#i look up every name to make sure they're vetted

[goldensmilingbird]

👇 SCAMMER

Be careful and report

[heich0e]

[warning: while f!reader is not described with any specific physical characteristics, the child in this fic is described as having inherited all of Megumi’s attributes and none from reader! please read with that in mind, or pass over this fic if not <3]

"Did you tell her my name?"

Megumi lives in a flat above the clinic, and has since he was 23. The old vet he'd studied under had lived there for years, right around when he was his age, but as he and his wife got older and their family grew, they needed more space than the little two bedroom provided them.

It's the perfect size for Megumi, though. Well-suited in every way to his lifestyle: large enough that he doesn't feel cramped but still small enough that he can easily keep it tidy, and close to work so he can always quickly pop downstairs to check on any animals boarding overnight—though he does still sleep sometimes on that lumpy couch in the staff room if he's just too exhausted after a long day to climb up the stairs.

The apartment has served him well over the past decade, and he's happy with his little home, a perfect space just for him.

Well, him and Yuuji at present.

"That was soooo crazy."

Yuuji has made this remark roughly forty-seven times in the past two hours since the two of them came upstairs following Nanami, Kota, and your departure from the little clinic. He's downed two thirds of the beers he brought with him, though—and a healthy pour of the whiskey Megumi keeps in his cupboard—so that might be as much a cause as any for the repetition.

Megumi sighs, taking another little swig from his own drink.

It's not like he's completely wrong, either.

Megumi is still reeling from the excitement earlier in the evening, and unsettled by feeling that he can't quite seem to shake in the aftermath. He keeps thinking of the little boy who has his eyes, and of the mother who couldn't meet them.

Why does he feel like he should know you? Like he does know you? Or did, maybe, once.

But try as he might he just can't bring back any memories of you, or where the two of you may have once met. Megumi prides himself on his memory, and his ability to remember names and faces, so why is this the moment that it's failing him? Deceiving him into believing something he knows just can't be true?

Is it because he wants to know you? To know Kota?

No. That's ridiculous. He'd felt dread when Kota had first appeared on the clinic doorstep, convinced it was some kind of haunting or a cruel hallucination.

Yuuji couldn't recall with any certainty that he'd told you Megumi's name, but Nanami could have easily mentioned it at the police station or on the drive to the clinic. Hell, you might have seen his name on the wall when you came in. But none of that explains why you behaved so strangely towards him, so evasive in his presence. He was sure that you were tired after the frightening ordeal of losing your son, but it still didn't necessarily make sense why he was the only one whose gaze you had such a hard time meeting.

"What restaurant does she work at?" Megumi suddenly asks Yuuji, and his friend peers at him over the table they're seated at on the floor of his living room.

Yuuji shrugs. "Nanami didn't say, and when I texted him he said that he's not allowed to give out personal info like that."

"But it was nearby, right?" Megumi asks again. "It would have to be if Kota made it here all on his own."

Yuuji shrugs again, watching his friend's face.

"What's up with you?" he asks him bluntly. "You're being weird."

"No I'm not," Megumi argues, his lips pursing.

"Yeah you are," Yuuji counters. "Weirder than normal, anyway."

Megumi shoots him a weak glare, pushing himself up from the table. He's a little unsteady on his feet, and he looks down at the place where he was sitting once he's risen. He had more to drink than he'd planned on, and it's hitting him now that he's upright.

"I'm gonna wash up and go to bed," Megumi mutters.

"Mind if I crash on the couch?" Yuuji asks, as though his friend has ever once denied him. Megumi waves his hand dismissively, shuffling past his friend in the direction of his bedroom.

After getting ready for bed, Megumi finds himself staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom listlessly. In the other room he can hear Yuuji laughing along to some late night variety show, but that's not what's keeping him awake—having long grown used to it. He sighs, squeezing his eyes shut as though he might be able to will sleep to come to him by force.

He can hear the sound of his heartbeat.

Ba-dump.

Yer still a young fella, Megumi, but ya won't be ferever.

Ba-dump.

Gotta start thinkin' about yer future 'ventually.

Ba-dump.

Settlin' down, findin' yourself a pretty girl, babies.

The old man's cheeks were so red that night that Megumi started to genuinely worry for his health. He remembers trying to sneak a glass of water into his hand in place of his sake, but it never quite worked.

"I don't want any babies."

The old man snorted when Megumi said that.

"No bachelor as handsome as you ever wants babies," the old man replied. "But one day yer gonna wake up next to the girl ya love and realize there's somethin' missin'. Then you'll know whatcha want."

Megumi hadn't bothered correcting him, still too busy processing the opportunity—the enormous, terrifying opportunity—that had fallen into his lap that night. Didn't bother telling him that no girl would change the way his brain is wired, or sway his fire-forged conviction.

"Can I get you two anything else to drink?"

"'nother round of sake!" The old man requested jovially. "We're celebratin'!"

"And what exactly as you gentlemen celebrating?"

Megumi looked up from his hands then, towards the server with the smile in her voice.

You.

An apron tied tight around your waist, and a youthful glow in your cheeks. You were probably a few years younger than Megumi, if he was judging right. Maybe 23 to his 28, or somewhere thereabouts.

"Fushiguro-kun here's takin' over the business!" the old man exclaimed, even though nothing of the sort had been agreed upon yet.

You looked over at Megumi, your eyes meeting for the first time, and he watched as your smile grew.

"Well," you said, a cheerful, easy warmth lilting in your voice, "congratulations."

Megumi couldn't bring himself to say anything in reply.

You laughed a little as his eyes skirted away.

"Your next drink's on me, gentlemen."

Megumi sits straight up in his bed, soaked through in a cold sweat. On the other side of the wall, the variety show is still playing, but instead of laughter he hears Yuuji's rumbling snore.

He clutches at his heart, his fingers shaking as he twists them into the sweat-dampened cotton of his t-shirt.

All he can think about when he closes his eyes is the phantom memory of your smile from that night in the early spring five years ago, and how it looks just like Kota's.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for reporting my neighbor to the police and getting him evicted for trying to poison my chickens?

I know that question sounds insane but bare with me. I (F30) live next to my landlord (F60s?) and my neighbor (M30s). I have 3 hens that I keep as pets and for fresh eggs.

I have my landlords written permission and follow all city ordinances (so no roosters, no more than 6 hens, built the coop away from houses, have a permit from the city, etc.)

They are in my yard in a fenced in run with a coop. I made sure to get a breed that's very quiet and docile so as not to bother neighbors, but whenever new people move in, I still go introduce myself, let them know I have hens, and then ask them if they want fresh eggs.

When I asked my new neighbor, he looked disgusted and said "I don't want shit from dirty ass barn animals"

Uh, okay. I told him that I was sorry for bothering him and to have a good day. He said "Whatever" and then closed the door.

A week later, I get a knock on my front door and open it. It's someone who works for animal control telling me that they've received a noise complaint.

At first I thought it was for my dog, who's a chihuahua mix, because he was barking VERY loudly at a squirrel the other day. Nope, it was the chickens. The guy said that someone reported roosters crowing.

I do not have roosters. My chickens are 2 years old so I'm 100% sure that they're hens and not roosters.

I invite him in, take him into the yard, and show him the chickens. I show him where their coop is, show him that I keep all of their food in secure containers to prevent mice and rats, I show him my license number, etc. At this point he's confused, because my chickens are very quiet and I clearly have no roosters.

Every time I saw the neighbor, he was usually hanging out with friends, and as soon as he noticed me he would immediately start complaining about my chickens. Talking about how barn animals are nasty, chickens are loud and stinky and gross, how they're only good for eating, etc. Basically the usual "You have prey animals as pets so I'm going to joke about killing and eating them".

I ignored him, and whenever I did see him I would smile and say hello, ask how he's doing, etc. which he ignored.

One morning I came out into my yard to let the hens out for the day, and saw something in their run. At first I thought it was some kind of weird, fucked up mushroom, but I looked closer and realized it was a piece of bread that was a bluish green color.

I looked up, because my chickens run is fenced in and covered in aviary netting, and realized that there was a huge cut in the netting. I went back inside, grabbed a plastic ziploc bag and gloves, put the bread in it, and then got a shovel to dig out the dirt that the bread was sitting on just in case.

I wasn't sure where to go, so I took it to my vet and showed one of the vet techs. He looked concerned, asked if any pets ate it, and then took it back to show one of the vets.

He came back out and told me that it looked like it had been covered in rat poison, and I told him that the aviary netting was cut, and this was in my yard. He told me to go to the police and make a report because it was 100% someone intentionally trying to poison my chickens/dog.

Before doing that, I went home, and checked my cameras. I have them up in the corner of the birds run facing their coop, so that if anything ever happened to them (we have lots of raccoons) I would be able to see.

I saw my neighbor climb up (I'm assuming on a step ladder), use a knife to cut the netting, and throw the bread into the yard. I took the video and piece of bread to the police, and filed a report.

I told them yes, I know, it's just chickens, but they're my pets and I also have a dog that could have eaten it (he goes into the coops with me). I love my chickens, all of them have names and I take them to a vet if they ever get sick, so to me they're more than livestock.

Cops are useless and I figured they wouldn't do anything, so I also told my landlord about it. I showed her a copy of the video that I saved, and she was horrified and told me she would take care of it immediately.

I'm not sure if the cops ever did their jobs, but he was gone a week later. My landlord apologized profusely for the trouble and I said it was fine, she had no way of knowing.

I thought I was justified in what I did, since I literally caught this guy on camera throwing poison into my yard for my pets to eat (and then slowly die of internal bleeding).

But I mentioned it to an IRL friend (F28) through text (she's out of town) and she was FURIOUS. She asked me wtf I was doing, ACAB, etc. and basically said "Isn't your neighbor black? How would you have felt if the cops showed up and shot him over some stupid birds?"

I told her that I went to the cops because my vet told me to, and just because he's black doesn't give him an excuse to poison peoples animals for no fucking reason.

I also reminded her that the cops in our town are useless and since no animals were actually poisoned, they probably wouldn't even get off their asses to go talk to him.

For context: One time someone got HIT BY A CAR 10 minutes away from the police station. It took them 20 minutes to get there.

She told me I was a racist bootlicker and a cracker... She's white and I'm mixed race (my dad is Colombian) so like... lol. lmao even.

[sweetlikehoneystingslikeabee]

Can we get Riddler's reaction to SO coming home with an injured animal, maybe with a side of 'no, we are not keeping it' but they end up keeping it anyway?

"We are not keeping the damn thing-" Riddler Party x S/O

Oh this is something I'm very familiar with LMAO. I tried to include a variety of animals here.

Not to be lame or a square or w/e but as a general reminder, if you ever find injured wildlife, please contact your local shelters or animal control. These are fantasy scenarios and in most cases- wildlife is either better left alone, you will need strict temporary guidance or they need to be taken care of by professionals. In many places, you need a license to care and keep undomesticated animals.

TW: animal harm and abuse, mentions of dog fighting, medical procedures

Gotham

It all happens so quickly one day when the pair are driving in Gotham. His S/O notices what looks like a small brown bundle in the middle of the road and panics for Edward to stop. Before he can really get an explanation, they're shouting over their shoulder about a turtle, taking off their jacket. Then he's the one panicking as he watches them stop traffic to scoop up the animal.

The painted turtle has a huge crack in it's shell and a hurt leg. Not knowing what to do, they take it to a vet to see if anything can be done. Surgery, a fiberglass covering... A free sexing to determine the turtle is otherwise a healthy girl. Edward is already devouring the informational packet given to him in the waiting room. A lot he already knew but, well, it pays to learn more!

He's probably one of the few riddlers that doesn't actually say "no we can't keep it." There might be a brief moment where he questions his S/O if they even want a turtle- for the most part it's kind of... fascinating? They keep visiting the turtle in the hospital before she's released and he asks so very many questions about care and what they've been doing for her-

Before it's even been officially decided she's coming home and not being released back out, he's getting a tank ready. Heat lamps, a UVA/UVB light, pond, a dock for basking. A very strange amount of decorations related to questions marks and his special interests that you might not expect decor for.

This turtle won the lottery. She gets a very fancy omnivore diet with vitamin and mineral supplements. He even ends up cultivating species appropriate plants in the tank for her to enjoy and snack on occasionally. She's never bothered much other than the routine tank cleanings. Edward just likes watching her and watching his S/O gush over how pretty she is.

If anyone asks to pick her up, he will give a speech on how actually, human contact stresses them out so if you could never ask again, he'd appreciate it. He intends on her making it many more decades despite not having any clue how old she is now.

Penguin is going to hear so many fun facts about turtles now. Oswald might consider trying to murder him... again.

60s

A baby bird that fell from it's nest. He watched as his S/O tried and failed to reintroduce the bird back to it's mother. He even helped them weave a fake nest and put it up in the tree to see if their parents would take the babe back. To no avail. He was prepared to comfort his love if the little thing passed on.

Yet he watched his S/O roll up their sleeves and start making a nest of their own. A heat lamp that was originally used for one of Edward's plots, now for the chick. He insisted they could probably find someone to take care of it. He's certain he could light a cigarette in a public place and get Batman's attention if they wanted a more heroic figure for the job. With a sidekick named Robin, surely he has a thing for lost little birds.

Birds aren't really his thing, you see. Not part of the gimmick. He has nothing against them, love, but... perhaps Penguin? Still no, huh? The determination of his S/O is rather inspiring, even if it goes against his own wishes. Feedings every few hours, changing papers and blankets. Checking the crop. He noticed the collection of bird care books from Gotham Library.

He starts feeling more affection for the thing once it grows fluff. As his S/O gently holds his hand out to teach the bird to step up. There's something endearing about all of it. How passionate they are. How could he truly say no? It's when the feathers appear and the soft cries begin that they confirm they have a little mourning dove.

In devotion to his partner and their new animal child, he sets up a bird cage and perches himself. Reads the same care books, albeit in half the time. Once the time is right, he even builds an outdoor cage to allow the bird fresh air and stimulation that is safe from predators.

While he doesn't appreciate the mess the bird leaves, he doesn't mind the shoulder buddy. It does, however, make him slightly less intimidating towards Batman, as if he needed anything to help with that.

Zero Year

His S/O had a habit of bringing home animals. They had some... special certification, he wasn't paying terribly much attention to what- What it meant was that after they moved in together, there would occasionally be a small furred or feathered creature in the spare room off his workshop that needed to be bottle fed. He wasn't sure how he felt about the habit. It was something he almost admired. Wanting to care for something small and weak. Yet it was a vulnerability he could see being taken advantage of.

Good thing he's such a pleasant and non-needy personality that doesn't need all his S/O's attention! He lived with it. Perhaps he was better for it. Personal growth... even if at moments he felt jealous and despised it. He supposed they needed a hobby of their own considering how his "hobby" was so all-consuming.

Then they brought home the red fox. A fur-farm rescue. Nowhere else to go, they said. Edward tried to put his foot down. How would they even care for it? A fox... Ridiculous! He also knows it can't be tossed back out into the wild. It would die. His stubbornness holds even as he watches his partner cut their hands open on wire fencing to make an enclosure.

It isn't until they ask him, truly ask him, if he hates that they save animals. Seeing the pain in their eyes and sensing the possibility that they might even leave- he makes a decision. No amount of avoiding annoyances is worth losing the one person he truly trusts in this life. He builds an outdoor enclosure with catch doors and even sits down with the thing.

Winning him over was as simple as the vixen stealing his screwdriver and laughing at him as she played keep away. He was irritated with her, at first, yet as he caught her and all she wanted was pets and affection... He supposed it was also cute the way she would hoard boiled eggs out of his hand. Alright, maybe, just maybe- Maybe she could stay. Only out of his good will.

He gets to a point where she'll sit in his lap while he trims her nails and brushes her fur. His S/O can do the yucky medical stuff she hates, this is his time.

BTAS

It was a kitten that set his life upside down. His partner, his darling beloved, found it abandoned and hypothermic in a box after a storm. No indication of mother or another human coming to find it. His eyes weren't even open. A little tuxedo that mewled for any kind of nourishment and warmth. Edward was ready to call Selina to come pick it up- until he remembered she was currently incarcerated by Batman for a diamond heist.

It wasn't his bathroom being overtaken as a quarantine zone that made him upset. It wasn't even the alarm that went off every two hours for feedings, even in the middle of the night. No, it was how exhausted and emotionally tired his S/O looked after two days of taking care of him. When he said they were not, could not keep the cat, his partner insisted on doing everything themselves.

He was regretting it, to say the least. At 3am, while he was working, he could hear the alarm going... and his S/O snoring through it. With a sigh, he turned it off and began to prepare the formula. He went through the steps in his mind as he had seen his partner do for the past week and a half. Feed, burp, stimulate for the bathroom, make sure he's warm. Then he got in there and found a creature shouting and demanding to be fed and loved now.

Putting the kitten on his chest, watching his ears wiggle and feeling the tiniest muffins being made on his chest... that was the moment he fell in love. In that instant, he understood. This little sootball that looked like lint that exploded in the dryer- he was worth the hardship.

After that, Edward took on the nightshift for his partner. A few more weeks and their schedules could get back to normal. Ish. And their fancy well dressed man could be released into the rest of the house to cause chaos galore. Kitten energy is a bit too much for Edward, but he adjusts.

Telltale

When his S/O had stumbled into his workplace, bloodied and holding a blanket close to their chest, he feared the worst. He was prepared to dismember whoever had done this to his partner- and then they mentioned it wasn't their blood. Irritating, yet relief flooded his system.

He cleared a nearby table and watched as his S/O unraveled a bleeding, wounded dog. Struggling to breathe. Whining. A prong collar embedded into its neck. In the haze of panic, he extrapolates that his partner found it thrown away like trash in an alley. Even in this state he could make out the bite marks of other dogs on her body. Dog fighting.

Yet the mottled colored mutt seemed disinterested in attacking, even in this vulnerable state. Had she already given up? He was prepared to euthanize her himself until his partner looked at him with wet eyes asking if there was anything he could do. A tired sigh.

He knew some people with the proper equipment. Yet even as he contacted them, he insisted the two of them were not keeping the dog. He would help take care of the dog. Then they would figure out where she could go.

This lasted until one night in the lab as he sat at his desk, he felt a heavy head lay on his leg. As he looked down, there she was, staring up at him- tail wagging. Even after everything they'd put her through... she was putting all her trust and affection in a human. He would never admit it, but it reminded him of himself in some small way towards his S/O. Finding that love after pain atop of pain.

He stopped mentioning getting rid of the dog. Insists no one else will want a former fighting dog, so she might as well stay. It has nothing to do with how she cuddles between her "parents" on the couch. That she'll fetch things for her master with a dopey pleased look. And of course not because she gets accustomed to waking Eddie when he's experiencing night terrors associated with his past. Lowkey she's his emotional support dog and he's her emotional support human and his S/O gets to watch that relationship bloom.

Arkham

Despite Edward's lack of care towards the many strays in Gotham, his S/O seemed rather enamored with them. He comments that they should leave feeding the mangy things to Selina. Yet, he doesn't stop them. Then there was one cat in the neighborhood that wouldn't escape either of their notice. A mean feral that wouldn't let anyone near it. He'd wait for everyone else to eat food before picking off scraps.

He thought it was sort of charming how his S/O asked him for a trap to catch the beast. He asked them why they'd bother. It would appear the creature had gotten an eye injury, likely from fighting. He'd never expected them to actually catch the beast, no matter how genius his craftsmanship on the trap. And yet...

One eye enucleation and spay surgery later, his next question was when they were going to release the cat back out. Or call catwoman to deal with it. As his S/O told him neither would be happening, he began to try to put his foot down. No, never. You will not be keeping him. If they'd really wanted a pet, he could make one! Not this... possible mixed breed of a wild cat with a domestic one.

Fortunately they had a small spare room they could clear out for a kennel to allow the cat some comfort while he healed. Edward would listen as his partner going into the room and cooing. Followed by hissing and "no... No, c'mon-" and more bargaining. He shook his head. What were they expecting? You can't just bring a creature like that back with that kind of hate.

It isn't until one night when he's working that he hears... a meowing. It's strained and croaking. He goes to inspect the room and seen the one eyed cat staring up at him. A soft meow. Then a head bonk on the cage bars. Yet as he knelt down, the cat reared back and hissed.

Over the next week, he would visit the cat with his S/O. He noticed this scraggly, scarred cat looking up at them. Hissing less and less. Hesitantly approaching until his S/O was able to touch his head. Then they heard it for the first time: his purr. It was then Edward knew he was not going to be able to get rid of this ugly as sin cat.

The cat absolutely chose his S/O as his person, but that doesn't leave out Edward. The cat likes sleeping on some of his machinery when it's warm. Jumping on his shoulders when he falls asleep at his desk. Edward finds himself petting deep into his now-soft fur when he's stressed.

Selina will give him so much shit about this cat. Forever.

Batman 2022/Nashton

His S/O found the little creature after a dog had gotten hold it. A possum joey without a mother anywhere in sight. A few calls later, a wildlife shelter visit and lots of stress and worrying, they were told the possum was going to live... But not in the wild. There was enough damage to its body that even after healing, he might not be able to defend himself properly.

Edward tried to reason why it should stay with someone else. They'd have better care. They'd become an education ambassador, maybe! He... It's so tiny and fragile, and that makes him so nervous.

Edward is projecting a lot of feelings onto this little thing that mostly wants to hiss and cling to his sweatshirt. He'll just fuck it up, you know. The problem that arises is too many rehabbers in the area are full up. There might not be any space for the little guy- Faced with the possibility of euthanasia, Edward's S/O looks at him with dewy eyes.

How can he say no to that face? And the face of, he supposes, their newest companion. After faking some paperwork and certifications, they are bringing home a small possum.

Over time, he ends up relating a lot to the possum considering their reputation. They're just scavengers! They can't even get rabies! Yet everyone just seems to hate them for being born. He knows what that's like...

He does so much research on dietary needs since possums require such a variety of care. Protein, proper phosphorous levels, fruits and veggies. He really likes feeding him cooked chicken hearts out of his hand. Since they walk so much in the night, he makes an exercise wheel for the little guy to use. Builds climbing walls and poles for him to hang from if he wants. His S/O gets to help hammer nails in!

Sometimes Edward's S/O is looking for the possum and asks Edward... only to see a little black and white head poke out from his hoodie. The two of them know they won't have the possum for long (in the wild, they only live around three years!), but he's kind of used to shorter lifespans with his rats.

He's going to make sure the years they have, though, are going to be enriching and full of happiness.

[dandylovesturtles]

@theplacewhereidumpmyinterests I can't talk about most of them because they're part of an AU verse I want to keep secret until I have the first fic that's part of it written, and idk when that will be (by summer?? HOPEFULLY??), but I guess I can talk about the other one because idk if/when I will write a fic for him (I'd like to but like I am only human)

"more AUs Dandy?" LISTEN all I do is sit around and think about "what if"s, okay?

ok so this started as me being like, hm, we see Lou Jitsu with a rotating door of women, so many he doesn't seem to remember all their names, so it's not totally out there to think he might have gotten one of them pregnant, right?

and thus Marcus (middle name Kyle) was born! literally!

so the story for this is, Lou Jitsu had a fling with a woman in the early 90s, pre-Big Mama. they were both in agreement that the whole thing was casual and it didn't last very long, but oopsie-daisy about six weeks after their last night together she finds out she's pregnant.

she debates what to do for a bit, because, as established, Lou Jitsu is kinda a fuckboi and she doesn't really want a relationship with him. But once she decides she's definitely keeping the baby she feels like she can't just not tell him, right? so she tries!

...unfortunately he's dating Big Mama by that point and she interferes to make sure that Lou Jitsu never meets with the woman and never finds out, because she knows this would get in the way of her plans.

she takes never hearing back from LJ as a sign he just isn't interested in the kid and resolves to single-motherhood. which she is the best at, btw.

she's still considering trying to introduce Marcus to his dad at some point, but unfortunately her kid isn't even 5 before Lou Jitsu suddenly goes missing, with his teary fiancée telling a sob story to the cops. assuming, same as everyone else, that he's dead, she lets the whole thing go, though she does tell Marcus who his dad is once he's old enough to understand everything.

Marcus goes through periods of being obsessed with Lou Jitsu, watching all his movies and consuming every piece of media about him that he can find, and periods where he can't stand to even hear the name. it's up and down. from his perspective, LJ abandoned him and his mom, but he's also dead, so it's not like he can have closure on this ever, right? so it's just a thing he has to deal with on his own.

but he's fine! he's alright. he gets through high school, then college, then accepted into vet school just fine.

then... his mom gets sick and dies.

yeah, that's a hard blow.

but he's alright! he has a few buddies from college he still sees now and then, and he's started his zoo vet residency at the Bronx Zoo (with a particularly special interest in reptiles), so lots of new people to meet that way! he's doing great! he's not lonely at all!

(a few months ago, he was suddenly woken up by a surge of something, like dozens of voices were crying out to him for help, tugging him toward something, saying his family needs him...

yeah, no idea what that was about. he doesn't have any family anymore.)

then the sky opens up and aliens come out.

Marcus is at work, because of course aliens would attack at the beginning of his shift. he spends the day ushering survivors into safe zones within the zoo, using his medical knowledge to handle first aid, and just trying to stay sane as the whole world turns upside down.

and then just as suddenly as it all started... it stops.

in the aftermath, everyone around him is just trying to get home, desperately calling their loved ones and praying for the best. Marcus starts trying to figure out how he's going to get home, because the trains definitely aren't running, and as he looks as his phone for a spark of inspiration, he realizes... no one has tried to call him. his coworkers' phones have been going off all day, whenever they can get signal, as loved ones try to reach them, but... he doesn't have anyone trying to reach him. and as he sits there he realizes he doesn't know who he should be calling, either.

so. that's pretty depressing.

and as he's sitting there, thinking about his life and what led him here, in a now empty vet clinic outside the bronx zoo... he hears a noise. and then, voices.

ah great. looters.

at first, Marcus tries to call 911 - but obviously the call center is swamped. so he decides to take care of the problem himself, going to see who's there and get rid of them...

wait, who is he kidding? he's definitely not paid enough to confront potentially armed looters! he's going to get out of here.

but just as he starts to leave, he hears the voices again - coming from one of the surgery rooms this time. and they're talking about IVs... scalpels... anesthesia...

suddenly he realizes that these aren't looters - they're here to try and treat somebody.

and like hell is he going to let some idiot kill someone trying to do DIY surgery.

so he turns back around and bursts into the room... on two humans, a rat that counts as giant even for New York, and four very big, very injured turtles.

one of whom immediately points a gun in his face. to be fair, that's what he thought would happen.

"Donnie!" yells the biggest one, and, oh, they can talk. huh.

"Relax, it's just a tranquilizer!"

"Donatello!" that's the rat. there's a sound like a whip cracking and the one with the gun makes a startled noise and drops it.

now the rat is in front of him. he's looking up at Marcus imploringly. "Do you work here?" he asks.

"Y-yeah. I'm a vet."

the rat bows very politely. "my sons are seriously hurt, and I don't have the supplies to help them at home. I understand it is a lot to ask, but... we must use your supplies. please, if you could just look the other way."

Marcus looks around at the turtles, especially the one on the table, the one worst off. he looks mangled. he won't live long if he isn't properly treated.

a rat, two humans who look like teenagers, and the turtles. who the rat called "sons". now that he's noticing, they're all pretty short, other than the big one. are they also teenagers?

"...Are any of you doctors?" he asks. the littlest one starts to raise a hand, but the girl grabs it and forces it back down.

everyone else has left by now. he's the only doctor here.

alright. guess he's doing this.

"...okay, everyone make some room. let me get sterilized, and I'll see what we're working with here."

and that's how the son Lou Jitsu didn't know he had becomes primary care doctor to his teenage mutant ninja half-brothers. ^^

(and then a bunch of other stuff happens)

[shelbgrey]

Lance Sweets as a Dad headcanons:

Paring: Dad!Lance Sweets x Twins x Wife!Reader

Summary: headcanons about you and Lance being parents to twins.

MasterList

It's no secret Lance is an amazing dad, your twins were a bit of a suprise though. You guy had just gotten engaged when you found out.

He was so happy when you told him, he always wanted to be dad and start a family with you.

“I'm gonna be a dad!” he cheered as he picked you up and spung you around.

He'll always make sure your comfortable and happy through out the whole pragency.

He will alway volunteer to go to the store and get whatever food your craving at the time.

you guys were so excited when you found out you were having twins, you grew up with a brother(Hodgins) so you were glad your kids had each other like you had Jack.

Giving birth sucks... As most did, Lance and Angela were there the whole time comforting you and cheering you on while your brother and the rest of your friends family were in the waiting room.

Lance cried a bit while holding them. “they're so tiny” he smiled looking at his daughter

You chuckled sarcastically as you cuddled your son “don't tell that to the person who pushed them out”

Your set of twins was a boy and a girl, Dean Seeley Sweets and Charlotte Jack Sweets. They both have your eyes and Lance's dark curly hair.

Dean is very much like you, he has your smile and is very compassionate like you. He also gets attached to the same interests you have, he loves Elvis just as much as you do and he wants to be a Forensic Entomologist like you and his uncle Jack.

Charlotte is like Lance, very Geeky and has a heart of gold like her dad, she loves animals and wants to be a Vet but she also wants to be a Shrink like Lance, it changes every other month.

They were very easy baby's to take care of, Dean was a cryer though. Lance was always getting up in the middle of the night to comfort him before he woke up you and Charlotte. “please don't wake up mommy” he mumbled as he rocked his son.

Your kids don't get jealous of each other, they love you and Lance both equally but Dean is a mama's boy and Charlotte is a Daddy's girl.

They're spoiled roaten, Lance would give your twins the world if he could. Your more of the protective one, you'll beat someone up if they harm your babbies.

You guys always show interest in the things your kids love, Lance trys to remember all your daughter's stuff animals names and try to learn how to play with pokemon cards with your son.

Your always watching their favorite movies with them with curiosity and your always willing to listen to their rants or what there passionate about.

Your daughter loves Monster High dolls, she has almost every character and she gets Lance to play with her all the time. He's spent so much time watching the cartoons and playing with her he knows all the names.

He knows Gil and Franky are her favorites, there was a couple of months were Charlotte tried to convince her dad Gil was her boyfriend. She carried the call every where and he was her favorite.

“it's kinda werid? I mean I have a daughter too and I get to some level but he's a fish boy” Seeley said one day.

Lance shrugged as he held the doll. “he doesn't talk back, he doesn't check her out, and he won't cheat”

Just as he said that your daughter came running in with her cute little angry face and her arms cross. “he's Jackass, Daddy! He likes Christine's Barbie more than me”

The boys tried not to laugh but that the same time Lance gave Seeley a side eye, knowing Christine taught Charlotte the word Jackass.

“I stand corrected” Lance said, tossing the doll on the couch.

Your son Dean doesn't really like playing with them, he only play dolls with his sister if he has your old Elvis Barbie doll.

Your son likes music and Pokémon. He grew up listening to old rock music with you, he also wants to learn how to play guitar.

Angel's father is kinda like a grandpa to them, you nor Lance have parents alive so your brother's father-in-law was more than happy to be a grandpa to your twins. Dean wants to learn how to play guitar from him.

Lance trys his hardest not to get mad, even if your kids did something uneceptable. After he got on to them he'll immediately feel bad, he doesn't want them to be afraid of him like he was all his foster parents.

“your an amazing dad and they'll always love you”

Like I said before, he'll give the twins the world if he could but they want a dog, so he'll settle on that. He brought home a black lab puppy one day. The twins were so happy and named him Duke.

Jack and Angela are literally the best aunt and uncle out there, just putting it out there and the twins are really close with Michael Vincent.

Christine is also close to the twins too, Dean has a small innocent crush on her but they're both to young to really understand.

Seeley and Temperance are also amazing 'aunt and uncle'. Charlotte loves being around Seeley and playing with monster trucks with him. Dean always has a listing ear to Temperance if she wants to explain something scientific or talk about a new plot for her book.

You and Lance invested in a California king size bed because the twins are always trying to bunk with you...you also have a black lab joing in on the sleep over too. Getting the big bed just helps everyone be comfortable.

Your always taking them to lab and showing them around, Cam loves them too much to really say anything. They don't mind going to Bureau with Lance but is kinda boring to them, they like saying hi to James Aubrey and Caroline though.

They love going to Seely's office, there's so much stuff to play with. Lance made a joke how Dean is allowed to play with Seeley's bobble head and he's not.

Charlotte just likes setting in the comfy chairs in Lance's office and read Dr. Seuss books.

Lightsaber battles between Dean and Lance all the time, and coincidence or not they're always doing to while you and Charlotte are trying to watch Supernatural or Grey's anatomy.

Dean just gets crazier and crazier the older he gets, in a good way of course. Him and Michael Vincent would be out side playing with firecrackers or digging a hole while Christine and Charlotte set quietly in the house coloring and watching cartoons.

The twins are close but they get into fights alot. Sometimes it worrys you, you don't want them hating each other. “they love each other Honey and it's just a phase... Not every sibling is gonna be as close as you and Jack are”

You know he's right and not even a week later the two were glued to the hip again.

You truly believe your family is perfect, your twins are smart and have hearts of gold and they have an amazing dad.

Lance feels like the luckyest man alive and he couldn't be happier. He also couldn't be prouder of his children.

[fandoms-writings]

Below is a list of current wips that you can expect from me in the near future <3 I do write slow, but I'm working on these as fast as I can <3

Drabbles/One-shots:

"You're a mess"/"I'm not a mess."/"I can tell you've been crying."  &  "Let me kiss it better" - Knight! Bucky x Queen! Reader - A + F

"Choose me" - Bucky - A

"Choose me" & "let me hear you make that sound again" - Biker! Bucky - A + S

"You were supposed to be different. They were supposed to be wrong about you, but they were right. They were so fucking right." - Bucky w/ morally gray reader - A

"Keep your pretty eyes on me." and "You shouldn't be out here by yourself." -Vampire! Bucky x Human! Reader - A + S + (version 2)

"You know my door is always open for you, right?" and "You're already wet sweetheart." - Bucky w/ kinky virgin reader - F + S

"You know my door is always open for you, right?" and "You're already wet sweetheart" - Stephen Grant - F + S

"Don't go where I can't follow. . . I thought I lost you." - Bucky - A

"Why didn't you say how bad it was?" - Steve Rogers - A

"Come get me? I miss you" - Loki - F

"Is that my shirt?" & "Keep your pretty eyes on me." - Bucky - F + S

"Don't go where I can't follow… I thought I lost you" & "You're exhausted honey. Go back to sleep." - Nomad! Steve Rogers - A + F

"What are we doing?"/"Why are you doing this?" - Miguel O'Hara - A

"Can I hold your hand?" - Miguel O'Hara - F

"You're not as bad as everyone says you are." - Mob! Steve - F

"Will you taste this? Tell me if I'm missing anything?" - dealers choice - F

"You were supposed to be different. They were supposed to be wrong about you, but they were right. They were so fucking right."- Mob! Steve - A

DBF!Bucky x College!Reader - A

Series/AUs:

Boxer! Miguel x PR! Reader - A + F + S

This one will be more of an AU then a series I think, but I'm still working on it.

Miguel's boxing career is starting to pick up, and that means you, as his public relations specialist, are to insure that the people love him. You also make sure he doesn't take any fights he isn't ready for. However, when another boxer by the name of Kron Stone openly challenges Miguel, and Miguel accepts, you have to come to terms that what you know may ruin the trust he has in you.

Mafia-Dilf! Miguel x Dance-teacher! Reader - A + F + S

Everyone was terrified of Miguel O'Hara, the most powerful man in the city. But you knew better. To you, he was just a single dad trying to raise and protect his daughter, bringing her to your dance class every week. That is until someone looking for Miguel shows up at your studio, and Miguel takes it upon himself to protect you from outside forces, showing you just what kind of a man truly he is.

Bucky Barnes x Dream-witch! Reader - A + F + S

Looking for something to aide in his sleepless nights, Bucky searches weeks for you, the dream witch of New York. You're known for helping vets with ptsd have terrorless nights and sometimes, if they're lucky, they actually have pleasant dreams. What Bucky didn't expect, was for you to be so captivating, or for him to open up so easily around you. But to have the powers you do, you've got to be more than just a mutant, right?

Bucky Barnes x single!pregnant!reader (neighbor AU) - A + F + S

This one will be more of an AU rather than a series.

You moved into your small apartment alone and nervous, with a broken heart and a little one on the way, just wanting to be the best mom you can. Lucky for you, your neighbor is the sweetest man in the world and has offered to help you out when you need it. It doesn't hurt that he's the most attractive man you've ever met. But you don't have time for a relationship with anyone, you need to prepare for the baby.

tagging some mutuals below to spread the word <3

@sweetdreamsbuck @perdidosbucky-yyo @pocolottie @banana-cheese-cake @nexusnyx @foreverindreamlandd @writing-for-marvel @historygeekfics @jessybarnes @poetic-fiasco @redgillan @chloelucia13 @shamevillain @thornsnvultures @targaryenvampireslayer @vibraniumcollar @bucksangel @buckybleu @barnesafterglow @rookthorne @nickfowlerrr @aquariusbarnes @captainsimagines

[nick-nonya]

Hello!

I've noticed that you've reblogged/shared links to a lot of people who are asking for financial support (donations) and who claim to be from Palestine. I think it's really awesome and kind that you're doing that, but I've noticed a lot of similar messages being posted in the replies/notes of popular meme posts that are completely unrelated to Palestine/Gaza. Which is, unfortunately, tripping all sorts of "scammer" red flags for me.

Maybe I'm just being too paranoid, but I've been on the internet long enough to have seen two dozen fake donation scams for every one legitimate donation post. I can't help but worry about the possibility that some of them might be scammers thousands of miles away from Palestine who are trying to take advantage of compassionate people who want to help others. :(

Anyway, all of this is to ask: how do you check the gofundme asks that you receive to ensure that donations are going to exactly who they're claimed to go to? I'd like to be able to do this myself, just in case I ever get any. Also, are all of the ones that you've received so far legitimate?

I hope you have a really nice day!

Hi! this is a very legitimate concern, i try my best to verify the ones i've received by making sure they've actually been vetted by whoever they claim to be vetted by but i'm still erring on the side of caution as i think some risk is worth it if it ends with more people in need get the help they deserve, even if it means occasionally boosting a scammer.

that said do not hesitate to say if you know something i've reblogged is a scam.

as for how to check yourself:

check the name, scammers like using automatic name generator that work in groups of three, names like "beautifulblizzardheart" and the likes are nearly always scammers.

if the ask claims to be vetted by someone find the proof, usually they'll have a pinned post with an @ for 90-ghost or some other vetter. look through the reblogs for that vetter's post (you can ctrl+f the vetter's name to speed up the process) then reblog *that* reblog

if the post is suspicion and isn't vetted you can reverse image search the images, this is time consuming but it might lead you to a genuine campaign

as for the comments yea i've noticed too, i cannot say if it's bot behavior or simply desperate people.

if you are still too uncertain you can always donate to larger organizations like UNRWA and medics without borders, or the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund

[pigeonwhumps]

Sarita

Bug and Company masterlist

Taglist: @littlespacecastle @flowersarefreetherapy @whumplr-reader @whumpinggrounds @painful-pooch @i-eat-worlds @a-funeral-romance @rainydaywhump

Introducing Sarita, a very mistrustful new rescue who's just woken up at Alix's safehouse.

Sarita appears very briefly in The vet.

1.8k

CWs: BBU, pet whump, dehumanisation, derogatory language about sex workers and sex, past rape, religious mentions (in a bad way), victim-blaming, discrimination against Romantics, self-loathing, stabbing (brief, with a fork), past betrayal, caretaker new whumper, multiple whumpees

When Sarita wakes, she's nowhere she recognises.

So she's not back at WRU. That's good, the handler didn't catch up to her. She's not on the streets, which is odd, that's where she last remembers being. Not back at the safehouse that betrayed her either. So it's somewhere new.

Who the hell's decided they own her or 'rescued' her or whatever this time?

It's an old-fashioned kind of a room, decorated with sickly green and purple like some weird 70s nostalgia trip. The curtains, mostly shut, are heavy and dark red with patterns.

It's really weird and she doesn't like it.

"Yeah, I know. Not the nicest room to wake up in. But at least you did wake up."

Sarita looks sharply to the side to see a dark-skinned woman watching her intently. She has Bantu knots (at least that's what Sarita thinks they're called) and a braid on either side of her face, beaded at the ends. There's also beads of some sort in the knots themselves.

"Adalia, or Bug. They/them. Do you want some soup?"

Sarita sits up abruptly. Adalia doesn't seem surprised to have an injured woman in their house, and she has a bad feeling about this.

"Where am I?"

"Alix's safehouse. You collapsed on the street in front of me, and I brought you here once I found your barcode. You should really cover that up, by the way."

Sarita snorts under her breath. "Safehouse". Yeah, right. Maybe to someone who's not a dumb slut like her, who didn't give up their life to lie on their back all day. Never mind that she was a receptionist later, never mind that she cared for children and took care of the house and is taught and educated and was trained as a multi-purpose pet. All that ever matters is that she was trained for sex and had sex and so apparently she wants to open her legs for every damn bastard who so much as glances her way.

She doesn't listen to the rules (Adalia just assuming she'll stay for longer than it takes for her to get out of bed, apparently). She knows what they'll be. Don't get too close to people, don't try and have sex, don't lead people on, you can use the common areas but only when the other pets are gone and clean up after yourself (she rolls her eyes at that. It's not like she's going to contaminate anyone), make sure to pray for your soul because apparently being raped every night for years means she's going to hell, and oh yeah, don't even think of getting comfortable because we'll sell you out to WRU at the first opportunity.

She never chose that. She never chose this. She still hurts from the handler. And she wouldn't have even come here if she'd had any sort of a choice. Stupid body, betraying her like that.

She's not surprised. Everyone else has.

"And that's everything. What's your name?"

Instead of answering, Sarita shoots out of bed and dashes for the open door.

"Wait! Calm down!"

Sarita ignores them, running downstairs. It's taking too long, someone will catch her, but she couldn't have jumped out of the window. Not on the first floor at least, not when she doesn't know if there's a flat roof or what the ground's like. Not unless she was absolutely desperate.

She spins around in the hallway. The front door will be locked, safehouses don't like pets leaving without permission, especially her, but the back. The back. There must be a back door.

Where?

Where's the back of the house?

Front door's that way, back door must be the other way. This can't be too different a layout to the other safehouse, it can't be far away. She runs in that direction, ignoring Adalia calling after her.

She enters the kitchen and skids to a halt. It's a nicer room, she recognises vaguely, clearly redecorated recently, but that's not what she's really focusing on.

There's a woman blocking the door.

She shifts to the side and takes a step towards Sarita.

Sarita panics. She picks up the nearest thing she can find – a fork, four prongs, silver steel, gleaming in the sunlight – and stabs it into the back of the woman's hand.

The woman screams, stumbling, and Sarita bolts past her into the small garden. There's got to be– no– fuck, fuck, fuck. There's no exits from the garden.

There's no exits from the garden.

The majority of it is scrubby grass, although there is a shed at the end. It's green, metal, small, old. There only seems to be one exit. That's good and bad. It means she'll be able to see what's coming. There might even be tools in there she can use to defend herself. But she won't be able to escape easily.

She runs into the shed. It's mostly empty, but she dives into the corner, crouching, eyeing the door closely. It hurts it hurts she hurts so much from earlier, it burns, she wants to curl up around herself but it's too dangerous, she needs to be able to see what's coming.

She crouches there for a while, listening to the sparrows and moving leaves outside. It's nice and quiet, and she's not currently being hurt.

Then she hears uneven footsteps outside and scrambles to her feet, legs shaking, grabbing a pair of secateurs and holding them out in front of her.

A young woman limps inside. She has a colourful cane in the opposite hand to what seems to be her bad leg, and is wearing a choker and a knee-length black dress with a long sweater over it, the sleeves rolled up to uncover her hands.

"Hi. I'm Maria. Will you drop the garden shears?"

"Fuck you," Sarita replies vehemently. She's not going to leave herself undefended for this woman and all the rest to betray her.

Maria shrugs. "Okay." And she doesn't move.

Sarita doesn't really want to talk to her but she apparently can't help it. "Why are you still here? I stabbed your stupid safehouse owner. You going to hand me back to the reacquisitions team personally?"

"We're a safehouse. Emphasis on the word 'safe'."

Sarita snorts. "Yeah, right. And you're also safe for dumb sluts like me who chose to be a pampered whore because I couldn't be bothered to do any real work. Pull the other one."

Maria's face is strangely blank. "Do not. Don't say things like that. Please." There's a hardness in her voice that wasn't there before.

"Why? That's what everyone says about me. Why shouldn't I say it?"

"Because you shouldn't talk about yourself like that. And–"

She hesitates. Sarita is listening more closely now. No-one's ever told her that before. They're usually too busy insulting her.

"And I don't want to be insulted like that either."

Sarita blinks. Wait, what?

"Alix – the woman you stabbed – she specialises in Romantics. Those with Romantic training. The non-WRU equivalent. So don't talk about us like that."

That stops Sarita dead in her tracks. She finds herself unconsciously lowering the secateurs before catching herself.

"You're all slu- Romantics?"

"Yes. Well, some of us are joint. O's both Object and Romantic. Max isn't Romantic. But he came with me from the same owner and we weren't being separated."

"How long have you been here?"

"Three years, give or take. O's been here longer and Bug came with Alix."

That seems a bit long if Alix was going to betray them all. But still.

"Are you sure it's not just because it's easier to hand you over if you're all in one place?"

"Yes." Her voice is tight. "I know you don't trust Alix, but can you give us a chance? Or at least stop being so insulting."

Oh, fuck all of this. It's not just Alix, it's everything. She can't trust anyone. How does she know Maria is telling the truth? Sure she doesn't act like an owned pet but that doesn't mean she's not lying. Sarita stabbed Alix, who Maria seems to like (and from Sarita's experience, safehouse owners are not to be liked or trusted). Everyone she's ever met has betrayed her. Safehouses are just another type of trap. Why the fuck would she trust anyone? Trusting people just leads to betrayal. And letting herself get close just makes it hurt more.

"Of course I don't trust you. Why the fuck should I give you a chance?"

"You won't be trapped. There's a loose fence panel behind this shed in case of a raid. Just talk to Alix, that's all I'm asking. Then you can leave if you still want to. Please? At least leave with supplies."

Sarita narrows her eyes, trying to work out if Maria is telling the truth. She supposes she doesn't have to go very far into the house. And the kitchen has plenty of knives she can take. Because she doesn't fucking trust them even if Maria seems determined to persuade her otherwise.

"Fine."

Maria smiles tightly. "Good. Will you drop the garden shears now and come with me?"

Sarita drops them (she can't exactly bring them inside, after all) and edges around the walls of the shed, coming to stand near Maria, just out of arms reach. Maria nods to her and Sarita follows cautiously back to the house.

Alix is sitting on the flaking white step, Adalia wrapping her hand. Maybe the wound isn't too bad then, if they've dealt with it with a first aid kit.

Not that she'd feel guilty if it was. Fucking safehouses.

Alix looks up and smiles as they approach. Adalia tucks in the end of the bandage and looks up too, glaring at Sarita. Alix nudges them.

"Fine. I'll leave you two alone. If you hurt her deliberately again I'll kill you."

That last is directed at Sarita, and she nods. Not that she's planning to, but if she does hurt Alix it'll be because she has to run, so Adalia won't get her anyway. But seeing someone be so protective makes her insides ache.

Maria and Adalia disappear inside.

Alix moves her hand out, winces, and nods at the seat beside her instead. Sarita stays where she is, just out of reach, every muscle tensed, ready to run when she needs to. Alix shrugs.

"Sorry, Bug can be a bit overprotective at times. I'm Alix, she/her. Leader of this safehouse. What's your name?"

"Sarita. She/her." She thinks she uses those pronouns anyway. She doesn't really care. But other people do.

"Nice to meet you, Sarita. I think it's time we talked."

[is-the-snake-video-cute]

hello!! so, i have a ball python named Butterfinger. he’s about a little over a year old, and every time he’s shed, he dosen’t rub it off of his nose- it comes off in pieces off his body, and not in one big long piece. is that… normal, i guess? his humidity is as it should be, and he has a lot of things to rub his nose up against.

additionally, he has this little spot on top of his head, and i’m not sure what it is- it’s been there since his last shed, and it worries me. that’s not scale rot, is it? it dosen’t look like it to me, but i’m no professional, and i’d really like some tips. it dosen’t seem to cause him any pain.

thank you so much for your help!! i love your blog a lot :)

Butterfinger's a cutie!

Shedding in pieces is usually a sign that something's up with your humidity. How are you measuring it? Stick-on dials are notoriously inaccurate - I recommend hygrometers with probes to get a good read on your humidity! Even if it's perfect most of the time, he might be one of those snakes who needs a bigger bump during a shed.

For his next shed, try keeping it closer to 75% and see how he fares. If you don't have one already, providing him a humidity box can help a lot for tricky shedders (they're easy to make by cutting a hole in the lid of a food storage container big enough for him to curl up inside of and filling it with damp moss).

The spot on his head doesn't look like scale rot to me at all - it looks more like dry skin, and I think I see some stuck shed there, too. If I had to guess, I'd say it's a patch of dry skin due to his difficulty shedding, but I'd recommend taking him in for a check-up with his vet anyway. It's always worth being extra cautious with any weird spots on a snake's head.

All the best to you and Butterfinger!

[flock-talk]

You might remember this criminal of mine (his name is Sothis)— I'm here to report that he's developed a habit of almost obsessively, very joyfully nibbling his more fiber-y toys to the point that he will throw up fibres later. Now, every time I've taken him to the vet, he's praised for his general health (especially his chest muscles, he loves his acrobatics and morning stroll flights) but the throwing up can be a bit of a hassle (and looks pretty uncomfortable and taxing, even if he gets on with his life and is perfectly chipper pretty much immediately after). Do you know of anything I can do?

quite honestly I would get rid of the fibre toys if he's consuming them and throwing them up, its very easy for those things to get tangled up in the digestive tract and either literally knot up their organs if they fail to throw it back up or compact in the crop causing a build up of bacterial growth and infection or compact further down the digestive system causing a blockage which usually requires surgery to fix (which most vets won't do since they're such tiny birds)

there are digestible fibre options if you wanted to maintain a similar toy style that he likes without the risks! You can shred some Timothy hay to make your own or even look at hay-based small animal toys! There's also things like banana leaf and palm leaf shreds that can look similarly fibrous in texture that your little bean may enjoy but they easily break down in the digestive tract and won't cause that problem. You could also try making a truly edible replacement out of something like wheatgrass but do be sure to watch out for mould growth when working with something fresh like that!

Here's a couple examples by planet pleasures! (bonus is I have a discount code that could help make that toy transition easier on the bank Flock20 for 20% off the entire order or Flock15 for 15% off the entire order, I don't get anything from this I just want to save you money bird stuff gets pricey quick.)

Here's a small animal toy example from petsmart, there's usually a decent amount of hay things to look at, most chain pet stores will have something in their small animal section that could work to replace that!

I wish I could say there's an easy option like a bitter spray to put on the toy but that's just not the case for birds, chewing the toy is the entire purpose it's not really easy to encourage chewing and discourage swallowing in a safe way. It's honestly easier and safer to change the available toys to either be safe if swallowed or unswallowable altogether

[summitclan-chronicles]

Wow! November is almost over!! Summitclan has celebrated their own feast, the Fox's Larder, by this point. They're winding down, preparing for the long hardy winter ahead... wait- winter?! It's almost winter!!! That means...

Applications are opening on Friday, December 1st!

I'm so excited!!! The whole month has FLOWN. There's one more post between now and the 1st. But with the day now on the horizon, almost before us!, I thought this post was best used to discuss how this is going to work.

When do applications close?

Sunday, December 24th, 11:59 EST

Where will applications be hosted?

Google Forms

What are these applications for?

These are purely to get people into the roleplay: there are no character questions. This gives me a more focused way of vetting new members and making sure I fully understand the nature of the people I accept without also worrying about characters.

What can I expect on the app?

The application will be presented in three sections:

The first part will be information gathering. This will be your name, pronouns and ways to contact you. You will require a Discord account, but you can also put down other ways to get you if something on Discord goes wrong.

The second part will ask about your roleplay habits & how much of the Warriors series you've read. This allows a good picture of what certain people might need when getting accepted.

The third part will ask some personality questions.

Will anything on the application change my roleplay experience?

Other than deciding whether or not you get in, yes! Everything about your character is up to you except their age bracket; you will be assigned as a Senior, Warrior or Youngan. These are all very wide however and allow for significant differences within.

This is mostly to provide structure for people who have not had much roleplay experience: these people will be younger cats, while more experienced people will be older cats to guide them.

Note: the rest is pretty winded. if your eyes need it, take this as your sign to blink, get some eyedrops or take a screen break.

Can I apply for staff?

Well, yes and no.

In the structure of Summitclan, the roleplay staff are the same people as the inrp high ranks, known as the Council. In order to be considered as part of the Council, one must meet certain paramaters both on the Applications and in my research of them. Staff are held to a higher standard and are given more abilities than the average member, and I must be very careful and every choice must be purposeful - like the treacherous parts of a hike.

So there is a question asking if you want to be a Staff/Council combo. But that does not guarantee you a place, nor should you particularly expect to have it offered at the start. Knowing you are willing is good to know for the future though 👀

What sort of people are you looking for?

Overall, this roleplay is one where the goal is to write stories, go slow, explore character arcs, feel big emotions about fake cats, and experience worldbuilding in a day-to-day fashion. So, we are looking for people that are creative, gentle, patient, open-minded, friendly and considerate. We're not looking for saints - lots of people appear jagged and tough but embody all of these characteristics. The plan is to dig deep and find good people through how they act and what they choose to spread.

To note, we're not gonna check through your reblogs and search up every username you've ever interacted with! But we will note the general tone of tags, replies and reblog content - what do they say about the person? How might this person interact with others that have applied or myself?

Will applications reopen? When?

Well, this is complicated. These sorts of applications - where people and characters "poof" into being and retcon their backstories - will never open again after this Christmas Eve. You'll never see anyone retconning themselves into scenes that have already been roleplayed, nor will you see any NPCs as members of the clan - what you see is what you get.

But in the future, a clan will always have kittens. Every time a new litter is concieved, special applications will open for new members to take & adopt the kits. They will be randomly assigned a kitten with a design by staff & a name given to them by their parent/s. This is an opportunity the founding members largely didn't get: an opportunity to learn the lore organically through loving clanmates. (All cats get a fertility boost in March and April - check for openings in April, May and June!)

Similarly, to ensure the clan remains fresh, loners will come in batches that will be designed by new members coming in.

Phew! Thanks for staying through all that. I hope I will be seeing you on December 1st when our applications open! Til then, I hope you have a lovely night, and whatever tomorrow brings - know I am thankful for you!

[mushroompollution]

Going Out

Finally, the day of Elliot's date with Marcel had come. And it's nothing like the uptight, formal events that his sister always set up, with suitors vetted and handpicked more for the interest of the Nightray family than the man himself.

Marcel had asked him to see a local band playing at a small, rather exclusive club in Reveil. While the idea of being in the middle of some sweaty crowd did nothing to appeal to the asocial lord, the promise of good music did intrigue him. Once upon a time, he'd gone to a couple concerts with his big brother Ernest. And though they'd been far from the common masses in their VIP section, the energy of the screaming fans hadn't been wasted on him. That was years ago, now. Maybe it was time to try a more intimate setting. After a bit of prodding from his valet, Elliot had finally agreed.

Conversation on the ride into town starts out a bit awkward. This is his first time on a date that wasn't arranged by his family, so he isn't quite sure what he's doing, Marcel admits. And Elliot gives a short, loud laugh. Hey. Him too.

They'd both been avoiding bringing up shallow, immature interests like graphic novels until that point. Old habits of formal courting. But once that bottle is uncorked, along with some wine with dinner, they fall into jovial conversation. Unlike Oz, Marcel's opinions on the characters and plots seem to fall more or less along the same lines as Elliot's. There are no heated debates, no name calling or fists flying. Just a lot of excited "I know, right?"s drawing looks from the other patrons of the stuffy, upscale restaurant.

Which makes the loud, dark club seem less unappealing by the time they arrive, about halfway through the opener's set. They're both awkward at first. Neither of them have ever been somewhere like this before. Elliot orders for them at the bar, doing his best to act confident as he remembers the name of the drinks that Vincent had bought during that festival. They linger at the back of the crowd, minding their personal space. Elliot out of pride, Marcel of shyness.

But as the pulsating of the loud music reverberates in their chests, and a couple more drinks loosen their inhibitions and nerves, the two get swept into the sea of people. By the time the main act takes the stage, they find themselves at the front of the crowd.

And there, in the last place he would expect it, surrounded on all sides by so many people, all bouncing to the beat and the flow of the music, Marcel at his side, Elliot realizes

He's having fun.

The show seems to last forever and still end too soon. Marcel nods toward the bar for one last round. Elliot taps the melody from one of the songs on the counter as they wait for their Uber back to the university. They babble on about their favorite parts of the show. And of course, their opinions are more or less the same.

They're still laughing together as they climb into the back of the Uber. The car has barely started moving before Marcel looks up at him with a red face. Elliot's own face feels hot. He feels nervous. Oh god, he's only done this once before, and that was something chaste and reserved. A formality at the end of a romantic business proposal.

Marcel's big, brown eyes sparkle in the streetlights they pass, and Elliot can't take it anymore. He leans over and grabs the other man by his collar. Their lips meet, and immediately that bashfulness is forgotten, melting away as their kiss heats up. Their hands roam, and Elliot's strong fingers knot themselves in Marcel's curly hair. They gasp and grasp at each other with hungry, desperate abandon. Marcel is in his lap as the car passes the gates of Lutwidge University.

The two separate as their ride comes to an end, clearing throats and straightening clothes, only to grin and blush at every glance in the other's direction. Still, they try their best to ignore their trembling legs and carry themselves with dignity as they stumble out of the back seat. After all, they are still both scions of their respective noble families.

As the car leaves, they turn to each other with red faces and a few "so's" and "yeah's".

He wasn't sure what to expect, but this was pretty fun, Elliot admits. Marcel agrees. It was better than he ever could have expected. Elliot agrees. And then Marcel's gaze lingers, his fingers fidget, like he's considering something.

"You know my um. My roommate stays off campus on the weekends..."

It takes a second for those words to really process in Elliot's addled mind. But as the implications of that little statement seep in, Elliot feels his stomach twist.

"I." He swallows thickly. Closes his eyes for a second, brows knitting together as his expression changes. He shoves his hands into his pockets. "I should really go check on Leo."

Marcel's hopeful, nervous smile fades. The disappointment in his reaction is palpable. "He's an adult too, I think he'll understand," he presses, and his timid voice sounds uncharacteristically annoyed.

Elliot feels himself frown. There's a famous, impassioned rant bubbling under the surface, but he sighs it away instead. "Look, I'm sorry. But I. Think I've had enough firsts for one night."

Marcel looks hurt. Embarrassed. And something else. He apologizes, but he turns his red face away.

Ah geez. Now he feels bad. Elliot reassures him it was a great time. He doesn't regret a thing.

"Can we do this again?"

Elliot hesitates. But he smiles as he says, "Yeah."

They walk back to the dorm together, chatting a little light, awkwarx chatter about the night, but otherwise quiet. Marcel's room is a floor below Elliot's, and they say their goodbyes with a final, small kiss in the stairwell.

As he continues up the stairs another flight, though, Elliot's smile gives way to his usual scowl.

Marcel's proposal had surprised him. Even after standing up for himself, the other student had always seemed so shy. And making such a request on the first date, well to the chivalrous lord Nightray was simply...

"Shameless," he mumbles under his breath. But not just Marcel. Himself, too. He's gotten carried away in the car and given his date the wrong idea about him. How unrefined.

Still... Marcel's reaction had been a little shitty, hadn't it? Elliot thinks as he walks down the hall.

Then again, maybe he had spent a little too much time talking about Leo tonight. And every time the valet came up, Marcel's engagement seemed to dwindle.

Maybe I was kinda rude too, Elliot thinks as he approaches the room he shares with Leo. Who he finds sitting up in bed with a book against his knees when he opens the door.

"you're home awful late.❁" Leo chirps with that usual, smug smile.

[tablefourtyone]

And so I, the Dreamwhisker, am dubbed:

I'm kidding, I named her Papra (Maltese for duck).

But let's ignore the narrative in favor of the new game mechanics.

So far they gave us a Jump button, for battle and navigation purposes. Works for the new S yoyo battlesuit, that's for sure.

I also can't help but notice certain game mechanics that are awfully familiar.

And eye-searing to skim. (yeah, you pick these books up with the same icon and action)

There's also the exploration mechanic reminiscent of the Four-Leaf Sigil in Genshin Impact.

And of course,

Boy, I wish characters could also just deposit primos into my player's hand like that. It makes every transaction seem like they're rooting for me to win the 50/50.

I think the only thing I found noteworthy was a cute lil Scottish Terrier summoning two things that looked like Necromorph heads.

And that's really the impression left behind on MHY vet players who've played all three games, gameplay wise.

I actually ignored the main story just to see if people can speed through it with the Skip button and still enjoy themselves.

Pretty much? You get to try the three battlesuits without having to go through the tutorial. I just played it by ear and still won bc there was no time limit. I also didn't use the Assist button more than once.

For better or for worse, part two's graphics have improved, they got rid of the Soulium farming requirement (thank God!), Co-Op is probably going to be Battle Realms from now on, and it's not like the old Bridge is gone forever, you just switch out of the new one.

I just wonder if HYV wants to segue into APHO and Alien Space via Part 2, or rather prepare us for Tunaface to go MIA.

Then again, Part 2 seems to be going off on its own tangent where the protag has to rescue a random Marsverse from a Game Over using inexplicit time travel shenanigans.

I feel like I'm watching that X-Men movie again.

[nowoyas]

It's fun seeing you talk about hyperfixations, so what are your favorite non-HM / RF farm sims? :3c

*breaks fingers* you've activated my trap card

okay SO! I'm actually still developing a favorite because there's so many in the genre to pick from and they're all so unique! so I'm just going to ramble about non-bokumono and bokumono-adjacent farm sims that I think are good and worth bringing up!

Stardew Valley is the obvious one everyone jumps to. It's a solid harvest moon clone--not in a derogatory way, I mean it was literally created to be a clone of an earlier harvest moon game, and it does that job extremely well and then proceeds to build on the formula in a way that clearly resonated with a lot of people. It is not, however, my favorite. Don't look at my play time on steam. I am slightly burned on it due to how many people slap the label "stardew valley but [core aesthetic]" on every fucking farm sim because they're Guy Who's Only Played Stardew Valley, Playing His Second Farm Sim. BUT it IS really just a great farm sim with solid mechanics.

Graveyard Keeper gets a mention here because, while it doesn't quite match up tonally with the rest of the genre and is only sort of even IN the genre, if you like farm sims as a whole, chances are great that you'll like Graveyard Keeper, as it scratches the same gameplay loop itch that you'll get from any good farm sim. This is a game that was recommended to me by no less than seven people when I was looking for a new farm sim to play, and for good reason! Loosely, you get Issekai'd into another world to be that world's graveyard keeper, and spend the game trying to get back home. Not a farm sim in the truest sense, still worth mentioning here.

Coral Island. Ohhhh my god Coral Island. It's still in the creation stages and being polished, but holy SHIT the vibes are immaculate. Nature and environmentalism-focused farm sim with one of the most diverse casts I've gotten the pleasure of seeing in a farm sim. The characters are beautiful, the concept is gorgeous, and the focus is not just on farming and community, but on cleaning up the environment and taking care of the world we live in. Kind of like another farm sim, I think, but I'm blanking on which one I'm thinking of right now?

PUMPKIN DAYS is absolutely worth mentioning here. It's a super super charming proper farm sim. I wouldn't recommend it to people new to the genre, but rather to genre vets who are already sure they like the core gameplay of farm sims. Much like Coral Island, Pumpkin Days has a MASSIVELY diverse cast. There's three towns you can live in on the island the game is set on, each with their own characters. While it's hard to definitively point to any one character as a specific breed of queer, it's actually the only farm sim I can name where you can be truly poly! Also extremely nice, there's a town on the island called Spoonie Island that's a lovely little community of variously disabled and neurodivergent characters. The reason I wouldn't recommend this as a starter farm sim is one thing: tank controls. This game has tank controls. This is the most interesting decision I've ever seen in a farm sim. Once you settle in with them, it works and I hardly noticed the difference anymore after about 20 hours of gameplay, but if you're a newcomer to the genre? You'll want to start with a game that controls like 74% of other games in the genre. (This is also why I don't recommend Island of Happiness or Sunshine Islands to newcomers to the genre. Touch screen movement is another you get used to but should not start with.)

Another not-technically-a-true-farm-sim game I absolutely fucking NEED to bring up here is Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin. It's developed by XSEED games, which you'll note is an American subsidiary of Marvelous, the company that makes the bokumono games. They're really fucking good at farm sims. Sakuna is not technically a farm sim--there's a set plotline, the game is much more combat-oriented, and there's no dating system, but this game is still very much about community, and one of the main mechanics is farming rice to grow your strength as a harvest goddess. This game is SO fucking technical with the farming aspect, in the best fucking way. In learning more about how to properly grow the rice, I actually ended up looking into actual fucking real life rice disorders and being able to translate that into in-game mechanics to be able to treat them. I still get advertisements for farming equipment and fertilizers from how much research I've done. I only got 100 hours out of this game, but I chalk that more up to the plot and progression having a more definite end than, say, Rune Factory 4 and its endless dungeons in the endgame. If there were more plot to work through and more progression to gain, I would easily get another 300 out of it.

This post is starting to get long (it's like I'm talking about farm sims or something) so this'll be my final mentions here: My Time at Portia and My Time at Sandrock. Again, not true farm sims in that you're not technically a farmer. Absolutely a farm sim. In these games, you're a Builder who comes to a town (Portia or Sandrock, depending on the game [wow]) and works to build up the community. It took some adjusting to settle in to the art style, but once I did, holy shit these games are fun. These are also more combat-oriented and DEFINITELY less farming-oriented--while you can grow crops and have animals, it's absolutely an afterthought to gathering materials to build things for people. You can get married in these ones, unlike Sakuna or Graveyard Keeper, and it's definitely the closest to true farm sim out of the "kind of but not really but definitely in the genre but also not really" category. My Time at Sandrock sees a full release in September, and I am SOOOO excited. I haven't been playing it as much because I literally have So Much Of Everything to get done while working full time and obsessing over my boys, but any game I've talked about here is well worth it.

OH MY GOD I DIDN'T MENTION ATOMICROPS. Atomicrops counts. It has the farming sim tag on steam so it counts. Okay so like imagine the apocalypse. Now imagine running a farm after the nuclear apocalypse. Much much more combat oriented. This one's a roguelike. You can and should get married in this one. Hands down the best farm sim to recover from dental surgery to. I associate this game with the taste of mashed potatoes.

Okokok I'm pretty sure I'm having an allergic reaction so I'll stop digging through non-bokumono farm sims for now BUT THANK YOU SM FOR ASKING I LITERALLY LOVE TALKING ABOUT FARM SIMS WHEN I WAS A KID MY MOM ALMOST TOOK ME TO THERAPY BECAUSE I PLAYED HARVEST MOON FOR LIKE 18 HOURS STRAIGHT AND FORGOT TO SLEEP

[justakidicarus]

Storytime, but not quite a happy one.

So I used to have a cat. He wasn't always ours, he was a stray abandoned by his previous owners, a biker gang across the road that moved away. His owners abused him, kicking his teeth in. My Mum fed him every day and night so he kept coming back. One day she was trying out names

"Tiggy? Tigger? Tig?"

At Tig, he meowed and just walked inside like he always belonged.

That's the story of how we got our cat Tig. We got him Vaccinated and Neutered (though we've seen missing cat posters of other cats recently that look quite a bit like him so I'm not sure we got to him in time) and he was an indoor-outdoor cat. He was blind in one eye (his eye was cancerous so we had to remove it) and most of his teeth were rotten or kicked in so we had to get them removed as well, leaving him with a single tooth.

He spent a good deal of time inside but came and went as he pleased. We had no litter box, he used the garden and preferred it that way. From what I know he never really wandered from our property and he never got to our chickens (we lived in the suburbs but we had an acre of land, a flock of chickens, two dogs and a pet pig but that's another story entirely.) because the pig would guard them well. Our dogs never attacked him because damn Tig was a fighter (The two dogs are now terrified of cats, the small one won't stop shaking when near one, even when they're much smaller than her). He warded off pretty much any stranger dog that came near our house. He was addicted to Potato chips and cheese, and is the reason we had to cover the cheese bowl when making Tacos otherwise he would eat it.

We used to watch the show "My Cat from Hell", but after Tig got bladder stones from what the Vet said was the stress of hearing the angry cats on screen, we never watched it again. Fun fact about that time, we sent Tig to the best Vet we could find and got him the best treatment and everything. It was expensive, and a drain on my Mum. Even with all this, Tig seemed like he would never recover. The day she couldn't keep paying (I kid you not the very same day) and she was going to call to pull the plug, the Vet called and said that he just got up and started walking around like nothing was ever wrong. That little brat knew exactly how far he could push before he was in danger. That's how we ended up spending 10k in vet bills. The cat was free, but his vet bills, not so much.

While we never found out truly how old Tig was, seeing as we adopted him off the streets. We estimated he lived a good 17-18 years. He did not die of old age.

I was playing Monster Hunter Stories 2 when I got the news. Actually, I was in the middle of the final boss fight of the story, my sisters with me for that boss fight.

A bit of context for the nature of our estate: People's animals break free all the time. This happened quite regularly and we would often see these animals wandering around on the street, since we had separate paddock spaces out the back (our pig recently died of old age and our chickens had long since passed before that) we would grab these dogs off the street, check their collars, and call their owners to let them know their dog had gotten out. For repeat offenders, we would bring the dogs to their house and return them in person, or wait for them to come back from being out and pick them out. We've helped other families chase down their dogs before too.

A neighbour had been walking when he saw a commotion on our front lawn (be aware that this was within our fence line but we had the gate open because we've always kept it open. We've never had a problem with hostile animals before). He approached and found two dogs mauling Tig to death. These two dogs we had found roaming the estate about two weeks ago, and like we always did, we brought them into the back yard and put a post on the estate's Facebook page to let the owners know their dogs had gotten loose. We kept the dogs hydrated while the owners, busy for the day, took back the dogs after sunset. Tig had been inside that day, not feeling like going out.

The man scared the dogs off and immediately went to the front door, Dad answering.

He said that he was there for Tig when he took his last breath.

We buried him in the front garden, beside where our first dog Mindy was buried. At that age, he likely barely had a year left in his life. His remaining eye was beginning to grow cloudy, and probably soon would have rendered him blind. His coat was getting a bit sparser and his figure thinner. We made sure he was well taken care of, but it was clear these changes were from age, not health. Tig was always a fighter, and I like to think he preferred dying a warrior's death, and in his final moments accompanied by a family member. I know for a fact he left some scars on those dogs' muzzles.

We never brought another dog into our yard and cared for them when their owner wasn't able to ever again.

When the owner heard what her dogs had done, she came over about a week later with a handful of flowers and some half-assed condolences. I will call them half-assed, because they were very clearly more about her own lingering guilt that her dogs killed someone's pet rather than the fact that the dogs did it in the first place, and we had to pay the price. We took care of their pets for them while they couldn't keep their animals in and this is the thanks we got?

Only a few weeks later, we saw those two dogs roaming the streets again. My Dad already knew the wife's phone number and contacted her, telling her (most likely not kindly but understandably so) to come get her dogs. We did not take them out back where they would be safe and looked after. We still had a Cvoodle and Labrador we were going to look after with our life, and knowing those dogs were violent we were not going to let them anywhere near our last remaining pets.

Want to know the lady's reaction when she got back from where she worked (an hour away) and got her dogs?

She started screaming at my Dad for calling her away from work just to pick up her dogs. I'm not quite sure about the tone of my Dad's voice, but my Dad took her to the side of the road and I headed to my room, recording through the window in case she got violent so I would have evidence. A bit paranoid but the house she lived in had gotten involved in a drug bust a few years back and I was not quite sure if she was from a different family or not. The house backs onto the train tracks.

My Dad gave his reasons, mostly the fact that her dogs had killed our cat and she needed to keep them on her property. She gave her reasons, that her dogs were sweethearts (we've all heard that one before. Hell my dogs had a chicken-killing problem and they're family/lap dog breeds. The little one would kill a chicken while the big one would eat it, later vomiting up the meal. This is why we never got another flock, though only two died this way) that they were renovating and her family were living elsewhere while it was being done. At this point, we were also doing renovations, but we kept our dogs in without problems (as a side note: She kept her dogs on her property while they were renovating but they weren't living there. Suspicious to put it mildly. What she should have done was take them with her if she could or put them in a kennel if she couldn't. Also, she had three small kids, these two dogs were proper big guard dog breeds. We think she was hiding drugs on her property and had the dogs to guard it but you can't be sure.) The lady screamed some more, partly about how her friend (who lived on the corner) was a cop. She stormed off.

That same week, we found out that another cat in the estate had been killed by the very same dogs that killed Tig. There was CCTV footage and everything. The dogs broke into the gated and fenced property (her gate was closed, they broke through) and ripped the cat off the porch, dragging it away and presumably killing it and eating it. The owner never recovered the body. The dogs had done so the same day Dad called the dog's owner and she screamed at him.

This was all brought to the city council (Australia btw). All the family got was a slap on the wrist.

My mum put up a warning on the Facebook group about the dogs. Two cats have been confirmed to have lost their lives to these two specific dogs and other cats have gone missing around the estate. That same day, the Lady stormed up to the house in a frenzy, screaming at my Mum when she answered the door and demanding she take it down, once again citing that her friend is a cop and she would sue us for harassment, saying we clearly had the money to get another cat (all I will say on that is that looks can be deceiving and we do not have as much disposable income as people may think since we are a family of six and one has high-level Autism and Dad retired early) and that clearly we were wrong for saying such things about her darling dogs.

Mum reiterated the fact that her dogs have killed two cats now, including our own, and one such kill being caught on camera and the other having eye witness testimony. Also, if anyone had the grounds to sue for harassment it would be us because she's come to our house unwanted seeking conflict and acting aggressively. Finally, since she decided to assume we had plenty of money to blow and she didn't (she stated she couldn't afford a kennel due to the renovations) go ahead, and try and sue with the mounting evidence over her terrible case of harassment and see what happens (this was a bold-faced lie, money was fairly tight at that point and court costs is not a good way to spend it).

She never did sue. Her kids flip us off whenever we drive past their house. Their house is on the T-intersection exiting our street, we always have to drive past it.

As far as I know, those dogs are still alive today.

We have two more cats now. British Shorthair kittens from the same cattery but different litters. One acts like the world is out to get her when literally nothing bad has ever happened to her for her entire life. The other one is probably autistic. I love both of them very much (they're about 2 years old now) and they are firmly indoor cats. Litter box and locked cat flap included. Poppy (the younger one, a soft grey) once got outside during a storm and her butt got soaked and only her butt cause she sat in a puddle cause she didn't know it was wet.

Keep your cats indoors and your dogs on your property. It's safer for them, and safer for the neighbourhood. Your dogs are very much capable of killing, even if they've never shown the intention before. Again, my Cvoodle killed two of my chickens and she's a lap dog.

outdoor cat defenders really are simply some of the most Delusional people on the planet, like you can list fact after fact all with verified sources about how bad it is to let cats outside for both them & the environment around them and people will cover their ears and be like "umm not my frumpkins he knows not to play in traffic & he has magical resistance to coyotes and disease"