade/Class: Year 1 (freshmen)/Class (No.1-A)

Birthday: February 10th (Aquarius)

Age: 15

Height: 172.72 cm (5'8")

Race: Half Beastmen/Half Fae 

Dominant Hand: Left

Homeland: Shaftlands

Club: Spelldrive

Best Subjects: Humanities (Animal Languages) and Flying!

Worst Subject: Biology

Hobbies: Playing violin (/fiddle), Singing, and Dancing.

Pet Peeves: People who chew with their mouth open, Crowded spaces, and hot weather

Fears: Ghosts!!

Favorite Food: Ruby Berries

Least Favorite Food: Peanuts

Talent: Doing impressions of different sounds/other peoples voices!

Unique Magic: "Beak-a-boo!" incantation: "flock into sight!" [user can freely transform into a bird - European Starling - without the need for a transformation potion. allowing them to fly around, at quite decent speeds, and sense electromagnetic fields/pulses!]

Trivia: His first name is a traditional Scottish name that means “whelp, young pup”, pronounced "Ka-lin". And his Surname is Scottish for “Mimic”. he's very friendly and loves helping others, even to his own determent, though can be a bit naïve at times. hes a kleptomaniac for shiny things..!! and he is secretly kinda insecure about being one of few poorer people in this school of rich kids/princes and is eager to prove his worth/that he can be on par with them. he always feels out of place due to his mixed heritage, but only expresses the stress in private. he also speaks with a very notable scottish accent hes based off of the bird companions of snow white

———

Character Summary: 

"the weak never let their wings unfurl."

 He was born during the first snowfall of winter in the cozy farming town of Harveston, one of six siblings (eldest of the sextuplets), to a commoner beastmen (wolf) mother and an aristocratic (militant) fae father. his parent's met while his father was on a work trip in Shaftland (afterglow savanna) from the Blair valley (valley of thorns) for some kind of mining operation, becoming rivals with his mother at first as she opposed this operation dur to it being on her families land but then falling in love. they decided to marry (elope) and move to Harveston (Shaftlands) for a quieter life, and to escape their disapproving families. soon starting a family of their one, one they'd do anything for. 

His father being more quiet and snoody while his mother is more loud and outgoing - she wears the pants in the relationship, despite him being the more powerful mage his wife always seems to win their fights... this pairing of two such different races made it unclear as to how it would go when they had kids, like what the kids would end up like, or if they could even conceive at all - possible, but a very small percent chance. luckily, they could. after many tries. 

Cae, and his siblings, got along well with most of the other children in the village, and Cae seemed to bond well for one certain purple haired boy.. who he often got roped into mischief with after trying to stop him from doing reckless things. 

Due to their parents' families disapproving of their union and disowning them, they didn't really know much about their lineage, but at one point - through magigram(/the internet in general, that he had little access to) Cae managed to get into contact with an older first cousin of his (Yuugo), whom he bonded with rather well. someone who attended Royal Sword Academy (4th yr, Hercules dorm) - a school that Cae had recently been selected to attend! Cae parted ways with his family, promising to keep in touch, and headed for the isle of sages. meeting up with Yuugo in the town at the center of the island - bonding with his cousin more/seeing the sights/occasionally being made fun of for his accent by the locals but never letting it get to him, and soon after began attending rsa. excited to start his journey to become a great mage! sadly his purple haired friend was fated for nrc, but perhaps their paths will cross again soon enough..

Especially with his cousin around to guide him - when he isn't busy with internships, sadly they weren't in the same dorm.. but the idol Neige who inspired him musically was here as well! and in the same dorm!! he just hoped he won't make a fool of himself in front of everyone..

———

[raptorsandpoultry]

Blue-breasted quail (AKA button quail) care sheet

Excalfactoria chinensis, AKA Chinese painted quail, king quail, etc., (not to be confused with hemipode buttonquail, which are actually a group of strange and tiny shorebirds!) These little guys are the smallest species of true quail, which are part of the pheasant family, and can live a little over 4 years under proper human care. Full-sized adults are no larger than a standard day-old chicken:

(Photo: mine)

Diet:

Two thirds of a daily adult blue-breasted quail ration should be fresh game bird pellet (they can learn to eat whole pellets, but ideally these should be ground/broken up into smaller pieces) or chick starter crumble. The remaining third should consist of fresh, bird-safe fruits and vegetables (mine personally prefer Romaine lettuce and grapes), supplemented with extra sources of protein such as live mealworms and boiled egg during periods of heavy molting or egg-laying. Any uneaten food items should be removed well before they get a chance to spoil/rot - quail are messy eaters and will scatter food about and kick bedding/waste material all over it, even if it is given in an elevated food bowl. Grit must be supplemented as well, in addition to calcium for laying hens. Most hens actually do well with a cuttlebone to peck at (it sounds like they’re playing a tiny xylophone and it’s probably one of my favorite things ever). As with any other bird, fresh water should be provided and changed daily. It can be offered in a shallow bowl with marbles/pebbles at the bottom to prevent drowning; alternatively, quail can be trained to drink from hamster-style water bottles.

Housing:

To minimize physiological and psychological stress, a quail enclosure should be placed away from anywhere it could be exposed to extreme or fluctuating temperatures, high-traffic areas, or perceived predators such as dogs and cats. The more space, the better - I would personally recommend at least 3 square meters or 10 cubic feet for a pair or trio. Their behaviour will indicate whether they’ve got enough space AND hiding places. If they spend the majority of their time repetitively walking/running along the edges of the enclosure, something needs to change, and if abnormal feather-pecking behaviour develops (more on that below), then they definitely do not have enough space. Blue-breasted quail will burst into flight when frightened (or do a shorter sort of flutter when they simply want to exercise their wings), and while they can reach impressive heights, they are pretty terrible at controlling which direction they go. They will be able to overshoot the walls of any enclosure you try to put them in, so a lid/cover is a must, and it needs to be soft enough or lined with soft material underneath to prevent head trauma when they inevitably hit their heads on it. Cleaning and disinfection of the entire enclosure with bird-safe agents needs to be done regularly, how frequently depends on many factors such as stocking density and the type of litter/bedding being used. Wood shavings/pellets, shredded paper, chopped straw, newspaper/paper towel (with small areas of substrate they can dig and forage around in) all work well, but the best enclosures will offer a variety of substrates to provide the quail with lots of choice as to where they can perform specific behaviours. Which leads nicely into the next segment...

(Photo: floridabuttonquail.wordpress.com)

Enrichment:

Quail *love* to dust-bathe. Chinchilla dust or sand are ideal for helping them get excess oil off their feathers, but they will bathe in other substrates as well, such as wood shavings, dried moss, etc. Small toys, when introduced carefully and with some treats scattered on or around them, will also stimulate these curious little birds. I give mine tiny whiffle balls stuffed with dried mealworms to encourage foraging behaviour. Furniture for the enclosure can include things like natural or artificial branches/twigs, leaves, and lots of small rock caves and plant pots for hiding places as well. Like any other pet, quail can be trained using positive reinforcement! Here are a couple videos of mine being target-trained. This can easily be extended to teach them to spin on cue, run obstacle courses, and much more! Lack of mental stimulation in quail can lead to abnormal feather-pecking behaviour, in which one or more quail begin to focus their activities on actively chasing their flockmates, then pulling out and eating their feathers. This can easily be prevented by providing plenty of environmental enrichment as described above, as well as appropriate social enrichment - quail absolutely should not be kept alone, and blue-breasted quail in particular do best in male-female pairs or one-male-two-female trios.

General Health:

A healthy blue-breasted quail will spend most of its day foraging and eating, as well as dust-bathing, napping, and gently preening itself and its mate. A quail with healthy plumage who is not molting should basically just be an orb when its feathers are smooth and fluffed out comfortably. Its eyes, nares, and cloaca should be free of discharge, and its beak and toenails kept at a proper length with the help of an appropriate foraging substrate and accessories such as cuttlebones. When they do grow too long, they should be trimmed by a veterinary professional or someone with extensive experience caring for quail (beaks especially should not be trimmed by someone other than an avian veterinarian as there is huge potential for error leading to beak deformities). Despite their small size and often cheap price, quail need and deserve proper veterinary care just as much as any parrot or other pet bird. Please take your quail to a licensed avian veterinarian if you notice any of the following signs: abnormal lumps on face/feet, plucked or consistently soiled feathers, lethargy, difficulty breathing, abnormal feces/urate, lameness, any discharge or swelling, excessive preening or scratching, and loss of appetite, among others.

(Photo: mine)

This care sheet was requested by @eclectus-mom! It just occurred to me that this is the first care sheet I’ve ever written, and I just know I missed a ton of points so please feel free to add them on if you are experienced with quail care! And my ask box if always open for other requests and questions :)

[grounded-sparrow]

"Yer lucky I'm being patient..." Suzume had her accent slip for a moment, rubbing her forehead quickly as she let out another sigh. She didn't know the strength output of each of those tails, or how fast he could move. Still she could hazard a guess that she might be able to at least damage, if not break, the tails if forced to fight him.

Clicking her tongue in her beak, she let out a grumble at at his commentary, "No, I ain't, but I can assure you I'm no hatchling either 'bout things. Folks learn real fast I'm not the sort to take shit."

"Wasn't really intending to hire you for a job without seeing a few more examples of your work, and learning who ya are..." Suzume was being blunt with him herself now, clicking the heels of her gear boots she was wearing, "But if you want to talk like this, I'll play it your way. Think you can work on my gear? If you can then we can start discussing your price."

She doubted he could name many prices she couldn't meet with what she had on hand. Unless the exchange rates worked a little different. That was a bridge she could cross when they got to that part of the discussion. For now she hoped that the custom work air ride gear boots she had would pique his interest, given they were made for her specific figure skating style of aerial manoeuvres.

"Keep calling me kid and you might find yourself short on some years." Nine's wasn't a stranger to combat ever since he invented his mechanical tails, though he would still be cautious seeing as he didn't know much about the stranger which would include if their ability to fight. The fox certainly wasn't going to let the other keep calling him kid seeing as he even correct her by giving his age.

"Most are stupid for being so easily won over by compliments and that's a mistake I don't intend to make." Nine had experienced this once and only once as that was more than enough for him to realize he should always be on his guard. Still, the stranger wasn't showing any hostility towards him, yet the fox knew people can be good at hiding their intent.

"Clearly you aren't from around here or else you wouldn't be so casual about talking to strangers. Here, everyone has to look out for themselves and will lie, cheat, steal, and betray just to get by so don't expect me to act nice just because you want a friendly conversation." Nine was blunt and maybe even a bit harsh, though this was the world he and everyone else lived in. At the end of the day the fox learned you can't trust anyone but yourself. "So, with that out of the way, if you wanted me for a job then you should've just asked, though my services don't come cheap."

[ultraintrovertedgryffindor]

Sweet Pandemonium - Gally (The Maze Runner) Bonus Chapter 😉

Finally, the last last chapter. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m burnt out from Gally lmao. I think I’m just happy I’ll be able to focus on other things without having to worry about “what comes next” in this story. Anyway, prepare for some tooth rotting fluff and smut.

by the way, please don’t hate me for putting in a star wars reference in this chapter, i already hate myself enough for doing it lmao

NSFW WARNING

~~~~~~~~~~

(not my gif)

Months later, after everything was over and done with, you only just started to feel comfortable in the Safe Haven. Having to risk your life almost everyday, always having to keep moving place to place, you didn’t have high hopes for the supposed haven.

You still had nightmares every single time you fell asleep.

You couldn’t sleep the first couple days at the Safe Haven until exhaustion finally took over. You eventually excepted that’s how it was going to be, that you were going to have these nightmares for the rest of your life. Then it was just learning how to live again; learning how to live with the guilt that weighed you down constantly; living with the fact that you could’ve saved Newt, saved Teresa. You might’ve died trying, but that wouldn’t have mattered to you.

Why did you live and they couldn’t? It was fucking fair.

You were thankful for Gally though. He was your beacon of light when the nights got too dark, when your guilt and pain was blinding. He helped you to the best of his ability, even though he knew that pain you carried would never go away. He made things bearable, and that was more than enough for you.

Looking out to the ocean, seeing the tide rush in with the sun slowly lowering on the horizon, painting the sky in an array of orange, pinks and purples; you wondered, wondered what would be left of the rest of the world after abandoning it.

You felt the sand beneath you, how it stuck to your skin, and you started to feel your eyebrows furrow in irritation. You didn’t like sand. It was rough, course, and it always got everywhere. Being in a Safe Haven, you would’ve thought it would be more comfortable to live in. But those were just bratty, selfish thoughts.

You looked up to see seagulls, hearing an occasional caw from their beaks. You let yourself smile, trying to find some happiness in the small things, or beings.

The loud crashing of the waved filled your ears, blocking out everything else around you almost like a trance, that you didn’t even realize the boy who just sat next to you.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

You’ve heard that voice so many times that you didn’t even flinch at the sudden sentence. “Yeah, it is.” You smirked. “Just wish sand wasn’t so irritating.” You huffed, wiping some flecks off your hands.

Gally chuckled. “You say that, yet you come sit out here almost every night.”

“I can handle sand for some peace and quiet, away from everyone else.” For a moment, Gally looked offended. “You’re the only exception, obviously.”

He grinned, taking a hold of your hand. “You used to do this in the Glade too.”

“Yeah, it’s not so different here. We obviously don’t have to worry about any Grievers. Just in the way everyone has communal housing, no privacy.” You frowned. “But, that’s just how it’s gotta be, I suppose.”

Gally nodded, directed his gaze back to the ocean, delicately rubbing his thumb over your knuckles. It could’ve put you to sleep, but he cleared his throat, gaining your attention. “Oh, I’ve got a surprise for you actually.” He smiled nervously.

You tilted your head in confusion, but chuckled anyway. “A surprise? Wha-?”

“Come on, I’ll show you.” Gally quickly stood up, bringing you with him and then leading you away.

“Wait, Gal, I don’t think we’re allowed to be far away from camp right now.” You said worryingly, looking back and forth between Gally and the camp on the beach that was slowly getting further and further away.

“Shh, don’t worry, it’s fine. Just come on!”

Never in your life have you seen this boy so excited. Must be one hell of a surprise if he looked like a kid on Christmas Eve. The trek was far into the woods, away from the beach, you couldn’t even hear the ocean waves anymore. “This is a long way.” You said, somewhat nervously.

“We’re almost there, close your eyes.”

You only went wide eyed. “What?!”

Gally chuckled softly at the outburst, coming up behind you and placing his hands over your eyes. “It’s part of the surprise.”

“I don’t think I like surprises...” You pouted.

Gally only placed a kiss on your cheek. “Trust me.” He said, starting to lead you blindly through the woods. Only the occasional root or hole in the ground made you trip, most of the time you were just tripping over your own feet out of nervousness.

“We’ve stopped. Are we here?” You asked.

“Yeah.” He said softly, removing his hands to allow you to see.

The sun had only just begun to set, so it was dim enough that you didn’t have to adjust to the light. But it was light enough to see what was in front of you.

You gasped softly when you saw a little hut in a small clearing of the forest. It was quite simple in structure, but just one look over and you could tell how delicate the process must’ve been. You knew that cause your Builder senses were tingling.

“Gally...” You awed, unsure how to react. “Did you...?”

“We never got to build your home in the Glade. So, I asked Vince if we could build away from the beach, and he agreed. It’s not my best work, but there’s always room for improvement.”

You threw yourself in Gally’s arms, and he immediately wrapped his arms around you. “Gally, it’s perfect.” You whispered, almost on the verge of tears.

“You haven’t even seen the inside.” Gally laughed.

“Then show me!” You giggled goofily, making Gally blush slightly.

“Of course, but first,” You squealed as Gally lifted you up in his arms bridal style, walking to the door of the hut. “Gotta walk you over the threshold, like in the movies.”

You blushed as you giggled, burying your face in his shoulder. “You don’t have to do this, Gal!”

There wasn’t a proper door in the frame, only a thick cloth. “There wasn’t enough time to fix up a door, but I’ll do it eventually.”

Gally finally set you down when you entered the hut, and you were in awe in a matter of seconds, seeing how beautiful the interior was. The floor was sanded down perfectly, a beautifully woven rug smack dab in the center of the room and a small table next to the right wall.

Gally grabbed your hand, quickly leading you into another section of the small building, not even giving you time to breathe as he was too excited to show you everything.

“The bedroom.” Gally smirked, quirking up an eyebrow suggestively.

You stifled a giggle as you surveyed the room. The medium sized bed lay in the corner of the room, a small makeshift window carved into the opposite wall, a bedside table with a wooden vase occupied by various colored flowers you assumed native to where you were.

“Gally...” You whispered.

“I know it’s not much, like I said, but we could always expand. Brenda helped a bit, she said that flowers would be a nice touch. I don’t know why, but she seemed genuine. But if you don’t-”

“Gally!” You interrupted him with a laugh, gently grabbing ahold of his face and placing your lips against his with a smile.

Gally chuckled breathlessly as you pulled away. “I guess that means I did good?”

“Gal, you did perfect. You’re perfect.” You said, knowing it would make him blush.

“You’re the one who’s perfect.” He countered, making you the one blushing.

“Stop.” You rolled your eyes.

“I’m serious.”

You huffed. “I’m not gonna argue with you.”

“Yeah, good, cause you’d lose.” You refrained from snapping back at Gally, knowing that he was right and the argument would go nowhere.

You shook your head with a smile, walking to the bed and plopping down rather ungracefully. “Oh my god...”

“What?”

“This is so comfortable.”

Gally grinned and laid down beside you. “Oh yeah, better than those stupid hammocks we had to sleep on in the Glade.”

You tried to keep your eyes to the ceiling, realizing how close you two were. You two had slept beside each other obviously, but you quickly took notice of how needy you felt around him, and it made you nervous. It’s not like you were touch starved, but every time Gally put his hands on you in the simplest ways, you felt yourself wanting more than just hugs, handholds or kisses. You were pretty sure he felt the same way too. The way he’d reluctantly hold back during any make out sessions, or how he forced himself to look away from your body if you two were working together. He wasn’t making it that subtle.

Gally putting his hands on your waist got you riled up the most, even if it was to stop you from falling off or ladder or something similar, it was so frustrating. You wanted something to change, but you had no idea how to bring it up without feeling like an absolute moron.

Just the thought of Gally exploring your body with his big, warm hands that would give you chills down your spine and make you we- “Ugh.” You huffed loudly.

“What’s up with you?” Gally chuckled.

“Oh, uh, nothing. Nothing really.” You cleared your throat.

Gally smirked. “Well, ‘nothing’ is making you clench your fists.”

You forced yourself to unclench your fists as soon as he pointed it out, trying not to wince as you felt your nails removing themselves from being slightly imbedded into your skin. “Ugh, sorry...I was just thinking.”

“‘Bout what?”

You felt your cheeks increase in temperature, but you sat up and rubbed your hands over your face. Gally quickly sat up with a look of concern of his face, obviously not understanding why you felt frustrated. “Are you seriously okay? Do you feel sick or something?” He placed the back of his hand on your forehead. “You don’t have a fever or anything...”

You couldn’t help but smile, almost seeing him in an innocent light. “No, I’m not sick, Gal.” Gally furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, tilting his head slightly.

You saw Gally’s lips slightly parted, and you felt the sudden urges come forward again. You leaned in to place your lips on his feverishly, him immediately reciprocating, making you smile into the kiss. As soon as you snaked your hands up to tangle themselves in his hair, he pulled away. “I guess this must’ve been what you were thinking about, huh?” He chuckled breathlessly.

“I’m sorry.” You pulled your hands away, but Gally grabbed your hands.

“Hey, don’t be sorry.” He said softly. “Just took me by surprise, is all.”

“You don’t want to, do you?” You frowned.

“No, no, I do! I just...” He sighed. “I do. I really do. You have no idea much I want to. But, I also want you to be comfortable with it too. I would never want you to feel pressured or anything like that. I want you to be a hundred percent sure, Y/N.”

You grinned. “I’m sure, Gally. I want you.”

Gally grinned back, a light shade of red dusting his cheeks as he leaned back in to kiss you gently. He grabbed ahold of your waist, pulling you closer to him. “If for any reason you wanna stop, tell me and we can stop. Okay?”

“Promise.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck, deepening the kiss as you felt Gally’s hand travel underneath your shirt, lifting it up over your head. You did the same, smirking as you felt his fit Builders torso. Gally leaned back in to kiss you more roughly after the removal of his shirt. The feeling of his tongue dancing delicately with yours elicited a satisfied hum from you.

You laughed as you awkwardly fiddled with Gally’s belt buckle, ultimately looking to him to undo it for you. “I’ll get the hang of it eventually.” You giggled.

Gally laid you on your back, him hovering over you as he undid your pant’s button with one hand and the other resting beside your head as he tenderly kissed and sucked on your neck. He smiled when he pulled back to see you gazing at him lovingly. “You are everything to me.” Gally whispered, kissing your cheek as he slowly pulled your pants off, trailing his hands up and down your thighs.

“I love you.” You whispered back with a grin.

“You’re so beautiful.” He said after he removed your bra, leaning down to kiss between the valley of your breasts, trailing kisses down your stomach and stopping just above the lining of your underwear. “Is this okay?”

“Yes, more than okay.” You nodded eagerly.

You exhaled a shaky breath as Gally gingerly removed your undergarment, looking back to make sure you were okay with his actions. You gripped onto the blankets tightly as you started to feel his hot breath wash over your sensitive flesh, placing kisses on the inside of your thighs, brushing over the spot you wanted him most.

You were aching with anticipation already, so when Gally finally ran his tongue up your folds, you gasped loudly and quickly become putty in his arms.

You tried not to squirm as Gally kept up a steady pace of licking up and down your lips, causing you to softly rut against him. You let out your first moan when he finally placed pressure on your aching clit, you could’ve sworn you saw stars. Never in your life had you experienced a pleasure so powerful. You didn’t even know if Gally was experienced himself, but fuck, he was doing such a good job.

“Are you okay?”

“God, yes, Gally! Please, keep going.” You whined, desperate to keep that friction against your bundle of nerves.

Gally had to hold you down as you kept involuntarily bucking your hips, keeping that delicious pressure on your clit with his tongue. You moaned loudly as he inserted a finger into your entrance slowly, the sting of him stretching you only adding to the warm pleasure on your clit. “You feel so good, Gal.” You panted, biting the skin of the back of your hand to try and stifle your loud moans.

Adding a second finger inside you and keeping up the pace with his tongue, you soon started to feel intense shocks course through you occasionally, it felt foreign but so amazing. Your moans got louder as the shocks got stronger, bringing your other hand down to hold on to Gally’s hand tightly. “Gal, I think I’m gonna-”

Your eyes closed tightly as you felt waves of electrifying pleasure run through your whole body, causing you to almost shake erratically, a mix of a grunt and moan escaping your throat.

You panted heavily as Gally smirked, coming back up to kiss you. You blushed furiously when you noticed the shine on his nose and chin. “Sorry.” You grinned sheepishly, bringing a hand up to wipe some of yourself off his face.

Gally shook his head with a smile, turning his head to kiss your hand. He gasped suddenly when you gently stroked him through his boxer briefs. “You know, you still don’t have to.” He said, holding in a groan.

“I want you to come too.” You said, your innocent sounding voice juxtaposing the not so innocent statement.

“You sure?” You answered by pulling his briefs down to his knees, giving him a soft kiss. “Okay then.” Gally smiled nervously, him pulling his briefs all the way off his body.

Gally soon lined himself up with your slick entrance. He wanted you to come first just in case you couldn’t handle his size and you had to stop, he wanted to give you the best first experience possible, even if he couldn’t have you. He wanted to give you everything, but he couldn’t bare the thought of hurting you. So, he asked one more time, “Is this okay?”

“I’ll be okay, Gally. I promise to tell you if I want to stop.” You kisses his cheek, assuring him this is what you wanted.

Gally nodded gently, slowly pushing himself in, carefully watching your facial expressions to see if you were in pain.

Your breath caught in your throat, the size of him surprising you and making you bite your lip to keep from crying out. He was big enough to the point it stung as he pushed himself in, but you knew you were strong enough to wait, so you stayed quiet about the slight ache.

Gally stopped, waiting for you to adjust. You started to grind against him, getting used to him before you nodded. “I’m okay.” You smiled. Gally started a slow pace, still scared of accidently hurting you, but you moaning in pleasure gave him the indication that you were enjoying yourself.

Gally buried his head in your shoulder as he thrusted at a faster pace, his lack of experience causing him to be close already. He groaned softly as he felt your nails dig into his back for support, but he was surprised at how nice the sting actually felt. You moaning his name is what eventually sent him over the edge, holding on tightly to your wrists as he thrusted faster. He pulled out of you, rubbing himself until he came onto your bare stomach with a loud moan.

Gally fell back down beside you with a heavy sigh, both of you sweaty panting messes. But you started giggling happily, causing Gally to giggle right along with you. “I didn’t know it would feel that good.” You said after catching your breath.

Gally grinned, pulling you close to him and laying a blanket over your naked bodies, still trying to stifle a few giggles due to the post coital high. “If jerking off gave me any indication, I had a feeling it would be even better.”

You rolled your eyes. “You have me for that now.” You joked.

“You are absolutely right.”

It felt like hours that you two just stayed there, laying there with your head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat slowly calm down as he relaxed. You smiled sleepily as you thought about how you’d do anything for this boy, how you loved him more than anything in the whole world.

~~~~~~~~~~

literally listening to Isabella’s Lullaby from The Promised Neverland on a 5 hour loop is how I managed to keep myself from writing rough smut lmao. Can you tell I have a boner for consent? Consent is so fucking sexy though like for real 🥵

[seehowsupplethespineis]

The way you draw the Caballeros is so adorable! I wonder what Fenton Crackshell (from DuckTales 2017) would look like in your style. You can also draw Gyro as well if you’d like.

Aw, thank you! I'm one of those kids who watched Three Caballeros every day for years, haha! I also watched the 1987 DuckTales as a kid, so I added those dudes in as well.

Blundering duck and grumpy chicken. Science birbs. I'm glad I'm over my years of torment learning how Disney beaks work.