#particularly before the 30s bc i just feels like. there's so little of it & theres just that immediate connection to someone

[fjorrd]

something healing & spiritual abt reading an autobiographical blurb from 1921 of the author calling himself a girl-boy and knowing someone 101 years ago felt like i do

[smolla-than-a-bug]

02 | mission: impossible — enemy spotted

sano shinichiro x reader

banner from @ichig0-miruku !

having only each other to rely on for most of their lives, the sano brothers make great partners in crime. however, little manjiro has taken on a new solo mission under his brother’s nose. his role? to play wingman

navi | series m.list | next

content — fem!reader, gakuen babysitters au, baby toman gang, shinichiro is a hopeless romatic (heavy on the hopeless), sanzu is That kid

notes — 2.4k+ wc. every night i think of clingy baby mikey and cry :”) i had to cut the chapter short bc theres an emergency within my class ndmfmf but i plan to touch on the parts i wanted to include in the next chapter

You've always had mixed emotions about mornings. On one hand, it's an absolute pain to have to wake up to your many alarms set for when there's barely any light out, just to be sure you're ready to leave home by 6:30. As you get out of bed, your legs feel like they're cuffed to dumbbells totaling at least twice your bodyweight while you blindly navigate your way to the bathroom. On the other hand, the quiet cold of the early morning gives your mind time to relax. The dewy air somehow feels like it cleanses your lungs with each breath you take, and for a few minutes, you're free of thought, of responsibility.

The usual walk to and from school is one you take alone. Your friends take a different route as they don't live in the same area as you, but you've grown used to the solo trips. If anything, it makes for great me-time, being by yourself every once in a while and basking in a sort of soul-healing peace. Sometimes, you run into some of your classmates you aren't particularly close to, but like you, they prefer having some time to themselves before officially beginning the hectic school day.

Something about the nature of daybreak makes watching the same scenes over and over feel new and refreshing. You pass by the playground you used to frequent as a younger version of yourself, and you're reminded of the many memories you'd once made on the monkeybars and swing set, now still and coated with little droplets of water. You duck underneath the branch of a tree you once had to jump to reach, swelling with pride when the tip of your forefinger grazed it because it proved you were 'growing taller than everyone else'. Now, you always had to be careful not to run into the into the low branch.

"Ow!"

Though it seemed like someone else wasn't so careful as you'd been.

Childish laughter followed the person's exclamation, and you turned around to find Akashi Takeomi with a red spot on his cheekbone. You wouldn’t classify yourselves as friends. You were more fit to be called acquaintances, at best. After all, the only times you’d ever interacted was during class when assigned pair-work together or when a certain Sano sought you both out for his sake.

You’d spot him from afar from time to time as you didn’t live far from each other, but you never bothered to go past a polite nod before carrying on. The difference is that this time he wasn’t exactly alone. Carried on one arm was a child, who couldn’t have been older than a year old, and there was another slightly older toddler, who Takeomi held onto by the collar of his shirt, bent over from laughing so hard.

"Takeomi!" Your poor classmate looked so distressed, you were compelled to move to his aid. Your body moved before you had the chance to think of what to do, so you just stood awkwardly, slightly hovering and unknowing of what to help with. You hesitated. "Are you okay?"

He nudged the small boy towards you. "I'm good, just... Can you hold him for a sec so I can get myself together?"

You nodded, reaching for the boy's hand, but he refused. Instead, he raised both his arms up, pouting, and bounced on the balls of his feet. "I want up!"

"Haru. Behave yourself."

You reassure Takeomi that it's fine before going to pick the boy—Haru—up. "I didn't know you had siblings, Takeomi."

Haru giggled when you held him under his arms, kicking his feet when you lifted him up. He poked your cheek when you settled him on your hip. "I'm Haruchiyo, but you can call me Haru!"

You smiled, brushing his messy white hair back.

Takeomi adjusted the baby bag on his shoulder as well as his hold on his sister, falling into step beside you. "This is one here is Senju. They usually stay home with my parents, but they had to attend some event at work—I don't know. To be honest, I wasn't really listening anymore after they said they had to leave Senju and Haru with me. Then I remembered our school has a daycare, so I thought why not drop them off there while I'm in class, right?"

"Ah. That makes sense." You glanced at the red spot on his cheek. "You sure you're good there though? I can go with you to stop by the nurse's office for ice if you want to."

He shook his head. " 'S fine. Really. Didn't even hurt."

From personal experience, you know very well that that branch is merciless when it comes to inattentive passersby, and no sincere person denies a question thrice in a row, unprompted. Nevertheless, you choose to believe him for his own convenience.

At first glance, you'd think Akashi Takeomi looks pretty scary. He definitely looks mean, that's for sure. He's the type of student who sits in the back corner of the classroom and barely ever speaks, unless he's with his friends but he keeps an intimidating appearance even then. His resting face is enough for people to clear the halls just for him to get through, not to mention the long scar that runs down the right side of his face makes him look extra menacing.

If you hadn't already been introduced before, you'd have definitely assumed he was a delinquent. You'd be so scared to have to face him in class every day. But lucky for you when Shinichiro dragged you both along for a triad project in one of your classes, he had noticed your body tensing and prompted Takeomi to explain that he got into an accident at home with a piece of furniture when he was younger, about the same age as Haru was now. He claimed to have been a rowdy child despite his current self.

You also noticed how he was strict yet gentle with his siblings throughout the short time you spent together on your way to the daycare. It was obvious he wasn't so used to looking after them both for an extended period of time, but the fact that he was trying was nothing short of sweet. Should anyone else witness the sight, you're sure they'd be greatly taken aback.

As usual, the daycare was already packed, save for Manjiro and Shinichiro. The teachers arrive earlier than the students do anyway.

The kids greeted you with the same enthusiasm as they normally do, but they quickly noticed the newbie in your arms and the scary looking man behind you as you went through the slide door. It went quiet in less than a few seconds, and the kids hid behind Usaida's legs. Takeomi looked to you with a raised brow.

You cleared your throat and knelt down to ease the kids into warming up to the three new faces. You put Haru on his feet. "This guy right here is Haru," you gestured behind you, "that's Senju, and that's their big brother Takeomi! Haru and Senju are gonna be spending the day with you all. Why don't you introduce yourselves?"

You think you heard your heart crack a little when nobody responded, and your eyes narrowed at Usaida when he snorted.

"Oi!" Ah, of course Keisuke always had something to say. You just hoped it was something nice. "Haru, what are those things on your mouth?"

"Keisuke, I don't think it's polite to—"

"They're scars! Cool right?"

At least Haru received it well?

"You look like a clown!"

"Keisuke!"

Having decided that's enough, you suggested they play games instead, which instantly had them all running off together. Takeomi chuckled, heading towards Usaida to ask if he could trust his siblings with him for the day and to talk to him about the contents of Senju's baby bag. You figured you'd wait for him so you could walk to class together too, seeing as you were in the same section, so you busied yourself by playing along with the kids while you were there.

Not too long after, you felt a presence on your back. Short arms clung around your waist as much as they could, and to no one's surprise, you craned your head to see Manjiro looking up at you with sleep still lingering in his eyes. You cooed at him, picking him up for a proper embrace in greeting.

Shinichiro sheepishly waved at you. "Morning, Y/N."

"Shin, Y/N." Takeomi handed Usaida the baby bag and slung his school bag over his shoulder, already making his way out the door. "We should probably get going."

You tried putting Manjiro back down. Takeomi was right, but Manjiro wouldn't budge. And the longer he clung onto you, the less willing you were to leave him.

"Hey," Shinichiro crouched beside you. "Come on, Manjiro, let go. Y/N and I need to get to class."

Manjiro shook his head and tightened his hold on your uniform blouse, drawing a sigh from his brother who leant his head on your shoulder. You bit down a smile.

Shinichiro tried again. "Manjirooooo... we'll be back later, you know?"

It took a bit more convincing from both of you, but Manjiro finally let you go and watched you and his brother leave with a longing gaze. You both made sure to remind him you'd come back right before sliding the door shut behind you.

Manjiro couldn't decide what was more unsettling: The new guy his brother called Take tending to his siblings with an entirely straight face or the fact that you seemed to be so buddy-buddy with him despite his indifference. To make things worse, Shinichiro wasn't inserting himself between you. In fact, he appeared to be proud about how you were getting along so well! How was he supposed to win you over if there was another person hogging all of your attention?

He couldn't count the amount of times you've dropped the toys in your hands while playing with him, Shinichiro, and the others, just so you could assist Takeomi with his sister. And whenever you did, he would catch Shinichiro just smiling to himself as you guided his best friend in catering to the baby's needs. You hadn't even had the chance to read to him like you always did at all. He was beginning to think you were forgetting about him :(

What's more was Manjiro's increasing distress as the new guy, Haru, wouldn't stop looking at him and following him around. He could be peacefully looking over the books in the corner library and he'd feel the familiar chill of having a pair of eyes on him. He could be getting dragged around by Keisuke to play and he'd notice a flash of unruly white hair in his peripheral. It was kind of creepy. He was just minding his own business sitting in front of an open book when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Haru plopped down beside him, looking over his shoulder to see what he was doing. "What's that?"

Manjiro blinked.

"Ah, Le Petit Prince," Shinichiro sat himself with the two boys. "The Little Prince. You seem to be liking that story a lot, Manjiro. Want me to read it to you?"

Manjiro nodded once, already climbing into his brother's lap.

They had a sort of system in place where Manjiro would sit in front. As Shinichiro read the words on the page aloud, Manjiro would be the one to flip the pages. Manjiro liked taking his time to ogle at the pictures and drawings on each page. That, along with his brother's steady storytelling voice and his duty to turn to the next page when he was done did wonders to engage him in the story.

Soon, everyone was crowded around him and Shinichiro, who held the book as far out as he could so that everyone else could see the page. He'd only bring it close when it was time for Manjiro to flip the paper.

When you sat down close by to join in on the storytelling session, Manjiro was already moving to get your attention so you would read to him too. He stopped Shinichiro for a while to pull you to sit beside him before crawling back into his brother's cris-crossed legs. He saw Haru plop on you the same way. It took a moment for him to drag his eyes away.

No words needed to be exchanged between you and Shinichiro as you silently agreed to alternate turns and read a paragraph each, having been in this situation countless times before. Manjiro's favorite instances of this was when you came over to their house on weekends. Time spent with you was always something he had enjoyed, especially when both you and his brother would sit yourselves beside him on the bed, reading to him until he fell asleep for his afternoon nap. It was an experience most would have had with their parents, but to him, having you and his brother there was the best feeling in the world.

You made it a few pages until Senju began wailing, having just woken up from her slumber. It caused a ruckus among the other kids who were exclaiming that "Senju's crying!" as if you couldn't already hear it. As if on cue, you lifted Haru and temporarily put him in Shinichiro’s lap beside Manjiro, rushing to hold Senju so that Takeomi could grab a diaper while Shinichiro was left to try composing the rest of the kids around him. This wouldn’t have had to happen if Usaida hadn’t made the excuse of already having to look after one infant.

His attention is now lost from the story. He watches you cradle the baby until her cries fade away. You set her down on the changing mat, cooing at her and giggling with her. Takeomi comes over with the new diaper, and you move over to give him the space to change her while you continue to distract her. As expected, when Manjiro looks up, he sees his brother's eyes flickering towards you from time to time in between words, in between paragraphs. The slight upturn of his lip breaking into a wide smile whenever he moved his lips to form the words on the page.

Manjiro slumps back into his brother’s torso, defeat taking over once more. A heavy hand ruffles his hair.

The next day, Takeomi handed Shinichiro his application to join the school babysitter club.

all rights reserved © smolla-than-a-bug, 2021. please do not copy or repost my works. reblogs are appreciated!

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[heyitsyn]

RANDOM SEIJOH HCs ACCORDING TO GIGI

a/n: this is a thing i cooked up between doing trig exam and ap gov review akdsjfldskfj

IM PRETTY SURE I ALREADY USED THIS GIF BUT IM WANTING TO RE-DO MY ENTIRE PAGE AND MAKING BANNERS SO THIS IS A TEMPORARY THING AJDJDJJD ALSO I DONT KNOW HOW TO DO THE KEEP READING THING ON THE APP BYE

oikawa def listens to indie music just bc he wants to feel unique and the 'iM diFfErENt fRoM oTHeR gUrLs' vibes

i FIRMLY BELIEVE IWAIZUMI HAJIME IS ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO CHOMPS ON HIS ICE CREAM BC HE LIKES TO FEEL THE COLD ON HIS TEETH AKSJSKSKSK

meanwhile kunimi eats a kitkat like its pizza just CHOMP

makki caNNOT sleep without a pillow between his thighs LIKE LISTEN he has 2 sisters and they all told him its so comfortable and at first he was like,, ??,, then he tried and now cant sleep without it

bUT MATTSUN LIKES TO SLEEP WITH PILLOWS SURROUNDING HIM bc it makes him feel safe and like there are two body pillows on either side of him and hes kinda trapped in the middle aksjskdk

when kyo was younger, he was really short and although he had other pants, he loved this one pair but they were really long on him and he wore it all the time and the part of the pants that touched the ground is torn in shreds

kindaichi steps on the sofa before sitting LIKE puts one foot on the cushion then the other until hes literally standing on the couch before folding to sit with his knees up to his chest (i do this)

watari sniffs his food before eating it no matter if its something he eats all the time or something new, he still sniffs it either way

yahaba is really particular with his feet and he likes to get a really big tupperware (duh one only meant for his feet) and fill it up with warm almost boiling water and he just soaks them

oikawa has sleep paralysis and he oftens hallucinates about aliens in the corner of his room

kunimi does this thing where he makes weird noises with his mouth like sounds of his mouth opening LIKE when youre tastinf something new and you do that sound with your tongue (I DUNNO HOW TO DESCRIBE IT AJDKSKKD)

makki bends his knees just to crack his ankles

iwa sneezes a ton but he has those sneezes where theyre quiet that you dont even notice or really loudly that it just echoes throughout the gym

kyo sleeps with one sock on bc his feet gets cold easily but both socks make him feel really hot so only one sock is perfect

for a tall and hunk of a guy, mattsun is a very light walker like his footsteps are very light and if he wants to, it can be practically silent

watari actually hates vegetables ajssksksk he particularly hates zucchini, eggplants, any vegetables that are that shape

kindaichi likes to stick or lean against walls because to him, they feel cold and can decrease his body heat

oikawa stands and places his feet at V position like \/ instead of ll because his sister did ballet and he was taught that was the right way of standing and it was considered graceful

yahaba has a fear of cactuses

mattsun does so badly in the heat because his body temp runs so high and the hot surroundings make him feel so uncomfortable and so he takes a lot of cold showers

iwa cannot swim like he freaks out immediately when his toetips can no longer feel the bottom and he panics with thoughts of drowning

watari has really small feet that he still buys big kids shoes to save money

kyotani considered playing baseball because he thought baseball bats were cool but he got angry and threw tantrum after missing his first pitch

iwa chomps on a whole raw chili while eating ramen akskksks

oikawa actually hates sweets bc when he was younger, he had cavities and iwa showed him a cartoon of cavities eating his teeth and will make him toothless

kindaichi really really likes hugs but hes too awkward to ask them even from his parents

yahaba chomps on mints so he goes through boxes of them in a week

i feel like theres a boy in the team who doesnt brush their teeth everyday and rubs a towel on their teeth to make it look clean and take mints to hide their bad breath

iwaizumi is actually iron deficient so he bruises super super fast and he even developed iron defiency anemia when he was younger bc his parents didnt catch on which caused him to be put on strong medication for months and still takes it now

WAIT,, OIKAWA IS LACTOSE INTOLERANT BUT HE LIKES MILK SO HE EATS MILK BREAD TO MAKE HIM FEEL NOT SO BAD OR GUILTY OF CONSUMING STRAIGHT DAIRY

seijoh four bonding time is watching gordom ramsey shows and yelling and screaming 'YEA! EXACTLY!' as if theyre also cooking genuises

watari used to eat grapes all the time until his mom got worried and told him if he doesnt stop, he will eventually turn into one. he only eats it every few weeks

when he was younger, kunimi cried because he had befriended a chicken on a trip to a farm and his mom took him to eat fried chicken after and he thought it was Chicky (his chicken friend :"))

kyotani used to stick out his tongue when it was raining so he could taste the raindrops. they taste better than bottled water

one time, during a seijoh sleepover, they dared oikawa to wear his sisters old uniform, skirt and all, and it backfired so everyone turned red and couldnt look at him in the face

their pregame ritual is touching each other's shoe tips

they tried doing yoga at yahaba's house before by watching yoga youtube videos but everyone ended up having to go to the chiropractor after (how did makki even turn into the human pretzel?)

the local gym gets so scared when they see the team coming through the doors bc these men are so LOUD like they HYPE EACH OTHER UP SO MUCH THEYRE SO ANNOYING AKSKSKDK

also never take them to an all you can eat sushi place. if you do, bring them earlier of the day like 30 mins after opening time so the cooks can cook enough for them without running out of ingredients (even then sometimes they still run out)

oikawa used to eat his mom's roses from her garden because he thought it would make his farts smell good like roses

takahiro is a surprisingly good artist like he draws really cool action fighting scenes in the corner of his papers and stuff

in my work: it's canon that iwa is half filo and his nanay used to dress him up in a barong all the time during halloween bc she wanted him to showcase his heritage

yahaba drinks a lot of milk because he hopes to one day grow strong and bulky like the 3rd years instead of being seen as a pretty boy

kindaichi's mom is a hairstylist and she always scolds him for using a lot of gel bc she's always the one who washes his hair

makki never learned how to do taxes and hes had the government knocking on his door a handful of times (BOKUTO AKKDJSKKS)

kyo has a dog: a chiweenie

there's someone on the team who wears those socks with individual pockets for toes

their pinterest is so different from what they look like for example, mattsun has a board of different flower decorations and arrangements

kunimi throws up during intense horror movies

watari's celeb crush is emma watson

the team alternates from different music genres like from ateez and bts to mxmtoon and beach bunny

they still dont know how to pronounce camila cabello's name

theyre all active in social media but only oikawa is on it 24/7 and in all platforms while the others have insta and snap

mattsun has twins as little siblings and he used to get them mixed up all the time that he used to draw a sharpie dot on the girl's forehead to determine she was his sister

watari hates sitting on the floor bc his butt bone hurts really easily so he can only sit on cushions for long periods of time

the team was supposed to have a party but everyone didnt know what to bring so they proved they shared the same braincell by bringing the same thing: a box of pizza

makki's an old soul and prefers to play records on a record player or watch old movies

kyo is surprisingly good at giving massages because he really pushed hard on those tense muscles

kindaichi knows how to crack necks so everyone goes to him a lot to do it (a friend of mine does this and can i say its terrifying yet so good?)

the only one who has a license is matsukawa and thats because granny needs to go to the doctor a lot and he hates her walking by herself and cabs are expensive

kyotani and yahaba are actually,,, lowkey close,,, not like best friends but theyre nice to each other and they got a stick and poke together (yahaba's was: :) while kyo's was: >:))

watari has a collection of mangas (some bl maybe 👀)

WARNING SAD: mattsun’s future job is a funeral person right? he ends up taking care of granny’s funeral free of charge and he had to take a week off because it was really painful for him

oikawa learned spanish SUPER fast to the point he forgets japanese sometimes but there are moments where he forgets both languages and hes just,,,, ???

makki’s unemployed yea but he rooms with mattsun in exchange of cooking because makki’s surprisingly good at cooking

iwa is practically the nutritionist of the team because he knows everything about proteins, carbs, iron, and needed vitamins so they all go to him to know what to eat and what they need

kunimi has lots and lots of shoes but usually only wears 2

kindaichi has a habit of pretending hes chewing gum even though he doesnt have gum, his mouth just chomps and moves with air akasldfjkf

there was a clown phenomenon in america but in their city, they had a mascots and seijoh 4 went around scaring kids :”(

oikawa never manspreads he gets too insecure to spread out like that akdjfkd

kyotani can easily sleep anywhere like he would be standing and just fall asleep or he sleeps with his eyes open

yahaba’s parents own a restaurant somewhere in the city and he works there sometimes

IM REALLY GOING TOO MUCH ABOUT THIS YALL AKSDJFKL

SORRY IM WRITING TOO MUCH I FEEL BAD THAT I HAVENT UPDATED BUT IM IN A CAR RIDE RN AND I WAS ABLE TO WRITE AGAIN AND MY EXAMS HAVE FINISHED THIS WEEK IMMA CRY

PLEASE, FEEL FREE TO REPLY WITH ANY OTHER HCS YOU GUYS KNOW OF SO I CAN PUT IT IN HERE AND CREDIT YOU WITH IT SO WE CAN HAVE LIKE A HCS BOOK FROM EVERYONE BUT THIS IS WHAT I STARTED WITH

oikawa screams a lot according to gigi but he’s actually a really quiet guy and not easy to scare

OKAY YOU GUYS DONT KILL ME I SWEAR IVE BEEN SO TERRIBLE AT WRITING BUT YOU KNOW WHO TURNED ONE TODAY? THIS PAGE!!! MY BABY IS ONE ALREADY 😭😭😭 ANYWAYS, HOPE THIS CAN MAKE YOU GUYS SMILE TODAY AND SCHOOL ENDS NEXT WEEK AND IM ALREADY AT 132 DRAFTS AMSJKSDKSK SO OH MY GOD THERES GOING TO BE SO MUCH COMING AND IM SO EXCITED TO GET THEM OUT 😩😩

[sleepy-and-anxious]

I really want to know all of the different aesthetic ask things but I really don’t have the energy to pretend to be 5 different anons😬

Because its you, and only for you, I will answer every question I haven’t already answered because I hate myself U W U 

flower crown: when did you last sing to yourself?

Saturday afternoon in the car on the way back from wales!!! I sang Drumming Song by florence and the machine 

1975: what is the first happy memory that comes to mind, recent or otherwise?

Eh! I went for cocktails with my uni friends the day or so before I left and I got a little rubber duck in the cocktail and we all had a really lovely time. I paid for everyones drinks so that people weren’t worried about spending money and it was just a really really happy night uwu 

matte: if you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living?

I’d take more chances and sit down more often to write my wip ideas down!

black nail polish: do you have a bucket list? if so, what are the top three things?

Kinda? Publish a book, get all the tattoos on my list, meet a lot of my internet friends! 

moodboard: do you feel you had a happy childhood?

Not particularly - but I think I did okay with what I was given.  

stars: when did you last cry in front of another person?

uhhhhhh.... yesterday? I cried in front of my mum. 

converse: would you ever have a deep conversation with a stranger and open up to them?

Always. I hate small talk but deep talks im g o o d with. 

lace: when was your last 3am conversation with someone, and who were they to you?

uhhh.... most likely @notanotherhour because I was snapchatting him when I couldn’t sleep at like 4:30 am on saturday. 

cactus: what is your opinion on brown eyes?

A D O R A B L E 10/10 YUMMY

oil paints: what would you title the autobiography of your life so far?

A Charismatic Loner ft Too Much Cake 

overalls: what would you do with one billion dollars?

Uh... buy a flat? Save it? Travel? 

combat boots: are you a very forgiving person? do you like being this way?

I’d like to think i am? I think I could always be more forgiving. 

winged eyeliner: write a hundred word letter to your twelve year old self.

I don’t need 100 words i’d just need a few: 

“Keep going; theres light at the end of the tunnel even if you wont see it for a while.” 

pastel: would you describe yourself as more punk or pastel?

p u n k 

tattoos: how do you feel about tattoos and piercings? explain.

j’adore both

piercings: do you wear a lot of makeup? why/why not?

I wear a bit of makeup? I usually fill in my brows, wear eyeshadow, eyeliner and mascara. Sometimes i’ll wear foundation, but I find it uncomfortable a lot of the time. But if I am wearing foundation then I will usually go a contour and highlight too. 

messy bun: the world is listening. pick one sentence you would tell them.

Be fucking kind to each other

cry baby: list the concerts you have been to and talk about how they make you feel.

Oh damn okay so: 

Kerrang! tour: Fearless Vampire Killers, Tonight Alive, Chiodos, Black Veil Brides. my first concert! it was a friends 13th birthday and she wanted me to come with her! I went for tonight alive and ended up in love with chiodos! 

Pierce The Veil: I still adore. This was my favourite. small emo me was living. 

Paloma Faith: I c o n i c  

Fall Out Boy: amazing! I bought tickets for my two best friends. 

One Ok Rock: “SENPAI NOTICE ME!” taka: “wait- Senpai?”  legendary moment 

Twenty One Pilots: one of the most amazing live performances i’ve seen. A r t i s t s. 

space: do you have a desk/workspace and how is it organised/not organised?

Chaotic organisation is my shit. I know where everything is but its rarely neat. 

white bed sheets: what is your night time routine?

Depends. usually, unless im going out im winding down at approx 9pm... sometimes earlier. I usually read or watch netflix at this time. Sometimes I have too much energy and can be found going absolutely bat shit crazy and dancing around my room with my earphones in. Then by 11/midnight im usually in bed scrolling through social media or reading! 

beaches: if you had to dye your hair how would you dye/style it and why?

Okay, so i’ve been dying my hair since I was like 13 but uhh my hair is now died black and styled in a long asymmetrical bob with an undercut. I’m really digging the style, but I might consider going a lighter colour again soon.  

lightning: what’s the worst thing you’ve ever done while drunk or high?

Never gotten high, but i’m usually just a really flirty drunk. So maybe some fluttered eyelashes at other people but nothing more than that . 

storms: you on only listen to one song for the rest of your life, or only see one person for the rest of your life. which and why?

hmmm one song would probably be one of the songs i mentioned in the bands question in another ask... I wouldn’t know about only seeing one person o3o 

love: have you ever fallen in love? describe what it feels like to realise you’re in love.

Yeah, I think so. Its a comforting feeling where your stomach does summersaults and you find yourself smiling/blushing uncontrolably when thinking about them 

clouds: if you’re a boy, would you ever rock black nail polish? if you’re a girl, would you ever rock really really short hair?

I’m not sure... I’d love to rock short hair but I don’t think I have the right face shape for it! 

coffee: what’s your starbucks order, and who would you trust to order for you, if anyone?

skinny hazelnut latte (iced or regular depending on how warm it is)! Uh, my uni friends, my ex and the starbucks baristas back in wales bc they know my order by heart lmfao

marble: what is the most important thing to you in your life right now?

my freedom, the ability to create things and all the possibilities I have now. 

[botanyshitposts]

Re: corn bybrids, I thought developing a monoculture was quite...dangerous, having a vast amount of food production depending on something never coming along which might evolve to attack a single genetic variety... like the way it went with bananas... and might be going again with bananas... Isn't genetic diversity kind of the key component of robustness in the ongoing evolution race between plant and pest?

okay, so first of all: damage in the maize industry due to a large amount of the same seed variety being used has happened before because of the thing that anon is talking about, way back in the gap between the 50s and the 70s when we didn’t know as much about breeding things for agri as we do now. 

to understand this bit of maize history, we have to back up here and explain detasseling. the process of detasseling is a HHUUUUUUUGGEE thing in the midwest to the point where its a tradition/coming of age ritual for a lot of rural families. so in large production cornfields (which create mass hybrid seed for farmers), it’s like my job on a huge scale; at this point, corn research facilities (like the one I work at) have chosen the best resulting hybrid varieties from two of their inbred strains and have decided to market it. to do this, they send the seed companies a shit ton of seeds for the inbred parents with the intention of making a super shit ton of hybrid seed for sale. at my work, when the resulting varieties might be openly tossed out at any moment, we hand-pollinate the maize with special bags, but this is impossible with literal thousands of plants on a production line. so what companies do is plant fields separated into parts- part A will be the male inbred line, and part B will be the female inbred line. the intention is to mass-pollinate the female line with the male line. this is done by chopping off all the tassels (the male flower structures on top of the plants) off the plants in the female section, so that the field has no choice but to pollinate the female ears in part B with the male tassels in part A. the plants in part B produce ears of hybrid seed, which can be sold. 

and this is where the bus loads of rural teens come in. detasseling is a notoriously HORRIBLE job, but it also pays well to the point that you can make $1,000 in a few weeks, which attracts farm kids to get up at 4AM to walk through the female sections of fields to individually pull the tassels off each and every female plant. each field has a different arrangement; some are one row male, two rows female, ect, but its all the same concept. in recent decades we’ve developed giant wacking machines that roll through the fields and chop off all the female tassels, but anyone who works with plants knows that when you work with biological organisms, it’s nearly impossible to use a machine to regulate everything the exact same way; every individual is different, which is why to this day every late June to early July corn companies hire farm kids to do this horrible job for a reasonable amount of pay. 

now you may be like, “why can’t they just get rid of the tassels in the genes??” and that’s where we come to our story about the terrible potential of inbred line crossing and mass monocultures when done incorrectly.

in the 1950s, people in corn research facilities found a single corn inbred variety that allowed for male sterility in the inbred line; when crossed, it regained it’s fertility as a hybrid cross. this means that seed corn companies could use a fertile male inbred line and this specific infertile line as their female, and during production wouldn’t need to hire detasselers. the resulting corn would be perfectly fertile to use by farmers in the field for the production of grain. 

the result of this was people using a shit ton of this female line. like. in everything. like by the mid 1960s almost all seed corn was produced with this gene so corn companies could save money. 

and this is where we reach the total nightmare scenario that i still kind of geek out about because it’s such a nightmare scenario like how could you create a monoculture like this when this is like. a textbook potential result of reducing genetic diversity?????:

in 1971, we had a huge outbreak of fungus southern corn leaf blight. it just so happened that the male infertile inbred line being used as a female in like 500000000 hybrid corn varieties was very susceptible to fungus southern corn leaf blight. and the hybrid corn that was developed from it- which at this point made up 90% of all hybrid corn being grown in the United States- was also susceptible to it. 

we lost 15% of the entire USA’s maize crop in 1971 because corn companies wanted to save money and didn’t have the tech to increase genetic diversity in their inbred lines. also this is just the USA, like this is a quote from the abstract of this emergency white paper on the epidemic discussing the nightmare scenario looming over the susceptible crop in 1970-1971 canada when it crept up from the corn belt (canada ended up not suffering as badly as the US, and that paper is really interesting and anxiety-inducing to read if your interested in plant pathology btw):

75% like could you even imagine. if this was worse than it was canada alone could have lost 75% of its entire maize crop. like i cannot believe this literally happened like you would think???? that they would be like o shit we have a lot of that corn like we should prob not do that incase something was to happen???? but they didnt they really. just did it lol

anyway so the resolution to that story is that of course farmers were like wow i sure dont want to lose my livelihood to my entire crop failing and immediately stopped buying hybrids with the susceptible inbred line. it literally fell out of use in like three years and we went back to manual detasseling even though the scientists in the 80s were like “hey we fixed it” and tried putting a leaf blight resistant male infertile inbred line back on the market for crossing but no one would touch that shit lol

and thats the story of how detasseling almost stopped for like 30 years until the US maize market took a major hit as the result of companies cutting corners and then came back and is still a thing that happens every year. today, we do use the male infertile inbred lines, but not even close to in the same capacity as we did in the 60s. it’s used today in conjunction with manual detasseling and machine detasseling to reduce costs. 

so anyway, i asked the corn breeders at work about how they prevent this nightmare from happening again, and they told me a couple things:

1. theres just. so many corn varieties out there now that are used. like to give some ideas as far of the sheer scale: at my facility alone, we have around 40 male inbred lines and 40 female inbred lines. every facility has this many. there are hundreds of facilities and they all mix and match inbreds. thats just my company 

2. they have hundreds of breeding programs that all strive for different things and seek out new maize varieties to keep the gene pool fresh. 

3. just like with all other things that aren’t industry and lifestyle changing (coughthatonesingularmaleinfertilefamaleinbredlinecough), things fall in and out of style. like it feels like a weird thing bc its corn but seriously, its a thing that happens in breeding because what the farmers want in their corn is always changing; they gave an example of a particularly popular variety my company had in the 90s that was the big thing for a few years. after those few years where it was like super popular (they spoke of it by numerical code and did so very fondly lol it was like two of them and they were like “aaahhhh 4919992 do u remember that one.....man what a stunner”) the farmers noticed some problems with it, got tired of it, and started buying better stuff. things fall in and out of popularity. 

4. we have the power of GMOs on our side. that means that if they have a gene in one plant thats super cool and powerful but the plant itself if lacking, they can just take it out and put it in a better, more resistant plant, and if that doesnt work they can just keep trying, or try with a better gene or trait. if the detasseling thing had happened today instead of the 1950s, they could have taken the gene out and put it in several different, more genetically diverse inbred lines, causing a little more variety than using the exact. same. females. for everything. bc thats so smart. 

basically?? we have a ton of corn. a lot of corn. just so much corn. u want tall corn?? u can choose between 6000000000 tall corn lines or perhaps u would like some mid-sized corn????? could i interest u in some corn from england??????? or japan???? or corn resistant to your particular climate or tailored to your needs???????????? please choose your corn company (there are like 500000 and they all have their own inbred lines) and then choose ur fave and change it out from year to year???????? we just got in 500000 new inbred varieties and got rid of 50000?????? its in the industry’s favor financially to keep developing new stuff, new traits, new inbreds, and new hybrids. genetic diversity is key to keeping up with new threats, and as of 2017 we’re certainly not using the same females for everything anymore. bananas are another story tho lol

[annieoftheshitposts]

this post used to be a link to the old canons page but i’m turning it into a text dump of the revised one for people on mobile [or who have bad wifi/computers that the fancy schmancy script on the canons page wouldn’t play well with.] theres a lot sorry not sorry. here we go.

Canon Info

 Much more is said about Annie in external sources than the game itself, here's copypastes of all I know of and go by.

From the 3rd DLC Character Voting page:

As popular figures in nationwide folktales, a children’s television adaptation of Annie and Sagan’s adventures was inevitable. The show’s success lies in its pair of live action hosts, who are as convincing as their cartoon counterparts. Though what the public learns about the real Annie might surprise them. Annie is a seasoned fighter who has been around for a long time, acquiring many skills and powers along the way. Her sword is forged from a meteorite and can channel the power of the stars in its sweeping cleaves. Her right eye bonds her to her Remote Parasite and partner, Sagan, who grants her powers of a galactic motif. While some of her abilities carry more of a sparkly magical girl motif, Annie tries to execute them with the same sternness.

From "The canon info thread" on Skullheart Encore forums:

-Annie is several-century-old. Her immortality was gained when her parents wished on the Skull Heart so that Annie would never have to experience the hardship of adulthood, thereby making her forever a child. -She has had many different weapons and abilities throughout her life. - Sagan, her remote parasite. keeps her right eye in his mouth. - She’s physically not able to swear due to her condition - She is familiar with Double due to her experience fighting Skullgirls - Annie has encountered a lot of Skullgirls and has killed a lot, but not the same a lot. She’s seen the cycle multiple times and seen how they become stronger each time and is looking for the underlying source now. - The Annie of the Stars show is very similar to the Super Mario Bros. Super Show with live action segments with cartoons and PSAs and commercials in between. - Sagan can talk. Somehow. - Annie hides her immortality by getting a new hairstyle every few years. The show tells the audience that they have simply changed the actress. Eliza also pulls a similar trick

and finally some other misc. scraps that weren't covered above:

-annie has some kind of "super" or "powered up" form, in which she seems to fuse with sagan. it can be seen on her

move concept sheet, in the end of robo-fortune's story mode, and as a very tiny feature on one of robo-fortune's merch posters, but to my knowlege it's never really been talked about.

-she's been depicted with an "incognito outfit", presumably for going out in public and not being recognized by fans.

-sagan is named after renowned astrophysicist carl sagan. this isnt really relevant to anything but it's not on the wiki so i figured i'd share :b

-and this random pic of annie in the past with a different look, plus gun and minus eyepatch, apparently official art from the "digital art compendium". i haven't seen the source for this one myself though, and count this one more as speculative canon since that ingame image up there with her eye uncovered doesn't show a scar or any kind of damage from this.

-another canon fact about annie is she is strong and brave and i love her.

Headcanon (Annie)

this is pretty disorganized bc i come up with and revise random shit on a fairly regular basis, but the very least it should be all here and up-to-date. [though on this text post version i may forget to keep it updated oops.

she can still only normally see from the one eye in her head [and likewise probably has terrible depth perception lmao], but she can “project” her vision into the one sagan has if need be, during which time both he and her main eye are blind.

even though sagan’s vision is his own and she doesn’t actively “see” through that eye most of the time, the stuff he sees still becomes part of her memory and she can recall it if need be, though it’s far less tangible and kind of a surreal experience trying to do so.

the space where her other eye was is now just...space. like empty starry void stuff. yes, TECHNICALLY, you could put stuff in it but why would you. sagan can feel when something interacts with it and it’s really just weird and uncomfortable for both of them.as sagan is the source of their powers, the strength of her abilities is slightly dependent on her distance from him. something like long sustained flight is really only capable if they’re touching, but she still has ample firepower and ability to zip around for a pretty good range otherwise.

Not interested in anime

absolutely hates being called her full name; hasn't gone by anything other than "Annie" for longer than anyone that should be alive today should know.

part of her curse of eternal youth is remembering everything up until the point it kicked in and she stopped aging [i.e. when she was Actually a kid] exactly as well as if she hadn’t aged.

from that point however, a lot of it is hazy as shit aside from more recent times [as you’d expect from someone who’s been around hundreds of years]. this one's gonna be angsty as shit when i address it and you can thank @sandstriker for that. fucker.

also hates being restrained. by the concept sheet and beo's story, her fighting style is very kinetic and relies heavily on mobility; take that away and you get one very uncomfortable and very angry starchild. [this one's 'cause of y'all with the handcuffs asks. this is part of why she's so agitated rn.]

what's in the pouch? whatever is alternatively convenient. is it snacks? is it a quick incognito disguise? is it her whole entire sword? who knows. i think it might be infinite hammerspace in there.

i haven't put much though into this side of her story yet, but i've decided part of the mythos of the "annie of the stars" character as a figure of legend is that she literally lives, among the stars.

if there's enough folktales about her to base an entire show off of, i'm willing to bet she used to be less elusive when she was just about fighting skullgirls before dedicating herself to the whole "looking for the underlying source" thing.

Headcanon (Sagan)

tl;dr: as far as things go here, he's essentially a cat and/or younger sibling.

Sagan's canon information and characterization is basically nonexistant, so i got to do pretty much whatever i wanted with him lmao.

simply put, he's a little gremlin of a partner, but he is genuinely good-natured and a happy-go-luckly little dude. mischevious, loves to get up to Shenanigans, go off and hide/disappear to fuck knows where for several hours, climb and sit on tall things[or failing that, annie's head], etc. @sawkinator has described him, regrettably accurately, as "the Token Disney Animal Sidekick". he has a lot of mannerisms like an animal, but is still very much a being of at least average human intelligence. he's also surprisingly indestructible. far from invincible of course, but in canon he's been shown to be quite stretchy and...possibly have minor shapeshifting capabilities?? he's pretty much immune to being squashed and feels very little [if any] pain from most things. really, as far as i can tell he's pretty much a weird sentient plushie. like, if it's not going to damage a plushie, it's not going to hurt him; examples being: getting knocked back really hard or falling a long way? not a problem. fire? problem.

Sagan tends to be somewhat nonverbal and generally only uses a few words or short phrase at a time when he does speak, which sounds something like the voice clip below. that being how it is, he can be kind of inscrutable and more than a bit jarring to most people--though at this point annie's been with him more than long enough to be completely desensitized to it and doesnt quite get why anyone would be perturbed. fortunately, with that familiarity also comes understanding, and she can easily "translate" and articulate more from his expressions. this understanding is a two-way street, and on its other side is sagan's sensitivity to her moods. annie's not particularly...communicative of her emotions, but sagan can always tell when she's having an off day or something's bothering her, and is far better than anyone at helping her feel better. all things said and quirky antics aside, he and annie are exceptionally close and fiercely protective of eachother the moment it comes to it. they don't make a big deal of showing it outwardly, but they know they've always got eachother's backs.

he's taken quite a liking to beowulf as well, and beo defintiely shamelessly enables sagan's shenanigans.

as i see it, annie may be the passion and power of their operation, but sagan is the heart and soul. beowulf is like....comic releif and emotional support. not entirely necessary, but certainly welcomed to have around. yeah. listen im a big sap i just want them all to be good friends ok. i love them.

also sagan does like and watch a lot of anime.

Blog Canon

miscellaneous happenings that either have continued relevance/significance, or y'all just won't let die. there's not a overarching plot to this thing at all, but geez we’ve kinda gathered some history here huh?

taught sagan to say fuck [and other swears, in her stead]. he used to have to do it on command but he's gotten really good at filling in for her.has a

stoat fursona that beo helped her make. she thinks it's neat/cute but has no real attachment to it.

attempted to sue the crystal gems for ripping off her entire shtick [it didn't go well]

beowulf also taught her how to dab.

@sparkeletran is a nuisance and must be stopped

the 70$ pile of high school musical merch. sagan and beo both wear the t-shirts sometimes. she hates it. don't let her attitude fool you though this is actually the best and most important ongoing joke in this whole damn thing.

the first handcuffs stint. they’re gone now but they had a good ~30-post run, and she did take to learning lockpicking because of it.

this.

hey. guess fucking what lads. handcuffs ROUND TWO 'cause y'all just don't fuckin' quit. the first mini story arc sorta thing, in which she visits the cirque des cartes and has an aggravting encounter with taliesin. [currently ongoing][hopefully soon ending]

[[redacted for ""spoilers""]] due to said encounter with taliesin

sparkeletran is a nuisance,

"the official annie of the stars instagram is just cat memes but with sagan" it's canon but i haven't decided whether it's something she would have had already or a recent thing. [either way, hasn't been touched on yet due to the arc taking so long]

badart annie is sorta like her own thing at this point but nothing that happens with her is canon; she p much just shows up for exceptionally dumb posts. we did give her noclip though which is terrifying. on that note i may as well include the things that are Not canon but y'all won't let me forget

beo's animated belt thing. look. it doesnt talk.

spray-on boots.

the lawnmower weapon

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh homestuck

[paleconda]

blog- 9th february.

i- as an american doing pretty damn well job of pulling off as british- do not like to do american-like things. such having having wet and cringe humour, being unnecessarily loud, being blatantly ignorant on world culture/affairs (no offence), and especially opening myself up. one thing i’ve noticed is that brits always keep to themselves and rarely discuss thier deep feelings and thoughts with other people. they’re not very open to tel you their life story, and i’m the same way.not to say that i’m not down to earth, bc i very much am. i just stay quaint when it comes to public situations. that being said, my journey and story on my sexuality is very personal, deep and complicated, and unfortunately, i feel like i have to go into massive detail on what’s all happened and how it’s impacted me. it’ll make me vulnerable, but easier to understand and empathise with. this is going to be a particularly long read tho.

the date is 07/07/2010. it was the summer before the 7th grade and i had just realised my sexuality only a few months earlier. the worst night of my life. the night my parents found out about my sexuality. i was only 12. but the way the found out was rather quite stupid and embarrassing (no i wasn’t wanking and it wasn’t porn). at the time, i didn't have a phone. and my favourite show would come on at 1 am. but i didn't feel like staying up late, so what i did was borrow my grandmas phone and set an alarm. well in the alarm it had an option for a message. well my dumbass self put “get the hell up you bisexual fucker”. yeah. well, when my grandma went to puerto rico for a funeral, she left her phone bc she wouldn’t have any service over there. and i had forgotten to take off that alarm. so my mom is just going thru the phone (idk why) and she happens to come across it. she calls me downstairs and confronts me about it. after about 10 minutes what seems like an interrogation ( and me not talking, i felt as tho i had no choice but to admit it). they started crying and told me how its never okay even if the world says it is, and they brought up sodom and gomorrah and told me i needed to have a long prayer. my relationship with them hasn't never really been the same since then. so after that, i kinda ignored thinking about my sexuality. i would just go thru my day, occasionally look at gay pictures at night, then go to sleep. then, toward the end of 7th grade, i ended up taking nudes and sending them on http://showyourdick.com (terrible, i know) and they. ended. up. seeing. the. pics. it made things a shit tonne worse. i was still closeted at school, i had been accused of being gay as early as 4th grade, before i even knew i was gay (im actually bi/pan, but lets just use the word gay for now). fast foward to the beginning of 9th grade (late 2012). i had already been stanning nicki for almost a year, but i was still closeted. i also had a tumblr account(not this one). not only did i still kinda feel bad about being gay, but i was terribly insecure as well. i ended up starting to cut myself around late September. but for a while it was only on my thighs bc i didnt want anyone to see. later, in january 2013, i was feeling really depressed one night, and i kinda went on a cutting tirade. (trigger warning) i even cut my arm. i remember feeling the warm blood running down my leg and feeling dizzy, with my ears fogging up and nearly passing out in the bathroom. this next part may sound wierd. maybe its just me, maybe it was the fogging in my ears, idk. but i remember hearing nickis voice, almost aloud, and she said Stop. crazy init.  the next morning, i got really scared, bc my sleeve wouldn't completely cover up the scars. well, one of my teachers saw (i still dont know who) and reported it to the office, and one of the guidance counselors called my parents and told them. another really bad day. the next day, my guidance counselor called me down, even the principle came in the room. they told me they were sending me to a place where i would have therapy. i agreed to it, but i wasnt aware that i would be forced to spend 3 nights there. its called being Baker Acted.  the deputy at my school called my mom and told her where they were taking me but they didn't tell her i was required by law to spend 72 consecutive hours there. so when she came to pick me up that night, thats when she found out. needless to say she was crying. alot. and as if it wasn't bad enough, it just so happened to be her wedding anniversary.  i end up relapsing 2 more times after that whole ordeal. the last time was march 9th, 2013. so things temporarily improve for the summer. i ended up (finally) coming out to my closest friends. but i never made a big deal out of it. like i never made a big post on facebook or IG or anything. I kinda just let people figure it out and have their own assumptions. so september rolls around and i end up getting depressed again (september is always a bad month for me) but i promised myself i wouldnt cut myself again. so i end up overdosing. alot. 7 pills at a time. (it was just vyvanse tho, its not like it was percs or oxycodone.) so my parents went thru my texts and they found out about what i was doing and thats when the trust begins to deterioate again. they would always take away my phone at night. they said its bc of some report they saw on the news where having your phone in your room while your sleeping is unhealthy (which.. they were right. but it’s ovbious that wasn’t the real reason they took it.) it was bloody annoying. but back then, they would only take it on school nights, and sometimes i would sneak it back, and although they got mad, they wouldn't really do anything about it. also, as you could’ve probably guessed, i had downloaded a couple of gay apps because i was curious. the first time i downloaded grindr, i was in the 8th grade. and it wasn't the only app i would download. there was also hornet and jack’d. well, theres this one guy who i ended up talking to. and i end up sending nudes to him on kik. and my parents end up going through my kik. this was in december 2013. my horny self was just tryna hookup. welp. they see the messages. things go downfuckinghill fast. they barge into my room, one second they're yelling at me shoving the screen in my face and then the next thing I know my dad is shoves me down and kicks me multiple times, and my mom ends up calling the police and filing a report. to say it was traumatising is an understatement. but because it's kik, theres not much they can do. this renders me phoneless all the way until june of 2015. and at this point i wanna take a little bit of a detour. bc i almost feel as though my life as a normal teenager has been robbed.

some of you may ask why i didn’t move in with relatives or just file a report to social services.

they wouldn't let me. and bc they're broke and aren't good at finances, that's what they (we’re) doing anyway. my family is living with my grandparents for like the 4th time since i was born. so they change the password in my phone and im only allowed to use it when they say (this is february 2014, roughly) and i have to be in the same room as them. and then in march, something goes wrong with my phone and it wont read the SIM card. so now i can't even call or text.  things just didn’t get better that year. its summer 2014, and now they suddenly change the password to my laptop. (they still won't tell me the password). i started crying and begged them to change it back. so they did. but just a month later, on July 11th, they change it. and its stayed that way. so now its june of 2015. they buy me a new phone, but they said there are "rules for having the phone" and they take it away every night. well, in november, i had downloaded grindr. theres this feature on my phone where i can hide an app, but one day, back in november, i forgot to hide the app. so they saw it. and they didn't even open the app (it was password locked) and i refused to give them the password. so now im phoneless.... again. and this time they wouldn't even let me use it... at all. so i went back to having to use my grandmas phone and computer to log onto Twitter. for the longest time, i could only be on twitter from 4-8pm on weekdays bc thats whenever i had access. fast foward to april 2016 and im taking a college class across town. all of a sudden, my mom hands me my phone, and im shocked. she says im only having it on a "limited basis". so for about a month, im only allowed to use it outside the house, but they eventually let up. every once in a while, we still get into an argument about it.  may 2016: its time for me to choose what college to go to. my mom had made me apply to a christian university about 30 miles away. i didnt wanna go, but the other college i had been looking at had ran into financial trouble, the big public university in my city didn't accept me, and i didn't wanna go to a community college. plus, the christian university (southeastern University) offered me a bunch of money in scholarships. and i honestly felt forced to go. by august of 2016, things start to drastically change. most of it is in a good way, but there are still some things that are... iffy, for lack of a better term. i’m beginning to lose weight and my grades are actually good for once, but my phone is still taken way at night all the way to december, when they finally stop. then in january 2017, i am finally able to buy an iphone. at this point, everything sort of catches up to the previous post. there’s still loads for me to explain but this is enough for now.

on a side note, it’s amazing how different things are for me now after looking back at all that. i still can’t believe that we are in 2019 and that i graduated high school nearly 3 years ago. i’m gobsmacked at how much i have changed since then. it’s a lot to ponder on. and i’m glad to say that i’m currently at the happiest place i’ve been in for years. maybe ever.

end.

[drferox]

20 questions with Dr Ferox #1

Greeting Vetlings. This post is an attempt to chew through some of the many, many questions I have received over the last 2 months without spamming you with two dozen mini post. These questions are in no particular order, and I’ve tagged the asker if I know who it is. If you’re waiting for a question to be answered, it might be below.

@surskitty​ asked: What are your favorite marsupials?

Well, I certainly have lots to chose from, but I’m particularly fond of the carnivorous ones. Numbats, Quolls and Tassie Devils will always be special to me, but I really like the extinct Thylacine and Thylacaleo too.

Anonymous asked: Hey so theres this theory that giving extremely dark chocolate in small amounts to a rat is helpful with the chronic respiratory issues endemic to rats bc of mycoplasma. What do you think about the accuracy of that scientifically? I came for the vet cases/ funny stories, stayed for both!   

I can’t say I’ve used it, but it’s not a standard recommendation. Rats being generalists may be able to handle the theobromine in chocolate better than small carnivores but I can’t find any solid data on it. Small amounts in moderation are probably ok.

Another Anonymous asked: Hi dr. Ferox, I'm planning on getting a gecko this July so that I have plenty of time to get set up and do even more research on them. One of the things that I'm curious about is if you would consider it a good idea to call around and ask some of the vets that I'm considering taking my gecko to see their level of familiarity and comfort with treating reptiles like geckos?  If so then what are some other things that I should ask them about? Thanks in advance!            

It’s definitely a good idea to call around and ask who is comfortable treating geckos, or any exotic pet. Most clinics will know who the local exotics vets are and are happy to refer such patients on. It would also be a good idea to ask which emergency clinics are set up for reptile patients, as some will have better setups than others. You should also ask how much you should budget for routine care and how often they recommend that species comes in for a checkup.

@zaryaisbae​ asked: I have an old Russian Blue (around 13ish, he's 100% indoors and declawed (adopted him that way) and probably a little overweight. He still seems to get around really well, and occasionally plays with the younger kitten we have. Given adequate care and accommodation, how many years would an average case like him have left? (Came for the rant on time sensitive questions, stayed for the excellent veterinary information)

Russian Blue cats can do old age quite well, for a relatively uncommon cat I’ve seen a few reach 18 years of age. I would recommend regular blood or urine tests for my patients of this age as early detected of kidney disease and hyperthyroidism can help them live longer.

Anonymous asked: I might be adopting a little doggy soon!!! She's a sweet australian shepherd/ spaniel cross and I love her. She'll likely become my service dog, but she's currently being treated for heartworm. Are there any long lasting effects of heartworms? Could it be recurring?

Dogs can certainly be re-infected with heartworm even after they’ve been treated for an infection. It’s important that dogs stay on preventatives as recommended by your local vet, they’re most likely to know what’s working well in your area. Heartworm is spread by mosquitoes so your dog doesn’t even need to come into contact with other dogs to get them. It is possible for heartworm infection to cause permanent damage to the heart or blood vessels, but this will likely depend on how severe the infection is. Once a dog is treated they may show no ill effects from the previous infection.

@petitevetoespagnole​ asked: Recently I realize that the idea of what a cat has to eat change a lot between countries. I know mostly it's because I work in a rural environment and I'm good as long as my French cats have cat food (and I'm happy if it's actually the type of cat food they need) but I thought it could be interesting to know what's your experience on this.

Emotion is a significant factor in what and how people feed their pets. Cats are more or less the same everywhere but how they are valued and perceived by society will differ. For some a cat will be their furbaby. For others a cat is ‘just a cat’.

@doctorrichardstrand​ asked: question tax: came for the breed analyses, stayed for the mythical creature analyses. we recently found out my miniature schnauzer has an abdominal tumor. we're not sure yet if it's benign or cancerous, nor where it is actually coming from. i was wondering what the rate of cancer is in miniature schnauzers? i had thought it was fairly low.            

Well, just because a breed doesn’t have a reputation for cancers doesn’t mean they can’t get them. They don’s seem to commonly get them, but it’s still possible. Overall the rate of cancer in dogs (not including benign lumps like lipomas) seems to be approximately 30%.

Yet another Anomymous asked: Do you see many Manchester terriers in Australia? What do you think of them if you've worked with them before 

Not enough to write anything meaningful about them, I’m afraid.

A presumably different Anonymous asked: I've heard mixed things from vets about mixing Baytril with baby food etc so my rats are more willing to take it. Some vets have recommended it but other vets have said it's unwise. (I've avoided mixing it just to be safe.) Is this a controversial thing in the vet community and why is it advised you don't mix it?            

I think it’s more a matter of being confident the rat has eaten the entire dose. The local exotics vets often use a particular brand of sweetened syrup to mix with baytril for rats and parrots. I don’t think it’s a controversial thing, so long as you can be confident the rat is getting the dose.

@its-animalcrazy-love asked: Hello! Do you now where I can learn to read a blood sample and other kind of lab tests?            

Well the vet course in the obvious answer. Certain text books about clinical pathology will have quick summaries. Certain medicine text books (Ettinger?) had charts on the inside covers for quick reference and the 5 Minute Veterinary Guide has reference ranges for just about everything in an appendix at the back. However knowing the reference ranges wont help you if you don’t understand why something is abnormal and what it means for the patient.

Anonymous asked: So noses don't tell anything but what about how soft the fur is? I've always heard that for cats, if their hair is soft and smooth, they're pretty healthy. Is there anything to that?

Not really. If the fur is soft and smooth it tells you that the fur is soft and smooth. Certain disease processes will cause changes to the coat and skin, but these typically take weeks or months to manifest and are not helpful for determining whether a pet is sick today.

@mackthebulldog said: The obsessive foot licking My dog does like crazy. I bring it up almost ever time I'm at the vet(I've seen 3 for it). It's so bad his paws will get like hairy almost because he's breaking down the paw. One vet put him on this medicine to try to help thinking he was licking because it was a bit inflamed and red. When it went away he still did. It's so frustrating. When he comes in I wipe his paws and put socks on when he licks too much. They think he's OCD, any advice on how to curb this behavior

Generally pets are licking due to itch, pain or psychological reasons like stress. Obsessive compulsive behavior is rare but does occur. We can’t ask a dog how it’s feeling, so typically need to treat any possible skin pathology, allergy or nail bed infection (yeast being very common) before we commit to a trial of behavior modifying mediation (like anti-depressants or anxiolytics). Covering up or blocking the dog from licking doesn’t necessarily help because it doesn’t address the reason for the behavior, and if you block an obsessive dog from performing its behavior it will often become distressed. Distraction toys or puzzle feeders can help, but most of these dogs need medical intervention of some sort.

An additional Anonymous asked: Do you do much work with wildlife? In the US, it seems like most people who work with wildlife are wildlife rehabilitators (who might be vets but usually aren't--it's a separate licensing process) or zoo vets, not general practice vets. (Although wildlife rehabbers usually have a vet that they work with, for medication and injuries and such--in my state, it's required that you have a vet who will work with you/see your animals--the majority of rehabilitation does not happen with the vet.)            

General practices in Australia will typically triage wildlife, and some will treat them further. Wildlife carers often have preferred vets they will go to for anything other than first aid because those vets are more experienced or have better equipment for those species (or give good discounts). You’re not actually allowed to house a wild animal unless you are a licensed career or the animal is receiving direct veterinary treatment, and most vets are not also licensed carers. In my current jobs I will do some work with wildlife, including euthanizing those that are too mangled or sick, and sending the rest to a better facility. In my previous jobs I have done a lot more, particularly as one vet at my first job had a reputation for being the ‘raptor vet’ so we got to see a fair birds of prey. This is why I know they’re easier to handle with a sock over their head.

@gram-stained-paws said: Rookie vet asking a silly question: how much water should a dog and a cat drink per day and at what point should it be considered polydipsia? What guideline do you follow when you establish it? I've read so many different answers to this question and I would like to know your opinion.

There is possibly only one thing that counts as a silly question, and this was not it. Opinions will vary, and the answer will vary depending on the animal’s diet and how much water it’s ‘eating’. As a ballpark I call it polydipsia if a dog is drinking more than 100ml/kg/day or a cat drinking more than 50ml/kg/day, although if they’re getting close to this number I’m a bit suspicious and will recommend further testing. And unexpected increase in water intake may also count as polydipsia.

The eighth Anonymous (but certainly not the last) asked: As a vet, or as an animal person, or as someone who just seems really into weird and cool and strange biology (and dinosaurs) do you have any thoughts on Jack Horner and his chickenosaurus?

I think the chickenosaurus project is fascinating, but I’m not sure how far it will get off the ground. I doubt they’ll be able to completely reverse engineer a dinosaur-like animal out of a chicken embryo because some genetic information has likely been lost, but they will probably be able to get some dinosaur like traits. I’m waiting to see how long it will take before those chickens reach the pet market.

@what-will-they-do-next asked: Hi! I know the pyometra is a serious, life threatening condition for intact female dogs, and is caused by the infection of the uterus which causes it to fill up with pus and rupture causing septic shock. But what I don't really know is what usually causes the initial infection of the uterus in the first place. Could you explain that? Question Tax: came for the vet science, stayed for the personal stories of real life events.

Infection can enter the uterus and cause a pyometra in one of two ways. It can either reach the uterus via the blood stream (eg septicemia, bacteraemia secondary to rotten teeth) or from bacteria entering via the vagina. The second way is probably more common, increasingly so with the age of the dog, because a dog spends most of its time with its anus directly above its vulva when standing so gravity helps bring fecal contamination in where it shouldn’t be.

Anonymous asked: Do you have any experience with allerpet products? I'm curious to know if they actually work and wether or not they're actually healthy to use on a pet. Particularly a cat.

They talk a good talk, and probably don’t do any harm, but aren’t proven to be any more helpful than a regular pet shampoo. I do note they also recommend that after the allerpet product is applied, the cat should be dried and they suggest a hairdryer. You are welcome to tell me how washing the cat and drying it with a hair dryer works out.

@missnoodliness asked: Saw you treated pocket pets (rabbits and the like). 1st year vet student here wondering if you had any good texts you'd recommend, anatomical or otherwise.

I printed all my uni notes and had them bound. I also reference the BSAVA Manual of Rabbit Medicine and Surgery, and Ferret Husbandry, Medicine and Surgery by Lewington, 2nd edition. Keep in mind there are not nearly as many ‘exotic’ animals kept in Australia as there are in the USA. We don’t even have hamsters.

Definitely not the last Anonymous asked: Why do octopus' have ink sacs?

Because they do. Evolution doesn’t have a plan, it just runs with what works. A little bit of ink goes a long way in obscuring vision in the water so an octopus can escape or hide.

And the last Anonymous of the day asked: Hi Dr! What's your favourite animal? Mine are bears 😊

I have lots of favorite animals. I even have favorite parasites (demodex). I really can’t choose just one for you, but some of my favorites include fossa, whale shark, kookaburras, tawny frogmouths, foxes, ducks and just about every domestic species.