#I don't have the qualifications :'D

[eevees-hobbies]

ume devours pussy like he's been starved for days on end (he couldn't see you for a few days) and bonus points if you're actually a plaything for furin , so he'll do a pussy inspection first >-< - 💌 anon <3

Author’s Note: Hi, 💌 Anon! Welcome back 💕 I Just realized that I didn’t mention Sakura in this entire piece, and my heart hurts because of it, lol. Anyway, I’m snatching my bonus points thank you very much! I love the idea of being used by Bofurin; like sign me the fuck up! Trains go choo choo! Lastly, please don't clock me for the name of this little fic haha. I realized I don't have a banner with just Ume, and I was like, "might as well!"

Content Warning: Fem!Reader x Hajime Umemiya. You’re Bofurin’s girlfriend to be shared and loved by all, mention of sexual activities with others, fem! receiving oral, mentions of eating ass, but I spared you THIS time, some dirty talk, pubic hair mention, sorry to the two Nirei fuckers out there, I’m sure he eats pussy like a champ—Tis smut. Minors Don’t Interact. 

Word Count: 1.9K

Divider by Saradika. Banner by me

One qualification for a good leader is being unselfish, and Umemiya embodies that virtue perfectly. 

When he took on the role of leader of Bofurin, he knew that it would involve quite a bit of sharing that had the potential to test anyone’s patience. But as though it’s his calling—and it most definitely is—Umemiya willingly shares wisdom with those ready to receive it and, most importantly, shares his most limited resource: his time. He’s never had a problem giving away so much of himself for so little in return. 

It wasn’t until Bofurin had gotten back from winning an intense match-up with a rival group across town, and you all were celebrating on the rooftop with food and beer, that the obvious occurred to him. 

As he watched over the joyous faces of his crew, he found himself studying you, like he always does, as you interacted with Hiragi, whose eyes looked over your form hungrily after you placed a piece of Gyoza against his lips and the tip of your finger touched his tongue.

He watched when you went to speak to Kiryu, who pulled you into his lap playfully and planted a kiss on your cheek, his hands resting under the curve of your breasts. 

And he watched as you crossed the space to turn up the pop-punk music crooning from the stereo. Suo reached out to you unprompted and tucked a stray hair behind your ear, his hand lingering for a beat too long to be considered innocent. 

It became abundantly clear to Ume that he would be doing a massive disservice to his team if he didn’t share you, too.

You thought he was suggesting an open relationship when he approached you with the idea. Your thoughts were in flux immediately. Was he unhappy? Was there someone else? Your heart sunk into your stomach at the idea and the hurtful implications of such an arrangement, but Umemiya simply shook his head.

“I have no intention of offering myself to anyone but you.” 

Admittedly, your new role as the official Bofurin Girlfriend had you just as busy as Umemiya. You weren’t only a sexual toy for them. You were Nirei’s first date, Suo’s confidant, Tsubakino’s shopping buddy, and Kaji’s and Hiragi’s third wheel at metal shows. You felt so lucky to be surrounded by so much love—and dick. But all those excursions—and dick—kept you insanely booked, to the point that you had to develop a shared calendar with your boy toys to not overlap on dates!

So it’s not to anyone's surprise that there are days when you and Umemiya don’t cross paths. You exchange texts frequently, asking how the other is doing and sharing inside jokes with cute gifs and memes, but the absence hurts and leaves you aching for him. And maybe it was also Umemiya’s intention to busy you with the boys because he knew he couldn’t give you as much time as you deserved, but it didn’t hurt any less. 

But fret not; on rare occasions, your schedules align.

You can feel him before you see him, an overwhelming presence that makes the air dense and clotted with an insurmountable pressure. You look up to the door, and just as your intuition hinted, he strides into the room where you all commonly loiter as a group—members strewn across the worn-out couch and others talking amongst each other immediately straighten and hush. 

Umemiya’s well-kept hair is slightly messy, with a few strands dangling in front of his face, and his eyes are smoldering as they scan across the faces in the room, searching until they land on you.

As soon as your eyes meet, the air feels as though it’s coursing with electricity—sexual tension threatening to boil over and scorch anyone who gets in your path. It doesn’t take long for everyone to get the hint to vacate quickly, knowing that you two are set on a collision course that they wouldn’t be able to stop even if they wanted to.

“Ume," you start but are unable to finish as he crosses the room. His heavy steps are the only thing that prepares you as his lips crash onto yours. As he kisses you, hands placed on either side of your cheeks, he breathes you in. His chest expands against yours, and you’re reminded at that moment how much you’ve missed him—missed this. You both wonder silently, but somehow aloud with your bodies, how you could go so long without the other.

And when you’ve been apart for so long, you don’t have time for pleasantries. Ume is walking you backward until your ass is pushed against the back of the couch, which previously housed Bofurin members, the indentations of their bodies still fresh in the cushions.

He smiles at you—one that you recognize because it isn’t his usual giddy grin; instead, it’s a smile that conveys, “I can’t help what I’m about to do to you.” 

Ume gently grips your elbow and spins you around. As he bends you over, you’re now painfully aware of the feeling of a breeze as he hikes up your dress and his fingers pinch at the exposed flesh of your ass.

“No underwear?”

“Suo doesn’t like it when I wear panties. He says it’s a hassle.”

Umemiya hums to himself in response to this interesting tidbit. He kneels, placing two giant hands on your cheeks, and spreads you down the middle. If anyone else were in the room, they’d be able to see everything, from your juicy, wet cunt to your winking, puckered asshole, and the fact that Umemiya can see everything makes you gush.

“My pretty girl is already so wet,” Umemiya muses, eyeing your pretty hole as it drools for him. You blush, knowing he’s not referring to you but having a conversation with your pussy instead.  

“Have you been a good girl for the boys?” His mouth leaves hot kisses and gentle nips along the curve of your ass, tongue darting out and leaving a trail of saliva across the expanse of your smooth flesh. You stiffen, wondering if his tongue will dip into somewhere more lewd—and Ume considers it, but he’s on a mission with one goal in mind; he’ll devour your asshole another time. 

“Y-yeah, Ume. I’ve been a good girl for them.”

His finger traces your entrance, spreading your freely-flowing juices onto your cunt’s lips. His eyes take you in with pride as you clench around the air simply because his finger is so close to being inside of you. He smiles at the physical way you show how much you crave him.

“For who in particular?”

“My god, Ume! Always with the questions!” You squirm under his touch. You know he isn’t being an intentional tease, but the line of questioning still feels invasive. How do you tell your boyfriend that Hiragi’s cock was breaking you in by noon, and Kiryu had you sucking him off under the table while he tapped away at this phone screen only a couple of hours ago? 

“Why are you shy all of a sudden? Here, I can check.”

Your thighs quiver as he slides two fingers inside of you without warning. You attempt to adjust, but his probing fingers are sweeping so deeply inside of you that you have to dig your nails into the soft fabric of the couch to keep yourself from reaching back and grabbing his wrist. 

“Sugishita, huh? I can tell.”

Oh, yeah. Sugishita, too. 

You cringe as his fingers pass over your clit, making you hiss and recall that you woke up to a particular someone’s head buried between your legs.

“And Nirei, too? Did it feel good when he sucked on your clit? That’s his favorite thing, right? Sucking at your cute little clit until you cum down his throat.”

You huff and wiggle against his hand, growing restless from being exposed like this and against his eyes with no release. 

“Does his tongue feel better than mine?” There’s no jealousy in his tone—just curiosity and a hint of ego because he knows the answer before you can say it.

You give him a quick head shake and mouth the word “No,” earning a smirk. 

“Use your words, sweetheart.”

He’s teasing you, and not saying what he hears means the unfortunate consequence of not having his mouth on you. 

“Your tongue feels better than Nirei’s, Ume.”

“Good girl.” And without further comment, and to your delight, Ume places a kiss against the back of your mound, soft pubic hair tickling his lips.

You don’t like to compare sexual experiences; every Bofurin member brings their own “talents” to the bedroom, but Umemiya has to be your favorite. He touches you with such fondness and devotion that it sets you on fire. Your head falls forward, and your shoulders slump as his tongue makes gentle work of your clit, as if to apologize on behalf of Nirei for making you sore.

“Did you miss me, Ume?”

“More than you could ever imagine. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you—done this—that I was starting to get restless.”

Umemiya’s words ring true. He feasts upon you as though what you have between your thighs is the only meal that can satiate his immense hunger. The way he rubs his nose against your sex, chuckling as you whimper against him, “Needy girl. What am I going to do with you?”

Umemiya’s tongue splits you open, his tongue solid and firm as it explores your cunt, his hands are placed on either side of your ass, with his face flush against your skin to leave as little space between you as possible. 

The way his hot breath fills you up and the way he moans with every lick makes your head spin. Ume and pussy-eating are synonymous. Eating you out is like breathing in air for him, and the way he’s pushing you forward, your stomach digging into the back of the couch from the exertion, is a clear indicator that he’s just as into it as you are. 

“You taste like heaven, baby girl.” Soft, gentle praises float through the air as he laps at you. Between hungry slurps and moans, your legs begin to tremble. If you weren’t holding yourself up against the fortitude of the couch, you’d surely collapse against Umemiya’s face. 

“This isn’t too much for you, right, baby? I’m so hungry; let me have a little more of your pretty pussy.”

It doesn’t matter what you say; Umemiya is set on devouring you regardless of your ability to stand.

“Grind back on my face, sweet girl. I want you to fuck my tongue.” 

And as someone who isn’t in the business of disappointing her king, you use what little energy you have by pushing yourself off the couch and grinding your pussy on Ume’s outstretched tongue. 

He goads you on with each bounce, and in between the soft, wet, smacking sounds from the collision your ass makes with his face, you can barely make out what he’s chanting. 

As you look back at him, curving your midsection to get as best of a view as one can in a bent over, ass-up position, you’re met with the intense, unapologetic, “dare you to look away” gaze of Umemiya’s over the top of your cheeks. 

Direct eye contact during cunnilingus is an unsung hero, and Ume remains the champion. Your walls clench around his tongue, squeezing the muscle as your pussy juices cascade into his mouth and down his chin. 

And despite the way you quake around him, Ume lets you ride it out on his tongue before pulling away and unbuckling his pants.

“God, I’ve missed ya.”

[where-does-the-heart-lie]

One piece modern au, Mama Rouge :)

Happy Mother’s Day :)

Here’s some mama Rouge for the occasion!

Additional info about her 👇(there's a lot.)

Rouge is a bit sickly. Throughout Ace’s formative years, she was in a hospital, sick. Its honestly a miracle she got through child birth alive, but she’s a very very strong woman.

Garp was there when Ace was born because I like to imagine that Garp was Gol D. Roger’s Parole Officer, and so of course he became a family friend. But since he was there for Ace's birth, he was also there when Rouge held her newborn and cried because she knew she couldn't take care of him in her condition.

And look, I don't know how child handling works, but I think it would be really funny if Garp was like "you're okay, girlie, I got the perfect idea." And then he held out a sheet of paper with all the people on his parole list and said like "pick one, this could be part of their community service sentence."

And Rouge was like "might as well, I guess, I don't want to put him in an adoption center or foster home so I guess I'm doing this". Then she picked out Dadan because 'dad' is already in her name, and she's not really given anymore qualifications other than that, so Dadan it is.

Plot twist though because all these convicts just all live with each other so it really wouldn't have mattered, it just meant that now Dadan would be the main guardian of Ace.

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

Because she was in the hospital for so long when ace was growing up, she’s a bit of a mystery to him. Sometimes (like 3 times a year) she would come to visit him at The House Of Dadan and bring homemade large stuffed animals for him made with Ace's old clothes she's patched together. Ace loves them and they're on a high up shelf in his room, practically untouched in fears of potentially breaking them.

Whenever Ace has a day with Rouge, it's usually a bit awkward. Like Ace doesn't know how to have a mother and Rouge doesn't know how to have a son, but she is trying her best to have fun with him whenever she gets the chance to.

I kinda envision these vibes. Not exactly but adjacent.

Very like "what do you wanna do, sweetie :)"

Ace never gets to visit her at the hospital because Rouge doesn't want him to see her in that kind of setting. He tried to once when he became an adult but he was turned away at the door. He may or may not have tried to then find her through the outside of the building through windows and he may or may not have been kicked off the premises by security.

---------

The first day on the job after Ace completes his tattoo artist apprenticeship, he gets a customer who called the day before requesting him specifically, which is a little weird since he had just started that day, normal patrons wouldn't know him.

When it's time for the appointment, he goes to the floor from the back of the shop, and the person sitting in his appointment seat,

Is.. is his mom.

Shes talking to his coworkers and laughing with them! Ahh no nononono. His mom is not supposed to see this part of his life. What is she doing here????

He rushes over to her and asks her what she's doing here for??

"I'm getting a tattoo from my son :) can I get this flower please? :)"

So he starts the tattoo process and Rouge is very cooperative and receptive to when he needs her to move or anything like that.

He's.. he's never actually been this close to her for so long...

He glances up one and he sees her smiling so softly at him.

Ace looks away quickly, hoping she doesn't see him blushing.

For all wondering, the tattoo that she has is very much on her ass and it is very much Roger's name.

That's all I got. I got a couple of people asking about Ace's family situation, so here ya go :)

Oh additionally, Roger died before Ace's birth from Cancer

Thanks for reading if you got this far :)

[the-actual-ocean]

Hello! Ever wonder who does the ocean? That's us! While, technically, we aren't in direct contact with the people who are actually in charge of the ocean, we have assumed the role of keeping it interesting!

Blog, ask, and mod info below the cut!

We are not accepting applications for new mods. This is a personal group blog, and we feel more comfortable with people who have physically thrown one another into blood pits before. sorry.

// We are all minors! Thought I'd add this before the read more.

Feel free to send us asks about what to throw/edit into the ocean! You can simply send us an image or name in the ask box with signatures to specify what format you want the post to be in! they're right below this! and next to those signatures? examples!! of the posts!!

-[Chuck] "An image of a rock, please -[Chuck]." This will have the provided image or description being hastily edited to appear as though they are being thrown into the ocean, or perhaps off a dock!

-[Swim] "adam sandler -[Swim]." This will have the provided image or description being edited into the ocean, and maybe even included a school of said image or description. maybe.

look at him. so majestic in his natural habitat.

-[Amalgamation] "Dany Devito bigfin squid -[Amalgamation]" This will have the chosen subject be horribly amalgamated onto a sea creature or oceanic feature! they will be in extreme pain!

And, uh, just to let you know: there's like a 40% that any news networks suggested in the asks will instead be fed to sea slugs. Sorry.

Mod Info:

Hello! I'm the creator of the blog, and you can refer to me as Juno. You can discern my posts from the other mods through my boring, regular writing, and I'll probably be the only one not to swear. I go by he/him, and I will always take the chance to brag about how I got to make that one part of space, or how I have the most squids to my name. I'll also be able to be recognised with my tag, being #{J}.

hello i am the purple one. i called dibs on purple whilst we were coming up with the idea of this blog, so you will be able to recognise me by my colour and tag: #〔L〕. my name is Liv (i am the only one here who has not changed their name because i couldnt find anything that suited me) and i go by she/her, and ill probably mention penguins a lot. i know they dont live in the ocean, but they come here often so theyre like a family friend. i also like manatees, so they might get a few mentions from me, idk yet. im also probably recognisable through my lack of punctuation apart from commas and full stops, so do whatever you want with that information. i also actually spawned in the ocean, so despite my lack of qualification, im allowed to be here as its sort of a form of compensation for the mistake. heres what i look like!!! (i also have 1 more picrew but we have another post dedicated to them so if you wanna go see just go there!)

Hello. I'm salt, which for legal reasons is not my name but I'm not expanding on that. I'm not sure what happened. I got here by . I go by they/them. It'll probably b quite easy to distinguish me from the others as I use punctuation incorrectly or not at all nd shorten word that don't typically need to be shortened. Another way will probably be my dramatic response to references I understand. When I post, I'll use red and my tag will be #S♣. I also really like sharks. I love sharks. I'm not responsible for them, but I will take credit for them.

HELLO! I am snail. I'm identifiable from my green colour and tag, which is #[Sn]. I go by she/her, and I will probably make spelling mistakes. I also may seem stupid or imbecilic. (See? Big words. Salt can't insult autocorrect.) :D I'm a bit slow and don't wear my glasses at home, so I'll have to take my time reading things and typing with the correct spellings. I'll probably just mention whales and pufferfish, since they're so super awesome. I just swagger walked into the ocean and I'm here now!!

[scriptlgbt]

I have a deaf trans character who went completely deaf in his teens. He is on T. Is it normal for him to be very conflicted on how he sounds to people? Would he be scared, especially when he starts passing more because the voice in his head will always be his old voice? Would he try to ask people to describe exactly how his voice sounds? Is it okay if he really wants a 'cure' due to this and never cared before he came out? Doesn't actually get the cure though.

I'm hard of hearing so my qualifications for answering this are limited. I can hear my own voice. This is my frame of reference here. I hope that deaf trans people can chime in.

When my voice dropped, I could physically feel the change when I talked. I would go to say something in the way I normally would, but it would feel more strained, or I would feel my voice break. (Hard to explain this feeling... It's like a pressure just gives way and I can feel my voice go softer? I don't know.)

I think in general, it's normal to feel self-conscious when your voice is changing. People who have known you with a higher voice seeing you for the first time in a year might be surprised and comment on your voice. Mine changed over a really short timespan so I had more people notice the change and comment on it and usually people expressed they were a big fan. I had platonic friends say it was hot, even. And I think, at least in my own trans community, there's a lot of celebration when people go through milestone changes.

The voice in my head has never been of any particular range or pitch. Sometimes there's an intonation to it, and if I focus, I can imagine a sound so clearly it nearly becomes hallucination. But my normal inner voice is more of just general language, maybe even closer to text than sound. This is another one of those things that varies with everyone.

I think that the story you're describing with your questions strikes me as an unusual level of hyperfixation on this. There are definitely people who do fixate on one specific dysphoric trigger, usually either isolated from trans community or whose only trans community are people obsessed with "passing" and coming across as cis enough. This usually speaks to an unhealthy community surroundings and a very big sense of danger in some way, whether founded in reality or not.

But I also don't see why this character wouldn't want to de-prioritize voicing if he has these concerns to this extreme of a degree. We (or me anyway) live in a society which is oralist. Everyone is assumed to communicate via oral language, and this is audist (part of the oppression against deaf and hard of hearing people). This is going to depend extremely on individual access, but, if this character has access to resources to learn the local sign language, this seems like a normal option. It's only really helpful if you know other people to sign with, but that usually comes more easily once you take the step to start learning in the first place. Some d/hh people also use other means of communicating, like typing.

There are some people I know who sometimes go nonspeaking and who carry a notepad for that reason, and will use this to interface with clerks or friends or whoever else they need to. There's also AAC in general.

None of this is to say that these things don't mean facing oppression, harassment, misunderstandings and assumptions from strangers. But I do know that some of the folks I know who use nonspeaking methods of communication are sometimes gendered differently by strangers who do not hear their voice. If this is truly that severe of an anxiety, this is probably the route the character would go.

But I don't think this level of hyperfixation on this is necessarily normal. I think wishing for a cure gets into some really big existentialism, like, what if this extremely core part of me were entirely different? It also assumes that deafness is necessarily a disease that requires cure, rather than something that just happens sometimes, which might or might not be related to some pathology or pathological origin.

I'm sorry to keep bugging them with my tags, but I rec reading work by @cripplecharacters.

But overall I'd just avoid writing this if you haven't experienced it. It's a really specific kind of experience and anxiety. I don't know your identities or anything, but if you are cis and hearing, I would probably just come across this and see it as weird and almost like... making these identities into an unnecessarily traumatizing spectacle. These can be things real people experience that can be represented, but they aren't for every writer to write. Not until people from those experiences write on them and get adequate success from that.

-mod nat

[insertcoolusernamehereee]

If becoming Robin had an interview:-

(Dick, Jason, Tim, Stephanie and Damian)

Batman- What is your motivation for becoming Batman's partner?

Dick- Robin. Batman's partner is Robin.

Batman-

Batman- Right, Robin, what are your motivations?

Dick- *Scrunching up nose in concentration* Uhm- Uhhh- RIGHT! dead parents :D

Batman-

Batman- WHAT?

Dick- OH! sorry, i forgot, *Grin*, seeing dead parents DIE in front of me :))

Batman- I-

Batman- *softly* Dick,

Dick- Aww, I got it wrong...

Batman- You can't-

Dick- What's your motive?

Batman- Making sure nobody else has to suffer like I did but-

Dick- My motive is to make sure nobody else has to suffer like I did, Batman sir *salute*

Batman-

Batman- Dick, just because we have similar starts to our Vigilante career-

Dick- And to find Tony Zucco.

Batman- There it is-

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

Batman- Out of all the other kids, why should I hire you?

Jason- OUT OF ALL THE OTHER- Listen here mister-

Batman- waIT that was just to sound interviewy-

Jason- SOME RANDOM CREEPY WEIRDO KIDNAPPED ME OFF THE STREETS-

Batman- *softly* Oh Gotham...

Jason- YOU WERE THE ONE WHO WENT "hey kid, wanna punch some baddies?"

Batman- *suppressing a smile* Are you done?

Jason- THE HELL IF I AM- Y'know what, why should I work FOR YOU??? WHY NOT- LIKE- THE JOKER OR SOMETHING?

Batman-

Batman- Because THE JOKER IS A HORRIBLE MAN???

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

Batman- *Gruff* What are your qualifications?

Tim- Well, Photography, Stalking, and I like to think I'm quite smart but I can be stubborn at times-

Batman- *Bored* Mhm....

Tim- I-

Tim- To hell with this, If you don't hire me, I'm telling everyone you're Bruce Wayne >:(

Batman- *Raise of eyebrow* And what if I stop you?

Tim- Unless you tie me down for the rest of my life or kill me, you can't

Batman-

Batman- I need your height and weight for the suit.

Tim- yES!

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

Batman- Any previous experience?

Stephanie- Well, I was Spoiler before, and I have a close relationship with the previous Robin-

Batman- *Interested* Hrn, would you say the previous Robin, cared for you???

Stephanie- Uh, yes sir???

Batman- Don't call me sir.

Batman- This may be a strange question, but would said person be jealous if you became Robin?

Stephanie-

Stephanie- I suppose, but I like to think-

Batman- You're hired.

Stephanie- REALLY?????

Batman- Really.

Stephanie-

Stephanie- Do I get paid, ma'am?

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

Batman- What is your opinion on killing?

Damian-

Damian- Well, I suppose, hypothetically speaking,

Batman- We're not talking about hypothetically.

Damian- *under breath* interrupt me again-

Batman- Sorry?

Damian- HYPOTHETICALLY SPEAKING, I think some people deserve to die,

Batman- Well yes, but would you deliver the final blow?

Damian-

Damian- *deep annoyed inhale*

Damian- *Slowly, as if remembering difficult lines* I believe that context matters,

Batman-

Batman- Could you please answer the question, i have other volunteers waiting-

Damian- Excuse me?

Batman- I meant-

Batman- *Sigh* Tim wanted to volunteer for the interview just in case-

Damian- *Pushing table and standing up* OH REALLY?

Batman- *Painfully tight* Damian-

Damian- WELL YOU CAN TELL DRAKE THAT IF HE DOESN'T BACK OFF, I'M GOING TO HAVE TO GET BLOOD ON PENNYWORTH'S NICELY CLEANED CARPETS-

Batman- DAMIAN DON'T YOU DARE-

Damian- *Impassive stare*

Batman-

Damian-

Batman-

Damian- I'm going out.

Batman- WHERE-

Damian-

Damian- *Run's out*

Batman- WAIT-

Batman- *Following after* YOU'RE HIRED- DAMIAN YOU LITTLE- STOP!!!

[triscuitsandspraycheese]

what kibble do you recommend for cats?

Oh man, I don't think anyone's asked me this stuff on here before lol. This is a big question with a lot of correct answers. I'm gonna provide some context before listing brands.

Warning: it's long (but thorough!)

The goal when choosing a diet for your pet should be to target the companies that do the most regular testing of their diets as well as the most regular, consistent involvement with board-certified veterinary nutritionists.

A lot of "mid tier" companies can pay a board-certified veterinary nutritionist to formulate the original recipes, and then they go ahead and sell them with the Nutritional Adequacy Statement that the diet is formulated to meet AAFCO standards for adult maintenance. But in reality, when the recipe is tested, it might not be identical to the formulation, so some aspects of the diet might not be perfectly as they were intended. Basically... testing is important. The gold standard is to look for diets that say they were TESTED to meet AAFCO standards for adult maintenance, not just formulated to meet AAFCO standards.

This Nutritional Adequacy Statement must be present on ALL pet food bags, cans, pouches, treats, chews, literally any pet food product that is intended for consumption of any kind in the US. It will be one sentence long and clarify who this product is intended for as well as what qualifications it meets. If it says it's appropriate per AAFCO standards for adult maintenance, it means it meets the requirements for a healthy adult dog to eat that product regularly without being deficient in any nutrients. This is the BARE MINIMUM.

(Pro tip: You can just ask companies for their nutrient testing data for diets. The really good ones will be able to give you the full AAFCO panel with all the nutrients you can test for. Some companies might be like "nah that's too many, you can ask about a few ingredients at a time", and that's fine. If they have data to share, it means they've run at least one test recently. If they won't share any of their testing data other than what is legally required by the FDA, which is called the "Guaranteed Analysis", then they probably haven't run any real testing beyond that. Be wary of those companies.)

2. Companies that have a lot of money have time to run more tests to make sure their product doesn't have excessive levels of heavy metals, mycobacterium, required nutrients that can become toxic (think Vitamin D), etc. They also have money to buy facilities that can safely produce food and be regularly cleaned and sanitized daily.

Companies that are just starting out or are trying to work their way up won't have the money to buy the enormous facilities and kitchens required to mass produce their product for consumers. I know it's very tempting to support small businesses, but pet food is not one I would recommend. Think about the last time your local mom and pop diner had their paint tested for lead or their ice machine deeply sanitized and checked for mold. And then think about the overkill protocols in place by the monster fast food corporations like Taco Bell or In n Out who have more money than god and write you up for not adhering to their insane cleaning protocols.

When corporations have reputations to lose, legacies in place, they go above and beyond to make sure they are legally protected in every single aspect of their business. This applies to cleanliness, but also to things like recalls from toxic levels of a nutrient in the diet, testing for bone fragments or other foreign objects in food, removing the possibility of human error from the feeding process for your pet. Corporations above all else want to avoid legal problems, which means they will go above and beyond (I can't believe I'm saying this) to uphold the safety measures in place for their final product.

Basically, the more money they have, the more money they can spend on safety protocols so they can't get sued for something bad like accidentally making hundreds of dogs sick and having their reputation destroyed.

3. Marketing. My god, marketing has become such a shit show in the last few years with influencers and social media. Listen, if a pet food company is spending its hard earned dollars trying to scare the shit out of you by demonizing some random thing or another company, it's probably not real and they're just grasping at straws. If they're desperately trying to convince you that kibble is evil, or that Company B sucks for reasons X, Y, Z, or that you've been feeding your pet wrong this whole time and it's going to KILL THEM unless you feed *our product*, know that they are most definitely full of shit.

There is no magic diet for things like making your pet live twice as long or for curing cancer. It just doesn't exist yet, and trust me when I say companies are trying. The first pet food company that can prove their product makes pets live longer in a repeatable research study is going to be a gazillionaire.

But I digress. I don't recommend giving money to companies who spend money on incendiary marketing campaigns. If a company is trying to upset you, that's weird. A good product speaks for itself and/or has the backing of licensed (key word: licensed) professionals in that specialty making that recommendation.

"Certified Pet Nutritionist" and "Certified Animal Nutritionist" are NOT LICENSED MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS. There is no license required to call yourself that. They watch videos online for like six hours and then get emailed a pdf certificate. They are not licensed medical professionals, despite their best intentions. Be wary of any medical or nutrition advice you get from someone who calls themselves that.

Finally, the fucking list:

My cats both have medical problems so they're on prescription diets, but here are the regular brands I highly recommend if you have money to burn.

Top Tier

Royal Canin, Hills, Purina

Okay, I know what you must be saying. "That shit is expensive, dude. I'm not buying that."

But listen to me... these parent companies that make the expensive pet foods also make the mid tier pet foods and the affordable pet foods. MARS (who owns Royal Canin) is the biggest pet food manufacturer in the world has might actually have more money than god. Purina is owned by Nestle. Hills is partially owned by Colgate and is rollin in dough enough to make an affordable version of their top tier product.

ANY pet food company that is under the umbrella of one of these monster corporations will have the same testing and sanitation protocols as the "top tier" fancy ass pet food companies.

So all you have to do is see what pet food companies are owned by MARS or Nestle or Hills and pick what's in your price range.

This is MARS:

This is Purina:

And Hills just has Science Diet, I believe.

If it makes you feel better, I fed my cats Fancy Feast for literally a decade, and they loved it and had killer blood work results until they reached their older years.

Also, just a caveat: There are literally hundreds of pet food companies out there, more growing by the minute, so I'm sure there are also a lot of other great companies who make kibble for cats. You can use the info above to ask the right questions to the poor, overworked customer service agents who will hopefully be able to provide the info you need to make an informed decision.

Oh, and make sure to talk to your veterinarian before making any dietary changes for your pet! Seriously! None of this is intended to be a substitution for medical advice.

[itsjustrosee]

hiii rose!! back with another fem reader x Minho request because I love the first one you did 🥰🫶🏼

Could you do one where fem reader is wondering the glade one day and exploring it by herself because she’s curious and still fairly new, and she ends up in the deadheads, finding the runner’s hut. Coincidentally, the runners were having a meeting inside and she’s curious so she watches them through one of the holes between the branches. The meeting is adjourned and they all leave except Minho who stays behind and continues working, she hides from them as soon as they leave the hut but stays back to watch Minho cause she lowkey has a crush.

Minho hears noises outside and gets defensive, “Who’s there?! Only runners are allowed here-” etc. but he softens when he realises it’s her. And lets her inside to show her around. LOTS of seggsual tension cause it’s only two of them in the hut and this is their first proper interaction with one another. And the rest it up to you hehehe (idm if it ends in spice or fluff) 🥰🥰

Thank you for yet another request!! this one is so cute and wholesome I literally couldn't wait to do it. I really hope you like it <33

Soft Spot (Minho x fem!reader)

Context: Read above ^ (pre-Thomas)

Warnings: none, just fluff, sunshine!reader x grumpy!Minho if u squint

Wordcount: 2.8k (proofread, but again, if u see spelling mistakes don't be surprised)

You'd been in the glade for about a week.

And fortunately, it only took a week for majority of the gladers to get over you being a girl. But that only really happened after Alby threatened that the next person who made any sort of advance on you would have two days in the slammer, without food or water. His rule did seem a little harsh to you, but you were thankful that his means of discipline proved to be effective because most boys practically steered clear of you from that moment on.

Every boy except for Chuck. The little shank was one of the few people in the glade to treat you like a normal person and you had to thank him for that. He showed you around the glade and told you as much as he could about it, which wasn't much because he'd been there only a month longer than you. But still, you appreciated his help nonetheless.

The next issue you needed to overcome in the glade was finding out what you were good at. Embarrassingly enough, through a process of trial and error, you found out you weren't good at a lot of things. But you were good at one thing, being a medjack.

To be fair though, there weren't a lot of qualifications for the job. You knew how to bandage people up but your best skill by far was being able to send everyone that walked in the medhut with an injury, out in a better mood than the one that they had walked in with.

You'd like to say that that was one of your greatest abilities, you cared about everyone's feelings. You were positive in negative situations, and you were always there to listen to anyone's problems and anxieties. That's probably why every glader had developed a soft spot for you. Even Gally out of all people recognized how you boosted everyone's morale and he couldn't help but respect you, along with all the efforts you made toward being someone the gladers could rely on.

So it's safe to say you were slowly becoming an important part of the glades community, but despite that, you still didn't know much about the glade. That being said, whenever you weren't in the medhut or when work got slow, you spent your time wandering the glade and areas you hadn't explored thoroughly. And today was no different.

The maze doors were closed and you had just finished eating dinner. The area you planned on visiting today was the deadheads, the place you'd been looking forward to exploring the least. It didn't help that it was already getting dark out when you set foot in the forest. Branches and leaves crunched under your feet as you walked further, and a crisp breeze traveled through the air making you shiver.

You didn't quite know why the deadheads creeped you out so much. I mean, maybe it was the name. Like seriously, deadheads? Really? They couldn't have chosen anything that sounded slightly less intimidating?

So the name was definitely a contributor. But it's not exactly like there were any animals or any monsters in the woods, nothing that should prove to be any sort of threat. Regardless, something about it still made the hair on your arms in the back and the back of your neck prick up for some reason.

Before you could convince yourself that you'd visit the deadheads another day, you heard a noise. It was a voice, but it sounded like it was coming from further into the woods.

Out of curiosity, you followed the direction where the noises you heard seemed to be coming from and eventually, you came across a poorly built hut made out of branches and wood, held together by string and cement.

You could tell you weren't supposed to be there, or have found this place to begin with. It was concealed well by the forest but somehow you stumbled upon it anyway. Against your better judgment, you decided to walk further towards it to try and hear what was being said by those inside better.

"What do you mean you found nothing new?" Minho asks irritatedly to someone else in the hut. Your heart skipped at hearing Minho's voice and you cursed at yourself for how you subconsciously reacted to hearing his voice.

It was hard to believe that it's only been your first week in the glade and you'd already started developing feelings for Minho, a boy you've only talked to once. You couldn't help but think it was stupid that you liked him because you barely knew him, but then again it was hard not to find yourself crushing on him. He's held in such high regard by all of the gladers and he's the main person looking for a way out of the maze for everyone.

Also come on, with a build like that, anyone could find themselves daydreaming about him.

"Shuck Minho, what do you want me to say? I'm sorry that I explored areas we already explored and didn't find anything?" You heard another voice pierce the air and you could recognize it as Bens. You stepped closer to the hut, avoiding stepping on anything that could blow your cover and peeking out through one of the branches that the walls of the hut consisted of. Thankfully it had gotten dark so no one would be able to see you peeking in.

You could see Minho, Ben, and two other runners inside. Ben and Minho were standing up, and it was clear they were in the middle of an argument. You weren't able to recognize the other gladers but they were sat down at a large round table which had scattered papers and- a scaled-down model of the maze? Okay, you definitely weren't supposed to be there.

"Minho come on. How much longer are you going to keep denying it?" Ben asked again in response to Minhos silence. You suddenly felt guilty about eavesdropping on a conversation like this because you had a feeling that what they were talking about definitely wasn't meant to be heard by you or anyone else in the glade.

"There has to be a way out, I know there is-" Minho starts, trying to calm himself, but he gets cut off again by Ben once more.

"Seriously? Because it doesn't look like there is," Ben said with a cruel laugh as he exasperatedly threw his hands up before speaking again, "Just face it, we're shucking stuck here."

"Slim it alright, Ben?" Minho shouts while slamming his fist on the table which definitely makes Ben and the others jump slightly. "You know what, just get the shuck outta here. Meeting adjourned or whatever," Minho finished with a sigh.

"Minho come on," Said one of the two other runners who had now stood up.

"No, it's fine. I just need some time to think, alright? It's getting late anyways." Minho explained and after seeing his expression, you're assuming neither Ben nor the rest of the runners had any hope of getting through to Minho tonight so they began making their way to the door of the hut.

Suddenly, you remembered that you weren't even supposed to be there. You quickly hid behind a nearby tree and waited to hear the runners walk off. As their footsteps grew more and more faint, the coast was clear.

You should've walked away then. You should've understood that you'd already intruded on enough and heard way too many things that you shouldn't have, but part of you wandered back to your spot standing near the door of the hut.

You tiptoed closer to the slits in the hut wall, looking at Minho as he fiddled with papers and checked them with the model of the maze that you're assuming that he and the other runners had made.

You were so interested in watching, and kinda sorta stalking Minho, that you shifted your weight on one of your feet and accidentally stepped on a twig, snapping it in half during the process.

Oh, shuck.

The noise the twig made after breaking in two was nothing short of loud and it definitely gained Minho's attention.

You backed away from the hut quickly as loud footsteps approached the door of the hut, "Hey, who's there!? Only runners are allowed over here!" Minho says angrily as he reaches the doorknob and twists it.

His gaze is hard as he opens the door but once he sees you standing on the other side of it, his gaze softens. His jaw unclenches, and his body unstiffens as you stare at him, scared out of your mind that he might yell at you more.

"I'm so sorry, I really didn't mean to eavesdrop. I mean- I didn't hear anything I just-" You could barely say more than two words without stuttering, and thankfully Minho cut you off before you could embarrass yourself more.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Minho sighed while leaning against the doorframe with his foot propping the door open. He crossed his arms before he brought one of his hands up to the back of his neck, rubbing it while he spoke again, "Sorry if I scared you," He added while giving you a genuine look and a soft apologetic smile that made your cheeks redden.

"Oh- no, it's okay," You say while crossing your arms and clearing your throat, "Cool model you got there. I'm guessing that it's related to the maze out there right?" You ask, nodding your head behind Minho and to the maze model sitting on the table, and you regret ever having said anything the second the words come out of your mouth. Why couldn't you just mind your own shucking business?

"Oh shuck." Minho mutters while looking behind his shoulder and then back at you, "Sorry it's just uh, you really weren't meant to have seen that. But I'm guessing that's not the only thing you've seen or heard tonight is it?" Minho asked you.

"Well, I might've heard a couple things," You lie, trying to avoid eye contact with Minho but you can tell he's giving you a look, "Alright I might've heard a lot, but I really didn't mean to. I'm sorry," You finally reply.

"It's okay." Minho sighed, "Want to come inside?"

"What?" You replied a little too quickly, "I thought other gladers weren't allowed in here?" You asked with a look of confusion on your face.

"Well, I think it's a little too late to be keeping any more secrets from you." Minho chuckled, "And you don't seem like the type to go around telling everyone about this," Minho looked at you, hoping to confirm his statement.

"Right- yeah of course I won't tell anyone. Your secrets are safe with me."

Minho smirked at your response and he held the door open for you as you walked in after him. You sat down in the seat right next to Minho's and looked at him as he ran his fingers through his hair. Past his stoic expression, you could swear you saw stress mixed with exhaustion in his eyes.

"Are you alright Minho? You seem a bit stressed," You asked.

"Yeah it's just- shuck I don't know," Minho replies frustrated as he rests one of his arms on the table and pinches his eyebrows with his other hand, leaning his head down as he does so. You can tell there's something more that he wants to say but for some reason, he's stopping himself.

"Hey, it's okay," You say while putting your hand on top of his on the table. "I really don't know anything about what's going on in the maze, but I'm always here if you need someone to talk to," You continue while giving Minho a soft smile. You can swear you see a blush on his cheeks as he removes his hand from his head and looks at you.

"Alright then," Minho replies while leaning back in his chair but he begins holding back onto your hand as he continues, "I'm sure you've kinda already heard, but it's not really looking too good for us with the maze. We've discovered basically the entire thing and we still have no idea how to get out," He finished. He looked at you to see if you were even paying any attention and you looked at him eagerly, giving him an encouraging look and urging him to continue.

"And well, I don't know. I just really expected us to find a way out by now. I mean it's been two years. Two shuckin' years and we still haven't found a way out." Minho continued.

"Well, I don't think the people who made this place intended for it to be easy to get out of did they?" You replied.

"What?" Minho looked at you confused.

"I'm saying that even though it seems like there isn't a way out, doesn't mean that there isn't. And just because things aren't looking good right now doesn't mean that there isn't hope for us." You say as look up at him, "They wouldn't have just trapped us here without an exit. Regardless of that, everything that you've been able to accomplish since coming here is beyond impressive Minho. If anyone is going to be able to figure out the maze, it'll be you." You say with a warm smile while giving Minho's hand a tight squeeze.

Silence filled the room for a moment before anyone spoke, "Do you really mean that?" Minho asks with genuine concern. You can see his cheeks redden the longer you look at him.

"Of course I do Minho," You reassure him. The look in your eyes made Minho feel hopeful and appreciated as he wrapped you in a warm embrace.

You were shocked at the sudden advance but quickly reciprocated the hug. Your arms found themselves wrapped around his back while his were wrapped around your waist. Minho held you tightly and firmly, almost as if he was afraid you could slip away if he ever loosened his grip.

"It's okay. It's all going to be okay," You cooed softly into Minho's ear while rubbing his back.

After a moment longer, he pulled away, looking at you silently. You practically held your breath as he took one of his hands away from your waist and brought it up to your face. He tucked a piece of your hair behind your ear and your heart was going a million miles per hour as he did so.

Suddenly you felt the temperature in the room increase drastically. Thick tension filled the air, it was a mix of longing and desire and it was itching at you. You couldn't help but feel a burning sense of eagerness, and as you looked into Minho's eyes, you could tell he felt it too.

Minho's eyes lingered on your lips, and almost as if it were an instinct, you both leaned in, his lips merging with yours.

As he kissed you, it was as if time stopped. The only thing that mattered at that moment was you and Minho and how heavenly it felt to be kissed by him. It made both of you forget about everything else that was going on in your hectic lives. You could only remember how Minho held you, how he made you feel so safe and secure, and especially how his lips felt on top of yours.

You moved your hands and wrapped them around his neck as he kept one of his arms around your back and the other on your cheek. You couldn't help but melt into his touch as he pulled you closer to him.

Minho pulled away from your lips first, pressing his forehead on yours as he spoke, "Thank you," he murmured, and rather than replying, you put your lips on his once more.

As he kissed you again, he was gentle and he held you carefully as if you were so fragile that with one wrong move, you could break. Minho felt nothing but loved and cared about whenever he was with you. You were the only person who made him feel hopeful and optimistic about being trapped in a maze. He felt motivated by the idea of being able to find a way out of the maze, if not for him, then for you and everyone else living in the glade.

The kiss became more passionate and heartfelt as it intensified. Being held and loved by him was better than anything you'd ever felt before, and you could already tell that you'd gotten addicted to Minho and how he made you feel. You wanted to stay there forever. It didn't matter if the world began to crumble around you, as long as you were with Minho you felt safe.

All right thats it yallllllll. I think this may have been my favorite one to make so far, I just love how wholesome it turned out. I thought I should take a lil break from all the smut and spice anyways 😪

But seriously I hope you guys like this as much as I do!! I love reading and working on all of your requests and I really hope you guys continue to send me them!!!! It genuinely makes me happy knowing you guys like my writing so much <33

BTW THANK YOU GUYS FOR 40 FOLLOWERS!!!!! i really cant thank you guys enough for how nice you've all been and your compliments mean the world to me!

[actionlulu]

ATTENTION TO ANYONE WHO LIKES OR DRAWS MOVIE SONAMY!!!

I'm thinking of hosting an art Collab video for a random movie sonic skit using an audio from CatBug. It has 9 parts, 8 are open (since I too will be joining) so if u want to join, u can DM me!

What the video is About:

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy are putting on a play for Tom and Maddie (Ozzie can be included too :D)

The video will be in a 4:3 ratio

Qualifications:

You don't have to have good animation skills, this is just for a small video so ruff animatics are completely fine (fact, that's what I'm mostly expecting) ur part can be as silly as u want it to be just as long as u put in the effort.

Here's the video/audio (with the parts)

So let's just have fun ✨ there is no due day cuz god knows how much I hate those lol and remember to just have fun with it ✨💙🩷

Spots:

Part 1 (Taken)

Part 2 (Open)

Part 3 (Taken)

Part 4 (Open)

Part 5 (Open)

Part 6 (Open)

Part 7 (Open)

Part 8 (Open)

Part 9 (Open)

[tlatollotl]

I’ve been doing some research on West Mexico cultures, and because I am mostly using Google translate when looking at museum databases, does “shot tomb burial culture” ring a bell to you? I’d love to look more into it but just searching that didn’t get me very far. Thank you!!

I don't know why it is translating to "shot", but it shouldn't. It should be "shaft".

The shaft tomb culture should also more appropriately be termed cultures because there was no one single culture spread across West Mexico, but rather many cultures with their own unique characteristics which happened to participate in the tradition of burying their dead in tombs dug below ground that were accessed by vertical shafts. The Teuchitlán Culture of the Tequila Valleys, my specialty, was one such culture. But so, too, were the Ixtlán del Rio, Comala, Tuxcacuesco, and Bolaños cultures.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSXrLr5DJwGA-dxgsVI34p07ip0VcoSKwbuihRLPZpE-aMXi6P-7EKVrTfqVdDKRcuCXAnFm3ARyGRF/pub

Here is an incomplete bibliography on all things West Mexico that I have not updated since I passed my qualification exams a couple of years ago. While extensive (and possibly overwhelming), there's a lot more that could be added. I can recommend specific texts if you want.

[zymruk]

Can you stop? [Shang-Chi x Reader]

AN: I received this request and honestly thanks for asking me to write it. I don't know how much it's gonna take me to write it, but I'll try. sorry for any grammar mistakes

Y/A/N: Your agency's name

Warning: none, really.

Synopsis: Shaun wasn't always a door guy. He used to work as a bodyguard.

I'm probably gonna follow up with a one-shot

It was Tuesday third of October, when you woke up to the sound of pounding at your door. It took you a while to remember the cause of the noise. You had an appointment today for a promotional ad for some cream. And judging by the time you were late.

"Come on Y/N, you don't want another one of Lelie's scoldings!" Said Shawn outside your door. Shawn was the bodyguard you'd gotten since the renewal of your contract at Y/A/N. The previous one had just closed down, so you were in dire need of a new one, fortunately, Les still wanted you as a client. The both of you, then, decided on holding your own fort. Still, you needed a bodyguard, the previous one had been hired by someone by the time you'd found a compromise with Les. Coincidentally, Shawn had all the qualifications, thus, was hired.

Leslie was your agent. She could be a bit cranky on bad days, but the worst ones were when you were late to your appointments. And you were. In less time than you planned, you had been showered, dressed and ready to go. After all, you would change once again at the shooting set when you' would 'd arrive. The clothes you were supposed to be wearing already picked out by dear Leslie.

"Thanks. I think I forgot to put on my alarm." You turned to Shawn, whom had already bought you coffee. You would need it today. Not only did you have to shoot an ad, later in the day you were needed at the inauguration of a theater funded by the Stark Relief Foundation.

You'll smile, take pictures for two hours and even go through four more hours watching a documentary on the creation of the Stark industries. Apparently, the theater director had insisted on it being projected during the inauguration, though many had wanted to watch something else. Thanks to Leslie, however, you wouldn't suffer alone, as she'd been able to snatch another ticket for Shawn. He would watch the terribly long documentary with you. Not that he really had a choice. I mean, he was paid to do it.

Now in the car, going to the set location, you couldn't help but get lost in the sights of the road. You often didn't have the time to stop and admire what was around you. More often than you'd want, you needed to be at ten places at the same time. It was tiring, but, like everybody, you had a job to do and your mouth to feed. Also, your job wasn't as terrible as it could've been. You were lucky. You had, comfortably, a thing that few could claim and, money. In terms, you couldn't really complain.

"What are you thinking about?" Shawn's voice took you out of your reverie. He was looking at you through the rearview mirror. You'd almost forgotten him with how quiet he'd been.

"Everything and nothing at once. Why?" Now that he was looking at the road again, you could observe him without any restraint. He was a handsome young man, the same age as you if you were not mistaken, maybe a bit older. But handsome, no less. He'd seen a lot of things with you in this one year of 'partnership'. He'd protected you from weirdos trying to break into your changing rooms, had shielded you from someone trying to snatch you at a signing event.You'd been vulnerable with during this year, he'd seen you break down more times than you could count and still found it in himself to be comprehensive about it. You were safe with him, so much so that you'd considered him an ally; a friend, if you will.

¸

Once the shooting was done, you two were on your way back to your hotel, where you'd go back to your respective rooms and change clothes. You were given a y/f/c garment that complimented your body in the best of ways. You could thank Leslie and the stylist she'd gotten you for that. Though you weren't feeling the event as much as you should've, you still felt better knowing you wouldn't be alone. Shawn would be with you.

"Hey, are you ready?" You could hear his voice outside your door as you were staring at your reflection.

"Yeah, I'm coming." You were content with the way you looked. Plus, you wouldn't stay all night. After the screening, or during, you'd find a way to take your leave without anyone noticing. You had faith in that.

Once out of the room, you almost bumped with him, by how close he was to the entrance. The suit he was wearing was remarkably perfect in him. It was as if he was the one blessed by a fairy or something. Also, it was worth noting that his faced had been done. Probably Leslie and her need for every picture to be perfect. You were all the more enthralled by his eyeshadow.

Or rather, his eyes, to be more precise. Whomever Leslie had hired had truly mastered their craft. All in all, the makeup suited him, you'd go as far as to say it really complimented his face.

"Maybe we should get moving." He said, his voice above a whisper. You hadn't realized the two of you had been standing in this hallway for a while now. You didn't know what could've happened if anything had happened in the tiny moment.

"Yeah, definitely. Do you have any plans after tonight?" The words escaped your mouth before you could even hold them back. It was true that Shawn would be free later in the night. He'd be done with his shift. Elsa would take hers right after him. You didn't know why you needed a nocturn security guard; but Leslie knew what she was doing, you trusted her too.

"No, I was planning on watching a movie and falling asleep to it." You felt stupid for even asking the question, obviously the guy wanted to relax and chill after this day of running around.

"Do you have any plans for tonight?" You hadn't even gotten the time to engage with his answer that he'd already asked you a question.

"No, I'm probably gonna stay in my room late and wait for sleep to find me."

"Why don't we both watch a movie and fall asleep to it then?" You had to agree the suggestion was appealing. You wanted to have fun and maybe that would be the one fun thing you'd be doing this week. In less than a minute you'd made your mind.

"Yeah, sure. Did you have movie picked out already?" The both of you had already taken the direction of your room. It was in all honesty the biggest of the two.

"Yeah, I had an inkling for ratatouille by scary movie is also kinda good." He'd say his hands in his pockets. You couldn't see it but her was smiling.

"I'm more of a scary movie type of gall." You said turning your head towards him as you were unlocking your room.

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

Favorite Kiss Tag Game

Tagged by @yannig, thank you! 😘

Rules: create a poll with five of your all time favorite onscreen kisses, setting any standard for qualification you choose. Then tag more friends to join in!

This is both a delightful game and a very difficult one. Dead fish kisses are largely a thing of the past, and our screens are filled with lovely smooches these days.

For me, my favorite kisses are not only about being aesthetically pleasing or emotionally powerful, but also about conveying something meaningful, either about the characters or the story. Something that words would never be able to express in the same way.

Yok and Dan (Not Me) - "Words alone are not enough"

I've made no secret that Yok has my heart forever, and I love how this kiss is confirmation of their mutual feelings, and a promise, while also being a reminder that with Yok, you are going to get spice with your sweet. It's character moments like this that set up the way he will forgive Dan for his betrayal but also give him a solid punch to the face. (And let's face it, there was definitely a bit of punishment later on at home, along with the loving).

Mizuki & Yoh (My Personal Weatherman) - "Without you...I can't breathe"

Japan has such a knack for conveying things without words. It's not uncommon for characters in Japanese BLs to be incapable of verbally expressing their wants and needs for large amounts of a story, but that doesn't mean we don't learn huge amounts of vital information. This series conveys so much via intimate moments, but this kiss in particular is when we fully see what an unreliable narrator Yoh has been, and how deeply he misunderstands the depth of Mizuki's love and need for him.

Phayu & Rain (Love in the Air) - "I must reward this cunning boy"

LITA is chockablock full of good kisses, but I really like this one. The beginning of this episode does a lot around setting up the D/s dynamics of their relationship, and the kiss is a part of that. Rain gets punished for making Phayu worry, and Phayu indulges his slight sadistic streak by pretending he's about to peace out - but then the kiss that follows almost feels like a benediction for their new relationship. Phayu finally lets his absolute adoration for Rain come out, revels in the experience of being intimate with his person, and Rain matches him beat for beat, showing why they work as a pair.

Pluem & Kevin (Ghost Host Ghost House) - "I can wait for it"

The lead up to this kiss is one of my favorite moments in all of BL, where Kevin is 100% aware of the effect he is having on Pluem, and Pluem is attempting to be god's strongest soldier - and utterly failing. But again, what makes it so good is what it tells us about the characters. Kevin is teasing Pluem, Pluem starts to tease him back, in the traditional seme way, and when that makes Kevin nervous, Pluem makes it clear that he is not an old school boy. He's soft and sweet and absolutely willing to put Kevin's comfort first, which is, of course, why Kevin immediately responds. Who could resist?

Li Cheng & Mu Ren (History 4: Close to You) - "I didn't forget..."

Li Cheng and Mu Ren have yet to be dethroned as my favorite friends to lovers couple. The show does such a good job setting up their deep love and devotion to each other on the friend side, that when it finally gets to a point where their romantic feelings are mutual, you need something special to show that a switch has finally been flipped. The tone of this scene, with a little help of the blinding light of love, proves that we have crossed a threshold, and it is absolutely lovely on the other side.

I'm not sure where all this has made the rounds yet, but no pressure tags for @slayerkitty @sunshinexiaobao (your name change threw me for a moment lol) @infinitelyprecious @lilithfatale @dramalets and anyone else who wants to play!

[clatterbane]

As news about insulin comes out, it's important to remember the COST of insulin has never been capped for anyone in the US. The COPAY has been capped for some people. Here's why that is an important distinction.

First of all, I'm not making this post to promote or denounce any specific party or person. I'm going to keep things as cut and dry as possible, and you can make up your own mind.

So, people have been talking about the "$35 insulin price caps" and if they're going to continue, if the new administration is going to strike them down, etc.

First things first- price cap vs copay cap. Copay caps just limit what qualifying patients pay in a given period of time. Price caps, on the other hand, limit what the insulin manufacturers can charge for the product. Both are good, of course, but copay caps are much more of a band-aid solution, whereas list price caps would virtually end the US insulin price crisis.

The difference matters because copay caps only cover qualifying patients. This usually left out patients on private insurance and uninsured patients. Additionally, the pharma companies still got their full price at the end of the day.

So, the price of insulin has never been capped in the US. The closest thing we've gotten is the insulin manufacturers' voluntary price reductions, which can end at any time, have no guarantees, and in some cases, didn't really pan out exactly like we all thought. This was clearly a move by the insulin manufacturers to avoid further legal action- basically they wanted to keep a hand on the wheel.

Second, no US politician has made serious progress toward a genuine price cap. This includes Trump and Biden and state-wide efforts. When politicians say, "We capped the price of insulin" or something similar, they're not telling the truth exactly. Whether that's out of malice or not is up to you, but what they should be saying is, "We capped the copay for some people". The media also tends to get this wrong, so if you see an article about "price caps," I encourage you to actually read the bill or whatever and not take their word for it.

Trump's (first term) executive order created a temporary program where some prescription drug plans could choose whether to cover some insulin products at no more than $35 a month. About half of medicare part D plans participated. This EO was pharma-backed and terrible for 340b programs. The Biden administration froze the EO

Biden's Inflation Reduction Act barred ALL medicare part D plans from charging more than $35 out-of-pocket for insulin products. Similar to the Trump action, but different in some subtle ways. Removing it is a terrible idea, but the Biden administration consistently and vastly overstated the effects of this. The layman would think the insulin price crisis is over, but that is very untrue.

At the end of the day, neither of those actions are as far-reaching as they try to appear. If you want to learn more about the two presidential actions, here's a pretty decent article about it.

So, if Trump stripped away the Inflation Reduction Act, that would be extremely bad, of course. However, please don't make the mistake that things are great already. It would take things from "bad" to "worse". These protections should be stronger and cover more people, not stripped away.

It seems I need to clarify. Losing the copay cap would be devastating. Many actions on the table for this administration would be devastating. We must defend the protections available and seek additional protections. POTUS cannot unilaterally lower the list price, but Congress can regulate it.

My only qualifications are that I'm an advocate who pays attention and has a lot of smart advocate friends who pay even more attention. But if you have any questions about this stuff, please feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer.

[gofancyninjaworld]

Started watching Mob Psycho 100. About 5 episodes in and yeah, I get why this show is so popular. It's good, even real good, so far. Mob is a good protagonist and the animation has been really impressive.

I also recently started reading One Punch Man and it's fine. I like the art and every now and again it gives me a chuckle. But ultimately I think OPM has a fairly conservative world view that makes me hard to enjoy it as anything more than easy fluff. It's all about the power of the individual and has some really questionable class politics in places. I know it's not intended for a deep read, but I can't help it. I'm glad I'm reading it through the library instead of buying individual volumes. I think I'm like 21 volumes into it.

Back to MP100, I'm still early so I can't say for sure yet, but I feel like it is the better written and realized of the two. I'm a sucker for the monster-of-the-week style format and so far it has been nailing while also developing the characters pretty well.

I gotta say, I'm impressed. I'm usually pretty cautious around checking out popular things since I tend to not enjoy them. So far that's not the case here.

First, I'm glad that your library has a lot of the OPM volumes: it's great for the series and a very wise way to read. If I didn't have my library cards, I'd be perma-broke and out of space in my home. :D

Second, I hope by now that you've finished reading Mob Psycho 100. I think it's a fantastic work and while there's a part of me that hankers for ONE to find something more he wants to say in that world and tell another story, a bigger part of me really respects that he's known how to tell 'a big story of a small step' and end there. It is one of the best coming-of-age stories I've read or watched. If you haven't checked out the anime, DO! It is incredibly well-realised, imaginative, and every season builds better on the previous.

Yes, now that you mention it, One-Punch Man does feel more conservative than Mob Psycho 100 in *some* ways. Whereas the latter is about middle schoolers exploring how to shape themselves, OPM is about the challenge of having a sense of purpose as an adult and balancing act of being an individual and being part of society. And no one quite knows what they're doing...

The various kids in MP100 may have challenges as small as getting someone to sign up for a school club or as big as stopping a would-be megalomaniac from taking over Japan, but they're free to focus on those problems. Their parents keep a roof over their heads, cook dinner, draw up budgets, pay bills, and prompt them to do homework. Their schools give them a ready-made social context in which to interact repeatedly and shape their goals. They're free to be children and it's precious.

OPM, almost everyone is an adult, and adult life is both less and more structured than that of childhood. There's a lot more to balance, you don't have infinite energy, time, or resources, and if you get it wrong, life gets super hard. We get Saitama: he's become the strongest man in the world thanks to his singular focus on being so strong that he can send any enemy flying with a single punch -- and he's also homeless (he's squatting in an abandoned apartment), with no post-secondary qualifications, no steady job (he's held lots of menial jobs, keeping them only long enough to quit and live off them so he can be a hero). The idealism of being a hero may get you thanked, but thanks don't pay the rent: that's why the Hero Association came to exist, in order to enable people motivated to be heroes to actually focus on it. It'd be a short story if Genos hadn't introduced Saitama to the HA.

Those checks and compromises necessary to survive and thrive in society do give OPM a more conservative feel. However, on the other side, there's no one telling you how far you can go. Difficult as it is, there's more scope for self-actualisation for the characters in OPM than there is for those in MP100. And there's no one way to do it. Swings and roundabouts.

Not sure how OPM will end yet, but so far, I'm still finding it compelling.

Given how long this has been in my inbox, I have no idea if you will read this. If you do (and I hope you do), thank you. Thank you for an awesome ask.

[thedevillionaire]

If I may be greedy, 3, 4, 6, 9 (yes I am 👀ing Cerb) & 11 for Cerberus and Kia?

Greedy is totally fine! This is a nice bunch, too. :D

3) What song describes your OC?

Cerberus has two main "theme songs": Dance With Fire by Operus, and The Cage by Attrition. He's had more than one Underworldian song written about him, too, though I don't have actual music for those, just lyrics, due to me being a craptacular singer. Only one of these is currently anywhere online: Green Fire

For Kia, Love An Adventure by Pseudo Echo.

4) What song describes your OC and their partner/love interest?

As a couple, they have a few, actually, but the main two are A Touch of Evil by Judas Priest, and Body and Soul by the Sisters of Mercy.❤️

6) If your OC is in a fantasy setting, what profession would they be in the modern day?

Cut time!

This is really tricky for Cerberus, actually, and the only thing I'm confident of is that he'd be his own boss. Possibly the world's hottest occult bookstore owner/operator lol. But I can also see him not working a "regular" sort of job at all, and being the kind of super-successful investor that can live off passive income and do whatever he wants in his (significant) spare time, and that may not be a whole lot different - although with a "mortal plane" skew, of course - to what he does now.

lol maybe he'd be a cult leader. 🤣 He was mortally pyrokinetic, after all. Kia had all sorts of odd jobs when she was mortal. She's been a masseuse, a supermarket checkout chick, a fashion consultant/assistant, a pole dancer, a telemarketer, a typist... She'd probably settle into something customer-service focused that didn't require a degree/formal qualifications.

9) How does your OC handle their physical health? Do they take care of themselves?

Cerberus is excellent at this...until he gets sick. 😂😂 He's very physically fit, in great shape, looks after his physical needs overall extremely well. Eats well, exercises, is very hygiene-conscious. He's kind of a workaholic and should almost certainly take more time off for just relaxation, but that's about as lax as he gets about his general physical wellbeing. And he doesn't often get sick at all. BUT. Partly due to infrequency/unfamiliarity with getting ill, partly just that he's always so resentful that it even happened, how fucking dare this happen, that he's just...patently terrible at accepting his fate about it. 😅 So when the Healing meds don't instantly and completely cure things, he's prone to completely disregarding everything he's told to do, because it's already proved pointless again, as usual, so why not try [insert probably bad idea here] instead. Kia's made things way better for him in this regard, and he's the best of all possible selves with her around, but still. He's a notoriously dreadful patient and he deserves every bit of that reputation lol.

Kia is also very fit, although less hygiene-conscious, and also far more likely to socialise in large groups, etc. She gets sick a regular amount, and is much better at looking after herself when it happens, too. She gets a bit cranky about it at times, sure, but she's pretty accepting of it as just a part of life, and just...deals. Not to say she doesn't enjoy a good spoiling when she's unwell. Cerberus, for all his failings at being a good patient, actually makes a wonderful caretaker.

11) What was your inspiration for your OC?

Cerberus was supposed to be a one-off serve-a-purpose temporary creation and problem-solver. I made too many OCs in early Underworld times and thought if I just had...like half of them killed off in one fell swoop, sort of thing, I could get back on track, haha. Anyway, so, he was meant to just come in, do damage, fuck off.

He...did not do that. 🤷‍♀️ I mean, he absolutely did do what I, um, brought him in for. He just also decided to stick around and take over the place afterwards.

IDEK. I'm just a dumb scribe lol. And I genuinely do not remember what/who inspired Kia, but she was also an unexpected "success story". She was an Incept, brought into the Underworld's Vampirism Caste by another OC pretty much nobody's met here - Vesuvius - and just...went about being Kia. And here we are. 🫠

[marshmallowloves]

I've got WarioWare brainrot lately rewatching clips and playthroughs and getting excited to dress up this Halloween and I'm like I gotta DO something with this 👀 so I decided to revamp and make a more proper reference for my WarioWare self insert!

and it's...not Sirela???

soooo... long story short, I don't really feel like Sirela fits as a WarioWare self insert anymore...mostly because I originally made her for the Marioverse, and I only shifted her over because I had just recently added Orbulon to the f/o list and needed someone to pair with him, and I...didn't have any other ideas at the time gkdhg but now I do! the idea is ME cause I love the funky lil alien dude! So here she is!! :D ...Here I am...?? ...THIS GUY ☝🏻 (also I tried to imitate the look of the character bios from Mega Party Game$ and it's not 1:1 but I think I still did pretty well considering I made it all from scratch kjdsfhg)

little backstory under the cut~

Cici is an aspiring artist who specifically wants a career in video game design! She heard that Diamond City and the surrounding area was fairly diverse and rich in culture, and figured it would be a perfect place to try and land a job somewhere in the art field…or at least peddle some of her own drawings to the artsy-fartsy people living there for a quick buck.

For a while, she's able to find part time jobs to make ends meet, but nothing that lets her express her creativity like she wants… Until she hears about WarioWare Inc., which happens to be URGENTLY AND DESPERATELY hiring game designers regardless of experience or…any other qualification really. Kinda shady…but she still seizes this golden opportunity to finally get a real head-start in her career, unaware that she will…probably not be getting much of the gold she needs from this establishment (or any at all kdjfg).

As she's home working late one night on concept art, trying to meet a deadline from her new boss, she hears a BOOM! just outside her house. When she goes outside to investigate she finds that a certain alien has crashed his ship in her yard (what else is new?) and after making sure he's okay, she urges him to stay at her house at least for the night - it's dark out and the weather's getting colder lately, certainly not ideal conditions for him to start making repairs... Delighted by her generosity, he accepts the invitation, and it's over a warm and sweet cup of cocoa that they learn they're both working for the same guy right now! What are the odds?

It's also when she learns that her boss has a…less than reputable track record of getting people to do his work and getting away with not paying them djfgsf. And while that definitely sucks, she's at least getting to do the kind of work she always wanted to, so it's still a win in her book!

And so I…haven't thought much beyond that actually dkjfg. I'd imagine it's through working for Wario (at least partly) that she and Orbulon spend more time together after their initial meeting. I think maybe he'd enjoy coming back to her house every so often, even after he's fixed up the Oinker, because he just finds her interesting as a human. She's actually happy doing her job for dirt pay, she's always got weird (to him dkfjg) and delicious snacks at her place…and to top off his intrigue, she's sort of fascinated by him too - after all, she's hanging out with an actual hyper-intelligent alien! 👀 (and it doesn't hurt that he's cute and weirdly charming to boot kdjfg)

[deadpresidents]

what do you think the chances are of a 35 year old president some day?

It's not impossible, but probably unlikely. Unfortunately, it's always going to be difficult for a 35-year-old candidate to have built up the political organization and harvest enough political and financial connections to be ready for seeking a party's nomination at that age. I don't think a 35-year-old would necessarily be less ready than an older candidate as long as the quality of their experiences was strong enough to complete with the length of experience that their opponent might have.

I think the average age of Presidents at the time of their first inauguration is around 55 years old, but we've had nine Presidents who took office before they turned 50 years old: •Theodore Roosevelt: 42 years, 322 days •John F. Kennedy: 43 years, 236 days •Bill Clinton: 46 years, 154 days •Ulysses S. Grant: 46 years, 311 days •Barack Obama: 47 years, 169 days •Grover Cleveland: 47 years, 351 days •Franklin Pierce: 48 years, 101 days •James A. Garfield: 49 years, 105 days •James K. Polk: 49 years, 122 days And of those nine Presidents under 50 years old, eight of them were elected directly to the Presidency. Only Theodore Roosevelt succeeded to the office from the Vice Presidency, and when he was elected President in his own right in 1904 and inaugurated for his elected term, he was still younger (46 years, 128 days) than every other President in history other the JFK. So despite the age of the major party nominees in the last couple of elections, this country has elected quite a few relatively young Presidents.

We've also elected a lot of young Vice Presidents and the Vice Presidency, of course, is always just a heartbeat away from the main gig. There have been twelve (12) Vice Presidents inaugurated before they turned 50 years old, and three others took office before turning 51. The average age (on Inauguration Day) of the Vice Presidents is roughly the same as the average age of Presidents, but two Vice Presidents were elected in their 30s. John C. Breckinridge, who was Vice President under James Buchanan (1857-1861), was only 36 years, 42 days old when he was inaugurated, so he was barely old enough to meet the Constitutional age qualifications for the Presidency and Vice Presidency. And Richard Nixon was only 39 years old when he was first elected as Dwight D. Eisenhower's Vice President in 1952. Nixon celebrated his 40th birthday right before he was inaugurated as Vice President and was 40 years, 11 days old on Inauguration Day.

Part of the reason that both Breckinridge and Nixon were chosen as VP was to balance out the ticket due to the "advanced" age of their running mates. When Nixon was nominated alongside General Eisenhower in 1952, there were questions about whether or not Eisenhower might be too old for the Presidency. Eisenhower was 62 years, 98 days old when he was inaugurated -- nearly 20 years younger than President Biden and 17 years younger than Donald Trump. In fact, when he was first inaugurated, Dwight Eisenhower was younger than George Clooney currently is:

So that's a long way and a lot of information shared for me to come back to the point that it's not impossible, but pretty unlikely for a 35-year-old to be elected President. I think there's a better chance that someone that age would be elected Vice President.