Oilbird 👉🏻👈🏻

Oilbird Steatornis caripensis

© Andres Vasquez Noboa

if i had a dollar for the times rachel zeglar's irl boyfriend was in the same movie where she is paired with a white guy i'd have two dollars.

andrés vásques jiménez

Velvet-purple Coronet (Boissonneaua jardini), Fiery-throated Hummingbird (Panterpe insignis), and Gould’s Jewelfront (Heliodoxa aurescens), by Glenn Bartley. Rainbow Starfrontlet (Coeligena iris) by Andres Vasquez Noboa.

Mexico World Cup squad 2022: Final list of 26 players for national team in Qatar

If Ace Attorney was being made into a mainstream Hollywood movie, who would you cast in it?

Vermilion Cardinals (Cardinalis phoeniceus), family Cardinalidae, order Passeriformes, Colombia

Males are red, and females are brown and gray

photograph by Andres Vasquez Noboa

[2492/11080] Citron-headed yellow finch - Sicalis luteocephala

Order: Passeriformes Suborder: Passeri Superfamily: Emberizoidea Family: Thraupidae (tanagers)

Photo credit: Andres Vasquez Noboa via Macaulay Library

Animal of the Day!

Red-legged Honeycreeper (Cyanerpes cyaneus)

(Photo by Andres Vasquez Noboa)

Conservation Status- Least Concern

Habitat- Northern South America; Southern Central America

Size (Weight/Length)- 18 g; 12 cm

Diet- Flower nectar; Fruits; Seeds; Insects

Cool Facts- The red-legged honeycreeper can be found in small flocks in flowering or fruiting trees, feasting to their heart's content. During the breeding season, males and females pair up. The female builds the nest and incubates the eggs, the male defends the nest from predators and brings food for his chicks. The eggs hatch after only 13 days and the chicks fledge after 14. Their most common predator is the ferruginous pygmy owl and the honeycreeper can identify the owl’s call out of any other bird species, often fleeing when one is heard.

Rating- 12/10 (Blue is the rarest color found in nature.)

FINAL POLL: HIPSTER BIRD BRACKET

Tidbits of info, if you need help deciding:

Groove-billed Ani has flown in on the power of friendship and communal child-rearing- as well as the power of being "just a little guy". They're clumsy and floppy and cute and they do raise kids in a big communal family, which is wild for cuckoos to do.

Sickle-winged Nightjar have made it this far I think based solely on the fact they are nightjar that are just a little weird in the wings department. Nothing else about them is extra weird or strange, and they're not well studied.

Purple Honeycreeper defeated the Pink Robin, a bird which I thought was unstoppable, by a best 2-of-3 run-off poll. The male is pictured here, but the female is also quite colorful and could have been the contributing factor in the win.

Oilbird has risen on its popularity of being an absolute nut of a bird: it lives in caves and echolocates, it eats fruit but finds them mostly by vision, it is the only living member of its family and order, the babies are so fat they can be used to make lanterns-- it's a lot.

Image Sources: Ani (Cameron Carver); Nightjar (Kristof Zyskowski); Honeycreeper (Mike Hudson); Oilbird (Andres Vasquez Noboa)

Smile for the Camera! 18

Chapter 18: Sick and Twisted

Masterlist || Previous

So so sorry for the kinda-hiatus! I'll only be uploading on Mondays from now on, but we're back with some torturing Alex AND Skylar teehee :)

Tag List: @livingforthewhump @thecitythatdoesntsleep @thebaffledtiewriter @whumpkinpie @make-it-gay-please @pretty-writing-things @onlywhump @heeheehooho0 @basicallyachild2004 @susiequaz12 @pickywhumpreader @shameless-dumbass @scp-1296 @burningkittypoet @tiredghostboi @painsandconfusion @whump-queen @ilickedanenvelopeandilikedit

CW: Illness, domestic abuse, PTSD, heavy conditioning, multiple whumpees, minor whumpee, reference to death, captivity whump

Alex’s head was pounding. Every muscle in his body hurt, but it wasn’t just from the torture. He was covered in sweat, yet couldn’t stop shivering. He was delirious, but aware enough to register the nausea in his stomach. Yet, he barely noticed the footsteps getting closer and closer to him.

A man was crouching down in front of him, but he could barely remember the man’s name. The blurriness didn’t help, either. Something in his body screamed “DANGER” at him, but he couldn’t remember why. It took him ages to recognize that the man was talking to him.

“Alex?” he heard the man say. “Alex, sweetie?” The stranger reached down and carded a hand through Alex’s hair, letting his hand linger on the boy’s forehead. “Oh, sweetheart, you’re burning up.” Alex simply closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. He forgot that the man was there at all.

“Jordan…” Alex found himself muttering. “Jordan, I missed you…” He didn’t know why he was saying it. He just remembered Jordan stroking his hair and running his thumb across his face, so it must be Jordan in front of him, right?

“Aww, you think I’m Jordan, don’t you?” Nathan said, smiling at the clearly delusional boy in front of him. “How cute.” He removed his hand from Alex’s hair. “Don’t you remember, sweetheart? Jordan Fielding is dead.”

“You’re talkin’ funny, Jordan,” Alex slurred his words like a drunk. “You’re here, with me… right?”

“Sure I am, honey.” Nathan laughed as he walked towards the stairs. “SKYLAR!” he yelled upstairs.

Alex opened his eyes, flinching at the name. Skylar. Nathan. Jordan is dead. Jordan is dead. Everything from the past few weeks came crashing down on him. I’m still here, aren’t I? That wasn’t Jordan, was it?

Soon enough, two pairs of footsteps were walking toward him. Another hand was on his forehead. “He’s burning up, alright.” It was Skylar’s voice. Alex whimpered at the sound.

“I need you to fix him up, okay?” Nathan said. No, no, please. “Without giving him more fluids, though. He hardly deserved the Gatorade you gave him.”

“He needed electrolytes.”

Nathan chuckled. “He would’ve survived.”

“If you want me to fix him, let me medicate him properly!” Skylar yelled. Is Skylar sticking up for me? 

Nathan lowered his voice and took a step closer to Skylar. “Skylar, it’d be wise for you to listen to me.” Maybe I can reason with them.

“Skylar…” Alex begged. “P-please don’t hurt me, I can’t…”

There was a blond-haired boy laying on his stomach, his blood dripping from the metal table. Lash marks riddled his back, maybe thirty, if Skylar had to guess.

The boy turned his light blue eyes to Skylar, cringing. “P-please don’t hurt me, I can’t…”

“No, no,” Skylar muttered to themself. They weren’t supposed to remember those times. But Alex sounded so much like that boy from six years ago…

“What’s wrong, darling?” Nathan put a hand on their shoulder, but they immediately recoiled.

They remembered Nathan first telling them he had kidnapped someone. They remembered Nathan breaking their ribs when they refused to help him torture kids. Nathan hurting them, saying they deserved it. Nathan pinning them down to his bed… 

Nathan leaned down to whisper in their ear. “You’re doing this because you love me. Repeat it.”

Skylar winced. “I-I’m, doing this because I love you.” It’s not true, it’s not true…

“You want to do this.”

“I-I… I want to do this.” It’s not true.

“You’re going to keep doing this for me until death do us part.”

“I’m going to keep doing this for you…”

“Until death do us part, Skylar.” The wicked grin was back.

“Until d-death do us part.”

Alex was fully awake now, staring at Skylar. They were huddled in the corner across from Alex. “I’m not supposed to remember,” they whispered. “He wouldn’t hurt me, I love him, I want to do this, I…”

Nathan stalked towards Skylar and crouched down in front of them, balancing on the balls of his feet. Just like he does with me. “That’s right, babe.” He touched their cheek. “You want to help me, right?” He smiled. “Your job is completely voluntary.”

Skylar frantically nodded, their eyes wide. Were they scared of Nathan? Maybe even more than I am?

Nathan helped Skylar to their feet, ignoring their trembling. “Come on, take care of Alex, alright? I want him back in business as soon as possible.” He patted their cheek and left them alone with the confused boy.

“Skylar?” Alex asked, watching them walk toward him. “Wh-what was that? Are… are you okay?”

The medic’s fearful face turned to one of fiery rage. “Don’t bring this up again. You ever even think about what just happened, and I’ll kill you. Got it?”

“N-no, I don’t think I do.”

“What?”

“Skylar,” Alex tried, “You’re not doing this voluntarily, are you?” It took all of his energy to form the words.

“Stop.”

“If he’s hurting you, too, we can still work together, we can both get out–”

“Stop.” Skylar pulled at their hair. “I’m going to let that slide because you’re delirious.” They sighed. “Nothing happened, okay? Don’t– don’t worry about it. I’m…” Their voice shook. “I’m not supposed to remember anyways.”

What the fuck. Skylar was more traumatized than Alex.

“Skylar,” Alex kept his voice even, “how long have you been dating–”

“Stop acting like you get to ask questions,” Skylar growled. They tried to stay mad at the boy, but his face looks so much like the others’… “Let me get you some water, okay?”

Alex perked up. “W-water? But he said–”

“I know, I know, I just…” Tears brimmed in their eyes. “I’m sorry, kid.”

Next

Everyone on X Should See This Video

Watch Out Elle Woods and iCarly. This Girl Can Out Accessorize You Any Day Of The Week & Out Think You With Half Her Brain Tied Behind Her Back! “So I have a message to my fellow Americans. You'll watch this on TV or YouTube. Whose side are you on? Are you on the side of criminals or are you on the side of this country?” “I'd like to start off with something Edward Snowden, a whistleblower once said. He said, when exposing a crime is treated as committing a crime, you are being ruled by criminals.” “Everyone in this room recognizes that what's happening surrounding the nonstop influx of illegal aliens is criminal. Everyone recognizes that something evil is among us and Americans are not ready for the fundamental impacts this will have. “In fact, we can't even fathom it because we've never seen anything like this. Never. We have an administration that is run by criminals who hate America. “That is why they protect these criminals. Police have been instructed from above to not mess with them. So no matter what these criminal aliens do, they're always released. It's not an accident. This is by design. And we have a garbage media that gets paid for lousy coverage. We have a media that protects criminals. “It seems as if every level of government has been bought out. It really makes you wonder how many seats in government have been bought out by foreign influence. “And we have a government that uses language to weaponize the masses. They're not illegal aliens, they're asylum seekers. Refugees. And they throw these terms around so that the people of America feel guilty. Because nobody wants to be a bad person. We all aim to be good. But there's a distinction between goodness and tolerance. “There's a difference between goodness and naivety. And unfortunately, I believe the majority of Americans are not acting out of the spirit of goodness, but rather out of the spirit of cowardice and naivety. And we have the Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights headed by anti-American [40th Ward Alderman] Andre Vasquez. “Friendly terms, but I like to call them what they are. The pro criminal committee, the anti-American committee. They are here not for people, but to destroy America. These groups are enemies of America. “How many illegals are you housing in your home, Vasquez? Uh-oh. Since you love them so much, house them in your own home. Use your own money to fund them[...] “Stop feeling like you're a bad person for calling them illegals. Stop letting our enemies gaslight us into believing we are racist or anti-immigrant. She's a new person. A good person isn’t a coward. A good person stands up for their neighbors. “I'll finish with my favorite Martin Luther King Jr. quote. And I hope my fellow Americans ponder this. He once said, the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.” Transcript Credit: WallStreetApes

https://x.com/AmericanHubener/status/1775233374539448664

Uncharismatic Fact of the Day

Humming birds are famous for their speed and reliance on nectar as a food source, but that’s not the only thing they eat. Some hummingbirds, like the rainbow starfrontlet, also catch small arthropods out of the air in a technique called hawking.

(Image: A male rainbow starfrontlet (Coeligena iris) by Andres Vasquez Noba)

If you like what I do, consider leaving a tip or buying me a ko-fi!

Best Movies Of 2023 61-70

Medusa Deluxe directed by Thomas Hardiman

Nocebo directed by Lorcan Finnegan

Knock At The Cabin directed by M. Night Shyamalan

A Haunting In Venice directed by Kenneth Branagh

The Voyage Of The Demeter directed by Andre Ovredal

Malum directed by Anthony DiBlasi

Unicorn Wars directed by Alberto Vasquez

Castlevania: Nocturne directed by Sam Deats, Adam Deats, Saren Stone, Tam Lu

African Folktalkes Reimagined directed by Loukman Ali, Walt Mzenga Corey, Mohamed Echkouna, Voline Ogutu, Akorede Azeez, Gcobisa Yako

Animalia directed by Sofia Alaoui

Here's the list of the mixes I used: Mary J. Blige - You Remind Me (Dub Mix) Mary J. Blige - Real Love (Global's Broken Love Mix) Mary J. Blige - Reminisce (Masters At Work Bootleg Mix) Mary J. Blige - All Night Long (Bottom Dollar Vocal Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - You Bring Me Joy (E-Smoove's Joyous Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - I Love You (Moto Blanco Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - Love Is All We Need (Boris Dlugosch Elusive Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - Everything (Frankie Knuckles Classic Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - Missing You (Curtis & Moore Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - Deep Inside (Hex Hector Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - Your Child (Junior Vasquez Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - Give Me You (Soulforce Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - Family Affair (Dance For Me) [David Guetta Extended Mix] Mary J. Blige - Dance For Me (G-Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - He Think I Don't Know (HQ2 Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - Give Me You (Nino Club Mix) Mary J.Blige, Method Mad - Rainy Dayz (Thunderpuss Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - Family Affair (Thunderpuss Club Anthem Mix) Mary J Blige - Ooh! (Jonathan Meyer Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - Love @ 1st Sight (Kurtis Mantronik's Rock Lobster Vocal Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - Be Without You (Moto Blanco Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - Enough Cryin (White Chocolate Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - MJB DA MVP (Bootleg House Mix) Mary J. Blige - We Ride (Rafael Lelis Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - Just Fine (Moto Blanco Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - Work That (Moto Blanco 2010 Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - Stronger (EDX's Belo Horizonte At Night Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - I Am (Moto Blanco Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - Only Love (Doctor Love Club Mix) Mary J. Blige - I Still Believe In Love (DJ Donovan Harley Quinn Club Edit) Mary J. Blige, Anderson.Paak - Here With Me (Andre 3000 Extended Mix) Mary J. Blige, Remy Ma & DJ Khaled - Gone Forever (RVBZ Edit)

ACC Hosts First Welding Showdown

ACC hosted the first Gulf Coast Community College Welding Showdown on November 4 which included students from seven colleges including ACC, Houston Community College, Wharton Junior College, College of the Mainland, Western Texas College, Texas State Technical College and Brazosport College.

“I feel like the turnout was great and I’m already looking forward to next year’s showdown,” said Leroy Brigman, ACC Welding coordinator.

Brigman said the competition was an idea that he and Western Texas College Welding instructor Jeff Stewart first began talking about a few months ago. Jeff Stewart helped Leroy get his pipeline career started after meeting in 2013. Both were glad to see the event come to life and provide students a chance to showcase their skills while also networking with their peers, Brigman said.

“We had 42 competitors from seven different colleges,” he said. “We had more than 100 people at the event.”

ACC students took third place in Tig/Stick, second place in the tig on pipe, the downhill pipe and the uphill stick on plate, and had a student on the first place sculpture team.

“As a team, I think we did extremely well this year,” Brigman said.

In addition to the schools competing in the showdown, Brigman credited sponsors Pipeliners Cloud and Alltex Welding, and the ACC Foundation for making the event possible for students to learn about job opportunities while also meeting with those working in the field. Food was also provided for the competitors from Kenjo's BBQ, Brazoria County Sheriff Bo Stalman, Patrol Sgt. Jason Ringo and deputy Jay Burridge. Judges included Certified Welding Inspectors and construction managers Dee Win, Mark Thompson and Bud Womack.

Winners

5G - 8" Pipe Tig competition

1st College of the Mainland Jordan Swisher

2nd Alvin Community College Jennifer Havis

3rd Texas State Technical College Hector Guzman

6G COMBO-2"XXH  Pipe- TIG/STICK          

1st Texas State Technical College - Diego Perez

2nd Brazosport College - Edgar Delacruz

3rd Alvin Community College - Andres Nino

5G - 12" DOWNHILL Pipe       

1st Western Texas College - Samuel Hernandez

2nd Alvin Community College - Jonathan Gonzalez

3rd Texas State Technical College - Jack Bowman

4G "Overhead" PLATE - MIG/FLUX           

1st Western Texas College - Patricio Araya Bustamante

2nd Houston Community College - Mario Zavala

3rd Texas State Technical College - Olivia Garcia

3G "Uphill" PLATE – TIG

1st Texas State Technical College - Zitlaly Rangel

2nd Brazosport College - Victoria Newman

3rd Wharton County Junior College - Angel Vasquez

3G "Uphill" PLATE - Stick

1st Wharton County Junior College - Jakorie Taylor

2nd Alvin Community College - Cody Deaton

3rd Brazosport College - Eli Davis