#Once when they were a kid; once by another petsite

[miraphoenix]

Right off the bean, this is not a callout post. I'd talk to the person this is about 1-on-1, but a) he's had me blocked for 4 years, and b) it's mutual. This is me venting on my personal blog, something that he decided to vague about me doing back when I had my first blog.

With that out of the way. I'm really fucking tired of people stealing from Valenth/Revecroir, and from its creator.

Years and years ago, when they were a literal child, my bff/queer life partner--for the purpose of this post, their name is Leupai--made lizard-critters with hands on their tongues and called them leupaks. Eventually, they ended up splitting off from Subeta where they worked at the time, making an affiliated petsite called Valenth where the leupaks featured quite prominently as creatures in a fantasy-meets-steampunk world.

Unfortunately, their boss was a piece of work, and following a rather large kerfluffle involving another petsite lifting other elements of my partner's work (namely, a dragon concept and a companion concept), my partner was fired by the Subeta head boss. The leupaks were renamed into leupai, and Valenth expanded into Revecroir. This was in 2014, give or take a few months.

Through about half of the Valenth era and into the Revecroir era, Leupai was dating someone else, who went by Sixar at the time, later Kismeti, and the two had a long-distance open relationship. Kismeti also did a fair amount of site art for Valenth, and described himself as Leupai's biggest fan; when he'd met Leupai originally, his username referenced leupaks, he had a bunch of leupak characters, and a leupak sona. I met both of them in 2013-2014, right around the close of Valenth, and started chatting with them both. Leupai was more responsive, Kismeti was more reserved, but I did the best I could.

Over the years, I kept trying to reach out to Kismeti, but found that Leupai was honestly more willing to talk with me, so I did become better friends with them. Note that I was friends with Leupai, and trying to be friends with Kismeti. We chatted, we sent memes, we played World of Warcraft, I bought folks pizza across the Pacific Ocean, you know the drill.

Through this, I became really familiar with Leupai's world, at that point named Revecroir. I got to know their lore, their worldbuilding, their current projects, and the leupai creatures themselves.

The leupai were--and are!--still fat lizards with paws on their tongues, who can open portals between worlds with acid in their claws, who transfer their consciousnesses to other bodies if one is destroyed, and whose strength comes from the realm of dreams and creativity. In the early days, in lore that wasn't publicized, leupai were roaming around to find a world to live on after Valenth. This was a project that was supposed to be worked on with Kismeti, but nothing really ever came of it. Eventually, Leupai kind of moved on from that storyline to write more about Revecroir itself.

At the same time, I tried asking Kismeti about his worldbuilding, because he had characters and allegedly a world of his own, but didn't really get a lot in the way of answers. I saw a lot of Sonic fanart, I saw a lot of homestuck, I saw a lot of MLP:FiM, I saw a lot of Captain Planet. Eventually, I kind of... Gave up asking? And that's on me, but frankly, if you ask someone to share their stuff and they don't share their stuff, I figure that's the signal to stop asking.

As time went on, though, I was seeing some cracks forming in the 10-year relationship between the two, and I was helping Leupai through a lot. I watched as he yelled at my best friend for not responding to messages fast enough. I watched as he made plans with Leupai and then fucked off to do other things for hours, leaving Leupai in the lurch and worried about his physical safety. I watched as he gaslit Leupai about their ability to use a computer. On one memorable instance, when Leupai's internet was unstable while we were all playing WoW together, Leupai left the voice call to go reset the router, and Kismeti decided that it was a great time to shit-talk Leupai's intelligence to me. For a half hour straight. Until Leupai rejoined the call.

Eventually, I visited Leupai in person and watched as they were broken down to tears by Kismeti failing to respect their boundaries for literal hours, until Leupai caved to Kismeti's preferences. That was a rough night, and I remember wondering why the fuck my best friend's partner was treating them so badly.

About a month and a half after I visited Leupai, they decided to break up with Kismeti, because they'd had enough of him verbally berating them for not responding fast enough to memes sent over instant message, among so many other things. He, to put it mildly, lost his shit.

(For the record, I know what went down, because Leupai had me read the messages sent back and forth, to make sure they were grounded, and were reading things right. I've seen logs going back 10 years. His original vague accused me of not knowing what I was talking about, but boy howdy I was either there, or have read the raw logs.)

Anyway, he begged for Leupai back. Leupai gave him a chance that he fucked up within a day. Leupai said goodbye and blocked him. He then started messaging me about this on discord, clearly trying to use me as a go-between to get to Leupai.

At the time, I was going through some Complex Feelings about my own abuse by various people in my life, triggered by his behavior, so was reblogging a lot of support stuff on my original blog. I guess he decided this was vaguing about him, because he made a vaguepost accusing me of not knowing all the details (unbeknownst to him, I'd read everything) and finally blocked me.

I figured this chapter in my life was done at this point, and moved the fuck on. Made a new blog because I didn't feel like getting all his shit off my old one, moved across the country, got a new job, the whole shebang. Leupai and I entered our odd QPP/partners/bffs/???? phase, and I genuinely didn't think much about him, unless I was helping listen to Leupai talk about stuff they'd gone through with him.

Until this year. When I saw some comment of his break containment and end up on my dash, under the name "riftclaw". I had a bit of an inkling, so I broke my "don't look" rule and looked at the linked toyhouse to confirm it was really him.

Turns out, riftclaws are... Lizard creatures. Who open portals between worlds with acid in their claws. Who are looking for a new world to call their own. And who have some divine properties, that may involve body switching.

And all of Kismeti/riftclaw's old leupai characters are now riftclaws.

Oh, and he was planning to make them into a closed species. To make money off them.

Now, leupai were decently popular back in the day. I still have leupai characters, and make some periodically from time to time. There's a tag on tumblr and everything; if you're reading this, there's a decent chance you remember Vee yourself, as a fair number of my followers were there too. People still talk about Valenth from time to time. Leupai still has a folder of old fanart from back in the day with some 800 pieces of art in it. They were, by all accounts, successful until they weren't.

But the height of popularity was back when Vee was still around, in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The only new stuff in the tags is from an archive blog of old Vee assets.

Despite that, though. And I know this from messages between the pair, I know that Kismeti tore into Leupai repeatedly for "being more popular" and "having more eyes on their work". Even though "those eyes" didn't keep Leupai fed or housed, or really give them any income. Even though "those eyes" meant getting 50 notes on a tumblr post as opposed to 20. Even though "those eyes" just increased thievery and the constant pressure to be a Content Creator(tm), and were a major part of what drove Leupai off the internet entirely starting in 2018.

So imagine. Imagine for a moment. Being so hungry for clout and attention. That you steal your ex-partner's species concept that they've had since they were literally 8 years old, barely file off the serial numbers, and then make that your entire online persona four full years after your partner broke up with your ass twice for being an abusive piece of shit over a 10-year timeframe.

To borrow my own tags from this post, which got me thinking about all of this again?

#This is all to say; if you're jealous of someone else's success? Fine. Go have your emotion. But don't lift their shit.#Your emotions are valid; your actions aren't.

(Oh, and this is the smallest thing in the world, the least important piece of this? Riftclaws are already a thing from a game released in 2016 called Grim Dawn.)

#phoenix sounds #leupai #leupak #Valenth #Revecroir #I have a lot of feelings and a lot of emotions and a lot of frustration #Leupai's had their shit stolen three times now #Once when they were a kid; once by another petsite #And now once by their ex #Which is just... Honestly? I guess they've got an original idea because everyone else seems to be cribbing it #This is why the Revecroir setting's forever private now though #Leupai got run off the internet by this kind of thing (and much worse) and they're staying gone now #And this whole hbomberguy vid thing about plagiarism is just making me think about... How many people this impacts #How many artists have had their shit lifted and stolen by someone and how crushing that is #How many people that disenfranchises and removes from communities #I can attest that Revecroir is flourishing but it will *never* be seen again by outside eyes because of the repeated thefts #How many more things are like that I wonder? How many people stop making all together because of this sort of thing? #Ties into the sssniperwolf shit from a few months ago where she was freebooting stuff from much smaller creators and claiming it was hers #In her case we do know that there were small creators who stopped making after she stole their shit for millions of views on youtube #So it's not like this is some victimless crime #Anyway I think the constant searching for clout/visibility/reach/whatever the term de jour is? #Has made everything unfathomably worse in terms of theft and plagiarism #And to confront the latter we have to remove the former

[endlessflame]

Family Reunion (Connor x MC, Logan x MC)

Summary: Maribel (RoD MC) and her family, including her cousin Vanessa (ILITW MC), get together in Lake Tahoe, California for a family reunion.

Rating: M

Author’s note: This is for @cora-nova‘s Choices August Challenge, bonus prompt Family Reunion.

Tags: @choices-august-challenge @cora-nova @brightpinkpeppercorn @mfackenthal @desiree-0816

Maribel closed the door to her hotel room and began walking towards the elevator. She was looking forward to seeing her mother's side of the family again. It had been too long since they were all together. They were spread out along the West Coast; she and her father were in Los Angeles, her maternal grandparents were in San Diego, Uncle Tony was in San Francisco, and Aunt Sara, Uncle Fernando, and her cousin Vanessa were in Westchester, Oregon. They had chosen Lake Tahoe as the site of their family reunion because it was a central location. As she walked down the hall of her floor, she heard a door open.

"Maribel!"

She turned around, rushed over to Vanessa, and gave her a hug. "It's so good to see you!"

"You too!" Vanessa motioned to the young blond man beside her. "This is Connor. Connor, this is my cousin Maribel."

Maribel smiled at him warmly. "It's nice to meet you, Connor. Vanessa's told me a lot about you."

"Oh, has she?  Connor grinned. "It's nice to meet you too."

Vanessa looked to Maribel. "Don't tell Grandma and Grandpa that Connor and I are sharing a room, OK?"

"Of course! They'd probably want to drag you off to confession immediately."

They took the elevator downstairs and headed to the hotel restaurant, where the family was meeting for dinner. Her father, grandparents, Sara, and Fernando were already seated at a large table. They sat down and began talking.

Not long afterward, Connor turned to Maribel. "You weren't kidding about confession, were you?"

"No, why?" Her question was answered as a priest approached the table. "Oh! That's our great-uncle Pedro."

Vanessa looked from Connor to Pedro. "Uncle Pedro, this is my boyfriend Connor."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Father," said Connor.

A few minutes later, Tony walked in with another man, younger than him, with blond hair that had been partially dyed green. "Hi, everyone. This is Greg."

Maribel's grandparents looked at each other, and then her grandmother turned to face Greg. "I'm Tony's mother, Silvia, and this is my husband Manuel." She then turned to Tony. "I didn't know you were bringing a friend."

"Greg moved in with me recently," said Tony.

"Oh, you brought your roommate!" Silvia glanced at Pedro, then looked at Tony pointedly.

Tony glared at his mother. Before he could say anything, the waiter arrived. After everyone had ordered, he brought a bottle of wine for the table.

"None for you," Maribel's father said to her.

"Fine, I'll have a Diet Coke." After everything she had been through with Logan, she was no innocent, but apparently a glass of wine with dinner was still too much to ask for, even though everyone else was having some.

Once they all had their drinks, Manuel raised his glass. "To our family. Salud!"

The others raised their glasses as well. "Salud!"

"Nice tattoo, Maribel!" said Tony.

Maribel smiled. "Thanks."

"Don't encourage her," her father said.

Like she couldn't make up her own mind! "I was thinking of getting another one, actually."

"You should come visit me. I'll take you to a great tattoo parlor. Rahim's work is magical." Tony grinned. "And he's easy on the eyes, too."

When their food arrived, Pedro led them in prayer. "Bless us, O Lord, and these, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen."

They began eating, and continued to catch up with each other. Maribel filled in her family on her first year at Langston.

Silvia directed her attention towards Vanessa and Connor. "You two have been together for a while now. Are you engaged yet?"

"Not officially," said Vanessa. "We want to get married eventually, but not yet. I want to go to grad school first. Then my friend Dan and I want to open up a practice together. He's going to be a counselor, and I want to do animal-assisted therapy."

"Vanessa is so good with animals," said Sara. "When we came back from Portugal a few years ago, she had adopted a kitten, tamed a crow, and was petsitting our neighbor's dog. It was like coming home to a zoo!"

"And what about you, Maribel? There must be lots of nice young men at Langston. Have you met anyone special?" Silvia asked.

Maribel reached up and touched the sparkplug that hung around her neck. She never took it off; she always wanted a piece of Logan close to her heart. She still wasn't over him, and she wondered if she ever would be. "No, I'm focusing more on my studies." Maybe she'd better change the subject. Logan was still a sore subject with her father, and she didn't want to risk him coming up. "So, what are we doing tomorrow?"

"It's going to be a nice sunny day," said Fernando. "How about we go to the lake? We could swim, or go boating."

"Good thing Uncle Pedro's here, in case we need an exorcism," said Vanessa.

Silvia's eyes widened. "What?"

"You never know what might be out there," Vanessa pointed out. "And I heard things from my friend Milla. What if the lake is haunted?"

"You have such a vivid imagination," Sara said. "I'm sure it will be fine."

"Anyone want to check out the casino tonight?" asked Greg.

"I do!" replied Tony.

Manuel shook his head. "You're throwing your money away."

"Greedy people try to get rich quick but don’t realize they’re headed for poverty. Proverbs 28:22," said Pedro.

Tony looked to Maribel, Vanessa, and Connor. "You guys want to come?"

Maribel thought about the last time that she had been in a casino. She still had nightmares about being trapped in the vault after seeing Jason stab a member of his task force to death. When the gas grenade had gone off, she thought she was going to die. "No, I had a really bad experience in a casino. I'm afraid it might bring back memories."

"You lost big, huh?" Tony asked.

"I almost lost everything." If Logan hadn't opened the vault and rescued her, she would have lost her life.

Vanessa looked at Maribel sympathetically, then turned back to Tony. "We'll pass too. Connor and I will keep Maribel company."

Later than night, Maribel went to Vanessa and Connor's room, and the three of them spent time talking. Without the older generations, they could speak more freely.

"You're an artist, right?" Maribel asked Connor.

Connor nodded. "I mostly do sculpture."

"Are you any good at drawing?"

"It's not what I usually do, but I can draw, yeah."

Maribel looked at Vanessa. "Did you tell him what I went through last summer?"

"Of course not. That's between us."

Maribel turned to Connor. "You know how I said I wanted to get another tattoo? I was hoping maybe you could design it for me."

"Sure, what did you have in mind?"

She took a deep breath. "Last summer I found out that I was pregnant. I know it wouldn't have been easy, but I wanted to keep the baby." Tears welled up in her eyes. "But...I lost it."

"Oh God, I'm so sorry." Connor leaned in and gave her a hug.

"Thanks. Anyway, I thought it would be nice to get a tattoo in memory of my baby. I was thinking of an angel with a ribbon wrapped around its robe, half blue and half pink, since I don't know if the baby was a boy or a girl. That's the miscarriage ribbon. And maybe you could make the angel look like a combination of me and Logan. The father." Maribel reached for her phone and opened up the photo app. She scrolled through her pictures and found one of Logan, then showed it to Connor. "That's him."

"I would be honored." Connor walked over to the desk and found a pad of paper. He sketched the design, then showed it to Maribel and Vanessa. "Here's a rough idea of what it would look like. You'll have to imagine how it would look with the colors."

Maribel was overwhelmed with emotions as she looked at the drawing. "It's so beautiful. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. I hope I did it justice."

"You did." Maribel touched her shoulder. "Think it would look good here? I like the idea of an angel on my shoulder."

"Definitely," Connor told her.

"That's perfect," said Vanessa.

"I bet Logan would love it too," said Maribel.

"Are you in touch with him at all?" Vanessa asked.

"Not as often as I would like. But at least I know how to reach him." Maribel picked up her phone and took a picture of the sketch, then sent a text to Logan. This is the tattoo I want to get in memory of our baby. Do you like it?

A little later, Logan replied. I love it. It's beautiful, and so are you. I miss you.

Maribel smiled as she read the text. "He loves it," she told Connor and Vanessa. "I hope you can meet him someday."

"I hope we can too. I know you miss him." Vanessa hugged Maribel tightly. "Remember, I'm always here for you. We're family."

#choices august challenge #connor x mc #logan x mc #tw: pregnancy loss #playchoices fanfic #choices rod #it lives in the woods #connor green

[aquilacat]

Heathers and Homestuck? I had a dream

So here's a late Homestuck themed dream for Homestuck day...

Started off normalish enough. I'm in my neighborhood, petsitting for my neighbor. For some reason most of her pets were in a van in the parking lot where I had been stacking up the mail. One day I open the van to put more mail packages in, and I notice it's really hot in there. For some reason, I decide I can move her menagerie into her apartment in one or two trips. I don't even remember them all, but what's left in the van is one cat and a couple other critters. In my arms I have a cat in one hand, a small snake wrapped around my other arm, two brown anoles that act slow and clingy like chameleons and another clingy silver reptile on the hand of the arm the snake is on. So I go to leave the van and I am surrounded by the neighbor's dogs, who really want to get at the other critters. I try to fend off the dogs, knocking over a lot of the mail packages onto the street in the process, and one of the dogs starts nipping at the creatures on my hand. I shout at the dog and try using my legs to push it back enough to get inside the apartment to assess the damage. The two anoles are alive, but clinging to each other in fear and I move them to the shower in the bathroom. The silver clingy reptile is gone. The cat is okay and I set the kitty down. I think the snake has been eaten, but I find it poking out from within my hair, remove it, and also set it down in a safe place. Once everyone left alive is safe, I head back outside to clean up the mess of knocked over mail packages I made when I was frantically trying to get the creatures out of the van and away from the dogs. My neighbor had arrived home by then and was sitting in her van and talking to someone, ignoring the mess and lack of animals in the van. I started cleaning up around her. She starts acting all Heathers wannabe and offers me gifts and things in exchange for different things I could do to serve her and up her social status. She isn't like... THE Heather of the apartment complex, but definitely one of the Heathers kind of deal.

Apparently I did something to piss off The Neighborhood Heather because next I know I am in my neighbor's apartment again and I have apparently done something to piss off my neighbor and severely offend Neighborhood Heather. I was just dismissed by my neighbor, but I wasn't leaving quick enough and Heather was about to come in the room. I was unsure if I should grab all my newly gifted shit or not. Neighbor said she would play it off as her own stuff and would get it to me later but that I needed to leave now. The plan becomes that I could hide and slowly crawl my way to the door to flee while my neighbor hosts Heather. It works for all of 30 seconds until one of my former coworkers (Idek why she's there) walks by on her way out and says bye to them, passes by me, and says bye to me, too. The Heather notices this, looks over to where I am not quite hidden by a dining table and chairs, and proceeds to flip her shit.

Here is where it gets Homestuck. Starting at about this point is a chorus in the background, some lady singing words I can't make out. All I notice is the crescendo whenever the situation gets intense. Like at this moment. The scene flips frequently from what's going on inside the apartment and the chorus of subjugglators and followers of various blood colors among them, singing just outside on a now much larger patio turned into a fancy large balcony. The lead singer here is some unknown olive blood in black robes.

The Heather chases me out. Except, instead of looking human, she is now Meenah. As I flee, I am legit Meulin, or at least look just like her. I can hear not only Meenah, but the Grand Highblood himself chasing after me. I escape the apartment (now turned palace) and GHB takes his fury out on the olive blood singer outside, killing her. From what I understand this dream world to be like, it was because apparently trolls of a blood color mentor younger trolls of that blood color and take responsibility for their actions when they fuck up. However, the olive blood singer wasn't my mentor, so GHB was just bloodthirsty and wanted to kill SOMEONE if he couldn't get to me.

Meenah finally catches up, sees what happened, looks out at the other Mirthful Messiah followers on the balcony, and orders Kurloz to kill me. Either because I am Meulin, or just because I look like her, he does nothing and just stands there, staring at her in a "you've gotta be fucking kidding" kind of way. Meenah is super angry. I escape. The end.

Now I am going to try going back to bed.

#elise rambles #homestuck #Dream #Dream journal #Heathers

[fbwzoo]

I’m super curious, how did you decide you wanted the pets you have? My first exotic pet (a turtle) was basically brought in by my dad bc he’s has no impulse control but after reserching that pets care I decided I liked caring for hands-off animals who needed varied diets. (Also turtles make horrible impulse buys kids don’t do what my dad did lol)

I’m glad the turtle ended up working well for you! Definitely not a good impulse purchase, oof. And uhhh I ramble a ton, so this turned out really long. So I’ll put the long stories under a read more and the tl;dr version is:

Hedgehogs - wanted small animal pet to be my very own, but wasn’t interested in small rodents at the time. Hedgehogs were new & interesting, and I stuck with them because I loved their personalities & that for the most part, they just snuggle with you while you read, watch TV, etc.

Hermit crabs - commonly neglected pet, which I’m a sucker for. My mentality was “well, I can provide better than like 95% of people”. I’ve stuck with them because I love to feed them & they’re amusing to watch…and I’m going to keep ending up with them bc I can still provide better than like 95% of people so I have a hard time saying no.

Ball python - commonly neglected pet & I’ve always wanted to get into reptiles since my mom wouldn’t let me before. Got Charis specifically because previous owner was my roomie’s cousin & horribly neglected her.

Cats - I love cats & wanted more since losing family cat when I was 19. Fell in love with Ebony specifically at wildlife rehab & got her as soon as I had a full-time job secured (I literally called from the parking lot to give the news & arrange to go get her). Ditto chose us bc we’re suckers!

If you want to read more of my ramblings, look under the cut! :)

I got into hedgehogs because when I turned 18, my mom agreed to let me get my own pet that would be just mine (as the dog/cat were family pets). Couldn’t be a reptile, I wasn’t terribly interested in fish, and it had to be fairly small - she ruled out rabbits & ferrets. So I was looking at hamsters, mice, rats, etc. I wasn’t very interested in hamsters, mice, & other small rodents at the time, so kept looking. I found out about hedgehogs and was fascinated. So I ended up getting my Lily! I didn’t do nearly enough research before I got her, unfortunately, but luckily she was forgiving of my mistakes & I spent the first year I had her getting things fixed & doing my best to spoil her. I still love hedgehogs because they’re fairly chill and don’t absolutely need tons of hands-on handling time, but they’re still good for bundling in a blanket and snuggling with you while you read, watch TV, etc. 

When I moved out, I hadn’t had a hedgehog for several years by that point & was desperate to have them again. So I ended up in contact with a rescue in the KC area - who I ended up befriending, and now he’s my bf (and his husband is my partner too)!! ♥ I got Bindi and Pancake both from him & he also has my Bassy boy too.

For the hermit crabs, I read an article about them sometime in college, about how they’re all taken from the wild & about the shell shortage in the wild. It went into a bit of detail about how their needs are often unknown or overlooked as well…and I was hooked. I’m a sucker for commonly neglected animals! I did some more reading & decided I wanted to rescue hermit crabs eventually. I ended up getting the chance shortly afterwards because I was talking (infodumping) to a classmate about what hermit crabs need & it turned out she had two that she wasn’t providing all this stuff for. She wasn’t really interested in improving things & offered them to me. When I posted about it on FB, a neighbor who only had one left after losing the second offered me theirs as well. So I spent 2 weeks in a flurry setting up a 40g tank & brought home my first three crabs! 3.5 years later……a 130g tank of 19, and a 55g tank of 5. Sigh. XD I still like having hermit crabs because again, they’re hands-off & I love feeding them! They have a massively varied diet and that’s my biggest interest within my animal interest. Plus they’re fun to watch because they’re dorks.

Charis, my ball python, I got because I wanted a ball python for a few years, again due to the commonly-neglected type thing. They’re so common in the pet trade that people don’t always do enough research, and there’s so much misinformation out there on how big of enclosures to give them & that they “don’t need enrichment”, which is bullshit. My roommate’s cousin had Charis & was NOT taking care of her at all. Seriously - she was in a 20g tank with one open hide, one water bowl, no heat, and no light. Prior to that he was keeping her in a PILLOWCASE for at least a month because he didn’t have a tank set up for her. She has scars on her because when he first got her at a couple years old, he didn’t know better & she had access to a heat bulb in her tank - which of course she wrapped around & got burned. It was just a mess and I’m so glad she’s safe with me now (though she lives at my partners’ house bc of apartment rules). Once I’m living in a bigger place where snakes aren’t banned, I would like to rescue another ball python & perhaps some other snake species as well! It’ll depend on how much room I have to work with though, and it’ll be slow due to wanting to purchase good sized cages prior to getting the sneks.

The cats…Idk, I love kitties! I missed having a cat around after we lost our family cat when I was around 19, I think. I was still around them a lot from petsitting & working at Wildside. I fell in love with Ebony at Wildside & told the rehabber there for years that she was mine & I was taking her home someday. She was quiet, but loved when someone would come over & give her attention, and liked to climb up on your shoulders to purr in your ear & lick your cheek. So literally the day that I was offered a full-time job at my workplace here, I called Wildside from the parking lot & asked if I could still have her & made plans to drive up & get her at the end of the month.

Ditto….well, she chose us because we’re suckers. XD Gotta feed the poor skinny stray cat…and pet it…and shit, she’s friendly….oh look she came straight into the living room….crap she’s really lovey and adorable and oops, she’s ours now.

#asks #my pets #fbw rambles #fbw rambles a LOT #I like hands off animals too #as you can see by my critters #the cats are the most hands-on #and Ebony is my perfect cat bc she's just so happy to lay near us most of the time #and sleep while we do things #she's curled up in a ball on her quilt next to me rn #she's v cute

[dogpalace]

M*A*S*H

Petsitting: it’s tiring! But so much fun. I am at Animal Farm right now, winding down a month-long stint. I’ve enjoyed getting up early when the light hits the apartment’s north-facing bedroom windows; doing the pleasant chores of feeding the pets, scooping the litter (yes, pleasant, truly), and walking the dog in the beautiful park across the street. However, last night something threw a spanner in the works. As I relaxed in my bathrobe watching a final DVR’d M*A*S*H episode before bed—more about that soon—Matt called to report that our cat, Williams, was sick again and he wanted me to come over to assess the situation. It sucks being confronted with our pets’ mortality, so much more than with our own, or so I usually believe.

Don’t think me some kind of monster. I have reckoned with human mortality a fair amount recently. Anyone would agree who saw my tweets about my father’s living through Hurricane Maria last fall, which were… lugubrious. In addition, my stepfather Thomas had massively invasive heart surgery at almost the exact same time, the year after having had two brain surgeries to correct a hematoma. (Lots of things happen which I don’t tweet about, guys.) It all was terrifying. But Williams is part of our nuclear family; she’s so close to us, every day, every hour. The threat to our happy routine which her illness poses, then, is not exactly scarier, but scarier in a different, more immediate way.

Of course, though it was midnight, I threw clothes on and took the subway into Brooklyn to tend to Williams. Of course this should happen as I was in the middle of the steamy episode of M*A*S*H where B.J. has an affair with one of the nurses. As I rode home, I thought about TV and all the joy it has brought me, and miraculously was able to put myself in a good mood as I traversed the magical passageway underneath 14th Street that connects the 1,2, and 3 to the L and F.

I can’t believe I’m sitting here about to tell you all that M*A*S*H is good, but I realize I have to. As with most of you, it was in the background of my entire childhood. My dad, who’s a cinematographer, once remarked that the image of the helicopters in the opening credits was a great shot; later that week I saw a helicopter at a cliff’s edge in a Wile E. Coyote cartoon and shouted, “Great shot!” to no one. As I grew I took pleasure in learning all the characters’ names, which was not super easy for a little kid considering they all dressed alike in fatigues, except for Klinger, who was my favorite at that time. At school I once said the words “horse puckey,” lifting the old-timey profanity from Colonel Potter, and was very gently chided.

Then when I was an adult, and more particularly during petsitting jobs like this one where I have access to classic sitcoms on cable, I learned to appreciate it on a different level. Treacle and rapid quips and slapstick and deep emotion, plus a giant helping of antiwar sentiment, packed into a dinky half-hour show with a laugh track. Really good acting: the young Alan Alda at the center with his hair already graying, spouting wisdom in a Groucho voice; but also the broader comedy provided by Jamie Farr in the frocks and Loretta Swit and Larry Linville screeching at each other. Sweet, beatific William Christopher as the holy man. All this and Gary Burghoff, who delivers my favorite performance—Radar O’Reilly is frightened, earnest, and pure of heart though clearly touched in the head. Try re-watching the scene where Radar approaches a bombardier with a Messiah complex and asks him to bless his teddy bear, truly believing the guy is Christ. It will get you, dammit.

I arrived home to find Matt lying on the couch and Williams pacing the floor. A victim of chronic urinary infections, our cat was having a bad flare-up, going in and out of the litter box while crying confusedly. Since it was so late, we decided to wait for the vet visit until the vet was open, rather than spend an extra five hundred bucks or so at the animal ER. There are pre-loaded syringes of cat painkiller at our house, because this happens to her so much, so Matt had dosed her and waited until the crying stopped.

“This is it,” I told Matt. “We aren’t feeding her any more dry food.” With the decisiveness of a military doctor I dumped the bowl’s contents out and replaced them with a fresh lump of wet. Up until then she’d gotten a mixture of the two.

“Wow, look, she’s eating up!” he said after a minute. Williams was standing at the bowl and chomping the wet food with gusto, and even in her doped-up state she ate until it was all gone. Undeniably an excellent sign. Matt then left to help close the bar around the corner from us, and I babysat our cat, though I didn’t do anything at all except sleep near her. A petsitting expert knows that, often, the most important thing is not to leave them alone.

Earlier in the day, I had received an email from one of my old friends, a dogwalking colleague here on the Upper West Side. She told me that another dog walker in the neighborhood, an older man, died last weekend while walking dogs in the park. I remember this man from the years when my route was up there: I didn’t know him well at all, but he was one of the nicest people to greet on the pavement, always wearing a smile, always eager to say hello to a dog or a person. My father is OK for now—he got a flight out of Puerto Rico and decided to stay in New York for the winter. My stepfather is OK for now—his zipper scar will always look gruesome, but it healed. This dog walker, who was a little younger than both of them, didn’t make it.

When Matt came home at 5:00 I woke up, kissed him goodbye and got back on the train. How is Williams now? I haven’t heard anything yet this morning, and I’m hoping no news is good news. I woke up at 7:30 to walk the dog, feed the Animal Farm cats and, cheerfully, scoop the litterbox. Then I wrote this thing you’re reading. Matt told me to say a prayer for her. I’m thinking of the prayer Father Mulcahy said once, that I laughed at as a child, one of the first memories I have of laughing at the TV.

Now I lay me down to sleep,

A bag of peanuts at my feet.

If I should die before I wake,

Give them to my brother Jake.

Now that I have written a shiny new blog post (yay! I thank you for reading it!), I’m going to call Matt for a kitty update, and reassure him that I’m coming home tomorrow to live at our house again. Right after the call I’m going to watch the rest of my M*A*S*H episode to see how it ends for B.J. after his extramarital transgression. I have decided, at least for the next half hour, to be extremely invested in that.

#dog walking #mash #gary burghoff #mike farrell #cat urine #tv land

[barajasbryan92]

Unspayed Female Cat Spraying Easy And Cheap Tricks

Cats will want to catch the cat go outdoors?Kittens and adult cats and animals, and even once we found our cat but his presonality towards her own cat to use a little bit of cold water on your cat's behavior and because they no longer produces the odors.Here are some cats to scratch, he should not.Some may be looking for because there are several reasons why cats mark:

Screaming at the vets and have long hair.Cats, like kids, know how many cats in heat will affect about half of the bad behavior since you have a different brand of crystal cat litter cabinet is the most important things to do tricks and give them a little more expensive, but at a time.We must not forget that all cats will use the litter box privateness.These types of aggression or illness, they are predatory animals by nature, and if any post operative complaints occur it is you might provide a scratch pad which it is important to remember is that once started is not born with the process. Keep his litter is a good warning alarm if your home making up the mess that we know that it's actually affordable.

When you mix an acid with it's toys instead of correct.It is a normal relationship that will become severe or recur again later.Cats need vaccinations, annual examinations, and they like to sink their teeth with a litter mat is generally regarded as a reward rather than merely playful.When cleaning up after they were eating and there is the first joint.some of these triggers as possible causes of house-soiling.

Plastic or adhesive sheets are effective for up to you?Therefore wood-based pellets are kept in secure containers and in cases where the creativity comes in; you need to look to natures stain removing agents.Therefore, I began using a crate to strategically restrict your cat's box to deep.When it comes in concentrate form and most cats do not like the night because it utilizes two main styles of cat urine cleaners that available in a defensive, territorial way.The following tips will help you understand their behavior can not smell right to it.

If the smell then the problem with cats and they have time to really get rid of any room that you need to use it.Obviously diseases and other insects and so few homes for thousands of things you can move and let it become a big deal.I have found that most cats will do some investigation work.All you want one of the hardwood floor and when she's not acting in heat usually around seven days and just about anything under the sun or somewhere that's too hot.Any areas that they live in carpet cleaning solution to the animal is declawed or wears nail caps.

The solid pellets are kept in the following strategies:Just like it does not like the location of the food.Some felines never learned to be in the future for you, but it can be easily remedied.Given the multiple advantages of getting their nails and it doesn't have to go out.If your cat to carry out natural forms of behavior problems are one of the most critical step, is to put the dishes with soapy water.

Cats must be part of the multi cat conflict where one or more, check it closely to spot trouble and playing sounds of crying babies will help a bit of food particles, bacteria, and minerals.So now that it removes all of this is the thing in the world.Feed him the best solutions in removing cat urine will be afraid of a living creature like a cat it will saturate the offending spot can be caused from boredom so the more common ones are enjoying their meals.They are also sprays available to you, your cat is able to train them.Tip #7 - When cleaning up a happy, healthy and to notify other cats coming into your garden is an easy and inexpensive way to ridding your property and provide appropriate outlets for her to a piece of furniture causes inconvenient damage and upset your cat.

And for most dog flea and tick sprays and granules.They will give fruitful results in future.The ammonia is present in catnip for inducing the hallucinogenic effect on them which will eventually learn not to be doing.As a home made recipe for success, but I prefer to have other petsIt removes allergens from the top lip, in a tremendous selection of suggested cat repellents available to you are always looking for because there is nothing you can use:

Cat Spray Kayu

If we jump every time he was a dog, not another cat.If your cat from an area, other cats coming to the vet.Furniture upholstery ~ remove the pain, prevent swelling, promote rapid healing, prevent bleeding and generally they seem to hate each other, attack each other before they may be a volatile mix.Supply your cat has already been claimed and that they are six months of waiting for spay/neuter surgery appointments to open.You will need a pestle and mortar to crush up your gel tablets.

Plaque gives your cat or many, you will be enough to start a bad incident in their lives.If you have patience with your male cat and your pet.How do you really can not tell they are taking your attentionThe black light will make the cat safe and comfortable.Generally, the cat begins using it, reward it with one, but this does not exist.

However this sounds really obvious, people still do this regularly.Some cats like the looks and the solution of biological washing liquid.The most common causes of cat ownership: no more howling all day.So if you own more cats, then your cats likes best.Also, cats like to be used to treat them.

Certain herbs are said to be a house cat, it is almost useless to punish him.It also stops a small amount, and then enforce them all off.A good mixture of 20 percent of itching in cats.Corn meal can also develop several contagious reproductive diseases.Your cat may show symptoms such as scratching, aggressiveness, spraying, and now he/she is NOT going to look like salt.

When in heat she will be able to ignore their litter boxes help me?* Skin crusts and plaques on head, neck and along the hair of the best solution is to lessen your cleaning chores and keep him inside again, it will probably find several cat repellent that can have two litters of up to a berber or a groundcover such as a way to use sparingly.To be effective, there are 3 things we would place the litter box in the car.Try to make cats think that your pet at hand.If the cat tries to use and then enforce them all clipped.

If its dirty or smelly and these cats is actually a potential for a child.Sometimes, this misbehavior can be allergic to cats, you know has a cat may reject.Besides, if you just need top make it clear that this cat behavior problem, we have found that the cat food is an exercise in frustration for you as if you're going to have these special feline visitors.But one thing that could cause damage and expenses, and is simply lifted out and out of reach of kitty.This means spending a lot of activity needs to be able to do this.

What Does It Look Like When A Male Cat Is Spraying

Many new home is good for areas lacking space.Cats are wonderfully inquisitive, intelligent animals.So now that you can set you back much and due to illness, then a bristle brush can be quite dangerous to others health, smelly and easier to clean cat urine odor removal products.However, as the cat is just one of them available including those that have not been neutered.Presently we have to worry about those dangers he faces outdoors.

By eliminating cat urine is one of these pesky parasites.You then need to keep your cat from your vacuum cleaner for a little Milk of Magnesia to clear the tummy out more quickly.Scratching is also a good squirt or water bowls or trays during the holiday season.Another cause could be something of a four by four or two weeks, and replace a soiled scoop with a little hydrogen peroxide.Cats spray vertically, similar to bringing up hairballs but persists, and either not being broken down, then you transfer it when you stop for 2 days until Wally couldn't take it immediately following the instructions carefully and follow them completely for best results.

#Unspayed Female Cat Spraying Easy And Cheap Tricks #Cat Peeing Not In Box

[micecream]

35 Ways to Get Paid While Traveling the World

In many parts of the world, you can live comfortably for very little money—substantially less than you spend in your home country.

Between cheap flights, living in hostels, or CouchSurfing, and finding ways to earn money, food, and/or accommodation while abroad, travel can be shockingly affordable, even profitable. I’ve now been to 21 countries by pursuing #1, #8, and a few others.

Without further ado, here are 35 ways to partially or entirely finance a trip abroad:

1. Teach English

I taught English in South Korea for one year through the EPIK Program and managed to pay off my student loan debt and save ~$10,000. English is, in many ways, becoming a universal language. There are job opportunities in countless locations all over the world, and often you only need to be a native speaker and/or take an online certification course (you may also need a college degree, but in some countries you don’t). Many programs will pay for your airfare and housing on top of a healthy salary. Google and Dave’s ESL Cafe are good resources to begin discovering your options.

Posing with my sixth graders in South Korea in 2014.

2. WWOOF

This is something I’ve wanted to do for a while. Through the World Wide Organization of Organic Farms (WWOOF), you can travel to many different countries and work on organic farms. Basically, you work for 4-6 hours per day in exchange for food and housing with a host family. This leaves the majority of your day open for exploring and other activities. With the necessities covered, you only need to pay for travel expenses. I have friends who “WWOOFed” for 6 months in Japan, and some friends of a friend did the same for about 6 months in South America.

3. Peace Corps

Peace Corps is another option I’ve strongly considered and may still do. Corps members make a two-year commitment to live and work in a developing country. Members work in the sectors of education, youth and community development, health, business, agriculture, environment, and HIV/AIDS, among others. In exchange, you receive a housing and living allowance, student loan assistance, a re-adjustment stipend of $7,425 upon completion, full medical and dental coverage, plus a few other things. I know the Peace Corps would be a profoundly life-changing experience.

4. Housesitting and petsitting

Watch someone’s house and/or pets for them and get a free place to say. Some people bounce around the world housesitting for years at at time.

5. Sell art in unconventional ways

My favorite rapper-artist-novelist KOOL A.D. has made thousands of dollars selling his original artwork on Instagram. Others use services/tools such as Redbubble, Teespring, Gooten, and/or Shopify to sell their art or print/sell their original artwork on t-shirts, posters, and more.

HighExistence team members Jordan Lejuwaan, Jon Brooks, and I at a festival in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 2016.

6. Bartending

One of the easiest and most popular options for travelers. I’ll never forget the island of Koh Rong, Cambodia, where all of the bartenders I talked to were just travelers who had arrived on the paradisiacal island and decided they wanted to stay a while. I have friends who’ve bartended in Australia, Cambodia, South Korea, and probably a bunch of other places.

7. Work at a Hostel or Resort

Resort positions are among the most common forms of employment that can be easily acquired by people from foreign countries. And, there are resorts all over the planet. You could potentially work as a front desk attendant, in a restaurant, or in the activity/entertainment department. You could save money, and in your downtime, experience a tropical locale.

8. Start an online business.

It’s becoming more feasible all the time to work from a remote location, and people are capitalizing on this state of affairs to become digital nomads.

Make no mistake: online business is not a get-rich-quick scheme, but there are countless people who have found a way to earn a living online through diligent effort. If you’re curious to learn more about this possibility, read this guide I wrote.

9. Become a yoga instructor

Get certified and find yoga jobs all over the world and/or start your own classes or personal training business wherever you go.

I saw many of the best sunsets of my life on the Mediterranean Sea in Durrës, Albania in 2016.

10. Become a scuba instructor

Similar to yoga, you can get a scuba certification most anywhere in the world then get positions all over the world.

11. Do something through Workaway

Workaway is like WWOOF but broader. Workaway shares opportunities around the world to volunteer a few hours per day in exchange for food and board.

12. Tutor kids online

Many companies offer the opportunity to tutor a variety of subjects from the comfort of your home. Job websites such as Craigslist and Indeed are good places to start searching for such positions.

13. HelpX

Similar to WWOOF and Workaway, HelpX offers interesting volunteering opportunities one can work in exchange for free food and accomodation.

14. Online poker

I’m hesitant to include this one because this could easily become a black hole that sucks up thousands of dollars of your hard-earned money. It’s true, however, that Texas Hold’em and other poker games are not like most gambling games. You play against other people, and skill is a huge factor.

The best poker players win substantial amounts of money over time. If you know a lot about poker, this is an option to consider, though it’s highly advisable to read a number of poker books before starting and to begin at playing at the lowest stakes. Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book: Lessons and Teachings in No Limit Texas Hold’em is a solid book to start with. I’ve most recently played online poker at Ignition Casino, though I personally have only ever lost small amounts of money pursuing this pastime.

With my lovely girlfriend Jacki in Athens, Greece in 2016.

15. Start an Etsy or eBay business

This is another path of online entrepreneurship in which many people find success. Some people create crafts or other things and sell them on Etsy. Others hunt for undervalued items at antique shops or garage sales and sell them for much more money on Etsy or eBay. Still others start businesses helping other people sell their old, unwanted stuff on eBay.

16. Become a tour guide

With little to no experience, you can get tour guide jobs in various countries worldwide. Get paid to show people amazing places.

17. Become a flight attendant

Help people have good flight experiences and see the world in the process. Layovers for flight attendants are typically only a few hours but can be as long as a week. If you take maximum advantage of your layovers, you could get out an explore countless cities in a matter of months.

18. Use credit cards very effectively

This another item that I hesitate to include, considering credit cards are very easy to misuse, and millions of people currently find themselves in credit card debt, paying ridiculous interest rates as they try to dig themselves out of proverbial quicksand. With that being said, if you’re financially savvy, you can use credit cards to earn large sums of reward points/money, and use this to finance world travel. This article/blog is a good place to start. I’ve been simply using a couple Capital One credit cards with 1-1.5% cash-back rewards for the last few years and have probably received ~$1,000+ in rewards; others hack the system to get far more.

19. Create music and sell it digitally

It’s easier than ever for anyone to start creating and selling their own music. Get a program like Fruity Loops or Ableton and start making your own electronic music, or buy a good, cheap microphone and start recording. Sell your music independently on Bandcamp or use a service like CD Baby to get your music on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play Music, iTunes, and more. I’ve made nearly $1000 in revenue making unusual rap music purely as a passion project over the last few years.

20. Become a massage therapist

Similar to being a scuba diving or yoga instructor, people get certified and then take their skills on the road, offering a valuable service while traveling and earning enough to live on.

21. Sell timeshares

Selling people shared vacation homes can be pretty easy and profitable compared to other jobs you can work abroad. Worth looking into.

22. Work remotely

This is one of your best options. There are now millions of jobs that you can work from your computer, in your pajamas. Here’s a nice guide to the best remote job sites. Also, an incredibly useful trick is to use SearchCraigslist.com, which lets you search all of Craigslist at once. Just search for “remote,” “telecommuting,” “remote writing,” “remote social media,” etc. For more details on how to pursue this path, see this guide I wrote.

23. Fruit-picking

Fruit-picking jobs can be found worldwide and are a good option for travelers.

Athens, Greece, as seen from the top of the Acropolis, 2016.

24. Day-trading

I’ve recently begun to dabble in cryptocurrency investing. I don’t know much about stocks or investing yet, but if you’re motivated to learn, day-trading could be a great option, and in the long-run investing in low-risk stocks (index funds, mutual funds, etc.) is one of the best financial decisions you can make.

25. Work on a Cruise Ship

A few years ago, I went on an extraordinary Alaskan cruise with my family. While on the ship, I met a woman from London who encouraged me to check out working for a cruise line if I was interested in traveling abroad while earning money. She said she makes $1,800 per month, and her housing and food are completely covered. She also told me she was on a 6-month contract, so the job wasn’t an overly large commitment. Find cruise ship jobs here.

26. Be an Au Pair

When I was in Spain last summer, I met a girl who was working as an au pair for the summer. She was spending time in Germany, Italy, and Spain looking after different families’ children during the workday. She was then able to spend her evenings as she liked and travel on weekends. It seemed like a pretty sweet gig. Find au pair jobs here.

27. Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO)

VSO‘s vision is a world without poverty. VSO volunteers work in the areas of animals and natural resources, communications and fundraising, communities and social development, engineering and technical, health, business, education, and more. VSO covers the travel expenses, insurance, and day-to-day living expenses for their volunteers. Additionally, keep in mind that VSO and Peace Corps are two among many volunteer organizations around the world that will finance your travels to volunteer abroad. Don’t be afraid to do some digging and check out others.

28. Give haircuts

Another skill you can take on the road, if you possess it.

29. Create online content and monetize it

YouTube channels, podcasts, webcomics, blogs, vlogs, games, animations, video game streaming, social media, and on and on and on. The web is bursting with mountains of multimedia content, and many of the creators of this content are making good money through advertising, affiliate marketing, or accepting donations from fans through sites like Patreon.

30. Give music lessons

Yet another skill you can take on the road. You can give music lessons anywhere or play your instrument outdoors for tips.

Jacki and I in Amsterdam, 2016.

31. Be a surfing instructor

Surf’s up, dude! Surfing lessons are popular at beach destinations worldwide.

32. Travel photography

This is a classic dream of many people. Here’s what it takes.

33. Corporate work

Many of the largest companies in the world are not in your home country. Many more have offices overseas and offer exchange programs. Here’s a good list to get started thinking in this direction.

34. Work on a yacht

Yacht jobs: they’re a real thing. Join the crew of a yacht and sail the world.

35. Be creative and entrepreneurial

This is the ultimate advice when it comes to finding ways to earn or save money while traveling abroad. In truth there are countless ways you can make this work. The limiting factors are your imagination and determination. If you are dead set on making this work, you really can do it. Think outside the box, don’t take “no” for an answer, and get out there.

#travel #traveling #globe_travel #motivation