To Be Denied By The Cat Distribution System Is A Terrible Thing.

I'm writing again to bring attention to the GFM campaign of @nourfamily1989, a mother of five in Gaza.

Since the last update, the situation for Nour and her family has gotten a lot worse. The area they've been seeking refuge in has been subject to intense bombing, and they've had to flee again in the middle of the night, with no idea where to go or what awaits them.

The despair Nour is describing is heartbreaking:

We see death every day, every minute, and every second??? We can no longer endure all this suffering, and my children are no longer children. Rather, they have become adults. After all this suffering, they have not taken any of their rights. Rather, they have lost their lowest rights. They have to bear what no grown-up person could bear. How long will all this torment and destruction that we live in?? Every day we move from place to place and we do not know where to go and where to go. There is no safe place for us. Every place is targeted and there is no safety. Please help my children from this bitter torment. Please save us from this destruction. There is no home. There is no future for my children. All their dreams are shattered.

Nour has repeatedly said on her blog that she hates having to ask for help, but that, for the sake of her children, she no longer has a choice.

Let's make sure her pleas now don't go unanswered.

You can make a big difference to the family even with a small donation. If you can't donate, then please help by sharing.

Donation link (GFM)

For vetting info, see this post by @/killy.

Over the course of a week, we've been able to raise a little over $5,000. Let's aim to reach the next $5,000 milestone as soon as possible, so that if the Rafah crossing reopens in the near future, the family will have the funds necessary to evacuate.

Currently: $14,240 / $20,000

Total GFM goal: $90,000

Juvenile White-striped freetailed bat, via

Deffo look at the source on this one, the circumstances of the rescue are wild. They have over 200 of these little guys!!!

GUYS! I have learned crucial information about bats I think everyone should know. Especially pertaining to Underland fliers.

Bats can purr!

They vibrate and they sound like engines, it's adorable. There is a great video of one on the Maid of Bats Instagram page. And I am also immediately adding it to my headcanon that fliers purr unconsciously under certain circumstances of happiness, and that they can do it at will. Just a deep rumble while they vibrate. Just-

Gregor: *does something*

Ares: *finds it endearing and starts purring unconsciously*

Everyone else: 0_0 WTF, I didn't think Ares could do that anymore.

Or also,

Luxa: *extremely stressed out about something that happened or about being queen and goes to Aurora*

Aurora: *wordlessly wraps her wings around Luxa and starts purring to help Luxa relax*

Ah, nice! Thanks for the art / visual realization of this particular chiroptera!

>"I hope this is close to what you wanted"

It absolutely is! Thanks!

Hiyo! I apologize for any inconvenience/impertinence, but might I request/commission an illustration of a bat?

Underland!Euderma maculatum. Name: Pythia. Not her actual name. Just what she goes by, due to a rumor; some think she is able to hear into the future - or possible futures. Role/task within Regalia: grief counselor for fliers/humans/etc. who have lost their bonds/family members. or family members of their bonds. Or fliers who have been injured to the point of permanent mobility impairment (cannot fly anymore), individuals that might have dubious thoughts regarding their continued biological existence.

refs: https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Euderma_maculatum/ image refs: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=40631

I have three ideas in mind for the illustration I wish to request, but I don't know which of the three to pick. One would be somber, her assisting another... The second would be humorous; possibly depicting Boots and Hazard (or other young-ins) climbing all over the polka-dotted flier, hanging off her ears, etc. Or the third... Pythia's fate. In the hallway leading to Regalia's nursery, with (at least) Dulcet and Cartesian behind her... the Euderma momentarily holding the line, giving what little time before the gnawers overwhelm her position.

I don't know which one to choose. So, leaving that up to you.

I am so sorry it took so long to get finished. I was so excited by someone asking me to draw their OC that I wanted to do more than just a quick sketch and really put my full effort into it. So here's Pythia giving some comfort to a grieving Regalian.

I tried my best to keep her faithful to the bat reference, but a certain degree of creative liberties had to be taken to make her clearly emote. The very iconic spots are only really visible on the back so I had to cheat a little bit around the sides. I hope this is close to what you wanted :')

And FWI yes, the text says "Bat or Owl" that does include Underland OCs... hopefully I won't take three months to get it done next time 😅

Bonuses after the cut:

Alternate color versions that I was iterating. Just getting the right background figured out took so much time and fiddling and I'm still not sure I got it quite right

And here's just a PNG of the characters if you want to put them in a better fitting background

Sending love to everyone who is just... tired. Life is a lot, and sometimes the answer to it all is to just be still and silent for a while. Give yourself space and grace. Whether it’s decision fatigue, anxiety fatigue, information fatigue, routine fatigue, getting life back together fatigue, career fatigue, social fatigue, financial fatigue, or physical fatigue—take a moment to breathe and recharge. You deserve it.

The fucking posts i see from people all like "why is the federal government funding research about snail sex this is stupid" piss me the fuck off. There's lots of reasons, Harold.

1. Understand how snails reproduce so we can learn more about the world around us and maybe learn more about ourselves or how things work.

2. You literally never know what could spark the next great scientific advancement. Snail sex hormones could be a miracle cure for cancer but you won't fucking know that unless you study the snail sex.

3. Hate to break it to ya pal but snails are still worth researching even if you think they're "useless animals." They feed larger animals, they eat plants and shit, they exist and quite frankly that's marvelous. Just because they are useless TO YOU does not mean they aren't worthy of attention.

Like genuinely quit focusing on going "ew!! Icky useless animal having icky sex!!" or whatever, you sound like the people who demonized Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics, for wanting to study how plants reproduce.

The Yapper

Pacific Wild

Call for an End to the B.C. Wolf Cull

The B.C. government has spent over 10 million tax dollars killing 2,192 wolves, while destroying caribou habitat. Speak up to save wolves.

Help End the Culling of Wolves in BC

Wolves are loyal, social animals who live in close-knit packs and care deeply for their pups. They play a vital role in our ecosystem and deserve our protection. Please take just 30 seconds to sign this petition to end the culling of these magnificent animals. Your voice can make a difference for a species that brings beauty and balance to our world. Thank you for standing up for wolves.

Silver Haired bat, via

aaaaaah I love this concept, just... everything about this. Especially since big'ol'bat'bro ought to have had even just *one* night topside.

On the other wing, however, the process of even getting Ares to the Overland... it's complicated. More so than with most canonically-known fliers, given Ares' above-average size. Ares even outright states he won't fit up the staircase leading to the concealed stone (and even if he could, getting a giant bat up all those stairs... well, it's doable, but there's gonna be a lot of cursin' involved), and if he can't fit there, then the laundry grate is similarly an unlikely surface access point. And that's without factoring in the possibility of others intending to use the laundry room during this process... and then the duo would have to scramble back down lest they're still in the building when Animal Control inevitably arrives on scene.

And then there's the decision of how to go about 'bring your pet cottonball companion bond to school'. > Bring Ares into the building? > Ask him to stay up on the roof and somehow convince the teacher to allow the class out to the yard so Ares can do some kind of dynamic entrance? (Assuming there's even an outdoor space on the complex...) > Open the window to let Ares stick his big fluffy head in?

But, aside from all the above... I still very much love everything about this hypothetical scenario.

imagine it’s bring your pet to school day and gregor shows up with ares.