#We don't have many brands of litter and if we need to use a specific one we may not find it anywhere.

[cloudstrife-bbs]

Updates and Preparations

I haven't written in a while, but the days spent waiting to pick up Cloud are going by agonizingly slow.

Which is ironic considering his breeder has commented multiple times that they're growing up so fast. Cloud is already three-weeks-old. He still hasn't been chosen out of his litter, and I'm trying my absolute hardest to not get attached to a single puppy. It IS inevitably happening. But only DK and I know which one that is. We don't wanna set ourselves up for disappointment; we trust his breeder will select the right one for us. But, I DREAMED of this specific puppy. My dreams are incessant. Every night, the Spirits bring me messages. Recently, I dreamed of SoCo and Applejack, and we had brought them to a Summer Camp for Dogs to stay. I can only ponder what that meant. They were happy, and they were together, in an eternal Summer Time full of Sunny Days. And all the other humans and dogs there adored them.

We have been preparing the house as much as we can. We have done a lot of spring cleaning and straightening of this old farmhouse. We've thrown so much of my grandparents' clutter away, but also found some lovely little treasures that we've tucked upstairs in Pop's office. We bought Cloud a brand new, but very expensive, Impact dog crate. His breeder wants us to bring it to her to start crate training when we go up to meet them all for the Puppy Party on March 30th.

All the spring cleaning feels like nesting pregnancy behavior out of me. I am not ashamed to say that my pets are my children, and I already feel love and bonding towards this fuzzy little polar bear cub that will turn into my majestic, heroic dog. I don't think it's wrong to feel this way. I have all the same anxieties about making sure Cloud is set up for success as a worried mother might feel. I want the best for him.

I have lots more pictures and video I screenshot from the breeder's Instagram, but since I don't know which one is Cloud, it's hard to post them appropriately. I just collect them and when I know which one is him, I will pare down my hoard of imagery. They've opened their eyes now, and all eleven puppies look good, healthy, and wiggly. I love them all. I will be happy no matter what.

DK and I bought special T-shirts to wear when we pick him up. They have Bolt on them. Mine is red and says "I {Heart} My Dog" with Bolt and Mr. Carrot in the heart. DK's is blue and says "My Dog Is My Hero" with the movie's brave White Swiss Shepherd racing across the front. DK also got another adorable shirt with a Hipster Berger Blanc Suisse on it. I also want to buy him the one with the Gamer WSSD on it. We are going to be THOSE types of Shepherd owners.

I am listening to How Stella Learned to Talk on audio book from the library. I am learning a tremendous amount. In fact, I want to finish this journal just so I can go back to it. We bought Cloud a beginners set of four talking buttons. I really want to teach Cloud to use AAC to communicate. My love for Applejack could have only been enhanced by a stronger ability to communicate. I want Cloud to be able to tell me what he's thinking, or what he needs. The cognitive ability of dogs has always fascinated me. I want him to express himself. Truly, I want my dog to be able to tell me that he loves me just as much as I love him. I have confidence in myself as a dog trainer and a pet parent to give him the education he will need to be happy. Knowledge is power. And I want Cloud to show everyone just how smart he is.

He has some chew toys, and plenty of soft squeakies. Many are inherited from his brother- and sister-in-spirit. I have to have faith that SoCo and AJ are happy to share their toys with him, because I believe they are happy to see DK and I so excited and happy again.

I keep having mixed feelings about missing our Angel Dogs. On the one hand, I believe that moving forward from grief is an excellent step, but on the other hand, I worry about not fully honoring their memory and acknowledging the indelible mark they have left on our hearts. Cloud is his own person, just as SoCo and AJ were their own persons. Our family is growing, and no one is being replaced.

We, as a human race as a whole, don't deserve how wonderful dogs are, but aren't we lucky that we get to share our lives with them?

To help the days pass, DK and I have been watching a dog movie every night. So many good, and so many cheesy titles. I'd love to share the list at some point, but 60 dog movies was a little difficult to pick out. There are plenty I have seen, and many I haven't. If you can name it, it's probably there. I tried to avoid "Hallmark-esque" movies, though. I can only handle so much schmaltz.

DK and I are committed to doing better by Cloud as a tribute to SoCo and Applejack. We already have a new vet appointment, and I hope that the vet is a good one. The horror stories that The Cat tells me from her work is just... it's like that particular vet office she's employed with is filled with high school drama and zero professionalism.

It makes me happy that all my friends and family are excited to meet Cloud. My own mother is thrilled and can't wait to show off her grand-dog to her coworkers. In fact, we're going to label my mom as "Nonna", Italian for Grandma. My father is indifferent, but he always has been towards animals. And DK's mom, dad, and brother are looking forward to the day they meet him too. The Cat is my oldest and dearest friend at this point, is apparently making him a gift bag. She'll be known as "Auntie Lee" which is how SoCo and Applejack knew her. Her children are Juniper the Calico and Jasper the Black Cat, whom I may refer to in later entries as my niblings/niece/nephew respectively. I love them very much too, and I always look forward to seeing them.

The days are definitely dragging. I am staying home some days and going to work on others, but the job we are on now is dragging badly because of poor worksite management by the builder. The more distracted and occupied we are, the better, I think.

The more I read about canine cognition, the more I am assured of what I've always known: They are way smarter than most people give them credit for. They display a sentience that seems so "like us" that it feels undeniable that they possess an eternal Soul and a Spirit that will transcend the boundaries of Life and Death.

Dogs are teachers. Pets are teachers. I'm confident in this statement. And my dogs are here on Earth to teach me how to be the best I can be. They are my love, my passion, they are my reason to be. Nothing makes me happier than being with my husband and my dog.

[antianimaltesting]

Interview

Could you state your name and what your standpoint on animal testing is ?

"My name is Cody, and I believe animal testing should have been left in the past. It is harmful towards animals, and what they have to endure is unimaginable. I feel that animal testing is no longer needed as we have other technology, resources, research projects, and alternatives to cut out animal testing as a whole. I have pets, specifically bunnies and there is no way I could ever imagine them being treated the way other bunnies do. It's simply inhumane. Why should they go through pain and suffering for the benefit of us, if we don't do the same for them. We must let them exist and protect them as we would each other. It's hard to talk about such an issue that people choose to ignore since it doesn't effect them, but it should. These poor animals deserve rights and deserve to have people fighting for them. They don't deserve to be locked up in cages, have substances forcefully injected, and they simply don't deserve to be test subjects."

What are some alternatives or ideas you have heard of as an alternative to animal testing?

"I have heard of interactive anatomy that can be incorporated in classes. Instead of cutting into animals, they use online programs and lessons to teach the anatomy and all that could be learned but online instead of hurting these animals. It's kind of like when you learn about the human body, we don't cut into humans, we do interactive lessons to learn about our anatomy, so why can't we do the same for them?" I also know companies have been switching to cruelty free and animal free testing, but it should be everyone doing this, if they can, others can too."

How do you work towards ending animal testing and empowering animal rights?

"I did some research and educate myself on the products I use, especially health or body products. I use cruelty free and non animal tested products. I heard you mention how PETA offers a search engine for products that are anti animal testing and can help people find brands, products, and other things that don't test on animals. I think this could be incorporated in mine and others consumer choices. I work towards animal rights by working with you (my girlfriend) to volunteer at sanctuaries and rescues to help animals that were treated unfairly, abandoned, and simply weren't advocated. We helped foster and transport animals, we helped raise a litter of bunnies, and we also offer availability to pick up animals from bad environments. It is all local, but I know many other organizations save animals from animal testing, something we would do if needed of course, and it makes me feel like there is some sense of humanity and advocacy for these poor animals. Animals deserve rights too, and the deserve to live in peace and cared for.

Any other comments or questions?

"No not really, just irritated at how we can be so inhumane and hurt these defenseless animals for what, shampoo? makeup? It just doesn't make sense, and the fact that testing doesn't always works, and how our bodies are not the same as a bunny or rat. Everything is so limited, and they are such small animals there is only so much they can take compared to us. So why are we using them for the benefit of us, and as a comparison of how products would be for us. We just need to stop using these poor animals for our manmade products and research, they didn't sign up for it and they don't deserve to live in fear and pain."

[whirlwind-lancer-dilan]

@pocketchina

replied to your post “I’m allergic to cat litter. 😅 A few hours ago I wore the mask while...”

                       try a different cat litter?                   

We started by mixing another cat litter with the one that gives problems to my sister and me, so as not to risk that the cats stop using the litter box. Let's hope it goes better with the new one.

[oumaheroes]

I love how you describe Ireland and the organized chaos of his house, if you ever wanted to write a little ficlet or drabble about someone (maybe someone used to England's specific brand of hoarding like Canada, or someone overly neat like Prussia) walking into That for the first time and their reaction or some things they notice, I'd eat it for breakfast without any milk 💕 I feel like Ireland is also kinda protective of his space, so he doesn't let just anybody in his house and he doesn't particularly appreciate uninvited visitors. (There are of course exceptions and different levels to this, like I don't think Scotland has needed an invitation for decades, but England should at least call first)

Word count: 1k

Characters: Ireland, Germany

---

‘Whatever you’re thinking of, it will be worse.’

Prussia’s warning was the first thing Germany thought of when Ireland suggested that they take a detour to his house.

‘Forgot my wallet,’ Ireland had told him apologetically as the day’s events wrapped up in Dublin, ‘So we need to swing by mine before we head on out.’

‘I don’t mind paying fo-‘

‘Ah! No you don’t there,’ Ireland looked offended, ‘You’re my guest, I’m not letting you do that. No no, we’ll just pop in to mine and I’ll grab it. It’s not too far anyway and there’s a nice pub nearby- we can eat and drink there before carrying on.’

Germany didn’t really have any reason to argue. Running through old European social rules he’d memorised to see if he was somehow breaking one of them (there were, irritatingly, so many), he couldn’t think of any pertaining to Ireland and so he went, content enough for the brief walk after the long day.

Ireland’s house just outside of the centre of town was nothing fancy- not too large or prominent but a decent size for someone to live in for a few centuries without getting sick of the place. Clean brick amongst similar looking siblings with a neat front garden it looked ordinary enough.

‘Shit everywhere.’ Prussia had said, ‘Stacks of stuff all over the place and never where it should be. That was what pissed me off the most.'

At the time, Germany had pictured a ramshackle house with bits and pieces of it littering the garden and spilling out of windows, odd assortments of items all over the place like a table in the bathroom or clothes in the shed.

This had been about a hundred years ago, so who really knew.

Prussia, as he was far too often for Germany’s liking concerning the ‘old world’, was right.

Inside was chaos.

The door opened up into a foyer. The large windows which would have made the place nice and bright held an assortment of plants, leaves flopping over each other and onto the floor. An old phone table stood nearby; ancient phone dwarfed next to a very ugly looking iron candelabra. In the kitchen beyond, Germany could see a printer open on the floor by an island counter, its innards gone to instead hold what looked to be an assortment of cables. The counter itself-

‘Sit yourself down and get comfortable,’ Ireland said, closing the door behind them and ushering Germany inside, past the kitchen and through to a living room, ‘Want a tea?’

‘��I’m alright, thank you.’

‘You sure? Wee drink won’t do you any harm. How about coffee?’

Germany eyed up a teetering stack of books on an armchair. He got the feeling that etiquette dictated that he was supposed to accept, ‘A coffee sounds good, if that’s alright.’

‘Perfect, wait here a moment.’

Ireland disappeared with a whistle, leaving Germany to search for a place to sit. Aside from the armchair, there was a large sofa which would have been ideal but there was a computer on it. Not a new computer, either a modern laptop or desktop, but one of the fat, old beige-coloured monitors from twenty years ago. It was upside down, the back of it missing, and was empty inside.  Next to that was a suitcase, half packed or unpacked with clothes.

He looked about for somewhere to move them to.

The room was very cosy, if nothing else. Mismatched rugs covered the floorboards, half on top of each other, and a generously sized fireplace was covered in photographs, different size and coloured frames higgledy-piggledy on the mantlepiece or hung on nails. Two large bookcases stood flanking it packed with books, CDs, and DVDs, and then paintings covered the remaining walls (a tasteful light green wallpaper, when it could be found).

The more Germany looked, the stranger things became.

On the shelves between some books appeared to be a collection of ornate spoons in a pint glass. On another shelf lay a very large hammer, the Scottish flag rudely scored on the handle. Draped along several others were numerous ties and then one lone hat crowned them all, jauntily placed on a fat tome on the top. On the side facing the back garden, an empty easel stood in front of the large bay windows, a large handsaw balanced against the spine and a watering can resting at its feet.

Germany hesitated. He had to sit somewhere; it would look incredibly impolite of him to be still standing stiffly in the middle of the room when Ireland returned. There were side tables next to the sofa and armchair but these were also full, and there was a TV stand but instead of a TV stood a very ugly wooden carving of… a gnome? A child…? It was something. Handmade, concerningly. Either way it was large, taking up the whole table greedily with beady eyes and clawed hands that may or may not have been holding a very misshapen baby.

Incredibly unsure of himself, Germany carefully put the computer monitor on the floor and perched delicately on the edge of the sofa.

‘Jesus, you look stiff,’ Ireland told him when he returned minutes later, ‘You alright? Do you want a lay down or something upstairs?’

‘No, thank you.’ Germany forced his back against the sofa. To his surprise, it was incredibly comfortable and he sank back fully against the cushions, ‘I’m perfectly fine, actually.’

'If you say so.' Ireland balanced his own mug amongst one of the bookcases and picked up the stack of books off the armchair with a frustrated tut.

'These are all Arthur's,' he told Germany, 'I've had 'em for months and he hasn't even noticed; you should see the amount of tat he has. Hoarding bastard.'

---

AN:

Hope this fits what you were wishing for, Anon!

And you are totally right about Scotland and England regarding visiting Ireland. Scotland happily pops over whenever but England has never felt as though he's had the right to do that and Ireland doesn't really invite him over anyway. If there's work needed in Dublin, Arthur usually flies or takes the ferry home unless they're there for a while, in which case Ireland would begrudgingly offer to put him up.

(The odd statue is another Wales creation- they all have one somewhere)

[finaldestination-3]

He may not be a Shinobi anymore, having quit two weeks ago, but he still feels obligated and tethered to the work. Missions are not given out to those not officially registered. However, this is not really a mission. This is a task often handed to Genin teams as punishment for misdeeds or perhaps for those in recovery looking to ease their way back into their duties. Someone has to do it, after all. Training fields lie littered with carelessly thrown weaponry that will rust in the rain or present hazards to those coming in to use this space next. And they are not I infinite supply, so those that are still combat ready can still be utilized. This they must be gathered and cleaned and redistributed to those looking to restock their supply when funds are tight and brand new tools are out of the budget.

So he scours the grassy field, walking around the targets and into the open grounds, carefully plucking kunai and shuriken and even the rare senbon needle off the turf to place in a large leather pouch he'd brought. The weight of everything was starting to collect and his work was nearly done for the day. Once it was all accounted for, he'd go back to his apartment to sort and take stock of the daily harvest. Everything would be wiped down and assessed to see what could still have use and what should be turned in to be melted down and remade anew. Even weapons used on targets or friendly spars could dull after a while so some casualties we're expected. Such was life.

Before checking the grass, he'd made sure to take everything out of the wooden dummies first. Those tended to become the first to throw into a pile of raw materials for the next generation of tools. Wood from the targets wore away at the edge of a weapon and with enough clean landings tips of kunai or shuriken gradually wore flat. Next he made his first few passes on the grass, picking things up as he went and careful where he stepped. Anything that landed askew could easily break through his standard issue sandals and send him straight to the ER. On his final pass, he gathered a senbon and four shuriken before deeming the job done. It made the leather holder feel several pounds heavier but the sense of satisfaction thrummed in his chest even more for it.

Making his way to the gate from which he entered, seeing the posted signs telling the public not to tread here, a figure also came into view. They were leaned up against the metal of the open gate with a relaxed posture. Immediately a small smile lit up his face as recognition set in. He wasn't expecting company today but would absolutely not reject it for his partner. Upon reaching the gate it was clear said partner wore a matching, albeit larger, grin. Kouta stopped just to the left of them and looked into their mischievous eyes.

"Good haul today?"

Kouta nodded eagerly but without making it too flashy. "Yeah. I'm hoping that whetstone will come in soon so I can start resharpening some of these myself before I turn them in. Next batch though, hopefully."

"Glad to hear it." Their tone was light and easy. "How many do you think you wrangled this time?"

"From the weight, it feels like there had to be at least five people out there tossing these around. I don't think I've ever picked up this many senbon in my life."

"Must be that exchange group from Kiri. That's where you usually find needle users, right?"

"I think so, or at least that's what I've always been told. Where I'm from we tend not to have any specific leanings in our choice of weaponry. Keeps the balance."

"Listen to you talking like you're still a Shinobi." There's a smirk on his face now. "Cute."

"I could prove it to you, if you want your ass kicked. I'm not afraid of you." Kouta couldn't help the desire to rise to the challenge. If no one was around to see, he'd gladly have a friendly throw down with his partner.

"Nah, I have other plans that I need your help with."

"I think you're just giving me an excuse." Despite his words, Kouta meant no ill will. It was clear this was his attempt to get his partner to elaborate.

"I have nothing to be afraid of, you can't even reach my throat with a knife anyway. But I'll let you have your dreams of conquest." They were absolutely feeding into the energy of the conversation now rather than telling Kouta about their earlier statement.

It was time to change tactics. If Shin wasn't gonna come out and say it, then perhaps they needed an incentive. Maybe that had been their game all along. It didn't matter though, Kouta was all too happy to provide more reasons to hear them out. So he stepped around the gate until he was standing before Shin, the gap between them minimal, and got up on his toes to give his partner an affectionate kiss. It was meant to be fairly quick but he quickly found arms snaked around him bringing him closer. Once the kiss was broken off, Kouta rested his head under his partner's chin and reveled in the feeling of being held close. No one was nearby to see this display nor did he have anywhere to be right then. It was a good moment to savor.

He placed one hand to the chest of his partner then, taking hold of the fabric of their shirt and gripping it for all he was worth. There was no reason to be so showy but he didn't see a reason not to be either. The steady rise and fall of their chest beneath his hand assured him that all of this truly was real and in no danger of being broken up. That kind of reassurance always went a long way for him. Shinobi training taught him that even in peace time there was always a looming threat of losses occurred in life no matter how hard you tried to prevent them. Shin was in no danger. Or at least, none from outside forces. But the medication they were on also lessened the danger posed from the sickness they had been living with for years. Still. You could not prevent every loss. Kouta knew that by heart and still chose to worry about it every day.

"Kouta." The voice of their part we brought them back to the present. "I'd like your help with something."

"What is it?" Despite how comfortable they were, they lifted their head from where it was positioned under their chin to look up at them with honest eyes. "How can I help?"

Shin seemed to be searching for how to word the request before following up on their statement. Dark eyes gazed down into orange ones that seemed to spark with intrigue. "I want to introduce you to someone. Or, rather, a couple someones."

"Who, love? Just ask and I'll be there."

"My brother." They took a deep breath. "And, my mother."