Need Help Creating Hair Cards Using Geometry Nodes

I'm trying to replicate the effect seen on this short:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DptPx8sY7Bg

Now, I understand the normal transfer part well, but what I am lost on is how exactly to make the "feathered ball" from this video? It seems as though he had made it using geometry nodes. I've only ever used geometry nodes once, so it's a bit difficult for me to know how this would be pulled off.

Also, would it be possible to apply these cards across a non-uniform shape, such as this tail?
https://imgur.com/a/sGMPPpG

Any help is very much appreciated!