#should I be saying herbivores instead of vegetarian

[momos-servants]

Wait guys

#this has been tickling my mind #cuz he’s also an air nomad technically #but we saw him eat bugs #appas def a vegetarian #should I be saying herbivores instead of vegetarian #tags-> #avatar the last airbender #avatar: tla #team avatar #aang #katara #zuko #sokka #suki #toph #Appa #momo #air nomads #live action atla #atla #natla #zukka #Kataang

[wingsofmud]

Eh why not two posts in one day while we're at it:

Look, I don't care if dragons don't think humans are as smart as them since they can't understand them the same way. Humans do that all the time.

But it's not like humans are oh so especially strange. There's a species of ants that raises insects for meat, another species of ant that farms aphids for honeydew liquid as food, beavers stop the flow of rivers with dams, herbivorous animals will eat meat if given the chance.

I'm saying humans keeping pets is not up there in odd things. However, dragons don't often keep pets. If anything the keeping of animals should be strange enough that of course a non-dragon species would do it.

Jambu: We live in a place with a huge amount of food, so we don't usually feel the need to hunt down a meal when we can get more calories for less energy. We never go hungry.

Glory: Vegetarian = Lazy.

I'm gonna stop commenting on every out of pocket thing Glory says because we're not going to get anywhere at this rate

Would love to see more of this and less of "Glory is more beautiful than all other species of dragon because she's the closest thing to human feminine beauty standards a dragon can get to"

Babes, all the other queens you've met are Coral, Scarlet, Burn, and Blister. All of whom are their own forms of evil and cruel. I think Rainwings are doing something right actually. I mean they're careless, sure, but they haven't killed any children or locked them up in a prison for existing so... And bonus, no matricide, which can do wonders for one's mental health.

On the other hand, why would Rainwings do "queens" if they don't do families? Why not have a council of elders or elected leaders instead of a singular person every month? Something that reflects their highly communal society.

God forbid any dragon society isn't explicitly racist.

I do honestly love how accepting Rainwings are. Unfortunately this is attributed to them being lazy and careless so...

AKEJRA;KERJGN;A!! YES LIANA

YES? Just a SMIDGEN? Didn't she leave you to die, then imprison all of you along with her daughter in a place where you'll die if you touch the water? And threaten to kill Tsunami when she wanted to protect her younger sister's egg?

If you're communally raised there should be no reason why you can't punish that dragonet yourself. There are communities raised far less...together(?) like this, but your neighbor can punish your kids if they act out.

I think there are more pressing issues, even in time of peace, than bringing up every kid who's acting a fool. Because then like half of the queen's job would be dealing with annoying kids.

-

-

Alright, there's quite a bit here so I'll just put them all together so I can talk about them as a whole. Because boy do I have words:

Let's start with what we know. Rainwings are communally raised. Everyone is expected to aid in either raising children or providing for the tribe as a whole in some way (and possibly both at times). Animals that communally raise their children like this tend to have a very strong parental instinct towards young. Which also leads them to easily adopt into their groups (even from species not their own), which is possible reason why Rainwings can keep sloths as pets.

There is no class divide that we can see, and in general dragons seem to get along well with each other and are extremely friendly, even towards strangers. One would assume there'd be a very strong sense of community here.

So I ask this: Why would no one care about 12 missing dragons? From everything we know about Rainwing society, all the dragons should be very shaken and concerned by this. Those are their children, their parents, their friends, their family.

This is not laziness, this is apathy. You can be the most lazy person on the planet, but the moment someone you truly care about is in trouble that tends to go away quick. This does not show that Rainwings are lazy. This shows that they're uncaring and selfish.

The reaction Queen Magnificent gives is one of going up to an actual high queen and telling her 12 peasants are missing. Okay, fine, as cruel as it seems, we'd at least get why she wouldn't care. But this? It's not like she's being paid to be queen. She doesn't even seem to enjoy doing it. Why not just leave it to someone who actually cares?

And Bromeliad talks of Kinkajou as being "no one's favorite dragon," when Kinkajou is equally as friendly as the Rainwings have been shown to be. They clearly don't appreciate grumpy or downer dragons, so why would they hate Kinkajou who hasn't shown any of those traits? She's talkative sure, but that's not unusual. At worst, she just acts like a kid, what should be a normal Rainwing kid tbh. And there honestly shouldn't be anything stopping Bromeliad from changing her assignment and giving it to someone who like dragonets more than she. Again, it's not like they're paid to do this.

ERRGGGHHHH

#wings of fire #wof #mud reads wof #the hidden kingdom

[watchmegetobsessed]

TO LOVE AND BE LOVED - Part Three (Harry Styles)

a/n: part 3 wohoo! thank you so much for all the love you’ve been showing the series, it keeps me going and writing more and more! originally i thought it would turn out to be about three parts, but it has outgrown that limit so i added two more parts to the masterpost, that’s for sure is gonna happen but i might even add more?! not sure, im still in the writing process so i can’t tell how long it’s going to turn out to be, but this just means even more content for you guys!

as always, feedback is very much appreciated, please make sure to share your thoughts and comments on the part, it’s such a huge boost for writers to read what you thought!!

pairing: CEO!Dad!Harry X Reader

warning: mentions of death, cheating and divorce

word count: 11.4k

SERIES MASTERPOST masterlist

When you were working at the daycare you couldn’t focus on photography as much as you would have liked to. You often had to stay in for extra hours, wait until the last kid was picked up and then do paperwork, or change the decoration in your room or whatever Clair asked you to do that day. By the time you got home you just wanted to take a bath and fall into bed. You also had to travel 40 minutes to work which took away a lot of time from your day.

Working for Harry helped you immensely with focusing more on your passion. Even on his worse days he got home by six and since your workplace is your home, you don’t even have to drive forty minutes to enjoy the comfort of your home, you just walk up the stairs to your room and that’s it.

In addition, taking care of Izzy, you still have the chance to work on some editing or snap new pictures. You have time off when she has her classes and when you put her down for her nap. The best thing is that Izzy is quite interested in photography, she gets very interested whenever she sees you bring out one of your cameras and she always lets you take pictures of her, posing and goofing around. The folder on your computer that has her name is growing each day with more and more sweet photos of the little girl that has completely stolen your heart. You’ve been regularly getting your favorites shots of her printed and you always leave them on Harry’s desk so when he gets home he sees them and they make him forget about whatever happened at work that day.

You are getting more and more emails about possible sessions and slowly but surely, your weekends start to fill up with weddings, birthday parties and engagement photoshoots. It seems like you have definitely made the right choice when you took this job. No doubts.

“Can I ask a question, daddy?” Izzy is poking the peas around on her plate as the four of you sit at the dining table at dinner. Ruth has joined you today, because Harry had to make a quick trip to his office in the afternoon and you were out shopping with Trevor today.

“Sure, baby,” Harry hums nodding.

“Why don’t you eat meat?” she asks seriously, eyeing her own plate that has some chicken on it, while Harry’s is only stacked with veggies and potatoes.

“Because I decided that I won’t want to.”

“Can I decide that too?”

“You’re a little too young for that, baby. You need the meat to grow big. When you’re older you can think about what kind of things you want to and don’t want to eat.”

“Okay,” she nods without throwing a tantrum about her dad telling her no. You know quite a few kids who would have flipped over it, but not Izzy. Harry might not even realize how good of a job he is doing raising her and teaching her how to be a good human.

“I have another question,” she announces, glancing up at Harry.

“Go ahead.”

“If you don’t eat meat, does that make you an herbivore?”

You can’t push down a chuckle, you were not expecting this. Your eyes meet Ruth’s over the table, she is enjoying this conversation just as much as you do. It’s cute how Izzy put two and two together and made a seemingly logical conclusion.

“We learned about herbivore dinosaurs this week,” you inform Harry, who is a little lost about why his daughter just called him an herbivore. Also, you’re quite impressed that she remembered the word, though she struggled with it at first, but it seems like it finally stuck.

Harry shakes his head chuckling as he sets his fork down, looking over at Izzy.

“In a way I should be called an herbivore, but that’s not what you call people who don’t eat meat. I’m a vegetarian.”

“Oh, okay,” she nods, wrapping up the information in her head as she keeps eating.

You and Ruth clean up after dinner while Harry gives Izzy a bath, a little earlier than usually, because she spilled apple juice on herself, so he decided to just go straight for the bath instead of changing once more before bedtime.

“Will you be fine with putting these away, Darling?” Ruth asks as you’re drying the last few dishes.

“Sure! I’ll take care of it,” you smile back at her as she nods and heads into the living room.

Harry emerges from upstairs with a freshly cleaned Izzy on his arms. As soon as her little feet touch the floor she bolts over to join Ruth in front of the TV while Harry walks into the kitchen just as you put the last dish away.

“Hey, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” he starts and suddenly, you feel your stomach drop, especially because his face seems very serious.

“Oh God, what did I do?” you ask, feeling yourself panicking already.

“Nothing! It’s not like that!” he chuckles softly, realizing you kind of misunderstood the situation.

“Okay, good. Sorry, you just looked so serious.”

“Sorry, I was just… thinking. So two friends of mine that I work together with also are getting married soon. They had a photographer booked already, but the guy cancelled on them and, um, I hope you don’t mind, but I recommended you to them.”

“Really?” you ask in complete surprise.

“Yeah. Actually, they saw a picture of Izzy that you took in my office and we started talking about how you do photoshoots in your free time and then I told them to ask if you’d be up to do their wedding as well.”

“Wow, that’s really nice of you, Harry. Thank you!”

“I gave them your number, they’ll probably call you sometime next week or so.”

“Great!” you beam, excited about the new event you can work at. “I hope they’ll want to work with me.”

“I kind of hyped you up for them and they seemed very pleased with the pictures I showed them, so I’m sure they will want to,” Harry chuckles softly, even blushing a little. It always amazes you how a tall, muscular guy with so many tattoos can be such a soft, caring and loving person. It always reminds you not to judge the book by its cover.

“Thank you, Harry. This means a lot to me.” Reaching over you place your hand on his arm and give it a gentle squeeze before moving past him to join Ruth and Izzy in the living room.

Harry was right about Sarah and Mitch being all excited to get in contact with you, because they don’t even wait for the next week to reach out. Sunday afternoon you are working on some more editing at the dining table while Harry and Izzy are painting on the other end of the table, busy with their masterpieces when your phone starts ringing, an unknown number shown on the screen.

“Y/N Y/L/N,” you answer it, leaning back in your seat.

“Y/N, hi! My name is Sarah Jones, I hope I’m not calling at a bad time, Harry gave me your number this week.”

“Oh! Sarah, yeah! So nice to talk to you!” you beam and Harry’s eyes snap up to you at the mentioning of the familiar name. “Harry mentioned you’d reach out and don’t worry, I’m happy to chat.”

“That’s great. I wanted to wait until Monday, but truth is that we are kind of in a short of time and I was afraid you’d be already busy for our date, so I wanted to call you as soon as possible.”

“No worries.”

“So first and foremost, I’m gonna ask if you have anything planned on the last weekend of May. I know it’s just in a few weeks, but I really hope we can work it out.”

“Let me pull up my calendar,” you tell her as you open up the app on your computer that you use to keep track with your sessions and events. Finding the weekend in question in it, you smile at the empty space. “Good news, seems like I’m free that weekend.”

“Oh thank God!” she breathes out in relief and you let out a chuckle. “That’s so amazing. So then would it be possible to meet up sometime next week? You could show some more works of yours and we can discuss more details, how does that sound?”

“This week? Well I have to work—“ you start, but Harry cuts you off.

“Come into the office tomorrow morning.” “What?”

“Put her on speaker,” he smiles nodding towards your phone and you do as he asked, setting it to the table with Sarah on speaker. “Hey Sarah!”

“Harry, hi!”

“Aunt Sarah?” Izzy’s ears perk up, some pink paint on her cheeks that you have no idea how it got there, because her painting doesn’t even have any pink in it.

“Hi Izzy! So good to hear your voice!” she chuckles through the phone.

“Sarah, you’re gonna be at the studio Monday morning, right?” Harry asks and you can’t not notice how his voice changed the slightest bit as soon as he started talking about business.

“Yeah and Mitch is coming too,” she confirms.

“Okay then how about you come in tomorrow morning, Y/N?”

“But what about Izzy?”

“She can come too. I’ll look after her while you discuss the details, it’s no big deal. It’s been a while since the last time she came to work with me,” he smirks over at the little girl, who is already excited to spend some more time with her daddy at his workplace.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Absolutely,” he nods smiling.

“Thank you, well then I’m okay with tomorrow if it’s fine for you as well, Sarah.”

“That would be perfect! Thank you guys both, Mitch and I really appreciate it.”

“No worries,” Harry nods, going back to his painting. You take Sarah off the phone as you say your goodbye before ending the call.

You start Monday off with some extra excitement. Not just because you are about to get booked for another event, but also because it’s going to be the first time you see Harry at his workplace. He has been quite good at keeping his business separated from his private life, it never really happens that you catch him dwell about anything work related whenever he is home and around Izzy. The phone call with Sarah was like a tiny glimpse of what he might be like when he is in work mode and you’re kind of curious to see more of this side of him.

Just as usual, Harry takes care of Izzy in the morning while you get ready on your own. You want to look good, not only are you going to meet more of his friends, but people he works with. Or should you say, people who work for him.

You choose a light pink dress, throwing a white knitted sweater over your shoulders with a pair of ballerinas. After putting on some light makeup and grabbing your purse and laptop you head downstairs to grab a quick breakfast. Izzy is already sitting at the table, still in her pajamas since her and food are a dangerous combination and Harry always makes sure to get her dressed once she is away from all of that.

“You look so pretty, Y/N!” she beams, her legs dangling from the chair as she digs into her oatmeal. Harry appears from the kitchen and he has the same look on his face like when he saw you leave for that wedding a while ago. A blush paints his cheeks as he slows his steps down, his eyes running down on the length of your body before they return to your face.

“Izzy is right, you look… really pretty, Y/N,” he compliments into your face, unlike last time when you only heard him call you pretty when he thought you were long gone.

“Thank you,” you breathe out with a soft chuckle.

The morning carries on as usual, Harry dresses Izzy for the day and then you all head out, however you stop short upon seeing the various cars parked on the driveway and the double garage.

“Maybe take the Rover, it’s got the child seat in it and I’ll take the Jaguar today,” Harry suggests as he hands you over the keys to the Rover and then nears the car he is taking for the day.

“Oh yeah, you just take the Jaguar, boss,” you chuckle under your breath, finding it a little funny that deciding on which car you’re taking for the day is even a question in someone else’s life.

Izzy sings along the radio as you follow Harry’s car into the label’s building. Of course, it’s not just some simple office building, it’s situated in the riches area of the city and the building is massive with loads of floors and a huge HES Records sign above the entrance where you meet Harry after parking down.

“Good morning, Mr. Styles! Hello, Izzy!” the woman behind the front desk smiles widely immediately, standing up from her chair to hand Harry a stack of envelopes. “Your post, sir.”

“Thank you, Veronica. Have a nice day,” Harry nods in her way as the three of you move through the hall to the elevators. Waiting for it to arrive, you glance at the board on the wall that lists everything you can find in the building and the level you should look for it at. There are endless amount of studios, at least three on each levels, offices, creative rooms and conference rooms. It’s pretty clear that HES Records manages a lot of talents and that requires a lot of space.

Arriving to the twentieth floor, which is of course the top of the building, you are in awe as you realize that the whole floor is basically Harry’s office. There’s a kind of hall area for his two assistants, he has his own conference room, his kitchen and dining area and of course, his office space. The whole place screams power and influence. The modern design of the interior makes it such a fancy work space not just for him, but for everyone else in the building. It’s truly impressive.

“Wow, Harry. This place is… amazing,” you breathe out as he walks the two of you into the conference room where Izzy immediately climbs up to one of the chairs, standing up so she can lean onto the table. Harry walks behind her and adjusts her so she just sits before she could fall off.

“Thank you. I really like this place too. I always thought it’s important to have a great place to work at,” he smiles, clearly proud of how far his business has come. “There’s a mini fridge over there, feel free to take anything you’d like. Sarah texted me on the way here that they’ll be here shortly.”

“Great, thank you,” you nod, taking a seat next to Izzy as you set your laptop up. The glass door of the room opens and one of the assistants peeks inside.

“Mr. Styles, Mrs. Wonstein is on the phone asking for you.”

“Oh, alright, give me a minute and I’ll take it.” The assistant nods and walks out. “Izzy, come with daddy a little, alright? Let Y/N do her thing.” “She can stay, if you want. I can look after her,” you tell him, but he shakes his head as Izzy climbs off the chair and running over to him, she takes his hand.

“No, just focus on this one. I’ll take care of her, don’t worry.”

“Thank you, Harry,” you smile with gratitude as the two of them walk out, leaving you alone. You start scrolling through your folders, wondering which photos you should show Sarah and Mitch, picking out some of your favorites while you wait for them, though they don’t take too long to arrive. Soon enough the glass door opens and the lovely couple walks in.

“Y/N! Hi, it’s so nice to finally meet you!” Sarah greets you, wrapping you in a warm hug before stepping aside.

“Hi, I’m Mitch, nice to meet you,” the groom-to-be smiles shyly as he pulls you in for a short hug as well.

“Good to meet you guys too,” you smile back at them as you all sit to the table.

“Thank you so much for meeting us in such a short notice. Our photographer bailed out on us and I was starting to really worry when Harry mentioned that you are doing this kind of stuff in your free time,” Sarah explains.

“No worries. Would you like to go over some of my previous works?” you offer and they both nod in excitement before you start clicking through some old projects.

They share their vision for the whole wedding and the kind of pictures they would like and you like their approach and feel like it’s right up your alley. They both seem to like what you show them and Sarah compliments on how well you are able to catch small, but important moments.

“The wedding won’t be too big, just friends and family, but we do want a lot of memories, it means a lot to us,” Sarah explains and you nod, noting everything she says.

“Harry said you like this oldschool kind of vibe in your pictures,” Mitch chimes in.

“Oh, yeah. I like to make them look like they weren’t taken on a digital sometimes.”

“Do you think you can make some of those for us as well? Not all of them, just a couple,” Sarah asks.

“Sure! It’s more about the editing process, but it’s totally doable.”

You go over a few more things, making sure you’re on the same page, but you feel like things are working out perfectly. Though you guessed they would be great people, it’s still nice to work with such a nice and professional couple. You’ve had some crazy ones before, they definitely don’t make the job easy on you, but it’s not the case right now.

“Okay, so are you sure the date is okay for you? We wouldn’t want you to cancel on anything you had before just because we are Harry’s friends,” Mitch assures you, but you give them a warm smile.

“I’m totally free, don’t worry. Harry doesn’t have that kind of advantage here,” you chuckle softly.

“Thank you so much in this case. You’re truly a lifesaver,” Sarah breathes out in relief.

“Thank you for the trust. I’m really looking forward to working with you guys!”

Finishing up the meeting you pack up, chatting a little out of the business talk with Sarah and Mitch as you head over to Harry’s office.

“Hey! How did it go?” Harry asks as soon as the three of you walk in. Izzy is sitting at his desk, like a little boss, coloring something as he is sitting on the corner of the desk.

“Amazing, we owe you one for suggesting her,” Sarah sighs and you can’t help but just chuckle at how thankful she really is that you could help them out.

“You owe me no more than just one dance at the wedding,” Harry smiles at her.

“Can I dance too?” Izzy’s head perks up.

“Oh baby, you’re not coming to the wedding. You’ll be staying with Grandma, I already told you.” Izzy pouts at her dad, but she doesn’t seem to mind it that much, she quickly goes back to coloring.

“We’ll dance some other time, okay?” Sarah offers her and she nods happily.

“Can I dance with Uncle Mitch too?” she questions and Mitch just smiles down at her.

“Of course,” he hums, curling an arm around Sarah’s waist. “I have a meeting in ten so I’ll head out, I’m gonna pick James up in the afternoon, alright?” He kisses Sarah’s temple before pulling Harry into a brotherly hug. “Y/N, it was so nice to meet you and thank you for everything again,” he smiles at you, enveloping you in a quick hug as well.

“See you soon,” you smile back before he waves his last goodbye and leaves. “Who’s James?” you ask curiously.

“James is our son. He is turning three this year,” Sarah beams proudly.

“Oh! You two already have a son, that’s great! I’ll make sure to snap a bunch of photos of him too,” you chuckle.

“Please, our house is already packed with pictures, but there’s just never enough,” Sarah laughs.

The three of you chat a little longer while Izzy is busy with her coloring, talking about the wedding and whatnot, Harry invites her and Mitch over for dinner sometime and she happily says yes before business is calling her so she heads out as well.

“Okay, come one, little Sunshine. Let’s get home, Rosaline will be over soon for your piano lesson,” you smile down at Izzy who throws all her coloring stuff into one of Harry’s drawers before hopping off the leather seat.

“I’ll see you in the afternoon, okay?” Harry leans down and kisses the top of her head before pressing his lips to her cheek as well.

“Bye daddy, have a good day!” she calls out, grabbing your hand as you head to the door, Harry following behind.

“Mr. Styles, you have a meeting in five with—“ one of the assistants speaks up, but Harry stops her.

“I know, tell him I’ll be down in a minute. And please call Isaac to remind him about his deadline tomorrow,” he asks in that voice again you heard yesterday when Sarah called. There’s just something so intimidating yet exciting in the way he bosses around, but not like an asshole. He is a man in power, but he surely knows how to use it for the good.

“I forgot to talk to you about the time Izzy is spending at my mum’s, please remind me to go over it with you tonight, alright?” Harry asks and you nod as the elevator’s door opens and the two of you walk in.

“Bye daddy!” Izzy waves at him.

��Bye baby, be good! Bye Y/N!” he smiles as the door starts to close.

“See you later,” you smile back before he disappears from your sight.

The meeting with Sarah and Mitch got you buzzing, because it’s gonna be such an intimate yet beautiful wedding and those are your favorite. You can’t wait to start snapping the pictures and make their memories last forever of their big day.

You want to say thank you to Harry for suggesting you to them, so while Izzy is with Rosaline, you make a quick round to the grocery store and get everything you need to make some cupcakes, knowing well Harry loves those. He once told you that he could easily eat a dozen of those if he had the chance, so you think it’s gonna be the perfect way to thank him.

You keep the usual schedule, but after your little learning session in the afternoon, instead of heading out to the backyard to play, you suggest you bake the cupcakes together and Izzy is more than happy to help you.

It doesn’t take long for the kitchen to turn into a warzone, ingredients spilled to the counter all over the place, some music is playing in the background and you’ve been struggling to figure out how to use the different machines around the super modern kitchen.

You go all out with the decorations, you even bought some food coloring so you can make the cupcakes different colors and mess around with the icing and cream as well. You get so busy with the task on hand that time flies by faster than you expected. The two of you are still working on the decorating when the front door opens and Harry walks into the mess you’ve created in the past hours.

“What is doing on here?” he chuckles, seeing Izzy’s hair covered in flour, whipped cream on her nose and cheeks as she is throwing some sprinkles on one of the cupcakes, sitting on the kitchen island counter while you are finishing up another one.

“Oh! I wanted it to be a surprise!” you pout. “Izzy and I are making you cupcakes!”

“Why do I deserve a surprise?” he asks smirking, walking farther into the kitchen as he looks around, finding the mess quite amusing, rather than annoying. Harry knows well enough that it’s not easy to keep the place around you clean when there are kids involved in any process.

“I wanted to thank you for suggesting me to Sarah and Mitch. It was really nice of you.”

“Already told you it was nothing. Of course I suggest them a good photographer if I know one.”

You just smile at him shrugging, because no matter how hard he is trying to play it down, it meant a lot to you.

“Look daddy!” Izzy holds up her cupcake, half of it is covered with sprinkles, the other half is decorated with chocolate chips and she is clearly proud of it.

“That looks great, baby!” he smiles proudly, kissing the top of her head. “You have so much stuff on you, you could easily turn into a cupcake too,” he jokes, making her laugh.

“Be a cupcake with me, daddy!” Izzy beams and before Harry could stop her, she wipes some whipped cream to his face, getting him dirty as well. You gasp before letting out a laugh, Izzy shrieks happily seeing her dad all dressed up fancily and licking the cream off his face.

“Isabelle Styles, you have no idea what you just brought on yourself,” he warns in a low tone, already making Izzy scoot backwards as she is trying to escape, but she doesn’t have anywhere to go, the kitchen island’s edge is right behind her butt. However, she doesn’t realize it and tries to push herself back some more, deeming herself to fall right off, but before anything could happen Harry scoops her into his arms, pressing his creamy face to her cheek, making an even bigger mess that’s already there. Izzy is moving around, laughing and screaming as Harry gets some more cream to his hands, wiping it onto her anywhere he can.

“Oh my God, you are wasting all the cream!” you call him out, but it’s such a sweet moment to witness, you would never blame him for wasting it.

Harry stops attacking Izzy and turns to you with a dark look in his eyes.

“Izzy, I think Y/N looks too clean, doesn’t she?” he cocks his head to the side, exchanging a look with the girl in his arms.

“She does!” Izzy agrees as you start backing away from them. Harry sets Izzy down to her feet, grabbing the bowl with the remaining of the cream. He gets a handful for himself and lets Izzy fill her palms as well.

“Oh no, don’t you dare!” you warn them, holding up your pointing finger at them, trying to escape, but you are kind of cornered against the counter.

“It’s my house, I do whatever I want to,” he smirks, so full of himself and in a blink of the eye, they both launch themselves at you and Hell breaks loose.

They start whipping cream on you anywhere they can and when it’s gone, Harry just decides to go for anything else he can reach. Izzy is throwing sprinkles around while thanks to Harry, flour is flying everywhere, completely destroying the kitchen.

“Stop! No! I surrender!” you scream, fighting back, but it’s two against one.

“No mercy!” Harry shouts, so excited, as if he just transformed into a little boy, throwing mud around.

You grab his wrists when he tries to pour sugar on top of your head straight from the contained, holding him back, but he is so much stronger than you, it’s kind of a lost fight already. You don’t even realize how close he is, your chests are almost touching as he has you pinned against the counter, faces only about two inches away from each other. His wrist slides out of your hold, but he drops the sugar to the counter next to you. You try to snatch it to use his own weapon against him, but he is quick to stop you, forcing your hand down next to your side, but in the process he managed to bring you even closer, flushed against his hard chest and your lips part at the sudden mood change that he must be feeling as well, because the playfulness disappears from his eyes pretty fast and it’s replaced by something entirely different, something you can’t even read, because you haven’t seen it in his eyes before. And then…

Then you see his eyes flicker down to your lips, just a moment before yours move down to his. It’s that moment. It’s that exact moment when you just know you both are thinking about kissing, but you don’t know if it’s going to happen or now. You’re not even sure you want it to happen.

You fucking moron, of course you want to kiss him! That tiny voice in the back of your mind screams at you. In a heartbeat, it seems like he is about to move closer, but then the moment is interrupted and completely destroyed when a woman walks into the house, scaring you to death.

“Wow, it seems like Izzy took over control completely,” she comments, walking further into the house as you jump away from Harry, suddenly very aware of the mess you’ve made.

“Gemma, what—“ Harry starts, but he is quickly cut off.

“Don’t ask what I’m doing here, I literally texted you today that I would come by and you said it’s okay.” She gives him a look before her eyes move over to you as you’re trying to somehow clean everything up, but it’ll take a little longer probably. “You must be Y/N, hi! I’m Gemma, Harry’s sister.”

She steps over to you holding out a hand and you reach for it, but then stop, seeing that your palms are all floury. You both let out a chuckle, deciding to just move over the handshake.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you, though it would have been better if we met when I didn’t have whipped cream in my eyes,” you joke.

“Auntie Gemma, we made cupcakes, do you want one?” Izzy runs up to her, holding up a cupcake that was finished, unlike the majority that are going to have poor decorations, since Harry and Izzy decided to use everything in the fight. Now it’s the floor that’s covered with icing, cream and sprinkles.

“Maybe later, sweetie, but they look awesome!”

As you wipe your face with a kitchen towel, you can feel Harry’s gaze on you, your heart beating so fast in your chest, it’s pushing all the blood up into your head that’s already feeling dizzy. What would have happened if Gemma didn’t walk in? Would has he kissed you? Or did you misread the situation and it was nothing just part of the game?

You busy yourself with cleaning up as Harry cleans himself a little with a paper towel before stepping closer to his sister.

“I totally forgot you texted, I replied in the middle of a meeting, I think I didn’t process the message.”

“It’s fine,” Gemma sighs. “I’m already used to my little brother forgetting about me,” she teases him, but he just rolls his eyes at her.

“Let me just help Y/N clean up the kitchen and I’ll be right with you. Would you mind cleaning Izzy off?” Harry asks her, but you stop him short.

“Oh, I’ll take care of this, don’t worry,” you assure him, but as his eyes snap over at you, you lose your voice. He clearly felt the moment as well earlier and now it’s kind of getting awkward, you don’t really want to be left alone with him right now. Not until you figure out what this whole thing was.

“Are you sure? I mean I was the one who started it and—“

“It’s fine,” you try your best to smile at him without overheating. He is standing several feet away from you, but you can still feel what it felt like to be pushed up against him.

Harry hesitates, his eyes following your every move while you are trying to busy yourself and act normal, while you are literally crumbling inside. You almost kissed your boss in the middle of his kitchen, you need a moment to process that.

“Alright, let me know if you need help,” he murmurs before picking Izzy up and heading upstairs to clean them both, Gemma following them right behind. When they are out of your sight, you lean against the counter, breathing out heavily.

Meanwhile upstairs, Harry hands Izzy his phone to play some games while he cleans her and himself off in the bathroom. Gemma sits on the edge of the tub, eyeing her brother curiously, which Harry notices.

“What?” he asks, stripping Izzy out of her dirty clothes.

“What was all that about?”

“What do you mean?”

“I saw you, Harry. You were like, ready to snog Y/N right then and there when I walked in. Did I miss something?”

“No idea what you’re talking about and I would appreciate it if you didn’t bring this up when it’s not just the two of us,” he replies firmly, looking down at the girl who is obliviously tapping on the screen. Gemma just rolls her eyes before leaving the two of them alone.

Wandering down she finds you scrubbing the counters from the mess you’ve made, deep in your thoughts. Seeing her walk in, you shoot her a smile, not sure what to say or if you even should say anything, but when she grabs a towel for herself and starts helping, you speak up.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.”

“Don’t be silly, I’m happy to help,” she smiles, as she starts cleaning the kitchen island up. “So how do you like working for my brother, so far? He mentioned what happened with the daycare. Honestly, those mothers are entitled spoiled brats,” she scoffs making you smile.

“They weren’t too delightful even before the whole fiasco,” you chuckle softly. “But I really like it here. There are a lot more perks and it’s so much easier to focus on one kid than to have fifteen at a time,” you point out making her laugh.

“Yeah, I’m good with my two, don’t think I could handle more.”

“Oh, you have kids?”

“Yes, two sons. Beau is turning ten this year and Jasper turned six in January.” Gemma pulls out her phone from her back pocket and unlocking it she shows you the homescreen that has a picture of two adorable boys sitting on a bench next to each other, munching on a big bowl of strawberries. The younger one, Jasper has a red sunhat on his head while Beau is rocking some cool sunglasses.

“Oh my God, they look so much like you!”

“I get that a lot and honestly, they really should!” Gemma scoffs. “It took twenty fucking hours for Jasper’s big head to come out!”

“Wow that sounds way too much,” you laugh and Gemma nods with a tired, but clearly proud smile.

“Yeah, but it was worth it. Anyway, after my two boys, Izzy is the little princess of the family.”

“The boys get along well with her?” you ask as you both keep cleaning.

“They act like her big brothers, they get so protective over her!”

“That’s cute.”

“Yeah, they really are. My mom has this summer barbeque every year, if Harry doesn’t invite you with him then I’m doing it now, because you need to see how crazy out family gets,” she smirks at you. “All of our cousins and the kids are there, it’s a whole parade.”

“I’m sure it’s a lot of fun,” you smile at her. “One of my friends in high school had a really big family and they always invited me to birthdays at their place, I loved how lively and buzzing it was always.”

“Yeah, it’s nice to get together from time to time,” she nods smiling. “So do you have a boyfriend or something?” she asks then, implying that she is not even sure if you are playing on the team she is assuming.

“Oh, um, no. It’s just me for now. So no boyfriend for me.” Your answer, making sure it gives her the information she was trying to get as well.

“Are you done interrogating her, Gem?” Harry appears from upstairs, Izzy running ahead of him before smashing herself against Gemma’s legs.

“We’re just having a chat, is that a crime now?” she rolls her eyes. “Swear to God, he is such a control freak sometimes,” she then adds turning to you.

“Would you stop offending me in my own house?” Harry gives him a look. Gemma leans down and picks Izzy up into her arms.

“Izzy, you really should tell your dad to pull the stick out of his as—“

“You are not finishing that!” Harry cuts her off and you can’t push your laughter back. Harry’s eyes meet yours over Gemma’s shoulders and he realizes that you are still all dirty and messed up. “Y/N, go and take a shower if you want. We’ll take this over, alright?”

It wasn’t an order, but you feel like it was a very firm suggestion. He is clearly uncomfortable with you talking to Gemma and though you’re not sure why, you don’t want to upset him, so just nodding you drop the kitchen towel and head upstairs to clean yourself up.

“I hope you didn’t say anything to upset her,” Harry comments as he takes over the cleaning. Gemma grimaces.

“What could have I possibly said? I was just trying to get to know her!”

“You are always a little too up in my business, Gems,” he sighs.

“Daddy, can I watch some TV, please?” Izzy asks, tugging on his pants.

“Sure. Do you need me to switch it on?”

“No, I’m a big girl, I can do it,” Izzy nods before running off, leaving the siblings alone.

“Didn’t know Y/N was your business,” Gemma tilts her head to the side. Harry opens his mouth to defend himself, but nothing comes out. He was caught with this one. “Oh my God. I knew I walked in on something, you have a thing for her!” Gemma gasps with wide eyes.

“Stop with this! You and Niall are like some middle schoolers, it’s so fucking annoying!”

“So Niall sees it too, huh?”

“Niall is an idiot,” he points out. “He is… obsessed with this idea that I should start dating again and he thinks I should make a move on Y/N.”

“Well, he is an idiot, but he has a point.”

“No he doesn’t!” Harry argues, but Gemma just rolls her eyes.

“So you want to die alone? Is that your plan?”

Harry has always hated his sister’s bluntness. She never held herself back when it came to giving her opinion, whether it was wanted or not. But what Harry hates even more is that most of the time… Gemma is right.

He doesn’t want to die alone, no one wants that, but being with someone is a hard topic for Harry after losing the person he thought he would spend the rest of his life with. Even just the thought makes him feel like he is doing something bad, like he shouldn’t even be thinking about anyone but his wife, even years after the tragedy.

“Harry, look…” Gemma breathes out leaning against the counter next to her brother. “I know it’s a fucked up situation and I know things are still not in the right place in your head. But eventually you’ll have to move on. We all want to see you happy and I think that… I think Maggie would want that for you as well.”

Harry tries not to physically cringe at the name, the familiar pain is already clutching his heart, like it has been since the day of the accident. Some days are easier, some days are harder, but Gemma is right. Things are still not in the right place in his head and he knows that, he is just not sure how to fix it at this point.

“I’m not saying you should date Y/N, I’m not Niall to force anyone on you. I’m just telling you to try to get out a little more, just to test the waters. But you obviously like her so if it happens to be her, it wouldn’t be a big deal, if you ask me.”

Gemma shrugs and goes back to the cleaning while Harry keeps his swirling thoughts to himself. Two of the most important people have told him the same thing recently and though part of him wants to stubbornly go against it, his rational side knows that they might be right.

But not much can be done when a man is still blaming himself for the death of his own wife. Because that’s exactly the case when it comes to Harry and no one really knows that the thought has been haunting him for years now…

After taking a quick shower, washing your hair and changing into clothes that are not covered in flour, you join Harry and Gemma downstairs and insist on finishing the rest of the cleaning while they move out to the terrace to talk. The evening goes by peacefully, Harry decides to order dinner and Gemma joins the three of you at the dining table.

You love watching the dynamic between them and they truly seem to be very close. Gemma likes to embarrass Harry with stories from their childhood and you are enjoying them all a little too much maybe, but it’s nice to think that he wasn’t always this confident businessman.

“It was so good to meet you, Y/N!” Gemma hugs you goodbye after dinner.

“You too!”

“Bye Izzy, come and give a smooch for your favorite auntie!” Squatting down she lets Izzy wrap her arms around her neck as she kisses her cheek sloppily.

“Bye Gemma,” she singsongs. Harry pulls his sister into a hug as well before walking her out.

You start washing the dishes, Izzy talking to you about whatever show she was watching earlier on TV. When Harry returns he tells you to just leave the rest of the cleaning up for him while he bathes Izzy, but you don’t listen to him and finish up while they are upstairs.

Bringing your laptop down you settle on the couch and just start scrolling through social media, reading articles and whatnot, the TV quietly playing in the background. You send out an email regarding the wedding you are attending this weekend, making sure everything is in place.

When Harry emerges again he joins you on the couch with a tired sigh.

“Thanks for washing the dishes but you really should just leave it to me when I ask you to,” he smiles at you softly.

“It’s not a big deal, I like to be useful,” you chuckle shutting your laptop down.

“As if you’re not useful enough already,” he huffs smiling to himself. “Oh, before I forget, I wanted to talk to you about Izzy going to my mum’s.”

“Oh, yeah, you mentioned it earlier.”

“Yeah. So she is going to spend a week at my mother’s and I timed it to line up with Sarah and Mitch’s wedding. So I’ll leave her at my mum’s Sunday evening and pick her up the next Sunday which lines up perfectly with the wedding on Saturday. That week is obviously free for you as well, like a paid vacation,” he chuckles.

“Sounds good. How far does your mother lives from here?”

“Just a few hours, not that horrible of a drive. If you’re up for it, we can carpool to the wedding and then pick her up together right from there and head home.”

“Yeah, that works for me, thanks,” you nod.

Harry stays and turns his attention on the TV, seemingly pretty unbothered while you still haven’t stopped thinking about what happened in the kitchen earlier. Glancing over at Harry it appears that it’s not that big of a deal for him, so it makes you settle with the thought that it’s not one for you either.

“Good night, Harry,” you smile at him grabbing your laptop and phone as you rise from your seat.

“Nigh, Y/N,” he smiles as you round the couch and head upstairs, but you stop at the bottom of the stairs, lancing back at the mop of locks that’s visible from him from behind. You watch him run his fingers through his hair and you let out a shaky breath, knowing well you did not convince yourself that it was nothing. Not for you, at least.

Because you wanted him to kiss you.

The wedding you’re attending is held on a farm owned by the parents of the bride. The whole barn was transformed into this very country like fairytale location, lots of fairy lights and candles along with some nice, pastel colored flowers with a hint of purple between them.

Everything goes planned. Arriving you meet first with the groom and then with the bride in their separated rooms of the house, going over everything they want just one last time before you get down to work, snapping loads of pictures from them getting ready for the big day.

Emily, the bride is a chatty girl and all her bridesmaids are her sisters, coming from a big family with five daughters, she is the second oldest. The groom, Jesse is a few years older than Emily, but they are such a cute couple and they are clearly so madly in love, it’s always nice to see people be so happy with the right person.

You keep going back and forth between the groom and the bride and later you do the first look thing as well, when Jesse stands outside in the field and Emily walks up behind him, letting him see her for the first time. It really is always such a special moment and you tear up as well, watching Jesse fall speechless upon seeing his beautiful fiancé.

As the ceremony is about to start and the guests slowly take their seats on the two sides of the aisle, you make a quick trip down there to make sure you are using the right lenses, not wanting to change a lot when the ceremony has started. You stop in the corner, just trying out if you can shoot some pictures of the guests as well with the lens you are planning to use, you take a look around using the camera and that’s when you almost faint.

You would pick out that face from any, it has grown to you way too much, but you didn’t think you’d ever see him again. Lowering the camera you stare at the tall figure with parted lips, blinking a few times just to make sure it’s who you think it is.

But it is in fact your ex-fiancé, Keith, and to make it even worse, the woman standing next to him with his arm around her waist is the one he cheated on you with. They are still together and now you are staring right at them.

Tears sting your eyes as you try to look for a way to escape before he spots you, though you know he’ll see you sooner or later, but right now they are standing right at the entrance of the barn and you can’t avoid walking past them.

Keeping your head down you try to stay unnoticed as you march towards the exit, but you apparently, you are out of luck.

“Y/N? Is that you?” Keith calls after you just when you thought you were successful in sneaking out. Stopping in your tracks you seriously think about just running off, pretending like you didn’t even hear him, but it’s kind of too late and it would be ridiculous. So turning around on your heels, you plaster the fakest smile on your lips as you look at him.

“Keith, hi!” you breathe out, taking just a few steps closer to him, still keeping some distance between the two of you. Stella, the lucky woman on his arm blinks at you and at first you’re not even sure she realizes who you are or if she even knows you. The longer she looks at you the more certain you become that she indeed does not know that you’re the woman Keith cheated on with her. Nice.

Keith realizes that the two of you have been staring at each other awkwardly, so clearing his throat he quickly introduces the two of you to each other.

“Um, Y/N, this is Stella. Stella, this is… Y/N.”

You can tell he was thinking about using titles, but he decided to leave it at that, though it would have been a lot more interesting if he just titled the two of you.

Y/N, this is the woman I cheated on you with, who is my girlfriend now. Stella, this is Y/N, to whom I was engaged when I was fucking you!

You flash her a quick, not too honest smile and it seems like she is catching onto that something is not right, but she can’t tell for sure.

“What are you doing here?” Keith asks, a little harsher than you would have liked him to talk to you, but it’s kind of understandable. Seeing each other after what happened is not a pleasant experience for either of you, you assume. You hold up the camera as the answer for the stupid question and Keith furrows his eyebrows at you. “Oh, you still to the photography thingy?”

“Thingy?” you ask, quite offended. Keith always belittled your love for photography. He thought it was just a hobby, something that should stay just a hobby and not get turned into anything more. He once told you during a fight that it takes your time away from more important things, like doing chores. That was one of the most sexist things he has ever said to you and you should have packed your stuff right then and there. But you didn’t, stuck around for three more months before you found out about the cheating.

“Well, this thingy is kind of a side job for me,” you inform him.

“Oh. That sounds… fun,” he nods, but it’s clearer than daylight that he thinks it’s just a waste of time. Good thing he has no business in anything about you anymore.

“Um, I’m gonna go now, but I guess see you two around.” You shoot them another fake smile before turning around and walking away from this conversation straight from Hell.

Marching away from the barn you rush into the nearest bathroom you can find. You need a minute. Or maybe two… five. This did not just happen. You didn’t just face your cheating ex-fiancé with the woman he cheated on you, what kind of sick movie plot is this you found yourself in?

Placing your camera to the counter near the sink you wash your hands and sprinkle some water to your face as well before you lean to the edge of the sink, staring at your reflection in the mirror. You look like you’ve just seen a ghost and quite frankly, you would have been happier with the ghost than with Keith and Stella.

You’ve been doing alright since the breakup, but it’s obvious that only because you didn’t have to see Keith. Following the blowup when you found the explicit texts in his phone, you only had to face him twice and never since then. It’s easier to be okay when you don’t have to look at the person who hurt you most all the time, but coming face to face with him now really threw you off, especially with Stella on his arm. The fucker did not only cheat on you with her, but he went straight into a relationship with her and she probably doesn’t even know that she was just the sidechick in the beginning. If you were really evil, you’d go up to her and enlighten her about who you really are, but you are not one to cause a scene. Keith kept the two of you apart consciously, he never let you go into his office because he wanted Stella to think that he is a single man while he was engaged. Sickening to think how slyly he played the both of you and even after his little plan failed, he kept lying to the poor girl and lured her into a relationship. You wonder if he is already fucking another girl behind her back.

Your fingers start to turn white, gripping the edge of the sink tightly so you loosen up a bit, shaking your arms and shoulders off to pull yourself together. You fix your makeup and run your fingers through your hair quickly to give it some volume before grabbing the camera from the counter and heading out. However shocking it is to be at the same place as Keith again, you have a job to do right now and the bride and groom are expecting some amazing photos and that’s exactly what you’re gonna deliver.

You manage to busy yourself to the point where you are able to forget about Keith’s existence for most of the time. Following the happy couple around you don’t get too much free time, the camera is glued in front of your face basically and it brings you some peace. For a while.

Emily and Jesse disappear for an outfit change and it gives you a short break since they didn’t want that to be photographed, only when they return. So you get yourself a virgin cocktail from the bar and head outside to get some fresh air. You text back Heather and Trevor and then just scroll through Instagram, enjoying some alone time from the buzzing you’ve been around all day.

“Y/N!”

Turning to your right you spot Keith walking towards you, this time alone, but it doesn’t stop you from rolling your eyes.

“What do you want?” you mumble under your breath.

“Just… though we could chat for a little. It’s been a long time.”

“Not enough,” you retort. “And I would like to skip the chatting.”

“Come on, you can’t be still that mad at me,” he chuckles and you almost punch him in the face right then and there.

“Well I am. So go back to your little girlfriend and leave me alone.”

“I know things didn’t end too well, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be civil towards each other.” You can’t help the laughter that bubbles from your throat. He can’t be serious, trying to act like the bigger person now after everything he has done to you. This has got to be a joke.

“This is me being civil, because I’m not throwing anything at you. So leave me the fuck alone, let me do my job and then we hopefully don’t see each other again.”

“Come on. You don’t miss me, baby?” he smirks at you, completely ignoring what you just told him. You physically cringe at the pet name he just called you and you take a step away from him, needing the distance more than ever.

“I don’t. Now leave.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Too fucking bad. Now leave!” you raise your voice, but it does nothing. He is still standing there, looking at you like he didn’t completely destroy you just about a year ago.

“Heard that you haven’t dated anyone since we broke up.”

“Are you asking around after me?” you scowl.

“We have a few mutual friends,” he shrugs. “Is it because you still want me?”

“My dating life is none of your business, Keith. And I don’t want you. Quite frankly, I don’t even know how I could ever want you, so now please let me enjoy my break and leave me alone.”

“Y/N, I just—“ Keith reaches for your hand, but you pull back before he could touch you, holding up a finger at him you start talking slowly and very clearly so the message goes through.

“Don’t ever fucking touch me or talk to me. I want nothing to do with you, you’re a manipulating, cheating, egoistic asshole who ruins the life of others. I’m telling you this for the last time, Keith: leave me the fuck alone.”

He looks a bit stunned at your harsh response, but you couldn’t care less if you’ve hurt him. He did way worse things to you than snapping at you. As you walk past him to head back into the barn, he doesn’t let the chance to punch you in the stomach with his words one last time.

“I wish I could say you were a good fuck, but that wouldn’t be true. Good luck finding some lowlife loser who would even think about marrying you!”

Every fiber in your body is screaming to launch yourself at him and punch him until he is unconscious, because that’s exactly what he deserves. The tears are already stinging your eyes, but you don’t give him the satisfaction to see you react to his words. So swallowing hard you just keep on walking until you are out of his sight, bottling up the sobs and tears for the time when you’re home and on your own.

It’s past two am when you arrive home, drained and exhausted, both emotionally and exhausted. Following the conversation you had wit Keith he didn’t try to talk to you anymore, but you could always feel his eyes on you, wherever you were, as if he wanted to see if you are watching him too, but you weren’t. Looking at him would have been too painful so you tried your best to keep your eyes away from him through the night.

You know damn well that what he told you when you were leaving was just to get a reaction out of you, to get you upset enough to start a fight with him, it’s just who he is, he enjoys having the last word and the higher ground in every situation, but you didn’t want to be his partner in his stupid games this time. However it still hurt, what he said.

Walking into the dead silent house you kick your shoes off, drop your keys into the little bowl next to the door and head to the kitchen to get yourself some water. Pouring yourself a glass you lean against the counter and as you stare ahead of you, nothing can stop the tears from falling.

Everything you kept bottled up during the afternoon and evening just hits you all at once, making you break down heavier than any time in the past months. You sob and cry, letting it all out until your head feels like exploding, but you still can’t stop. You were not ready to face the man that broke your heart like no one before.

In the middle of your breakdown you don’t even realize the footsteps coming from the stairs.

“Y/N?” Harry’s voice calls out, snapping you out of your pity party. He immediately sees that you’ve been crying like a baby, no doubt, but you still try to wipe your cheeks and eyes, pretending like everything is totally fine.

“Harry! What are you doing up so late?” you breathe out hoarsely.

“Just wanted to get some water, but have you been crying? What happened, are you alright?” he starts bombarding you with questions, clearly worried about you, seeing you in this state.

“Everything is fine, I just… had a rough night,” you chuckle through your tears that are still rolling down your cheeks, those bastards!

“A rough night doesn’t make you sob like this. What happened?” Rounding the kitchen island he stops in front of you, not sure how to approach the situation, but it’s kind of sweet how he wants to help, but doesn’t know how.

“I, uhh—I met my… ex-fiancé tonight. He was at the wedding I worked at,” you mumble shutting your eyes closed.

“Did he hurt you? Y/N, if he laid a hand on you, I swear—“ “No, he didn’t hurt me,” you shake your head before adding: “Well, not physically.”

“Come on, let’s sit down for a bit.” He gently takes your hand and pulls you to the couch in the living room, making you sit before he plops down next to you. “Tell me what happened.”

“It’s really stupid, I shouldn’t be this upset about it, but I just… It hurt and I can’t change it,” you whine, wiping some more tears away.

“I’m sure it’s not stupid. Tell me what happened!”

“He was there with the woman he cheated on me with. They are basically a couple now, but she doesn’t even know that Keith was engaged to me when they started dating, so it’s really fucked up. And it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, because, you know, fuck him, he can do whatever he wants, it’s not my business anymore, but then he came up to me and tried to chitchat with me, which I didn’t really want, of course.”

Harry listens carefully, giving you his undivided attention while you fumble with the hem of your shirt, kind of avoiding to look him in the eyes. Part of you is afraid you’d see judgment in them and you don’t think you would be able to handle that.

“I asked him to leave me alone, but he just kept talking and then I snapped at him a little harsher and when I was walking away he…”

You scowl again, hearing his words play in your head so clearly, as if he was standing behind you, repeating them to you. Harry reaches out and he gently covers your hand with his warm palm, giving it a gentle squeeze, letting you know that he is patiently waiting, not rushing you to talk. Taking a deep breath you blink your tears away before continuing.

“He basically said that I wasn’t even a good fuck and no man will want to marry me.”

“Jesus fuck, what kind of asshole did you date, Y/N?” Harry snaps in horror and it’s kinda funny, makes you laugh through your tears.

“Seems like the worst kind,” you mumble with a bitter chuckle. “I know I shouldn’t have let his words get to my head, but… it’s easier said than done. I feel like such a loser,” you breathe out, your lips trembling as the tears are threatening to flow again.

“Don’t blame yourself for having feelings, it’s completely normal. Of course his words hurt, he once meant a lot to you and he probably knows that too, that’s why he tried to use it against you. What he said held no truth.”

“You think so?” you ask, voice barely more than just a whisper as you finally look at him. His green irises appear so warm as he smiles at you, squeezing your hand again. He scoots a little closer, his knee bumping against the side of your thigh.

“Y/N, I know so,” he chuckles. “That guy was a proper idiot for what he did to you. You didn’t deserve any of that and any many would be lucky to have you as their wife.”

“Really?” you pout, feeling so touched and loved from his words. It’s exactly the reassurance you needed.

“Absolutely,” he nods smiling sweetly.

Everything that happened today messed with your head big time. And now sitting with Harry on the couch, listening to him telling you how worthy you are of love and happiness, it completely throws you off. Ever since that moment in the kitchen before Gemma walked in, you’ve been nonstop thinking about what would have happened and it made you notice even the tiniest things about him.

Harry Styles is a man who is clearly a sight for the eyes, with his chiseled jawline, pink lips and gorgeous green eyes, the duality of his powerful and business appropriate attires he wears during the day and the tattoos hidden under his dress shirts, you’d have to be blind to say that he is not an attractive man. But on top of everything on the outside, he is a wonderful person on the inside and it twists your head more than you’d like it.

Your brain switches off for a moment, or just the rational side, but you completely stop thinking as you stare at each other. The intimacy and emotionality of the moment pushes all your common sense to the side as your gaze wanders down his lips.

The thought of kissing him comes fast and before you could even stop yourself, you move forward and press your lips to his. The touch of his lips against yours is sweet and warm and kind of intoxicating, but in just a blink of the eye your rationality gets a grip of you and your eyes pop open in realization of what you just did. Pulling back you gasp and cover your mouth in shock, feeling your whole inside trembling at the thought of getting yourself fired by this move.

Harry seems frozen and quite shocked as well, his lips are parted as he stays still in his spot.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry, I-I don’t know what’s gotten into me! Harry, I’m sorry, I promise—“

You start rambling in panic, but you don’t get to finish. Harry moves forward, his hand coming to the back of your head as he pulls you in for another kiss, this time making it a lot more passionate and even your tongues get involved. He is kissing you hard and you almost moan into his mouth when you feel his other hand come to your thigh, squeezing it just enough to send a shockwave up your spine. Your hands come up to the back of his hair and you hold onto him for dear life, carrying the kiss on like you’re two teenagers in your parents’ basement, doomed to get caught any moment. Harry goes in again and again, tugging on your bottom lip, licking into your mouth and making your insides twist just from having his lips on yours.

And then you both let go of each other, needing some time to breathe and you slowly realize what just happened. You both stare at each other in disbelief, completely shocked at your own actions, but neither of you have any idea what should happen next.

You let go of each other, sitting back to your normal positions, awkwardly breathing heavily and you realize you cannot deal with this right now. You are way too drained and tired to make it make sense so you decide to just… call it a night.

“I’ll head to bed,” you quietly inform him as you stand up from the couch, walking like a zombie, the shock still clouding your judgment.

“Good night,” Harry mumbles, just as confused as you are.

“Good night,” you nod and basically sprint up the stairs and don’t stop until you shut your door behind you.

Leaning your back against it, you slide down to the floor, hugging your knees to your chest as you stare into the darkness for long minutes. Quite some time passes by before you hear Harry walk upstairs, his door opens and then closes before silence falls on the house again. With a blank mind, you push yourself up, take a quick shower and just go to bed, ignoring everything that has happened today. You’ll deal with it in the morning.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed it!

-

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#harry #styles #harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles au #harry styles x you #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles series #harry styles fluff #harry styles angst #to love and be loved series #dad!harry #ceo!harry

[w2beastars]

Waezi2′s thoughts on “Beast Complex” chapter 12.

This chapter is... It’s...

I have to tell you, it is quite something:)

Our story starts off with a carnivore declaring his love for a herbivore right before he eats her.

So a regular Tuesday in the world of Beastars... And I’m going to hell for that joke.

But no, the snow leopard is not REALLY eating the spotted deer. It’s just the scene in a movie called “Dinner.”

Luke and Rosé are the main characters in the popular and controversial movie about meat eater and vegetarian love(the movie seems like a bad mix of Fifty Shades of Grey and Twilight, but that’s just me). And these two animals did so well that they both won the Academy Award.

On a side note, I think these two animals are perfect as movie stars. The world of Beastars has it’s own norms for what “sexy” and “attractive” means. Slender bodies and big eyes are generally considered good-looking. And white fur, even if it has spots or stipes, are seen as beautiful. So a snow leopard and a spotted deer are just the animals for Hollywood.

Anyway, back to our tale...

The movie “Dinner” got a lot of praise, especially because of Luke’s VERY convincing acting that made people sincerely think he was eating the spotted deer Rosé.

But while Rosé and Luke are in the waiting room to catch a break before their TV interview, Luke drops one hell of a truth bomb on Rosé...

The reason to why Luke could make that performance so believable was that he, while he was stressed over all the pressure from acting, went nuts and ate the duck Bob who was in charge of makeup. So his acting was based on experience so to say.

Some of you probably think it is weird that Luke didn’t just eat some meat from the black marked or something. But this is not about graving for flesh. Luke was super stressed, and that is a bad thing for a carnivore who has to keep his instincts in check. Even poor Legoshi who had fixated on being the least threatening wolf ever almost ate Haru because he had a bad day.

Luke is telling Rosé this because he has decided to confess his crime doing the TV interview and take responsibility for the murder of Bob. But he wants Rosé to know first because there was a moment during the filming of “Dinner” where he actually wanted to eat her and he wants to apologize to her in person first.

... But Rosé tries to convince him not to do it, much to Luke’s surprise. She doesn’t even seem to be that shocked that he wanted to eat her. Luke at first thinks that it is because she is concerned for him and everyone who was involved in the movie... Aaaand then he realizes that she is just worried about her career as an actor. If Luke confesses, the movie will most likely be banned from theaters and television, and her efforts will have gone to waste. This movie is her first big role, but it will forever be ruined by Luke’s confession.

Rosé shows an impressive display of strength and lack of fear when she attacks Luke who is a male predator bigger than she is in order to stop him from leaving their private waiting room so he can’t go confess on live TV. A nice detail is that she grabs him by the tail, a tactic used to subdue felines, something the Shishigumi taught Louis in case he got in trouble with big cats.

It might seem shallow of Rosé to stop Luke from confessing to his crime... and it kinda is... but try and see it from her point of view.

Rosé’s career has been a whole lot of small roles in low budget action movies. Her actual acting talents are not that great and she only got those small roles because she is athletic and physically strong. Something she can’t rely on for much longer since she is 35 years old. The movie “Dinner” could be her breakthrough, giving her actual roles and move her up from simple b-movies.

Luke gets it. He really understands that he is taking Rosé chance of getting better roles away from her. But he has a suggestion that could benefit her. He wants her to be next to him when he gets interviewed so that when he confesses to eating Bob, everyone can see how shocked she is. That way, the media will portrait her as a tragic heroin who was kept in the dark by her savage co-actor. She will win a ton of sympathy and it will very likely boost her career since she will get hired for more movies alone for her promotional value since everyone will thinks she is brave hero as well as a victim of fate.

So... they go to face the press. A journalist asks, as expected, what gave Luke the inspiration for the famous eating scene. Luke confesses that he really did eat another animal...

... And Rosé FUCKS UP BIG TIME!

Look at her! Just... LOOK AT HER!!!

It is bad enough that she looks practically comedic instead of shocked. But she even looks directly at the camera! That poor deer can’t act, even when her career LITTERALLY depends on it!

Even the journalist notices Rosé awful performance. She KNOWS that is not how you look when you get told for the first time that your colleague killed and ate a guy. She is all; “You gotta be kidding me?!” And most of the camera crew notices as well and looks as baffled as she does.

It is most likely that the moment that should have turned Rosé into a media darling instead is gonna make her meme material.

In fact, I think I will make memes out of it:P

#beast complex #beastars #luke beast complex #rosé beast complex

[chaoticevilbean]

Voltron Humans are Weird 5/?

Allura was panicking. She had told the Paladins to behave themselves and to try to avoid scaring the natives while she was speaking with the delegation. But they just... didn't listen. Instead of staying in the social room where they had been led, where there were plenty of refreshments and seats, the five humans had disappeared. A few civilians saw the group heading towards the forest nearby, where there were many deadly creatures and poisonous flora. Even Shiro had gone along with them, despite the fact that they knew the forest was dangerous. And their tolerances couldn't possibly include such foreign substances.

So now, Allura was sitting with the delegates, having finished their discussion, simply waiting for the Paladins to return. It had been vargas since the message was delivered that they had disappeared, and the only reason there wasn't a panic was due to Allura assuring all present that Voltron was composed of clever warriors who could handle the forest. Hopefully.

"Princess, we need a little help," Shiro's voice crackled from the Altean's comm.

"What sort of help?" Please don't be medical.

"Some of the civilians are panicking and we have no clue why. We need someone who knows more about their culture."

"I'm on my way. I'll bring the delegation." Allura was quick to explain the situation to the diplomatic party, glad that this was likely just a simple misunderstanding. She prayed it was something as simple as smiling with teeth or a throwing something.

The Paladins were located near the outer edges of the city. They were easy to find as they were surrounded by a circle of hysterical Rynnians. Each of the humans had bags slung on their shoulders, the largest on Hunk and Shiro and the smallest on Pidge. Allura was relieved at the sight, given that the humans at least knew what was and wasn't toxic to themselves. If they had gathered something too dangerous, she could simply get them to put it away from the other beings. She and the delegates pushed past the edge of the crowd, almost to the Paladins.

Then the stench hit her. She stopped instantly, recoiling back in horror. They smelt of blood, reeked of death and must and something else foul. The Altean pulled back enough that she wasn't overwhelmed completely before addressing the Terrans.

"What in Altea is that? Is one of you injured?"

"I KNEW IT!" Lance shouted triumphantly, turning towards Keith. "I quiznaking told you! It's the smell!"

"Lance, are any of you injured?" Allura repeated, narrowing her eyes the best she could without squinting. The Blue Paladin turned giddily towards the royal, a bright grin on his face.

"No. The problem is that all of you are herbivores!"

"Of course we're herbivores! Most known sentient species are herbivores! Only a few are carnivorous!"

"No, princess. I mean, you're all herbivores. That means you don't handle the smell of blood well!"

"One of you is bleeding‽"

"No! We just went hunting!"

Silence. Dead silence. Allura was frozen, staring in utter terror at the human.

"Rynnian civilians, please vacate the area temporarily while the situation is handled." The crowd was fast to comply, the delegates backing up and several warriors lining the edges of the streets. Once the common folk were far enough away, Allura once again spoke to her team.

"Lance, please confirm that your species refers to the gathering of edible flora as hunting."

"Nope. We're omnivores!" The boy did a hip wiggle as he spoke, and Pidge facepalmed heavily at his antics. Hunk giggled and nudged Keith into smiling. Shiro was just tired, and decided it would be best to take over the conversation as soon as possible.

"Omnivores... How?"

"Princess," Shiro spoke up, drawing the alien's attention. "We're technically evolved from natural omnivores that mostly ate an herbivore diet. As we developed, our tool-making skills grew exponentially. As humans joined together in larger groups, gathering enough flora to sustain each member became a lot harder. With our better tools, we made better weapons and managed to develop better hunting skills. By now, our diet is still largely herbivorous, but with more meat than before. The Castle provides us with the necessary nutrients to keep us healthy, but nothing satisfies a human like a nice steak after going without for a long time."

"... what are in the bags?"

"I think you know."

"What are in the bags, Shiro?"

"Three of those large antlered creatures in what me and Hunk are holding, and the other bags have small game and lots of plants Pidge said were safe to eat."

"That is the smell?"

"If you smell blood, then yes."

"As much as I fear the answer, I must ask: what is a steak?"

"A slab of meat made tender and cooked with seasonings. Often served to a little undercooked so it isn't too chewy and satisfies our carnivorous nature. Now, if you'll excuse us, we know what's wrong and can probably get all this to the Castle with little problem."

"Yeah," Hunk agreed, shifting his bags a little. "We couldn't get past the Rynnians because they were panicking saying we were hurt or something and we just couldn't get through."

"If you must, get the... food," Allura shuddered at considering flesh and blood to be a meal, "back to the Castle as soon as possible. I'll tell Coran to not panic."

The Paladins nodded and swiftly rushed towards the large ship. Lance and Hunk could be heard discussing something called tacos, and Allura was loathe to find out what they were. With a deep breath, the princess turned to the delegates, face twisted in a grimace.

"I am very sorry about all this. If you would like, I can send you the guide my advisor and I are creating to document humans and their... strangeness. It is still in its preliminary stages, but it will likely help to avoid another incident."

"Are you sure we should be trusting beings that eat meat," the lead diplomat inquired. "Only three other species are carnivorous, and one is-"

"I do understand your concerns," Allura interrupted. "But I must tell you that it would be better to keep on the good side of Terra and its inhabitants. I know the only race outside their own solar system that is carnivorous is the Galra, but humans are nothing like those of the Empire. For one, they are not outside their solar system yet, though the Green Paladin informed me they soon will be. Secondly, humans seem to have strong senses of justice. They will not harm any sentient being, and many times will avoid harming non-sentient beings if they find the creatures to be appealing in some aspect."

The delegation discussed privately for a moment before facing the Altean once more.

"Please tell us all you know."

Humans are omnivores. They mostly eat flora and, so long as their nutritional needs are met, can eat only flora for the entirety of their diet. However, they prefer to include the occasional meat in their meals. They can hunt better than many natural predators due to their sentient nature. Terrans will not always attack fauna if they are hungry. They instead wait for habitats with a plentiful amount of animals and use weapons to hunt. They can and will hunt if in an environment where there isn't enough flora to sustain an herbivorous diet. They will do the same if in a large group, hunting and surviving together.

Humans can make their own tools. These tools include weapons. If stranded or surviving in uninhabited terrain, they will create tools to aid in their self-preservation. Do not assume a Terran is weaponless. They hunted before their advanced toolmaking skills and sentient nature. Avoid fighting a human that is trying to survive. If stranded with a human, reminding them of your likely herbivorous status will probably cause them to gather whatever food you need to survive and will sustain themselves on mostly meat.

If a human smells of blood, remain calm. Ask if they are injured. If they are not, ask if they have been hunting. If they have not been hunting, ask after the smell. Attempt to not panic if it is revealed they have killed a non-sentient creature for their carnivorous meals, which are listed below. The common examples are tacos and steaks. Tacos can be made for herbivores as well. Simply request 'vegetarian' and check for possible poisons disguised as 'seasonings'.

#voltron #vld #oneshots #voltron oneshots #humans are weird #humans are space orcs #earth is space australia #humans are weird oneshots

[tonguesanndteeth]

Tongues & Teeth Chapter: 4

Jasper waited across the street from the little coffee shop on the corner. By now it was too dark for anyone in the cafe to see his face. He was early, but Teddy was already inside, seated at a table by the window with her nose buried in a book. It wasn’t like him to keep a lady waiting, but Jasper took this opportunity to study her, if only for a moment. 

Her flaxen hair hung long and straight down the length of her back, her eyelashes casting delicate shadows across the planes of her cheekbones. Whatever she was reading must have been captivating, or perhaps confusing, as he watched her eyes dance across the pages intently. A little dimple appeared between her eyebrows when she focused. The emotions pouring out of her were unreadable.

Jasper crossed the street, the late November air frozen and still. A bell rang as he opened the door to the shop. It was a cozy, hole in the wall kind of place with old wooden walls and green subway tile. There weren’t many people here this time of night and Teddy’s head snapped up at the sound.

She smiled at him as he walked in, and it was breathtaking. Only his inhuman eyes could see it, but the light glinted off her teeth and threw a dazzling eight color rainbow.

“Sorry I’m late, ma’am,” he said, striding over to her table. Their table.

“Don’t be, cowboy. I was early.” 

Jasper tried to suppress the smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“Should I be offended by that?” he chuckled, taking a seat.

“Why, whatever do you mean?” she said, putting the back of her hand to her forehead and feigning a swoon, “My very own southern gentleman, I do declare.”

“Definitely offended.”

“What, you don’t like my Scarlett O’hara?” she teased.

“I suppose it could grow on me,” he smirked, no longer working to keep the natural twang out of his voice.

Teddy smiled and looked away, taking a sip of her coffee. But when she looked back at Jasper her brows knit together. He felt a wave of confusion roll off of her.

“Aren’t you cold?” she asked, eyeing him over.

He silently cursed himself, he’d forgotten to wear a jacket. His body didn’t register the arctic temperatures, but still, he needed to dress as though it did. Humans tended to notice little things like that.

“No, I’m fine,” he said, hoping she’d drop the subject.

Her eyes narrowed slightly and she reached across the table to touch his hand. Instinctively he moved to pull it away, but she caught it in her grip. Teddy inhaled sharply through her teeth and dropped it immediately as if she’d been burnt. 

“Fuck, Jasper, you’re freezing.”

“Really, it’s nothing. I have poor circulation.”

And by poor, he meant non existent.

“Bullshit. Here, drink this,” she said, pushing her cup of coffee towards him.

Jasper grimaced at the black drink in front of him. Human food was even less appealing than the herbivores, at least those had a heartbeat.

“I’m serious,” Teddy said firmly.

Jasper sighed and took the mug in his hands. If anything, holding the hot ceramic would warm his fingers to a semi-human degree, should she try to touch him again.

He looked at the soft ring of pink that her lipstick left on the rim of the cup. He wondered if he’d be able to taste her.

Bracing himself, he took a small sip.

The drink was hot and acrid on his palette, but he skimmed his tongue over her lipstick stain and his mouth was washed in her flavor. It was slightly waxy from the makeup, but round with notes of smoke and peppermint. Jasper shuddered slightly.

“Thank you,” she said with an approving nod, “now your hypothermia won’t be on my conscience.”

Jasper rolled his eyes and pushed the mug towards her.

“Nah, you keep it. If I drink anymore I’ll be up all night.”

He bit back a comment about not having slept in a century and a half, something told him she wouldn’t find it as funny as he did. Instead, he set his gaze on the book she’d put aside.

“What were you reading?” Jasper asked.

“Oh, that? Nothing, just notes.”

Her tone was too casual. Jasper could sense an evasiveness in her aura.

“What about?” he pressed, settling a blanket of calm over them. Jasper had never used his powers on Teddy before, and he wasn’t proud to do it now, but his curiosity got the better of him.

Teddy sighed and the tension melted away from her shoulders.

“It’s just where I write when my mind gets too full. Sometimes it feels like my thoughts turn into these sharp, twisting puzzles. Getting it out on paper helps though, I can rationalize the mess a bit better. I-I don’t usually tell people this.”

She shook her head as if to clear a daze.

Jasper was slightly taken aback. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but it wasn’t that. He’d always known that Teddy felt things strongly, processed life differently, but hearing it in her own words was a wholly other thing. Was that what she had been experiencing the first time he’d sensed her mind? When he’d felt it lashing out with a powerful and shattering force?

“How do you endure it?” Jasper asked.

She shrugged.

“You find ways to cope. I wasn’t always a smoker, you know.”

“And that helps?”

“It helps enough. Plus it’s cheaper than knocking back a xanny every few hours.”

Jasper wasn’t entirely sure what a “xanny” was, but it sounded stronger than cigarettes.

“I’m sorry,” he said helplessly.

“Don’t be, everyone’s got shit. I’m sure you do.”

“What makes you say that?” Jasper asked, quirking an eyebrow. She was right, he did have ‘shit’. A lot of it. But he was curious as to why she thought so.

Teddy shot him a scathing look. 

“Jasper, have you looked in a mirror? You look like a goddamn Kalvin Klein model. Nobody’s that pretty and okay on the inside.”

He barked out a laugh, surprised at her choice of words, but also the weight of their accuracy.

“It’s that easy to see through me, huh?” he grinned.

“Crystal clear, unfortunately. You look like you’re ready to throw yourself off a bridge half the time.”

She wasn’t far off the mark. Being in such close proximity to humans, to her, could be torturous. If only jumping off a bridge could solve that problem.

“We’ve both got issues in the coping department, I’m afraid.”

“Well,” she grinned crookedly, “cheers to being two of a kind.”

Jasper smiled sadly in return, tracing the rim of her coffee cup with his pinkie finger. He was contemplating forcing down another sip just to taste her again.

“Tell me something,” he said after a moment.

“What?”

“Anything. I just..want to know you,” he admitted.

She flushed deliciously at his words, blood pooling in the thin, clear membrane of her cheeks. Jasper clenched his fist roughly under the table, marble skin pulled taut over his knuckles. He didn’t let himself breathe until the blush faded.

“I’m a vegetarian,” she offered after a moment of consideration.

“So am I,” Jasper said, amused.

“Really?” she laughed, “I would’ve pegged you as a meat and potatoes kind of guy. Red blooded American and all that.”

“Oh, believe me, I used to be,” he said wickedly.

“What changed?”

“My family. When they adopted me they showed me a new way of life. More humane.”

“You’re adopted?” she asked.

He nodded.

“My parents died a very long time ago. I was on my own until Carlisle, my father, found me. He gave me a home, siblings, endless patience. Everything I could have ever hoped for.”

“Wow,” she breathed, processing his words.

“What’s your family like?” Jasper asked.

Teddy’s expression turned sour.

“Dysfunctional.”

“How so?”

“I mean, I guess my childhood was pretty normal. My parents got divorced when I was seven and I stayed here with my mom. Which was, spoiler alert, a big mistake. My dad moved to Nevada, owns some shitty motels now, I think. I see him every couple of years. I don’t even know where my mom is anymore.”

“You don’t know where she is?”

“Nope, and I don’t really care to. She was in and out of rehab too much to keep track of after I moved out, it’s just better like this.”

He could sense her sadness as it rolled off her body.

“Maybe I should have asked you about your favorite color instead,” Jasper said regretfully, he shouldn’t have poked at such a sensitive topic.

Teddy rolled her eyes at him.

“I’ve never been very good at small talk anyway. But, for the record, my favorite color is white.”

“An interesting choice,” he mused.

“Hey, no judging! It’s a nice color. I’m sure yours is something stereotypical like blue.”

Jasper was torn. If you’d asked him a minute ago his favorite color would have been red, the rich iron pigment of her blood. If you’d asked him again he might have said green, the electric shade of her eyes. Or possibly rose, the hue of her lipstick smudged on the rim of a porcelain mug. But he couldn’t say any of that. Instead, he just smiled and said:

“Ya got me.”

“I knew it,” she smirked.

Jasper noticed that the already sparse coffee shop had emptied considerably, the young woman behind the counter beginning to clean up for the night.

“It’s getting late,” Teddy sighed.

He sensed something like disappointment coming from her.

“May I walk you home?” he asked tentatively.

The disappointment disappeared.

“You may,” she smiled.

The two of them exited the warm cafe, the frigid winter air soaking through to their bones immediately. Jasper felt nothing, but Teddy shivered and pulled her coat more securely around her shoulders. He frowned to himself, upset that he could offer her no warm embrace to take the chill away.

She fished around in her bag for a moment before producing a lighter and a fresh pack of Marlboro Reds. Apparently she wasn’t picky about brands. She lit one swiftly, inhaling deeply, and then let it go in a gust of smoke and frozen air.

“This way,” Teddy said, walking down a side street.

She offered the lit cigarette to Jasper, which he accepted, falling into step beside her.

He took a drag and held it in his chest, watching as the breeze whipped Teddy’s hair around her face. They walked in silence for a while, passing the cigarette back and forth.

“Do you think the stars know that they shine?” she asked absently.

It was a rare, cloudless night. The sky was an impossibly inky black and studded with stars like white diamonds. 

“Maybe,” he mused, “but they might be happier if they didn’t.”

“That’s true,” Teddy sighed, “things seem so much easier up there. No worries, no responsibilities.”

“But we get a much better view.”

“Yeah,” she smiled, meeting his eyes.

They approached an old, but well maintained apartment building, and Teddy stopped.

“Well, this is me.”

There was a beat of tension between them. Jasper felt the pull of emotion coming from her. It was small, and cautious, but it was the unmistakable feeling of desire. He had to work very hard to keep his mind in order as he realized this.

He wanted to do something reckless. He wanted to kiss her. It was a terrible, horrible idea, but it tempted him almost more than her blood. For as strong as Jasper was, he needed to be equally as gentle. He could stroke a soap bubble with his finger and leave it unharmed if he issued enough control. Teddy was just as delicate. Silk over glass. Breakable. 

She looked up at him with her wide, clear eyes, and he felt himself lean in. Her pulse quickened and his mouth pooled with hunger. He’d never been this close to a human’s without intent to kill before. The scent of her blood seared its way through his throat and dizzied his head. 

With all the pressure of butterfly flapping its wings, Jasper pressed his lips to the supple flesh of her cheek. He wanted to linger there, overcome with the sensation of her warmth, but the thirst ripping its way through him was too powerful.

“Goodnight,” he whispered as he pulled away.

He turned and began to walk back down the street.

“Goodnight, Jasper,” he heard her say quietly as he slipped into the night.

#chapter 4

[countrymadefoods]

 You Say You're a Vegan But You're Really a Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian in Sheep's Clothing 

“Carnivore:...A carnivore’s isn’t necessarily all meat, although it’s mostly meat.

Flexitarian:...A flexitarian eats primarily a plant-based diet, but will occasionally indulge in meat.”

”Herbivore:...An animal that feeds strictly on plants. Vegans are not herbivores. The difference is a matter of choice. Vegans could eat meat but don’t. Herbivores...have no choice but to eat plants. Their digestive system is incapable of digesting meat.

Omnivore:...Omnivores eat both plants and animals...”

“Pescatarian:...A person who eschews all meat except fish and seafood...The Mediterranean Diet is essentially pescatarianism.

Vegetarian (Beady Eyed)...Does Not Eat Red Meat:...a fun label for people who claim to be “vegetarians” but still eat poultry and fish. If it has beady eyes, it must be okay to eat...”

“Vegetarian (Lacto-Ovo):...This type of vegetarian will consume animal protein in the form of eggs, cheese and milk but does not eat meat. In other words, lacto-ovo vegetarians are willing to consume animal products but not the animals themselves.

Vegetarian (Strict):...consumes no animal products whatsoever. That includes meat, fish, shellfish, milk, butter, cheese, honey and eggs. With that said, it's a dietary choice, not a lifestyle choice, so vegetarians may be perfectly comfortable with other lifestyle choices, like wearing leather shoes or jackets.”

“Vegan:...consumes no animal products whatsoever. That includes meat, fish, shellfish, milk, butter, cheese, honey and eggs. With only that in mind, there would seem to be no difference between “vegan” and “strict vegetarian.” However, the main difference is that being a vegan is as much a lifestyle choice as a dietary one. Vegans are driven more by conscientious factors, such as avoiding the need to kill animals for their benefit, and will even avoid shoes, bags or clothing that are made from animal skins.

Fruitarian:...there is disagreement on what exactly the diet is supposed to be, other than that it consists primarily of raw fruit. Some fruitarians eat nuts, seeds and legumes. Others do not...”

(via You Say You're a Vegan But You're Really a Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian in Sheep's Clothing | Houston Press)

The Difference Between Lacto-Ovo Vegetarians & Lacto Vegetarians 

“Excluding some or all foods of animal origin from your diet will place you in a population of people who come under the broad category of vegetarians. Pure vegetarians or vegans rely on -- and only consume -- foods of plant origin to meet their nutritional needs...While avoiding meat and meat products is relatively easy, the presence of animal-based ingredients in processed foods such as cookies, cakes, ice creams and refried beans can be a challenge for vegetarians.” 

 (via The Difference Between Lacto-Ovo Vegetarians & Lacto Vegetarians | Healthy Eating | SF Gate)

Lacto-ovo-vegetarian as effective as Mediterranean diet in reducing CVD risk

“A lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet and well-known Mediterranean diet are equally effective in reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, including body weight, body mass and fat mass, according to a new study published in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation...Both diets reduced body fat and overall weight at a similar rate...”a low-calorie lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet can help patients reduce cardiovascular risk about the same as a low-calorie Mediterranean diet...People have more than one choice for a heart-healthy diet.”

(via Lacto-ovo-vegetarian as effective as Mediterranean diet in reducing CVD risk | Cardiovascular Business)

This Doctor Explains Why Vegetarians Should Do the Keto Diet

“[W]hile meat does play a role in the keto diet, it doesn't have to be the diet's foundation. In fact, it's totally possible to do the keto diet without eating meat... The keto diet is a high-fat, moderate-protein, super low-carb diet that puts your body into a state of ketosis wherein your body burns fat instead of carbs for energy...countless people have found success on the keto diet, it can be quite limiting for people who are vegetarian or vegan...Although it's difficult, it is possible for people who eschew animal products to successfully do the keto diet.”

“As always, be sure to consult with your doctor or registered dietitian before embarking on any major dietary changes. The keto diet, especially a plant-based keto diet, should be done under medical supervision.”

(via This Doctor Explains Why Vegetarians Should Do the Keto Diet | PopSugar)

The new, chill vegans

“You have probably heard of the "militant vegan". Decked out in hemp pants and keen to tell you about why you shouldn't have the eggs at brunch before you've caught their name, they are an enemy of wedding menus and office birthday cake bakers across the country.

But, with more people turning to plant-based diets, they can't all be like this? Surely?

Enter, the chill vegan.”

"If you want to move towards eating less meat, I think being a flexitarian is the best way forward. The flexitarian [diet]...encourages people to make an effort three or four days a week to consciously choose not to eat meat...I think if you allow yourself to [cut out animal products] in steps, it’s probably easier than committing to something from scratch."

"Many people have these light bulb moments where they turn vegan overnight, which is great. But I think most people, like me, change incrementally over time, cutting out one animal at a time...There are new vegan businesses opening every day, which makes it easier for everyone...Social media is a huge part of it, too – such powerful technology for sharing information, food ideas."

(via The new, chill vegans | The Sydney Morning Herald)

#beadyeyedvegetarian #herbivore #omnivore #vegetarian #vegan #flexitarian #lactovegitarian #ovolactovegetarian #carnivore #fruitarian #pescatarian #mediterraneandiet #ketodiet #veganlifeislove #netflix #cloudmacchiato #chillvegan

[2ne1-chemical-pilots]

Controversial and stupid jokes

WARNING: some jokes may be very offensive

What did a pirate say on his 80th birthday? Aye matey

My mum changed a lot when she became a vegetarian. It was like I had never seen herbivore.

I went to a wedding recently. It was so emotional, even the cake was in tiers.

A man was fired from his job at a calendar factory just because he took a few days off.

Two people had sex while camping. They were fucking intents

Should you write a story on a full stomach or an empty one? Neither, you should write it on paper.

Why did Beethoven kill all his chickens? They kept shouting "BACH BACH BACH"

What special advice did the frog give the condom maker? Ribit.

What's the best time to go to the dentist? Tooth-hurty

My dad used to hate facial hair, but lately it's been growing on him...

Why should you never buy anything with Velcro? Cuz it's a complete rip-off.

What's the most hilarious joke in the world? My life.

Luke Skywalker wrote a Valentine's Day card and it said "lightsabers are red, lightsabers are blue. If you happen to find mine, return my hand, too."

Why is your nose in the middle of your face? Because it is the SCENTer

Why are bees the best in school? Because they're spelling bees.

Why did the man eat all the data charts? His favourite desert is pie

Why did the mother cat move her kittens? It's illegal to litter.

What do you call someone who's outstanding in his field? A farmer.

I guess you could say my grades are underwater, because they're below C-level

What's the difference between a tuna, a piano, and a pot of glue? You can tuna piano, but you can't piano a tuna. "What about the glue?" I knew you'd get stuck there.

What did the teenage cannibal say at dinner time? We're gonna eat, like, Kings!

If you force sex on a prostitute, is it rape or shoplifting?

Why do cows have hooves instead of feet? Because they lacTOSE

I watched an episode of My Strange Addiction, and a girl was addicted to soap. She's clean now, though.

What did the mother horse say to the baby horse? It's pasture bedtime.

Why can't hands be 12 inches long? Because then they would be a foot.

What did the llama say when asked out on a date? Alpaca lunch.

What do you call an acid with an attitude? A-mean-oh acid

What did the skeleton say after he told a cheesy joke that nobody laughed at? What? Have my jokes gone /bone/ dry?

Wanna hear a joke about a pencil? Ahhh nevermind. It's pointless.

A man named Jehovah crashed his car Into another car with his friend. They went to court, and his friend testified for him. He was Jehovah's Witness.

Knock knock "Who's there?" Atch. "Atch who?" Bless you!

What are sugar cubes made of? Sugar^3

Why was the broom late? It overswept.

Two men walked into a bar. The first ordered H2O. The second man said "I'll have some H2O, too." The second man died.

What did the bug say after hitting the window? I don't have the guts to do that again.

What do you call a pig that does karate? A pork chop.

What did the homeless man get for Christmas? Hypothermia.

How are dogs and trees similar? Bark.

What did the necktie say to the hat? You go on ahead, I'll hang around for a while.

What clothes does a house wear? Address

What has a ton of balls and screws old ladies? A bingo machine.

What did one eye say to the other? Between you and me, something smells.

What did the eggs say to the frying pan? You crack me up!

What did the hot girl's left leg say to her right leg? Between us, we could make a lot of money

How did Burger King get Dairy Queen pregnant? He forgot to wrap his whopper.

School is like a boner. It's long and hard unless you're Asian.

What's the difference between Harry Potter and a Jew? Harry escaped the chamber.

How do you keep an idiot in suspense? Ehhhh I'll tell you later.

When is a door not a door? When it's ajar

How are friends and cows similar? If you eat them, they'll die.

What kind of trees to fingers grow on? Palm trees

What's the difference between a baby and an onion? I cry when I chop up an onion

#jokes #dad jokes #controversy #controversial #sorry not sorry

[mymouthmyrants]

rant numero uno/ animal testing

ok i’ve been getting a lot of shit for this lately and i just want to say something. yes, i’ve grown up with animals, and so obviously i’m more partial towards them. Yes, i do eat meat. yes, i do believe animal testing is cruel. a lot of people have called me stubborn, bull headed. a lot of people have argued that it doesn’t affect them, so why should they care? just take a moment. you know what? the bombings going on all around the world, the starving children, the people living in poverty, the melting ice caps. those things have no affect on me, and while they may be causing problems in other places and could possibly hurt me in the future, they don’t affect me now, so why should i care? why should i care about the destruction of this world? why should i care about others who are suffering? who cares if in twenty years the melting ice caps leads into a dangerous atmosphere for me to live in? and then there are those people who make arguments like the ones i’m about to list. if you think animals should give consent, why do you have pets? why do you eat animals then? animals don’t have feelings, they don’t care. we are the apex predators. animals were put on this earth to be eaten. we were given the power to use them, why shouldn’t we take advantage of that? that’s right. i do believe that animal testing is unfair, because animals can not give their consent to be tested on, poked, prodded, tortured, leaving them possibly in pain for the rest of their lives or even worse, dead. yes, i do believe in human testing instead, because humans can give their consent. i understand that humans may not be willing to be tested on for things that will cause agony, but why should animals have to suffer through this if we refuse? and i’m not even just talking about cancer testing. we use animals to test out makeup products so we can know if they’re safe to wear, so we can look better. do you not see how fucked up that is? makeup is not a necessity in the least. we don’t need to enhance our features, we don’t need to look better, we don’t need to wear bright red lipstick for any reason whatsoever. makeup is completely frivolous. so why in the hell are we killing animals to make it? animals are tortured, covered in products that cause them to boil, blister, rash, bruise, ache, cry, burn and die, for our own fucking wants. for makeup. so yes, i do believe in human testing, because if we want longer eyelashes, we can suffer for it ourselves. now i get these annoying arguments like “if you believe animals should give consent, then did they give their consent to be held hostage in your home?” THESE ARE TWO VERY DIFFERENT THINGS. i would like to point out that first, i as an individual do have pets. rescued pets. pets taken off of streets. pets diagnosed with stress, anxiety, cancer. every single pet i own is rescued, whether it be from an abusive home or from their own body turning on them, they’ve all been rescued. and often times? they’ve been released back into their natural habitats when they’ve been fully healed. no, my animals do not give their consent. but do you really need to give someone permission to take you away from a dangerous and potentially live threatening situation and bring you to a warm and loving home where shelter and food are constantly provided? i dont. then there’s the argument as old as time. carnivores versus herbivores. this topic is a very broad, very thought out, very argued topic. i have my own opinions yes, but that’s not what i wanted to talk about. i wanted to talk about the fact that every time i say animal testing is wrong, people automatically accuse me of being a hypocrite because i eat meat. once again, these are very different things. people eat meat to survive. people eat meat to stay alive, and yes humans can live without meat, and yes i believe that’s a very good thing to live as vegetarians do, but i understand that not everyone can do that. i understand that certain nutrients provided by meat are needed by some people. no, i don’t enjoy the fact that animals are raised only to be slaughtered, separated and deprived from all love and happiness, and i don’t enjoy the fact that so many have to die so we can have a summer barbecue with the neighborhood. however, i do understand why people eat meat to survive, and this is why it pisses me off that people can accuse me of being a hypocrite for accepting a natural part of nature since before time while disagreeing with the torture of animals. of course, there’s always those people who make the apex predators argument. for those who don’t understand, they basically argue that humans were given the knowledge and power to be at the top of the food chain, and we deserve to rule over animals and use them as we choose because we developed the technology and scientific advancements to be able to do so. while i completely understand the thought process, it makes no fucking sense. so we were given these powers, this knowledge and capability, to make a significant and amazing effect of the world, and we choose to use it to torture animals and use them as we please? humans could do anything. we could develop a synthetic meat that tastes just like meat and gives us the same nutrients but doesn’t involve killing animals. oh wait, we did that. we could discover a way to live off of only what nature provides us, skipping the slaughtering and simply plucking a few berries. vegetarians anyone? WE COULD MAKE A FUCKING CHANGE. i’m still waiting on this one. how can anyone use the justification that we were given the power and therefore the right to do this? this is not taking advantage of our resources, this is abusing the powers we were blessed with. animal testing is cruel and unnecessary, but we have the technology to do it and the power to cage and torture these animals, so why not? i honestly question the morals of our society. there’s also the belief that animals were put on this earth for humans to eat. that’s a religious belief, or at least a belief of some faith. and sure, maybe that’s true and maybe your faith is true. but in no part of any faith i have ever come across has it been written out that these animals were put on this earth to serve our every whim. humans eat animals, just as lions eat antelope and birds eat worms. however, unlike the humans, lions and birds don’t go out of their way to not only over collect their prey, but to also torture them and use them to their visage’s advantage. no where does it say that animals were put on this earth to be over killed and tortured. no where. and if one doesn’t believe in a faith, how can they say animals were put on this earth for anything? science doesn’t put things in places. science only explains that things occur naturally. science can not say that animals were put on earth for humans to eat, so that argument becomes automatically invalid. i’m well aware that people will always argue with me, call me stupid, belittle me, make fun of me, and challenge me for what i believe in. i’m surrounded by a society of people who value animal lives as nothing more than the dirt beneath their feet. i’m also well aware that people will probably poke holes in my logic and argue that my points don’t make sense. but i don’t care, because you will never change my mind. i will always believe that animals are just as worthy as humans, and i will always stand up for their right to be protected just as humans are. i will have to go through the rest of my life, biting my tongue and wiping the frustrated tears from my eyes as i listen to people belittle animal worth and talk about how stupid i am to actually believe the things i do. but today, tomorrow, and always, i will continue to fight for these animals, because i believe all lives are equal and that’s how it should always be.

|animal testing| rant #01 mymouthmyrants

#rants #animal testing #animals #rant #speech #animal rights

[jetdeer67-blog]

How Does God Want Us to Live?

This post is from contributing writer Mary Voogt of Just Take A Bite.

I’ve been living a real food lifestyle for about ten years now. I started my journey when struggling with infertility. I found Nourishing Traditions and have been learning all I can ever since! It took a lot of baby steps to get where I am now. But it wasn’t until my family moved to a farm two years ago that I realized just how important it is to care for our bodies and the Earth and to raise animals well.

And with all the recent news about glyphosate, it has become more clear that we, as a nation, are not living the way God intended.

I see it all around me with neighboring farms growing GMO crops. And I recently read The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, which fully opened my eyes to the reality of our dysfunctional food and healthcare systems.

I see it first hand with my own children struggling with ADHD and food allergies. Our youngest generation has really suffered thanks to the choices of previous generations.

It has been weighing heavily on my heart for some time that most people are not living the way God intended. Even as Christians, we are not being good stewards of his creation. Whether we are doing the growing or the buying. And even in how we care for our own bodies. So today I’m going to be blunt. I hope it makes you think about daily choices and long-term consequences.

What Does God Want Us to do on Earth?

Living in the country, some of the problems with caring for the Earth are in front of me daily. I see the same genetically modified crops grown year after year in the same fields, sprayed with toxic pesticides (yes, glyphosate!). The soil has been depleted of all nutrients. Which means the crops themselves are lifeless. It is basically a field of calories, void of any nutrition.

Farms have gone from small, diverse subcultures to mega-farms with field after field of corn and soybeans. These, in turn, become the bulk of our food, whether it’s infant formula, a box of cereal or even the unsuspecting bottle of honey

Unfortunately, there is not much incentive for farmers to change since the government makes this type of farming profitable while small-scale farms growing quality food can barely survive.

In addition to poor farming practices, we have to deal with gas emissions, water pollution and a lot of waste.

This is not what God intended for his beautiful creation.

Instead of producing lifeless food with more than five different ingredients in one product all made from corn, we should be growing a diverse population of vegetation, nourishing the soil with compost and manure, rotating crops and sourcing our food locally. We should not have to add synthetic vitamins and minerals back into our food because it has none.

Simply choosing organic food, although a step up, is not always that much better. The majority of organic food is produced by just a few large-scale farms. Their farming practices aren’t all that different from the conventional ones. And if you are choosing organic processed food…it’s still processed food. It’s still heavy on corn and void of much nutrition. And it still has to travel long distances before it gets to your table.

As good stewards we should try to source our food locally and sustainably as much as possible. Visit your local farmer’s market or start your own garden. Eat what’s fresh and in season. Then preserve the rest for winter. Not only is it better for the environment, it’s also better for your health and your budget.

I just finished freezing ten gallons and canning sixty pints of green and yellow beans from our garden. The seeds cost less than $5.00. And now we have enough beans to last us until next summer. We ate a lot fresh too. And gave some away. How’s that for eating locally and saving money?!

How Should We Care for Animals?

Animal care can be a touchy subject. How should they be treated? They are just animals. Or should we even consume animal products at all?

We should start with the fact that humans are indeed omnivores. God created us to digest plants and animals. And the Bible does tell us it is ok to eat animals. But are they just a commodity? And are we still good stewards if we eat animals that aren’t raised well?

Animals are part of God’s good creation. We are responsible for treating them well. It saddens me every time I see a cow locked up in a barn feeding on piles of corn.

Caring for Cows

Did you know…cows are herbivores? They are also ruminants. Which means their stomachs are designed to digest grass. NOT corn. Corn actually makes their stomachs bloat and can even kill them (something my children have learned already in elementary science!). Add pesticides to the mix and you really have a mess.

Sadly, most of our beef these days comes from cattle raised on feedlots, called CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operation). They are fed corn and special blends of animal parts and antibiotics. None of which is good for them. Cows should not be consuming animal products (remember – herbivores). And the antibiotics are precautionary since there is so much sickness when animals are raised in a confined space. They are fattened quickly since their bodies can only tolerate this type of feeding for a short period of time before it would kill them.

“But corn-fed cows have good marbling,” you might say. True. But the marbling scale was only created to promote the corn industry! To make you think more marbling is better so more corn could be sold to farmers.

Then there are pigs.

Pigs raised in confinement don’t have it much better. Since they are weaned too early they never lose their biting/chewing reflex. Which makes them bite the tails of other pigs standing so close. This doesn’t always bother a pig, but a bitten tale can become infected and the animal is no good.

The solution for this seems simple. Wait a few extra weeks to wean the pigs. Instead, farmers clip the tails of the pigs (without any pain medication), leaving a sore stub. So if they are bitten by another pig they will fight back instead of ignoring the biting and allowing it to get infected.

What about chickens?

You see commercials all the time about “cage-free” chickens and eggs. Do you know what that means? Absolutely nothing!

It just means all the chickens are piled into one really large coop instead of in individual cages. They still don’t go outside. They are still just sitting in filth. There must legally be a small door to the coop. But it is not opened until they are at last 5-6 weeks old. At which point they are so used to their living environment they don’t notice it. And for meat birds, they will be butchered within a few weeks anyway.

If you buy animal products from the store or a restaurant, the majority of the time this is what you are consuming.

What if instead, we source our meat from a local farmer that raises animals the way God intended? Try visiting the farm where you purchase your meat. The cows should be grazing on grass. The pigs should be outside rooting around. The chickens should be running all over the yard eating bugs and leaves. They should have a good life, growing and eating the way God designed them. Then there should be just one bad day (as Lori and Joel Salatin say) for them.

Plants and animals work in harmony when they are allowed to live the way God intended. The sun transfers energy to the plants. The plants transfer that energy to the animals. And both the plants and the animals transfer the energy to us.

Cows keep the grass trimmed while getting nourished. Chickens keep the fly population down. Pigs can even rotate compost for you by rooting! It’s really an amazing design when you see the intricate interactions (check out Polyface Farm if you want to see this in action). We need to stop intervening with our “bigger and faster is better” mentality. And let things work the way God designed them.

I believe there is great nutritional value in animal products and that they are a gift from God. But I think I’d rather be a vegetarian or vegan than consist on a diet of CAFO raised animals. As a Christian, I can’t support treating animals that way.

How to Live for God Daily

If caring for the Earth and animals is so important, think how it’s even more important to care for our own bodies?!

Sadly these days most people treat their bodies very poorly. They don’t sleep enough. They eat processed food. And they fill their lives with so much stress.

Those are the generalized problems. But then we get into the details.

How much money do you spend on food? How does that compare to how much you spend on recreation? We are always trying to save money by cutting our grocery budget. Yet we spend freely on non-essentials.

Quality food should be a top priority. And your budget should reflect that (though finding ways to save on real food is always good).

What about health care? Do you hope that you stay healthy? Or do you invest in your health by spending money on preventative care, like visits to the chiropractor, herbs and supplements, essential oils and exercise equipment? This type of spending will actually prevent more health care costs in the future.

Let’s dig even deeper.

What are you willing to do to your body? There are many optional medical interventions these days that people do without much thought. Male and female sterilization, vaccines, circumcision, gallbladder removal (it’s often not necessary, though doctors are quick to suggest it).

Even overexercise and extreme diets are often not in line with caring for your body. They can do more harm (stress) than good. We’re so focused on dieting and looking a certain way that we forget to nourish and care for our bodies. They are God’s temple after all.

What about our children? They start life with a bang, injected with toxic substances and aborted fetal cells. They grow up eating convenience foods (because it’s too inconvenient for parents to take time to cook nourishing food) void of nutrition. Kids are given round after round of antibiotics. Then they spend day after day sitting in desks for hours on end.

A Better Way for Kids

What if we let kids be kids and run around outside as much as possible? What if we boosted their immune systems with fresh air, sunshine, bare feet and nourishing food? How about we teach them some new food rules?

Do you immediately give your child medication when they have a fever? Fevers have a purpose! A fever is part of God’s amazing design of our bodies. A fever is how your body fights illness. Just like your ankle swells when you get a sprain. A fever is the swelling when you are sick. We need to stop being so quick to intervene with medications and let our bodies heal on their own. God created our bodies with the ability to heal if we allow them to.

What God Expects of Man

We have really veered off the path. I know I’m not perfect. And we often talk about the 80/20 rule. But I think it’s time we started aiming more for 100%. Meaning we always choose to support well-raised animals. We always make self-care a priority. We always try to source food locally when possible. We are omnivores.

I don’t say any of this to make people feel bad. I certainly have room for improvement! But we do speak with our dollars. The less processed food and CAFO meat you buy, the less demand there will be. And less of it will be made.

After two years of farm life, I am very passionate about caring for God’s good creation. We have a large garden where we grow as much of our food as we can. We also have apple, pear and peach trees. What we don’t grow we source locally. It takes a lot of time and effort to preserve summer’s and fall’s bounty, But it is so worth it to have quality, sustainable food year round. Even with a new baby in the house, I try to do as much preserving as I can to keep us going.

Just the other day I went grocery shopping. I hadn’t been to the store in almost 2 weeks. And the only vegetables I bought were sweet potatoes. We didn’t grow any this year, and I don’t know where to buy them locally at this point. If it weren’t for my nursling’s food reactions and my limited diet I wouldn’t buy them at all.

We work on this as a family. From toddlerhood on my kids help in the garden with the growing and in the kitchen with cooking and preserving. I want the next generation to stop relying on convenience and get back to hard work and good stewardship.

Currently, we also raise chickens for eggs. We hope to add meat chickens and pigs to the farm in the near future. We buy our fresh, raw milk from a local farm. We purchase our beef, pork, and chicken from three other local farmers.

Everybody has different resources and limitations. But we can all make more informed choices. Let’s start living the way God really intended. Let’s care for His creation and marvel at its complexity and beauty.

What steps can you take to care for God’s creation? What are you already doing to live the way God intended?

Source: https://www.kitchenstewardship.com/how-does-god-want-us-to-live/

[askannvdb]

if everyone went vegan what would happen to livestock, and what effect would it have on the environment especially greenhouse gases? from what i can tell it would fuck the world up because we'd need more crops and chemical fertilisers so more deforestation and pollution. plus cows, sheep, pigs would become rare or extinct? i like animals and the world too much to be part of that ann :\

No we would need less crops as most crops are being produced to feed lifestock. If the world went vegan instead, emissions declines would be around 70%.Food, especially livestock, also takes up a lot of room – a source of both greenhouse gas emissions due to land conversion and of biodiversity loss. Of the world’s approximately five billion hectares (12 billion acres) of agricultural land, 68% is used for livestock.Should we all go vegetarian, ideally we would dedicate at least 80% of that pastureland to the restoration of grasslands and forests, which would capture carbon and further alleviate climate change. Converting former pastures to native habitats would likely also be a boon to biodiversity, including for large herbivores such as buffalo that were pushed out for cattle, as well as for predators like wolves that are often killed in retaliation for attacking livestock.The remaining 10 to 20% of former pastureland could be used for growing more crops to fill gaps in the food supply. Though a relatively small increase in agricultural land, this would more than make up for the loss of meat because one-third of the land currently used for crops is dedicated to producing food for livestock – not for humans.Both environmental restoration and conversion to plant-based agriculture would require planning and investment, however, given than pasturelands tend to be highly degraded. “You couldn’t just take cows off the land and expect it to become a primary forest again on its own,” Jarvis says.As for farm animals, the remaining live ones would need to be taken care of.But saying you care about animals and then saying you would want them to be bred in prisons to be eaten prematurely is fucked up beyond words.  In that case aliens could breed humans by the millions to be their slaves and kill them at 15-20 years of age to eat them and go like” Well if we didnt do that they would never have had a life... That still would not make it right.  Its a selfish reason and everyone knows that. Without their own interest involved, they wouldnt breed them and wouldnt give a flying fuck about them. Just when it suits them and is of benefit of them.And the people who love them so much will gladly help take care of the rest or contribute through donations.