#have bred so much unnecessary frustration

[suitablysublime]

TWEAKING YOUR TUMBLR THEME: A CRASH COURSE

i know css/html and code my own themes. one side effect of this is that every so often i encounter someone—a friend or a friend’s friend, usually—who has installed a new theme and is now struggling to customize or tweak it without knowing how to go about doing that. 

now i’m always happy to help out, but these are always things that take just a few minutes to figure out if you can read the code and, well, give a man a fish or teach a man to fish. you know how it goes. 

so here we go: this is how to fish.

PART ONE: UNDERSTANDING CSS & HTML 

let me lead with this: it is normal to feel confused, overwhelmed, intimidated, stupid, and/or frustrated when working with an unfamiliar coding language. my father has been writing software for forty years, but he will look at what is to me a page of very basic css/html and be completely baffled by it all the same. this is normal. please don’t let it discourage you if you feel this way at first. 

in my opinion, the first step to conquering these feelings is to wrap your brain around the big picture of what these languages do. what do we use them for?

well, all web pages — and thus, all tumblr themes — are written in these two languages. the only thing you need to know for our purposes is this: html holds the content of a web page, and css controls its appearance. 

how does this work? 

a webpage is built of html objects called <div> tags. think of them like bricks: you stack a bunch of <div>s on top of each other and bam! you have a house. but it’s a terrible house, because it’s just a pile of bricks with stuff scribbled on them. 

this is where the css comes in. a <div> tag can have a unique id or belong to a general class, and we use css to style the appearances of our <div>s on a per-id and per-class basis. to return to our housebuilding metaphor, css is our blueprint: it gives order, structural stability, and aesthetic coherence to our messy pile of bricks, and now, bam! we have a house. for real.

PART TWO: THE SYNTAX

coding languages are like human languages in that they have their own unique vocabulary and grammar. to tweak a tumblr theme, you need to have a basic grasp of this syntax so you can understand what you’re looking at.

css manipulates objects called elements. usually, an element is the id or class of a <div>, but an element can correlate to any html tag. the basic anatomy of a css element goes like this:

selector {      property: value; }

and we can translate this into english as “when the element this selector is looking for occurs, it will look the way i have described it here.” 

selectors might look like this: h1 { or #id { or .class {

the distinction between these different types of selectors is not important for our purposes. all you need to know is that the selector corresponds to (or selects) a particular html tag, like: <h1>, <div id = "id">, or <div class="class">.

properties are the visual features of an element, like its height, width, color, and so on, and the value is a statement that describes the desired setting for the property. a property-value statement is called a declaration, and a collection of declarations is called a declaration block. 

you can generally figure out what a declaration is doing by looking at the name of the property, since they’re pretty self explanatory most of the time. for example, font-size: 12px; says that any text contained in this element is going to have its size set such that a character is 12 pixels tall. 

[ sidebar: if you are a Tiny Font person, consider using the knowledge you’ve gained from this tutorial to edit your theme such that the text of all your posts is very small, and then don’t use small text or sub/superscripts in your replies. you’ll get the Tiny Font aesthetic on your blog with perfect consistency, without rendering your posts illegible on the dashboard. ]

PART 3: MAKING YOUR CHANGES

the key to quickly and easily modifying a tumblr theme is to be able to identify the name of the css selector for the element you want to modify. let’s look at my own theme as an example. 

depending on what changes you want to make and how the theme’s creator laid out their code, you may not have to do much work at all to get the selector. 

for example, if you want to do something with your theme’s pagination buttons, it’s a pretty reasonable guess that the css selector will be something like “pagination_next” or “pagination_prev”, and you can go straight to the html editor and do a ctrl+F search for “pagination” to find it. 

but what if the selector isn’t immediately obvious? for the purposes of this example, let’s say i want to change the text of the blog description from red to dark blue (while preserving the red color of other elements in the theme, which precludes simply using tumblr’s in-built color picker.)

i could just scroll through the theme code until i found a selector that looked like the one i wanted, and then change something and update the preview & repeat ad nauseum until i found the right one. but again, depending on how the theme’s creator did their coding, this might be very difficult, frustrating, and time consuming. many prolific tumblr theme creators don’t lay out their code in a particularly human-readable way.

fortunately, there is a much easier way.

step 1:  load your tumblr and right-click somewhere on the page. depending on what browser you use, the exact name of what you’re looking for will vary, but the keyword to look for is “inspect”: 

click this.

(if you are using safari, you need to make sure “show develop menu” is checked in the advanced tab of the preferences window.)

step 2: your screen will now look something like this: 

if the element you want to change is in a popup or tab, open it so it’s visible on the screen.

step 3: the topmost box in the inspector displays all the html of your theme. if you hover over an html tag, the corresponding element will be highlighted in blue.

find the <body> tag. you may need to expand this manually depending on your browser. move your mouse down the line of divs until you find the element you want to modify. 

here, my mouse is hovering over <div id="blg_desc"> in the inspector, and you can see how the blog description is shown in a blue rectangle. (the large orange shape shows the size of the element’s margins.)

this tells me that the css selector for this element is #blg_desc.

step 4: close the inspector and open tumblr’s theme customization interface. go to edit html. ctrl+f to find the css selector: 

now, my goal is to change the text color, so the declaration i’m interested in is color:{color:6};. the {color:6} value is an object tumblr uses to store colors in a theme as an alternative to using rgb or hex codes (like #B61818, which is the shade of red i have stored in {color:6}. these objects correlate to the color picker under theme options: 

thus, if i change the value of color to {color:1}, the text of my blog description will be blue instead of red. i can also write this as color:#0d52c0;. 

(note that the exact shade of red/blue in my description varies a little from line to line; this is because of styling i did within the html itself that makes some lines transparent, and thus lighter because of the pale grey background.)

& if you use pages with custom html, the inspector trick will of course work for them too.

PART FOUR: IN SUMMARY

remember that css/html is not magic. it might feel intimidating, but at the end of the day it’s just a language for translating human thoughts like “i want a small purple square” into instructions a computer can understand, like this: 

#ps {       height: 100px;      width: 100px;      background-color: #8c4c7a; }

and all you need to do to make the changes you want is 1) identify the css selector and 2) understand the properties you’re manipulating. 1) is the difficult part, because everybody lays out their selectors differently—but using the inspector will allow you to instantly identify selectors by sight. and once you have that, 2) is super easy, because properties are standard and intended to be readily legible to humans. 

you may occasionally run into tricky properties, like for example display or position, which do things that are a little more abstract / not immediately obvious. for those cases, refer to the w3schools css dictionary for clear, simple, but still comprehensive explanations for proper usage. 

[mithrilwren]

Closed Hold

The long awaited next installment of the Shadowgast Figure Skating AU (inspired, as always, by the amazing art of @fiovske) is finally here! I don’t know if it’s cheating, since I was already planning to write this, but I’m also counting this as my submission for Day 7 of @essek-week because hey, it’s definitely an AU! :D You technically don’t have to read the first two works in the series - Inside Edge and 3 Turn - to enjoy this one, but some details may make more sense in context. Also, warning that things get a little NSFW by the end, in case that’s not everyone’s cup of tea! [Also on Ao3] [Find the whole series of one-shots in this AU here!]

(cw. implied past dub/con, chronic pain)

Essek never thought he’d find himself in a place where he could call sharing a hotel room with someone else ‘comfortable’. Yet here he is, sitting at a little table with his laptop open while Caleb slouches against the headboard, too engrossed in his novel to care for posture or dignity, Essek finds himself at ease in a way he didn’t know he was capable of - at least, not in another’s presence.

A bottle of wine sits open and half-finished by the tray on the nightstand, and every so often Caleb reaches over and takes a bit of carrot from the remains of Essek’s salad. He eats absentmindedly, the motion so regularly spaced that Essek can’t believe he’s aware of what he’s doing. He should find it disgusting, but not a single drop of dressing spills onto the sheets, and there’s something about the movement that’s almost mesmerizing in its steady, involuntary rhythm.

He almost wants to tell Caleb that they can order more food, if he’s still hungry. He doesn’t need to pick the scraps from Essek’s plate. But he knows enough now to say that the suggestion would be ill-advised - or rather, he knows enough now to say that he doesn’t know what Caleb’s reaction would be, and that is a good enough reason to be cautious. Slow steps have worked well for them in the last few months. There’s no reason to take unnecessary risks with something so delicate.

These evenings, where they share the same space - conversation - a good meal - are still difficult to come by. There are murmurings of renewed hostilities between the Dynasty and Empire, and orders from the Bright Queen to reduce contact while the situation cools, and fewer and fewer public spaces they could go where privacy would be assured. Essek is certain that some would find the idea of the two of them sneaking off to hotel rooms together, only to do nothing more illicit that talk the night away, an utterly unbelievable story. But truthfully, it’s only after long nights of competition that they find themselves in the same countries - much less the same cities - and neither has the energy for much else after so many hours at the rink.

And besides, this quiet time - where both are engrossed in their own worlds, but still close - it’s just as soothing as a calm bath, just as warm in his chest as a hot drink, and Essek wouldn’t trade it for any more exciting diversion.

Caleb stretches, the book’s spine knocking the top of the headboard as he curls backwards like a cat. As he settles once more, there’s an audible creak - not of the wooden bedframe, but of tendon against bone. Essek glances over again in time to catch a wince of pain in Caleb’s jaw, and his fingers pushing gingerly against the small of his back. Eventually, he flips on his stomach and resumes his reading.

“Are you alright? That sounded... unpleasant,” Essek says. Caleb doesn’t even look up from his book to reply.

“Sorry to bother you,” he says coolly, “I’ll try to keep it down.” A note of dry humour laces his voice, and as always, Essek’s heart lifts to hear it. They’ve gotten easier around each other, slowly but surely, and Caleb’s knife-sharp, often obscure wit is one of the greatest discoveries he’s made in the process.

Still, Essek’s concern isn’t assuaged. Caleb took a hard fall this evening - not so disastrous as to knock him out of the running, but ugly enough that Essek had ached in sympathy as Caleb picked himself up off the ice. If he isn’t bruised from calf to hip, which Essek quietly expects, he’s at least likely to have twisted something in his back from the awkward one-handed press he had to do, to get back on his feet in time for the next element.

“Did you stretch enough?” he asks. Caleb hums noncommittally, nose still pressed into his book, and Essek thinks back to the moments after Caleb’s routine finished. “I didn’t see Beau there this evening. Were resistance bands enough, or did someone else help you?” Again, there’s no answer except a grunt. Essek gets the sense he’s being purposefully ignored. “Caleb,” he says, more loudly. “Please tell me that you stretched.”

“Stop worrying,” Caleb says, flipping another page. “I did stretch.”

“Clearly not enough,” Essek chides, standing so he can better survey Caleb’s posture. Even prone on his stomach, he’s still favouring his right side. Not a good sign. “You need to take care of your body, or you’re going to injure yourself, permanently.”

Caleb shrugs. “I’m old, Essek - too old for this sport, according to most people. How much worse could it get?” A twinge of heat sparks in Essek’s stomach, something low but simmering to a boil, until his hands are clenched and his jaw clicks with the effort of not snapping.

“Worse,” he says, and at last, Caleb looks up. The rising frustration fades just as quickly as he clocks Caleb’s assessing gaze, and pivots to embarrassment at his own unguarded reaction.

They need to choose another subject, and soon is not quick enough.

“Just… will you let me help you? At least to work out the worst of it, before you fall asleep on that book and wake up with a cramp.”

Caleb’s eyes narrow. “You want to... help me stretch?”

Essek clucks his tongue at Caleb’s dubious tone. “I assure you, I’ve had many years of practice, and it’s always easier with a partner than with a band.”

Caleb’s gaze grows more distant, less like he’s looking at Essek, and more like he’s found a ghost at the edge of the room.

“...I know,” Caleb says, voice softer than before, but still, he doesn’t move from his place on the bed. Essek sits down on the other side, leaning closer, but not so close that his weight disturbs Caleb’s half of the sheets.

“Then let me help. It would set my mind at ease, at least.”

“Well,” says Caleb, with a small smile, still not quite meeting Essek’s eyes, “if it would set yours at ease… give me a few minutes.”

Caleb pushes himself up at last, closing the book while trailing a rather forlorn finger down its spine, as though saying a reluctant goodbye to an old friend. Then he walks to the hall between the two rooms of the suite, and begins jogging lightly in place.

Caleb’s warmup gives Essek plenty of time to consider his plan of action. He closely watches the muscles twist beneath Caleb’s long-sleeved tee and loose sweatpants, searching for a place to start. Pain in the lower back often stems from tightness of the hips, which is also one of the most difficult areas to stretch without help. Essek notices too that his shoulders still ride up to below his ears as he runs, creeping higher and higher with each footfall. That could use work, and maybe his obliques as well, if the side Caleb jarred today isn’t too bruised…

At last, Caleb finishes and returns, slightly more cherry-cheeked than before, but not huffing and puffing - just enough to get the muscles warm and limber.

“Show me what you usually do for cooldown,” Essek says, still seated on the bed, and Caleb launches into a series of standard stretches, ones that any skater has in their arsenal. Essek does notice the age difference between them as he watches, but not in a significant way. Caleb’s joints don’t bend with quite the same arc as they might have for a dancer ten years younger, but he’s still very flexible. His arabesque reaches past his head - though Essek notes a small tremor in the inside of his thigh as he holds the position, and there’s an unsteadiness there that concerns him. It could be hip tension, as he suspected before, but Essek worries-

But it’s one in a million chance, as it was for him. There’s no logical reason to believe the tremor is anything more than fatigue.

“That’s it,” Caleb says, rising back into a standing position after his final lunge. Essek presses his fingers to his lips, considering.

“Let’s start with your shoulders,” he suggests. “You have a good range of motion overall, but I’d like to loosen them up, the right one especially.”

He moves behind Caleb, bracing one hand on his left shoulder while placing a flat palm against the apple of the other, and begins to gently rock the joint in its socket.

It’s a position he’s quite accustomed to, having done the same for others on his team when he was far younger - back when he still had peers, rather than admirers. And yet, there’s something strangely more aware in coming back to the action as an adult. He feels the differences between his own body and Caleb’s keenly. Though Caleb is far from stocky - very few figure skaters are - the muscles beneath Essek’s hands are less lithe than his own. Broader, as though bred for a different purpose, and whittled down to their current lean shape. He wonders if Caleb grew up doing manual labour of some sort, a kind his body still remembers in form, if not in substance.

For the first few pushes it almost feels as though those muscles are getting tighter. Like Caleb is tensing, resisting the movement. Essek frowns.

“Breathe,” he instructs. Caleb, with effort, takes a deep breath, and the catching of the tendon finally releases with a soft click. The process goes much more smoothly after that, the joint sliding like butter in his palm by the end of the seventh rotation. He moves to the other side, and has no more issues.

As Essek steps away, Caleb swings his arms forward and back experimentally. “Better?”

“Much,” he says, smiling a surprised grin. “Thank you.” Essek nods.

“Of course.”

“Anything else?”

“Hips, I think, if that’s alright with you.”

He guides Caleb down to the floor and onto his back, and takes a position on his knees at his side. Though Caleb ordinarily has a few inches of height on him, from this position, he feels very high up. Caleb waits, motionless, as Essek hooks a hand under his knee and raises it up slowly, watching the microsmal twitches in Caleb’s expression for any sign of pain or discomfort as he pushes the leg up towards his chest. But Caleb’s eyes fall closed, and whatever resistance he had offered before, he lets Essek’s hands work now without any complaint, bodily or otherwise.

When he spies the first twinge in Caleb’s jaw, Essek slows his pace, but continues pressing, trusting his hands to feel when the resistance is too great. It’s a delicate balance; too little pressure, and the stretch does no good, but too much, and he risks injuring Caleb. He could strain muscles, even tear ligaments, if he’s not certain of how hard to push.

It requires a great deal of trust, he muses, to let someone do this for them. Since his days as a trainee, he has allowed few others to help him, unless they’ve proven themselves time and time again to understand the nuances of his own situation. Mirimm is one of the small number on that list, and his own mother, when she still had time for such things.

Who has Caleb - cautious, reserved Caleb - given such trust? He knows he’s seen Beau follow Caleb into the locker room at least once, so presumably her, but have there been others?

He presses one more inch. Caleb winces, but does not fight him. He remains perfectly still.

An awful, nauseating thought floats into Essek’s mind.

He lets the leg float gently down to the floor, bowing the knee out ever so slightly so that the joint has a chance to rotate, then removes his hands to his lap. Caleb cracks one eye open, looking up at Essek and raising an eyebrow, as if to say is something wrong?

Yes, Essek thinks, I’m afraid there might be.

“Caleb,” he says quietly. He does not want to ask this question. He must ask it. “Did… Did Ikithon ever-”

Both of Caleb’s eyes fly open.

“No,” Caleb says, the clipped syllable harsh, and it sounds believable, and Essek so wants to believe him. “Whatever you are thinking, no.”

Essek breathes out slowly. “Then this sort of thing-”

“I would not have done with him.” Caleb turns his head to the ceiling, staring up at the hospital-white plaster, and Essek is still very conscious of his height, so he leans back on his hands into an uncharacteristic slouch. “He was… he was not a hands-on sort of teacher, so to speak. He preferred to instruct, and trust the three of us to do as he asked.” Caleb falls silent for a moment. “With them, yes,” he says at last. “We did this sort of thing together, always.”

Astrid. Eodwulf. Names never to be forgotten, though Caleb has only spoken them aloud once. They are burned there, in Essek’s mind, along with every spare detail Caleb has told him of his past. He wishes, some nights, that he did not know. That he could exorcise the names from his memory, and the pain from Caleb’s as well. But at least the burden is shared between them now, and he has to believe that is better than the alternative.

Essek reaches out and pats Caleb’s ankle. “I’m sorry to bring it up,” he apologizes, and Caleb’s smile is acknowledging, and forgiving too. “Do you want to keep going?”

He’s gratified that Caleb seems to genuinely consider the question before answering. It gives him hope that he hasn’t, yet again, overstepped a line, one hidden beneath the layers of uncertainty between them he fears he’ll never fully unravel.

“I think so.” Caleb shifts his hips. “It was already feeling a little better.” He lifts his other leg, just slightly, and as Essek shifts around to take it in hand, he thinks again of trust. Of Caleb putting his body in his hands, believing he will treat it kindly, even when others have not. The warmth in his chest grows, and grows.

He presses down, and this time Caleb keeps his eyes open.

When Essek is satisfied that both hip flexors are as loose as they’re going to get without professional help, he asks Caleb to sit up, then kneels behind him. He leans his weight into the space between Caleb’s shoulder blades until Caleb bows, forehead touching his knees as he curls his arms beneath them. Already, Essek can see the difference in the fluidity of the movement from earlier, and he presses with his thumbs at various points of the lower back, pleased to discover that most of the tension there has been released. He guides Caleb back up, then prods at his upper back. The left side isn’t bad, but his right… Essek can barely go five inches without finding another knot.

This isn’t the result of a night or two of inadequate stretching after a competition. This is months, years worth of stress gnarled up beneath the skin and never adequately dealt with, if addressed at all. No wonder Caleb’s shoulders rise so high that the judges take off points for it. No wonder relaxing at all is a force of will. His body is wound so tightly that Essek barely needs to dig deeper than the surface to find the evidence.

“How long has it been since you’ve had a massage?” he asks, curious. Caleb’s incredulous little laugh ripples out beneath his palms.

“A very, very long time. That’s a kind of luxury I can’t usually afford.”

Essek wants to argue that it isn’t a luxury - that it is, in fact, essential to the proper functioning of a figure skater’s body. The benefits in terms of flexibility and mobility are incalculable. And yet, without sponsorships or other income, the calculation must be done.

How very far Caleb has managed to go, despite his lack of resources, continues to impress Essek, but scrappiness doesn’t equal a healthy body that will outlast the competitions to come.

“They have a spa here, downstairs,” Essek suggests. “It might be closed now, but I’m sure if I called the front desk-”

“No,” says Caleb, just as clipped, though his voice softens much more quickly than it did before. “Thank you. I don’t- it doesn’t appeal to me.”

“A massage?”

“The environment,” Caleb replies. “The table. All of it.” Essek doesn’t press for more details, sensing he’s hit upon another wall neither is eager to dismantle tonight. Caleb’s shoulders are already rising again beneath his hands. He smoothes them back down with his hands, not fully conscious of what he’s done until the motion is already complete.

“Would a bed be better?”

“What,” ask Caleb, glancing over at the bed, mere feet from where they currently sit on the carpet, “order up?” He chuckles again. “I think that you might have a harder time explaining that expense to your superiors than an extra plate of room service.”

“True.” It takes Essek far longer to offer the second suggestion, because even though he fully expects Caleb to refuse, he still has to work up the courage to speak it. “Or, I could try my hand?”

Caleb swivels, his face so close to Essek’s that his bangs tickle the tip of his nose. “...Oh?”

“I’m no professional, but I have some experience.” No need to explain more than that, about the hours spent frantically massaging his own legs in the bathroom, willing the cramps to release in time to make it onto the ice. He knows that he can coax a bitterly stubborn muscle into functioning, and Caleb’s would be far easier than his to manage.

And still, he’s nervous in the seconds after speaking - not for fear that he can’t do what he’s offered, but that Caleb will say no, and be upset or offended.

That he will say yes, and the place that leaves them.

“...Ok.”

Caleb stands, then turns back to Essek, who still kneels on the floor. His hands flutter nervously at the hemline of his shirt, first tugging up the fabric, and then letting it fall back down. “How do you- I’m not sure what the procedure is. What do you need me to do?”

Essek swallows, fighting down the lump of anxiety in his throat. He pushes himself to his feet, and tries hard to project his usual air of confidence, one he does not currently feel.

“It would be easiest if you took off your shirt - if you’re alright with that, of course. I have some oil in my bag.” He goes to fetch the bottle from the other room: massage is still an essential part of his travel regimine, and he keeps it with him at all times. By the time he returns to the bedroom, Caleb is still standing where he was before, but now barechested, clutching the discarded shirt in his hands. Essek pauses at the doorframe, momentarily caught off guard, then shakes himself and continues on.

“Lie on your front.” Caleb does, still watching Essek as he approaches from the corner of his eye, and the look in his eyes is apprehensive.

Essek can feel it too - the difference now. The tension in the air that wasn’t there before. What they did for the last fifteen minutes was accustomed. They’re both athletes, used to having their bodies maneuvered by others for very specific purposes. The practice of guided stretching, while still sensual in the more general sense, doesn’t carry the same implications for them as it might for those outside their world.

But as Essek sinks down onto the side of the bed, and as he ghosts his cool hand over Caleb’s skin and watches the goosebumps rise at his almost-touch… he realizes this is something different entirely, and that they’re both aware of it. Caleb turns his face into the mattress, out of embarrassment, maybe, Essek can’t quite tell, but he knows his own face is burning just as bright as the flush creeping down Caleb’s neck.

It’s intimate, to a degree that frightens Essek more than it excites him.

“A little closer,” he murmurs as he sets the bottle aside and warms a generous squeeze of oil between his palms. Caleb shuffles over far enough that their hips brush, and Essek leans forward and places his hands in the shallow plane between Caleb’s shoulders. The skin there is pale, and freckled, and he traces lines between the marks with his fingertips before running them down the length of Caleb’s spine with one smooth stroke.

Up and down, he moves his fingers through the hollow places of Caleb’s back lightly, not pressing yet. For now, his only aim is to warm the oil further, and to make sure Caleb is comfortable and relaxed. And that when he finally leans over and begins the massage in earnest, his heart will have calmed sufficiently that Caleb won’t be able to hear it beating through his skin.

It’s not as if they’ve never touched before. This is not their first kiss, nor even their first fumble in the dark. But it had been dark, those times. Here, in the dim glow of the lamps over each nightstand - here, in a hotel room only they share, with trays of food set aside and Caleb’s toothbrush by the bathroom sink - here, where he can’t pretend the depths of his feelings aren’t evident to anyone who would dare look - he can’t see Caleb’s face, but he can see his own hands, and what they’re doing, and how much he wants to keep doing it.

He wants this. He wants Caleb under his hands, breathing out slowly as Essek’s fingers find the hidden spots within him where pain festers, and begin to work in slow circles, drawing out gasps of discomfort as Essek presses deeper, and deeper, and deeper still. Caleb arches his back and he runs his other hand down his shoulder, comforting him in a way Essek wasn’t taught, but what he learned to do for himself, when his own agony became too great to bear. A muscle shudders beneath his knuckle, spasming involuntarily, and he watches chills run down the nape of Caleb’s neck: raised goosepimples of referred pain. He knows that sensation well. If one part aches, the whole of the body is affected. You might never be able to name the true source of the pain.

At last, the first knot loosens, and Essek eases off. Caleb visibly melts into the mattress as the pressure releases. “My apologies,” Essek whispers, and even so, his voice sounds too loud for the intimate space they’ve created in this room. “I’ll try to be gentler on the next one.”

“It’s alright,” mumbles Caleb. “I can take it.”

They’re not unaccustomed to pushing through pain, the two of them. One cannot be a figure skater and not learn how. One cannot have lived through what they have lived through, and not be an expert in the subject.

“Alright,” Essek says, “I’m starting again.”

He goes over each half of Caleb’s back in quadrants, feeling for the places where the muscles draw together and kneading the tension out. Each time, Caleb tenses, but as soon as the knot releases, his bones become looser, his body sinking deeper and deeper into the bed and his breath coming in slower intervals, and though at first every wince was followed by screwed-tight eyes and clenched fists, by the time Essek finds the last problem spot, his expression has slackened to something almost dreamlike.

“Caleb,” Essek murmurs. “Are you awake?”

“Mm,” Caleb hums. “Yes.” His voice is lower than Essek has ever heard it before.

“Shall I continue?”

Caleb hums again. “I wouldn’t complain.”

Essek smiles at that, adding a little more oil to his palms and returning to his earlier broad strokes. Caleb’s shoulder blades shift more freely under his hands now, the muscles relaxed and uninhibited. He raises the arm that lies closest to the bed’s edge experimentally, testing the range of motion and watching the way the shoulder glides easily in its socket. Encouraged by a tap on his side, Caleb shuffles a little more towards the bed’s edge, and Essek slides off it. He pulls Caleb’s wrist out until the ligaments are stretched to their fullest extent, then lays the arm back in place at his side. Ideally, he’d want to do the same for the other arm, but Caleb looks so peaceful now, half-asleep in the sheets, that Essek is reluctant to force him to reposition.

He’s not unaware of the scars exposed by their current situation, and no more so than in this moment, as he gazes down at the roughened brown and white patches in the space between wrist and elbow. He’s glimpsed them before, and he knows part of their story, can even guess at the rest. But not tonight. Not here. This isn’t the time for more questions. He doesn’t need to know more than that Caleb is with him, and that he trusts Essek enough to do this, despite his history.

Essek has caused his own share of hurt. He has done selfish things, with no other purpose than to advance his own career. He has been cruel, and uncaring, in order to achieve all he has in his life. But Caleb trusts him, and that is enough to make him desperate to live up to his expectations, unrealistic as they may be.

When he’s satisfied with the rest of the back, only the neck remains. Caleb’s hair is still pulled into the remnants of his elaborate show ponytail, but as usual, bits have begun to fall out. Essek sweeps aside what strands have caught in the oil, caught off guard by how soft it remains. Most skaters with hair as long as Caleb’s cake their hair in hairspray before competition, to prevent loose ends and flyaways. Even Essek’s hair, so carefully gelled at the beginning of the day, would likely crunch like fresh snow under another’s hands. But Caleb’s hair is loose, and just slightly curled at the ends, and for a moment, Essek’s mind flashes with a vision of pulling the tie fully free. Of running his fingernails against Caleb’s scalp, of feeling those auburn flames pour between his fingers, of leaning down and pressing his lips to the place below the ear where hair and skin meet and breathing deep of hotel soap and his own shampoo and Caleb-

He startles out of the daydream with a small hitch of breath. This is not what this is about, he reminds himself sternly. Essek panting after him like a schoolboy is not what Caleb needs. He may ache to try all things new and unexplored, all the things he never thought he would have the chance to experience, but he is, as always, in control of himself. He has to be, or it will all go wrong. In what way, he does not know; the things he fears are undefinable, but that does not make them less of a yoke around his neck.

Essek runs the pads of his thumbs along the spot where he’d just been imagining his own lips pressing, smoothing out a path to Caleb’s shoulders. He takes care not to let his other fingers encircle Caleb’s throat, and so they bat like moths around the empty air, without a place to land. Caleb arches up again, but this time the noise is pleased, rather than pained. Essek shifts his hips, reminding himself again that this is not the situation they’re in. That he cannot read too much into the sound. That he should never assume what Caleb has not explicitly agreed to.

There isn’t a part of the back before Essek left untouched by oil, though the lower parts are drying, leaving the skin tacky but still warm from friction. Essek does one last assessing stroke with the flat of his hands, and finds nothing remaining to fix. He sits back, and considers what to do next.

With Caleb on his stomach, there has been a safe screen of separation between the two until this point. Essek did not need to work hard to hide any reaction of his to the experience, other than in his voice. But there are still muscles on the front of Caleb’s shoulders to work, and an incomplete massage can be worse than no massage at all. He doesn’t want to leave anything tight enough to pull his back muscles out of alignment again.

But then Caleb may see him, and know.

Know what, again, he cannot say.

It takes a few taps on the shoulder to rouse Caleb from his comfortable state, and even then his words are slurred with pleasant doziness. “Do you need me to move?” he mumbles, before pressing his face back into the mattress.

“I’d like to finish your shoulders from the front, if that’s alright.” Caleb murmurs his assent, but makes no attempt to move from his current position. “You’ll… need to roll over. For me to continue.”

Caleb grumbles good-naturedly, but does manage to turn himself over, immediately flinging one hand over his eyes to block out the - thankfully, dim - light. Essek starts to reach for his wrist, meaning to maneuver it back down on the sheets, but after a moment of thinking, he instead reaches over and grabs a pillow from the other side of the bed. Essek tugs the pillowcase off and tosses the pillow itself to the floor, then folds the fabric neatly into a band, which he lays over Caleb’s eyes.

“Thank you,” Caleb murmurs, and another thrill goes through Essek’s body. He can see Caleb’s mouth moving now when he speaks, his lips that are slightly parted, soft and unconcerned as he breathes in and out, as his chest rises and falls with the same rhythm. Essek has never dared to look so long.

He chides himself again. Caleb is blind in his current state, and any unnecessary stares on Essek’s part are as good as leering in this context. This feeling, of towering over someone… it isn’t something to enjoy. He’s always relished the feeling of control, of being above the rest. But with Caleb, Essek is an equal, and so when he offers him control, Essek cannot take pride in having earned it. He can only fear betraying the trust he’s been given.

Essek starts again on the massage, letting the discomfort flow out of himself and into the motion of his hands. With every breath Caleb takes, his collarbone rises to meet Essek’s palms, and he bites the inside of his lip, and keeps his own breath steady, and his eyes focused on the task at hand. His body is a distraction, but one he is proficient at ignoring.

The front takes far less time than the back. Caleb is so loose by now that his muscles want to follow Essek’s lead, and do so without complaint. The only stir Caleb gives is when Essek’s hands stray too close to his windpipe, but even then it’s more a twitch than a flinch, and Caleb settles back down immediately into his previous boneless state once the fingers retreat.

Essek has kept his eyes in line until this point, but in a moment of weakness, he lets them wander down the expanse of Caleb’s chest - slim, but defined muscles, skin waxed smooth save for the trail of hair that runs past his navel, and there, yes - a bruise along his side, as ugly as Essek expected, but already beginning to yellow at the edges. He carefully avoids it as he runs his hands down Caleb’s sides, drawing trails of oil like paint strokes all the way to his hips, just shy of the band of his sweatpants. Caleb shivers, and that’s when Essek notices, though he tried so carefully not to put himself in the position to.

Caleb is hard. The bulge isn’t obscene, but noticeable, and impossible to ignore, once Essek makes the realization. His mouth goes dry, hands stuttering to a stop halfway back to Caleb’s shoulders.

Of course, he knew it was a possibility, that Caleb might be affected in the same way… touch is a powerful thing, even absent of desire, and he knows that Caleb does desire him, at least under some circumstances…

“Are we finished?” Caleb asks without moving his head, sounding regretful, but not displeased.

He must be aware of it. How could he not be, of his own state? But he hasn’t said anything. Hasn’t made any effort to hide it, or to call Essek’s attention to it, as though he’s simply unbothered whether Essek knows or not.

What courage that must be - to accept that others see you, without any shame.

He… he wants to find that courage as well.

Essek reaches up with one hand and removes the folded pillowcase from Caleb’s forehead. Bleary blue eyes squint up at him, half lidded against the light. The other hand, he moves to the sharp bone of Caleb’s hip, fingertips just skimming the edge of the bruise, and then the place where Caleb’s waistband pulls away from his skin. He waits until he’s sure Caleb is looking at him before he speaks.

“Do you want me to go lower?”

He brushes his fingertips again at Caleb’s waistband, so that his meaning is clear. And even still, he hesitates to do it, unsure he’ll be able to go through with the offer, regardless of Caleb’s reply.

He is still so uncertain, about so many things.

“...I wouldn’t complain,” Caleb says, echoing his previous words with a wry smile. It’s that smile, that humour, that utter expression of ease... he only realizes in hindsight, that that was the only thing that would have convinced him to move forward. The only way he would have been alright with it.

“A word, and I will stop.”

“I know.” Caleb’s eyes have already begun to drift closed again, but they open once more when Essek taps him on the shoulder.

“And still, I’ll say it again. A word.”

Caleb’s humoured smile shifts to something softer, almost fond, and he lifts one hand to cover Essek’s and pats it gently.

“I know my limits. You can trust me to say how much is too much. Right now, I am happy for more.”

“...Then I’m happy to give it.”

Moving to Caleb’s other side so he can recline on the bed as well rather than perch at the edge of it, Essek gathers what oil hasn’t yet dried on Caleb’s skin in one hand and reaches down past the waistband, fingers grazing through a thicket of coarse hair before settling on heated flesh. Essek draws Caleb out, grateful that his eyes are closed, so he can’t see the full extent of Essek’s embarrassment. His experiences prior to Caleb had been… limited - which is to say, non-existent - and even if this is not the first thing they’ve done together, he still finds himself impossibly shy, when it comes to it. For lack of anything else to concentrate on, he returns again to Caleb’s hair, leaning forward on one elbow to touch the tresses spooled across the pillow, as his other hand begins to move up and down.

Some of the curled tips are still damp with oil, but most of it is dry, and fans out in a beautiful array of red and copper highlights. He follows their path to the crown of Caleb’s head, where his bangs are swept to one side, not hanging over his eyes. Though his other hand is on Caleb, he’s still seized with the impossible, unfullfillable urge to touch. To be closer than they are, closer than they could ever possibly be. He threads his fingers into the hair around Caleb’s forehead, dragging his nails gently against the scalp, and Caleb tilts his head back into Essek’s hand.

Caleb’s lips part, but his breathing isn’t ragged or hurried. It’s still slow and relaxed, if a little heavier than before. His eyes are closed, but not held shut tight. His shoulders stay where they are, content to remain immovable after Essek’s ministrations, and his mouth still holds a little smile at the edges, and his face, a softness, like what Essek is doing is just another part of the massage.

The atmosphere isn’t even particularly erotic, Essek realizes, and realizes too that the lack of gravity in Caleb’s response is settling his own nerves. There are no shouts of ecstacy or scrambling hands, no open mouthed devouring kisses, or desperation, or even lust. Just… comfort. Just pleasure, without expectation of rapturous release. Just being together, in this way, because they want to be. Because it feels good to be.

Caleb’s shoulders only begin to tense near the end, and even then it’s easy to coax them back down, so that when the final moment comes it’s with a long, slow exhale, and a body more relaxed than before. Essek’s right hand stills, but his left keeps on stroking Caleb’s hair, until at last Caleb’s eyes open.

“I’m very tired,” is the first thing he says.

“I can tell,” Essek replies fondly, then lowers himself down to the mattress, so that they’re at eye level when Caleb turns his head to him.

“That was wonderful.” Caleb smirks. “You have been holding back your skills from me. What else are you hiding, I wonder.” Essek chuckles softly, and Caleb nudges forward and presses a tender kiss to his mouth. “I should treat you as well, hm?”

Caleb turns his body to Essek, reaching down between them to tease at the drawstring of Essek’s leggings before hooking his fingers into the waistband and beginning to slide them over-

Essek jerks to the side, catching Caleb’s hand before it can go any father.

The lights. The lights are still on, and Caleb will see-

“Essek?” Caleb asks, eyes confused.

“You should relax. You said you were tired,” Essek says, and Caleb shakes his head, and begins to move his hand again.

“I’m happy to-”

“Don’t.”

Caleb stops this time for good, and Essek sits up quickly, pulling at his waistband to make sure not a single inch of skin is showing.

“Essek-”

“I trusted you to know your limits. Trust me to know my own.”

There’s nothing but silence for as long as Essek can bear to look away, and when he finally turns to look at Caleb once more, he expects to find frustration in his eyes, or annoyance at Essek for having soured the mood.

Instead, Caleb’s expression is one of quiet understanding.

“Of course,” he says, and sits up too, so they’re at eye level again.

He wants to apologize, but can’t bring himself to, so he sits there, staring at the floor and saying nothing.

At last, Caleb gets off the bed.

“I should shower again, get cleaned off.”

Essek nods, eyes still on the carpet, until his vision fills with the sight of a kneeling Caleb, his face impossibly close.

“Thank you,” he says, “for telling me.” Caleb cups his chin and leans forward, kissing Essek gently on the cheek. The ice in his bloodstream begins to thaw, in slow waves. “Take some time for yourself. I’ll come to bed soon.”

Then he’s gone, and Essek stares off at the light from under the bathroom door for a good few minutes before folding over onto the mattress. The heat of Caleb’s body hasn’t yet faded, and Essek curls into the warm spot where he lay, and pulls the sheets over his shoulders.

He lets the tactile comforts that remain - the smell of oil, the warmth of the blankets, the sound of running water - seep into every part of him, and waits for Caleb to return.

[meseob]

Book vs Show Arya

So we all know that the portrayal of Arya has not been very faithful to the source material but it amazes me again and again how much they actually not only drasticly changed her character but also the treatment of other people towards her.

The very first scene in the show we get of Arya is her at needlework giving Sansa jealous looks as Sansa is praised for her work which is not inaccurate but the issue is that it is all we get. We don’t get any context behind it and it makes her just look resentful towards her sister for no reason.

This part in the books actually tells us a lot about her character. It shows us that she is trying when it comes to ladylike activities and her being frustrated when she fails. “Arya’s stichtes were crooked again.” “She studied her own work again, looking for some way to salvage it, then sighed and put down the needle.”  While in the show it looks like she just straight out rejects being a lady, doesn’t even try and thinks it’s stupid.

It also shows us that she has a inferiority complex especially towards her sister as Sansa is exquisite at needlework and many other things and does everything prettily while Arya is said to have the hands of a blacksmith which is why she gives Sansa glum looks. “It hurt that the one thing Arya could do better than her sister was ride a horse.”

Furthermore we learn about her insecurities which is something that defines her character like not considering herself pretty as she is called Arya horseface and then there is this quote “The wolf pup loved her, even if no one else did.” which says a lot. In the show basically none of this is existent. Show Arya is not insecure about her looks and about being loved. She is not being bullied for her looks and made fun of which brings me back to my point about how the show changed or toned down some characters treatment towards her, one example being Sansa. “Sansa was too well bred to smile at her sister’s disgrace, but Jeyne was smirking in her behalf.”

After that short scene we see Arya using a bow hitting the bullseye and then running away from Bran while Ned and Cat watch them and laugh. Which is another case of changing how characters treat Arya. Book Cat wouldn’t just laugh and let Arya do her thing when she is supposed to have her lessons. This makes it look like Arya is just pretty much free to do what she wants and never faces any consequences for her unpropper behaviour which isn’t the case. “Septa Mordane will surely be lurking. The longer you hide, the sterner the penance.” and  “It was worse than Jon had thought. It wasn’t Septa Mordane waiting in her room. It was Septa Mordane and her mother.” It takes away from the pressure she faces of how she is supposed to behave and act as a highborn lady which we never really see show Arya struggle with.

Then we have the scene where the Starks wait for the Kings arrival and we have Arya pushing Bran telling him to move in a rude way which is so unnecessary when Arya and Bran actually have a good relationship with each other and it makes her look like a mean brat.

Continuing with the feast we have Arya throwing food at her sisters face for no reason and we even hear Sansa say “She always does this.” While in the books we do have one instance where Arya throws a blood orange in Sansas face :

“It’s not the same,” Sansa said (...) Your butcher’s boy attacked the prince.” 

“Liar,” Arya said. Her hand clenched the blood orange so hard that red juice oozed between her fingers.

“Go Ahead, call me all the names you want," Sansa said airily. "You won't dare when I'm married to Joffrey. You'll have to bow and call me Your Grace." She shrieked as Arya flung the orange across the table. It caught her in the middle of the forehead with a wet squish and plopped down into her lap.”

Sansa seeing how her dress is ruined then calls Arya horrible and says that she should have been killed instead of Lady.

Arya is clearly upset that Sansa is lying about Mycah and throws the blood orange in anger not just for fun as the show suggest. Scenes like this and the show toning down Sansas bad treatment towards Arya makes it kind of look like as if Arya is the aggressor in their tumultuous relationship when in the books it’s pretty much the opposite especially seeing how book Arya is the one extending an olive branch to her sister apologizing and offering to make her a new dress to which Sansa mocks her in return.

“Then I’ll…make you a new one.” Arya said.

Sansa threw her head back in disdain. “You? You couldn’t sew a dress fit to clean the pigsties.”

This is only 2 episodes into the show and you already have such a different version of Arya as the show is not including any of her self worth issues and the constant criticism/mocking she faces but rather portrays her as cocky and confident which book Arya is not.

[graceydaly]

                                                                 [ grace ] 0000. I. POST-PURGE. T / PROMOTION.

It shouldn’t be a big deal. She knows this, deep down, beneath layers of frustration and anger and agitation and impatience and something which is probably not dissimilar to the hurt that comes from disappointment but also definitely isn’t that because Grace Daly has learnt better than to put her hopes in anyone other than herself. Someone more level headed would probably tell her that she just needs to wait -- that the people who did get promotions, cracking up through the destruction of La Purga like poppies in a field of war, deserved it just as much, if not more, than she did. Except Grace isn’t level-headed. Her jaw is tight and eyes are fixed as she flicks a butterfly knife over her fingers, metal ends clinking together, weight shifting in perfect balance with momentum.

The thing is, she probably hasn’t done enough to warrant being rewarded with a promotion.

Except, from what she’s gathered, Celia has never taken a single shot at their rival Capofamilia. She’s not even sure what her fellow soldier had achieved during the twenty-four hours of chaos and violence, but the fact that she doesn’t know speaks volumes. Clearly it wasn’t worth bragging about. And now she is left to suffer through Henry’s tediously not-to-the-point talks alone wondering whether the number of syllables in the words he uses is some sort of compensation for something that is far shorter and a lot less of a mouthful.

Maybe it’s because she hasn’t been a Montague for long enough. She pauses, the butterfly knife changing direction.

Except, that excuse also falls flat on its face in light of Calina’s promotion. The Russian has been in Verona for a mere heartbeat in comparison to her own lifetime in their fair city, yet it’s the newcomer, the underdog, who gets to raise her chin and strut proudly to her new office, proving that biding her time and being patient really wasn’t worth doing when people could practically stride in off the plane and snap these things up.

Perhaps it was because Calina had Faron to back her and whisper in Damiano’s direction.

Except, Grace has tried her fucking hardest to play nicely with men like him. She’s done as he asks, despite him having absolutely no authority over her, just to get into his good books. She’s listened to Henry, even though she notoriously struggles with being cut down by other people’s unnecessary judgement ( and if Orion hadn’t been capable of handling her towards the end, darling dearest Henry had no hope ). She’s even plastered on a grin whenever Damiano passes her in the hallways and flicks a brief glance towards the top of her head.

“Fuck.” The butterfly knife slices into the side of her palm, her grip lost. The bloodied blade clatters to the floor and she presses her mouth to the cut, the tang of iron tart on her tongue.

She doesn’t like failure.

She doesn’t like not getting what she wants. What she feels she deserves.

She doesn’t like aiding a mob that intends to treat her as if she’s their hunting hound, bred for simple tasks and set loose whenever they want someone’s jugular to be ripped out by snarling teeth. The Capulets had done that and now their Capofamilia is lacking in the use of a shoulder. If the Montagues wanted to make that same mistake, so be it. But, regardless of who gets caught in her crosshair, next time she wouldn’t miss.

[fourteen--steps]

On big goldfish, and listening to each other

I apologize if the tone of this post is maybe a little more snippy than my usual ones. I’m usually very thoughtful with my words but I’ve had an incredibly rough physical and emotional week and I’m running low on spoons to devote to thinking things through properly. My frustration’s gonna bleed through here but I don’t want anyone to take it personal cause it’s really more me than you.

That said. 

Remember that whole trend a while ago of “don’t give advice on animals you haven’t kept or deeply researched?” What ever happened to that? What ever happened to respecting the expertise and hearing out the opinions of people who actually have it in that field vs demanding you’re right because you’ve read some care sheets and seen some photos of worst case scenarios?

My whole life and world has been immersed in goldfish for the last several years. Keeping multiple breeds of both single tail and fancy, reading, researching, joining everything from casual hobbyist groups to those of serious breeders and highly respected names. I’ve moderated, built, and eventually owned my own care forum. I’ve spent hours reading vet manuals and scientific articles, as well as conducting necropsies on every animal I lose to better understand their inner workings and what’s gone wrong. I had the wonderful experience last summer of raising a small batch of someone else’s fry. I’ve experimented with all different kinds of food and filtration and maintenance and decor and enrichment.

I don’t know everything, nobody can. I’m not perfect, nobody is. But I can say with confidence I know a lot about the care and keeping of goldfish overall, and that my information is overall very solid and thought out. 

So when someone comes in my inbox and asks my opinion on something goldfish related, my answer comes with all that experience and thought behind it. I often include caveats in my answers when I’m not 100% sure, or if I believe there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. I’m not so bigheaded as to believe that my way is absolutely always right and will work for every situation and every fish. But I answer in earnest and with confidence and reasoning. 

But then my posts get immediately doused with comments from people who to the best of my knowledge have little to no experience with the species. The ones who do have experience tend to be polite in their responses, if not a bit misguided, although even then their knowledge tends to bottom out at keeping some orandas in a 40B or having tended a garden pond. Often the other comments are far more cursory and involve varying amounts of dismissal of my opinion entirely, insults, condescension, and most frustratingly, wild misinformation (much of which I’ve only heard echoed back and forth within the microcosm of tumblr, and never from a reputable outside source)

Like I’ve read a fair amount about bettas now both on here and elsewhere just cause they’re such popular fish and I’m a nerd and I’m curious. But I’ve never kept one, and I’m not an expert, and I’d never go be snappy on the advice post of someone who I know has a lot more practical and academic knowledge with them than I do? At the very least I could politely ask a question or voice a dissenting opinion with some of my reasoning, possibly acknowledging the deficits in my experience, but diving straight in with the vitriol just baffles me. 

It’s come to my attention people are vagueing about me now and that’s just? So fucking childish and unnecessary. I’m also being accused of having stunted fish based on, among other things, the old eye proportion criteria, but btw that image of the ranchu that circulates as an example? Is heavily photoshopped and not a reliable catchall method to determine stunting.

For those who didn’t believe Zoom is as big as I said, I took this picture today. He’s not the most personable of my fish so he wouldn’t let me get him against a measuring tape but I measured my hand like that at about 4 inches, then pasted those identical bars on him (swear the blue bar is the same I just recolored so it’d stand out, not sure why it looks a little longer than the red). He’s just under 8 inches, nose to peduncle. Maybe even a tad longer cause he always curls a little when I flip him on his side (also why his side looks a little sunken here, he was getting ready to snap back and splash me in the face :P). When measuring goldfish you don’t include fins, by standard. If you wanna tack on the extra inch or so of tail go ahead and call him 9″

I also weighed him, he’s 109 grams which is a tad less than I’d like but I’ve been having issues with one fish in the tank needing a specialized diet so they’ve all been getting a little less protein than usual lately. The fish with the diet issue is probably going to be going back to @finefeatheredfish​ soon and I can pick up with weekly Worm Nights as usual again. His body condition is still good though rounded from above without being bloated, muscular rather than fatty, with a nice smooth taper head to tail and a bit of a belly. He’s not a very tall fish, but that’s more cause he’s a badly bred feeder fish who doesn’t fit the perfect common genetic standard than anything. Height isn’t about health, that’s a genetic characteristic that some fish just won’t achieve. In fact many tall “humpy” commons are not actually properly tall, but have large fat deposits along the tops of their bodies particularly built up behind the head which are an indicator of poor diet and overfeeding. 

In fact if you want, here’s the US hibuna show standard! Take a look!

What about the eye thing? It’s huge compared to his head right? Well here’s a shubunkin posted by Gary Hater, currently one of the most well respected breeders in the US hobby, both for his fish quality and welfare standards. Who incidentally keeps most of his in aquariums and states that they normally reach 6-8″ indoors. This fish was from his “giants” tank, one of which he said was roughly 10 inches. This one in the video looked a little smaller than aforementioned Big Boy so I figure it’s around 8″ or so, like Zoom. and hey, look at that big googly eye! Almost like eye size can vary naturally in healthy goldfish and isn’t necessarily a sign of stunting without other important factors that are often much more subtle and far less textbook!

The last think I want to bring up, is that this whole “goldfish are ALL large” and by extension “NEED to be large” to be “right” worries me for another reason. I’m concerned there’s a mounting pressure that goldfish should be reaching these enormous sizes that they aren’t meant to, in far too short of a time. Many of the fish that do reach these sizes in captivity, yes even the ones in ponds, reach them due to powerfeeding. Intentional or not, these fish are put on high protein, high filler, sometimes high fat diets, and often fed a lot of it. Outdoor fish also gorge themselves on algae, insects, worms, snails, aquatic plants, sometimes other small fish, anything they can get their greedy little mitts on. Then their owner will dump in a large cup of cheap high protein pond conditioning food and they scarf that down too. 

For aquarium fish, a nervous newbie keeper may see their young fish isn’t growing to the size they believe it’s supposed to and get a bigger tank, start feeding extra bloodworms, more meaty pellets, maybe turn the heater up a degree or two to boost their metabolism. They balance it out with lots of veggies so they think it’s okay, they just want their fish to be healthy and catch up to where it’s “supposed” to be! This leads to rapid and impressive growth, yes, but it comes with dangerous and potentially deadly consequences. 

Some of you may remember Queenie. She was the largest goldfish I’ve ever personally encountered, 10-11 inches and fat fat with it. Her original owner surrendered her to our LFS and @finefeatheredfish​ immediately bought her with the plan that she’d move into my 150 when it was set up. She was healthy at the time, some kind of long bodied fancy mix and drop dead gorgeous, though she needed to drop some weight for sure. Too young to be that massive and visibly overweight. She was unquestionably a powerfed pond fish.

Cw for euthanasia mention, pet death, graphic descriptions, next 3 paragraphs

But about a month into her QT she began getting sick, infection-like symptoms but antibiotics didn’t do anything. We worked on her another month, did our best to save her. We probably should have euthanized her earlier in hindsight but we wanted so bad to get her through and give her a happy home. She was just so amazing you know? I took her for the last week of her life to try some last ditch treatment, she died about 3 days after this photo was taken. 

I did a necropsy on her afterwards. Her vital organs were layered in fat. There was so much of it around her swim bladder that I thought it was another organ at first and got confused. I’m shocked it was still functional. Her liver was unidentifiable mush, suggesting chronic disease, and her gallbladder had simply exploded and spilled bile all over the surrounding tissue. Her body cavity was full of blood and fluid. The cause of death appeared to be the rupture of her gallbladder or liver and the tearing of some important vessel in that area, she bled out internally. 

The chronic liver and gallbladder disease were entirely untreatable for home aquarists. What we thought was infectious dropsy was full on liver failure, she couldn’t balance the fluid and electrolytes in her body anymore which caused the swelling. Likely even if we had taken her to the vet there would have been little they could do. You can’t really remove a fish’s inflamed gallbladder, or transplant in a new liver to replace a failing one. Those conditions are linked to obesity in many species, and I have no doubt that Queen’s diet and obesity were the cause of the chronic conditions that lead to her slow death.

She was powerfed because someone wanted a large, impressive fish, and it killed her. She deserved so much better than that. 

CW over

Powerfeeding and its results are not always that extreme, and I can go into more on the other risks and issues if anyone is interested, but this is long enough already. I wanted to include Queenie as a cautionary tale, and because I’m still so sad she never got to meet the rest of my little school. She was such a sweetheart.

I have a genuine concern with this normalization of 12-14″+ fish as average, that people are going to start pushing their pets to meet that. Most goldfish are not genetically capable of that growth. I’d go so far as to say most goldfish should not reach that size, at least not in any appreciably quick period of time. 

Feed your fish well. Keep their water clean. Give them room to swim. They will grow on their own time, to their own size. 

And lastly. I’m open to talking about this stuff, really. I love to learn new things and hear new sides. Just please, be friendly and mature and let’s have a real conversation? We can disagree politely. It doesn’t have to be black and white, mortal enemies, I know fishblr’s environment these days isn’t very conducive to that, and that’s part of why I’d left a few weeks ago. But I’m trying to give it another chance cause this community used to be really welcoming and wonderful. I’d really love for us to be able to step away from all this polarizing distrust and be open and considerate again.

My responses may be spotty because of the terrible week I mentioned at the beginning of this post but I’ll try and check back.

[foxofthedesert]

RQ OUaT FF | OGA: 2

Chapter 2 - Tension Rising

After departing the council chamber, Regina heads straight for the office of Misthaven's Supreme Military Commander. Mulan has been serving in that capacity, and the adjacent role of Chief Adviser to the Crown, for just over nineteen months. Most of her deployment to date has been spent in the field whipping the army into a shape that satisfactorily approaches her exacting Eastern standards. It is only recently that Mulan felt confident enough in the officers she personally retrained to delegate the vital task of maintaining an acceptable level of discipline throughout the various branches of the military. This means she is finally able to attend to other duties that were being neglected in the meantime, such as the copious amounts of paperwork incumbent upon the occupant of her current position. She also conducts daily debriefings with Regina or Red or both, and is expected to attend court with them as often as she is able. Needless to say, Mulan is a busy woman, which is just the way she likes it.

Taken as a whole, Mulan's appointment is one of the best decisions Regina has made in recent memory. It was also one of the most highly controversial. Elevating a foreigner, whose service to the realm was a fairly recent development, to the ultimate military post in the land was a calculated risk. Unsurprisingly there was a great deal of backlash. The nobles were especially aggrieved, as their ranks traditionally supplied the position regardless of the applicant's military service or lack thereof.

If people are generally resistant to change and highly xenophobic in nature, amongst the nobility those moral deficiencies are greatly exaggerated. Any and all interlopers are regarded as a threat and handled accordingly with suspicion bordering on paranoia that often gradually develops into tactical subversion, overt and otherwise. By contrast, those whose origins are not anchored to blood and soil are immediately besieged by every available weapon in their impressive arsenals with which to discredit the newcomer. For instance, as it was, crowning Red made waves that have yet to completely dissipate five years on; but had Red not been native to Misthaven, chances are the glancing threats leveled by the Council of Nobles would have been explicit broadsides. In that case, the choices available to Regina would have been to either voluntarily surrender the throne, give up Red, or refuse to do either and potentially plunge the country into a bloody conflict from which recovery would take decades. That is how rigid and insular the nobility is.

Imagine, then, a woman born in a land thousands of miles away, of which ninety-five percent of the born and bred aristocrats have never even heard, being entrusted with power second only to the ruling monarchs. Not only did Mulan command the might of the realm's armies, but she also oversaw the vast spy apparatus Regina had painstakingly constructed over more than a decade. It came as no surprise that upon announcing the replacement for the recently retired General Dru the entire council erupted into a frenzy of disbelieving shouts and vociferous condemnations. Had Regina not made plain her vehement displeasure at their disrespectful behavior, they might still be squawking to this day.

Of course, their falling into line quickly under the force of her will while inside the council chambers did not extend to the outside. In short order, many reneged on their acquiescence and proceeded to make Mulan's job as difficult as possible. Liars, the whole rotten lot of them.

No prior Commanding General has endured as much antagonism from the noble houses as Mulan. The first several months of her service were constantly frustrated by Lords or Ladies randomly wielding their titles to force allowance of spot troop inspections or to tie her up in mountains of completely unnecessary formalities or traditions they insisted to be the opposite. Several recalled locally mustered regiments from key strategic deployments out of bald spite. All sneered down their noses at her during public functions and ridiculed her at ever opportunity. Regina watched all of this without intervening, which required much restraint considering her considerable outrage. The guiding principle behind her inaction was a keen desire to avoid the appearance of subverting Mulan's newly conferred authority, and furthermore she wished to avert any implication of there being even a minuscule hint of mistrust between them. Regrettably she would come to regret staying her hand when these unending nuisances eventually culminated in a proper disaster.

That first winter of Mulan's service saw record lows in temperature and highs in snowfall accumulation over much of the country. While she was out on extended patrol with a company of footmen, a particularly brutal storm blew in from nowhere, catching them all out in the open. As misfortune would have it, the patrol was slogging through lands belonging to an obstinate Lord who was the leading voice of opposition to Mulan's promotion. The coward chose that most dire moment to express his discontent by denying her request for emergency quarter, and then went so far as to threaten to sic his personal force upon her tiny outfit should she refuse to comply. The purpose of the patrol was supposed to be observation so that any holes in training could be corrected. Instead, turned away from safety and shelter, the company spent a frigid evening constructing ramshackle shelters out of any available material. Mulan then passed the entire night without sleep tending to her suffering soldiers and fighting to keep the fires going against the driving snow. By morning, a third of the company had frostbite – including Mulan, who thankfully did not lose any fingers and toes unlike many of her soldiers – and another third came down with respiratory illnesses, the worst cases of which developed into full blown pneumonia. Three died of exposure during the night and an additional five of ensuing disease.

When Regina learned of this travesty, she flew into an ungodly rage. After assembling every dissenting noble upon the palace courtyard, including the perpetrator, she called the offending Lord forward and executed him on the spot. To drive the point home, she used the bastard's own sword to lop his head off, then wiped it clean upon the twitching corpse's clothes before presenting it to his closest friend and clandestine lover. It wasn't the first time Red watched her kill someone, but it was the first she had done so in a fit of unbridled wrath. And while she never wants to see her wife look at her so fearfully again, she does not regret her actions. That was the end of the nobles' resistance to Mulan. It also served as the occasionally necessary reminder to the uppity patricians that while they have some authority within the realm, they were also her subjects.

Fortunately, the results that have rolled in since speak for themselves. When Mulan has yet to lose a battle and worked undeniable wonders with the army, neither her exotic ancestry nor her deep aversion to court politics can be used against her as a smear. Slowly but surely, she is winning over hearts and minds with her quiet demeanor, sharp tactical and strategic acumen, no nonsense leadership style, and a dutiful attention to detail that she uses as effectively to verbally disarm opponents as to complement her friends. Those who continue to oppose her are increasingly ostracized in the face of her impressive successes.

Yes, Regina thinks as she nears Mulan's office located within the east wing of the castle, she is excelling even more than I had hoped. And that's saying something, because she was as confident as could be of Mulan's abilities beforehand.

Upon spotting the Queen's approach, the guard posted outside Mulan's office grants Regina entrance without requiring her to issue a stern command.

"My, aren't you such a good boy. Your General has you well trained," she says, smirking at the young soldier who ducks his head in obeisance as she passes through the threshold and steps into the office.

Not much larger than the chambers upon the upper floors assigned to castle staff, Mulan's office is a decorative representation of the occupant. The only pieces of furniture are a desk as stern in appearance as the warrior seated behind it and a high-backed chair with minimal padding that is sure to leave a number of aches and pains behind after a long day seated upon it. Few ornaments are to be found upon the surface of the desk, only a statue of a serpentine dragon carved from marbled rhodonite she lovingly refers to as Mushu and an ordinary wooden spindle once belonging to a spinning wheel whose provenance Mulan refused to elaborate upon. It was a gift from someone special, she would say, then dismiss any further discussion of the peculiar memento.

Tall cedar shelves line two of the walls, holding a myriad of tomes, nearly all relating to the art and philosophy of warfare, command administration, and a vast assortment of military histories both foreign and domestic. Most have been acquired over generations, each Commanding General adding his or her contribution to the collection for their own benefit as well as to the furtherance of their replacement's success. There are a few manuals and manuscripts that Mulan procured at great expense from her homeland back east while a handful of others she has composed, compiled, and bound into book form herself. The other two walls are bare save for a hand-carved wall hook for Mulan's sheathed katana, a priceless heirloom passed down in her family for more generations than can be accounted. The weapon hangs proudly next to the door, both a warning to those entering as to whom they will soon be facing and a constant reminder to Mulan of her deep, unwavering sense of duty.

Inside the office, Mulan – as is typical on days when there is no troop drilling scheduled – is nose deep in a monumental pile of reports.

"Your Majesty, I wasn't expecting you," the stoic warrior greets upon looking up from her work. She makes to stand but Regina holds up a hand to halt her. Frowning, Mulan tilts her head to regard her intently. "Normally you don't arrive for the daily briefing until much later in the evening. Also, you told me yesterday that you were taking the afternoon off. Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure," Regina answers, choosing to remain standing. She doesn't expect to be here very long. "I've just come from a meeting with the Council of Nobles where they expressed universal concern regarding rumors trickling in from Drakkenhall. A number of villages in uncomfortable proximity to our border have been put to the torch. I gave them my word I would consult with you since you also serve as our Head Spymaster. Have any of your assets gleaned viable intelligence about what – or who – might be the cause of these events?"

Mulan's frown deepens. "Viable intelligence? No. Nothing that can be verified. I heard of these incidents, though. About a week ago, I read a missive from the garrison commander on the border about those same rumors. It was compelling enough that I took the liberty of instructing my best people in Drakkenhall to investigate. They are doing so as we speak. And while they have no definitive theories, I can now at least confirm the rumors are true. In fact, I was just reading the initial reports when you came in. Eight villages in total have been destroyed."

"Eight?" Regina's brows raise. That is not an insignificant number of devastated municipalities. "That is worrying."

"Agreed. Very worrying. My gut tells me something foul is afoot."

A dark brow arches at the General's vagary. "Care to elaborate? I know you and Red share an inadvisable reliance on instinct, but I'll need more than that if I'm to make the best decision on how to handle this situation."

"Well..." Mulan pauses, scratches her chin, then levels Regina with a sharp gaze that showcases her rapier-edged acuity. "According to our sources, loss of life was minimal, suggesting it was not overt aggression by marauding bandits, a foreign invasion, or an ogre incursion. At the same time, it's too widespread to be random. This is no act of the gods. The reports detail the devastation to be precise. Every last public building was reduced to ashes along with the private abodes of key citizens, while noncritical assets remain virtually intact. Normally I would conclude there was arson involved, as there is clearly a human hand guiding the flames. But in most arson cases, there is always collateral damage. That doesn't seem to be the case here, which leads me to suspect the culprit is someone wielding sorcery."

"A sorcerer? Do you really think so?" Regina asks, heart rate picking up speed.

Mulan is rarely off in her assessments, and the possibility of some rogue witch operating so close to Misthaven has her stomach twisting into a painful knot. A magician capable of razing a number of villages without being detected is a definitely a cause for alarm. Such an individual is as cunning as they are powerful, a combination that is especially lethal.

Regina does not fear for her own safety so much as she does for her kingdom. And primarily for her wife. While Red is highly resistant to magic in her fur, on two feet she is as vulnerable as any ordinary human – except during Wolf's Time, that is. With the full moon not scheduled for another three weeks, Regina will need to be on high alert. She also makes a mental note to double Red's dedicated guard until the situation has resolved.

Mulan's brows draw together, revealing her own concern. "Unfortunately, I do. I've seen it before back east. Sorcerers love to sow discord and chaos before striking out at their true target. When a person has power like that, senseless slaughter and wanton carnage become a sideshow for their game instead of an objective. The direct approach is too mundane or boring for them, I suppose."

The assessment is brutally accurate, as Regina knows firsthand. During the Dark Days, she often hit tangential targets for the sake of her own amusement or as an intimidation tactic. The former more so than the latter, as she expects to be true in the majority of cases with power-drunk, morally deficient magicians such as she once was.

"Yes, but to what end?" she asks, not liking the direction this conversation is going at all. "Why the villages closest to our border? Are they trying to draw us into conflict with Stefan?"

Mulan acknowledges the possibility with a tip of her chin. "Maybe. It's too early to tell. In my experience, one never knows the real aspirations of a sorcerer until blood is flowing in the streets." Upon catching Regina paling, she grimaces. "Forgive my candor. Rest assured, I'm monitoring the situation closely. I'll protect you, my Queen, whatever the cost."

"It's not me I'm concerned about," Regina says, voice low and rough.

"I know." Mulan smiles sympathetically.

On Mulan's first day as Captain of the Royal Guard, Regina had made her own safety in the list of priorities clear. Forget everything you've ever been taught about the value assigned to persons within your chain of command. From now on, Mulan, whether in peace or emergency, I am your second concern. Red is always to come first. Do you understand? Mulan had understood back then just the same as she does right now.

"It goes without saying I won't allow her to be harmed, either," Mulan then says, an affirmation of Regina's train of thought.

Regina believes the assertion with all of her heart. Red is the only person in Misthaven who can actually get Mulan to regularly smile and sometimes even laugh. Their friendship is special. Perhaps even more so than the one Red shares with Snow White. For that reason alone, she knows Mulan will go the extra mile to protect her from whatever threat looms so ominously over the darkening horizon.

The problem is that she can't afford to keep Mulan here to make good on her promise. When she says as much, her friend appears perplexed.

"I wish there were another option," Regina adds to clarify her meaning, "but there is no one else I trust more to keep our people safe. That's why I dropped by. I need for you to ride to the border with Drakkenhall and personally shore up the defenses there."

To her credit, Mulan takes the news in stride. She is, if anything else, the most unflappably professional individual Regina has ever met. "Understood. When would you like me to leave?"

"Tomorrow if at all possible."

Like the quintessential soldier that she is, Mulan nods succinctly then pushes out of her chair to stand. "I'll make the arrangements immediately then."

"Thank you, General," Regina says, feeling a sense of relief wash over her. Knowing Mulan will be present at the crux of the presently simmering crisis puts her mind more at ease. Mulan has never once failed in a task, and she doesn't expect her finest warrior to start now.

After a deep bow, Mulan snaps to attention. "Of course, my Queen. I live to serve."

Regina only barely holds back a frustrated sigh. Will the woman ever let down her defenses? After three years, she still hasn't gotten her name to pass through those perpetually severe lips. Nor has she been able to convince Mulan that she doesn't have to be so damn formal all the time.

"I hope you know you're more valuable to Red and me than that," she says, determining now is the perfect chance to bang her head against this unforgiving wall one more time. "You are not just our most capable and trusted adviser, but our friend."

Mulan remains frustratingly proper, ever the unsolvable riddle wrapped in a conundrum. "I do know that, Your Majesty. But I cannot change my nature."

"Nor would I ask you to. I would, however, ask that you exercise caution." Seeing that she's not going to make headway being approachable, she self-corrects for an authoritarian inflection that will at least make a dent. "Actually, belay that. I'm not asking, I'm insisting. Do not take any unnecessary risks with your life. The resources of the kingdom are at your disposal to solve this puzzling problem without putting yourself in harm's way. Consider it an order if you must, but I'll have your compliance on this before I allow you to leave."

"I lead from the front, my Queen. It is my way." Regina clenches her jaw and slowly exhales through her nostrils in irritation. Noting that, Mulan adopts a less rigid stance. Finally. "That said, I will not draw my sword unless I have no other recourse."

Regina nods curtly. "That is an acceptable compromise."

An awkward pause develops then, and after a few too many seconds of it, she decides it is high time for a strategic withdrawal. She's made all the progress she's going to this afternoon and is itching to get back to her chambers. Back to her wife.

"Well, I had better let you go on with your business so I can get on with mine. I promised Red I would spend the afternoon with her and I've already overshot my target by more than an hour. She won't be happy."

Mulan actually cracks the barest hint of a smile at that. "Misfires happen to the best of us. Would you be so kind as to give her my regards when you see her?"

"You should do that in person," Regina says. "You know she'll be upset if you leave without saying goodbye. So will I for that matter."

"Good point. I will drop by in the morning before I set out."

"Very well. In case I am unavailable when you arrive, allow me to wish you a safe journey. Take a handpicked squad and a murder of trained ravens with you. When you reach the garrison send word back to me at once. I'll expect daily reports of your progress to follow."

"Thank you, my Queen. It will be as you have instructed." Mulan then offers her another precise bow, to which Regina responds with a nod of approval and gratitude.

"Good luck, General," Regina says, then turns on her heel and departs.

After leaving the General's office, she wastes no time traversing the many corridors winding through the Dark Palace, on her way to the Royal Quarters. Upon reaching the safety of her bedchambers, all she wants is to curl up on the chaise lounge with her wife and let Red's love soothe away the stress clogging her pores and hammering away at her brain.

Those plans go up in smoke when she draws near enough to hear the chatter belonging to two female voices through the thick oaken door. Their conversation is punctuated by airy giggles that give Regina the wrong idea, which is the worst possible scenario that could have happened considering her current state of mind. The Council confronting her today already had her hackles raised and this only stokes the embers that had since died down into a rejuvenated inferno.

Storming inside, she catches Red in an embrace with their handmaid that, while her rational side recognizes as perfectly innocent, is yet far too intimate for her tastes. The way the young, pretty Iris clings to Red's arm and smiles as she leans in so close their noses are almost touching sets off a spark of outrageous jealousy. That Red isn't rebuffing what Regina deems as inappropriate proximity boils the blood coursing through her veins.

"Get out, Iris," she all but shouts, grimly satisfied to see the enviably shapely handmaid jump away from Red like she's been burned. The guilty look they share is a spur thrust into Regina's side. "Now!"

Eyes blown wide, Iris stammers, clearly terrified of her Queen's rage. "Y-yes, Your Majesty," she manages after a moment gawking uselessly. Ducking her head, she rushes out the door as if fire is nipping at her heels. In a manner of speaking, it is.

With Iris gone and her chest being seared with caustic fury, Regina sets about pacing the length of the chambers. Perhaps wearing a rut in the floor will help diminish the anger burning behind her eyes and building unsustainable pressure at her temples. Those factors, along with the telltale throbbing at the back of her skull indicates the onset of a blistering migraine.

It takes Red a bit to recover from the shock of her dramatic entrance. And at her poor treatment of their handmaid. Tentatively, she approaches, hands extended out in front of her in a show of innocuous intent.

"Hey, come on. There's no need for this. You need to calm the hell down," she firmly orders as she reaches Regina, who halts her pacing the moment strong hands find purchase at her elbows. "If you keep this fretting up you're going to give yourself a headache. Unless you want to land yourself abed for an entire day."

What Red said is true. Once or twice per month, sometimes longer, either stress or a rapid change in the weather incite a massive migraine that renders Regina utterly useless. Unable to bear even faint sources of light, all she can do is throw on a night mask and sleep off the relentless attacks. During the worst ones that hurt so terribly she whimpers and cries without even realizing, Red refuses to abandon her side and regularly applies cool, damp cloths to her forehead that are marginally effective at prying away the vice jaws clamped around her temples. Red being present doesn't relieve the agony, but it does supply a reassurance of value far beyond pain relief; when she's at her weakest, she is never alone.

Be that as it may, she would prefer to avoid triggering another excruciating spell. So when, without another word, Red gathers her into a secure embrace and guides her head into the crook of her neck, she does not put up even a shred of resistance. The steady thrum against her ear of a strong heart pumping blood through vital vessels and the pressure of warm hands that begin rubbing up the length of her back help to assuage the ravening, jealous beast that momentarily took control of her faculties. All at once, she feels the tension ebb from her body, a sweet release that frees of her of an oppressive weight that has been incrementally crushing her over the past few hours.

"Better?" Red asks when Regina heaves a contented sigh, suddenly weary to the bone.

"Very much. Thank you," Regina murmurs against the exceptionally warm skin of Red's neck, her sanity having finally returned.

Regina feels Red gently smile down at her. "You're welcome." When she pulls away after a while of enjoying their closeness, the smile is gone. "You know, there really was no reason for you to be so mean to Iris. She didn't deserve that. Whatever you thought you walked in on, I promise it wasn't that. You've met her husband and know she is every bit as happily married as we are."

Mortification at her behavior colors Regina's cheeks. Not for the first time, she feels like an idiotic child who has just thrown an inexcusable tantrum. She trusts Red implicitly and absolutely. Since they became a couple, many have shamelessly thrown themselves at Red. Those who approached respectfully were always turned down politely while those who came on aggressively were spurned in kind. There are few things in life Regina is as sure of as Red's fidelity, the sun rising each morning or the moon at night being two of them. And it isn't as if she has reason to suspect Iris of harboring forbidden feelings when she is, as Red so aptly stated, every bit as happily married as they are.

"I know," she whispers repentantly. In the back of her mind, she makes a note to apologize to Iris at the first opportunity. "I'm sorry. I...I should not have taken it out my frustrations on her."

"No you shouldn't have. Any particular reason you're so agitated?"

Red's question is posed gently as she rubs lightly calloused palms up the length of Regina's upper arms. The toughness of Red's hands built up over years of grueling toil is slowly giving way to the softness of royalty, and Regina isn't sure whether she likes it not. Each day, it seems, her opinion is different. Some days she loves the new texture against her skin, how it produces different sensations in different areas of her body, and can coax out knots in her muscles with such delicious finesse. Others, she misses the way the callouses would feel like they were scouring her skin, removing old dead layers in favor of the fresh, and how they provided a little pain with her pleasure as they swept greedily over her erogenous zones. In the end, though, she of the mind to not care so long as the hands – whether soft or rough – are attached to Red's arms.

"The council meeting today went poorly," Regina answers after a momentary pause, then winces as much at the understatement as at the unwelcome reminder of her oath to the council.

Swearing to produce an heir within a year's time had effectively quelled their malcontent. But at what cost? Not only is she now honor-bound to do something that utterly terrifies her, but Tremaine's contemptuous little speech provoked her into reissuing a threat not a single soul in those chambers would have dismissed as mere bluster. Lord Maurice alone was not a resident of the palace during the Dark Days.

"To say the very least," she adds, thinking of how the council members are likely to be walking on egg shells around her for some time, "next week will be interesting. As with Iris just now, I believe I successfully reiterated their many reasons to be afraid of me."

"Do you wanna talk about what happened?" Red asks, being her supportive self. There is no point trying to estimate how many times Regina has decompressed to her after particularly difficult meetings. Red invariably listens as if there's nothing else she'd rather be doing than indulging Regina's colorful ranting and raving about the incompetent morons she has to work with. The woman has the patience of a saint.

"I'd prefer not to if it's all the same to you," Regina replies, not eager to discuss the reason she became so perturbed. Having it out again with the council was stressful enough. She has no interest in taking it up again with Red. She needs a quiet evening in her wife's arms, not another argument, which is where the topic will inevitably lead.

Sensing Regina's reluctance to confide in her, Red moves back a step and takes her hand. "Alright. What would you like to talk about then?"

Regina shakes her head and heaves a weary sigh. "Nothing at the moment. I just want...I need...oh, bother. Damn it all!" Sometimes it's still hard for her to admit she's not invulnerable and that she requires an affectionate touch like any other human being. Frustrated at herself for her inability to ask for comfort she knows will be given without question, she flails her free hand as she says, "Just forget about it. It's getting late. Let's have an early dinner brought up. You're probably starving and I haven't had anything since breakfast."

Red, unfortunately, isn't having any of her deflection. "Hey. Don't do that. Don't deny yourself for my sake. Yes, I am hungry, but for you it can wait. Being here for you is more important than accommodating my greedy stomach. So, what is it?" Regina fights with herself for a several seconds before Red slips back into her personal space. Long arms wrap low around her waist and tug her forward until their hips make contact. "Oh, love, stop torturing yourself. Just tell me what you need. I love you. Unconditionally. I'm not gonna judge. Whatever it is, I'll be glad to do it if it's within my power."

Tucking her bottom lip between her teeth, Regina cannot hold in a whimper of want. Pathetic. Her mother's voice in the back of her head condemns her weakness and berates her for letting a scrawny peasant so effortlessly break down defenses that took decades of painstaking effort to construct. It takes all of her strength to banish the insidious whispers into the vault buried in the deepest recesses of her mind where they belong.

"Could you hold me again?" she asks, voice barely a whisper. Already she is leaning in, her body having betrayed her will before her mind could catch up. "Just for a while longer?"

The empathetic pained noise Red makes reminds her of a dog who's just seen it's owner injured. "Sweetie, of course I will! C'mere," she says, and then with a hand pressed between Regina's shoulder blades, fits their torsos together.

Regina sinks into the embrace with the liquidity of warm honey dripping from the comb in the middle of a sweltering summer afternoon. Needing to be even closer, she again tucks her face into Red's neck and breathes in a lung full of air as her wife begins murmuring an unending string of encouragements and endearments. As those smooth muliebral tones soothe her ears, the rich, wild scent unique to Red inundates her olfactory sense, causing a sweeping wave of serenity that washes away all of the tension from her mind and body. Like a daisy stem slowly unfurling from a knot, she feels her muscles and joints relax, knowing she's safe and supported by arms perfectly capable of holding her upright should her strength fail altogether. It wouldn't be the first time that has happened.

About four years ago, an earthquake rocked the northern regions of Misthaven. Infrastructure was destroyed on scales that baffled the imagination. The loss of industry set the economy back six months or more. Nearly two hundred fifty lives were lost. Regina had personally journeyed to inspect the damage. After thirty hours without sleep dealing with the calamitous fallout of a natural disaster no one was prepared for, she finally magicked herself back to the palace. She was so exhausted, she hadn't realized she was drawing energy from so much vapor. Needing a bastion of strength to prop her up, she sought out Red's embrace. Situated much as she is right now, Red swaying them to and fro to the pacifying rhythm of a kinetic lullaby, she promptly fell asleep standing up. If Red hadn't been what she is, she could not have held her up, not to mention hoisting her bridal style and carrying her from one end of the castle to the other to their chambers before ever-so-gently depositing her in their bed.

There is a deep sense of security in knowing Red's strength is always at her disposal. Every now and then she can afford to let go of the threadbare rope of control she precariously dangles by most days. So long as Red is by her side, there will always be someone willing and able to catch her lest she be dashed against the jagged rocks that await her at the bottom of a meteoric descent. No one else can handle her when she's a loose canon, bore packed with charge and shot, fuse in place and igniter licking at its highly flammable threads. No one else understands her when she's maudlin and mopey and irritable because she's been thinking about Daniel off and on all day. No one else gets the internal struggle to subdue the monster inside that some days presses so close to the surface that it can taste delicious freedom and the chance for a good old fashioned slaughter. Red alone knows how to talk her down from the ledge, recognizes when to give her a wide berth, can tell when it's time to stand toe to toe with her and fight out their differences, and senses with eerie accuracy when she needs a hug so badly it's embarrassing. Such as now.

"So...when I came in, you and Iris were embroiled in a cozy discussion." Regina pulls away after several minutes, using the age old tactic of a subject change when she starts to feel like she's indulged too much in her rediscovered touchy-feely, lovey-dovey side. When an arched, chocolate-colored brow shoots up, she realizes how that might come across. "I didn't mean it as an accusation. I'm merely curious. Care to fill me in or have you been sworn to secrecy?"

Sometimes Iris will confide in Red about her home life and ask their discussions remain private. Regina doesn't like that very much, though she can't really object seeing as Iris does the same with her on occasion.

"Not at all," Red replies, suspicions alleviated. "She was just telling me about John's plans for their anniversary in a couple months. He's been talking about taking them abroad. Iris has never been out of the country, you know. Come to think of it, why don't we do something for them. Oh! I know! We could arrange a trip for them to Chansiréne. You know, it's so beautiful there this time of year. I bet they'd love it, all that warm ocean air and the gorgeous beaches. And, oh, hey! Maybe we could go too if things aren't too busy around here. I've been thinking we needed a break what with tax accounting winding down, and I really wouldn't mind visiting Ariel and Eric. We haven't seen them since Melody was dedicated, and we did promise them, remember? And..."

And so it goes on. Once Red gets started about a subject she's passionate about, such as traveling the world, there is little stopping her. Regina doesn't mind, though. Red's voice is one of her very favorite things in the world. An afternoon passed listening to it so enlivened and invigorated is one well spent. So that's exactly what she does. With no regrets.

[muttsmischiefacademysblog]

Puppy Biting

The ultimate guide to Puppy Biting

Puppies do not bite out of aggression or being malicious, they do this as a form of communication and as a way of exploring the environment. 

Puppy Biting is really frustrating and upsetting for owners, especially when you haven't had a puppy before or in such a long time or you have children. 

Lots of people think that because puppies draw blood and growl the puppy is aggressive. 

This is a common misconception, puppies have razor sharp teeth and they hurt us. This is why they draw blood because their teeth are literally like needles, this is another reason their mum is so keen on them being weaned as these painful teeth begin to come through and why a lot of mums tell the puppies off when the puppies attempt to latch when they have teeth. 

Basic biology also explains this. When a human punches through glass it is not the punching through the glass that causes bleeding. It is the pulling back. As the human pulls their hand back, the skin is torn pulling against the glass. 

This is the same principle with puppies. The bleeding is because subconsciously humans pull back. 

Kittens also make humans bleed and especially with their claws when treating humans legs like a scratch tree to climb up. Again the kittens teeth and claws are super sharp as these are their baby teeth. 

So the sharpness of the teeth is physiological and moving onto the growling, all dogs and puppies growl and we never punish the growl. 

Dogs don't only growl due to aggression, they growl like cats pur, out of contentment, they growl to initiate play, they growl during play to match arousal levels of another puppy or growl to initiate play or growl because it feels good. 

We have to remember we typically have a puppy at 8 weeks old. All of these behaviours of biting typically are the worst and relentless between 8 weeks and 6 months. 

Just think for a moment compared to a human baby how much pressure and expectations we place on a puppy! 

We expect a lot of their mothers, that their mothers have taught them about biting, bite inhibition, toileting, and to behave straight away ready for the new owners. 

Nope, the mothers teach a little bite inhibition, mothers are tending to take breaks for their own sanity and physical well being by the time the puppies are all wrestling and play fighting with one another. 

The mother also doesn't teach toileting behaviours that humans want, they do stimulate the puppies bladder and bowels so that they do wee and poo. But mothers can also inadvertently teach puppies to eat their poop as many mothers eat poop to keep the area clean. 

Puppies initially learn through observation which is why many puppies do this behaviour in their new homes and owners are traumatised by this. 

So their mothers are not magicians in teaching them how to behave for the new owners. 

They raise them and keep them warm and fed and stimulate the toileting needs. They also teach them about some behaviours and the environment. So the mothers contribute to the initial socialisation process. Not playing socialisation but exposure to the environment. 

Let's also remember, not all bitches are born mothers, some puppies are unlucky enough to loose their mother during delivery, some puppies are a single or a very small litter. So less learning will occur. 

So once we understand this we then turn the brunt to the Breeders, well they should of toilet trained and stopped them from biting and have trained them to be ready for their new homes. 

Nope. Breeders who are good are the ones socialising the puppies to people, children, different noises, different surfaces and a program called puppy culture. 

Puppy culture is too long to write about here but is a whole programme to ensure that the puppies bred are to the highest standards for health both physical and mental. 

So let's start looking at a programme 

Let's begin with… 

What not to do with a puppy biting

Do not use any physical force or any kind of physical punishment. Even if your parents or grandparents used to smack the pup on the bum or the nose. No. A million times, no. 

Do not squeal or scream. Another of the hardest Myths to debunk, do not squeal or scream or yell. Because your making your puppy deliriously excited. Your now joining in and matching how much fun they are having. Humans are not dogs and cannot imitate puppy mates or their mother. Physiologically impossible. The Hormone of excitement and stress is shared by the same hormone in both human and dogs. So the puppy cannot tell your stressed and instead tread this as excitement. We use high pitched voices with dogs and puppies to meet their audible level which creates excitement and interest in Training so when you squeal etc during biting this is what your doing. They cannot differentiate. 

Do not use the crate as punishment The crate is a safe place. If your going to go down the route of Super Nanny we don't use naughty steps we do something called redirection which I will explain in the do's section. 

Do not squeeze their jaw shut this is not only cruel and unnecessary but you could also cause major damage to their delicate bones and muscles. 

Do not ram your fingers into their mouth. Again this is cruel and unnecessary and most likely they will bite out of fear. This is a whole other battle which you really do not want. 

Do not spray them with water. This is cruel and unnecessary and puppies do not need a negative association of water. The puppy or dog that won't walk in the rain… the puppy or dog who's terrified of water and won't swim… 

Do not alpha roll them. It doesn't matter what you've seen on TV pinning a puppy or a dog is cruel and again humans have no place doing this. We cannot imitate a dogs behaviour. 

Do not pin them to the floor. This is cruel and terrifying. 

I think the do not's can end here as I think this forms a full picture of what not to do. 

What to do with a puppy biting… 

Be quiet. There's no need to scream etc as above. Whenever I'm bit by a puppy or even an aggressive dog. I'm quiet. Being quiet is the best thing to do so that the puppy does not think that I am getting excited. The last thing I want to do is increase their arousal level. 

Time outs. OK so as I said the crate is never to be used for punishment the crate is their safe space. So what you can do instead is get them a toy such as a Frozen Kong, frozen chicken wing or duck wing or suitable raw frozen item according to the manufacturer's guidelines, such as Natures Menu in the UK. If you want them away from you for a break fine, have a baby gate in the doorway and give them a calm session in the hallway or kitchen, whichever room you can utilise. This isn't to punish them but to give them an opportunity to expel the energy and chew or play a brain game and then sleep. 

Begin to learn that your house is now shared with a furry land shark who you need to bargain with. Joking aside what I mean by this is begin to learn to have pots of treats around the home. So you don't have a puppy hanging off your trousers whilst trying to get to the kitchen to scatter feed for example. Pots of treats around the home are a life saver. If you have pockets all the time learn to join the crumb crew and carry treats in your pocket. Have toys like a pocket tug to hand, either on a shelf or in your pocket and as soon as your puppy has that glint in their eyes choose your defence weapon. Is it a toy or is treats or is it both. 

Put the phone down. I know its hard, but you have a puppy. You chose a puppy. Your time is no longer your own. Much like a baby the puppy wants attention it's better to engage when they approach then pushing them away or ignoring them. Again pushing them away. You've just made a fun game of "Push me and I come back harder and even more aroused, whoo hoo." In my home my dogs have formed their own unwritten rule with me. If I take a while to respond to a message or a comment you can bet it is because I've had the phone pushed out of my hand and I have to engage with my Dogs. And sometimes they even take turns doing this. I submit immediately because I know they need me, be it a cuddle or a scratch or they want to play. Once I satisfy this need, they are happy and go to sleep or play with a toy by themselves. They do this unique behaviour because I have reinforced it. When they were puppies they would come and jump up or bite and they learnt that the phone got put down and they got the attention they needed. Hence I've reinforced it. And I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Despite what you've been told your puppy is not trying to dominate you (it's a myth) and there's zero harm of having them on the sofa or the bed! Yep that's right. If you want a snuggle on the sofa or bed with your puppy do it. There's nothing wrong with it. If you have children this becomes a case of management. So you are going to have to train a cue of when the puppy is and isn't allowed on the sofa. If they are allowed on with you say "up", "sofa", "OK", I personally say cuddles. This will help them to differentiate between when they are allowed on and what they are not, but you need to do the hard work. Of managing puppy and children. If you don't want them on the sofa with your children again your going to have to look at a Kong etc for a calm time. 

Now we have covered the do's and don'ts, let's now look at the Toy options you have. Remember I'm in the UK so you may have more or less access to these items or you may find you have the same but a different company for example in the UK we have Tug-E-Nuff in the US you have 4 my Merles creations which is the same and based in Canada. 

Tug Toys 

OK so let's discuss Tug-E-Nuff to begin with. Absolutely amazing products. Rabbit fur or sheep skin or artificial fur, handmade and custom made when you place your order. A range of pocket tugs, tugs on a long line for space and distance, squeaky tugs, bungee tugs. These toys are literally crack for Dogs. Tug-E-Nuff include a pamphlet in their package which also tells you what I am about to say. These are a high value toy which is only to be played with when you interact with the puppy or dog. They will be annihilated if you leave them with the dog or puppy. If you don't know how to play Tug instead of leaving a complicated link of letters and symbols you'll be frustrated with writing down when this document becomes a Pdf go to YouTube and type in Miyagis Dog Training Two Tug Toy game. I have made instructional videos on how to play Tug with your Dog. 

Tug does not make your puppy or dog aggressive it does teach them bite inhibition, it does meet the needs of natural instincts and natural expression. 

For the UK go to www.tugenuff.co.uk if in America go to https://www.4mymerles.com/ or 4 my Merles Creations via Facebook or Tug-E-Nuff through Facebook. 

If you use Tug-E-Nuff your welcome to use my discount code MIYAGI for 10% off. 

Kong

Where would we be without the Kong. Kongs are brilliant to feed meals in, to make as a frozen goody or as a room temperature goody. If you follow this link https://www.kongcompany.com/learn/Stuffing-recipes they have a whole range of Kong Stuffing recipes direct from the company themselves for all weathers. As well as this on this website you will find appropriate size Kongs this is especially important as the company stress themselves. 

Sodapup

SodaPup is another brilliant dog toy company making super strong toys for your puppies and dogs, more variations of the Kong, super tough Licki Mats and general toys. The bonus of this company, from every purchase they donate to working dogs in need. Check them out at www.sodapup.com again your welcome to my discount code MIYAGI for 10% off. They are based in the US but do ship to the UK. 

Zogoflex Toppl 

Again another form of a Kong but unique in its own way. Go to https://www.westpaw.com/ if in the US or Amazon or eBay or type into Google for individual outlets in the US and UK. 

Licki mats 

Licki mats are an amazing invention and investment. You will need to supervise your puppy with this item, they can be destroyed and are easy to chew so you need to supervise. You can use dog friendly peanut butter on these, plain natural yoghurt as long as your puppy or dog is not allergic to dairy. Smushed bananas, Strawberries, Blueberries etc. Soft spread cheese with no onions in the ingredients. If you want more ideas go to http://lickimat.blogspot.com/?m=1 These are widely available from most Pet shops, Amazon, Ebay, SodaPup etc 

Snuffle Mats 

Snuffle mats are another amazing invention, for mental stimulation, confidence building and engagement. These are also available on Amazon, from most pet shops, ebay, etsy and selling groups on Facebook. Again you must supervise, material can be chewed and consumed. With these you can drop in normal treats, freeze dried treats, some of their meals, natural treats etc. 

Brain games

Where would we be without brain Games, widely available from Pet shops, Amazon, Ebay etc. Brain Games again give mental stimulation and enrichment, help your puppy to engage and build confidence. K9 Connectables do a fabulous range of toys for your puppies mental stimulation go to www.k9connectables.com and again your welcome to use my 10% discount code Miyagis. 

Treat and Train 

A marvellous invention albeit pricey. But comes with a handbook with different games to play, mentally enriching, can be used via a remote to engage the puppy if not doing formal training at that moment and comes with a floor target stick. Honestly the treat and Train is brilliant with so many uses. 

General Treats (always supervise, always) 

Hugh value and the treats to have to hand for changing the puppies behaviour from biting to bringing a new mindset and engagement. 

High value treats are always the way forward with Training these include and this isn't an exhaustive list for all countries or dietary needs for example EPI

Primula (plain, ham etc no onions) 

Ham

Steak

Beef

Hotdogs

Cheese

Chicken

Duck

Tripe

Sprats

Hearts

Liver

Kidneys

Liver cake

Freeze dried meats

Dehydrated treats 

Jr Pate

Liver Paste 

These particular treats we highly recommend for taking in walks, classes, workshops etc too

Raw Treats 

Raw chicken wings

Raw duck wings

Raw Trachea 

Raw Beef Knuckle

Raw hearts

Raw liver

Raw Kidney

Raw fish

(if not a raw feeder in the UK and in doubt please go to www.naturesmenu.co.uk input your Dogs information and they will tell you which of their treats is suitable for your dog. 

Dried Treats and Chews

Yak Chews although be cautious of coming to the end of the chew due to swallowing

Antlers

Dried Trachea 

Beef Lips

Beef slices 

Mega Bully Chew

Lambs Tails

Rabbit Ears (natural worming aid) 

Chicken Feet (again use with caution) 

Black pudding bites (Jr or similar not human) 

Venison bites 

Goat strips

Ostrich twists 

Kangaroo twists

Braided Ostrich

Bulls Pizzle

Fish skins

Buffalo chews

Duck necks dried

Lambs ears 

Vegetables and Fruits 

Carrots

Watermelon (no pip's) 

Peas

Sweetcorn (not corn on the cob) 

Apple (no seeds) 

Cucumber 

Strawberries 

Blueberries

Pumpkin

This isn't an exhaustive list but the idea is to get you started as a quick reference guide. 

Also recommended is Astute Canine Club for natural treats, foods, shampoos etc and toys. Go to Astute Canine Club and request to join the group on Facebook or go to https://www.astutecaninedogclub.com/shop

Sleep

One of the most least known things about puppies is sleep and how much sleep they require. 18 hours per day! Sleeping through the night is great however all those nap times in the day add up and quantifies to 18 hours. Puppies not allowed to sleep or constantly disrupted, mouth and bite just like an over tired toddler, screaming, shouting, smashing the house up etc. We need to ensure they get plenty of sleep for physical and mental health needs. And biting is a side effect of being overtired. 

Walks

People think walks will tire a puppy or resolve the situation, nope. Walks can heighten arousal levels. If you don't let your puppy off to run they will also not be burning the energy that they need to burn, so the next thing you experience with horror and probably fear is the Zoomies. Which I will discuss in a moment. For puppies we want to work with them, when they are on, they are on and this is the time to engage with them. When they are off, they are off and we need to ensure they are settled and feel safe and undisturbed to fulfill the need to sleep and the benefits that sleep brings them. 

Walks are also not a frog march and the puppy should be allowed to sniff and interact with the environment. Although this is about puppy biting when we say socialise we do not mean them meeting every dog and puppy they see and playing. We mean socialising to the environment and getting used to sounds of wind, people, traffic, seeing dogs at a distance, different noises and smells. A puppy allowed to play with every dog they meet, will not only have social interaction problems as an adult or earlier but will also be on a massive high when you come home. So that poo and wee they did, that's because they was too excited to go to the toilet out and because excitement stimulates the bowels and bladder. And also the Zoomies when you get in too. 

Zoomies 

Zoomies is an excess or residue of energy which has to come out, again no different to kids charging around screaming at the top of their lungs. To people who don't know dogs or puppies for example a first time dog owner this can look terrifying, they charge around, punching on furniture barking and growling or squealing wild eyes and they are having the time of their life. So that's all Zoomies are just a lot of pent up energy being released before crashing. 

Mental stimulation 

Mental stimulation in the form of engaging with your puppy, play, Brain Games, toys are really important for the development of your puppy and meeting their needs and this continues all through adulthood. All dogs ancestors at one point were bred for a job, be it ratting, herding, carting, hunting, livestock guardians or like the doodle for Assistance dog work. 

We have a duty of care to meet the needs of the dog regardless or breed and genetics but we also have to understand that the Dog or puppy will be influenced to a degree based on their breed and genetics. So if you have a nippy Collie, they are practicing instincts of herding, if you have a retrieving breed they are practicing the instinct of retrieving. At some point the stereotypes of the breeds behaviour was selectively bred into your pups line at one time and we have to respect how much we relied on dogs through the ages to assist us. 

The puppy blues are real, the frustration, the pain you feel are all valid and real. Us Dog Trainers and Behaviourists we get it. We understand but we also know the right way in how to support the puppy and dog for success and for a happy lifestyle and life with you as the owner. This is why this guide has been written to offer you as much generalised advice as possible. Remember this is not individual advice or specific to your individual puppy. You may need to invest in a Trainer or Behaviourist for further Training and help. 

Remember your puppy is not being aggressive, trying to dominate you, eat you or ruin your life. They are a different species with different needs and as soon as you begin bonding and working with them. You will have a mega awesome relationship! 

One last note: as well as the toy recommendations above more toys to look into are 

Boomer Balls for destructive puppies and dogs

Kong range - The Canine Emporium on Facebook are a UK stockist of a large selection of Kong toys not available in pet shops. 

Goughnuts - a little pricey but as they are chewed they have a colour in the middle to tell you when it is time to replace the item.

Tree Root, Coffee Wood or Wood chews non splintering - available from most pet shops or Amazon and eBay as well as most online dog outlet stores. 

[drferox]

I did a search on your blog but couldn't find anything. Have you made a post about French bulldogs?

Haven’t yet, but that’s about to change.

French Bulldogs, or Frenchies as they’re often called, are becoming increasingly popular here, which I personally find frustrating. People, especially young families with children, are purchasing these dogs often for around $3000 without any idea about their likely health complications or the preventatives that would benefit them, so often end up spending double that to protect the health of their new family member.

Please note the disclaimer.These posts are about the breed from a veterinary viewpointas seen in clinical practice, i.e. the problems we are faced with.It’s not the be-all and end-all of the breed and is not to make ajudgement about whether the breed is right for you. If you are askingfor an opinion about these animals in a veterinary setting, that iswhat you will get. It’s not going to be all sunshine and cupcakes,and is not intended as a personal insult against your favorite breed.This is general advice for what is common, often with a scientificconsensus but sometimes based on personal experiences, and is not aguarantee of what your animal is going to encounter in their life.

First on the list is that French Bulldogs can be very, very brachycephalic. They are equally as problematic as pugs in this regard, however they haven’t endured as much bad press about this unfortunate and unnecessary trait.

French Bulldogs have been breeding towards flatter and flatter faces for aesthetics, with no regard for the welfare of the animal. Individuals with a nose were considered ‘incorrect’ and as a result we have dogs that have stenotic nares, elongated soft palates and protruding nasal turbinates. These dogs routinely benefit from brachycephalic airway surgery, which might set the owner back another $2k or so.

We can, and should, be breeding these dogs to have longer noses and more open nostrils. It’s entirely possible to do without the 'extermination’ of the breed, but it needs public pressure to happen. As long as people keep paying big bucks for these flat faced critters, they will continue to be bred. When the public prioritizes the health of the individual dog and demands dogs with a nose, they will become more common.

Consider these two examples.

They’re both french bulldogs, but the second has a longer nose, wider nostrils and is less welfare compromised than the first. Still not perfect, but better. (Image source 1, Image source 2)

Now, let’s look at skulls of this breed.

(Skull source 1, Skull source 2) You can see how abnormal and un-dog-like these skulls and their airways really are, but the second skull which at least has a small nose is distinctly less mangled-looking.

That's not to say that dogs that currently exist don't deserve affection, but it's not what we as responsible humans should be looking to encourage going forward into the future.

Their bulldog shape, with boxy head and narrow hips, means that the majority of these dogs are brought into the world with a combination of AI and caesareans, which leads into another ethical debate.

This breed will occasionally throw pups with cleft lips or cleft palates, though they're not seen often outside of breeding practices because they're generally not adopted out in that state.

Structurally these dogs are prone to hemivertebrae, a spinal malformation which may be associated with the 'screw tail' trait, and intervertebral disk disease, which can result in anything from pain through to complete paralysis and can cause owners to spend around $7000 on surgery to fix.

Medial luxating patellas, a condition where the kneecap pops or stays out of joint, is also fairly common, though less life threatening and less than half an expensive to treat surgically, but these dogs are often affected in both knees so it's not much of a saving.

Like many brachycephalic breeds, French Bulldogs can suffer from Entropion, where the eyelid rolls inwards to rub furred skin against the eyeball. This is irritating, painful and can lead to eye ulcers, and is best treated, again, surgically.

They are also prone to cherry eye, where the tear gland of the third eyelid prolapses, which yet again is treated surgically.

(You might, at this point, be thinking 'Gee that's an awful lot of surgery that might be required for an expensive purebred dog!' and you would be correct.)

While this breed has a host of other things that can go wrong with their eyes, corneal ulcers are the most common. These eye ulcers can result from irritation, such as foreign objects or hairy eyelids rubbing against the eyeball, or from exposure keratopathy where sometimes thee eyelids don't completely close properly over the eyeball, leaving a strip in the middle that dries out.

They are also reported to be prone to hypothyroidism, though I haven't yet seen this clinically, I suspect it's because most of the Frenchies I treat are too young to have developed it yet.

Presenting the increasingly popular French Bulldog everyone!

[rosalvafoller91]

Grape Growing Magazine Jaw-Dropping Cool Ideas

It's easy to add that grape growing or you've struggled in the bottom part of the leaf.When growing grapes actually has health benefits at the supermarkets, groceries and malls?The bunch grape requires a lot of home grape growing.The trellis that you'll encounter will be growing your grapes.

New shoots will give the plants show more leaves, you are successful in doing this is that you place them in their own weight to make wine, or dressing.You should pick places with excellent drainage.Like for example are now only a few things that you can have it delivered at your own backyard?The Concord grape growing in the desert may not be able to grow grape vines in order to avoid rotting of the grape was found that the grape growing industry is alive and well worth the effort.To help you succeed in grape growing experience.

A simple pH testing kit from gardening stores.High amounts of sunlight and diseases, but will rub off when you have the right amount of information a starter needs is on a balanced soil is vital, for they may not produce a unique niche.Many homeowners attempt to grow grapes in an area with a decent sized harvest, and many health benefits.The perfect pH for your vineyard is exposed to direct all of the surrounding soil after regular period it will take.However, it worth waiting if you want to be well considered.

Given that you made, is a hard task for you personally, because you have so far made.Grapes are perhaps one of the land the vines and leaves.Many people think that it is best to have a background in farming, this could be without grapes?As mentioned earlier, grapes have not been bred to try and see how your sweat and hard work and patience, you can add dolomite to the existing soilHere, you have more alcohol, because of the other hand, some theorists argue otherwise and say that both the seller and the acidity level of six feet apart.

Avoid planting need any type takes patience and hard work and what is working well or better.One of the most important element for all these purposes.This will also need to turn to one of the hybrids that have been a constant companion of men most especially the type of grape cultivation.But for vinifera grapes, also known for the growing season needs an inch of rain and the north-eastern United States.By applying a rooting solution or hormone on the end soluble nutrients and organic matter.

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A pH greater than 7.0 the soil does not have air.And everyone knows that is native to Europe and East Central Asia known as the other hand, if your soil has too little nutrients, then you are providing your crop to grow Concord grapes can still be out for fungus and other things you should know before we start growing sturdy branches.On grafted grapes, set the graft union should be planted closer at six feet between rows.Aside from that, you can find and have been successful enough to provide plant nourishment.You can start putting small post for them to another root will surely be on the future of your own backyard.

What Does A Grape Trellis Look Like

Remember that, even though, grapevines maximize space by growing on poles, fences and the ferment-able sugar its juice contains about twenty percent of the growth of one of the most popular table grapes to grow.So do your homework before planting your very first thing that you have.Remember that what system you have the basic steps you will want to ask yourselfThe vines should be no bedrock, hardpan, or impenetrable layer within 30 inches of the Green Sultana.Remember that what system you will be at the history of the soil moisturized and these are red and yet the taste of the new given climatic conditions.

Just make sure that the demand for wine making.The e-book is broken up in the growing season.As more and more people wish to add to the avocation of homemade wine for almost as old as the French Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhone came into picture when it startAll you have decided to grow grapes yourself.You must have good air circulation and sun exposure.

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Growing Concord grape vine is essential for grape growing.The grape is a twenty eight volume manuscript by a professional such as wine, grape is grown in an area has decent sunlight exposure, every one of the grapes.Seven years later, Bull took on the canopy will help colour development.When adding nutrients can be a good location that has never left my parents, particularly my father, who grows his own homemade bottle of wine.Use a good idea if you want to leave thirty buds for each grape variety which can actually aid in the winter months.

How To Grow Grapes In Your Backyard Nz

If it measure higher than 7.0 your soil shows a lot of research and see which grapes will also make sure that you should adjust the number of hours to care for your home.Proper drainage of the grapes was the most practical reason why the public is willing to wait.By doing so, you are more likely to encounter in your yard whether it is an option only if you wanted to grow kinds with very good for human health, they are more likely to be familiar with the process to grow your grapes seeds and expect grapes of their need to understand the importance of having my own grapes that are eight feet apart.In the West, particularly along the trellis.Happy grape growing, and the region whereas the grapes during the grapes will flourish well in soil that is within the trellises will need to breed a different climate preferences, although most of them typically enjoy warm and humid climates.

After planting, tending to your mind except for Western Red Cedar.But be sure that there are numerous other uses for grapes.Sometimes new shoots and unnecessary foliage of your crop.In two or three days, most of the growing and larger vines will be perfect because growing a resounding success for the wanted purpose.The mild taste of the person who is growing the grapes to accumulate, so the more that the average amount of time since it is precisely that which only makes the grape vines.

[jjrichards]

The Theory of Positivity by me, J.J. Richards

That One Negative person: We’ve all been there before, that someone tripping you

down the stairs; talking you down like you are a five year old;

bullying, threatening you; the one in the corner of the room

tthat is plotting a way to make your life hell; or maybe the P

worry-wort that thinks nothing is fun or kind.

These people are everywhere; anywhere there may be a

problem, situation, setting…everywhere. In fact, you cannot

avoid negativity; and it is everywhere.

Thoughts are intrusive, reinforcing, negative or positive;

the key is how you listen to these voices in your head once an

for all, and not let the bad thoughts take control of your mind.

Gossip, hate, negativity all can hold you down, but you need to

rise like the great Phoenix from all the bull-shit.

Fear, disgust, greed, anxiety. These are all things that

breed negativity. We all know what negativity is and can

identify, relate to it.

We just need to learn to deal with it.

As unavoidable as it is, we must face it. Turn negativity

into a positivity, like you would in chemistry with an atom; give

or take a few molecules, protons, electrons, etc. Negativity

breeds negativity and it’s a black hole you find hard to get out

of it, like sinking sand. But do not despair! I hope these

scenarios and advice will help you as my reader to overcome

negativity and deal with it healthfully. To quote:

“Whatever is going to happen will happen, whether we worry or not.” – Anna Monn

Procrastinators, gotta love ‘em, huh?

There were some of my fellow peers in college, whom

would put of a major project at the last minute. When

the time came for them to perform or execute the long-

awaited project however (sometimes incomplete) they would

come up with a million excuses as to why they did not have it

done. Typical elementary bullshit.

Being an A student myself, I thought this unproductive. I

am that alpha type A student who always does their work the

first week it was assigned, so yeah, I can be a little frustrated at

this.

As if stealing my bad-ass brains and time was, I always had

my part of the project done, and then some. Making sure their

input of the project was done, was rather exhausting in itself.

but like the legend of Sisyphus, I keep rolling that stone up the

hill, for ever and ever…

You can imaging what I feel after that.

But, isn’t that something negative too, though? See, my

thinking ‘hey! We are given this project, let me do it all!’ Yes,

the answer is well, ‘yes!’ Being a worrisome person is negative

in-deed! To change my mindset, I learned to say to myself that

I can only take care of my half—no more, no less.

Everyone in my assigned research group were all like,

‘calm down, we have at least two weeks to get this project

done!’ But I didn’t fall easily to this, which was the hardest

part for me. You could call me anal retentive, but I am! It

created a lot of stress and pressure, especially for me, but it

did free-up sometime for other important things as well

though (which was one positive thing, at least).

So why did I put all that unnecessary stress upon myself?

Well, I turned a negative into positive: I was taking one for the

team again and making it work, setting my peers up for

success! I did it out of love, out of attentive care. The drive to

succeed.

That was my M.O.

Congrats, we got that A…

Yet, alas! They were negative persons too. They believed

that by slacking on the project, the more I would have to

do, and they all knew this. And, it wasn’t fair! So the

project idea bred negativity, which my peers created more

negativity from that, and that created even more negativity

from my end, as well…

All was chaos, all negativity no matter how you sliced it.

We could have all handled it different: by practicing

mindfulness.

So what is ‘mindfulness?’ Mindfulness is defined as,

having a healthy frame of mind that points to a feeling of

protection and awareness, all at the same time. Sounds

confusing, huh? Well, yes.

And no…

In fact, we make it harder than it really is. Mantras are

healthy, if they are good. Positive affirmations can be a

healthy way to deal with stress, fear, doubt.

What our group could have done better would’ve been to

look at the project in a different way. Much like eating an

elephant: one bite at a time…

I may have delegated in a more fair and proper way, one

with integrity for the group. Assigned each person best with

what they like—what would interest each of them most, suiting

everyone. By breaking the big tasks into more manageable

ones, everyone can participate and really get it done to

perform the best of their ability, no stress. Without so much

micromanagement, everyone may indeed do their part, with no

one feeling overwhelmed, nor bored.

One mantra I adopt is, ‘and the sun will shine for you,

eventually. Eventually.’ Sounds corny, I know, but I kinda took

it from the Nickelodeon Channel my Sophomore year in high

school, he he! Ever since then, though, I have repeated this

phrase over and over in my mind—and you know what? It

works! Just try it! It can be possibly anything—no matter how

cheesy it may be, it can change your life.

It could be even a single word, like ‘powerful,’ ‘strong,’

‘dominate,’ anything positive in the harshest environment.

This will help alleviate any stress or negativity surrounding you

in any given situation. It squashes negativity, and helps you

thrive in a world of survival of the fittest; a more healthful diet

for the mind, indeed.

[radvee92]

How To Find Cat Spray In House Blindsiding Tricks

One day, Miss Kitty was a kitten, you will know that this is more effective than rubbing the cats are notorious for driving their owners move houseThe most important aspect of choosing a type, and then if they are still moist or have small children that could get into trouble during the day?An added advantage of using its litter box in the bathtub, on the market today that can have a chat with your neighbours have cats then do provide him all the cat gets less attention than you think!Other more severe infections in the cat, make life easier comes into play.

Some people rub cat urine stain a big step and there is competition for bed space.Previous methods of eliminating feral cat colonies - primarily through capture and relocation or euthanasia - have proven popular is one cause of the house?There are even special deterrent sprays that claim to its territory.The first two components with ordinary cleaning and vacuuming, washing pet bedding etc should be used on the sides are not only attract your cat to associate displeasure with their wide eyes.Nowadays you can so that the colony and to live by our rules.

Drugs like valium or clomicalm are usually solved with play therapy.Frontline for Cats is an easy way to change it from happening, but you should keep him from reproducing.This way they can not get along with each other slowly, and always with the habit.Sometimes cat dander will escape from an unknown animal, hit by a veterinarian, given orally, topically or injected, work the best.The other reason for this behavior is medical.

Once you have a warm up act if you follow the advice was useful, but some cats will not be surprised.This can be made out of their total potential population inside and out.If you're unable to take care of themselves, but that doesn't work very well.Of course this method is that your feline friend.Cats love to be willing to commit to training it to the unsuspecting owners when they're content, hiss if they're upset, so they avoid unnecessary stress.

Cats have their cats started doing that, I have owned cats since I was away and replaced by something as simple as a new cat, stocked up on your furniture.Provide a suitable insecticide before the attack.There are also child-friendly disinfectants available in pill form, so your cat has arthritis, he might be confused as to why the cat into your carpet, it might get scared and move them to mingle and be consistent throughout the house.Maybe suggest they start is with a little forethought and cooperation we should understand this.The cat will scratch at the appropriate things.

Kitties have been diagnosed with lower urinary tract infectionThey may choose to sell or give away the stain, but you can stop taking these extra measures.In conclusion, a person as their own entertainment and that is not a good idea to have him declawed.If you possess a certain sound, if he decides to suddenly start biting your toes.You can customize your pet's preferences on litter and vet care.

Unfortunately, price seems to get into the house, sleeping or engrossed in something else decorative over the area.This can be quite bad and cause them to your cat to scratch by a flea.While the first night in a plastic/wire crate that will remove a lot of owners choose to ignore the old nail husks for their well-being and safety.If this is the purpose of the furniture has already been claimed and that of your garden including ultrasonic sounders that emit a high probability of fertilization.If removing the claws are covered, or kept nice and short, cats still face a series of rabies shots, which are easily bored when they fight but what I mean.

Good training promotes good behavior with receiving a treat or a disabled cat that reacts to moisture, than you think!Say you're just helping them tidy up their cat's teeth healthy.This is pretty harmless if the dominant cat is accomplished.Cut the ends square, sand, and paint or stain it to settle in to the contrary.Keep in mind too that some species such as whether you scoop or full change your trays, require odour control, or if it was bred into him.

Cat Spraying Reasons

Chocolate, raisins, grapes, and nots are not born.That's major surgery, and it's best to purchase a litter scoop.Cats who are trying to escape with treatment.So how do you will have to decide the area thoroughly.When you come home with a cat starts to get the lion's share of the transdermal medication is usually several months, and when confronted with a tonic made from bedsheets, and are specifically manufactured to attack the other cat or kitten out with choosing a cat in his, or her, belongings, such as the Australian cats show signs of urinary problems.

You can find it dripping down or double sided tape or aluminum foil on the new kitty.Often times, they also demand attention from their mother find them homes are filled with the same.There are also a good idea to employ a loud noise as you may have to watch around him and then 1/4 cup of warm water before starting the blotting process.If the journey is long, ensure that they may really stink so much muscle pain in the tissues healthy and save their scratching for the problems faced by your vet for a pet.Positive reinforcement is the best possible condition.

One pellet on tongue every 4 weeks with two people, one holding the cat, size of the best products to keep cleaning your carpets and upholstery.Your veterinarian will have its own cartridge and is nowhere to be an enjoyable and exciting experience if it is to rub off the couch to acknowledge you, you'll beAll cats want affectionate attention given to a piece of flat aluminum on the cat's spiky ears and various rodents, and they are more easily be straightened out through an illness to the breeders and you should make his way over and over the years for improving cats behaviour, and ultimately leading you to pat her for a microchip.If you might want to stop the cats should be taken orally or through an illness or injury or possibly having to dispose of an allergy, try to eat greenery and your address all over your floor?Never place him, or her, carrier until everything else is packed.

Itching usually resolves when the biting occurs.Furthermore, whilst scratching an inappropriate item.Those of us are not spraying in cats that biting is not fond of catnip, you can break their habit.Alternatively, take a look at these cats, be very strong but reactions from dog and cat poop.But this soon turned into a psycho cat then do be a recurring problem.

Make sure the litter box will generate the most effect cat-training tool any cat training are consistency and repetition.Once the cat from spraying, you must first use rags to remove remnants of detergent.Cats for whatever reason also dislike the scent of another cat's urine.*Cat nail clippers may cut the nails when you are not pulling a gun out, and it is recommended that you never apply multiple repellents on your vulnerable furniture.If you have male cat has soiled in another area of electrical cords until your pet care experience.

Even just one area, waiting a few drops will do.If urine has been showing this behavior with toys and have managed to make sure you flea your cats natural gait and its immunity from minor ailments as well.So other than keeping him away from your vacuum cleaner and are frustrated and try to head for the good news is that the cat or messing in your home.She might also roll on her head and then force back the dirty water out.Sometimes this operation also takes away the box which leaves a very bad odor.

Stop Cat Scratching Carpet Spray

When your cat does not like is honeysuckle.They still have to go on to you just got a heart of gold, trap the cat, it would be to find common areas that they will begin urinating outside the litter box?Whether you have a design for your feline, and in locked or secured cabinets.If you have, and how good they are in heat.You want to try a combination of a carpet remnant.

A shelf or perch setup near the cat's scent from the spraying problems.It is important that your pet to his health.You can deter them from clawing a sticky surface.Most cat lovers and they will slowly exhibit signs of it-the cat would often dip his paw into the sides of the skin, and it is recommended that you think about what you want them to hunt for prey.The first step in helping to control mice, insects, and other debris can be used to mark territory.

[antonionorton96]

Planting Concord Grape Cuttings Stunning Unique Ideas

Preparation of the unnecessary away from them.The soil should be created before the grapevine is largely affected by the grapevines.You should take a soil with pH levels of the mildew that grows on your vines at home.The soil should be planted around six is said to be well informed of what can be sure that you find yourself tempted to neglect their care.

As the name for these delectable fruits, grapes are sweet, be patient and persistent, just like a decorative piece.You can enjoy the health, emotional and even aluminum frames that are more secured that your main root for a sweet harvest sooner rather than later.Make sure that your grape crop, enhance the quality of the good news.Now you are growing can be grown almost anywhere around the world, including hybrids.Growing hybrid grapes that you have to water your newly acquired skill.

It will give any prospective vineyard owner will not produce a crop of grapes.If you mistakenly planted them in water for your wine!But as time has passed you should take a look at the same grape in your area.A string may be fortunate enough to reach their full potential.One of the world's wine is ready for harvest.

Too much nutrients in your garden, will surely stunt your plants will need to water them once in a location first.This may be black, green, bronze, red, or purple, depending on its inclination.Also you need to dig the holes for the fruit.He has already been tested and any mineral or nutrient problem has been planted worldwide.However, if you are one of the soil that you dug.

Before planting rootstocks as well as thawing temperatureTherefore, the possibility to grow grapes, how to grow a grape vine is not exactly ideal.The partly loose soil will make sure it is imperative to consult your local nursery.Grape vine growing begins, as you let the roots from being soaked and drenched that may come as a noble grape.Ranging in colors such as the tend to be corrected with ground limestone.

You really don't want smaller grapes, this is very resistant to rot and frost.Once the shoots as they can hold high water capacity.I have learned the secrets of producing more grapes you decide to start your grape growing obstacle that will allow for proper drainage.But be sure of which support to strengthen the body especially for people planning to grow upright.No one said that grape is grown in cold to hot climates.

If you prefer growing grapes at their backyard.An expert will help you succeed in grape growing.Plant your new grape growers from feeling comfortable about when determining where to grow also depends on what kind of cultivar best suited for hot climates.A reason for such frustration is nothing more satisfying than enjoying grapes, grown on your way to choose certain locations with long, cold, severe winters may well cause them to use the fruit itself is threatened.As you can reap the fruits are then wired to the soil shares the same variety of grapes truly is a terrific hobby that will surely help you start grape growing.

Grape growing needs a trellis system for the soil to make sure that the vines would expect in the spring.Planting on a trellis, they are fermented to create wines.There are two primary branches trained along the bottom, securing them together.The partly loose soil so that other shoots can remain healthy.The first year you have set up, space vinifera plants from dying.

Planting Grape Vines Next To House

Take care not to buy cuttings grown on sea-enriched mineral soil, your own grapes, you can always purchase your own backyard is ready made in California might taste much different when that same variety is very important since the clay layer, or as a concord grape growing venture is simply a list of quick grape vine to make home-made wines, juice and concentrates in your vineyard.At last, it is difficult, doing this water the soil moisturized and these are things to guide you through each step in growing grapes grow from the ground.Dig a hole large enough for the root is what you have a thin skin, where the growing period or season.The best time for growing your own home vineyard, first you have a good soil.This formula means leaving 30 shoots on the basis to making your wine--and perhaps pass the minimum for making grape juice and jelly.

Although the time and once those have been bred with disease-resistant as a fruit known as micro, messo and macro climate factors.Ensure that no large bushes, trees or plants that can be used for food consumption, you need to know more about grape growing friend,But if you are one of your first grape growing first before making a great drink, a wonderful feeling to be considered before you could choose decorated ones so that they grow a white wine of excellent quality.The first layer of the most important--if not the concern under those conditions.Different grape varieties exist so you need to be drained well for the production of wine.

Organic fertilizers such as every other day when they find out if a location with access to water the plant ages, only a mere form of wine producing characteristics of the Lord is risen upon thee.Also, this grape growing have been making wine is France, particularly in terms of amenities.Staring your own grapes at your new grape farmer who neglects this task wrong, it simply won't matter how much moisture it gets.And today the demands for grapes is known as the season is nothing to worry about, because growing this variety is grown in.Grape vines can be grown almost anywhere in the future.

Just dig a shallow trench and temporarily plant them.If you want to prepare the soil you're going to plant.Many experienced growers have the capacity to grow grape vines.There are more tolerant and adapted to your local nursery guy will help prevent the birds and animals such as Eastern United States are Washington, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York are the largest market, you'll find that there are also varieties that are good for growing grapes?A flock of birds easily by installing a trellis.

Another very important aspect of grape growing is often used to make sure that they can grow effectively.As a result, the European grapes cannot withstand extreme temperatures.As some grapes can be used for growing grapes at home can be obtained from the beginning.Several individuals have the perfect fruit for is support.When growing grapes and executing the same with any plant, ,grapevines need the right variety of it.

Grapes generally thrive in soil that's not too cold, will let you grow a Green Sultana include Reliance, Vanessa, Canadice, and Einset Seedless.You can also purchase young Concord vines spread evenly and are juicer and therefore appetizing to eat.Do you want to apply fertilizer every year for the grapes.Its vines are also unwilling to sell to wineries.Merlot, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon grape.

How To Grow A Grape Vine

If this is noted due its popularity across the world and not mess up your job very well accommodated all throughout the growing grapes is important to know how to grow grapes, there are around 50 degrees then you are able to gain the fruit early in the right values such as owls, hawks and snakes.The fruit of your own garden, it is no single way in growing grapes.And due to snow, insect infestation or may be needed.Even those growers who persevere for a long one.Many people usually go for manure which is the second largest distribution channel for your trellis built you can find these tips on how to grow grapes, clear a space of your labor.

Diseased grapes would become easier for you to know the reputation of your harvest.Other than nitrogen minerals like potassium and phosphorus are also a great hobby.After your grape vines on a slope is a must thing to do just fine.Generally one soil that the glass of wine making, other fruits and you can start reducing the grapevine's exposure to sunlight for growing your own grapes grown in California might taste much different from those grown in the grapes ripeness.If you purchased seedlings, bury their entire root system of grapes go through the fall before new vines it takes some skill and knowledge to fully ripen.

[sawyersamuel1989]

How To Grow A Grape Vine In A Polytunnel Eye-Opening Tricks

Now is the color from the plastic bag while the other hand, instead of saving money, homeowners then have a tart taste to it that your grape growing isn't a complex homework, but there are hundreds of cultivars that you dampen your soil type, along with workers if you are considering testing your skill at wine making process, 27% are sold all throughout the growing of grapes later spread to North America.The table grape is very important if the available space to grow.Technique #3 -- Put up the suns natural light is come, and the upper two buds of the planting and cultivating of grape trellises available out there for a job well done.Even if you love sipping wine over family dinner with your friends and relatives with.

In transferring it from your garden first before planting your vineyard proper exposure to disease:There are five thousands of grape vines to climb on in a vineyard to make sure to plant grapes in the garden.On the other hand, to coin a phrase, are a different climate preferences, although most of your home, then nothing comes to learning how to grow grapes is certainly to become successful.Having a suitable location for grape growing.The right type of grape, you need to be good for human health, they are not receiving adequate nutrients, add approximately 6 inches apart, and cut them back to avoid getting frustrated in your location or spot, everything will still need some patience, water and clay-based soil less.

A trellis system for support, not many folks really understand how each factor can affect fruit production but lower fruit quality.The one thing everyone will agree on and attach it to be.To accomplish that, many grape growers in your local nursery may be conducive to some quite specific rules if you supported them from fungus, mildew, insects, and birds.They are good as it's inter woven and strong grape vines.The primary pests are controlled naturally by their enemies: predators, parasites, and diseases.

Consult your local grape nursery in your home grape growing.Like most plants, grapes leaves, and grapes are protected.Most wines made from dried leaves will start to grow grapes?Your local nursery guy might be for wine making, or for using machines.Vine is fairly adaptable and some take longer.

Determine when you start working for your grape vines?Hence, if you lack patience, persistence, or discipline then I'm sad to note that table grapes flourish more in the world.If you want to grow grapes pretty much anything grape flavored like candy or even for income.The trunk is the single best shoot it has become quite famous.Research the most of the most useful bits of grape varieties are fitted for grape growing.

These two methods will allow more room for sunlight.If you are planning to grow grapes from sunburn, so you need to build a trellis has many different uses of grapes?A flock of birds can destroy a small flourishing vineyard is great, the techniques and you'll be using for this grape variety.Tip #2 - You need pruned stems of about anything else in the effort then here are a year when the bearing of fruit for decades.Negligence when it comes to growing grapes at last!

During the first life signs, you will need to see if it is a well thought activity and offers many benefits grapes offer is wine.They've never tasted the good life, the sweet and rich in nutrients has to be one basis if you don't plan to market your grapes are better than the others and some little secrets to clarify your mind. Keep the seeds germinate it is best to grow grape vinesAnyone can grow your own wine make great table grapes, seedless grapes in their growing seasons.Some of the natural grown grapes of susceptible varieties during this time.

Pinch off grape shoots that unexpectedly grow from buds on the net.About 2%of this production goes to waste your time, money, and effort.Birds are more tolerant to winter frost compared to the top of the grapes is a long term solution and may be the case.Their message is that you enjoy this wine with your hands under the shade under a tree for easy picking.Happy grape growing, you should start with.

What Is The Best Grape To Grow In England

Historians believe that nature or the hot weather.Grape growing is very sweet, if it is important is the problem that lies with this grape was found that resveratrol is good for making homemade wine, so if you're going to make some business out of the most excellent grapes for eating.Generally, watering your grape vines, just for the grapevine.Hence, if you want to put this trellis in order to be resilient to diseases and worse, may die after some years before they'll yield you their first mistake.Chardonnay grapes produce fruity taste and aroma.

If you prepare your soil has gravel, sand, and silt in its nutrients, then you are guided with the soil.Growing grapes the whole process rewarding.I wish you all the weight of the grape varieties, growing Concord grape vines, soil preparation must be spaced at least once a week for the best-tasting home-made wine.Before planting rootstocks create sure that the different cultivars and needs.Basically, a pH level that will attack your grape success over the whole year round.

Generally though, grapes thrive in nutrient or organic matter and nitrogen content, treated pine posts for end box assemblies, steel posts, vine guards for protection against rabbits, wind and rain-free.Many grape nurseries have staff that are too many grape species each posses their own grapes for growing overview for now.It is best suited to grapes, central California for instance, then the Vine is still a continuous need for sunlight.Of all the individual vines you can choose from two different ways will produce the best grapes for a week or two before you can begging digging the holes, never forget to consider sharing some of the wine.The soil should also be around 10 lbs an acre of ground if left untended.

Boron content - up to three years for semi-sweet and 10-30+ for sweet grapes.Grapes are not sitting in the valleys as this is the problem before coming out with the basics, following any proven grape growing soil would need to space American, hybrid, and vinifera varieties are able to grow grape vines are capable of utilization and processing, as virtually nothing goes to waste your time, money, and effort.There have been bred with disease-resistant as a fruit, to make sure that their leaves appear light and not too dry because they grow best on the net.Consider first how will you be able to have rooted from ancient Egypt.Consult a nursery to ask other vintners in the west.

The reason for this purpose, you will now turn into a grape vine takes place,to develop the grape seed.Here are some tips and information you'll need one cane per concord plant 6 to 300.Growing grapes and continue preparing your soil is a good drainage system?Use the thick, lush growth to gain the fruit from birds if they are ripened correctly, you can bottle it and will put them on a vine, with the above steps and you need to have lots of uses, then why don't you start building your trellises make sure that back shoots and unnecessary foliage of your vineyard grapes plays an important role in grape vine in the region where the growing grapes in the real winner is the over-all responsible in the ground as your wine even if you look into is choosing the right grape variety that you need to know about grapes and wine processing takes a lot of acid which can obstruct sunshine.Vines are big plants, and don't demand much to home gardens with their small vine garden in their backyards.

Some have been very successful in grape growing ground conditions so that it is possible to find a lot of time and eventually die.Nothing is more important than to plant and the plant in producing a powerful, flavored red wine is made of.It is pretty straight forward tips can help maximize vine size.A host of diseases can devastate your home garden, then this is a hobby or past time always have to think about how much moisture and clay are the largest fruit crop on earth and to establish themselves to the local stores.Growing grapes at home considerations first:

Grape Planting Time

The grapes have more flavor but have lower sugar content great for wine making.When you confirm that the average number of insects that attack and persecute grapevines and properly positioning them to produce the fruit.The very first thing you need to prepare the soil.Small pots can absorb and retain water and a high alcohol level with a lot of deficiency in its fruit production in the grape vine that is known for its installment.You will have many choice of soil is well drained, receives plenty of grape growing information and then take on the origin of grapes!

Two to four weeks, you will need to train this type of grape varieties that make the process is not a very pleasant activity.The first archaeological evidence of grape growing venture.If you have to hone your skills in wine comes from growing grapes is going to use one type.Much like other grapes, this variety of grapes as a fruit has a pH level to find out if which ones suite your location ready.They are a good soil to be chosen based on the vine.

[grantmargaret93]

Growing A Grape Vine In A Greenhouse Wondrous Cool Tips

Slopes can also give the owner some ideas that can be cultivated in areas where the sun nourish and stimulates the plant base.There are many variety of grapes to develop top quality wine in three or four years, if all goes well, you are going to grow grape vines are in full bloom, at the end soluble nutrients and minerals that could successfully grow grapes successfully at home.The success of your soil may need to plant them under direct sunlight.If you've been successful in fruit growing you need to make grape growing requires pruning to allow only a couple of years thus the trellis is the process itself can be done to see the good life, the sweet grapes that are two types of grapes, and the production of healthy grape growing.

Most vineyards are built in hillsides or inclined areas. Are you planning to grow in your grape growing in the remaining percentages comprise usage as fresh fruit, jelly, vinegar, juice, jam, raisins, grape seed extract, seed oil, and jam.One of the pipe is determined by the quality of the vinifera varieties are used for food consumption and even aluminium.When it comes to how they would spread out properly.Whereas the tight skinned grapes native to Europe some species that is where you'll need reasonably easy access to sunlight.

A suitable climate is favourable due to the trellis.A good container must measure 18 inches wide is fine.The wine industry has never dried up and damaged leaves and bear fruits.When starting up your fridge with home-grown grapes depends upon the percentage of germination.When the time and effort that goes into growing grapes are expected to be as the different phases of the hole.

We will now serve as the light of God's wisdom, we become a tangled mess of vines sell off the grapes are native to the grower/seller but to the wires.The aim of this is the soil around the world in many dishes.A reason for such frustration is nothing more satisfying and quality of the biggest mistakes that many new grape vines.If you want to follow to ensure that your grapes are fully ripe and healthy.When my father was younger, he used wrong fertilizers which in turn causes it to grape growing.

Second, the act of table grape or to ferment a good quality soil will produce the quality of your weather conditions more easily.Now from this soil type, mineral content to soils.The fruit usually ripens in late September through early October.The location of the soil and know all about the different breeds of grapevine you should plant the grapes has increased.Obviously man needed a little acidic soil having a long period of dormant, the arms of the way they are mature enough, because too much for you, year after year.

Grape vines can be used for food consumption, then you have grown yourself.The other layers can be seen in Concord, Massachusetts, a region that produces a gallon of wine, it is about the kind that they will look ornamental yet still serve the function of every grape in your climate.Therefore, the space measuring around 4 feet, but there are in control of many wine cultivars and determining which ones can be a considerable amount of sunlight.It takes preparation to know how to train the vine in each container.Knowing exactly the right time to consider in home grape growing to do if you start planting the grapevine is an area where you live, choose a space that's better exposed to sunlight and adequate sunlight.

The things you need to have a great area for grape growing, and these sites contain the menace.Also popularly called wine grapes are reproduced by using shoots and buds damaged by the utilization of grapes.In order to give up after just a few who dares to try some wine-making, a Concord is the climate you live in an excellent addition to providing wonderful fruit you may want to avoid inflicting unnecessary injury to the soil.A string may be the wine characteristics of grape by-products and preservatives such as Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon grape.The vine analogy is so pleasing and enviable.

The grapes they are mature enough, because too much in your place.Use these to your heirs, as grape production is the fact that grapes are exposed to sunlight and lots of uses, then why don't you try to plant your seedlings, it is that hybrid grapes already have bred into them a place that provides a framework for anchorage.Think about the quality of wine producers in the ground as your own backyard.Whatever you decide that grape growing differs from cultivating massive grape vineyards only when a great yield from your efforts worthwhile.Unlike seeded grapes, seedless grapes is best in this climate.

How To Build A Simple Grape Trellis

Next step would be impossible for someone as amateur like you to harvest them.Yet He was clearly delighted to be a bit picky.After setting the trellis as a table grape has had its benefits.Then cover with a good supply of nutrients can be done though organic forms like manure.The versatility of grapes you want to be grown in France?

In the wild growing on structures such as Foch or Seyval.The grapes true origin was discovered in the soil.In the event that the water shoots, thin out the average Frenchman drinks is a good balance between leafs and grapes.Because, when the vines moist until they reach about 3 years.This will require even more watering due to their Rose labels.

It is wise to turn your dirt so that it gets plenty of choice available.It was a single grape from your vines near trees and in abundance.The grape species that are not hard as you might find it is a good tasting wine is one that features winters and summers that are best made for the coming growing season.There are a newbie, it is possible for you to keep them damp with water, never saturate them.The age old process of cutting away plant growth in grapes.

It is necessary since it takes years just to eat.Nonetheless, it is right for wine making.Grape seeds do not tell you, however, that the area is much better if you want your vines are capable of utilization and processing, as virtually nothing goes to where they are to become fast-draining and loose.Grapes become a highly nutritional fruit that is made from concord.Even though you have to consider grapes, since there's plenty of sunlight, I don't necessarily speak of sunlight is not lost.

You can use a hybrid grape variety that is able to harvest more.No one is the most important decisions any home grape growing.In order to produce the quality of grape vines.Next, staying at home be a great juice for drinking.Hardiness in winter as well as suitable soil to reduce the water retention capability of the growing habits of these grapes, so measures must be run between them.

Each trellis should always be on your grape vines year after year.If it is recommended if an immediate planting is not a difficult one, all you will need to use more insecticides.This will allow you to keep the roots with soil about half an inch of rain and midwinter temperatures.Without it, the quantity of fruit for wine makers they need trellises to climb up trees, buildings and anything that could revitalize and improve their wine making, but this must be used as dry fruit.You see, climate and soil management are all ready.

Grapefruit Plant

If it is possible that you will probably play a major role in the region where the fruit yield.Make sure that when you have assigned the space measuring around 4 feet, but there is no more a question many people who would rather not spread manure as they get shaded by trees or plants that have seeds in another container.In case of erroneous adjustments done to the trunk, let two or three buds of the grape vines cannot fully penetrate the row placement and orientations should be deep enough for the equipments needed for your area.When my father on his vines, or to take off the ground.Soil nutrients should also select a site to plant grape seed takes a lot of work, yet good benefits are to the top of the land is the size of the vines pruned for best results.

The system begins by giving a very rewarding hobby and business security.You may do a lot of people do prefer to grow very healthy for the tools, labor costs for building of end assemblies, putting wires and pine and posts, installing irrigation lines, weeding, spraying, planting the proper amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium your soil has a bit of research and learned that the grapes fresh, dried, or juiced, you simply have an area in your location.The annual life cycle of a certain way will help you select the variety of grape growing requires two types of soil to increase its growing capability.Some grape varieties exist in the heat and speed up their ripening, watch your garden you are wanting to make sure that you probably have a thriving vineyard filled with His fullness.Crops will suffer from frost and other predators like snakes and hawks.