#then VET and DOG stress and bullshit

[kuronekobaji]

literally gonna torch this place I GOT A REQUESTTT FROM BAJISDARLING I THINK BUT I CANT FIND THE BLOG ?? ANYWAY. TYYY FOR REQUESTING I LOVE U SO MUCH

warnings: smut from the middle to the end [kind of, it’s left on a cliffhanger he gets ready to eat you out], mentions of foolish animal abuse [feeding chocolates to dogs, outdoor cats], not proofread, sorrryyyyyyyy

synopsis: your husband, keisuke, comes home after a frustrating day at work. what better way to relieve his stress than lose himself in you?

note: this is so fucking short like 700 words MAX i thinkkk idk i didn’t do a wc but yeah… he’s a vet in this because eh . i highkey forgot how to write so this is complete and utter ass but i hope it’s half decent,, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SEND ME REQUESTS PLEASE I’LL BEG ON MY KNEES PLE

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT !!!

-𐙚𓏲⋆ ִֶָ ๋𓂃 ⋆ᡣ𐭩

keisuke practically slams the door open, anger simmering underneath the surface of his not-so-stoic expression. he had an absolute clusterfuck of a day, and he really wanted nothing more than to melt into you completely; forget about the assholes he had the displeasure of encountering earlier and simply hold you like his own personal teddy bear. in lots of ways, you were.

he hurriedly locks the door and takes a brief moment to just… admire you. naturally, his expression softens at your presence, the sight of you laid up and sitting on the couch doing a bit to calm his boiling blood.

your eyes snap to the sounds at the door, and you brighten at the sight of your husband. although you can tell he’s not in a good mood, you know he’s not going to take it out on you — not violently or verbally, atleast — and you’re aware that he just needs you right now.

“sweetheart,” you murmur as he practically turns into a dreary puddle and stumbles over to you. he’d never get enough of the way your voice sounds, especially when you call out so lovingly to him.

“doll…” he groans, falling into your open arms and suddenly hoisting you up by the hips and outer thigh to pull you into a position where he could comfortably rest on you.

“bad day?”

“tch. understatement of the goddamn century,” he rasps, deep voice muffled by your chest as he lays atop you and in between your legs. “these goddamn owners don’t know what the hell they’re doing.”

you hum inquisitively, fingers reaching up to gently stroke his dark locks. he sighs, burrowing further into your warm embrace and taking it as a sign to elaborate.

“some goddamn moron decided to feed their dog chocolate cake and wondered why it fell sick,” he deadpans, irritation already finding its way back to him — until the sensation of you surrounds him once more. “next, an ‘outdoor cat owner’ complained to me ‘cause their cat contracted some diseases. swear to god, there should be some legal form to sign for anyone who decides to adopt these animals. i’m so fuckin’ tired of this bullshit, couldn’t wait to get home to ya.”

an understanding noise comes from your throat. he nuzzles your chest, gratitude bubbling inside his own. there would never be enough words to express how much he loved you, how much you mattered to him — but you, being the damn angel you were, already knew.

“all of it’s pissing me off. woulda socked those motherfuckers in the face but i got the sweetest wife in the world to come to, so…”

you laugh softly, heat rising to your cheeks just like it did when he’d compliment you all those years ago. the sound of your seraphic giggles ebb away at the dread in him, fondness stirring in his russet hues.

“oi. it ain’t damn funny,” he playfully calls out, wanting to hear more of your laughter.

“sorry, sorry, i— ahah— you’re too… good to me. i love you.” your tone flows over with tenderness, making his heart skip a beat for a moment.

“i love you,” he sincerely remarks, kissing the closest part of you he could reach. “more than you realise.”

a loving smile is exchanged between you two, and your digits gently begin to massage his scalp. he gasps, the affectionate nature in your fingertips setting off a blaze in him. a groan of pleasure tears from him him, his body leaning into your touch. it came to you reflexively, like an instinct. you knew exactly how to push his buttons; where to touch, where to bite, where to kiss — there was much more, but it’d take a good few hours to complete that list.

either way, you loved drawing those pleased noises from him, loved hearing his rich and normally flat voice change into something full of affection and weakness for you, and only you.

“goddamn…” he breathes, “shoulders too. please.”

you oblige, hands beginning to work out the tension in his broad shoulders and chiseled shoulderblades.

“fuck. your hands are so damn soft,” he comments, euphoria shooting throughout him at each touch. his eyes then find yours, gazes locking in a shared time of adoration. “you’re… so soft.”

feeling a slight pull in the air, it’s as if the atmosphere itself leads both of your mouths to connect in a short time between two lovers.

however, the kiss deepens, things happen, and before you know it, your hands are desperately pawing at each other. his tongue pushes into your mouth, over and over, and he pulls away every time with spit bridging the tips of your tongues.

he grunts as he shifts, “wait.”

as he kneels, he swiftly strips himself of his shirt. your gaze quickly zeroes in on his muscular physique, scarred and toned body. his half-lidded eyes darken. without your consciousness, your hand reaches out and your fingertips trace a few of his scars. you could count each and every single one, with a blindfold and without.

his breath still falters when you touch him like that. so gently, so reverently — as if he’s some fragile thing that needs to be treated delicately. he didn’t think of himself as so, but it seemed like you did. not that he’d ever disliked it, it was just… unusual. until you came into his life, that is.

inevitably, your irises drift to that patch of curly, dark hair trailing from his stomach, down his v-line and to his crotch. you swallow, trying not to dwell on that topic in fear of turning this intimate moment into something more physical.

it was the easiest thing in the world for keisuke to notice your behaviour, though, and that the way your thighs just clenched.

“c’mere,” he gruffly mumbles, snatching you by your thighs and placing you on his lap before you could react. a smirk pulls at his dry lips. “attagirl. quiet ‘n let me rest on you, yeah?”

flustered at the praise, you nod. his face comes close to your neck, and your breath hitches as he inhales your scent like you’re a drug. he plants a few kisses across the sensitive skin, before his canines sink in and his teeth leave a mark. at the little squeak you let out, his tongue soothes over the bite, and he starts getting bolder.

large hands sneak underneath your shirt, palming one of your breasts without shame. the smirk on his mouth widens just a smidge, an almost sinister gleam in his sharp caramel eyes.

“hmph. bet you’re gettin’ wet too,” he murmurs, wanton voice dropping to a whisper. his other palm drifts to your ass, giving it a ‘smack’, before he proposes something that sends your stomach pooling with butterflies. “why don’t we check?”

in the blink of an eye, his hand is in your panties, already finding your dampness. a bark of laughter erupts from him, he’s almost tempted to coo at your adorable noises of embarrassment.

“keisuke!” you cry out, and he grins, baring those sharp teeth he’d never get tired of marking you up with.

“mm? screaming my name already, huh? we haven’t even begun yet,” he drawls, tone carrying a promise and a threat. “i’ll do a favor for ya and take these off,” he whispers, ripping your panties apart with one hand and shoving you onto your back. he immediately stares at your pussy, muttering, “there’s my girl.”

he brings your legs over the expanse of his wide shoulders, face inching closer between your aching thighs. holding you has always felt so right; the sensation of your softness in his greedy palms.

looking up at you with a blazing hunger, his breath fans over your clit. “keep your hands in my hair. i’m still damn frustrated, so i’m gonna eat this pussy ‘til i’m satisfied. you got that, angel?”

you suck in a breath. “mhm.”

“good girl.”

this was going to be a long night.

[saberamane]

I'd like to add that most places in America have raised the minimum wage to around $15. It's not the federal minimum wage, but it's what is being offered generally.

But in relation to that, everything we buy has also been raised to hell. From food to gas for your car to the bills for your house/apartment, everything is way up and will likely not go down.

I have 4 pets. 2 cats and 2 70+ pound dogs. I easily spend $150+ each month on their food and litter. That doesn't account for vet bills, treats, toys or other enrichment items. Thats for the bare necessitites.

For myself and 2 other adults to feed and such, that's another $300+ easily for food, drinks, snacks, toiletries etc. That doesn't account for medical bills, upkeep for the cars, repairs for the house, or the bills for water/sewer/electricity/garbage disposal etc.

And my town also has something called a 'residency tax'. Because I live in the town and have a job, I pay extra taxes each year. Even though I don't have kids, I have to pay a school tax to fund the schools in the town. Even tough I don't use the towns recycling center (I go somewhere else) I have to pay a recycling tax.

I bring home around $580 a week from my (shitty, stressful, bullshit) job. After paying all my bills, buying food, putting money into savings, and making sure my pets needs are covered, I'm lucky to have $100.

I don't smoke or drink alcohol or gamble, so it's not like I have 'bad habits' that could save me money. All these corporations make billions in less than week, and most Americans are just scraping by.

Things need to be changed.

[myastrouniverse]

September/2024🌚♎️Anyone know their right from their left, anymore?

🌚🔺 ♅︎ We have two futures ahead:

One future, is an uninhabitable planet, with a few disgusting bio-parasite billionaires and their bio-parasite slave whores, living like demons ON A HELL THEY CREATED.

OR

The other future, MUST focus on changing technology to WORK WITH NATURE rather than against it. SACRED GEOMETRY is ONE KEY, to understanding how to HARNESS the ENERGIES of the EARTH. A planet that WORKS in harmony with its OWN NATURAL RESOURCES, will lead to an abundant, peaceful society.

♂️ Λ ♇︎ If you believe you have the power to control nature and move forces with your EGO, you are a demon. If you are in ALIGNMENT with TRUE WILL, meaning: BALANCED within yourself; you may be a FORCE of GOODNESS, because you have GOODWILL TOWARDS ALL.

♆︎🔺🎸 My dog had more radioactive flakes in her face. It was coming out her hair. It was in her water bowl. I washed her yesterday and today. She is better but she needs iodized salt and to sit in the grass more. Her nails are too long and she probably had debris on her feet that got in her poor face. She looks like one eye went blind. I can’t afford to take her to the vet right now, but then again ALL doctors are incompetent assholes right now.

♀️▪️🌽 My mother left the house around 11am this morning. It looked like she was still wearing her pajamas. I have no idea. My mother normally NEVER leaves the house without her make-up, hair done, and a complete matching outfit and purse. NEVER. She was freaking out the moment she came home the night before. She couldn’t have a conversation. She was TRYING to cause fights. Meanwhile, my dog’s eye is fucking melting the fuck out and she keeps disappearing. I couldn’t sleep. I am so tired of being stressed, sick and fucked with. I want everything to start getting BETTER, because I DESERVE better than THIS BULLSHIT. EVERYONE DESERVES BETTER.

Stevie Wonder - Can we fix our Nation’s broken heart

[goat-yells-at-everything]

Hi, so this is kind of a random ask, one that may start discourse (so honestly please feel free to ignore it if it makes you uncomfortable to answer), but since you’re kinda one of the blogs I interact with that seems to understand animal rescue/rehab ethics: How do you feel about certain rescues that rescue pregnant strays and abort their litters? I just discovered a rescue that does this a while back and honestly I have some MASSIVE emotions on it, so I’ve wanted to ask others (1)

I'm so so sorry this took so long for me to answer. Went back and forth with the pain issues for a while there but doin better now. <3

I get it. Cats are overpopulated in shelters and, honestly, too many places seem to ignore ferals that have too many behavioral/social issues. Shelters are almost too happy to put down a fear aggressive dog immediately without much evaluation or consideration that its a short term reaction but cats are rarely put down for behavioral issues, generally only when a kill shelter is overpopulated by cats do they do hard culls. Shelters would rather a cat become a barn cat (which isn't any better than being feral in many ways) than cull for behavior.

I'm not saying that cats should be put down so easily and I get not all shelters have access to well trained animal behaviorists so not everyone can tell if an animal is going to get better when in a loving home or not. And, to be fair, if cats were culled anywhere near the rate dogs are I wouldn't have my baby boi demon spawn Sparta so thats kinda hypocritical of me in a way. lol

ANYWAY

Back to the point.

So ya. I get the idea that shelters are overpopulated by cats.

But to abort kittens that will almost certainly make perfectly fine house pets is horrifying. I mean, if there are medical issues or if mom is so feral that she cant be safely handled by vet personnel thats one thing. But healthy animals shouldn't just be terminated because they take resources. Newborn kittens rarely ever have behavior issues like their feral parents do. Cats are domestic animals at a genetic level. "Feral" is a learned state, not a natural one for them.

Culling for behavior seems awful to a point, too, but stress can slowly kill an animal. An animal in a constant state of fear and stress isn't living a life worth living. They cant understand why they are scared and stressed and they cant understand that people are trying to help them. Rather than encouraging farmers to adopt these terrified animals and toss them out in a barn where they'll continue to live a fearful life but now without their colony, its far more humane to let them go in a calm controlled setting.

So I'd rather shelters abandon this bullshit barn cat kick in favor of humane euthanasia for extremely feral cats. And I'd especially prefer it over aborting perfectly healthy kittens that wont likely have the issues their parents do.

If over population is that bad, I'd prefer cats that have a better chance at a happy healthy life get those resources than ones that will stress themselves to death alone in a barn after a year or so.

[finding-the-honey]

And then there are the days when everything is bad, everything is flaring, and you're about out of weed and the therapist has to cancel and you're so sad and angry and in enough pain that you just want ...

Well. No. I mean yes, but no, I do not want to kill myself today. I'm miserable enough that the idea is attractive, but in the end I'm not that desperate yet. I'm willing to keep trying. That's enough. Hopefully.

It's not just the myositis, or the IBS. It's grief for my mom and anger for that asshole who won't pay his fucking child support. It's worry and stress because the choice was pay the utilities or take the dog to the vet and guess which one I had to pick? Pup is on his own to deal with the problems because he'd be feeling a fuck of a lot worse with no ac.

It's being completely alone. No help taking care of the house or the boy or the dog or even myself. I need to get something to drink so I can take my meds and stfg I don't know that I can make my arms work well enough to pour something, or lift it to my mouth to drink.

Sometimes recovery turns out to be a fucking lie. Sometimes you can't help but believe there never will be such a thing, not for you at least.

So much anger I just don't know how to process it. So much pain I don't know how to breathe through it.

I didn't even get two months. That's some grade a bullshit right there.

Ok. Do I feel better now?

Ha. Fuck no. But I still need to get up and get a drink. I need to find a way to survive this fucking piece of shit day.

[strangecowplant]

UPDATE 08/15

Now that I finally feel like I have a little time to sit down and write a bit I just wanted to explain a little more since my last update wasn't that detailed, I'm still super tired and really struggling with my mental health right now hence why I haven't gotten back to everyone yet but I need to get this out and I owe every one of you amazing people that have saved Teddy a proper update and run down of expenses

First up, Teddy is getting better with some days being harder than others, he had a little bit of constipation i assume from a mix of the food change, antibiotics and lorazepam plus the horrible weather we had and getting off the stress of constantly being at the vets but thankfully it cleared up in less than 2 days. I add a ton of water to his food 4 times a day to keep him hydrated so that certainly helped. He's still not 100% himself yet though; he doesn't come when called like he used to and isnt as talkative and sometimes seems a little more reserved but its getting better by the day so hopefully he can get back to being as happy as he was before. I'm doing everything I can to make him feel back to normal and its slowly working, every day his eyes are getting brighter and just today he had a conversation with me about breakfast! He's leaking sometimes which could take weeks to heal but honestly I'm just glad he's able to pee (he is peeing normally otherwise! he just has an old man bladder right now, after three catheters i can see why. it just simply means more laundry and floor cleaning which is fine) they're slowly getting less frequent as he builds control again

I didn't mention what happened after his last procedure so I'll try to quickly zip through that: we brought him home with the catheter in, it was a hell of a night but absolutely needed, he would not have survived if he was left there the entire night again with no supervision no assurance he was drinking or getting his medication, nothing. I didn't sleep, kept him calm and laying down in the crate, kept him drinking and everything. we brought him back there in the morning (they charged us again for this, even though we had paid the full hospitalization fee already and wouldn't have had to pay an extra time if we left him overnight, anything to get money right) so they could monitor him before the cath would get taken out later in the day. i had to be the one to tell them how to do everything which is still just so fucking nuts to me but whatever. went back later in the day (we dropped him off at 8-9am, went there at 3:30pm so he could have the full 24+ hours of catheter time) and as we were waiting we heard one of the staff blatantly lie to another customer which blew our minds; she was suffering with her cats getting fleas even when using prevention and asked if it could be because of the rodent infestation she was dealing with bringing fleas into the home making the prevention useless, the staff member without missing a beat said QUOTE 'rats and mice don't get fleas.' and tried to upsell her a different more expensive prevention medication made for DOGS. i was literally so shocked i couldnt speak but i panicked and went out the door as she left to at least tell the lady that dog flea treatment is toxic to cats, i was too flustered to even mention the rodent thing but i could tell she knew that already and seemed to know what she was told was bullshit. im still so fucking floored by this. after that as we waited in the exam room, i finally decided to look up the owner/vets name and found a pretty disturbing assault case from 2015 where he also lied to the police and court that made me feel like we really weren't crazy here, this man is a liar and violent and i just really wish i can somehow take his license away, nobody like that should be handling animals. anyway back to teddy, he got his cath removed and only after that and being brought back to see him was told he didn't eat or drink anything the whole day, i was never called and told this even though they had all day to. this is just a normal thing for them apparently, they just don't care to inform me about anything so i told them they should have called me and to get him hydrated right now. (not to mention they kept trying to feed him chunky gravy food for gastro health not urinary even though i told them he prefers pate and he should be eating urinary food??!??!?!?) he got a shot and we went home. after getting home i also found out that they weren't giving him his antibiotics correctly, he needed 1.5 tablets but the number was off and he was only given 1 by them (this is on top of them forgetting to give me back his bag of medication TWICE) everything they could've done wrong, they did. they told me to keep the cone on for two days to let his sutures heal (they never told me this the first two times mind you which i find weird?) so i did but two days seemed so short so i kept it on periodically for a few days after that when i wasn't around him, its off now and the only time he goes after the spot is for a very quick normal clean around the area, im constantly monitoring him and checking the area though

I got a call from them 4 days later (on wednesday bc they took an extra long weekend) asking about him and I told them that I will have a talk with the owner and figure out how I want to proceed when I'm able to take my focus off Teddys recovery a bit, I didn't want to relay to the vet/owner through the secretary because thats not right and also their communication is abysmal, but i did say some things about the complete lack of communication and negligence experienced and that Teddys recovery was completely halted and his life put in danger because of them shoving a full dose anxiety pill with a plethora of renal side effects into him he didn't need without my consent. It's been a week since that, I don't know when I'll have my head in order to talk to this vet, or if I want to see if I can talk to a lawyer first or what because this isn't something I'm used to at all, but right now my focus is still on Teddy

The cost in total ended up being $1,778.95 for the procedures alone and a couple cans of food, which was incredibly paid for by everyone of you amazing amazing people, you ended up raising $1,830.54 to save Teddy by the third procedure, of which that extra $51.59 went towards some more food for him. I've said this so many times now but this would not have been able to happen without all of you incredibly kind and generous people, Teddy is here with me right now curled up because of you all and I could never ever thank you enough for this. Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart, from my moms, from teddys and the rest of my animals, thank you so much. We may not be out of the woods but I'm staying positive, he's here now and not in pain and healing which is what matters most ❤️

here he is this morning loafing on my nightstand for the first time since this started ❤️

I'll need to update his gfm page a bit to add on what I've written here but for now this post and its update reblogs are completely up to date with what all has happened as of aug 15!

edit: i did forget to add on something i want to mention just for documents sake but after bringing him home after his last procedure he was extremely uncharacteristically jumpy and seemed afraid of the water bowls around the house which isn't like him at all, i drummed it down to anaesthesia weirdness but he hasn't drank out of any water bowl or taps since coming back when he used to be such a good drinker, the jumpiness stopped but he only eyes the bowls and walks past. i am giving him a ton of water in his food which could make him not feel the need to drink but i still just want to document it.

another thing im not happy about is the fact he's now flinching from hands sometimes, especially with a cone on, which he's NEVER done, he's never known fear in his life so this is heartbreaking to see him squeeze his eyes and recoil or completely tense up and freeze if the cones on (i calm him and he goes back to normal) i don't want to think the worst of someone, but i don't trust this vet at all and with some reviews I've seen of animals coming home with bruises I'm just heartbroken for Teddy. I'm working through it with him and so far he hasn't flinched in a few days

please help me pay my kitties emergency vet bill!

ive never done this before but one of my cats just had to get an extremely sudden emergency procedure and i don't know what to do, my vet and i have reached out to a couple incredible programs here to help with the bill but one is less than half and the other hasn't replied back yet, i've already declined the blood work (CA$356) to lower the bill at the risk of possible underlying liver and kidney issues not being found but its still a monumental amount for us right now. i just feel so helpless

we had enough to pay the minimum deposit to get the procedure started in time thankfully, but we were already scraping by as it is and now we're in desperate need of funds to eat/pay rent/pay off any remainder of the bill. i am disabled without aid and have been unable to work/haven't worked since 2015 but am on track to hopefully start working pt this fall. i live with my mom who has 3-4 jobs including one seasonal job which needless to say is stressful and wearing her down. we unfortunately are stuck in the most expensive place to live in canada with the inability to save up to flee so the cycle is never ending.

this is Teddy, my typically very silly vocal happy boy who's not quite 2 yet, my comfort king, my little muffin who acts like a weighted blanket for me at night and eases my anxiety, his favourite toy is his pink unicorn poof, he loves car rides and he can shake paw!

he got a sudden urinary blockage last night with no straight answer as to why and progressively got worse as the night went on, i didnt sleep at all, i was panicking and bawling, naturally, and raced to the vet to get in as soon as the door opened. i assumed it was a uti which wouldn't have been as costly, but it turned out to be much more severe and life threatening. i never expected my usually extremely healthy boy to suddenly be at risk of that and im still trying to just process whats been happening

he needed to be sedated and given a catheter and some medication, the total bill came to CA$985.62, of which we were barely able to pay 500 of, and one program was able to donate 300 leaving a total of CA$185.62 for the bill. this, of course, leaves us scrambling for food and rent as well

i know there are a lot of fundraisers out there needing donations right now, and i really hate letting myself be so open and raw like this but even a dollar would help tremendously and i would be forever grateful for any help whatsoever, even a rb to signal boost is greatly appreciated <3

TLDR; my cat had a sudden life threatening issue and now we can't pay the full vet bill or pay for food/rent

Paypal

[jojea]

god sure looked at me today and went “it’s YOUR turn to die bitch”

[ask-a-vetblr]

What are some things you as vets wish people would do or know when they first get a puppy?

vet-and-wild here.

1. If someone tries to sell a puppy to you that’s younger than 8 weeks, run. Puppies need to stay with their mothers until 8 weeks and no reputable breeder would separate them early.

2. Letting your new puppy meet your new dog and your kids is not sufficient socialization. I would love if all puppies went to a puppy kindergarten class. It’s so beneficial not only for socialization, but also behavior troubleshooting.

3. Crate training is your friend. Housetraining will be so much easier if you take the time to introduce your puppy to the crate gradually and positively.

4. Dominance theory is bullshit and using aversive tools like prong collars, choke chains, shock collars, etc can have serious side effects. We now have multiple scientific studies showing that not only is positive reinforcement more effective, but there are significant behavior concerns and relationship problems that can occur with using aversives.

5. Please please please take the time to desensitize your pup to medical handling and grooming. ESPECIALLY NAIL TRIMMING. Practice making it a positive experience at 8 weeks old instead of when that German shepherd puppy is 80lbs and terrified of life. Same with touching their ears and paws, lifting their lips, gently pinching skin (simulating injections), lifting up their tail. Honestly when we’re not in a pandemic it would be awesome if people could just plan a day to bring their pup in and have them pet and introduced to the staff/facility so their first vet experience is positive and does not involve getting shots.

6. Muzzle train your dog. Even the sweetest dog can snap when they’re sick/injured/scared. I wish every dog was muzzle trained. It would be so much easier to deal with nervous biters if their owners could positively introduce the muzzle and put it on before they get into the clinic. There are some dogs that we legit can’t even get a muzzle on because they know how to swing their head just right. That’s not only dangerous for everyone but so stressful for the dog.

7. Please teach your puppy to walk on a leash. Even the tiny teacup dogs. It’s ridiculous when we have a 12 week old puppy that still hasn’t had any introduction to the leash and is just flopping around or shutting down because they’ve never been walked for some weird reason (usually “oh we have a big yard!”)

8. Vaccinate. Your. Puppies.

9. Puppies are expensive. If you say “ugh I paid $2000 for him so I can’t afford to do all his vaccines” just know that you are giving your veterinarian a headache. Please remember that the purchase is only the beginning. Puppies are super expensive. The first year of a dog’s life is full of expenses that are both planned and unplanned.

10. Do your research not only about your breed, but your source. We can tell when backyard bred puppies come in and they are almost always less healthy and less behaviorally sound than puppies from a reputable breeder or shelter. We would much rather you talk to us before getting a puppy to ask questions than wait and realize you’ve been duped.

[vegance]

Yes animals are sentient, but most arent sapient. They have no sense of the future or the idea of self. That’s why we euthanize them when qol drops. They wont be able to just enjoy the time left with family, they will simply be in pain and confused.

Humans are naturally omnivores, which means that yes, we do need meat. Supplements may make a vegan diet plausible nowadays but our species evolved to eat meat, and anything else we could. Some of our closest companions also need meat. While dogs could theoretically survive on a vegan diet, cats can not. And vets still don’t recommend vegan diets for dogs unless the dog has a lot of protein allergies.

With animal ag, or at least beef, milk, and locally farmed chicken. I can be confident that the animals lived a relatively stress free life before slaughter. I dont eat meat because of taste, I eat meat because it’s the most bioavailable source of many important nutrients and because too many plants makes my guts, very unhappy.

Without animal ag, we wouldn’t be able to feed our pets properly balanced nutrition or have prescription foods for them.

I have no problem with you or anyone else being vegan or vegetarian. But animal ag, especially dairy (a necessary ingredient for baby formula and all other milk replacements for orphaned animals) is just far too important for keeping people alive and healthy.

It can certainly be hard to find unbiased information. But personally, I’m pretty confident from the sources I’ve looked at that animal ag, is not at all having the same impact as the transportation industry.

I’ll also end this with something important for any side of any disagreements.

Documentaries arent required to be true, scientific studies can be bullshit (see, milk causing autism).

Always try to be aware of who funds and runs a study and any biases they may have. Cross reference multiple sources and make sure those sources arent just all referencing each other or the same thing. There’s a lot of misinformation out there nowadays and it’s just getting harder and harder to find facts. Also dont use Google for research because then the first results are just whoever has the most money.

what does being sapient have to do with anything though? there are many human beings (i.e babies) who din't have a sense of future either. doesn't make it ok to hurt them? vegans are not against euthanizing pets when they're too sick. vegans are against causing animals unecessary suffering and harm

humans are omnivores and so we can survive on many different diets. many dietetic and medical associations and institutions around the world agree that it is perfectly possible to be healthy on a vegan diet. what our ancestors did doesn't really matter. our ancestors did many things which we do not do anymore.

the locality of a farm has nothing to do with the welfare standards. every farm is local to someone. and how can you be sure that their lives were free of stress? cows get artificially inseminated, have their babies taken away every single year. you think they don't find that distressing? and even the happiest life on a farm does not change the fact that these animals are slaughtered at a fraction of their lifespan, and often suffer horribly then. many stunning methods are either unreliable or cause immense distress themselves. for example in 2013 the USDA estimated that ca 1 million chicken and turkey a year are drowned in boiling water while still alive (in the us). add to that the long transports that many of these animals go through before slaughter fish are even more difficult. many are not stunned at all and just left to suffocate. many stunning methods are inadequate and/or take at least several minutes to work, causing the animals to suffer. not to mention what working in a slaughterhouse does to humans.

there are vegan baby formulas out there.

"Documentaries arent required to be true, scientific studies can be bullshit (see, milk causing autism)." when have i ever cited a documentary??

all the other research stuff reads super condescending tbh. i'm currently getting a masters degree. i know how scientific research works. and i am not saying that i always have the best sources. this is literally a tumblr blog, not a peer reviewed paper in a scientific journal? but i do often provide multiple sources, or sources that are based on systematic reviews/meta analyses, or just information provided by large scientific bodies. anyway, my sources are definitely better than pretty much anything i see from the anti vegans on here (whose sources are usually just "trust me")

i wont argue that a fully vegan world is possible right this instance. but that's also not at all the point. a world with 100% renewable energies is also not going to happen within the next 10s, that does not mean it wont be possible in the future, and that it's no important to strive towards it. and we are no where near the situation where we would run into problems because....people are consuming too little animal products? it's just not at all relevant for deciding whether or not to go vegan right now.

i'm not asking dogs to go vegan. i'm not asking cats to go vegan. i am asking every person who is able to to go vegan. by which i mean, live a life that is as vegan as it is practible and possible

[manlybutterflys]

AND AGAIN!

Woman comes in almost in tears and describes some seriously wild ass sounding parasites (red ticks? Mites? I have no idea) and she wants pills, ointment, and collar all at once and I'm like ma'am please, have you spoken to a vet yet??? "We have an appointment tomorrow!" Then wait! WAIT to see the VET! They will probably prescribe something and they for sure will advize against overdosing your dog on the cheapest flea bullshit you can find. Just give her a gentle bath and wait until tomorrow. God, she still ended up getting a bunch of shit (soap and an ear mite treatment) but I put my foot down and told her she had to pick one flea treatment because I was not comfortable selling her more than one. And then I warned the other employees about it so they wouldn't either, poor woman is manic right now.

Working over here is so fucking stressful, Jesus fuck.

I fucking hate working the pet department at work. Real conversation I JUST had

Customer A: *looking through flea collars*

Me: I can tell you that Hartz brand has bad reviews (always desperate to get people to stop using Hartz)

C: Yeah I had bad reactions, my dog got hot spots

Me: yeah that's a problem that can happen with the cheap brands because of the chemicals they use. I do know Nextstar, Advantage and Frontline have really good reviews. I use Frontline for all my pets but these (cheaper brands) work-

C: NO! No drops! I used (Hartz) and it burned his skin! Never drops.

Me: well, yes Hartz will do that but thi-

C: I've used everything, nothing works! I've used (Hartz) drops and (Adams) pills, this is the third thing I've tried! *grabs an Adams collar* Never drops! They're horrible for animals!

Me: *dying inside knowing these poor dogs are going to suffer and their owner is an idiot*

[13uswntimagines]

I Should Sleep With You More Often (Sam x Reader)

Sequel to Works Like a Charm  where Sam and Reader finally get together. It’s a very fluffy piece, with a little bit of late night breakfast making and a surprise kiss. 

special thanks to @literaryhedgehog​ cause this wouldn’t have happened without her. 

Hello?”

“Hey, I can’t sleep.” Sam’s voice comes over the phone, getting straight to the point with frustration.

“And you’re calling me about it? At 3 am. I could have been asleep you know.” You huff into the phone, pinning it between your chin and your shoulder. 

“Were you?” She asks, and you can almost see her eyebrow quirking up. 

You look down at the frying pan where you were about to pour your egg-cheese scramble. “No. But still.”

“Don’t worry, I appreciate the irony of the situation,” she says, with an attempt at humor. “can I come over?”

“Sure. You can split my omelet.” You hum, your tongue poking out as you make sure the entire omelet landed on the plate instead of the floor. 

“Omelette?” Sam asked, sounding amused. “I thought you weren’t supposed to --” 

“Eat anything after 9 pm I know, I know. But I woke up and was hungry, and couldn’t just ignore it to fall back asleep for two hours. I had to eat something or I was going to get nauseous.” You interrupted her, waving your hand dismissively. 

“What?” Sam asked entirely confused. 

“You know that feeling, where you’re like, so hungry that you get kind of nauseous?” You tried to explain again. 

“No…” She trailed off. 

“Oh, well it’s the worst. I like to try to eat something before it gets too bad because otherwise, the food won’t do anything. Anyway, I made enough you can have half of it, just let me know when you get here so I can send down the elevator for you.” You said, whipping your hands off and walking towards the door. 

“I’m actually just parking,” Sam’s voice came sheepishly over the phone. In the background, you heard the unmistakable sound of her car being locked. She always insisted on clicking the lock button twice so it would beep, like she didn’t trust it to lock the first time. 

You shook your head and left your apartment to buzz her into the building. “You’re telling me that at 3 am, before even checking to see if I was awake, you just decided to come to my apartment because you couldn’t sleep?”

“Yes?” 

“You’re insane,” you said, hanging up the phone as the elevator door opened to reveal her tall frame. 

She ruffled the hair at the back of her neck, grinning. “I knew you would be awake?”

“Bullshit.” You led the way back to your apartment and grabbed two plates from the cabinet. “You want soy milk?”

“What?” 

“Soy milk. I’ve got vanilla or dark chocolate.” For some reason, soy milk helped reduce the insomnia nausea more than anything else most days. Still, the omelet smelled amazing. 

“Um sure, vanilla please.” She shrugged, and you rolled your eyes. Vanilla was for the weak. 

You pulled out both cartons and two glasses, before cutting the omelet in half and handing her a fork. 

“Don’t I get my own plate?” Sam whined, cutting off a piece of the Omelet and popping it into her mouth. 

“People who come barging into my apartment at 3 AM have to share with the host. Unless you wanna do dishes?” You raised your eyebrow at her, pointing your fork in her direction, smirking when she emphatically shook her head no. 

She quickly changed the subject, avoiding your eyes as she ate. “So how are you liking your apartment, it’s new right?”

“Yeah, I moved in four months ago, you know when I suddenly got traded to North Carolina,” you said, a very bitter edge in your voice. How Mark could let you leave the thorns you would never know, but at least Hinkle was retiring. 

You took another bite “So why couldn’t you sleep? At camp, you’re usually snoring like a freight train by now.” 

Sam paused mid-bite, fork in the air. She looked like she was debating how to answer then, stuffed her last piece of omelet in her mouth. “I donb snowe.”

“You totally do. Rose even sent me the video evidence if you wanna see it,” you smirked, standing to go get your phone. 

“No!” Sam jumped up and you sprinted across the kitchen to get out of her reach, grinning. “You really don’t have to do that, it’s not a big deal.”

“Oh, but I really don’t mind,” you taunted, starting for your phone before Sam tackled you. Well, it wasn’t a tackle so much as a grab, but she had a good foot and a half on you, so same difference really. 

“Put me down. This is highly unnecessary,” you sputtered, laughing from Sam’s shoulder. “I’m not supposed to exercise within an hour of bed. My therapist would be unhappy with so much activity.”

“Yeah cause eating an Omelette at 3 am is totally something she would approve,” Sam rolled her eyes, as she tossed you onto your couch.

“Lies and slander. I won’t get the alleged snoring video, but seriously. Why are you here?”

Sam sighs, and slouches onto the couch next to you, dropping her head into your lap. You smile down at her, liking this new angle. While you certainly didn’t mind being the baby of the team, it was kind of nice to do the petting for once.

“I don’t know,” Sam said, furrowing her eyebrows.

“You were never a good liar. It’s why everyone catches you when you try to pull pranks. I hear it helps if you talk about it,” You murmured, using your thumb to smooth out the crease that formed between her eyes. 

“Fine, I couldn’t sleep because I kept having nightmares. It felt like, I was tossing and turning for hours, and then every time I dozed off, my brain came up with these fucked up images. Like, silence of the lambs shit. I could sell some horror film director the plotlines and make bank, I’m telling you. And since Rose and Wilma moved out, my place has felt so empty. It felt like, the panic attacks I used to have before games. When I had to always bring a bag with me to hyperventilate into before I could get my mind on the game.”

You frowned. “I don’t remember that.”

“Once you became my bus buddy I didn’t have that problem. You got me out of my own head with fun word games and stupid jokes. Remember that time you gave me the sentence ‘The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog?’ You kept grinning telling me to stop stressing out, it would be alright, to just guess a letter.” 

“Because whatever you guessed would be right.” You hum smiling down at her. 

 “You couldn’t take that shit-eating grin off your face, you jerk, but like, it helped me stop second-guessing myself. Sitting on the bus with you, I’ve never felt more calm going into a season. And so I just thought. It’s dumb but I hoped coming here would help.” She shrugged. 

“It’s not dumb Sammy. You help me sleep too. Why do you think all the vets insist I sit with you?” You said softly, leaning down to kiss her forehead. 

“Because you used to fall asleep literally everywhere and they hoped I could get across the aisle and catch you before you hit your head?” She giggled and you snapped her shoulder lightly. 

“Wow. Thanks.” You said in a monotone, “Or maybe it’s ‘cause you’re my favorite teddy bear.”

“If anyone is the teddy it’s you. You’re like half my size,” She giggled. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” you muttered, playfully pushing her head off your lap. “Come on you giant.”

“Where are you going?” She asked, allowing you to pull her to her feet. 

“To go grab you a toothbrush and a fresh pillowcase for the bed.” You said, your tugging getting a little more insistent. You really wanted to get to sleep tonight. You had been so good lately (ignoring the random omelet you cooked tonight).

“Oh, um. I was hoping we could just watch television on your couch and I would fall asleep,” Sam rambled, eyes wide. “I mean, not that I mind, but I didn’t want to like, invade on your--”

“Just come up to my room. It’s no big deal, it’s large enough for both of us, and I honestly don’t think that couch is even big enough to fit you. Besides, maybe it will help you sleep to be on a mattress actually purchased in this century.”

“Hey, I like my mattress!” She grumbled indignantly, crossing her arms. 

“You flip it twice a month because it keeps forming an indention where you’ve slept!” You said exasperated. That sleepover had been a terrible idea and you stood by that. At least your bed didn’t spit out feathers when you turned over too fast. 

“Well, I. um. No comment.” you hear her say as you go to take your turn in the bathroom. 

When Sam gets back from brushing her teeth you’ve done everything except turn out the lights. You look up from your side of the bed as she pauses in the doorway. 

“Is this… Welcome to Night Vale?”

“It helps me ignore my thoughts. Can you get the lights please?” 

You had to replay the podcast the next day after Sam left. You couldn’t remember anything after “Wednesday has been canceled due to a scheduling error” because within moments you were asleep.

*****

You thought that sleeping with Sam was only supposed to be a one-night thing, but it wasn’t. One night turned into two, which turned into the two of you usually crashing at each other's places. 

If you were being honest, it was the best sleep you had ever gotten. It was nice to have someone there to hold onto, to protect you from the bad dreams. The problem was that your feelings were edging past the line of friendship, and you had no idea what to do about it. 

It started with a team party you both went to, where Sam offered to be the designated driver. After she dropped everyone else off, you told her she might as well stay the night at your place since it was already so late and she did. And you both slept great. And then you had your usual Saturday spa night the next night, and you were several shots in and it wouldn’t have been responsible to drive home. And you both slept a solid seven hours. 

Not that Sam was a magical cure to your insomnia. You still had nights where your brain was like a train running off the rails, unstoppable no matter how hard you tried. Yet, having her there helped. She made sure blue lights went off when they were supposed to, and your late-night breakfast-making was kept to a minimum. AND after the first few nights, you realized that she was amusingly clingy in her sleep. Which meant that occasionally if you woke up and tried to get out of bed, she would sleepily grab you and hold you in place murmuring about whatever was happening in her dream. Since you couldn’t get up you had to just lay there, which normally might have been boring, but with her was amusing as you listened to her rambling state of consciousness. 

You sighed, staring up at the ceiling. You really needed to get your shit together and just ask her out. But what if she said no, and you lost your cuddle buddy? That would suck royally, and if you lost your bus seat it might completely curse the USWNT. 

“Alright, I can practically feel the steam coming out of your ears, spill,” Sam groaned, rolling over and throwing an arm around your waist. 

“Isn’t it weird?”

“What?”

“Time. Like someone decided that seconds were a thing and a certain number of seconds equaled a minute and there were a certain number of minutes in a day. Like someone just decided it was a thing, and everyone went along with it and now we all have to plan our lives around this arbitrary system. I wonder if that asshole realized that people would use it to put kids in detention and force them to cram so they could regurgitate facts in a specified amount of his made-up system. And like the Romans made a Calendar and the Mayans did one too…” Your rambling was cut off by Sams’s soft lips touching your own in a quick peck before she collapsed back into the pillow. “Just blame capitalism babe.”

You stared at her for a minute, shocked, before she bolted upright. “SHIT. Sorry, I just. I forgot to ask for consent. I just forgot--”

“I consent, yes, more of this please,” you said, leaning over to kiss her again. Your hands cupped her cheeks and her fingers tangled into the baby hairs at the back of your neck. 

After a few minutes, Sam broke off the kiss, both of you breathing heavily. “Um, wow. You know, I’m not sure this is helping you get to sleep, love.”

You smirk, biting your lip and straddling her hips before you lean in to kiss her again, slowly. “You’re the one who said you needed to sleep with me more often.”

[ellaintrigue]

We need to stop forcing women into caregiver roles.

Here we are in 2022 and people are still enraged by women making choices. I noticed a while ago that the Me Too Movement was labeled a trend for attention-seekers but as many a wise woman pointed out, it's a chain effect where women felt safe about coming out about their assaults. I didn't feel ready to come out about my own until I felt empowered by other stories, and even then, when I told one person I know, he yelled, "IT WAS YOUR FAULT" in my face (in person, no online bullshit or exaggeration here).

Now I see child-free women also being regarded as a trend. One guy I talked to said it was pathetic how I and his sisters were all career-oriented and didn't want kids. He said it was terrible how society was driving away our natural maternal instincts.

But I never followed any trend. I have just never wanted kids. Even as a small girl I hated baby dolls and wanted Barbies. Babies didn't interest me at all but I was raised to one day get married and have kids. By age 16 I had formed my sexual interests, career ideas, and future goals, and very few have changed since then.

I told my mom that the other day and she snapped that I shouldn't base my life on something I felt when I was 16. But this isn't a crush on some boy or favoring a certain type of music, this is a personal choice with my body and life. Someone else said I must just not want to ruin my body with pregnancy. What on earth are you talking about? I'm already fat and have scars, the big scary aspect is to care for and be responsible for another human the rest of my life! I've simply never wanted that.

Then when I express all of this people become enraged with me and say I'm a bitter child-hater. I never even think about kids and I don't care if other people have kids. Never have. I don't feel anything one way or another. Now, I worked with children for 5 years at a retail store geared towards them and I definitely didn't like dealing with them but it wasn't hatred.

I could mention that as of a few years ago I can't even have kids but that seems to subtract from my argument that my choices are valid. Just like how men argue you have no right to reject them unless you have a boyfriend. Then they (usually) respectfully leave you alone. Oh, how I wish I could just exist and be respected without my uterus being a topic of debate by strangers. People question why women don't have kids but they don't ever nag men about it. Perhaps if men were constantly confronted by people asking where their kids were or when they were having kids they would be more respectful of women. One guy said, "you're just a hole with a pair of tits" when I defied him.

Another thing people don't realize is that I have already been responsible for other people and their pets, and I'm really burnt out. Starting at age 17 I was responsible for storekeeping and pleasing bosses and that continued for 11 years, even as my health started to worsen. In 2013 I met my former domestic partner who was a hot mess between his mental illness, addiction, and general chaos. My tasks ranged from propping him up while he was passed out drunk to make sure he didn't choke to death to taking him to dozens of therapist appointments and waiting patiently. He kept bringing home cats and dogs and I was the sole carer of them. he never once scooped a litter box and he only cleaned up dog shit off the floor once because poop in general grossed him out.

By the time that ended I was left with 5 cats and my horse that I had already had. With him it was 7 cats and 1 dog. Then coyotes came to the neighborhood, mauling 2 of my cats so they all had to be indoors. Giving meds, cleaning litter boxes, feeding schedules, the cost and general messes became even more stressful. Now I have 4 cats and decided in 2018 I no longer wanted more pets. My remaining ones will be loved and vetted until the end but then I don't want to deal with the bullshit anymore.

In 2019 my grandmother's health worsened. I had been looking in on her since my parents moved in 2013 but even small visits started to overwhelm me. Take out her trash, go to the store, buy her hearing aid batteries, unclog her toilet, take her to the doctor. This wasn't a constant thing, like twice a week but between that and working 12 hour shifts it put a toll on me. When she passed her neighbor loudly implied I never did anything for the old woman and that hurt.

Some days I feel so weak and sick I can barely take care of myself, I just feel so done with taking care of other beings. Now my mom is dying and I will do whatever she needs. And I will always be there for my dad who is also nearing 70. But that's it, no more cats (maybe just 1 in the future), no more dogs, no more horses, and no kids.

I am not a hater of children nor a child-free radical, I am just a woman who wants her peace and freedom back.

[twobigears]

Finally back in town after some time out and attempting to catch up on real life (ugh). Gone a few days earning money, then back for a day before leaving again on a camping trip while our landlords did some property maintenance.

Our sports vet managed to see Chandra a bit sooner last week, and determined that whatever was causing her limping was a) soft tissue, not joint b) primarily in her pectorals rather than her shoulder. Possibly caused by her landing on a jump bar since the limping started ~an hour after that. I also wonder if her tire crash a few weeks ago contributed. Chandra has continued to improve since our vet visit and we have a recheck later this week, which will hopefully be good news and Chandra can get back to her activities.

Blizzard has been on a hunger strike for some unknown reason, so that’s fun. I don’t know if it’s related to the stress of breaking our normal routines the past couple weeks. If I didn’t get a different enough food when I bought new bags, since she definitely gets tired of it by the time we’re finishing a bag. If it coincides with a certain point in her heat cycle. All of that. Or what. She does this every now and then but it’s kind of unusual for her to strike as long as she has this time. We had another dog like this previously and it’s not a fun problem to have. Dogs that like food are so much easier.

Job hunting still sucks.

Facebook sucks. A week away reminds me just how good it is to not spend much time there, how much better I feel, or at least I don’t feel as bad. How tiring it is to wade through the bullshit to find the actually important stuff. The usual complaints. My current plan is to limit myself to FB two days a week, then one day a week, and we’ll see from there. It still has its uses and I don’t want to give it up entirely (yet) but I think limiting my days will be more sustainable than daily time limits. For a while I was doing a “no social media” day once a week and that was good.

Resuming again the Great Purge and clearing shit out of our house. Attempting to do more regular cleaning that I neglect. Slowly making progress and it feels good.

It’s summer and it’s fucking hot.

[crazyweirdduh]

I am a certain way and it feels like no one understands. Including myself. I am so upset and stressed out not just because of school and bills. But because I keep coming home to a nasty, disorganized house. It is stressful, annoying and frustrating that the house is left a mess after I clean everything so all everyone has to do is clean up behind themselves or just do basics. But not trash gets over filled, fur everywhere, stains on floor, not putting stuff back, wrappers everywhere, dog water bowl bone dry/low/or with food or fur in the water. Toilet paper basket in restroom not refilled so basically they keep pulling out the rolls but not replacing them in the basket leaving me with no tissue because when the roll goes out and i reach in the basket there is none in there too i am mad... but i am mad for no reason is how the family treats me. I say don’t put drinks on the floor we tend to forget about what we put on floor nope no one listens - spills non stop. Washing doesn’t happen unless i make a big deal or point it out frustrating. literally will go commando because they have no underwear before they go wash!!! The thought hey I am getting low on clothing i need to wash tomorrow so I DONT run out of clean underwear doesn't come to MIND?!  I didn’t just loose my grandma or my longtime ride or die kitty Godzilla but it feels like yesterday. I talked to my grandma all the time and I have caught myself thinking man i need to call her.. smh and I got my cat at 13 years old. During that whole time i have gone through a lot of bullshit friends and guys. Bullshit drama with family too. Always had my friend Godzilla and life sometimes seem hard but she would always check on me. I am so mad about her death. I knew something was wrong with her but she then she looked alright. I was working so much getting money and keeping ourselves from drowning bills. D was in prison again and I was alone again. I had to make money and then I got caught up I didn't even notice how she didn't come out when I was giving cans to the kitties and then I was eating food I got after work and she didn't come out. I was looking for her and couldn't find her i looked under the bed. didn't see her but the boys did and saw maybe god didn’t want me to see her face - lifeless. I was so sad i fell to the floor I was broken hearted. I was so mad at myself. It has been hard to get over it. They said she died of old age. Idk I wish I took her to the vet if it was something I could prevent. 

My grandma died of cancer. We had no control of the situation. It was frustrating. She was getting better one minute and turned for the worse another day. She began to loose her mind and forget things then notice. It was horrible watching her decline. At the time I didn’t really have a faith so now that do have a faith. I get mad because I had the power to rebuke satan and didn’t even know it. I had the power to fight for my grandma and I didn’t know. I could rely on granny to tell my mom stuff and get her to stop being a lazy butthead. I wish I did more with granny. I did a lot out of all the grandkids. But still wasn’t enough. she was just in her 50s.... sigh  Sometimes I miss my granny and my kitty Godzilla so much I can’t breath. I got through the worst times of my life because of them. 

[mbelyakova]

abusive father covid exposure dna conspiracy bullshit ptsd broken computer keyboard taxes sick sugar glider bad communication from vet unanswered emails glasses derealization clean house migraines taxes vaccine sabotage florida genocidal governor suppression corruption mass death taxes medical history list making executive dysfunction caffeine crash heart racing missing form taxes bad digestion stomachache stress fear for family health yelling dog barking insurance kafka bureaucracy fascism ta

[anexplanationofunfortunateevents]

supreme dysfunction

A lot of the politics around the Supreme Court has a kind of soft-focus, sepia-toned Before Times deceptiveness about it. The obfuscation is as thick and persistent as it is because the situation is extremely simple. Several decades ago, Republicans realized they could not win fair and square, so they put a lot of institutional focus and an obscene amount of money into rigging the courts. Cheating is the secret sauce. I realize that’s not a satisfying explanation for years of political dysfunction, but it is what it is.

And yet here we are, six weeks from Election Day, facing the prospect of a Trump-brand replacement for the irreplaceable Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

What you need to do is keep your head for the next few weeks. If that means putting this out of your mind as soon as possible, fine. All you need to know is that anyone this criminal would nominate to the court will be a disaster and anyone who would accept a nomination under these circumstances is wildly unfit to judge a dog and pony show. Republicans really did tell loud and insulting lies all throughout 2016 about why they wouldn’t confirm the replacement for a Supreme Court justice who passed away nearly a year before an election, and they really are out here now mocking the idea that anyone might have had to pretend to believe them then. They will probably succeed in pushing through a sentient garbage fire before the election, but we have to try to make it hurt. All you need to do is call your senators and tell them to honor Justice Ginsburg’s wish by refusing to confirm anyone Trump nominates. Either you’ll hear that they’re trying to do the right thing, which might make you feel better, or you’ll get an opportunity to call a Republican a fascist pig, which always makes me feel better.

If you are going to be following this farce, out of interest or because you can’t block it out, let me help you prepare for some of the bullshit that’s coming at you.

One of the foundational assumptions commentators make is that Democrats don’t “care” about the courts in the way Republicans do. Whenever you hit that assumption, think of this article:

Hillary Clinton Just Delivered the Strongest Speech of Her Campaign—and the Media Barely Noticed

Madison, Wisconsin—Hillary Clinton delivered the strongest speech of her 2016 campaign in Wisconsin this week, and the media barely noticed.

At the time (March 31, 2016) this article was just one of the many passive-aggressive subtweets from responsible commentators that their colleagues were ignoring policy for spectacle. After 2016, when Clinton’s supposed failure to go to Wisconsin has been waved like a talisman against any retrospective concern about whether the presidential election was even free (questionable) and fair (definitely not), it’s the fact that the press ignored a campaign event in Wisconsin which gives it that twist of dramatic irony. But it is also relevant because Clinton’s speech was about why anyone who truly cares about a progressive agenda must prioritize the federal courts as an issue. Since then, the press – who were called out AT THE TIME for ignoring substance generally and this speech specifically – have settled on “Republicans have seized the federal courts because Democrats don’t talk about the courts” as their new just-so rationalization for Moscow Mitch’s latest crime against democracy.

It’s bad enough that influential commentators ignore the substance of Democratic campaigns in favor of airing Trump’s empty podium and then use their own failures as an excuse to lie about whether or not Democratic politicians talk about the courts or any other issue. But the reality is even worse: in 2016 the Democratic candidate gave a brutally prescient speech about the courts, and our blue-check betters collectively decided to lie about WHETHER SHE WAS EVEN PRESENT AT HER OWN SPEECH. Then they used that lie to derail any chance of accountability for the MULTIPLE CRIMINAL CONSPIRACIES her opponent’s campaign committed, or even the slightest hint that they probably shouldn’t have allowed an autocratic regime that regularly murders actual journalists to be their assignment editor at the most important moment of their careers. “I wouldn’t have spent four months helping Russian intelligence dox Clinton campaign employees if only they’d gone to Wisconsin!” is a thing you can say without losing an ounce of standing in the pundit-industrial complex; of course lying about Democratic campaign messaging on the justice system carries even less of a penalty.

I’m ranting a little because RBG deserved to live three hundred years and these gaslighting bootlickers deserved to be flayed alive, boiled in oil, and fed to rabid vampire squirrels. But I also think people should absorb my point about just how rotten the information environment is. There is every political incentive for Democrats not to bother talking about they courts. They do it anyway because they know it’s important.

That terrible information environment has the predictable consequence of misinforming people. Even if you are trying to encourage people to act on this issue because you sincerely care about it, you end up saying ridiculous things sometimes.

Senate Democrats could have stopped Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation by sacrificing a virgin basilisk under a harvest moon to summon the wrath of the Old Ones, but they didn’t even try!

This is, to put it kindly, rewriting history. Senate Democrats made a herculean effort against Kavanaugh. Even before Christine Blasey Ford’s and Deborah Ramirez’s stories came out, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee made the best case possible for the Senate to reject his confirmation.* After Dr. Ford was outed against her wishes, Democrats used every tool they had to force as much of an investigation as they could get, which drew maximum blood from Republicans, who were always going to do the wrong thing no matter what. Because Democrats did the work, voters got the point in the 2018 midterms. The Kavanaugh spectacle kept Republicans from gaining too much ground in the Senate in a year they should have cleaned up, and it radicalized the educated suburban voters who gave Democrats an unprecedented victory in the House.

None of this worked because Senate Democrats are in the minority, but they did try everything they could possibly have done. It’s true that they did not invent time travel and go back to re-run the 2014 midterms or rewrite the laws of mathematics to make 48 more than 52, because those things are impossible.

When people do the thing you supposedly want them to do, and you respond by stubbornly insisting they never did it, you’re not motivating them to do a better job. You’re telling them they should ignore you because you don’t actually care what they do.

I’m using this tweet as an example of a problem I see a lot, but my point isn’t to dunk too hard on this rando. We’re all a little emotional right now and who amongst us has never responded to stress by being Wrong Online; more importantly, it’s not entirely this person’s fault that they’re misinformed. You’re not supposed to have to be a huge nerd that actually watches Senate committee hearings! You’re supposed to be able to rely on the news to give you a reliable idea of what’s happening!! That’s literally their job!!!

AAAArgh. Okay. I’m back.

So. Okay. There are pervasive failings in news coverage of the politics around the federal courts, which leads to a lot of silly misunderstandings in the public more generally. Even if you work your way through all that nonsense and get to a reasonable understanding, you will find a fairly persistent asymmetry. The Republican establishment really does put a wildly disproportionate amount of effort into building conservative movement infrastructure for right wing lawyers and judges, and until recently, Republican voters really were much more likely than Democratic voters to tell pollsters that they were highly motivated by judicial nominations. Taking these things on face value and saying “oh, well, Republicans care more about the courts” obscures some really important, though disturbing, underlying dynamics.

The professional and intellectual ecosystem behind the conservative legal establishment is one of those situations where you really have to apply the Trunchbull principle. There really are millions and millions of dollars pumped into think tanks which invent bizarre excuses for radical right-wing subversion of the public interest by judicial fiat, extravagant “retreats” where sitting judges are alternatively pampered and bombarded with the resulting propaganda, and clubs which indoctrinate young conservative law students and vet them for career advancement based on their fealty to right-wing dogma. Describing what the Republican establishment is doing sounds fevered, conspiratorial hyperbole. I wish it were! If you don’t want to take my word for it – and I really wouldn’t blame you – you can get a lot of gory details from Vox.com’s courts and justice editor Ian Millhiser and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

Senator Whitehouse’s main thesis is that these radical right-wing interests understand that a hostile takeover of the federal judiciary is in their financial interests, and that’s definitely sufficient to explain it. My personal sense is that there’s a second, even more unsettling, dimension to this. Article III of the Constitution deliberately insulates the federal judiciary from political pressure as much as possible. Another way of saying that, of course, is that the federal judiciary is removed from democratic accountability. I don’t think it’s just that the economic policies they want are unpopular. I think the investment in this judicial takeover project is motivated in part by the American right wing’s dark authoritarian streak. They value the judiciary because it’s the most leverage they can get against the electorate. “Judges!” is anti-democratic and that’s why they like it. It’s not just that they want things the voters don’t want so they have to get creative; it’s that they resent the voters for even having the ability to get in their way.

It’s not just the dedication to getting judges they agree with on the courts. It’s also the degree to which they expect those judges to humiliate themselves. They’ve had ten years and roughly the GDP of a small country at their disposal to come up with a challenge to the Affordable Care Act which did not sound like unhinged gibberish. Instead, they came up with the legal equivalent of a drunk guy trying to write a sonnet in Dothraki with a yellow crayon. (Actually that might be an improvement, so NOBODY TELL THEM ABOUT DRUNK DOTHRAKI CRAYON SONNET GUY.) It’s such a stinker that you hav to wonder if it isn’t the same phenomenon as what drives Trump and other autocrats to tell such blatant and ridiculous lies: it’s a power trip that shows off how they don’t even have to care about what “is true” or “makes sense,” because fuck you, that’s why. So what if an overwhelming majority of the American people have successfully convinced their elected representatives that health care costs were too much of a driver of economic inequality and limits on that are a good thing? We can still wreck it, because [*long fart noise*].

And if you listen to what Republicans say about the Supreme Court with that in mind, it starts to make a lot more sense. Under cover of mainstream apathy or even approval, the court gives conservatives unearned victory after unearned victory. If you’re a conservative, you’ll want to avoid killing that golden goose by making the court’s bias toward you completely undeniable. But if you’re a fascist, your priority is getting the court to commit. Any concession to truth or democracy, even if it’s just lip service, seems like a crack in the wall that your enemies can exploit, because it is.** As funny as it is to watch their little Pravda knockoff cry about John Roberts, Leftist Judas, this is what they mean: sometimes he tries to preserve the fiction that he hasn’t turned the Supreme Court into an arm of the radical right, which means they don’t win 100% of what they want immediately. Even Neil Gorsuch – hack, sadist, full-time Mayor Wilkins impersonator – can actually be cajoled into doing the right thing occasionally by lawyers who can craft an argument that fits into his crimped, cherry-picked definition of logic.

Like I said. Dark. I don’t want to overwhelm and discourage you. I think their absolutism and desperation is because even they know the victories they’ve won can slip away fast. But deluding ourselves hasn’t been constructive.

For their part, rank-and-file Republicans say they care about the courts. Fine. Republicans say a lot of things. They don’t think saying true things is important; if they did, they wouldn’t be Trump voters. Years before Trump, Republican voters learned how to give reporters and pollsters certain buzzwords to make their worst views sound more palatable. People are starting to grasp this with the “pro-life” white evangelicals who say they care about abortion on religious grounds. They support Trump as strongly as ever, despite the babies in cages, forced hysterectomies, and hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 deaths proving that neither he nor his party are in any way “pro-life.” It’s because “abortion” is the way they can get away with saying they support white patriarchy. Trump isn’t their guy despite his sleaziness, it’s because “grab ‘em by the pussy” has always been their actual preferred policy. “Law and order” is their dogwhistle for anti-Black racism. “Immigration” is the world they use when they mean they want more racism generally; pre-Obama, the preferred code phrase was “national security” but we’ve all seen how much of a shit they give about that.

As code words go, “judges” is less direct. Some commentators who try to parse it say it’s really about Roe v. Wade, but as we just went over, they don’t actually give a shit about that either. For some of them, “judges” is a sufficiently abstract rationalization for supporting Republicans when they know it is morally indefensible. This was probably a more pronounced issue than usual in 2016, both because it was so much harder to defend a vote for Trump and because of his inconvenient habit of giving the game away on the usual shibboleths. For others, “judges” represents the same thing it does for Republican elites.

I don’t know how conscious any of this is. I’m sure plenty of them have convinced themselves of whatever rationalization they give. Because we’re pretty good at fooling ourselves, what people say in opinion polls doesn’t necessarily tell us more than what they do when they’re not being prompted by pollsters. When Justice Scalia died four years ago, you didn’t thousands of people coming out to grieve for days on end. Little kids don’t dress up on Halloween as Chief Justice Roberts. RBG didn’t inspire that devotion by being a warm and gracious soul, although by all accounts she was. Liberals and progressives developed our sincere admiration of her because of her work on the bench. That is to say, Democratic voters care a great deal about the court. We just have to get our act together and do something about it.

The bad news is that winning in November is going to be the easy part. The good news is, we are getting organized behind some reforms that have been needed for many years. It’s not just Extremely Online progressives who are pushing for this. Even cool-headed institutionalist Democrats are openly advocating radical action. Democratic leadership are unlikely to get too specific right now – and they probably shouldn’t – but if voters do our job in November, some big and important changes are on the table.

*Footnoted because it isn’t really relevant, but Senate Democrats flawlessly executed a precise and coordinated strategy against Kavanaugh. The first few members to question Kavanaugh each focused on a specific issue tailor-made to give one or two of their Republican colleagues a reason to do the right thing. Then, boom, sucker-punch, Cory Booker started releasing the embarrassing emails Republicans were abusing committee rules to hide. Then, bam, left hook, Kamala Harris tripped him up by making him try to deny having been asked for assurances on the Mueller investigation. They did a great job, which everyone forgot about when someone threw Dr. Ford to the wolves.

**This is also a big part of why conservatives feel so instinctively victimized by the existence of a “liberal media” no matter how hard the political press bends over backwards to pound both thumbs on the scale for them. A free press actually is necessary for the functioning of the whole post-Enlightenment idea that people should have some say in how they are governed. If you’re an authoritarian who genuinely does feel that might makes right, then a somewhat functioning news media does at least pose a hypothetical threat to your power and even your worldview.