can we talk about Phil and Jaiden today and their interactions after Jaiden finally shows her wings because I’m going crazy.
Jaiden showing off her wings for the first time to Phil, and Phil both happy for her and also insanely jealous, because why did she get to keep her wings, while his got clipped so badly he needs his backpack to counterbalance the weight he lost - or at least the weight he looses having to keep them close to his back.
and the whole time they’re talking in a group, hanging around spawn, Jaiden is perched somewhere above the group. up in a tree, moving from branch to branch, or against the wall, or right on the top of that lamppost. Phil, on the other hand, stays sat on the bench the entire time. grounded.
and every time Jaiden hops from perch to perch, he looks specifically at her. zooms in whiles she’s sat on the lamppost even as he continues conversation. its such a small detail but really helps punch in just how much Philza can’t let it go, can’t stop wishing that he could do the same.
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OKAY it's going to take a while to get to the point with this one but-- de meta time. You see I realised just now that the skua which is referenced throughout the game is a y'know a skua. Like Great Skua skua, like Stercorarius Skua.
And ALRIGHT that might be my bilingual brain that's slow on the uptake (all my bird knowledge is in Danish so forgive me) because perception literally points it out:
BUT HEY. HEY. I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY OF YOU KNOW WHAT THE GREAT SKUA'S WHOLE DEAL IS BUT IT IS NOT NICE. SO LET ME TELL YOU A LITTLE ABOUT THEM BEFORE I GET INTO THE MEAT OF THIS META:
Skuas are a type of predatory bird that primarily lives off of stealing other marine bird's food. Basically they're very good at outmanouvering and bullying other birds until the unsuspecting gull or tern (for an example) drops the fish it had caught. But The Great Skua takes that a step further as the largest of its kind. Becuase it will straight up kill to rob another bird, while also consequently getting the other bird as a meal in the process. Like, killing gulls and puffins are just a regular part of its diet along with the theft.
AND IN CASE THIS ISN'T ALREADY OBVIOUS: THE GREAT SKUA IS AN INSANE BIRD TO HAVE AS A HERALDIC/SYMBOLIC BIRD.
But then I thought; well yes of course the first bird that the nations of Mundi would find as a proof of reality would be the Great Skua. Of course the colonisers would have their first proof of discovering "the New New World" be this bird. Of course the people who after seeing this skua, this living proof that there was more out there to exploit, would then go to other isolas to steal and kill to sustain themselves. Of course the people that established the Suzerain of Revachol, which was (to quote Joyce) "the greatest concentration of wealth mankind has ever seen", would be justified by a Great Skua.
Of course the future foundations of the capitalist world in Elysium would see a skua, the bird that lives of off kelptoparasitism, as their proof of a New New World and new new oppertunities.
And then it only makes sense that The Great Skua became the symbol of the discovery of Insulinde; Mundi's most "promising" steal.
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Fun Fact: Oilbirds are Basically BatBirds!
I want to talk about these amazing birds:
I love them. I mean, look at their big, shiny eyes! NO ONE can say that they aren’t cute as hell!
The other reason I love these animals is because they’re basically what happens when evolution tries to make a bat out of a bird.
These little guys are known as oilbirds (Steatornis caripensis), and are also called guácharo (and also several other things, because they are found in South America, plus Trinidad & Tobago, which all have INCREDIBLE language diversity).
Oilbirds are nocturnal, flying around the forests of South America at night looking for fruit to eat. They also live colonially in caves, which they navigate using echolocation.
So, to review:
(I’m making my Generic Bats a very generic fruit bat, for the record).
Oilbirds are the only birds with this combination of traits, which I think is pretty cool of them! Why are they so much like bats? Basically, when different types of animals evolve under similar selective pressures, they often evolve the same features! This is called convergent evolution, and wow I talk about it a lot on this blog! It turns out that nocturnal animals that live in caves and eat fruit can sometimes benefit from traits like these!
(they’re, like... spooky-cute. Cute-spooky? Either way, I like them a lot)
So, if these birds are flying around at night, how do they stop themselves from flying into things while searching for that tasty, tasty fruit?
Well, in the forest, they mostly rely on their AMAZING night vision (which is another trait they share with bats, fyi). That is why they have such big, adorable eyes, which has a lot of light-sensing cells called rods. They actually hold a record for the density of the rods in their eyes: one million per square millimetre. That is the highest density of any known vertebrate. It’s about 6x denser than the rods found in human eyes!
...still cute
Their amazing vision allows them to see very well in low light, which is how they navigate the South American jungles at night, searching for food under the moon and stars. That said, their vision just doesn’t cut it when it comes to flying in the caves they call home. Why? Well, caves are dark as hell, and even the best night-vision can’t do anything for you when there’s no light at all. Plus, flying into cave walls/ cliff faces hurts, so it’s good to be extra sure you’re not flying into solid rock!
So how do they find their way around these dark caves? Well, they use something very unusual for birds: echolocation!
Oilbirds are one of only a few species of birds that are known to use echolocation (the others are a few species of the closely-related swiflets (Collocaliini), but I HAVE DECIDED TODAY IS FOR THE OILBIRDS im sorry, swiflets, ilu2).
Look at them, not flying into rocks! I’m so proud (˃̣̣̥ ◡ ˂̣̣̥)
Also, a bonus fact, because idk where to fit this but I MUST mention it:
They have little whiskers around their beaks (which are technically called “rictal bristles”, but I’m going to call them “whiskers” because I like that word better). These whiskers are basically used to feel things that they have in and around their mouth, helping them find, manipulate, and eat their tasty fruit!
...moustache...
This has been Fun Fact Friday!
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Hi hello!! I absolutely LOVE your art and I love how you depict the monkey boysss. I remember in a past request that you stated that Na was based on a magpie (If I remember correctly) and I was wondering you said she was originally supposed to be more animal based but instead you made it more of spiritually. Now this is just a a little something my lizard brain happened to come up with but what if Na ended up somehow being turned into a magpie (not permanently but like a little magic mess up) and the monkey boys had to take care of her in this more vulnerable state? I can imagine the two boys panicking and trying their best to be gentle with her lol.
hello hello!!! ((TYSM AAAA <333 ))
This thought has been floating around in my brain for a while, so you practically read my mind anon…. Magical anon…..
In any case, they probably thought they would take Nà to a far out forest to let her explore and do her lil hiking for the week. But suddenly poof!
After they figure out it’s her, the safest thing would to take her back to FFM, just to keep her close and under their supervision. Trying to figure out how to change her back and why this could’ve happened. In the meantime, Wukong having his occasional meltdown in allowing this to happen in the first place while giving her plenty of fruits and nuts. Fun fact… Nà actually has a pet bird, SO, I would think the boys would’ve picked up the general basics in what a bird can and can’t eat and generally how to take care of them. They’re still very cautious in handling her though (monkey claws n all) , birds are quite fragile.
Finally the star of the show…..
since they would be entirely scared to handle her too much, but not wanting to leave her alone, they just shapeshift into their bird forms and accompany her like that. Many bird cuddles until she shifts back hehe
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