#i actually adopted her on 7/7

[jessiesjaded]

I really, really wish people who don't have the capacity to properly take care of animals would simply accept and acknowledge that about themselves. This isn't even a post of me trying to be mean or judge anyone, I'm sure most people go into getting an animal with good intentions, but intentions and actions are different. If you don't have the time and the space and the care an animal needs, the animal will suffer. The fleeting joy of having a kitten or puppy or anything else doesn't last forever and they aren't toys to be put down and forgotten once you've moved past the inital excitement. If you don't have the ability to properly care for an animal, just accept that and simply admire them from a distance.

[nobodysdaydreams]

Giving a complicated tragic childhood backstory to your favorite character is all fun and games, until you realize you need to account for how old all the other adult characters would have been at the time and realize that scenes that would work perfectly if one character was twenty three and the other was fourteen stop working when you need other characters who are played by adult actors clearly younger than they are to be in college at the same time so your story beats line up thematically.

[tea-cat-arts]

I'm willing to at least hear out most of the "xyz plot point is heavily tied to abc cultural context" brands of posts but the "wwx isn't meant to be read as morally gray" and "the western fandom made up Sizhui being wangxian's son" brands of post make me feel like my cultural ignorance is being used to gaslight me

[cyellolemon]

Ruby and his adopted little sister!! Her name is Nelly :) They're 24 and 17 on the first pic, and 14 and 7 on the second one

[unopenablebox]

ugh i'm trying not to be a dick to my mom, who suffers enough. but i cannot believe she's decided to go in on "desecrating flags is a bad look for anyone" re: the student protests like a) that's obviously not the principle you're actually using to decide who and what to criticize here b) it's not desecrating a flag to take it down and replace it with another flag c) every time my parents say shit like this it makes me feel like maybe i alone retain memories of my family's beliefs and experiences during the bush administration, which is bad because i was like six at the time

[captn-lovelace]

my pretty little miso kitty turned 11-ish recently ❤️🥳

[fictionaladoptionpolls]

Cola

Age: 15

Home: Stan (not a person) (Scissor Seven)

Blood type: C(ola)

Likes: Assassins, pranks, pink/black color schemes

Dislikes: Her ex-boyfriend, being treated like a child

Power: Paralyzing boys she touches

Cola is the result of Stanian government experiments intended to create soldiers with supernatural powers. Her mom eventually defected and took her with; however, she developed cancer at some point and is bullied incessantly for her chemotherapy-induced baldness. Her introduction to the audience is when the titular assassin Seven is hired to assassinate Cola…by Cola.

Despite this, she maintains a cheery outlook on life. She initially wants to die in a cool way, but after completing her bucket list, she doesn’t want to die any more and tries to live life to the fullest. Which includes kissing a prince and…um…the wiki doesn’t have much detail, TV Tropes has less, and Tumblr spends more time talking abstractly or hypothetically about their blorbos than conveniently listing things they do. But it sounds like she’s having fun!

Speaking of Tumblr, what do they have to say about Cola?

Vintage bottle cap pngs

made some creachers >:3 autism creatures based off sodas

McDonald’s Japan promotional tie-in with Lupin III (2022)

Okay, that’s my bad. What does Tumblr have to say about the character named Cola?

Chaotic skater girl orphan needs love and expensive cancer treatment.

episode 6 (assassinating a pretty girl) is prob my fav cause it introduces cola . there's some cringe moments but i endure it for my girl cola. fuckin love her. my beloved.

As half Stanian she is immune to superpower based alterations, but is also largely unaffected by their healing mages

Bulma’s parents are Cola & the Prince of Stan

(There’s more to this post, but this seems funnier out of context.)

[thetangibleghost]

All the stuffies I have

[deneveve-is-lost]

As someone who said I didn't want kids, was never told that I would change my mind, and then changed my mind; it doesn't do any harm whatsoever to just validate how people feel in the moment. Thinking someone will change their mind doesn't mean you have to say it out loud, and you should never make it their responsibility to conform to that expectation. Let them surprise you, and be happy for them either way.

If they're going to change their mind they will, but telling them they don't know their own mind only ever hurts them and damages your relationship. There is literally nothing to gain from it.

stop telling your teenage daughters who say they don't want kids that they'll change their mind

[sirpeppersto]

my grandmas cat left a dead mouse by the door today and she never does that....i wonder if its a gift for me bc i gave her a snack before bed last night

[voxhypno]

Oh, my god, your dog is so cute!

I know, right? Such a sweetie. Say hi, girl!

Arf!

Aww, isn't she precious? Where did you get her?

Funny story, actually. Turns out she had spent a lot of time listening to that file I put out a while back, you know the one, uhhhh... Adopt-A-Puppy. That was it.

Oh, yeah, I remember really liking that one.

Well, apparently she had it on repeat for days. I checked her phone history when she showed up at my house. I'm talking 24-7 puppification, it was nuts.

Oh my god... And it turned her into this?

Well, almost. When she got to my doorstep, she was still human enough to ask me to adopt her before she broke completely. But she hasn't said a word since then. Hasn't stood up, hasn't done her business inside, hasn't used her hands... and now she's just a stupid, happy, horny lil doggy, aren't you, honey?

Arf! Rrruff!

And the nipple clamps?

My idea. Whenever she's getting a little too playful, I can just give them a tug and her mind blanks right out. Usually I tell her to go hump a pillow or play out in the backyard or something. It's nice to have a fuckpet like her around, but a guy's still gotta have some time to work, y'know?

Smart, smart... does she know any tricks?

Ohhhhh, buddy, you have no idea.

[johanna-swann]

I actually have sooo many issues with 911 lately that haven't even got much to do with any ships.

Like. They wrote out almost all of the side characters. Chris is gone, Linda and Sue are gone, Athena's kids are gone (even though Harry just moved in with her and Bobby again? Seriously, where is Harry?), Ravi is gone, Carla is gone. I know the GA maybe don't care that much, casual viewers might not even have noticed that this many characters have just vanished from the show, but in my opinion this is one of the things that give a show running as long as 911 life. Having a big cast is a good thing. Otherwise things are going to get very monotonous very soon.

Actually, that's my second point. They keep repeating storylines! Every season Hen and Karen have to fight a custody battle over one of their kids.

Every season Eddie ends up realising he has a lot of repressed trauma and issues which keep him from leading a healthy happy and free life.

Every season Bathena realise that they have communication issues and they fight about it, but then something traumatic happens and they forgive each other without ever really talking things out.

Every season we are reminded that Maddie's most prominent character trait is "traumatised", the writers just alternatingly bring up Doug again and sometimes the ppd arc.

Every season we see Buck being somewhat restless, looking and searching for something that will bring him true happiness and cycling through love interests that never stick around and each time when you think "oh, there it is, he's getting somewhere now" the writers go "BEEEP! WRONG!" and we start all over again. [This is not just about recent events aka Tommy, the break-up and Buck potentially going back to his 1.0 ways, this also happened in season 6 when he had his "it doesn't matter what other people see in me, I'm enough" revelation only to suddenly be like "omg, Natalia just sees me".]

And Chimney- he had his moment last season with the wedding episode, Kenneth Choi really ate that episode up, but his most prominent character trait is "Maddie's supportive husband". There's really not that much going on with him otherwise.

Another point I briefly touched upon above is consistency. Like Harry moving back in with Athena and Bobby and then just vanishing. Or Gerrard being more like a slightly unfriendly grandpa than an actual antagonist in season 8 when he was still spouting slurs in season 7.

And the timeline! We talked about this before ("last March", Mara's fostering to adoption timeline, Tommy tranferring to harbour "5 years ago"), but the newest "Tommy was actually Abby's Tommy" twist just adds to that. Tommy was with Abby for over 2 years. They were engaged. This was at a time when he was still at the 118. Tommy dated Abby presumably because he was in denial or maybe because he was hiding. In either case, wouldn't his team at least have heard about his fiancée, Abby the dispatcher? Wouldn't that have rung a bell when Buck eventually brought her around only a year or two later? Tommy did talk about his private life at least a little at work, even under Gerrard. It just doesn't make sense. (Not to mention this seems wildly out of character for Tommy who around the same time also said about himself "being single is easier".)

Then there's the pacing. This was a huge issue in season 7. They jumped from one personal soap opera drama to the next without taking any breathers, had almost no procedural in their drama the whole season, still somehow decided to spend one third of the entire season just on the opening disaster and also squeezed in a "Bobby begins for the third time now" episode. But okay, it was a shortened season, there were strikes, they switched networks, they were under a lot of pressure - I'll cut them some slack. At least they set up a bunch of interesting stuff for the following season.

But we're in season 8 now. The renewal was announced very early, they had a lot of time to plan this time. Also they have almost double the episodes they had last season, there's really no need to rush any of the major plots. I am done cutting them slack.

They wanna do a 3 part opening disaster again? Okay fine, you have the time now. I feel like they could've easily done it in 2 episodes (especially 8x02 felt a little "eh"), but okay. Better than the breakneck speed you were going at befo- Oh, what's that? 8x04 flying in with a steel chair. You resolved 70% percent of the plots you set up last season in one single episode with no build up, no emotional pay off and no lasting consequences? And you also squeezed in multiple unrelated calls at the same time? Damn, okay then. Good-bye potentially interesting storylines. Fuck me for being invested I guess. I thought there would at least maybe be some follow up in 8x05, but no.

Now that Halloween episode wasn't bad, it was actually the best episode of this season imo, but instead of following up on previously established conflicts and developments they just hit us with new Wilson family trauma and conflict that was also immediately fixed again. And now 8x06 has speedrun and dumped another storyline that had potential to go to deeper and interesting places. Not gonna talk too much about that though because this post is about the show as a whole, not ships.

And I am not yet convinced that there will be much more to come on the only thing that's left from last season: Eddie's deep dive into his trauma and repression. It's totally possible at this point that being told "you deserve nice things" by a random stranger actually solved all of his problems, it would be very in tone with 911's new style.

What are they even gonna do with the rest of this season? Revisiting the Hotshots set sounds fun, but ultimately inconsequential. You know what's great about a regular old procedural drama with ~20 episodes per season that comes on weekly? You have time. You can let the viewers sit with their emotions and thoughts for a week and keep them engaged by stretching things out a little.

But why should I bother getting emotionally invested in problems the characters are gonna solve within the same episode anyway? Or rather, even if I wanted to, how am I supposed to care if you don't give me the time to develop any feelings about anything that's happening? "Henren lost in court and are now completely forbidden from seeing Mara at all!" Damn, that must be so har- "JUST KIDDING! Ortiz is exposed and everything is perfect again now." Oh. Okay then, I guess.

Bottom line: The characters are all stuck in their own hamster wheels, they keep cutting side characters that could bring a breeze of fresh air (I'm honestly surprised they even kept Josh until now), they rush through all the storylines a such a ridiculous speed that I don't even have time to feel any sort of way about it, they don't even try to keep a consistency or sensible timeline going and they seem to strongly prioritise random funny bits that'll entertain the very casual viewers right now in this moment (tiger call, Billy Boils, Bee-nado, the 'Stache tm, "wait, it's the same Abby?", Gerrard being a fangirl at heart) instead of playing the long game and catering to people who actually pay a little attention to the show.

[On that last remark: I'm not talking about hardcore fans who analyse every single frame here, I mean casual fans who've watched the show on and off again for a while and who may not be involved in fandom but genuinely care about the show.]

I mean. What am I even still doing here? The show is treading water and I end up disappointed more often than not. I'm still holding out a little hope that they actually will do something interesting with Eddie and his sea-monkeys, but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't.

[steampunkedparm]

It's so ironic that the candle burning right now is citronella based

such a specific smell for such specific memories

sharing drinks in a place i hoped to in two years home

9 weeks of being able to faintly taste mike and orange cream

both bitter because it's not home

not-home housing an adoringly familiar face

it couldn't have gone to anyone better

i miss Home.

friday Saturday sunday off,

it feels like the universe is mocking me

friday night shower

an unknowing routine achingly familair

there is a hole

partially filled

because there is still fondess

there is still promise of tomorrows and soon to be's

the promise to return and be loved and love back with months of departure

but fuck.

i miss Home.

i miss sleepy sunday mornings amonst too big spiders and rocky wooden flooring

i miss the cheerful greetings and smell of dew

i miss the sticky heat that made your 3 layers stick

i miss the need to cry in the back because it's all too much too fast

inmiss the chatter

the drunks

the merriment and love

i miss the dead and the living melding between worlds with the twist of the faes hand

i miss the 4 way agreement of potatoes

i miss the sickly sweet tang of teriyaki meat

i miss the smell of my sisters perfume and the twirl of her skirts

i miss the robberies and hijinks galore

i miss the genuine fondess of neighbors next door or across the way

i miss the rainy days and ducks

i miss Home.

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Month

Sorry for being not active this month as I had some health problems. I'll start posting weekly now :) Meanwhile here's some good from last month

1. Widow donates $1 billion to medical school, giving free tuition forever

Ruth Gottesman surprised by her late husband's $1 billion in Berkshire stock, decides to donate it in full to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York City's poorest borough. The donation is intended to cover students' tuition indefinitely, ensuring access to medical education for generations.

A video capturing students' emotional reactions to the news, cheering and crying, circulated after the announcement, highlighting the profound impact of the donation on the medical school community.

2. Electric school buses outperform diesel in extreme cold

In Colorado's West Grand School District, electric school buses outperformed their diesel counterparts, particularly in the bitterly cold temperatures of towns like Kremmling, where morning temperatures can drop below -30 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite common concerns about reduced range in extreme weather, the electric buses maintained their battery charge even in these frigid conditions, providing reliable transportation for students.

This success has been welcomed by the school district, as diesel vehicles also face challenges in starting in Colorado's harsh winter weather.

3. Christian Bale unveils plans to build 12 foster homes in California

Christian Bale has led a tour round the new village in California where he plans to build 12 foster homes, as well as two studio flats to help children transition into independent living, and a 7,000 sq ft community centre.

The actor has spearheaded the building of a unique complex of facilities with the aim of keeping siblings in the foster care system together, and ideally under the same roof.

4. Average lifespan of a person with Down syndrome has increased from 25 years in 1983 to 60 years today

Today the average lifespan of a person with Down syndrome is approximately 60 years.

As recently as 1983, the average lifespan of a person with Down syndrome was 25 years. The dramatic increase to 60 years is largely due to the end of the inhumane practice of institutionalizing people with Down syndrome.

5. Greece legalises same-sex marriage

Greece has become the first Christian Orthodox-majority country to legalise same-sex marriage. Same-sex couples will now also be legally allowed to adopt children after Thursday's 176-76 vote in parliament.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the new law would "boldly abolish a serious inequality".

6. Massachusetts police K9 tracks scent for over 2 miles to find missing 12-year-old in freezing cold

A Massachusetts police K9 followed her nose to help find a 12-year-old who went missing in frigid temperatures last week, tracking the child’s scent for over two miles, authorities said.

K9 Biza, a female German shepherd, was called on to help after officers learned the child left their home at around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and was last seen in the Pakachoag Hill area of Auburn, the Auburn Police Department said.

7. Good News for the Socially Anxious: People Like You a Lot More Than You Think They Do, New Research Confirms

The "Lake Wobegon effect" or "illusory superiority" phenomenon highlights people's tendency to overestimate their abilities, but recent research suggests that in social interactions, individuals often underestimate their likability and charm.

Studies indicate that people consistently fail to recognize signals of others' liking toward them, leading to a "liking gap" where individuals believe they are less likable than they actually are.

Techniques such as focusing more on others during conversations and genuinely expressing interest in them can help alleviate social anxiety by shifting the focus away from self-criticism. Ultimately, understanding that others may also experience similar anxieties can lead to a more relaxed and enjoyable social experience.

---

That's it for this week :)

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Also don’t forget to reblog this post with your friends.

[lunaraindrop]

We Are Not The Kissing Space Twins

Fic by lunaraindrop

Now with an actual title!

The clock on his dashboard said 7:32 pm.

Steve didn’t know how to feel. He was just...numb. He left his house as if in a daze. The lasagna his mom tried to say was homemade, but he knew was secretly from Enzo's sat funny in his stomach.

His mom.

Legally, she was still his mother. Has been since the day after he was born.

His dad, too.

Legally, Steve was a Harrington.

He drove the Beemer aimlessly, until he came to a familiar trailer.

He knocked on the rickety door, silently kicking himself for not calling ahead to make sure he didn't disturb Wayne's sleep.

It was too late for that, though. Eddie opened the door. "Stevie! I thought you had that thing with your parents! I wasn't expecting..." The exuberant words of his friend trailed off and melted into a concerned silence. The man open the door widely and wedged his way through the doorway to put his arm around Steve's shoulders. He guided him to the couch, and sat both of them down in a clump.

"Steve, what happened?"

And Steve, so unsure how to feel about this situation, burst out an awkward laugh, even as tears gathered at the corners of his eyes.

"I'm apparently adopted? My biological mother is my mom's dead sister."

Eddie's eyes grew nearly to the size of dinner plates. "What?"

Steve turned to him, wild eyes and bitchy. "Yes! See? They acted like it was no big deal! 'Oh, Steven. It's time you knew that your father couldn't have children. We decided to adopt you when my sister died in that car accident. Please pass the peas.' Like, what the fuck do I do with that?!"

Eddie nodded to himself. "She died, and then they adopted you?"

The tears welled in his eyes. "She died while she was still pregnant! I was a premie. Since I was a boy, dad-Richard decided this was a 'prime opportunity' to have the Harrington name live on', or some shit."

Eddie held his friend close, then offered to get him a beer. They silently sipped from the bottles. Eddie could tell something else was weighing on Steve's mind, and knew he needed to give the guy a few moments to find the right words.

He wasn't disappointed.

"You know, Eds. That isn't even the worst of it?"

Not disappointed, but certainly surprised. "It gets worse that your parents never told you that you were adopted, and your birth mother is actually your deceased aunt?"

Steve nodded before taking a large pull. "Uh, yeah. Apparently, I'm also a twin."

Eddie nearly dropped his bottle. "A-a twin? A twin! There's two of you out there?"

That actually earned him a rueful smile. "I have a twin *sister*, dumbass."

Eddie nodded in what he pretended to in a sage way. "Yes, that makes sense. The world could not survive the charm and hair of two Steve's. That's like having two suns. We would not survive!"

Tension lifting for just a second, Steve playfully shoved his secret crush, blushing just a little.

"Ha ha. But speaking of the charm...what if I'm like Luke Skywalker?"

Eddie furrowed his brows. "How'd you mean?"

Steve flexed his hand in his lap, staring at the other boy with fear. "I've dated a lot of girls, Eddie. What if...what if I've kissed my sister?!"

Eddie reared back. "Oh! Eww! Steve, why?!"

Steve flailed. "It's a valid concern!"

Grasping at straws to wipe *that* thought from the boy he love's face, he blurted out, "Maybe your secret twin is a lesbian?"

Part 2

[thehollowwriter]

I actually adore how twst represents different families that aren't just "loving mother and father and their biological children"

Azul's mother divorced and remarried. Azul clearly loves and respects his stepdad, as opposed to the "They're abusive" or "You're not my real dad" trope that is often used. Azul isn't ashamed of the fact that his mom got a divorce, nor is it framed as something shameful. He doesn't focus on or lament about his "real" father because his stepdad is his real father, and he loves him.

Deuce's mother is a single mom. There's no "Oh, I wish I knew my father." Or "I need to find my dad, and I'll be complete." Or "Woah, Deuce, you only have a mom. Where's your dad?" and, even better, Deuce's delinquent years were not blamed on not having a father. Deuce's is mom Dilla (? I've seen so many different spellings] Spade, and he loves her so much and is willing to do anything he can to make her happy and make up for his past actions. Who his dad is or might be doesn't matter.

Like Deuce, Vil has a single parent, his dad! Single fathers aren't often represented, and even less so in a healthy way. Vil clearly loves and respects his father, and has made it quite clear he doesn't know who his mother is and doesn't care to know. Obsessing over who is mother is and trying to find her, like a lot of media makes characters do, won't "make him whole" or "make him understand himself" because Vil knows who is he is and a parent who's never been there anyways isn't something that will change him in some grand way.

Ruggie is raised by his grandmother! Book 7 aside, we have little mention of his parents, and it's not something constantly brought up or pitied. Book 7 itself still works, as Ruggie has accepted his mother's death, but still wishes his father would return. However, his grandmother is not framed as a "lesser" parent. Grandma Bucchi is someone Ruggie loves very much and is the person who raised and cared for him.

Silver is, as we all know, Lilia's adopted son. We do get to meet his biological father in book 7, but it isn't framed as a "Silver's TRUE REAL father" reveal, nor does Silver reject Lilia as his father just because they aren't blood related. Lilia is Silver's father, and there's no doubt about it.

Riddle's parents are married, but it's been made quite clear that they do not have a happy marriage. This isn't portrayed as "See one parent beats the other" as is often the go-to, it's more subtle and is a quietly festering problem that Riddle has noticed.

So yeah. Thanks twst for giving us parents or parental figures that are actually diverse and reflect the real world. I do wish we got queer parents, though unfortunately this is a Disney game so T.T