#is that the name of this specific Pallas cat?

[erosmutt]

silly little tag game, a get to know me! i saw someone else do this and wanted to join!

⠀★⠀⠀what’s the origin of your blog title? ─ this was originally a yandere blog... it's literally eros (my bf's name) + mutt. so like... eros' mutt. sigh.

⠀★⠀⠀favorite fandoms ─ star wars (obvi), kpop (bts, enha, nct), jjk

⠀★⠀⠀OTP(s)/shipname ─ bruh idk. hayden + kaleigh... kayden. or haleigh. they're both nice names. sam + kaleigh... saleigh? or kam? ooh! harrison + kaleigh. karrison. also haleigh. i like kayden and karrison, lol. but what about eros + kaleigh? keros? ealeigh? keros is pretty cool <3

⠀★⠀⠀favorite color ─ grey

⠀★⠀⠀song stuck in your head ─ ironically it's can't get you out of my head by kylie minogue

⠀★⠀⠀weirdest habit/trait? ─ honestly idk, if i had to pick i'd say either sucking my tongue (i have a very strong oral fixation, not very sure why) or rocking back and forth (i do this subconsciously, and both of these are self-soothing)

⠀★⠀⠀hobbies ─ writing, drawing, making little handmade gifts for my boyfriend, baking, making character playlists, making bots,

⠀★⠀⠀if you work, what’s your profession? ─ right now i'm an artist apprentice

⠀★⠀⠀if you could have any job you wish, what would it be? ─ mortician!

⠀★⠀⠀something you’re good at ─ many things! writing, singing, and art are a few!

⠀★⠀⠀something you’re bad at ─ um, skateboarding? my posture is fucked so my balance got fucked too.

⠀★⠀⠀something you love ─ my mom, my boyfriend, my cat, thai tea

⠀★⠀⠀something you could talk about for hours off the cuff ─ the horrible staff at my previous school and their mistreatment towards me

⠀★⠀⠀something you hate ─ arrogance

⠀★⠀⠀something you collect ─ the tabs off of cans, paper towel tubes

⠀★⠀⠀something you forget ─ i often forget to eat. actually. and drink water. until my mom asks me about it or my body is like "sustenance please"

⠀★⠀⠀what’s your love language? ─ physical affection

⠀★⠀⠀favorite movie/show ─ favorite movies are a series of unfortunate events, life as a house, and the fugitive. my favorite show is black butler.

⠀★⠀⠀favorite food ─ oddly specific but baked chicken, cabbage, and cornbread!

⠀★⠀⠀favorite animal ─ pallas cat

⠀★⠀⠀are you musical? ─ definitely. i love to sing and i've played a few instruments. violin is my favorite that i've played!

⠀★⠀⠀what were you like as a child? ─ very smart, very playful, and very imaginitive. i love to learn and i have a very good imagination, especially being an only child.

⠀★⠀⠀favorite subject at school? ─ english/reading!

⠀★⠀⠀least favorite subject? ─ probably math

⠀★⠀⠀what’s your best character trait? ─ my empathy

⠀★⠀⠀what’s your worst character trait? ─ also my empathy. it's very draining and i find myself exhausted giving myself and my kindness away.

⠀★⠀⠀if you could change any detail of your day right now what would it be? ─ being cold. i hate being cold.

⠀★⠀⠀if you could travel in time who would you like to meet? ─ oh my. probably jeremy irons in his prime.

⠀★⠀⠀recommend one of your favorite fanfics (spread the love) ─ okay here i go. i rec sins of the father on ao3. it's so well written.

TAGS: @102hannah @addictedtohobi @ilovekmchenzie @vilemorals555 @schizo-toddhoward @cocobear18 @theladykassia @zapernz @grymghoul

[cannedchipps]

Introduction :3

Haven't made one yet so i'll make one now

★ --- Important!

My name is Chippy Or Chip

Any pronouns

Don't expect me to interact first, or do it often. I have social anxiety

I have ADD, please be patient with me

Cishet (questioning Demi tho)

Would appreciate tonetags!

I'll make suggestive posts/jokes occasionally! I'll tag accordingly of course, but let me know if you want a specific filter tag on them

★ --- 🐾

i am Alterhuman!!

i am Animalhearted + Fictionhearted

Hearttypes :

• for animals: Cats, Hyenas, Manuls/Pallas cats and Binturongs/Bearcats, questioning Jaguars, questioning Stoat

• for fiction: Spearmaster from Rain World

★ --- 🧡

Fandoms (Colored ones are the ones i like the most!) :

Rain world, Clangen, Warrior cats, Wolfquest, Lion king, Wolvden/Lioden, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, Sprunki, Dandy's World, Spiritfarer, Fabulous Beasts, Infinity Nikki

Just because i am not in the fandom does not mean i do not enjoy the media!

(Feel free to ask what other medias i like :3)

★ --- 🔶

i REALLY like Madilyn Mei's music

my music taste is everywhere (y'know... i also like Femtanyl)

i usually listen to Pop music but only specific genres

★ --- 🐈

i REALLY love cats (a lot more than my other hearttypes!)

i have a cat named PBH!

PBH means Poopy Butthole (i'm so sorry)

PBH has 5 kittens (i gave away 2)

the remaining kittens names are Cally, Biggie and Kiko

they have alt names too (Little rat, Giant mop and Automobile)

do not ask how i come up with these names /silly

★ --- 🎨

i love to draw!!!

i sometimes post drawings but not really often

if its traditonal art, i usually only do either sketches or doodles

don't expect to see animations often

i write but i barely share it

PRONOUN PAGE

NOTE

(im gonna add more...soon)

userboxes are made by me and are f2u

Tag meanings:

#ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ my stuff : anything i post

#ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ reblog : anything i reblog

#ʚɞ ⁺˖ ⸝⸝ ask : asks from people

Divider credits to @/cafekitsune !

[windyengel]

Index

The Basics (you are here)

Kaeya and his peacock

Orgelmouse

Dande-lion

Der Stubentiger

The basics

Genshin Impact AU where every person who gets a vision, also gets a creature that is the physical manifestation of a human soul. It doesn't have to be a real animal and the characters don't have to have their creature right beside them, but because people are afraid someone would harm them, they usually keep them right beside them.

If someone harms the soul the person feels immense pain, and if the soul animal dies the person is as good as dead.

Most of the animals are self explanatory by the constellation they have, some are more due to the different cultures and superstitions the country which each of Genshin regions are based on.

For mondstand

Amber has a Brown Hare

Diluc has an Eagle Owl

Diona manages the bar with her short hair calico cat

Kaeya saunters with his peacock through the plaza

Jean lion naps at her side in her office

Fischl Oz is actually a real raven

Mika uses his Wood Pigeon for recognizance

Razor runs around Wolvendom with his Grey Wolf whom he calls his brother.

Lisa has a big grey fluffy cat napping in his table.

Albedo has a Pallas Cat. This because Albedo lives in dragonspine where the cold climate resembles the climate of the pallas cat. Also, I wanted to make some slight allusion that his familiar and Kaeya are from around the same region, of our world, and both are neighbors in the areas where they had been found.

Bennett worries about his little White Hare. In german folklore there is a superstition that encountering a hare running across your path while on a journey could bring bad luck or delay.

Barbara has a tiny white Orgelmaus (organ mouse) refers to a whimsical tradition in German organ building to carve small mouse figures into the wooden parts of pipe organs. These mice are believed to symbolize both the mouse's association with the organ's environment and the organ builder's attention to detail. They are often seen as playful, charming creatures in the context of religious music and architecture.

Klee a tiny fluffy rabbit that fits in her backpack

Eula has a Swan because of Elegance or a barn owl because the name is Eule in German

Mona - Bat mostly because the association of being out at night, but a cat can also work because of the star reference

Noelle - Dog. Specifically a German Shepperd

Rosaria - European Lynx

Sucrose - Deer or a Fox. Mostly based on her ears and since we dont know what animal are her traits, I think they could be either

Venti - Dove. Representing freedome and also from the "thousand winds" mention, sounds like "a thousand doves" Doves are commonly associated with peace, purity, and freedom, so the phrase "a thousand doves" could evoke a powerful image of abundance, tranquility, and hope.

That's the basic setting I am thinking of for Mondstad characters. What makes this animal representation so unique is that the animals are attuned with their person emotions and thoughts so they would act accordingly.

Whenever Diluc is out being the Darknight hero his owl is keeping an eye on the city, guiding him to the problems that are raising in it.

Whenever Razor is feeling particularly lonely, his wolf would howl.

Diona's cat would hiss to anyone who she sees too inebriated.

Kaeya's peacock will open his tail whenever he is trying to impress someone.

[theautisticdoctor]

Entry #016

Autism Service Dog Journey – Week 1

This burnout hit me hard, like smacked me right in the face and stomach and I feel like recovering is going so slow, too slow. I have been trying to get my energy and confidence back to where it was, but it’s just not happening. I have been researching ways to get myself back on my feet and one of the things I came across was the Autism Service Dog. In my country there’s a huge waiting list for these type of dogs, it’s not covered by health insurance yet and it costs about €25K to train one (and a €400 extra every two years to renew the license). There are other ways to get funding but there are massive waiting list, I’m not applicable due to age, or so much paperwork, so I would’ve had to rely on crowdfunding. Which sucks because I don’t like being in the spotlight unanonymously. Also getting a dog through one of those organisations will mean that I would lend a dog, but I also suffer massively from fear of abandonment. Like my cat is three years old, but thinking about the day she’ll be gone gives me already massive anxiety although I know it won’t happen for another 17 years – and nobody dare tell me otherwise because she’s going to be at least 20 years old. I talked to some friends of mine who have a lot of experience with training dogs, and I made the decision to train an autism service dog for myself. To help me manage the challenges I face daily, because I know a (service) dog could make a significant difference in my life. She will offer me support that I wouldn’t be able to find elsewhere. I will deal with how to get the appropriate official certifications later.

So after months, if not years of extensive research (thank you recurrent hyperfixation) I decided to finally give it a go and I bought a puppy last week. I created a more than extensive training plan / program for us and talked a lot with the breeder about the health and characteristics of her parents. I’m not sure how I am going to combine it with my work yet, but up until now they are very supportive.

Breed

Generally I found that the best breeds are the Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, Poodles, Bernese Mountain Dogs, Border Collies, German Shepherds, Belgian Shepherds, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Great Danes, and the Australian Shepherds. But most importantly, when selecting a breed you should consider the temperament and trainability. If you are suffering from dog allergies I’d suggest to go with a hypoallergenic breed, although it is not a certainty you won’t have a reaction. The temperament should be calm and stable and the dog should be responsive to training, intelligent, and eager to learn and work. Also you should be able to match the energy level of the dog, for example the working dogs, like shepherds require a lot of activity throughout the day. Furthermore, depending on the tasks or goals you have for your service dog the size of the dog might be an important factor. For example, I really want my service dog to be able to apply deep pressure, so I need a larger breed in order to achieve this goal. However, while breed traits are important and overall true and applicable, each dog is an individual. You should assess the temperament and compatibility of each specific dog with your goals and needs. Talk to the breeder, ask them how their parents are like, how previous nests grew up to be, observe the puppies or dog and talk to professional trainers. Also nurture and therefore training is a big complement part to nature. After a ton of research, talking to breeders, talking to a befriended trainer and the making of a dozen pros-cons lists, I finally decided that the Belgian Shepherd was the perfect fit for me. So, I am now a proud owner of a Belgian Malinois Shepherd puppy, named Pallas.

Belgian Malinois Shepherds are known for their intelligence, trainability, and loyalty. While they are often seen in roles like police or military work, they can also make exceptional service dogs with the right training. Their high energy and strong work ethic make them well-suited for tasks that require a lot of focus and precision. They are very sensitive and reactive which makes them a good fit with me, because I need her to sense my emotions, my hunger and thirst, but also my flashbacks. They are very big so she will be able to give me deep pressure but also needs a lot of leadership, which is a quality I want to train and develop. I spent quite some time observing her parents, who are for malinois very gentle, calm and soft. So I expect to see those qualities back in her, and I already do. Although she is a puppy she is not hyperactive, listens very well, behaves very well and is already really socialised to people, other animals small and big, and just the outdoor buzzing life.

Goals

My goals for a service dog are to provide deep pressure therapy in certain situations, to assist me with sensory overload, to notice and notify me of certain emotions, bodily feelings, negative / distressing stimming and flashbacks, and to help me in social interactions. She’s not really there to give me practical support or assistance, but rather to give me emotional support and to be a trusted companionship.

Training

Training a service dog is no piece of cake. It requires patience, consistency, and a deep understanding of both the dog's needs and my specific needs. Together with a dog trainer I created a training program that fits my needs and also covers the challenges of training a puppy into a service dog. The first phase I called the “Puppy Preschool Program”, which covers building a strong relationship with my dog, socialisation and basic obedience. Since she’s really just a baby, it’s about learning to trust me and follow my commands. She’ll learn how a clicker works and how she is eligible for treats. She’s going to learn commands like sit, follow, stay, lay down and leave. She also needs to be socialised, that means plenty of exposure to other dogs, cats, livestock, people and motorised vehicles. When she’s graduated from this she’ll enrol into “Puppy High School”, which covers advanced obedience and public access training. Exposing her to different environments will help build her confidence and adaptability. Because, I need her to stay calm in public access places and I need her to behave and listen to me. This means no barking, no tugging, no begging, and not reacting to distractions. She’ll also learn more commands, like fetch, apport, catch, hug, kiss, nudge, guide and paw. It’s going to lay down the foundation for the third phase where she’ll have to do tasks without any commands but by her own notice of signs and signals. Because, after this she’ll do “Puppy College” which are the advanced specific tasks like notifying me of emotions, negative / distressing stimming, flashbacks and bodily feelings, providing assistance with sensory overload and during social interactions and applying deep pressure. After this I am able to call her my autism service dog. Although even after this initial training is complete, it is important to keep continuity in reinforcing commands and keep adapting her to any new needs that arise.

Progress

I have my pup of 10 weeks for a small week now and the transformation I’ve already witnessed is nothing short of miraculous. She’s already such a source of emotional support, for example I fell down in the dark after 4 days because I tripped over something and she came running towards me and started licking my dislocated wrist and hugging me. In the first days she did a lot of puppy nipping, but I managed to get her to almost completely stop doing that in just a week. She walks with me on a leash without tugging and she already listens to the commands sit and follow. She is very gentle in meeting other people, other dogs and she is so amazingly sweet with my cat, it’s like I’m living a dream. Our bond is really building strong and it’s amazing to see the progress in such a short time already. It’s also amazing to see the effect on me, I have been outside walking, I’ve been talking to people on the street and if I don’t want to talk I simply tell her “no, you’re not getting cuddles from this person” loud enough for the others to hear so they don’t interact with us.

If you're considering training an autism service dog for yourself, I think patience is essential because training takes time and each dog learns at their own pace. Also, consistency matters with all animals and dogs in particular. They need consequent, regular, consistent training sessions to have success in progressing. I can definitely recommend working with (experienced) trainers who can provide valuable insights and support, although I am aware that they are very pricey. But most and foremost building a strong, trusting relationship with your dog is essential and could already benefit you in your symptoms.

If you have the ability to get an autism service dog through an organisation I think you will save yourself a lot of time and have more reassurance the process will work out okay, which I can therefore definitely recommend. But maybe we should advocate as a community to make the autism service dogs more accessible for everyone with a diagnosis. Instead of making them only available to people who have the means to get their dogs training for such ridiculous prices. Because according to the Assistance Dogs International all programs must be nonprofit, but then also, how can they ask for €260 per 45 minutes of training excluding driving reimbursement and if you write or app the trainer it will cost another €100. I really fail to see how that is a nonprofit organisation and not just a lucrative business model. It is something that should be able to be done for way cheaper.

Feel free to reach out if you have any tips, thoughts, suggestions, or advice for me, I’d really appreciate them all. I’d absolutely love to hear your stories. And if you have any questions or need advice on training your own autism service dog from me just ask, nevertheless I will definitely share more of my journey with Pallas in the near future.

[disabled-stuck]

plural nepeta anon back again with at least a few hcs (really wanna write about the system in depth but it's gettin late and i've got homework lol)

- as i mentioned in my ask, she has like really bad headaches pretty often. during those, she usually gets water, tries to stay in places that aren't too bright on the light, and relaxes with a friend

- in the friend area i suspect that when she has a bad headache she often either hangs out with sollux (he has chronic migraines so he likes relaxation time too, plus they really get each other in that area so she enjoys having that solidarity), equius (he's her moirail and they calm each other down so it really helps her to chill out and feel more grounded rather than dissociating), or feferi (i dont have a reason there i just think that would be fun)

- in addition to friends, hanging out with a glass of water, a drawing tablet, and her lusus is also great for headaches

- she has tons of non human (or non troll ig in this situation haha) system members (mostly house cats, also has an ocelot, black footed cat, pallas cat, ferret, wolverine, and a dragon!) (names all pending because i am still working on the headcanons hehe)

- they r all so autism and silly.

- she is pretty open about her plurality with her friends, there's no one she really feels unsafe coming out to or being open about front with, though she doesn't really talk with it about gamzee (but they don't really talk in the first place) and vriska and eridan (they're not really friends because vris and eri are kinda mean a lot of the time)

- she has a little in her system who is bffs with terezi, they love playing court and coloring very much

- she also has adhd and when she hyperfixates it's split city babey!

- she's pretty good at communicating with alters, they keep a journal as well as talking aloud

- their sylladex is specifically for for systems, it allows individual alter to have their own simple sylladex basically where they can captchalogue and retrieve items from their own dexes while fronting

- they keep stuff stim toys, comfort snacks, comfort clothing (like sweaters and hats type stuff) and jewelry stored up in their dexes just in case they switch out and need something to calm them down

and that's all i have for now but i am literally obsessed with the fact i can do this. so we'll be back with more hcs later probably i dunno why i didn't do it sooner it's so fun (also side note i want the system sylladex now ;-; i have way too many people in my system to carry stims and comfort clothes for so that would literally be a life saver)

THIS IS SO CUTE... the split city thing w hyperfixations is so so true and the JOURNAL writing is a really like. good way of talking help hebskhdks. i love this so much

[hwats-the-big-idea]

My autistic ass has been up to some crazy shit these past few days. I started playing planet zoo and not even a week into the game the computer goes caput. Frame rate on every single game is absolutely horrendous, games don't even load past a single frame for 20 mins, and there's no internet to the computer yet (we just bought a dongle and are waiting on the delivery) so we can't fix it at all rn. Well, my hyperfixation just couldn't handle this absolute nonsense, if I couldn't play the game (I literally stay up for 2 days at a time playing nonstop lmao) I'd invest my time elsewhere. With a new dlc right around the corner and the games end on the horizon, I wrote a huge post on what dlcs I think pz needs before it finishes. I've been researching animals and pz for days, I'm happy to have some new animal facts under the belt now as well. Well, I went to post it to reddit and I just... can't. I get an unknown error. It's in reddit character limits but maybe the specific sub limits characters. Well I would've posted it and split it in half with the second half in the comments but I can only post dlc wishlist on Wednesday uk time 😭 by the time I finished everything it was already 4 am across the pond.

I really, really just want to document my crazy autistic ramblings and surmise my opinion as the most correct one as always lol, so I'm gonna post my post here and hopefully I'll be able to figure it out next Wednesday. I don't see a strong pz community here in tumblr so I'll probably be talking to myself but what else is new? Here goes. Is a long one, bois. Sorry the format is unpleasant here:

Here I list every dlc I think I’d want/would do good for the game before it ends. I go into 2025 with my wishlist just because I don’t think the game can really fully finish by 2024 even though I’ve seen some speculation we might just be getting one more year of dlcs. I’ve gone on to wrap up this year, speculate for 2024, as well as 2025.

This will be a long post, an opinion piece over predictions of what I genuinely think will come, and I’ll discuss my reasons why I chose everything after I list the dlcs. I’ve taken inspiration from wishlists, what bigger names in the community have been predicting, and just what I hope to see come to the game. In my speculations I focus mostly on diversity, uniqueness in looks and mechanics, as well as what we need from rigs for mods. I’ve tried to be as inclusive as I could in my selections so I hope there’s people who will enjoy what I’ve come up with! I’ve also only recently started playing the game so I don’t understand it in as intimate a way as long time players may and I’m probably overlooking some scenery items, so take my scenery speculation with a grain of salt. I’d love to hear opinions on it all.

…

2023 dlc wrap ups

Temperate scenery pack

-Sea otter (headliner)

-European red squirrel

-Tanuki

-Collared peccary or European wild boar

Exhibit

-Chipmunk walkthrough exhibit.

Tundra animal pack

-Pacific walrus (headliner)

-Wolverine

-Musk ox

-Arctic hare

-Southern rockhopper penguin

-Tundra swan, snow goose, Canada goose, or duck (harlequin, mandarin, wood, or mallard)

-American white pelican

Exhibit

-Pika, chinchilla, or white winter dwarf hamster

…

2024 dlcs

Taiga scenery pack

-Pallas cat (headliner)

-Golden takin

-Fisher cat, stoat, or European pine marten

-Yellow bellied marmot/alpine marmot

(Alternate species:

-North American porcupine

-American black bear)

Exhibit

-Japanese rhinoceros beetle

Islands animal pack

-Tasmanian devil (headliner)

-Japanese giant salamander

-Cuban crocodile

-Malayan civet/Asian palm civet

-Fairy penguin

-Goodfellow’s/matschie’s tree kangaroo

-American flamingo

(Alternate species:

-Coconut crab

-Coquerel’s sifaka

-Sumatran rhinoceros

-Marine iguana)

Exhibit

-Tenrec

Scrublands scenery pack

-Saiga antelope (headliner)

-Gerenuk

-Alligator snapping turtle

-Roadrunner or burrowing owl

(Alternate species:

-Banded mongoose)

Exhibit

-desert tortoise or thorny devil

Rainforests animal pack

-Olive/hamadryas baboon (headliner)

-Coati mundi

-Bush dog

-Sloth bear

-Common squirrel monkey or black handed spider monkey,

-Golden lion/emperor tamarin

-Muntjac

Exhibit

-Leaf cutter ants, thorny stick insect, or giant prickly stick insect

…

2025 dlcs to wrap up the game with

To preface 2025 would see dlcs that have huge game changing mechanics, it’s definitely just personal desires since it’d be a tall order for the year, but these are all things that so many people have really been asking for and I think are are things that we would all rather enjoy for the game before it ends. We wouldn’t be seeing very many animals in any of the packs (not like we have for the terrestrial animals), but with the right selections it would allow modders to really expand the library after the games end.

Barnyard scenery pack

-American Pygmy goat or boer goat (headliner)

-Jacob sheep

-Miniature donkey or Shetland pony

-Vietnamese pot bellied pig

Exhibit: touch pools

-Southern stingray or cownose stingray

-White spotted bamboo shark or brown banded bamboo shark

-Ochre sea star (or other sea star)

-Aggregating anemone or slate pencil urchin

-Atlantic horseshoe crab

Ground bird animal pack

-Secretary bird (headliner)

-Darwin’s rhea

-Shoebill

-Marabou stork

-Roseate spoonbill

-Southern ground hornbill

-Kiwi or kakapo

Exhibit: cage exhibits

-Golden pheasant

-Raggiana bird of paradise

-Ocellated turkey

-Scarlet ibis

-Victorian crowned pigeon

Aquariums animal and scenery pack

-Bottlenose dolphin (headliner)

-West Indian manatees

-Beluga

-Manta ray

-Loggerhead sea turtle

-Hammerhead shark

-Black sea bass or black grouper

Exhibit: aquarium exhibits

-Yellow seahorse

-Compass jellyfish

-Giant pacific octopus

-Moray eel

-Tropical fish (clownfish, blue hippo tang, moorish idol, etc)

Aviary animal and scenery pack

-Scarlet macaw, blue and yellow macaw, hyacinth macaw morphs (headliner)

-Bald eagle or California condor

-Toco toucan

-Barn owl or great horned owl

-Laughing kookaburra

-Puffin

-Blue jay

Exhibit: walkthrough bird exhibit

-Sun conure

-Rainbow lorikeet

-Parakeet

-Sulfur crested cockatoo

-Ecuadorian amazon parrot

…

These are all the packs that I have come up with that I think would be good enough to end planet zoo by the end of 2025. They don’t include anywhere near all the animals that we ultimately desire as a community but I think that the species are diverse enough to be able to mod most anything we want in. I’ll go on and talk about each pack individually now and why I chose what I did/what I think each pack would include.

…

Temperate

A lot of people think that temperate and tundra will be the next inclusions, so they’re where I went with my speculation. For the temperate pack I’ve made it a scenery pack since that will be next if the scenery-animal pack trend continues. For this pack I’ve included a few animals I think are necessary for the game. First I’ve included the sea otter, an animal we could never see through mods, and one people want to see. I’ve also included the tanuki, I think it’s an animal that a lot of people would just enjoy having in the game. I also have the collared peccary or European wild boar, honestly either of them, or some other pig, would work in this spot, we just need more pigs in the game. And I have the European red squirrel, it’s found in some zoos, and would just be an interesting animal and rig in the game. I also have a chipmunk walkthrough exhibit, an idea from J-Double U, which I think would just flesh out walkthrough exhibits. We’d see bats, butterflies, birds (hopefully), and with this one a mammal so I thought it was a good inclusion. For scenery I think it’d be very nice to see some rustic wood cabin/camping sort of aesthetics. I’m an Oregonian myself so the Oregon zoo is dear to me, and I’d love some scenery that just says “temperate rainforest”. I’ve also just recently started playing the game so maybe I just haven’t had the chance to see every single piece we have yet, but I would love for some more diversity in our wood options, especially in sizes and shapes it all comes in. I’d also like some foliage like blackberries and furze/gorse bushes, California poppies, as well as flexi color wildflowers. As well, I know we lack trees that have a real canopy, I think some canopy trees would be really nice here. I think we could see some other scenery options, but I’d just love lots of stuff themed around a cooler climate. I think we also need some new stone pieces, bricks, and just simple flexi color building materials. I loved what we got in the tropical pack, I’d like to see some of that sort of stuff themed around a temperate climate as well and even more basic in its building capacity. … Tundra For the tundra pack I’ve included the walrus, a very much needed animal in the game, as well as some requests such as the wolverine and the musk ox. I’ve also included the arctic hare because we really could use a lagomorph of some sort. I’ve also included the rockhopper penguin because I think it’s one of the penguin types we’re lacking in diversity, and with frontier’s new animal modeling the yellow feathers would come out great on them. I’ve included the American white pelican, but really any pelican could find their way in this spot. I know the Australian pelican is the community’s desire but the American white fits the tundra theme better. Honestly though whichever pelican finds their place here we’d see the others through mods. It also was just a hard decision in general on the other water fowl. We need swans, geese, and ducks in the game and we don’t have any good rigs for them. I don’t think even the pelican rig would suffice. Honestly if it could be done by frontier I’d love to see at least both one duck and one goose in this pack, but ultimately for moddings sake I think either or would work out just fine. Really I think it’d just be a matter of which frontier personally would want to include, but I’ve dropped my choices down here. For the exhibit animal I’ve included a few options for mammals, I’d love to see more mammalian diversity in the exhibits. I think any of the choices here would be a good option really. I think chinchillas would really stand out but they’re also a somewhat common pet animal so it might be nice to see one of the other too as well.

…

Taiga

The taiga pack was a hard choice, but for the sake of the game and rigs it has to offer I’ve opted for the mustelids and the marmot over the black bear and the porcupine. Since we already have both a porcupine rig and lots of options for a bear rig these animals will easily find their way into the game through mods at its end so I chose the animals I think would offer something more unique to the game. I chose the fisher, pine marten, or stoat here because we really could use a more traditional weasel in the game imo. The Pallas cat is a popular request, so it was a necessary inclusion. I’ve chosen the Japanese rhinoceros beetle as the exhibit animal but because I absolutely love these insects and would want to see them in the game. I think that scenery pieces could represent some part of Eurasia, like Russia or Italy, I imagine we could use some bold, round shapes, with a large selection of rounded building pieces. I think it’d be nice to include some more cold climate pieces especially ones that represent a modern culture and without any Christmas theming to it.

…

Islands

For the islands pack it was a bit of a tossup on certain species. I’m most partial to this pack myself since it includes some of my own highly requested animals: the Tasmanian devil, the Japanese giant salamander, and the Cuban crocodile. The t devil is definitely a very, very requested animal. I also think the giant salamander and Cuban crocodile just also provide something unique we haven’t really seen in the game. For the salamander its a massive amphibian that I’d just love to build for in game, and the crocodile is a smaller croc that would have higher land requirements and a bit of a running-esc animation which I both unique for the game. I’ve included the fairy penguin since they’re such a beautiful bird, probably my favorite penguin, and we just don’t have any very tiny penguins like it in the game. There’s been many requests for various penguins, but I think for the majority of them we could easily find them through mods, the fairy penguin is something more unique in its regard. I’ve also included the tree kangaroo, a request from some, and a civet, which I think both bring a unique arboreal lifestyle to the game. I think having unique animals like them, plus their rigs, in the game is important for it at this point. I think my most controversial inclusion would probably be the American flamingo esp since we can see it through mods and all of the alternative animals I have seen as requests by the community, but personally I think it’s just a crime to the game we don’t have a pink flamingo. They’re what I’m familiar with in zoos and absolutely my preference for flamingos over the greater flamingo. Though I think the coquerel’s sifaka and coconut crab are very interesting animals that would give unique mods to the game. Honestly the flamingo or any of the alternative animals would fill this spot well. I’ve included the tenrec as the exhibit animal because it’s very unique and would provide some mammalian diversity to the exhibits. I think there are so many other good choices here, but personally I’d love to see a mammal.

…

Scrublands

I’d love to see a scrublands theme come to the game personally. Here I’ve included the saiga antelope and the gerenuk, both ungulates, but I think both are very unique ungulate forms and I’d still like to see the diversity with them. I think they’d both provide something interesting to the game and animals fun to build for, especially the gerenuk with its browsing. I think we could even see a browsing enrichment item inspired by the gerenuk come to the game as well to really get a sight at their rearing. I’ve included as well either the roadrunner or the burrowing owl, both unique ground birds I think that would be very fun for the game. Personally I’d prefer to build something for the roadrunner, but I think that burrowing owls might be more iconic and more requested, so I’ve included them both as an option here. Lastly I’ve included the alligator snapping turtle in this lineup. It’s a huge reptile, one I think the game could definitely use for our zoo building, and just so peculiar looking. I think it’d really be a statement animal that I’d love to build for. For the exhibit I’ve picked the desert tortoise or the thorny devil, I’d like to see others. For the scenery I definitely want to see scrublands scenery. We have desert and grass themes items already, but I’ve been living in Texas for just over a year now and I’m enamored by just how beautiful it is here and I don’t think the game really captures just enough scrub/grass/swamp aesthetic. I’d be looking for scenery pieces that really feel like a swampy boat ride through the scrublands, I find foliage like the Texas madrone and the saw palmetto beautiful and definitely could be included in a scrublands pack. Outside of those two I think just any plants you generally find in scrublands, swamps, plains/prairies, pampas, etc would be good. I think with the grasslands pack being an animal pack the scrublands being a scenery pack would bring in lots of new foliage. People also often are sinking trees down into the ground to represent small bush plants, I think with a scrublands pack we could see lots of foliage that can represent what people are doing with trees as actual bushes. I think we could also get more rocks in this pack, rocks that represent the beauty of a place like Utah, and/or some rocks in flexicolor.

…

Rainforest

For the rainforest animal pack I included the muntjac. I know the dik dik is a more highly requested animal but it’s a scrublands animal while the muntjac is a rainforest animal. I also have the alternative of the southern pudu, I’m just most partial to the muntjac personally (I find their scent glands to be so fascinating looking). I also wanted to include either the Chinese water deer or the Siberian musk deer, but I think with the muntjac we would easily see mods for all of these animals honestly. I think any of them could find their place in the slot I allocated for the muntjac. I included lots of primates in this pack, a baboon of some kind is a very requested animal, and personally I just don’t feel like we have enough small primates in the game. The capuchin just isn’t enough for me, so I’ve included another monkey of some kind (squirrel or spider I think would be good choices, though we could see potentially another option), as well as a tamarin. I think both of these animals would just look great in a pz zoo and provide what I think is needed diversity to the primates. I’ve also included the sloth bear here. Honestly it was hard to include just one bear in all of my pack ideas here because sloth bears, black bears, and spectacled bears are all highly requested animals. Really I think any of them could find their way here, especially since rainforests aren’t just limited to tropical jungles and can be temperate forests, but I did limit myself to just one bear choice since we ultimately will have the rigs for more bears to find their way into the game through mods I saw them as a less important inclusion for that reason. Lastly I’ve included in this pack the coati since we really ought to have a coati in the game, as well as the bush dog. They aren’t common in zoos but South America has some of the most unique canids and people just don’t know about them, I think including one (outside of the popular maned wolf) would provide a unique learning opportunity on these amazing animals, plus it’d just be so cool to have a semi aquatic packing canid in the game I’d love to see it. For the exhibit animal I chose leaf cutter ants, though I can see they may be difficult to do because of their size, though I do think leaf bits would help that. If they just aren’t feasible I’ve included a couple stick insect options since I’d also love to see these animals in the game. I chose to make the rainforest pack an animal pack since we already have lots of jungle-like scenery in the game, I wanted to give the scenery spotlight to some other biomes, especially since the tropical pack recently was a scenery pack.

…

The next four packs are definitely tall order packs. They’d bring big changes to the game, but I think changes that we as a community would like to see. They’re all highly requested pack themes, and I think that the new mechanics would breathe new life into the game. They’d really let it live for a long time after its completed.

Barnyard

This barnyard pack brings to the game a petting zoo mechanic, as well as barn themed set pieces and some small aquarium set pieces to set up for the aquarium pack itself and to include in the touch pools. I chose a goat, a sheep, a donkey/pony, and a pig over animals like rabbits, chickens, or guinea pigs because I think it’d be much easier to do just a “crouch and pet” animation. Smaller animals would need a much larger change to mechanics so my animal choices are all medium sized. I’ve also included touch pools. I think they would be a great inclusion to the game, and I think fit in the “petting zoo” theme as well. I’ve included some stingrays and sharks which the touch tanks at Stingray Cove in the Denver zoo really inspired me. Really I think that touch pools could be incorporated in a few ways. They could include some construction pieces to make a few touch tanks of different sizes, maybe some dedicated concrete and glass pieces to build them that can contain water like the barriers. The other animal species I’ve included in the touch pools are sea stars, a horseshoe grab, and an anemone or sea urchin, which are all pretty common animals in touch pools. I think similarly to the barnyard animal petting animation, the touch tanks could use the same or similar animation. I think the scenery for this pack would definitely be a lot of barn/farm and touch pool aesthetics.

…

Ground birds

Here I’ve included lots of ground bird species that people want to see. Not much to say, I think they’re all pretty common requests, and fulfill the community’s desire for more ground birds. The unique mechanics for this pack come from the new form of exhibits, and exhibit rehaul. I think everyone wants a little bit more out of exhibits, be it changing their sizes, shapes, or more in depth editing for them. The exhibits for the birds in this pack come as cages which would house the exhibit bird species. It was a long time ago and I don’t remember where it was, but I walked down a long alley with all kinds of birds in it and I’d really want to capture that kind of feeling with this. I’ve included a few exhibit bird species here, I don’t think these species would fly, but honestly that’s frontier’s ultimate decision.

…

Aquariums

This pack brings the long desired aquariums to the game, and I chose a selection of animals that I think would all provide unique mods to the game. I’d talk about the mechanics for this, but I think that Rudi Rennkamel summarizes it much better, I’ll link that video at the end of this post. In short, I think they would work similarly to the touch pools, just on a much larger scale. This pack would bring a lot of new pieces all themed around aquariums and provide us with everything we’d need for building a small aquarium zoo. Again, Rudi talks about this much more in depth.

…

Aviary

The last pack we’ll see come to planet zoo is the aviary pack, which will bring flying birds to wrap up the game. I’ve chosen a selection of birds that would bring a variety of rigs to the game, which is why I’ve included a bird like the blue jay. I think that most of the birds listed here are pretty common requests from the community, and any others we’d want to see I think can come from mods. This pack also brings a walkthrough exhibit for birds with many species of parrot, something that everybody wants to see. I think this pack also would bring new building pieces to make aviaries, and similar to the aquariums, we would need to make a suitable habitat first before we could fill it with the animals. I think we’d see lots of bird enrichment items, glass, netting, wiring, in many shapes such as round, triangular, pentagon, and hexagon, anything that we’d need to make a suitable aviary for the flying birds.

…

The end I think after the aviary pack we will see a few free updates to the game. Updates to fix bugs in the last year of dlcs, updates to animal models and behavior, mechanics, the works. I think 2026 would be a year of tlc for the game and just getting it prepped to be finished for good. Sorry this post was so long, I just had some fun with my speculations here.

The videos:

https://youtu.be/bOqNfDyenjo?si=nRFbOk5B36_BONQ5

https://youtu.be/iKIZSIvbJ6E?si=r00teDq4EDIvnavP

[jeanjauthor]

That is a manul. (Also called Pallas' cat, but the proper name is manul.) They are not domesticatable. Some can be tamed to behave around certain zookeepers, yes, but they are still going to be very wild animals.

They live in the Tibetan plateau and other high, dry, rocky climates in Central Asia. They rely on their fur coloration for camouflage, and their ears are set flatter and more on the sides of their heads than most other felines specifically to prevent their ears from being easily seen when peeking over boulders at potential prey.

They are VERY fluffy-furry because while the summers might get warm, that region of the world has very cold winters. And while they might look "fat," manul are actually just fluffy with a layer of fat that comes and goes seasonally because where they live can get very cold in winter. They also have an adorably cute habit of putting their forepaws on the ends of their tails to keep their forepaws warm.

But they are, first and foremost, wild predators.

[holly-poly]

Initial Pinch Hits

There are five initial pinch hits this year, and all of them have been sent out. Please see below for general details. More specific information can be found by clicking the links.

Pinch Hit #1 - https://groups.google.com/u/5/g/holly-poly-pinchhits/c/eZdLlc6pAiE Acts of Caine - Matthew Stover Caine/Ma'elkoth/Pallas Ril Fanart, Fanfiction American Assassin (2017) Annika/Mitch Rapp/Victor Fanart, Fanfiction, Fanvid Dracula - Bram Stoker (Novel 1897) Jonathan Harker/Mina Harker/Lucy Westenra (Stoker) Fanart, Fanfiction The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher Molly Carpenter/Thomas Raith/Justine, Harry Dresden/Karrin Murphy/Susan Rodriguez Fanart, Fanfiction The Hexslinger Series - Gemma Files Yancey Kloves/Ed Morrow/Chess Pargeter Fanart, Fanfiction Killer7 Coyote Smith/Dan Smith/Garcian Smith/Kaede Smith/Kevin Smith/MASK de Smith Fanart, Fanfiction Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991) Chris Kenner/Johnny Murata/Minako Okeya Fanart, Fanfiction Victor the Assassin - Tom Wood Janice Muir/Raven/Victor Fanfiction Pinch Hit #2 - https://groups.google.com/u/5/g/holly-poly-pinchhits/c/tgI2GAvM2cM Black Sails   Captain Flint | James McGraw/Thomas Hamilton/John Silver (Black Sails), Captain Flint | James McGraw/Thomas Hamilton/Charles Vane (Black Sails), Captain Flint | James McGraw/Thomas Hamilton/Madi/John Silver (Black Sails) Fanfiction Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)   Harry Longabaugh | Sundance Kid/Robert Parker | Butch Cassidy/Etta Place (BCatSK 1969) Fanfiction Marvel Cinematic Universe   James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson (MCU) Fanfiction Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)   Jack Sparrow/Elizabeth Swann/Will Turner Fanfiction Pinch Hit #3 - https://groups.google.com/u/5/g/holly-poly-pinchhits/c/x8kretpK5rA Cosmic Era Gundam   Dearka Elsman/Shiho Hahnenfuss/Yzak Joule, Cagalli Yula Athha/Canard Pars/Kira Yamato (CE Gundam) Fanfiction The de Burghs - Deborah Simmons   Nicholas de Burgh/Emery Montbard/Gerard Montbard Fanfiction Emperors SaGa   Cat/Emerald/Rocbouquet/Silver Emperor Fanfiction Fire Emblem Heroes   Ares/Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier (FEH) Fanfiction King of Bones - Erin A. Bisson (Novel)   Vitry Girar/Ghostmoon Keshan/Miri Harfeshi Fanfiction Romancing SaGa Re;univerSe (Video Game)   Noel/Rocbouquet/Wagnas Fanfiction Pinch Hit #4 - https://groups.google.com/u/5/g/holly-poly-pinchhits/c/_4FNq0AvRO4 Castlevania (Cartoon)   Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya/Trevor Belmont/Sypha Belnades, Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya/Trevor Belmont/Sypha Belnades/Greta Fanfiction The Eagle of the Ninth - Rosemary Sutcliff   Marcus Flavius Aquila/Cottia/Esca Mac Cunoval Fanfiction Hades (Video Game 2018)   Hades/Nyx/Persephone (Hades Video Game) Fanfiction The Locked Tomb Series | Gideon the Ninth Series - Tamsyn Muir   John Gaius/OG Lyctors, Augustine the First/John Gaius | Necrolord Prime/Mercymorn the First Fanfiction Pinch Hit #5 - https://groups.google.com/u/5/g/holly-poly-pinchhits/c/SenxRafzHwc The Elementalists (Visual Novel)   Aster D'Yew/Female Main Character (The Elementalists)/Shreya Mistry Fanfiction, Podfic Ever After Academy (Visual Novel)   Nora Le Fay/Lavinia Le Guin/Female Main Character (Ever After Academy) Fanfiction, Podfic Havenfall is for Lovers (Visual Novel)   Mackenzie Hunt/Main Character/Annabelle Sheppard (Havenfall is for Lovers) Fanfiction, Podfic Havenfall is for Lovers (Visual Novel)   Vanessa Helsing/Mackenzie Hunt/Main Character (Havenfall is for Lovers) Fanfiction, Podfic Love & Legends (Visual Novel)   Altea Bellrose/Solaire Lightwing/Main Character (Love & Legends) Fanfiction, Podfic Love & Legends (Visual Novel)   Iraia Idreis/Altea Bellerose/Main Character (Love & Legends) Fanfiction, Podfic If you're interested in claiming any of these pinch hits, send an e-mail to holly.poly.exchange@gmail.com with your AO3 name or send a private message here on Tumblr.

Collection: https://ao3.org/collections/holly_poly_2021 Tag Set: https://archiveofourown.org/tag_sets/7906 Tumblr: https://holly-poly.tumblr.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/holly_poly_ex

[elliestormfound]

Dogs, but more specifically right now I love borkies (beagle yorkie) because my current rescue pup is a borkie :)

borkie is the best mixed breed name ever! <3

anonymously tell me…what your favorite animal is

So far we have:

cats (generally all, but specifically lynx, Scottish Wildcats and Pallas’s Cats)

pangolins

red pandas

foxes

otters

bats

puff adders

giraffes

elephants <3

African Pygmy Falcons

caribous

dogs (all dogs, for example borkies)

grasshopper mice

wolves

tigers

(baby) pigs

hedgehogs

raccoons

orcas

[thecandywrites]

Jewel Of The North Part 3

Aaah, we’re getting closer. Also this is fantasy, let’s pretend pallas cats are thunder cats and that they can be tamed. Also Scottish wild cats are a thing too. They can be thunder cats too. 

Again major thanks to @monstersandmaw​ for sharing ice orcs with me. 

Jewel of the North 

Part 3

You found yourself getting up at 4:30 and quickly got a shower and got ready as the sun was coming up and by 5 am, you were itching to leave and decided to just go and practically speed walked to Noah’s house in the misty dawn, only to find Sakura and Noah sitting on the front porch, wrapped in blankets as Noah looked particularly tired as he downed his coffee as two snow dogs laid on the porch, trying to get some sleep before they heard your approach and sat up and stared at you before they got up and slowly wagged their tails but didn’t make a sound. 

“Paradise!” Sakura squealed when she saw you as she instantly got up and ran to you as you laughed at the name as you caught her and picked her up and kissed her cheek as the dogs came running over to you too. 

“Well good morning to you too Munchkin!” You greeted happily before you carried her back to the house and cooed to the dogs who seemed happy and excited to see you too and sniffed at you eagerly and barked and ‘greeted’ you too in their own way. 

“What are you doing up so early?” You asked her. 

“I didn’t want to miss you coming!” She insisted. 

“Aw,” you cooed. “How long have you been up?” You asked her. 

“Since 4:30- she woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed.” Noah answered as he slowly got up out of his deck chair and grabbed his daughter’s blanket she left behind in her chair before he put it over her and you. 

“Oh that’s better, it’s chilly this morning.” You insisted as you curled into the warmth of the blanket as you followed him into the house, grateful he held the door open for you. Thankfully he had already made breakfast which you happily started eating with them as the dogs instantly put their heads in your lap, wanting pets, acting like they never got pets or any kind of attention ever. Typical. 

“So are you going to teach me how to be an heiress today?” Sakura asked eagerly and Noah nearly choked on his coffee. 

“Probably not because I wanted to talk to your dad about that first .” You put to her before you turned to Noah. 

“First I wanted to reassure you that whatever she tells me or whatever you tell me, I will keep in strict confidence and won’t be repeated to anyone unless I have your express and freely given consent to do so. Because honestly- the only people I would ever want to be telling anything to would be professionals, mostly very experienced lawyers and I will not do so unless I had your express permission to do it and I will not discuss anything of a private or sensitive nature unless it was in your presence as well. Second, I understand how I’m the outsider and honestly and realistically- you don’t know me from anyone and I completely understand if you’re uncomfortable with this and I’m not offended if you don’t want to involve me in anything sensitive, private or especially financial. If all you are comfortable with me doing is being here and watching her and being a babysitter, that’s fine with me, if you just want me to be a friend, I’ll just be a friend, if you want me to be an advisor, I’ll be an advisor. But only if you want me to be. You need to have your own boundaries for me and I’ll do my best to respect any and all boundaries given as long as those boundaries are clearly and expressly stated so there’s no confusion and no gray areas. I can not read your mind so if I cross a line, or if I have already crossed a line, please tell me as quickly as possible.” You insisted. 

“Oh, no you haven’t crossed any lines at all, you’re good.” Noah readily assured you. 

“Ok, good, I want us to stay on good terms and clear communication is the best way to achieve that.” You offered which earned a nod of agreement from Noah. 

“So moving forward- if you do end up wanting my advice, I can be as specific or as generic as you want me to be. But I will not give unwanted advice and I will not involve myself without your permission and I would want to make sure that my involvement is welcome by especially Neena’s parents and perhaps your own since it’s obvious they all still play an active role in her life because moving forward, if you’re going to continue to rely on them for support, it’s best to have everyone on the same page and even though you are her sole parent and guardian and the responsibility for her rests solely on your shoulders- I know I appreciated having more than my own eyes and mind on a problem- the whole- two heads are better than one principle, but at the same time we don’t want to involve anyone who doesn’t need to be involved because of the other principal of having too many cooks in the kitchen as we need to find a balance between the two.” You suggested. 

“I completely agree.” Noah nodded again in agreement with a fond smile. 

“Well, speaking from experience, I have had unwanted advice crammed down my throat more times than I can count and I hated it and I’m not going to do that to you guys. And if you do want my advice, please know that I will be honest and transparent about it and the only thing I want to gain from any of it- is the assurance and reassurance that you and Sakura are going to be ok and taken care of and if I can pass on the lessons I learned so that you don’t have to go through what I went through to learn them- I’ll be content.” You explained as Noah’s eyebrows knitted closer together for a moment at your choice of words. 

“Do you mind if I ask how you became an heiress?” Noah asked carefully. 

“I don’t mind at all, so what happened was I befriended about a dozen older couples when I went to massage school a decade ago and at the time they were all retirement age and they never had any kids, or the ones who did, their kids had passed before they did and they didn’t have any other natural heirs, no kids or grandkids or anything like that and they all practically adopted me because I took care of them the way I would take care of my own grandparents and I just tend to adopt grandparents in general and kids obviously.” You gestured to Sakura who was sitting next to you at the kitchen table. 

“Anyway, about two to three years before Andy died, most of them lost their partners and, again, none of them had kids to take care of them so I felt it was my responsibility as their friend to care for them because if I didn’t, no one else would and none of them were bad enough that they needed to go into a nursing home and I did all I could to keep them as independent as possible which is what they needed and what was best for them in those circumstances. So when Andy did die, the remaining ones were there for me to help me cope with his loss and how to protect myself and how to protect my kids and how to use what Andy left me in life insurance policies best and I took their advice and used it and benefited and then when they passed a few months later, and they all passed within the span of a week which was unreal - so it was just all one big funeral for me and I found out that all of them individually- left everything to me and none of them used the same lawyers or anything so there was no way for me or any of them to know that the others were doing the same thing since going into that ordeal I had only known that one of them were going to leave me anything and what they were leaving me was very modest in all respects. But within the span of another week after that in settling their final affiars which is when I found out I became inheriter to 15 different estates , it was really weird and I was investigated because the sheer coincidence of it seemed odd to everyone, most of all- me, and because there wasn’t any other parties coming forward trying to claim anything and because the only role I had in their passing was that I helped relieve pain and suffering and didn’t actually murder anyone, I got to keep it all and for a whole week after the deaths, I literally just kept going from each house and just cleaning out the fridges and freezers because I had already taken all their pets home with me, so now I have a freaking menagerie at home because I love and adore all of the pets and didn’t have the heart to take them to a shelter because most of them were old anyways and they should live out the rest of their lives in comfort and peace like their owners, and it’s obvious that your precious babies have picked up on that.” You explained as you turned your adoring attentions back to his dogs who were soaking up your attentions happily.  

“So what about the wolves and vultures?” Sakura asked. 

“Oh boy, well, that’s figurative, I’ve had to deal with figurative wolves and vultures in that people have tried to take advantage of me and think that because I was a woman who didn’t have any experience with managing estates and money and property that they could come in and take it from me the way a vulture will try to take a carcass from another or how they’ll prey on an injured animal and wait for it to die or how wolves will surround their target and overpower it, the same thing happened to me and it’s awful.” You answered. 

“How?” Sakura asked curiously. 

“Well, while the rest of my adopted grandparents were dying and I was inheriting all those estates, the company Andy had worked for- sued the manufacturer of the crystal grower that malfunctioned and killed him at work and because I was- and I quote- “the prettiest of the widows” his company paid me a ridiculous sum of money and other benefits to be the public face of the lawsuit even though there were five widows and widowers involved but it was my face that was crying in a courtroom that sold the story in the news and got the jury to sympathize and his company used my sob story, leaving out the fact that I was also an heiress for all these other estates- for their benefit and won the case in court- but because of my adopted grandparents who had amazing lawyers, who then became my lawyers, they made sure I got the lion’s share of the settlement because it was my face and my life that was put in the public eye for a hot minute and because of my own exposure, suddenly I had dozens of organizations and charities contact me too but because the settlement was so big, my biggest priority was making sure the other widows and widowers got a fair share and that they and their families were also taken care of because they didn’t have good lawyers like I did. So I used what little power and control I had in that situation to benefit them too because corportate greed is second to none.” You revealed. 

“Oh good grief.” Noah huffed. 

“Yeah, it wasn’t fun. The absolute worst part about it were just the figurative vultures and wolves. All these men came out of the woodwork after the court win because it was in the news- all of them thinking I was this ‘poor, inexperienced, stupid widow’ who practically won the lottery because the settlement was the same size as a small lottery and thought that I had gotten all of the settlement which wasn’t true or thought that I didn’t have any sense or propriety and thought that because I was young and inexperienced, they could take advantage of me which backfired on them spectacularly. Especially since I have clients on the local police force, fire department and other first responders who had been friends of mine before all this went down and who saw me through all of it and the moment any guy crossed that line of getting too close to me or especially my kids, who before any of this happened, I was already an overprotective Mama Bear anyway and through this whole ordeal, I just grew bigger claws and fangs and one hell of a bite and swing,” You gestured, making your hand clawed and swiping at the air which got Noah to grin appreciatively. 

“Anyway so if they got too close, they got the boot and a restraining order, I currently have over two dozen restraining orders against creepy vulture slash wolf tipes and I have gotten really good at spotting them from a mile away. I was already good at reading people and getting a sense of them because I’m an empath, it’s what I naturally do best, but now it’s basically a super power.” You chuckled before you continued to eat your breakfast. 

“And despite all that, you’re still... just a normal, down to earth mom.” Noah praised which made your smile bloom even brighter. 

“I try really hard not to let my past experiences change who I am too much because at the end of the day, what you just said is all I want to be. I used to be an easily trusting, very carefree, easy going and down to earth kind of person and I always reserved my judgement of people until I saw by their words and most importantly their actions- what kind of person they were and reacted accordingly I’ve always done my best to be a kind, generous and hospitable and caring person and I don’t want what has happened to me to change those parts of me that I like the most and that I’ve worked hard to cultivate despite how vicious and cold the rest of the world can be and just because I have suffered, doesn’t mean I should add to anyone else’s suffering and I don’t want greed or the love of money to corrupt me, I want to use it as the tool it is to build up instead of a precious finite resource that should be hoarded whenever encountered. A good person is a good person no matter how much money they have, and there’s a saying in the south about ‘acting too big for your britches’ that my parents and my inlaws are really good at calling me out on and at the time, I didn’t like it but after I thought about it, I realized they were right and I’m still humble enough to accept their council and we all need someone in our lives to bring us to our senses and remind us to keep it real.” You revealed as Noah smiled and nodded his approval to those sentiments. 

“Which is why I, for better or worse tried dating again, and why the few dates have been really casual. Two of them had no idea about my past with the inheritances or the court case or anything like that. All they knew about me was that I was a widow, a single mom of two, that I own my own massage business that I run out of my house and that’s it and that’s all they needed to know about me. I had two dates at a trampoline park that I take my kids to a lot and we met, sat in side by side massage chairs and chatted while our kids played. That’s literally all that happened and in talking to them, while they were nice and friendly, I just didn’t connect with them. And because of my past, my walls are already pretty high and thick and most guys just assume it’s because my late husband was abusive, which- he wasn’t, but they just assume I’m more trouble than I’m worth and leave me alone in peace which is all I can ask for from them.” You explained. 

“Although. There was a third guy that I’m pretty sure he found out about my financial past mid date because we were out to dinner, everything was going ok, the kids are getting along and him and I are having the ‘expectations’ talk about what we’re looking for a in a partner, what we’re not looking for, what our turn offs are and the more I talk I can see it in his eyes that he’s losing interest because he walked into the date thinking he can just move right on in, instant perfect family, his partner would have “a little hobby side business”,” You waived off dismissively, scrunching your nose as your tone grew sarcastically condescending which got Sakura to giggle and Noah to chuckle. “Which I get a lot, people who undervalue or underestimate it and it’s not my job to prove its validity, I let the work speak for itself, anyway- so he thought all he would have to do is go to work and provide and to hear that- that’s not exactly how things were going to work with me- he’s clearly not interested anymore and he withdraws which is fine because the more he talked, the more I didn’t like him either because if he can’t respect me and my profession, I don’t have to respect him in turn but I have manners so I stay pleasant, especially since kids are present and there’s never a reason to be rude or mean to a child. So he gets up to go to the bathroom, and he’s gone for like 30 minutes, like long enough that I start to worry he just dropped his kids off on me and ran and I’m talking to the kids trying to figure out if I need to be calling their mother to come pick them up or cramming them all into my car or what and then he comes back and it’s instantly a whole new version of him that I’m having dinner with- he comes swaggering back to the table with a bottle of the most expensive wine the Olive Gardens had and the difference in attitude, opinions and outlooks were night and day- like he had schizophrenia and I just had dinner with a different version of him and he’s all smiles and charm and talking about how all the ways he can support me in “my calling” and how ‘all he’s wanted is to be a stay at home dad and how “honorable” staying home and taking care of kids really is and taking extra care in raising and educating kids and taking care of animals is his life’s ambition’ when half an hour ago- he admitted that he never even once changed a poopy diaper and all domestic activities were what he got married for so he didn’t have to do them and that he never let his kids have indoor pets because they shed and make a mess and are more trouble than they're worth and at this point all of his kids are looking at him like he’s grown a second and third head and I put two and two together pretty quick that he got wind of my financials and he absolutely insisted he pay for everyone’s dinner when before we had agreed that we’d be paying separately and for the next week he was calling me at least three times a day trying to get another date which I always ignored his calls so he left the most ridiculous voicemails ‘how our kids really “clicked”,’ and ‘how beautiful I was’ and ‘what an amazing and accomplished woman I was’ and how he ‘needed me in his life’ and how ‘we need to hang out and go do stuff’ and even offered to take me and my family to Cedar Points for a whole weekend getaway and get a suite and so with some courage, I finally called him back and I just had to be very honest with him and tell him under no uncertain terms that none of those things were going to happen and to lose my number because I was not interested and I called him out on his behavior and point blank demanded why he had such a sudden change of heart and demanded to know why he was calling me so much and he tried to play it off but when I didn’t buy it and tried to tell him to go take a hike- he pushed back saying I owed him money for him buying me and my ‘ungrateful brats’ dinner that’s when I involved my friends with law enforcement because he got real nasty real quick and after that I took a break and that was a month and a half ago and I’ve just been doing my best to be patient and wait for the right guy with the right circumstances and the right personality and the right morals and values to come along and just...give me kindness, and sympathy, empathy and understanding and just..love me for me for me, with all my flaws and shortcomings without thinking that my bank account makes up for any of them or who won���t look at my bank account and think he’s expected to match it. Honestly I’m more scared that the right guy will take one look at my bank account and get scared off or think he’s not good enough because he’s humble or he came from a humble background like I did or think that all rich people are bad selfish people because that’s not true.” You confessed and realized that Noah wasn’t really talking but he was giving you the most interesting look. Like he was thinking very deeply about what you were saying before his phone started to ring. 

“Oh, sorry, you should get going to work, sorry if I kept you.” You apologized but he waived you off as he listened to who was on the other end of the phone and got up from the table. 

“Yeah, I’ll see you in a bit.” He bid them before he stopped and kissed Sakura goodbye before he, out of habit- kissed the crown of your head as he passed you before he had to pause after the fact and stood up straight as a board as Sakura giggled gleefully as your cheeks were bright kashmir sapphire blue along with your ears as you couldn’t help but giggle yourself because that was the most precious thing he could have done in that moment. 

“Uhh, sorry?” He apologized as his own cheeks were a deep midnight along with the tips of his ears. 

“Don’t apologize, it’s ok, I take it you used to do that a lot with Neena, old habits die hard, I don’t mind one bit, if anything I’m very flattered and honored, you’re good, we’re good.” You reassured him with a bright happy smile. 

“Thanks,” Noah ducked his head sheepishly before he continued on his way and ran his hand down his face. 

“Fuck.” He breathed once he got in his truck and started it and drove away. 

“Actually Zara, I wasn’t thinking of Neena at all when I kissed you, I just did it because it felt like the most normal, natural thing to do with you looking like an absolute vision sitting at my table at 5 in the morning eating pancakes with my daughter and I- and the way you are with her is all I could have ever wanted and dreamed of and I’ve also been praying to the gods for patience while I wait for the right woman with the right heart condition and the right values and morals to come along and love her and me and you’re exactly what I’ve been praying for and I’m scared shitless because you are so much more than I could have ever dreamed of and you just radiate warmth and love and Sakura already loves you and I’m hopelessly head over heels, over the moon- crazy about you and I haven’t been sleeping well because every time I close my eyes, I see your face and because of that,  I’m just constantly horny with you on my mind and I haven’t had sex with a woman since Neena and burying myself to the hilt in you is now my number 1 fantasy since I met you two days ago and I just want to kiss you every time I see you because I’m attracted to you and I can’t do that because you don’t know me even though it feels like I’ve known you for forever and this is crazy and I don’t know how this is going to work at all and I’m ready to just up and sell everything I own and follow you home like a lost puppy but I don’t know if you’ll let me and I’m stuck and the more you talk, the more I find out about you, the more I find to like and love about you and I’m in way over my head and I’m praying to the gods, every day to reveal to me the best path to take with you but I don’t know where to start.” Noah ranted to himself as he drove down to the airfield. 

Meanwhile back at Noah’s house. 

“Did your dad used to kiss your mama a lot before he left for work?” You asked Sakura. 

“Yup, and every time he left for work, she would pray to all the gods for fair winds and for him to have safe flights and return home to us.” She informed you proudly. 

“Could we do that? I feel like we should do the same, it’s a tradition we need to keep going.” You proposed as she eagerly got up and took your hand and brought you to the wall in the living room where a few stone symbols- symbolizing the gods they worshiped- hung on the wall-- you also had the same at your own house, a couple of them you recognized but you didn’t know the others. Then she got her prayer rug out from under the couch and got her mom’s old one and got it out and put in down for you to kneel on too which you did, copying her movements. 

“We always prayed in Intuck though.” She sighed. 

“Well, I don’t know any Intuck- but if you say the words first, I will do my best to repeat them, could you help me learn? Because the best way to learn something is to teach someone else and I know Intuck is a big part of your heritage and we should honor that and use it as much as we can.” You asked her as she nodded eagerly before she carefully and slowly and deliberately said the words as you did your best to repeat them exactly or as closely as you could and kept looking at her to make sure you were saying these words right. 

“You did really good! Not one mistake!” She cheered. 

“Thank you, I tried really hard. So what did we just pray for? Can you tell me in Anglo?” You asked her hopefully. 

“Yup, we prayed for Daddy to have good flights in good weather, we prayed for generous customers, we prayed for his plane to fly well and we prayed for him to come home safe.” She told you even though she purposefully left off the last thing. The last thing she had you pray for was for her daddy to come home with more love than he left with and for him to come home to find more love than he left knowing was there, it was an extra prayer her mom prayed for when her mama and her dad had disagreements that they needed to reconcile over but Sakura knew when she hugged you the first time that your hugs and her mom’s hugs were the same. She could feel how much you loved her already just from that one hug was enough to convince her that you were her mom and that her wait for one was over and with you already showing respect to her mama and her mama’s memory and her mother’s native language and culture told her that you were a respectful person who wouldn’t try to change her and her culture, that you would be embracing it with her and she knew that the gods sent you all the way from the Great Lakes, just to be with her. She didn’t know if she would be moving in with you or if you and your family would be moving in with her, but she was going to love having siblings. She felt like looking at you was the same as looking at a new story book, one she didn’t know the story in it yet, but could tell from the pictures that it would be her new favorite and that it would be a happy story and one with the best ending where everyone lived happily ever after. 

“Will I offend you or the gods if I continued to pray my own prayers but in Anglo?” You asked respectfully.

“Nope, the gods listen to all those who genuinely and honestly pray to them, no matter their language.” She insisted. 

“I was taught the same. Ok, do you mind if I pray out loud or should I keep my prayers to myself?” You asked her as she got back on her little prayer mat before you sat down cross legged on yours since your lower legs were killing you sitting on them and you always prayed sitting down cross legged.

“Please pray out loud, I want to hear how you pray.” She answered excitedly. 

“Come here Honey,” You invited her before she happily got into your lap and sat in it and settled against you as you wrapped your arms around her and placed your palms together but upturned.

“Why do you have your hands turned up?” She asked. 

“So that the gods can take all my troubles and anxieties, all my hurt, all my sorrow and pain and give me instead- happiness, peace, serenity, calm and answers to the problems or they can provide the answers themselves and if I’m lost, they can take my hands and lead me to where I need to go and place me where I need to be. So that I can enjoy the day and every moment in the day without my joy and happiness stolen by worry and anxiety or anger. To love and appreciate the people around me and that friends and family who will love me and care for me as much as I love and care for them.” You answered before she did the same, her little hands upturned between your own as you watched as she closed her eyes with a serene smile on her face which brought a bright, appreciative smile to your own before you closed your eyes and took a cleansing breath and addressed not just your own gods but the ones who you had just been introduced to as well. 

“Please oh gods of the heavens above, in the earth with me and in the depths of the sea-, hear my prayer. Please help me to help Sakura and her father Noatak with their troubles, no matter the kind. Help me guide them to the best and most successful path. Help me keep in mind what is best for both Sakura and Noatak and help all my words to be used with grace, kindness, gentleness, wisdom and respect. Please let there be no mistaking my words and intentions. Help me ease their pain and discomfort so that they can embrace the present and enjoy their future while not abandoning the past, but to honor it and those in it. Please grant Sakura, Noatak and my family and myself peace and serenity to accept the things we can not change and should not change, but courage to change the things we can and that need to be changed and to face what we need to face with bravery, perseverance and patience and the wisdom to distinguish between what we can not change and what we can. But to walk with our eyes towards all of you, please direct my steps so that I continue to walk the path you’ve set before me and help me guide others on their paths so that we all can have happiness, peace, meaning, purpose and fulfillment and if at all possible, success. Amen.” You prayed. 

“Amen.” Sakura mirrored emphatically as you noticed the dogs were laying down around you as you curled your hands around hers and squeezed them as she squeezed back and smiled adoringly up at you. 

“That was a really good prayer. I liked it.” Sakura praised. 

“Thank you.” You grinned. 

“So, your Daddy told me that you guys have horses,” you began. 

“We do! We should go feed them breakfast, Daddy forgot to do that before he left!” Sakura realized before you got up and got your jacket on and got Sakura bundled up before she led you to the back where a barn was and horses were sleeping in their stalls but awoke once you opened the barn door as the dogs came trotting into the barn with you before Sakura walked you through what Noah usually did when he cared for them as you happily followed her instructions and even took extra care to brush them, clean out their feet and check them over the way you did with your own horses before you walked them out to the pasture so you could muck out their stalls and tidy things up a bit before your phone rang. 

“Well hello, I take it you’re up in the air.” You mused since you could hear the plane running in the background. 

“Yeah, I was just calling to check in.” Noah said, feeling like an idiot, you were a mom, he knew he could trust you to take care of his child but he was more anxious to know how you were faring, if Sakura was behaving for you and he was desperate for reassurance that everything was ok because he couldn’t ignore the urge to call. 

“We’re doing great. Here, it’s your Daddy,” you offered the phone to Sakura as you continued to muck out the stalls. 

“Daddy! Paradise and I prayed for you in Intuck just like Mama and I used to and the way Nana and I still do and Paradise did so good! She got all the words right and she’s having me teach her Intuck because she says the best way for me to learn and remember it is to teach someone else and it’s true! Then she showed me how she prayed and I got to sit in her lap and pray with her and it was just as nice and now we’re taking care of the horses because you forgot to before you left and she says she has horses too and she’s mucking out their stalls and even cleaned out their feet and brushed them even though it was kind of hard because all they wanted to do was hug her the way they used to hug mom and the dogs are being really good too.” Sakura babbled excitedly as she sat on a bale of hay and talked with her Dad on your phone. 

Meanwhile Noah was scrunching his face because he knew he had forgotten something this morning. 

“Well tell her I said thank you very much for helping me with the horses, I really appreciate it.” He urged her. 

“My Daddy says ‘thank you for helping him and he appreciates it’,” Sakura repeated. 

“Tell him it’s no problem at all, I’m happy to do it but tell him that the blue roan will need a trim soon.” You answered. 

“She said Kabluey needs a trim.” Sakura repeated as you busted out laughing. 

“What’s so funny?” Sakura asked. 

“Kabluey is the name of a variety of blueberries. I grow kablueys at home. I think Kabluey is an amazing name for a blue roan.” You explained.  

“Well hopefully I’ll be able to do it when I get home.” Noah answered. 

“He said he’ll do it when he gets home.” Sakura said. 

“I didn’t realize your Daddy was also a ferrier.” You appraised appreciatively as you imagined what Noah would look like on your farm in a tight pair of jeans bent over trimming your own horses feet, preferably with his shirt off and maybe a shimmering sheen of sweat on him that you could help him shower off. 

Focus Zara. Horse stall. 

“So can Paradise and I go riding later? Please?”  She asked hopefully. 

“If he trusts me to take you on a ride, then I’ll happily do so but if he’s not comfortable with that, then don’t beg him and try to push him when he’s not ready.” You insisted as Noah just smiled wide into the phone as any stress he was feeling melted away. 

“Sweetie, give the phone to Paradise.” He urged her. 

“Yes?” you answered. 

“You have my permission to do whatever you want to do. I trust you completely.” Noah insisted. 

“You sure?” You questioned. 

“Absolutely. You girls have fun today, do whatever you want to do.”  Noah urged you and you both heard and felt his genuineness and earnestness in that. 

“Ok.” You agreed. “Is there anything in particular you want us to do today? Laundry, dishes? Not burn the house down?” You asked and Noah barked an amused laugh. 

“Yeah, just that last one.” Noah.

“Dinner?” You asked hopefully.

“Only if you want to, this is your vacation after all.” Noah tried to dissuade you but his tone was incredibly weak because honestly food from you would be food from the gods at this point. 

“Oh I definitely want to.” You firmly resolved. Oh you were going to woo him with food damn it. 

“Well honestly there’s some grocery shopping I need to do, there should be a list on the fridge, if you go, keep your receipts and I’ll pay you back for whatever.” Noah revealed. 

“Is there a budget you want me to try to keep?” You asked thoughtfully. 

“Well that’s the thing, grocery shopping is really expensive up here, it’s gonna be about a hundred dollars.” He warned you. 

“Yeah that’s not going to be a problem.” You reassured him. Oh you were going to hook him up. 

“Any food allergies I should be aware of? Nuts? Dairy?” You asked. 

“Nope. Although if you can find a way to make vegetables slightly more appealing to Sakura I’ll be forever grateful.” Noah hinted. 

“Awesome, and between what times should we expect you home? Like between 6-7 or 7-8?” You asked.

“Honestly I don’t know at this point, right now it looks like I’ll be home by 5-5:30 but that could change several times between now and then, but I shouldn’t be home any later than 8.” He mused. 

“Ok, do you have any preferences or any foods that you’re not allergic to but you’d rather eat cardboard than eat it? Like mushrooms? Peppers? Broccoli?” You began to list off. 

“Ok, I’ll level with you, Sakura isn’t the only one who doesn’t like her vegetables, and I feel like the reason for that is because I’m not particularly good at making them.” He confessed which got  you to laugh. 

“I appreciate your honesty. None of us are perfect. Are we usually meat and potatoes kind of people?” You gently teased. 

“Yup.” Noah nodded. 

“Ok, I’ll see what I can do, keep me posted Babe.” You offered before you slapped your hand over your mouth as Sakura cackled with glee. Her prayers were working already! And the sound of Noah laughing told you that he was at least amused. 

“Habit?” He asked. 

“Yup.” You lied because that was easier than fessing up that you were falling helplessly, hopelessly head over heels for him. You were fucked. 

“It’s ok, we’re ok, you’re good.” Noah reassured you. 

“Thank you, see you at home later. Fly safe.” You urged him. 

“Will do, see you later, bye.” Noah bid you and felt twice as high as he was. You called him a pet name. He didn’t care if it was on accident, that was heavenly. Today was going to be a great day. 

Once you were done in the barn you had Sakura come back into the house so you could clean up from breakfast and get a look at that grocery list before there was a scratch at the window and you saw a massive thunder cat at the kitchen window before it meowed at you as it looked expectantly at you. 

“Is..this cat yours?” You asked before Sakura eagerly rushed to the back porch where a trio of cats were from having gotten out of the house when Noah and Sakura had initially been in the porch waiting for you this morning. One of them was clearly a thunder cat, the others, were two of the biggest tom cats you’ve ever seen in your life and all three eagerly came into the house and rubbed against Sakura before all three came over to check you out before the thunder cat outright climbed you like a tree. 

“Claws,” you whimpered as you braced against the counter before it happily got to your shoulder to look you over and sniff you before it started rubbing it’s face on your face. 

“Well hello to you too.” You greeted happily before it outright laid down over your shoulders. 

“Comfy there?” You gently teased as you scratched his ears as it started to purr very loudly in your ears before you continued to have Sakura go through the cupboards and showed you and told you what they had food wise as you made your own grocery list as you went through the freezer and fridge to see what he had and what he needed as recipes started popping like fireworks in your head of what you wanted to cook as you made notes of what dishes he had and what you wanted in each dish. You wanted to go all out. Not just the classics and tried and true but take a leap of faith on something else as you suddenly realized- your second trunk. YES. 

Whenever you traveled you packed one set in one thing and another set in something else. Just in case either the airline, the cruise ship or whatever lost a piece of luggage, you weren’t screwed. You had packed two sets of spices and other staple ingredients. And both cases made it. In fact, not a piece of luggage had gone missing. You were going to try to sneak it in with the clan’s gift of seeds. Now- you were going give it to Noah and you couldn’t imagine a more deserving recipient or a more appreciative one. Then you went though the rest of the house, hunting to see if he needed laundry supplies or other cleaning supplies and jot those down. 

Passing by Noah’s bedroom, you practically stopped in your tracks as your nose led you to turn your head as you sniffed in a deep lungful. His scent was so strong and so alluring there and it made your mouth water. You noticed some laundry and got a basket and gathered it before you picked up a pair of socks by the bed and upon picking up both socks- they squished in your hand and you did your best to stifle your laughter and one sniff confirmed your suspicion. It felt really “fresh”, maybe from last night or early this morning and really big loads in both socks. Your ego hoped that it was thanks to you. And even if it wasn’t, maybe tonight it might be. 

Normally such a thought would annoy you or even disgust you. But with Noah? Nope. Quite the opposite. Part of you wanted to turn him on and light his fire so to speak and the thought of running him dry was a brand new fantasy for you and felt more like a mission than anything. You weren’t ashamed to admit it. You wanted him. And in this moment, badly. 

You had your work cut out for you.

You did your best to tidy as you went through the house. Not that it was terribly dirty or unkempt. Just a little cluttered here and there, some dusting was in order though. You could tell that he was in the middle of his busy season, you knew that sometimes things got forgotten or not done perhaps as often as they should when you were at your busiest. You were going to help him catch up and you had all day to do it. 

You noticed he really only had the bare essentials as far as cleaning supplies and you wondered if that was because that was all he could afford. 

Honestly, it was because of his patience and good will that you were able to make as much money as you did the day you met him and at this point, it was extra money you had not anticipated making or having in your budget for this trip and you had the very strong urge to pamper and spoil Noah and Sakura with it. All you needed was Taylor and her van. Besides she seemed keen on the match herself and you were sure she would help you and you were making your to do lists and shopping lists by the time she got there at 9. 

“Good morning.” You greeted her cheerfully. 

“Good morning,” She greeted you back sleepily. 

“So, I need the biggest of favors.” You began and your eager eyes and mischievous smile had her mirroring your expression. 

“What do you need and why?” She asked as she sidled up next to you. 

“Ok so Noah needs a few things from the store and a little bit of housework here and there and he said I could make him dinner for when he gets home tonight.” You began. 

“And?” She prodded as her grin grew into a full blown smile. 

“Want to get a breath of fresh air?” You hinted as the kids were playing in the living room with the cats and the dogs before you and her stepped out of the sliding glass door in the back so you could keep an eye on the kids but keep some level privacy. 

“Ok, so uh, stop me if I sound completely insane, but I really like Noah and Sakura and I don’t know what it is about them but I’m drawn to both of them. Like holding Sakura is like holding my own daughter and it’s like I’ve known them my whole life and we’re just the best and oldest of friends and I have the overwhelming urge to just...take care of them.” You confessed and Taylor was practically vibrating with joy. This was a great start. Things could grow and flourish from here. She just needed to give you the right encouragement. 

“You are not crazy or insane for feeling that way, especially about Noah and Sakura. No one is more worthy or deserving of whatever help you can give them. And I know Noah will appreciate even the smallest or simplest of things you can give or even do for him.” Taylor nodded her agreement. 

“Well Noah did tell me that he trusted me completely and that I can do whatever I wanted with Sakura today. So, that being said. I need to go back to your house to get my second trunk. Because that first one had all the spices and seeds in it? I had two just in case one didn’t make it. And I wasn’t sure what to do with the second and coming here and seeing how bare Noah’s kitchen really is…” You began. 

“Oh definitely. Up here there’s a belief of The Gods’ Will. Sometimes we’re moved to do or say things that may not make a ton of sense to us in the moment. But end up fulfilling the prayers of others. I know Noah and Sakura have been praying for help for a year and a half. And last year Noah and Sakura were ok because Neena’s death was still fresh in everyone’s minds and everyone helped them out but this year- it’s like most of them forgot all about them and poor Noah is grappling with how to fulfill both roles by himself and he’s just plain overwhelmed and this year he’s picking up every job he can just trying to make ends meet and some of his customers that he used to really depend on are trying to cut corners by hiring newer pilots who are less experienced with smaller planes that are cheaper to run and so far the weather has been really good so the other pilots have been able to do his job better and instead of doing several jobs at once, these places can afford to send out five individual pilots with single loads to a single destination quicker, like truckers and these other pilots can afford to all share an apartment together because they’re all single guys with no dependants and can pool resources while Noah is all by himself and has not just his own mouth to feed but Sakura and his animals in addition to his own aging parents and Neena’s aging parents because Neena’s other siblings haven’t moved back to help out Neena’s parents too but he can’t afford to lower his prices to try to compete or else he would actually lose money instead of make it and some of his customers are becoming difficult to deal with and he’s left between a rock and a hard place and in the meantime Sakura needs to go to school this year and that’s a challenge in itself.” Taylor explained. 

“Has Noah tried to move on romantically since he lost Neena?” You asked thoughtfully. 

“No. Neena was practically a saint and most women around here feel they can’t measure up to her which isn’t fair to anyone. She wasn’t perfect but she was a really wonderful person. But I know he’s really lonely and he’s been praying for the right woman with the right heart condition who will recognize his situation and treat him and Sakura with love and kindness. And I’m thinking if you instantly feel like helping them upon meeting them even if you don’t know them very well and especially if you have the means and the drive to- that you’re most likely the answer to their prayers.” Taylor revealed. 

“And if I just to happen to uh, coincidentally, find Noah incredibly, irresistably attractive and want to woo him by making him a feast and getting his house in perfect running order? And maybe even run him dry or at least raw?” You asked with a wince but a bright bashful smile none the less. 

“Yyeeaass!” Taylor practically screamed in a bright cheer before she accidentally spilled some of her coffee. “Oh shit, can’t spill the coffee, it’s precious coffee.” Taylor murmured before she eagerly sipped more of it before she put it down and hugged you and practically jumped up and down on the porch with you. 

“Ok, tell me how I can help.” She beamed. 

You had her take you and Sakura back to her house where you grabbed not only your other crate but also a few other things and then once unloaded those things into Noah’s house and you took your lists and she drove you to the best big box club store in the area that would have everything you wanted even if it was a two hour drive away. You got two flatbed carts and Sakura, Jamie and Matt all sat one one that Taylor pushed around as Katie happily helped you with yours as you happily started to strategically loaded up what you wanted and needed, not caring in the least what it would cost because you had a budget of a few grand and it made you so happy and gave you so much satisfaction to be doing this for Noah and Sakura and with some sweet talking to the head butcher, he gave you one hell of a deal on a ton of meat as you also got some junk food for the kids to keep them happy and had lunch there at the place, having got two rotisserie chickens and by a miracle, you managed to squeeze it all back into the van as the kids were happily holding their new junk food in exchange to being a little cramped with other stuff packed in around them before they quickly fell asleep and took a nap on the way back as you spent the whole two hours back working out a schedule of what to do when so that right about 6- the house could be clean and a feast would be ready and once back at the house you put the plan into action and with Taylor keeping the kids busy with a movie, she helped you as much as she could as she also wrote down your recipes as you cooked them since you knew them by heart and showed her what you were doing as you did it so she could replicate it and right at 4:30, she took her kids home to make dinner for her own family since she was going to be using the same recipes you were since all the food you would be making was already in motion which left you to portion out the remainder of the meat. 

By 5 you got the call that Noah would be another hour away from coming home and you knew it was then to start cooking the steaks and start the risotto since risotto was a very labor intensive process which would take the remainder of your attention as you and Sakura danced in the kitchen to music on your little portable speaker as you taught her how you danced and you were so caught up in dancing and grooving in the kitchen- you didn’t hear Noah come in the door as his nose practically went nuts. He had never smelled food like this before and it smelled better than anything he had ever smelled before. It made his stomach growl loudly which finally alerted you and Sakura to his presence. 

“Daddy!” Sakura cheered as she ran over and leaped into his arms. 

“Hey Kiddo, how was your day?” He asked her as he picked her up and carried her over to the kitchen. 

“It was awesome! We had so much fun!” Sakura fawned. 

“Did you go riding?” He asked. 

“We didn’t have time, we went shopping and we did something called “being domestic” which was really just chores but she made it into a game, she bought these really cool cloths that pick up all kinds of dust and she had me dust everything I could reach with my stool so that I can help you keep our castle clean.” Sakura beamed as she showed him the dusting cloth. 

“Castle?” Noah repeated, with amusement. 

“Castle law- every man’s home is his castle.” You supplied as Noah ‘oh’ed’ in understanding. 

“And she agrees that our castle is very grand in it’s own way. It may not be as big as others but it’s ours and we need to take care of it so it can protect us.” Sakura beamed. 

“I agree.” Noah nodded. “So...how far over budget did we go?” Noah asked with a bit of a nervous laugh. 

“I didn’t go over my budget, don’t worry about it, just sit down and eat. That’s all I want from you right now.” You urged as you took out the steaks from the oven and Noah made a whimpering keen when he saw them. 

“Oh I’m in trouble, so much trouble.” Noah murmured in awe as he shook his head as he just watched in awed wonder as you seamed to pull a feast out of his kitchen, he didn’t think his kitchen was big enough for half of this. He was not worthy. 

“Trouble of what?” You asked curiously. 

‘Of falling in hopelessly in love with you’. Noah’s mind was begging his mouth to say. 

“I...I’m in over my head. I have no idea how I’m...gonna pay you back for any of this.” Noah admitted. 

“Hey, Noah, look at me.” You reached out and framed his face in your hands and you had the overwhelming urge to kiss him but you knew it would probably be inappropriate and he may not appreciate that, yet anyway. 

“Do not cheapen my gifts by trying to put a monetary value to them or feel that you have to repay anything. Everything I’ve done and given was given freely and and with immense pride and joy. Do we owe the gods for when they answer our prayers and bless us? Do you think they keep a tally? No. So don’t start a tally with me, I give to you because I know you’ll be appreciative and you’re more than deserving and worthy. Please do me the honor of accepting these gifts with grace and happiness, that’s all that I ask and all that I want.” You insisted before he just lifted his own hands to hold your own face before he kissed your forehead and hugged you which you happily returned as his words of muffled thanks were music to your ears and this big hug from his was all you could fantasize about as his affection was practically making you love drunk and so unbelievably happy as you once again had that overwhelming sensation that you were at home in his arms. A new home, this one filled with so much more love than your last and it wasn’t until the dogs tried to nose their way between you that you finally let go of each other. 

“Now let’s eat before it gets cold.” You urged before you handed him the largest plate as you quickly got Sakura her own plate. 

“So what do we have?” Noah asked eagerly. 

“Ok, so what we have is bacon sauteed brussel sprouts with maple syrup and goat cheese. We have broccolini with cheddar cheese those are my two- “healthy” vegetable dishes. From there we have loaded twice baked potatoes, liquor yams, but all the alcohol should have baked off so it’s safe for Sakura to eat them, she won’t get drunk or anything. Then we have death by cheese mac and cheese, mushroom risotto with extra sauteed mushrooms to go over your steaks and dinner rolls. The only rule I have is you are not allowed to put ketchup on my steaks. I bought steak sauce and brought homemade hot sauce.” You revealed as you pointed everything out and the only thing Noah wanted to devour more than the food was you but he didn’t have the nerve or the courage just yet as he just stood there and stared at the feast as his eyes just got a little watery. 

“Could you um, like pinch me because I am not sure if I’m dreaming or halucinating. Because this is bordering on too good to be true.” He teased you. 

“It’s very much real, but if you insist on a pinch...” You playfully reached over and pinched his butt as he recoiled only slightly but started laughing as his sleep deprived brain was about to short circuit because he was on the edge of being overstimulated. Like a pet diving into a pool of new toys, wanting to play with all of them at the same time and can’t decide which one to go for first. 

“Eat, eat!” You urged him. 

“You slaved for the meal, you go first, women and children first right?” He urged you. 

“How chivalrous,” you flattered before you got yourself a good portion and sat down at the table before you opened your little jar of hot sauce for your steak. 

“Hot sauce?” You offered as you sucked on the tip of your thumb as Noah seemed to fixate on your mouth before he swallowed hard before he tore his eyes away from your mouth to take the jar and found a tiny spot on his already heaping plate for it. 

“It’s best on the mac and cheese though, like buffalo chicken dip but without the chicken.” You hinted. 

“Prayer Daddy.” Sakura urged him before he could eat before you happily reached out and took Sakura’s hand and offered your hand to Noah who happily took it and held it as he tried not to let the touch completely blank his mind as he noticed your eyes were closed and the most beautiful, serene smile was on your lips as you held his hand and you were even more of a vision now than you were this morning. He closed his eyes and addressed all of his gods. In his prayer he thanked the gods for the pleasure of your presence and prayed that whatever blessings you gave and whatever you spent to make those blessings happen, returned to you a hundred fold and that whatever you did or would ever do would find success and you did your best to wipe away your tears as quickly as you could once he said amen. Andy had never prayed about you like that and it meant the world to you. 

Noah tried his best not to moan, or cry. He tried, and he failed. 

“So, I have to say, this is the best food I have ever put in my mouth. It’s like...the gods either prepared this food or this food was prepared for them, and I don’t know if I’m worthy as a mortal to eat it.” Noah teasingly praised and you beamed happily. 

“Thank you. Welcome to Zara’s greatest hits food wise.” You gestured to the food. “For all the holidays, it’s always my dad, my brother in law Jake and myself who are in charge of the food. My dad is in charge of the smoker, so he smokes all the wings, the salmon, all the ribs and brisket and pulled pork and stuff. Obviously these are my specialties. Although my turkeys usually make my sisters cry. Jake, believe it or not is the king of casseroles and one pan and one dish dinners, like paella and all things seafood. While Anya and Tasha are on drink duty because Anya’s a professional bartender. And when it’s not holidays it’s superbowl, or it’s championships. Any excuse to get together and eat.” You explained. 

“So what did your family think of Andy?” Noah asked. 

“They got along really well, Andy was really quiet and shy at first and he was incredibly introverted. But he was also a really big guy, not quite as big as you but close and solid and he had resting…” You paused as you tried to think of the appropriate substitute. 

“Jerk face?” Noah supplied. 

“Yeah, jerk face. He couldn’t help it, that was just his face. But once he warmed up to you- oh man, you had to have a sharp wit to keep up with him and he could just deliver line after line and he could verbally roast anyone. Which at first is very entertaining and fun and my brother and my dad thought it was awesome because Andy was very much just one of the guys. But being married to that, it’s exhausting and hurtful and he had a really hard time turning the sarcasm off and he forgot to filter himself most of the time and when I would inevitably get my feelings hurt his mother would chastise me for being too thin skinned and that if ‘a Kingsley wasn’t making fun of you- they didn’t like you’ and Andy only ever had brothers. No sisters. But because he was so big and so mean looking, I could go anywhere I wanted with him and no one messed with me because they took one look at Mr. Big Scary Giant and thought twice about trying to spit game and Andy was incredibly strong and he only ever got into one fight when he was a kid and he put the guy into the hospital but Andy used that to his advantage he was a very intimidating person and one lip curl or a crack of his neck and knuckles and low growl and it was enough to unnerve anyone. Otherwise he was a great earner and provider financial and materially, he just had to be reminded often to be kind and nice.” 

“But the price of all that was you were married to a sarcastic jerk.” Noah realized in disgust as you nodded. 

“Yup, which is why I look at his life insurance policy money as money earned for being married to him so long, I know that sounds incredibly horrible and shallow but it’s the truth. Which is why when and if I get married again- how much money they make means very little to me and I don’t care about what they do as long as they like what they do because life is too short to slave away in a job you hate with people you despise. Personality is everything to me now. I got enough financially so that I’m set for the rest of my life. Now I just want to share my life with someone who makes me happy mentally, emotionally and spiritually, and of course the other kind that shouldn’t be talked about in polite company.” You specified with a mischievous grin which made Noah smile wide as he nodded and forced his mouth shut because he was about to volunteer himself, even though he was sleep deprived and exhausted, he felt he could push himself to really love you right. At least give his tongue a good work out. Because if you have the cooking skills of a goddess, by the gods, he was going to worship you like one.

Then you looked over at Sakura who was shoveling food in her mouth. 

“Hey, hey, hey, slow down, the food’s not gonna disappear when you close your eyes, if you eat too much too fast you’ll get a stomach ache, do you want to throw everything up?” You asked her which made her pause. 

“I’m not taking any of this food home with me, it’s all staying here. I made enough that you should have two dinners and a couple of lunches. And it all keeps in the fridge and microwaves pretty good.” You reassured her before she finally slowed down. 

“It’s hard for me not to inhale it all too Baby,” Noah reassured his daughter with an understanding smile. 

Once dinner was eaten, Noah happily helped you put the left overs away and got started on washing the bigger pots and pans that wouldn’t fit in the dishwasher and he was never sexier to you. Just to see this fine specimen of a man standing in front of a sink scrubbing pots. You were ready to suck him dry in the kitchen as you tried to stomp that down because he probably wouldn’t appreciate that or would be keen on letting you around his daughter again. He was a sensible, reasonable man and he may not be ready for that yet and he may not be interested romantically in you either and while you knew you were meant to be here to help. You didn’t feel you were meant to come and stay forever. You wanted him to be sure but you didn’t know how moving forward this could possibly work. You didn’t want to do him the injustice of a one night stand. You wanted more with him than just a night or two of casual sex. So in order for you to hopefully enjoy more in the future, you could deal with enjoying less in the moment. You wanted to build more. You still had a week up here, you had a little bit of time. 

“So how long will you need to get your own appointments done?” Noah asked. 

“Give me a day, I can get them all done tomorrow then I can be all yours the day after, I take it you’ll need more help with the bigger loads?” You guessed as Noah nodded. 

“Honestly more of my most difficult customers.” Noah confessed. 

“How are they difficult?” You asked thoughtfully as you helped him dry the dishes and put them away. 

“Well only because I have a bigger plane and there’s some things that won’t fit in a normal bush plane. Otherwise they’ve used the newer pilots who are less expensive and don’t have the overhead or dependants I do that can do it cheaper than I can. In fact there’s a few of them who all room together on the other side of town. But I can’t lower my own prices any lower because if I do, I’ll lose money instead of making it.” Noah explained. Normally he wouldn’t be comfortable breathing anything this personal or private to anyone. But he felt comfortable confiding in you. 

“How old are the other pilots?” You asked. 

“Psh, barely adults, they’re like walking disasters, I’ve seen them try to do flips in the air with cargo on board and they don’t show any respect for anything. They think it’s all fun and games.” Noah griped and you felt rage lick up your spine. 

“Well it does make business sense to try to undercut what you can and take chances on the less reliable if it saves your bottom line in the moment. But when you do that- you risk the quick easy fix costing you quite a bit in the future. Especially when the new easy fix isn’t reliable and catastrophic failure is always a thing you have to contend with- with anything. When I have new clients as they look at how much my own fees are and the numbers give them pause. My usual go-to is to remind them that they get what they pay for and it’s my experience and my specialities that recommend me. When we go to the hospital, do we want an inexperienced surgeon operating on us? Who’s trying to get their start in their career by slashing prices to get new clients? No. Hell no. We want the older more experienced surgeon with thousands of operations under their belt, who has kept up with their continuing education and has prided themselves on staying on the cutting edge because it’s our lives on the line. That’s why I used your services at first was because you had the most experience and you were the greatest professional that could be recommended and that’s why you’re worth your fees. Because it’s not just your own livelihood on the line, it’s your family’s and it’s your clients livelihoods too. You’re a serious and respectful professional. They aren’t. I think it’s only a matter of time before your clients get burned by using young and stupid. Because honestly, if they fail, it’s no big deal, they don’t have families that will go hungry, you do. Are these other pilot’s- locals, natives or outlanders?” You asked. 

“They’re all outlanders,” Noah answered. 

“And your clients?” You inquired as you tilted your head. 

“Locals and natives.” Noah answered. 

“Can you do me a favor?” You asked. 

“Anything.” Noah answered. 

“Write down the names of your difficult clients for me. Whenever I have issues especially with clients, especially tight fisted, cheapskate ones or ones that have problems out of my control that they’re somehow making me responsible for, I pray for them to come to their senses or simply have sense and reason. And if you could write down the names of the other pilots, I would also like to pray for them too.” 

“You’re not going to curse them are you?” Noah teased as he did as you asked of him after he dried off his hands after finishing the dishes. 

“No, I pray for my own competitors, because honestly there are some clients that are more trouble to keep than they’re worth and so I send them to my own competitors to deal with and I pray that those clients stay with them instead of coming back to me when they find out that I’m better than they are. Some clients are always about getting as much out of you as they can for as cheap as they can and I put as much distance between me and them as I can so that I will have the free space for the clients who will appreciate my quality and feel that I’m worth the investment. Instead of a “stupid splurge” that others think I am. So maybe these other clients that you’ve lost, you’re better off without them and now you’re free to take on new clients, clients who will appreciate you and not undercut you but build you up and hopefully pay better than the ones you lost ever paid you. Besides, if push comes to shove and your business goes belly up, I mean heaven forbid and knock on wood...” You quickly knocked on the countertops as he did too. “I have all kinds of connections with the air force base that’s half an hour away from me and there’s a local international airport that’s forty minutes away and there’s air fields all over, I’m sure there’s still all kinds of opportunities for you as a pilot anywhere you go, you could even be a private jet pilot if you really wanted to.” You mused as Noah considered those options. 

“But that’s neither here nor there and that’s puting like...7, 8, maybe even 9 carriages before our horses so don’t worry about it. Sometimes all we can do is pray and leave things in the god’s hands and trust that it’ll be ok.” You reassured him. “And I have a feeling everything will be just fine.” You added with a serene smile before you just enveloped him in a hug which he happily returned and he could have died happily right there in his kitchen and holding you, he felt the rest of his stress and anxiety completely leave him and if you were a goddess in the kitchen, you were an ethereal deity in his arms. Your touch was grounding yet uplifting all the same and you smelled amazing and he just wanted to lose himself in you. 

“Paradise? Could you give me a bath please?” Sakura asked which reluctantly pulled you out of Noah’s arms. 

“Sure thing Kiddo.” You agreed as you went to her and took her hand and together you went upstairs to where a large clawfoot tub was as you got her a bath, letting her use one of the bath bombs you had packed. You had again packed two sets of bath bombs and with one set with Taylor’s kids, the other set would be here for Sakura and Sakura picked one of your absolute favorites as you both watched as it dissolved, turning the water a kaleidoscope of colors as you used your special body wash to gently clean her skin as you sat on the floor next to the tub so that you could wash and rinse her hair as well as she played with her toys in the tub and once her hair was done, you got some leave in hair conditioner and detangler for her hair as you lovingly and patiently combed it all out. Sakura had such long and delicate fine white hair, like strands of silk by the time you were done with it and didn’t even notice how Noah was watching from the doorway. 

He had taken the moment of peace to finish up his paperwork for the day and just watching you be the mother you were with his daughter was practically bringing him to tears again. It was such a beautiful, heartwarming sight and if he had thought he was head over heels in love with you this morning, he was a goner for sure now. He felt incredibly whole and full after feeling so broken and hollow for so long. Something he thought impossible three days ago. But he was not about to question it. He was just grateful for it. 

Once she was cleaned up and the water was turning cold, you drained the tub and wrapped her up in a towel and helped her get ready for bed before she had you read her a story as Noah got a shower himself after rinsing out the tub of the remains of the bath bomb and since Sakura’s room was right across the hall, you got the glorious gift of seeing Noah in nothing but a towel around his waist as he walked from the bathroom to his room and seeing that big strong muscled back dripping with water, oh gods, you nearly fainted and the words out of your mouth trailed off as you realized Noah had one the best deriers you had probably ever seen in your life. He had curves that would put a back road to shame and once his door was shut that pulled you from admiring him back to Sakura’s story book but thankfully once you looked back to see if Sakura had noticed, she was thankfully out like a light. 

You closed the book and kneeled next to the bed and prayed to all the gods that she would sleep well and sleep in tomorrow to give Noah a chance to recover and you prayed for guidance in helping her and Noah and for the way to help to become evident to you and for you to recognize the opportunities and to have courage to take them when they presented themselves. 

When you were done you got up just to see Noah coming out of his room, dressed in pajamas and while you would love nothing more than to peel them off, the thought of bed and sleep did sound amazing and you were so tired, you had worked a miracle today, in cleaning the house and making a feast fit for a king and cleaning up after it too, although the cleaning up part was easy thanks to Noah’s help. 

“Well, today was awesome, thank you for welcoming me into your home, it’s beautiful.” You praised as you leaned against the wall after closing the door behind you and leaning against it. 

“It’s small and falling apart.” He admitted as he leaned against the wall across from you. Just taking in the vision of you in his hallway. 

“But it has a thousand times the love inside it than there is any mansion. A house is just a house until you put people in it, then it’s a home. And because of who is in this home means this is one of the finest ones I’ve ever been in.” You praised as you bashfully ducked your head as Noah looked like he was about to eat you alive in a very carnal way as he pushed off the wall and took a step forward before your phone rang and it was Taylor. 

“Hey, could you come get me? I’m ready to go and I’m so tired, I could fall over, please don’t make me walk back to your house.” You whined sarcastically as you couldn’t help but giggle a little and Noah reluctantly took a step back and knew that the door for him to prove to you just how much love was in his home, let alone himself, the door had closed as quickly as it opened and he missed his opportunity to prove it. All he could do is hope that it would open again the day after tomorrow. Maybe it was for the best, it would give him time to rest up and be fully energized. But he was determined. He was going to make you his one way or another before you left, if it was the last thing he would do and so begrudgingly he watched you leave as once again, the emptiness and hollow feeling crept back into him and he felt like warm light left the house once you did. 

Hell he would find a way to build you whatever kind of house you wanted, with his own two hands if he had to. 

“Why the fuck did you have me come get you when Noah is looking at you like a damn feast and he’s starving, I thought you wanted to raw him? What the fuck? Your opportunity to do that is behind you.” Taylor chastised you once you got in her minivan. 

“It’s not the right time. Noah deserves better than a one night stand or even a two nighter.” You argued. 

“Uh by my calculations it could have been a seven nighter if you got started tonight.” Taylor argued. 

“And then what? Have the best week of my life and then just...what? Walk away? No. I’m too invested emotionally with Sakura to do anything like that. I feel like if I rush the intimacy with Noah, I’ll lose the prize of having Sakura in the long run and they both deserve more attention and effort and time. And Noah and especially Sakura are a prize worth waiting for, worth fighting for worth doing whatever I can to help them and worth doing right. I don’t want to hit it and quit it.” You explained. 

“Look, I get it and that makes sense but I am telling you now, Noah looks like he’s about to hump that beam he’s leaning against and if you gave him half a chance I’m pretty sure he would have rocked the northern lights into your eyes tonight and every night from here on out, I know him, he’s not a hit and quit it person either and he’s as loyal as the summer days are long up here and when he does anything, he goes whole hog and he’s in it till the end, he’s a ride or die kind of guy. You said you were flexible and could go anywhere.” Taylor reminded you.

“...true. But again, I’ve only known him two days, would you drop everything and sell everything you own to move in with a stranger you’ve only known for two days?” You posed to her. “That’s putting a few carts ahead of the horse don’t you think?” You posed back to her. 

“Well ok, get to know him a tiny bit more and then bang his lights out and we can figure the rest out later.” Taylor compromised. 

“Ok, that’s a little more fair.” You laughed as she drove you back to her house where you promptly crashed. 

[crystalsandbubbletea]

Alex Adil Emre Yukime: Wolves, Alex is FASCINATED by wolves to the point all their siblings joke that they're part wolf

Lyra Oracle Yukime: Cats, specifically black cats, Lyra has a bias for black cats, heck she even owns SIX black cats

Esme: Songbirds, she loves songbirds, in fact she's been caught trying to raise a whole dang flock of songbirds once (Ironically her last name is Songbird-)

Juniper Akiko: Ring seals, Juniper finds them adorable

Esmeray-G240: She's not really an animal person but she's raise Polar Bears, she lives on the edge

Amphitrite-B219: Any aquatic lifeform, doesn't matter how creepy or deadly it is, she loves marine life. Either that or foxes or Pallas Cats-

If your oc had to look after a group of some sort of animal or other creature and could choose what type of creature it was, what would they pick?

[goldenchocobo]

Kingdom Hearts Disney Character Daemons

I’ve finally done it, and made a list of all 59 human Disney character’s Daemons that appear in Kingdom Hearts.

I’ve listed them in Game Order and then World Order, with Worlds appearing in subsequent games only listed in the first game they debuted in including all characters, even if they themselves didn’t appear in that game (eg. Olympus is only listed in KH1, but includes Meg). I’ve added notes as well for a ‘quick analysis or things I’ve found out while researching the animals, names or characters.

Since it’s a monster of a list, I’ve saved everyone some Dash space and listed everything under the cut.

Kingdom Hearts

Wonderland

Alice: Unsettled, usually in the form of a cat. Jacob (Dinah)

Queen of Hearts: Anna’s Hummingbird. Basil

Notes: I wasn’t sure if I was going to include the Queen or not- but I decided to, since there isn’t anything that says she’s not human. I chose a hummingbird for her for her frequent mood swings due to the fact that (male) hummingbirds can get very aggressive.

Olympus Coliseum

Hercules: Pegasus (he’s half mortal so, they’d be extraordinary)

Megera: Ferret. Creon

Notes: I’ve found myself with a stereotype that if I can’t find a particular animal for a Daemon, I simply make them a mustalidae, but I think it works with Megera as she gives off a fem-fetale confidence.

Deep Jungle

Tarzan: African Fish Eagle. Juana

Jane: Jewel Beetle (Chrysochroa fulgidissima). Iain

Clayton: Sabor

Notes: These were some of the hardest Daemons I’ve had to place, since I could not think of what to give them (apart from Clayton). But looking closer at Tarzan and Jane’s personalities, I chose what I feel are fitting Daemons, with the Eagle being a symbol of bravery, and the Beetle being a symbol for intellect and quirkiness.

Agrabah

Aladin: Sadaf (Abu)

Jasmine: Arabian Mau. Dara

Jafar: Jacqueline (Iago)

Notes: I did almost give Jasmine Rajah for her Daemon, but wanted something smaller and less imposing, but equally as outgoing, so I decided to keep in the Feline family. Also, TIL; Iago is Welsh for Jack.

Monstro

Gepetto: Fidela (Figaro)

Notes: I do want to say that I think that once Pinocchio becomes human he would get a Daemon, and that Daemon would be Jimminy, granted by the Blue Fairy. But considering Jimminy’s role in the KH franchise, I thought it would be weird for him to be traveling with Sora + co.

Neverland

Wendy: Unsettled, Mostly takes the form of a Bluebird. Geoffrey

Peter: Unsettled, usually the form of a Cuckoo. Ceil

Slightly: Unsettled, usually in the form of a Vixen. Jackie

Cubby:  Unsettled, usually in the form of a Black bear cub. Thea

Hook: Slender Mongoose. Adelaide

Mr. Smee: Mallard duck. Deryn

Notes: Smee’s Daemon was going to be a Schipperke (a small black dog) until I looked up Smee’s name and found it was a common old name to call Waterfowl (mainly ducks and Smews), and his personality fit!

Kingdom Hearts II

Land of Dragons

Mulan: Cri-Kee

Le Shang: Pallas Cat. Ushas

Shan Yu: Hayabusa

Ling: Japanese Macaque. Binh

Yao: Hamadryas Baboon. Jie

Chien Po: White-Cheeked Macaque.Yu

The Emperor: Indochinese Tigress. Indrani

Notes: I based Ling, Yao and Chien Po on the three wise monkeys in terms of Daemon themes. The White-Cheeked Macaque isn’t the best choice, however, since it was only recently discovered..

Beast’s Castle

Belle: Eurasian Jay. Clarus

‘Beast’: Wild European Sow (Boar). Addison

Notes: I wasn’t going to give Beast a Daemon at first- she’d only appear in his human form at the end credits scene anyway, but I chose to give him one of his design inspirations, since the personality matched.

Port Royal

Capt. Jack Sparrow: Sparrow Hawk. Wyleye

William Turner Jr: Arctic Tern. Vilma

Elizabeth Swann: Barnacle Goose. Aaron

Capt. Hector Barbosa: Great Skua. Rossa

Notes: Yes, they’re all birds because all of their names (apart from Barbossa) were names of birds. I changed Jack’s from just ‘Sparrow’ to ‘Sparrowhawk’ since I think that suited him more. Also, Skuas may look like a drab seagull, but they are mean little things that rob other birds for food and eat chicks!

Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep

Enchanted Dominion

Aurora: Boreal Owl. Garrik

Maleficent: Diablo

Flora: European Robin. Zephyr

Fauna: Dunnock. Silvius

Merryweather: Great tit. Onofrio

Notes: I’ve already talked about the Fairies before and haven’t changed their Daemons. Aurora is an owl because owls are stereotyped into two things: being knowledgeable, and being tired all the time. Disney themselves play to this trope a lot too.

Castle of Dreams

Cinderella: Jaq

Lady Tremaine: Lucifer

Anastasia Tremaine: Lion Tamarin. Bion

Drizella Tremaine: Peacock Pheasant. Felix

Notes: I chose the sister’s Daemons for specific reasons. They’re both prideful in their looks, singing voice and being ‘better than’ Cinderella. the two most common animals that symbolize pride is the lion and the peacock. giving these animals as Daemons to the sisters gives them a falseness about them. They may see themselves as all these good things, but in reality- they’re nothing but a sham.

Dwarf Woodland

The Queen/Witch Hag: Panther(leopard)/Rook. Gunnar

Snowwhite: Bluetit. Vardan

Notes: When matching Daemons to characters, I like to do research on those characters, and as it turns out- the Queen was going to be given a black panther as an animal companion in early drafts of Snow White. This was changed to a crow that lives in her potions’ lair later on. I gave her two forms, because I could foresee her using magic on her Daemon to make the disguise more complete.

Dream Drop Distance

La Citè des Cloches

Quasimodo: White Dove. Natalie

Judge Claude Frolo: Silver Fox. Agrippina

Esmerelda: Djai

Captain Phoebus: Goldcrest. Petra

Notes: I don’t have much to say here other than Pheobus’ Daemon was chosen based on his name alone, since they are small birds with a very bright crest that looks like sunshine when it catches the light.

The Grid

Kevin: Tarsier. Doireann

Sam: Marva (Marvin)

Notes: I did this very late on and very quickly due to me forgetting that Sam and Kevin are humans in this world! even at a quick look, I think I got them right.

Kingdom Hearts III

Kingdom of Corona

Rapunzel: Pascal

Flynn: Eurasian Magpie. Owena

Mother Gothel: Orchid Mantis. Chrysanthos

Notes: I only really had trouble with Flynn’s Daemon, but landed on a magpie because they both like shiny things- like enormous piles of money.

Arendelle

Elsa: Ermine. Vetle

Anna: Mountain Hare. Kai

Kristoff: Svalbard Reindeer. Bae

Hans: European Wolf. Gerda

Notes: I based Elsa’s Daemon from the early concept of Frozen, where she was going to be an evil queen with a coat of living Ermine. Other than hers, all other Daemons are based on the original Book’s characters, with Hans’ Daemon being named after the main character, which further amplifies the end twist.

San Fransokyo

Hiro: Japanese Beetle. Kei

Gogo: Hedgehog. Hwan

Honey Lemon: Bumble-Bee. Benigno

Fred: Iguana. Pamela

Wasabi: Mediterranean Mantis. Ginger

Notes: I originally had them all as Insects, but I have forgotten what other insects I had for Go-go and Fred, but I still feel I gave them the right choice.

END If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! my days of hard work was not wasted!

[rollertoasteroflife]

Rules: answer 20 questions, then tag 20 bloggers you want to get to know better. I was tagged by @the-least-laddy-lad thank you! Also your url cracks me up constantly thank you!

Name: Abby

Nickname: Abby is already a nickname, literally no one uses my full name

Zodiac Sign: leo

Height: 172cm or like fractionally under 5'8"

Languages: English, Spanish is alright, am learning Greek

Nationality: British

Favorite Season: Autumn

Favorite Flower: Hydrangeas

Favorite Scent: Rain or my cat (he smells bizarrely like perfume and I have no idea why?) 

Favorite color: Blue

Favorite Animal: Cat (pallas cat or snow leopard if we're being specific 

Favorite Fictional character: Opal Cowan

Coffee, Tea, or Hot Chocolate: tea

Average Sleep Hours: 8 or 9. Honestly I hate sleeping but my meds knock me the fuck out so now I'm a sleepy bitch

Dog or Cat Person: Cat. But dogs are awesome as well 

Number of Blankets: a duvet and a blanket currently. I have to fight the cat for it

Blog Established: 2014 I think?

Followers: 425

Random Fact: I dislike potatoes and will fight someone for fresh bread

Lmao I'm not going to tag 20 people lets be real. @showmethestarlight @lukarhys @someused-url @somethingthatsaysbubbles @emilyisemrys @chairmacaroon @matt-boyd04 @alipiee no pressure. Also I have a really hard time remembering who are my mutuals so if you hoped I tagged you consider this a tag, sorry I'm stupid 

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

P5R theories

Arcana possibilities: Jester (alt fool), Fool 22/XXII (alt fool), Aeon, Art (alt Temp), Adjustment (alt Justice), or Alt Devil

She’ll be connected to the minor cards/court cards, specifically the “Queen” (and specifically the “Queen of Swords”)

Personas (initial or ult): Pallas, Psyche, Judith, Eurydice (fun fact, her name means “wide Justice), Josephine, Eris, Lilith, Ishtar, Sophia, calamity Jane, Jeanne D'Arc, Bonnie Parker, Irene Adler, Sherlock Holmes/Herlock Sholmes, Pearl Heart, Laura Bullion, Belle Starr, Annie Oakley, Enlil, Achlys, Boreas (or one of the brothers), Nyx, Erebus,  Aether, Eos, Lumo, Laverna,  Wisakedjak, Mohini,  Ārohirohi, Coyote, Raven, Iris, Mephistopheles,  Tamamo no Mae

PT Name: Devil, Cat, Angel, Saint, Rose, Demon, Ninja/kunoichi, Laverna, Coyote, Raven

Possible Inspirations for Kasumi (just for fun rather than a theory-theory):  Kasumi Takahashi (a teen rhythmic gymnastics performer), Kasumi Goto (a thief from Mass Effect), All three sisters from Cat’s Eye, Kasumi Aso (a thief from City Hunter, based off Cat’s Eye), Catwoman, Arsene Lupin, Kaitō Saint Tail,  Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne (tho there’s a good chance that the latter two are also based off of Cat’s Eye)

[officercryptid]

The Other Munday Post

NAME: John PREFERED PRONOUNS: He/Him/They SELECTIVITY: I do have a thing for more competent writers, I’m not going to lie about that FAVORITE ANIMAL: I like tigers but also polar bears and seals and I find jellyfish very soothing. I think easily my patronus if not a tiger is that Pallas Cat. And really, Growlithe and Houndoom should be there too. FAVORITE MUSE YOU’VE HAD SO FAR EVER: I often think about and miss my Disney/Glee/Kingdom Keepers Dave Karofsky who had the powers of Rogue and was a descendant of the Beast. MUSE YOU KINDA WANNA PICK UP: Eh. I don’t know. I feel like I should do more poc muses but also having two is a really big job. MOST IDENTIFIABLE FICTIONAL CHARACTER: Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Chuckie from Rugrats. WHAT COLOR YOUR AURA IS/THINK IT IS: Somebody told me mine changed based on my shirt color. Or possibly its green all the time since I was wearing a green shirt at the time. PERSONALITY STUFF YOU AGREE WITH (ASTROLOGY, MBTI, HOGWARTS HOUSE, ETC BE AS SPECIFIC AS YOU WANT!): I’m pretty quintessential Aries, the Myers Brigg has been proven debunked and I’m actually middle of the road on all four so that’s a no, Hufflepuff proudly, Golden Renaissance Disney era kid, Blue Triceratops Power Ranger DO YOU THINK YOU’RE A GOOD DRIVER: No FAVORITE MINOR DISCOURSE (PINEAPPLE ON PIZZA, WHAT COLOR IS THE DRESS, ETC):  Why do they keep rebooting things from my childhood in strange ways/formats FAVORITE VINE AND/OR MEME: The Sailor Moon/Tuxedo Mask you didn’t do anything meme is pretty neat WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS MUSE: I was playing a Chris Pratt guy named Matt in an rp and he ran an indie book shop and I liked the face so I stuck with it.  FAVORITE RP MEMORY: That time that my Dave kissed a bisexual Mike Chang.  FAVORITE THING YOU’VE WRITTEN, IN RP OR NOT: We don’t have that kind of time. A LINE/LYRICS/QUOTE/ETC YOU LIKE OR THAT MEANS A LOT TO YOU: "Wake Greg up inside, Wake Greg up inside. I can’t wait Greg- Wake Greg up and save Greg from the Dark.” GIVE A SHOUT-OUT TO SOMEONE: All of you for putting up with me

TAGGED BY: @seanrps

TAGGING: Whoever man, life is short

[what-yadoking-likes]

Yannow what? I had a really long weird dream about cats last night! There was a black and white cat that loved it when I held them like a baby.

NOW cats generally. Cats cats cats cats cats. I love them. I love kedi.

I love their nonchalance. A shop cat in Hong Kong called Tiger was asked to come down from his high spot to say hello to his friends. I SWEAR that fluffy motherfucker looked at me, looked at his owner, then looked very deliberately in the opposite direction. I love him.

My partner agreed to cat sit for a friend a few years ago when they went on holiday. I actually ended up being the one to do the bulk of the cat sitting because his work hours were inflexible. At that time, the Mongkok district was being tear gassed pretty heavily. I made my way to the cats avoiding cops, tear gas & roadblocks.

There were two cats - Zoe & Blanche. Zoe is a skinny elderly gremlin who stays alive out of pure determination. She has a constant sneeze. Blanche is an obscenely fat squishy face girl with long hair.

I was fairly tired the 2nd time I went over, so after tidying, checking on Zoe & Blanche, giving them fresh water & replenishing their food, I decided to nap on the couch.

I was woken pretty abruptly when Zoe jumped on my tummy. She was giving me her grumpy old lady glare that said, "It's not like I like you or anything," but basically let me pet and fuss her as she alternated between kneading my tummy and sneezing on me.

Over the next few weeks she would jump on my tummy whenever I lay on the sofa and refused to move for a good while. It made the experience less annoying (because why tf had my partner agreed to do this when I was the one risking arrest & tear gas to take care of them?).

The final time I went to visit, Zoe tired of tummy time fairly quickly. Blanche saw her chance & climbed onto my CHEST.

Now Blanche at that time was a portly, round cat. She was rather heavy on my chest. What was weirder was how she chose to sit facing my face, gazing intently in my eyes. She's always been a bit of a weird cat, that one (if you massage her chin in a specific spot, her back leg twitches uncontrollably & she drools).

I also have a huge soft spot for the Manul (I refuse to call them Pallas Cats because fuck the white man who called them that when they already had a perfectly good name). I love their roundness, their perceptiveness, their dense fluff.

Tldr Yado love cat the end

Yado is ragjer drink but bouf is hwre so less xhanvw tk LD ln tje BIG SRINM