Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 17hAnother day, another 7k words on The Bonding. It’s at almost 120k. I’m not trying to make it bigger, but I’ve created a monster of a world, a huge cast of birds, and a multithreaded plot that feels like it won’t quit. Almost there though. Then I can sleep again for real. 1154
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 29/09/2026MFW I write two flawed characters so perfect for each other, that every time they have a moment together, neither will walk or fly straight for the rest of the day. Is it me, or them that keep hijacking the plot for sex? I don't know who's in charge anymore. #furryfiction 1102
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 25/09/2026I bought a couple of cheap plastic fake candle lanterns at the thrift store (hey it was 99 cents! 🎶) and with a bit of sanding and hammer forge paint, they look stellar! Gonna use these on my dealer table as decor. 160
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 24/09/2026An update on Hal's activities including furry conventions, new chickens, and progress on The Bonding. Check it all out at aetusart.com/blog/chirpdates-17/sep… 0101
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 24/09/2026Working earnestly on The Bonding again after recovering from weeks of travel for bird work & book/art appearances & catching up on neglected business stuff. A thread involving Sol (Pepro's mother) & the Folegal she is encamped with is my current, & final, addition to it, & ouch it hurts my heart. 091
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 23/09/2026Applied to #Fursquared w/ my new avian anatomy ("Getting to Know Your Bird Body") and Avian Story Hour (reading from Whiterock) panels. I really enjoy the reading panel as I love voicing the characters. Got some good compliments on it at FM 2w ago. Anyway, hope to get approved & see you there! 0130
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 23/09/2026Did some thrift shopping a few days ago for fake foliage to adorn my dealers den booths. Easily found several options and disassembled them for repurposing. If you need similar, don’t buy it off Amazon. Buy it secondhand. Better quality & you don’t feed the oligarchs. 040
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 22/09/2026Husbird found this free sewing machine on the curb a few houses down. I set it up and did my first sew job, hemming up this table runner/banner. Not perfect (dt my inexperience) but looks pretty good! Not bad for free. 390
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 22/09/2026I didn’t forget you, but I didn’t want to put you in the spot in social media lol. Thank you for coming by. I appreciated the lady’s candor and we got a little (nervous) laugh out of it at least. 120
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 22/09/2026I did all right at yesterday’s rainy book event. Made some new friends & sold books & stickers. A furry came by & bought a copy of Whiterock. Priceless moment: A lady saw the adult edition of Whiterock & asked, “Do birds have orgasms?” I was speechless for a moment, then simply replied, “Yes.” 3171
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 20/09/2026Come out into the moist weather and buy my bird books! I’m in Kenosha, WI at Studio Moonfall’s Kenosha Book Fest till 3 pm today! maps.app.goo.gl/CkA3CLiRcvEw... 2235
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 19/09/2026I got a stupid idea this morning, after contemplating how Orange Asshole will still be annoying us after his body dies. So I photoshopped this together. I'm so sorry. 040
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 19/09/2026Maybe they're actually Kuato from Total Recall, and that's his mutant baby-sized dude reaching out of his shirt to help. Nah, it's AI-slop I'm sure. 120
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 19/09/2026Thanks for coming to the party! And for saying hi multiple times through the weekend. Always lovely to hang with ya. Only regret is not getting a photo with you. ❤️ 210
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 14/09/2026I had a great time at #FurryMigration last weekend. As usual, I kept myself a bit too busy to see everybirdy, but here’s some of you I bumped beaks with. You made our parties rock! 1190
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 13/09/2026It’s the final day of Furry Migration and I’m reducing the prices on my t-shirts. 20% off t-shirts today! 050
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 11/09/2026One of the time-filler sketches I did at my #furrymigration dealers table today. It’s a scene from The Bonding, but the next book in my Avian Age series. The vellum layer is plotting out where to position birds in the scene. Probably one of several sketches I’ll do before the final piece. 290
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 11/09/2026About to open my table at #FurryMigration in Minneapolis! Lots of stuff for good #birds 082
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 10/09/20264 hours later than planned but we are on our way to #FurryMigration. On my way out the door I realized I almost forgot to grab my books I’ll be selling. I’m gonna have nightmares about that for a while lol. Fear not, I’ll have copies of The Sky Calls, The Adler Chronicles, and Whiterock at my table! 2110
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 10/09/2026You seem like a cool bird, and from my home state too! Like your art! I don’t have a formal ref but I’m a basic bald eagle. 130
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 09/09/2026This Friday night at Furry Migration, I'll be hosting a reading of selected chapters of Whiterock: Book One of the Avian Age. Bring your favorite plush, wear a kigu if you like. I requested floor cushions so we can keep it cozy like a nesttime story. Hope to see you there! 140
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 09/09/2026This Friday, at Furry Migration, I'll deliver my new Avian Anatomy panel. Just putting the finishing touches on tonight! New format is told from the perspective of "Your New Bird Body," as though you're becoming a bird & I'm walking you through the changes that will happen. Hope to see you there! 0112
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 07/09/2026Almost ready for Furry Migration. Lots going on: Dealers Table, Bird Party (in a suite!), an avian anatomy panel, & a special reading of parts of Whiterock. New art & stickers, t-shirts, & taking pre-orders for The Bonding. I'll also have limited supplies of spicy prints this year. Hope to see you! 160
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 05/09/2026Feel good this morning. I played a bit of soft music I listen to when writing The Bonding, chat w/good bird friends. Somewhere between a world I've made up and my real friends, I feel relevant again. Thanks for being out there, birdfriends ❤️ #friends #furry 1232
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 03/09/2026Frozen watermelon wedge on a hot and sultry evening. #chickens 427431
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 02/09/2026Orshzowan WotD: K'kullnet (idiom) An expression denoting inexperience or greenness, particularly in military service. Most specifically, a warrior who has not killed or experienced combat yet. Lit. "His shell is not hardened." #conlang #theavianage #fiction #writing 030
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 01/09/2026Orshzowan WotD: Raash'oosk (n) “War egg.” Eggs that are laid by warriors in times when they cannot brood and raise them due to imminent military needs. Instead they are either abandoned, destroyed, or turned over to a broodhold, a nesthold of females dedicated solely to raising orphaned young. 180
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 01/09/2026Up at 3 this morning, ready to write. And, once again, I laid out an outline of what I thought I'd write, only to find that the characters wanted something different and tugged me in a new direction. *sigh* I used to think good authors printed out what was in their minds already. How wrong I was. 1110
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 31/08/2026Orshzowan WotD: Kahwa (n) The state of being torn apart emotionally, emotional crisis, anguish, “breakage of the self/soul.” Ex: “Ke'kahwa'esh da kek'ook'esh ookahan yak'esh, pe kekook tuptoh'neh.” = “She fell into anguish when she searched into her mate's eyes, and saw no light.” Also: K'kahwa (v). 060
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 31/08/2026Had a fun lil weekend with some furs in WV at a campground. Husbird will be helping a birdfriend w/house projects next couple days while I work on The Bonding. 060
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 26/08/2026I love to hear of birdfriends that have loved The Sky Calls enough to read or listen to it multiple times. There's just not enough immersive avian literature out there to satisfy we few bird nuts, but I'll keep trying! #fiction #birds #theskycalls 191
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 23/08/2026Orshzowan WotD: S'tees (n): Decree, authoritative document, doctrine. Ex: “S’tees'esk Orshzow” = “The Orshzowan Doctrine,” a codification of Talaamiolaran social order in 145 PA, providing regulation of nestholds and servitude, & establishing standards for care of commoners, guilds, & nestholders. 020
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 22/08/2026Avian Age Update: Finished main story ~1mo ago. Edited 3/4, paused to add chapters. Once done will go to beta-readers. May do multi-part live reading streams to help detect repetitive words and verbosity. Word count ~100k rn. Still hoping for Nov/Dec release! #writing #fiction #theavianage 390
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 20/08/2026I want one of these but instead of fake jellyfish, it’s a face hugger xenomoroh from Aliens, its tail whipping around in the current. 2100
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 19/08/2026Orshzowan WotD: Ishkull (n) Shellfish such as a clam or mussel. Lit. "Squirt-shell." Ex (a nestling's rhyme): N'macer'kee, da peska'neh, heeshupas'mi ishkull huk'et" Translation: "In times of hunger, when fish are few, shoreline mud, has clams to eat." #worldbuilding #conlang (Photo: Alanna Kieffer) 051
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 17/08/2026Today's Orshzowan WotD: Tuk'sludu (n) Teacher. Ex: "Tooks'du'an Tuk'sladu'axh Janesh, rosrek k'huhne'enk. Kek'shree'amk ishkull'ohn'as, ook'laax rosrek han'ne." = "Teacher Janesh I once listened respectfully to you, but no more. Your speech was like a seashell: pretty, but nothing was inside." 031
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 13/08/2026I finished my field work last night, a day early, so I used today to work on The Bonding, completing the editing of 3 more chapters. Some spice in the scenes I reviewed today! Only 5 left, plus insertion of one or two shorter chapters to round off one of the plot threads. #theavianage 050
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 10/08/2026Orshzowan WotD: Laax [ɬɑx]: (n) Gift, something given without payment. Verbs: k'laax'aa: To give freely. Ex: “K'laax'aask Vasili tuptup'et.” = “Vasili gave her his love freely.” k'laaxk: To receive a gift. Ex: “K'laaxk'esk Tuliann, Vasili tuptup'et.” Tuliann received Vasili's freely given love.“ 020
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 10/08/2026Manospheres behind me on plane: “Dude I was on Joe Rogan yesterday & he was looking at my instagram.” Other dudebro: “Gotta capitalize on that in a follow-up video.” “Yeah, bro” “Nice! Yeah.” Then they go on to talk about unfaithful women. Oh gods just jerk each other off already. 🍆💦 2110
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 08/08/2026Bit o’ smoked wild Alaskan salmon for snax tonight. #salmon #eagle #food #Alaska 291
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 07/08/2026Completed editing up through chapter 14 of The Bonding today. Pivotal chapters with a lot of time with Brant, K'ai, and Vasili. King Vasili really shines in chapters 13 & 14. For those that wanted to know him better, you will love these scenes! #theavianage #fiction #writing 090
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 07/08/2026Something new, thought I'd share some of my Orshzowan (eagle dynasty) conlang from The Avian Age series. Today's word: Seh'oo (n) Character, social standing, how one conducts oneself, honor. Ex: "Seh'oo'at kull'as" = "His honor is like a rock" (e.g., an honorable fellow). #conlang #theavianage 070
Hal Aetus @aetusart.com · 07/08/2026Editing Chapter 12 of The Bonding today. Some serious soul-searching by Nyx, the falcon, followed by a sweet, private encounter that helps her find focus. Added a scene that takes place in the Market District & an osprey textiles merchant. Cool stuff! 092