#unsafe interactions with wild life

[naminethewriter]

One's Hometown, One's New Home

Chapter Three: Curious Encounter

Masterpost | First | Previous | Next | Ao3

@tss-anxceit-week

Summary: Janus’ hometown is a usually quiet place where everyone knows everyone. So when someone new moves in, they’re usually the hottest topic of local gossip. The newcomer then comes by the library Janus works at, he can’t help but chat with him a little. Doesn’t hurt that he’s good looking as well.

Content Warnings: Injured Animal, Wolf, Unsafe interactions with wild life

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Janus loved taking walks in the woods by himself. He enjoyed the quiet, of course he did, he was a librarian, but it was a different sort of quiet than at his work. The wind dancing through the leaves, birds singing, a brook babbling nearby. It contrasted heavily with the quiet humming of the air conditioning in the library as well as the whispers of visitors and the turning of pages. Still, Janus could appreciate both types of silence.

Thankfully for him, this Sunday was once again without a single cloud in the sky without being overwhelmingly hot. He let his mind wander as his feet carried him along a familiar path through the trees, towards a small lake he likes to visit every once in a while.

His thoughts drifted to Virgil. He hadn’t seen him since he stormed out of Dan’s shop. It wasn’t that strange he supposed. None of the books he borrowed after their first meeting were due, so there wasn’t an incentive for him to come by the library and while Janus did know where he lived, he hadn’t acquired that information through Virgil himself, so he didn’t want to drop by unannounced, especially after how their last meeting ended.

So, Janus left it up to fate to determine when they’ll cross paths again.

Or the dues of the library he supposed.

Of course, if Virgil wanted to avoid him, Janus wouldn’t stop him. He had every right to cut off contact if he made him uncomfortable, but for some reason, Janus didn’t think that was the crux of the problem.

Virgil’s eyes in that moment… Well, they hadn’t seemed like they were looking at him with discomfort, if he thought back to it.

No, he looked like he was afraid.

But afraid of what? Of Janus?

No, he didn’t think so. He had flirted with Virgil from the first moment they met, and he had responded positively, even if Janus was the most direct at the end of their last conversation.

Maybe Virgil really had just remembered something and needed to leave so suddenly because of it, just like he had said?

Again, Janus didn’t think that was the whole truth.

But he couldn’t figure out why he thought that.

Just intuition, he supposed.

Suddenly, a sound startled him out of his thoughts. He stopped and listened.

There! A huffing of some sort.

Janus tried to spy through the trees to see what was making the noise, but he couldn’t see anything.

A growl followed by a whine.

An injured animal? If so, it would be a big one to make such sounds.

The logical side of Janus’ brain told him to stay away, to leave, go back home and not get involved, but… There was a part of him that was convinced he should check it out.

It was the part that won.

Carefully, Janus left the path. He made sure to check his compass that he always carried with him when he entered the woods, just in case. Yes, he’s been running around these woods since he was a child, but that was exactly why he knew not to underestimate the dangers they could hold as well.

He moved slowly. Calculating every step, looking out for traps the local hunters and or rangers might have placed. Trying to stay quiet as much as possible.

The sounds got louder.

It was definitely an animal. And as Janus peered around a tree, he saw it.

A wolf.

It was alone, staring at the ground and switching between whines and growls. Janus followed its line of sight and spotted the problem: the wolf left back leg was stuck in a bear trap. There weren’t a lot of bears around these parts – or wolves for that matter – but the few that wandered around could be a potential danger, so the local rangers placed some traps strategically to ward them off.

Honestly, Janus didn’t think that the trap was as sharp as it could be. He hardly saw any blood clinging to the wolf’s fur but he’s sure the force of it engaging could have caused an injury.

He was unsure of what to do.

Unconsciously he shifted a bit, enough to make noise and get the wolf’s attention. It snapped its head in Janus’ direction and growls loudly.

With raised hands, Janus steps out from behind the tree. Why exactly he didn’t know himself, it just felt like the right thing to do.

“Hey there. I’m not here to hurt you.” He spoke calmly while taking careful steps towards the trapped wolf. It stared at him intently, watching every move he made and growled once he got too close. Janus stopped at the warning and looked over to the caught leg.

His first impression turned out to be true. The teeth of the trap had been dulled and didn’t pierce the animal’s flesh as much though there was definitely blood. He was sure however, that the animal could survive the injury if it was set free.

“You’re in a bad situation, aren’t you?” he continued talking soothingly, staying still for now. “I can help you if you let me.”

The wolf’s leg twitched. It looked between the trap and Janus, as if contemplating his words.

Which was definitely not what was actually happening, a wolf couldn’t understand him.

Still, despite being trapped, it hadn’t actually shown a lot of aggression towards Janus. Yes, it growled at him when he got to close but that was it. It wasn’t baring its teeth or trying to get away from him.

Janus watched it for a moment longer and to his surprise, the wolf laid down on the ground, stretching its caught leg away from its head. He took it as permission and slowly started moving again. Walking in a half circle to stay away from its head and in turn sharp teeth, Janus approached the trap.

He had learned to engage and open these traps as a child, as had everyone who grew up around these parts as a safety precaution. He knelt down by the wolf’s side, keeping an eye on its head the entire time and got to work.

It didn’t take long before he pulled the metal teeth apart and as soon as he did, the animal pulled away. It limped a few steps away before stopping and looking back at Janus, who had remained still by the trap.

They stared at each other for a long moment before the wolf left, dragging its foot behind it.

Janus waited until he was sure it was gone before standing up.

In all honesty, he should be dead. Approaching an injured, wild animal while it was trapped was a death wish.

And yet he wasn’t even so much as injured.

Peculiar indeed.

[summercosmos]

Fablehaven Pokemon AU; Pt 2 (Seth)

Seth as a pokemon ranger!

Seth would be bored out of his MIND tending to the daycare all day; running showers for and grooming cutesy pokemon is fun for about the first four times you do it only.

it doesn't help that there are more interesting (read: unsafe) pokemon available right at the fablehaven daycare! it's just that grandpa sorenson will not budge in letting his grandkids interact with those. something about lacking "experience" and "expertise".

Seth: alright then. bet ←(gets himself into a ranger school Like A Boss)

there's really nothing anyone can do about the school sign up— I'm thinking kids in the pokemon universe are considered their own legal representation around the time they graduate trainer school (13-14 yrs old)

and after the initial scare, everyone concedes it's kind of a good idea, really. Seth gets to explore and interact with wild pokemon while still in a somewhat controlled environment, minimizing the amount of trouble to be stirred.

Kendra is happy to be the one to inform Seth that Ranger School does, too, involve actual textbook studying. he forgor💀

Seth would do the bare minimum for the theory aspects — what he really excels at is practical demonstrations!!!

don't let anyone tell you otherwise; pokemon absolutely interact with people based on Vibes. if you show that misdreavus even the smallest of hesitation you're getting Astonished into your next life dawg.

obviously this is not a problem for Seth. in fact i think he'd be at his very best when approaching wild Dark & Ghost types; those are the most likely to feed from fear and distress!

if you have no fear to feed the little creepers with then theyll be like Well. Hmm. What Now. (top tier strategy)

while on that the rangers here are a bit of mix from the spin offs and from the trainer class from the og games. they have one partner pokemon that will accompany them in their main rescue missions, but their job also involves protecting certain areas from poachers &/or criminals— that means there's also a lot of pokemon battling!

I'll be honest i think Seth's main criteria for his pokemon team is Does It Look Cool? Catch

when his eevee evolved into a sylveon he had to pause to cry throw up bang fists on the wall roll around for a bit. imagine having your team astethics ruined by the sparkly fairy type. Kendra makes fun of it at least once

still comes back to the daycare even while on the training stage; when he graduates as an actual ranger the first place Seth will suggest to send rescued pokemon to is fablehaven

Partner Pokemon

Absol: look at me in the eyes a dark type pokemon which is frequently labeled as a chaos bringer & malicious when it in fact only has intentions to help warn people beforehand so they can escape disaster. who else could i even give this to. it literally gets wings in its mega form LOOOOK AT ME

okay so anyways Absol are pokemon which are frequently abused bc of superstition so it isn't a stretch to say one would have eventually found its way to fablehaven daycare as a rescue. this is still in the early days of Kendra and Seth being there to help out so obvs they wouldn't be allowed to handle this one bc of the dark typing and its general bad rep. do you think seth gaf though he does NOT his ass would absolutely sneak out at night to the enclosure they kept absol at and try to make friends with it. the secret lasts about a week (Kendra snitches) but grandparents end up letting him actually catch absol bc they bonded. aw

(rest of the) Team!

Meowth: first pokemon, a gift from his parents! Seth isn't much interested in it bc it's so very normal and boring and not very Cool until he finds out this cat can basically sniff out shiny things (coins & jewels included) and it quickly becomes a Get Rich scheme. which only works on paper for about 2 minutes until he realizes the meowth will absolutely NOT allow anyone (owner or otherwise) to get their hands on its loot. it kind of becomes a srungly family pet though like in a drowned ugly rat kind of way so its still loved regardless. isn't much used in battles so it hasn't quite had the chance to evolve.

Spiritomb: sorry but how can you tempt a child mentioning there's a antique keystone that contains a cool ghost pokemon inside of it and expect him to not do anything about it like thats on YOU. anyhow Seth frees the spiritomb out of the odd keystone and finds out its just a little guy that got locked away for playing too many pranks. come on there's not even a good reasoning to take it away from him

Braviary: caught as a rufflet! pokedex entry from black & white 2→ "It stands up to massive opponents, not out of courage, but out of recklessness. But that is how it gets stronger." it probably tried to pick a fight with Hugo the Golurk and Seth thought it was the funniest thing ever and immediately caught it.

Golurk (Hugo): actually more attached to the fablehaven daycare than anything; it has its orders to protect the people and pokemon inside of the property. still Seth bonds with it more than anyone else and maybe actually brings the guy outside so it can see the world. cuties

Sylveon: okay now bear with me. LISTEN! Seth wouldn't have used any evolution stones on his (graduation gift) eevee bc he was hoping for a high friendship evolution, either espeon or umbreon. well. can you even imagine the look on his face when the evolution process finished and the first thing he saw was a pink ribbon. oh hed lose it. anyways sylveon are actually very combative pokemon — it lures foes in with the cute face and then pounces. they go out of their way to actively fight dragon pokemon likeee can you see the vision. Seth feels immediately better abt the whole thing when sylveon whoops a whole ass hydreigon with one singular Moonblast.

oh i had a Time making this. i love you pokemon au i really do. ill probably do either ronodin or bracken next

[granulesofsand]

do you think it’s unsafe/dangerous to post about system functions? i would like to post ours, just so we have a better understanding of it, but im not sure if journaling would be better instead. we prefer online stuff because some alters have trouble writing.

We keep separate journals from our social media, and we have a couple safeties in place when we do. If it’s just typing that feels better, you can use a note app or keep everything in drafts (read privacy policies and terms of service if you’re doing that).

While we’re pretty open about how our system works online, we’re not particularly inclined to give identifying information for our body or any member of our collective. There are creeps online, so have a plan for how vague you’d like to be and which pieces to keep to yourself/ves

We queue almost everything. Current events in our life actually took place about a month ago, and any details of our structures or even opinions typically sit for three to five days so we can regret them before the world sees. We only post photos when we’ve left an area, and we change the location and timestamp when possible. Determine how much you(&) want strangers to know about your(&) life at any given time, and give yourself/ves space to discuss big topics before sending them out

Get consent from headmates or prepare to fight. Mentioning system members and their activities can feel violating, especially if anyone has exploitation trauma. Permission every time is ideal unless you know them really well (and even then you might offend them by accident)

Sharing account names and emails/phone numbers across platforms can get you(&) tracked easily. Decide what content you’re posting and remember that outsiders can find you(&) in a video game or gushing over an interest in the wild. Keep separate sideblogs and user info for different topics unless you(&)’re real comfy with people knowing that much about you(&). The more you(&) connect in public, the crisper the picture you(&) give for people looking for you(&)

Lying is okay. Change names, give a funky time period, construct a persona online. That’s harder to do with a journal on the internet, but you(&) need some barrier between the depths of your(&) soul(s) and the general populace. If you(&) are more authentic online, you(&) might have to be less authentic offline to stay safe

And to actually answer the question: no, I don’t think it’s safe to post system functions online. Catch me doing it anyway.

We find that social media allows us to get some peer interaction without the risk of irl relationships being compromised. We can share bits here and then turn around and say those things out loud in therapy

We can say that we’ve heard of others like us and learn what’s normal for our subgroup instead of humans in our town. People understand us, and we get more comfortable diverging from the norm in both modes of life

This much talking to strangers and practicing etiquette makes us better at opening communication amongst ourselves

We get feedback and learn to deal with criticism — including what is important to hear and change and what people are just mouthing off about

Most of us know that we can look for notes on our life (the stuff that didn’t make it into the letters) on this account. We get used to seeing each other’s writing and perspective, and so are less avoidant when we notice these things in physical reality

You(&) get to choose between your(&) own pros and cons. Maybe it’s not worth it to you(&); that’s fine, there are alternatives. Maybe you(&) want to give it a try; good luck, people can be both incredible kind and absolutely scathing. I do recommend asking around/leaving notes for your systemmates to determine what their concerns are, if any. There are shades of how far you(&) might go with each aspect going forth. It’ll probably be messy at first, but you(&)’ll learn. I’ve yet to disappear my system’s online presence, so clearly I enjoy it.

[lyndentree63]

So you wanna watch Burrow's End but you are a Delicate Flower (TM) and don't know if you can tolerate gore, body horror, suspense, etc. But you reeeeaaallly really love Aabria DMing and all the players, and all your friends are excited and talking about it, what do you do? (It's me, I'm the Delicate Flower.)

First, know the difference between "this is uncomfortable" and "this is unsafe". It's really important to be in tune with your body and know what's inside your window of tolerance, what's on the edge of your window tolerance and what is straight-up trauma triggering you.

If you know ahead of time what your specific trauma triggers are, look at the content warnings, ask friends, or ask in the Discord server (either on the Burrow's End channel or DM the mods) for if those specific things are described and/or shown. Note the time stamps.

Skip the sections that trauma-trigger you. That might be the whole episode. Or the whole season. Take care of yourself. But if you think it's uncomfy and just outside of your window of tolerance, carry on. . .

If it's something that you think you might be ok with, try reducing visual input: listen to the audio-only version, adjust your screen setting so things are in different colours, make your browser window small to reduce details. If you're near-sighted like me, take your glasses off to blur things.

Alternatively, your brain might make things MORE detailed and worse than they actually are, in which case, try watching and focusing on the cast, their interactions, the funny bits, the sweet bits. Also try half-watching it while doing some other task like folding laundry, or doing something like knitting or hand-sewing.

Look at the set with analytic movie-maker brain. How did they make this TECHNICALLY? What shots are they using? Notice the cuts, the lighting, the paint details. Think about the boring nitty-gritty backstage details that went into making this.

Watch with someone safe.

Make stupid jokes (The Blue is Walmart)

DO NOT EAT WHILE WATCHING (Alternatively, eating and drinking may actually help because eating food activates the parasympathetic nervous system aka the calm down system)

Take it in small chunks. Watch only a few minutes at a time, and then do something else grounding and calming.

Watch during daylight, so you can process stuff BEFORE you have to sleep.

Have an aftercare plan in place, either for processing (talk about it with a friend, yell about it on Discord or Tumblr, journal, have a little sob, make art about it) or for distracting (watch funny and wholesome videos, scroll Instagram, go to work, play with your cat, read a book, go for a walk, have a wild dance party)

Have an after-aftercare plan in place for when stuff crops up a few days or weeks later and unwelcome things pop into your brain. (Hint: treat 'em like intrusive thoughts; just let them fly through like li'l bats out to get a mosquito dinner and move on to the next thought.)

Read all the spoilers beforehand (on the Dropout Discord, here, on other socials), and desensitise yourself to pictures that way.

Write a tumblr post to help other people out

Don't feel ashamed for reacting with disgust, horror, feeling like you want to cry and generally being a Delicate Flower. We all have different nervous systems and different tolerances and life experiences and traumas, you're not better if you can stomach gore and horror and you're not Too Much if you get squeamish at just the thought of some of the things mentioned in ep 2 of Burrow's End.

[mcybree]

Okay so I just watched the “I’m giving you 30 seconds to run” “say I love you back” scene and here are my thoughts because I need them sorted somewhere:

• Moments prior to this interaction, Jimmy outright states that he’s going to kill Scott. However, in practice, Jimmy is roped into conversation where he does nothing to hurt Scott and then lets him off with a 30 second head start. this is holding hands with the moment in Secret Life where Jimmy enthusiastically agrees to help kill Scott, only to say that he’s only going to hit Scott once, and then expresses concerns about Scott retaliating. To me. These moments are holding hands to me.

• This (the implication that Scott came to Jimmy because Jimmy is safe.) (Jimmy literally wants to kill him just like every other yellow on the server does there is no reason to believe that Jimmy is safe.) (Does anyone want to take a wild guess as to why Scott thinks Jimmy is safe anyways.)

• Jimmy’s movement as Scott talks about his day comes across anxiously; Jimmy does a lot of looking around, almost if searching for another person nearby. He crouches momentarily, then pointlessly mines a rail below him. Realistically, I think this is because he’s still trying to figure out how he’s going to kill Scott, and Scott is making it real awkward by being nice, something that’d make anyone nervous. but The Demons are whispering to me and making very compelling points about Jimmy feeling unsafe in one-on-one interactions with Scott and wanting the comfort of knowing at least somebody else is watching. (Would not be the only time Jimmy has expressed discomfort around being left alone with Scott. See: SL!Jimmy requesting that Joel stay “at least where you can see me” after Joel sends Jimmy to go hit Scott, Limlife!Jimmy asking the Bad Boys to keep an eye on him when Scott and Jimmy split off from the group so that Jimmy can get a clean kill for time.)

• The “If you can kill tango and leave me as the last green, I’ll let you kill me” is odd. That doesn’t actually give Scott any real advantage. That is a nothing transaction. The only benefit of that would be bragging rights and I highly doubt Scott cares about getting those. Really I think Scott just wants Jimmy off his back, so he invents a task to send Jimmy on so that Scott doesn’t have to worry about him (he does this in 3l a lot), as Jimmy is pestering him about giving him time and Scott wants to shut down that conversation without being rude about it.

[jumpywhumpywriter]

Captured -- wild humans hunted and captured to be used as servants part 3

Warnings: captivity, starvation, starvation whump, cruel whumper, etc.

Dexter's lip curled with disdain and it looked like he was about to say more, when surprisingly, Kazimir touched his black wing to his brown one, intervening and giving him a warning look.

Dexter got the hint and settled down, and Corbin let out a relieved breath, but immediately tensed when he saw the vicious scowl Nakita threw his way. She would not forgive this mistake, he knew, and he was bound to be severely punished for it later. His heart sank with helpless despair.

He brought the tray to Prince Devlon first, who took his meal without even looking at him, disregarding his presence entirely, and Dexter gave him a poisonous glare when he was served.

But Kazimir... his expression was flat and unreadable as Corbin came close, a total mystery. He had piercing forest-green eyes that glittered with something dark and dangerous as he stared at him. There was something about him that felt unsafe, like he was cloaked in living shadows.

Corbin shakily offered the tray to him, and Kazimir slowly took the last plate from it with one hand, while the other unexpectedly grabbed his wrist, pulling up his sleeve just slightly to show the veiny, thinly-stretched skin beneath.

Some unknown emotion passed over his face before vanishing again in a heartbeat, and Corbin shivered and pulled away, puzzled and confused. No one else at the table seemed to notice the strange interaction.

Corbin stood respectfully close by, ready and available for any additional tasks or orders the guests might have. He left a few times to retrieve more food or drinks, and each time he returned he caught Kazimir staring hard and long at him with that unsettling green gaze of his, that weird blank poker face. He didn't even seem all that engaged in the conversation his winged comrades were having with Nakita, although he nodded at regular intervals to pretend he was listening. He was toying absent-mindedly with a golden bracelet on his wrist.

Corbin tried to ignore it, but it was deeply disturbing, the intensity of it was unnerving and sent scared shivers up his spine. What was the black-winged man thinking about? Why had he taken such sudden interest in a lowly human servant? His face gaze away nothing, all the more ominous and frightening because of it.

And how quiet Kazimir was... was he just that calm and collected all the time, or planning something? Why was Nakita so uneasy around him? Corbin had so many unanswered questions. But the delicious aroma in the air managed to distract him from the strange bird-man, though it only made him feel hungrier. He licked his dry, cracked lips as his stomach rumbled, knowing his belly would likely never be full.

It was its own kind of agony to stand so close to a table full of bountiful food, and yet not allowed to have even a tiny sample. Not even the smallest table scrap.

The mouth-watering smell of the food made his stomach cramp and growl painfully with hunger, but he knew the severe price of taking even one extra bite more than the scarce scraps of food he was allotted.

After roughly a month of being at Nakita's mansion, he had been so desperately starved that he'd snuck a small morsel of food that was meant for her party guests. There was an abundance of food available, so at the time he'd reasoned it couldn't hurt to feed himself for that day, seeing as his master repeatedly forgot to care for him.

But Nakita had been outright furious when she found out he dared steal it, and had dragged him to a dark room where she'd beaten him to within an inch of his life, leaving him bloodied and half-dead for the night. Corbin had barely survived -- it was the most excruciating agony he'd ever been through, and he never touched extra food ever again, no matter how badly his body begged for it.

The pain of standing seemed to stretch on forever, until finally Nakita rose from her seat, signaling that the meal was officially over. Her guests got up a moment later, exchanging a few last words, but Kazimar's focus was still being directed at Corbin, and the human servant saw him slip off his golden bracelet and set it down on the table before turning away.

Nakita led her guests back to the foyer to depart, and Corbin obediently trailed after her, though every step hurt. His starved body was barely holding up.

Prince Devlon and Dexter stepped out onto the takeoff platform to leave after saying their farewells, and Kazimir followed them out, but he stayed behind and patted himself down like he was searching for something as the other two guests left him alone, gliding off into the sky with majestic strokes of their wings.

Then Kazimir turned to Nakita with an apologetic smile. "It seems I left my golden bracelet behind. It's very sentimental. Would you be so kind as to have your servant fetch it for me?" He rumbled. His voice was dark and cold, like permafrost, with a hint of a raspy edge to it.

Nakita nodded, and raised an eyebrow at Corbin in silent demand.

Corbin quickly scurried off back to the dining area, to retrieve the bracelet that Kazimir definitely didn't 'accidently' leave behind. What was that mysterious man up to? Why make him go on a foolish errand? Probably to see him waste more precious energy, he assumed. He scooped up the bracelet with a tired sigh, which was still warm to the touch, and swiftly returned to hand it to Kazimir. Nakita was nowhere to be found, probably off attending to other duties.

He reached the door and slowly inched out onto the takeoff platform, swallowing his fear as a gust of frigid mountain wind washed over him. He glanced down and oh by the stars above he was really high up. One misstep would be certain death for a human like him.

"Here you are, Sir," Corbin said, and dropped the bracelet obediently in Kazimir's waiting open palm.

"Much appreciated, boy," Kazimir nodded his approval, those unusually green eyes sharp and assessing.

Corbin shivered from more than just the cold and turned around to head back inside to Nakita's dreadful mansion. When suddenly... something attacked him from behind, roughly grabbing him as a strong hand clamped painfully tight over his mouth, muffling a surprised yelp. Corbin thrashed and squirmed fiercely, trying to wrench free, but the grip was strong and unyielding.

"Mmph!" He tried to scream for help but his cries were muffled by the hand and carried away by the wind. A strong arm wrapped around his midsection, pulling him flush against someone's chest.

"Be silent if you want to live," a terrifying voice growled into his ear, and a burst of pure ice-cold adrenaline shot through Corbin, the blood roaring in his ears with sheer terror. "Brace yourself."

Corbin didn't have time to figure out what that meant as something feathered and warm wrapped around him, his attacker leaning back -- and going into freefall.

⏪️ Back Next ⏩️

Masterlist

[castlebyersafterdark]

a few kinda not chill asks sent my way too a while back, about being disinterested or disappointed when fandom blogs get too personal and it just turned my stomach

Ok it might not be me, but ive definitely said this kind of thing to blogs before and i would like to come here now and explain myself and also apologise.

Firstly, context and tone being lost online. i understand it's easy to project and take things to heart that might not even have been about us! been there done that, all day long! but still, i'm sorry that i might have contributed to someone feeling bad because of that.

Secondly and more importantly, it probably was totally unnecessary for me to comment things like that in the first place. ive changed my habits so much in the past few months on this site, and feel so much better. it was wild in the midst of s4, then all the byler shit happening really made me act out in a way that i didnt care for at all. didnt even feel like me! i didnt do anything terrible, but i started to understand the slippery slope of how people end up catfishing and shit. it's the anonymity! you dont stop and think online. well, most don't. but i think you do, vinny. its one of the reasons i love your blog.

which leads me to point three. yes, you talk about personal stuff, but it's so charming and endearing, and never feels gratuitous or self-centred or wallowy. and so, even for someone like me who always wanted byler content more than personal stuff on other blogs, i had a realisation. not necessarily a kind or unkind one, but a truthful one: that being here is kind of like meeting people irl in many ways. some people you click with, others you don't. and that's ok. but in real life you can size people up and judge if you want to associate with them. no shade to those who don't compel you - its just part of being human and you walk away and don't befriend them.

but online is so weird - we can't see each other, don't know our ages or interests or anything except what we're told. so when people you perhaps thought were cool, suddenly turn their blog into something that starts to feel unsafe or just downright rubbish... or perhaps you realise theyre so very much younger than you and it's not exactly manageable to be chatting with them because you wouldn't have such a relationship irl... well, i guess its easy to feel tricked. and you can't see it coming like you might if you were physically associating with someone in person, or with mutual friends who give you perspective. i mean, i definitely shouldn't have interacted with so many younger people in this fandom so carelessly, but fandom can be unclear like that sometimes, when you're thrilling in a shared interest and forgetting how many different life experiences people are bringing to the same thing.

and yeah, i could probably have just walked away and not said anything. that's my bad. i was venting. (not about you, about others and you may have seen it and taken it to heart). so its a combo of internet enabling bad behaviour + the weirdness of invisible online connections, and my own lack of foresight.

but honestly vinny, never once have i felt annoyed by you. I've always loved your insights and personal life things... im drawn to the way you think and speak and it helps that you're self-aware, and seem honest and mature. in fact sometimes i feel a bit weirded out by just how much i love this blog. it feels like a real connection sometimes, even though its still invisible online. you have a real authorial voice, you are original and you are... well, you. what always annoyed me was when other byler blogs just became carbon copies of each other, complaining about the same shit (usually byler doubt) and then suddenly soapboxing about personal problems in a way that would have made me feel unsafe and stressed if i knew them irl.

not to say these bloggers were objectively bad, but just not my cup of tea. i didn't handle it well, i should have just scrolled on past. but i didnt and that was on me. not everyone can like everyone, and that's ok. that's normal. but i wouldnt want anyone to have that life lesson served to them in a bad-shaped box, and especially not by me.

so yeah. apologising in case i had a hand in making you feel that way by proxy. and i hope it can mean something that i don't ever think youre annoying. i genuinely love it here. i can't wait to stick it out with you until s5 drops! and i think i'll be more sad than i thought, because all our speculation and gossip will come to an end with the show.

Posting since you gave the go ahead 😌

This is just a silly fandom blog at the end of the day, but I do feel somewhat vulnerable at times. A lot. It can feel like sending a risky text over and over. I have this inability that once I allow myself to feel comfortable in a place, even an online setting, I do tend to get overly personal and insightful and vulnerable once the edge is tipped over. Slippery slope when you've been a person who's lifelong dealt with pretty severe anxiety and sensitivity, even while being pretty extroverted. Weird combo. I'm a mess! But it's ok.

Situations like this, me making an offhand comment, probably based on off hand comments not at all to do with me - stem from all that. And it's like oh god, mannn why are you like this!?! Chill out! And it's no one's fault - to anon sending this ask: based on how you're explaining and talking here, you may have been one I saw elsewhere that I took to heart but you definitely don't sound like those who sent unkind things over the summer. So it's ok 🥲🙏 We are all works in progress. I've gotten myself in to some situations online, mostly of mine own doing, but also not, and I guess as fun as I have on here and despite the rampant kindness - I'm always bracing for the worst. Because we've all seen what fandom can be like, what the internet can be like.

I feel you though, and anyone else who has their guards up. We can't help what does and does not resonate. I think I know what you mean by going to a space for one thing and then tonally it morphs into something different. I've seen that happen with blogs. And it's so hard because we're human, even if we want to be aloof and disconnected, there's always someone behind every post and page and blog and account (well, unless it's a bot haha), but we aren't going to click with most people and we aren't going to get to know most, either. And it's so much easier for everything to switch up like that online as opposed to knowing a person "in the real world." Without knowing the backstory, the reason. If there's any at all. And I think it's very human to feel some sort of way about these things. The person looking at the screen is just as real as the one one the other side, and there's this digital wall between all of us - connections can be beautiful here, but they can also be frustrating.

I'm really glad that even one person feels affected in a positive way by whatever it is I'm doing here, it really blows my mind when I read kind words. Not trying to sound facetious, it truly catches me off guard and it's always a pleasant reminder. I think that's why I get so anxious and nervous thinking anything I do here is upsetting or annoying or negative. Because I've been that negative presence online in the past and I don't want to be. It's actually kind of funny and sweet that you feel weirded out by liking it here so much, because I feel the same???? Breaking down the reality of being obsessed with a TV show is... kinda fucking weird??? But it's not gonna change for me. This is what I'm into and passionate about and it's sooooo damn cool that others are too and vibe in the way I'm vibing with it.

As always - thanks for hanging out. I'll be sticking around long after our speculation and gossip dies down, and I hope people still want to hang out even after it's over. I'll still keep posting and oversharing and being creative and yes, being annoying about a television show. ❤️

[growling]

anyway. bsd wan time

ep1 + ep2: (as grouped by aniwatchtv.to as i see there are actually 3 episodes for each separate. does this make sense)

ep1:

bungou stray dogs real:

holy shshsiiit i can't believe it its th. the stray dog............

its the stray dogs we've been hearing so much about...................

DOG CHUUYA he's so fucking tiny...... stop doing this to him 5'3 is average height he is taller than me 5'3 is average height *keeps repeating myself over and over clutching my knees rocking back and forth*

ruffshoumon........ doppo pawet......

"kunikida's abili- dammit, arfbility- creates whatever he writes in his doppo pawet notebook. alas, dogs cannot write"

beast beneath the hydrant.......

kitty :3

special arfbility no longer hooman

oh it's the human guys again. hello atsushi. kys dazai.

whats inside the locker:

dazai i need you burned alive

though i hate him slightly less in this style <3 makes me forget he's a jackass <3 this is a subject to change depending on whether he interacts with any women in these

"he's gonna banish it to the darkness"

the onii-sama one made my heart stop functioning until i fucking died. i am now speaking to you from the restricted area.

RANPO!!!!

i am having so much fun right now. engaging in whimsy.

an unfruitful exchange:

PORT MAFIA SPOTTED

CHUUYA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HE IS NOT SMALL!!!!!! STOP CALLING HIM THESE TERRIBLE THINGS HE IS NOT THAT TINY HE IS AVERAGE HEIGHT CHUUYA IS AVERAGE HEIGHT HE IS TALLER THAN ME HE'S AVERAGE HEIGHT AND TALLER THAN ME I AM ALSO AVERAGE HEIGHT HE IS TALLER THAN ME HE I 5'3 IS NOT SHORT IT IS AV

Tachihara lines this is more screentime than he ever had in every single prior season. who is this mysterious entity anyway

ep2:

let's go flower gazing:

kyouka spotted

CHUUYA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

port mafia silly momence. they deserve it sometimes

chuuya lightweight lore

akutagawa is yearning rn

i never said this before but unfortunately (for akutagawa) i ship him with dazai in a toxic fucked up unsafe insane nonconsensual age gap trashfire way. from the literal moment we saw them in the season 2 early episodes flashback. maybe they can feed me today

chuuya passed out..... its so unfortunate i am not present in his vicinity at the very moment and cannot take advantage of his vulnerable state. i mean i mean its very fortunate thats so good for her jsut jokinh haha....

STOP POKING THEM. DAZAI KYS!!!!!!!!!

get the incest siblings out my screen

wan! shorts:

chuuya wild beast instict. lets keep them that way forever

to the baths:

ranpo <3

why are you stopping him huh..... youre just jealous of his infinite joyful whimsy and thats why you actively just hate to see him living his best life..... i hc him to have autism, adhd, AND npd you know......... this is literally so disgustingly ableist and hateful towards him

kunikida you hopeless man.

DAZAI STOP FUCKING HUMPING HIM WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU WHY IS IT ANIMATED SO FLUIDLY

holy ffuck sskk bath when <- no hope left for me anymore

CHUUYA!!!!!!!!!

Chuuya is accurate representation on how its like to be the short guy. im not saying she is, i mean 5'3 is average height, heh, just, you know....

he's minor-coded

jumpscare. atsushi's dreams post-s2

higuchi. stop. stop :|

she has stopped <3

[veliseraptor]

Taking your meme idea seriously 🤩

Soft and/or hard headcanons for Tuon?

you and a few others! I should've expected that. the only trouble here is that sometimes I don't know if something is, particularly, a soft vs. hard headcanon until I run into it in the wild and either go "interesting, I can see that" or "oh nope absolutely not" about it. but since you asked

(n.b. the post this is referencing is here.)

hard headcanon: It's very important to me that Tuon does genuinely care about Mat. Anything that posits that she doesn't loses me pretty quickly.

It's just that Tuon's emotional landscape is pretty warped and she's not exactly a functional or well-adjusted person, particularly when it comes to interpersonal relationships. She's never had a person she was equal to who wasn't also a potential or imminent threat, so I think her division of people, particularly pre-kidnapping, is pretty much "equal = threat" or "safer subordinate" or "unsafe subordinate." I think a lot about how much of Tuon's life has been lived under relatively consistent threat conditions despite her (obviously massive amounts of) privilege, and what that does to a person's ability to have normal social interactions with people.

soft headcanon: Tuon doesn't exactly have gender issues but she does canonically struggle with people not really seeing her as a woman (because of her shape and stature in particular), and I think there is something both dangerously giddy-making and also very tempting to her about the idea of being seen as physically desirable.

sure why not let's make it a meme: send me a character or ship and i'll tell you my soft vs. hard headcanons for them

[silver-la-pixels]

Utau × Demon Slayer au notes

main characters are teto and tei, it's a teito fic and takes place before the main line of demon slayer with little to no interactions of the kny cast and more allusions and references

-Kasane Teto- protag of the story. She did not have a voice until she turned 13 and came from "a foreign country" to japan and lived as a cleaner in a bakery. She heard a strange noise one night and was partially turned into a chimera demon*, but gained her voice. Her appearance scared the shop owners and townsfolk though, so she fled. Teto became a slayer and found that she aged half as fast as regular humans, and worked alone taking odd jobs.

-Sukone Tei- Tei was a maiko and kunoichi with a vengeance. While she was still human, she fell in love with a boy named Len, who was already betrothed to the Hatsune clan. After she became a demon, it was rumored that she killed his family and the girl he was married to. Unsatisfied, she continued to train as a maiko and contract kunoichi by night (yes its extra. That's why it's her backstory.) She was well over her long-dead of old age crush hanging when she met teto, who had been hired by a singer of the hatsune clan to protect her as she felt she was being watched. Tei was very unpredictable and still killed humans to live, but teto bound some of her powers and invited her as a companion.

-Hatsune Miku- The hatsune clan was known for its craftsmanship in musical instruments and talented singers, but had a grudge against a demon. Miku was sent to apprentice playing the shamisen and singing away from her town for her safety, into Tei's old apprenticeship. She has pale green hair from her affinity for leeks. It was said that her voice could even stop demons**, but she felt unsafe and hired a wandering Teto to take out the suspected demons.

-Kagamine Rin and Len- Len was said to be the spitting image of his several great grandfathers, lone survivor of a demon attack. Rin was his cousin, and their antics involved often switching places with each other due to their almost identical faces. Since Tei really cant tell them apart, she protects them both. Theyre mostly side characters lol

Momo and Uta are children from workers of the same farm and have automaton legs, as a disease outbreak at the farm ruined their muscles when they were young and left Uta's voice weak, though they both love singing. However, their impoverished families sent them to work as maids at the mysterious butterfly estate for a better life. Uta received training as a sniper while Momo learned to sing in demon-halting breath.

-Rook and Yokune Ruko- A demon-slaying duo. Ruko was rumored to be a demon, as not only were their eyes were different colors, but they had "two voices" and study demon-halting under the sound hashira. Rook is an apprentice of the slayers "guard dogs" and has a fighting style similar to that of a wild dog, but is very loyal to ruko. He has an adopted little sister named Miko who was raised by wolves until she was 2.

-Sekka Yufu and Namine Ritsu- referred to as the mountain demons. Ritsu is a largely harmless demon who lives at the foot of the mountain and goes to drink with humans every now and then. He was turned when he was 6, but likes to shapeshift to be a young woman. He only kills people who dont like him or point out that his fake double d cups are actually bombs. Yufu is rumored to lure travelers into the snow-capped mountains with her voice into storms and avalanches, but most of the deaths aren't intentional. The two are loosely friends.

*(Yushiro accidentally turned her, but as he was almost completely free from muzans control, she was largely unaffected.)

**In this AU, demon-halting breath exists as a form of singing. It can be naturally inherited or taught.

[probablyacreep]

Fear of Chthonicism

So, after my post yesterday, (the answers were really helpful thank you)

confronting this properly for the first time and beginning to do some reading, I feel like other people’s beliefs and experiences do largely line up with mine. As muddled as they are. So maybe I’m not being naive and all chthonic and/or psychopomp type gods and associated traditions are not necessarily bad and to be avoided. There’s obviously a capacity to cause great fear, but I haven’t personally felt truly unsafe if that’s the right word. Maybe even the opposite.

I also see they’re more complicated than a single role. It makes sense since i “get” or associate (dk how to describe this, it’s so far outside the sphere of my pretty secular life experience so far) more images of dark earth, horses? (as status symbols?) gold/wealth/riches, plants (not “the wild” or the general Earth or fundament itself but the process of abundance coming from the soil, especially crops, rich fruits and dark leaves?) coldness, wetness, darkness and even peace, rather than the physical realities of death and bereavement. (This might be down to my own avoidance despite my job involving interacting with funerary goods and bodies)

It does raise a new problem…possibly about to pray to The CEO of The Bank???? :,((( (this is genuinely probably the best modern comparison I could make as much as I don’t want to lmao)

[spiderweb-bf]

I'm sorry I know I talked about this on here not that long ago but what makes my blood boil like nothing else is videos of people obviously not handling wild animals in a safe way and then posting it online

[pokemonbiologyirlthetabletop]

Greavard & Houndstone

 Greavard (#971)

Spiricanis fatifer [Greavard]

WARNING: DO NOT APPROACH UNPREPARED. CHILDREN AND THE ELDERLY SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM WILD/UNTRAINED GREAVARDS!

Greavard is a small dog Pokémon that's pure ghost type, it's only 2 feet tall (0.6 M) and they weigh an average of 77.2 Ibs (35 kg).

Habitat: Greavards can technically be found anywhere, but they are far more common near graveyards, cold mountains, and abandoned towns/streets/buildings.

Life Cycles: Greavards have two confirmed origins, 1.) regular mating processes 2.) reincarnation of beloved dog Pokémon. However they come about, Greavards have a normal lifespan of 20-30 years. They mate during the summer/fall and have pups in the winter. Greavards are periodically consumed by larger predators that will eat ghost types, such as Dusclops or Dusknoir.

Behavior: They have an incredibly friendly disposition so long as you show them even an ounce of affection, but beware: Greavards will unintentionally/with no malicious intent, sap the energy from you and consume it for itself! This makes them incredibly risky to approach—but have no fear, Greavards can be trained to stop doing that! It takes a lot of patience and a willingness to put up with your energy being sapped (this is typically not fatal), but Greavards are good dogs who aren’t trying to hurt you!

By and large, Greavards do not form packs but may form colonies, especially around any Houndstones. They do not have any real need to hunt or compete, so the colony structure is merely for companionship, but they will hunt together if they have to.

Diet: Spirit energy, and sometimes meat or Pokémon food. Again, an untrained/wild Greavard will unintentionally take its spirit energy needs from whoever its nearest. However, as long as you train your Greavard properly to skim the top of its entire surroundings, and not just whoever it’s currently interacting with, then no one will even notice and your Greavard will still be getting its nutritional needs met. For best results, it’s also best to feed your Greavard ghost-type friendly Pokémon food, to substitute for some of its dietary needs (available from Poke-Bright Food, subsidiary of Dark Moon Corporation).

In the wild, Greavards will sometimes eat small ghost types like Gimmighouls or Shuppets, should the usual strategy of energy-draining from humans be unsustainable.

Conservation: Least concern.

Relationship with Humans: It is believed in popular folklore that Greavards are the reincarnations of dog Pokémon who never knew human affection, but this contradicts the folklore behind Houndstone (its evolution), which states that Houndstones are the reincarnations of much-beloved family pets. Ghost Pokémon Researchers decided to get to the bottom of this, and found that the folklore about Greavards to be merely an old wives tale, but did confirm through interviews, anecdotes, and surprisingly a couple of case studies of their own companions, that its beloved dog Pokémon that have a chance at reincarnating into a Greavard after their death. The scientists involved in this discovery hypothesize that this is the real reason why wild Greavards are so friendly. They also noted, that of all the data that they collected, Maschiffs, Mabosstiffs, Lillipups, Herdiers, and Stoutlands seem to be the only known dog Pokémon that can reincarnate into Greavard. This raises many other questions, none of which scientists have any concrete answers to.  

 

With that said, Greavards are infamous for their life-draining friendliness! The forbidden good boys! They often roam city streets and alleyways at night. In places they frequent, there are signs warning folks about the dangers of approaching a Greavard, and not to interact with them.

 

Greavards are considered unsafe for beginner trainers, children, those with weak constitutions, and the elderly, but intermediate trainers of reasonable health may attempt to train a Greavard with likely success. Because of the legitimate concerns toward a trainer’s health, Greavards are explicitly banned as viable state-issued starter Pokémon by any community that has had the matter brought to their attention.

 

Classification: They are placed in their own genus, Spiricanis, but they are squarely in the same immediate clade as Maschiffs, Mabosstiffs, Lillipups, Herdiers, and Stoutlands. This clade is a more recent taxonomic category, and is defined quite specifically by the species in it being able to reincarnate into a Greavard or is itself a Greavard/Houndstone. Given that Greavards are reincarnated on the basis of human affection, it is hypothesized that the ancestor of the aforementioned dog Pokémon, who was likely domesticated around 40,000 years ago by early humans, became magically intertwined with humans too, and was able to achieve a new life stage under select human-induced conditions, and this trait happened early enough in the domestication process to now be seen in multiple domesticated species of Dog Pokémon.

Houndstone (#972)

Spiricanis fidelis [Houndstone]

Houndstones are a pure ghost type that average at 6’07 feet (2.0 M) tall and 56 Ibs (25.4 kg), with all of that weight coming from the fact that it’s mostly just bones, dead skin/fur, and it has a tombstone on its head (called a “protuberance”).

Habitat: Technically, they can be found anywhere that Greavards are found, however they really prefer to spend their time sleeping in graveyards.

Life Cycles: Houndstones are the evolved form of Greavards with identical life cycles. They typically have litters of 2-4 puppies each winter, and mated pairs are usually seasonal only.

Behavior: Houndstones lose their overzealous natures of the Greavards, choosing instead to quietly spend their time sleeping in graveyards. They are incredibly loyal to their masters and retain their friendliness, they’re just not as in-your-face about it. A well-trained Houndstone is a loyal companion for life, who will defend its household, its trainer, and its family to the death if it has to.

In the wild, Houndstones often find themselves the cornerstone of Greavard colonies, but they don’t mind. It’s good for the Greavards to have older Pokémon to watch out for them and teach them some manners!

Diet: Same as Greavards, though Houndstones have much greater innate control over their energy-sapping tendencies and need far less training on this (if they weren’t already trained).

Conservation: Least concern

Relationship with Humans: Houndstones are seen as the pinnacle of loyalty. They do not have the social stigma that Greavards have on danger, and they are commonly associated with elder trainers in media, especially under the common trope of a child’s first Pokémon being a dog, then it grows older, evolves, and eventually dies as all Pokémon do, but it was loved so strongly and cared for so well by its trainer, that it reincarnates as a Greavard during the trainer’s middle-age years, and the two grow old together as trainer and Houndstone (the trope is called A Trainer’s First Houndstone).

~~~~~~~~

Hey guess what, if you like my stuff, this is my website where you can find other Pokémon I've written on and more information about the game that I’m slowly making! Check it out! I write books sometimes too.

[is-the-primate-vid-cute]

Cute or staged?

So this has been making the rounds. Thoughts?

It's The Dodo, so I'm instantly suspicious.

https://www.thedodo.com/daily-dodo/wild-monkey-walks-into-doctors-office-to-get-help-for-her-baby

You would be correct to doubt anything the Dodo features. This is highly unusual behavior and I am suspicious. A macaque this subdued and allowing crowds of onlookers and strange bright lights in her eyes is either sick and needs a VET, not a human doctor, or this was staged.

Any video posted online that tries to anthropomorphize animal behavior "she's taking her baby to the doctor!" is dangerous as it desensitizes us to seeing wild animals in inappropriate settings. Videos like these directly lead to unsafe animal interactions in real life where people, and animals, get hurt.

I hope mom and baby got real help after the video ended.

[is-the-rodent-video-cute]

there's a trend on tiktok right now with people keeping wild mice that get into their houses as pets (like capturing them and putting them in cages), instead of releasing them with the argument "if i released them, they'd just get back in anyway." can we get your thoughts on the matter? how unsafe is a wild mouse as a pet?

I don't have tiktok so I was unaware of this!

I feel like it may be easy to guess my answer here: This is absolutely a terrible idea!!

In keeping a wild mouse as a pet, you are not only causing the animal extreme stress, you are putting yourself in danger.

The urine, droppings, bedding, and fleas of wild mice can all can transmit hentavirus, a highly dangerous disease that by keeping a wild animal, you would be exposing yourself to every day. Also, even an animal as small as a mouse, when it feels it has no other option (say, if you put it in a little box and force it to interact with you) can and probably will bite.

In addition, fully “taming” a wild mouse is pretty much impossible. A wild mouse can never love you. It will never feel fully safe. It will fight every day to escape. It will be miserable for the rest of its life. With a pet mouse, you could spend time playing with it, observing it, bonding with it and feeding it, with a wild mouse, it will hide from you all day. I’d ask these people how they plan to care for this animal. What do they do when it comes time to clean out the cage and they somehow have to convince the mouse to leave their prison without fully escaping. What do they plan to do when the mouse gets sick? When my mice were sick I had to pick them up and administer oral medication, do they think they can make this wild animal trust them enough to let them hold it and shove something in its mouth? How do they plan on getting it in to a carrier? What if they’ve got a pregnant mouse (and do they even know the sex of their mouse in the first place)? What about when the mouse gets old and sick and just doesn’t work right anymore, how would euthanasia be administered? Would they let the mouse continue suffering until it reaches a slow and painful death?

In addition, their reasoning for keeping these animals isn’t even sound. If you want to release a mouse and ensure it doesn’t come back, all you have to do is bring it at least a mile from your home. Alternatively, you could contact a wildlife expert or rehabilitator in your area.

(Also, btw, in some states, keeping a wild animal, even one as seemingly insignificant as a mouse, as a pet, is illegal)

[is-the-whale-video-cute]

Hello! I have kind of a strange question. Is it okay to post videos about cetaceans living their life in wild? I looked through your profile, and looks like one of the cases for concern with videos is that a video can encourage people to seek contact with an animal. And in general people and boats seem like a major stress factor.

I'm a marine scientists, bit not in biology, so when I'm out on a "cruise" (dont know how to best translate and describe this) on a ship, we sometimes see cetaceans from the deck, like in arctic for example. And I've heard that there were types of cruises where the ship will.move to locations where there will be wild life (like a polar bear or a cetaceans), and that can even be based on tracker information, but I feel like that that is a huge stress factor.

So, I'd like to ask you, whats your opinion? Should there be a disclaimer on a video with cetaceans that says to not seek out contact with an animal or an animal in general?

Most of the videos I explicitly discourage people from sharing are ones where the interaction taking place with a whale is unsafe (ie. swimming with protected species, touching or attempting to touch wild whales). I don’t think there’s necessarily harm in posting videos of people safely viewing wild whales.

A lot of my points from the question I answered about the ethics of whale watching apply here. Boats do have the potential to stress whales out, but whale-watching can be done safely as long as guidelines are followed. The guidelines I’ve mentioned previously are these:

Not actively approaching within a certain distance of whales (in the US, you cannot go within 100 yards of any large whale by boat, but the exact distance varies by species and location)

Only observing an individual or group for less than 30 minutes

Putting the boat’s engine in neutral if whales approach

Never approaching whales head-on

Leaving if whales are showing excessive signs of disturbance

Most whale watching companies do not make use of tracking devices, they simply take the boats out to areas where whales are known to frequent like summer feeding grounds. Too many boats in one area can definitely cause stress, reputable whale-watching companies will coordinate with other boats in the area to ensure they give each other space and don’t crowd around the whales.

In short, I think sharing videos of wild whales is ok, as long as the videos do not depict unsafe interaction like touching, or otherwise disturbing behavior (boats clearly not following basic guidelines). I understand the concern that videos of whales could inspire people to seek out unsafe and irresponsible interaction with them. Preventing that is the responsibility of public education and outreach and, if all else fails, laws and regulations that prevent marine life from being harassed.