#and here you are worrying about a theoretical kitten being hurt

[buttercupshands]

I may or may are about to have a cat but the responsibility of being a cat owner and having a choice not to be if I'm too scared... is even worse honestly

[jinmukangwrites]

Whumptober day 14

Heat Exhaustion

Ao3

-o-o-o-o-

When Damian wakes up, he can't breathe. 

Partly because of the uncomfortable position he's rag dolled into, mostly because there's blood pooling the inside of his shattered nose and dripping down his lips. 

He gags on the taste and resist verbalizing the pain his entire face is in. He tries to maneuver his hands to his face to at least wipe the trail of blood off from his lips, but his arms stay pinned behind his back with the tell-tale sound of metallic links. 

He's handcuffed. 

Immediately, he's in red alert. He opens his eyes, ignoring the tears clouding his vision, and tries to get a handle on his situation. 

Robin costume. Cape, belt, boots, and gloves are missing. The space he's stuffed into is small, barely large enough for him to even think about stretching his legs. The surface beneath his cheek is rough, but in a soft way. Small, carpet like bristles that look to be made of fine plastic. The walls around him though are metal and shaped oddly. The ceiling cascading downwards towards a flat wall with an obvious seam where it would... open. 

A car. He's in the trunk of a car. 

And it's  hot . 

The more awake he becomes, the more he can feel the uncomfortable layer of sweat that seems to coat every inch of his body. The car doesn't seem to be moving, and he doesn't hear any noises. There's a rare heatwave going through Gotham right now, being as it's the middle of summer and Gotham has one or two hot days in a year, as shocking as that is. Nothing like the deserts Damian grew up at, but enough to definitely make it an issue if an animal or small child were to be left inside a car while the irresponsible guardian went inside a store to shop.

He tests the chain between his hands, then wiggles his legs and strains against the walls of the trunk until he eventually manages to get his hands down and around his body so they're in front of his chest. However, his wrists now ache where the edges of the metal cuffs had dug into his skin. His shoulders hurt too, which is a clue to how long he's been restrained like this. He brings his cuffed hands to his face to wipe the blood over his mouth so he can more better breathe air in the muggy, hot trunk without constantly swallowing his own blood. Then, ignoring the stain of red against the back of his hands, he runs his fingers along the seam of the trunk’s opening. He doesn't find a latch anywhere to open if from the inside, so he bring his attention towards the piston near the back corner of the small space that would, theoretically, bend and straighten whenever the compartment needed to be manipulated.

The piston is definitely electronically controlled, and considering how there's no spot where the taillights  should  be poking into the space he's stuffed in, it's a definite newer car. There won't be any easy forcing his way out.

Huffing, he goes across the seam again, impatience beginning to make his movements a bit agitated and sporadic. It's hard to breathe, and for a moment he wonders if carbon monoxide poisoning is a thing he should worry about, but then he remembers how hot he feels, how much he's sweating. 

If he stays in here, what would kill him first? Suffocation? Or a heatstroke?

He needs to get out. Whoever put him in this trunk, they didn't think about his survival. A parked car left outside can be a death trap for anyone stuck inside.

He can already feel symptoms of heat cramps. He's sweating, his muscles are beginning to ache for more reasons than the tight position he's in, and his head hurts for more reasons than the broken nose. 

Even though the space is small, he's able to slowly bend himself so his feet are by the trunks opening. His neck bends awkwardly with the position, but he ignores it in favor of survival. He kicks, his bare feet hitting roughly on the metal, hot ceiling. The walls around him make a dull thunk, but nothing budges. 

It feels like he's in an oven. In a brazen bull. He's being + baked  alive.

He wipes more blood from his lips, then brushes his arm across his forehead, bringing drops of sweat with it. He takes a deep breath and kicks again. It's a poor angle, and there's hardly any support without his boots. Nothing budges and Damian slams his fist against the scratchy floor in displeasure. 

"Come  on ," Damian growls. He turns to try kicking the opposite direction, his breath beginning to leave his lips in small panting breaths. If he can't kick the trunk open, he'll try breaking through to the backseats of the car.

He lashes out at that, his head now pressed against hot metal, until his lungs begin to shutter and he's left to go limp for a few moments. Just to catch his breath. He's so  hot . How long has he been trapped in here? No matter how hard he kicks, nothing budges anywhere. Now his ankles hurt. His everything hurts. 

His heart is beating faster than a hummingbird's wings. He can't seem to catch his breath. In the dark of the trunk, his vision spins. 

He's going to die in here if he doesn't get out soon.

He doesn't want to die in here. 

He turns his focus towards the cuffs on his hands to avoid panicking about the tight, suffocating space around him. He's going to be fine. He'll find a way out of this. He just needs to get his hands free. 

He'll feel better if his hands are free. 

He finds quickly that the cuffs were not built for children. Wrapped around Damian's thin wrists are cuffs meant for adults, latched in an eye-ball shape instead of the circle it should be in. It should be easy to slip. He just needs… he just needs to catch his breath. 

He can't catch his breath. He tugs on the cuffs anyway, and immediately he becomes frustrated when they go nowhere. It's like he's watching his hands from someone else's point of view, trying to control his motions with a toy's remote. 

The cuffs aren't coming off. Why aren't they coming off? It's so hot. He's sweating. How long has he been in here? He hits the wall and growls. 

Why is he so panicked? He can't have been in here long enough to already be this far into heat exhaustion. It doesn't get  that  hot in Gotham. Even on the sunny days. 

It's so  hot . 

He needs to calm down, but his heart won't stop beating. His head is becoming a woozy wardrum; pounding, yet muffled and far away. Light-headed. Nauseous. He's tired, but he can't fall asleep again. He has to stay awake and get out because if he falls asleep here he'll  die . 

It's a miracle he woke up in time to die in the first place. 

He doesn't want to die. Not again. 

And thinking of death immediately has him thinking of heat, fire,  Hell . 

Eleven years old. He must have been the youngest person to ever enter that place. It's been years, but he still gets nightmares. 

He doesn't want to go back. He thinks he's better now, but he doesn't want to risk it. He doesn't want to meet his father's parents yet. He doesn't want to meet Grayson's. Or the Drake's, or Jason's mother, or anyone. He wants to keep going, become a  good  person. 

He just wants out of the car. 

He reaches his still cuffed hands to his mouth, wiping blood, wanting to cry at the pain his nose is in, pulsing with each pound in his skull, muffling the whimpers his traitorous mouth is beginning to make. 

He weakly kicks at the walls around him again, but they don't budge, and he thinks about how much he wants to go back to the manor and lay out in the damp grass. He thinks of Richard, and maybe a little of the others as well. He's scared. He's often thought about the ways he'll die. He grew up with a sword in his hands being one of the first things he remembers, of  course  he's thought about his inevitable death, even if, at the time, he was raised to believe he would succeed his grandfather and become immortal himself. Becoming immortal doesn't mean disregarding mortal fears, it means  overcoming  them. 

He's always thought he'd die in a grand battle… and in a way he did. But there are always other ways to die. Explosions. Fallings. Shortcomings. Assassination. Drowning. Torture. And he's always known the heat of a desert could kill you as easy as blinking an eye. But he's never thought he would die as pathetically as this.

He pounds against his cage. "Let me out!" He yells. 

Then he quickly closes his mouth. His lower lip makes a trembling motion, and he's afraid of what that means. 

It's hot. It's really hot. How much time has passed? Since some mysterious person broke his nose, handcuffed him, then stuffed him in a car to overheat to death?

He can't feel his heart anymore. He brings his fingers to his jaw and tries to find his pulse, but holding his arms up to his face takes too much energy. 

"Let me out," Damian mumbles. Sniffs. He's tired. He closes his eyes. 

Maybe he just… needs a nap. Everything will make sense after a nap. 

It's really hot. 

And then... It's not. A brush of cool air washes over him, making his eyes open with shock as light immediately begins to flood the compartment he's stuffed inside. 

Weak as a kitten, he turns his head to see none other than the Signal looking down at him with shock opening his lips. "Holy crap," he whispers. 

Damian immediately begins to try and sit up, but a rush of lightheadedness attacks his entire body, making him fall back down and do nothing but blink for a few minutes as Duke begins to drag Damian out of the car and onto the asphalt. Damian can immediately tell that he's not in Gotham, judging by the lack of buildings anywhere. The weeds brushing the side of the road. 

"We need to get him to a hospital," Damian hears Duke say. He doesn't wonder long who he says it to, because Stephanie soon enters his field of vision by sitting down besides his face to lay her hand on his forehead. He scowls at her, and she laughs, brushing her fingers down to wipe under his eyes.

She better have been wiping blood away or something. Damian would die of embarrassment if she had just wiped away tears.

"Let's get'cha somewhere safe," Steph says softly as Duke picks the locks of the cuffs. "We found you. It's going to be okay now."

Damian's too tired and thirsty and relieved to open his mouth and reply, so he simply hums and does his best to move his own body as Duke and Stephanie slowly lift him to his feet. Before they climb into Duke's bike, Damian glances back at the car he had been previously trapped in. Stephanie notices and growls ever so slightly. "They took you during patrol and drove all the way out here before the gas ran out. We think they went further down the interstate to hitchhike out of state. Dick's gonna get on it once we tell him you're safe."

Safe. He's safe now. Not trapped in an overheating car. 

He nods against Duke's back as he revs the engine. Soon enough, the cold wind is blowing through Damian's scalp as they drive back to Gotham. As of right now, Damian's sure that this is the best feeling in the world. 

[stylishanachronism]

*Wakes up from my endless slumber of like two hours* 👀

"Dearheart! There you are, what on earth have you been up to down here, of all places?"

The elven woman who's just taken his elbow is very pretty, all dark hair and bright eyes and the sort of smile that makes him want to crawl into a hole and die before Iselmyr can do anything terrible, her tone fond and close, like he's her very best friend in all the world, but he's never seen her before in his life. She drops some coin on the counter, enough to pay for the drink he hasn't finished, turns that smile on the barman, who seems a little shocked at her presence, she clearly knows who this is, and drags him off his stool before he can get so much as a syllable out.

"Nevermind, you'll never believe what Engferth's been up to, he's more trouble than you are sometimes, I swear to Woedica I don't know what I'm going to do with the pair of you."

She's got a very firm grip, Iselmyr laughing too hard in the back of his head to be of any help for once, as she whisks him out the door without so much as a by your leave.

"I mean, you keep getting yourself into wild straights, and then forgetting to write, honestly half the family's been sick with worry, and he, well, he went and proposed to Miss Elafa again, then told her it was Ma's idea, which it was, don't get me wrong, but she's made her conditions clear, and all he's going to do is annoy her into refusing him entirely, and I like her just fine but Grandmother'd have all our heads if I made a match like that, and you!"

They're headed up the hill, to the nicer part of town, outside what he can afford at the moment, and he'd really like to know what's going on but she hasn't let him get a word in edgewise and he doesn't think he could get away from her if he tried, and he desperately doesn't want to make more of a scene than he's part of already.

"Well, you've done much better, no matter what Ma thinks, and anyways I'm pretty sure she'd strangle you in half a minute, I could strangle you in half a minute, please stop gallivanting off in all directions, or at least let us know you're alright, the things we heard about your trip south, oh, I nearly had kittens, you didn’t really say yes, did you? Papa thinks you did, and you’d think he’d know, but you’re the sensible one, and he’s horrid, really, you hated him in school, I really don’t understand how he’d even think to ask!”

She shoots him a sidelong glance, even as she turns them into the sort of eccentrically ramshackle villa that means old money, the gate guard giving them a smile but otherwise staying focused on the road, like they’re allowed to be here without an invitation, so she must be part of the family, and drags him in through an elegant archway into the main compound like it’s nothing.

“I mean really, you’re the favorite, even if you did knock your head or something and agree, there’s no way anyone else would, you didn’t knock your head, did you? I was told you’d fallen straight through the floor, but you weren’t hurt, but Ma heard differently, and someone told Wolle that you’d straight shattered you leg, which obviously isn’t true, you really need to write and tell us you’re fine, darling, gods only know what made it back to everyone else.”

She doesn’t give him time to answer, just as she hasn’t since she dragged him out of the inn, rapping at the first solid door they’ve passed and letting them in without so much as a pause.

"You’ll never guess where I found him."

The woman sitting behind the desk lifts an eyebrow, but merely shakes her head.

"Go fetch your father, Aelere."

It’s oddly formal, given the woman who’d dragged him here clearly doesn’t feel the need to stand on ceremony with a complete stranger, much less her- employer? matriarch?, but she pushes him into a seat and takes herself off with a cheerful "Yes, Grandmother!"

Matriarch, then, whoever this family is.

She’s considering him as the door closes, something familiar about her posture, very straight and still, though she must be nearing 300 if she’s a day.

"What am I going to do with you, my dear?"

That’s a question he’d like answers to as well, he has no idea what’s going on. Given her own informality, he’s of the firm suspicion they’ve mistaken him for someone else.

"Well." She gathers the papers off the far corner of her desk, tapping them together and laying them out facing him. His name’s on all of them, more or less, though some of them appear to be addressed to or regarding Alys instead, and some of them merely refer to 'your grandson' in the abstract, and one of them is actually addressed to his mother for some reason, though how this woman got her hands on it is as much of a mystery as anything else. "You've caused quite the stir."

"I'm sorry?"

She waves his apology away, though he doesn't know what he's apologizing for either, and half turns to reach for something off behind her.

"I had understood it from your sister that you had no desire to be married?"

The only person who's been mistaken for his sister ever is Alys, and there's clearly something there, given what he's looking at, but how that particular misunderstanding made it here, across an actual ocean, and how this woman knows about it, he has no idea.

"Ah- Well. No, not really."

"Then what were you doing with Lord Beltin's boy?"

"I- The position was as a research assistant?"

"Mm. Well, that's one way of putting it, I suppose. The same with the Maitwyr girl?"

He doesn't remember any of the daughters of the house being involved with that particular trip, but he did sign up with them, it's not like he could afford to spend three months in the Living Lands on his own, and he got paid for it, so he nods.

"You really need to learn to read a contract, my dear. Your father will see to it, but in the meantime..." She turns back around, holding more paperwork, some of it awfully official looking, though he's utterly distracted with dread by the fact she knows his father, and well enough to refer to him so informally, too.

"Here. My condolences, but you've theoretically been widowed. Twice."

--

This is from the middle of ‘Memory is Fallible’, which is more of a collection of scenes than a proper thing (I’ve been working on it for at least three years, if that’s any measure of what it looks like), centered around the idea that A. Aloth was a lot more popular than he thought he was (which was confirmed canon in Deadfire, much to my delight), B. Telephone is a hell of a game to get away from once a group gets the wrong idea, and C. repurposing my own family lore gets really weird, really fast. It’s also built off a couple of things from my own first playthrough, in which I accidentally built a sprite that looked enough like Aloth’s I couldn’t tell them apart, and eventually resorted to putting one of them in Kana’s hat, except I also then couldn’t remember which one was wearing it, so it didn’t even help.

There’s a little more to this particular bit, bookending it, so context is that Aloth is back in Aedyr proper, on the wrong coast to see his mother, gearing up to go find another weird cult and end it as best he possibly can, and a bunch of people who knew Alys, because she lived in the area for a couple of years not that long ago, recognize him and go tell her family, who are local to this coast, that she’s rolled up and is hiding in a shitty inn for some reason, not realizing they’ve got the wrong kid. Her family, who took Alys’ joke that they were twins now and said ‘hey you know what’s a really good idea?’ and stole him from his dad via trickery and intimidation, puts two and two together, and having no idea he doesn’t know he’s been adopted, send Aelere, one of the cousins, and technically actually his oldest sister now, who again, has no idea he hasn’t gotten any of her letters, to go fetch him, because why should he waste money when the house is Right There, and also there’s the whole thing about how he got married and didn’t tell anyone and now he’s been widowed, whoops. So he thinks he’s been kidnapped and they think he’s being shifty about the weddings, and it really is all about to blow up.

send me a 👀 and i’ll post a snippet of art/writing that i never got around to finishing this year (r.i.p)

[mypetshopworld]

Ho Ho Ho it's Christmas Time. The cruellest thing you can do on Christmas. A Dog is not a Toy. Why it is a bad idea to give an animal as a Christmas Gift.

The unwanted Christmas Gift we all been there.

Christmas Time is a hectic time, and everyone rushes to get the presents and things ready to spend time with family and friends. 

It is a time where thousands of Christmas present will be returned the next day. We all been there. Receiving a Gift we didn't really want. An embarrassing pullover from Aunt Megan, an ugly pair of socks, a tie or a useless electronic gadget. All of those items are easily returned or just put in a drawer and forget about it. Some even end up in the daily trash.

Giving a pet as a Christmas Gift. A bad idea for both the future pet owner and the pet.

Giving a living animal to someone and the person does not really want it or is prepared for it, that is the moment when it becomes disastrous. After all, it is an animal with feelings, it is breathing and deserves to receive love. According to ASPCA In the days, weeks, and months following the festivities, animal shelters all over the world are inundated with animals who were given as a gift. I have to say those are the lucky ones, not every pet will be brought to a shelter. Some will be abandoned in the woods or beside the road and left to fight for themselves. Some will die, starve to death or get hit by a car. Some guardians will advertise and look for a good home, the danger here is that they might get in the wrong hands and are used for dog fights or for animal testing. Pet Shops advertise their pets and some people get supercharged with the idea of giving a puppy or kitten as a Christmas gift.

It sounds great and cute thinking of the surprise and the face including the tears. I don't want to spoil your Christmas present but giving a pet as a Christmas present is a not a good idea.

Let me tell you why it is not a good idea?

Having a pet and inviting it to become part of the family is a family decision. Not a spontaneous one it is a decision you want to have discussed and thought through. There are much more things to consider as just the video you can upload and share with your social media tribe and friends. A dog is not a toy, nor is a cat, a toy. Those are animals living beings, and yes, they do have feelings.  The internet is full of lovely videos and photos of puppies. Kittens packed in Santa cloth and puppies with Santa hats coming out of boxes. The reactions of those who receive them. You can find thousands of videos where joy comes into a person's life, and it is accompanied by happy tears. 

Why should an animal not to be considered as a gift? 

After all, we are talking about a living being and an animal that requires care and attention. The Shelters getting full after the Christmas months with animals what are given as a gift, but when people realize what kind of work and commitment is involved, they give them up. I do not say all are like this and some people are happy and commit to a lifetime keeping the pet.

What a lot of friends do not realize when they give you a pet as a Christmas Gift that the cute puppy needs training, and will do a lot of mischievous things. Without proper training and care, the puppy can become a dog that is not listening to the owner or becomes aggressive. Same goes for the aquatic part like turtles they are so cute when you buy them so tiny and small.   Unfortunately, they grow quickly out of the small Aquarium and without a proper filter system, the water becomes quickly dirty and smells. That is why many end up in the local River system.  Is it right to give pets as a gift for Christmas? We should always keep in mind some critical points before considering giving a pet as a Christmas gift. 

A Pet is a lifetime commitment and a loyal family member

Having an animal is a decision that can change a person's life a lot. It's a long-term commitment. You can't change them, you can't give them back. That's why before giving an animal to someone else, we must make sure that the person understands the responsibilities to have an animal in their life.  Even more important are they up for this challenge and are they living in an environment where they can accommodate a cat or a dog. ( check out our free dog breed calculator. Choose the right dog for you ) Therefore, the person should have verbalized the desire to adopt. Also, we must be clear that the animal gets the time and space it requires. 

Adoption is a great solution to help abandoned animals. 

Theoretically, the more animals adopted, the better for them, for shelters and for the families. Is that so? More or less. Statistics show that during Christmas or holidays, the abandonment rates increases. This is why some associations and NGOs temporarily closed adoptions on Christmas Eve.  It is essential to highlight that in the spirit of Christmas, there are non-certified breeders that sell pets before they are ready to be taken from the mom.  Those pets come without their proper vaccinations, and without worrying about their welfare. This will obviously translate into behavioural issues and health problems of the animals.  Most of the Pets bought on the streets will die as they are breed for business and not for the well being of a Pet.  "Pets should not be considered a commodity."

Download my Christmas Gift for you. 3 Free Ebooks. All you need to know about Pets. Cats. Dogs.

For the love of Dogs For the love of Cats For the love of Pets

Puppies and Kids are great together but consider a dog or a cat is not a toy. 

There are many cases of children who wish to have a dog as a pet animal, and there is really nothing wrong with that. It is one of the best things that can happen to a child having a dog or cat around and grow up with it.  Who hasn't heard that speech saying if you have a dog, you'll have to take care of him? However, it is essential to remember that they are children and that they cannot be 100% responsible for a dog. It is, in the end, the responsibility of the parent.  When adopting an animal, parents should be aware that it is their responsibility, and the fact that the child does not care for the dog is no excuse for abandonment. It is a family decision I can not stretch it often enough. Pets, in my opinion, should only be given as a gift by parents to the kids, at least they have put some thought into it. 

Pets as a Christmas Gift. Consider all changes and challenges. 

*If you are determined to give a pet to make a person happy, old or young consider different factors.  *Is there enough space for the pet?  *Can the person or family accommodate a pet? *How many hours a day is a pet alone. If more than 8 hours do not give a pet as a gift.  *Is the person or family able to accommodate the vet and food expenses?  *Make sure the person is not allergic to pets.  *Does the person have experience with pets?  *If the pet is a dog, is the person or family able to walk with the dog regular?  There are a lot of things to consider and please think before you make the decision to give someone a pet as a Christmas gift. Understand the pet like a dog or cat will be hurting if it is returned after Christmas.  Pets have feelings and emotion the same as you. It will not understand why you leave it alone in a shelter and abandon it. If you want to give a pet as a gift, you assure that the person is ready for the commitments and responsibilities. 

It's time to think about the pet's arrival at the new home.

If it's a puppy or a kitten, you should remember that they will be separated from their mother and siblings.

They will come to a home full of people and stimuli that will probably make it more than uncomfortable for the pet. The first night it will cry and call out for the siblings and the mom. You might not get much sleep. You must have a bed or a playpen prepared in a quiet place in the house where they can sleep and be away from excessive noise and groping. In short, a comfortable place to hide.  You should also have toys and food. An alternative way to avoid the stress of arriving at a new home is to surprise the person with an adoption certificate. This is a good way for the future pet owner to be ready. The adaptation will be less stressful, and the future owner will have time to choose a pet, accessories and bed himself. The future Pet owner can also prepare himself or the family mentally for the new member. 

Consider adoption before you buy from a Breeder.  

If you buy from a Breeder, please make sure it is a certified Breeder and not an illegal Breeder who breeds pets for the sake of money.  Choosing adoption over buying is a wise decision.  In addition to being a much cheaper option, we'll stop financing illegal breeders and avoid indiscriminate dog breeding.  You will also save an abandoned and homeless pet and give space in the shelter for another pet to arrive.  In 2018 this video footage went viral RSPCA posted it. Everyone was so touched even Snoop Dogg and Andrew Neil offered to take the dog in. But if that person's wish is to have a specific breed, we recommend you to look for a kennel that has all the papers.  It will give a guarantee that it is reproducing healthy pets with specific veterinary tests, and that has a hygienic space that favours the welfare of the puppies. 

You will be surprised how many dog breeds are abandoned every day, and you can find in a shelter. Go on the internet and look around in animal shelters near your area. I got our Doberman and German Shepard from a shelter. Alone in the US, there are yearly around 1.6 Million Animals euthanized. 670.000 Dogs and 860.000 Cats. Both of my dogs have been Christmas gifts and sent to the shelter with only 5 months old. I guess the owners did not consider how big they get, and that they will chew and destroy in their puppyhood a lot of things they can get their teeth on.  Remember that many pet breeds are also abandoned and need a home. In a pet who comes from an animal shelter, you find a loyal companion.  We hope that all this information will help you evaluate whether or not it is positive to give pets as a Christmas Gift.  And how you can assure the pet has found a family or owner for life.  If you liked my blog Ho Ho Ho it's Christmas Time. The cruellest thing you can do on Christmas. A Dog is not a Toy. Why it is a bad idea to give an animal as a Christmas Gift. Please like and share with family and friends. Visit our Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter page.  I wish you a wonderful a festive Season. 

My Christmas Gift to you. 3 Free ebooks instant download. All you need to know about Pets, Dogs, Cats

For the love of cats click here For the love of dogs click here For the love of pets click here All yours Melanie  Source Information https://www.aspca.org/animal-homelessness/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics Approximately 6.5 million companion animals enter U.S. animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, approximately 3.3 million are dogs and 3.2 million are cats.  We estimate that the number of dogs and cats entering U.S. shelters annually has declined from approximately 7.2 million in 2011.  The biggest decline was in dogs (from 3.9 million to 3.3 million).Each year, approximately 1.5 million shelter animals are euthanized (670,000 dogs and 860,000 cats).  The number of dogs and cats euthanized in U.S. shelters annually has declined from approximately 2.6 million in 2011.  This decline can be partially explained by an increase in the percentage of animals adopted and an increase in the number of stray animals successfully returned to their owners.Approximately 3.2 million shelter animals are adopted each year (1.6 million dogs and 1.6 million cats).About 710,000 animals who enter shelters as strays are returned to their owners. Of those, 620,000 are dogs and only 90,000 are cats. Read the full article

[cmyknoise]

Lovely - Prinxiety

Lyrics are from the song ‘Lovely’ by Twenty One Pilots

Words: 3724 (8 Pages) Relationship: Prinxiety Warning: Self Deprication? Angst? Ish Summary: Roman is upset at how much Virgil talks bad about himself. He wants to make him feel less like some villain or bad guy, and more like someone who’s loved and cared for. He doesn’t want him to be lonely anymore.  Notes: I’m doing a lil’ challenge with this one! The dialogue will ONLY be the song lyrics (or in cases of ohs and ahs, the character will hum, etc.) I’m doing it so I get better with details and describing what the characters are doing/ feeling instead of announcing it via dialogue! (If you want, feel free to try this out!) 

Fic under the cut! Art is mine !

@fandersfic-prinxiety

  Small dark insects fluttered from his mouth, the silky webs of spiders flowed from his lips. He didn’t notice, he never could see the same as the prince. Perhaps it was a blessing or a curse for the prince, but it….bothered him. It bothered him, how the stormy knight was able to say all those things about himself. It bothered him even more that he could see the harshness of those words, the truth he believed. On occasion, the prince had similar words to say about himself, but those were deserved. Virgil….he didn’t deserve the harshness he gave himself.   Roman wasn’t always very kind or accepting of him of course, something he now regret deeply. He was just trying to keep the others safe, but now that the gothic other had joined them, it was his duty to make him feel welcomed. It was his job to protect him. Even if it seemed that the only thing he had to protect him from was himself.   He watched from the living room, watching as Virgil talked to Patton. Patton had tried so much to stop the words- nothing seemed to be able to stop them. He was waiting for an opportunity. He needed Virgil alone. He had to do something. The cracks that seemed to flow along the others skin- he was breaking. It worried him. The emo was so...fragile. He hadn’t been here long, but he doesn’t want his stay short. Roman desperately wanted Virgil to stay, for one reason or another.     He got his opportunity once Patton was called by a desperate Logan. Help with some feelings or opinions or something, it didn’t really concern him. Now was his chance. His dark kitten was alone, and he would be the fireman to pull him from the tree. Roman leaped up from his spot within the living room and made his way over to Virgil. No words were exchanged, not yet anyway, but the prince held both his hands out. Brown and lavender eyes scanned him. Roman could feel it, it was such a hesitant and fearful gaze, but nonetheless, he felt gentle palms cover his own. The prince offered a smile and pulled Virgil along with him, sinking into his room.   They were suddenly surrounded by red velvet, gold accents and white linens. Roman stood, gently pushing Virgil to his bed so he would sit. Roman looked down at him, lips tugging down in a frown. He could notice the fine lines that lie across his skin like lightening. Cracks, all flooding down below the neckline of Virgil’s shirt.   He wondered if Virgil could see what he saw, or if he saw things differently. A soft sigh escaped his lips and he sat down next to the personification of all things fear and panic. “You say thing with your mouth,” Roman reached over, cupping Virgil’s cheek, running his thumb across it, “Cobwebs and flies come out…”   The anxious side looked, off put, unsettled. He had been worried already, but Roman was speaking weird things. Cobwebs and flies? What the hell was that supposed to mean? He scoot away just a smidgen from Roman, looking him up and down. Trying to figure out what this was all about. Roman saw the look in his eyes, rubbing his thumb across Virgil’s cheek. “I hear a second voice behind your tongue somehow,” It was true, and honestly concerned Roman. It reminded him of how Deceit spoke, and he wondered if that was why Virgil lied to himself so often. He wanted to change that. That scaly heathen shall hurt his stormy knight no longer! “Luckily I can read your mind. Flies and cobwebs unwind….” Roman waved his hand and Virgil’s eyes widened. He could...see the webs as Roman pulled away strands, it morphing into fine lines, disappearing as he let go. He could see the flies buzz around him. Cobwebs and flies. Did Roman see this all the time? “They will not take you down. They will not cast you out…” Roman’s hands moved back down, and he pulled Virgil up with him, pulling him into a hug. He could see the words Virgil believed about himself float around them. Villain, Unwanted, Emotional, a Drag…. Roman frowned. He knew it was his fault that some of these thoughts were still around. But he was going to change that. At some point, Virgil had started to cry and Roman held him closer to his chest, whispering reassuring words to him.   It was clear to Virgil that Roman had been trying….a lot. It was….strange, but something he wouldn’t admit he craved. The affection, the praise….things he couldn’t really remember having. The prince had even introduced him to his part of the imagination, where Virgil could see….how Roman did. It was here where he noticed something, something that perhaps linked them together even more. Something he didn’t dare tell Roman.   They were there again, within the imagination. It was…..stunning. A calm flowing river, which flowed down a short drop into a basin of water. The water was clear, the rocks were smooth and round. Roman called it ‘The River of Flowing Emotion’. Perhaps that was why it was so…. calm. He and Patton were linked with the emotion. He knew Patton had been having a good day, and if he were being honest, so had he.   Things unfortunately didn’t stay that way. They took a turn once Roman took his prince coat off, his shirt under coming off too. Virgil could only assume that Roman had been the tannest of all the sides, assuming only having Patton come anywhere close. He had scars, some thin and small, other big and ragged. Virgil assumed this was from all of his adventures, but that wasn’t the issue. If he had the opportunity he’d go ahead and ask about the adventures and where he got them, but no. They were in the imagination. Virgil could see what Roman did. There were words floating around his head. Hide them. Put it on. Be strong. Stand proud. H i d e.   That….The problem was when he offered to swim. That would at least require him to take off some garment of clothing, and Virgil was...nervous to. Yes, at the base they were all Thomas, so he theoretically shouldn’t be worried, but he was. Virgil was known to stress and comfort eat. Just as Roman was scarred from adventures, and as Patton was tall, Logan average, he was….a bit pudgy. But it was just Roman, it should be fine. Perhaps it also had to do with just, swimming… In a river. It had no real threat- maybe… it still scared him.   He noticed Roman’s look toward him. Roman was staring, and at this point he knew what he saw. Virgil couldn’t see his own, not unless Roman was closer. Roman on the other hand saw the words flutter around, there were so many. So many insecurities, so much fear. He frowned, taking a step toward Virgil. “Dear friend, here we are again pretending, to understand how you think your world is ending…” He opened his arms wide, showing Virgil all of his own insecurities. The scars, the freckles… Virgil started shaking, and the world around them shifted to mirror his feelings. The skies darkened, and as did the water in the river.   Roman looked around, a look of concern flashing across his features. He looked back to Virgil. Being so close to the source of emotions.... he had to fix this. Virgil was fearing the water, fearing to swim. He could fix that. He stepped back, close to the bank of the river. White flashed across Virgil’s eyes and like a mirror he followed Roman. He was scared that Roman was going to trip and fall in.   The prince crouched down, brushing his fingers against the dark, almost red looking water. Where his fingers touched, it went clear again before flowing away, back a few feet toward the ledge. Roman looked at Virgil and tried to give him a look of reassurance, trying to tell him it was okay. “Sending signals and red flags in waves,” Virgil stood there, body moving with each heavy breath he took as he kept his gaze on Roman and the river, “It's hard to tell the difference between blood and water these days…” Creativity cupped the water with a hand and brought it up, letting the liquid go clear and fall to the grass. An idea hit him. It was Virgil’s job to protect them, and he thought they were in danger. He was in ‘protection mode’.   Roman jumped up and took another step back, closer to the ledge, and as he knew Virgil moved closer. This could go good or horribly. With a quick step he took another back, right off the ledge. With a yelp, Virgil leaped forward, hurdling himself over. He definitely didn’t care about his own safety at this point. Just what the hell was Roman thinking? As fear and worry took over, the air around them grew heavy, the area darker, and the fall grew and grew. It felt like they were falling forever.   Virgil squeezed his eyes shut and opened his arms, propelling his form toward Roman’s body, where he wrapped his arms tightly around him, clinging to him. Hundreds of ideas running through his head on just how to save them. His previous insecurities and fears were the least of his worries. “I'll pray that one day you see, the only difference between life and dying,” Roman’s voice was calm, close. Virgil’s eyes fluttered open and he looked up at him, his soft brown eyes having gone white in fear. They had somewhere stopped falling, being suspended in the air. Virgil felt strong arms pull him close into his arms, “ Is one is trying, that's all we're gonna do…”   The world around them changed, it lighting up again. They were no longer near the river, but rather in a small quaint forest. It was beautiful. He was angry at Roman, that stunt was incredibly stupid. He looked around, nerves slowly lowering. A few blinks and his eyes filled with the honey brown color. He was mad, but at the same time….Roman was trying to help, and he...did. In such a stupid way, but he helped...stupid small worries weren’t worries to him anymore, at least not now. His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath.   Fingers brushed through Virgil’s soft hair, the dark side’s arms still wrapped around the prince. The hold was comforting, calming. Roman’s words repeated and drummed in the back of his skull. His next words only made his heart flutter and fill with hope and thanks, “So try to love me and I'll try to save you.” “Won't you stay alive?” His hands cupped Virgil’s cheeks, making him look up at the prince. The wind picked up around them, the beautiful forest sunk around them like dripping paint, swirling down below them into nothing, much like how water spun around until it was sucked down a drain. From above, colors sunk down, twisting into their new surroundings.   Roman’s adoring expression turned to that of excitement as they landed in gorgeous white sand. Virgil looked around. The sky was a crisp blue, fluffy clouds moving in the sky. There was a nice breeze that combed through his hair. A little further down the sand, calm waves went in and out, brushing things up and pulling them out.   His attention was brought back to the prince in front of him, Roman having gently pulled his hand close, a heart warming smile having set on his face. Virgil couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at his lips. He was still nervous, beaches were dangerous too, but if Roman could change things, nothing could happen right? “I'll take you on a ride,” Roman tugged Virgil with him, taking him closer to where water met sand. Before their eyes, a sturdy boat with a large sail appeared, rocking gently with the waves. Virgil looked back at Roman, blinking a few times. He was no longer shirtless, but wore a white sleeveless shirt with a golden castle on the front. Where that came from, Virgil could only imagine it was more of this imagination control that Roman had. “I will make you believe you are lovely,” Roman spoke softly, looking back at Virgil. Soft pink rose to his cheeks and tears welled in Virgil’s eyes. He brought a sleeve up, wiping the tears away before they could fall.   Roman’s hands let go of Virgil’s and he ran into the water, hand gripping the edge of the boat as he pulled himself onto it with ease. Virgil looked up at him, rolling his eyes before looking back at the water. He sighed and reached down, lifting a foot as he pulled a shoe and his sock off, taking the others off next. The sand was oddly soft under his feet. He tossed the shoes and socks up to Roman who caught them with ease, setting them down. Virgil slowly shrugged his hoodie off his arms. He took it, tying it around his waist.   With a soft huff, he ran into the water and to the boat. He tried to pull himself up onto it, but couldn’t quite do it. He felt a hand grip his wrist and he looked up, seeing the charming smile of Roman. Roman held his wrist, and offered a hand which Virgil gladly took. Roman pulled, which allowed Virgil to get his footing and help heave himself up and onto the boat.   Once on, Roman turned toward the front of the boat, one hand still holding Virgil’s. The prince motioned toward the scenery around them with his other hand. As he did, the wind picked up and blew against the sail. “Won't you stay alive? I'll take you on a ride... I will make you believe you are lovely,” Virgil was pulled close to Roman, and he looked around. The waves were rolling calm against the horizon. Time passed quickly, the sun was already upon the horizon, the crisp blue of the sky having turned into warm oranges and golds. “Your redemption won’t grow stale,” Roman tugged on a rope, the sail turning.  His redemption.... that made Virgil think of when he ducked out, what Roman had told him. He felt warm, chest fluttering.

  The boat leaped forward as wind caught the sail right, “We are now just setting sail, on the seas of what we fear.” The surroundings flashed to the void for Virgil, and he pressed close to the prince, everything fluttering back to the beautiful ocean. The two sat down, watching as the sky faded into the night sky where they could gaze at the stars.   The brief scare was lost to Virgil, his focus on Roman and the stars. It was so....stunning. Everything was so clear. Everything. Virgil noticed a cluster of words swarming above Roman’s head. He frowned. It seemed to him that Roman had a pretty similar problem that he had....themselves. Roman noticed the frown and more silent words swarmed in. Virgil shook his head, offering a smile, reaching up to brush his fingers against the other’s cheek before leaning against him. The words disappeared for now and they sat, happily, in silence.   Roman continued to take Virgil on these escapades and adventures. It was his goal to make Virgil love himself, see himself the way Roman saw him. It was another one of these escapades. They were in a forest, trees seemed to scrape against the sky. A tent was beside them. They had been looking to the stars again. Virgil tucked up against the prince’s side. Roman was under the assumption that the emo had fallen asleep awhile ago, and found himself thinking and talking to himself. “Treason now is growing near to me....” He gently tightened his hold around the still form against his side. This whole time that he had been trying to make Virgil feel better about himself, he had been growing more, well, anxious. More nervous. Critical of himself. He didn’t want to mess up. He didn’t want to push Virgil away anymore. Past mistakes had been eating away at him. If he could just keep it under wraps....he noticed that Virgil had been happier. He couldn’t screw this up. He just couldn’t, “I’m coming clean. God, hit me straight on... God hit me straight on....”   His gaze remained directly to the sky, soft hums coming from him. Roman remained oblivious to the figure against him, who had been listening. Virgil shifted, alerting the prince of his consciousness. His hand moves, intertwining his fingers with Roman’s. “Won’t you stay alive....I’ll take you on a ride,” Virgil sat up. This time, it was his turn to speak, make Roman feel better. Roman....deserved the same love he did, the same acceptance, “I will make you believe you are lovely.”   Roman certainly recognized his own words. No tears fell, but his body shook, full of the feelings that he had been trying to get rid of in Virgil. “Won’t you stay alive, I’ll take you on a ride...” Virgil’s voice was soft, repeating his and Roman’s words again, “I will make you believe you’re lovely.”   His words echoed around them.  Roman’s arms wrapped tightly around Virgil, pulling him close, before dissipating in his arms, dust sinking to the ground and disappearing. Virgil shot up in a panic eyes darting around the landscape, which quickly melted into nothing, leaving Virgil in a void. He could feel fear and panic flood into him. Just as the feelings flooded him, white seeped across his eyes, taking over the soft brown color.   He hated the void, the darkness. He was out of it in a flash, finding himself balled up on his bed. Did he say something? What happened to Roman? He leaped up from his bed and bound to his door, throwing it open. He tried to sink out and into Roman’s room, he couldn’t. He couldn’t get back into the imagination either. “Don’t be gone,” He pleaded with himself, footsteps heavy as he ran down the hall. His fists hit the white and gold trimmed door, “Don’t be gone,” again he pleaded, this time hoping Roman was in there. He wanted Roman to feel loved too. He didn’t want to lose this source of this adoration, his source of confidence.   He didn’t want Roman to lose that either. Was he okay? No of course he wasn’t. Neither of them were. His knocks slowed down to nothing, his palms pressing against the wood of the door. His voice trickled to a whimper, a whisper. “Don’t be gone...” He begged Roman, calling out his name, before speaking up again, “Don’t be gone-.” He trailed off. His body leant forward as the door slowly creaked open. He stumbled in, looking around, his white eyes a star contrast against the dark surrounding. “Don’t be-.” He was cut off by warm arms around him. He felt a droplet land on his cheek, and he looked up to see that Roman was crying, “G..gone..”   Roman had left so Virgil wouldn’t see him cry. It was a mistake. Another mistake of his. He was supposed to be the creative one, the brave one, the one to help others, others like Virgil. But who would be the one to come to his rescue? Looking on now, how Virgil knew something was up, how he had tried to help. He may have been Virgil’s valiant prince, but Virgil was his knight clad in shadows.   “You say things with your mouth, cobwebs and flies come out...” Once again Virgil copied things he had said. His embrace grew tighter, an occasional tear still dripping down the prince’s face and onto the ball of anxiety under him. Even when so full of worry and fear, he was still just so....amazing. “You say things with your mouth, cobwebs and flies come out,” Roman relayed back to the other. They looked at each other, only pulling back for a moment, keeping the grip on each other loose and comfortable. They were no longer within the imagination, so Virgil couldn’t see the words, he could no longer see what Roman did. “You say things with your mouth, cobwebs and flies come out,” Yet again, Virgil repeated it. It wasn’t just him. He wasn’t the only one with these....webs, with the nasty thoughts, opinions bustling around his head  like buzzing flies. “You say things with your mouth, cobwebs and flies come out,” This time Roman was smiling. The phrase was an odd one, but he knew Virgil’s intent was, that it was a good one. Virgil chuckled and pressed his palms lightly to Roman’s chest.

“You say things with your mouth, cobwebs and flies come out,” the emo gave a warm smile toward the prince. A dark, stormy knight and his prince. Both kind of hurt in their own ways, both helping and loving each other.

“You say things with your mouth, cobwebs and flies come out,” Roman’s hand shot up and clasped around something that Virgil couldn’t see. He then took a step back and offered his hand out. Virgil’s extended outwards, resting just under Roman’s. He pressed his hand down, placing something in his palm. When Virgil looked, there in his palm sat a butterfly, moving its wings calmly. He smiled and looked up at Roman, who gave him a grin back. Something had been done, they were moving in a direction, a lovely one.

[kiruuuuu]

Don’t worry, generic or not, I appreciate every compliment, @tubby-custard68! Thank you ❤ And this prompt is fantastic: I love Bandit/Jäger, I can feed @magehir‘s obsession with Blitz/Rook and I seem to enjoy writing about drunk people for some reason. I hope you like it! (Rating T, fluff/humour, ~1.5k words)

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“Look, is it normal for Germans to be absolute snobs about beer?”

Bandit side-eyes the young Frenchman next to him curiously while he pays for his smokes. He distinctly remembers Jäger telling him to be nicer to Rook despite the fact they’re all at least ten years older than him and the only one who really cares about him is Blitz. Even so, he insists on dragging his boytoy wherever they go which is fair enough, Bandit supposes, he does the same with Jäger as well when the SAS operators go out for drinks, only Jäger isn’t as timid and young and desperate to fill silences as Rook. “Yeah”, he replies in an effort to humour him, “we invented and perfected beer, I’ve not found a single foreign brand that I like.”

“Oh! They have ice cream!” Excitedly, Rook bounces over to the small freezer and peers inside, making Bandit sigh inwardly.

“Make it quick. And are you sure you want to spend all the money you just withdrew on -” He trails off as he turns around, finding the Frenchman with an armful of various popsicles and even a few tubs of Ben and Jerry’s as well as a comically guilty expression. “Jesus Christ, when people ask you to buy a round, they don’t mean fucking ice cream, you moron, put it back. My God, just being in the same room with you must be like herding kittens.”

“Elias doesn’t complain”, Rook chirps, pouting slightly but at least sorting the ice cream and returning it to the freezer, leaving only an almond Magnum that admittedly looks very tempting right now. Rook pauses momentarily before reaching into the cold box once again, fishing out a second one and approaching the till to pay.

“He’d never complain. You could probably piss in his mouth and receive heartfelt thanks for it.” The cashier is now looking at him weirdly so he leaves the store they spotted on their way back to the pub and shakes one of the cigarettes out of the pack, places it between his lips. It’s not that he dislikes Rook, it’s more that he prefers the Frenchman to not be anywhere in his vicinity. Before he can light it, however, there’s a popsicle shoved under his nose. He blinks once, twice, unsure what to do because he does like Magnums. “I hate almonds”, he says and Rook rolls his eyes.

“Don’t be a bitch”, he says which, okay, he deserves that one, so Bandit puts away the cigarette and instead rips open the wrapping. “And don’t pretend your boyfriend is much better. We’re all wearing rose-coloured glasses here and it’s not going to kill you to admit it.”

“Tell yourself that, I’m not the one completely dick whipped here.” The chocolate breaks between his teeth with a satisfying crunch and distracts him from the fact that Rook isn’t walking next to him anymore but rather has stopped, staring after him with an entirely unamused expression. “What?”

“Remember when his car broke and you were unfailingly on time for a week because you offered to give him a lift and didn’t want him to feel bad about being late? Because I do. And you weren’t even together then, that’s how desperate you were.” Bandit scowls at him and earns a chuckle in return. “How do I know about this? You whined to Elias. Endlessly.”

“Now’s the perfect time to shut up, baguette du fromage, it’s not like you’re any better. You hover around him like a mother hen – I get second hand embarrassment just from the way you coo over the idiot.”

“But that’s my point. We’re in the same boat, we both are stupidly in love with a German dork.”

“Speak for yourself”, Bandit grumbles and turns away to keep walking. He’s getting oversaturated with young operators who think they know better than him despite the fact he could theoretically be their dad. A horrifying thought. “I got the better deal, in any case. My dork knows how to suck dick at least.”

“Yeah? You really want to go there?”, Rook asks and tries to sound challenging which gets undermined by his face flushing a cute shade of red. “Why does everything have to be a competition with you?”

“Oh, we can make it a competition. About which of our boyfriends is the bigger dumbass.”

“What does that even mean?”

Bandit ponders his own suggestion for a short while as they both eat their ice cream in silence. “How about… we keep buying them alcohol and the one who refuses first wins. And don’t think it’ll be easy, Marius is wary now because I do things to him drunk that he wouldn’t let me do to him sober, so he’s got a strong incentive not to end up shit-faced.”

Rook grimaces at the mental image. “Really, I don’t need to know what you grandpas get up to in your free time.” And the only reason why Bandit doesn’t immediately retort something equally as snide is because he’s actually looking forward to the challenge now. They negotiate the rules the rest of the way until the youngling finally agrees right before they dive back into the thick, stuffy air of the pub they left about half an hour ago, maybe more. They ended up taking their time, surprisingly. Bandit suspects Blitz and Jäger sent the two of them away together on purpose, hoping they’ll end up bonding over God knows what even though they’re nothing alike and share next to no common interests.

A high-pitched shriek reaches their ears even before they spot Bandit’s teammates and they look at each other dubiously, both of them realising it’s Blitz who produced that noise. They find the two huddled by a corner table, fighting over a phone and sporting wide, goofy grins that immediately spark a feeling of dread in Bandit. “You’ve never been sent to the principal? Really?”, Jäger is asking incredulously as they approach the table, only to completely abandon whatever it is they were doing as soon as he catches sight of Bandit. He basically catapults himself out of his chair and wraps himself all around him, leaving entirely too wet kisses on the side of his neck and face and mumbles: “Hey babe, you were gone forever.” Blitz follows him suit, not to be bested by his friend, and hums contentedly into Rook’s shoulder after embracing him tightly.

They’re wasted. Rook and Bandit exchange another glance, this one decidedly bemused. Even in their shared exasperation, Rook mouths babe at him and smirks. “Hey, croissant, what is it that bees make out of pollen again?”, Bandit wants to know.

“Honey?”

“Yeah? What is it?”, Blitz replies dazedly and Bandit snorts at Rook’s defeated expression.

“The fuck did you guys do while we were away?”

“Okay”, Jäger starts and interrupts himself by sucking so viciously on Bandit’s skin that it actually hurts, “okay, look. We didn’t – Elias found some money after all and we were bored and there’s this Rice Purity Test online and -”

“You’re a depraved human being”, Blitz tells him gravely and the two devolve into helpless giggling again, much to their boyfriends’ dismay.

“How much did you drink?”

The two Germans untangle themselves from their lovers and start counting, correcting each other to the point of having to start over, dropping references to their test results that leave them breathless and holding on to each other for support as they slowly delve deeper into hysterics and it’s hopeless. Nowadays, they rarely get to spend time alone so Bandit can understand the sentiment of wanting to catch up, shoot the shit, whatever, only this definitely went too far. He forgot that they’re notorious for enabling each other. Rook watches the whole thing both resignedly as well as extremely amused, mirroring Bandit’s mood perfectly and isn’t this just great. They get to bond after all, even if it’s over the combined stupidity of two people that unfortunately do mean a lot to them.

“Let’s cancel the challenge”, Bandit tells him with a sigh, “we both lose.”

Rook laughs good-naturedly, making Bandit realise he’s not actually that bad after all. Maybe they can have other competitions in the future – it’s rare enough that Bandit can mock someone else for being as ridiculously infatuated as he himself is. “Yeah. I agree. Let’s just get them home, I think they’ve had enough.”

“Are we going hooome?”, Jäger picks up on the most important part of what they just said and melts against Bandit once more, all eager and loose limbs. “Are you going to do the thing again?”

“Of course I’m going to do the thing. You look so pretty when you cry.”

“Oh my God”, says Rook and this is an added bonus to keeping him around because Bandit thoroughly enjoys the scandalised expression on his face that only worsens when Blitz starts whispering in his ear as well.

[tialovestelevision]

Tabula Rasa

The most recent episode of Buffy was good. Really good. Really, really good.

Can we do two? Can we go for two?

1. Previously On. Nobody sings. Then Buffy is patrolling in a long sweater that I initially thought was a bathrobe. She sees Spike. He asks if they can talk. Buffy does not want to talk. Spike wants to talk about them kissing. Buffy says she will never kiss him or touch him again, then she tackles Spike to keep him from getting staked. It’s a shark. And two minions. He calls him Mr. Spike. Spike owes him kittens. He’s a loan shark. The loan shark likes funny. He doesn’t want to see anyone get hurt. He sends his minions. Buffy fights his minions. The loan shark wants Buffy to get into debt collecting. Spike has left. They’re going to find Spike and talk to him more. Now the loan shark and his minions are leaving. Buffy wishes she could stop saving Spike because things would get simpler. Opening credits no Tara.

2. Xander’s house. The group is talking about what it might have been like for Buffy in Heaven. Tara says there are a zillion heavens. Willow is all guilty. So’s Xander. Willow talks about having been selfish. Xander feels weird about feeling bad that his friend’s not dead. Tara says they have to stop drowning in guilt and make things better. Xander suggests dinners. Willow says to use a spell, but Tara says no. Tara is chewing out Willow about using magic. Willow says she has a spell to make Buffy forget she was in Heaven, and Tara flips. Understandably. Tara says she knows about Willow’s spell. Willow tries to apologize; Tara stays on the topic. “How could you, Willow? How could you, after what Glory did to me?” Willow is making excuses. Tara points out that this is how Willow does everything. “You’re helping yourself now. Fixing things to your liking, including me.” Tara is breaking up with her. Willow says she won’t do magic for a month. Tara really doesn’t want to break up with Willow. Tara says to go a week, and they’ll see. She says she thinks they both need some space. “I can’t believe I’m saying this.” Willow is still in disbelief.

3. Giles and Buffy are in the training room. Giles is talking about the fact that he’s leaving. Buffy urgently wants and needs him not to. He thinks she needs him to leave. Giles: “You’ll always turn to me, when you come across something that you don’t think you can handle. And I’ll step in, because… because I can’t stand to see you suffer.” Buffy: “Me too. Hate suffering. Had about as much of it as I can take.” Good God, Giles, you’re right, but she does not need more destabilization right now. Giles stays firm on the decision; Buffy stomps out.

4. Summers house. Dawn and Tara are ready to go. Willow is not. Willow uses magic to get ready, so that’s a promise broken already. She goes to the cabinet and gets more lethe’s bramble. Oh god, really Willow? She’s erasing both Buffy and Tara’s memories, though the spell will only take effect once the bramble finishes burning.

5. Magic Box. The others think this is a meeting about a monster. It’s a meeting about Giles leaving. Willow and Xander come in late. Spike came in and is all smoldering. And wearing a schoolboy outfit. And a hat. A silly, silly hat. He wants asylum. He’s running from the loan shark and seeking asylum. We cut to the Summers house, where an ember from the fire catches Willow’s whole bag of lethe’s bramble on fire. Seriously, Willow? I mean… seriously? You just left that there? I no longer believe this episode. I no longer believe this arc. I no longer believe this season. That is just… such… so very… I mean seriously… that is DUMB. I know it’s being sold to us as a dumb act by Willow, but the girl is both a genius and a witch and is actively trying to keep what she’s doing a secret and this is NOT something that someone who’s trying to keep a secret would miss. The writing there is just bad. Dear god, the writing there is bad. You want the spell to glitch? Spells glitch in this show all the damned time, without needing someone to do something as absurdly stupid as it is out of character. Hell, the spell glitching on its own sells Tara’s warnings about the dangers of magic far better than this does. This. Is. Stupid. ANYWAY… Giles continues his announcement. Tara looks heartbroken after his announcement. Buffy can’t do this. She’s leaving. Buffy is angry and overwhelmed. Then she drops. Then everyone drops. The fire is out. The stupid, stupid fire.

6. Everyone’s still unconscious. Willow’s on top of Xander. Buffy wakes up first. It’s dark now. They were out for a while. Buffy turns the light on. Everyone is confused. Giles fell asleep with his head on Anya’s back. Spike falls off the counter, and his scream wakes everybody else up. Dawn asks who these people are. Buffy tells her not to worry. She doesn’t know anyone here either. Or what her name is. Xander doesn’t know who any of them either. None of them know who they are. None of them remember anything. Giles suggests that they all got drunk. No booze, no head bumps, no Allan Funt, so that kills that theory. Xander isn’t panicking. Buffy tries to calm it down. Willow is trying to figure out where they are. Now they know they’re in a magic shop. Giles doesn’t believe in magic. He’s British. And a man, with glasses. Dawn doesn’t like this. Buffy says they’ll take care of each other. Spike finds out he’s English in a very, very funny scene. Anya says there’s a ruggedly handsome resemblance between Giles and Spike. Giles feels like Spike is familiar. And disappointing. Giles: “Older brother?” Spike: “Father. Oh, god, how I must hate you.” Giles: “What did I do?” Spike: “There’s always something. And what’s with the trollop?” Anya thinks she and Giles are engaged. Willow comes up with the idea of driver’s licenses. She’s wearing Xander’s work jacket… They’re looking for licenses. Xander found his name. So did Willow. Tara thinks her name is pretty. Tara found her name, and that she and Willow are students. Dawn doesn’t have a wallet. Neither does Buffy. But Dawn has a necklace with her name. Giles knows his name now. Anya likes it. He threatens to spank Spike. Spike doesn’t have a wallet, but his jacket is made with care for Randy. So he’s obviously Randy Giles. Spike: “Why not just call me Horny Giles, or Desperate-For-A-Shag Giles? I knew there was a reason I hated you.” Willow finds Xander’s name on her jacket, so they’re theorizing that she dates either his theoretical brother or him. Anya found her name on the forms, but not its pronunciation, and now knows that she and Rupert own the shop together. Dawn is sad Buffy doesn’t have a name, and offers to name her. Buffy names herself Joan. Dawn doesn’t like it, but Joan does. They know they’re sisters now. They hug, and Randy complains that Rupert never shows him affection like that. Joan wants to get help. They’re going to head out to the hospital. Randy suggests that Rupert drive in his red shiny penis car. They find vampires outside. Randy is startled to learn there are vampires. Willow suggests moving large objects in front of doors. Tara points out that they need their memories back to know if they knew about vampires. Rupert suggests fighting them with magic. The vampires demand Spike, and Rupert thinks they want spikes. Randy gets some stakes and wants to give them to the vampires, but the vampires start demanding “Slayer” and they all think the vampires are saying “Slay her” so they’ll use the spikes to slay someone. Willow and Xander found a trap door in the basement to the sewer. The vampires come in the windows and kick down the door. Xander is praying. A vampire grabs Randy. Vampire: “You owe us.” Randy: “Who, me?” Vampire: “You’ve got the boss’s kittens.” Randy: “Kittens?” Joan is fighting a vampire off, then the slays the vampire who had Randy pinned. Willow: “What did you just do?” Joan: “I don’t know… but it was COOL.” The surviving vampire runs. Joan knows why she’s the boss. She’s a superhero.

7. Vampires are briefing the loan shark on what happened. They still want to attack. The loan shark wants to wait it out. Joan wants to go attack the vampires with Randy. Randy doesn’t like the plan. Anya and Giles want to do spells. Randy and Joan are going after the vampires, but first Rupert wants to hug Randy. Now they attack. Or run through the vampires. One of the vampires grabs Randy, who puts his game face on, punches the vampire, and declares himself a superhero. Joan is less convinced on this superhero thing. She runs away. Randy wants to know where she’s going, but he gets punched.

8. Randy is fighting the vampires. Big fight scene. He’s beaten them up and chases after Joan. Meanwhile, the others come down the ladder. Willow and Tara give each other a meaningful look. They found a vampire, so they turn and run the other way.

9. Rupert and Anya are in the shop, looking for spells. Rupert finds his plane tickets in his pocket. Goddamn it, Giles, why are they in your pocket? Anya found a book. Using her intuition. Anya summoned a bunny.

10. Joan just tackled Randy. She’s surprised to find out he doesn’t know who he is. He’s surprised to learn he’s a vampire. Randy doesn’t want to bite her. He’s confused. He decides he’s a noble vampire on a mission of redemption. Helps the helpless. Has a soul. Joan thinks that’s lame.

11. Anya has summoned a lot of bunnies. She’s trying to banish them. She’s terrified. She summons another. There’s a bunch of albino bunnies. Joan and Randy are arguing, but the vampires caught up to them. The others are still running through the sewers. Tara found a route out. They’re cornered. Tara and Willow are very close to each other. Staring. Anya has made a bunny cloud. Joan and Randy are still fighting vampires. There’s the loan shark. Joan has a stake now. It’s huge. It’s a mailbox post. Rupert is now fighting a skeleton. Willow checks on Dawn. Dawn finds this familiar. Willow is confused. She thinks she’s kinda gay.

12. Now they have a monster in the shop. Rupert says he’s leaving her. Anya is heartbroken. She throws her engagement ring at him.

13. The vampire’s found the group. Xander is going to confront it. He gets punched and thrown. He punches back. Rupert manages to banish the monster and the bunnies. Anya gets her engagement ring back. She’s very glad to have it back. Anya apologizes for having the wrong book. Rupert is apologizing, and Anya asks him not to leave her. Now they’re reconciled and kissing.

14. Tara gets tackled by Willow to save her from a vampire. Dawn gets a stake to save Xander with. Xander stakes the vampire. Now Willow and Tara are about to kiss. Xander steps on the crystal Willow used for the spell. And Tara pushes Willow off of her. Memories are back. Giles and Anya stop kissing very suddenly. And Buffy gets her memories back and immediately gets kicked in the head.

15. Buffy is getting beaten up by a vampire, and Spike is fighting more of them off. Tara is staring pure shattered rage at Willow. Xander and Dawn found the crystal bits, and Dawn has the most betrayed look on her face. Xander giggles, but it’s because he got back his memory of seeing King Ralph. There’s a dated cultural reference, which is something Buffy usually avoids. Pretty sure it was dated at the time, too… yeah, the movie was a decade old when this episode came out. Willow is kneeling in the middle of the group. Xander says they should get back. Willow starts to her feet, Tara has the expression of someone who has a million things to say an no words to say the with, and is sobbing as they walk.

16. Giles and Anya are cleaning. A few yards apart. Spike has killed the vampires, so Buffy is safe. Spike grabs the loan shark and promises to pay him. The loan shark is leaving. Spike goes to help Buffy up. Asks if she’s all right. She doesn’t take his help, and starts stumbling back toward the shop. Spike looks hurt and confused and resigned.

17. Bronze. A band is playing. They don’t have Sweet. Buffy is sitting at the bar and staring into space. Tara is moving out of the Summers house. God, her face. Willow is sitting against a cabinet and not moving or looking at anything. Giles is on a plane, flying back to England, because nothing will talk him out of this plan. “Goodbye to you/Goodbye to everything that I knew…” Spike meets Buffy at the bar. Buffy won’t look at him. Spike leaves. Tara walks out the front door and sees Dawn and offers her a hug. Dawn stomps off into the house. And we see Spike and Buffy making out behind the stairs at the Bronze. Episode end.

Overall: Ye gods, that was… weird?

There was a REALLY GOOD EPISODE in there. The stuff with them figuring out who they were, the assumptions that were accurate and the ones that weren’t, was wonderful. It was funny and it was heartwarming. Buffy and Dawn recognizing each other as sisters, Spike and Giles trying to bond, an entire marital drama playing out in a half-hour between Anya and Giles… that was all great stuff. So was picking up the obvious chemistry between Anya and Giles and running with it for an episode. Loved all of that. The action scenes were really good. The loan shark was a terrible pun but the show was so delighted to be making it that it came off charming. Like… the main body of this episode was great!

Then you threw in the fact that it’s in Season Six, and thus has to carry out the emotional and story arcs of this particular season, and it just doesn’t work. I know I harped on how badly conceived Willow’s mistake with her spell is, but I just can’t get off that idea. I get it, we’re telling a story about someone with an addiction, but a person with an addiction who’s hiding it from their loved ones actually hides it! Tara knows what Lethe’s bramble is. She’s figured it out once. Giles would likely recognize it if he stumbled on it, and Dawn is both absurdly clever and fascinated with magic. You never quite know what she’ll know. Willow did the equivalent of a teenager who smokes marijuana leaving a whole bag of weed on the kitchen table, and that’s just not the kind of mistake a person in that position makes. And it weakens the greater point of that arc - magic is inherently dangerous. The spell simply malfunctioning would sell everything better. So would Willow making a subtler mistake with the spell.

The Willow/Tara breakup story is pure misery in a show that’s already drowning in it around its main character. Buffy has always been a dark show, but this season in particular is just pure dreariness, and it makes even the silly bits - Horny Giles, the mummy hand with the tongs, Andrew’s Death Star on the van - hard to enjoy. “Once More With Feeling” transcended that on pure episode quality and novelty; this one, while for the most part well-written and well-performed all the way through, isn’t up to that task.

I see where Giles is coming from. In a world where there are competent, genre-savvy therapists and the Watcher’s Council excels at anything but making things worse and turning problems into crises, I might even agree with him - what Buffy needs is an actual Watcher, a stipend from the Council to reduce her financial stress, and a really good therapist - but this world doesn’t offer those things. It has mentor figures and friends, and Buffy needs as many of those as she can get, because the world is trying actively to crush her under its weight. Her support network is dissolving when she needs it most, and I would expect Giles, a man of exceptional emotional intelligence, to recognize that and act to mitigate it instead of making it worse.

This is the Season of Bad Decisions that are Profoundly Out of Character, and I’m really not enjoying it, in spite of some lovely laughs at Randy’s expense here.

[adventuresaroundasia]

Before we start, I’m going to preface by saying I love Vietnam. This is my second time living here and Hoi An, and I honestly feel so lucky to be here. Vietnam is a beautiful country with great weather, lovely people, tasty food, and awesome beaches. The cost of living is fantastic for digital nomads, and I have a great quality of life here.

However, the longer I live in Vietnam the more I learn about something very culturally interesting (and disturbing): Vietnam’s cat (and dog) meat trade, and Vietnam’s view of cats in general.

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I’m Not a Vegetarian So I Won’t Tell You What to Eat

Here’s the thing, I’m not a vegetarian, and I’m never going to tell people what they can and can’t eat (unless it’s endangered). To some cultures, eating pigs or cows is horrifying, but many of us eat them anyway. Other cultures survive off horse meat, which would upset most Americans. It’s the same with cats and dogs.

While I don’t have a big issue theoretically about the consumption of cats and dogs, what I do take issue with is animal cruelty, factory farms, and people STEALING PETS to eat them.

Also, the international affairs and anthropology major in me finds this all really culturally interesting, so I couldn’t help but share.

I can’t imagine eating this little baby!

People Steal Cats and Dogs to Sell for Meat

I knew that some (emphasis on some) people in Vietnam ate cat and dog, but I had no idea that people actually STEAL pet cats and dogs in Hoi An to sell to meat vendors. There are so many posts on expat forums here from people who’ve had their dogs stolen from backyards or the beach. Jack’s Cat Cafe even has a massive wall around the property to keep the cats in and the thieves out.

While this is definitely a thing in Vietnam, especially in Hoi An, it’s important to note that many of the locals are just as upset about these pet thieves, and would never dream of eating cat or dog.

Our foster babies Lady and Rory

Stray Cats Are Bad Luck…

This is a new one I discovered, and I have to say it really shocked me. As many of you may know from Instagram and Facebook, Chris and I are now fostering 3 little kittens through Vietnam Cat Welfare and Jack’s Cat Cafe. We cleared everything with our landlord beforehand, however, when we brought the kittens home, our landlord double checked to make sure our kittens weren’t from the street, otherwise, they’d bring bad luck. Ummm… what?

Okay, so I’m going to start by saying our landlord is a young, cosmopolitan, Vietnamese businesswoman who speaks perfect English. So it definitely came as a bit of a shock when she said that stray kittens would bring bad luck, sort of like when my Chinese friend told me that shaving your underarms gives you breast cancer.

Now, I can understand if she was worried about fleas, worms, and other bugs, but no- she was worried about bad omens. Thankfully our kittens aren’t actually from the street. Some shop owner’s cat had kittens and they were dumped at Jack’s Cat Cafe in a plastic bag. (So we didn’t have to lie!)

Moggie a few weeks after we rescued her

So Many Injured and Abandoned Kitties

While this was a big shock to us, it does sort of make sense. No one in Vietnam seems to really want to help stray cats or kittens, which is why you’ll often see them dumped or abandoned. My old foster cat Moggie was found as a kitten with a broken leg after being hit by a motorbike and was rescued by our friends’ Vietnamese landlord. However, his neighbor wasn’t a big fan and tried to convince the landlord to toss Moggie in a bag with some rocks and drop her in the ocean. Ouch.

I’m very glad this kind Vietnamese man decided against throwing her in the ocean because now she’s a very happy tripod kitty living with our friend in Danang. All it took was a solid month of diarrhea after some hefty worm medication and she was fine! (I’ve never cleaned up so much poop in my life. Now I know what having a baby is like.)

Rory says: Don’t eat me!

Eating Cats for Good Luck

This whole conversation made Chris and I really curious, so we did some research. Apparently stray cats in Vietnam are considered “unlucky” which is why some Vietnamese families will eat cat meat at the start of every month to ward off bad luck.

Stray cats are bad luck… so let’s eat them? I guess that makes sense.

Some Vietnamese people view cats as evil because of their power over bad luck. A Vietnamese cat butcher also told the interviewer that eating a cat’s spine will give you agility, while Vietnam Cat Welfare stated that cat urine drops into the ear has been prescribed for deafness and hearing problems.

I guess Vietnam is kind of like Ancient Egypt, except rather than worshiping cats, the Vietnamese culturally fear (and eat) them.

Say hello to foster baby #3: Beanie!

Vietnam’s Fight Against the Cat and Dog Meat Trade

Hanoi has been cracking down on the cat meat trade for a myriad of reasons. According to PAWS For Compassion, officials in Hanoi are “urging residents to stop eating dog meat as it could hurt the city’s reputation and lead to diseases like rabies. The Hanoi People’s Committee said the practice could tarnish the city’s image as a ‘civilised and modern capital.'”

While it’s great the government has begun cracking down on this, there are still over 1,000 cat and dog meat sellers in Hanoi alone. Many cultural practices have firm roots in society, and the cat and dog meat trade is no different.

Rory and Beanie are too small to eat anyway

Most People in Vietnam Don’t Eat Cats

I just want to reiterate that not everyone in Vietnam eats cats or dogs, and I’d probably venture to say that most people (especially in developed cities) do not torture or eat cats. However, this animosity towards cats is pretty prevalent here in Hoi An, which is why places like Vietnam Cat Welfare (also known as Jack’s Cat Cafe) have so much work to do.

Thankfully these places do exist (PAWS For Compassion in Danang is another great organization), and they are making a huge impact here in Central Vietnam. Vietnam Cat Welfare and Paws For Compassion have actually begun a process of educating locals on how to properly care for their cats and kittens with nutritious food and worm medication. PAWS for Compassion also works with children to teach them to be kind to animals and the environment.

However, there is still a TON of work to be done, and Jack’s still gets bags of kittens dumped on their doorstep every few days.

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  Found tied up in a bag in the old town of Hoi An and brought to our gate. Look at Rory, Lady and Beanie today! Two days of hissing, two weeks of loving and now such beautiful girls These three are now looking for their forever home. Send us a message to meet them and see how cute they are.❤️

A post shared by Jacks Cat Cafe (@jackscatcafe) on Apr 19, 2019 at 2:24am PDT

My little babies found in a bag in Old Town

What to Do If You Find Abandoned Kittens in Vietnam

Vietnam Cat Welfare actually has some incredible information about what to do if you find a stray kitten in Vietnam. But for the sake of having everything in one place, I’ll summarize it here.

If you find a stray kitten (or kittens) in Vietnam, first you need to decide if they need rescuing.

Is it genuinely abandoned, or is there a chance its mom is still around somewhere getting food?

Is it sick or injured?

Does the kitten look healthy or malnourished?

Is the kitten being abused?

Does it have a home nearby? Ask around.

Overall, unless a kitten or cat is sick, injured, malnourished or being abused, it’s better to leave it be. If your kitten is truly abandoned and you know for SURE that the mother isn’t coming back (you can check back in every few hours), then you can take it.

That said, raising a kitten under three weeks old is extremely hard without its mother’s milk. If you see a very, very young kitten, do not take it unless you’re 100% sure that it is abandoned, and be prepared for the fact that your kitten may not survive. You can learn more about how to age a kitten here.

It’s important to remember that many Vietnamese people keep cats and kittens in their shops and restaurants, so there’s a chance that the kitten you just found actually belongs to someone! Please be sure to ask around before you take a person’s pet!

Here’s what Moggie looked like when we got her…

What to Do If Your Vietnamese Cat or Kitten Needs Rescuing

If you find a cat or kitten that obviously needs help, there are a few things you can do.

1. Is Your Cat Injured?

If you find a cat or kitten that has been hit by a motorbike or looks like it’s near death, you should take her to a local vet. Hoi An and Danang have a few really good places, but if you live somewhere else you can always ask on the local expat Facebook groups.

Veterinary care is actually pretty cheap in Vietnam, and many times people will often pitch in to help you pay for emergency medical care if you ask and provide photos. I’ve seen a few people pitch in to help someone pay for surgery for a cat who was hit by a motorbike. Some vets might even give you a discount or do it for free if the cat isn’t yours.

If your kitten is extremely sick and is not eating or drinking, you will definitely want to take them to the vet right away. Most cats and kittens in Vietnam have worms and need de-worming medication, but some are healthier than others. When we got Moggie, she was an absolute mess, and the worming medication gave her diarrhea for a few weeks (which meant taking her to the vet again).

Moggie in our laundry basket

Lady having a snuggle in bed

2. Can You Care For the Kittens?

Many cat rescue programs are bursting with cats. I mean, Jack’s Cat Cafe has SEVENTY CATS AND KITTENS. So please don’t assume you can just drop your kittens there without asking. Jack’s keeps unvaccinated kittens in cages if they can’t find a foster home (this is why I’m fostering!), and they only have so many cages available.

If you can keep the cat or kittens for a month or two, I would recommend doing this while you work on getting them vaccinated. You can then work on posting around in expat groups to see if anyone wants to help you adopt. Many cat rescue places may also help you work to find homes for them as well, but they do have their hands a bit full with the cats and kittens they already have.

Moggie vacationing at PAWS for Compassion

3. Contact Vietnam Cat Welfare (or a Local Equivalent)

If you really need help, you can always contact your local cat shelter. Let’s say you just don’t have the money for the medical treatment, or you are in a guesthouse and have nowhere to keep them, this would be a good time to reach out for help. Even if these shelters have room, they might know of someone who can help you.

Just please do not drop off cats or kittens without asking because these places may not have room right away for an unvaccinated animal. The fastest way to get in touch is through Facebook either at Jack’s Cat Cafe.

Our kitten Dragon back in Australia (we share her with Chris’ parents)

How to Help Vietnam’s Stray Cats

If you’re like me and you have the biggest softest spot in your heart for cats and kittens, reading this article probably makes you want to help. Well, thankfully there are a TON of ways you can help Vietnam’s cats and kittens!

1. Adopt a New Forever Friend!

The #1 best way to help the stray cats and kittens in Vietnam is to adopt one (or several). This is only ideal if you plan to keep your new fluffball forever. This means you either plan on staying in Vietnam forever, or you are prepared for the process of bringing a cat with you when you leave Vietnam.

Vietnam Cat Welfare has a ton of cats and kittens that need adoption, so you can always contact them. Meanwhile, PAWS For Compassion has a list of available kitties here.

Foster your own baby like Rory!

2. Foster a Kitten in Vietnam

If you aren’t stable enough to adopt your own cat or kitten in Vietnam, you can always help out by fostering. At Vietnam Cat Welfare, they’re always looking for new fosters. If you want to foster, you’ll need to be available for at least 2 months. You’ll be responsible for food, toys and looking after the kittens, along with taking them to the vet for their vaccines. However, Vietnam Cat Welfare will pay for their medical treatment and vaccinations.

While fostering, you will also need to take tons of photos of your kittens (not a problem for me, obviously) and report back to Vietnam Cat Welfare about their personalities so they can help get your kittens adopted. You should also do your part to help look for someone to adopt them too!

PS- If anyone in Vietnam wants to adopt Rory, Beanie, or Lady please let me know!

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  Always so grateful to our incredible volunteers for spending their time with us❣️ If you would like to spend a month with our cats email: jackscatcafe@gmail.com and tag a friend you’d get on that plane with!!✈️

A post shared by Jacks Cat Cafe (@jackscatcafe) on Apr 18, 2019 at 3:11am PDT

3. Volunteer and Jack’s Cat Cafe

Vietnam Cat Welfare/ Jack’s Cat Cafe in Hoi An and PAWS for Compassion in Danang are always looking for new volunteers. If you plan to be in the area for a few weeks (at least 3 weeks in the case of Hoi An), you can volunteer full or part-time!

I chatted with the owner of Vietnam Cat Welfare/ Jack’s Cat Cafe and she said that full-time volunteers will be given a free place to stay if it’s available, otherwise, they’ll work to find you a room in a nice guesthouse for a very steep discount (we’re talking $5 a night).

[button url=”https://vietnamcatwelfare.org/volunteer/” label=”Volunteer at Jack’s Cat Cafe!” size=”large” target=”_blank”]

Volunteers will help feed and care for the cats, work in the cat cafe, and can also help with social media and outreach. Jack’s has a very active Facebook and Instagram, and they’ve even been working on local outreach in the Hoi An community to educate people on how to care for cats and kittens.

If you really want to have a meaningful experience while traveling, I highly suggest volunteering full time with Jack’s Cat Cafe or PAWS For Compassion in Danang. If you live in Hoi An or Danang and want to volunteer a few days a week, both are open to part-time long-term volunteers too!

Help kitties like Moggie!

4. Donate Money For Food and Vaccines!

If you don’t live in Vietnam or can’t help in person, Vietnam Cat Welfare and Paws For Compassion are always looking for donations of food or money. A donation of just $10 feeds one cat for an entire month, while $30 would cover all the costs of deworming and vaccinations for a single kitten. (I told you Vietnam is crazy cheap!)

[button url=”https://www.gofundme.com/support-vietnam-cat-welfare” label=”Donate to Vietnam Cat Welfare” size=”large” target=”_blank”]

PAWS for Compassion also suggests holding a fundraiser for the cats in Vietnam! This can be done by running a marathon, holding a bake sale, including it as part of your wedding registry, or asking for donations as a birthday present.

Jack’s Cat Cafe recently featured a young girl who asked for donations as a birthday gift!

[button url=”https://pawsforcompassion.org/get-involved/” label=”Donate to PAWS for Compassion” size=”large” target=”_blank”]

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Things Are Changing Slowly But Surely in Vietnam

While the treatment of stray cats in Vietnam sure isn’t ideal, things are changing slowly but surely with the help of organizations like Vietnam Cat Welfare and PAWS for Compassion. The government is now cracking down on the cat and dog meat trade, which will also hopefully lower the theft of household pets.

Many locals are also slowly coming around to the idea of cats and kittens. I know so many Vietnamese people who welcome stay kittens into their homes and restaurants and take great care of them. From Taco Ngon’s little kitten to our maid who took in a batch of stray kittens last year.

For now, the best thing we can do is educate, adopt, and donate, whether its time or money. Hopefully, we can start making these kittens a little more ‘lucky’ one rescue mission at a time.

Vietnam’s Stray Cats and the Cat Meat Trade: Why it Exists and How You Can Help Before we start, I'm going to preface by saying I love Vietnam. This is my second time living here and Hoi An, and I honestly feel so lucky to be here.

[mypetshopworld]

Ho Ho Ho it's Christmas Time. The cruellest thing you can do on Christmas. A Dog is not a Toy. Why it is a bad idea to give an animal as a Christmas Gift.

The unwanted Christmas Gift we all been there.

Christmas Time is a hectic time, and everyone rushes to get the presents and things ready to spend time with family and friends. 

It is a time where thousands of Christmas present will be returned the next day. We all been there. Receiving a Gift we didn't really want. An embarrassing pullover from Aunt Megan, an ugly pair of socks, a tie or a useless electronic gadget. All of those items are easily returned or just put in a drawer and forget about it. Some even end up in the daily trash.

Giving a pet as a Christmas Gift. A bad idea for both the future pet owner and the pet.

Giving a living animal to someone and the person does not really want it or is prepared for it, that is the moment when it becomes disastrous. After all, it is an animal with feelings, it is breathing and deserves to receive love. According to ASPCA In the days, weeks, and months following the festivities, animal shelters all over the world are inundated with animals who were given as a gift. I have to say those are the lucky ones, not every pet will be brought to a shelter. Some will be abandoned in the woods or beside the road and left to fight for themselves. Some will die, starve to death or get hit by a car. Some guardians will advertise and look for a good home, the danger here is that they might get in the wrong hands and are used for dog fights or for animal testing. Pet Shops advertise their pets and some people get supercharged with the idea of giving a puppy or kitten as a Christmas gift.

It sounds great and cute thinking of the surprise and the face including the tears. I don't want to spoil your Christmas present but giving a pet as a Christmas present is a not a good idea.

Let me tell you why it is not a good idea?

Having a pet and inviting it to become part of the family is a family decision. Not a spontaneous one it is a decision you want to have discussed and thought through. There are much more things to consider as just the video you can upload and share with your social media tribe and friends. A dog is not a toy, nor is a cat, a toy. Those are animals living beings, and yes, they do have feelings.  The internet is full of lovely videos and photos of puppies. Kittens packed in Santa cloth and puppies with Santa hats coming out of boxes. The reactions of those who receive them. You can find thousands of videos where joy comes into a person's life, and it is accompanied by happy tears. 

Why should an animal not to be considered as a gift? 

After all, we are talking about a living being and an animal that requires care and attention. The Shelters getting full after the Christmas months with animals what are given as a gift, but when people realize what kind of work and commitment is involved, they give them up. I do not say all are like this and some people are happy and commit to a lifetime keeping the pet.

What a lot of friends do not realize when they give you a pet as a Christmas Gift that the cute puppy needs training, and will do a lot of mischievous things. Without proper training and care, the puppy can become a dog that is not listening to the owner or becomes aggressive. Same goes for the aquatic part like turtles they are so cute when you buy them so tiny and small.   Unfortunately, they grow quickly out of the small Aquarium and without a proper filter system, the water becomes quickly dirty and smells. That is why many end up in the local River system.  Is it right to give pets as a gift for Christmas? We should always keep in mind some critical points before considering giving a pet as a Christmas gift. 

A Pet is a lifetime commitment and a loyal family member

Having an animal is a decision that can change a person's life a lot. It's a long-term commitment. You can't change them, you can't give them back. That's why before giving an animal to someone else, we must make sure that the person understands the responsibilities to have an animal in their life.  Even more important are they up for this challenge and are they living in an environment where they can accommodate a cat or a dog. ( check out our free dog breed calculator. Choose the right dog for you ) Therefore, the person should have verbalized the desire to adopt. Also, we must be clear that the animal gets the time and space it requires. 

Adoption is a great solution to help abandoned animals. 

Theoretically, the more animals adopted, the better for them, for shelters and for the families. Is that so? More or less. Statistics show that during Christmas or holidays, the abandonment rates increases. This is why some associations and NGOs temporarily closed adoptions on Christmas Eve.  It is essential to highlight that in the spirit of Christmas, there are non-certified breeders that sell pets before they are ready to be taken from the mom.  Those pets come without their proper vaccinations, and without worrying about their welfare. This will obviously translate into behavioural issues and health problems of the animals.  Most of the Pets bought on the streets will die as they are breed for business and not for the well being of a Pet.  "Pets should not be considered a commodity."

Download my Christmas Gift for you. 3 Free Ebooks. All you need to know about Pets. Cats. Dogs.

For the love of Dogs For the love of Cats For the love of Pets

Puppies and Kids are great together but consider a dog or a cat is not a toy. 

There are many cases of children who wish to have a dog as a pet animal, and there is really nothing wrong with that. It is one of the best things that can happen to a child having a dog or cat around and grow up with it.  Who hasn't heard that speech saying if you have a dog, you'll have to take care of him? However, it is essential to remember that they are children and that they cannot be 100% responsible for a dog. It is, in the end, the responsibility of the parent.  When adopting an animal, parents should be aware that it is their responsibility, and the fact that the child does not care for the dog is no excuse for abandonment. It is a family decision I can not stretch it often enough. Pets, in my opinion, should only be given as a gift by parents to the kids, at least they have put some thought into it. 

Pets as a Christmas Gift. Consider all changes and challenges. 

*If you are determined to give a pet to make a person happy, old or young consider different factors.  *Is there enough space for the pet?  *Can the person or family accommodate a pet? *How many hours a day is a pet alone. If more than 8 hours do not give a pet as a gift.  *Is the person or family able to accommodate the vet and food expenses?  *Make sure the person is not allergic to pets.  *Does the person have experience with pets?  *If the pet is a dog, is the person or family able to walk with the dog regular?  There are a lot of things to consider and please think before you make the decision to give someone a pet as a Christmas gift. Understand the pet like a dog or cat will be hurting if it is returned after Christmas.  Pets have feelings and emotion the same as you. It will not understand why you leave it alone in a shelter and abandon it. If you want to give a pet as a gift, you assure that the person is ready for the commitments and responsibilities. 

It's time to think about the pet's arrival at the new home.

If it's a puppy or a kitten, you should remember that they will be separated from their mother and siblings.

They will come to a home full of people and stimuli that will probably make it more than uncomfortable for the pet. The first night it will cry and call out for the siblings and the mom. You might not get much sleep. You must have a bed or a playpen prepared in a quiet place in the house where they can sleep and be away from excessive noise and groping. In short, a comfortable place to hide.  You should also have toys and food. An alternative way to avoid the stress of arriving at a new home is to surprise the person with an adoption certificate. This is a good way for the future pet owner to be ready. The adaptation will be less stressful, and the future owner will have time to choose a pet, accessories and bed himself. The future Pet owner can also prepare himself or the family mentally for the new member. 

Consider adoption before you buy from a Breeder.  

If you buy from a Breeder, please make sure it is a certified Breeder and not an illegal Breeder who breeds pets for the sake of money.  Choosing adoption over buying is a wise decision.  In addition to being a much cheaper option, we'll stop financing illegal breeders and avoid indiscriminate dog breeding.  You will also save an abandoned and homeless pet and give space in the shelter for another pet to arrive.  In 2018 this video footage went viral RSPCA posted it. Everyone was so touched even Snoop Dogg and Andrew Neil offered to take the dog in. But if that person's wish is to have a specific breed, we recommend you to look for a kennel that has all the papers.  It will give a guarantee that it is reproducing healthy pets with specific veterinary tests, and that has a hygienic space that favours the welfare of the puppies. 

You will be surprised how many dog breeds are abandoned every day, and you can find in a shelter. Go on the internet and look around in animal shelters near your area. I got our Doberman and German Shepard from a shelter. Alone in the US, there are yearly around 1.6 Million Animals euthanized. 670.000 Dogs and 860.000 Cats. Both of my dogs have been Christmas gifts and sent to the shelter with only 5 months old. I guess the owners did not consider how big they get, and that they will chew and destroy in their puppyhood a lot of things they can get their teeth on.  Remember that many pet breeds are also abandoned and need a home. In a pet who comes from an animal shelter, you find a loyal companion.  We hope that all this information will help you evaluate whether or not it is positive to give pets as a Christmas Gift.  And how you can assure the pet has found a family or owner for life.  If you liked my blog Ho Ho Ho it's Christmas Time. The cruellest thing you can do on Christmas. A Dog is not a Toy. Why it is a bad idea to give an animal as a Christmas Gift. Please like and share with family and friends. Visit our Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter page.  I wish you a wonderful a festive Season. 

My Christmas Gift to you. 3 Free ebooks instant download. All you need to know about Pets, Dogs, Cats

For the love of cats click here For the love of dogs click here For the love of pets click here All yours Melanie  Source Information https://www.aspca.org/animal-homelessness/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics Approximately 6.5 million companion animals enter U.S. animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, approximately 3.3 million are dogs and 3.2 million are cats.  We estimate that the number of dogs and cats entering U.S. shelters annually has declined from approximately 7.2 million in 2011.  The biggest decline was in dogs (from 3.9 million to 3.3 million).Each year, approximately 1.5 million shelter animals are euthanized (670,000 dogs and 860,000 cats).  The number of dogs and cats euthanized in U.S. shelters annually has declined from approximately 2.6 million in 2011.  This decline can be partially explained by an increase in the percentage of animals adopted and an increase in the number of stray animals successfully returned to their owners.Approximately 3.2 million shelter animals are adopted each year (1.6 million dogs and 1.6 million cats).About 710,000 animals who enter shelters as strays are returned to their owners. Of those, 620,000 are dogs and only 90,000 are cats. Read the full article

[mypetshopworld]

Ho Ho Ho it's Christmas Time. The cruellest thing you can do on Christmas. A Dog is not a Toy. Why it is a bad idea to give an animal as a Christmas Gift.

The unwanted Christmas Gift we all been there.

Christmas Time is a hectic time, and everyone rushes to get the presents and things ready to spend time with family and friends. 

It is a time where thousands of Christmas present will be returned the next day. We all been there. Receiving a Gift we didn't really want. An embarrassing pullover from Aunt Megan, an ugly pair of socks, a tie or a useless electronic gadget. All of those items are easily returned or just put in a drawer and forget about it. Some even end up in the daily trash.

Giving a pet as a Christmas Gift. A bad idea for both the future pet owner and the pet.

Giving a living animal to someone and the person does not really want it or is prepared for it, that is the moment when it becomes disastrous. After all, it is an animal with feelings, it is breathing and deserves to receive love. According to ASPCA In the days, weeks, and months following the festivities, animal shelters all over the world are inundated with animals who were given as a gift. I have to say those are the lucky ones, not every pet will be brought to a shelter. Some will be abandoned in the woods or beside the road and left to fight for themselves. Some will die, starve to death or get hit by a car. Some guardians will advertise and look for a good home, the danger here is that they might get in the wrong hands and are used for dog fights or for animal testing. Pet Shops advertise their pets and some people get supercharged with the idea of giving a puppy or kitten as a Christmas gift.

It sounds great and cute thinking of the surprise and the face including the tears. I don't want to spoil your Christmas present but giving a pet as a Christmas present is a not a good idea.

Let me tell you why it is not a good idea?

Having a pet and inviting it to become part of the family is a family decision. Not a spontaneous one it is a decision you want to have discussed and thought through. There are much more things to consider as just the video you can upload and share with your social media tribe and friends. A dog is not a toy, nor is a cat, a toy. Those are animals living beings, and yes, they do have feelings.  The internet is full of lovely videos and photos of puppies. Kittens packed in Santa cloth and puppies with Santa hats coming out of boxes. The reactions of those who receive them. You can find thousands of videos where joy comes into a person's life, and it is accompanied by happy tears. 

Why should an animal not to be considered as a gift? 

After all, we are talking about a living being and an animal that requires care and attention. The Shelters getting full after the Christmas months with animals what are given as a gift, but when people realize what kind of work and commitment is involved, they give them up. I do not say all are like this and some people are happy and commit to a lifetime keeping the pet.

What a lot of friends do not realize when they give you a pet as a Christmas Gift that the cute puppy needs training, and will do a lot of mischievous things. Without proper training and care, the puppy can become a dog that is not listening to the owner or becomes aggressive. Same goes for the aquatic part like turtles they are so cute when you buy them so tiny and small.   Unfortunately, they grow quickly out of the small Aquarium and without a proper filter system, the water becomes quickly dirty and smells. That is why many end up in the local River system.  Is it right to give pets as a gift for Christmas? We should always keep in mind some critical points before considering giving a pet as a Christmas gift. 

A Pet is a lifetime commitment and a loyal family member

Having an animal is a decision that can change a person's life a lot. It's a long-term commitment. You can't change them, you can't give them back. That's why before giving an animal to someone else, we must make sure that the person understands the responsibilities to have an animal in their life.  Even more important are they up for this challenge and are they living in an environment where they can accommodate a cat or a dog. ( check out our free dog breed calculator. Choose the right dog for you ) Therefore, the person should have verbalized the desire to adopt. Also, we must be clear that the animal gets the time and space it requires. 

Adoption is a great solution to help abandoned animals. 

Theoretically, the more animals adopted, the better for them, for shelters and for the families. Is that so? More or less. Statistics show that during Christmas or holidays, the abandonment rates increases. This is why some associations and NGOs temporarily closed adoptions on Christmas Eve.  It is essential to highlight that in the spirit of Christmas, there are non-certified breeders that sell pets before they are ready to be taken from the mom.  Those pets come without their proper vaccinations, and without worrying about their welfare. This will obviously translate into behavioural issues and health problems of the animals.  Most of the Pets bought on the streets will die as they are breed for business and not for the well being of a Pet.  "Pets should not be considered a commodity."

Download my Christmas Gift for you. 3 Free Ebooks. All you need to know about Pets. Cats. Dogs.

For the love of Dogs For the love of Cats For the love of Pets

Puppies and Kids are great together but consider a dog or a cat is not a toy. 

There are many cases of children who wish to have a dog as a pet animal, and there is really nothing wrong with that. It is one of the best things that can happen to a child having a dog or cat around and grow up with it.  Who hasn't heard that speech saying if you have a dog, you'll have to take care of him? However, it is essential to remember that they are children and that they cannot be 100% responsible for a dog. It is, in the end, the responsibility of the parent.  When adopting an animal, parents should be aware that it is their responsibility, and the fact that the child does not care for the dog is no excuse for abandonment. It is a family decision I can not stretch it often enough. Pets, in my opinion, should only be given as a gift by parents to the kids, at least they have put some thought into it. 

Pets as a Christmas Gift. Consider all changes and challenges. 

*If you are determined to give a pet to make a person happy, old or young consider different factors.  *Is there enough space for the pet?  *Can the person or family accommodate a pet? *How many hours a day is a pet alone. If more than 8 hours do not give a pet as a gift.  *Is the person or family able to accommodate the vet and food expenses?  *Make sure the person is not allergic to pets.  *Does the person have experience with pets?  *If the pet is a dog, is the person or family able to walk with the dog regular?  There are a lot of things to consider and please think before you make the decision to give someone a pet as a Christmas gift. Understand the pet like a dog or cat will be hurting if it is returned after Christmas.  Pets have feelings and emotion the same as you. It will not understand why you leave it alone in a shelter and abandon it. If you want to give a pet as a gift, you assure that the person is ready for the commitments and responsibilities. 

It's time to think about the pet's arrival at the new home.

If it's a puppy or a kitten, you should remember that they will be separated from their mother and siblings.

They will come to a home full of people and stimuli that will probably make it more than uncomfortable for the pet. The first night it will cry and call out for the siblings and the mom. You might not get much sleep. You must have a bed or a playpen prepared in a quiet place in the house where they can sleep and be away from excessive noise and groping. In short, a comfortable place to hide.  You should also have toys and food. An alternative way to avoid the stress of arriving at a new home is to surprise the person with an adoption certificate. This is a good way for the future pet owner to be ready. The adaptation will be less stressful, and the future owner will have time to choose a pet, accessories and bed himself. The future Pet owner can also prepare himself or the family mentally for the new member. 

Consider adoption before you buy from a Breeder.  

If you buy from a Breeder, please make sure it is a certified Breeder and not an illegal Breeder who breeds pets for the sake of money.  Choosing adoption over buying is a wise decision.  In addition to being a much cheaper option, we'll stop financing illegal breeders and avoid indiscriminate dog breeding.  You will also save an abandoned and homeless pet and give space in the shelter for another pet to arrive.  In 2018 this video footage went viral RSPCA posted it. Everyone was so touched even Snoop Dogg and Andrew Neil offered to take the dog in. But if that person's wish is to have a specific breed, we recommend you to look for a kennel that has all the papers.  It will give a guarantee that it is reproducing healthy pets with specific veterinary tests, and that has a hygienic space that favours the welfare of the puppies. 

You will be surprised how many dog breeds are abandoned every day, and you can find in a shelter. Go on the internet and look around in animal shelters near your area. I got our Doberman and German Shepard from a shelter. Alone in the US, there are yearly around 1.6 Million Animals euthanized. 670.000 Dogs and 860.000 Cats. Both of my dogs have been Christmas gifts and sent to the shelter with only 5 months old. I guess the owners did not consider how big they get, and that they will chew and destroy in their puppyhood a lot of things they can get their teeth on.  Remember that many pet breeds are also abandoned and need a home. In a pet who comes from an animal shelter, you find a loyal companion.  We hope that all this information will help you evaluate whether or not it is positive to give pets as a Christmas Gift.  And how you can assure the pet has found a family or owner for life.  If you liked my blog Ho Ho Ho it's Christmas Time. The cruellest thing you can do on Christmas. A Dog is not a Toy. Why it is a bad idea to give an animal as a Christmas Gift. Please like and share with family and friends. Visit our Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter page.  I wish you a wonderful a festive Season. 

My Christmas Gift to you. 3 Free ebooks instant download. All you need to know about Pets, Dogs, Cats

For the love of cats click here For the love of dogs click here For the love of pets click here All yours Melanie  Source Information https://www.aspca.org/animal-homelessness/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics Approximately 6.5 million companion animals enter U.S. animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, approximately 3.3 million are dogs and 3.2 million are cats.  We estimate that the number of dogs and cats entering U.S. shelters annually has declined from approximately 7.2 million in 2011.  The biggest decline was in dogs (from 3.9 million to 3.3 million).Each year, approximately 1.5 million shelter animals are euthanized (670,000 dogs and 860,000 cats).  The number of dogs and cats euthanized in U.S. shelters annually has declined from approximately 2.6 million in 2011.  This decline can be partially explained by an increase in the percentage of animals adopted and an increase in the number of stray animals successfully returned to their owners.Approximately 3.2 million shelter animals are adopted each year (1.6 million dogs and 1.6 million cats).About 710,000 animals who enter shelters as strays are returned to their owners. Of those, 620,000 are dogs and only 90,000 are cats. Read the full article