Certified Weirdo and I Like It That Way!

Art dump (in varying degrees of practice/experimentation/quality lol) of my current favorite Tav, Ferne 🖤

Boo!! I'm not dead lmao

Finally got a more mobile drawing tablet (Galaxy Tab Active with CSP), so I now have a much more functional setup for drawing more regularly yayyyyy

Cause the traditional desktop/bamboo tablet setup I was relying on before was fuckin brutal lmao, and feels almost arcaic compared to now lol

Anyway, hoping to post more art now, but it's been over a year since I last drew anything, so it's been a blast, but also a challenge to get back into the swing of things again

Maryland side: my blinker gives me a magic wizard shield which allows me to safely do anything I want in regards to changing lanes, tailgating, or cutting people off. No harm may come to me as long as I blink.

Virginia side: if you don't think this is a race you're wrong. I can, and will, do what I have to in order to win.

The district: I live I die I live again the grid's made up and the rules don't matter.

I got quite a few questions and responses about why the online brand / website / Facebook page “The Dodo” shouldn’t be supported. Here’s a quick rundown:

Misguided Anti-Captivity. They are often blatantly anti-captivity, or use anti-captivity language and/or promote anti-captivity views. They use language such as an animal is “trapped” in a zoo or an animal was “saved” from a zoo. They actively support and often get quotes from representatives from ZooCheck, an anti-zoo and anti-captivity organization, and support HSUS (Humane Society of the United States). Their reports on tragedies of animals being injured or dying at zoos are overwhelmingly full of blame, toxicity, and disrespect. Their ideas of anti-captivity are incredibly limited and misguided – they are often pro “sanctuary” with the idea that all sanctuaries are better and they rarely discuss any kind of conservation.

Anthropomorphism over Accuracy. They are wildly, ridiculously, inaccurately anthropomorphic. For example, a picture of a bear leaned against a wall is captioned as: “He looks desperate, depressed, despondent. He stares up, seeming to search for a way out.” They described an owl resting on someone’s shoulder as “missing the man who saved her so much she couldn’t stop hugging him.” A kitten “looks at his rescuers face to be reassured everything is okay.”  One of their most recent articles is about a cow “shedding tears” and crying because it is sad. Overall, they are much more concerned with ‘tugging on heartstrings’ of animal lovers than with being accurate about animal behavior. 

Unsafe Animal Interactions and Inappropriate Pets. Despite being anti-captivity when it comes to zoos specifically, they have often published videos of exotic pets and/or inappropriate free contact with wild/dangerous animals. 

Lack of Primary Sources and Information. They often lack any resources to accurate information about their “news”. Recently they made a 45-second video which claimed that basically any elephant on display (from a Ringling Circus to a rural south Asian performance) was automatically and certainly being abused and tortured. There were no sources or proof to back this up, no resources to explore, nothing. They rarely have any kind of scientist or animal care worker as a source for any video or article, just activists. 

Stealing and Editing Videos. You’ll notice almost every video on their site is made by them and hosted there, not shared from somewhere else. They take videos from other sources, add music and text, and call it their own. They almost never link to the original source. 

Overall, “The Dodo” is not a news site. It’s a brand. It’s a website designed to get views and make money - it will do anything just to get those clicks. But it tries to sell itself as news, and therein lies the issue. They use strong language, buzzwords, and clickbait titles in order to push a vague, biased agenda that hurts those of us who work in zoos and other animal facilities.

–Any wild animal in a house/being treated like a pet. Yes, even if they say they “rescued” it. No legitimate rehabber would EVER treat a wild animal like a pet. Repeat after me: it does not matter if the animal is not suitable for release; they still shouldn’t be kept as a pet.

–Free contact with big cats. Even if it’s a “sanctuary”.

–People interacting with wildlife. Feeding, petting, playing with, etc.

–Free handling venomous snakes.

–Predator and prey interacting. Cats and birds, dogs and birds, literally anything else with birds. Cats or dogs with rodents, etc.

–Any video that claims a wild animal is domesticated. Wild animals are NOT domesticated, but they can be tamed. These are two very different things and anyone who doesn’t understand the difference shouldn’t be owning one of those animals.

–Any video claiming that (insert wild/exotic species here) is “just like owning a dog/cat!” i.e. the video that went around saying foxes are “the best characteristics of cats and dogs”.

–Facilities that breed hybrids or morphs (i.e. ligers, white tigers, coywolves, etc)

–Any video by the Dodo

–Obese animals being portrayed as “cute and chonky”.

–Click bait titles about dangerous/exotic animals i.e. “bitten by my king cobra!”, “my pet fox did what?!?”, “letting my pet alligator pick out a toy!”. You get the idea. Anyone using wild animals to get views/publicity does not have their best interests at heart.

–Any “dog trainers” promoting dominance theory (this shit has been disproven so many times and is not even accurate for wolves…)

–Owl cafes, otter cafes, or any kind of wild animal cafe.