the things that ticked me off are 1. the fucking MUSIC. 2. the recorder made no effort to stop it 3. the location the hawk came from is off-screen. it looks like it was tossed down on to the chicken, and although nothing got hurt, this is needless endangerment of both the chicken, chicks, and the hawk. I wouldn’t be surprised if this came from one of those fake rescue YouTube channels. this is ridiculously cruel.

2. Wings are not clipped, it’s clearly molting

3. It wasn’t tossed, the shadow shows it coming out of a dive maneuver before the hawk itself comes into frame

4. If it had been tossed, it wouldn’t be aiming for one of the chicks in particular.

Looks like an inexperienced young predator bit off more than it could chew and panicked. Taking off from the ground isn’t that easy, especially while your head feathers are getting yanked out and you’re being beaten by wings, it was trying to get some distance before flying upwards and it didn’t work out well.

One could argue it’s suspicious that the person just happened to be filming at the right moment and calmly captured the whole encounter instead of flailing the camera around, yelling, or intervening, but that’s hardly proof of anything. Some people are just unflappable.

and here is a screenshot of the channels most recent uploads:

I was right on the mark: it’s one of those fake rescue channels done for easy money. there are countless of these going around, and I had two other videos on different channels featuring (potentially) the same bird. this should be the end of this response as it’s self explanatory but I’ll go into more detail in case people aren’t aware. these videos are blatently staged, often reusing the same animals and showcasing completely improbable circumstances. the situation of a hawk diving on chickens is not particularly unusual so it makes sense nobody would bat an eye, but it doesn’t change the fact that that bird was not diving, it was either tossed or trying to come down from a higher perch. either way, the bird is incapable of flying, either because of a poor moult, or more likely, intentional tampering.

moulted feathers is one thing, but the existing feathers are extremely damaged. not only that, but throughout the video, the bird is clearly in distress, mouth wide open with tongue sticking out. it is either overheating, extremely stressed out, or both. the poor feather condition also implies heavy handling.

This video is 100% staged, as is every other video on this channel, but in a situation where a domestic animal is under attack, who the fuck sits and records it up to 5 minutes following, and then edits it and adds dramatic music in post? it’s one thing if it’s wild animals doing wild animal things, but this is a (poorly kept not wild) young crested hawk-eagle and chickens. and again, for any doubts, the same species if not individual is featured in several other videos doing similar shit being thrown at defensive chickens for quick clicks, such as this one, where there is even less effort made to hide the fact this bird has no fucking wing feathers anymore (hawks do not have simultaneous moults)

and, for comparison, a healthy crested hawk-eagle, with normal wings:

Awoo on a cold day 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m really glad she’s a huge hit, it’s super exciting to see so many people love the character design and the gameplay, and know that I contributed directly and significantly to the behind-the-scenes engineering that makes it all work. It’s validating.

But it’s also so fucking melancholy to know I did so much work and put in so much time for such a shitty company, run by shitty people, and the reward I got for it was unemployment. 

I threw a lot into this character. I cried at work. I started getting panic attacks, which I’ve never gotten before. I developed persistent heart palpitations from the daily overwhelming stress and had to go to the hospital (this is true, seriously.) I basically dropped all my friends outside of work. My manager (and his manager!) lied to me constantly to keep me working. They said I was doing a great job but to keep it up. Don’t worry, it’s going to turn out great, and it’ll all be worth it in the end – recognition, a raise, probably a promotion in short order. They promised me the world. When she was finally finished, I didn’t even get to go to the release party, they just walked me out. 

I remember a quote from my last day, it sticks out in my mind: “I know you realize this is really hard for me,” my manager said. Yes, in the end, when he awkwardly informed me I didn’t have my dream job anymore – or any job at all – and then stared back at my shell-shocked face, my thousand-yard stare, the only thing he felt was sorry for himself.

She launched with no major bugs and was considered a technical success. Doesn’t matter. Get the fuck out.

Look, I get it. Akali is EXTREMELY my type. It’s obvious how much love and care was put into her development. But it makes me furious to see all the free advertising that Riot is getting from people who I thought would know better.  And now? One of the people who is arguably responsible for all that free advertising? Who’s work is undoubtedly making Riot hundreds of thousands of dollars a day? Who was overworked to the point of near breaking? They get nothing. WORSE than the scant bit of credit that most devs can get in a big company like Riot. They got let go.