#he’s tamed but not domesticated

[poppybros-jr]

Cosmo update! @kirbyoctournament

Some of my sibs and my cousin popped by to support me ‘cause they knew I’d be nervous! They even brought along board games! We’ve just started playing a game of house rules Monopoly.

Feel free to come say hi! I don’t recommend joining the game, though. House rules Monopoly always ends with at least two of the players fighting. It’s tradition! Don’t be scared off by my big brother being around, he’s on his very best behaviour ‘cause someone bet him a week’s supply of ice cream he’d be banned before the tournament ends and he really wants some PupupuMart chocolate peanut butter swirl

Also, reminder that you can ask me questions too! I’ll do my best to reply to everyone whenever I’m not sleeping!

[xxplastic-cubexx]

How would you redesign Headmaster Magneto? Just out pf curiousity because while he served it didn’t feel like… Erik.

i have to keep it 100 i have no idea without just. rerunning his original design but with a palette swap LOL but we try around here

[starry-bi-sky]

childhood friends au danny is submissive the same way a dog wearing a muzzle is submissive, send tweet.

[spacedace]

Okay here me out:

dp x dc writing prompt where Dani ends up exhausted (and maybe a little weak from traveling for so long, maybe she got in a fight and is hurt) and finding shelter in a nice barn with a friendly cow in it, curling up in a dark corner to rest and recover where she’s pretty sure no one will notice her until she's ready to take off again.

And because her form since stabilizing has always been a bit prone to sliding away from more human and into the more eldritch when she's tired, she appears less like a human girl and more like an more humanoid-ish shadow creature. Emphasis on the creature.

Damian is a responsible pet owner, he makes sure to go around feeding everyone first thing in the mornings, even on weekends, and because of his training he has a sharp eye for things that aren't quit right, so he spots this...thing curled up in the corner immediately.

His first instinct is to fight it - it managed to get past all their security measures, it's an unknown, it could be a danger to his family, or worse BatCow - but then Alfred-the-cat jumps down from the hay bail the creature is curled up behind and lands on it. The creature gives a pained little noise, but doesn't strike out or hurt the cat, just turns glowing green eyes up at it and meets Alfred-the-cat's little mrrp with one of it's own and buts it's shadowy head against the cat.

And Damian, maybe a little more tired then usual up so early after a long night fighting rogues as Robin, just comes to the conclusion that - while obviously a supernatural creature of some variety- it clearly has been adopted by Alfred-the-cat as a kitten and equally adopted the cat back as it's caretaker. And separating them would be detrimental to both.

So obviously this is just another pet for him to take care of, especially when he realizes that Bruce-the-shadow (it only seemed appropriate since Alfred-the-cat adopted the creature) is injured.

Dani is a little too out of it to fully get what's going on at first, just vaguely aware of someone that looks a bit like Danny saying something to her and trying to check on her injuries - he must have found her, one of the local ghosts must have told him what was going on - so she just lets him because she knows how he gets.

The rest of the family thinks it's a bit weird that Damian has been spending so much more time down at the barn recently, but hey it keeps him from getting into fights with his siblings and they all get the need for some alone time now and then.

Things only start getting weird when Dani starts realizing it's not her original/brother/father taking care of her but instead some kid her age, but by then Damian has started talking to Bruce-the-Shadow the same way he does his other pets, sharing the things he feels he can’t share with anyone else, and she sees that same loneliness and unwillingness to trust that she feels and really with the bruises the kid keeps showing up with she worries okay?

So she sticks around, even after she's all healed and could take off again, keeping her form shadowy and doing her best to keep an eye on her new...friend? Friend.

Cut to Damian ending up in some bad fight and Dani as Bruce-the-shadow showing up to save him and BatFam is concerned™️ about what the fuck that thing is, and Danny getting worried because he hasn't seen his clone/sister/daughter in a bit and she usually at least checks in by now and deciding to go look for her.

[3lji]

domestic:

adjective:

no longer wild; domesticated; tame:

(all translations by @alexc1ting ♥️)

[secretmellowart]

Jean Valjean, Javert, and Thenardier are character foils in Les Mis-- and are all heavily associated with wolf and dog imagery. In the symbolism of Les Mis, 'wolves' usually represent criminals/outcasts who attack society, while 'dogs' represent the outcasts who choose to lick the upper classes' boots.

Thenardier in the novel is compared to a vicious wild wolf. Javert is compared to a hunting dog who is the son of wolves; he is a 'domesticated' wolf who is tolerated by society because he hunts down the 'wild' wolves. And Jean Valjean gets both comparisons at different points, because he is somewhere "entre chien et loup," between dog and wolf. Anyway here are my rough takes on their Wolfdogsonas (yes, I know these crosses might be impossible in real life. It's about the symbolism!) Maybe I'll draw more Les Mis furries in the future....

[sukugo]

sukuna and gojo use binding vows for sex, taking things like orgasm denials or touch deprivation steps further, where the other is contractually bound to not be able to do certain things, like touch themselves or touch the other etc etc 

one such instance being a vow where gojo has a vibrator up his ass, but he can't touch himself or remove it, until sukuna specifically, pulls it out.  

he keeps the vibe in throughout the day, with sukuna controlling it remotely, even as they both go throughout their separate days.  

gojo goes to have his usual breakfast, and meets yuuji at the dining room, they greet and sit next to each other. yuuji is, as always, energetic and excited to see him 

they make conversation, until gojo gives a jolt and starts twitching and huffing. sukuna has turned the vibrator up all the way. yuuji worries and panics and asks him what's wrong. gojo gives a breathy laugh and reassures him. he motions low and tells yuuji about the vibrator inside him, through sudden jolts and soft whimpers.  

satoru complains about it, and yuuji advices to remove it or go and take care of himself.  

except gojo states that he can’t and yuuji puzzles.  

"it's... a pact—mmh!" 

"a pact???" yuuji's voice rises in volume, but he visibly calms, shoulders dropping into a fond sigh. "sensei, you really are..." that's all he can manage to say. reprimand is useless. gojo likes it, yuuji is well aware, he is enjoying every second of this, even as he complains.  

gojo gives a few odd jolts, undoubtedly an odd pattern of intensity from the vibe, yuuji can guess. sudden irregular ups and downs that are not taken well by the man.  

satoru clicks his tongue. "what is that guy doing?" he actually looks irritated for a moment—a look yuuji doesn’t get to see often—until it’s broken with a sigh and his pleased, calm demeanor returns, mimicking the soft waves of pleasure across his thighs. 

still, yuuji can see his hands crumpled at his sides, undoubtedly wishing to use them.  

that's when satoru perks flares up all of a sudden.  

"actually, yuuji,” he turns to look at him, grinning. “you can help me" he opens his legs and lifts the edges of his kimono, his dick peeking out the fabric. yuuji gulps at the sight. satoru motions to it, giving yuuji a wordless look. yuuji hesitates for a moment, but complies, taking his hand to the cock, and starts stroking. 

satoru crumbles under the touch, immediately breathing out his nose and muffling moans. he leans into yuuji, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, fingers clasped in yuuji's kimono, nuzzling into his hair and whining in his ear.  

satoru's sounds fluctuate in pitch and volume, making it known when his vibe's gotten stronger. yuuji keeps his pace and satoru spills in his hand. he twitches and sighs, soft breaths against yuuji's flushed ear. 

yuuji stares at the cum in his hand.  

"you can wipe it on me,” satoru tells him with a breath that's calmed much too fast. “my clothes are already soiled anyways". and yuuji feels bad for it, but he obeys nonetheless.  

satoru takes a hand to yuuji's chin and turns his face to him and gives him a kiss. short and sweet.  

"as a reward." he smiles at yuuji. the boy surprises but takes it happily, cheeks warm and eyes softened, albeit a bit timidly. a tinge of disappointment colors the edges of his face. 

"you want more?" satoru brings his face to yuuji's again. the vibrations have reached a slight plateau, so his voice is steadier.  

yuuji’s face widens a bit, but he nervously chuckles, pulling back from gojo's face. "no, it's alright," he lies. "i don't want sukuna to kill me" 

but satoru’s already pulling into him, breathing into his lips. "i won't let him <3"

"that's...actually reassuring......" yuuji’s eyes flutter shut as satoru's lips meet his again.  

and with that, they're kissing and slowly the vibrations and gojo’s twitching start again. satoru moves atop yuuji's lap to straddle him, and while they kiss, yuuji takes his hand between them and jerks him off again. satoru moans and gasps into his mouth, each jolt mirroring the pulses against his prostate.  

they separate for gojo to bury his face in yuuji's shoulders, arms hugging his neck. he humps into yuuji's hand until he comes against him again. 

he pants and huffs atop the boy, catching his breath. yuuji's gentle arms hold him, fingers rubbing slow circles at his back.  

satoru's breathing calms against yuuji’s neck. 

"yuuji, u're such a good boy."  

yuuji's heart and dick swell. 

[ablazenqueen]

I don’t think we talk enough about the way it took the Music Club literally one (1) episode to domesticate the feral cat that is Sound.

Like he comes into their group, a complete stranger, stirs up shit, tries to boot out and replace their leader, and no one holds any of it against him. There isn’t even a single line of dialogue where anyone mentions kicking Sound out of the club once Gun comes back. He just joins and they immediately take him in as one of theirs, just any other club/band member they’re ride or die for.

And what’s sweeter? The boys not once hesitating to hold onto Sound, despite his early behaviour, or the way Sound’s response to this unwavering acceptance and friendship is to soften up and fully integrate himself into the group? The way Sound listens to Gun, wears the chinchilla costumes, goes along with their ridiculous hijinks?

The Music Club loves and accepts Sound and Sound loves and accepts them and I just love them all so much—

[unclekaz]

i really like thinking that springtrap, despite being a possessed animatronic suit and having the mangled remains of his past in the rear-view mirror, he's still just a person. he gets scared whenever the boom of thunder echos through the night and needs you to soothingly give him comfort as he trembles in every limb. he gets cabin fever after being inside for his own safety for so long, so you two devise a little get-together in the backyard so he can soak in the sun. he might be incredibly anxious of fire but he still finds comfort in tossing a log into the fireplace and feeling the soft crackle of firewood warm his fur. he enjoys passing the time by trying out a baking recipe in a book you rented from the library and suddenly feeling your soft embrace as you hug him from behind and burying your face in his fur. he might be a mess physically, but he's still a person and i love that about him.

[olasketches]

when rewatching jjk season one there was this moment where sukuna said how he was going to make yuuji pay for wanting to use him against that special grade curse they fought on their first mission together BUT THEN once he himself fought and defeated the said curse he asked and WAITED for yuuji to switch back to his body, which I find absolutely amusing cause like this guy is moody af and undoubtedly evil, but he just… wanted to have some fun?? let out some steam?? kill a couple of curses and people, make fun of yuuji while he’s at it and then he’d just go back to his domain, have a nap or whatever. and you know what? sukuna is completely unredeemable there’s just no doubt about that, but I can totally believe he can be domesticated.

[masteredinstinct]

louis being unable to verbalise his love or his feelings towards others in a proper healthy way only to then get upset when people misinterpret his intentions makes me want to shake him violently

[quietwingsinthesky]

hhhhhh lucifer self-cest with sam in the middle.

[redrockbutch]

There is a startlingly large group of people who believe that no animals will ever do anything harmful to a human unless actively and maliciously provoked. Not in the realm of "If you accidentally get in between a bear and her cub, that could be fatal to you", but rather "If a bear attacked you, you must have attacked it first." I have seen people confidently and brazenly leaving comments like this under articles about freak (as in, not as a result of "exotic pets") wild animal attacks (incl chimps?? you know, famously peaceful species, CHIMPANZEES?) asserting that clearly the victim must have done something to deserve it, because they firmly believe that animals are fully reasonable and largely benevolent toward humans.

This is also how you get people believing that the only way a dog is ever reactive in any way is if they were abused, and thus they can be loved out of being aggressive and reactive, because Human Love is a necessary part of a healthy dog? i guess?

I'm not entirely sure where this comes from, but I suspect it has something to do with the ol "they'll leave you alone if you leave them alone" kinds of sayings that parents tell their kids before going on a hike. In most anything it's really hard to convince people that the world is much more complicated than the way it was explained to them as kids.

[croc-odette]

one of my mom’s favorite memories is taking me and my brother to a nature center as kids for an event and there were people with big snakes and tarantulas and stuff, and there was a woman with sleeping baby possums hanging from her hair by their tails.... extremely positive experience

[kaijutegu]

Alligator Body Language and You, or: How To Know When An Alligator On Social Media is Being Stressed for Views

Alligators are wild animals. Despite the idiotic claims of animal abusers like Jay Brewer, they cannot be domesticated, which means they are always going to react on the same natural instincts they've had for millions of years. Habituated, yes. Tamed, yes. Trained, definitely. Crocodilians can form bonds with people- they're social and quite intelligent. They can solve problems, use tools, and they're actually quite playful. Alligators are also really good at communicating how they're feeling, but to somebody who doesn't spend much time around them, their body language can be a bit mystifying. And it doesn't help when social media influencers are saying shit like this:

That is not what a happy gator looks like.

That's a terrified, furious gator who isn't attacking because the ogre handling her has her in a chokehold. She's doing everything she can to express her displeasure, and he's lying about it because he knows his audience doesn't even know how to think critically about what he's doing. He knows that because his audience doesn't know anything about these animals, he can get away with it. This I think is why I hate him so much- he deliberately miseducates his audience. He knows what he's doing is factually inaccurate, he just doesn't care because attention means more to him than anything else in the world.

Let's change that! Here are two really important lessons for understanding alligator body language on social media.

Lesson 1: Alligators Don't Smile (in fact, most animals don't)

So what's going on in this video? Jay Brewer is aggressively choking his white alligator Coconut while scrubbing algae off of her with a toothbrush. And make no mistake, he is digging into the creature's throat while she is visibly distressed. He claims she's happy- but she's not. He is willfully misrepresenting what this animal is feeling. That's a problem, because people... well, we actually kind of suck at reading other species' body language. The reason for this is that we tend to overlay our own responses on their physical cues, and that's a problem. For example, let's look at an animal with a really similar face to ours, the chimpanzee. Check out Ama's toothy grin!

Wait, no. That's not a happy smile. That's a threat display. When a chimpanzee "smiles," it's either terrified and doing a fear grimace, or it's showing you its teeth because it intends on using them in your face.

How about a dog? Look at my smiling, happy puppy!

Oh wait no, this is a picture of Ryder when he was super overwhelmed by noise and people during a holiday party. He'd hopped up in my sister's lap to get away from stuff that was happening on the floor and was panting quite heavily. See the tension in the corners of his mouth and his eyes? A lot of the time when a dog "smiles," the smile isn't happy. It's stress! Why Animals Do The Thing has a nice writeup about that, but the point is, our body language is not the same as other species. And for reptiles, body language is wildly different.

For instance, look at these two alligators. Pretty cute, right? Look at 'em, they're posing for a Christmas card or something! How do you think they're feeling?

Well, I'll tell you how the normal one is feeling. He's annoyed! Why is he annoyed? Because the albino just rolled up, pushed another gator off the platform, and is trying to push this guy, too. I know this because I actually saw it happen. It was pretty funny, not gonna lie. He's not gaping all the way, but he was hissing- you can actually see him getting annoyed in the sequence I took right before this shot. Look at him in this first shot here- he's just relaxing, and you can see he isn't gaping even a little bit.

By the end, he's expressing displeasure, but not enough to actually do anything about it. He's annoyed, but he's comfy and that's where one of the best basking areas is, so he'll put up with it.

Reptiles open their mouths wide for a lot of reasons, but never because they are actively enjoying a sensation. Unless they're eating. No reptile smiles- they can't. They don't even have moveable lips. If a reptile is gaping, it's doing so because:

It is doing a threat display.

It is making certain vocalizations, all of which are threats. Alligators are one of the rare reptiles that do regularly vocalize, but most of their calls aren't made with a wide open mouth.

It is about to bite something delicious or somebody stupid. Check out this video- virtually all of the gaping here is anticipatory because these trained gators know darn well that the bowl is full of delicious snacks. (I have some issues with Florida's Wildest, but the man knows how to train a gator AND he is honest about explaining what they're doing and why, and all of his animals are healthy and well-cared for, and he doesn't put the public or his staff at risk- just himself.)

It's too hot and it has opened its mouth to vent some of that heat and thermoregulate. This is the main reason why alligators will often have their mouths part of the way open, but sometimes they'll open all the way for thermoregulation. This is what a thermoregulatory gape looks like- usually it's not all the way open, kinda more like < rather than V, but you can't say that 100% of the time. Additionally, a thermoregulatory gape... typically happens when it's hot out. If they're inside, maybe they've been under their basking light for too long. Heat's the dominant factor, is what I'm getting at.

There is another reason that a captive crocodilian might be gaping, and that's because it's doing so on command. Some places have their gators trained to gape on cue, like St. Augustine Alligator Farm and other good zoos. They have the animals do this in presentations that are genuinely educational. They ask the animals to open their mouths so that they can show off their teeth and demonstrate how their tongues seal off the back of their mouth. They'll also do it as part of routine healthcare, because looking at their teeth is important.

In this case, the animals aren't gaping because they're stressed, they're gaping because they know they're gonna get a piece of chicken or fish if they do it. And what's more, they're doing it on cue. They have a specific command or signal that tells them to open wide. It's not an instinctive response to a situation. It's trained. If the animal provides the behavior after a cue, the situation is much less likely to be negatively impactful.

It's also important to remember that there's a difference between a partially open mouth and a gape! As discussed above, alligators will often have their mouths a little bit open just to maintain temperature homeostasis. It helps them stay comfy, temperature-wise. These guys are all doing thermoregulatory open-mouthed behavior- that slight open and relaxed body posture is a dead giveaway. (That and it's the hottest spot in the enclosure.)

Lesson 2: A Happy Gator Is A Chill Gator

So if alligators don't smile or have facial expressions other than the :V that typically signifies distress, how else can you tell how they're feeling? One way is stillness. See, alligators subscribe to the philosophy of if it sucks... hit da bricks.

Basically, if they hate it, they'll leave. Unless, y'know, somebody has their meaty claws digging into their throat or is otherwise restraining them. (Restraint isn't always bad, btw. Sometimes the animal is going through a medical thing or needs to be restrained for their safety- which a responsible educator will explain.)

Let's look at a very similar scenario, in which a captive alligator is getting his back scrubbed.

As you can see, it's quite different. First, he's not being restrained at all. Second, look at how relaxed he is! He's just chilling there vibing! He could simply get up and leave if he wanted to, because he's not being held. Towards the end of the video, as he lifts his head, you can see that his respiratory rate is very even as his throat flutters a bit. I'm not sure what this facility is, so I can't comment on care/general ethics, but like. In this specific case, this is an alligator enjoying being scrubbed! And you can tell because he's not doing anything. A happy gator is content to be doing what they're doing.

Why Should I Listen To You?

Now, you should ask yourself, why should you listen to me? Why should you trust me, who does not own an alligator, versus Jay Brewer, who owns several?

Well, first off, there's no profit for me in telling you that what you're seeing on social media is in fact not what you're being told you're seeing. I'm not getting paid to do this. That's the thing with people who make social media content. The big names aren't doing it just for fun. They're doing it for money. Whether that's profit through partnerships or sponsorships, or getting more people to visit their facilities, or ad revenue, you can't ignore the factor of money. And this is NOT a bad thing, because it allows educators to do what they're passionate about! People deserve to be paid for the work that they do!

But the problem starts when you chase the algorithm instead of actually educating. A "smiling" alligator gets the views, and if people don't know enough to know better, it keeps getting the views. People love unconventional animal stories and they want those animals to be happy- but the inability to even know where to start with critically evaluating these posts really hinders the ability to spread real information. Like, this post will probably get a couple hundred notes, but that video of Coconut being scrubbed had almost 400,000 likes when I took that screenshot. Think about how many eyeballs that's reached by now. What I'm saying here is that it's just... really important to think critically about who you're getting your information from. What do dissenters say in the comments? What do other professionals say? You won't find a single herpetologist that has anything good to say about Prehistoric Pets, I can tell you that right now.

Another reason you can trust me is that my sources are not "just trust me bro," or "years of experience pretending my pet shop where animals come to die is a real zoo." Instead, here are my primary sources for my information on alligator behavior:

Dragon Songs: Love and Adventure among Crocodiles, Alligators, and Other Dinosaur Relations- Vladimir Dinets

The Secret Social Lives of Reptiles- J. Sean Doody, Vladimir Dinets, Gordon M. Burghardt

Social Behavior Deficiencies in Captive American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)- Z Walsh, H Olson, M Clendening, A Rycyk

Social Displays of the American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)- Kent Vliet

Social Signals and Behaviors of Adult Alligators and Crocodiles- Leslie Garrick, Jeffery Lang

Never smile at a crocodile: Gaping behaviour in the Nile crocodile at Ndumo Game Reserve, South Africa- Cormac Price, Mohamed Ezat, Céline Hanzen, Colleen Downs (this one's Nile crocs, not American alligators, but it's really useful for modeling an understanding of gape behaviors and proximity)

Thermoregulatory Behavior of Captive American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)- Cheryl S. Asa, Gary D. London, Ronald R. Goellner, Norman Haskell, Glenn Roberts, Crispen Wilson

Unprovoked Mouth Gaping Behavior in Extant Crocodylia- Noah J. Carl, Heather A. Stewart, Jenny S. Paul

Thank you for reading! Here's a very happy wild alligator from Sanibel for your trouble.

[midnight-fantasm]

Yato (wolf): is being a wolf something you keep secret?

"...To be honest, I'm not really sure if it's supposed to be a secret."