#not to say that I don't love corn snakes because I absolutely do

[omg-snakes]

hello!!! so sorry to bother you with questions, but what is your opinion on the best pet snake for an absolute beginner? i've loved snakes since i was a kid but never had the possibility of owning one, but I might in a little while. i've heard that corn snakes are easy and cute? sorry if this is weird!!

Hello!

That's not a weird question, that's a great question!

The answer is that the best pet snake for an absolute beginner to reptiles is the one you have researched fully and love the most. While it's true that some snakes are more forgiving in terms of husbandry and may be easier to keep in captivity, with proper preparation most snakes in the hobby can be suitable for a first-time keeper.

Corn snakes are not the first snake species I ever kept, but they were the snake that fit me best, and by coincidence are also one of the easiest to keep. I know other folks for whom boa constrictors were their true best match, or ball pythons, or sand boas, or king snakes. Even more challenging snakes like rainbow boas or old-world rat snakes can be a fine first snake if you are fully prepared.

I guess the questions you should ask yourself are: Why do I want a pet snake? What appeals to me most about having a snake? When I picture myself with a pet snake, what does it look like? How big should my snake be? What should their enclosure look like? How important is interaction with my snake, and how often will we interact? What sorts of activities will my snake and I partake in? Should my snake be more active or more snuggly? What will my snake eat? How much space, time, and money can I reasonably devote to this snake's enclosure and long-term husbandry? How likely is that to change within a snake's lifetime?

There are no wrong answers to these questions. Sit down and really think about it. When you have your answers, write a list of pros and cons for species that match what you're wanting and weigh them against one-another. Price out enclosures and supplies and compare them for an "easier" snake that tolerates your local climate better versus a more challenging species that needs more specific humidity and temperature ranges.

Finally, listen to your heart... but act logically. If your heart-song happens to be playing to the tune of a more challenging species, then follow it! Regardless of the species you choose, be ready to read a ton, find peer-reviewed scientific articles about the snake species you've selected, see if books on their keeping are available and read those, join online communities for that species, learn their husbandry inside and out and backwards, talk to breeders of that species, understand their natural history and their native habitat and be prepared to recreate it in captivity before you bring that snake home.

It's a process, but at the end of it you'll have exactly what you wanted and nothing less.

[pastafossa]

I love Pepperoni the Pizza Snake!! I hope this is alright to ask, but what kind of snake is he? Is he easy to handle? And what do you feed him? Im hoping to get a snake but idk what kind I should get 😭

It's absolutely ok to ask, I'm always happy to talk about him! 😂

Pepperoni is a corn snake, and his color/pattern specifically is an extreme okeetee! I went with a corn because they came VERY highly recommended as a beginner snake, and he's my first. Their tank setup and things like temp/humidity are also fairly maneageable for a newbie, depending on where you live!

He's honestly pretty easy to handle, fortunately. The guy who hatched him tries to get the babies used to it, and I handle him a couple times a week if it's not too cold, so he's used to me especially, to the point that one of my friends watched him for me while I was on vacay for a week, she said he was SUPER grouchy at her but I came back, opened the tank, and went 'why grumpy mr nooooodle', let him tongue sniff my hand and picked him up and he just went all chill. She was so mad. 😂 But he lets my mom and sis hold him, too and is ok as long as I hold him first! He's a little squirmy in the beginning like OH NO ARE YOU GONNA DROP ME but then he relaxes and just slithers around and explores while you hold him! I've had him for a few years and I've only been bitten once - he was getting ready to shed, I didn't know, and went to pick him up and startled him (they can't see well when 'in the blue' and about to shed). Totally my fault. Even then, it was just a nip and felt like scratchy velcro. Didn't even bleed. Having now been bitten by dogs, cats, a corn snake, a rat, a hamster, a rabbit, a horse, a bird, and a donkey, I can 100% say you can feel safest with a corn snake. 😅

I feed him frozen mice! No live feeding necessary, and I was told that can be unsafe anyway (live mice might hurt the snake). I usually buy local, I keep them in the freezer, and then when it's time to feed him I thaw one in the fridge overnight before putting it in a ziplock baggie and then into the Designated Mouse Mug (it has rats on it to remind no one to drink from it 🤪) with some warm water. Once it's warm, I feed him in his tank by offering him the mouse with some tongs! Outside some now solved eating issues that stunted his growth a little when he was young, he's been pretty good about it and he'll take whatever I wave in front of him!

I know I'm absolutely biased but I'd absolutely say a corn snake is a good option to consider as a starter snake! They're known to be good eaters in general and healthy. Their tank requirements are fairly easy, they don't get too large, and they're usually pretty friendly, happy snakes, with teeth that are too small to do much if they nip (which is VERY rare). Plus they come in a HUGE variety of colors. Candy cane colors, pizza colors like Pepperoni, black, red, lavender, slate; striped, splotchy, saddle marks. They're such pretty, curious little snakes, and I've never regretted picking a corn as my first noodle!

[mlmxreader]

First of all, I just want to apologize on behalf of that anon because that's a really fucked up thing to say to a living, breathing person. Like wtf? Characters in the media is a different thing but going in anon and saying that to someone?! I hope you're doing okay and hopefully that person learns from this.

Second of all, your dog is adorable and I would honestly let him steal all the treats 😂! What breed is he?

Lastly, thank you so so much for writing My Lieutenant! I love them so much. I'm not sure if you're open to it but would you be at all willing to write a precursor to that part using the prompts "Wait for me on the other side" + "Don't try to stop me"? Maybe from when they were fighting in the war together. No pressure though and again, thank you!

🐍anon

first of all, don't sweat it, honestly. I'm a big boy, I can handle myself! but regardless, thank you for checking in 🫶🏻

second, he is a greyhound! he's a rescue like our other dog, too, so he didn't have the best start to life, but at least now he's got a home where he can steal blankets and treats and his biggest worry in the world is whether or not he's gonna play w the squeaky duck or the squeaky ball! as well as choosing which snake tank of mine to stand in front of and watch one of 5 snakes going about their business (he doesn't get aggressive or anything, he's just never seen snakes before so he's absolutely FASCINATED by them - my corn snake, especially)

lastly, YOU'RE SO WELCOME!! and thank you ever so much!!! I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it!!! and ofc, I'm ALWAYS down to write ww1-inspired stuff (*gestures to my Call Of Duty fic series that was literally ONLY WW1 AUs*), so you can read Eastern Front Chills right here!! I hope you enjoyed it as much as My Lieutenant, and any comments and feedback that you have would be hugely and massively appreciated!! 🫶🏻🫶🏻

as this is the last request I have in my inbox as well, I do feel the need to say that requests are still very much open so don't worry about things like pressure or overloading me 🫶🏻

[holyalto]

♡ A Sims Tag! ♡

This is from ALMOST a year ago. I seen it in my drafts so it's getting posted NOW because I'm finally playing the sims again lol.

Show us a rendition of yourself in your own art! Can be anything! Sims render? Random stick figure? Picrew? Go nuts! (Just be sure to tag the artist if you use someone else’s picrew!!!!) Tag the blogs you want to know, and don’t be a dick that’s it! Also, feel free to answer as vague or in-depth as you want. And if you don’t want to answer a question for any reason just don’t vibe with it! Skip it if you wanna!

(original tag by morgynemberisagenderfluiddaddy and the original post is here. i was tagged by cosmiksims, thank you!!)

1.) Do you prefer to be referred by your name or blog name?

either one is fine with me! i go by my nickname on here anyway. my full name is mercedes. :)

2.) Where are you from?

ohio. i have never tasted anything except corn and chocolate covered blobs of peanut butter in my life. someone please help me.

3.) Do you have pets? 👀

yes! my fiance and i have quite a few. we have a cat named tiramisu, a guinea pig named cookie, a bearded dragon named borris, a leopard gecko named anubi and a florida king snake that i call roach because i can't pronounce his real name <3 (and i don't like him rip)

4.) Tell us about your “dream.”

i just want to be a good mother, partner, friend, family member, stranger. that's it. i know it's very simplistic but that's my dream. i want to be a good person.

5.) Aside from art, what are your hobbies?

my 'art' is playing the sims apparently hahahaha. uhm, i like other video games as well. more simulation management style. things like software inc, jurassic world evolution, project highrise, tropico, ANIMAL CROSSING EEEEE, etc.

6.) Does anyone irl know about your blog?

my fiance! he called my bee legacy 'fan fiction' and i nearly died.

7.) Do you know anyone from your blog irl?

nope.

8.) What are some fun facts about you?

i own every animal crossing main game. i still play pokemon go everyday. i have a six month old son who is VERY cute. and i'm turning 22 next month.

9.) What’s your day job?

i'm a stay at home mom :)

10.) What’s your aesthetic?

uh!! next question because i'm just... slob trait lmao

11.) What kind of artist are you?

i actually went to graphic design school. college sucks hard when you're mentally ill tho lol

12.) How did you get into your form of art?

art - wattpad. i was 12 and started making book covers for people haha. i got really into photo manipulation after that and took that as my focus in vocational school and then went and did about two semesters of it in college. sims - i was 11 and wanted the paranormal pack. my mom went out and bought it for me because i begged for it for days. i played with it daily and eventually collected all of the sims 3 packs except for the last one. it took me a long time to switch to sims 4 after release because i was stubborn. i bought it like four months late, opened it twice, hated that i didn't understand the controls, and refused to play it again until a few months later.

13.) What do you watch/listen/read/anything else while you create?

youtube mostly, in the background. a lot of flabaliki/simssupply and buzzfeed unsolved because i love them and their dumb faces so much.

14.) What meme would you use to describe yourself?

probably the 'not a thought behind those eyes' tiktok audio

15.) If you were on the run, what would you change your name to?

why would i just give away information i may need in the future

16.) Have you ever or do you want to change blog names?

yes! i want to but i have some cc that uses that name. so i'll stick with it.

17.) God forbid Tumblr decides to pull a MySpace and lets us have page songs, what song would you choose?

i would simply delete my blog.

and now, the tags. only if you’re comfortable though! ♡ just tagging the people i see most in my notifications. don't feel pressured <3 @almost-spring @coatedinhoney @whyhellosims + absolutely anyone else. just say i tagged you.

[songofclarity]

For a character who was the catalyst for all the events of the novel WRH got way too little attention and show time in the novel heck we don't even get a face off between him and the protagonists. To me if JGS was a pig in a golden pigsty, JGY a sneaky fox, and XY a rabid dog, then WRH was a mighty dragon. He had all the makings of an amazing villain but that potential was wasted and imo that is one of mdzs' greatest flaws

Mighty dragon Wen RuoHan is so true, Anon!

The spoiled pig in the golden pigsty came out on top after the Sunshot Campaign. He had all the money, a beautiful family, and an intact sect, and yet he wanted all the power left in Wen RuoHan’s wake--as if the world hadn’t fought for three years to get rid of the original.

The treacherous snake who cuddled up to others to steal their warmth and yet bit to kill at the first sign of movement. He acted like that warmth was his due and he had no choice but to bite. Surely the actions of others would either do him harm or leave him cold! He tricked Wen RuoHan into believing their scales meant they were similar, but he only ever dreamed of being a pig in that golden pigsty. (There is a connotation of mischief and charm with “sneaky fox” that does not fit Jin GuangYao in my mind lol)

The rabid dog who was used to being beaten and yet would accept a warm bed and a dish of food from any kind hand. He won’t bite the hand that feeds him but he will absolutely maul anyone who threatens that warm bed and new home he found--or anyone who looks like an easy target for some fun and games.

And then there is the mighty dragon!

I've been trying to respond to this ask for a few days because I agree and yet I also kind of disagree on that last point. I find it hard to say Wen RuoHan’s potential was wasted because it’s his potential to do harm that kept the Sunshot Campaign alive but also his lesser-discussed potential to be influenced towards doing good that could have prevented a lot of grief. Although he didn’t get a lot of page time, his importance to the story is practically on par with Wei WuXian himself and he continues to exist as a specter of evil even after he is dead.

This quote comes to mind during empathy:

On Koi Tower, people came and went. Before Nie MingJue's high viewpoint, the crowd parted again and again, with both sides nodding at him in respect, calling him "ChiFeng-Zun." Wei WuXian thought, Such a show of extravagance is going to reach even the heavens. All these people both fear and respect Nie MingJue. There's quite a few people who fear me, though not a lot who respect me. (Ch. 49 ERS)

One of the major conflicts in MDZS is based on one question: who gets to be the next Wen RuoHan after the Sunshot Campaign? And the sane answer is that it should be nobody. The Sects are independent entities who should take care of themselves and work in cooperation without controlling each other. The Wen Sect was never actually in charge of the other sects so it’s quite twisted for the Chief Cultivator position to be created in the wake of Wen RuoHan’s death. Wen RuoHan is still a catalyst for events even after he is murdered!

More so, when people were saying they hoped Wen Qing would one day take over as Sect Leader Wen because she had a normal way of doing things, it’s because Wen RuoHan calling the former Sect Leader Nie over to passive-aggressively slap his saber a few times and tell him it is a good saber is just bizarre. Of course Wen Qing’s ways of doing things are normal!

Compare Wen Qing being angry:

"If you really are grateful then put in some effort! What [the] hell kind of medicine did you just make? Brew it again!" (Ch. 60 ERS)

To Wen RuoHan:

And, thus, Wen RuoHan wasn't pleased anymore...

Wen RuoHan laughed after he heard. “Are you sure about that? Well, I want to see.” (Ch. 49, ERS)

But back to the scene at Koi Tower, it’s funny that the one closest to becoming Wen RuoHan is quite possibly Nie MingJue, the one now respected and feared, the one who fought the most against Jin GuangShan creating the Chief Cultivator seat. Why did Jin GuangShan create the Chief Cultivator seat? Because no one was ever going to respect him or to listen to him, much less respect him and fear his power to let him do whatever he pleased. But even then, Nie MingJue had to travel to Koi Tower to point Baxia while he made his demands. Jin GuangShan and Jin GuangYao had to murder and lie and scheme to get what they wanted. Wei WuXian had to figuratively set himself on fire. Wen RuoHan simply had to call his target of his ire over and he came, and then he let fate run its course.

Wei WuXian, Nie MingJue, Jin GuangShan, Jin GuangYao--none of them ever held even a fraction of the power wielded by Wen RuoHan. A power shown when Lan XiChen and a bunch of other juniors looked at the waterborne abyss and didn’t even dare to speak the name of the Qishan Wen aloud. Our spoiled pig and even rabid dog look to demonic cultivation to gain that fear element since they lack the wow factors of a powerful cultivator. Wei WuXian and Nie MingJue end up dead because a spoiled pig and a treacherous snake want their golden pigsty to go uncontested.

So it’s hard to speak of Wen RuoHan not meeting his potential when all the Sects left in his wake never achieve a fraction of what Wen RuoHan had. And even then, at no point in the story does Wen RuoHan ever wake up in the morning and pick murder, although the same cannot be said for the likes of Wen Chao, Jin GuangYao, Xue Yang, and even Wei WuXian.

So what I’m getting at here is that despite Wen RuoHan’s lack of appearances, we learn a lot about him through other characters trying to either work for or against him or emulate him. And he does face off against one of our protagonists: Nie MingJue! Although that we don’t get to see their first fight in Yangquan when Nie MingJue was fresh is truly frustrating!

Because even though we do get a Wen RuoHan face-off with a protagonist, it’s his assassination that gets all the attention--and it’s because Nie MingJue avoids talking about traumatic experiences and Jin GuangYao already got what he wanted from that event. The mural at Koi Tower immortalizing the assassination of Wen RuoHan is a snapshot of the heroic Jin GuangYao taking out the Big Bad in a glorious moment. It was also, however, a huge red flag that Jin GuangYao is willing to murder someone who gave him respect, protection, and empowerment so long as he could use their blood to pave his road ahead.

I do have to wonder on the degree of Wen RuoHan’s villainy when he didn’t even bother to take the life of his son’s killer and he passed on the opportunity to torture him, too. But no one in the story talks about Wen RuoHan as a person. They talk about Sect Leader Wen as a symbol, and he becomes a symbol of evil.

Everyone becomes so focused on Wen RuoHan as the Big Bad that for all the crimes the spoiled pig and the treacherous snake perpetrate, the majority of the cultivation world responds with, “If this [evil act and/or abuse of power] was done by the Wen Sect, we would be really concerned. Since the people doing it are not-Wens, it can’t be evil and thus we can allow it to happen.”

And thus the Jin get away with doing a lot of evil. Lan XiChen can look at Jin GuangYao and say, “he has his reasons,” because Lan XiChen has been victimized by the Wens and Jin GuangYao murdered Wen RuoHan so surely there is a divide there between good and evil, right and wrong. This is a very convenient way for letting the Jin get away with doing a lot of bad things! Wei WuXian rescuing the Wen Remants, meanwhile, places him conveniently within the Wen-Sect-Is-Bad camp, and we all know how that goes.

So I do agree that Wen RuoHan had all the potential to become a great villain, not just because he has all the power and followers that let him do whatever he wanted but also because the cultivation world sold us the story of him being a monstrous villain who loved blood and torture. But when the other sects create an uprising against the Wen Sect and label it the Sunshot Campaign, not once does Wen RuoHan try to subdue them. Not once does Wen RuoHan ever turn to violence and punishment or slaughter. He had the potential to be a great villain and stomp on all of them! But he doesn’t.

And I don’t think that’s because his potential went unmet. That’s just his character. He is an antagonist with the potential to become a great villain and yet he stays his hand. His power instead draws villains to him like flies to honey. There’s a reason people wear their time spent as a guest cultivator of the Wen Sect with pride! Wen RuoHan is good to his Sect. The perks and benefits cannot be matched.

But it’s not only the dregs of society that come to the Wen Sect and abuse its power. Wen RuoHan has three morally distinct people closest to him that reveal that he has the potential to be well-rounded:

Wen Qing: speaks her mind, a doctor, refuses to kill, intelligent, talented in the liberal arts, accompanies Wen RuoHan to discussion conferences, pays her debts, won’t die for the main branch which is just an alternative of her don’t-kill policy which is don’t-die-for-stupid-shit-customs policy

Wen ZhuLiu: loyal to a fault, dedicated, obedient, was told to protect Wen Chao and does his job incredibly well because this is how he pays his debt to Wen RuoHan for saving him, doesn’t do anything unnecessary, doesn’t speak unnecessary words

Meng Yao: loyal only to himself at the end of the day, prideful, hardworking, scheming, ambitious, supports petty revenge, pro-murder, stabs as a warning, will sell you to satan for one corn chip, does not acknowledge owing debts to anyone but has the receipts on what others owe him

All three characters are respected for their talents and effectively do as Wen RuoHan tells them. Wen Qing leaves for the Yiling Supervisory Office and takes her rational mind with her. Wen ZhuLiu leaves to protect Wen Chao and leaves Wen RuoHan undefended. Meng Yao makes himself useful in Nightless City and thus stays closest to Wen RuoHan’s side. So who is the one speaking in Wen RuoHan’s ear the most? The one saying murder is OK so take revenge.

And even then Wen RuoHan still doesn’t take his revenge, I’m just saying.

But what I’m trying to get at on this scenic route is that Wen RuoHan is left with all this wonderful potential for a reason. Not only do we see his potential but other characters see it, too. His potential is turned into someone else’s profit. Nie MingJue claims that Wen Qing should have spoken up more, which implies Wen RuoHan has the potential for change or even to do good. The majority, however,  persist on not just his potential but his status as a great evil. The characters in the story make Wen RuoHan into the penultimate evil by a post-war consensuses. With that, the ceiling is pushed so high that other evils are able to bloom in the glass house they’ve made.

“Whatever we do can never be as bad as what Wen RuoHan and the Wen Sect did,” the cultivation world says as they let a mass murderer run rampant, as people are used for demonic cultivation test subjects, as prisoners of war are beaten and killed, as a dozen women are raped and murdered for petty revenge, as brother betrays brother, as a father murders his innocent son for political gain, as juniors are kidnapped and used as bait...

So absolutely Wen RuoHan was a catalyst for many events because people either wanted to be him, have him in their fighting corner, or kill him. He perpetuated events by wanting to correct the cultivation world as he saw fit by indoctrinating juniors in the Wen Sect ways or by setting up supervisory offices to prevent rebellious behavior. He delegated these tasks which put people in positions of power that they only saw fit to abuse.

But Wen RuoHan’s potential to be a great villain competes with his inherent lack of interest in causing death and destruction. I think that makes him not just a compelling antagonist compared to all the others but a fascinating character in general. Considering MDZS gets praised for all its morally grey characters, I don’t think Wen RuoHan should be left out of the conversation.