Author | Lightnews

Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀 @doubleproficiency.com · 8h

As someone who will, eventually, end up writing a book on biology & folklore of invertebrates (despite having a little bit of a phobia), I find articles like this extremely helpful and valuable.

Also, looks at this fluffy baby!

John R. Platt @johnrplatt.bsky.social · 5d

I originally invited conservation photographer @chasingbugs.com to write this for the @sejorg.bsky.social magazine, but I thought it deserved an even bigger audience, so I'm republishing in on @therevelator.org today: therevelator.org/write-about-...

Why Journalists Should Write About Insects • The Revelator

It’s time to craft a new insect narrative, one that transforms our perspective from fear to fascination.

therevelator.org

2 14

Reposted by Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀

Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀 @doubleproficiency.com · 1d

It's time to bring back one of my favorite things we ever made.
Suitable for any system and party, with guidelines to run it anywhere on the spectrum from child-friendly to gothic horror.

If you need an adventure for your Halloween ttrpg night, give it a try.
www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/4...

On a black and gold marble lies a stack of The Phantom Manor zines. On the cover, a cartoon-style ghost does its best to scare you. A crimson reflection of a manor appears in one of the black eye holes. A cartoon spider swings on a silk thread from the subtitle: "A spooky adventure for characters of any game and level." Next to the zines, a text reads: "10 rooms, 13 ghosts, 1 mysterious door. Can you survive until dawn and lift the Rosebloom family curse?"

1 2 1

Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀 @doubleproficiency.com · 11h

I woke up to Blue Jays trending, so this must be fate. I literally drew them yesterday!

All best birds are corvids.

A digital ink & watercolor drawing of the bird blue jay, having nothing in common with the trending topic which is, I think, baseball thing. These blue jays are happily perched on sticks and fence posts, with their blue crests lowered or raised. There's also an egg in a corner.

4 29

Reposted by Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀

Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀 @doubleproficiency.com · 1d

It always makes me smile when non-Polish people discover The Weirdness of our graphic design school. It's always a bit reductive ("it's communism!"), but it's likely as good as 12min video can be.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpPB...

The Weird Rebellion of Polish Movie Posters

YouTube video by Pyramid Peak

www.youtube.com

1 2 9

Reposted by Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀

Anna Urbanek @annaurbanek.bsky.social · 1d

#ColorsOfFinland day 6. It's rainy and gloomy today, but the calendulas in the garden are still doing their best despite the weather. So, I guess I might as well 🌻

Colors of Finland, 24th October 2025. A photograph of calendulas covered in rain drops. On the side, five colors chosen from the photo: greens, yellow, orange and red.

1 5

Reposted by Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀

Evil Hat @evilhat.bsky.social · 4d

⚔️ NOW LIVE! ⚔️ Designers & Dragons: Origins!
Award-winning historian @shannonappelcline.bsky.social delves deep into the origins and design of every product TSR published for OD&D, Basic D&D, and AD&D 1E.
Pledge now and gain access to The Adventurers' Hoard
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/e...

A mockup of four thick books emerging from a slipcase. Colorful illustrations in gold and purple depict dragons of various ages stalking and frolicking. In the background, a blue monotone dungeon map. Caption: Designers & Dragons Origins. Now on BackerKit.

2 18 44

Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀 @doubleproficiency.com · 1d

To make your decision easier, we even made a GM prep video that leads you through everything you need to run this adventure.

Witness past me as she stares hauntingly at anything but the camera!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2rdmUgdvNg

GM Prep: The Phantom Manor - A Haunted House Mystery

YouTube video by Double Proficiency

www.youtube.com

Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀 @doubleproficiency.com · 1d

It's time to bring back one of my favorite things we ever made.
Suitable for any system and party, with guidelines to run it anywhere on the spectrum from child-friendly to gothic horror.

If you need an adventure for your Halloween ttrpg night, give it a try.
www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/4...

1 2 1

Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀 @doubleproficiency.com · 1d

OH no! I got myself a digital copy and it's been one of the best purchases of the year. It's so good 💀 Especially the author's 'confession' about telling students to start with sketches but not following his own advice and going straight to digital.

1

Reposted by Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀

Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀 @doubleproficiency.com · 1d

The Polish School of Posters was not limited to movie posters, and it was lead by some of the most prominent artists of the time. Look at this amazing bird: it's a 1978 ad poster for Polish Airlines (LOT) with a business end of a sparrow.

Painted by Janusz Stanny, source of my childhood nightmare.

A painted poster with an anthropomorphized sparrow wearing a sparrow-brown business suit, no pants, white shirt, golden vest, and dark brown tie. The sparrow carries a briefcase as stares you down, so you know it means business.

1 1 3

Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀 @doubleproficiency.com · 1d

Thirty years later (oof), the nightingale still lives rent-free in my head.

Now it can live in yours.

The curse has been passed, now I can finally go to sleep.

You're welcome.

1

Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀 @doubleproficiency.com · 1d

Stanny's illustration style is unmistakable: dark, haunting, liminal, surreal.

And SOMEONE thought it's a good idea to have him illustrate fairy tales.

Behold, the art that broke me at the tender age of 6 when I decided to read my Mom's Andersen anthology for myself.

A gloomy, misty, and green forest seems to devour completely lost Thumbelina who looks like she's about four years old. An ethereal, giant toad observes the child from afar, deciding to kidnap her as a bride for the toad's son.

An illustration from The Nightingale: A disembodied hand floats above a seashore, dwarfing a sailboat beneath it. On the index finger perches a robotic nightingale made of cold steel decorated with green gems and a string of pearls. Instead of a bird head there's a human skull, looking as dead as it possibly can.

An illustration from "The Red Shoes": A beautifully dressed child in a fluffy white dress and elegant hat runs in panic across a hostile forest. On her feet, she wears red shoes that she cannot ever take off. The hill behind the girl is a monstrous head, with topography turned into facial features. The hill's face is wrinkled in pain, fear, and remorse.

An illustration from "The Tinderbox": A small soldier in green uniform cowers in a corner as the picture is dominated by a demonic creature: part tree, part human, with an open, mocking smile. In the depths of the mouth hides an animal-like spirit. The face of the witch-tree is topped with figures of a resting king and queen.

1 2 8

Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀 @doubleproficiency.com · 1d

The Polish School of Posters was not limited to movie posters, and it was lead by some of the most prominent artists of the time. Look at this amazing bird: it's a 1978 ad poster for Polish Airlines (LOT) with a business end of a sparrow.

Painted by Janusz Stanny, source of my childhood nightmare.

1 1 3

Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀 @doubleproficiency.com · 1d

It always makes me smile when non-Polish people discover The Weirdness of our graphic design school. It's always a bit reductive ("it's communism!"), but it's likely as good as 12min video can be.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpPB...

The Weird Rebellion of Polish Movie Posters

YouTube video by Pyramid Peak

www.youtube.com

1 2 9

Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀 @doubleproficiency.com · 2d

As always, our Patrons get an exclusive preview of the book as we work on it, including Patreon-only digital postcards, book entries, lore chapters, and behind-the-scenes specials.

Joining our community is also the best way to lobby for your fav species and exchange pics of chance duck encounters.

1

Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀 @doubleproficiency.com · 2d

By the end of the month, we'll be dropping all-new and freshly fledged pages from the upcoming Bird Book! If you wanna get into #birds with us, join our Patreon! 🐦‍⬛✨
www.patreon.com/c/doubleprof...

creating Magic Plants and Spaceships

www.patreon.com

1 3

Reposted by Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀

Rosemary Mosco @rosemarymosco.com · 2d

Halloween costume ideas for birders.

28 420 1.5K

Reposted by Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀

Anna Urbanek @annaurbanek.bsky.social · 2d

#ColorsOfFinland, day 5. Behold, the last blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) of the season in our garden. We always leave the last batch for the birds.

Colors of Finland, 23rd October 2025. A photograph of autumn highbush blueberry, with a single berry left over, surrounded by pale yellow leaves spotted red. On the side, five colors chosen from the photo: blueberry blues, yellow, golden, and pinkish red.

1 5

Reposted by Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀

Anna Urbanek @annaurbanek.bsky.social · 3d

#ColorsOfFinland Day 4: Every time we go to "The Big Lake", we travel through an underground pass with the most adorable street art. Meet Hoot the Hoot.

Colors of Finland, 22nd October 2025. A photograph of street art on an underground passage: an owl sitting on a white birch branch against multi-hued sky background. On the side, five colors chosen from the photo: shades of blue, off-white, and orange-brown.

1 1 4

Reposted by Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀

Jakub Wisz @jakubwisz.bsky.social · 4d

Excited about things and stuff, Aphelion is coming together quite nicely. Last couple of iterations I made strides making the rules super easy to get into without sacrificing any depth, and I think it's looking neat. Should be ready to show oeople soon!

1 2

Reposted by Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀

Jakub Wisz @jakubwisz.bsky.social · 4d

Just found out drinking matcha makes me a performative male. Damn, now I gotta start performing. I don't play any instruments though, is it allowed if I perform in a circus?

1 1 3

Reposted by Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀

Anna Urbanek @annaurbanek.bsky.social · 4d

#ColorsOfFinland Day 3. Our new neighbors are coming closer and closer. Soon, they'll be close enough to take a good photo.

Colors of Finland, 21st October 2025. A photograph of a bunch of finches, robins, and tits rummaging through maple leaves. On the side, five colors chosen from the photo: oranges, pinks, soft grays, and pale green.

1 7

Reposted by Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀

Crimson 💀 (spooky) @crimsontentacles.bsky.social · 5d

Listen to me. Listen. If you're making images that will only be displayed on screens, YOU HAVE TO LET GO. You can calibrate your screens perfectly, but then 25k people will see it on their shitty $50 monitors or cracked phone and its out of your hands. Don't think of it. Achieve enlightenment.

Tweet by @night margin "digital artist woes" image of the same color gradient on various screen (monitor 1 appears very grey purple, phone appear VERY pink, monitor 2 appears a more saturated purple, laptop appears brownish red, family's phone appears much darker and bluer etc.)

82 2K 5.6K

Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀 @doubleproficiency.com · 5d

Over the last two winters, our garden became a safe spot for birds. On top of the flock of blackbirds who live here permanently, we have magpies, pheasants, sparrows, blue tits, and an occasional hooded crow. Yesterday, two robins moved in for the season. I'm on track to become an ornithomancer.

Anna Urbanek @annaurbanek.bsky.social · 5d

Day two of #ColorsOfFinland. Our garden is still messy, but at least it has some color in it!

Colors of Finland, 20th October 2025. A photograph of pink heathers against a rocky garden. On the side, five colors chosen from the photo: two hues of purple-pink, two deep greens, and a soft pale mint green.

4

Reposted by Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛🚀

Jakub Wisz @jakubwisz.bsky.social · 10d

Living in Finland as a medium height Slav I got so used to being the tallest person in sight that hanging out with an aquintance from USA put my sense of scale out of whack. I forgot how to look up, now my neck is all weird.

1 1