#four. pounds. to underweight

[newvegascowboy]

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[richiehugs]

Just a countryboy

Richard was an ordinary country boy. The oldest of four siblings, he had learnt early how to take responsibility in his life. He grew tall very fast as a teenager, being the tallest in the family at a height of 6'3" / 190 cm. As a result of his rapid growth in height, he had his abs out, though he was really thin in the arms and legs. He was severely underweight to his height, with about 150 lbs / 68 kg.

As time passed by, he dropped out of high school early, and started to work at a local facility. The job included lifting heavy objects, so he got his appetite worked up as well. With his growing appetite and regular drinking with the colleagues, he gradually started to gain weight, but for a countryboy, he didn't have anyone to judge him.

At some point, he met a beautiful girl at a party, visiting from abroad. They got immediately in love and decided to move in together. Thus their life together began. They were just a young couple, enjoying life. Though Richard started to seem rounding out… a bit more.

It turned out the girl didn't mind her boyfriend not being thin as a stick. As a matter of fact, she was a rather good chef, and got later a job at a local snack bar/restaurant. Richard was in heaven. He had a beautiful, hard-working, great cook at the house. So he decided to takes things to the next level, and got married and started a family.

But Richard was soon to realize that a family comes with greater responsibility. They got really surprised when instead of one kid they got triplets right away. He must work really hard to feed his family and himself, but after all, he got a raise and their family was thriving. And so did he. For with the dad-roll, he got a thick dadbod.

Remember? He was already in a careless-thickening-phase before he became a father, but then his weight really started to pile on. Twenty pounds in a couple of months wasn't a joke. So he met up with an old trainer friend to stop his weight gain - but after a couple of sessions he gave up his goals for summer. He wanted to spend more time with his family, and having to work hard, with triplets at home - there was no time for gym.

So he rather kept eatin' than gymmin'. In the end, he never lost his moobs and gut, ballooning up to be fatter than ever. And considering that his kids are barely three years old - who knows what the next fifteen years will bring?

This is the ten year story of Richard, a young countryboy to a fat dad . You can tell how the different phases of life has affected him: 2013 to 2020 to 2023, 150 lbs to 200 lbs to 240 lbs, single to pre-covid dating to post-covid dadbod, 5% to 15% to 25% bodyfat.

(Disclaimer: the numbers are rough estimates.) Do not reuse any of the pictures.

[i-was-today-years-old-when]

i learned about a story of how can intelligence help

As Flaviane Carvalho was finishing her shift, a family of four was sitting in her section. She immediately noticed that something was "off" about their behavior.

As the mother of a teenager, Flaviane's eyes were drawn to the 11-year-old boy who was sitting hunched over at the table.

His eyes were downcast and his family wouldn't let him eat or drink.

Flaviane asked if everything was okay with the food and they said that the child would eat at home.

Warning signs ringing in her head, Flaviane took a closer look.

Under the boy's hood, hat and face mask, there were deep bruises, cuts and scratches.

Thinking quickly, Flaviane wrote a simple note and held it behind the child's parents so they couldn't see.

At first, the boy just nodded, but Flaviane quickly added another message: “Need help?”

A small nod told her all she needed to know.

“I will never forget the feeling I had when I saw that boy. I just knew something wasn't right! He was scared and so was I."

Flaviane told her boss what was going on and then called 911. When the police arrived, they told Flaviane that she probably saved at least one life that night.

“This could have been a homicide situation if she hadn't intervened,” said Orlando, Orlando Rolon Police Chief .

“The lesson here for all of us is to recognize when we see something that isn't right to act on it…. It saved a child's life. ”

It turns out that the boy was being horribly abused at home by his stepfather, Timothy Wilson II.

He was covered in bruises from head to toe and was about 10 pounds underweight because he was often deprived of food as punishment.

His parents were arrested and charged with multiple counts of aggravated child abuse and child neglect.

[pinesfamilyguidetotheweird]

Ford Pines Headcanons Part 02

Bad Touch

Because of his experiences during Weirdmageddon, Ford doesn’t like being touched around his neck, wrists, and ankles (usually by surprise). He’ll usually react violently or just freeze up. Those areas are also very sensitive now and he wears compress sleeves on his wrists due to the nerve damage.

Tattoo Gone

The only good thing out of the electrocutions. The horrible scars pretty much got rid of Ford’s really embarrassing tattoo.

Love for Cats

He adores cats and always wanted to get one, but life happens (between his research, Bill, and being stuck in the multiverse). One of his favorite cat facts is that a cat’s purr can heal.

Quiet and Tiny

Ford was born tiny and quiet. He was, like, four pounds and didn’t let out a cry. Not long after his birth, he was having some trouble breathing, but it was able to be regulated…still gave quite the scare though. Stan was reminded of this when Dipper was born, as the boy had an umbilical cord wrapped around his neck.

First Act of Trust

For the first few decades of Ford’s life, his main sign of becoming trusting is in the form of a handshake, since this is him trusting the person not to freak out or judge his polydactyl.

Silent Nightmares

When people experience nightmares, they usually make some kind of noise, be it some mumbles, cries, or maybe even a whimper depending how distressing it is. Ford, however, had to train himself not to make a single noise in his sleep, unless he’d wind up getting undesired attention from anything looking for him, be it a predator or a bounty hunter. Same is said for movement. He doesn’t toss and turn or anything of the like.

Itty Bitty Little Space

As opposed to Stan’s claustrophobia, Ford actually likes small, dark, and tight spaces. It made him feel safe.

Not Too Tall

I do think that Ford is a tad shorter than Stan, maybe like 5’10”

Mild Malnourishment

Due to relying on special nutrient pills for the past three decades, Ford is a bit undernourished and underweight. By how much…not too much. Men of his height (say 5’10”) would have a healthy weight of 130~170 (according to BMI Range). So, maybe we can range Ford’s weight to be between 120~130.

Tiny Stomach

Again, because of his reliance on the pills, Ford can’t eat normal food (unless it's mushy and bland; even then, he’d still have some difficulty digesting it) and his stomach is smaller than normal.

[love-and-hisses]

November 5th (left) and December 27th: same kitten (Shelby), same chair.

Regarding Shelby: she turned 12 weeks old yesterday. Your average 12 week old kitten should weigh about 3 pounds (1360 g.) Shelby weighs 2 pounds, 14 ounces (1306 g). In other words, Shelby is now a normal weight! 🎉

She does look tiny next to the other kittens, but they all outweigh her by about a pound, so that's to be expected. (They are 2 weeks older, and on the heavier side of normal. I think I've mentioned that underweight kittens are not to be tolerated here on the Love & Hisses campus. I won't have it, you hear me?)

All the kittens are scheduled for their spays/neuter on January 24th. I'll start "advertising" them as available (their profiles will go up on Petfinder and Facebook) next week once the holiday is over and we're back to life as normal, but if you've got your eye on one, two, three, or all four of these guys (a girl can dream), feel free to drop an email to Forgotten Felines of Huntsville at info@ffhsv.org to get the ball rolling.

[13as07]

Spitting Image #3

(Gaara Sabaku)

[Artwork is not mine! Credit to Tamengkay]

Requested by: Myself

Word Count: 3,874

Warnings and/or Pre-Notes:

Should I do a prequel of their night together? Hmm… probably

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The opal eyes my son inherited from his father are staring back at me from the door frame of my apartment. "Yoshiki isn't here right now," I mutter, clinging to the door I've cracked open.

     "I know. Shikadai and Inojin were playing with him at the flower shop when I stopped. I stopped at the flower shop, on the way, for these," Gaara races out, shoving one of the fancy bouquets toward me. Ino and I tease that it's the 'I fucked up' bouquet since its starting price is twelve thousand yen.

     "The thought is appreciated but flowers aren't a good present for a nine-month-old," I point out, a ting of sadness aching in my chest. Yoshiki has officially been out in the world longer than I carried him for.

     It's been about two months since Gaara met his son and since we met Yoshiki's family. The Hokage keeps randomly showing up, never going longer than a week without appearing back in the village. More often than not he's only gone three or four days, and while he's away his older sister tends to show up.

     The extra help is nice, for the most part. I'm still a bit on edge about letting Temari help though. I don't like someone I barely know around my kid, even if it is his Aunt.

     The only person stressing me out more than Temari is Gaara himself. He seems cold most of the time, definitely not the blushing 'oh my this is happening' guy he was the night we spent together. He also seems to not know what he's doing, which I get if it wasn't for the older son he has. It leaves room for speculation.

     That and I can only imagine how the sand village is reacting. It's a good half-a-day trip either way, and with him spending so much time in the Leaf I'm sure his council isn't too happy, especially since rumor has it our council isn't too happy with his constant appearance.

     Pair all that with the constant shove of money in my face and it doesn't sit too well in the gut. I know he's doing it in good nature, the fancy dinners, constantly buying new things for Yoshiki and leaving money around the house when I deny it from him. I know it's all meant in good faith... I think, but it stresses me out too.

     I don't need Gaara to take care of us, to take care of me. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Yoshiki's father can offer him the nicer things in life and a part of me is glad that he wants to. But it still stresses me out. It makes me feel like he's setting himself up for a 'you owe me'. Another worry that doesn't get stomached too well.

     I haven't used any of the money Gaara keeps leaving behind. I have been saving it though, squirreling it away, keeping it as a little nesting egg in case Yoshiki and I do have to make a run for it. My father might have kept me blind to the Shinobi world but he didn't keep me blind from ways to keep myself safe. Rule number one: always have a packed to-go bag and an exit plan. At the rate things are going, that might just come in handy.

     "I know that," Gaara says a bit defensively, pressing the flowers to his chest before leaning them back towards me. "I got them for you," he mutters, eyes jumping around the apartment I'm in the middle of cleaning. "What is it that you are doing?"

     "Cleaning," I answer, eyeing the flowers. Is Gaara acting suspicious or am I being paranoid? We shall see. "Yoshiki has grown out of his pre-me clothes and some of the other outfits he has so I'm going through them. Whatever Konah and his wife don't want is going to be taken to the women's shelter."

     "Pre-me?"

     "It's short for premature. Yoshiki was born just short of thirty weeks. He was really small, three point two pounds. He's doing good now. His doctors say he's still a bit underweight but it's nothing to worry too much about. Just something to monitor." During my rant I've shuffled away from the door, focusing on folding more of Yosh's clothes and placing them in the box to bring Konah.

     "I was born premature," Gaara whispers, following behind me to watch as I fold.

     "My mother was too, so the chances of Yoshiki being a pre-me was always there. Besides that's a thing that comes from the mother's DNA, so don't work yourself up over it."

     "I was not going to," he murmurs, eyes jumping around the small space as his cheeks slowly dust themselves pink. I hum in disagreement, carefully watching as Gaara makes the short walk from the living room to the kitchen. "Where do you keep your vases?"

     "I don't have any vases."

     "What do you mean you 'do not have a vase'?" He asks, face scrunched up as he looks at me.

     "Exactly what it sounds like. I don't own a vase. Never have cause I've never needed one."

     "I am going to get you a vase."

     "You really don't need to, Gaara. I don't need a vase and I don't need flowers. I appreciate the gesture but I'm good," I tell him, panic banging around my chest at the thought of him buying me something else, much less more flowers.

     His head tilts and his face scrunches more before he shakes his head. "I am going to get you a vase," Gaara says more to himself than me, nodding in agreement with himself. "And new cups," he mutters, opening the cabinet, being met with the mix-match cups I've somehow gained over the years. "You shall have a vase and new cups next time I stop by."

     "I really, really don't need a vase and those cups work just as well as any others. I don't need new cups or anything else from you. I'm doing fine for myself and my son."

     "Our son."

     "My son," I repeat, feeling like I'm going to throw up despite the hardass tone I've managed to maintain.

     Gaara blinks at me a couple of times, seeming a bit dumb-founded and looking it as he stares, still holding the 'I fucked up' bouquet. "As you wish," he mutters, finally back in motion. He sets the flowers down before opening random drawers in search of something. When he finds it - a pad of paper and a pen - he goes to work scribbling on it. "Nonetheless, I shall walk around and make a list of things you two need."

     I let out a laugh of disbelief, clothes completely forgotten because of the madman's words. "No, you are not. I already told you -"

     "If you wish me to stay out of your room I will, but yes, I am going to figure out what it is that the mother of my child and our son needs," Gaara freezes for a second, imaginary eyebrows jumping up. "My apologies, what your son needs."

     "Are you being a smart-alec right now?" I ask, another disbelieving laugh leaving my lips. "Is that what you're doing?"

"No," he says matter-of-factly. "You are not okay with me referring to Yoshiki as something we share, so I will avert from doing so."

"Dumbass," I mumble under my breath, turning my attention back to the pile of clothes I'm giving away. "I got knocked up by a dumbass."

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"I'm just saying, Gaara is being a little much," I grumble, messing with my keys in search of the one that unlocks my front door.

"And I'm just saying, Gaara wants to take care of you. What's the harm in letting him?" Ino asks, her eyes are shiny with amusement.

"If you like the idea so much, ask him to take care of you," I groan, finally managing to get the key in the lock.

She laughs focusing on the grocery bags she's shifting in her arms. "Ya let me just ask Gaara to give me a baby too. I'm sure that'll go over well. Honestly, I still don't know how you managed to talk him into bed."

"You and me both," I mumble, pushing the door and leaving it open for Ino to follow. She does follow after me, silence flaking between us as we head towards the kitchen to place my groceries down.

     "Welcome home!" Shinki calls out, racing into the kitchen to greet us. "Oh! Hello Auntie Ino!"

     As Ino greets him, I head back out to the living room in search of Yoshiki. Panic starts to rise a bit when I don't find him - or Gaara.

     The panic doesn't last long though, the two of them falling into view when I push Yosh's nursery door open. Gaara looks uneasy as he sits in the rocking chair, my - our - son fast asleep on his chest. "Hello," he calls, stiffening when our son stirs in his sleep.

     "Hello," I echo, softly closing the door before I head towards them. "You know you can lay him in his crib," I tell him, carefully picking Yoshiki off his chest.

Gaara stiffens again, face scrunching up as he inches forward. "I am aware. I did not wish to."

A smile weighs on my lips as I cuddle with my son, pressing soft kisses to his head as I rock the sleeping boy. "Do you want him back when I'm done?"

He blinks at me in his slow way, his face slowly softening as he thinks. "Yes," he mutters, relaxing in the rocking chair again. "I enjoy our time here."

"I'm glad," I hum, soaking in my greeting to Yoshiki for another beat before I gently lay him back on his father's chest. "Yoshiki enjoys it when Shinki and you are here too."

"Do you enjoy when we're here?" Gaara asks, eyes locked on me, his stone-face expression on it like usual.

I think about it for a moment, trying to decide what answer to give: honestly or sugar-coated. "I enjoy spending time with Shinki, he's a sweet kid. I absolutely adore him. I'm happy the two of you are in Yoshiki's life." Both, that works.

"Are you happy we're in your life?"

"Yes," I answer before I have the chance to fully think about it. It's not a lie, I do enjoy having the Sand Shinobis around. I truly adore Shinki and like having him around. Gaara isn't terrible to have around either, it's nice having an extra set of hands, to have a man for Yoshiki to grow up looking up to, and I might have grown a bit fond of the flowers and the pale blue vase he got me.

He nods to himself, slowly rocking himself and Yosh in the chair as he spaces out. "How was your grocery shopping trip with Ino?" He finally murmurs, opal eyes set on me in their intense way. I swear Gaara can't look at anything calmly.

"It was alright. I think I'm going to make homemade ramen for dinner. I'm thinking of topping it with pork and boiled eggs."

Another spaced-out look and agreeing nod. "You should wait until Yoshiki wakes up so I can help you."

"I think I'm capable of - "

"- I know," Gaara cuts me off, eyes scrunched in a way that makes the markings of his eyes stand out. "I am aware you are capable of a lot of things. I am here to help, so I shall help. I wish you would let me help you more often."

I open my mouth to respond but get cut off again, this time by a knock at the door. "Hey, mamas," Ino's voice rings out as she opens the door, slowly poking her head into the room. "I have a meeting soon so I'm going to head out. Shinki is working on putting the groceries away. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Enjoy your meeting, I'll see you later," I call back, waving at my friend before she pulls the door closed again.

"Let me help with dinner," Gaara butts in once the door is closed, ending my attempt to respond before I can even start it. "I want my sons to see me helping around the house. It is not fair for you to work all day and then come home to do the household duties. Let me help."

I let out a long sigh, crossing my arms over my chest as my eyes jump around the nursery. "Fine, you can help with dinner," I say, giving in to Gaara's request.

I suppose there's no harm in letting him help more around the house, especially since he and his son spend most of their time in the village here. Of course they don't sleep here, it's only a small two-bedroom apartment, but if they're not sleeping or spending time with friends and family in the village, they are here. Which means they're here most of the day.

As I leave Yosh's room, thoughts of getting a bigger apartment cross my mind. Should I start looking for a three-bedroom or a four-bedroom? Probably a three-bedroom, I don't think Shinki would mind sharing a room with his younger brother... maybe. I'll just look for both. After all, at the rate we're going Gaara isn't going to let up anytime soon.

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"You're doing that thing again," I grumble, shifting the strainer back and forth to shake the water out of the noodles I'm prepping for dinner.

"What thing?" Gaara asks, his eyes still intensely on me as they have been for the last ten minutes. I swear he hasn't even blinked during the time.

"That thing where you sit there and stare at me. You did it during..." My mouth snaps closed, not sure how to refer to our night together so long again. Not really, it's only been eighteen months. Though a lot has changed in that year and a half. "Our time together," I murmur, shaking the strainer harder.

"Did what?"

"Just sit there and stare. Even in my drunk stupor, it creeped me out a bit."

Gaara finally blinks a few times, slow and steady as he thinks of his response. "You are a very beautiful woman. Besides, I like to look at the mother of my children."

The plural use of the word makes the strainer tumble from my hands, crashing into the sink as I lean down to rest my weight against the edge of it.

"Are you okay?" Shinki asks, his head popping up from the wood blocks he and Yoshiki are playing with. Shinki is trying his hardest to teach his younger brother how to spell his name. I don't think he has grasped the concept of how young Yosh is yet. Still, it's been cute watching him try.

"Yes, sweetie. We're fine," I call before letting out a silent sigh, my eyes snap closed as the sink edge digs into my palms. "What the fuck, Gaara?" I hiss out quietly, refusing to let the boys see me lose my temper with their father.

"What?" He asks, blinking in his slow 'trying to comprehend' way that's starting to piss me off.

"Child, the mother of your child. Singular, one, I have had one baby. In total. Not just one of your sons, one in total."

"Yes, I know that," he says, face scrunching in lack of understanding. "But you are the closest thing to a mother Shinki has known, and I fully intend to get you pregnant again. Perhaps we will have a daughter this time."

"What the hell, Gaara?!" I yell before I can stop myself, snapping my eyes open and standing up straight.

"There is no need to yell. It is not something I plan on doing soon. There are things we need to get in order."

"Like what?" I hiss quietly, shifting closer so it's easier to keep my tone quiet. I don't need the boys noticing the fit heating up, and Shinki's glancing eyes let me know he's starting too.

"Well, I would like to get Yoshiki and you situated in the Sand Village, again not anytime soon if you don't wish it but preferably within the next couple of months. Then we will need to get the events in place for the wedding and of course the papers to update Shinki's adoption order. Then the matter of getting pregnant again. I do not mind the age gap between the boys but I think it would be best to have our next child sometime before Yoshiki is three or four."

"Get out." The words come out airy, disbelief and anger rooted in my mind.

"What?"

"Get out," I repeat, anger quickly outweighing my disbelief. "I need you to get out of my sight. I need you out of my home, I need you out of the village. I need you as far away from me as humanly possible. Get out, now."

"What is it that I've - "

"Get out!" I repeat, shouting at him now. My hands jump forward, connecting with his chest before I start shoving him out of the kitchen. "Out! Get out! Get away from me! Get away from my son! Go away!" I yell, continuing to shove him.

"I do not understand what it is that - " Gaara tries to say, his hands jumping up and gently cupping my elbows, he's not even trying to stop my shoving.

"I swear to the lord I'm going to stab you, Gaara. Go away," I shriek, tugging myself from his grip before slamming the front door open. Once the door is open, I go back to shoving him out of the house, leaving the Sand Hokage in the hallway before slamming and locking the door shut.

When I turn back around, Yoshiki is crying and screaming in fear because of my yelling. Shinki is wide-eyed and his mouth hangs open as he stares at me. "I swear," I mutter under my breath, taking quick steps towards my son. I swoop down, picking him up before I try rocking him. "It's okay, Yosh. I know, I know. Mommy is sorry for yelling. Everything is okay," I coo, shifting us back and forth as I rub his back.

"Are you kicking me out too?" Shinki's soft voice calls out, the volume being his failing attempt to hide his sadness.

"No, no. Of course not, sweetie," I continue to coo, my fake calmness aimed at him instead of Yoshiki. "I'll never kick you out of my home, okay? You're always welcome here," I continue to soothe, dropping the arm not holding Yosh down so I can run my fingers through Shinki's hair.

"This is a safe space for you, Love. I'm sorry I've made it unsafe," I continue to soothe the older boy, placing his younger brother back on the ground now that he's calmed down. I fall to my knees in front of Shinki, wrapping my arms around him and pressing his head to my shoulder. "How about we put Yosh in his high chair and you can help me make dinner, okay?"

"Okay," the older boy whispers into my shoulder, willingly laying his head down now. "I'm sorry Papa upset you."

"You don't have to be sorry for him. Just because I'm mad at Gaara doesn't mean I'm mad at you, Sweetie," I tell him, littering the side of his head with kisses. "Let's finish making dinner now, okay?"

"Okay."

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Ino lets out a loud chuckle, hunching over the counter as she giggles. "I'm sorry, it's really not funny... except it is."

A groan escapes me as I lay my head on the counter, rolling over my fight with Gaara again. "I do not know what is funny," Sai says, looking quite confused as his head switches between his wife and me. "I think it is nice that Gaara wants another child."

"My dear," Ino says, wrapping herself around Sai's arm. "Gaara's bluntness is what's funny. They barely know each other, they are nowhere near close enough to get married, let alone have another child together."

     "Well, why not?" He asks, head tilting as he looks at his wife. "Gaara is here about as much as he's away. They practically live together and already have one child together. The only person in the village who knows Gaara better than her is Temari... well, and possibly Naruto. It seems that the only way they are not married is by the law of the Great Nations."

     Now it's my turn to giggle at Ino's unaware father of her child. "Well," she starts, mouth gaping like a fish as she struggles with her words. "The... there's not the emotional part of it. No one should marry someone they don't love, Sai."

     "Are you blind, my love?"

      "What?!" Ino shrieks, letting go of Sai's arm.

     "Please calm down. I meant it in a joking way, not literally. I am just saying it is obvious that Gaara enjoys her company."

     "What do you mean?" I ask, turning my attention away from the hissy fit Ino is throwing.

     "Like I said before, Gaara spends a lot of time in the village. I am aware it is to see Yoshiki, but he seems quite interested in taking care of you as well. If he did not love you, why would he be interested in your specific needs? Personally, if I was not interested in the mother of my child, my sole focus would be on my child. I would not care about the mother is all I'm saying. My child's needs would be met and that's it."

     Ino's lecture about the hypothetical situation goes into full swing, a few groans of manners and politeness thrown into the mix. As she gets after her husband, I replay Sai's words in my head. Maybe he had a point, or maybe he didn't. I don't know.

     Gaara's and Shinki's constant travels have been weighing on my mind recently though. They travel to and from the village at least once a week, if not twice. It would be a lot easier on them if we all lived in the same village, and well... it would be easier for Yoshiki and me to move to the Hidden Sand than Gaara and Shinki moving here. After all, Gaara is their Hokage, and leaving that job wouldn't be easy or smart, financially.

     "Maybe I will," I mutter, letting out another sigh.

     "Maybe you will what?" Ino asks, stalling her discussion with Sai.

     "Maybe Yoshiki and I will move to the Sand Village. It's the least I can do since Gaara is doing so much for us. Besides, it would be easier for me to get a new job at the same pay I have now than it would be for him."

     Ino and Sia fall quiet for a couple of minutes, the weight of my words hovering over them as much as it's hovering over me. Ino finally pipes up, saying "Whatever you choose to do, we'll support you. Always."

I swear I'm never drinking a margarita for the rest of my life.

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[jerzwriter]

Body Positivity:

TW: body shaming, fatphobia, skinnyphobia, eating disorders, and the like.

I'm so fucking angry and triggered right now, and I need to vent. I was at what was supposed to be a fun family event, and because I didn't want to completely blow up, I stepped outside. But I am SO PISSED that I need to get this out. While trauma dumping on a toxic website is probably not the best idea, I literally have to vent, or I'm going to explode, and I REALLY HOPE someone will read this and learn something.

I think the body positivity movement has been great—and I wish we had something like it when I was growing up because, trust, it was non-existent. But, like many things, it's great on the surface, but a certain segment has morphed it into something that is as destructive and hateful as the behaviors/actions that led to the need for such a movement.

Some background, so you understand my perspective. I've struggled with my weight my whole life. I've been everything from a size 6 to a size 22. I'm very tall, and when I was at my thinnest (mostly because I was starving myself), people came up to me constantly to tell me how amazing I looked. I'm talking friends, family, co-workers, people at the club, and strangers on the street. I was literally dangerously underweight. My family doctor, who had treated me most of my life, was begging me to get help.

I wound up getting help for what turned out to be an eating disorder and moved past that as much as I could. Since that time, my weight has fluctuated from average, to "a few extra pounds", to very overweight. While I am usually OK with myself and try to be positive about my body, it can be hard. I don't like the way I look right now, and I’m ashamed to say that because I don’t feel that way about others. Beauty is not a number or a size, and I know that, but I am my own harshest critic. It doesn’t help to have the voices of many people, people who were supposed to love me, in my head constantly at these times.

“Do you think you should wear that?”

“Oh, that dress is so becoming on you!” (Meaning: it hides some of your fat!)

Or my favorite, coming home in an outfit that I felt so good about that I thought I looked adorable in, just to have my mother (and later my husband) say something like:

"Perhaps you should retire that until you lose some weight." or "You actually went out in that?"

(PS - I am divorced and barely speak to my mother)... I'm doing so much better, but I know I'll never be 100% comfortable, and, as with most things, the voices seep in when I'm at my lowest. So I GET IT. I get it big time.

But - on to today.

We have a wedding taking place later this week, so the family has descended like the buzzing locusts they are. The ten women in the bridal party, of all shapes and sizes, are at my house for a get-together, and they began complaining about how ugly the dresses are. (They really aren't the nicest dresses.)

The eight anti-dressers were commiserating when one, we'll call her Obnoixous Bridesmaid (OB), loudly announced that another bridesmaid had to shut up and leave the conversation because she's thin (we'll call her Thin Bridesmaid—TB), and therefore has no business being there. I should point out that TB's contribution to the conversation was the dresses were cheaply made and "is so damn shiny" and, for the record, OB is not thin but not overweight.

So another bridesmaid, who is extremely close with TB, jumped in to defend OB, going on and on about how much she "hates" TB for complaining when "everything" looks good on her. TB looked like she was going to burst into tears but stayed silent. It morphed into four grown-ass women bullying TB, so I stepped in and told them all to shut the fuck up. Minutes later, TB left the room, and I found her in the bathroom in tears, saying she wanted to go home and skip the rest of the events - up to and including the wedding.

I went back to the room where the 4 were still mocking TB, and I told them I was appalled by their behavior and they could shut the fuck up and apologize, or they could leave my house. I was told I should understand because I'm a "big girl," too, and therefore should be on "their" side.

Are we fucking kidding me here?

I should point out that 3 of the 4 asshole bridesmaids are well aware that TB has dealt with a serious eating disorder that stems from being body shamed by grown-ass men in her family when she was a mere child. She's dealt with outright abuse and trauma, and they know how bad it's been. She doesn't walk around mocking other's bodies or bragging about how "good" she looks; in fact, she struggles to feel positive about her looks at all.

Body positivity should be about everyone loving their body, no matter its shape and size, and never subjecting ANYONE else to shame because of theirs. When the fuck did it became "fat chicks have to stick together and fuck them skinny bitches."

I'm so on fire I had to step away before I ended up on the evening news. On a micro-level, I'm disgusted with these people, and this has put a total damper on the wedding events this week.

But on a macro level, I have seen this time and time again. Yeah, our society is fucking horrible when it comes to how it treats fat people, especially fat women, and that should change. But it's as fucking wrong to be skinnyphobic as it is to be fatphobic. Perhaps, ESPECIALLY AS FUCKING WOMEN, we should be uplifting and supportive of one another. PERIOD. Don't we see that the obsession to be thin and eating disorders stem from the same fucking toxic place that shames fat people? That's where it is BORN.

I'm so sick of seeing this trend in everything. Every movement I'm involved with is dealing with this... YES, be proud of YOU, ESPECIALLY if you're in a marginalized or maligned group. YES! DO IT! I've got your back in every way! But don't fucking turn it into an us vs. them... even with people you supposedly love! Don't become the fucking monster you profess to hate.

Is asking for human decency really too much? I'm literally shaking.

We really, really have to do better than this.

[soft-bellied-tannies]

Gaining Weight and Love, Pt. 2

Read here or on AO3! - ⚠️ Intentional Weight Loss, Sex Scene ⚠️

Usually, it's all soft and fluffy around here so I hope you enjoy it 🫣

Read part one here!

---

After a full discussion with all four members of the relationship, the idea for Jimin and Jungkook to lose weight and start again actually seemed pretty fun.

Both really did enjoy actively gaining and they thought that it may affect them mentally to force themselves to maintain for who knew how long or go above their decided limit where they were comfortable. 

They started to slow down as they both approached their limits.

Jimin added on those six pounds over the course of three weeks - feeling an intense feeling of accomplishment when the scale read 200 on the dot. He set a picture to their group chat, the soft plushness of his belly visible and the red numbers showing his goal had been reached. 

Jungkook needed another month for his last ten pounds, blushing shyly as he stood on the scale under Hoseok’s observation - the latter teasing him when the scale actually said 232.6, showing that he went ever so slightly over his goal.

All three of his boyfriends were happy to see Jungkook’s pleasant reaction to the number after Jimin shared his concern that their youngest boyfriend may feel negative about himself for breaking his self-imposed boundary. 

The younger two had shared their plan and goals to initiate round two of gaining. Yoongi and Hoseok were quite impressed by the amount of research done and the realistic expectations the pair had for themselves.

They were going to prioritize cardio and a specific food plan to ensure that they dropped their weight without building too much muscle, knowing that muscle was heavier than fat and could make it more difficult for them.

The long-term plan was set for one year, but they did show their boyfriends that it could be done safely in six months. 

Both Jimin and Jungkook had decided that getting down to their original starting weights was not ideal, especially considering the fact that both were fairly underweight due to their situation prior to meeting their once sugar daddies.

Jimin’s goal was fifty pounds, fine to hit sixty with his lowest number being 140 if he could manage it while Jungkook’s goal was seventy pounds, knowing that he lost weight easier than Jimin and 160 being the lowest he ever wanted to be again. 

Yoongi and Hoseok also learned very quickly that their boyfriends both had incredible self-control.

Jimin had taken up cycling and running as his method of exercise while Jungkook preferred swimming and a casual boxing class. They had calculated the right calorie deficit for each of them and stuck closely to their plan. 

It was sad at first to see them slim down, missing the plumpness of Jungkook’s stomach and Jimin’s wide hips that were the first to reduce in size.

The midway point introduced new interests though as they discovered that Jimin’s stomach was the last place to lose weight, having his same belly from 200 pounds when he was at 175 which made it more prominent with less weight visible below his waist. 

All three could not keep their hands off his midsection whenever they had the chance, Jimin got used to the feeling of at least one person holding him at all times. He certainly enjoyed it for himself and took the opportunity to tease his boyfriends by digging out his old shirts that emphasized his roundness while it was still there. 

Jungkook seemed to drop weight so quickly that Yoongi and Hoseok worried at first, but his trainer ensured that he was doing everything in a healthy way and sometimes genetics just give people a better chance at losing their extra pounds.

His stomach seemed to like it was becoming smaller every day, but they did get to enjoy his meaty thighs and adorable cheeks for quite some time. 

By the seventh month mark, Jungkook had reached his goal with ease - looking trim and toned at exactly 160, not a pound less. He was excited to start gaining again, but he also was adamant to wait for Jimin who was still working on his last ten pounds.

Yoongi felt like he wanted to stop Jimin multiple times, an odd sensation that their boyfriend was getting too small, but Hoseok talked him through it. 

Six weeks later, Jungkook had maintained his stay at 160 while Jimin ended up dropping another fifteen pounds to put him at a slim 145.

A conversation came up one night between the younger two who took an account of their feelings on yet another significant size change.

In a matter of two years, both had gone up more than sixty pounds and then worked it back off so it would be understandable if they wanted to stay where they were after their hard work. 

It didn’t talk long for them to make it clear to their boyfriends and each other that they very much missed gaining.

The pride in their weight loss had come from a place of getting to actively put on weight and get pampered in that way by their boyfriends again rather than being a smaller size.

In addition to the excitement to start again, all four were thinking about how fun it would be this time without the awkward starting period and the already-developed stomach capacity. 

Somehow, the entire experience lined up perfectly with their one-year anniversary of dating as a foursome.

That was the perfect occasion to start again - giving Yoongi and Hoseok two weeks to prepare. Jimin and Jungkook both maintained their new weights until their anniversary dinner, wanting to initiate the second round of gaining with the stuffing their boyfriends were most certainly planning. 

Yoongi and Hoseok had prepared an impressive spread for their dinner.

Spicy tteokbokki, pork tonkatsu, kimchi, rice, and mochi for Jimin’s menu while Jungkook was served samgyeopsal with all the accompanying banchan, ramen, kimchi mandu, and hotteok.

The food was set on serving plates across their large coffee table in the living room to allow Jimin and Jungkook to get comfortable on the couch for their big dinner. 

“Wow, hyungs, this looks amazing,” Jungkook said as he entered the room, eyes widening at the amount of food. The sight alone made him feel a shot of heat through his belly, thinking about how fun it was going to be to let go and see the scale go back up. 

Jimin simply walked across the room to give both their hyungs an appreciative kiss before taking his spot on the couch, ready to feel the warm tautness of his full belly once again.

He wore leggings instead of sweats and one of his tightest t-shirts, another one of his teasing efforts knowing that all four of them were going to love the sight of his belly fighting against his form-fitting clothes. 

Jungkook plopped down on the couch next to Jimin, leaning over for a kiss of his own. He then rubbed his hands together and said, “Let’s eat well, Min-ah.” 

Their hyungs smiled and started dishing out the food, deciding that the younger two could start by feeding themselves while their hyungs had much smaller servings of their own dinner.

Hoseok handed Jimin one of the mochis as a sweet starter while he dished the tteokbokki into a bowl for him as Jungkook immediately started building his first wrap, Yoongi dropping extra pieces onto his perilla leaf as he picked out his toppings. 

Jimin moaned at his first bite of tteokbokki, already anticipating what the spice would do to his empty stomach. He ate the first bowl with haste, getting to the bottom in just minutes and feeling pleased that there was still significant room in his stomach for more.

Yoongi sent him a gummy smile as he refilled the bowl, having a silent moment while Hoseok was openly praising Jungkook’s equally enthusiastic efforts. 

Jungkook built a wrap that was a better fit for Jimin’s taste and held it up to his mouth, following it with his lips after Jimin accepted it.

They got caught up in each other for a moment before their hyungs directed them to keep eating with the excuse of not wanting their food to get cold, a tried and true method of their stuffing encouragement. 

The spice was already giving Jimin a nice bloat, resting his hand on his stomach for a moment allowed him to relish in the return of his favorite sensation. Hoseok took his pause as already needed a break. 

“Minnie, are you already feeling full? You don’t need to push yourself if it hurts, baby - it has been a while since we’ve done this so it’s okay if you need to stop,” Hoseok said, taking Jimin’s hand into his own and grabbing the attention of their boyfriends.

Jimin blushed under the sudden attention and felt love overflowing for his attentive partners. He shook his head with a smile.

“I’m good, really - I just needed a moment to take in the feeling. I didn’t realize how much I missed this.” 

Yoongi couldn’t resist leaning over to kiss him while both Jungkook and Hoseok cooed at his wholesome answer considering what was going on. “We missed it too, love.”

After the heartfelt moment passed, Jimin jumped back into his meal with gusto - trying his best to match Jungkook’s always impressive pace.

He alternated the tonkatsu and tteokbokki as they were both rich in different ways while Jungkook was going to work on the samgyeopsal until it was gone. 

Jungkook gladly accepted bites of ramen or mandu from Yoongi’s chopsticks while he built his next wrap, never slowing down once. That familiar crest of his filling stomach started to return and he already started thinking about the next time they would get to do this. 

Looking over at Jimin, Jungkook smiled when he saw Hoseok already taking over bringing the food to his boyfriend’s lips.

They all knew that Jimin loved being spoiled, always willing to eat more if it came from someone else’s hand. Jungkook managed to finish the samgyeopsal right as Jimin was taking the final bites of his tteokbokki. 

Jungkook immediately jumped into his ramen, finally letting Yoongi take the reigns as he maintained the same speed that the younger liked while he ate - his philosophy being the faster he went, the more he got down.

Jimin, on the other hand, liked to relax back into the couch in between dishes and let Hosoek push and prod on his belly while he digested a little bit. 

Hoseok slipped his hands beneath Jimin’s tightening shirt, hooking his fingers into the waistband of his pants and tucking it down below the younger’s stomach.

His slim tummy hardly counted as belly just yet, but his bloated stomach was slightly pushed out by the pinch of his leggings - a welcome sight returning. 

“What would you like next, Min-ah?” Hoseok asked as Yoongi and Jungkook were wrapped up in their own little world. 

“Anything is fine, just want more,” Jimin answered honestly, sounding breathless not from the food but his arousal. 

Hoseok smiled at the answer, tossing a few of the dumplings into the bowl of rice and kimchi before bringing them closer.

He held up one of the mandu first, offering the decently-sized dumpling and expecting Jimin to bite off some only to be surprised by the younger taking the entire thing into his mouth - puffing out his cute cheeks to accommodate it. 

“Hmm, someone’s being a good boy tonight,” Hoseok whispered as he rubbed Jimin’s stomach and watched him chew through his giant bite. 

Jimin nodded, as he finally got the dumpling down followed by a few panting breaths.

“Always good, hyung.”

“Yes, you are, baby. My perfect Minnie,” Hoseok continued, enjoying the mood Jimin was setting that seemed to match whatever energy Yoongi and Jungkook had going between them.

Jungkook was working through the ramen with a bright blush on his cheeks from whatever Yoongi was saying to him. 

“Another one, please,” Jimin requested, always well-mannered no matter how far they went.

Hoseok smiled and kissed his cheek before offering another dumpling, impressed to see Jimin take the entire thing yet again. 

Hoseok smirked when he noticed Yoongi watching them, equally impressed with Jimin’s big bites. “Someone is really enjoying your mandu, hyung.” 

Yoongi smiled and sent Jimin a little flying kiss who responded with a little embarrassed whine, his typical response at being called out for his hefty bites.

Jungkook took in what Jimin was doing and decided to join him, asking for a dumpling himself and downing the whole thing. 

Their hyungs loved it when a co-stuffing devolved into a bite-for-bite competition between the two because Jungkook felt the desire to win so he pushed on while Jimin just wanted to see his boyfriend eat more than him, going as far as his stomach would allow knowing that Jungkook would go farther. 

They finished the dumplings in record time, leading to Jimin wanting another break to sip on his Chilsung while Jungkook moved on to the last bit of his ramen.

Hoseok got the sense that Jimin was reaching his limit for the evening, already impressed by how far both were going in their first stuffing in over seven months. 

Pulling the dessert tray closer, Hoseok held up one of the mochis to see how Jimin responded. There were only five of them, the sixth being Jimin’s appetizer to his dinner, but they were decently sized with a whole strawberry inside so he would see how many they went through. 

Jimin said nothing, simply opened his mouth for one as he saw that Jungkook still had room to go and he hated stopping too far ahead of the younger in case it made him stop before he reached his actual limit. 

Hosoek brought the mochi to his lips, shocked again as Jimin simply took the entire thing rather than biting some off. The mochi was slightly bigger than the dumplings had been so Jimin’s cheeks were puffed out like a chipmunk, looking absolutely adorable. 

“You are so fucking cute, Minnie. I love your cheeks,” Hoseok praised, happy to see the little upturn of Jimin’s lips in response only making him that much cuter. 

Yoongi noticed that Jimin had shifted to dessert so he made the same offer to Jungkook.

“Ready for something sweet, baby? There is hotteok for you.” 

Jungkook nodded eagerly, knowing the shift to sugar would give him a bit more room as he was feeling very full - not uncomfortable yet but getting close. He looked over at Jimin for a moment, endeared by the same sight as Hoseok.

Their boyfriend really did have the cutest cheeks. 

The hotteok was at his lips before Jungkook even realized that Yoongi had grabbed it, instinctively opening his mouth to eat it.

The next few minutes went by quietly aside from Jungkook’s little grunts and groans at how good his dessert was and Jimin’s panting breaths each time he got one of the mochis down. 

While Jungkook was still working on his last few hotteok, he and Yoongi watched Hoseok start to tenderly caress Jimin’s taut stomach.

Certainly hitting his limit, Jimin felt all the food inside of him with every breath. He had to breathe through a few cramps when Hoseok pressed into his skin, not receiving much give.

His moans got louder as his hyung’s hand started to sneak down below his waistband. 

“Our pretty Min-ah, stuffed to the brim. I think someone deserves a reward for eating so well, right?” Hoseok prompted, almost teasing with his tone as his hand snuck into Jimin’s boxers and his lips latching onto the younger’s neck. 

“P-Please, hyung…” Jimin stuttered out, his breath catching when he felt Hoseok’s hand wrap around his cock.

It sent a hot sensation through his abdomen, chills raising on his skin as his boyfriend started to slowly move his hand along Jimin’s hard shaft. 

Hoseok looked over at Yoongi who was getting Jungkook into a similar situation, taking a moment to consider if they should move it to the bedroom.

They at least were going to need lube if they stayed in the living room so they may as well go get spread out in bed. He would also be lying to himself if he said the motive behind wanting to move was comforting because all three of his boyfriends knew that Hoseok loved watching the younger two waddle around after a good stuffing. 

Making the decision for them all, Hoseok stood and extended his hands to Jimin who wanted to hesitate but was also desperate to get fucked by at least one of his boyfriends.

With a gentle pull, Hosoek lifted Jimin from the couch who immediately cradled his bloated stomach which jutted out a few inches from his frame as if the muscle memory was still there from when he was fifty pounds heavier. 

Now that he was up on his feet, Jimin was feeling more determined to get to his end goal. He wrapped his arms around Hoseok’s neck, deliberately pressing his bloated belly into his hyung’s slim abdomen.

“Hyung, wanna ride Ggukie…missed our bellies getting in the way when we get on top of each other. Want him deep inside by full tummy.” 

“ Shit ,” Yoongi and Hoseok mumbled in tandem, loving when Jimin’s mouth got filthy. 

“Please, hyungs, want that too. Need to feel all of you,” Jungkook groaned, hands on his own stomach before heaving himself off the couch and watching Hoseok encourage Jimin to head down the hall with a keyed-up Yoongi who had already smacked the younger’s perky ass twice. 

Jungkook was turned around by Hoseok, his hyung’s determined hands wrapping around his sides to land on his stuffed belly. He could have melted into a puddle when his boyfriend started to whisper into his ear, tone husky and deep with arousal. 

“Look out our Minnie, baby. Doesn’t he look good with his firm tummy? See his cute waddle from being so stuffed up, think about how heavy he is going to feel on top of you in a little bit.” 

Jungkook let out a guttural moan as he leaned his head back onto Hoseok’s shoulder. His hyung always knew exactly how to rile him up, mostly because he and Hoseok both were turned on by the same things about Jimin so hearing it worded so perfectly went straight to his groin. 

“Come on, Ggukie. We can’t keep them waiting. Yoongi-hyung may start without us.” 

That was enough to have Jungkook ambling down the hallway as best as he could with Hoseok wrapped about his back.

They entered their bedroom to find Jimin already laid up in the middle, still fully clothed but shirt rucked up under his arms while Yoongi worshiped his bloated middle with open-mouthed kisses. 

Jimin let out an almost melodic gasp when Yoongi’s teeth grazed his nipple, his chest always having been sensitive.

Hoseok led Jungkook to the bed and stripped him of his shirt to admire his firm middle, stuffed even more than Jimin. He encouraged the younger to climb up next to Jimin, allowing Yoongi to give him the same treatment. 

Hoseok then returned to Jimin’s side, finally getting to remove his leggings and grabbing a bottle of lube from their nightstand.

His fingers went straight to work, wanting to get Jimin stretched and on top of Jungkook as soon as possible. Jimin moaned loudly as Hoseok’s first finger entered him without warning. 

“Ah…ah, hyung, feels so good, want more,” Jimin rambled mindlessly, somewhat lost in his lust already. 

“I know, love, I’m going as fast as I can,” Hoseok replied, leaning over to kiss Jimin on the lips. The movement forced Jimin to bend one leg up to allow the older access, his thigh meeting his belly with a soft thump. 

Yoongi was continuing his mission to leave no part of Jungkook’s midsection untouched, taking a small amount of lube to prep his cock for Jimin without getting him off.

Jungkook had a constant string of moans falling from his lips as Yoongi kissed and licked and nipped at his belly. 

“So nice and round, Ggukie. Can’t wait to see you get bigger all over again. So proud of you and Minnie for being so good for your hyungs,” Yoongi said in between kisses, knowing the praise would further deepen the youngest’s arousal. 

Hoseok had Jimin near tears by the time his third finger was inside, continuing his passionate effort to open him up as quickly as possible.

Any other night, Hoseok would be the one to draw it out and tease all three of them, but the emotions were already too high and everyone needed a release as soon as possible. 

“Ready, I’m ready, please. Need Gguk inside me now,” Jimin demanded, not wanting to release from Hoseok’s fingers alone. 

“Okay, baby, go ahead. Take what you need,” Yoongi instructed, pushing Jungkook back against the pillows and moving his mouth from his stomach up to his boyfriend’s neck and jaw. 

Hoseok gave Jimin his hand to help the younger sit up, pulling him over to straddle Jungkook and helping guide him down onto the younger’s cock.

Jimin threw his head back with a loud moan as bottomed out, hands blindly reaching forward to land on Jungkook’s stomach. 

“Oh, fuck, Min, feels so good,” Jungkook mumbled, referring to the feeling of Jimin’s tight entrance as well as the pressure on his midsection from his boyfriend’s small but strong hands. 

Yoongi was leaving deep marks along Jungkook’s collarbone while one of his hands was wrapped around his own shaft, slowly tugging towards a release at the various sounds from his boyfriends.

Hoseok placed himself behind Jimin, his fingers teasing the younger’s nipples, knowing fully well that he was quickly bringing his boyfriend into a state of overstimulation - not feeling a tiny bit guilty considering how much Jimin loved it. 

“Gonna move, Ggukie, need to move,” Jimin warned as he went up on his knees slowly, followed by a quick move back down to fully bottom out once again. He repeated the motion a few more times while he and Jungkook both filled the room with their loud moans and cries of pleasure. 

Jimin started to feel the burn in his thighs, but he was not about to slow down, only increasing his pace.

Between Hoseok’s hands on his chest and the sound of the bottom of his bloated stomach meeting Jungkook’s own taut middle, he was reaching his own release faster than he expected. 

Jungkook was completely overwhelmed and ready to let go when he heard Jimin say he was almost there. He had instinctively started to arch his back at the sensation of his boyfriend bouncing on his cock, pushing his stuffed belly up into the air and bringing a cramp to his side.

The little pinch of pain from overeating and the pressure of his boyfriend’s hands at the same time was enough to send him over. He felt the hot release shoot into Jimin, filling him up even though it wouldn’t make a difference in his already bloated stomach. 

Hoseok’s hand was back on Jimin’s cock, bringing him to his release at nearly the same time as Jungkook - white streaks spreading across the youngest’s belly.

Jimin’s chest was heaving as he tried to catch his breath, legs feeling like jelly as he immediately fell forward onto his boyfriend below him.

His sticky cum was now evenly painted on both their stomachs as they let out matching groans at the added pressure. 

Jungkook’s hands instinctively wrapped around Jimin as shared a relatively soft kiss considering what they just finished doing.

Their hyungs were happy to let them have their own relaxing moment to come down from their euphoric haze while they found their own pleasure.

Neither was far off after watching their beautiful babies enjoy each other so well only after enjoying their dinner even better. 

Jimin was startled as he was pulled off of Jungkook’s chest, not even realizing that he had dozed off. Yoongi was now cleaning him up with a warm cloth while Hoseok did the same for Jungkook.

His hyung followed each swipe with gentle words or even gentler kisses, aware of Jimin’s sensitive headspace after an intense session. 

“Love you, Yoonie,” Jimin mumbled, barely awake through the unwanted movement.

“I love you too, baby,” Yoongi replied, kissing Jimin on the forehead and encouraging him to roll on his side, knowing it would be more comfortable. 

Jungkook quickly found Jimin’s back, wrapping himself as closely as he could without adding pressure to his still-tender stomach. He pressed a few kisses to the nape of Jimin’s neck, not receiving a response as the other had already drifted off to sleep.

Hoseok returned quickly from shutting down the rest of the house while Yoongi cleaned up the bedroom. 

More 'I love you's were shared between the three that were still awake, feeling the arousal and lust start to bleed into a warm sense of love for each other. 

Feeling their hyungs get into bed with them - Hoseok wrapping himself around Jungkook’s back while Yoongi cuddled up to the front of Jimin - Jungkook finally let himself fall asleep.

Hoseok and Yoongi exchanged a happy look before falling into their own slumber, excited to know that they could look forward to fattening up their babies for the second time. 

[findingmypeace]

Edit: This post went in a different direction than I anticipated. Please read under the cut ONLY if internalized (meaning only about myself) fat phobia is not a trigger for you.

And I did it. I dissociated while b/ping. I was doing so well with no dissociation earlier. Ugh, so, so frustrating. I will probably spend the next hour cleaning up and getting ready for bed. I hate this part. It's like waking up and suddenly becoming aware of the world around you along with the whirlwind of b/ping.

Also, I'm going to work tomorrow. In-person. That part is not a problem. I do that at least 4 days a week, every week. The problem is I accidentally gave myself a black eye in the most millennial/Gen Z way possible. Laying on my back in bed this morning. I had just sort of woken up and was in and out of sleep. I was holding my cell phone right above my head. Started to fall asleep. Dropped it on my eye. Yep, I got a black eye from my cell phone! Learn from my idiocy, lol.

Finally, I have an appointment with an endocrinologist tomorrow morning. I am very excited. Yes, I am seeing it as this magic want that will make all the weight I've gained come off. I have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism but given some of my other symptoms I feel like something else is going on. My nightmare is that right now it takes me a month to lose X pounds and FOUR days to gain X + 2 pounds with NO change in behaviors. And it goes round and round in a circle for months on end. And this is how I a)ended up at this weight and b)led to such extreme behaviors before res. Behaviorally, if my body wasn't broken, I would have been at very different weight. Because despite those extreme behaviors this is what was happening over and over and over again.

TW: internalized fat phobia and not external

So, endocrinologist, please cure me. Please let me lose weight again. I can't live my life in this body. Why, why, why can't my body lose weight anymore? Like at all. No matter what my behaviors are. I am desperate. I am scared that I'm just going to keep gaining regardless of what I eat or my level of physical activity. Will it ever stop?

After doing my therapy homework I realized that having a thin body is my only sense of self-worth. But I'm gaining weight so fast that "the numbers don't add up" and I must be lying about actually having BED rather than Atypical AN b/p. That hurt. A lot. I'm not saying having BED is lower in the ed hierarchy, ugh! It's that I wasn't believed. And it was all because of my fat body. I'm not exaggerating. I have no doubt that someone in a smaller body would not be told they are denying binge eating behaviors. Who would ever believe that I was once underweight and for a long time? And I can't do anything about where I'm at now. Nothing. I feel trapped and completely out of control. I just want some relief. This is weird to say but I really want something to be wrong so that maybe, just maybe, there is some kind of thing that will once again allow me to control my weight.

I'm really sorry if anyone feels judged by this post. I put it under a cut because this is about my body and no one else. I don't want anyone to feel bad about themselves. I don't see others this way which has always confused me because why can't I say the same for myself? I just hate my body and even more so because nothing I do works to change it and I have repeatedly been on the receiving end of medical fat phobia. It's not my fault! I can't doing anything about it! Someone please listen to me instead of brushing me off with that disgusting, judgemental, fat phobic bullshit! "You look obese. Let's get you a free sample of wegovy." Fuck you! "We just want to help you reach your goals." Sure, that would be great. My goal is X pounds. I might die in the process of getting your help but it's fine. At least I'll be thin." Fuck you times 500. For new followers, yes this did happen. Just before I was almost sent to inpatient but my insurance wouldn't cover it (I'm fat) so I went to residential instead. I hate myself for spewing all this bullshit. It's all a product of my eating disorder and I know it's bullshit. But so is how I've been treated and I can't do anything to change it. I want to so bad but even if I eliminate food and water and survive on air I will still gain weight. Just like I did before treatment.

I'm sorry. I might delete this. It's too much emotion. These are deep, deep inner thoughts that I've been burying for so long and it's finally bubbling over. And I don't want to hurt anyone.

[mizufae]

This is Korben from this morning at the internist specialist. It was just a consultation today. Tomorrow, however, they are doing all SORTS of invasive things. He is gonna get a full endoscopy and colonoscopy, a liver biopsy, samples taken from his gallbladder and bile duct, and he’s gonna have a feeding tube put in!!! Our beautiful handsome boy is going to get all kinds of terrible bandages.

What’s wrong with him, you may ask? Well, after throwing up every day for over a week a couple weeks back, we did urgent care vet and then multiple ultrasounds and rounds of blood work, all showing an increase in his billirubin and inflammation of his pancreas, gallbladder, and liver. He stopped throwing up but then got a respiratory infection and was sneezing boogers for a week. Coupled with all of this he had lost over a pound in the past three months and had already been underweight. And then he stopped eating. He has only eaten tiny amounts in the past two weeks and is continuing to lose even more weight.

So, what could be going on? That’s what all the procedures are for tomorrow! They are going to take all the samples from his various bits and culture them so we know the exact kind of medicine to give him. And meanwhile, we will do steroids to help the inflammation, and be able to get food into his stomach and put all his medications in him through his feeding tube, instead of forcing pills and goop down his throat and traumatizing him multiple times a day. It could just be a worsening of his preexisting IBD. It could be an obstruction in his common bile duct or small intestine or gallbladder. It could be small cell lymphoma! All of these are treatable, though IBD is progressive and lymphoma would mean different kinds of cancer treatment and palliative care.

This is all costing an arm and a leg, but Korben has a very rich grandmother who would be downright offended if she didn’t pay for it, thank goodness. The less expensive diagnostic option was just more fuck around wait and see ultrasound bloodwork bullshit which would lead to months and months of trial and error. There are of course risks to all of this, but Korben has been under anesthesia before and done just fine, and other than his complete unwillingness to eat and his elevated liver values, his blood work looks good, his energy and personality is still there, he completely got over his runny nose, and he hasn’t thrown up except for once a week ago which was before we stopped the antibiotics that obviously upset him so much he stopped eating or drinking and all he would do is drool and try to spit them out. Sigh. Poor guy. Fingers crossed though, because although we have now interacted with four separate very competent vets and numerous techs, nobody has ever given us an indication that Korben is unlikely to recover.

Other good things: I’ve now learned how to give IV fluids and injections! It really is super simple, as long as your cat is mellow like Korben and you have a second person to be another pair of hands. The needles are like the least troubling part. I love the immediate relief and comfort Korben exhibits when he gets fluids. I know myself how it feels to be terribly dehydrated and in pain and then get an IV, so it’s a great feeling being able to do that for my cat. Yesterday I gave him his third vitamin b12 injection (he is getting them weekly for now), and he didn’t care for it one bit but it was fine. So now, I’m confident that if anyone else I care for needs injection meds, I can give it to them! I am honestly shocked I’ve never helped a trans friend with their hrt or anything before this, but now if it ever comes up can be like “let me help! Just act like a cat!”

So. I am currently in the “ignore it until shit happens” phase where I’m trying to just project calming normal energy at Korben, who is currently sleeping in a sunbeam by an open window. Tomorrow morning he is going to be going through it, so keep him in your hearts and all that. And then afterwards will be the notable experience of gooshing puréed food in through a tube in his neck! Eeeek! Then it will be some time to get the cultures done, and then it will probably be over a month of antibiotics and other supportive meds. Egad! Fingers and toes and eyes all crossed.

Thanks @penaltykeks and a few other people who have checked in and asked how me and Korben are doing. I’ve just been sort of trying my best to engage with pleasant things online and not write out my worries because I’ve learned it doubles down on my rumination. BIG UPS to Zoloft, which REALLY FUCKING WORKS for me, I would basically be a pile of quivering useless bones and fat without it. As it is I am a quivering pile of bones and fat that can give IV fluids to my cat and call my mom and do the dishes. 😽🤞

[kariachi]

‘What have you spent your day on so far, Achi?’ Well, I said someday I’d write the thing, so I wrote the thing.

Argit is very underweight. Nobody is having it.

~~

It all starts with a dunk in the bay. None of them want to get dunked in the bay, none of them planned for it or enjoy it, but while most of them are left freezing and uncomfortable Argit comes out of the water an absolute icicle. Kevin and Ben end up changing to higher body heat species and even when they get safely inside and dry, with both huddled up with him, it takes far too long for him to stop shivering.

The whole time Kevin has a look on his face like this is the last straw.

~~

None of them have ever been under the illusion that Argit is a healthy weight. None of them have been under the illusion that he’s a healthy anything. Kevin’s been huffing about his weight for so long they wouldn’t be surprised to find he’d been having prophetic dreams as a child about it. Getting a good look at how easily you could play his ribs like a xylophone even through the fur only serves to sink the fact more firmly into their brains. While they may have wildly varying opinions on him even Gwendolyn doesn’t like him so little as to want him to stay in that condition once the severity of it is clear. So, when Kevin declares his intention to get another sixty pounds on the bastard or die trying, pretty much everyone is ready and willing to help.

~~

When Gwendolyn finds them an article saying ‘healthy’ weight gain should top out at two pounds a week, they all settle in for a long year. When they see it also mentions getting plenty of sleep they just about give up right there.

~~

“He weighs like sixty-odd pounds soaking wet, how can he not sleep?! That should be all he can do!”

“You remember all the shit I’ve been through? Him too.”

“…fuck.”

~~

They all settle in for a long couple of years.

~~

Kevin dedicates himself wholeheartedly to the cause. It’s not as if money is something he has to worry about anymore, and he’s already partially extracted himself from the criminal underworld and turned his focus to his personal projects. Argit just becomes the highest priority one.

To that end, as soon as they have something resembling a plan he declares Sunday ‘Get Argit Set Day’. He and whoever has the time to help get together to tally up what Argit has and doesn’t have, hit up a few grocery stores, and get his food ready for the week ahead. Small meals he can reheat quickly or eat right out of the fridge. Healthy stuff consisting mostly of fruits, nuts, and vegetables, with hearty sauces, eggs, and fatty poultry.

There would be no worries about lack of easy food access.

~~

“So,” Argit says, Sunday of Week One, as he follows Kevin through Argistrix, watching him drop baskets of portioned snacks next to every spot he spends more than half an hour at a time in, “do I want to know?”

“I’m putting weight on you if it kills me,” comes the answer and Argit laughs.

“Aww, you care.” Kevin rolls his eyes, throwing a small bag of dried fruit at Argit’s head and glowering until he tears it open and starts eating.

“It’s been nearly a decade, if you’re just now figuring that out- You wanna be shocked by something, I’ve got a load of shit to go in the fridge and freezer too and Rook’s promised to come by every other day and help make sure you’re eating it.” Laughter dying out, Argit gives him a look somewhere between paranoia, insult, and the deep-seated affection everyone knows is there for at least Kevin.

“You people just have no faith in me,” he says.

“Again, nearly a decade, Hedgehog.”

~~

Argit essentially doesn’t touch any of it until after Day Four, when Kevin snatches his phone and sets an alarm for six, nine, three pm, and noon every day with the note “Eat a meal, [fuckwit/jackass/moron/etc]”.

The meals start disappearing then, but the snacks remain hardly touched.

~~

At the end of the First Month Argit has gained two pounds. Not much, but they throw a party anyway.

~~

The problem, they discover over time, is threefold.

First, while he is a stress eater- and Ben has a lot to say at first about how someone with his life who stress eats could be so skinny- it turns out that that’s about the only time he eats when left to his own devices. If you set him an alarm and make it easy, or if you put in front of him, he’ll wolf it down like nobody’s business, steal off your plate, hurt anyone who tries to take his food from him, but otherwise? He won’t even think about it unless he’s stressed or actively starving.

Second, there’s a reason for that. Argit, they come to realize, does not notice when he’s hungry. Years of neglect and Null Void living, even before he’d met Kevin, means that he’s gone hungry more often than not. By the time they’d met it was simply background noise, a constant that wasn’t worth paying any mind. Having ready access to food for the past few years has not even touched a habit built over a lifetime.

Third, as a result of going hungry more often than not, he simply can’t take eating all that much at a time. It’s not something that occurred to most of them, Kevin even had thought it a problem Argit had recovered from and fell over himself apologizing for not noticing when they all realized. The new meals are fine, all the articles had said small meal often and so they all rolled with it, but eventually, a few months in and purely by dumb chance, they learn he can’t handle the hurried, binge-like eating he does when you place a large amount of food in front of him. It comes up within the hour, not purposefully but just because his body has never learned to adapt to so much food at once.

Taking this new information into account, they set up a schedule to text him and specifically ask if he’s hungry, in hopes it’ll get him paying attention.

~~

The snack supply does begin to drop a little, to everyone’s great relief.

~~

There’s concern, at first, about building muscle over fat. He needs fat, they know this and have all looked at enough examples of healthy members of his species to understand, but it’s a hard thought-line to break. Even when they do manage to break themselves free of the ‘fat is unhealthy’ mindset, making sure he’s building enough muscle to carry said fat around is still a priority that’s discussed often and in depth. Ideas are thrown left, right, and center for how to get him exercising and keep him doing so, with no agreements made. It’s not until the end of the Third Month that they begin seeing some behavior changes and realize two things.

One: Argit still has that strong Erinaen need to climb and be up high.

Two: He simply hasn’t had the energy to do so.

Immediately they set to making sure he gets out of the office and just wandering about at least a few times a week, and let instinct take it from there.

~~

After four months, he’s gained ten pounds, one above the average guess.

They throw another party.

~~

Over time Argit keeps steadily putting on pounds, and it eases a tension most of them hadn’t even realized they’d been feeling for so long. He begins being more energetic, his attitude improves, and slowly yet surely they start being able to see how he’s filling out.

~~

By the end of Month Ten he’s gained twenty-eight pounds and looks like an actual person rather than a particularly fuzzy Halloween decoration. His winter coat tries to grow in for the first time in, as far as he knows, his life. He’s starting to go and wander about of his own volition, just to do so.

He looks, to the human eye at least, to be an acceptable, even ideal, weight, but they all beat back the urge to call it a job done. They’ve all seen what a healthy Erinaen should look like by this point and refuse to stop until Argit is, to quote Alan, “the fuzziest butterball on this planet”.

~~

‘u hungry?’

‘im good’

‘u sure?’

‘yeah’ ‘just ate a couple minutes ago’

‘good!’ ‘proud of you man’

~~

“Holy shit.” Doing his damnedest not to purr, Argit instead forces it into a huff and a glower.

“Seriously?” Manny doesn’t even pause in rubbing his fingers gently over Argit’s good ear.

“Is this what your fur is supposed to be like? It’s a crime it was ever so patchy.”

“Agreed,” Argit said, rolling his eyes and turning his head as much as he can without breaking contact to where what is supposed to be his bestfriend is laughing. “Will you come get him before he has to die?”

“Nah, you’re enjoying it.”

“Bastard.”

~~

“‘How did you not notice’,” Gwendolyn mutters as she helps Argit take his new measurements and do the math to figure out what size clothes he’s going to have to have made. “‘If this guy weighed less than some hams how did you not notice for nearly five years?’ Because of this! Because you wear clothes so oversized you need to gain forty pounds before you start planning a new set!”

“Well, ya know, Red,” he says with a snicker, “they do say it’s easier to shop a size up.”

The pencil that gets thrown at his head is easily dodged. The bag of pistachios, not so much.

~~

Month Seventeen, nearly a year and a half since Kevin and with him everybody else decided they were done, the whole lot wait with bated breath as Argit steps onto the scale. His eyes are bright, skin no longer thin, fur thick and soft, self wonderfully round, and he had been so close four Saturdays ago…

The room is quiet.

Helen kneels to check the reading.

She comes up with a grin.

“One-hundred-twenty-three pounds and twelve ounces!”

Everything explodes in a combination of cheers and relieved sighs. Off to the side Cooper crows something about “Good enough for government work”. It isn’t quite the sixty pounds they’d planned on, but it’s really damn close. Kevin yanks Argit from the scale and into a hug as Alan reaches over to tug at his ear affectionately.

“You’re still gonna keep up eating, by the way.”

“If you lose so much as an ounce, we’re locking you in a basement for your own good.” Chuckling, Argit let’s himself relax with a purr.

“Whatever you guys say,” he says. “If you really meant it you’d break out that cake though.”

~~

Five-hundred and thirty days, nearly a year and a half, after the dunk in the bay, Argit officially hits fifty-eight pounds and five ounces gained, with promises all around to make sure he keeps the weight on.

They throw the biggest party over it.

[midnightfoxbackup]

TW:ED/Long vent

Last year I was almost overweight. I made a joke and mentioned my weight and my step mother said “that can’t be right” and continues to scroll through and comment on articles about why in fat, unhealthy, and ugly. My relationship with food hasn’t been the same since. She’ll tell me to eat then comment on what I eat. “Just eat.” I hear. It’s not that easy. One year ago, 147, now I’m finally 132. One pound away from being underweight for my age, height, and AGAB. I’ve been forcing myself to eat recently and only ate half of my pizza at school before I started feeling sick. This one kid, whom I don’t like, but is friends with my friends, said: “Why do you never finish your food?”

I responded

“I don’t like food. I don’t like eating.”

he said

“Just eat.”

I hate those two words.

“I can’t, I don’t like it. It makes me-“ I was about to say it makes me sick before he cut me off.

“Just eat until you like it.”

I got pissed.

I yelled for god and everyone to hear

“THANKS, YOU JUST HEALED MY EATING DISORDER!”

And stormed off to throw my tray away.

He laughed.

I buy like four juices at lunch cause I can drink stuff, but not eat. And this kid had the nerve to ask for one.

I just feel so sick and like I’m not in control of my body.

I’ve started to not mind, even enjoy and crave the feeling of hunger sometimes.

I think I’m addicted.

Other than the calorie counting, my exact situation is the sign Empty by Jaiden Animations

“I know it’s wrong, but just because you know you’re colourblind doesn’t mean you can see the colours.”

I just wanna be normal again.

I feel so skinny yet not skinny enough.

But then there are days I feel too skinny and over eat and then hate myself later.

Or I feel too skinny, but I’m addicted to the feeling of emptiness and hunger.

I just wanna be normal.

[honestlysoflower2]

I'm only four pounds from being underweight.

Very happy about this.

Oh, I'm currently (114.0 ibs) underweight for me is (110.0 ibs), but still aiming to get to 100 by the end of the month.

[agentsquirrelsgotrobots]

Kade didn't expect to find two kids at a garage sale.

But when he tested an old TV to hook up his film reels to, the two kids (and a small gnome that he didn't see) fell onto his lap.

Then, the kid in the yellow raincoat bit him and tried to eat his arm.

Luckily, Doc Greene and Charlie were right behind him, so the three of them managed to get the feral starving child that looked to be about five but couldn't weigh more than twenty pounds off of him and placated with a meal replacement bar Kade had in his pocket.

The girl BIT THROUGH THE FOIL to get to the chocolate covered protein bar.

Doc and Chase drove all of them to the health department because human bites without tetinus shots = long and painful death. Of course, Doc drove Kade.

The boy, who with a fair amount of prodding introduced himself as Mono once Charlie had thrown (not literally) into Chase's backseat and threw several packages of fruit snacks onto the backseat so she could be buckled in.

The two of them were clearly not from this dimension, considering that he called Chase a trolley.

Kade was already being seen by the time they got there, and not unsurprisingly, the girl, which Mono called Six (Charlie was sensing a theme here), was sedated in Chase once Mono was escorted into an exam room. Charlie followed Mono because he didn't want to be in the room with Six if it turned out that she did end up having rabies.

Mono did not know what was going on, but at least Six got fed. He had brought her a gnome, but they had to escape through a TV before she could eat it.

Now, he was taking off his trench coat and shoes while he only understood one or two words out of every sentence because these adults liked using all kinds of extra words, and he could not keep up.

He understood lay down though, and breathe in and out, and open your mouth and stick out your tongue and keep your mouth open with a cotton swab in it.

Then there was a folding chair with a tray attached that he had to put his arm on and squeeze a ball and do not pull away when prickly liquid is rubbed into his skin and look at the doctor as he asked him questions he didn't understand and -ow. It feels like he stepped on glass, but just in his elbow. He looked down and saw a needle wedged into his elbow, the glass oddly clean, not yellowed or broken. He felt more prickly liquid on his shoulder and winced again as three more needles pierced his skin, the third one making his shoulders burn, and that was when he started to cry.

The man in blue - Charlie - offered him a hand and his little handheld screen, like the one in his trolle- car. It's a car. It had a simple logic puzzle game, a piece of bloatware that came with the phone, and he tore through the levels as the people with him talked, and Charlie signed papers, and he had to sign a paper, but it was just him and a puzzle that for once wasn't a death trap in disguise.

He gave it back after beating the game in under an hour as they waited for Six to be done. She also had to get a battery of vaccinations, but while Mono got away with one, don't - die - of - rabies shot, she had to get four, along with iv fluids and feeding. She was dangerously underweight. They both were, but she was bordering on critical. She was being released to the Burns on the caveat that she would be encouraged to eat and drink as much as she wanted and had to have a healthy amount of weight gain on her next appointment.

Mono was stuck with a mostly clean bill of health, and they managed to barter him down to a black cloth mask instead of his paper bag. (He would make himself another one out of cardboard by the end of the week.)

After dropping off Six and the medications she and Kade needed, Mono insisted on going with Charlie to pick up Cody from school.

Charlie had already told him that Six and Mono were taking Graham's and the guest room, and of course, he found the missing gnome. Mono gave it a hug and refused to let it out of sight until Six felt like herself again.

Dani was done handwashing Mono's clothes and Six's raincoat by the time they got back .

Neither kid fit into any of the clothes they kept in storage, so after dinner, they went to the department store in downtown Griffin Rock. Unfortunately, Huxley was also there and had no sense of self-preservation, as he repeatedly tried to ask Six, who was sitting in the cart, while Charlie helped Mono with finding his size and humoring him by letting him try on half of the boots in the store. He cleaned up after himself without being asked, and Six had a whole bag of snacks, so surely, nobody is that stupid to get close to a child that still had blood on her teeth and hands?

Huxley is.

The answer is always Huxley.

Fun fact, it is very easy to make a knife out of a pencil if you chew on it enough while fantasizing about eating a sentient gnome.

Also, it makes a fun squishing sound when combined with the lenses of a broken pair of glasses, all being shoved into Huxley's hand and shoulder.

Don't fuck with Six.

And for the love of God, don't try to take her mini wheats.

The knowing look from Mono made Charlie realize that this just might be his life now.

It is his life now. It's his feral demon children, watch as they never grow up due to the immortal cycle of a parallel dimension where Mono grows up to be an extradimensional entity that gets trapped and traps Six in a never-ending loop that is now paused indefinitely.

Yay

[dramatic-shitpost-poet]

Burmese Python

Enclosure:

Babies can be okay in a 10 gallon (juveniles are good in 50 gallon), but adults will need 8 x 4 ft minimum and bigger is always better

The enclosure should have roughly the floor space equal to four to six times the area of the snake itself when it’s in a flat coil.

You need to look for enclosures specifically designed for larger snakes and you may need to have them custom made since adult females need 72 x 36 inches usually at full size

Aspen shavings, orchid bark, and newspapers are easy substrates to use and clean up. The key is to keep things simple because they can get messy!

They need to have a large cave in their enclosure to feels secure, but having large branches or pieces of wood can also be enriching to them 

Ideal temperature is to be between 85-90 F, but at night it can drop to 80 F and a basking area around 90 F should be good too. Heat can be provided by mats/pads, lamps, and lights. UV is not required, but is beneficial as well and having a day and night cycle is also very beneficial.

Make sure it is secure because all snake are escapes artists

They will need a water dish large enough for them to soak in and fresh water should be provided daily. Misting once daily also helps with shedding, but you can do 2-3 times a day if in a shed cycle (50-60% humidity)

Do not house 2 females or 2 males together and they do great on their own. You can house a male and a female together, but they may breed and you will need enough space accordingly

Diet/feeding habits:

Hatchlings to 4 feet long need to eat every 3-4 days

4 feet to maturity (10 ft females, 8 ft males) they need to eat every 5-7 days

From 3 years on they need to be fed once every 10 days, but it may need to be adjusted depending on weight and appearance

They start off eating appropriate sized mouse, then continue to move up to rats and eventually rabbits, but they just need to be a good size for them

They will also eat chicken, but this should not be fed often as it puts weight on them quickly and should only be used for ones that are underweight/picky

You may have to use a buffer like a wooden board and snake hooks/tongs when removing uneaten food or when feeding the snake just to be on the safe side

Feed often enough to maintain optimum body condition; you should not be able to see the snake's ribs. It's essential to be careful not to overfeed them, or you will end up with an obese snake. Signs your snake may be overweight include noticeable scale separation, sunken spine, or "fat wrinkles." 

Age identification:

Lifespan is usually a 15-20 years, but some almost live to 30 years

Physical traits:

Hatchlings are typically around 20 inches long and weight 4 ounces, but adults can weigh over 200 pounds

Females usually get bigger than the males and are around 13-18 feet long at adult size, but some can get more than 20 feet long and even to 40 feet

Males usually get to be 8-14 feet long, but have been known to reach 17 feet sometimes

There are many morphs including: Albino, patternless/green, labyrinth, granite

There is a dwarf variety, but they are not as commonly known or sold. The dwarf morph usually gets around 5-7 feet total in adult size

Juvenile Burmese Pythons will shed quite often as they grow quickly. This is completely natural and does not harm the snake in any way. Older snakes will shed less frequently but will continue to do so for the duration of their life.

They lay about 20-80 eggs, but I will not be getting into breeding for them here so your own research is needed if you desire to breed burmese pythons

Personality:

Very food driven as well, but not as much as reticulated pythons

They are big, gentle, and sometimes pretty dumb giants and are very docile most times

Some are a bit more nippy, but they usually calm down. If you need them being docile you need to be looking for that with initial choosing for the python though

They are exceptional swimmers and can stay submerged for up to half an hour without surfacing for air. 

They are mainly a ground dwelling snake but juveniles will spend much of their time in the trees. 

Females can get protective over eggs and nippy during breeding season

If your snake goes on an eating strike, it is not necessarily an illness; some snakes do not eat during seasonal changes, before shedding, or if their cage is not warm enough.

Health concerns: 

Respiratory issues can occur from their enclosure being too humid or cold; wheezing and secreting a foamy substance from the mouth are signs of this. Blisters and scale rot are also caused by too much humidity

Inclusion body disease (IBD) which is not harmful to humans, but it is to snakes and most common carriers are in the boa constrictor family. IBD is marked with symptoms of tremors, seizures, vision loss, loss of tongue control, and the inability to right itself when turned upside down (a condition called “stargazing syndrome”).

Mites and other parasites can also affect pythons and can sometimes carry IBD as well, so always quarantine your snakes before introducing them in the same room or enclosure to ensure they’re healthy

Burmese pythons are the main species affected by Burmese Disease (BD), but it has also been seen in Borneo short-tailed pythons, African rock, and blood pythons. BD is a slow, progressive disease characterized by recurring bouts of respiratory infections like pneumonia and involvement of opportunistic bacteria

After your snake has finished shedding, do a quick examination to ensure there is no stuck shed. Common areas for stuck shed include around the eyes and the tail. Stuck shed can be easily removed by giving your snake a warm bath. During the bath the stuck shed can be easily rubbed away.

Handlings:

Handling the hatchlings from a young age gets them to calm down quickly

Make sure to have another person around while handling because they do not know their own strength sometimes and don’t let them wrap around neck and chest areas.

If you do not at least regularly handle them they will only associate you with food and may strike whenever you open their cage, so do handlings to prevent this

Don’t handle it a few hours before and 2 days after feeding

Avoid touching the top of its head. Unless it knows and trusts you, touching the top of the head will cause it to jerk away from the touch. The fast movement of the snake tends to scare a lot of new snake owners. This is called being "head shy." A lot of pythons will get over it with gentle handling.

[steampunk-sorcerer]

I don’t vibe with my grandmother on everything but the one thing we can agree on is that my aunt is going to give her two young daughters a fucking eating disorder the way she grills them on everything they’ve eaten after they spend time with said grandmother. They already say shit like “oh we can’t eat that it’s not organic/it’s bad for you/etc” and the younger one is underweight (her mother had the audacity to be excited and then weigh her against her older sister when she heard that she’d gained four pounds last week)