#Mark that down for another transformers biology path

[gayinternetsideways]

the reason i think energon (blood) changes at all when its flowing through a guy is that when they get shot and it pierces the shell they dont just explode immediately

[cerebrosurgeon]

The massive data stream grounded Cerebros, despite the content. Thousands of years spent with constant, unmitigated input from nine other mechs, minimum, had left the landscape of his processor woefully empty in comparison, once the Headmasters began pursuing their own ambitions. He'd been understimulated for decades. With targeted focus, and an extra boost from Max and his transtector's shared data storage, Cerebros was able to interpret and sort the data in a matter of astroseconds. The outlook was... Bad, but salvageable. With a few pointers from Brainstorm and a scattered attempt at mimicking AUNTIE's base code, Cerebros added a repair protocol for the forge's own programming; with any luck, it would self automate further. He hoped it would take most of the forge's burden off Trojan and allow the sparks to register less of their agony.

Where the hell was Alpha-2?

At the sound of the click, Cerebros turned, unplugging his adapter and stepping back. The whole room had shifted, and he carefully scanned each spark he could for any signs of injury. Something was wrong, but he couldn't see what; the moment the hatch opened, Cerebros was sliding through it, knowing he didn't have to worry about damaging Trojan under the weight and sturdiness the Steelhaven had granted him. He stood from the slide and stared, once again encountering something he was ill equipped to tackle. The Headmasters were mostly scientists, not medical doctors, and even Cerebros, himself, felt like an over glorified computer repairman.

Recognising the panic overtaking Trojan, Fort Max remained close, grateful when Grommet redirected her efforts to locating and treating the source of the main Energon spill. Gasket was working on transformation components, determined to return any mobility at all to Trojan. They were declining, at risk of shutting down altogether, and nothing Cerebros was seeing was reassuring. Max had been here too many times to let it play out again. The large mech redirected his own panic to Cerebros, lines of code fired off like bullets - Which Cerebros, who had been begging his binary bond to let him help him for years, tackled voraciously.

"Trojan," Max said, making an effort to keep his voice steady, "I can carry you to safety."

A ping containing a detailed map of Luna-1 was sent to Trojan, a path from their current location to an open expanse only half a klik away marked. Trojan would easily fit in Max's hands, but he didn't move yet, not wanting to startle them any more. Another ping: A star map. Max hummed quietly, the sound tangibly rumbling through his hands enough for Trojan to feel minutely. "You can see the stars over there."

Frozen in place beside Trojan's spark chamber, Cerebros just... Processed. His binary bonds, transmissions, data, memories. It was selfish and cruel, but he almost wished Hi-Q and Optimus were still separate individuals. Knowing a Powermaster might be his only hope of saving Trojan, unless he could find a highly skilled medic with similar biology to them that, most importantly, Trojan trusted, Cerebros radioed Joyride, spamming him with as much information on the Rescue Bot's spark as he could.

› Hotwire. Remote repairs requested.▮

Immediately, Hotwire flooded Cerebros with detailed instructions, notes, schematics, tools, and more information on the inner workings of sparks than Cerebros thought anyone from his universe even knew. Following radio static overlaying the kchk-ing of Joyride's Powermaster disengaging, Hotwire's voice came over the broadband - Loudly, as always.

"Real problem ya got there, Fortress," he said, tone grave. "Get that wing outta there, right back out the way it came in. Gonna have to stabilise the spark chamber when you do. We can get there in-"

"No," Cerebros whispered, forwarding everything to Max. "Remote repairs necessary."

"Aight," Hotwire audibly shrugged, Joyride's deep vent of disappointment clear. "Standing by. Oh, yeah, and-"

Even more data kept coming in scattered bursts. What Cerebros wouldn't give to have the Powermaster stabilise Trojan himself, but he knew his friend was too delicate for that. Mic off, Cerebros inched closer to the intruding wing, gently resting a hand against it. It was hot, heavily irradiated, and threatening to pierce their spark chamber. "Trojan...? We can repair your wing, if we can move you. Can you begin disengaging? Gasket can help you."

An expert on disassembling Cybertronians, Cerebros sent Trojan detailed instructions on how to all but self-amputate his starboard wing. It was a complex series of loosened cablings, retracting or severing wirings, pulling pins and turning bolts. It was no different than what Max and Cerebros had to do to disengage from Head-On mode, and Max thoughtfully included details on the similarities between the process Trojan had watched them undertake hundreds of times. Way back when, Turfwar had been fascinated with the process, asking Galen to show him how his cybernetically augmented body transformed, engaged, and disengaged repeatedly, giddily trying to understand. Cerebros hoped Trojan remembered. He hoped they weren't too overwhelmed, too confused, too scared, to cooperate.

Initially, Cerebros followed Trojan's holoform, his HUD displaying a detailed overview of what needed to be fixed and how. He trusted Trojan, though, and stood his ground until he was given instructions. Cerebros could feel the deep scores in Trojan's plating through Grommet's fingertips, the oil coating Gasket's forearms as he blindly dug deep, seeking out the severed line with precision. It was awful. As much as the tension, the fear, in Trojan pained Cerebros, he kept his gaze on them steady, nodding an affirmative. What Cerebros lacked in electromagnetic perception, Max made up for, and it was him that could understand the extent of Trojan's terror. The information relayed to Cerebros late but was shuffled aside - It wasn't damage Cerebros could repair, not now, not when Trojan's life was endangered. Max reached a hand out, his own EM field tense but comforting, reassuring, hand hovering at Trojan's port side without touching them.

At the sound of the door opening, Cerebros spun on his heel and sprinted through the open door, only hearing his old friend's words once he was over the threshold, and he froze as soon as he saw the sparks housed in the surrogate forge. For a moment, he stood there, even his ventilation fans silent. Slowly, he removed his mask and visor from storage and slotted them back in place as he looked around. Max, outside, was equally shocked. Their biology was so different from Trojan's; Cerebros could stabilise a laser core, transfer mind engrams to CCVs, or operate on brain modules... But this? To save more sparks than his processor could log in a glance, when he'd never even handled one? A sudden slew of data slammed into Cerebros, staggering him as he held his helm; the other Headmasters had seen what he had. Highbrow and Arcana were the loudest voices in his head, Brainstorm and, most surprisingly, Vorath, close behind in volume. They were all telling Cerebros what to do in different ways, and it took Max enforcing command protocols to get them to organise usefully. Highbrow came in first, Cerebros's feet carrying him to the nearest display panel, hands guided into navigating the glitching UI behind the shattered screen, Highbrow seeking metrics readouts through Cerebros.

› Dont even look at the sparks. Look at the mechanisms of the forge. Repair it like anything else.▮

› 𝓣𝖍𝖊𝖘𝖊 𝕾𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖐𝖘 𝖑𝖆𝖈𝖐 𝕻𝖊𝖗𝖘𝖔𝖓𝖆𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖞 𝕮𝖔𝖒𝖕𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖘 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕷𝖆𝖘𝖊𝖗 𝖈𝖔𝖗𝖊𝖘. 𝓣𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖒 𝖑𝖎𝖐𝖊 𝓝 𝖊𝖇𝖚𝖑𝖆𝖓 𝓗𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖘 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕭𝖗𝖆𝖎𝖓𝖘.▮

Vorath's advice was both the least expected and the most helpful. Whatever Brainstorm had been trying to communicate via the Headmasters' telepathy was abandoned in favour of spamming Vorath and Mindwipe with endless questions regarding how, exactly, the fellow scientist knew anything about sparks. What readouts Cerebros could parse didn't look good; he was thinking of Galen, bloody and cold, brain activity undetectable. He was thinking of all these sparks winding up like that. Highbrow was piloting him remotely to the best of his ability - Open up this box, replace these fuses, find that chemical, replenish lubricants, swab rust away... Brainstorm's attention returned, destroying Highbrow's tenuous influence.

› ᴘʟᴜɢ ɪɴ!▮

The command was so confident, Cerebros didn't even question it, ejecting an adaptor from one wrist and sticking it in the first slot it fit into, hard wiring him into the surrogate forge's dedicated motherboard. The data stream was routed to Highbrow, course corrected, sent back to Cerebros, and uploaded back into the software. His processor was overheating, but it was working, Cerebros clumsy in his hardware repairs. Tubes needed to be patched, a rod needed to be submerged in a cooling station and replaced, half the sparks' vitals were unavailable due to damaged units, but they were still viable. Arcana patched in formally after pinging Max, presence soothing Cerebros as he settled into almost autonomous motions. This was what he was built for, after all.

› 𝓘𝓯 𝓸𝓷𝓵𝔂 𝔀𝓮 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓭-𝓸𝓷.▮

"Trojan," Max murmured, leaning down towards them slowly, "does the forge need additional parts?"

[katsukikitten]

WARNINGS: 18+ DUB CON/ NON CON? WEREWOLF BAKUGOU, THIS IS PURE FILTH JUST PURE SMUT 

You were never the best at running, especially not through the woods. So it is no surprise your heel snaps off causing you to trip over a small log. Your pelvis bone connects with the thick trunk, brushing your hip as your dress threatens to expose your underwear. 

A howl is heard in the distance paired with something moving through the brush at an ungodly speed, gaining on you much faster than you thought. 

"Fuck." You hiss to yourself, panting as branches seem to reach out. Their sharp, splintered claws grabbing at you and only catching your body con dress. Tearing it piece by piece, you are unsure if your faux bunny ears are still atop your head.It was unfathomable how wrong tonight had gone and how quickly. 

But then again it was Halloween and a full moon at that. They say the full moon has the power to make people act crazy and especially so on a blue moon.  Which made your panicked mind wander to the rumors about this town and what happens every blue moon. There were whispers of the older families having dark secrets. Fairy tales of beasts and mating but a second full moon in a month was so rare those murmurs and scoffs were supposed to be just that, rumors, stories. 

Not actual werewolves who couldn't control their urges during this magical event. The blue moon either filling them with unchecked rage or undeniable lust should they not take the necessary precautions. Although no one would say what exactly those precautions are. 

Your first hint about the rumors being true should have been the local news station. You thought it a Halloween prank when they advised women ages of 20 to 30 to remain indoors for tonight, to lock their windows and doors. To adorn their throats in silver to protect them from unwanted bonding. You had rolled your eyes as you got ready for your daily college classes, jumping into your black skinny jeans and blood red sweater.  

Your second hint should have been the absence of your good friend Kirishima. He always walked you to your English class since his history course was in the same building but this morning he was a no show. He didn't even respond to your texts last night asking if he wanted to go to a Halloween party with you. 

Your final hint should have been when the normally aloof, irritable and "untouchable of the big three" lab partner you had for biology growled in your direction. This would be the first thing he had said all semester.

"Don't go out tonight, got it extra?" His voice is clipped and he is acting strange, his left hand gripping onto his right forearm so harshly a bruise was beginning to bloom. You chalk it up to nerves for the upcoming exams. 

"Oh is someone gonna bite me like the news anchor said?" You giggle, turning your focus back on your work only for the professor to cancel class early. You pack your things as Bakugou sits rigid, still. He fixes you a harsh glare before he stands, pulling the strap of your purse causing you to become a little off balance.  His eyes dance over your frame, over your exposed neck but you do not notice, barely see his canines elongate as he snarls. 

"You'll wish that's all that they did." 

Looking back you wish you had noticed it before, then maybe you wouldn't be in the situation you were in now.

You burst through the trees and find yourself in a clearing. Here you would a sitting duck to whatever the hell was chasing you. Still not believing your eyes and you crossed paths with a giant wolf. Fur golden in the moon light and eyes a haunting, gut wrenching familiar red. It wasn't too long after that did it give chase. 

The howl behind you is too close for comfort as you barely have time to jump into a patch of briars and thick prickly bushes that sit on the edge of a creek. By some odd instinct you grab onto the ice cold mud and smear your arms and part of your neck with it, clenching your jaw so your teeth do not chatter. 

Suddenly a large beast bursts into the clearing, wet nose sniffing at the air and ground before it shifts in the clearing under the moonlight. It is a haunting sight. Bones snap and grind as features twist into grotesque angels until it finally forms into that handsome familiar face. The ash blonde fur retreats until it is only on the top of his head, faded beneath while the top looks finger brushed and wild. He is shirtless and his pants are torn from the calf down, the only beastly feature he keeps is the glow of his blood red eyes. You swallow, biting your lip to stop from shaking; this is not the Bakugou you knew. Not that you knew him that well in the first place but there was some power in having a crush. You had learned his mannerisms in the first year here at University, somehow always in a class with him, with one of the three legendary "heartthrobs" of the school. He was as hot headed as the rumors said and he was just as handsome if not more so. Itching for a fight and yet oddly quiet when in close proximity to you. An action you took to mean he either hated you or didn't even know you existed. 

So it's safe to say you're unfamiliar with this manic, wolfish grin. 

Feral incarnate. 

He sniffs the air. 

"Where are you little ooooonnne?" He calls cruelly, "I can smell you." 

His body goes through the motions of tensing and relaxing, another howl breaks through the eerie silence but this time much farther away. Bakugou's ears perk, his grin twisting in such a way it screams malice, unbridled rage and yet excitement. 

"You must be in your mortal heat. Guess I'm not the only one who can smell it. Didn't I tell you not to go out tonight?" His voice is dark, haunting as the wind catches down from you, carrying your scent away from him. 

"I knew your dumb ass would ignore me, I took a precaution to that and yet you didn't even bring your fucking purse?!" 

Your purse? 

Is that how that red cloth and weird silver dollar got into the bottom of your purse? 

Bakugou shifts his weight, giving his back to you as he prepares for something coming that you cannot hear. In the meantime you allow your eyes to study his physic, following his scarred back, broad shoulders all the way down to his deadly hands. One of his palms is burned in the shape of a perfect circle, you swallow thickly. The sound causes his ears to twitch and look over his shoulder, making eye contact with you through the brush. 

But he does not have time to react as a black furred beast with glowing ruby eyes jumps into the clearing. Sniffing the air wildly before baring his teeth towards Bakugou. The beast huffs and growls before finally shifting into his human form, a cold sweat settles in your bones. 

"Where the fuck is she?" You have never heard your friend use a tone so dark as Eijiro continues to pace, keeping his eyes glued to Bakugou. 

"Fuck off Kirishima, shes mine." 

"I don't see a bonding mark on her yet." Its more a feral growl than anything, "You said you didn't waste your time on mortals." 

"I fucking changed my mind. And you know why, her smell is…" He inhales deeply, testing to see how much of you can be sensed. The most he can tell is that you're close by but he cannot pinpoint you, he fights to keep his eyes from falling over his shoulders to see you. 

He's dying to know how you masked your scent without with an Alpha's pheromones or a silver piece. But that would have to wait, at least if he wanted to ensure it was his seed that stuffed you. He bites his lip, the thought sends a shiver down his spine. First he had to deal with Kirishima then he could take his time making you his. 

"Well you know how it is don't ya? Didn't know you were such a pervert, Eiji. Is that why you walked her to class? Hoping she'd make you her boyfriend or some sappy shit?" Bakugou taunts, head tilting in mock question, "Guess you can't hold back anymore can you? Dreaming about giving her your knot?" 

Kirishima bares his teeth, fighting the urge to buck at another Alpha, especially one he knows he will have to fight with full force. He opens his sharp toothed mouth to retort but yet another beast finds it's way into the clearing coming from the opposite of Kirishima but to the right of Bakugou. 

The beast looks wild, heterochromatic eyes glisten beneath the full moon as white and red fur clash all the way down his spine. A collar around his throat catches the light as a broken chain drags across the ground, there are shackles around his wrists and ankles as well. Bakugou smirks, adrenaline fueling his excitement over what is about to be a damn good fight. 

"You watchin little slut? Look at what your scent can do." He changes his stance into that of a fight, "You've got two normally non aggressive Aplahs ready to get their asses handed to them and for fucking what?"

The three of them shift their eyes and bodies this way and that before Bakugou licks his teeth.  

"God I can't wait to bury my face in that soaked pussy." He lunges, transforming mid leap into a hauntingly powerful wolf. His teeth are exposed, lip curled up in a snarl as his targets Kirishima first.  Kirishima barely shape shifts in time, pearly white teeth sink deep into his shoulder before gnashing at his throat. Deafening growls and yowling surround the clearing. Kirishima attempts to kick Bakugou off of him as they tumble closer to who you assume is Todoroki who bares his teeth. He launches himself at the other Alphas. His teeth find purchase in Bakugou's shoulder, blood staining white and blonde fur a like. There is no yelp or howl, just a stomach churning growl before Bakugou turns his attention towards the two toned wolf. Snapping his jaw as he attempts to get a grip on the chained wolf who dodges. Bakugou's teeth gleam with dripping crimson, a snarl of warning before he propels himself towards Todoroki. Sharp teeth bite at two toned fur as Shoto bares his teeth, growling, snapping his jaw at his opponent. Kirishima begins to get to his feet, limping as he avoid putting weight onto one of his front legs, crimson drips down onto the chilled dirt. He keeps his ruby red eyes on the two dancing wolves.

Bakugou strikes faster than Todoroki can dodge, and angry teeth clamp down at Todoroki's throat. The collar snaps from the force before Bakugou sinks his fangs deep into Todoroki's throat. 

An ear ringing yelp is heard as blood pools into Bakugou's stained muzzle, white fur marred in crimson as Todoroki begins to sway. As the hot head's jaw is locked onto tender flesh, Kirishima attacks. Biting at the nape of Bakugou's neck and yanking him from Todoroki with force, tossing him with ease. The light colored wolf flies into trees snapping the thick oaks as if they were twigs. Buying some time for the two injured wolves, any other alpha would have seen this as a win, knowing the two from rival families would retreat to lick their wounds. 

But Bakugou was no normal alpha. This gut clenching fight taught you as much. Todoroki struggles to keep consciousness, his throat dripping an insane amount of blood. He falls to his side huffing almost wheezing before he shifts back into human form, shackles shrinking to readjust to his wrists. Kirishima whines nudging at the unconscious, possibly dead man. All the while crimson red eyes peer through the unsettled dust before soaring through the air, landing on top of the black wolf. Pinning his back onto the ground as dark paws claw at bared teeth. Trying desperately to keep him at bay but with one fucked front paw it is a futile attempt. Quickly Bakugou overpowers him, sinking his teeth too deep into his friend's throat and keeping his muzzle there until the whining and yelping stops. Until he too shifts back to his human form. 

You fight to keep your own whimpering in, still hidden in the brush while you hoped, prayed that he somehow got disoriented. That he forgot where you were. 

His head snaps towards you, mouth dripping saliva and thick red blood. His eyes glow as his stalks closer. He stops just before the underbrush shifting back into that devilishly handsome face. He is soaked in blood, scratches line his face and chest. He wipes at his mouth but not once does his fist wipe away the cocky smile he holds. 

He scares you but what scares you most is how your body is reacting to such a gruesome sight. A muscular man dripping in sticky red, droplets tracing the outline of his abs and a smile of triumph as two people lie wounded, possibly dead behind him. It made your pussy throb, the strength, the raw need and want to win and for what? For you, for your essence and the promise of a futile womb. 

He can smell your fear as he yanks you from the bushes and thorns. 

"Don't worry, it's not my blood." He grins, pulling you closer to him as you try to push away. Just like you're trying to push away these odd feelings that swirl in your chest, in your stomach; of a weird pride and arousal. It was of no use, like pushing dead weight up a forty five degree hill, this too was a losing battle.  

"K..kirishima." Your eyes are glued to his unmoving body, causing a deep rage to form in Bakugou's chest. He grips your chin forcing you to look at him his other hand goes straight for your sex, cupping the underwear allowing his fingers to swipe over the damp fabric. 

"Don't you ever say his fucking name while you're wet for me. Got it?" His fingers are causing divots in your cheeks as you whimper from his contrasting touch. Harsh grip, soft strokes. As if reading your mind he takes a deep breath, not meaning to inhale so much of you.  

"They ain't dead, you're worth the trouble. But not that much trouble. Now focus on me." He let's go of you, drinking you in smirking when he sees your costume. Or what's left of it anyway. 

Thick irony that you would choose to be a bunny of all nights. He fingers the fake ears with earnest. 

"Fitting." He purrs before taking both of his hands to the front collar of your dress, ripping the fabric from your torso. He growls audibly mumbling to himself "Much better." As you stand with your tits exposed, your lacy underwear catching his attention beneath fishnet tights. He bites his bottom lip, pulling you to him as he buries his face into your tits. Nipping sucking and biting as he eases your buckling legs towards the ground. 

"Fuuuuck." He groans, pressing his cheek harshly against yours, trying to scent you as best he can without claiming you fully.  It's hard, fuck is it hard. It always has been, since his first class with you.  

You weren't a beta nor an omega. Hell you were of no wolf relation and yet you reeked, oozed of pheromones that drove him and apparently the others mad. He had tried to protect you, he really had, scenting a piece of an old t-shirt and even burning himself on silver. 

He wanted you, he needed you, his cock ached for you. Weeping now at your arousal making his canines ache with an even greater pain. 

But you were fucking mortal and he was betrothed. Technically all three of the aplahs in that clearing were betrothed to omegas.  It was evident your smell seduced them as well. 

He brings himself to your shoulder, biting hard enough to draw blood, claws, stuck halfway between human and wolf, rake down your back and ass making ribbons of the flesh. Still you moan and he occasionally swallows those whole as he kisses you. Letting you taste copper as his tongue placates yours, he subconsciously secretes soothing and lustful hormones and they are strong enough to make even you high. His hand finds your nipple and when you arch into him he loses his shit. Breaking the kiss to sniff you, nosing and biting until he finds that sweet spot. He opens his mouth, salivating at the thought as his teeth and cock beg for relief. He freezes, squeezing you to him for a moment. The action causes your ribs to creak in protest and yet you feel warm, safe. 

His mouth hovers over your pulse point, the salty sweet taste of you, breaths away from the exact spot he would need to sink his aching teeth into to make you his.  

In a quick motion and a test of will he shoves you onto your back, ripping at the fabric between your thighs after he forces your legs open. You do nothing to stop him, not that could. 

Not that you would.  

He slips his tongue between your folds and licks up, swirling the wet muscle when you buck against him. He hooks his arms around your legs gaining control over your hips and eats. 

See Bakugou is a glutton and he will not stop until he is satisfied. It would be a gift and a curse for you.  

He works his mouth against you thoroughly as the coil in your stomach snaps over and over again. Your hand fisting his hair as you cry out in hoarse gasps, legs shaking around his head, thighs squeezing his skull as he coaxes another high from you. 

Your entire body is shaking, worn out already from however long he sucked, nipped and lapped at your core. Finally he seemed to come up for air but only to watch your sex convulse. He looks up to you causing your heart to skip a beat. His hair is that much more wild, his intense gaze glowing red in the low light and his face glistens with your slick.

"Fuck!" You cry out, letting your head fall back into the ground. 

"What's wrong bunny? Can't handle a little head?" He shoves two fingers deeply into you making a come here motion. You ride another body quaking high as he tries to stretch you to accommodate him. His breathing becomes frantic, as he chases a smell you're emitting. Thrusting harshly into you as his other hand abusesyour clit until that deliciously addicting smell he's chasing crescendos. Your scream echoes in the woods as clear liquid shoots over Bakugou's forearms, all the while you held fluttering eye contact, practically melting in his hands. His fangs grow and he cannot hold himself back any longer. He shoves his pants all the way down, even off of his ankles as he sinks his lengthy girth into you in a snap of his hips. A mixture of pain and pleasure shoot through you like a live wire as you begin to mewl, needing him to move. 

"More, more." You whine, tears prick your eyes as he smiles a deadly smirk. 

"You're such a talkative cock sleeve. You want my knot that bad? Then take it." He thrusts into you setting a deep harsh pace. Alternating between quick succession and slow deep throats. Biting at the skin of your chest and shoulders, torturing you in such a way.  

Punishing you for being mortal. 

"Why?" It's a guttural growl as your mind is lost on another plane, "Why do you have to be mortal?" 

He emphasizes each word with a thrust of his hips earning him a lovely raspy moan from you.

"I want to...to fucking mark you.  Make you mine. The thought of any other alpha or even fucking human touching you…." His thoughts have him chasing two very dangerous highs, snapping his hips so he comes closer to your throat.  

"Please...please Bakugou." You whimpering encourages him. 

He breathes you in, tasting you without even a flicker of his tongue. Your arousal, your damp hair sticking to the column of your throat, the faint scent of your shampoo. 

Somehow he reigns himself in again. Teeth elongated enough they almost scrape your skin.  His breath comes out hot and heavy as you squirm beneath him for friction, wanting nothing more than to be filled. If he does this, if he makes you his mate, it would surely complicate everything. 

"You have to tell me you want it." He's panting, vulnerable as he looks at you, your heart shatters from the look. Deafening reason and logic as it screams how badly you want to be his and he yours. 

"Not just because it feels fucking good right now." His voice is husky, rasped as he fights the weight of his instincts, "Not because I'm fucking hot or a novelty to you mortals. If I mark you, you'll always feel something for me and vice versa. We'll be tethered and attracted to one another even if we fucking hate each other." 

Slowly you nod, again he grabs onto your chin, sliding it down to your throat as he squeezes. 

"This isn't some good acid trip, this isnt some fucking dream. You'll have to meet the elders. You'll have to deal with my ruts." Again he's panting, shaking from holding himself back, having half a mind to just kill you. Still you do not move away from his touch. 

"My jealousy. My rage. My need for territory control. I'll come home dripping in blood. I'll kill other Alpahs." He breathes your name in such a way you clench around him. He growls from the sensation. You struggle to speak beneath his grip, head floating but some how in the right spot. 

"I...I can handle it. Mark me Bakugou Katsuki. Fucking make me yours, fill me use me. Just…" He stares into your eyes until he can no longer take it. Pounding into you in a harsh pace, finally giving in  

"You'll take my knot like a good slut won't you?" His eyes watch you nod before they fall to your breasts. Watching them bounce from the force of his thrusts. His hips turn sloppy as your high builds again. You claw at his back and his smells your high as he tries to time it right. He sinks his teeth into your throat, keeping it just a hair above a marking. 

You feel a growing pressure as his tip stretches you even more until he finally sinks his teeth into you with a grown. His thrusts stuttering as hot ropes paint your walls. Your cunt flutters around it as all you can do is become limp in his grip. His arms are fully around you, his mouth still to your throat as he slowly eases up. His body giving off a bonding hormone so strong that even your moral senses can pick up on. It you drown in a high scented in spice caramel and heat.  He pants heavily, his arms shaking as he kisses you fiercely, teeth bumping into yours before he pulls back.

Weakly you claw at him to hold him as he whispers praises. He lifts you, pulling you towards his chest to keep you safe as you begin to drift. His mouth is pressed to your ear and you can hear the cocky smile in his voice. 

"Get some rest while you still can mate." His hand snakes around to your stomach, his fingers lightly caressing the skin.

"We aren't done until you're carrying my pups."

Tags

@katsukisprincess @avellanagamer100 @bakugotrashpanda my number one fan

[mortallyclearwonderland]

Star Wars Alien Species - Shi'ido

The Shi'ido lived on the planet of Lao-mon, located in the Unknown Regions.

Shi'ido were known to be a shy yet curious species. They preferred to avoid confrontations with other species, especially on their homeworld. Despite their secretive nature, some Shi'ido—especially those of great age—could not resist the urge to travel the galaxy and study other cultures. Though due to their secretive nature and their natural abilities they were known to most as thieves, assassins, and spies, these types of Shi'ido were actually very rare.

The Shi'ido possessed a democratic government, which decided to remain isolated from any galactic powers.

They believed that all their relatives were part of their close family. That is why Mammon Hoole felt that he had to take care of the young Humans Tash and Zak Arranda when their parents died—in reality, Hoole was only related to the children because his brother had married their aunt Beryl.

Mammon Hoole stated at one point that whenever scout ships arrived on the planet, the Shi'ido populace would take the forms of rocks or trees to hide, or monstrous animals to scare the colonists away. Their government, a democracy, had decided to remain isolated from galactic affairs, and this decision remained in place at least until the time of the New Republic.

Belia Darzu was a Shi'ido who ventured out into the galaxy and became Dark Lord of the Sith, during the Sictis Wars. She reigned in this position from 1250 to 1230 BBY. Though she was powerful in the ways of the Force, and created monsters known as Technobeasts, she was killed by her fellow Sith Lords, poisoned by the Mecrosa Order.

Circa 1000 BBY, the Jedi textbook The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force mentioned Shi'ido within its pages, warning students that using the Force to influence Shi'ido was a difficult task at best, and not to underestimate them as opponents.

In 67 BBY, a Force-sensitive Shi'ido used his Force abilities to cheat in a string of casinos across the galaxy in order to provide funds for the heavily indebted Kerred Santhe the Second. His Force-sensetivity drew the attention of the Bith would-be Sith Lord Darth Venamis, who marked this Shi'ido as a potential apprentice. After Venamis' defeat and incapacitation by Darth Plagueis, the Muun Sith Lord tracked down this Shi'ido to a casino in Lianna City. Plagueis managed to chase down the Shi'ido and threatened him into disappearing to a place where neither the Galactic Gaming Commission nor Plagueis would be able to find him.

In the year 27 BBY, a group of Shi'ido mercenaries working for the former Jedi Knight Reess Kairn confronted the bounty hunter Aurra Sing, but all were killed by her.

By the time of the Clone Wars, two Shi'ido were working on the side of the Galactic Republic—Mammon Hoole and Borborygmus Gog. Both worked to counter the biological weapons of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. After the rise of the Galactic Empire, both Shi'ido remained in their positions, though their divergent beliefs would take them in vastly different directions. Another Shi'ido, Vandolae, also worked for the New Order, but he was killed by smugglers while impersonating one of their kind.

Little was actually known of the biology of the mysterious Shi'ido. In their natural forms, they were humanoids with pale skin, wide mouths, and deep set eyes. Their entire physiology was extremely pliable, and their skeletons were made of very thin, yet dense, bone. Their tendons were detachable, and could be moved about their body at will.

Due to their pliable structure, Shi'ido were able to mimic nearly any object or being, such as Humans or Rodians. They were also able to drastically increase their mass, and were known to have hidden flesh within their bodies that assisted in such transformations. In addition to this, Shi'ido were also able to change the texture of their skin to mimic rocks, trees, scales or fur. Senior Anthropologist Mammon Hoole, a member of the species, claimed to have taken the shape of a Hutt and a Whaladon at different times. It was known, however, that if a Shi'ido attempted to increase their size in such a manner, they could end up stuck in that form for several weeks to a few months. Unlike Clawdites, Shi'ido were not limited to taking the form of only humanoid species and did not feel pain or discomfort when they changed shape. Also, Shi'ido did not immediately revert back to their true form when they were fatigued or incapacitated as Clawdites did.

Young Shi'ido could only change the color of their skin and imitate similarly-shaped species, while individuals past the age of 150 could change into any small to large alien species or creature.

In order to complete the image that they sought, Shi'ido also possessed a form of telepathy. They used this ability to project false impressions upon those of other species, allowing them to cover up any inconsistencies with their transformations. This was extremely useful when studying species that identified each other through smell as well as sight, as a Shi'ido could project the feeling that they had the same exact scent as that particular species. Their telepathy required great concentration, and they would lose control of it if they were distracted. As with their shapeshifting abilities, this telepathy also grew more powerful with age.

They stand about 1.8 meters or 5.9 feet tall.

Shi'ido age at the following stages:

1 - 10 Child

11 - 60 Young Adult

61 - 210 Adult

211 - 360 Middle Age

361 - 500 Old

Examples of Names: Shi'ido change their names as often as they change forms, although a Shi'ido who settles on a world might keep the same name for hundreds of years. Sample names include Akarren Duufor, Borborygmus Gog, Mammon Hoole, lsoh Rykken. Shall Screel, and Xev Tallus.

Languages: Shi'idese is an ancient language that incorporates a wide range of vocalizations. Xenobiologists are uncertain whether a written form of Shi'idese exists. Shi'ido can learn to speak and read other languages and those who venture from their homeworld are quick to master Basic.

[shandidellamorte]

~Springtime Heat~

Since this fucking quarantine isn’t ending anytime soon this is a perfect opportunity to write some new things~ As well as other things that have been on the back burner~ I would like to give a huge thanks to @misslivvie​ for contributing a wonderfully steamy scene that helped me come up with the idea for this story~

~Shandi

(FINALLY GETTING THIS FUCKING THING OUT AFTER IT’S BEEN IN MY DRAFTS FOR LIKE TWO MONTHS. I HOPE YOU ENJOY <3)

Vinneketh couldn’t understand what was happening. He’d never seen his Beloved so..agitated before. It seemed like anything set him off. He’d stay angry for hours making him completely unapproachable. Of course he’d still try to keep his temper in check with Ayesha which Vinneketh was grateful for. Any time anything made him angry he’d leave the room so their daughter wouldn’t witness her Baba’s fiery rages. One evening Vinneketh finally decided to ask the question that had been plaguing his mind since it all began.

“Beloved..what is happening to you?” 

When Demon just grunted in reply he rolled his eyes. “That is not an answer. I cannot help you if you do not talk to me.” 

"It's nothing you should concern yourself with."

"What kind of answer is that? I am your husband! Of course I am concerned!" 

"It will pass in time." 

"So your daughter and I are just supposed to deal with these violent outbursts? How wonderful." 

Demon huffed and pulled the covers over his head. "Goodnight, Treasure." Vinneketh just shook his head as he turned off the light. So much for communication. "Yes..goodnight.."

The next morning Vinneketh was frightened awake by a sudden blast of heat. He bolted upright with wide eyes. “DEMON?!” He wished he was dreaming. In a fit of anger his husband had set the curtains on fire! Demon growled in frustration as he attempted to smother the flames. With a heavy sigh, Vinneketh picked up the pitcher of water on his bedside table and doused the flames..and his husband as well. When Demon glared at him he rolled his eyes. “The fire is out, but I doubt that did anything to cool you off.” With his eyes flashing red, Demon let out a loud roar before stomping off. That’s it. Vinneketh was completely done with this! If his husband wasn’t going to give him answers he was going to find someone who would! He dressed himself, and briefly checked in on Ayesha before leaving. 

~*~

“May I speak to you for a moment?” 

StarChild looked up from tending his garden with a smile. “Of course, Vinneketh~ Oh..you look troubled. Is there something wrong?” 

“Possibly. It is..about Demon. He has been acting so strangely! I must admit..he is starting to frighten me. You..have been friends with him for a long time, yes? Do you have any idea why this is happening? He will not talk to me! Please..if you know anything..” StarChild raised an eyebrow. “Hm..I see. Has he had a..short temper lately? Been setting fire to things? Being emotionally distant?” 

“Yes! All of those things! Have you seen him this way before?”

“Every spring.” 

“What could possibly cause..that every year? He was born of flames! It could not possibly be the spring heat..especially since this is nothing compared to spring in Sphynxia..”

StarChild chuckled. “Ohhh it’s the heat alright..but not the kind you’re thinking of~” Vinneketh blinked. "W-what do you mean..?" 

"Come with me. I think it's time I educated you on some of the..intricacies of our dear Demon~" Vinneketh frowned. “I do not understand. If it has something to do with his..biology..why would he not share it with me..?” StarChild shook his head. “It’s nothing against you. If it were any other circumstance I’m sure he would. But for Demon..this time is very..complicated.”

“Can you..elaborate..?”

“Well..you see..you..understand that..for many animal species..their mating drives are at their peak during the spring. It..just so happens to be the same for Demons as well. Only they’re more..how shall I say..bestial..” Vinneketh’s cheeks reddened. “Oh I..I see.. Then the frustration is coming from..the need to..’mate’..?”

“That’s right~” 

“But..he and I are already mated. I still do not understand why we--”

“That’s..where the complicated part comes in. When a fully mature Demon such as he has the need to mate they become..extremely aggressive. They have less control over their restraint on their transformations. They’re..savage beasts. He’s convinced only another Demon could survive..mating in such a way. He doesn’t want to hurt you..or break your mind.” Vinneketh’s brow furrowed. “I remember him telling me this. But he has to understand. He is not with another Demon. He is with me. And he should mate with me.” 

“I agree of course. But you’ll have to be very persuasive to convince him.” 

“I think I can manage that~” 

“Ohhhh yes I can already see the wheels turning~ Good luck then, my friend~” 

“And I thank you for your honesty~” 

~*~

Ayesha pouted as her Aiutu handed her over to Fox. “But Aiutu! I wanna help Baba feel better too!” Vinneketh chuckled. “Now don’t you worry, little jewel..you will have your chance. I promise you~ My help just..takes a different form. And..needs to be done in private. You go and have a nice slumber party with uncle Fox and when you return tomorrow you can help Baba all you like~” Ayesha smiled and hugged Fox's neck. "I like slumber parties~! Can we have sweets and play lots of games, uncle Fox~?" Fox laughed. "You bet we can~ I've got a lot of fun things planned for us to do~ You won't be bored for one second~" 

"Yay~! Aiutu..will you say goodbye to Baba for me?" 

"Of course I will, darling~" 

Fox sighed. "Please take care, Vinneketh..and be safe." 

"I thank you for your concern, my friend~ I will be alright~" 

After waving goodbye, he closed the door and went to work. 

~*~

Later that evening Demon stomped down the hallways back to his chambers, muttering curses under his breath. StarChild thought it best that he excuse himself from the meeting they were attending. So he had threatened to set a Council member on fire. So what? He’d had enough of that fool and his pointless prattle. Truthfully he’d had enough of people in general. He just wanted to get out of his damned armor and go to bed. Not that sleep ever helped to quell the raging fire in his blood. Maybe his husband had a spell for that. Once he opened the door however, he was overwhelmed by the soothing scent of jasmine. In the dim light he could see that the room was lined with rows of scented candles. On the carpet was a trail of rose petals leading into the next room. He snorted. “Treasure? Where are you?” 

“Follow the path, Beloved~” 

Demon grunted softly. He was torn between not being in the mood for games and..being incredibly fucking horny. But the jasmine smelled so nice. He stood there taking deep breaths, allowing the scent to calm his agitated nerves. As always his Treasure knew exactly what he needed. Now a little calmer, he slowly followed the trail of petals leading to their bedroom. He pushed open the slightly ajar door and froze on the spot, staring intently at what was displayed before him. "T-Treasure..?"

"Welcome back, Beloved~ Come and join me~" 

Demon couldn't shake the air of familiarity. The candles illuminating the room. Vinneketh sitting on the bed. Waiting for him. His beautiful green eyes filled with desire. And what he was wearing.. "I..I remember that robe. You wore it the first night we spent together.." Vinneketh giggled. "I am pleased you noticed~ I made a few..modifications but I am certain they are familiar as well~" Demon nodded. "The sash. The brooch. My first gifts to you.." 

"To honor you, my darling. To show how important you are to me." He moved to the edge of the bed and beckoned his husband closer. "Please..allow me to fulfill your needs. That is what you married me for is it not? Because I complete you? I can no longer stand by and watch you lose yourself to your baser instincts. You must take me." Demon frowned. "I figured you would find out on your own eventually but it doesn't matter. You cannot possibly understand what you are asking me to do to you." 

"I will no longer allow you to use such a feeble excuse! Did you not feel you could trust me? Your husband? The man who has devoted his life to you?" 

"Of course I trust you! But I will not endanger your life..your very soul..to relieve this pain. I willingly choose to suffer if it means you will be safe from me." Vinneketh shook his head. "That is all very fine and well..and of course I cannot fault you for thinking of my safety, but you are also taking the choice away from me and I cannot permit that. Do you not remember my words on that..wonderful night in my bathtub~?" Demon purred as gentle fingers massaged the back of his neck. "I don't remember the words..I only remember the pleasure~" 

"Then allow me to refresh your memory~ It is true that I am not Demon but I am unlike anyone you have ever known. I do not fear you unleashing your power. I am not at risk of losing my mind. I know how to protect myself. As long as you are married to me, it is my duty to be your confidant. Your partner. Your lover~” Vinneketh smiled and wrapped his arms around his husband’s neck. “And what you need right now..is a lover~” 

“I can’t deny this..” Demon growled softly, burying his face into his husband’s neck to inhale his scent. A provocative scent that immediately ignited his blood once more. “Mmm..are you going to mark me, Beloved~?” 

“I plan to do sooo much more than that, my Treasure~” 

Looking up, Vinneketh found himself face to face with long, sharp fangs and burning red eyes. He shivered. “Ohh yes..there is the Beast that I remember from that night~ My body..is yours to do as you please~” Demon pressed him against the wall and pinned his wrists above his head. A feral grin sent his heart racing before heated lips were smashed against his. That wickedly long tongue soon invaded his mouth, and he moaned into the kiss and ground against his husband’s thigh. A hand held his head in place while Demon hungrily attacked his neck. Vinneketh shut his eyes and groaned, then bucked when Demon’s mouth latched onto his pulse point. Demon hummed against his neck, the vibrations sending tingles shooting through him. “Hmm, is that your lotus oil I smell? Have you..already prepared yourself for me? What a lovely surprise~” Vinneketh smiled a bit. “Only for you, Beloved~” Demon smirked against his neck. “Mmmm...you spoil me, Treasure~” 

Vinneketh’s head spun as Demon broke away and grabbed his chin so that piercing red eyes met green. “I’m gonna fuck you~” he snarled. “So hard you forget your own name. And I’ll make you scream and beg for it. And when you cum, it’s going to be my name that you scream, for the whole world to hear~” Vinneketh’s knees nearly buckled as he shivered. His husband’s voice was so feral..laden with desire. Desire for only him. He gasped softly as he nodded. “Y-yes..” Without another word and a smirk still on his lips, Demon swooped down to devour his mouth again, letting go of his wrists. He threw his arms around Demon’s neck and pressed his body closer. Then Demon suddenly broke away, and without warning shredded his robes with his claws, making him squeak in surprise. The shredded cloth fell away, and Demon then lifted him up by his thighs and pulled him away from the wall to throw him onto the bed. 

Vinneketh managed a laugh and propped himself up on his elbows to watch Demon strip off his armor. His eyes trailed over his husband’s body as more skin was revealed. His heart pounded. His breaths quicker and harsher. Then Demon removed his codpiece, and when his eyes traveled even lower his cheeks flushed and a whimper escaped his mouth. Demon turned his head and grinned when he saw him. It was a wide, predatory grin that had his fangs bared and Vinneketh’s heart racing even faster. He crawled onto the bed until he was looming over his prey, then crushed their lips together again. Vinneketh moaned lustily and couldn’t help hooking a leg around his husband’s waist and grinding against him. Demon smiled against his lips and ground back, chucking when Vinneketh gasped. Demon broke away and grinned, showing off his fangs once more. Vinneketh’s current state was delicious. Flushed face. Swollen lips. Heaving chest. Slightly spread legs. He chuckled. “Already offering yourself to me~? How wonderful~ But first...” He dragged a hand down his husband’s torso, and goosebumps formed as his claws ever so slightly scraped against the skin, stopping at his abdomen. “Who does this pretty Treasure belong to~?”

Oh Gods... Vinneketh swallowed. “Y-You?”

“I want to hear you say it~” Demon commanded. He pressed his claws deeper, enough for Vinneketh to gasp at the very slight pain.“I-I’m y-your pretty Treasure..”

“Good boy~” Slowly spreading his husband’s legs further apart, Demon smirked appreciatively. “Such a lovely view~” Vinneketh wriggled a bit and whined. Why doesn’t he just get on with it already?! Large hands grabbed his thighs and held them in place, and he froze. Then Demon flashed him a fanged, predatory grin, and dove between his legs. Vinneketh closed his eyes and tipped his head back, a moan of pleasure falling from his mouth. His hands settled in Demon’s hair, his fingers twisting through the strands. Demon’s tongue was moving so expertly, and no matter how many times they had done this it still sent Vinneketh into a frenzy. His mouth formed an “O” shape. “O-Ohhh Gods... Demon~!!”

“Such a lovely golden Treasure..” Demon purred, stroking his thigh, and his rich, silky voice with a growling edge to it made him shudder. “My lovely golden Treasure~” Vinneketh just nodded his head, his mind spinning too much to give a reply. “You like it, don’t you, Treasure~?” Demon purred silkily. “Does it feel good~?” He nodded again and managed to gasp out, “Uh—Uh huh...”

“You like it when I fuck you, don’t you~? When I fuck you so hard you see stars, and you lose your mind with pleasure and scream my name as you erupt~” 

“U-Uh huh... Y-Yes…!!” Vinneketh moaned. It was all true; he did like it. He loved it. He shakily bent his knees and propped himself up on his elbows. He heard Demon growl quietly, then there was a sudden hand slapping his ass. It made him jump and yelp. “Ah!—ohhhhh~” It soon degraded into a loud moan. “All the way up.” Demon ordered, tugging at Vinneketh’s hair and making him groan in pleasure. “Don’t you want it~?” 

“Y-Yes...” Vinneketh arched his back and moaned when Demon began to slowly move his hips again. “Yes, I want it!” He felt Demon’s smirk against the skin of his back. “Good Treasure..and what do you want~?”

“I-I...” To Vinneketh’s despair, his lack of response made Demon freeze all movement again. “Demon..” he whimpered. Demon’s fingers dug into his scalp and pulled his head back. “I want to hear you say it.” Vinneketh shuddered. “I... I w-want you to fuck me..” Demon’s hips began to move again, incredibly slowly. “Good Treasure~” he purred, his voice smooth as silk. He licked Vinneketh’s earlobe, making him gasp. ��Say it louder~”

“I w-want you to fuck me!” A slight tug on his hair. “Fuck me!”

“Louder!”

“Fuck me!!”

“LOUDER!!” Demon suddenly slammed his hips.

Vinneketh let out a shocked cry. “FUCK ME!” he screamed. “PLEASE, DEMON, FUCK ME!” His shouts were marred by sobs now. “PLEASE!! PLEASE FUCK ME!!”  

“Very very good, Treasure~” The hand in his hair moved down to grab hold of his hips. Demon then thrust into him with a brutal force. Brutal..and absolutely perfect. He cried out happily, and his noises soon devolved into shamelessly loud moans. He felt Demon’s form leaning over him, felt his searing red eyes burning into his skin, could hear his deep growling as he fucked him.

Vinneketh’s eyes rolled back in his head as Demon kept fucking him mercilessly, pounding almost punishingly into him. Then Demon suddenly grabbed his cock and squeezed, wrangling a high-pitched gasp from his throat. He began to stroke fast and rough, and everything it made Vinneketh feel made his arms shake and his head fall down as he practically screamed in pleasure. Demon chuckled into his ear, sounding cruelly amused. “You love this, don’t you~? You love it rough~ My whore..my precious little Treasure~” Vinneketh moaned louder.  “Yes... Yes, I love it~!! O—Ohhhh Gooods... fuuuuck~!!” Demon growled and grabbed hold of his hair again, pulling his head back up. “Mine..” he growled into his ear. “You are mine~”

Vinneketh only nodded languidly. “Yours..”

“Say it again~”

“Y-Yours~! I am yours~!!”

Demon growled in satisfaction and let go of his husband’s hair, grabbing hold of his hip again to keep up that fast, rough, incredible pace, while still stroking him with his other hand. Vinneketh’s moans and cries reached a fever pitch. Finally it became too much. Vinneketh threw back his head and screamed out his husband’s name as he came hard. Demon kept fucking him through his orgasm, until with a roar he came undone as well. 

When he finally pulled out of his husband, the dancer collapsed onto the mattress, jaw slack and moaning softly. Every nerve was humming, alive with euphoria. Demon was doing something, moving behind him, but he didn’t want to move to see what it was. And his eyes felt so heavy...

“Treasure?”

Vinneketh forced his eyes open and looked up. Demon looked back down at him, and he smiled tiredly when he saw that the red was gone from his eyes. “Beloved..” he managed. Demon’s fingers massaged his scalp, and his still-humming body thrummed in pleasure at the contact. “Are you all right?”

“Mmm...” Vinneketh kept smiling. His husband always asked that whenever they did this, just to be sure his inner beast hadn’t severely hurt him. “B’loved... I am much better than all right...” He settled back into the pillows, moaning in contentment. Everything felt so wonderful... his body felt like it was humming... Demon... A gentle hand was stroking his hair. Lips were pressing a kiss to his head. “You should rest, Treasure.” 

“Mmm... I should..” he mumbled dazedly.

Demon smiled, holding his husband close as they both drifted off to sleep. With his mating drive sated he finally felt normal again, and it was all thanks to his beautiful Treasure. He pressed a kiss to Vinneketh’s temple. “Thank you, my love. I give you my word..I will never be so foolish again.” 

“I certainly hope not. I will be..very cross with you if you deny me such ecstasy again~”

“Perish the thought~”

~END~

[feelingforgod]

Mike’s Talk

Good evening brothers and sisters. My name is Michael Secrist and I’m a recent addition to the stake. I’m also a medical doctor and the  newest interventional radiologist on staff at the hospital down the road. I grew up not far from here in Palos Verdes and I’m very happy to be back within a few miles of the ocean. This is a stake unlike any I’ve ever been in. There is a feeling of excitement about doing the Lord’s work and actively loving all of God’s children. And the beautiful music we experienced at ward and stake Christmas programs – there literally were not enough seats in the loft for all the musicians and some singers sat in folding chairs. This really is a special place and I feel lucky to be here. I want to tell you a story about a little boy. This little boy was born with hazel eyes. You and I might see hazel eyes as a beautiful and rare variation in Heavenly Father’s tapestry of mortal life, but in his world, people with hazel eyes weren’t trusted. They were not “normal.” They were seen as other and unnatural. He always knew he was somehow different and people treated him differently. He tried desperately to fit in. He wore blue contact lenses to hide his eye color. He wore them all the time and never took them out. He wore his contacts so long that even his own family members believed he had blue eyes. And it worked. He was just like everybody else. He could fit in. He went to church with the kids his age and heard lessons about Heaven and eternal families and the blessings awaiting them...unless they had hazel eyes. One day he heard some high school kids talking about their favorite musician. “A reporter caught him at a night club without his contacts. Can you believe he had hazel eyes all this time? Gross!” Kids at recess made jokes and games about hazel eyes. No one wanted to get tagged and be “hazel in the middle.” The little boy’s family went to his grandparents’ house for Thanksgiving one year and some of the family made quiet conversation about an uncle who didn’t come around much. Some suspected he really had hazel eyes as well and that he might not even be hiding it with contacts anymore. “No! Why would you think that?” The little boy’s mother spoke up, standing up for her brother. She didn’t want to believe it of her own brother. Her objection came from a place of love but the little boy sank deeper into his chair and squeezed his eyes shut, just in case his disguise wasn’t enough. He would never let anyone know his truth – his shame. He would never be one of those people even his own family despised. His mother told him frequently she loved him. They all did. But they wouldn’t if they knew. It was as if he had a magnetic field surrounding him that deflected positivity. No “I love you” reached his core where he was imploding. The person his family loved was a blue-eyed boy that didn’t really exist. Years went by and the boy hoped the contacts would grow into his eyes and he could in some sense be normal. But, instead, his eyes began to hurt. They burned! The pain some days was so intense that he had trouble just functioning. His grades suffered. He got in fights with his little brother. Then one day at church he heard someone say that everyone who kept their hazel eyes hidden would be rewarded with blue eyes in the next life. Maybe that was the answer. So, he began daydreaming about how he could end his life. No one would ever need to know the shame he carried with him. He thought his death would be so much easier for his mother to deal with than the reality of an eternally damned, hazel-eyed son. After years of sobbing through nightly prayers to his Heavenly Father to change his eyes to blue, he now had hope in death. Amidst his suicidal ideation, a new bishop asked to talk to him – just a routine annual youth interview. The bishop was loving and kind and for some reason the boy felt safer than he had with other bishops. Quiet desperation bubbled to the surface. As he looked down at the carpet of the office to avoid the disgust the bishop was bound to feel, his magical blue contacts fell from his eyes and his carefully crafted disguise evaporated. And I said in a choked whisper, “I think I’m gay.” Surprise. Yep, I’m the little boy. Welcome to my story. To this point in my life, the words “I’m gay” had never passed my lips, largely out of fear that it would make it more true – make it real. As soon as I had said it, I began to panic. Surely, the bishop would react angrily and tell my parents. I’d lose my family and have to live on the street. The church would abandon me. Why did I say those words?! My life literally depended on the reaction of this man I barely knew. But instead of the reaction I was expecting, he just said, “Tell me more about that.” He asked me about my feelings and at the end of our talk, he hugged me. I was shocked that even after I had told him my deepest secret, he wasn’t afraid to touch me. We would have frequent conversations over the next few years but most importantly, he loved me. I likely would not have lived to my 16th birthday if he had not shown love to that scared 13-year-old boy. I went to BYU after high school and after one year there, I served a mission in southern Russia. Some people may think it’s too hard or that it should be impossible for a gay young man to serve a mission. On the contrary, most gay Mormons I know have fond memories of their missions because their sexuality isn’t an issue. The thing that has consumed their thoughts isn’t important for two years. No one is wondering why they aren’t asking out that pretty girl in the ward. Something else I found is that gay elders come equipped with a superhuman ability to love the people they serve, and, like I did, most of them begged and pleaded and made deals with God to make them straight in exchange for their wholehearted service. I didn’t find out until years later that many of the missionaries and even assistants to the president I most looked up to, many of the most solid missionaries, were gay. This very minute, the church is benefiting from the selfless service of hundreds of gay missionaries in the field. And, unfortunately, not all of them had a loving bishop like I did in my youth. And not all of my leaders have been so loving as that first one. One bishop told me he put a permanent mark on my record that would preclude me from ever holding a calling involving children or youth. To be a gay member of this church is painful and I would never pass judgement on any LGBT person who chose to step away in order to preserve their mental health. There are cases of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in LGBT people associated with their experience in our church (Source 1) similar to soldiers back from war and I feel it’s important to acknowledge their pain. By the time I completed my degrees in biology and linguistics at BYU, I was deeply depressed and I took a year off before starting medical school. During that year, I submitted myself to what is known as conversion therapy, a practice that now has bans in 14 states with legislation in many others pending. Every week, I drove several hours to pay an expert $300 an hour to make me straight. In my mind, this had to work because I thought there was no purpose in my living if it didn’t. It didn’t work, but I held on to my belief I would be transformed someday. In medical school, I met a wonderful woman. We began to date and became best friends. I brought her home to meet my family and I thought maybe this could work. If it was going to work with a woman, it was her. But whenever I thought of proposing to her, I got a sick feeling. I knew I loved her on every level – every level but one very important one, the physical. And although I knew she loved me enough to try to make it work, I wanted her to have a husband that worshiped her in every way. It was then that I knew I needed to finally share my whole truth with my family. I came out to mom and dad and 5 siblings by telephone in one night and the loving responses from them were better than I had expected. It was another surprise to me when I woke up the next morning and looked inward and I found the Holy Ghost was still there. I was in uncharted territory. I had no examples or established path anymore and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Over the next 6 years of post-graduate medical training, I learned a lot about myself. I allowed myself to date other men. I even fell in love once. I only share this because of what it taught me. I had been so conditioned to believe that any love for someone of the same gender was disgusting and corrupt. But the feelings I felt were pure, selfless, and beautiful. I finally understood what friends and family had told me about falling in love. Rather than turn my back on my Heavenly Father, this experience brought me closer to Him and I felt Him teaching me, “You see, Mike? You see what beautiful things I have in store for you?” My residency training made church attendance difficult and I felt removed from the church. I had to develop my own personal relationship with God independent of the instruction and opinions of church leaders. I learned to rely on personal revelation, which would benefit me enormously when it came to being gay, because this is something church leaders haven’t experienced and do not understand – and, more often than not, misunderstand. So, let me dispel some myths for you as a gay man and a doctor who has studied sexuality all his life. -I did not choose to be gay, nor have any of the hundreds of LGBT people I know. Why would anyone choose such a hard road? If someone comes out to you, it’s because they love you and want you to be a part of their life. They have always been who they are even if it took them a while to figure it out. -I am not gay because of anything my parents did and I was not sexually assaulted as a child. However, LGBT children and youth are at a terribly high risk of sexual assault and these beautiful children of God need to be protected. (Source 2) - Sexuality is not something that you can change. And it’s not something that my Heavenly Father needs or wants me to change. I know now by the source of all truth that I am the way He meant for me to be and He loves me so much exactly the way I am. My gayness is inextricably connected to my musical talents, my sensitivity to others’ needs, my ability to easily love other people, and so many parts of myself that I now see as beautiful and essential to who I am. I know my Father made me this way, so why would I want to change it? Brothers and Sisters, I have always felt the need to know how to save a life. I think there was always a low-grade anxiety that someday someone would be dying in front of me and I wouldn’t know what to do to save them. It’s driven me to learn about physiology and pathology. As soon as I was able, I learned basic lifesaving skills. In my 20s, one week after my test for my Emergency Medical Technician certification, my sister’s toddler choked in front of me with no one else around. I did what I was taught and popped a large mouthful of animal crackers out of her. I know that one of the reasons I was put here on Earth is to save lives in my occupation as a medical doctor. When I moved to Seal Beach, I considered whether or not I needed to be an active part of the ward, given how painful it can be for LGBT people to be present in church. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are five times more likely to commit suicide than their peers. (Source 3) That risk is multiplied by being a part of a family, community, or church where homosexuality is unacceptable. (Source 4) We lose these beautiful young people one by one to suicide and it is completely preventable. I understand now that my mission on Earth is simply to save lives, not only in the hospital where I work every day but also outside the hospital. I mean to rescue as many of these young people as I can and help their families love them unconditionally. When I considered not coming to church, I was thinking about myself and my own comfort. But the Spirit turned my thoughts around on me and told me that I needed to be here not for myself but because someone else here needs to know that He knows and loves them just as they are. I know there are LGBT people in this stake silently suffering when people make comments that make them feel alone and hopeless. I know that there are several youth here who will come out to their families someday but in the meantime, they sustain deep wounds from comments their loved ones make about LGBT people or the “gay lifestyle.” Elder M. Russell Ballard said, “We need to listen to and understand what our LGBT brothers and sisters are feeling and experiencing. Certainly, we must do better than we have done in the past so that all members feel they have a spiritual home where their brothers and sisters love them and where they have a place to worship and serve the Lord.” We are members of the restored church of Jesus Christ and are fortunate to have more light and knowledge in one place than anywhere in history. But we should not be afraid to admit that we don’t know everything. Article of Faith 9 says “We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.” I don’t know how LGBT people fit into the Plan of Salvation, but my friend Derek, a trained biblical scholar and gay man who joined the church a few years ago, likes to say, “There’s more room for me in the Plan of Salvation than there is in the closet.” Where there are gaps in our understanding, let us fill them with compassion and unconditional love. Brothers and Sisters, I have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe He died for our sins and that he loves each and every one of us. I pray with all my heart that we will be sensitive to all types of people who don’t fit the mold and learn from them and the gifts the Father of all of us has given them. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Michael Secrist, 1/19/2019, Long Beach Stake Conference Source 1: Simmons, Brian W. Coming Out Mormon: An Examination of Religious Orientation, Spiritual Trauma, and PTSD Among Mormons and Ex-Mormon LGBTQQA Adults. 2017. The University of Georgia. Ph.D. dissertation. https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/simmons_brian_w_201712_phd.pdf

Source 2: Rothman, Emily F., et al. The Prevalence of Sexual Assault Against People Who Identify as Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual in the United States: A Systematic Review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, vol. 12, no. 2, Apr. 2011, pp. 55–66, doi:10.1177/1524838010390707 Source 3: CDC. (2016). Sexual Identity. Sex of Sexual Contacts, and Health-Risk Behaviors Among Students in Grades 9-12: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

SOurce 4: Lytle, Megan C. et al. Association of Religiosity With Sexual Minority Suicide Ideation and Attempt. American Journal of Preventive Medicine , Volume 54 , Issue 5 , 644 – 651.

[huangels]

i'll stay awake for you - vampire!jeno

nct dream halloween special: main menu | mark | renjun | jeno | haechan | jaemin | chenle | jisung

a/n: i skipped renjun for now (reason). um i was supposed to post this last night but i literally fell asleep before i hit post fjbdjb (pls ignore typos thx bbs) 

genre: fluff ?

word count: 3.8k

The stars in the night sky are nonexistent, as dense puffs of grey blanket their usual twinkle. There isn't even a moon to light the dark paths of the road, only blackness. You feel claustrophobic in the thickness of the night and soon regret not asking your older brother to give you a ride home from the local mall. You had no clue the darkness would arrive so early, texting your brother that you'll be able to walk home after buying a Halloween costume with friends. And here it is, 7:00 in the evening, and it's pitch black outside.

The chilly weather of late October doesn't help the fact you have a 20-minute walk to home. It bites at the nape of your neck, causing you to tightly wrap your long red scarf around your neck once more. The scarf only solves one problem of many as your cheeks tingle from the frosty temperature, as well as your fingers. It's a good thing you remembered to bring your coat with you or else you would've frozen to death out here.

As you walk along the deserted road, you kick along a large pebble to keep you company in the lonely night. The oval-shaped pebble bounces around on the asphalt ground until it stopped in front of something. It is too dark for you to see exactly what it is but it seems like an animal. You pull out your phone, using it as a light source. With the dim light facing the creature, you can tell it's a bat, lying on its stomach with its wings spread out on either side. The bat is still breathing as you see it pulsing slowly.

Carefully, you poke the bat with a finger, testing if it's alright. The bat lifts its right wing slightly off the ground before it falls flat on the road once again. You don't know what prompts you to save the bat but the wing motion seemed as if it's telling you it is injured. Unwrapping your scarf from your neck, you gingerly pick up the injured bat and encircle the scarf around it. Poor thing must be freezing in this weather.

You speedwalk the rest way home and beeline for the couch, placing the wrapped up bat on the cushion beside the lamp. Hopefully, it will help warm up the bat.

You stand there staring blankly at it because you have no idea what the next plan of action is. Your parents won't be home until tomorrow night and your brother is spending the night at his girlfriend's house, so you can't ask them for assistance.

Going to the only trusted resource you have, you pull out your phone and search up how to take care of a wild bat. According to the internet, bats usually eat worms and insects but it's not like you have those lying around in a jar somewhere. Recalling a documentary you'd been forced to watch in biology last year, you recall that bats also eat fruits.

You make your way to the kitchen to peel and slice a banana, placing that on a plate, along with a small bowl of water.

You set that down on the coffee table in front of the couch and hope the bat will be able to eat and drink. Debating whether to call an animal rescue, you decide to wait until tomorrow to see if the bat gets better and you can release it.

After a long day, you crash onto your bed, hair damp from your shower but you don't care at this point. Your eyelids become heavy of rest and slumber takes you away.

༄

The harsh light of the early morning peaks through the curtains of your room, causing you to stir awake. You turn your head to read the time, 7:44 AM. Too early.

Your head plops back onto the pillow before you shoot back up, remembering the incident that had unfolded last night. You quickly get ready in the bathroom before sprinting downstairs to the kitchen to check on the bat, the nearest animal rescue number already dialed on your phone.

What comes to a shock is that the bat has disappeared. Instead, laying on the couch is a boy, young but probably older than you. His jet black hair falls over his forehead, a few strands covering his eyes. He's dressed in a plain black t-shirt and jeans with a pair of converse. Wrapped around his shoulders and up to his neck is a familiar red scarf, my red scarf.

It takes you a moment to process this before you shout, "Who are you and what are you doing in my home?"

The latter bolts awake, scrambling to take in his surroundings before falling to the floor with a low grunt. You grab the closest thing to you as a defense weapon, which just so happens to be a wooden back scratcher laying on the coffee table. Way to protect yourself, Y/N.

The boy in black rubs his head with a hand, then wincing and rests it beside him. He rolls up the sleeve of his right arm, revealing a large slash over his bicep. You gasp at the sight of his injury.

"Do you need- help?" you ask with a shaky voice, not knowing if this guy is to be trusted. And it seems as if he feels the same way as he eyes you up and down. It doesn't help that you're in a defensive stance, in your baby pink pajamas, and holding out a backscratcher as a weapon. The older raises an eyebrow, "Do you have a bathroom I can use?"

Another short exclamation leaves your mouth as you spot sharp fangs sticking out from where his human canine teeth should be. With trembling arms, you motion to the downstairs bathroom by the front door. The guy sends you a nod and walks into the bathroom, closing the door behind himself before you can get another peak.

Vampire. You've seen enough movies to know what a vampire is, though you've never believed in them. Pale skin, dark eyes, black clothing, handsome, fangs- wait did I just say handsome? Either way, he must be dangerous and you wanted to call the cops, but what are you going to report? Hey, there's a vampire in my house, come arrest this supernatural creature. They'll for sure send you to the mental asylum without further explanation.

Who else would I call though? The priest? No, he isn't a demon. Ghostbusters? No, not a ghost either-. Hold on, wasn't there a bat on my couch last night? Where did it go? He didn't eat the banana. Has the injury healed and he just flew away? Wait- injury, injury on his right wing. The vampire, right arm. You finally make the connection between the bat and the boy in the bathroom. The same-?

Before you can come up with a clarification, the bathroom door pushes open and the vampire walks out with toilet paper wrapped around his wound.

"Uh- I don't think that's a good way to patch it up," you point at his right arm. The boy looks at the ground, rubbing the back of his head. His appearance is the complete opposite of the aura he exudes (or any vampire in those movies: cold and mysterious). The boy standing in front of you is embarrassed and rather confused. He still hasn't said anything after he went into the bathroom.

"I can help you bandage the wound," you suggest out of the blue, not even processing the consequences first. You can actually die.

"Thank you," the latter finally says, his voice is low and raspy but the tone of it displays shyness. You question if the vampire is at all dangerous. If he is, you would be dead and drained of blood by now, for sure.

You relax a bit, knowing you're alright, "Here, take a seat on the couch. I'll go grab the first-aid kit."

About two years ago, your older brother cut his leg while trying to help your dad with yard work and they bought this huge first-aid kit that contains everything you need for minor injuries. Your mom taught you how to use all of the tools and medicines provided just in case anything happens again. This might not be something your mother was expecting when telling you that but at least you're prepared.

You return to the boy with the large briefcase-sized kit, setting it on the coffee table and taking the seat next to him. The sleeve is already rolled up, with the toilet paper stripped from his bicep. You gently press a wet cloth on the slit. Once you cleaned the blood off of his arm, you apply some antibiotic ointment around the wound, mumbling a warning that it's going to hurt. The latter winces at the contact of the medicine.

After that, the silence returns as you continue to disinfect it. You can feel the guy stare at you as you work, so you look up to meet his gaze. He looks away with a slight tint of pink on his cheeks. From this close, he really does look like a vampire. His skin is smooth and pure as a porcelain doll, no imperfections in sight. His eyes are as dark as the night sky you've met him, only sparkling in some areas with the help of the sunrays from the nearby living room window. His eyelashes extend out and curl up at the ends, kissing the tips of his cheeks each time he blinks. His lips, rosy and glossy, pillowy even.

You shake your head and return to the injury, hoping the short pause does not get picked up by the handsome guy. In the silence, you wonder what's different between a real vampire and one shown in movies or TV shows. In films, wounds usually heal quickly due to regeneration or something but it doesn't seem to be the case since he's probably had this injury since before last night.

The silence is eating you up, you just have to ask something, anything to understand this situation, "I...I know what you are."

Silence. That wasn't the right way to say it, Y/N. You should've started with asking for his name, come on. He might not be human but at least you can be.

"I know that you're- a vampire," you clarify since there's no turning back now.

"What makes you think that?" the older stares down at you. You stop wrapping the medical bandage around his bicep.

"Smile," you challenge, with squinted eyes.

The boy chuckles with a grin, "Touche."

"Why are you so calm with the fact that I know? Are you not suppose to keep it a secret?" you question, curiously.

"Well, I am. But how am I suppose to explain me transforming from a bat to a human," he tilts his head to the side, "oh and my fangs?"

It's your turn to say, "Touche."

"My name is Jeno by the way and thank you for the help," Jeno looks down at the tightly wrapped bandage before holding a hand out.

You take it in yours for a shake, "Y/N and it's no problem. Well maybe, I didn't expect the bat I saved to be a human too."

"If you didn't save me last night, I don't think I would've lived," Jeno stares at his hands, twiddling them. That's probably true, considering the large slash on his arm (or wing) and the freezing temperature of the late winter night.

"May I ask- how did you end up like that?"

"It was a dark and hazy night, and I flew right into a barbed fence. I tried to get to somewhere safe but landed on the ground. My vision blurred after seeing a figure, you, in a bright red scarf."

You eye the said scarf laying on the couch, you're glad you can save Jeno. You continue to ask questions about being a vampire out of curiosity, and you're beyond glad that Jeno isn't taken aback by all of your meddlings. You've learned that movie vampires and real vampires are totally different. For one, real vampires can't heal as fast as ones in the movies but they can heal small injuries. Ones like that large cut from the sharp fence are too intense for his immune system to handle, hence not being able to heal it quickly. You've also learned that Jeno cannot go out into the sun and he's more than 60 years old, which is young for the vampires he lives with.

But there is just one question that's burning to be asked, "Do you drink blood...?"

Jeno visibly tenses at the question and you fear you've gone too overboard with your inquiries. However, the latter sighs before answering, "Yes."

You don't know how to respond, remaining silent beside Jeno.

He continues, "But I only drink animal blood or blood provided by my- brother."

"You drink from your brother?" you reply, exasperated. It's more of a demand rather than a question this time.

Jeno waves his hands, eyes wide, "No, no! Not like that! He's a vampire too, he's actually not my blood-related brother but he takes care of me. His name is Taeyong, he takes care of a whole group of us vampires."

You nod in response, glad to hear that Jeno isn't the type to go around killing people for blood.

"So do you have to go back to him?" There is a slight disappointment in your tone, hoping Jeno can't sense it.

"Yeah, once the sun has set. But he's not too far from your home, actually he lives in the same neighborhood."

"Wait, I live in the same neighborhood with a bunch of vampires?"

"Eighteen to be exact, counting me."

"Well, tonight is Halloween. So I can walk you there, if you want that is."

Jeno shares a bright smile, his eyes forming lovely crescents on his face. It decorates his complexion beautifully. "Of course, I'll introduce them to you, too!"

There's a warmness in your body, it spreads like fire but isn't as intense as the hostile element. Instead, it's mellow and refreshing, bringing a radiant smile upon your face as well.

"So what's your Halloween costume?" Jeno wonders, now more comfortable with you after the three or four hours of bonding (and bandaging...and saving his life).

You criss-cross your legs to face Jeno with a chuckle, "funny enough, a vampire."

"No way, you're joking," Jeno leans back onto the couch. You reach for the bag left by the coffee table last night from your shopping trip, pulling out the vampire costume. It consists of a black Victorian (with a modern twist) dress, fishnets, a black cape, and fangs.

Jeno scoffs, "This is vampire-ist."

You raise an eyebrow at the older, stifling a giggle.

"Vampires are never dressed in black and fishnets," Jeno motions towards the dress.

"Aren't you wearing all black right now?" you tease, leaning forward at Jeno.

He breaks the eye contact, ears burnt red, "At least I don't have on fishnets."

"I'll give you that one," you return to your regular sitting position.

༄

The clock perched up above your couch reads 7:06 PM. You don't even realize that hours have passed while talking with Jeno. You're just so engrossed in the way he talks, his voice, and his expressions. They're all such a contrast from each other; his voice is deep and rich, his expressions are light and happy like a child, and the way he talks makes you feel soft and warm, with how he speaks about his friends, his past 60 or so years, his experiences with the different decades, and so on. Just listening to him puts you at ease. And you just can't help but stare. His sharp eyebrows leaning into the crook of his tall nose, separating his bright expression-filled eyes and under them, his prominent cheekbones, leading down to his chiseled jaw and connecting to his pointed chin, just below his kissable smooth lips.

It's weird for you to feel this way towards someone you had just met. Maybe it's the vampire aura that draws you in, like in the movies. A compulsion type of feeling. And whatever it was, you knew you had to see Jeno again.

༄

Jeno lets you get ready for Halloween as you lead him to the kitchen for something to eat (he can still eat human foods but it doesn't fill him up as much). You also throw him an extra cape that was for your brother, "Vampire twins!"

It doesn't take long for you to put on your costume. It's just a simple dress and cape. You omit the fishnets since they are too difficult to get into, but replace them with black tights because the weather is far below chilly. Slipping into your black combat boots and throwing a black jacket (to match the vampire theme here) over, you quickly throw on some back smudged eyeliner and red lipstick. Finally, you add the fangs.

Jeno is sitting on the kitchen counter with his small cape, eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, when you pop up from behind to scare him. The latter drops his sandwich on the plate before letting out a deep screech.

"Let's go get spooked!" you call, skipping to the front door as Jeno sends you a playful glare.

The setting is just as dark as it was last night but it isn't as lonely anymore, whether it'd be because of the hundreds of families and friends walking around surrounded by brightly lit Halloween decorations or that Jeno is by your side, mouth hanging at the multitudes of decorations and horror-themed costumes. You steal quick glances at him, smiling at how cute he reacts to Halloween.

"Have you never been out on Halloween before?" you question Jeno.

It takes a moment before Jeno returns to your question, "I haven't, I've only heard about it on TV."

You dip your head, as if asking him why. It seems like the latter understood your little action.

"Taeyong doesn't want us to get lost or scared," Jeno adds with a nervous chuckle. You resist the urge to squeeze his cheeks as his eye smile makes a comeback.

"Then, let me show you around!"

You grab his hand in yours, leading him to a street where the houses decorate their yards with the most effort, with their own homemade haunted houses and such. Throughout the Halloween experience, Jeno has never let go of your hand, holding it tightly when he gets jump scared by a decoration or costume. You give him a quick squeeze of assurance and draw him closer.

It's hilarious that Jeno is some supernatural blood-drinking beast and he gets frightened by a clown pop-up machine. Though, of course all clowns are terrifying and even you have let out multiple screams from that.

After both of you being scared to death, you decide to take a break and bring him trick or treating. "Ok, so you hold out this bucket and say 'trick or treat' and they'll give you candy!"

Jeno looks puzzled but followed my lead. We rang the doorbell, waiting for the owner to answer. You flash Jeno a small smile as the door opens revealing a woman in a mummy costume. "Trick or treat!"

"Wow two cute vampires, here you go." The nice woman drops a handful of candy in both of your buckets. You wish her a Happy Halloween and leave the premise of her home as Jeno follows along.

"See, not too bad?" you softly elbow Jeno on the arm. The older lets out a chuckle before agreeing. The both of you continue to trick or treat for another hour, stacking up so much candy that you can't fit any more in your buckets.  

The night is coming to an end as the streets empty out of little kids, and the moon is highly perched up in the twilight sky. Your smile fades as you two walk in the direction of Jeno's home and Jeno mirrors your dim expression.

You finally reach the door of Jeno's grand home, a lot larger than the one you live in. Jeno turns to you with a curl of his lips, "Thank you so much, Y/N. You have no idea how much you've done for me in a short 24 hours."

It feels like a permanent goodbye even though you live 5-minutes by foot away from Jeno, "Of course, Jeno. And I'd do it again."

Jeno draws his arms around your frame, taking you by surprise before you return the hug, your head resting comfortably on his shoulder. Despite being a cold-blooded creature, his hug is warm and soothing. You can feel his heart pumping rapidly against your own chest, or maybe that's your heart.

"So who's your little friend, Jeno?" A voice breaks the contact as you both jump back in shock. At the now opened door stands a towering and handsome man, a lot older than Jeno. His dark blue-tinted hair is long, hanging over his face.

"This is Y/N, my- friend," Jeno introduces as you slightly bow as a sign of respect. You have no idea how to greet vampires, especially since you've never met one until today. The man remains in his position, leaning against the door, with a look that you're unable to decipher. Before you can react, the taller man pulls you into a brotherly bear hug, a smile spreading across his heart-shaped face.

"Welcome Y/N! It's nice to finally meet a friend of Jeno's, though it seems like he doesn't have any," the man jokes, patting Jeno in the back, "My name is Johnny."

The panic that once filled your head now dissipates at how friendly Jeno's family is. However, Jeno looks quite embarrassed at the interaction by your side.

"Oh, I'll let you two- continue with what you left off," Johnny sends a cheeky wink to the both of you before disappearing behind the front door. Yet, you know he's still listening on the other side of the door.

"I'm sorry about him, he's so embarrassing," Jeno speaks first after Johnny leaves, a hand scratching at the back of his neck. You chuckle at Jeno's flustered state, how cute.

"What did you say?" The smile plastered on your face knocks right off. Did I say that out loud?

"What?" you play dumb, "Nothing. I didn't say anything."

"No, you called me cute, I heard it."

Curse those heightened vampire senses.

After going back and forth on what you said (since the both of you are too stubborn to back down), Johnny had to come back out to tell Jeno that it's time for dinner. Though, he said dinner with obvious air quotes, which causes Jeno to get even more embarrassed. You make Jeno promise to visit you during dawn and hang out, "I'll stay awake for you."

[sciencespies]

The History of the Tomato: A Poisonous Reputation and A Big Fruit Fight

https://sciencespies.com/biology/the-history-of-the-tomato-a-poisonous-reputation-and-a-big-fruit-fight/

The History of the Tomato: A Poisonous Reputation and A Big Fruit Fight

The history of your favorite (mainly) red nightshade involves a long and intricate tale that traces back to the Aztecs around 700 AD.

Yes, the tomato hails from the Americas, although it took a trip to Europe – and a fight over its reputation as a poisonous killer – before it became the globally embraced veggie you know today. And before that, it left its (scary) mark on the European consciousness, global tax laws, dietary guidelines – and even the Supreme Court of the United States.

Yes, it’s been a strange journey. The tomato has had a wildly varying reputation over the years, considered everything from poison to aphrodisiac(!). I’ll explore all these fascinating tomato facts – and many more – in this history of the tomato.

The Tomato and its Components

Before we talk history, let’s talk a bit about the tomato itself – and try to classify what, exactly, a tomato is.

Tomatoes contain seeds, so they are botanically considered fruits, with the scientific name Solanum lycopersicum. More specifically, they are a berry – with the skin being the outer exocarp, the fleshy/pulpy mesocarp, and seeds inside. Of course, culinarily, the tomato is a vegetable – lacking the high levels of fructose (and the sweeter taste) of what we traditionally call fruits. 

So – they’re both fruits and vegetables. What an enigma!

They belong to the nightshade or Solanaceae family, which is probably the reason they were considered poisonous in Northern Europe and most parts of the U.S.A, even a few two centuries ago.

Modern tomatoes are descendants of the strain Solanum pimpinellifolium. This is a wild tomato species, native to Peru and Ecuador, that were ancestors of the tomatoes we know and love today.

Tomato breeding techniques have come a long way, though, and modern methods now allow us to create fruits that are firm, juicy, resistant to diseases, plush red, and robust enough to travel well.

Cultivation

Since they are one of the most popular grocery purchases globally, you probably knew that tomatoes could be grown in a wide range of soils, ranging from heavy clay to sandy. The ideal conditions to grow these fruits are:

Sandy or red loam soils.

Well-drained soils.

Soils rich in organic matter.

pH range of 6.0 to 7.0.

The ideal temperature to grow and harvest tomatoes is between roughly 69 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit, making it a warm-season crop. However, beware heat; temperatures over 90 degrees are detrimental to the fruit’s development. Extreme conditions – such as high levels of humidity or frost – are also damaging to the plant.

If a harvest receives high volumes of sunshine when the fruit is about to set, it can create dark red colored tomatoes. Temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit slow down the plant’s physiological growth and negatively affect a tomato harvest.

Are you planning to grow some? Let me know in the comments – tomatoes are a particularly fun plant to grow, even in a deck garden.

They also grow well in more serious growing operations…

Nutritional Value

Like us human beings, tomatoes are mostly made up of water – upwards of 90% – 95%. The rest of the fruit consists largely of fiber and carbohydrates. For every 100 grams of raw tomato, you can expect to find the following macronutritional breakdown:

Water: 95%.

Calories: 18.

Proteins: 0.9 grams.

Carbs: 3.9 grams.

Sugar: 2.6 grams.

Fat: 0.2 grams.

Fiber: 1.2 grams.

Vitamins and Minerals

Zooming into the vitamins and minerals in a single tomato, you’ll actually be pretty impressed. Here are some of the standouts:

Vitamin C: Consuming one mid-sized tomato can give you 25% or more of your daily requirement of vitamin C.

Potassium: Around 1/10 of your daily requirements are in a single fruit.

Vitamin K1: You’ll find a significant amount of Vitamin K in a tomato – around 12% of the RDA in a medium fruit.

Vitamin B9: (Aka Folate) Roughly 5% of your RDA is covered by a medium tomato.

Vital Compounds

Tomatoes also contain a set of plant compounds that are beneficial for the physiology of human beings.

Beta carotene: It is an antioxidant that gets converted into vitamin A in our system when we consume it.

Lycopene: Another type of antioxidant that has tons of health benefits such as improving heart health.

Naringenin: A flavonoid that helps decrease inflammation and offers protection against many diseases.

Chlorogenic acid: An antioxidant that helps lower blood pressure.

Common Tomato Dishes

Tomatoes have been readily adopted in cuisines around the world thanks to their versatile nature. Some of the most common dishes that are heavily reliant on the use of tomatoes include:

Soups.

Sauces.

Pasta dishes.

Pizza.

Salsas.

Curries.

Shakshuka.

The Early Origin of the Tomato

Tomatoes have become a global tour de force today, but originally they were limited to only one pair of continents — the Americas. One study traces the earliest ancestor of the fruit to South America, where the grandfather of all tomatoes — Solanum Pimpinellifolium L., was known to have been first domesticated.

This species gave rise to the S. Lycopersicum L var. Cerasiforme (S. l. Cerasiforme), which, in turn, birthed the most common tomato species known on the planet today — Solanum Lycopersicum L. var. Lycopersicum (SLL – the one you chop to put on your salad). It first made its way into Mesoamerica before finding its way to the rest of the world.

That’s just the tomato, though – nightshades, particularly the tomatillo, have an even longer history. A few years ago, scientists found a tomatillo fossil in Patagonia, Argentina they dated to roughly 52 million years old!

Tomatoes come in many colors and shapes (and tastes!), as this picture shows.

The Hand of the Aztecs

As mentioned in my introduction, as far as we know, the Aztecs were primarily responsible for first understanding the fruit’s versatility and using it as an ingredient in their cooking. We even derive the word tomato from the Aztec word “xitomatl” (pronounced as ji-tomatel).

By the early sixteenth century, the Aztecs had domesticated a reasonably modern version of their tomatoes and had created at least 50 unique recipes using the red wonder as a base. Early Aztec writings reveal recipes for a dish that uses tomatoes, peppers, and seasoning – yes, recipes for salsa have been around for an extremely long time!

We now know that the Aztecs of Mexico were a source for tomatoes that were taken to Spain and the Mediterranean by the Spanish conquistadors – likely Columbus or Cortés. We even have a record of the fruit entering Europe with the earliest mention of them being seen on the continent by Mattioli in 1544. (At the time, he essentially called it an eggplant).

The Pueblos and Tomatoes

Before making it to Europe, tomatoes had a good stint in Pueblo culture and had a reasonably influential touch on their customs and beliefs. The journey from South America to Europe featured a noteworthy stop in Central America where the tomatoes interacted with Native American culture.

While the Pueblos certainly used tomatoes in their cooking, they did not explore it as deeply as the Aztecs in their culinary style. 

Instead, there were a few noteworthy associations between the Pueblos and the tomato. This included the belief that those who consumed tomato seeds would be blessed with the powers of divination.

The March to Europe

Hernán Cortés is the Spanish explorer who is credited with introducing the tomato to Europe. He did this after successfully capturing Tenochtitlan’s city in 1521, and he used the Spanish colonial system to spread the fruit successfully across the rest of the world.

Tomatoes Travel the World

Before reaching Europe, tomatoes first made their way to the Caribbean islands. And after Europe, the naval path to the Philippines was used to take the plant to Asia.

Its path to Europe, and specifically Italy (where tomato’s culinary popularity first took off), is harder to trace, but there have been several handwritten accounts to read. The first of these dates to 1548 in Tuscany, where the fruit was improperly thought to be a type of eggplant, and it was named “Pomodoro” or pomi d’oro. 

You might think the “Pomodoro” caused shock waves across the country and transformed the landscape of Italian cuisine as soon as it entered the market – alas, this was not the case. Many of the Italian tomato dishes that we know and love today are quite recent. 

It wasn’t until the late nineteenth century that the modern-day tomato had firmly cemented its roots in Italian culture. Pasta and pizzas were around for quite some time by this point, but they depended on base ingredients such as cheese and olive oil for flavor until someone had the bright idea of adding tomato sauce.

History in China and Asia

The Chinese and Europeans eventually whole-heartedly embraced tomatoes in their cuisine. After the tomato’s travels to Europe, the fruit was also making the rounds in Asia, where it continues its popularity to this day.

In Chinese culture, written records of tomatoes date back to 1621 during the Ming dynasty. Much like Italian culinary culture, China took a fair amount of time to warm up to the fruit. In fact, the tomato’s first records read more like a precaution – written records tell of a Western-originated fan persimmon.

Although tomatoes never rose to culinary prominence in the same way as they did in Italy, several regions of China became quite reliant on the use of tomatoes in their dishes.

By the turn of the nineteenth century, tomatoes had officially migrated to most parts of Asia. During this period, they also found their way into Syria and Iran. There though, they were widely used almost immediately.

Tomatoes Go Back to America

Despite originating in the Americas, the tomato did not appear mainstream in the United States of America until Thomas Jefferson took an interest in the plant. Yes, that Thomas Jefferson – the 3rd president of the United States.

As tomatoes belong to the Nightshade family that is traditionally associated with poisonous fruits, purportedly many North Americans were weary of eating the fruit when it first made it to the states – fearing for their safety.

On the other hand, Thomas Jefferson was a noteworthy food connoisseur, and his taste in exotic fruits and vegetables was on full display at his garden at Monticello. (He also figured in the American history of ice cream).

It is said that the Miller-Claytor House in Lynchburg, Virginia, built in 1791, was locally referred to as the “tomato house.” This is because Jefferson first shocked the people of the region by publicly consuming a tomato at this location. He didn’t die – possibly to the crowd’s amazement.

That’s the myth, anyway – Culinary Historian Andrew Smith disagrees and notes people in the US were eating tomatoes as early as the 1770s. Jefferson may have been a bit late to the party.

Once said myth was dispelled – or, alternatively, once people saw public figures eating the strange fruit – tomatoes still took a fair amount of time to become popular for consumption across the United States.

Eggplants & Tomatoes in New Orleans – Henry Cogswell’s Letters from the South and West (1824)

Tomatoes in the Southern and Northern States

The South’s history with tomatoes is an interesting one. An early record of tomatoes being marketed in New Orleans exists from the year 1812.

The North took longer to warm up.

In 1820, a former colonel named Robert Gibbon Johnson took to the streets of Salem, New Jersey, to further Jefferson’s point and disprove any negative connotations related to tomatoes. He did this by following Jefferson’s footsteps… and consumed a tomato (possibly even a basket of tomatoes) in public. He, too, didn’t die.

By the year 1835, tomatoes were available in the markets of Boston. When the civil war broke out a few decades later, tomatoes were in the fray in a big way. 

The Union Army relied on canneries to process tomatoes for easy access to nutrition – tomatoes eventually became the most popular product sold in cans during the civil war.

And there were knock-on effects: farmers in the country realized the sudden rise in tomato demand, and switched their crops quickly to incorporate more tomatoes.

The rise of the fruit’s popularity continued to grow steadily over the next few decades. They eventually became a widely accepted fruit by the middle of the nineteenth century. And wouldn’t you agree: they are still pretty popular today?

Tomatoes: A History of Advancements

Tomatoes have undergone a massive evolution since their wild cherry days up in the Andes mountains. The story of the modern-day tomato itself has many chapters that were penned in the 20th and 21st centuries.

One of the primary authors of these new chapters was Alexander W. Livingston, the man behind the Paragon tomato. He was an expert on seeds and plants in the region of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, and operated in the latter half of the 19th century.

In 1852, Livingston acquired seventy acres of land in his hometown to set up the A. W. Livingston Buckeye Seed Garden. During his tenure in this garden, he developed a new strain of tomato seeds to improve the tomato properties. That variety, the famous Paragon – sweeter than the sour tomato varieties of the time – was developed around 1870.

Livingston fully immersed himself in developing different strains of the fruit from this point onwards, and he was successful in producing thirty more varieties over the next 28 years. None, though, attained the popularity of the Paragon.

Joseph Campbell and the Tomato Soup

Joseph Campbell greatly furthered the work that Livingston began. He and partner Abraham Anderson set up a company that first introduced Americans to condensed soup in 1897. And yes – he’s the Joseph Campbell behind Campbell’s Soup.

The soup business boomed at this point, and Campbell’s was first in line to make the most of this popularity. And by 1905, the company was producing 21 different types of soups that included bean, beef, and clam chowder – but tomato soup was one of its biggest sellers.

1920 Ad for Campbell’s Tomato Soup (Library of Congress)

Tomatoes: The Myths and the Facts

We did miss out on some twists and turns during our exploration of the history of this magnificent fruit. This section will relay a few of the myths related to tomatoes and the facts behind them.

Wolf Peach Tomatoes

There was a lot of fear associated with tomatoes, even among the scientific community in the 18th century, and they reflected this fear in the fruit’s naming. 

They dubbed tomatoes with the dubious scientific name Lycopersicon esculentum as early as 1768, which translates to “edible wolf peach.” 

As it belonged to the nightshade family, researchers were afraid to touch or consume the fruit, fearing the worst.

Surely, calling it a wolf peach didn’t help!

Pewter Plate Controversy: The Poisonous Tomato?

The fact that tomatoes belonged to the nightshade family already made them a suspicious fruit. A subsequent controversy broke out in Europe during the 18th century when public poisoning caused by eating tomatoes helped sustain this fear for centuries.

The better-to-do people shunned the tomato. They referred to it as the “poison apple” during this phase in history, even though it was innocent. 

But something was going on, indeed. The reaction of the lead in the victims’ cutlery with the acidity of the tomato was the likely reason behind the poisonings. 

Poorer sections of society did not face any lead poisoning. They did not use any fancy cutlery for their meals, so they did not pick up the negative associations with tomatoes.

Weird, isn’t it? True – but to this day, you need to be careful with acidic dishes (such as those with a tomato base) on particular surfaces. Aluminum is a big one – heating tomato sauce on aluminum foil or using aluminum cookware or camping utensils can cause large amounts of aluminum to migrate to your food.

It’s no lead, but long term aluminum exposure can cause issues. Be careful!

Lead-alloy pewter plate in Britain (undated) – Wikimedia

Is the Tomato a Fruit or a Vegetable?

Tomatoes are culinary vegetables and botanical fruits. Due to their relative lack of fructose and sugars and starches, the tomato is treated as a vegetable in food… along with the cucumber, pumpkin, and green bean. However, a tomato is a fruit – and even more specifically, a berry – botanically.

Yes, I know we discussed this, but the annoying riposte tossed out by your nephew is deeper than you may first think. It’s been the subject of tariff disputes, Supreme Court decisions, and even a Presidential fight.

The Tariff Act of 1883 was signed into law by Chester A. Arthur, and one of the provisions increased the tariff owed when importing fruit. That’s straightforward – but when John Nix & Co. tried to import tomatoes only to run into a tax levied by the Port of New York’s Edward Hedden, the highest Court in the United States eventually weighed in. On May 10, 1893, the United States Supreme Court found that tomatoes are vegetables, not fruits.

Around 90 years later, the Executive Branch of the United States made things even sillier.

After Ronald Reagan entered office for his first term in 1981, Congress passed a law cutting $1 billion in child nutrition funding. In the scramble to change the standards (they had roughly three months to recommend new guidelines), the USDA, in exasperation, listed ketchup as a vegetable. (Relish made the cut too!)

Beaurocratic infighting and silly rulemaking? Perhaps – but the highly embarrassing battle is one of the more famous kerfuffles of the Reagan Administration. And to this day, the short version of the story means you can make ketchup is a vegetable jokes and still get a laugh!

Tomatoes Rule the Roost

Today, tomatoes have left their controversial past behind and become a superpower in the world of grocery essentials. Internationally, they are one of the most important crops, taking 15% of the total share of all fruit and vegetable production. In 2011, this amounted to nearly 160 million tons, or 20 kilograms per capita, worldwide.

Compared to the rest of the world, North America consumes the highest quantities of tomatoes each year, with consumption reaching 42 kgs per capita. Europe takes the second spot on this list with an annual use of 31 kgs per capita. 

At the country level, though? You guessed it – Italy stands tall as the tomato capital of the world, with an annual per capita consumption of 60 kgs. This comes as no surprise, although Italians from two centuries ago would undoubtedly be shocked at this transformation.

From Wolf Peach to Pizza Topping

There you have it – it’s been a long, weird history for the world’s most controversial berry. From being unfairly painted as poisonous to finding corner cases in tariff laws, confusing the Supreme Court, and shaking up the USDA – the tomato has done it all.

Tomatoes took a trip from the Americas around the world and back to the Americas before they became the king of the fake vegetables. What a fascinating (culinary) vegetable – I hope you have just a little more interest the next time a wolf peach is on your plate!

This article was originally published by manyeats.com. Read the original article here.

#Biology

[loud-snoring-os]

Important Book BUT Not For Abused or Traumatized Adult Children This book is an important one that I'm glad that the author took the time and effort to write. However, since it falls under the "self help" genre, I feel its also important to make some distinctions about the audience this book best serves. Like another reviewer who wrote "avoid if you've overcome a toxic family", I think this book does not serve them well or anyone who was abused or severely neglected by primary caregivers, at least not initially in their healing process (and maybe not at all). I think a point not emphasized enough in the book is that the author himself spent 2 years on a spiritual journey BEFORE coming to the realization that emotional disconnectedness with his family was at the root of his own health problems (in other words, he did a lot of self-healing before attempting to connect with his parents). It makes perfect sense for him that re-establishing the emotional connection with his parents would be the logical solution to his own healing. Assuming his story is accurate about how his family was merely emotionally disconnected due to a mother stuck in grief and a father who suffered from low self esteem and there was not much in the way of emotional, verbal or physical abuse, this a perfect and beautiful situation in which re-establishment of emotional connection is the answer. However, in the case of abused and traumatized children by their caregivers, this is generally NOT the answer, and especially NOT the first step in the healing process. Abused and traumatized children have serious boundary issues, self-worth issues, difficulty forming healthy relationships, etc., that need to be dealt with first and foremost before attempting to restore relations with very unhealthy and toxic people who perpetrated the abuse. The caregivers are in fact the cause of the trauma and the issues and it is not simply a case of emotional disconnectedness with them. In other words, how can you emotionally connect with a person who is so emotionally shut down and disconnected that they abused their own children? It might be possible in some cases, but it is going to take a lot of energy and effort on the part of the abused child (now an adult) to make it happen and they may even put themselves in danger by doing so. Plus this type of therapy can place an intense internal conflict on the abused child to "make right" what the parents did wrong to them by trying to reconnect with them. I think that's where this type of therapy can do some psychological damage if the facilitator/therapist is not careful. If there is a way to utilize this type of therapy with abused children, this book did not cover it, at least not in much depth and did not recommend resources for people who come from those types of families and situations. I hope that will be rectified in a new edition or perhaps another book. Go to Amazon

I highly recommend this book to those wanting to heal, willing to do the work and looking forward to a more fulfilling life I am deeply touched by Mark's book and happy to highly recommend it. He has found an inspiring way to share his personal life's experiences, those of clients he has worked with over the past 20 years and scientific research to create a smooth read, easy to follow exercises and a format, which really works to help one shine light into one’s own life and that of one’s family to bring forth subconscious patterns, which have been blocking one’s healing and forward movement. I've been working with clients for the past decade and have experienced quite a few growth opportunities of my own. This book came to me synchronistically as I had been searching for a core wound to heal my relationship with my elderly mother and it was Mark's clear path throughout his book, his vulnerability sharing his own struggles and the questions and healing statements he shared, which gifted me not only the clarity of the wound that I have been looking for for years, but also the tools to heal it. Go to Amazon

Transformational. Pivotal. While reading It Didn’t Start With You, I could not help but feel like Mark Wolynn was handing us readers that ever-elusive puzzle piece on a silver platter. In this case, the piece that ties together science, soul, and the shared familial bond that spans generations with something equally transcending – language. Go to Amazon

Excellent scholarly research on multigenerational genetic traits and other effects ... Excellent scholarly research on multigenerational genetic traits and other effects to be aware of. This work is critical and must be followed and included in current medical research, education and therapeutic treatment of psychiatric cases in with all multigenerational opportunities both in independent practices and in social service and group treatment centers. In Public Government Funded Programs as well and Private Independent Offices. This will take a concerted effort. If there is interest shown, I will volunteer to organize a team to look into whether or not their is interest in exploring something like for the County of Boulder. Another route would be to to to the Medical / Biology Department and ask them what they are currently working on and see if this dovetails with their current work? Maybe this would be a better fit down at CU Health Sciences in Denver ? If so, I could find a point of contact and drive down there and start there. It would be fantastic to have some energy in this from Colorado if they need extra hands and feet to help. I can certainly provide my CV / Resume. Go to Amazon

Two Stars Five Stars Point of view Amazing! So true to my life. Five Stars Five Stars Highly recommend. READ. Mark Wolynn is The Guy and this book is the Definitive Resource Terrific book Brilliant Book-- But, For Some, Perhaps Best Accessed in Therapy

[universalessays-blog]

Gender History Research Paper has been published on http://research.universalessays.com/history-research-paper/world-history-research-paper/gender-history-research-paper/

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Gender History Research Paper

This sample Gender History Research Paper is published for educational and informational purposes only. Like other free research paper examples it is not a custom research paper. If you need help with writing your assignment, please use research paper writing services and buy a research paper on any topic.

Abstract

Gender history emerged from women’s history and represented a rejection of biological notions of sexual difference in favor of analysis of the cultural and social relations of the sexes. Its rise in Anglo-Saxon scholarship coincided with and was a vital part of the ‘linguistic turn’ during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Gender history has since widened its scope to encompass the study of men and masculinity. Gender history is also closely related to history of the body, while the history of sexuality/ homosexuality is by now a distinct field of scholarly inquiry that is related to the history of gender but not dependent upon it.

Outline

Introduction

The Analytic Origins of Gender History

Rewriting History after the Turn to Gender

Masculinities

Entwined Terms: Genders/Bodies/Sexualities

Body/Bodies

Sexuality

Outlook for the Future

Bibliography

Introduction

Gender history examines the social and cultural, as opposed to natural or biological, relations of the sexes. The English term ‘gender’ is usually distinct from sex, which is understood as rooted in biological or bodily differences. The term gender does not exist in some languages, while in others its meaning diverges significantly from the English usage. The German term Geschlecht, for example, encompasses both ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ and thus blurs the core distinctions of the English term. In French the term ‘sex’ or sexuel is more commonly used than genre, which can refer to either grammatical or literary genre or serve as a classifying category in natural history (Riot-Sarcey, 1999). The historical category ‘gender’ emerged from feminist study of women’s history during the mid 1980s. When the word ‘gender’ first gained currency among historians of women in the early 1980s, it was defined as signifying the social relations between the sexes. As the range and scope of scholarly research on gender expanded across the social, scientific, and humanistic disciplines, gender was increasingly understood as a symbolic system or signifier of relations of power in which men and women are positioned differently. By the end of the 1980s, the concept of gender came to encompass the languages, symbols, and social practices that defined sexual differences and sexual inequalities, signaling a more definitive departure of feminist social scientists from foundationalist notions of biological sex (Haraway, 1991).

The Analytic Origins of Gender History

By the turn to the 1990s, gender history – both in terms of its object of analysis and methodological approach – had distinguished itself from women’s history, as well, although most practicioners continued to recognize women’s history as a formative foundation for the study of gender in history. From the early 1960s on, feminist historians had set out to recover women’s participation in and exclusion from processes of social transformations and political change. Empirical investigation of the private (familial, sexual) and public (political) inequality of women in past societies drove the first decade of women’s history. The fact that women’s history took shape during its formative years in interdisciplinary arenas, such as Women’s Studies programs, explains why women’s history became one of the most theoretically engaged fields of historical study during its early years, as feminists debated and critiqued the keywords of social analysis.

In this first phase of women’s history, sex and class often figured as parallel forms of oppression: the female sex was viewed as a subordinate class, subjugated by a dominant class of men. In feminist scholarship the notion of patriarchy signaled a shifting understanding of sexual exploitation as the primary form of women’s oppression (see, e.g., Rubin, 1975; Eisenstein, 1978). Taking patriarchy as a hierarchical sexual order, women’s historians located its origins in ‘the private family’ and sought to examine the reproduction of patriarchy in social modes of production, divisions of labor, and property relations (Kelly, 1976). Analysis of the origins and practices of patriarchal structures and ideologies, along with the recovery of lost stories of female actors and women’s agency, significantly expanded the scope of historical knowledge about women, family, and labor, while elevating ‘sex’ to a keyword of social analysis.

Yet in furnishing new insights into the place of women in past societies, the pioneering work in women’s history soon revealed its own limitations. Unitary analytical categories, such as ‘woman’/‘women’ and ‘man’/‘men,’ based on fixed, rather than historically or socially variable, notions of biological sex, fostered narratives of women’s experience or oppression that ignored differences of race, class, ethnicity, and sexual preference. Moreover, a fuller understanding of ‘the significance of the sexes’ in the historical past would require the study not only of ‘the subjugated sex,’ but of both women and men (Davis, 1976). At the end of the 1970s, feminist historian Joan Gadol called for a ‘doubled vision’ of society, one that emphasized the ways in which the identities of both men and women were shaped by sex and class (Kelly, 1979). In emphasizing the inextricable links between sex and class, women’s history also indisputably widened the scope of the political to include family and household, bodies and sexualities – all once considered as belonging to the sphere of the ‘private.’ By the end of the 1970s ‘sex’ had emerged as a crucial category of feminist social analysis, one that was parsed in relation to race and class in scholarly debates.

Joan Kelly’s formulation of this doubled vision of society marks a critical opening for the concept of gender, as feminist scholarship turned its attention to the ways in which ideologies, norms, and symbolic systems shaped sexual identities, relations, and sites of governance. The editors of the pioneering collection, Sex and Class in Women’s History (Newton et al., 1983), for example, used the term ‘gender’ in order to understand the systematic ways in which ‘sex differences’ cut through society and culture and conferred inequality upon women. Karin Hausen’s path-breaking essay on the origins of ‘sexual character,’ situated the polarization of sexual stereotypes in Enlightenment philosophy, suggesting a temporal framework for the origins of modern gender distinctions (Hausen, 1981; Gleixner and Gray, 2006). Feminist historians delivered powerful critiques of the public/private dichotomy associated with the polarization of the sexes, widening the scope of the political to include family and household, bodies, and sexualities.

Even as gender began to forge its own analytical ground in the mid 1980s, it remained entangled for another decade or more in the analytics of women and sex. While feminist philosophers and theorists grappled with the sex/gender distinction (Nicholson, 1994), the terms ‘women’ and ‘gender’ remained loosely interchangeable in feminist history well into the 1990s and are still sometimes also described with the conjoined phrase ‘history of women and gender’ (Smith, 2000; Canning, 2006; Rose, 2010; Downs, 2010). The work of analytically distinguishing gender from women and from notions of biological sex was also propelled by transformations outside of academia. Through the broader public debates about ‘identity politics’ in the United States and Britain, once-cohesive ethnic, racial, national, or sexual identities were increasingly understood as multiple, mutable, and contradictory. Emphasizing the inextricability of gender and racial identities, feminist scholars of race issued powerful critiques of the unitary category of women and notions of patriarchal oppression (Higginbotham, 1992). Like gender, race also came to be viewed as a social construct rather than a genotypic or phenotypic form of difference.

Although the shift from women to gender was already well underway by the mid 1980s, the publication of Joan Scott’s essay, Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis (Scott, 1986), marked a definitive turn away from studies of patriarchy and of women’s economic, sexual, or reproductive subordination grounded in notions of physical differences between the sexes. Scott summoned ‘mainstream’ historians to consider gender as a constitutive element of social relationships based on the ‘perceived differences’ between the sexes, as expressed in culturally available symbols, normative concepts, notions of politics and institutions, and subjective identities. Moreover, Scott argued, gender had become an essential category of historical analysis because it is a primary way of signifying relationships of power. Gender thus gained an analytic status of its own, first by severing the links between sex-gender and biology, and then by freeing it from the remnants of Marxism that hinged the production of gender to changing economic structures. Scott’s article, followed by her essay collection, Gender and the Politics of History (Scott, 1988), unleashed a torrent of debate over the implications of gender for methodological approaches to historical causality and processes of change. Scott called upon historians to shift their attention from ‘objective processes,’ such as industrialization and urbanization, to the discursive, linguistic, or symbolic representations of sexual difference that, for example, institutionalized the sexual division of labor in late nineteenth century France or that produced women workers as ‘objects of (state) investigation and subjects of history’ (Scott, 1988, 1993).

Understood as a cultural, linguistic, or discursive construct, gender had a central place in the broader paradigm shift known as ‘the linguistic turn’ in the discipline of history. The controversies accompanying the rise of gender history thus involved the objects of historical investigation – women of the past versus historical discourses, languages, or symbols – and the methods of historical analysis, which in the wake of the linguistic turn came to include Foucauldian social theory, new historicism, as well as poststructuralist linguistic and literary theory (Poovey, 1988b; Canning, 1994; Surkis, 2012). At the same time feminist philosopher Denise Riley interrogated the category ‘woman’ in her Am I That Name? (1988), noting the inherent and historically grounded instability of the category termed ‘woman’ and identifying feminism as the precise site at which that instability was systematically contested, taken apart and reconstructed. These dual impulses – the critique and disassembly of the category of ‘woman’ and the advancement of a new analytic concept of ‘gender’ – effectively redefined and resituated the keywords of feminist history: woman, sex, and feminism. Soon other keywords of social history, such as ‘experience,’ ‘identity,’ and ‘agency,’ were also subject to critical debate and redefinition.

Yet the rise of gender as a category of historical analysis did not have the effect of asserting the primacy of gender relative to other forms of inequality, such as race, class, or ethnicity. Rather, the emphasis on the inextricable links between gender and other social identities and categories of difference sparked critical engagements with categories of race and class as well. In the United States and Britain, feminist scholars of race intervened at this juncture with powerful critiques of the categories and practices of women’s history. Defining race as a ‘metalanguage,’ and the ‘ultimate trope of difference,’ African–American historians explicated the powerful effects of race on the construction and representation of gender, class, and sexuality. Understanding race as a ‘double-voiced discourse’ revealed the ways in which it shaped both the oppression and self-representation of minorities (Higginbotham, 1992).

Rewriting History after the Turn to Gender

The turn to gender, like all theoretical and methodological innovations, was an uneven and protracted process that has differed markedly across different temporal and geographical fields. In some fields scholars sought to redefine methodologies, concepts, and theories to meet the challenge posed by the concept of gender, while in other fields women’s history was quietly renamed ‘gender history’ without a recognizable shift in historical methodology. In national historiographies, in which the work of recovering absent female subjects had a later start, historical research on women has continued to provide the foundation for a more explicitly theoretical engagement with gender well after the turn to the twenty-first century. In still other settings, where the turn to gender history coincided with the rediscovery of masculinity and men, gender history came to denote a more thoroughly relational engagement with the histories of both masculinity and femininity.

While women’s history once sought to fit female subjects into existing categories of social analysis, such as class, nation, and citizenship, the turn to gender prompted more fundamental critiques and redefinitions of these keywords of social analysis. The concept of ‘class,’ for example, was at the heart of debates about both gender and the linguistic turn, leading some feminist scholars to call for an emancipation from class as a ‘privileged signifier of social relations and their political representations’ (Alexander, 1984), while others analyzed the formation of both the middle-class (Davidoff and Hall, 1987) and the working-class (Clark, 1995) as processes of differentiation in which gender was always centrally implicated. Eschewing models of class formation that sought to delineate economic, social, cultural, and political levels or stages of development, feminist historians of gender examined class as a political language, emphasizing the significance of gender in the process of assigning and contesting the boundaries and meanings of class (Scott, 1988; Sewell, 1990; Canning, 1992). The ‘public/private divide’ and its specific historical and gendered meanings for class, citizenship, public sphere, and nation-state formation was the topic of two issues of the Journal of Women’s History (2003/1 and 2003/2) that offered theoretical perspectives and historical comparisons with case studies of Britain, Brazil, the United States and the Middle East. Other social-scientific keywords, like ‘public sphere’ (Fraser, 1992; Ryan, 1992), ‘civil society’ (Pateman, 1988; Hull, 1996), and ‘citizenship’ (Lister, 1997; Canning and Rose, 2002) have also been sites of fruitful rethinking by scholars of gender. Similar to the location of class in socioeconomic structures, citizenship is embedded in legal and constitutional frameworks and theories of state and nation formation. Feminist social scientists critiqued teleological models of citizenship, like T.H. Marshall’s classic, Citizenship and Social Class (1950) that outlined the progressive acquisition of civil, political and social rights, pointing instead to the nonlinear trajectories by which women acquired rights, often first as social citizens and only much later, as political citizens. Feminist scholarship has probed the meanings and practices of citizenship beyond the law, exploring the rhetorics, claims, and subjectivities of citizenship, which are also taken up by those lacking and thus demanding citizenship rights.

Breaking up the binary oppositions of public and private/political and personal, also led to fruitful new research on the history of consumption from a gendered perspective. Although consumption has historically been identified with femininity, Davidoff and Hall’s Family Fortunes (1987) argued convincingly that domesticity, the ideology of the British middle classes, was vested in complex and elaborate practices of consumption and display. With gender as a framing concept, the historical study of consumption has expanded in recent years to encompass analysis of commodification, spectatorship, material culture, popular culture, leisure, and fashion, which are vital dimensions of gendered social identities, not least as an arena in which these gendered identities were performed, critiqued, recast, and subverted (DeGrazia and Furlough, 1996; Peiss, 1998). Studies of consumption also explore its place in shaping gendered boundaries of class, citizenship, and cultural belonging (Cohen, 2003) and have also spurred new explorations of visual culture, fashion and beauty, marketing and advertising, both in transnational dimensions (Modern Girl, 2008) and as a vital aspect of the relationships between empires and metropoles (McClintock, 1995).

Masculinities

If the redefinition of keywords of social analysis was one outcome of gender history, its explicit attention to the relations between the sexes prompted the opening of gender history toward a more serious study of men and masculinity. The embrace of gender had been controversial in part because women’s historians had feared that emphasis on the mutual constitution of masculinity and femininity would obscure both male oppression of women and female agency (Bock, 1991). The advent of men’s studies in the early 1990s – marked, for example, by the founding of the American Men’s Studies Association in 1991 and its journal The Journal of Men’s Studies in 1992 – led feminists to observe that men, unlike women, had hardly been ‘hidden from history.’ While feminists worried that inquiry into the ideals of manliness and their imposition on men of the past might conceal the ways men had participated in and benefited from the oppression of women (Brod, 1994), historian John Tosh concluded in 1994 that the ‘gendered study of men’ and masculinities had become ‘indispensable to any serious feminist historical project’ (Tosh, 1994). As the category of ‘masculinity’ soon overtook that of ‘men,’ theoretical approaches to masculinity were refined in the disciplines of sociology and philosophy by Harry Brod (1994), R.W. Connell (1995), and Michael Kimmel (1996). A founding text in the field of history was George Mosse’s The Image of Man: The Creation of Modern Masculinity (1996), a comparative study of ideal types of masculinity in European and American history since the early nineteenth century. Subsequent histories of masculinity examined ideal or hegemonic masculinities, masculinities as shaped by class (Hall, 1992; Clark, 1995; Frevert, 1995), citizenship (Dudink et al., 2007), race (Bederman, 1995), colonialism (Sinha, 1995), militarism (Kühne, 1996), and homosexuality (Chauncey, 1994; Puff, 1998; Rocke, 1998; McLaren, 1999b). One achievement of the history of masculinity has been to ‘demonstrate that gender is inherent in all aspects of social life, whether women are present or not’ (Tosh, 1994). While masculinity is generally regarded as an inherently relational category, femininity has scarcely had a parallel significance in the study of gender. Historian Stefan Dudink contends that the focus on masculinity reflects the ‘asymmetry of gender relations’ by which masculinity has remained unmarked amidst the universal categories of ‘men,’ ‘mankind,’ and ‘humanity’ (Dudink, 1998), while femininity, which was ‘never allowed to pass as the universal,’ was more visible and thus less in need of a similar kind of unmasking.

Entwined Terms: Genders/Bodies/Sexualities

Body/Bodies

Other key terms in the vocabulary of interdisciplinary gender studies, which were redefined in the course of the paradigm shift from women to gender are ‘body’ and ‘sexuality.’ During the first wave of women’s history, the body served as the foundation for the shared experiences and identities of women. As a term deeply embedded in biologism and essentialism, body was inextricably linked to sex before the ‘linguistic turn’ began to disentangle these terms. The ‘discursivation’ of the body, which took place in the course of the ‘linguistic turn,’ detached it from unchanging notions of physical difference, but it also appeared to sweep away any sense of bodily physicality or materiality. No longer the foundation of experience, nor the somatic location of identity, the ambiguous status of the body between discourse and experience prompted a wave of debate through the end of the 1990s (Haraway, 1991; Butler, 1993; Bynum, 1995; Canning, 1999). As these debates raged, the body moved to the center of methodological debates in feminist theory, which established conceptual frameworks for the ‘full range of bodies’ that had emerged from two decades of scholarship – body image; body performance; bodies in science, medicine, and technology; bodies in space; virtual bodies; lived or situated bodies; the body politic; and embodied ideals/ideologies (Bordo and Jaggar, 1989; Martin, 2001; Schiebinger, 2000).

At the same time ‘body history’ came to designate a pluralistic field of scholarly inquiry of bodies as significant dimensions of specific social, cultural, and political processes, such as the laboring body, the regulated/disciplined body; the medicalized or scientized body; the idealized body of nation, state, or king; the embodiment of theology and the place of the body in cultural or religious rituals; or body and memory in situated life histories (e.g., Outram, 1989; Roper, 1994). An important outcome of historians’ engagement with the legacy of Michel Foucault for the study of bodies as sites of regulation and governmentality is the broad recognition of ‘biopolitics’ as a crucial form of modern governance. While Rublack (2012) suggests that early modern persons’ sense of self – or subjectivity – was experienced as ‘deeply embodied’ and was both interlinked with the physical and emotional yet also ‘interrelated with the external world,’ the modern body is defined by the ways it is viewed, measured, mobilized, disciplined, and governed by the ideologies and technologies of states, social reformers, medical experts, nationalists, and industrial paternalists. Moreover, the modern body had individual and collective or social dimensions, reorganizing social and material life around hygienic principles while instilling in individuals the skills of self-care and self-discipline. The collectivized body or social body was cut through with social distinctions of class, ethnicity, and gender (Poovey, 1995).

If research on the hygienic and social body relied upon well-documented practices of states, as well as medical and social reform institutions, the gendered body as site of experience or agency was much more difficult to trace historically. Hence few historical monographs could be considered histories of the body in this sense, with the important exception of Barbara Duden’s enduring classic Woman in the Body: A Doctor’s Patients in Eighteenth Century Germany (1991), which analyzes the testimony patients left behind about their own bodily perceptions, sensations, and agency in an era when women still possessed ‘interpretive authority’ over their bodies. The transfer of this interpretive authority to male experts is one of the markers of the modern body. More recent studies of empire, colonialism, and global and transatlantic traffic in people and goods have placed bodies at the heart of the colonial encounter (Burton and Ballantyne, 2005; Brown, 2011) and analyzed bodily sensations, sensory experiences, and memories as part of the ‘emotional economy of the everyday’ in colonialism (Stoler and Strassler, 2000; Stoler, 2002; Hunt, 2008).

While ‘body history’ as a distinguishable field of historical inquiry has diminished in the last decade, two of its keywords remain salient for current historical inquiry – corporeality and embodiment. Corporeality can be understood as encompassing the social, cultural, and/or political significance of bodily being; encompassing bodily images/ symbols, regimes, and strategies of bodily governance; and bodily perceptions, interpretations, and self-representations that are specific to a given temporal and spatial context (Mazzio, 1997). Why and how the corporeal dimensions of state policies or social movements, of class or ethnic conflict become visible, varies according to the specific historical setting. The notion of embodiment refers to the ways subjects and the social collectivity assign meaning to bodies, interpret and act upon them (Grosz, 1994; Gatens, 1996). No longer embedded in a dichotomy between discourse and agency/experience, embodiment does not presume resistance or subversion, encompassing instead the capacity of humans to assign meaning to and act upon their own bodies, often in unexpected ways.

Sexuality

Gender and body remain crucial analytics in the history of sexuality, an expanding and highly productive arena that has recently repositioned both gender and body as concepts and fields of scholarly inquiry. The focus of early histories of sexuality melded sexuality with gender, reproduction, and body, examining topics such as prostitution, contraception, abortion, sexual reform, adultery, masturbation, and venereal disease (e.g., Walkowitz, 1982, 1992; White, 1990; Grossmann, 1995). Studies of lesbianism and male homosexuality had the productive effect of destabilizing gender categories by breaking up the binary oppositions of male/female, masculine/feminine, and by unmasking ‘the epistemic regime of presumptive heterosexuality’ (D’Emilio, 1983/1998; Chauncey, 1994; Puff, 1998; Butler, 1990; Fausto-Sterling, 2000). With the founding of the Journal of History of Sexuality in 1990, the history of sexuality marked out its own terrain, distinct from the history of gender, coinciding with a decisive turn toward studying sexual politics as situated within and vital to broader historical processes of transformation, such as the formation of civil society, the inception of citizenship, or the pursuit of empire (Hall, 1992; Engelstein, 1992; Stoler, 2002; Surkis, 2006). Influenced by the work of Michel Foucault, the history of sexuality also focused on the specific domains within nation-states where sexualities were produced, such as systems of medical knowledge and state regulation that distinguished normal from ‘deviant’ or ‘marginal’ sexualities and that dispersed these definitions throughout the institutions of state and social reform (Mort, 1987; Nye, 1999; Eder et al., 1999).

In the last several years, as the influence of the Foucauldian paradigm has loosened, scholars have posed new questions about the periodicity, i.e., the implicit modernity of homosexuality and of sexuality more generally (Puff, 2012; Wiesner-Hanks, 2012). With histories of male and female sexuality as one of the ‘prime movers’ in the history of sexuality (Puff, 2012), its practitioners have examined the meanings of sex acts (Puff, 2003) and the emergence of homosexual subcultures and movements for emancipation (Chauncey, 1994; Lybeck, 2012). The history of sexuality has also been influenced by the transnational or global turn, exploring more recently the ways in which sexual cultures and identities transcend national boundaries and are shaped by the transnational flows of individuals, ideas, and movements (Aldrich, 2006; Rupp, 2009; Canaday, 2009; Herzog, 2011). Recent literature also reveals a marked shift away from their longstanding focus on such matters as population politics, hygiene, sexual science, and the normative construction of sexual identities toward examination of the formation of the sexual subject or a modern sexual self (Eder, 1999; Oosterhuis, 2000). Matysik (2012) proposes a view of sexuality that is situated in body and mind, while other scholars call for closer examination of intimacy, emotions, and memory in the construction and experiences of sexuality within life-worlds (Dickinson and Wetzell, 2005; Spector et al., 2012). While sexual histories of war, Nazism, and post-war reconstructions remained unexplored or were still highly controversial a decade ago, these topics have formed some of the most fruitful inquiries in the field during the past several years (Heineman, 2002; Herzog, 2004, 2007, 2011; Evans, 2011).

Outlook for the Future

After nearly three decades of scholarship, the history of gender is a well-established field, as evidenced by the number of chairs and teaching positions assigned to this scholarly field and the continued vitality of the field as represented in scholarly journals and academic book publishing. The debates of the past about the prospects of gender history entering the ‘mainstream,’ i.e., moving from the status of the margins to the center of historical scholarship have dissipated, not because gender history has achieved parity or equal representation therein, but because the very notions of mainstream and margins have themselves changed considerably during the last two decades. Rather, gender history has become a much more pluralistic undertaking, both in terms of historical methodologies and the scope of topics encompassed under the rubric of ‘gender.’ Gender history is most often a cultural historical inquiry, one that probes the rhetorics, languages, symbols, and discourses that shape femininity and masculinity as ideologies, practices, and performances. Yet historians have renewed interest in recent years in the social dimensions of gender, in the gendered relations and experiences of empire, colonialism, slavery, labor, poverty, immigration, and other dimensions of ‘the social.’ While the study of masculinity is a well-established inquiry within gender history by now, women – as subjects and objects of historical investigation – remain a vital presence in many studies of gender. In fact, ‘gender and women’ are still frequently paired in the titles of books, courses, or conference panels today. If gender history had a part in spawning the study of the body and of sexuality, today the history of sexualities is an established field that is in no sense beholden to gender history, not least because queer studies and the history of homosexuality have constituted its driving force during the last two decades (Puff, 2012). The analytic of ‘gender’ has thus been enriched and enlivened internally, as historical practices attended to the study of both femininity and masculinity and the relationships between them. Gender history has also been repositioned by the terms that surround it – body and sexuality – and by historical study that considers the connections and distinctions between and among them in specific historical settings.

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White, L., 1990. The Comforts of Home: Prostitution in Colonial Nairobi. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Wiesner-Hanks, M., 2012. In: Spector, et al. (Eds.), Sexual Identity and Other Aspects of ‘Modern’ Sexuality: New Chronologies, Same Old Problem?, pp. 31–42.

Wiesner-Hanks, M., 2011. Gender in History. Global Perspectives. John Wiley, Oxford.

See also:

History Research Paper Topics

History Research Paper

World History Research Paper

[sciencespies]

The History of the Tomato: A Poisonous Reputation and A Big Fruit Fight

http://sciencespies.com/biology/the-history-of-the-tomato-a-poisonous-reputation-and-a-big-fruit-fight/

The History of the Tomato: A Poisonous Reputation and A Big Fruit Fight

The history of your favorite (mainly) red nightshade involves a long and intricate tale that traces back to the Aztecs around 700 AD.

Yes, the tomato hails from the Americas, although it took a trip to Europe – and a fight over its reputation as a poisonous killer – before it became the globally embraced veggie you know today. And before that, it left its (scary) mark on the European consciousness, global tax laws, dietary guidelines – and even the Supreme Court of the United States.

Yes, it’s been a strange journey. The tomato has had a wildly varying reputation over the years, considered everything from poison to aphrodisiac(!). I’ll explore all these fascinating tomato facts – and many more – in this history of the tomato.

The Tomato and its Components

Before we talk history, let’s talk a bit about the tomato itself – and try to classify what, exactly, a tomato is.

Tomatoes contain seeds, so they are botanically considered fruits, with the scientific name Solanum lycopersicum. More specifically, they are a berry – with the skin being the outer exocarp, the fleshy/pulpy mesocarp, and seeds inside. Of course, culinarily, the tomato is a vegetable – lacking the high levels of fructose (and the sweeter taste) of what we traditionally call fruits. 

So – they’re both fruits and vegetables. What an enigma!

They belong to the nightshade or Solanaceae family, which is probably the reason they were considered poisonous in Northern Europe and most parts of the U.S.A, even a few two centuries ago.

Modern tomatoes are descendants of the strain Solanum pimpinellifolium. This is a wild tomato species, native to Peru and Ecuador, that were ancestors of the tomatoes we know and love today.

Tomato breeding techniques have come a long way, though, and modern methods now allow us to create fruits that are firm, juicy, resistant to diseases, plush red, and robust enough to travel well.

Cultivation

Since they are one of the most popular grocery purchases globally, you probably knew that tomatoes could be grown in a wide range of soils, ranging from heavy clay to sandy. The ideal conditions to grow these fruits are:

Sandy or red loam soils.

Well-drained soils.

Soils rich in organic matter.

pH range of 6.0 to 7.0.

The ideal temperature to grow and harvest tomatoes is between roughly 69 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit, making it a warm-season crop. However, beware heat; temperatures over 90 degrees are detrimental to the fruit’s development. Extreme conditions – such as high levels of humidity or frost – are also damaging to the plant.

If a harvest receives high volumes of sunshine when the fruit is about to set, it can create dark red colored tomatoes. Temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit slow down the plant’s physiological growth and negatively affect a tomato harvest.

Are you planning to grow some? Let me know in the comments – tomatoes are a particularly fun plant to grow, even in a deck garden.

They also grow well in more serious growing operations…

Nutritional Value

Like us human beings, tomatoes are mostly made up of water – upwards of 90% – 95%. The rest of the fruit consists largely of fiber and carbohydrates. For every 100 grams of raw tomato, you can expect to find the following macronutritional breakdown:

Water: 95%.

Calories: 18.

Proteins: 0.9 grams.

Carbs: 3.9 grams.

Sugar: 2.6 grams.

Fat: 0.2 grams.

Fiber: 1.2 grams.

Vitamins and Minerals

Zooming into the vitamins and minerals in a single tomato, you’ll actually be pretty impressed. Here are some of the standouts:

Vitamin C: Consuming one mid-sized tomato can give you 25% or more of your daily requirement of vitamin C.

Potassium: Around 1/10 of your daily requirements are in a single fruit.

Vitamin K1: You’ll find a significant amount of Vitamin K in a tomato – around 12% of the RDA in a medium fruit.

Vitamin B9: (Aka Folate) Roughly 5% of your RDA is covered by a medium tomato.

Vital Compounds

Tomatoes also contain a set of plant compounds that are beneficial for the physiology of human beings.

Beta carotene: It is an antioxidant that gets converted into vitamin A in our system when we consume it.

Lycopene: Another type of antioxidant that has tons of health benefits such as improving heart health.

Naringenin: A flavonoid that helps decrease inflammation and offers protection against many diseases.

Chlorogenic acid: An antioxidant that helps lower blood pressure.

Common Tomato Dishes

Tomatoes have been readily adopted in cuisines around the world thanks to their versatile nature. Some of the most common dishes that are heavily reliant on the use of tomatoes include:

Soups.

Sauces.

Pasta dishes.

Pizza.

Salsas.

Curries.

Shakshuka.

The Early Origin of the Tomato

Tomatoes have become a global tour de force today, but originally they were limited to only one pair of continents — the Americas. One study traces the earliest ancestor of the fruit to South America, where the grandfather of all tomatoes — Solanum Pimpinellifolium L., was known to have been first domesticated.

This species gave rise to the S. Lycopersicum L var. Cerasiforme (S. l. Cerasiforme), which, in turn, birthed the most common tomato species known on the planet today — Solanum Lycopersicum L. var. Lycopersicum (SLL – the one you chop to put on your salad). It first made its way into Mesoamerica before finding its way to the rest of the world.

That’s just the tomato, though – nightshades, particularly the tomatillo, have an even longer history. A few years ago, scientists found a tomatillo fossil in Patagonia, Argentina they dated to roughly 52 million years old!

Tomatoes come in many colors and shapes (and tastes!), as this picture shows.

The Hand of the Aztecs

As mentioned in my introduction, as far as we know, the Aztecs were primarily responsible for first understanding the fruit’s versatility and using it as an ingredient in their cooking. We even derive the word tomato from the Aztec word “xitomatl” (pronounced as ji-tomatel).

By the early sixteenth century, the Aztecs had domesticated a reasonably modern version of their tomatoes and had created at least 50 unique recipes using the red wonder as a base. Early Aztec writings reveal recipes for a dish that uses tomatoes, peppers, and seasoning – yes, recipes for salsa have been around for an extremely long time!

We now know that the Aztecs of Mexico were a source for tomatoes that were taken to Spain and the Mediterranean by the Spanish conquistadors – likely Columbus or Cortés. We even have a record of the fruit entering Europe with the earliest mention of them being seen on the continent by Mattioli in 1544. (At the time, he essentially called it an eggplant).

The Pueblos and Tomatoes

Before making it to Europe, tomatoes had a good stint in Pueblo culture and had a reasonably influential touch on their customs and beliefs. The journey from South America to Europe featured a noteworthy stop in Central America where the tomatoes interacted with Native American culture.

While the Pueblos certainly used tomatoes in their cooking, they did not explore it as deeply as the Aztecs in their culinary style. 

Instead, there were a few noteworthy associations between the Pueblos and the tomato. This included the belief that those who consumed tomato seeds would be blessed with the powers of divination.

The March to Europe

Hernán Cortés is the Spanish explorer who is credited with introducing the tomato to Europe. He did this after successfully capturing Tenochtitlan’s city in 1521, and he used the Spanish colonial system to spread the fruit successfully across the rest of the world.

Tomatoes Travel the World

Before reaching Europe, tomatoes first made their way to the Caribbean islands. And after Europe, the naval path to the Philippines was used to take the plant to Asia.

Its path to Europe, and specifically Italy (where tomato’s culinary popularity first took off), is harder to trace, but there have been several handwritten accounts to read. The first of these dates to 1548 in Tuscany, where the fruit was improperly thought to be a type of eggplant, and it was named “Pomodoro” or pomi d’oro. 

You might think the “Pomodoro” caused shock waves across the country and transformed the landscape of Italian cuisine as soon as it entered the market – alas, this was not the case. Many of the Italian tomato dishes that we know and love today are quite recent. 

It wasn’t until the late nineteenth century that the modern-day tomato had firmly cemented its roots in Italian culture. Pasta and pizzas were around for quite some time by this point, but they depended on base ingredients such as cheese and olive oil for flavor until someone had the bright idea of adding tomato sauce.

History in China and Asia

The Chinese and Europeans eventually whole-heartedly embraced tomatoes in their cuisine. After the tomato’s travels to Europe, the fruit was also making the rounds in Asia, where it continues its popularity to this day.

In Chinese culture, written records of tomatoes date back to 1621 during the Ming dynasty. Much like Italian culinary culture, China took a fair amount of time to warm up to the fruit. In fact, the tomato’s first records read more like a precaution – written records tell of a Western-originated fan persimmon.

Although tomatoes never rose to culinary prominence in the same way as they did in Italy, several regions of China became quite reliant on the use of tomatoes in their dishes.

By the turn of the nineteenth century, tomatoes had officially migrated to most parts of Asia. During this period, they also found their way into Syria and Iran. There though, they were widely used almost immediately.

Tomatoes Go Back to America

Despite originating in the Americas, the tomato did not appear mainstream in the United States of America until Thomas Jefferson took an interest in the plant. Yes, that Thomas Jefferson – the 3rd president of the United States.

As tomatoes belong to the Nightshade family that is traditionally associated with poisonous fruits, purportedly many North Americans were weary of eating the fruit when it first made it to the states – fearing for their safety.

On the other hand, Thomas Jefferson was a noteworthy food connoisseur, and his taste in exotic fruits and vegetables was on full display at his garden at Monticello. (He also figured in the American history of ice cream).

It is said that the Miller-Claytor House in Lynchburg, Virginia, built in 1791, was locally referred to as the “tomato house.” This is because Jefferson first shocked the people of the region by publicly consuming a tomato at this location. He didn’t die – possibly to the crowd’s amazement.

That’s the myth, anyway – Culinary Historian Andrew Smith disagrees and notes people in the US were eating tomatoes as early as the 1770s. Jefferson may have been a bit late to the party.

Once said myth was dispelled – or, alternatively, once people saw public figures eating the strange fruit – tomatoes still took a fair amount of time to become popular for consumption across the United States.

Eggplants & Tomatoes in New Orleans – Henry Cogswell’s Letters from the South and West (1824)

Tomatoes in the Southern and Northern States

The South’s history with tomatoes is an interesting one. An early record of tomatoes being marketed in New Orleans exists from the year 1812.

The North took longer to warm up.

In 1820, a former colonel named Robert Gibbon Johnson took to the streets of Salem, New Jersey, to further Jefferson’s point and disprove any negative connotations related to tomatoes. He did this by following Jefferson’s footsteps… and consumed a tomato (possibly even a basket of tomatoes) in public. He, too, didn’t die.

By the year 1835, tomatoes were available in the markets of Boston. When the civil war broke out a few decades later, tomatoes were in the fray in a big way. 

The Union Army relied on canneries to process tomatoes for easy access to nutrition – tomatoes eventually became the most popular product sold in cans during the civil war.

And there were knock-on effects: farmers in the country realized the sudden rise in tomato demand, and switched their crops quickly to incorporate more tomatoes.

The rise of the fruit’s popularity continued to grow steadily over the next few decades. They eventually became a widely accepted fruit by the middle of the nineteenth century. And wouldn’t you agree: they are still pretty popular today?

Tomatoes: A History of Advancements

Tomatoes have undergone a massive evolution since their wild cherry days up in the Andes mountains. The story of the modern-day tomato itself has many chapters that were penned in the 20th and 21st centuries.

One of the primary authors of these new chapters was Alexander W. Livingston, the man behind the Paragon tomato. He was an expert on seeds and plants in the region of Reynoldsburg, Ohio, and operated in the latter half of the 19th century.

In 1852, Livingston acquired seventy acres of land in his hometown to set up the A. W. Livingston Buckeye Seed Garden. During his tenure in this garden, he developed a new strain of tomato seeds to improve the tomato properties. That variety, the famous Paragon – sweeter than the sour tomato varieties of the time – was developed around 1870.

Livingston fully immersed himself in developing different strains of the fruit from this point onwards, and he was successful in producing thirty more varieties over the next 28 years. None, though, attained the popularity of the Paragon.

Joseph Campbell and the Tomato Soup

Joseph Campbell greatly furthered the work that Livingston began. He and partner Abraham Anderson set up a company that first introduced Americans to condensed soup in 1897. And yes – he’s the Joseph Campbell behind Campbell’s Soup.

The soup business boomed at this point, and Campbell’s was first in line to make the most of this popularity. And by 1905, the company was producing 21 different types of soups that included bean, beef, and clam chowder – but tomato soup was one of its biggest sellers.

1920 Ad for Campbell’s Tomato Soup (Library of Congress)

Tomatoes: The Myths and the Facts

We did miss out on some twists and turns during our exploration of the history of this magnificent fruit. This section will relay a few of the myths related to tomatoes and the facts behind them.

Wolf Peach Tomatoes

There was a lot of fear associated with tomatoes, even among the scientific community in the 18th century, and they reflected this fear in the fruit’s naming. 

They dubbed tomatoes with the dubious scientific name Lycopersicon esculentum as early as 1768, which translates to “edible wolf peach.” 

As it belonged to the nightshade family, researchers were afraid to touch or consume the fruit, fearing the worst.

Surely, calling it a wolf peach didn’t help!

Pewter Plate Controversy: The Poisonous Tomato?

The fact that tomatoes belonged to the nightshade family already made them a suspicious fruit. A subsequent controversy broke out in Europe during the 18th century when public poisoning caused by eating tomatoes helped sustain this fear for centuries.

The better-to-do people shunned the tomato. They referred to it as the “poison apple” during this phase in history, even though it was innocent. 

But something was going on, indeed. The reaction of the lead in the victims’ cutlery with the acidity of the tomato was the likely reason behind the poisonings. 

Poorer sections of society did not face any lead poisoning. They did not use any fancy cutlery for their meals, so they did not pick up the negative associations with tomatoes.

Weird, isn’t it? True – but to this day, you need to be careful with acidic dishes (such as those with a tomato base) on particular surfaces. Aluminum is a big one – heating tomato sauce on aluminum foil or using aluminum cookware or camping utensils can cause large amounts of aluminum to migrate to your food.

It’s no lead, but long term aluminum exposure can cause issues. Be careful!

Lead-alloy pewter plate in Britain (undated) – Wikimedia

Is the Tomato a Fruit or a Vegetable?

Tomatoes are culinary vegetables and botanical fruits. Due to their relative lack of fructose and sugars and starches, the tomato is treated as a vegetable in food… along with the cucumber, pumpkin, and green bean. However, a tomato is a fruit – and even more specifically, a berry – botanically.

Yes, I know we discussed this, but the annoying riposte tossed out by your nephew is deeper than you may first think. It’s been the subject of tariff disputes, Supreme Court decisions, and even a Presidential fight.

The Tariff Act of 1883 was signed into law by Chester A. Arthur, and one of the provisions increased the tariff owed when importing fruit. That’s straightforward – but when John Nix & Co. tried to import tomatoes only to run into a tax levied by the Port of New York’s Edward Hedden, the highest Court in the United States eventually weighed in. On May 10, 1893, the United States Supreme Court found that tomatoes are vegetables, not fruits.

Around 90 years later, the Executive Branch of the United States made things even sillier.

After Ronald Reagan entered office for his first term in 1981, Congress passed a law cutting $1 billion in child nutrition funding. In the scramble to change the standards (they had roughly three months to recommend new guidelines), the USDA, in exasperation, listed ketchup as a vegetable. (Relish made the cut too!)

Beaurocratic infighting and silly rulemaking? Perhaps – but the highly embarrassing battle is one of the more famous kerfuffles of the Reagan Administration. And to this day, the short version of the story means you can make ketchup is a vegetable jokes and still get a laugh!

Tomatoes Rule the Roost

Today, tomatoes have left their controversial past behind and become a superpower in the world of grocery essentials. Internationally, they are one of the most important crops, taking 15% of the total share of all fruit and vegetable production. In 2011, this amounted to nearly 160 million tons, or 20 kilograms per capita, worldwide.

Compared to the rest of the world, North America consumes the highest quantities of tomatoes each year, with consumption reaching 42 kgs per capita. Europe takes the second spot on this list with an annual use of 31 kgs per capita. 

At the country level, though? You guessed it – Italy stands tall as the tomato capital of the world, with an annual per capita consumption of 60 kgs. This comes as no surprise, although Italians from two centuries ago would undoubtedly be shocked at this transformation.

From Wolf Peach to Pizza Topping

There you have it – it’s been a long, weird history for the world’s most controversial berry. From being unfairly painted as poisonous to finding corner cases in tariff laws, confusing the Supreme Court, and shaking up the USDA – the tomato has done it all.

Tomatoes took a trip from the Americas around the world and back to the Americas before they became the king of the fake vegetables. What a fascinating (culinary) vegetable – I hope you have just a little more interest the next time a wolf peach is on your plate!

This article was originally published by manyeats.com. Read the original article here.

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