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pan-of-light · 4 years ago

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Crowded Break!

Octavinelle Trio on vacation. That’s it, that’s the fic.

Originally posted to AO3

Spring break was a time for productivity. Being home and sequestered in his childhood room was one of the few places he felt comfortable enough to sprawl around in his true, octopus merman form, and he had to admit: no matter the aesthetic advantaged brought about by the human potion, it was so much easier to work with eight extra limbs. There was always a lingering fear in his mind he'd be unable to get used to working at such a slower capacity when he went back to school, but they rarely lasted. Like the Ramshackle Dorm's prefect had told him, he was a hard worker. Azul Ashengrotto would not lose to the weakness of a human form.

But he was going to enjoy this time of working at a proper pace. Professors at Night Raven were hardly shy about burying their students in homework, since the school and their students has a reputation to uphold. They were the best of the best (besides the musclebrains of Royal Sword), and Azul was always one to outshine others. After a hectic fall term, this is what he needed. Peace, quiet, eight extra limbs--

And the door to his room slamming open.

Honestly, it was a feat to do so underwater, but after years of knowing the Leech siblings, it was just a thing Azul had come to accept. And thankfully, he'd gotten plenty of control of his ink glands and kept himself from making a mess of his room as Floyd and Jade barged in. Well, Floyd barged, Jade at least had the decency to shut the door behind him after slithering in.

At times like these, Floyd reminded Azul of Professor Trein’s cat. Much like how Lucius could walk all around the bookshelves and displays of the professor’s office and not disturb a single award or decoration, so could Floyd effortlessly maneuver through Azul’s setup on the bed and make himself comfortable there without disturbing a single book, phone or computer. Azul would be impressed if he wasn’t already so used to it.

“So why are you two here?”

“Your parents let us in,” Jade answered, setting down a tray of snacks on a nearby desk.

“Yeah, they complained we never visit anymore and said we were getting thin. You need to invite us over more, Azul~”

“That’s not what I asked,” Azul sighed, but knew that was about as much of an answer as he was going to get. Honestly, his parents. It was a miracle Azul could go through doors as a kid. He hoped running the Lounge didn’t permanently rewire his brain to associate loving others with shoving them full of food, in the future.

In the present, however, he had people who knew him far too well, so Jade had also bought a low-calorie all-natural wrap from a nearby health food shop, placing it on the desk along with the food Azul’s parents made in such a natural way it was like it had always been there. Efficiency born from practice.

“You should at least take a break to eat with us. Wasn’t it you who said the secret to a fitter form was more small, spaced out meals than few big ones?” when they were home like this, Jade never bothered to hide his teeth while smiling, leaving his appearances and manipulations refreshingly honest. There was no point in hiding their true natures from people who knew them so well, which just made their dances around each other that much more fun.

“I’m afraid I’m still too busy to take a break at the moment.”

“Boooring! Come eat with us, Azul!” Floyd sprung from his position on the bed, expertly knocking away or slapping all of Azul’s things with his tail in a single move, again much like Lucius would do to Professor Trein’s shelves when the cat decided it was treat time and would not hear anything to the contrary. “Not like you can work on anything now, right?”

Azul scoffed, pushing Floyd off his bed, a move that had no malice behind it and was almost incapable of causing any damage, since it was hardly like Floyd could hit the floor while underwater. Some might even describe it as playful.

“Or maybe I can just make you both leave.” “You’d treat your guests in that manner?” Jade raised a hand to his chest in mock surprise, letting out a dramatic gasp, “I had no idea your parents had raised such an uncouth host.”

“Yeah, your mom’d squee~ze you way worse than I could ever do if she hears you’re bad to guests, Azul.”

Oh, such a low blow, going for his parents like that. Especially since they knew he’d have little success employing that strategy since the Leech parents had far too many sibling to properly manage them. If Floyd and Jade were any more chaotic, it could be troubling for all the seas! Then again, Azul pondered, thinking back to his Overblot incident, it wasn’t like he was that much better. They might be named Leech, but he was the one who sucked power from others.

Not from them, though, no. He’d never seen what they had in him, but they willingly gave him their time and power in pursuit of amusement, that serendipitously aligned with his own goals. Their partnership was a thing of incredible power, and Azul made absolutely sure to never tell them that out loud, lest it go to their heads even more. (Plus, if they were even the tiniest bit close to him as he was to them, they already knew).

“You’re both awful guests, and my mother would see nothing wrong in kicking troublemakers like you out.” Azul only earned laughter in response, mocking and derisive and, well, proving his point. He shooed Jade off his chair and took a seat at his desk, grabbing the snack they’d brought for him while Jade took a polite seat on his bed, grabbing some food for himself while Floyd took the rest of the tray and sprawled out on the floor, stretching himself from one end of the room to another.

“I’m assuming you have actual plans for the day, then?”

“The community center stage is open, you haven’t played piano for us in a while, Mona’s salon is having a discount on full hair treatment days-”

“There are new documentaries being screened at the museum regarding advances in magic control study, I know you have some new board game prototypes to test for the club-”

“Oh! There’s also going to be a fried food festival thing in a few days, so you need to plan your diet so you can go, and we can look up new things to try in the lounge there--”

“And, of course, if all else fails, there’s always watching over our beloved schoolmates on MagiCam to make sure they’re spending their break properly, huhu…”

“That’s enough activities for the rest of the break, not just a single day.”

“Well, duh,” Floyd laughed, “did you seriously have any other plans? You’re a shut-in when you get left alone too long~”

“As vice-leader of Octavinelle, it’s nothing more than my duty to keep you stimulated and enriched during periods of rest.” “What am I, some kind of pet?”

“No, we’d have to feed you, then. You’re much less annoying when you can manage your own diet.” Jade was already looking all around the abandoned items on his bed, pulling out Azul’s schedule book and flipping through it until the current date, grabbing a pen and beginning to vandalize Azul’s well-made break plans.

“You’re giving me as much choice as a pet would.”

“But Azuuul, you totally have a choice! You can come with us, or we can start a throwback thursday on the Lounge’s MagiCam account! We have so many cute pictures of us as children, you know~” Floyd pulled out his phone to show his threat was far from empty, cloud storage noting a few dozen pictures of their childhood, Azul included.

Azul threw himself across the room, grabbing at Floyd’s hands, despite knowing that the pictures existed beyond his phone because it was the principle of the thing, damn it! while Floyd did his best to ignore all ten limbs of fury aiming for his hands. Bastard didn’t even need to use his unique magic for it, and when finally cornered, threw the phone to Jade, who had moved across the room just for this.

“Oh, and please do be careful, Azul,” he teased when it was his turn to end up with a facefull of angry octopus, “if you make too big a mess of you room, we won’t be able to go out today.”

By the time he saw his phone sail past him back to Floyd’s hands, Azul threw his arms in the air in exasperation. “Fine, fine, I’m going! Give me a minute to get my things in order!”

“Aww, isn’t this great, Jade? Azul finally decided the best way to spend his break is playing with us!”

“I’m so very glad out dorm leader is a capable man who always sees reason.”

#twisted wonderland #azul ashengrotto #jade leech #floyd leech #fanfic by pan #queue

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lovemychinchilla · 4 years ago

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Signs of a Stressed Chinchilla

Chinchillas, like all social animals, display body language. You can assess this body language to figure out whether your chinchilla is stressed/nervous or not.

Is my chinchilla stressed? Repetitive behaviors are a giveaway: excessive fur chewing, bar chewing, backflipping and cage scratching. Your chinchilla may also vocalize repeatedly or hide, not moving. If you’re not sure whether your chinchilla is stressed or ill, take it to a vet.

These signs of chinchilla stress will disappear when you correct whatever’s causing them. The guide below will first detail each sign in turn, so that you can recognize each of them should they occur. Then, you can learn how to help a stressed chinchilla.

How Do You Tell If a Chinchilla Is Stressed?

The most obvious markers of stress in a chinchilla, or any caged animal, are repetitive movements. These are known as stereotypies. The term refers to ‘stereotypical’ movements which the animal repeats again and again, even if they cause it pain or more stress. They have no explanation but severe stress and unhappiness.

You can observe these stereotypical movements in different pets. Rodents and chinchillas are included, but so are many more kinds of household pets kept in unhappy conditions. You can even see these behaviors in zoos which don’t properly provide for their animals.

Each of the signs below is something repetitive that the chinchilla might do. In some cases, the activity causes significant harm, but the chinchilla won’t stop despite that. It will only stop once you fix whatever is making your chinchilla unhappy.

1) Chewing Fur (Excessive Barbering)

The most common stereotypy is the chewing of fur. When a chinchilla chews its own fur or that of its cage mate, this is known as barbering. It’s a way of keeping the fur clean, non-greasy, and free of parasites. This is normal behavior that reinforces social bonds.

However, excessive barbering is also possible. This is where the chinchilla chews its own fur, or that of its cage-mate, until it causes bald patches. If it carries on, it can even cause open wounds. These patches will usually occur on the subordinate chinchilla of your pair or group, because the dominant chinchillas will barber its fur repeatedly.

This has been studied by scientists because people keep chinchillas as farmed animals. The farmers want the chinchillas’ fur, so excessive barbering directly affects their profits.

As such, ways of stopping excessive barbering have been examined. According to the Journal of Veterinary Behavior, Clinical Applications & Research, this is the most common form of repetitive behavior reported. The best fix is to keep the chinchilla in a roomy cage with lots to do, such as:

Other things to chew on

Exercise saucers

Small toys

Time outside the cage, e.g. in a pen

If your chinchillas chew on their own or each others’ fur too much, these fixes may entirely solve the problem. But if the biting has caused an open wound, then you should treat that correctly too (cleaning it with antiseptic and monitoring it to check it doesn’t become infected).

2) Bar Chewing

Perhaps the next most common sign of a stressed chinchilla is bar chewing. This is exactly what it sounds like: it refers to how a chinchilla will chew the bars of its cage if it’s stressed or depressed. This sign in particular is caused by your chinchilla not having anything to chew on.

Because it’s a rodent, your chinchilla’s four front teeth grow continually. This is an evolutionary adaptation which developed because rodents need strong, sharp teeth to grind food and dig tunnels.

If your chinchilla doesn’t have anything to grind its teeth on, like appropriate food, twigs or toys, they will therefore grow too long.

This can cause injury and make your pet feel stressed. As a rule, your pet will be distressed any time that it can’t express a natural behavior like chewing. So, when you don’t give your chinchilla anything to chew on, it will chew on the bars of its cage.

Bar chewing is bad for your pet. It will make its teeth grow the wrong way until it has difficulty eating. You can spot this issue easily because the teeth are supposed to point straight down. If the top and bottom teeth don’t align, your pet can’t use its teeth properly.

Bar chewing can also cause tooth and gum damage.

3) Backflipping

When an animal is kept in a small, confined cage, it will struggle to move around enough. It feels stressed because it’s confined, like you would if you had to stay in a small room all the time. In some cases, the cage may be too small for it to even stretch its legs, which is when the stress is the worst.

Either way, if your chinchilla doesn’t get enough exercise, you may notice it backflipping. Some owners think that this is cute or funny, and if your chinchilla backflips because it’s excited (e.g. when it’s scampering around the room) then it’s not an issue.

But if your chinchilla backflips in its cage, this isn’t funny or cute. It’s a sign that your chinchilla is stressed from a lack of exercise. If you have owned chinchillas for a long time, you may disagree (as many owners do). But backflipping is a recognized form of stereotypy seen in many species, not just chinchillas.

There’s no downside to trying an experiment if you disagree. Try taking your chinchilla from its enclosure more often, and if possible, offering your chinchilla a bigger cage with more enrichment. If your chinchilla stops doing backflips, then it was a stereotypy which signified a lack of enrichment and exercise.

But if you provide for your pet in every way possible, then this behavior isn’t an issue.

4) Cage Scratching

Cage scratching is another common stereotypy observed in captive animals. It’s especially seen in animals which dig their own burrows, and are kept in conditions where they don’t have any substrate.

Abnormal cage scratching is typified by:

Repetitive scratching of the cage floor without purpose

Scratching at the floor even if there is no substrate

You can normally fix cage scratching by providing substrate, providing more substrate, or providing more appropriate substrate. Kiln dried pine shavings or Aspen are good choices.

5) Vocalizing (Barking and Whistling)

Chinchillas are communicative and social animals. They live in herds in the wild of up to a hundred individuals. When animals are social in such a way, evolution will help them develop ways of communication.

As such, chinchillas can make lots of different kinds of noises. You will be familiar with some, like barking and whistling. Others you will only rarely or never hear, like screaming, which indicates severe distress.

When a chinchilla is excessively stressed, it may repeatedly vocalize by barking and whistling. The chinchilla does so because there is something in its environment is making it stressed or unhappy, like:

Loud and shocking noises

Something that it thinks is a predator (e.g. another household pet)

Your chinchilla will only stop vocalizing excessively when the stressor is removed.

6) Hiding

Chinchillas hide when they’re scared, like any animal. Wild chinchillas will hide in rock crevices and pre-made mammal burrows, and your chin needs to be able to display this behavior in captivity. That’s why your cage should have somewhere that your chinchilla can hide. Otherwise, it will get stressed.

But if your chinchilla is constantly hiding, that’s a bad sign too. This suggests that there’s something nearby that’s consistently scaring your chinchilla. As in the example above, the issue could be something like loud noises, or other household pets.

If your chinchilla hides all the time, you should consider moving your pet’s enclosure somewhere else. This is a difficult balance to get right, because chinchillas enjoy having things happen nearby that they can see, which relieves boredom. But they also don’t like too much action, which they find stressful.

7) Drinking Too Much/Not Drinking Enough

A change in your chinchilla’s water consumption can be a sign that something is wrong. As stress causes chinchillas to hide, your pet may not get enough water. It may be too frightened to sit in the open, drinking from its water bottle.

Alternatively, your chinchilla may start drinking more than it used to. This may be a repetitive behavior, like those described above. It could also be related to your pet’s health (e.g. it may have diabetes).

Whatever the case, if your chinchilla changes its drinking habits, it may be a bad sign. Consult with a vet to figure out what might have gone wrong.

What Makes a Chinchilla Stressed?

The precise cause of your chinchilla’s stress is difficult to determine. They are naturally skittish animals, so chinchillas can be stressed or frightened by many things. Here’s a brief list of some of the more common causes of stress in chinchillas:

Cage is too small. No animal likes being cooped up in a tiny space.

No other chinchillas to socialize with. Chinchillas naturally form herds. Keeping chinchillas alone makes them stressed and depressed.

Too many chinchillas in a small space. A small space means more fighting, and more stress.

Too many loud noises or bright lights nearby. Chinchillas keep watch on their surroundings. Too many shocking things can stress them.

Other household pets. Other pets, particularly large ones, can be mistaken for predators.

Sickness. Stress is a symptom of any health condition that your chinchilla might experience.

Previous neglect or abuse. If a chinchilla grew up in a stressful environment, it will be more skittish than normal in adulthood.

Natural disposition to stress. Some animals are simply more prone to being stressed than others.

Identifying the cause of stress is key.

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What How to Help a Stressed Chinchilla

The way in which you help your pet depends on what the issue is. There are many causes of stress in chinchillas, and any one (or a combination of them) may be affecting your pet. As such, you must identify the issue first.

Doing this is simple. First, you must observe your pet for a period of time. Do this from across the room so that you don’t disturb your pet too much. See if it reacts to loud noises, for example; or whether it can’t get enough exercise in its cramped cage.

Buy Another Chinchilla

If your chinchilla lives alone, you should buy another to keep it company. Chinchillas are natural herd animals, living in herds of up to a hundred animals. Many of the chinchilla’s natural behaviors relate to its being a social animal (e.g. collective foraging for food, alarm calls, and so on).

As such, it’s vital to your pet’s health that it doesn’t live alone. Buy another from a breeder or a pet store. Keep it quarantined for a while to prevent it passing on parasites or infections. Then, introduce it to your existing pet using the split cage method.

But that may not be what’s ultimately causing your pet’s stress. Here are a few ideas that could fix the problem.

Buy a Bigger Cage

Animals are born to be free. Living in a cage will never be as good as living wild for a chinchilla. But there is nevertheless a large difference between the quality of life your pet will have in a small cage, versus a large cage.

The recommended size of the cage varies depending on opinion. Some owners recommend a 3x2x2ft (6 square feet) cage for a solitary chinchilla. However, chinchillas shouldn’t be kept alone. A 10 square foot cage (e.g. 5x2x2ft) is ideal for a pair of chinchillas. Other owners say that 2 square foot per chinchilla, when chinchillas are housed together, is enough.

Whatever the case, buying a bigger cage may be the answer.

Move Your Chinchilla’s Cage

Chinchillas are naturally skittish. In the wild, they are constantly on the lookout for predators. This helps them avoid attacks.

In captivity, chinchillas still have the same urge to scan for predators and threats. Your pet doesn’t understand that no predators can attack it when it’s securely in its enclosure. As such, things can still scare it, such as large, looming shadows from overhead, bright lights and loud noises, and other household pets you might have.

If your chinchilla constantly reacts with stress to things around it, you should consider moving its cage somewhere else. This shouldn’t pose too many difficulties, because:

Chinchillas are happy at average home temperatures (between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit)

Chinchillas don’t need direct sunlight, although you can’t keep them in complete darkness

There will be certain rooms in your home that are quieter than others

If you have other pets, move your chinchilla’s cage to a place that the other pet’s aren’t allowed or physically can’t go to.

Talk to a Vet

If you can’t figure out what the problem is, you must take your pet to the vet. They will ask you a series of questions, the purpose of which is to figure out what the likely issue is. Answer honestly, and they may help you determine the issue. They will likely suggest some of the fixes above, but may identify a cause you’ve previously missed.

Also, if the problem is that your chinchilla is sick, then the vet can help your pet get better. While online guides like this one are a good starting point, and help you build your knowledge of your pet, they cannot replace the advice of an experienced veterinarian.

Below, you can find our chinchilla quiz, new posts for further reading, and a signup for our Chinchilla Newsletter!

Caring for chinchillas is tough. Learn more here...

#chinchillas #chinchillacare #backflipping #barchewing #furchewing #stress

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breastforce · 8 years ago

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Marco is a Trans Girl - The Megapost 2.0

So you’ve likely seen my big post on the theory that Marco Diaz from Star vs The Forces of Evil is a Trans Girl. It was made back in July of 2016 when Season 2 was just starting, and since then a lot of things have changed and we now know a lot more about what’s going on behind the scenes.

This post is meant to be an updated explanation of Trans Girl Marco theory, but now more in line with how things are actually happening. The gist of it being that Marco Diaz is coded as a closeted transgender girl. Expect less theorizing and more meta talk. I’ll be going over all the clues that indicate Marco is trans, as well as how the starcrew came to the desicion as Marco developed as a character.

I can’t give enough thanks to the members of the crew such as @arythusa and @hug-bees, whom have both done as much as they possibly can to communicate with the show’s growing LGBT fanbase, and given us so much insight into what’s going on

Full post below the cut.

Part 1: How it Happened.

“In my experience, almost no character goes into episode 1 totally finished. With such a long writing process, people end up changing and "discovering" more about the characters as they go on.” -Sabrina Cotungo [x]

A lot of aspects in Star Vs developed and matured along Seasons 1 and 2. Alfonso and Ferguson were written out and Janna joined the main cast, Ponyhead, Tom, and Glossaryk were given bigger roles, etc. So it’s pretty clear that Marco wasn’t originally penned as a Trans Girl. For the greater half of Season 1, they were simply a boy that ocassional feminine tendancies, with very few episodes indicating that there was anything else going on.

So what happened?

Well, individual writers and storyboarders have a bit of creative freedom when it comes to cartoon episodes. While they don’t have the ability to set much in stone, they can weave their own interpritations of characters into the outline that they’re given, inserting in small details that can enrich a character.

So while Marco was ‘officially’ a feminine boy, some writers interprited their feminity and general insecurities as indicative of something deeper.

One such example is in Mewberty:

While Star’s under an affliction that causes her to break out in hearts around boys, the writers have Marco not realize that they’re also a ‘boy’ for the first quarter of the episode, and when Marco’s hit over the head with something that would seem to be fairly evident for them, there’s a very noticable pause indicating that it’s something they are (or have just become) self-concious about.

And just to hammer the point home, there’s even a part in the episode where Marco’s outright mistaken to be a girl:

And Marco could have just been left at that.

The episode where I believe things changed though, is St. Olga’s School For Wayward Princesses

Marco disguises themself as a Princess to break help Star break into a boarding school, and the whole thing is completely natural. Marco doesn’t really try at all to be something they’re not - they’re just Marco.

Most media would have somebody suspect that there was something ‘off’ about Marco or constantly bring up how they’re the “odd one out” amongst all the other girls. Instead, Marco’s allowed to simply just be a girl for an episode without any objections from the narrative. Their gender is never made fun of, questioned, second-guessed, or even really brought up at all, even by the villain.

Not to mention the message of the episode - It’s Not Criminal To Be An Individual

It’s all about how there’s no wrong way to be a princess, but since royalty is a very narrow market in the United States, let’s just assume that the actual message is about how there’s no wrong way to be a girl.

And it’s likely no coincidence that Marco’s not only viewed as being no different from any of the other princess but also the keystone of the entire movement.

There’s no wrong way to be a girl, and Marco’s included in that.

I don’t know for sure whether the writer behind this episode, Piero Piluso, conciously wrote Marco with them being transgender in mind, but they wrote Princess Marco as a girl through and through.

And that’s likely when the lightbulbs started going off in the crew.

Season 2 brought in a slew of new writers and cast members, including people who’ve had previous expierience writing LGBT characters such as Giancarlo Volpe, Evon Freeman, Le Tang, Amelia Lorenz, Zach Marcus, Brett Varon, Gina Gress, and the aforementioned Sabrina Cotungo (whom had even tried to get a transgender character into Gravity Falls)

The new batch of writers now all had the existence of Princess Marco influencing their interpritations of Marco, which made it a lot easier for many of them to come to the conclusion that there was something deeper going on, and that this kid was trans.

Thus resulting in a MASSIVE explosion of hints occuring throughout Season 2.

Part 2: Scattered Evidence

“So if and/or when you detect LGBT-friendly themes on this show, it’s most likely there because the creators fought hard to put it there. They did the best they could to get any form of representation over, under or around those censors. They put it there to make a positive change in media.” -Amelia Lorenz [x]

Seaon 2 was where things really staarted to pck up.

Marco’s very first appearance is this:

Alright, they could be a feminine guy, Doesn’t exactly prove anything

They then spend the rest of the episode trapped in a closet that they want to get out of.

Which just so happens to be a Closet of Secrets.

Star even proposes at one point that it might be easier for Marco to just spend the rest of their life in the closet.

And, to top it all off, the writers specifically have Marco spend their entire time in said closet wearing a goddamn skirt.

In Mr. Candle Cares we get Marco outright saying they’d ‘Love to be Queen’.

Red Belt opens up with a dream sequence where Marco’s more shocked to find themselves buried in a suit than dead:

And upon seeing themselves in a suit (which they don’t want!), they’re reminded that they’re unsure of themselves and their future.

And how, to Marco, there’s something holding them down. Something that they’re missing. Something that sets them apart from the rest of the cast (!!!!!!!!).

And this dyphoria Marco’s expieriencing was set off by a suit covered in mewberty hearts.

Calling back to the ‘Boy Hands’ moment above:

Marco fears that they’ll spend their life closeted, that they won’t be able to progress in life because they spent it hiding away, unable to escape being a ‘boy’ just like what happened in Mewberty.

And the dream wasn’t just a one-off thing for Marco:

It’s a regular, recurring nightmare they’ve had to the point where they told Star about it. They’ve been unsettled over the long term, but the show hasn’t shown it, they just let us know in this moment.

Then we get Fetch, where in the last few minutes the writers do an animal-based dysphoria metaphor that puts Cartoon Network to shame.

It is pretty clear that the writers know what they’re doing because that’s legitimately one of the better explanations of what having dysphoria is like that I’ve seen on television: Rather than the dog talking about how they were “born in the wrong body”, they want to be a dog that is just like any other in order to calm their troubled emotions.

The book Star and Marco’s Guide to Mastering Every Dimension hammers down on the trans metaphor even further:

Willoughby is a dog. But in her dimension, dogs aren’t like dogs on Earth. They have very complicated feelings. So she stole my wand to make herself not have those complicated feelings anymore.

This passage can easily be translated to: “Some [women] aren’t like [other women]. They have very complicated feelings. So they [transition] to make themselves not have those complicated feelings anymore.” which is such a simple way of explaining what being trans is like to kids that it wouldn’t feel out of place on Sesame Street.

Not even a minute after the first exchange, we get this:

Which not only hammers in the idea that this is all about gender ever further, since they include a gender reveal that has no other real impact on the story, but if the dog’s in any way symbolic of Marco, then the scene pretty much speaks for itself.

And then in Gift of the Card, Heinous makes her return and the name “Princess Marco” is actually used in the show itself.

And after a season with a bunch of bits and pieces of foreshadowing scattered throughout:

It’s revealed in Nayasya that Marco does in fact have dysphoria, they’re so ashamed of their body that they can’t even look themselves in the mirror:

Marco Diaz covers the mirror when he shows because Marco is ashamed of his own body!

In addition, mirrors and showers are such common motifs in trans narratives that Sense8 had their trans character describe her dysphoria in nearly the same exact way.

“At that age I was really uncomfortable with my body and didn’t like to be naked, especially in front of other boys. But you had to take a shower before you went in the pool, so I would do it but I kept my swimsuit on.”

And the only point where Marco can apparently somewhat stand to look themselves in the mirror?

When they’re dressed like that. Indicating that this isn’t just some Teenaged Body Insecurity but rather dysphoria.

Star and Marco's Guide to Mastering Every Dimension, a canonical side book that fleshes out the lore of the show, also manages to expand on Marco’s thoughts on their stay at St. Olga’s:

I almost died at St. O’s. Twice. The first time was at the hands of some robot guards, and the second time I almost died emotionally in the Solitary Conform-ment Chamber. I did learn that I’d make a great princess. I really wouldn’t say that pink is my color... but I wouldn’t mind wearing a poofy dress every now and then. It’s kinda liberating.

Notice their word choice. Not only do they outright say “I learned I’d make a great princess”, not only indicating that they did infact themselves as a girl in St. Olga’s to a degree rather than simply seeing the whole thing as ‘just a disguise’, but they also call wearing a ‘poofy dress’ to be liberating.

There is a HUGE difference between “a guy enjoys wearing dresses and would like to wear them more often’ and ‘somebody who’s fantasized about being a girl finds a dress they didn’t even chose to wear to be personally liberating’. It’s not simply a matter of Marco wearing a dress, but rather that their attitudes towards it (and everything else) are something that a lot of Trans Women have found relatable.

Part 3: ‘Heinous’

“I can tell you that Daron is open to the idea of LGBT characters but beyond that the situation gets complicated. Also, as a board artist, I don’t have a lot of say in terms of larger story or character arcs, so I’m afraid I can’t comment on future plans.” - Sabrina Cotugno [x]

At this point there’s a number of members in the crew that all view Marco as a trans girl, and are writing her that way, but nobody has the power to make it explicit.

Then comes ‘Heinous’.

This episode pushed this concept to its absolute limit, where the writers for the episode did literally everything they could to get across the message that Marco’s trans and brought the theory to being as canon as they can possibly get at the time. (To the point where people on Reddit who either didn’t follow or dismissed the theory were struggling to figure out what the point of the episode was)

The basics:

Marco is consistently gendered with ‘she’ pronouns throughout the episode and the writers don’t have anybody ever question it

When in her Princess getup, Marco explictly refers to herself as a girl and seems to have a blast despite being blackmailed, to the point where they voluntairly keep on the dress for family game night.

The dialogue from Marco’s parents have loads of double meanings, where they’re talking about finding out about Marco’s interdimensional activities, but deliberately involk the image of somebody who just got outed as being gay or transgender to their parents.

And, most of all, Princess Marco wasn’t just a distant memory that didn’t matter. The episode revealed that Marco secretly kept up the ‘Princess Marco’ persona this whole time, getting royalty checks from merchandise inspired by her.

And to make things even more meta, Marco has apparently ‘influencing the next generation of princesses’ to be true to themselves.

The whole theme of the episode is Marco getting across a hidden message meant to inspire people despite being restricted in what they can say. So Marco says what they’re obliged to say, but phrases it in a way that makes the true message clear to the intended audience. This is essentially how the crew has been handling the theory in of itself.

Part 4 (for now): Conclusions

I’ll continue to update the post with relevant information as we move onto Season 3, so this part of the post will most likely change

The image that is being drawn is that the crew really really really wants to include trans representation within their work, and not only views but are actively writing a character as being transgender, but they can not come out and just say it due to legal reasons.

The crew’s response to the idea of Marco being transgender, as well as the prospects of LGBT representation within the show itself, has been nothing but positive. They’ve been consistently defending it to the point where one of the directors for Season 4 put out an argument as for why Marco being transgender girl is more important than them being a boy.

It’s not certain whether or not Marco will be able to come out and transition to being a girl during the series. The crew has many times expressed frustration about how much of a fight they have to put up to even get hints at LGBT representation past the censors. In the meantime, or in case they ultimately don’t succeed, the staff are deliberately giving trans people something to relate to in Princess Marco, and are doing everything they can to make sure we at least have that.

“I wish I could give a more reassuring or more substantial answer, but little by little people in the industry are trying to change things. The victories seem a bit small for now, but please know that you’re not forgotten.” -Ariel V.H. [x]

#svtfoe #trans marco #marco is trans theory

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steroidsatinalmak · 7 years ago

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How to lose Weight Fast and Reliable

Now you want to lose weight. And you want to do it with confidence. But how?

First of all, do not forget that most specialists say that they slowly lose weight. More likely to stay. If you pound the pound too fast, the Nutrition and Dietetic Academy says you will lose muscle, bone and water instead of fat.

The academy's recommendation: Avoid products that weigh 1-2 pounds a week and produce lush diets or products that sound unrealistic. It is best to base your changes on the loss of weight loss over time.

For faster results, you should work with a physician to ensure that you stay healthy and take the nutrients you need.

Make a plan

You probably heard that "calories are calorie output"; Just as it is, you only have to burn more calories than you eat and drink.

However, many people are not as simple as they can tell from their own experience.

Your metabolism - how good it turns the calories into fuel of the body - is also important. And if you cut too many calories, it would be bad for you. You slow down your metabolism, which can cause you to be inadequate in some nutrients.

There are many ways to do this without cutting too much calories. You could:

Cut it in portions.

Determine how many calories you have taken on usual days and tilt back a bit.

Get nutritional labels to find out how many calories each serving is.

Drink more water, so you're not that hungry.

No matter what type of method you use, you should choose foods that are good, such as vegetables, fruits, grains, and lean protein, to continue eating well. Working with a dietitian is a good idea, so plan a plan that meets those needs.

Get Accountability and Support

Many applications can help you monitor your yemen. You can probably use your smartphone to keep track of your plan as well. Or keep what you ate on the pen paper magazine.

You will also want to stay motivated and be there to cheer you up. Ask your family and friends to support your efforts to lose weight.

You may also want to take part in a weight loss group that you can talk about with people you might be interested in. Or talk to someone you know well in a healthy way. Their incentive is "contagious", a good way!

Learn What You Find Eat

At the simplest level, the food is fuel. It gives you energy to do things. However, very few people eat for this reason. Every social meeting. And this is where we have lots of tough days.

You should know what makes you eat when you are not hungry and have a plan for those moments.

The first step is to find out what your triggers are. Is stress, anger, anxiety or depression in a certain part of your life? Or is it good when something good happens?

Then try to imagine when these feelings will emerge and if you have a plan ready to do something else instead of eating. Can you walk? Did he write the text?

Finally, reward yourself to make a different choice. Just do not use food as a reward.

What to Eat and When to Eat

You do not have to go vegan, gluten-free or lose any food group to lose weight. In fact, it's more likely that you keep the pound in good shape if you can live together in the long run.

However, it is logical to reduce empty calories or cut empty calories.

Limit the added sugar. These are, for example, sugars that are not natural to fruity but cookies, cakes, sugary-sugared beverages and other items. Sugar foods are usually very little in quantity. We aim to spend less than 10% of the daily calories {2fa45b2a98d17e4ae7b619008b07aee7e09a7d4a825c2a6cf41db076aa517e7d} in the sugars you add.

You should choose carbohydrates. You can decide which food you eat and how much. Look for those with lower glycemic indexes (for example, lower on glycemic index than an asparagus potato) or search for lower carbohydrates than others. All grains are better choices than processed ones as they remove basic nutrients such as processing, fiber, iron and B vitamins. They can be added back as "enriched" bread.

Include protein . Satisfactory and will help you keep track of your muscles. There are vegetarian lean meats, poultry, and vegan sources (a few of the nuts, beans and soy) as well as fish and milk.

Most Americans get enough protein, but they can choose to buy from the richer sources, so you can already have plenty of your diet. Your protein needs depend on your age, your sex, and how active you are.

Make friends with good oil. A small amount of fat helps you feel plump and helps you on a lesser diet. Better options are fish, nuts and seeds and olive oil or coconut oil. They have unsaturated fats - polyunsaturated or monounsaturated fats, especially.

Fill the stuff. You can get it from vegetables, whole grains, fruits - it will be fiber in any plant food. Some of them have more than others. The best sources are artichokes, green peas, broccoli, lentils and lima beans. Among the berry, the raspberries manage the list.

Eat more often. You can eat five or six times a day, starve away. In all of these mini-meals you could equally divide your calories or make some of them bigger than others. You will have to plan parts of the bargain so that you will not have much to eat.

What's There About Changing Food? These products will control their calories. They're convenient and do not leave you out of luck on your diet.

However, if you give up eating changes, you will have to change your eating habits to lose weight.

Watch out for the bugs. An easy way to lose weight is to cut fluid calories such as soda, fruit juice and alcohol. Replace them with zero-calorie drinks such as lemon juice, sugar-free tea or black coffee.

Diet drinks will save calories when compared to sugary drinks. However, if you still get a snack or other treatments, because if you are still lonely or think you have enough calories for it, then this plan is back up.

You might think that hunger is a quick way to lose weight. But experts do not recommend it because it is not a long term solution. It's better if you have a meal plan that can stick with time and fit your lifestyle.

Not all tickets are the same. Some of them include skipping all the food. In addition, there are news reporters that you eat every day. There has not been much research on how well fasting has been done outdoors for a long time.

In your early days, you might feel hungry and grumpy. It could be constipation. And you will not have the energy to physically do much. Drink lots of water and get daily multivitamins. In particular, you should also tell your doctor if you are taking medications that need to be adjusted.

Remember, if you go quickly, you'll have to change your eating habits when it's fast.

How you start your weight loss, the best way to get it from your head is a lifelong lifestyle change such as a healthy eating plan and physical activity. You can consult a registered dietitian if you are not sure where to start, how many to cut, or how to work safely.

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lovemychinchilla · 4 years ago

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Do Chinchillas Get Bored?

Chinchillas have needs like any pet. As the pet’s owner, it’s your job to provide for these needs. But do chinchillas like to play, and do you need to keep them entertained?

Chinchillas get bored if they don’t have enough to do. You can tell because it will start displaying repetitive behaviors, such as digging, bar chewing, and excessive barbering. Chinchillas get lonely and even more bored if kept alone. You can help a bored chinchilla by getting it a cage mate and some toys.

The guide below first establishes whether and why chinchillas like to play. Then, it covers how to tell if a chinchilla is bored or unhappy, and how to entertain one with fun boredom busters.

Do Chinchillas Like to Play?

Chinchillas enjoy playing, like many animals. You can see these behaviors both in the wild and in captivity. When your chinchillas are playing, you may see them:

Exploring. A playing chinchilla will run about sniffing new places. This is especially the case for pet chinchillas, which get excited when you let them out of their cages.

Jumping. Chinchillas jump when they’re excited, and can leap up to four feet in the air.

Climbing on and jumping off things. Chinchillas are from the mountains, and when they play, they jump up and down off rocks. Pet chinchillas do the same with surfaces.

Play fighting. A chinchilla may kick its cage-mate to get it to chase it.

Your chinchilla may also play with you in these ways. It may clamber onto your shoulders, for example. Or, it might jump onto you and off you again. When you watch your chinchilla doing these things, it seems like it’s having fun.

While you shouldn’t anthropomorphize your pet (think of it like a little person), it’s clear a chinchilla is happier if it can play than if it can’t.

Conversely, if a chinchilla is kept in its cage on its own all the time, it can’t display these behaviors. This is when you notice your chinchilla getting bored.

Why Do Chinchillas Like to Play?

There are several core reasons why they enjoy, and even need, to play. While chinchillas aren’t as intelligent as people, they like to play for the same reasons that we do:

Chinchillas are social animals. Play builds bonds and reinforces social structure. From the time that they’re kits, chinchillas learn to play with their siblings and parents.

Play is a kind of practice. Animals chase each other and use self-defense when playing, which can serve as practice for real situations.

Play is fun. Animals take pleasure in many things, just like we do, including play. This is something that’s impossible to measure, but which you can see as a pet’s owner.

Play fighting is the best example of how play prepares an animal for dangerous situations. Kits (baby chinchillas) fight each other to develop their strength and self-defense abilities. Fighting strength also establishes dominance and attracts mates, so developing it from an early age is necessary for surviving and establishing breeding rights.

Without play, animals become bored. In the complete absence of stimulation, they can become stressed, depressed, and even ill. That applies to captive animals like pet chinchillas too.

Do Chinchillas Get Lonely?

Chinchillas do get lonely when they can’t interact/play with other chinchillas. In the wild, chinchillas are herd animals. The size of a herd can range from a dozen up to a hundred, which as you can imagine, means that wild chinchillas socialize a lot. Chinchillas don’t like being isolated from this natural group setup.

If a chinchilla is kept alone, it will miss out on this socialization: the play fighting, the collective foraging for food, the alarm calls from other chinchillas that keep the group safe, and the use of a shared burrow.

When any animal can’t demonstrate natural behaviors and inclinations like these, it becomes unhappy and lonely. Chinchillas are no exception.

How to Tell If a Chinchilla Is Bored

You can easily tell when a chinchilla is bored. You should notice your chinchillas playing frequently. Your pet will also display behaviors which indicate it isn’t happy. You can spot these behaviors and give your chinchilla something to do, and if you do, these negative behaviors should stop.

So, is my chinchilla happy, or is my chinchilla depressed or bored? Here’s how to find out.

Your Chinchilla Is Inactive/Lethargic

Lethargy, also known as inactivity, can be a sign of different health issues. But it can also be something you see in a bored chinchilla. When a bored chinchilla doesn’t have enough to do, it will sit still and not do much. This applies even if there are lots of things in your pet’s cage.

This indicates that a chinchilla is bored of its surroundings. It may have previously run on its wheel (for example), but has since become bored and lonely. Over time, it becomes depressed.

Your chinchilla will remain like this for a while. It will then start showing other symptoms of boredom which are more serious.

Repetitive Chinchilla Behaviors (Stereotypy)

This is an issue that you will see with all kinds of pets, chinchillas included. When a pet is bored, it will perform repetitive actions. These actions may be damaging for the pet’s health.

Because chinchillas and other rodents have been kept in labs and farms, we know lots about these behaviors. An article in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior Clinical Applications and Research looked at this specific issue.

The scientists behind this study looked at chinchillas kept on a farm. They found that rodents kept in barren cages usually develop some form of abnormal repetitive behavior, which can indicate a past or present welfare problem.

One of these abnormal behaviors is fur chewing. A small amount of barbering is normal. This is where a chinchilla grooms its own fur, or the fur of its cage mates. But in a barren cage, a chinchilla may do this too much, which can cause fur loss.

This is the most common stereotypy behavior. But there are others to look out for. These include:

Bar chewing. A chinchilla may bite or chew the bars of its cage, as if to try and get out. This can cause its teeth to point in the wrong direction.

Cage scratching. A chinchilla may scratch at the floor of its cage, again, as if to try and dig out.

Backflipping. While this behavior can look cute, it can also be a sign that a chinchilla is bored.

If you spot these behaviors, you should immediately take steps to make your pet happier. These symptoms of boredom won’t go away on their own.

How to Entertain a Chinchilla

There are lots of ways to keep a chinchilla entertained. Each of the ideas below will make your chinchilla happier, but will also make it more fun to keep one as a pet. So, how do I keep my chinchilla happy?

Don’t Keep Chinchillas Alone

Keeping a chinchilla on its own is a bad idea. As stated above, these are herd animals. They get bored quickly if kept alone because they can’t socialize. As such, you should introduce your chinchilla to a new friend.

But you can’t dump them in one big cage together if they don’t know each other. If you do, the pair will fight.

Instead, you have to use the split-cage method. This is where you have a big cage with a divider down the middle. You keep one chinchilla in one side of the cage, and the other chinchilla in the other. Occasionally swap the pair from side to side, so that each gets used to the smell of the other. You can also do this with two separate cages rather than a special split cage.

Over time, the pair become more comfortable with each other and are bonded. You can then keep them in the same cage. You may need to get a bigger cage if you want to keep them together.

Make a Chinchilla Pen/Let Your Pet Out

Animals aren’t supposed to live in cages 24/7. Unless the cage is big and rich in enrichment like a zoo enclosure, your pet will get bored sitting inside all the time. You should let it out regularly.

Your pet will enjoy sniffing around and exploring a larger area. While this may not seem important, it’s vital for your chinchilla’s mental health.

But letting your chinchilla out isn’t as easy as opening the gate every once in a while. You have to make sure that your room is chinchilla-proof. That involves:

Remove all power cords from the room. Your chinchilla will gnaw through them, and if they’re plugged in, they will electrocute your pet.

Keep doors and windows closed. Chinchillas can jump up to four feet high, and are unpredictable when excited.

Block up any holes in the wall or in/under furniture. Again, chinchillas are quick and unpredictable when playing.

To make life easier, most owners put their chinchillas in pens. Pens are large enclosed areas with walls. You can either buy one or make one. Ensure that the walls of the pen are tall enough (taller than four feet) to prevent your chinchilla escaping.

Buy Your Chinchilla Toys

Your chinchilla could also be bored because it doesn’t have enough stimulation. While all chinchillas enjoy exploring the areas outside their cages, the ideal cage setup for a chinchilla should be enough to entertain it. That means having enough space, with lots of toys, and several levels.

Chew toys are a favorite of chinchillas. They have to gnaw frequently on hard objects/materials like wood to keep their teeth trimmed. This keeps a chinchilla busy, giving it something to do throughout the day. There are lots of things chinchillas can safely chew.

Another toy you could give your pet is an exercise wheel. Wheels like those used by other rodents aren’t recommended because of their shape. As chinchillas are big, running in a wheel can damage their backs.

But you can buy your chinchilla an exercise saucer. These look like large shallow dishes made of metal that rotate like discs. Because these are flat, they let your chinchilla run full pelt, but without having to bend their backs.

Other Fun Things to Do with Your Chinchilla

The easiest thing you can do with a bored chinchilla is spend time with it. Chinchillas get bored because of a lack of stimulation. Some owners report that their bored chinchillas are lethargic all day, but get excited when the owner moves towards the pet’s cage. It’s clear that chinchillas, like all pets, crave interaction, stimulation and fun.

You can spend time sitting next to your chinchilla's cage, watching it play. Some chinchillas find this fun, although your pet will still be in its enclosure, so can’t do much.

Alternatively, spend time with your pet when it’s in its pen/outside of its cage. If it trusts you and likes your company, spending time with your chinchilla will make it happy. It’s fun to watch your pet running and jumping around, because chinchillas get so excited when they’re outside their cages.

Below, you can find our chinchilla quiz, new posts for further reading, and a signup for our Chinchilla Newsletter!