#considering the food i eat which is?? very unfair

[adr1025]

genetics are so messed up. russian roulette kind of bullshit

[tizeline]

Giggling at the fact that Donnie probably has a lot of only child habits like only getting food for himself and eating it Infront of them and getting genuinely annoyed if they try to steal some. Astonished when they borrow anything of his without permission (WHO MOVED MY PENS?!). Being genuinely perplexed when one of his chores gets done randomly 😭

Poor Donnie isn't in on any of the inside jokes probably 😔

LMAO yeah I've been thinking about Only Child Donnie a lot XD

For example, Donnie having no idea how to differentiate between normal sibling bickering and genuine fights. After Raph starts hanging out with Donnie and Leo, he'll get to see way more of that classic sibling bickering in action. And considering Leo's tension with the rest of his family during this time because of the whole Dark Armor incident, he'd worry that Leo and Raph still feel some actual resentment towards each other. Leo and Raph are arguing with each other to the point they start play-wrestling and Donnie is all like "shit shit what do I do they're gonna hurt each other" and the next second Leo and Raph are laughing at random some joke and Donnie is just left confused over the whole interaction because what even was that?? Weren't they mad at each other just a second ago??

I will say though, me and my sibling weren't the type to just share each others stuff freely. Well, we did when we were young, most of our toys we both played with. But maybe because of that we got a bit possessive over our own stuff as we got older (we also shared a room until I was like 10-ish, so we were probably both a bit desparate to become separate induviduals at that point). Point is, if my bastard of a sibling even DARED to step foot into my sacred abode (my room) without my express permission, they would be forced to face my unbridled fury (I'd gently beat them up with pillows)! And if they were to steal as much as a single pencil from my treasury, my wrath would lead me to even more drastic measures (I'd snitch to our parents)!

That being said, I have no idea how The Drax Bros behaved regarding this when growing up. IF they were the type to just yoink each others stuff constantly (which I definitely think is possible) you are completely right that it would drive Donnie up the wall if they did the same to him XD

In my experience and from what I've observed with others, when you have siblings close in age to you, you tend to develop a very intense obsession with everything always needing to be 100% fair and equal. For example, if you're cutting up cake and your siblings piece is as much of a millimeter wider than your own piece, it's basically the end of the world. I can see Leo and Donnie sharing a pizza and afterwards Leo's all outraged over Donnie getting more pizza than him. Donnie's confused cuz they each got an equal amount of slices, but then Leo accuses Donnie of getting all the SLIGHTLY bigger slices and as such got a LITTLE bit more pizza than Leo! Completely unfair!

Actually, Donnie being a math nerd would be good at measuring food in this scenario, his brothers would constantly try to get him to divide any food they're sharing to make sure it's as even and equal as possible. Donnie quickly gets tired of this, but the alternative is the other turtles all arguing with each other over who gets which piece which is even more annoying so he just goes along with it lol.

And oh yeah, Donnie definitely feels quite left out whenever his brothers joke about or even mentions something they did growing up that he did not get to partake in (little does he know that his brothers feels similarly whenever he and April do the same thing and references stuff from their shared childhood that they did not get to be part of)

[kingconia]

SAVANACLAW WITH S/O, WHO IS SECRETLY ANIMAGUS.

[ Animagus — a magician, who can turn into an animal and back by their own will. ]

Leona Kingscholar.

— I actually headcanon that Leona has a strong Disney princess vibe, which means he is always surrounded by a lot of animals—and it is not about his classmates—so, when a stray cat starts following him around he doesn't see anything strange in that;

— Whenever he wakes up, there is always the same cat curled on his chest, a very pleasant weight on him almost reminding him of you, his lover;

— Leona's friendship with the cat starts when he offers it the peace of his meal that Ruggie brought. It licks his fingers and face after, and he introduces the cat as ”my partner in crime” to Ruggie affectionately;

— The cat hit him on the cheek with these little paws of it, when the headmaster is too close to the spot, where Leona sleeps carelessly, instead of being on lessons;

— Instantly, Leona wants you and the cat to meet each other. But when he tries to arrange the meeting in the botanical garden, something always goes wrong. He is so annoyed.

•

”Fucking fluffy brat!” Leona hisses, sniffling more intensely, trying to pick of the scent of the cat one more time. ”That is embarrassing, I swear.”

You smile as you lean on the tree with your shoulder. There is something especially funny about Leona, who searches for the cat desperately, with his tail swinging nervously. You don't even mask your laughter.

”I swear, this furball hates me,” Leona mutters. He is suddenly in front of you, with hands gripping your shoulders as he gently shoves you in the opposite side. ”Move, move. I think, she is somewhere here.”

“Su-ure,” you yawn with the fake sympathy.

”I am sure... It is somewhere... Here...”

You can't help but wonder how someone could be so smart and stupid at the same time...

Ruggie Bucchi.

— When a little bird sits down on his windowsill in the morning, Ruggie's first—and honest—reaction is to wonder if it is morally correct, to eat it alive;

— He stops thinking about that right after the bird throw a few branches in Leona's head, after he was especially mean to Ruggie;

— Since then, considers to befriend it. Brings some food for birds, and allows it to peck on his cheek;

— Allows it to travel on his shoulders, while he shows ”the bad guys, you should throw branches at, Birdie”, and complains the bird about everything and everyone during the day;

— Ruggie finds it unbelievably unfair how you, his lover, and Birdie, his best friend, are never in the same room.

•

”You hung up with Draconia boy too much,” Ruggie tells you, with the absolutely serious expression on his face, when you come to look at the empty cage again.

You blink, not really understanding where it is coming from.

”...What it has to do with you never being able to keep your bird to my arrival?” You mock, folding arms on your chest.

”His darkening aura annoys Leona, and it surely scares the Birdie away,” Ruggie hums.

You really can't help but burst out in laughter. Instantly, you throw a pillow in his head.

”Ouch, ouch!”

”And you should start hang out with Leona less,” you chid. ”Malleus is no at fault that you can't even train your pet.”

Though, of course, you are not his pet. And there is no way you are going to be train, even for a game.

”Yeah... You are right.”

But Ruggie doesn't need to know that. For now, at least.

Jack Howl.

— ???

— When a random rabbit starts following Jack around, he looks absolutely lost. Had this animal never heard that wolves eat their kind???

— ”Hey, come on... Go away, bunny... Go!” (Looks at it with the warmest eyes ever) ”Fine... The strong must protect the sweet one... But only because you are so small, and helpless!”

— He can't bring it to Savanaclaw, for the obvious reasons, so Jack makes a deal with Epel, to keep it in his dorms. Epel stress out, because the animal keeps appearing and disappearing on its own wish, though...

— Jack, somehow, justifies this strangeness with the fact that, of course, his Bun-Bun is not like other rabbits, huh! (He is so delusional...)

•

”Oh, Jack,” you mutter softly, scratching him behind the ear. ”Don't be sad. Surely, once I will be able to meet this rabbit of yours, too.”

Jack sighs, putting cheek on your shoulders, obviously disappointed that his two favourite creatures hadn't met yet. In moments like this, you are so close to tell him the truth... It is just impossible to see him sad...

”I know... But it happens so often. It is, as if you and Bun-Bun are the same person!” He blinks. ”Actually... You kinda act the same, you know?”

You pale visibly. How the fuck, from all of the in this school, Jack the only one who assumed the right answer, though, by the accident?!

”I... Jack...”

”Ha-ha,” the sudden loud laugh from the other end of the room startles both of you. ”Our dear Y/n, cette douce étoile, a bunny? Don't you think, a cat would fit them more?”

You sigh, waving Rook Hunt off, though, with a certain gratitude.

”Jack, you would notice, though, wouldn't you? You have extra senses.”

He nods reluctantly, but you can see doubt in his eyes. And when you turn around, Rook winks at you, knowingly.

You are in so much trouble...

[mokulule]

Almanac - Chapter 4

DP x DC Dead on Main First | Masterpost Note: I made a new masterpost to subscribe to over on my new blog where I organize my writing @mokus-invenstory. Links on the other chapters have been updated, I will still notify on the old post with updates.

Chapter 4 - October 21-22nd, Orinoids Meteor Shower

Training with Fright Knight was an experience.

Jason was no stranger to harsh training regimes, but it seemed like Fright Knight truly had no other duties to attend to. And maybe that was what ghosts did? Find the one thing they were good at and then do it for all eternity? It was exhausting, unrelenting.

Every day he went to the kitchen to find a plate of breakfast ready, thankfully it wasn’t the same thing every day. He wondered if it was courtesy of the Lunch Lady, but he never saw anyone else and the cupboards and pantry were empty.

The mystery of who and how human food came to be here itched at him but as long as the magical castle felt reluctant to even let him get to the kitchen in the first place (he’d yet to walk a path quite the same there) it was something he would have to leave unexplored.

He ate and then as he was done as if summoned Fright Knight would collect him and drill him until he dropped.

The knight treated Jason as if he’d never held a sword before starting basic at stance and simple attacks repeated ad nauseum, with the occasional cardio and strength building exercises. While Jason preferred guns, hand to hand combat and occasionally knives, it wasn’t the first time he’d fought with a longer bladed weapon. His general training meant he could pick up most weapons and use them successfully so he thought it was rather unfair - not that he was fool enough to raise that opinion, this wasn’t the first stern training master he’d served under.

And arguably he didn’t have much experience with medieval style broadswords. So he sucked it up and did as ordered.

There were no breaks throughout the day, no more food. You’d think it was a form of torture that he didn’t get to eat more than breakfast, but Jason, while he got tired, never got hungry throughout the day. Apparently he got the rest of his needs covered through energy diffusion or some shit - assuming he’d understood the king correctly.

His waking moments were repetitive, but he was not bored as such. Not that he was enjoying himself either, but he was busy, occupied. Training and learning new skills were never a waste - he had to tell himself that. But when he laid in the barren room, which he still considered his prison, in those short moments before exhausted sleep claimed him, horror creeped in; horror that this would be the rest of his life.

Another day another drill.

The weight of the practice sword in his hand felt as familiar as breathing after 9 days of non stop practice.

“You are becoming complacent,” Fright Knights voice boomed as always from everywhere at once despite him clearly looming right in from of him.

Jason tilted his head regarding the knight for a moment. He wondered how much sass he could get away with.

“Well you could give me a challenge instead of this,” he returned evenly.

Somehow Jason had the distinct feeling the knight was smiling unseen in the darkness under the helmet.

“Very well,” his voice rumbled like a storm in the distance, setting all of Jason senses alert at the coming threat. His grip tightened on the practice sword.

The knight turned and flew over to set aside the neon green sword he carried at his side in favor of a practice sword in the weapons rack by the wall. For the first time since Jason had seen the knight kneel before his king, his feet touched ground.

He stalked towards Jason, a weight and realness to him now as the armored shoes clanged against the cobblestone. The hair at the back of Jason’s neck stood on end as the air charged with his approach. Every instinct in his body told him to be afraid. Someone with less combat experience might have frozen, Jason picked his guard up and turned so he made a smaller target.

The cobblestone knocked his breath out and his sword clattered across the stones. His ears rang and he could already feel his left eye swelling from where it had met an armored fist. Above him a couple of shooting stars shot across the clear sky in rapid succession before the Knight stepped close. He loomed above Jason and for one horrifying moment Jason thought he would ram the practice sword through him, blunt tip and all.

Instead the knight held out a hand.

Jason wet his dry lips and took the hand. He was pulled unceremoniously to his feet.

“Did you notice what I did?”

Not only did Jason notice that twist Fright Knight had done that had sent his sword flying, he very much felt the way he socked him in the face.

“Yes.” Jason had not expected he’d be dueling something like a fucking Kryptonian, nobody that size had the right to be so fast. The trick to fighting Kryptonians and people of that speed class was more in anticipating their moves rather than reacting to them, and more importantly coming prepared with something to incapacitate them with. Jason had no clue what might be Fright Knight’s weakness, probably wouldn’t be so easy as to laugh at him.

The knight nodded at his response.

“Good, now to counter.”

He then walked Jason through no less than five possible counters, to what was apparently a rather risky move he’d done - had he been alive at least. The counters were well and good, but as long as Jason had no way to counter the speed, the knight could repeat the move at his leisure.

Not that Jason pointed that out. No, Jason practiced dutifully and found himself seeing the stars multiple times that day. He got very well acquainted with the cobblestone. On the seventh meeting with the ground, he thought he saw a glimpse of light from a window high above the courtyard. He could have sworn it was the king watching, but as he got back to his feet and looked back up the light was gone. Maybe it had just been a reflection, a trick of the light from one of the many shooting stars.

Still, reminded of why he was here, his mood soured. Yes, Jason had put himself in this situation, but he’d expected to die for his sacrifice - and maybe that would have been too easy an out, but he’d certainly not expected to be discarded, like the unwanted possession he apparently was.

Resentment curled in his gut. Poor little king never wanting to have been summoned having to take Jason as payment. It was clearly such an ordeal.

Jason snarled getting back to his feet and for the first time he went on the attack. Fright Knight seemed amused, which only egged him on. Jason reached for the All-Blades but of course they didn’t manifest, because in this stupid place not even someone named fucking Fright Knight counted as true evil.

He let Jason wear himself out, disarmed him again, and punched him hilt first in the stomach. Jason crumpled over the practice sword and slid down to his knees, gasping for breath.

The knight considered him for a moment, waiting to see if he would get up again. When he didn’t, he made a minute shake of his head.

“You have spirit, but your mortal trappings do you no favors.”

Jason couldn’t help laughing at that. What was he supposed to do? Apologize for being alive?

“Blame your king.”

Oo o oO

That night Jason dreamt of Gotham, or more specifically of Crime Alley. Dick was patrolling in Jason’s absence, but he didn’t know the Alley like Jason did. He didn’t know of the small shadowed nook in that building that made for a perfect hidey hole. He didn’t see the gun pointed at him, didn’t move until the shot rent the air.

Jason sat up in bed gasping and shaking.

It was a dream, it was a stupid dream. He fumbled automatically for his phone, before he remembered, there was no way to make sure. He was stuck in the realm of the dead. It was a dream, he firmly reminded himself.

Still he shook and couldn’t bring himself to go back to sleep. Dick’s shocked face haunted him whenever he closed his eyes.

Gingerly he stepped out of bed. Clearly the order to keep Jason alive hadn’t kept the knight from beating him to hell and back. A particularly spectacular bruise mottled the side of his torso in purples and blues. From the twinging pain with every breath there was probably a few bent or broken ribs underneath that.

He walked to the bathroom, where he’d hung his clothes to dry after washing them in the sink. He reached out to touch them to find them cold and damp, a testament to how little sleep he’d managed. He shivered at just the thought of pulling them on, but he didn’t exactly have anything else to wear.

He couldn’t go back to sleep. He needed to move. That gun had been aimed for Dick’s head. It was just a dream, he reminded himself sternly. He needed to pull himself together.

Taking a deep breath he reached for his underwear first, pulling it on with a grimace. Disgusting was not a strong enough word, he thought grimly. He was cold and miserable by the time he’d finished dressing and trapped his damp socks in his boots and tied them.

Dressed, he left the room for the hallways, expecting the castle to give him a good walk around as usual - expect he’d barely walked down two hallways until a door revealed the kitchen. There was a cup sitting on the table in front of his usual place. Curious he walked over to pick up the steaming mug, he put it up to his nose and sniffed it. His eyebrows rose in surprise - hot cocoa.

He glanced around and like always saw no sign of the presence of anyone but himself. He took a sip and amended his earlier assessment with a hum of pleasure, this rich taste could only be hot chocolate. It sat warm in his belly and he found some of the restless energy leaving him. He sat down and allowed himself to relax. He held the cup with both hands and let the warmth seep into his fingers with a sigh.

Maybe the castle didn’t entirely hate him after all.

He sipped slowly, savoring the treat. The hot chocolate was good, it wasn’t quite Alfred’s but-

A wave of homesickness overtook him and he slumped forward in grief. Maybe Jason would manage to escape some day, but Alfred was not exactly young anymore. People died suddenly sometimes, even when they seemed healthy.

Jason wasn’t there anymore. He couldn’t check on his family. Not Alfred, not Dick (it was just a nightmare!) or anyone. A mocking laughter haunted him as if from a distance, a memory wanting to drown him. He clenched his fits tight, he wasn’t back there. He was here, property of the ghost king, safe.

Unlike everyone else.

The Joker was still in Gotham. Still alive despite everything, a threat to everyone and Jason was useless.

He was a fucking idiot. He’d sacrificed himself willingly, but he hadn’t expected to have to live with the choice.

Did that make him a coward too? On top of everything?

He stood. He couldn’t sit here. He had to move. Before he knew it he was walking through hallways, uncaring where they took him. Left, right, nothing mattered. He just had to move. He didn’t know how long it he walked until he found himself, breathing heavily, in front of a stairwell. There was something familiar about it. His eyes were drawn to the path down. He’d never chosen to go down before. There was something down there. He took a step forward.

“Jason.”

He froze and spun around at the echoey voice. It felt like all the breath left his body, sucked into the gravity of the king.

Toxic green eyes flicked from Jason to the stairwell. Dark brows drew together in a frown, and the shadows suddenly seemed darker, deeper, like places you could fall into and disappear never to be seen again.

He floated closer. The pressure increased. Jason locked his knees to keep standing. There was a siren blaring in his mind, a scream lasting an eternity. Cold fingers touched his swollen eye soothingly and Jason gasped, a quiet little intake of breath into his burning lungs.

He wanted to move away. He wanted to lean into it. He wanted- He did nothing.

The gloved tips of fingers became the flat of a palm cradling the side of his face oh so gentle. Jason felt wetness in his eyes and blinked. He couldn’t handle gentle right now. His skin tingled and the swelling fell. The king looked at him, green eyes sad.

“Are you okay?”

Was he okay!? Jason ripped away, fury finally breaking the spell.

“The Hell I am!” In his mind Dick’s shocked face, a second from being shot flashed, “my family could be hurt right now, dying-“ a crowbar dragged across a concrete floor, a terrible laughter skittered across his senses, and every hair stood on end- “tortured.”

Jason took a step forward into the king’s space, snarled, “and I can do nothing!” into his shocked face. Playing at innocence, as if Jason’s words were a surprise. As if he didn’t know exactly what he’d done. He had changed the wording, acting like he’d done Jason a great favor. He chose to keep him here, useless, powerless.

He stepped back. Looked at the king with anger gone cold. “Killing me would have been a mercy.”

Jason braced himself for the worst. He’d said his piece. He expected an explosion, a onesided fight, for his brain to melt out his ears, something other than the hollow eyed gaze only vaguely looking in his direction.

The lights flickered and finally the king seemed somewhat present in his body. He looked at Jason with the most neutral face in existence.

“I shall relieve you of my presence, goodnight.”

He flew casually over to the staircase and went up. It was only then Jason snapped out of it.

No! How dare he!

He ran after him, but of course he was gone. The cursed castle made sure of it. Jason wanted a fight and he would not even give him that! He punched the wall with a frustrated scream that cut off into a sob.

“Shit.” He rubbed angrily at his eyes. He was fucking pathetic. Couldn’t even pick a fight right.

Oo o oO

Fright Knight found him in the practice yard, doing drills, sweaty and shaking from exhaustion.

“You are pathetic human, sit down before you fall down.”

Jason glared. “No.”

The knight promptly pushed him down on his ass. “Do not test me. I was tasked to keep you alive. Drink.”

A bottle of water was shoved into his hands.

Mulishly Jason did as he was told. It was only when he’d taken the first sip he realized just how thirsty he was and he had to force himself not to just chug the entire bottle in one go.

Fright Knight watched him with that detached disgust he had for mortal weaknesses, like the need for sleep or in this case sustenance. He was a fucking annoying, stuck up bastard, but-

“Why are you not evil?” Jason asked in frustration, too emotionally worn to consider whether that was a smart question to ask. If he had been evil, Jason could give him a proper fight. Let the knight try to phase through the All-blades.

When no response of any kind came, he looked up. It seemed he had rendered the knight speechless.

Slowly hesitantly the knight finally spoke, “You speak as if you’d prefer that I was evil, yet I was led to believe you are aligned with so called heroes.”

Jason scoffed and looked away. “Not a hero.”

Fright Knight floated down to sit crosslegged in front of Jason, his glowing green sword drawn and resting across his knees.

“I am the spirit of fear itself, I am neither good nor evil, I just am.”

Jason barked a short chuckle, of fucking course. Then, he explained the concept of the All-Blades to the knight; flaming magical blades fueled by the soul and blood of the wielder, only able to be summoned in the presence of true evil. The knight in turn looked very intrigued.

“I would have liked to match my Soul-Shredder to your All-Blades. A glorious bout that would have been…” the knight said wistfully.

“Soul-Shredder is the name of your sword?”

“Indeed,” Fright Knight chuckled maliciously in a way that ran cold down Jason’s back, an effect that was done on purpose judging by the greedy glow in his gaze. Jason felt fairly certain he feed on fear.

The knight raised the green blade between them and turned it to let Jason see every facet with obvious passion. “One cut from Soul-Shredder will land you in a dimension of your worst nightmare.”

Jason’s breath caught in his throat. No. He refused to think about it. He forced a half choked laugh, “and you claim not to be evil.”

The knight looked thoughtful for a moment. “Maybe if we had met in the previous king’s rule, we could have had a proper match.”

Jason frowned in confusion. “Why would who the King is matter to your nature?”

“Because human,” Fright Knight began, green eyes boring into Jason, “the King is the most important soul in the Realms. His nature affects the very air from which we get our energy.”

“Pariah’s reign was a dark time,” there was an almost nostalgic tone to his voice as he continued, “he sought to conquer, control and enslave and I was his loyal servant, as is my duty as a knight. But Pariah was so bad that having no king at all was a better option than him, and he was sealed away by the Ancients, even if it left the Realms stagnant and disconnected.”

He paused for a moment to let that knowledge sink in.

“Our Phantom is a king who never wanted to rule, and has actively avoided it. It has been amusing to see him grow into the role.”

“And as long a he doesn’t grow into a power hungry despot he will always be better than the last?” Jason asked bitterly.

The knight barked out delighted laughter at that.

“Make no mistake, mortal, Phantom is a good king now, but he is young, still changeable by nature. These years are crucial. But should the worst happen and my king become a despot, as you put it?”

Fright Knight shrugged carelessly. “I will merely do as I have always done and that is to serve my king. I am the spirit of fear after all. It is only my concern now because my king wishes to avoid that fate.”

Leather creaked as the knight tightened the hold on his blade. He looked straight at Jason. Despite no mouth being visible, Jason had the distinct feeling the knight was grinning.

“We may yet have our bout someday.”

-

And that was chapter 4... nobody is really in a good place here? Except Fright Knight, he's having fun.

Comments are much appreciated <3

Next

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[nocreativityfornames]

So one of my recent posts on Solomon ended up getting a lot more attention than expected. A lot of people chimed in and shared their own thoughts on his character and actions and made very good points both in his defense and against him.

I myself got to think more about his character and went to revisit some lessons in the og game to try and understand him further and I wanted to share some of those things here.

So let's get into it:

One of the main things I want to talk about here is one of the points brought up by other players in defense of Solomon and his "this is how demons are usually treated" line. Basically that we don't know how other humans treat demons they have a pact with and that MC might really be the odd one out here.

To discuss this point, I thought it was important to go back and remember what exactly a pact is and how it's most commonly formed. And this, this is something Levi explains in the very first lesson of the game when we ask him what a pact is.

And this is what he answers:

So I think it's safe to assume that this is or was one of the most common ways of making a pact. A human wants power (the demons' strength, as Levi puts it), and they summon the demon to get it. But in exchange for that power, they have to give away their soul and be bound to that demon for the rest of their lives.

There's one thing missing though, right? Because that's not the only thing a human gets when entering a pact, as we know of course when pact is made a master x servant sort of dynamic is formed between the human and demon involved, and a power imbalance is put into place.

But...not quite? Because in this specific case, the human is giving away their SOUL, their very being, and very likely only ticket to get into heaven. And so on one side we have a human giving away their soul and simultaneously a life in paradise, and a demon giving away their freedom to serve said human for as long as they stay alive on the other.

And looking from this perspective, it doesn't seem that unfair of a deal or that much of a power imbalance. And if it does, it weighs more on the demon's power over the human, since their soul will belong to them for the rest of eternity to be used however said demon wishes (to eat, enslave, have as companion, or whatever). And of course the human has the ability all of that as well, for as long as they're alive that is.

And that? That on paper I think creates a very good dynamic. Because the human will know not to abuse their power being aware that at some point tables will turn and the position of "master" will be passed on to the demon. It's a promise: "I won't misuse my power, and in exchange, you'll do the same when I die".

But as I said, that only looks good on paper, because we don't know the consistency on which said promises are followed through. Since of course, the demon could simply ignore the human's actions and be a "cruel master" regardless.

And I'm thinking these promises were probably most often broken than not, considering how Solomon views demons and seems to bare a fair amount of resentment towards them, and how most demons still view humans as "food", "lesser beings" and "not worth connecting with".

And this here is where I bring the second method of making a pact into the table (that Levi also explains how it works once MC tells him they don't want to give away their soul):

My theory is that this second way of making a pact became popular once humans started to realize the first one wasn't working on their favor.

"I won't give you my soul, but I will give you something you want in exchange for your power."

And so pacts as we know came about, a human wants a demon's power, and in exchange, they have to offer the demon something they find worthy enough to be willing to give away their freedom to get it.

And this is exactly how MC's pact with Mammon was made. They find something Mammon desperately wants (Goldie) and offer it to him in exchange for a pact. And I guess you could see this as manipulation, considering MC and Levi pretty much pressured him into doing it at the moment (something some of you brought up to defend Solomon, "the way MC made a pact with Mammon was also bad so you gotta question their morals too").

But anyway, my point is: pacts became an exchange of something, rather than a soul. And with this in mind, I can see how a human could manipulate a demon into getting a pact with them and maybe even abuse their power over a demon as a way to retaliate over the treatment humans were getting from them.

And going back to Solomon again... we have to acknowledge that he grew up in a time where the 1° method to make a pact was most common, a time where demons walked freely through the human world doing whatever they wanted. (it's not that way anymore because the passages to get to the human world have been shut down by Diavolo, as Lucifer explains in the next screenshots).

Right after he says this Mammon brings up the fact that only Diavolo, Lucifer, and Barbatos can use that method freely nowadays and that he wishes HE could go to the human world whenever he wanted as well. To which Lucifer answers:

And although Lucifer says this decision was made because Mammon kept causing trouble in the human world, the way I saw it this line was much more him trying to drag Mammon down than actually stating a fact.

"We had some problems up in the human world that necessitated a change in our policy."

Problems, problems... demons doing unspeakable things to humans, perhaps? Something that definitely didn't fit Diavolo's vision of peace between realms once he took over the kingdom? Very likely, yes. So they shut down the main passage between the Devildom and the human world to stop or at least decrease the number of atrocities caused by demons who went there seeking bloodshed all around (there are still other ways to travel there, though they're much more complicated).

But Solomon, yes, Solomon at this point had already seen it all. At this point he had already developed hatred and distrust towards demon kind, and a want to make humans be seen as more than prey in the eyes of demons and poor little creatures that need to be protected in the eyes of angels.

So we understand his reasons. He grew up in a time (and lived through thousands and thousands of years) where demons walked freely through earth. This man witnessed all kinds of horrible things being done to humans in the hands of the demon kind, and it was during those times (or a short time after) that he met Asmo - one of the most powerful demons in the Devildom, brother of Lucifer himself - drunk out of his mind on a tavern.

Solomon immediately went starry-eyed at the realization, what he had there was a one in a million chance. An opportunity to grow even more powerful, to get closer to Lucifer and get more recognition, to be the human who can represent humanity as neither prey nor weakling, to be the first human both worlds respect and see as a force to be reckoned with.

It's a chance to bring his dream closer to reality.

So he doesn't care about the moralities of it, he really doesn't. This in front of him is a demon, and demons have done terrible things to humans over the centuries!

And so he manipulates Asmo into making a pact with him. There it is, that's how we got here.

If you think all of this excuses his actions, it's up to you. And if you think all of this doesn't excuses his actions, it's up to you as well.

[xjulixred45x]

This could be considered a variation of Gojo with an older brother, but in reverse.

Suguru Geto with a younger sister.

and not! no weird shit, I'm not allowing it >:( (I have an older brother myself and it's SO UNCOMFORTABLE to read those "stepbro Geto" fanfics just NO--)

AS I WAS SAYING

You and Suguru have a considerable age difference, he was already a rather big boy when you were born, but he took it better than most older brothers who now have to deal with younger sisters.

more than anything because he was entering the stage of his life where he could see the Curses, you were a breath of fresh air. He was there in every moment and achievement, when you took your first steps, when you spoke your first words--

when you started seeing the curses.

Suguru could never forget the feeling of pure terror when he heard you screaming from the bottom of your lungs for help, only for both of your parents to be extremely confused as they couldn't see the abobinable being that was in your room. Suguru ate it, obviously, and proceeded to try to comfort you.

These types of moments only brought You both closer in a certain way, your parents were never bad, far from it, quite the opposite, but they never fully understood your brother, but with you it translated to something worse.

They didn't even believe you.

You were a young girl, with a special brother, they believed that perhaps you were "jealous" of your brother's abilities and that you wanted to imitate him in some way, show that you were also special, being unintentionally condescending to you.

Even when Suguru tried to explain that IT WAS NOT THE CASE your parents just didn't believe him. They thought he was just supporting you like a good older brother would.

Thanks to this, Suguru would spend a lot of his time at home with you, doing things that you both enjoyed or, of course, girly things that you would like to learn with him. comb his hair, ask him for opinions on dresses and clothes, tell him about gossip about your school, possible crushes, etc.

Overall your brother became your sanctuary, the place you would go when the world became too much to handle, a safe place, your role model. and without realizing it you became something similar to Suguru.

You were the only member of his family who understood the minimal burden that he suffered, having to deal with curses and no one believing you, being minimized, how difficult it is, how unfair it is. but still you remained loving and happy.

Apart from the fact that you never, ever took it for granted, you were always terrified of curses while growing up, that was a fact, and even if you could use cursed energy and wanted to help your older brother, he wouldn't allow you to enter Jujutsu Tech, he just wouldn't.

One moment that especially stuck out to Suguru with you was an occasion in which you went to see him off at the door with food, but you also told him that you had no idea how difficult it must be to exorcise curses (much less eat them) or live like a sorcerer, but that you knew how important your brother was and you hoped that he would at least find his way there. even if he end up far from you.

Although of course, Suguru calmed you down and told you that no matter what he chose, he would always try to be in your life...

and boy did he accomplish it.

You remember the days before the incident, how Suguru acted strangely after a very VERY bad mission, even distant, but since it was work, he was kind of sensitive in your eyes, you just try to make his life easier with some meals and try to get him to talk to you.

nothing worked...

When the events of THAT night occur, everything is a haze in your mind. your brother. two girls. curses. blood. total darkness.

When you become conscious again, everything has changed, not only your environment, but also how you see your brother.

Suguru appears to be the same, he is still a loving and protective brother, who loves you very much, but knowing what you know... you don't know if you love him the same way now.

The same man who says he loves you kills without thinking people he had sworn to protect, the same man who swore to protect you ripped you from your normal life, the same man who is your brother killed BOTH of your parents because "he couldn't have exceptions" to his plan for "Sorcerers' paradise."

You love your brother, but a part of you deeply resents him. fears him.

and even if he manages to get his propaganda into your head, he only manages to have a darker version of you, which doesn't look much like how BOTH of you were before all this.

but Geto doesn't realize this until his final moments, reflecting on things, he realizes that maybe...just maybe, you could have had a happier life if you hadn't been related to him.

If you had been born in a clan of sorcerers, you would have had a better family circle. You would have had more confidence.

You could have had so much potential that he denied you for fear of losing you.

If you had been able to grow normally you could have even reached second or first grade!

You have a great personality after all, but everything turned out badly because HE finished raising you...

Hope that now, at least, you can have the opportunity that he took from you. You don't have to forgive him at all, just live your life as you would have liked to.

your older brother loves you very much after all...

Shares, reblogs, and comments are very welcome!

[hedgehog-moss]

Hello! I'm moving to the north of France in a few months and my property has ample space and a barn, so I am considering getting a donkey. Is there anything that you didn't know before buying donkeys or any big obstacles you faced that you didn't expect, even after doing your research? I know you have talked about how finding veterinarians that really care about your donkeys is hard. Is there anything else a potential owner should know?

That's really exciting news! The only donkey-specific advice I can think of is stuff you've probably already encountered if you started doing research, like make sure you find a farrier who is familiar with donkeys, as their hooves are different from horse hooves and should be trimmed differently. And make sure your donkey has a shelter—the llamas hardly ever use the shelter I've built but Pirlouit often spends entire days in there if it's raining. I've read somewhere that unlike horses who have waterproof coats to some extent, donkeys who have evolved as desert animals just get soaked to the bone. But other than that they're quite hardy and can live outside year-round, no need for blankets or anything.

Also a donkey really needs a friend. When I sent the llamas away for a few weeks Pirlouit was miserable and brayed constantly, even though I live right next to his pasture and he sees me every day. A fellow herbivore is probably best for company—I’ve seen chickens amongst the species recommended online but Pirou barely seems to notice my chickens’ existence, I don’t think they’re closely related enough to have any interest in one another. I've also read that donkeys can be hostile to dogs and that's not been my experience, if anything Pirlouit shows saintly patience with Pandolf ! But he's known him since puppyhood and Pan basically lives in the pasture most days, which probably helps.

The biggest ongoing Pirlouit challenge I face concerns his weight, donkeys are really prone to obesity. So unless you get an elderly donkey, make sure you don't feed him the richest type of hay in winter (and give it in small quantities at a time). I recommend using a hay net with small holes so he'll eat more slowly. I've thought of getting a hay ball for Pirlouit, but his pasture is so slopey, the ball would probably end up rolling away at unfair speeds and make him feel persecuted. He's dignified, I don't know if he'd enjoy having to run after his food like some common carnivore.

Other than that donkeys are pretty low-maintenance animals in my experience. My recurring expenses for Pirlouit (other than hay, but he doesn’t need much of it compared to a horse) are a hoof trimming three times a year, a deworming twice a year and a new salt lick every so often, and that's about it. Donkey ownership is only time-consuming in the spring when I have to figure out how to keep him from overeating. Limiting his grazing area by penning him works okay (he just gets a bit lonely)—it helps that he is respectful of fences including very lightweight ones. Which immediately places an animal in the low-maintenance category for me!

[probablyasocialecologist]

Sourcing food in biotech  factories requires a reorganization of the food system to be highly centralized, arranged into corporate-mediated value chains flowing from industrial processing facilities. To my mind that is exactly the corporate industrial food chain model at the root of so many of our current problems. We don’t want the food system concentrated in the hands of less and bigger corporations. Such a concentrated food system  is unfair,  extractive, easy to monopolize and  very vulnerable to external shocks  - which we are going to see more of in our unfolding century of crisis. Consider which food system is more likely to fall over in the face of climate catastrophe, dictatorship  or cyberattack: - a handful of large electrically dependent food brewers  or a distributed network of millions of small farms and local food relationships  spread across diverse landscapes? Which brings us to Chris’s other central premise in ‘Saying No to a Farm-free Future’ - the one that George does attempt a partial response to. Chris argues that the way to organise food to survive in the face of climate crisis is to withdraw away from the corporate controlled industrial agrifood chain  and attempt instead  to put power back into the distributed local ‘food web’ of small growers, local markets and peasant-type production . This ‘food web’ may sound  ‘backwards’ to modernist global north sensibilities of someone like George but it is what still characterizes much of  the food systems of the global South. It is also better suited to our times of crisis and challenge. Strengthening food webs is not a “one stop” bold  breakthrough. Rather its a distributed social process of ‘muddling through’ together  in diverse and different ways that are at best  agroecological and collective, culturally and ecologically tailored to different geographies. The food web (or ‘agrarian localism’ as Chris terms it) can’t be summed up in one shiny totemic widget. It doesn’t fit  a formulaic  “stop this, go that” campaign binary (“stop eating meet , go plant-based”).   Leaning into the complexities of  local agroecological diverse food webs is maddeningly  unsellable as a soundbite.  George presents agrarian localism as a ‘withdrawal’  but its more in the gesture of “staying with the trouble” - a phrase feminist scholar Donna Harraway so brilliantly coined to dismiss  big, male, over simplistic technocratic solutionists who claim to have the ‘one big answer’ to our global polycrisis. (sound familiar?). Staying with the trouble and leaning into food webs means embracing a messy politics of relationship, nuance, context, complexity and co-learning. It means a single clever journalist sitting in Oxford can’t dream up a cracking saviour formula all by himself in the space of a 2 year book project. . its why (and how) we build movements - to figure this stuff out collectively. So relax - take off the armour - make friends.

[sunshowne]

can i stand in your light, just for a while?

gojo satoru x gn reader || 1.5k || ao3

summary: pancakes pair well with facing feelings surrounding the best friend who left you and the best friend you're in love with. warnings: hidden inventory/jjk s2 spoilers, littol bit of angst note: it's me the sunshown from ao3... tumblr time

You wake up to a plastic bag heavy on your chest and the heady smell of honey.

Then it’s Tsumiki’s laughter, bright and filling up the apartment. The slight feeling of discomposure ends there; last night was movie night, and it ran late enough that the last train had left for the night. You slept on the couch. One of the kids got you a blanket at some point.

You’re expecting to see Tsumiki and Megumi sat at the kitchen island - quietly eating breakfast together and waiting on a gentle chiding for leaving the house to get breakfast without waking you - when you carefully sit up, bag moving to your lap, and see an empty kitchen. You blink. Two hands slip over your eyes.

It’s a reflex to grab at the wrist, grip not too tight, but you know who it is even before he leans in and presses you up against his front. Any person with a hint of cursed energy would be able to feel Gojo Satoru from a mile away, but you have the added help of the familiarity of his hands, the scent of his body wash. For better or for worse.

“Shoko?” You make your voice as hopeful as you can muster.

You can all but see Satoru’s scowl. As punishment, he lets go of you in favor of folding over you like his bones have been turned viscous.

“Good morning,” your voice quiets, and Satoru presses his nose against your temple. “How long have you been here?”

“Since five in the morning. Someone had to make sure you were still alive.”

You crane your neck a little to look him in the eye, and his hands hook together over your shoulders. It’s hard to look serious with sleep still in your eyes. “I told Yaga-sensei that I was spending the night at the apartment.”

“You didn’t tell me.”

There’s something in his voice that he won’t say but you can hear, and it hits you with a wave of guilt. The past year has been hard. And maybe it’s a little unfair of you to take a night off from it all to watch Whisper of the Heart with the kids.

(Someone has to, though, you remind yourself. Satoru doesn’t mean to guilt trip. You’re just prone to it.)

You realize that the thing you hear in Satoru’s voice is worry. It’s very rare to make one of the strongest jujutsu sorcerers worried, and yet.

Satoru snaps his fingers in front of your face. “Stop thinking. I got you pancakes.”

You gently push him off of you, stand up. It’s then that you see the kotatsu set up behind you, where both Megumi and Tsumiki sit with their breakfast and bed head. Tsumiki gratefully accepts your morning hug and Megumi takes it with a little more apprehension, but still looks pleased when you pick the spot next to him. Satoru’s making you a plate, which surprises you a little; the feeling abates when you see him move one of your pancakes to his empty plate.

“Hey,” he says once you’ve settled, voice a little petulant, and prods his cheek. It’s a weird place to have food, especially considering you haven’t started eating, but you swipe your thumb across your cheekbone nonetheless. There’s nothing there.

“What?”

Satoru pouts. You frown. Tsumiki giggles, and it hits you.

“You’re not getting a kiss, Satoru.”

“Awh. Why?”

His question cuts you off halfway through cutting a slice of pancake. It’s stupid that he even needs to ask, so in response, you look at Megumi and Tsumiki before turning back to Satoru.

“You’re too modest.”

The other day, Satoru had told you that Megumi and Tsumiki’s affinity for you makes him feel bullied. You’d half-heartedly assured him that that wasn't the case, but now you’re thinking otherwise with the speed that Megumi retorts with, “You’re too clingy.”

“You’re too rude.”

You make eye contact with Tsumiki from across the kotatsu. She shoves a spoonful of rice in her mouth to muffle a laugh. The verbal sparring ends a few minutes later when Satoru calls Megumi stinky and doesn’t get dignified with a response. Breakfast goes on in amicable silence.

You’re moving through the day in your head as you finish eating, and carry your plate into the kitchen. Megumi and Tsumiki pad behind you not soon after, dutifully putting their dishes by the sink and retreating to the couch to see what’s on the television. You start on the dishes. Maybe someone will go grocery shopping with you when you’re done.

Satoru is silent when he enters the room, but you can feel him. First it’s him, and then it’s his arms, looping around your waist, tucking him into your body. This isn’t unusual - Megumi was kind in calling him clingy - but there’s still something in how he hides in you, wants to kiss in front of the kids, gets you breakfast at five A.M. because you hadn’t told him you were spending the night at the apartment.

You’d be lying if you said you hadn’t thought about it. About waking up one morning and Satoru being gone. About seeing him after coming back from a mission, smiling and holding you by a public telephone. About his eyes, forever ingrained in the forefront of your mind, right beside Suguru’s. It would hurt more than his leaving did. The thought makes you feel a little awful.

“Look at me.”

You had stopped washing the dishes. Satoru’s voice is clear, a little quiet. Your hands are soapy but you turn around anyways, so that the edge of the counter digs uncomfortably into your backside.

Satoru’s eyes are piercing. They always are, but right now they’re reading your mind. It’s scary and raw and makes you vulnerable all over but you let him, rest your forearms on his shoulders and let your hands drip onto his back and soothe his worries with drying fingers brushing over his temple and fixing his hair and rubbing circles into the base of his neck - it’s okay I’m here I’m here I’m here.

Satoru drops his head to your shoulder and you hold him. He’s leaning into you, enough that you’re bent a little backwards over the sink, but any acknowledgement of the discomfort fades when you feel Satoru’s shuddering breath into your skin, the way he shivers when you place a hand in his hair.

You don’t realize you’re crying until tears fall and spread on the back of Satoru’s shirt. He tenses, pulls away from you but keeps you close and swipes his thumbs under your eyes a little roughly.

“Don’t cry over him. He doesn’t deserve it.”

It’s easy to say, and a part of you deep down feels it violently. You’re angry and so, so sad. Suguru became someone you hate and some days, you miss him so much you can’t move. It’s messy. It’s conflicting. But you have Satoru and Shoko and Tsumiki and Megumi and Utahime and and and, which is so lucky in of itself.

Satoru wraps you up back into his cocoon. You let him without shedding another tear, and stay like that for a while. Days are like this, with ups and downs. They will be, for a while, with any hope. Jujutsu sorcerers are all but trained in repression, and if you can manage to do one thing, you want to undo some of that for The Strongest. Because here in your arms Satoru’s not that, he’s eighteen and your best friend and the person you love most. It speaks to your own emotional density that you can’t imagine a world in which you ever tell him that.

Instead, you settle. You urge Satoru away, gently, and don’t let him register what you’re doing before leaning in and kissing the space beneath his right eye. You’re not sure you have time to process it, either, but before you know it you’re pulling away and Satoru’s grabbing at you to bring you back in for another. His lips are on yours and all over you and this is what has been missing, this might not be what you need right now but it’s what you want more than anything, so you kiss him back and hold him tighter and let him push you further over the sink. It’s your first kiss, your second, third, fourth. He’s the air in your lungs, enough that you pull away eventually with a gasp.

His eyes are shining, so you grab his face and brush away unshed tears with the same ardent affection he did for you. It’s fruitless - you’re sure Satoru would die before crying in front of you - but right now you’re feeling everything and will touch him how you can.

Satoru places a hand on the back of your neck to pull you in, rest his forehead against yours. His thumb smoothes over your hair. He’s handsome beyond belief- not that you’d ever tell him.

“It’s you and me,” his voice is slow and sure, “and if you’re going to cry over someone it’s going to be me, okay?”

“Yeah,” you say, sort of a laugh, sort of a sob, “you and me.”

He kisses you again, then, the seal of a promise pressed into your lips. Leans into you as much as you lean into him.

For what feels like the first time in a while, you smile.

[hotchs-bitch]

Fluffy Feb Day 14- Valentine’s Day [Breaking Up Slowly]

Warnings: established relationship, Jack, PDA (scandalous), BAU reader, mentions of sex

Pairing: Hotch x blank slate Fem!Reader (no use of y/n)

Word Count: 941

A/N: this blurb is also considered to be part of the Breaking Up Slowly universe, set a couple of years before the events of BUS. It’s also crammed full of Easter eggs to prove it, lmk if you spot any <3 (you do not need any prior knowledge of BUS to read this)

On your second Valentine’s Day together, Aaron wakes you up by pressing approximately a thousand kisses to your face. “Good morning, sweetheart,” he whispers when your eyes flutter open, and you return his sleepy smile with one of your own. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“Good morning,” you whisper back, giving him a kiss. “How did you sleep?”

“Very well. So well, that I’m wide awake now.” He goes back to peppering you with kisses, covering your face and neck and shoulders. When you feel the slow grind of his hips against yours, you groan quietly. “Think we’ve got a few minutes?”

“We’d better,” you mumble, but life is so unfair that Aaron has two fingers in the waistband of your underwear when the bedroom door flies open and Jack flings himself between the two of you. “Good morning, buddy!” You try your best to sound chipper, but the look you and Aaron exchange says it all. You’ll finish this later.

“Morning! Can we have pancakes?” He asks, wiggling around until Aaron wraps both arms around his son and sits up with an overdramatic groan. 

“Did you grow?” He asks Jack, who shakes his head and giggles at the question. “I think you did. You were definitely smaller yesterday.”

You lean in to kiss the top of Jack’s head. “He’s growing up to be big and strong like his dad. Alright, Jackers, are you gonna help me make breakfast while daddy gets ready for work?”

Jack nods excitedly, squirming his way right out of Aaron’s arms. He clambers off the bed and shouts, “To the kitchen!” before dashing off, and you sit up with a groan of your own. 

“I’m on breakfast duty, I guess.” You yawn dramatically, and Aaron smirks at you. “Jess is still okay to watch him tonight, right?”

“She was happy to,” your partner assures you as he gets up and starts towards the bathroom, “Just as long as we promise to give him a sibling.”

The thought of having another kid, a kid of your own, is ludicrous. That’s a conversation for a different day further down the road, so you just snort a laugh to yourself before going to meet Jack in the kitchen.

Breakfast ends up being pancakes made with red food dye, and Jack ‘helps’ you by using cookie cutters to make them into heart shapes. You all eat quickly- you and Aaron end up forgoing your morning coffee on the balcony, but that’s okay- and then it’s off to work and school for all of you.

Aaron is dropping Jack off, which means you get to the office before he does. Your desk, much to your delight and amusement, houses a bouquet of red roses in a vase with a little envelope tucked into them, a simple heart in Aaron’s crooked scrawl drawn on the front. The inside of the card is short and sweet; you wouldn’t expect anything else from your partner.

Happy Valentine’s Day. Thank you for letting me love you. Forever yours, it reads, with Aaron’s familiar signature underneath.

The card goes right into your desk folder of sticky notes and various other writings Aaron has either given or left for you, and then you turn your attention back to the vase of flowers in the center of your desk.

They’re on obvious display which is cute but takes up a lot of space, so you move them to the corner of the desk and get to work. You’re halfway through a consult when you feel a presence behind you, and the smell of cologne, coffee, and icing hits your nose a moment later.

You turn to find Aaron standing there, holding a breakfast donut and two coffees from your favourite shop. God, you love him.

“Thank you, honey.” You stand up, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. Neither of you is big on office PDA, but agents are just starting to trickle in and it is Valentine's Day, so exceptions are bound to be made. “You’re spoiling me.”

“You never let me do it any other day,” Aaron retorts, a smile playing on his lips. “Speaking of, I was thinking that we could go out for dinner tonight. You can wear that new dress and give me a chance to show you off. ”

“Cupid’s on the clock already,” Emily comments as she passes by the two of you on the way to her desk, and you ignore her save for a quiet laugh at her comment.

Aaron hands you a coffee cup, one of his eyebrows raised in question as though he thinks you’ll say no to his dinner offer, and you raise yours in return. “On one condition.”

Your donut is set on your desk, and Aaron narrows his eyes as he passes his coffee cup to his other hand and pulls you in by the waist. “Name your terms,” he murmurs, and you know that he’s just trying to be quiet and keep from drawing attention to the two of you, but he’s being so sexy that it’s taking everything in you not to kiss him.

“Hmm… you have to be my Valentine.” You wiggle your eyebrows at him, and Aaron tilts his head back to laugh. It’s beautiful, vulnerable in the way his eyes crinkle and his neck exposes itself and his laugh touches your ears. It’s gorgeous, and it’s something you wish the bullpen saw more of; your favourite side of him.

“Sweetheart,” he says once he’s finished laughing, a final chuckle slipping through his lips, “I’ll be your Valentine as long as you’ll have me, and for a few years after that, too.”

You hope he’s right.

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Fluffy Feb tags: @doctorsteths-fluffyfeb @iammirrorball @hausofwhores @allthefandomstogether @myweepingangel @hotched @spacecowboyhotch @chibsytelford @honeybrowne @formulapierre @nd264 @hotchnerxnegan1017 (send me a dm or ask to be tagged!)

Breaking Up Slowly tags: @jori21 @simpingfortoomanypeople @mynotesapptbh

[keyokayo]

Some random wof hcs I have:

Of all dragon tribes, Leafwings are the one who can go the longest without eating as long as they have access to sunlight. 90% of the energy they need to live is from photosynthesis and that's how they survived in the poison jungle for so long

The main reason Skywings kill all of their dragons with "dangerous differences" isn't because those dragons are dangerous. It's actually because Skywing's society is built on competitiveness (see the sport tournament in the guide book), fairness, and equality in opportunities. Things like animus power or firescale are unfair advantages that must be eliminated, and dragons who have them are considered "cheaters" in the game of life

The smoke emitted by the volcano on the Nightwing Island contained a large amount of lead and mercury, and all Nightwings born on the island had lead and mercury poisoning. This explains why they had such a low birth rate (asides from the lack of food) and why they lost so much knowledge about their special powers. If smoke blocking out moonlight was the only problem they faced, Nightwing parents could have simply carried their eggs and flown above the smoke, and I suspected this was what they used to do when the volcano had just become active. Over many generations more Nightwings were exposed to lead/mercury, which made them suffer from memory problems and eventually forget how to obtain mindreading and foresight

Mudwings have a very strong sense of smell. A Mudwing can determine whether or not another Mudwing is their blood relative just by sniffing the air around them. And yes I made this hc because canonically there's no way to prevent inbreeding between parents and children in Mudwing society. I can't believe Tui never considered this when writing them

Both Moon and Secretkeeper have some form of anxiety disorder

Qibli definitely has god complex which stems from his insecurities and obsession with control. He also has trouble feeling empathy (thanks to Cobra) but knows how to hide it well by expressing sympathy instead

More of a speculation than a hc but Kinkajou is gonna turn evil in arc 4

Jerboa III is aro/ace

Whiteout's synesthesia works by linking her sense of sight, her mindreading and her foresight together. We all know she sees good people and visions in shades of blue. I hc that bad people and visions appear almost black and white to her. Future visions are always tinted in purple while past memories are tinted in brown. She also sees the emotions of other dragons as blotches of colors, but the colors change depending on the dragon

Also technically speaking her foresight is actually stronger than Darkstalker's. Not because she's born that way, but because Darkstalker is always so blinded by the visions he sees as good, he never bothered to spend time contemplating the bad ones and how to prevent them. Whiteout ultimately gets more out of her power despite being weaker and an optimist

Ahhh these are so cool! Ty anon!

[warheittiashi]

It's a free day today. That means I have to choose my own prompt which is, in a word, stressful. I can't even decide what to eat for lunch. How do I decide something like this?????

It's romance. The prompt for today is romance.

I think I'll do short drabbles for Yue Qingyuan/Shen Jiu, Liu Qingge/Shen Jiu, and Luo Binghe/Shen Jiu. I would consider doing more, but I don't want to give myself more problems.

Now, to the romance.

The first one will be with Yue Qingyuan/Shen Jiu with the prompt telepathic bonds.

Shen Jiu and Yue Qingyuan have always shared a telepathic bond. This meant that they were unable to hide anything from each other.

When Shen Jiu told Yue Qingyuan to go, he knew that the other could tell he was lying. Unfortunately, they had no other options.

Yue Qingyuan rushed even more because he could see that Shen Jiu was suffering immensely under the hands of Qiu Jianluo. Shen Jiu tried to hide it, but it was impossible to block out everything. Also, his dreams were unprotected.

When Shen Jiu couldn't hear Yue Qingyuan's thoughts anymore, he thought Yue Qingyuan was dead. On the other hand, Yue Qingyuan could still hear Shen Jiu's thoughts.

After finally being released, he used those memories to find Shen Jiu had undergone a qi deviation and burned down the Qiu house.

Yue Qingyuan killed Wu Yanzi, and he reunited with Shen Jiu.

They have a tearful reunion, and Yue Qingyuan explains the situation. Shen Jiu feels it's unfair that their connection is one-sided. They reconcile and Shen Jiu is brought to the sect.

Due to being able to read Shen Jiu's mind, Yue Qingyuan can always tell when Shen Jiu is being wronged. He is like a guard dog.

The next is Liu Qingge/Shen Jiu with the prompt cross-dressing.

Liu Qingge followed Shen Jiu to a brothel due to anger and jealousy (which he didn't fully understand). He was going to give Shen Jiu the beating of a lifetime after dragging him back to the sect.

When he slammed a door open, it was to find a beautiful woman in the middle of changing. He felt very guilty and slammed the door. After a few moments, the woman opened the door again. Liu Qingge was scolded terribly and felt like he owed the lady.

Liu Qingge ended up paying for tea, and they had a conversation. The lady seemed to speak very highly of Shen Jiu, saying many things that caused Liu Qingge to question what he knew about the scholar.

As they met more often, he began to have feelings for the lady. At the same time, he also realized that he had feelings for Shen Jiu, has been in love with the scholar since the beginning, and just didn't notice.

Unfortunately, it seemed as though Shen Jiu and the lady were in love with each other.

This leads to Liu Qingeg avoiding them by going on a long mission. During his time away, he resolved that he would fight the lady for Shen Jiu. With this in mind, he flew back and slammed the lady's door open. When he did so, he saw Shen Jiu there putting on makeup and a familiar set of robes.

This leads to a confrontation that eventually ends with them kissing.

The last is Luo Binghe/Shen Jiu with the prompt foodplay.

Luo Binghe has been in charge of preparing Shen Jiu's meals since the one time he had been caught using the kitchen to cook porridge. Shen Jiu had stormed in with a flurry of robes and, before he could scold Luo Binghe, caught a whiff of the porridge. After one taste, everything changed.

Luo Binghe's treatment had been much better. He moved into the bamboo house to make cooking much easier, and Shen Jiu actually paid him attention and helped with his cultivation. Shen Jiu also seemed much more lenient toward him after that.

It became a routine for them to share meals together. Luo Binghe loved watching Shen Jiu enjoying the food he made. He loved that he could cook for Shen Jiu every day.

During their wedding, he fed Shen Jiu himself.

[tonguetiedraven]

Okay so- I have a funny little headcanon that I havent seen anyone write about yet. Rin can handle spicy food a lot better than Ryuuji, now, Ryuuji does like spicy food, but he has a limit. So if Rin is ever pissed at Ryuuji and feels like being petty bc he's upset with Ryuuji about something, he'll make something overly spicy to get back at him.

Another double prompt fill, lol. Thanks to @marble-wolf for helping me with this one.

-- -- -- -- --

Ryuuji sent a text that he was going to miss lunch, and he felt bad that he had to opt for that over a phone call, but trying to talk on the phone around Lewin was a bit of a death wish. At the very least it was an embarrassment wish. Lewin would rattle off whatever crossed his mind and Ryuuji had only been dating Rin for a little bit and was not ready for that wild card in their relationship. They had enough wildcards just being them. 

A few hours later and he was still following Lewin through a swamp, and he had to send another text to Rin that he was going to miss their dinner date as well. That was a special kind of torture, because Rin had mentioned curry and Ryuuji was going to end up eating rations. Entirely unfair. (And he was missing time with Rin.) 

He’d be back for tomorrow’s lunch, hopefully, but in the mean time, he was frowning at the lack of returning texts.

That didn’t bode well.

Rin was fuming. This shit was happening far too often because Lewin couldn't do anything without having his hand held by Ryuuji. 

Ryuuji, who was Rin's new boyfriend, was unable to tell Lewin no and was missing too many dates. Strapped down by Lewin's command. And Rin understood why but it didn't make it any easier. He felt like Ryuuji should put a bit more effort into making time for Rin. (Instead of trotting after Lewin and trying to keep him clean.) 

Ryuuji hadn't even called. No, it had been texts. 

Rin crossed his arms over the pot of curry, mentally grumbling and considered what he wanted to do. Something that he could do to get back at both Ryuuji and Lewin. 

Kuro chirped and peeked in the pot, "what's wrong, Rin? Is it too spicy?" 

"Spicy? No. Ryuuji isn't coming."  Rin said with a frown. 

"Oh. I'm sorry." Kuro sighed. "We can eat together!" 

Rin smiled and nodded. "Sure, Kuro." 

And it was only as he set aside portions for himself and Kuro and the cat sidhe Doves into the meal with a happy purr that the thought occurred to him. 

Spicy.  

— — — — —

Ryuuji was not particularly astute at picking up subtleties of his friends’ moods. It had cost him multiple times, and had tried to get better at it, but he doubted he would ever reach Konekomaru’s level of observation.

Even with that lack of natural ability, Ryuuji couldn’t miss the mildly frigid air as Rin served up lunch. It looked like a yakisoba bun (which was Ryuuji’s favorite lunch) but Rin just dropped the wrapped lunch in front of him and sat down in a noisy way that seemed to radiate I am not happy even to Ryuuji’s mildly deaf ears.

“Thank you?” He said, not entirely sure why he’d made it a question as he pulled the meal a bit closer and opened it up. His nose tingled a little as he breathed in the warm scent, and that was a bit strange. Had Rin used a new sauce?

Rin's tail flicked and he nodded in response. He did slide a bottle of green tea closer to Ryuuji because he wasn't a total asshole before crossing his arms back and staring at Ryuuji.  

Ryuuji stared back for a moment. Rin wouldn’t poison him. He took too much pride in his cooking for that. Still, Ryuuji mildly felt like he shouldn’t eat, or possibly drink, any of this. Something was up. 

However, he wasn’t a coward and he was always a bit more daring than was probably good for him, and he trusted Rin wouldn’t actively try to really hurt him, so he picked the bun up and took a bite, and confirmed that, yep, Rin had done something.

It was quite easily the hottest thing Ryuuji had ever tried to eat. (He avoided overly spicy foods for a lot of reasons.) The spice immediately cut through absolutely everything else and there was no real way to tell what the flavor was outside of the immediate and overwhelming ow of the rest of the sandwich. 

He coughed a little because he couldn’t help it, and almost dropped the sandwich with the force of it. He avoided the green tea he’d been given and opted for his own water as well, not trusting that Rin hadn’t done something to that as well. 

Then, with a glare at his boyfriend, he took another bite. (And he was going to regret the hell out of that, he just knew it. Indigestion aside, he was playing with fire.)

Rin's tail flicked and he battled back any guilt he might feel with his own narrowed eyes. He tugged out his own yakisoba and ate it without a flinch, enjoying the heat of it and hoping Lewin had taken a bite out of his own.  

Ryuuji, still ignoring the green tea, finished the sandwich as quickly as he could and pushed the container away, sweating a bit and marveling at just how numb his mouth felt. His eyes were watering and his nose was running, and whatever he’d done had clearly really pissed Rin off. 

(He should not have eaten that. It was stupid, but damn it, he wasn’t going to be beaten by something like that.)

“Alright,” he said, and damn it, even his voice was a bit rough, “what the hell is wrong?”

Rin sat up stiffly, huffing. "Why you gotta ask?"  

“‘Cause you just tried to kill me?” And probably would. Ryuuji needed to go find something to counteract that spice. Something told him a spinach salad wasn’t quite going to cut it with that. “What happened?” 

Rin rolled his eyes. "I wasn't trying to kill ya. I'm just… I've finally got your attention!" 

Rin nudged at the tea. "Look, it's still sealed up." 

"First, you need to tell Light to fuck off occasion because you have plans. Second! Don't text me. And don't let Light drag you into stuff. I am tired of getting stood up for a man that can't wash his own socks. And you don't seem to care." Rin was pouting and glaring but he couldn't help it with the hurt.  

Ryuuji ditched the non helpful water and went for the pocky he’d brought to share with Rin, pulling out a few sticks and sucking on the sweet matcha while he gave Rin an unimpressed look. It did almost nothing to soothe the burn. So much for sugar being a cure. 

“I text ya,” he said around the pocky, “because Lightning will shout random shit if I call.” He could feel his cheeks going a bit red (though it probably wasn’t visible past the heat flush.) “I don’t…” It was embarrassing. Lightning had even made kissing noises and moaned when Ryuuji was going to call Rin. He was not dealing with that. 

Huffing out a breath, he gave his boyfriend a long look, taking in the sad eyes and the slumped posture despite the defiantly crossed arms. He’d hurt him. Enough for Rin to try and get back. (Nirvana, please just let it have been a shitty meal. He should not have eaten that. Why had he done that? There was no way he got out of that scott free. At the very least he’d fucked up his singing voice for Aria class with all the extra snot. At the worst…

He didn’t want to deal with the migraine that was guaranteed to bring.)

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you like that. I care, honest. I’ll figure out a way to get some space from him if it happens so I can call ya. And…” Ugh. He really did tend to push everything but school to the side for Lewin.

“I’ll work on it,” he promised.

Rin's pout relaxed a little, though he still felt betrayed and like Lewin was always going to be top priority. 

"Okay. Just… try?" Rin asked. That was all he really needed.  

Ryuuji pushed the strawberry pocky towards Rin. “I’ll try.” 

“Hey!” An exuberant voice called and Ryuuji’s head gave a low throb of annoyance that had him closing his eyes and murmuring a prayer that was almost guaranteed to not push away the migraine he’d more or less signed himself up for. 

(He should have had a talk about that with Rin. He should have told his cook boyfriend what foods could make things worse. He was an idiot.) 

“Lightning?” He growled, not bothering to open his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose and Lewin bounded up to their table. 

“Okumura! That was delicious! It’s so hard to find really spicy things here! You got anymore? I’d pay for that!”

Rin blinked in astonishment and leaned away from the man as Lewin leaned way too close and beamed at him like an excited shaggy dog. 

"Huh? What? Seriously?”  Rin squeaked, his tail moving to hide and his hand holding his sword to keep it out of grabby hands. 

"You liked that?" Rin gasped, lifting up what was left of his own sandwich.  

“I love spicy food!” Lewin gushed, pulling out a chair and sitting down like he’d been invited over. “I didn’t know you could get that kinda spicy yakisoba bun. I don’t usually get the spicy stuff ‘cause Ryuuji can’t have it with the migraines and he’s the one that likes yakisoba buns, but I’d eat all of those ya got!”

Ryuuji dropped his hand and shot Lewin the most unbelieving of stares. Why was he even here? (And he was staring like he was going to steal what was left of Rin’s sandwich.)

Rin's eyes went wide and horrified and what he had managed to eat felt too heavy and his stomach was twisting as the guilt shot through him. 

"Migraines! This— I— Ryuuji!" Rin cried out and he shoved the rest of his sandwich at Lewin. 

"Take that and go away."  

Lewin accepted the sandwich with a frown while Ryuuji covered his face with his hand again and sighed. That was going to bite him in the ass. He should have ditched this lunch and gone to yesterday’s. 

“Uh,” Lewin began, “what—”

“Just go,” Ryuuji sighed. “Please,” he added after a moment. He didn’t bother to look to see if his master did and simply picked up another piece of matcha pocky to suck on and hope it made him capable of feeling his mouth again. (For fucks sake, he hadn’t even known heat could hang around that long.)

Lewin did as requested, raising a curious eyebrow and keeping his eye on them as long as he could while he finished the second bun. 

"Ryuuji!" Rin hissed, dropping his voice as if Ryuuji already had a migraine. "Why didn't you say something?"

The guilt was twisting higher and Rin was scrambling to clean up and he cracked open Ryuuji's tea and shoved it at him.  

“Tea doesn’t help with heat, Rin.” Ryuuji took it anyway because caffeine could help migraines. (Supposedly. He’d never really noticed any difference. Green tea was still his favorite drink either way.) 

He took a few sips and shrugged. “Seemed kinda late to mention it?” And how did you bring something like that up without painting someone as a bad guy? You gave me a triggering food! It wasn’t like it was a widely known thing. It wasn’t an allergy. It was just… 

Stupid of him to eat the whole thing simply so he didn’t lose Rin’s I’m mad at you challenge. 

Rin stood up and put his hand out to Ryuuji. 

"Okay but now you get to take the rest of the day off." Rin ordered. "Can you take something before the migraine? Is that allowed?" 

"I'm sorry, babe," Rin whispered.  

“I’m the one that ate the sandwich,” Ryuuji pointed out. “And that’s not necessary. It’d hit tomorrow if I got one.” Or around bedtime, which would mean a long night for him. “It’s not gonna be a problem,” he said, and hoped it wasn’t a lie even though it probably was. Ugh. He rather hated his broken ass brain. Maybe he’d get lucky and it’d take it a full day to hit. He could catch up with missing cram classes more easily than missing cram classes and regular classes. 

He did take Rin’s hand and move in close for an after lunch walk before their cram classes. (Hopefully not an intense aria class or that migraine would be guaranteed.) 

Rin frowned but accepted that Ryuuji knew what he was talking about. 

"Okay. No more spicy." Definitely not. Maybe to bribe Lewin but that's all.  

— — — — —

There was a light drizzle of rain out the window that was distracting with how the water streaked down the window as Rin waited for Ryuuji to appear. He had a towel ready to toss over his boyfriend and they could eat the leftover curry because Ryuuji loved curry and —

Rin blinked in confusion at the keyboard slap text he had just received from Ryuuji. What? 

It didn't make any sense to Rin and he immediately thought of an accidental typing, usually done when Ryuuji was on a run. But he couldn't help but feel worried. Rin sent out a text to Konekomaru and didn't have to wait long for the dreaded reply. 

A migraine. 

Rin's guilt drove him to immediately flick off the stove, ask Ukobach to put away the reheated food and run out the door with the ice packs from the freezer in his hands. 

It was entirely his fault and he would make it up to Ryuuji ten-fold. He ran all the way to Ryuuji's dorm and mentally thanked whoever had left the door unlocked (probably Konekomaru) as he nudged the door open as little as possible. 

Ryuuji was lying, curled up in a tight ball on his bed, his phone dropped onto the floor and the room as dark as it could be. Rin tiptoed his way over and sat down at the edge of Ryuuji's bed. 

The ice pack was laid over Ryuuji's shoulder and neck and Rin nudged at the tense muscles. 

"Ryuuji?"  

A whimper left Ryuuji’s lips (embarrassingly) as he rolled towards Rin. He thought he might have imagined the door opening and closing, but there wasn’t any imagining the blessed relief of the ice on his neck or the slight whisper of his name.

He knew he had fucked up with the sandwich, and he’d entirely cemented his fate when they’d had the sparring in his aria class. Trying to hold shields against the attacks had given him a mental beating, and no matter how much he wished it hadn’t happened, the migraine had hit him with a sledgehammer.

Embarrassing or not, Ryuuji pressed his face against Rin’s knees and told himself to explain about the migraine and the agony everything was, and that despite being the son of Satan, Rin was clearly actually an angel for bringing the ice pack and being so quiet about it. He told himself to apologize for the text when Rin had said to call, but calling wasn’t going to happen with a migraine. (Had he sent a text? It hurt even trying to remember.)

Instead of any of that, Ryuuji managed a simple (and raspy), “Rin.”

Rin bent his head down to bury his nose in Ryuuji's hair, nuzzling and trying to show without words that he was there. His fingers moved to rub at Ryuuji's head and neck while his tail curled around Ryuuji's back. 

"Did you take meds?" Rin whispered as loud as he dared.  

Ryuuji mumbled a yes that still felt too loud as it echoed around in his head, enhancing the pressure that was already trying to make his brain explode. 

He tilted towards the nuzzle, curling his fingers into the fabric of Rin’s shirt and appreciating the presence more than he could tell. (He couldn’t tell Rin much of anything at this moment.) He hated the isolation that always came with this and he’d wanted to hang out with Rin after their stressful afternoon, and his brain had fucked up his plans instead. (Though he supposed he should be grateful he didn’t often have the sensitivity to touch.)

The heat of his boyfriend’s touch was also a balm. He was half tempted to try and tuck his freezing toes against Rin’s legs. He never understood why his feet got cold with this. 

Rin toed off his shoes and climbed into bed next to Ryuuji and held him close to his chest. 

Rin would be taking Ryuuji out for something cold and bargain with Lewin for Ryuuji getting days off (bribed with the hottest food Rin could make.)   

Ryuuji curled up against him, hiding his face against Rin’s shoulder, tucking his freezing feet against Rin’s molten ones, closing his eyes a bit too tightly, and just breathing as well as he could. 

He laid there, surrounded by Rin, and slowly tried to find the words he needed through the fog in his head. He’d had something important to say, and he couldn’t let Rin lay here guilty. 

“Not your fault,” he murmured. “Aria class woulda done… woulda done it.” Something else had happened, but he didn’t remember it. The memories would come back later and he could explain that all more clearly later. He’d been doomed before that sandwich, but…

“I shouldn’ta finished it. A bite wouldn’t… wouldn’t do it… But not your fault.” He tugged on Rin’s shirt a little, not certain if his message had gotten across, or even made sense to begin with.

Rin rubbed his hands over Ryuuji's back and kissed Ryuuji's temple. 

"Okay. But no more spicy food." Rin whispered, warming Ryuuji's freezing feet and keeping him wrapped up and safe. "We just both gotta stop being so stubborn, eh?"  

Ryuuji grinned despite his pain. He doubted that would happen. Still… 

“It’s all Lightning’s fault,” Ryuuji decided, whispering as quietly as he could. Barely breathing the words because Rin could still hear them anyway. “I’m gonna make him take a bath for this.”

[bustybounty]

'Urgh, life's so unfair!" You had heard about this 'reincarnation' thing the other protagonists were all raving about and signed up. It seemed so exciting at first, all the possibilities for new worlds and new powers, and now your stuck here... That stupid bimbo angel assigned to your case dumped you on a world where fat somehow determined your power and status, and then gave you a hyper efficient metabolism so you'd always stay smol and svelte in a world of blobs... surely there must be some way to turn this to your advantage like a true protag.

(Feel free to change the central size concept thing, just woke and this sprung into this Anon's empty, sleepy head, the idea of a Protag getting isekai'd and being the opposite of stupid-OP as the new world considers it, and making it work regardless. Thought if anyone could do it justice, it'd be you)

First of all I want to say that's really nice! Thank you for the praise, I try my best!

Alright, so how would our poor protagonist put their hyper efficient metabolism to good use? You know the weird thing that isekais have where for some reason there are a lot of enslaved people, one of which tends to become the protag's first friend or something in a lot of isekais? At least that's what the internet told me, anyway, it's likely the skinnier people who wouldn't gain weight as easily, or were just smaller in general would have to feed the bigger, making them total feeders as their barely paid/unpaid profession, having to give whatever crazy food demands their master told them to.. AND I MEAN, SOME OF YALL WOULD PROBABLY NOT CARE IF YOU WERE IN THIS POSITION! But we're trying to make it work for the protagonist.

So...I'm in a bad situation. I need to pull something out of my butt or I'll never make it in this world! Wait...what about...slimes? You'd think they'd just be like any other delicacy in this world, but they're very much not, the slime is not easily digested, and the evil energy consuming most enemy slimes is too annoying to deal with for these pampered fatter blobs. Plus, why eat jello when you ARE more jello than a king slime and can eat giant monstrous dragons for lunch, as one of the most powerful blobs in the world? The slimes are an untapped market of goodness and as a true heroic soul that I am (cough), I'll easily take care of their evil spirits, and then my body might not get 'fat' per se, but it will get bigger because it's inflated by the sheer amount of not fully digested harmless slime bits all over me. Probably mostly my belly, maybe boobs and butt too, but mostly that. The unique body shape and size I'd get to if I did this for long enough might get me the capability to feast on huge meals - huge enough to at the very least make sure I don't lose ANY weight from my metabolism, and I'd be at a size where it'd be possible for me to demand food and not get a weird look. Eventually I might even put on some actual weight!

So yeah, summed up, take advantage of evil spirit possessed, non digestible slimes that the fattest and most powerful don't eat due to them being too annoying and not caloric enough, to bloat my body up enough to pass as an actual fat blob, and then start getting enough food to the point I don't have to fake being fat anymore (or as much). Sounds like something an isekai protagonist would do and somehow win, no?

I also bring forth an alternate solution. Magic is always a great option, of course... maybe the poor feeder spellcaster I meet who's stuck conjuring spells to cook food faster, or make more food for them out of thin air, would help me in return for me helping them, by making me 'magically fat'; I can't digest the magic, so... then it's the same thing as the last idea, feigning being true fat until I can eat enough to be REALLY fat.

Lastly: I don't think I'd have enough charisma to convince others that 'having a hyper metabolism is a reason to feed me more, I just naturally need more food to be big so I'm better?' But. There's a chance that I could do something very bold. If I can just manage to get in an area of this world that prides itself not as much on fatness but specifically on how much they can *eat*, I'd have a great time. I'd challenge them to an eating contest! And through the power of gluttony, I'd win, eating more than the blob despite my tiny size, and despite me not gaining much from all that food. I explain that my metabolism is too fast, so I need more food to sate it, and while it might not work before, now i have PROOF that it's true, so that definitely multiplies my charisma!

I hope at least one of those answers was hot and/or funny enough to make you chuckle. This was fun brainstorming!

[femmesandhoney]

no one in my family growing up would cook bc my dad and brothers refused to ever do it and my mom was the only one expected to but worked full time on top of looking after us kids and also hated it. She would try to get me to do it but never asked my older brothers so i refused out of spite. And so we all ate individually and lived off microwave meals and snacks.

As an adult i learnt to cook and love making things that are actually nutritious from scratch. I do get somewhat neurotic about not eating frozen meals/junk food but growing up on that has given me lifelong health issues. When people who grew up on homecooked meals for dinner every night call me snobby for avoiding overly processed food my eye starts twitching lmao.

I do wonder tho how many women have a weird relationship with cooking due to it being on one hand, a life skill everyone should have that has a huge impact on general health but on the other hand is something most girls were expected to do for their families and to be a *good wife* for future husbands, and so refusing to learn is almost a rebellion against that. Even now, i love cooking for myself but cooking for other people... nope cant do it :/. Especially not for a man, but ive had female roommates i was cooking for who would joke about me being their wife and start making demands about what i should make, get annoyed if i was too busy to cook, and expect me to cook for anyone they brought over. Its like any women who's doing the cooking is looked down on (even if the food itself is praised) and everyone forgets shes doing them a favor, while men who cook are fawned over.

And i kinda hate how, especially on tumblr cooking for someone is considered an act of love. On one hand i agree, cooking for someone *can* be loving and intimate, but on the other its just like... its almost exclusively women who are expected to cook routinely and its not some fun, loving activity, it's an exhausting chore and if she doesn't do it no one else will.

Sorry for the long rant on cooking, but i cant talk about these things in my real life without everyone thinking im being crazy and over thinking things lol.

"When people who grew up on homecooked meals for dinner every night call me snobby for avoiding overly processed food my eye starts twitching lmao" no i understand this completely anon! as my mom was a single mom, most of the meals i had when i was really little were frozen or microwaveable, it wasn't until i was older my mom started cooking more or at least buying hot meals/ready made fresh food from the grocery store that we were actually eating less processed food for once. my grandma, though, was an amazing cook, so i know my mom grew up with good food every day, that was just expected of moms back then too like you said. so whenever i cook, i love love love just cooking stuff from scratch as much as possible.

and while i get what you're saying overall, and you're right lots of women don't learn to cook as a fuck you to gender roles, i was thinking of my friend and her sister and mom. there's no man in that household lol, so there's not any form of "you should cook while your father/brother sits around". i think probably her mom rebelled against it as a kid and never learned and just never taught her kids then, which is sad af.

i'm sorry your roommates are expecting shit from you though. that's very unfair on you. and i think cooking definitely is a form of love, but it's more actually romantic and sweet when both partners know how to cook and can reciprocate all that effort in an equal way. i think like chef couples are sweet af because you can see both of them equally can balance those acts and that when they cook together there's no stress because you know the other knows what they're doing. people who are like "let's cook/bake" as a fun date idea with their partner but only one knows what they're doing is not fun lmao. you're just micromanaging the other the entire time. sooo romantic and loving.

[binch-i-might-be]

hey ray i was thinking about getting pet rats when i can & researching stuff about them and then remembered that i literally know a real live person who owns rats. and four (4) of them too

would you say rats are expensive or hard to take care of? i've heard some people say they're beginner pets and other people dispute that. generally, do they need a lot of attention and care? also, i know this is different per country but how much did they cost on average?

also out of pure curiosity, have you litter trained your rats?? i was reading something about it and it said it's easy to do it. i need to weigh on an expert's opinion

ohoho what an incredible idea! (<- totally unbiased). thank you for considering me a real live person <3

okay so I actually kind of disagree with the concept of "beginner pets" overall because literally every pet you could get is a living being that requires care and attention. I think this mainly comes from people being uneducated about the needs of small animals like fish or rodents and assuming their lack of knowledge is equivalent with a lack of things to know.

that said, I don't consider rats hard to take care of, but that's because I enjoy spending time with the lads! cleaning in and around their enclosure takes a while, but it's not too bad when you throw on a youtube video and also pet a rat lmao

regarding costs, I think rats are probably amongst the lowest cost pets you can have–aside from insects or arachnids. that doesn't mean they're cheap tho!

the most expensive thing will be the cage, because you need a fairly big one. I paid 300€ for my current one that fits four rats (and that was on sale, the original price was over 400 lol). the cage furnishings will also cost you a good chunk of change, but they usually last for a while and don't have to be replaced too often.

regarding food, I usually buy a good brand 2.5kg rat food bag and another 500g dried vegetable bag every like three to four weeks and supplement with fresh food and treats from the food I eat. costs me about 17-20€

bedding is also something you'll have to buy often. it depends on what brand and size you buy–I recently switched from buying small packs of bedding (60l) to buying LARGE ones (500l), because it's cheaper for me in the long run. just sucks that I gotta lug those 20kg of bedding up the two flights of stairs to my flat <3 (I pay 18€ for those big ones I think, and they last a good few weeks)

now, the thing that's most likely to gut your wallet is vet bills. especially as rats get older, they tend to develop a lot of ailments like tumors or respiratory problems. that can easily cost you several hundred bucks in one go. I'm lucky to have fairly healthy boys, so I only had to bring them to the vet the one time! still cost me 75€ tho lmao

it depends from where you get your rats. I got them from the pet shop and paid I think 16€ per lad.

also about them needing attention, it's best to keep rats in a place where you also keep yourself. they like being around their human! and they need a decent amount of enrichment and play, as they're very intelligent little guys :)

I have not litter trained them, but tbh I didn't see a need to. rats will usually just pick a corner in their cage and designate that as the Poop Corner. I'm sure you could do that quite easily tho, and it would probably save you some cleaning up

anyway tldr: rats are wonderful little critters who are full of love and have sparkly little eyes and will outwit you with their wits tied behind their back. but you will have to invest time to be with them/make sure their enclosure is clean, and have to be prepared to drop a LOT of money should one of them get sick! they also only live to 2-3 years old which is unfair and cruel. things to keep in mind!