#my sister really liked the gift I got her which is great bc I've been excited to give it to her for months

[gay-for-the-snz]

Christmas was great! c:

[purpleturtle9000]

*slowly edges in under your door like a piece of wayward paper*

Hiiii today I come with gifts of dino stickers (and Clever Girl questions/comments bc I FINALLY beat my adhd into submission to read it >:3) (also I don’t know jackshit about bayverse so my apologies for any goofs)

What made you choose raptors? Also I love horse raptor girl Raph and would kill for him he’s good boy and deserves to keep his buddies

I am choosing to believe they didn’t like Casey bc Acab they can smell the cop on him XD

Were the raptors genetically modified in any way? Cus they seem incredibly intelligent, although that could just be the training and their natural state bc bird Smort af

Okay I think that’s all I got (for now) but also if there’s anything I didn’t ask that you wanna ramble about PLEASE DO I am in love with the Dino’s and their turtle friends :3

*flutters off in a breeze*

I will be putting stickers everywhere immediately, thank you!

I choose raptors because they were my favourite in Jurassic Park from the very beginning. Also I've had a Utahraptor OC for nearly a decade, and Raptor Red is one of my favourite books. So when the idea came of a dinosaur fic, there was truly no question in my mind that it was going to be raptors instead of anything else.

Also anything bigger than Utahraptor would have been an absolute nightmare, logistically speaking. It would take a lot more work to feed, be harder to house, might not have fit on the plane in the first place, and that's even without accounting for there being four of them. Having some big dino like Rexy would be all fun and games until she realises she can fit a whole ninja turtle in her mouth!

Raptor girl Raph is an absolute delight and I support him and Sierra in all their nonsense. (Donnie doesn't, because he's the only one with any real sense, but tbh that's his problem and I have nothing to do with it.) They're going to have a great time terrorising the local bad guys, and probably also the local wildlife.

Casey being a cop is such a stupid decision in Bayverse, it's like the only thing that really gets me 😒 The girls can smell the ACAB now lmao, new canon developing right here. Also Casey is a stranger, and they've always been territorial. Plus Raph is kinda passive-aggressive at Casey and Sierra picks up on that as regular aggression (and by extension, so do the rest of the girls).

The raptors were not modified! They are very smart though, cause bird is Smort af. Parrots can do shit you would not expect from an adult and I love them for it but also sometimes stop that you over-intelligent little shits! Also they have been trained pretty much their entire lives, so they have a baseline for human interaction that can also be applied to turtles.

Also part of their intelligence is based on observations of crocodiles in captivity! Cause they're smarter than you would expect, I got a bunch of books to try to research their behaviour, and I have a whole new appreciation for them.

Okay so obviously there's a lot of things to love in the fic itself, but I also really loved writing the care guide. At first it was just going to be a reference doc for myself, but then I decided to write it as a kind of 'in-universe' thing, from Donnie's POV.

About 90% of the raptor lore is based on what's been observed (and published) about birds of prey and crocodilians. Besides the physical stuff, which is based on fossil records (and some assumptions based on fossil records). Side note, why is it so hard to access some of the academic papers? Let me read!

And a few of my favourite lines from the lore doc:

Sierra shows the same body language when biting the top of Raph’s shell as she does when playing with her sisters. She seems to consider this a form of play as well, and for reasons beyond my comprehension, Raph agrees with her.

The vast majority of aggressive behaviour happens in fights over food, or in an attempt to frighten away things that frighten them. Such things include a loose dog, a butterfly, a plastic bag, and a smoking car engine (the latter also frightened Leo and Mikey).

I have never seen nest squabbles turn violent, unlike our most recent fight for the tv remote.

As shown by Raph and Sierra, to my and Leo’s displeasure, a raptor can pick a meatball from an open palm without injuring the palm.

Raph insists Sierra would attempt to predate a moose if she saw one, as she is, to quote him, ‘braver than Vin Diesel’. I hope he is wrong about her behaviour but assume he is not.

When Raph suggested providing them with a live lobster for enrichment, it locked its claws onto Tango’s lower leg and now all four regard lobsters with suspicion and occasional alarm calls.

Quebec in particular loves liver and will knock Leo over if he’s holding a sheep liver, a habit I have fortunately been able to record for further evaluation.

[youandthemountains]

@crimsonblackrose @underture & @macchiatosdumptruck tagged me in a really nice thing to chat about good things going on!

I'm tagging @morethanonepage @an-sceal @deputychairman @freetobegrace @larussosmomjeans and @ladyifrit

I'm experimenting with getting out of the house at the same time every day. It's crazy how much time that has added to my day especially on evening/night days. While I haven't necessarily made that goal every day yet I also haven't been late yet & have been able to get errands done before the last possible minute so they're actually chill and fun

With the extra time, I've gotten really into making myself special fussy morning drinks. It's funny realizing how much I absorbed working at the coffee shop and putting it into practice for myself. First I found the best way to make milk foam in the French Press and even got it down to being able to pour myself little hearts, then I got some espresso blend and learned how to actually use the press for making the coffee too. While I'm coveting a kettle next, it's nice waiting and watching the water or milk heat up to but not quite at a boil on the stove. Reminds me of the scene in Shape of Water I always admired of her having her hard boiled eggs cooking at the same time every day.

I'm in a curious and open mood right now & have been exploring career changes. I worked with a coach I had actually contacted a few years ago and funnily enough a lot of the things I've done did come up as really strong matches for my values and interests and workplace preferences. I know that's not really accurate or super scientific but it's nice to think that there has been some kind of - logic to my life I guess lol. Also it did remind me of how much I have done and the parts I enjoyed too.

My sister is in town and I roped her into my 2022 Tea Fixation, she actually joined me on it and helped me branch out. We had a delicious Pu-erh, a Taiwanese black tea, a cherry blossom tea (overrated imo, more aromatic than flavorful), and some more hojicha which is cheating bc I already knew I liked it. Am I just really into these bc of the pleasure of seeing clear hot water. Am I just dehydrated??? Maybe so. Anyway I've tried some really great ones at new places with her

@morethanonepage 's birthday gift just came in and I'm so touched at having such a thoughtful and talented friend & grateful for being able to visit and idk not that you wouldn't have ever walked by there without me, but to have something beautiful created out of knowing someone and being able to have that with me on my wall knowing for myself it's a memento? gosh man.

Had a difficult conversation that went better than expected and allowed me to see the ways in which we have all grown to at least be able to communicate

I am still so welcomed by the theater crew and I don't get it but I love how at home I feel with them and how easy it is to talk to them despite how much time has passed and how little we intersect. The manager mentioned his roommate would love to hang out again too and says since he's got the keys now we should schedule a day to come screen something together for ourselves after hours which does sound so fun. I somehow feel really known and seen by them and feel like they and my brother are the only people I've been really able to communicate what I intended to about the trip. And it's always so fascinating to see what they've been up to also, I'm so proud and happy for them, I love the lives they live and the dedication and confidence with which they live them. Somehow also despite again a vast majority of interactions just being work I do think we all have seen each other at some of our best and worst. Maybe it is that they were my first lasting adult friendships idk but I appreciate it a lot.

I just think and hope I'm hopefully making impactful positive changes and I'm really thankful for finally connecting enough to have really wonderful people I feel comfortable asking for perspectives and I'm proud of myself for reaching out more effectively rather than the usual ineffective retreat and isolate until you've Fixed It which just distances you from everyone.

In my research for exercise classes I've found so many fun things to do around the city. I'm going to a 6am dance party at a museum, I got tickets to Pitchfork, I found out one of my favorite artists from high school is playing at one of my favorite venues on my Tuesday off. Love learning and listening to what I love and being a tourist at home.

I'm somehow the only person who can get my niece and nephew to sleep when they're fussy which feels amazing to do when my siblings are exhausted and desperate. My sleepy energy is contagious I guess lol. Also realized I remember lullabies I had no idea I knew the words too which is wild.

I got some kerrygold and I have my signature cookie ingredients and I'm off this weekend so..... :3