#geese are good you all are just mean

[theluigiguy]

EXTEND N E C K

(they saw a dog...)

[keeps-ache]

thinking of fairies that look like ferret + mourning doves. uh huh yep :>

[bmpmp3]

i understand technically why people hate canada geese: they're messy and they can be aggressive and territorial and they like to very slowly cross busy streets and thats enough for a lot of people to not think about it too much and decide to take it personal that an animal is doing things that animals do BUT man. i just cant relate. it was a gloomy rainy day today, i was biking past a sports field and i slowed down to a walking pace because there were a lot of canada geese and i didnt wanna hurt or scare any and they were all relaxed and preening their fluffy feathers and eating some tasty grass. one noticed i was watching them preening and got upset at me and gave a little warning honk, causing a group further back to gently start honking too. i smiled and moved on and slowly biked off, feeling like it was the sunniest, brightest, happiest day on earth. havent you ever heard the wonderful goose wonderfully honk. havent you ever felt the thrill of a canada goose hissing at you.

[rxttenfish]

............ i’m starting to worry that all the talk of “trash pandas” and people calling themselves raccoons have unfairly given people the idea that raccoons are safe or docile or easy to handle

like, the original wish to talk of them in more endearing terms was in reaction to the overarching narrative that they’re pests and should be exterminated, but that absolutely DOES NOT mean you should get close to raccoons nor treat them as pets. they are still a dangerous animal that you shouldn’t disturb, much less come within biting distance of a raccoon.

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Why Feeding Wildlife is Dangerous

Originally posted on my blog at https://rebeccalexa.com/feeding-wildlife-dangerous/

Winter is here in the Northern Hemisphere, which means that wild animals of all sorts are falling back on cold weather adaptations that have evolved over countless generations. Some, like reptiles and amphibians, go into brumation or other hibernation-like states. Others have warm feathers or fur to insulate them as they go about their lives in chilly conditions. They may migrate around their territory in search of various food sources. Not all will survive these harsh months, which makes feeding wildlife to help them through the hard times a tempting idea.

Unfortunately, while this is a kind-hearted act born of good intentions, the impact is all too often harmful. Here are a few of the damaging, even deadly, effects of feeding wildlife.

First, let’s be a little more nuanced about the definition of wildlife in this case. I support the feeding of birds, at least those that commonly visit bird feeders. These birds are of species that are used to their food sources–like seeds, berries, and insects–being temporary, and so they retain their ability to forage for food in various places. Also, because the birds are not being fed by hand, and tend to retain their natural fear of humans, they are not likely to become habituated to us. It should go without saying that trying to convince birds to eat from your hand, or otherwise stop being afraid of you, is a bad idea (more about that in a minute.) And, of course, you need to make sure to keep your feeders clean and watch your local birds very carefully for any signs of disease; here’s an article I wrote on feeding birds safely and ethically. 

Wild mammals, on the other hand, have a tendency to become dependent on human sources of food much more readily than birds. If you leave food scraps, pet food, or trash out where they can access it, they quickly figure out that this is an easy meal, and will hang around more than birds might.

Some birds will be more easily habituated than others; ducks and geese, for example, will lose their fear of humans as quickly as mammals do, especially when being fed regularly at ponds or lakes. So consider this article to primarily cover wild mammals, waterfowl, and any other animal that can be easily habituated through feeding.

A good example of what NOT to do. 

Habituation is the biggest behavior change seen in fed wildlife. A habituated animal is simply one that no longer fears humans, and sees us as a source of food handouts. Unlike normal, healthy wildlife, these animals do not run away when a human approaches, even at a close distance. As mentioned above, this means they may even become aggressive in seeking food, and people have been bitten, scratched, gored, or otherwise injured by habituated animals. It may be easy to see why a habituated bear or moose is dangerous, but even smaller animals like squirrels or raccoons have a very nasty, painful bite or scratch. Some also carry zoonotic diseases that can be passed to humans; rabies is the most notorious, but even a bacterial infection caused by the bite or scratch can be an unpleasant experience.

But this lack of fear isn’t just a threat to us. It also puts the wildlife at risk. Wild mammals that wander through our neighborhoods in search of food are more likely to be hit by cars, attacked by outdoor dogs or cats, and injured or killed by cruel humans. If hunting is allowed in the area, the animal may walk right up to a hunter. Plus wild animals that become a nuisance or threat to people are sometimes euthanized, as relocated animals often end up finding their way back to their original territory, or go find a new group of humans to mooch off of.

Feeding wildlife can also cause them to cease natural foraging behaviors. Not only does this mean they may starve if the humans in the area stop feeding them, but they don’t teach their young proper foraging either, and so you may have animals several generations down the line that no longer know how to find natural food sources in the area.

Also, what we're feeding wildlife can kill them.

So here’s the thing: humans are omnivores. Actually, we’re sort of super omnivores; we have one of the most varied diets of any species, especially now that we’re able to grow all sorts of domesticated crops, including but not limited to two dozen cultivars of wild mustard (Brassica oleracea), various and sundry grains, legumes, tubers, etc. And because we’ve spread all throughout the planet, we’ve successfully sampled thousands upon thousands of edible animals, plants, and fungi. We’ve managed to evolve tolerances to substances some plants produce to keep from being eaten, like caffeine and capsaicin, and some of us go out of our way to seek them. We’ve also heavily altered some of our foods through cooking, to include some methods that render the food quite unhealthy even for us (not that that stops us from eating it anyway.)

All of this means that over 300,00 years of existence, Homo sapiens has evolved the ability to eat a truly mind-boggling array of foods. Unfortunately, even the other omnivores in our lives can’t necessarily tolerate the foods we eat. Domestic dogs evolved alongside us, eating first our refuse, and then sharing our meals, for thousands of years. Yet they still can’t safely eat chocolate, avocado, onions, or grapes, and some things we’ve created like the artificial sweetener xylitol can also be harmful–even deadly–to dogs.

So when you put out a plate of table scraps for your local squirrels, opossums, raccoons, or even bears, there’s a very good chance that something there is going to make them sick. You could even be sentencing one of your visitors to death! Even if they don’t immediately get sick, over time eating the wrong foods could seriously affect the health of wildlife, and may lead to sickness and an earlier, unpleasant death.

Sometimes, even something that seems like the “right” food can be deadly. Deer species in North America are adapted to eating lots of woody vegetation in winter; their gut microbiome is perfectly balanced to digest this tough food. However, some people like to feed them corn, either because they want to be nice, or because they want to hunt the deer. Unfortunately, the nutritional makeup of corn is very different from the deer’s winter fare. The carbohydrates in the corn can cause a condition called rumen acidosis. This overloading of carbs causes Streptococcus bacteria, which occur naturally in the deer’s chambered stomach, to overpopulate in a matter of hours. This raises the acidity of the stomach, and kills off many of the other microbes in the gut flora. This sudden imbalance essentially causes the stomach to stop digestion altogether. In a severe enough case, the deer dies a horribly painful death within twenty-four hours. Deer that survive often have permanently damaged stomachs, which can lead to worse health overall and a shortened lifespan.

Every ecosystem has adapted over thousands of years; in some cases, an ecosystem may be millions of years old (with some changes in species makeup, of course.) Over that time, species have evolved to keep each other’s numbers in check, whether through consuming each other, competing for resources, or spreading disease to other species as well as their own. One of the biggest limiting factors in a species’ habitat is the amount of food that’s available. You’ll generally have fewer large predators in a place than large herbivores, for example, because the land can support a lot more plants to feed herbivores than herbivores to feed carnivores.

So the ecosystem is able to keep its species in balance; any time a species begins to overpopulate, predation, starvation and disease tend to knock the numbers back. Some species even have “boom or bust” population cycles; lemmings, for example, are thought to have population fluctuations tied to the number of ermine preying on them in a given area.

But when we humans artificially change the availability of food in a given place, we can cause serious disruptions in these natural checks and balances. Put too much food in a place over time, and you end up with overpopulations of the animals that eat that food, with subsequent deaths from disease due to overcrowding, and starvation when the population inevitably outgrows even the artificially added food.

By John Davis, CCA-2.0

Speaking of disease, when feeding wildlife many people just dump the food in the same place every day or night, whether that’s pet bowls, a trash can, or a feeding site. This causes wildlife to congregate in unnaturally large numbers and on a regular basis, which again leads to increased disease transmission. Keep in mind that wildlife don’t have veterinarians they can just go to when sick, so you end up with wild animals dying some pretty slow, awful deaths due to these diseases. (And yes, this can happen with birds–again, why it is so incredibly important to properly clean your feeders regularly!)

I know it’s tempting to entice wildlife closer, and to want to help them through tough times. But it is incredibly important to keep a firm boundary between us and wild animals. We’ve already interfered in their lives and their behaviors enough. The more we meddle, the more harm we do to them, even if our intentions were good.

But wildlife are not pets. They are their own beings with their own lives and agendas, instincts and territories. They are, as Henry Beston wrote in The Outermost House, “not brethren, they are not underlings: they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.” And we respect them best when we give them their space and allow them to live as wild a life as possible in a world we have so dramatically changed.

If you want to create the best world for your local wildlife, create habitat and natural food sources for them. Remove invasive species, and plant more native plants, especially those that offer food and shelter to wildlife. (The native plant finder is a great starting point for those in the US.) Work to protect what wildlife habitat is left, especially habitats that are relatively undamaged like old-growth forests. This way you are helping to maintain space where these species can live the lives they have lived for many thousands of years without our interference.

Did you enjoy this post? Consider taking one of my online foraging and natural history classes, checking out my other articles, or picking up a paperback or ebook I’ve written! You can even buy me a coffee here!

[soracities]

what are your suggestions for starter poetry for people who dont have strong reading/analysis backgrounds

I've answered this a few times so I'm going to compile and expand them all into one post here.

I think if you haven't read much poetry before or aren't sure of your own tastes yet, then poetry anthologies are a great place to start: many of them will have a unifying theme so you can hone in based on a subject that interests you, or pick your way through something more general. I haven't read all of the ones below, but I have read most of them; the rest I came across in my own readings and added to my list either because I like the concept or am familiar with the editor(s) / their work:

Staying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal Times (ed. Nick Astley) & Being Alive: The Sequel to Staying Alive (there's two more books in this series, but I'm recommending these two just because it's where I started)

The Rattlebag (ed. Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes)

The Ecco Anthology of International Poetry (ed. Ilya Kaminsky & Susan Harris)

The Essential Haiku, Versions of Basho, Buson and Issa (ed. Robert Hass)

A Book of Luminous Things (ed. Czesław Miłosz )

Now and Then: The Poet's Choice Columns by Robert Hass (this may be a good place to start if you're also looking for commentary on the poems themselves)

Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World(ed. Pádraig Ó'Tuama)

African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song (ed. Kevin Young)

The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief and Healing (ed. Kevin Young)

Lifelines: Letters from Famous People about their Favourite Poems

The following lists are authors I love in one regard or another and is a small mix of different styles / time periods which I think are still fairly accessible regardless of what your reading background is! It's be no means exhaustice but hopefully it gives you even just a small glimpse of the range that's available so you can branch off and explore for yourself if any particular work speaks to you.

But in any case, for individual collections, I would try:

anything by Sara Teasdale

Devotions / Wild Geese / Felicity by Mary Oliver

Selected Poems and Prose by Christina Rossetti

Collected Poems by Langston Hughes

Where the Sidewalk Endsby Shel Silverstein

Morning Haiku by Sonia Sanchez

Revolutionary Letters, Diane di Prima

Concerning the Book That Is the Body of the Beloved by Gregory Orr

Rose: Poems by Li-Young Lee

A Red Cherry on a White-Tiled Floor / Barefoot Souls by Maram al-Masri

Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky

Tell Me: Poems / What is This Thing Called Love? by Kim Addonizio

The Trouble with Poetry by Billy Collins (Billy Collins is THE go-to for accessible / beginner poetry in my view so I think any of his collections would probably do)

Crush by Richard Siken

Rapture / The World's Wife by Carol Ann Duffy

The War Works Hard by Dunya Mikhail

Selected Poems by Walt Whitman

View with a Grain of Sand by Wislawa Szymborska

Collected Poems by Vasko Popa

Under Milkwood by Dylan Thomas (this is a play, but Thomas is a poet and the language & structure is definitely poetic to me)

Bright Dead Things: Poems by Ada Limón

Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth by Warsan Shire,

Nostalgia, My Enemy: Selected Poems by Saadi Youssef

As for individual poems:

“Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver

[Dear The Vatican] erasure poem by Pádraig Ó'Tuama // "The Pedagogy of Conflict"

"Good Bones" by Maggie Smith

"The Author Writes the First Draft of His Weddings Vows (An erasure of Virginia Woolf's suicide letter to her husband, Leonard)" by Hanif Abdurraqib

"I Can Tell You a Story" by Chuck Carlise

"The Sciences Sing a Lullabye" by Albert Goldbarth

"One Last Poem for Richard" by Sandra Cisneros

"We Lived Happily During the War" by Ilya Kaminsky

“I’m Explaining a Few Things”by Pablo Neruda

"Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" //"Nothing Gold Can Stay"//"Out, Out--" by Robert Frost

"Tablets: I // II // III"by Dunya Mikhail

"What Were They Like?" by Denise Levertov

"Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden,

"The Patience of Ordinary Things" by Pat Schneider

“I, too” // "The Negro Speaks of Rivers” // "Harlem” // “Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes

“The Mower” // "The Trees" // "High Windows" by Philip Larkin

“The Leash” // “Love Poem with Apologies for My Appearance” // "Downhearted" by Ada Limón

“The Flea” by John Donne

"The Last Rose of Summer" by Thomas Moore

"Beauty" // "Please don't" // "How it Adds Up" by Tony Hoagland

“My Friend Yeshi” by Alice Walker

"De Humanis Corporis Fabrica"byJohn Burnside

“What Do Women Want?” // “For Desire” // "Stolen Moments" // "The Numbers" by Kim Addonizio

“Hummingbird” // "For Tess" by Raymond Carver

"The Two-Headed Calf" by Laura Gilpin

“Bleecker Street, Summer” by Derek Walcott

“Dirge Without Music” // "What Lips My Lips Have Kissed" by Edna St. Vincent Millay

“Digging” // “Mid-Term Break” // “The Rain Stick” // "Blackberry Picking" // "Twice Shy" by Seamus Heaney

“Dulce Et Decorum Est”by Wilfred Owen

“Notes from a Nonexistent Himalayan Expedition”by Wislawa Szymborska

"Hour" //"Medusa" byCarol Ann Duffy

“The More Loving One” // “Musée des Beaux Arts” by W.H. Auden

“Small Kindnesses” // "Feeding the Worms" by Danusha Laméris

"Down by the Salley Gardens” // “The Stolen Child” by W.B. Yeats

"The Thing Is" by Ellen Bass

"The Last Love Letter from an Entymologist" by Jared Singer

"[i like my body when it is with your]" by e.e. cummings

"Try to Praise the Mutilated World" by Adam Zagajewski

"The Cinnamon Peeler" by Michael Ondaatje

"Last Night I Dreamed I Made Myself" by Paige Lewis

"A Dream Within a Dream" // "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe (highly recommend reading the last one out loud or listening to it recited)

"Ars Poetica?" // "Encounter" // "A Song on the End of the World"by Czeslaw Milosz

"Wandering Around an Albequerque Airport Terminal” // "Two Countries” // "Kindness” by Naoimi Shihab Nye

"Slow Dance” by Matthew Dickman

"The Archipelago of Kisses" // "The Quiet World" by Jeffrey McDaniel

"Mimesis" by Fady Joudah

"The Great Fires" // "The Forgotten Dialect of the Heart" // "Failing and Flying" by Jack Gilbert

"The Mermaid" // "Virtuosi" by Lisel Mueller

"Macrophobia (Fear of Waiting)" by Jamaal May

"Someday I'll Love Ocean Vuong" by Ocean Vuong

"Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou

I would also recommend spending some times with essays, interviews, or other non-fiction, creative or otherwise (especially by other poets) if you want to broaden and improve how you read poetry; they can help give you a wider idea of the landscape behind and beyond the actual poems themselves, or even just let you acquaint yourself with how particular writers see and describe things in the world around them. The following are some of my favourites:

Upstream: Essays by Mary Oliver

"Theory and Play of the Duende" by Federico García Lorca

"The White Bird" and "Some Notes on Song" by John Berger

In That Great River: A Notebook by Anna Kamienska

A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib

The Book of Delights by Ross Gay

"Of Strangeness That Wakes Us" and "Still Dancing: An Interview with Ilya Kaminsky" by Ilya Kaminsky

"The Sentence is a Lonely Place" by Garielle Lutz

Still Life with Oysters and Lemon by Mark Doty

Paris, When It's Naked by Etel Adnan

[yeollie-plz]

Geese A Laying

Day 6 of Pedromas! | Masterlist

Din Djarin x F! Reader

Synopsis: Din loves being inside of you. That's it, that's the tweet.

Genre: smut

Warnings: cockwarming, p in v sex, a bit of somnophilia (consented), unprotected sex

Gif credits to owners!

You woke up slowly, blinking as your eyes adjusted to your surroundings. The quarters that you and Din shared were a bit of a mess at the moment, your clothes and his armor strewn around after the events of last night.

You let out a yawn as you try to stretch your limbs. The stretch falls short as you are currently trapped by Din’s arm holding your waist, his leg draped over your own. But really what is keeping you where you are is the feeling between your thighs, more like Din’s cock still inside of you.

Instead of another yawn, you let out a moan at the feeling. Waking up with his cock inside of you was such a delicious feeling.

You smirk as an idea pops into your head. Slowly you start to move your hips back into his, pushing his dick further into you. Then you move them forward, his soft member slowly coming to life inside of you as you fuck onto it. You repeat your motions for a little before he starts to stir.

But now you are lost in your lust and can’t stop. So when he growls awake, grabbing your hips, you don’t care and continue to move them. He wraps his arms further around you, forcing you to still your movements.

“What do you think you’re doing, cyar’ika?”

“You just felt so good inside of me, I couldn’t help myself.” You throw him some puppy dog eyes as you glance back at him. The angle a bit awkward seeing as he was basically holding you hostage, not that you were complaining.

His grip loosens a bit at your confession, “Well then, by all means, continue. Get yourself off on me, mesh’la.”

And so you do, you return to your previous pace. Your body thankful for the continued pleasure, after stopping so abruptly earlier.

Your hips begin to move quicker now, trying to chase that release. His hand wanders up your front and grips your breast firmly. He teases the nipple with his fingers, causing you to moan.

Suddenly, he lets out a grunt, you know he is close too. He returns his hand to your hip, guiding you onto him. Trying to help both of you reach your peaks.

Your body is so pliable since having just woke up, that your orgasm is fast approaching. Your walls clench onto him, he grips your hips pulling you back harshly.

This just causes more arousal to course through you, bringing you even closer to your peak. He grunts again and you feel his hips stutter forward a bit. His seed filling you up as he cums into you.

The feeling sends you over your edge, as you clench onto him, milking him. He kisses your neck, before biting lightly, and kissing the spot again.

“Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum.” He mutters into your neck.

“I love you too.” You whisper back.

<- Previous Day | Next Day ->

Taglist:

@britlord @kittenlittle24 @godlypresley @amyispxnk

[weebsinstash]

I try try try try TRY (unless I'm intentionally being self indulgent) to not give Reader too many similarities or hobbies as myself

But oh my god an Author Reader, whether an actual author or a self published small time fanfic writer such as myself, really does have so much potential for Hazbin pairings and ideas

Like for example if you think of my poly radiostatic idea from before, then you would have Vox representing video, Alastor representing audio, and Reader representing the written medium/scripts symbolically, rounding out a perfect trio, with your skills inherently tying into both of their mediums while also being uniquely different

There's the obvious and juicy potential of porn author Reader catching Valentino's eye and him liking your work or seeking you out after reading something of yours online, OR you already being a cute lil employee of his and he's snooping on your laptop one day and finds loads and loads of kinky goodness he didn't know you had in you

I've even thought of Reader writing horror novels and other "normal books" and Alastor is absolutely thrilled by this, loves reading your works regardless of how skilled you are in terms of like the more technical things like prose or symbolism or whatever, and THEN he finds out you also write smut and he's just :) immediately wanting to put a stop to that. Oh honey you mean you... waste your time putting your name on such... filthy content to be read by complete strangers? Especially men? Oh no no no, he can't have that at all. Doesn't want you writing it, doesn't want you READING IT, unless it's "tasteful" enough, which, by his standards probably means the most vanilla, barely described missionary sex between two married individuals--

Maybe your skills and descriptors and visualization can directly translate into certain illusionary powers, either creating visions or temporary manifestations of things. You could sit and talk with Lucifer about all the different sights you've seen on Earth, going to parks with your dad as a kid, feeding the geese and their fluffy yellow goslings, allow him to feel the warmth of the sun on his skin, feel a lovely lakeside breeze...

You could tell all your Hotel buddies or new Hell pals about where you grew up, or places you've been, things you've seen, stuff you've done, and SHOW it to them. It'll make those who have died miss being alive and seek out your company for the nostalgia, and those who have never seen Earth all the more eager to talk to you and learn even more...

[lycheedr3ams]

Death's Angel

Part 1: Looking Death in the Eye

royal!fem!reader x executioner!konig

Summary: It's 1554. You're one of the eight daughters of the Austrian royal family, and your parents do everything they can to ensure their kingdom is prosperous and peaceful. No royal court is complete without their hand-picked executioner, one who stands out against the sea of black, faceless bodies that make up the profession. It just so happens that your family's new executioner, one who has made a name for himself far and wide for his skill with the axe, has caught your eye and ruined you for good.

Warnings: MDNI! eventual filthy smut, mutual pining, forbidden love, death (konig is an executioner duh), mean sisters, mentions of medieval-type violence, overbearing parents, konig is brooding, maybe dark themes bc reader likes seeing him kill people?

Part 2

.......

series inspired by the art below!

If there was anything your parents taught you, it was to never mix with the lower, working classes. You were royalty: there was never any need for you to lift a finger, let alone even ask for anything. Everything will be served to you on a silver platter. The heads of your enemies were no exception.

You grew up watching executions like it was a normal family affair, like it was the same as lazily observing geese land in the pond behind your castle as you sat with your chin in your hand. It was always the same. Your family's star executioner, up until now, would force the victim on stage and enact whatever cruel punishment your king and queen parents decided. It was a routine. There was no malice or passion behind it, it was just a job. Chopping heads off blocks was the same as completing a to-do list for most executioners, and you grew accustomed to seeing bloodied heads rolling over cobblestone.

But your family's loyal executioner died suddenly. The peasantry said he was possessed, that the devil had finally taken the man's soul for all the heinous acts he committed. Whatever the case, your family needed a new executioner, fast. It wouldn't be long before people committed more crime, knowing the axe of judgement was temporarily frozen above their heads. you could hear your parents frantically whispering in the dead of night over which executioner to choose. there were so many contenders for the spot. you couldn't have cared less who the new executioner would be. executioners, though their jobs were necessary for functioning society, were spurned and looked down on. a necessary evil, as some may say. your parents taught you to never speak to the executioner, much less even look his way. not out of respect, but rather to keep your eyes clean from the monstrosity of whatever man could live with cutting off heads each day.

the day eventually came when your parents decided on a new executioner. they seemed pretty excited about it, and decided to get right to the "festivities" to commemorate the occasion. the new executioner would, the moment he reached the royal ground, execute the line of prisoners whose deaths had been delayed since the passing of your previous executioner. You strode elegantly, as you were taught, to your seat on the elevated surface as the victims were lined up on the lower stage. the crowd watched anxiously. there was a different feeling in the air. everyone seemed even more scared than normal. the blood-stained oak chopping block had never seemed more foreboding.

and then you saw him. out of your family's royal carriage - the oldest and dingiest one, mind you - this giant of a man stepped out and scanned the crowd. everyone went silent. not even the birds dared to sing as he walked across the stage silently, his axe slung over his shoulder, the wooden boards underneath his jagged leather boots creaking loudly. he was nothing short of a giant. his shoulders were broad, and even though his chest was clothed with black cloth, you knew he was toned. he carried that monstrous axe like it was nothing but a butter knife. the only thing that reminded you that he was, in fact, human was the faint reflection of the sunlight in his eyes from deep within his black hood.

your breath caught in your chest as you observed him. he stood still by the chopping block, so naturally that you felt your spine tingle. your father bellowed out the reason for the execution spree - something about celebration - but your mind was completely fogged, filled with nothing but morbid curiosity for this new death-bringer who would be living in your castle. the executioner was then commanded to turn towards your family and bow before the executions began. this grim reaper turned his broad back and faced your family. his eyes scanned each one of you, but they lingered on you the longest. you felt like a gust of ice wind had just raced up from his gaze alone, manifested somehow by whatever mental prowess he seemed to possess. He bowed lowly to you and your family before standing, glancing at you once more, and then facing the crowd.

your father yelled out with raised arms, "my kingdom! this is your new judge, your executioner! the one who will bring you to justice from here forth is Konig!"

king. His name means king, you thought. how ironic. that a man with such a name - likely an alias - would be performing the work that no one dared do.

for the first time in your life, you watched avidly as this new executioner, as konig, swiftly cut each victims' head off like he was slicing butter. konig commanded respect. even the crowd was silent as he worked, his grunts and the dull sound of the axe meeting wood and bone were the only things to be heard as he performed his duty. it should have scared you. he should have scared you. and when the last victim's head rolled off the block and konig rested against his up-turned axe, you released a breath that you didn't know you had been holding.

hope you enjoyed! this will likely be multiple parts, and a slow burn. i just love this so much

[apomaro-mellow]

From this post about Eddie controlling the demobats

When Eddie returned, so did the bats. In a great blast of cracking concrete and flapping wings, they emerged like a storm right in the middle of main street. The people of Hawkins, who were still getting over the earthquake, had run inside every nearest building, waiting for the revenge of the man they had hunted down.

Eddie had simply taken one long look at their cowering faces through the windows, and then walked off. The horde of bats followed closely behind him. They were still just as menacing in the daylight but they never strayed to pick off a helpless human.

So Eddie was back. Good news!

The bats were also top side. Bad news?

Eddie had control over them. Definitely good news.

It was an odd arrangement. It was made less odd by the fact that Eddie didn’t bring them absolutely everywhere. They mostly stayed in a dark cave unless called upon.

At least at first.

It started with small things. These were wild, territorial things and they never backed down or deferred to anyone who wasn’t Eddie. Except for Steve. Eddie had been sitting on a park bench, tossing some food to the geese who dared to get near. The demobats were perched next to him and around his feet, at least a dozen. They were immovable. But as Steve walked up and drew near, they parted and cleared a space for him.

He had staunchly refused to be around the bats at first. He never wanted to give them a taste again. It appeared his worries were for nothing. Because they hadn’t touched him once.

“Do you think they think I’m gross?”, Steve asked as he tossed to the birds. “I mean, they chomped us both up but they obviously like you better.”

“Why? Is the king jealous?”, Eddie teased, flashing his fangs in a grin.

“I’m just saying you’d think they’d have better taste. No offense, but I’m basically prime rib and you’re just some beef jerky.”

Eddie scoffed in offense despite Steve saying no offence. “Robin is right, you’re a total meat head sometimes. Tell me Steve, when you’re on an hours long road trip and need somethin’ to keep you going, do you just fork a whole steak while driving? Or do you stop at a 7-Eleven for a Slim Jim?”

“You’re just proving my point at how slender you are compared to me.”

While he and Steve traded barbs it would’ve been clear to anyone who made the connection between Eddie and the bats that he wasn’t offended at all. But no one had made the connection yet.

--------------------------------------

It was one of those days where a bunch of things had simply lined up and everyone was in the same place. Hopper was fixing his car with the help of Jonathan, Mike, and Max. Joyce was merrily cleaning the house and even rearranging the furniture with the assistance of El, Steve, and Eddie. Robin, Dustin, and Erica were posing for a painting outside for Will. Argyle and Lucas were sitting on the porch, talking about California.

As usual, Eddie’s command for the bats was to stay in the cave. Even if the others knew they wouldn’t be attacked, they still didn’t feel totally comfortable with them around. But throughout the day, a few at a time had appeared, making the roof their perch.

“Should we be worried about those?”, Argyle asked, pointing towards the sky.

Hopper looked up from the hood and let out an exasperated sigh. “If they cause trouble we can handle ‘em. Mike, oil.”

Eddie looked out the window and cursed under his breath, making El pause as she moved the couch.

“It’s fine. Nothing. I guess I’d get stir crazy in a cave all day too. Aren’t bats supposed to be nocturnal?”

“They’re not exactly normal bats”, Steve grunted as he pushed the fridge into its new position.

Eddie bit his lip as he watched the way his arm flexed a little and right then a demobat face planted into the kitchen window.

Joyce whipped her head. “What was that?”

“Nothing!”, Eddie rushed to cover his tracks. “There’s always one that’s a little uh, new to their wings, you know?”

Their need to follow Eddie was beginning to be a problem. Because they only seemed to disobey when he was with Steve. When Eddie was by himself, they stayed put. But the moment Harrington was in the picture, these little monster shits had to be there. And if anyone ever realized that, his cover would be blown.

--------------------------

Eddie thought he’d been keeping a good handle on things all considered. That is until one bat decided to have a personal vendetta against him. Eddie had been calm, cool, and collected while he and Steve hung out by the quarry. A couple of bats had joined them as usual. But Eddie kept a straight face about it.

And then their bull session turned to serious talk. About what the future held for them after this. About how they’d never be able to leave this town. About how it felt like no one would need them.

Eddie was quick to shoot down that part for Steve. This man was like the air he breathed and if there was ever a day that Steve wasn’t in the world, that would be it for him. That’s not what he said though.

“People need you more than you think. Just cause we don’t say it, doesn’t mean we’re not thinking it.”

“Dude, we’re about a six pack in, too many negatives.”

“I’m saying we all want you here. Even if we don’t need you to hold our hand, isn’t that enough?”

Steve’s eyes softened. “They need you too. I can’t even describe how they all-how we were while you were gone. We need you just as much Eddie.”

And then one of the bats, those traitorous bats, sidled right up to Steve and nuzzled its ugly little head into Steve’s side like a pitiful dog and Eddie could’ve cried. At least he did internally.

‘Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo what are you doiiiiiiiiiiing????’

Steve was visibily nervous at first because that was the same area he’d been eaten but the bat didn’t put its mouth anywhere near and simply rubbed its cheek to his torso.

“Hey, hehe”, he laughed a little when it was clear he wasn’t being attacked. “I think they like me now.”

“You don’t say”, Eddie breathed out in a strained, punched out voice.

That incident was enough for Eddie to have a heart to heart with his group of followers. He paced around the mouth of the cave while the bats sat on the ground at attention.

“Okay, here’s the deal guys. You can’t keep stalking Steve like this. I get it, trust me. But if people start to catch on to what I’m feeling because you guys keep. Making. It. Obvious. Then we’ve got an angry mob on our hands again.”

Eddie felt like he was talking to a pack of puppies because that’s exactly how they looked right now and didn’t these things kill him before? He couldn’t believe he’d ever been afraid of them.

The talk did nothing though. They still left the cave in the middle of the day to find him and Steve together and were getting more and more affectionate as the days went by.

And somehow Steve just got more comfortable with it. Nancy had them in her garage, teaching the two of them how to clean a gun and a demobat was honest to god (was there a god up there? If there was, he was getting his giggles in) snuggling up in Steve’s hair. In his hair! The crown that Eddie dared not touch. He had never been more jealous or mortified.

“Those things really like you Steve”, Nancy mentioned.

Eddie was mentally begging her to not be a sleuth for once.

“I think they’re just realizing which of us would’ve been the better boss based on flavor.”

“On the flavor?”, Eddie and Nancy deadpanned in unison, also giving him twin looks of judgement.

“Nancy how you’d ever date this guy? It’s like he’s got beef for brains.”

Nancy shrugged. “I guess I’m just a little carnivorous. I think we’ve got that in common”, she said, giving Eddie a meaningful look.

Outwardly, his throat bobbed. Inwardly, he was screaming from the edge of a cliff. Still his feelings for Steve trumped any panic that Nancy Wheeler might know his feelings because the demobat just burrowed deeper in his hair.

Eddie cleared his throat. “Yeah”, he admitted. “I’m pretty carnivorous. Maybe a little too much. That bother you?”

Nancy shook her head quickly. “To tell you the truth...I might be....”, she hesitated on the words. “Going vegetarian.”

Eddie’s eyebrows shot up while Steve was on another page entirely.

“Vegetarian? Nancy you’ll never survive in this town, everyone cooks with bacon grease or lard.”

“Well it’s more like, I’m omnivorous but I might be trying to add more vegetables to my diet”, she amended. “Does that bother you Eddie?”

“I’m in no position to argue Big Wheel. I’ve been circling your steak like a vulture.”

“I haven’t looked at that steak in ages. You can have it. Not that you need my permission.”

“I get the feeling you guys aren’t talking about food anymore”, Steve said.

And Eddie just couldn’t resist that confused face Steve made. But the moment wasn’t right to reveal his and Nancy’s ahem, dietary preferences. So he just patted him on the shoulder.

“We just agree with the bats man. You’re pretty tasty. Even if not all of us are getting bites in anymore.”

“Oh that reminds me”, Steve said. “We weren't able to get you a blood bag. I kinda dropped the ball. So tonight you can just drink of me.”

At least five bats descended and inched their way towards Steve like desperately hungry animals and Eddie had to stop them in their place.

“Looks like steak’s on the menu tonight”, Nancy commented.

Part 2

[theluigiguy]

the geese calmly exited the shore

(they're cute)

[ynbabe]

The Flash x male!reader :- pt.1 incorrect quotes

Barry: I just watched Y/N jump off of a spinning chair. Luckily, he wasn't hurt that badly. But the whole time, Caitlyn was screaming for help, which caused Cisco to run in to help Y/N. Just note that all of this happened in the span of six seconds.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Cisco: Made you all playlists! Cisco: Y/N, yours has only heavy metal, and is dark like your soul. Cisco: Caitlyn, yours has sad songs and blues to pair with your crippling depression. Cisco: And Barry has the ABBA Gold album.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Caitlyn, being serious: Which country has the most birds? Caitlyn: Portu-geese! Barry: That's a language. Caitlyn: Portu-gull? Barry: Good recovery. Cisco: I think you mean good re-dovery. Y/N: TURKEY. HOW DID WE MISS TURKEY?

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Barry: That's ridiculous, Y/N doesn't have a crush on me. Cisco: Yes he does. Caitlyn: Yes he does. Y/N: Yes I do.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Barry: Question, how difficult would it be to bowl in a bee suit? Caitlyn: Not that hard, I don't think, as long as you can move. Y/N: I'd assume as hard as it is to bowl in a maid outfit. Y/N: Wouldn't be any harder, but you'd get some WEIRD looks. Cisco: Are. Are you speaking from experience. Y/N: No! Y/N: Y/N: ....Maybe.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Cisco: *Gasp* Caitlyn: wHAT?? Cisco: What if soy milk is just milk introducing itself in Spanish? Caitlyn: *inhales* Y/N, in another room with Barry: Why can I hear screeching?

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Caitlyn: Words ending in 'ie' just sound so adorable. Like cutie, sweetie, cookie- Cisco: Eyy, homie! Barry: But then there's cootie... Y/n: Die.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Caitlyn: I truly believe that water can solve all your problems. Cisco: Weight loss? Drink water. Barry: Clear skin? Drink water. Y/N: Want to get rid of someone? Drown them.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Y/N: Guys, I’ve been meaning to tell you… Barry and I are dating. Barry, Iris, Caitlyn, and Cisco: *gasp* Y/N: Barry, why are you surprised?!

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Barry: Look guys, I need help. Cisco: Love help? Caitlyn: Financial help? Iris: Emotional help? Y/n: Help moving a body? *Everybody looks at Y/n* Y/n: What?

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Iris: If you took a shot for every time you made a bad decision, how drunk would you be? Caitlyn: Maybe a bit tipsy? Cisco: Drunk. Y/n and Barry, dumbass speedsters: Dead.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

*The gang's thoughts on stabbing* Caitlyn: Would never stab anyone. Barry: Would stab someone in retaliation. Cisco: Yells "I won't hesitate, bitch!" first. Iris: Would stab without warning. Y/N: Would stab as a warning.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Caitlyn: I swear to god I'm the only one here with a braincell. Barry, Y/N, and Cisco: ALL HAIL the keeper of the sacred braincell!

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Y/n: You’ve got to learn to love yourself. Barry: But don't you hate yourself. Y/n: Yeah, but this is about you. Stay focused.

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Barry: I have a problem. Y/n: Kill it. Barry: Can you chill for like, two seconds?

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Barry: What are you eating? Y/n: You wouldn't like it, it's really salty. Barry: I like you, don't I?

━━━━━━━━━▼━━━━━━━━━

Y/n: *Kicks the door open to Barry’s room, looking panicked* Barry, used to this already: What did you do?! Y/n: NOBODY DIED! Barry, not used to this: WHAT KIND OF ANSWER IS THAT?!

[audreyscribes]

Ω PJO DEMIGOD HEADCANONS: ⚖ NEMESIS: Goddess of Balance, Retribution, and Vengeance wheel ♎

Author's note: Hello everyone! In lieu of posting the major gods demigod headcanons, here is the minor gods version! As usual these headcanons will contain what it's like being claimed and what it's like for the respective god and cabin, followed by a small story between you, the reader, and the respective demigod of that god. Thank you for reading and please like and reblog! [PJO MINOR GODS DEMIGOD HEADCANONS MASTERLIST] Disclaimer: To new fans or strictly TV watchers of the PJO series, future spoilers for the entire PJO series books will be referenced. Read at your own risk.

When you get claimed, it’s usually after one of the following: when you help exact revenge, serve justice, or rage vengeance. Of course when you hear those words, you’re going to think you have to do one of those large, epic moments but in reality, it’s pretty simple. That can be catching something unfair, doing what is right, getting back at your opponent, or simply saying No to something when it is unjust. When you get claimed, something feels balanced within you.

If you have some reservations about being a child of Nemesis, one of your half-siblings tells you it is an honour to be a child of Nemesis. Not just because Nemesis and what she stands for is important, if not sometimes harsh, but because Ethan Nakamura. You’re told about the tale of Ethan and who he was, how he was one of the inspirations for Percy to make the gods vow to claim their children and why the Minor gods have a cabin. You’re even shown the portrait of Ethan at his own altar in the cabin, as a reminder of his sacrifice and his life. If you’re lucky enough, Percy Jackson introduces himself and welcomes you himself to the Nemesis Cabin, just saying something “it was just right”. 

However, following that, they also warn you ‘an eye for an eye’ is more than what the eye can see. 

If you weren’t ambidextrous before, you are now. 

You’re always perfectly balanced and symmetry is important to you. Being fair is also an important factor in your life and one way or another, it will be done. 

Because of the domain Nemesis presides over, your cabin becomes a place that acts like a court. You and your siblings often get asked to preside or become mediators in arguments, and be the verdict who is the wrong and who is right. But the deciding factor is always fair. This also means you can pick out lies, though probably not to the extent of a child of Apollo.

You become a believer in working hard for your efforts, and you reap the rewards. If you’re not paid or treated fairly, everyone looks out. 

You know other people’s hubris by nature of Nemesis’s domain, so you know to be careful of ignorance and being modest. Just because you know other’s hubris, doesn’t mean you don’t have one. 

Given Nemesis is also known to be a distributor of fortune, neither good nor bad, the Nemesis Cabin has a connection with the Tyche Cabin, the goddess of Fortune and Luck. 

This isn’t a common fact, but Nemesis’ chariot is pulled by Griffins and you have a certain connection with them. If you manage to get your hands on a gryphon, and tame it, fairly, you’re allowed to ride them in camp. Just, don’t let them go near the Pegasus. Otherwise you’re going to get a long, stern lecture from Butch Walker. He’s still mad that one of the Nemesis children’s gryphons hurt Rainbow Dash. 

Speaking of pets and animals, you all have a goose or geese as its Nemesis’ animal. If you have encountered geese before or played the goose game, you know it’s a perfect fit. There has been one time, the Golden Goose, that lays the golden egg; however, it comes and goes as it pleases. Some of your siblings think it is Nemesis herself but who knows? Just don’t give any of the geese a knife or sword or weapon of any kind. Please, no one has recovered from that catastrophic event yet. The Apollo cabin doesn’t want a repeat of reattaching limbs by goose related causes any time soon, even if Paulo said he was okay.

When you get claimed, the feeling of being claimed is being merged with the sweet feeling of catharsis. You got back at one of the campers who has been mercilessly bullying you and trying to establish themselves as bigger than you. Everything came to a head when the two of you were put in a spar and all the time you’ve been honing your weapon skills and observing your opponent, you’ve finally had a perfect opportunity to exact your revenge. 

When you were given the moment to go, you readied your weapon, kept your grip firm, and attacked back. You pushed forward with anger and retribution as you swung and moved. You pushed your opponent further and further into a corner, and you kept knocking them onto their back, knees, and hands. You purposefully showed yourself drawing it out, showing them what it was like to be bullied and what it was like to be on the other end of their act; making them feel helpless, fearful, and shamed.

You decided to finish drawing out their punishment as you were declared the winner. People cheered for you, some louder who were once at your position, and as you raised your weapon in the air in victory, everyone gasped out and cheered harder as they saw the claim of Nemesis floating upon your head. 

You stared up wide-eyed at the claim as the announcement of your claim was yelled out for everyone to hear. You felt your mouth sour slightly as you remembered faintly from your mythology lessons about who Nemesis was. You weren’t entirely sure if you followed Nemesis’ reputation and domain. 

You see a boy come towards you as he looks you up and down before nodding in approval. “You’re definitely showed that you are a child of Nemesis. You delivered their punishment fairly and didn’t take it too far” he complimented. 

“Thanks…but I’m not sure if being a child of Nemesis can be entirely a good thing” you said truthfully, shrugging as you did. 

The guy rolled his eyes as he put his hands on his hips. “Nemesis isn’t an evil god and she’s just as important, like Ares either. The same goes for being her child. In fact it’s an honour” he said. 

“How?” you asked confused.

Damien smirked before he gestured for you to follow. “Because I’m also a child of Nemesis too. My name is Damien White, and I’m also the cabin leader for the Nemesis Cabin” he introduced before taking you to the cabin. You didn’t get a chance to look at the building before he opened it and guided you to a portrait inside. You saw a japanese looking boy who seemed a bit cold, especially with an eyepatch but clearly he was important with the amount of flowers and offerings that laid on the table below his portrait. 

“This was Ethan Nakamura, a child of Nemesis. He was the one who made a deal with our mother that brought back balance and helped inspire the hero Percy Jackson of the 2nd Titan War, where he used his divine wish to the gods to recognize the minor gods and their children in camp. His sacrifice is why the Nemesis cabin, and the other cabins are here” told Damien as he looked at the portrait of Ethan. He then turned to you, “Being a child of Nemesis is just as the same as the other demigods, but it’s more of an honour because our former brother.” 

You felt better as you nodded. “It might take a while to wrap my head around it but... I’m glad we’re related to such a demigod.”

Damien grinned and nodded, before he guided you out of the cabin, “Come on, I’ll help you grab your stuff from the Hermes cabin and get you settled in your new place.”

You nodded and when you had packed your stuff up, Damien grabbed your stuff for you to let you and another recently claimed demigod say goodbye to the Hermes cabin members, who was just claimed as a child of Tyche. They left first, since they came a bit earlier and their cabin leader was waiting for them outside. By the time you finished saying goodbyes, you came out to see your cabin leader arguing with a girl, who was also with the new child of Tyche. 

You saw Damien and the girl yelling at each other, almost getting into their faces and you thought of stepping forward to intervene, lest a cabin war breaks out. You don't know if it's a thing but you're not going to wait and find out. Before you could though, you're interrupted by a voice, 

“Oh don't worry about it, those two always argue with each other but they don't ever take it too far” you heard. 

You turned and saw a boy, with brown hair and blue eyes. He seemed familiar but you weren't sure where though. 

“Are you sure?” you said, looking at the two arguing people. 

The boy nodded as he took out his ukelele, plucking a few strings. Something to shift in the air, as you thought “Oh he's a child of Apollo maybe”. As if he heard your thoughts, you jumped when he turned to you with a smirk.

“The girl you see Damien arguing with is Chiara Benevnuti, daughter and cabin leader of Tyche, the goddess of Fortune and Luck. Nemesis and Tyche are sort of connected, so seeing their two children get along isn't unusual.”

“You call that getting along?” you replied skeptically. 

“Oh, you would be surprised. One time when the two of them were stuck in the medical tent, I saw Damien move to the cot next to Chiara and the two only argued with each other when people were around” snickered Lester. “If I were ever more poetic, I would say this is a perfect haters to lovers haiku right now.”

“Wait, how do you know this? Who are you?” you asked.

The boy smiled at you and you saw his blue eyes almost seemed like the sky for a moment. The sun glowed behind his head, highlighting his brown hair into what looked like gold. A shiver ran through you and you had an inkling of who this guy was. “My name is Lester Papadopoulous, nice to meet you.” 

[xetswan]

The Switch Of Daylight- Birthday Wishes

(Youngest Shadow New Moon)

[One] [Two]

Charlie and I are downstairs, getting the gifts ready right before we make our way up to go wake up Bella.

Or she’s already up we just need to give her these presents. Charlie goes up first with me behind him excited. He knocks on the door once and then enters. “Happy Birthday, Bells.” He says. “Dad, [Name] we agreed no gifts.” She tells us and I roll my eyes. “At least mines is not wrapped.” He hands her a digital camera, “Okay, this is actually kind of great. Thanks, Dad.” She grinned at it, Charlie then gives her another gift, this time it was wrapped.

“Goes with this one, from your mom. We coordinated- well, she coordinated me.” He explains and I smirk as I did hear all their phone calls. “Mines not a part of it.” I hand her mine, “Don’t open it yet.” She nods and places it next to her. She opens the gift from Mom, it’s a scrapbook. “To put your pictures in, record your senior year.” He says then pauses as he thinks for a moment. “Man, senior year. How’d you get old so fast.” He teases her. “Not that old,” Bella mutters. 

“I don’t know, is that a wrinkle.” He jokes but Bella freaks out, racing over to her mirror, searching for the wrinkle. “I was kidding.” He huffs. “So not funny Dad.” She grunts.

Charlie makes his leave and I close the door behind him. “Open my gift.” I grin. “[Name]-” “I don’t want to hear it.” I cut her off, shoving the gift in her arms. I patiently wait as she opens it. There lay two silver bracelets in a box. Had two charms each on both, hers having a dark blue gem then a plate that had the words “Love you, always” engraved into it. Mine had a red gem with the same saying. She smiles and then pulls me into a hug. “I keep forgetting how cold you are now.” She laughs, stepping back and we put the bracelets on one another. “I love it, thank you.” She jingles it around and I snicker, doing it back. 

“I’m glad because I had no idea what to give you. But I wanted to piss you off with a gift.” I winked, and before she could say anything back I was already out the door. 

I rode my motorcycle to school, I had told Angela that I’d give her this book I owned but I kept forgetting. Pulling into the school Angela’s already jogging over to me. “You brought it?” I then let my face drop jokingly, she doesn’t know I’m joking though. “It’s okay if you forgot again-” I cut her off with my own laughter, pulling out the book from my backpack. She sighs and chuckles too, taking the book from me. “I had to.” I bump her and then stand up from my bike. Taking off my helmet and placing it on the bike. I turn back to her with a smile, fixing my hair as well. 

“I miss your septum.” She suddenly says and I raise a brow. She starts to stammer as I patiently wait for her to let it out. “I mean, I didn’t actually mean to say that out loud it’s just um, you got rid of it out of nowhere it was a part of you and now it’s like an empty... Space.” I cross my arms, kind of agreeing with her. “I guess that’s true.” I shrug. I walk her to the others but not even within minutes Bella comes and they rush over to her truck like a flock of geese.

I watch as Bella forces them to take pictures on her new camera, they all have fun with it even though Angela doesn’t like pictures she joins in as well. It was cute. It ended as fast as it started though once that familiar Volvo pulls into its normal parking space. I smirk as their faces falter. “Oh good, Cullen’s here.” I hear Mike say dryly. “Yay,” Jessica adds. They walk back over to where I was. Jessica turns to me “You’re dating the other two but you’re not like obsessed with them.” If only she knew. I shrug, “Too many homophobic and judgy people for that.” They all give me a look. “You know I’m right.” I laugh, I then notice Jacob running towards my sister, Edward seems very irritated. I didn’t even realize the group went away from me as arms wrapped around my waist, lips kissing my shoulder. I take the arms, pulling the person in front of me, I already knew it was Alice. We stood there waiting for Jasper to join us.

 We walk into the school together. Alice and Jasper holding hands. Alice was holding a wrapped gift in her other hand. “Do you think she will like it?” She asks me and I take an annoyed breath. “Bella doesn’t like gifts in general but she will appreciate them.” I was not annoyed with Alice, but more with my sister who acts like she doesn’t secretly like the attention she inevitably will always get on her birthday. We went to the side of the hall, I kiss Jasper’s cheek. “Hey, cowboy.” He scoffs a laugh, rolling his eyes. Ever since he told me his backstory I’ve been teasing him about being a “cowboy”. “Hi, darling.” He whispers for me to hear. I peek over to see Alice staring at us, we look slightly down at her since she is shorter than us. 

I pull her into our arms, she looks up and pecks at my lips. “You know for your birthday you’re going to get spoiled, right?” She tells me in a matter-of-fact tone. “I look forward to everything you wish to give me.” I place my hands on her hips as Jasper then points out that Bella and Edward are walking through the door. As Jasper and I walk slowly Alice skips over to my sister, presenting the present. “Happy-” “Shhh” Alice hugs her, leaning over to her ear and whispering “Birthday.” Over Alice's shoulder, she makes eye contact with Jasper who offers a nod. She pulls back from Alice, trying to hide the gift. “Alice, didn’t I say no gifts?” 

“You did, I didn’t. I’ve already seen you open it and guess what? You loved it!” She excitedly says. “You had a vision about my birthday.” Bella seemed annoyed but I knew she appreciates my girlfriend. “And about the green dress, you’ll be wearing to your party tonight. Great color on you.” She compliments her, also giving away the fact that she’s throwing a party for her. 

“My party?” 

“Please? It’ll be fun.” Alice pleads, I hold Jaspers's hand. “Can I?” He only nods and I drain his energy then focus on Bella who slumps, defeated. Only because I’m controlling her emotions. “I guess I can deal-” “Great! See ya at seven!” Alice hugs her before racing off before she can change her mind. I laugh, squeezing Jasper’s hand as a thank you. “Wait, Jasper, no fair with the mood control.” She pouts and he gives her an apologetic nod. “Wasn’t me,” 

“Was me!” I called, we get dragged off by Alice leaving my sister slightly upset. 

I told Charlie about the party, I was wearing this black suit that Alice requested I wear. Lately, she’s been dressing me in what style she thinks fits me best. Very fancy stuff I might add. I left on my bike to go help finish setting things up.

Getting there I was set to be with Carlisle on some things. I hold my hands behind my back pretending to act innocent. “Do you think I can change without Alice getting upset?” I ask him and he laughs shaking his head. “No, not at all.” We lean against the kitchen counter, watching Alice who is making sure everything is perfect. “I figured.” I take off the jacket to the suit though.

Bella and Edward finally make their way into the house, she’s wearing the exact dress Alice told her about in her vision. I smile, finishing up with Carlisle before heading over to Jasper, giving him a quick kiss. “What was that for?” He asks and I kiss him again. “Just wanted to,” I tell him happily. “You look amazing.” He compliments, I roll my eyes. “I never want to wear a suit again.” He laughs in response. “I’m serious.” “I know you are.” He kisses the top of my head.

Alice comes between us, taking our hands and leading us into the living room. “You two look perfect.” We lean down so she can give us both a kiss. We stand up straight and chuckle at her as she goes to get the lovebirds upstairs. 

The three make their way down the steps, and Bella is immediately embraced by Esme and Carlisle. “Sorry about all this. We tried to rein Alice in.” He humors her. “Like that’s even possible. Happy Birthday, Bella.” Esme steps back with a grin on her sweet face. I notice Alice holding up a camera right as she clicks it to go off. The flash startled my sister a tiny bit. “Found it in your bag. You mind?” She asks, Bella shakes her head no as in she doesn’t mind. 

“Dating an older woman. Hot.” Emmett speaks up to Edward. I hide my face in Jaspers's shoulder laughing. “What?” He asks defensively after Edward had elbowed him. 

Rosalie then steps up, handing Bella a silver package. “It’s a necklace. Alice picked it out.” She walks away. Short. Not sweet. But short.

Bella finally looks over to Jasper and I. She waves and I know it’s for him, he does it back and I smile, proud of him. Alice snaps a picture of him and I then back to Bella. “Show me the love!” Edward pulls Bella into an embrace, they look deeply into one another's eyes. Another flash. “For your scrapbook. Now open your presents.” She drags the girl over to a table with a pile of gifts, a huge cake, and a stake of chine plates. 

“Alice, I’m the only one who even eats.” She motions to the huge cake. “Hope your hunger. Here, this one’s from Emmett.” Everyone crowds around, I stand in front of Jasper. Bella opens it to see an empty car radio box. “Um… thanks?” She looked up, confused. “Already installed it in your truck.” He proudly states.

“Finally a decent sound system in that piece of-” “No hating on the truck. Thank you, Emmett.” Bella smiles then Alice hands her another gift. “Open mine.” Bella starts to open it then she cuts her finger on the wrapping. “Ouch, paper cut.” Blood appears and I feel Jasper tense and I get pushed aside. “No!!” I shouted as he lunges at my sister. Edward flings Bella behind him causing her to crash into the table. The plates shattered beneath her. I run over to her as Edward shoves Jasper into the wall but he ricochets off it and comes back at Bella. Emmett along with Carlisle tackles Jasper to the ground, Alice holds him whispering to him to comfort him.  I groan at the scent of her blood, trying to help her. My jaw tensed.

Bella lifts her arm up and a pool of blood leaks out. I grunt, getting her to stand up. “I need to get out of here,” I say through gritted teeth. Accidentally pushing her onto Carlisle I storm out of the house. Not even moments later Emmett and Rosalie bring out Jasper. 

I stare at him, draining his energy, his snarls coming to a complete stop. The two let him go and he falls to the ground as he’s losing more and more control of himself. I don’t even realize how far I am going. “[Name]! Calm down!” Alice shoves me back and I stumble back. He lays there collecting himself. “He- My sister. I am not sorry!” I rub my face, and looking back at him I notice dark circles under his eyes. 

“I didn’t mean to go that far.” I bow my head down. “I forgive you, I need the night to myself and my sister though,” I tell them both, frowning at the sight. I go back inside and Edward was waiting outside of the door where Bella was getting cleaned up. 

“You hurt her.” I spit out, his eyes glancing up at me. “You have brung nothing but trouble to our lives,” I tell him with sincerity. “I wouldn’t have been a monster if it was for you entering her life.” I point a finger at his chest, but he doesn’t respond. “I am angry that I now have to risk her life just from a cut.” I shove him into the wall. “You will fix this.” I furrow my eyebrows angrily at him, pushing him further into the wall right as the door opens. I step back. “I’m driving you home.” I grab her by the arm, she tries to get out of my grip but I don’t allow it.

“[Name]!” “Enough! You will go home with me and that is final, Bella!” I shout at her, “Enough with this game and risking your fucking life!” I scream, she finally drops down defeated and we step outside. All of the Cullens are watching, Rosalie is even tense from the scene. I let Bella climb in and I slam the door. 

“You all think about this night. Think about how you’re putting my sister in danger.” I speak just loud enough for them to hear me and not her. “Am I clear?” I fold my arms. They only nod in response. “I will talk later.” 

So this one is a little shorter than my last few but wanted to end this chapter here or else the next one would've been way too long for my liking. Also, Alice's height is 4'10 in the book so that's what I'm basing it off of. Jasper is 6'3 and I'm making [Name]'s 5'6 medium height bitch. I kind of got writer's block. Well not really, I can write the story in my notebook but I can't get it all on my computer because I get a little bored after a little bit. It takes me longer to come up with ideas when I'm typing compared to actually writing it might be weird but it's what I do.

[cryptic-science]

okay, trying something new and im going to write all my thoughts down while listening to the ep :3 here we go gamers:

- the singer is absolutely one of my favourite bits

- "podcasting is cool >:(("

- "just go oil your beard >:( idiot."

- god i fucking love sherlock and johns dynamic

- sherlock is so me

- "my doctorate in gooseology"

- "watson is this absolutely necessary- OOO !! get these !!!! lovely"

- i love it when they "argue" so much

- JOHN YOU DICK GIVE SHERLOCK HIS BISCUITS

- circuit failure ??

- jesus christ 10,000 for a watch

- OOOOO THAT WAS SICK

- i love them so bad

- TWO BIRDS ONE STONE

- wait oh my god the dead goose was definitely a decoy. they never pulled the gem out of it. they dont know if its for sure the real gem. its a decoy its a decoy

- "or yknow whatever it is that goes after geese. lion ? i dont know." how is one man so babygirl.

- SHERLOCK STIMMING

- HE SAID THE THING !!! HE SAID NO SHIT SHERLOCK !!! I MEAN HES LITERALLY TALKING ABOUT HOW THERE IS NO SHIT BUT STILL !!

- "YOUR GOOSE IS CONSTIPATED !!"

- "alright heather, just gonna- just gonna take a quick peek at your ass."

- i was so right i was so right im foaming at the mouth hehehehe

- sherlock mic time

- john whispering sweetly to heather and comforting her. i love you so much john. "hey its okay heather(? i think he says heather i am struggling to make out what hes saying), we all get sore bottoms from time to time"

- wait was i wrong ??

- oh god sherlock.

- MIC UP HEATHERS ASS.

- OH MY GOD IT WAS HIS WATCH NOT A DECOY I WAS SO CLOSE

- john stick your hand up that gooses ass !!!!

- poor heather

- WAS THE SQUELCHING NECESSARY.

- HAHAHAHAAA HES SO PISSED

- sherlock: "long old day really"

john: " just dont talk. just. dont even talk."

sherlock: "when do you want to eat ?"

john: "hmm. im gonna go wash my hands again."

- this is such a married couple "fight" if im being honest with yall

- immediate whiplash from the sudden christmas vibes

- my heart is so full.

- :(( their dinner has been interrupted :((

- "does your know no bounds? you can beg all you want." GOD I LOVE WHEN SHERLOCK GETS LIKE THIS

- YEAH BRO LET THEM GET BACK TO THEIR CHRISTMAS DINNER

- GIFTS !!!!!!

- SHERLOCK IS SO HAPPY IM GONNA CRY

- JOHN GOT HIM FUCKING CUSTOMIZED EAR DEFENDERS IM FUCKING SOBBING.

- HE GOT JOHN A GIFT TOO HE GOT JOHN A GIFT TOO

- sherlock.

- JOHN.

- he is wearing and enjoying the watch.

- OBVIOUSLY IT FUCKING SMELLS JOHN.

- this podcast is gift enough for us john

- JOHN RIPPING INTO THE SINGERS ASS HAHAHAHAAAAA

- shout out to adam for having incredible vocals though. such a good singer. that was very pretty.

my heart always feels so fucking full after every sherlock & co episode. i love this pod so much.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

I am back to complain more but do you ever notice how like. Every pet that isn't a cat or a dog is often labelled "exotic"? It really confuses me. It seems like sometimes a very good domesticated pet and a wild animal that is deeply unethical to keep as a pet both get put into the same category. Idk. I don't like when people do that. I don't think "cats and dogs" and "not cats and dogs" is a very useful way to categorise peoples pets.

I have also seen people suggest that the only domesticated animals are cats and dogs!

ITS RIDICULOUS

humans have NEVER only practiced husbandry with domesticated animals. NEVER.

first off... we had to domesticate things in the first place

second off... most animal husbandry until recently was practical, not companion-based, so *all* pet husbandry now is just very different from the past

third off... many populations of animals have been "tamed" for human husbandry, including things you would never imagine to be possible (Cassowaries! FUCKING CASSOWARIES WERE REARED ON NEW GUINEA.)

fourth off... Human-Animal Bonding (HAB) is in fact a universal thing - we see signs of it across animal groups (and probably other organisms, but anthropocentrism = not acknowledging plants have feelings), with zoo animals and even wild animals bonding with humans in a variety of forms, leading to a release of bonding chemicals in both the human and the non-human animal's brains. idk where this "your pet cant love you" shit came from, because the science shows it happens in the most random animals (fish. fish release bonding chemicals with their humans. fish.)

fifth off... there are SO MANY ANIMALS IN SHELTERS THAT NEED HOMES it is irresponsible to say that people shouldn't have x or y pet if they are able to actually take care of it (admittedly, there are many ACTUALLY exotic pets where that last part doesn't count, but not as many as these anti-pet schmucks say)

sixth off... so. many. things. are. domesticated. chickens! pigeons! ducks! geese! and you know what? a lot of those things DONT MAKE GOOD PETS. domesticated doesn't equal good pet, and non-domesticated doesn't equal bad pet. it's NUANCED. NUANCED. LIKE EVERYTHING.

seventh off... the actual problems that occur in pet care come from not respecting the animal as an individual and as a different kind of individual than yourself, not from an inherent problem in caring for certain kinds of animals. you have to view the human-animal bond as a *partnership*, not a hierarchical relationship, that just happens to include you physically caretaking for the partner. bah. when you think you "own" the animal, have control over it, get to dictate it - that's when you have problems.

eighth off... there are many animals that can *only* survive in captivity, whether its proper pet care, a shelter, or a zoo/aquarium. maybe they're disabled, maybe they were reared by humans, maybe they were traumatized. the list goes on. so many people would just "free" these animals into the wild where they would, ya know, die (remember Keiko, anyone?)

ninth off... anthropocentrism means assuming other animals want the same things as us... I s2g if I see another person say "oh poor pet birdie in a cage it should be free" when I know for a fact these pet birds actually appreciate the safety and security as long as they get enough out-of-cage and bonding time...

tenth off... this all goes back to the fundamental truth that humans are a PART of nature, that we are ALSO ANIMALS, that we are just connecting with other creatures and that is NORMAL, and it is OKAY that we shape the world, the problem is HOW we shape it... like... we are not separate from nature, and thinking that is how we got into this climate crisis in the first place!

G A H

idk what the actual definition of "exotic" pet should be, but "non-domesticated" isn't it