#this HELPS the population stay healthy

[isthedogawolfdog]

The whole “shoot a (insert predator species here), save a (insert prey species here)!” shirts/signs are so dumb. Like, sure go ahead and kill the animal excessively to the point where there are barely any individual animals left and watch your ecosystem fall apart, have fun.

#rambles #it’s like?? #but they are literally doing good?? to the prey?? population?? #wolves #coyotes #predators hunt the weak and sick #this HELPS the population stay healthy

[gritsandbrits]

If you rewrote Chicken Little, what kind of punishment (bonus points if it is a Cool And Unusual Punishment) would you give to Buck Cluck for his horrible and entitled behavior and for him being a generally crappy and neglectful father to his own son?

Buck gets left alone. Chicken leaves him as the aliens adopt him when he realizes they make far better parents than he ever did. Also he gets in legal trouble for tax fraud.

#gb asks #so in my hypothetical movie chicken goes into space on accident and helps the aliens take on a bigger threat towards the galaxy #the theme is you dont have to stay in one place especially in a crappy town populated by assholes :] #so theres found family; the importance of HEALTHY communication/boundaries & what makes a good community vs a bad one #also a town based on high school popularity is an ignorant one at best and downright dangerous at best

[sabersandsnipers]

A Stray on the Road

Author’s Note: I work with a lot of the pediatric population as a nurse, so I thought about what Halsin and Astarion’s reactions would be to me having to protect and take care of every kid I find lol

The day was grueling. The sticky sensation of blood covers every inch of your skin. Aches and pains rattle your bones, and the road seems endless as your group searches for a good place to set up camp. The only thought keeping you going is that of curling up between Astarion and Halsin later. 

“Gods, this is hell,” Karlach complains. 

Wyll responds with some snide comment, but you’re only half listening, because you’re approaching a rather violent scene. Wagons are tipped over, and bodies litter the road. You slow as you approach, noticing a small figure sitting by a pair of bodies. 

Your gaze sharpens, and you see it’s a young girl. No older than 5. Tears stream down her cheeks as she sits by a pair of dead bodies. Your heart sinks as you realize it’s probably her parents. 

“Hang back, guys,” you say. You fear the approach of such a large group will frighten her. Attempting to wipe the blood off your face, you walk up to the girl. 

Her clothes are tattered, and you notice she has a few cuts lining her arms and legs. You crouch next to her.

“Hey,” you say softly. 

Big beautiful brown eyes meet yours. Something twists in your chest. 

“What’s your name?” you ask.

She sniffles. “Eowyn.”

“Eowyn, do you have family nearby?”

She shakes her head. “No. And I don’t know where I am.” 

Her voice trembles, and your heart breaks for her. You look back to your companions. Most won’t mind her staying with them, except for Astarion, who will be annoyed by the young presence.Your friends look back at you expectantly, wondering what your next move is. 

“Would you like to stay with me and my friends for the night?” you ask her.

She looks to the group behind you, and you half expect her to run away in fear with how harsh they look. 

But her expression doesn’t change, she simply nods her head. 

“Do you think you can walk?” you ask her.

She shakes her head. 

You smile at her. “That’s okay. Halsin?”

The elf approaches. Eowyn stares up at him, eyes wide. 

“Is it alright if my friend carries you?” you ask her. 

She nods. “He’s so tall.” Her eyes are filled with wonder.

“He is,” you say with a chuckle. You look to Halsin and he nods. He reaches down and picks up the child, placing her on his shoulder. 

“Hold on, child,” he says. There’s a slight smile on her face, but then darkness fills her eyes again. 

Your group ventures forth once more. The sun is beginning to set, casting shadows along the road. But you can’t help but admire the beautiful colors streaking across the sky. 

Astarion falls into step beside you. “Picked up another stray, I see.”

You nudge your shoulder against him. “You were a stray once too.” 

He gives a half smile. “I’m just worried you’re going to burden yourself with her safety.”

You let out a sigh, knowing he wouldn’t like her presence. “She has no one, Astarion.” 

He doesn’t say anymore, but you can feel the tenseness between you two. Your relationship is still being navigated. But even with your difference in values, you couldn’t stop yourselves from being drawn to each other. 

A giggle pulls you from your thoughts. You look back to see Eowyn playing with Halsin’s braids. He’s grinning back at her, thoroughly enjoying her laughs. The sight sparks a warmth within you, and you can’t stop the smile from growing on your lips.

“Ugh.” Astarion comments. “Does he always have to be so…Halsin?” 

You shoot him a half hearted glare. Despite him being agreeable to Halsin joining your relationship, he always seems taken aback by his general goodness and willingness to help others. 

Your trek continues, Astarion allowing your hands to brush ever so slightly as you walk the dusty road. 

The fire crackles as Karlach throws more wood onto the flames. A warm stew has been shared amongst your group, Eowyn getting a healthy portion. Conversations scatter around, commenting on the latest tavern you stopped at, or how a fight went along the way. 

You sit on a log between Eowyn and Halsin, but Astarion sits over by his tent. He’s reading one of his books, sipping on some wine. 

Every time you glance to Eowyn, you notice her watching Astarion. Her gaze is curious, and she seems completely enthralled with him. Not that you can blame her. You’re completely enthralled as well. 

“He’s so beautiful,” she suddenly comments. You smile at her and then look at your love.

“Isn’t he?” you respond. “He’s awfully nice too, to the people he likes.”

“I saw you kissing earlier. Are you married?” she asks. 

You laugh. “No, but I do love him very much.”

Confusion crosses her face, as if she can’t comprehend how you can be in love but not married. She takes another bite of her stew. Her eyes flicker back to Astarion. 

A few minutes later she taps you on the shoulder. You turn away from your conversation with Halsin as she leans over to you. 

“Do you think he would read me a bedtime story?” she asks in a whisper. 

You grin, and glance at Astarion. Although he would most definitely deny her request, he can’t deny you. 

“Yes. You should go over and ask. Tell him I sent you.” 

Her expression brightens. She gets right up and makes her way over to Astarion, who doesn’t acknowledge her until she’s standing right in front of him. He finally looks up, his expression mildly annoyed. Eowyn talks for a few moments and then he shoots a glare in your direction. 

You raise an eyebrow at him, daring him to say no. He bites the inside of his lip. The seconds pass as you wait for his response. 

Finally, his body relaxes and he nods his head. Eowyn sits down on the cushion next to him, snuggling up right close to him. Although Astarion tenses a bit, he doesn’t push her away. You watch them for a bit, admiring how adorable they look together. 

A pair of hands find their way to your shoulders. 

A familiar voice whispers in your ear. “I’m going to bathe in the river. Would you like to join me?” Halsin asks. He places a hot kiss against your neck. 

“Halsin, the day I say no to that question, I want you to push me off a cliff, because clearly I’ve gone mad,” you respond. 

A breathy laugh caresses your skin. You give him your hand and the two of you make your way to the water. 

When you return from your excursion with Halsin, skin still tingling, you’re astounded by the sight before you. Astarion and Eowyn still sit together, except Eowyn is sound asleep in his lap. Astarion looks down at her, his hand resting lightly on her hair. You can’t read his expression. 

When you approach Astarion, you crouch down and place a kiss to his temple. He smiles at you, and it makes your heart flutter just like the first time. 

“I can have Halsin take her to my tent,” you offer, brushing back a strand of his white curls. 

He hesitates, looking down at Eowyn. “I think we’ll be okay. She looks so comfortable.” 

She’s curled right up, her head resting on his chest. Her face looks so serene after all the horrors she’s experienced today. 

“Okay. I’ll go spend the night with Halsin then. Just come get me if you need me,” you tell him. 

“I think we’ll be okay, darling,” he replies. 

You smile and kiss him goodnight. As you make your way to Halsin’s tent, you take one last look over your shoulder, and allow yourself a moment to admire the two of them. And it brings you great joy to know Astarion is finding just as much comfort as she is. 

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #astarion #halsin #halsin x reader x astarion #astarion x reader x halsin #halsin x reader #astarion x reader #astarion imagine #halsin imagine

[litnerdwrites]

The NC is literally a dystopian hellscape.

The Capital, or Velaris, is the safe zone from where they watch the suffering of others (the CON and Illyrians). They srpead propaganda to hide the hellscape that they've turned the NC into, painting themselves as paragons for good, and like siding with them is the best and only option. The IC themselves are a form of walking propaganda, calling themselves "The Court of Dreams" and gas slighting the citizens of Velaris and other courts into thinking that they're in the right and are just misunderstood good guys all along.

They use the CON and Illyria as forms of propaganda, showing it off to others, and painting a tail of them doing their best, but that these places are just too far gone or stubborn or whatever, to paint themselves as the ones struggling as they try to offer them help.

They use force as a way to control the populous, instead of starting with negotiations, or enforcing laws. Instead, they put down rebellions and slaughter their own people, while leaving the females to suffer, and orphans to starve.

They use force in the Hewn city too, though at the wrong times. He used force to control them when Kier called Feyre names, but not when they needed to get control of the Darkbringers? Once instance seems a lot more important than the others.

They control the spread of information, even from their own "family" when they feel like it, as seen in ACOSF. When information leaks from the NC, rhys (or another nc damati), wipes their memories of it. This is seen in ACOWAR after Eris and his brothers found out about Feyre's powers, while his brothers had their memories wiped, he uses it as leverage.

There's also the fact that most people consider Illyrians uncivilised brutes and the denizens of the CON to be unpleasant at best, monsters at worst. People from outside the NC or from velaris, don't really have any way of knowing if it's true first hand. They have the accounts of the IC, but that's it. They just take their word for it. It's not like Feyre or anyone ever see any of the CON outside of that court, that's basically an elaborate masquerade for the sake of survival.

They deny free thought, since we all saw what happened to Nesta the moment she dared to disobey, have individual autonomy, free thought, and healthy boundaries. She was pretty much tortured, and denied information regarding her own body. Even in the HL meeting, anybody with an opposing view, like Tamlin, was quickly shut up, dismissed and/or kicked out.

There's also the fact that it's unlikely anyone from Velaris has ever left it. It's hidden, cut off from the rest of the world, and it's not like we're told of any other safe places in the NC. It's either Velaris, this perfect city, the hellscape that is the CON (supposedly), or the frozen wastelands of Illyria. On top of that, if they stay, they remain the IC's priority, since he did only act to protect Velaris during Amerantha's reign, and not any other location. Has anyone ever left, without getting their memories wiped? Are their methods of transportation for people to leave Velaris, or come to it, if that's what they wish? Unlikely.

The IC don't let anyone see any good in any part of the NC, aside from Velaris. They convince their citizens that they are the only good thing in the NC, putting them on a pedestal above the rest of the territory. Velaris is protrayed as this Utopia, with the rest of the NC being portrayed as the kind of places they tell kids about to make them behave.

#anti acosf #anti inner circle #pro nesta #anti rhysand #anti ic #anti mor #anti morrigan #anti rhys #sjm critical #Velaris is a dystopian nightmare #anti amren #anti night court #dystopian society

[faebaex]

Tangled in Wonderland - A Simulation

author note: ... so this got out of hand and ended up being over 6500 words x-x really curious to see how you guys like it and react to the twist. i'm so anxious if you guys will enjoy it that i can't even right my usual rambly A/N!!

characters: Idia Shroud x GN!Reader, Ortho Shroud (Platonic)

Thump. Thump. Thump. Slam.

You sighed.

The sound of quarrelling which, through Ramshackle’s thin walls, sounded like it could be happening right next door to you.

The sound of a quiet but stern lecture, a voice full of authority that would not stand being questioned.

You rolled over in bed and checked the time on your phone. 7:00 am. On a Saturday. You groaned and rolled onto your stomach and buried your face in your pillow – not the best quality but comfortable enough – as Grim snored, spread out at the foot of the bed. You were pretty sure he could sleep through a hurricane.

Just why had you agreed to allow the NRC Tribe to stay here, again? Perhaps it was masochism?

But that didn’t do Vil any justice. He had warned you that tenacity was Pomefiore’s thing.

The morning after Vil had grandly declared that he had moved in was… Something. The best way you could describe it was that it played out like a fever dream. You had hoped it was, actually. You kept pinching yourself, hoping you’d wake up any moment. Of course, you didn’t.

You had woken the next morning to Vil knocking on your door. He was rather insistent, as he didn’t leave even when you ignored his knockings in favour of burying yourself further into the warm comfort of your bed. Finally, you dragged yourself out of bed and ripped open the door, glaring bleary eyed at Vil, who stood looking annoyingly immaculate for so early in the morning.

“I’ve prepared us some breakfast. I see you need time to get ready, but please do hurry. I have a schedule to keep.” Vil informed you, not even waiting for your response as he turned on his heel and walked down the hall. You grumbled and slammed the door shut, reeling both from the early morning veiled insult and the fact that somehow Grim had slept through it all, still snoring away peacefully on your bed.

You readied yourself as quickly as you could but took an extra few moments to smooth out your appearance more than you usually would. You’d be sitting opposite Vil Schoenheit after all, and you could really do without his comments this early in the morning.

You walked down to the lounge to see that Vil had indeed set the table up for breakfast. Mismatched bowls filled with yoghurt, berries, and some sort of… Seeds? A jug of orange juice also sat on the table, just enough for one glass each, along with a heartier jug filled to the brim with water. You had to admit, you hadn’t had such a healthy, well put together breakfast since you got there. Most days you had to forgo your breakfast entirely in order to stop Grim terrorising the school population before first period began. If this was Vil’s charm offensive, you could get behind it.

“This was the best I could do with your dorm’s… Limited implements,” Vil sighed as he drizzled a modest serving of honey on his own bowl of yoghurt before pushing the honey container towards you, “I would have brought my blender but I wasn’t if Ramshackle had running electricity.” Vil commented dryly, “does Crowley not ensure you have the needed facilities to live adequately? That man is shameless.”

Now this was a conversation you could get behind.

“Crowley doesn’t ensure anything ever.” You grumbled as you drizzled some honey onto your own yoghurt bowl under the watchful eye of Vil. The amount you put must have been satisfactory because he didn’t say anything, only began to mix his spoon in his own bowl.

“The prize money from the SDC would help change that. You could get yourself better kitchenware, maybe some more soft furnishings…” Vil began, and you rolled your eyes as you munched on some berries. Nice segway.

“Not interested.” You responded bluntly, although Vil didn’t seem too surprised by that. He picked up the orange juice jug, pouring you a glass first before filling his own, as manners would dictate. “Why are you so against the NRC Tribe staying here? You only stand to gain from doing so. Whilst there may be a bit of disruption, I’ve assured you that I would keep disruption to your routine to a minimum. I must say… I do find your stalwart refusal a little odd.” Vil stared hard at you now, and you tried not to visibly squirm from the intensity that he was studying you.

It seemed that all your efforts to not bring attention to yourself were doing the exact opposite in this situation. Vil found your behaviour odd, and Ace and Deuce had also found your behaviour odd when you didn’t attend the Pomefiore ballroom when you were requested to do so. It was rather annoying, actually, how all your hard work to be as unnoticeable as possible was turning out to be fruitless.

But if there was one thing you could rely on for a believable defence, it was the inherent selfishness of the Night Raven College students (and arguably, staff).

“Why should I go out of my way to help you? Regardless of what you offer, it sounds like a pain. I have to accommodate seven extra students? On top of all the trouble I get from Grim anyway? Sounds like a drag. Plus I enjoy having my own space.” You quipped back, your expression indifferent.

“Hmph. It seems like you fit in here more than you think.” Vil shot back sassily, an elegant eyebrow raised at your open self-centeredness.

All throughout breakfast you and Vil had an unproductive back and forth where he tried to gain some ground on getting the training camp to go ahead in Ramshackle. It was exhausting, but you managed to hold out long enough that breakfast was over and there was no reason to stay at the table any longer, for either of you. You were just leaving the lounge when there was a energetic knock on Ramshackle’s main doors. You sighed, wondering why someone else was now knocking on your door, but for all you knew it could be Ace and Deuce, wanting to walk with you to class. That reminded you that you needed to get Grim up too. Reluctantly, you walked towards the entrance, pulling one of the creaky doors open.

“Bonjo—”

You slammed the door shut.

“That was rude. Rook is here to walk with me to class. He also is delivering my blender.” Vil scolded, having followed you partially to the entrance, obviously predicting that it was Rook. You groaned loudly regardless of this, bumping your forehead lightly against the entrance door’s old wood. You had to deal with Rook Hunt now too? This was getting out of hand.

Grudgingly, you pulled open the door again, not bothering to mask your expression of displeasure as you stared at Rook, who stood with his usual enigmatic smile on your doorstep, with a blender tucked carefully under his arm.

“Ahh Trickster! How delightful your disgruntled expression looks first thing in the morning! Magnifique! Like a raging storm cloud threatening the blue skies! And Roi de Poison, as radiant as ever! Like the brightest of suns in comparison! Oh, how I wish I could burn this image into my mind forevermore!” Rook enthusiastically sang, and it was as if you could feel your mood plummeting in real time.

“Oh give it a rest…” You muttered under your breath, having to duck out of the way as Vil breezed past you and grabbed the blender off of Rook. “Yes, that is quite enough of that, Rook. There is no cloud on this earth that could threaten my shine.” Vil commented, disappearing back into Ramshackle to no doubt deposit his blender in the kitchen. “Of course not, beautiful Vil!” Rook eagerly agreed.

Now why were you catching back handed insults from both Pomefiore housewardens?!

You grumbled under your breath about this, but Rook didn’t seem to mind or care. He continued to smile at you, watching you with those ever-observing eyes.

“You seem agitated, Trickster! But might I say, you do look beautiful this morning. A fine colour to your cheeks and a wicked glint in your eye! I see that your shared breakfast with Vil has done wonders for your complexion and spirit already.” Rook continued, managing to look harmless and sly at the same time. Quite the feat.

How exactly did he know that you had breakfast with Vil?! Had he been watching you? You cursed internally, swearing to yourself that you’d buy some thick curtains for Ramshackle out of your next allowance. But knowing Rook, that wouldn’t be enough.

Instead, you glare at Rook and point a finger at him, which he watches with glee, as if he is enjoying the situation. “Stop talking.” You say firmly, and he holds his hands up genially, not at all offended at your shortness. In your opinion, Rook Hunt was a whole valid reason on why you didn’t want the NRC Tribe to stay at Ramshackle.

“Rook, it’s time for us to go. I don’t want to be late.” Vil declared as he strode out of Ramshackle, and you had to agree with Rook in that the run down exterior of Ramshackle didn’t take away from Vil’s shine in the slightest. It was quite amazing, and also kind of irritating. “You should leave shortly too, being late would be unbecoming of a dorm Prefect.” Vil sniped over his shoulder at you as he began to leave with Rook. Rook gave you a hearty parting wave, “farewell, Trickster! I do hope to be sharing a dorm with you soon!”

Not at all ominous, thank you Rook.

“And don’t forget about Grim.” Vil called, not even bothering to turn towards you as he continued on in the direction of Night Raven’s main school building.

Oh, damn it. Grim! You rushed back upstairs, on a mission to get Grim out of bed and out of Ramshackle before you were late and Crewel chewed you both out again.

After that, Vil was a semi-permanent fixture at Ramshackle. He would return in the evenings, no doubt after running the NRC Tribe ragged during practice, and then he would put you through your paces. He’d critique most of the things you did, and it wasn’t like his words of advice were unhelpful, it just didn’t help that they were delivered with the trademark Schoenheit sass. More often than not you were left reeling because he delivered his flyby judgments with such poise and poison, you were suddenly gaining a new appreciation for poor Epel.

Eventually you relented and agreed to allow the NRC Tribe to stay at Ramshackle until the SDC, but under very strict conditions. You would be receiving Vil and Rook’s share of the prize money if they won. You were not to be disturbed under any circumstances by the members of the NRC Tribe, and they were strictly forbidden from entering your bedroom. Groceries would be provided for the duration of the training camp. You also made it clear that you would not be responsible for any shenanigans that Grim pulled off during their stay, so not to even bother pestering you about it. And lastly, you would not be attending the SDC.

It was a difficult decision for you to make, but you realised that with Vil hounding you about allowing the NRC Tribe to stay, you were perhaps interacting with Vil way more than you potentially would during book five’s story path. A foul thought crossed your mind, Vil overblotting because negotiating with you had eaten into his preparation time for the SDC. At least with these conditions, you effectively minimised your role in book five to pretty much nothing, and if book five’s story decided to run its course like normal, then it was nothing to do with you.

Vil had stared at you with a knowing look when you first came to him telling him that you would agree for the training camp to go ahead, but his face slowly fell into a judging frown once you got to the end of your conditions.

“You don’t want to see your friends perform at the SDC? You do realise this is one of the biggest events of the school calendar? There might not ever be another opportunity for you to witness such a spectacle, let alone one that your friends are performing in. Not to mention… They’ve been working so hard.” Vil questions you, his tone almost scolding, and his eyes wrought with curiosity as to why you’d be so callous to the two who you’d known the longest since arriving here.

You kept your expression indifferent, giving an excuse that loud spectacles weren’t your thing. You did feel bad that you would miss Ace and Deuce’s big moment, but there was no way you could allow yourself to get dragged into a potential overblot situation again.

Of course, all of that felt meaningless now, considering that they weren’t even complying with the conditions that you had set out.

You could vaguely hear Ace complaining to Deuce about having to be up so early despite Vil technically giving them the morning off, whatever that meant. You hoped that the voices would eventually die down and you could get a couple hours more sleep, but the banging, thumping and voices went on and on. You even attempted to pass sometime by playing around on some mobile games that you had downloaded, a guilty pleasure that was a temptation too hard to resist when Crowley gave you the phone. But the noise never abated, and with a disgruntled sigh you got out of bed and decided to get ready for the day.

It felt weird being on campus so early in the morning on the weekend. It was mostly empty, which you assumed had to do with most students forgoing breakfast to sleep in, although there were a few early risers milling around campus. Some were heading towards the gates, likely heading out to town, whilst others made their way to the many other facilities that Night Raven had to offer. You yourself had decided to visit the mystery shop on a whim, thinking you could pick up a snack or two for during your breaks at the library.

You were walking up the path towards the shop when some… Large boxes came floating out the door… You stopped in your tracks, blinking several times. Were you that tired that you were seeing things now?

“Sorry Prefect, I don’t want to accidentally bump you!” Said a chipper voice coming from behind the boxes, startling you and making you hop out of the way. Behind the boxes was one Ortho Shroud, and suddenly the floating made sense. Not so much the boxes, though.

“Ah, my brother got a little caught up yesterday and forgot to do his usual food order, so I came to the mystery shop to pick up a few supplies to tide us over!” Ortho told you as he saw you eyeing up the boxes in his arms in confusion. He floated towards you where you stood off the path, and gently placed the boxes down, and they were nearly as tall as you were! Just a few supplies?!

“What are you playing?” Ortho asked enthusiastically, and you belatedly realised that you had one of the mobile games you had downloaded open on your phone, and muscle memory made you want to close it down immediately, but Ortho’s big, excited eyes made you feel too guilty to do so.

“Oh, uh… It’s just a game I downloaded, I don’t know much about it…” You fielded awkwardly, hoping to brush the topic away but Ortho only floated closer to get a better look at the screen.

“My brother plays that one too!!” Ortho gushes with glee, the sudden burst of elation catching you a little off guard. Really? This didn’t seem like Idia’s type of game… You swear you vaguely remember him saying he wasn’t that into dating sims… Although, you did suppose this one wasn’t a conventional dating simulator at the very least.

“But what happened to your screen?” Ortho asked, ripping you out of your thoughts, his head tilting to the side curiously. Now that did make you lock your phone to attempt to hide your shamefully cracked phone screen. Kalim, that’s what happened, you thought dryly. “Oh it’s nothing,” you said quickly, “I just had a small accident with it. It still works just fine!”

“Let’s get my brother to fix it!”

Oh no.

Ortho was beaming at you, eyes sparkling at the idea. You could feel your heart sinking.

“Oh no, no. I wouldn’t want to bother him! It’s totally fine, I promise!” You said hurriedly, hoping to derail the idea and make a quick escape, but it seemed like the idea had already firmly taken root in Ortho’s brain.

“It wouldn’t be a bother! My brother is really good with machines, he’ll get it fixed in no time! Plus, you two can talk about that game together! I’m sure he’d love to know there was someone else on campus who likes the same game as him!” Ortho encouraged.

Ah. So that was what this was about.

Book six had Ortho really encouraging Idia to share his gaming interests with the other students at Night Raven. Considering that the Ignihyde chapter was the next in line after book five, it did make sense that Ortho was taking this coincidence and running with it, considering you had just made it a thousand times easier for him to do so by just happening to like the same game as his beloved brother.

… But how were you supposed to say no to those eyes?! How were humanoids allowed to have such heart wrenching eyes?! It wasn’t fair.

You chewed on your bottom lip in indecision. It would be useful to get your phone screen fixed, even to stop Vil’s sassy barbs that he kept firing at you whenever he caught sight of it (something something “your belongings are a reflection of you” something something, blah blah). And this was Idia you were talking about here. He would probably freak out as soon as Ortho brought you to his room, fix the phone as quickly as possible and kick you out. Win, win?

“Okay, sure.” You relented, watching as Ortho lit up even more at your positive response. You swear you saw his hair get brighter. “But I can’t stay for long, I have other things planned for today.” You stated firmly, giving yourself an escape plan if needed. Ortho still seemed delighted regardless, moving once again to pick up those ridiculously large boxes he had been carrying. You followed suit, picking up the box from the top of the pile, much to Ortho’s surprise.

“It’s okay, I can carry them!” Ortho assured, but you shook your head, adjusting your grip on the box. It was a little heavy, but nothing you couldn’t handle. “Nah, I can’t let you carry them all by yourself. Besides, this is the least I can do if you’re going to fix my phone for me.” You remarked casually, beginning to walk with Ortho towards the Hall of Mirrors.

“You’re very kind, Prefect.” Ortho hummed, seeming quite taken with your courteous gesture.

The walk to the Hall of Mirrors from the mystery shop wasn’t long, and as you stepped through the Ignihyde mirror, you realised that you’ve never actually really seen the inside of the Ignihyde dorm. Sure, the game lets you buy Ignihyde backgrounds such as the entrance and the lounge, and you can get Idia’s dorm room as a background on his birthday, but other than that, the Ignihyde dorm has largely been a mystery compared to the other dorms. You had no idea what to expect.

It was… Very white. And shiny. Kinda made you wish you had brought a pair of sunglasses. The hallways were deserted, and you felt like you stood out like a sore thumb. You suddenly started to feel uneasy about the whole thing.

You followed closely behind Ortho as he led you to Idia’s dorm room, not trusting yourself not to get lost. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, even with the boxes he was carrying partially obscuring his view.

“Ortho, are you sure this is okay?” You asked, unable to hide the unease in your voice. Ortho didn’t stop, continuing to float along the hallways and making turns where necessary. “Don’t worry, Prefect! It’ll be fun! We’re almost there!” He insisted, and you very much felt that you and Idia were about to be in for a very unfun time. Ortho suddenly turned and opened a door that you would have missed if it wasn’t for him, as it blended into the wall so well.

“Idia, I’m back!” Ortho announced, floating in nonchalantly. You followed awkwardly, managing to bump the door closed behind you and place the box you were carrying on top of the other ones that Ortho had left by the wardrobe.

You took a moment to glance around the room. It wasn’t… As messy as you thought it would be. Wow, the background you can buy in the game really doesn’t do it any justice. That or Ortho cleaned up.

“Ah Ortho! Come check this out! I finally beat the final boss in that boss rush and got some cool new— Gah!!”

Idia had swivelled in his chair to look at Ortho but saw you instead and almost tumbled straight out of it with the way he flinched backwards, face morphing into terror. You gave him a small smile and waved awkwardly, but that only seemed to make it worse.

“I invited someone over!” Ortho stated cheerfully as Idia ducked behind the high back of his chair to avoid being seen. Rather fruitlessly too, considering you could still see his characteristic flaming hair.

“I-I can see that, Ortho! W-w-why did you invite an extrovert into my room?!” Idia complained, trying to keep his voice low but not really succeeding. The interaction was so odd to watch that you wondered if you should leave but settled for looking away instead. Ortho didn’t seem bothered at all, smiling at Idia like nothing was wrong.

“This is the Prefect from Ramshackle! I ran into them at the mystery shop, and they helped me carry our shopping back! Wasn’t that kind of them?” Ortho rambled on, floating over to his brother. Idia seemed to pluck up the courage to peek over his chair to get a better look at you, prompted by Ortho’s words, but when you looked back towards him, he shot back down in his chair, the ends of his wispy hair turning bright pink.

Wait, was he blushing?

“B-but Ortho…” Idia stammered out, but it seemed that Ortho had no mercy for him today.

“The Prefect’s phone screen is broken, and I told them that you could help fix it!” Ortho piped up over Idia’s stammering, his smile taking no prisoners, “you can help them, right Idia? Something so simple won’t even take you ten minutes.” Ortho encouraged, beaming smile still on his face.

Talking tech seemed to kick Idia out of his fluster somewhat, and you could hear Idia’s back thump against his chair as he opened one of his desk drawers and started rifling through it. “Tch, typical normies with no protection on their device, then crying when it gets bodied. So noob coded…” Idia muttered under his breath like he’d forgotten you were right there as he finally found what he was looking for, pulling the kit he was looking for out of his drawer and placing it on his desk.

Ouch.

He pushed his keyboard back, assumedly making space to him to work. “Gimme. The quicker I fix it, the quicker they leave, right?”

“Prefect isn’t a normie! They play the same game as you!” Ortho retorted and you cringed, as you sincerely hoped that wouldn’t get brought up into conversation before you could leave. But apparently, Ortho had taken it upon himself to defend your honour from his brother. Lucky you.

“Show him, Prefect!” Ortho compelled you, and you would almost find it funny how he was basically strong-arming Idia to have an interaction if it didn’t involve you. You sighed internally, powerless to Ortho’s big eyes, and walked slowly towards Idia’s desk, loading the game up on your phone. You held it up, arm outstretched so you didn’t get too close and give the guy a heart attack.

“It’s this one. I don’t play much, but this is the game I play the most. I at least make sure to login every day to get the bonuses and stuff…” You mumbled awkwardly, not actually understanding why you felt so awkward either. It wasn’t like it was a big deal. But suddenly your phone was snatched from your hand, and you were startled to see that Idia had grabbed it.

“You play this too?! I’m so into this at the moment. How far are you in the story? What cards do you have? Who is your favourite? Ugh, this screen totally kills the vibe. Hang on, let me just…”

You blinked in surprise as Idia rapidly fired off multiple questions about the game at you before putting your phone on his desk and hunching over as he got to work. It was like he was a completely different person. You knew it was the case that he could become very lively when he got to talk about his hobbies and interests, but seeing it happen in person was… Truly something. You looked between him and Ortho, with Ortho looking absolutely delighted about the interaction, and gesturing for you to take a seat on Idia’s bed whilst he worked.

“Oh, uh… I’m not very far in the story, I cleared the prologue but that’s about it. I don’t get the chance to play often… I don’t get many chances to roll the gatcha either, I never have any currency…” You answered. You didn’t really know any of the characters well enough to say what cards you had or who your favourite was, so you kept quiet on that.

“Sounds like you’re still in noobville. I’ll teach you how to play, but first I have to… Whee hee hee…” Idia volunteered, his voice pittering out as he got more entranced on working with your phone. The room lulled into silence, and you began conversing with Ortho instead, random giggles and mumbles from Idia in the background as you and Ortho chatted. Midway through one of your conversations with Ortho you noticed that Idia had been working on your phone for way longer than ten minutes. Now, you had no idea how long it took to replace a phone screen, you were no engineer. You also factored in that Ortho could have just been bigging up his brother’s ego when he said it would only take him ten minutes, but did it really take that long to fix? It felt like you had been in here way over an hour…

Ortho was projecting some clips of his favourite video games when Idia finally swivelled around, brandishing your phone with a manic grin.

“The freshly refurbished Prefect Custom Gamer Deluxe! I replaced the screen and reinforced it so it won’t break again but still has high grade touch screen sensitivity. I upgraded the battery to a larger capacity model so that you can game for longer, and of course a 2TB memory card. The original memory was awful, where did you get it? Sam’s bargain basket? Kek.” Idia gushed about your newly juiced mobile, fully in his element, “I didn’t know what your preferred colours are, so I didn’t add any custom lights. Blue’s good, though.” He commented, and that is when he finally caught you blinking at him, staring rather blankly.

“… Did you get any of that? Sigh, noobs OTL…”

You didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, so you quickly snapped yourself out of vacant stare and quickly spoke, “I think so… It means I won’t have to delete anything to update my games anymore, right?”

That seemed to be enough, because he was smiling that startingly sharp toothed grin again. “Exactly.”

The room fell into silence again, with Idia seeming to realise that he’d burst out into a rave about his interests. He held out your phone towards you awkwardly for you to take, and you stepped forward quickly to take it, but Ortho was faster.

“Show the Prefect your cards on the game you both play!” Ortho insisted cheerfully but forcefully, clearly not willing to let this interaction between you and Idia ends just yet. You don’t know if it was because it was a game, or because he had been suitably warmed up from the tech talk, or Ortho’s wide, eager eyes. Maybe even a combination of all three, but either way, Idia agreed.

“So… Uh… Did you hear all the aggro online about what’s happened?” Idia muttered as he waited for his game to boot up. It booted up a lot faster than yours usually did. Is that what he did to your phone? If so, you weren’t going to complain.

 “Can’t say I have…” You answered honestly, and Idia scoffed lightly under his breath. “Oh right. I forgot you’re a casual.”

Why did it sting when he said it like that?!

Idia spent some time giving you some tips on free ways to get in game currency so you could roll on the gatcha more, and even recommended some social media accounts you could follow to get information on future events so that you could plan your resources and gatcha rolling accordingly. It was… Pretty helpful, actually. It was oddly nice to just chat innocently about a hobby for once, instead of constantly having to have your guard up in case someone tried to screw you over.

Idia made you boot up the game on your own phone (which you were pleasantly surprised to notice loaded up just as quickly as his own) and took a look through your card collection. He wasn’t impressed (“do you even statgrind?”) but gave you some advice regardless on who your best cards were and the more effective way to power them up, so you didn’t get locked out of the story when you progressed.

“Now show them your cards, Idia!” Ortho suggested yet again. You hadn’t missed his thrilled expression as you and Idia had been chatting, realising that he was likely delighted that Idia was talking to someone in person for once. But he was being awfully pushy about Idia showing you his card collection, even when the conversation didn’t need to be facilitated by him…

The tips of Idia’s hair went bright pink yet again, and you couldn’t resist raising a brow. What was he so embarrassed about? They were just cards, right? Idia tucked his chin in, turning his screen away suddenly. “I-I-I don’t know, my collection is pretty a-average…”

“No way! You have so many cards, show them!” Ortho tugged on Idia’s arm, with Idia trying to hide his phone in his lap, “or I’ll just project your cards for the Prefect to see!”

Idia sat up straight, looking very panicked at Ortho’s oddly specific threat. “O-okay, okay! Let me just…” He tapped away at his phone, and you had no idea what he was doing, but eventually he turned the screen back to you, showing you his card collection in all its glory.

Wow. He had tons of SSR cards. Even some UR cards… By the look of it, he seemed to only go for the ultra-rare cards of the same characters, so they must be his favourites. You looked at his card collection, nodding appreciatively and making a comment here and there, but otherwise you didn’t really have much to say. Idia’s hair was still tinged pink, and even his cheeks had an awkward half blush for reasons that escaped you.

Out the corner of your eye you saw Ortho staring at you rather insistently, as if he was urging you to keep the conversation going. Just why were you allowing yourself to be exhorted by this kid? Clearly, Ortho Shroud’s powers of compulsion know no bounds.

“Who is your favourite character?” You blurted out, hoping that would satisfy. To your surprise, Idia’s hair burned brighter, the pink flaring up at your question.

“O-oh, um… I-i… I can’t show you, because of… You know, all that aggro online…” Idia mumbled under his breath, looking down at his lap. What was up with him?

Either way, now your curiosity had been piqued.

“Tell me about the drama.” You asked, although you supposed it came out sounding more like a demand. Idia looked up at you suddenly, staring at you for a long moment, “… a-are you sure? It’s pretty long…” He mumbled, and you nodded anyway. Perhaps this would finally satisfy Ortho and then you could make your exit.

Idia’s demeanour entirely changed again, his elbows landing on his knees and he leaned towards you, his hands caging his phone. “This has been big news in the community. Like, God tier discourse. Everyone has come together to try to figure out what is going on, scrubs and tryhards alike. People have been mining the data files, I’ve tried hacking the serv—”

“Wait, wait, wait!” You stopped him, waving your hands to get him to slow down, “tell me what happened before you talk fandom dramatics.” Idia rolls his eyes but acquests.

“So a couple of months ago, something happened to the game. I’m not talking a limited time event or anything like that. I’m talking one day, every logged in for the next daily login period, and a character was missing.” Idia informed you, and you raised your eyebrows at this.

“Like, gone?” You questioned, and Idia nodded, frantically enough that his wispy hair bounced a little. You scratched your cheek, finding yourself slightly intrigued in this despite just doing it to get Ortho off your back. “I don’t think I follow what you mean…” You admitted, almost a little sheepishly, “how can a character just be gone? Wouldn’t you still have their cards?”

Idia, to his credit, didn’t seem to be bothered by you not following, only nodding along eagerly with your train of thought. “Right? But that is where it gets even weirder…” Idia begins to tap at his phone again, changing the filters on his card collection before turning the screen back towards you again, “because the cards are still there, but the character is missing.”

The sight was eerie, almost ominous. You deduced this character must be one of Idia’s favourites, considering how many cards he had, all maxed out. It made sense why he was so invested. But the cards themselves, they were…

Empty.

The cards were still there, in his collection. The background of the cards was still visible, even the other characters that appeared in the art were still there. But the character the card belonged to? Gone. Just an odd, inky smudge left in their place.

“That’s…” You couldn’t finish your thought, finding yourself at a loss for words at the bizarre, oddly chilling sight.

“Right?!” Idia hissed, really getting into the conversation now.

“Surely it must be some sort of event, right? Something to do with the story?” You tried to reason, and Idia shook his head wildly.

“That’s what we all thought, at first! Maybe they were springing some big event on us that none of the info trading accounts had managed to dig up. Sure it was a bit early for a Halloween event, GG developers, but it wasn’t like that hasn’t happened before.” You nodded along to Idia’s logic, this was exactly what you had assumed. The creepy feel of the cards definitely gave a Halloween vibe.

“But the official game pages never posted anything about it. And they weren’t responding to comments or messages about it either. So, we started to wonder if it was an update gone wrong, or a bug, and the devs were going to patch it. But still, we heard nothing from any official channels.”

You were staring at Idia, transfixed by this odd phenomenon. You’d never had anything of the sort happen in any of the games you had ever played, that’s for sure.

Idia’s cheeks flared a little pinker as he continued, “I-i have every one of that character’s cards, so I was able to check that it wasn’t just one card that had the issue, it was all of them. Other players reported the same issues, so that’s how we knew it was a game wide issue. The devs finally issued a statement, some vague BS about how they would be troubleshooting some issues with the game but not exactly what they were trying to fix. I personally think the devs have no clue what’s going on. Which is stupid, who doesn’t know what’s happening with their own software? Is it amateur hour over in that studio…” Idia finished, starting to mutter under his breath.

You mulled all this information over. Wow, clearly fandom drama in Twisted Wonderland was way more over the top than in your world.

“That’s really… Wow.” You hummed, which you thought summed up the situation quite well. You were pondering over it, eyes back on your own phone as you opened your card collection back up. You guessed you hadn’t noticed because you hadn’t rolled any of that specific character’s cards in the gatcha. You were kind of grateful, actually. It probably would have given you a fright.

“Uh…” You heard Idia hum, and you looked up at him, seeing him watching you with an apprehensive expression, “I have something to show you, if you want to… See… But you might find it weird…” He said slowly, his posture more hunched than before.

“Oh, okay?” You nodded, waiting for him to continue. You wondered if you were making him uncomfortable and had overstayed your welcome, considering Idia was starting to become more withdrawn again. His social battery was probably starting to go flat. You’d leave after this, you decided. Maybe quicker, if he was going to show you something really weird.

“The character is gone from the game’s cards, but they still appear in promotional materials that were posted online. Do you… Want to see?” Idia asked hesitantly, and whilst you found the way he asked the question a little odd, you had no reason to decline.

“Sure, why not? I feel like I’m invested now.” You smiled at him, but he didn’t smile back, only turned his gaze to Ortho. “Ortho, can you project the promotional art?”

“Easy! Searching promotional art… Loading… And, done!”

… … …

You felt your blood run cold instantly and you couldn’t stop the look of petrified horror that froze upon your face.

Projected onto the muted walls of Idia’s bedroom, in crystal clear clarity, was the promotional art of the character that Idia had been telling you about, just as he had asked Ortho to do. There was no inky smudge replacing their appearance, and they were posed rather dramatically, the norm for promo art. But something about it had your heart stopping in your chest and your hands trembling in your lap…

The promotional art…

The promotional art looked exactly like you.

#twst #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #idia shroud #idia shroud x reader #ortho shroud #twst idia #twst vil #vil schoenheit

[bonefall]

i can’t help that feel like 350 calories per cat per day across 5 clans (150 some odd cats!!!) is more prey than there is! even with really generous cooking estimates you’d need to catch a rabbit or two or a large fish or something per clan every single day of the year. i feel like that would really mess up prey populations, wouldn’t it? i know animals have a lot of babies, but 3,650 rabbits’ worth of calories every year (not to mention what other predators like foxes, snakes, and hawks are eating) feels like too much for one territory. are we assuming that there’s more prey than there is or do i just not know how much offspring animals produce?

WELL, there's a lot of factors here, but you are actually organically figuring out something true and horrifying. BB!Cats are sapient, able to understand their impact on the environment and ergo manage it, but feral domestic cats are devastating to local ecosystems.

Not even because of caloric need btw just because of how much they hunt, and their odd behaviors.

The Bad

There is a reason why predator populations are so massively outnumbered by prey species. One rabbit would feed a single cat for days, but one colony is typically 3 - 15 cats. Most predators are solitary, or have "loose" social structures spread out over many partially overlapping territories covering miles (like alligators)! but something changed when cats were domesticated, and they now seek out dense social units unlike their wild ancestors.

That's why the only social wild cats are lions. Lion prides are extremely flexible, ranging from 3 to upwards of 30 members, and their populations are going to depend completely on how much prey they have access to. Even the shocking "infanticide" thing that male lions are notorious for serves an ecological purpose; less lions means more meat, so every cub that isn't yours is a future rival.

(tangent: the largest lion prides actually set up in major migration "hubs," where there is a constant influx of traveling animals. Not really an "ecosystem" where the pride can damage the population.)

But now domestic cats are doing this, in ecosystems that can't support them and never had predators that behave like them. They compete with the local mesopredators ("middle" hunters that hunt small game but are killed by larger predators. Ex: raptors, snakes, caniforms like foxes or raccoons, etc) and put extra pressure on prey populations.

But that's not the worst part.

In nature, there are Predator-Prey cycles. When there's too many predators, they decrease the prey population. When there's not enough prey, the predators starve and their population lowers. Here is a graph of this phenomenon;

In this way, starvation is required for an ecosystem to stay healthy. It's how nature regulates.

But human beings feed cat colonies.

So colonies end up hitting DOZENS of cats. Upwards of 30 in a tiny area. The sizes you see in canon WC and in BB are TWICE the size of what a feral cat colony typically reaches. In the real world, this is because humans feed them. They HAVE to starve to lower the population, and make no mistake, these are slow, painful deaths.

"But, if we feed the colony, then they're not hunting the local prey, right? Because they're not hungry?" INCORRECT. THEY ARE ANIMALS. Cats are not humans with our sense of morality and long-term consequences. Hunting is only partially driven by hunger, it's also driven by prey drive. Even an outdoor cat, who gets all their meals at home, is killing an average of 90 animals a year.

(note: you may hear the number "they kill 3.5 animals a day." That is a misreading of this study which says 3.5 animals a month based on owner reports; but better study shows they only bring about 18% of their kills home.)

I could get into why I'm actually not a big fan of TNR as a conservation strategy because of this, but in a nutshell, the best solution to feral cat population management overall is (expensive) high-intensity TNR (70% or more) PAIRED with (inexpensive) removal/euthanasia and other methods (like banning colony feeding). PURE high-intensity TNR takes up to 30 years to remove a cat colony in computer simulations. And they keep killing wild animals that whole time.

(tangent: you may come across articles that say that killing feral cats doesn't work. This is often based on this Tasmanian case study by Lazenby et all, where they trapped and removed cats, only to find an influx of subordinate "satellite" individuals that filled the vacuum that the previously established individuals left and increased the overall population. This is a well-documented phenomenon of predator control. They don't tell you that this is short-term and also happens with TNR, just over a longer timeline, as discussed in the above studies, and the solution is to mix methods and make sure that these programs are carried out systemically, NOT ONLY in one limited range.)

So... feral cat colonies with totally realistic needs are very harmful to local ecosystems. They are animals, and they are an invasive species. Keep your cats indoors please

The Good

But BB!Cats and Canon!Cats aren't just animals. These are cats with governments and religion. They do understand long-term consequences.

Even on the page in-canon, they show an understanding that prey comes from breeding (unlike, say, a medieval human who believed in spontaneous generation), WindClan doesn't disturb lapwings during their nesting season showing a basic understanding of ecology, and they even have a law against food waste. Like it or not, these aren't realistic cats. They are small humans with a fuzzy little kitty coat tossed over them.

So we can actually reasonably assume that Clan cats are modifying their behavior so they aren't the ecosystem-shredders that their real-world counterparts are, like;

Hunting over a wider area and having a large territory (so to address you directly anon, their territories are not as small as you might think they are)

Taking the pressure off specific areas by sending their hunting patrols to various parts of their territory

Avoiding hunting animals during their breeding and nesting seasons.

Not killing animals that are pregnant or nursing

Leaving baby animals alone so they grow into bigger food items

Not killing what they don't plan to eat

Intentionally varying their diet so they take a little from many populations.

Hunting animals that real cats don't usually target, like fawns, seagulls, and young boars.

Breeding their own prey, if you're willing to do a little domestication innovation

If you're VERY cool, give them fire. go on. do it. 20% to 50% caloric increase is prettyyy cooool~

But also, you may be underestimating just how many babies prey species produce. Let's use rabbits because these things are insane. They weren't lying, rabbits can breed like rabbits.

European rabbits (and all the domestic breeds they are descended from) have a double womb. That means that when they've given birth to their litter of 4 - 12 babies (usually 6), they can already be pregnant with the next. Gestation is a month. These babies are able to leave their mothers at 2 months and can breed by 4 months. They can have 10 litters a year.

So a SINGLE rabbit COULD have well over 100 bunnies a year... but rabbit warrens are usually 10 - 50, mostly females, plus a bunch of bucks who are more solitary and more likely to travel around. And you're gonna have multiple warrens on a territory.

Low litter estimate, small warren; 10 x 4 x 10 = 400 bunnies. Big litter estimate, big warren; 50 x 12 x 10 = 6,000 bunnies.

That said, most estimates say they functionally end up with 20 adult children a year, which then go on to breed at four months. That's still 200 rabbits a year coming out of that small warren ALONE, and isn't counting the fact that those children are also going to have children of their own.

(though, rabbits in particular are facing a massive crisis in england and even across europe because of two diseases that hit them one after another OTL but it's not related to predation.)

Don't forget that a territory also has more than just rabbits. This is also happening with mice, rats, ducks, sparrows, voles, etc. Like I said, if your cats just diversify the prey they hunt in response to population changes, they'll be golden. In BB I even have a role dedicated to this now; the Head of Hunting, who is tasked with assessing this sort of thing.

SO, to answer you directly;

Feral Cats Bad

WC characters have more in common with a small human than a cat

Pure carnivores are pretty demanding on their ecosystems

There is plenty an intelligent creature can do to reduce their impact on the ecosystem

Their territories could still support them along with the other predators

You did underestimate just how many babies prey animals have, though

Overall, they would be fine. You COULD overhunt a territory, but not with basic prey management practices.

#bone babble #clan culture #nutrition guide

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Do you think that the zoo and/or associated breeding programs will keep the spotless giraffe as part of the giraffe breeding program? I could see them as being afraid the animal might have other associated health problems, but maybe it's a harmless mutation?

So I can't speak for the zoo, obviously, but I can tell you what I think the general thought process would be.

My guess is that's not a decision that they'd make for years yet, because she's quite a ways away from sexual maturity. Observing her while she grows up will help them determine if the mutation seems to effect her health. If it does, it would be reasonable not to let her reproduce.

If she seems to be healthy, there's a couple different ways to look at it. Color mutations on their own aren't a reason not to breed an animal, if they're healthy and their genetics are important to the population. It becomes an issue when you're over-breeding or in-breeding to increase a specific mutation in your population. That's not actually as common as you'd think these days, because it so immediately gets public backlash. The zoo is getting a ton of publicity over her birth, but it means there will be equally as much scrutiny of any potential breeding.

It's also worth keeping in mind that she may not stay at that zoo, as breeding facilities with smaller habitats often transfer their calves somewhere else when they're reaching maturity. (Although I think in this case, they're more likely to keep her at home, because she's such a good draw for the public). If she moved somewhere, it's possible her original zoo might not get to make the call about if she breeds there.

In short, basically, we need to wait and see. Personally? One spotless giraffe is a really neat occurrence. A whole herd of them wouldn't be nearly as interesting, after a while. Their spots are what make them so unique!

#spotless giraffe #bright's zoo #current events #color morphs #giraffe

[synthetickitsune]

ateez + the little things

Hongjoong ❧ It’s late, yet you’re dragging on your nightly routine as much as possible. Wherever you go, you keep your phone within reach. The ringtone is on too, a change from the usual silent setting that you always forget to turn off. Hongjoong is a busy man. You doubt there exists a number to count all his apologies that you’ve accepted with a fond smile. You know that he cares, that he worries, and so you always keep your phone close. It’s always a surprise when it does ring, but it has taught you not to fear the sudden incoming calls too much - even if it’s all the more disappointing when the caller’s id doesn’t read his name. When it rings this late at night, you know what to expect; his tired voice drawling the words. He never talks about work, that’s for when you’re together, for when he can hold you as you ramble about this week’s infuriating incidents and for when you run your hands through his hair. No, his phone calls are always for one thing only - “I just wanted to hear your voice.”

Seonghwa ❧ It’s a struggle to stay on top of everything - what with your job, your interests, the chores, maybe some social life and sleep squeezed in. Seonghwa is painfully aware of that and it’s honestly near the top of the list of reasons why you’re grateful to have him. What’s the number one reason, though, is his superpower. You’ve never met anyone like him and you’re sure he’s ruined at least half of the population for you. Because somehow, he helps you without making you feel like he’s nagging. And you know it’s his choice to treat you that way from the stories the other members tell you. He reminds you of stuff that needs to be done urgently and makes sure that you’re making progress on anything that takes a while to finish as the deadline is coming closer, and somehow he does so in a way that doesn’t make you want to give up on the task in question. Perhaps it’s the fact that he remembers all those things with his own busy schedule, or maybe it’s the proud look in his eyes and lingering kiss he gives you when you tell him you’re done. Who knows.

Yunho ❧ He knows when you need to get up, when you need to get up, just like he knows the type of breakfast that you can eat without upsetting your stomach early in the morning, what you like to drink to wake up and he doesn’t forget to prepare the vitamins next to the cup to keep you healthy. Yunho roughly remembers the time you need before you truly begin to function and he makes sure you’re out of the bed with enough time before you need to leave. If he can, he does anything in his power to make sure your morning goes smoothly. Your routines are so intertwined now it’s not that big of a deal anyway, but you appreciate it more than he’ll ever know. While your efforts are not as intricate, you try. Making sure he ate, reminding him to take breaks and that he’s already doing well, hugging him from behind when he least expects it. Yet he always one-ups you. It’s not a competition, of course, but any time you melt into his kiss while he’s rushing out the door has you feeling like he’s winning in this domestic life thing.

Yeosang ❧ If you didn’t know any better, you’d think you live with an angel. It’s rare to find a person as caring and generous as Yeosang. Or maybe you’re just taking advantage of him, even if he keeps reassuring you that’s not the case. The thing is, you’re pretty sure this world doesn’t deserve him - or at the very least, you don’t. He always shares with you without expecting anything in return. Peeling oranges is so much work, yet he never hesitates to give you at least half of his without you having to ask. You laugh at the couples on tv that fight over sharing fries because your saint of a boyfriend always encourages you to take his. Whatever is his, is yours. Although he might grumble playfully, he never threatens to take back the clothes you borrow. He’s bought another pillow because you kept saying that it’s more comfortable than yours. He shares his shower gel, his shampoo, his cologne sometimes too, just because you mentioned you liked smelling like him. You can only hope he won’t mind sharing his future with you too.

San ❧ He always stays aware of the looks people give him and how they react to him. San’s only wish is for everyone to be comfortable around him, and you most of all. As much as he knows you admire the hard work he’s put into his body and that your eyes linger on him just a second longer when he’s walking around shirtless, he knows that sometimes his appearance is something he needs to be mindful of. Conflicts happen in every relationship and sometimes people are simply too on edge. And that’s when he knows to sit down, ideally, or to focus on calming down even if it means holding his tongue when all he wants to do is argue back, to keep his posture relaxed instead of standing proud and rolling his shoulders back. He teaches himself patience for you. The last thing he wants is to scare you, and he knows how easy it is to make you flinch when emotions are high. It’s hard, but it’s all worth it when you no longer worry about approaching him after a fight. When you always finish making up with him by whispering a thank you against his lips.

Mingi ❧ The one thing that never fails to fascinate you about Mingi is how much attention he pays to you. Sometimes it might almost seem like he's hovering, but it's really just that he likes to spend his rare free time with you and make sure you're alright. He can't always be there for you and it makes him feel guilty, so he's trying to compensate for it when he can. And it's magical. He somehow always notices when you're about to bump into something, when you hold the knife in a dangerous way while cutting vegetables, or when you accidentally drop something and he pulls you right back so you don't get hurt. It's unbelievable how fast his reflexes work when it comes to you… and how he still manages to get hurt in all the ways he protects you from. If it wasn’t for his sheepish smile and hundred muttered apologies when you patch him up or get him an ice pack for his burned hand, you’d think he does it for attention.

Wooyoung ❧ He’s pretty sure he’s never made anyone as happy as he makes you. As you dig into the meal he’s prepared according to a recipe he’s never tried before, Wooyoung can’t hold back his smile at the sight of your cheeks filled with his food. He tries to fight it, but the genuine delight he sees on your face makes it impossible. It’s different from the proud look in your eyes when you see him perform, unlike the loving smile you grace him with each day or the happiness you radiate whenever he brings you little silly knick-knacks that reminded him of you. This is… purer? Is that the word? He can’t quite describe it, but he swears it’s the closest thing to pure joy he’s ever seen. And in turn it makes him smile the exact same way at you and your heart flutters because this is the effect you have on him? You end up smiling at each other like two idiots, your cheeks round and full with food, they burn because you’ve been grinning for the past ten minutes straight. It must be love.

Jongho ❧ Sometimes he wonders whether you’re getting tired. Feelings are messy, and expressing them is something he’s always struggled with, which usually leads to you making the first step. It’s a struggle to find the compromise between your individual love languages and Jongho will be the first one to admit you’re doing a significantly better job. Somehow you always manage to respect his boundaries while expressing yourself in the way you’re comfortable and making him feel loved. He’s trying, too, yet it seems to him it’s not enough. Maybe it’s the time strain, maybe it’s his own self-doubt creeping in. All he knows is that he loves you, and that it’s much easier to ramble, to vent, to be vulnerable and clumsily tell you all that he feels and thinks when you’re not looking at him with those eyes that make him feel like you already know each word he’s about to say. He’s so careful and gentle with his touch when you lay next to him asleep, his voice barely above whisper. Sometimes he hopes you’re only pretending and that you listen to him in silence. And sometimes he’s right.

#ateez #ateez reactions #ateez scenarios #ateez imagines #ateez x reader #atz fluff

[emilybeemartin]

Inktober Days 7-9

Day 7: "Drip"

Can you believe we live in a world where the tiny drip-drip-drip of water can carve vast caves deep underground? To wander through Mammoth Cave—or any of the caves protected by the NPS—is to appreciate the power of water and time. Geologic formations aptly named flowstone and dripstone ripple, drizzle, and cascade in a mirror of the water that created them.

Touring Mammoth Cave is one of the earliest memories I have of visiting a national park. I remember squeezing through tight passages after my dad, as well as experiencing true, utter darkness for the first time when the ranger switched all the lights off.

Day 8: "Toad"

There’s something so grand about toads. Whether it’s a teeny little gentleman perched on a wet rock or a great gargantuan grandee lolloping along a muddy path, it always seems like a blessing to spy a toad. Perhaps it’s a holdover from childhood, when toads were some of the only wildlife we could get our hands on, cradling their squishy bodies and staring into their ever-grumpy faces.

Most parks in the NPS host toads, even ones where it might seem improbable. In the high, cold slopes of Rocky Mountain, the boreal toad can be found in wet meadows and ponds. It’s considered the only alpine toad in Colorado.

Because toads and other amphibians are so sensitive to their environments, they’re often considered indicator species of ecosystem health. Healthy toads mean healthy land, water, and air. Unfortunately, like many amphibians, boreal toad populations are in decline due to chytrid fungus, a disease that’s been decimating amphibian populations across the Americas, Europe, and Australia. Biologists in Rocky Mountain are carrying out important work to study and save their little high-alpine gentletoads from collapse.

Day 9: "Bounce"

Recently, when I was helping my brother move across the country, our plans went awry due to freak bad weather across the southwest. We diverted north and found ourselves in Arches National Park. It turned out to be the highlight of our whole trip. It was late winter, and the vibrant red rocks were ribbed with snow. The air was crisp, the panoramas of frosted mountains undisturbed by dust or haze. And the park was quiet, utterly so—I’ll always remember the silence of our campsite, broken only by the croaking of ravens and distant coyote song.

To cap it all off, pressed into the red sand around our site were dozens of little footprints—the hopping marks of kangaroo rats. They were like getting a postcard in the mail from a faraway friend. Hello, hello, hello. We’re out and about. Have a nice stay.

#inktober #31 days of national parks #mammoth cave #rocky mountain #arches #national parks #inktober 2023

[phoenixyfriend]

Ko-Fi Prompt from Eli:

do landlords have price wars? it seems like with the insane way rents are going it wouldn't be hard for them to undercut competition. but it also doesnt feel like thats happening.

Oh, this is a fun one. Let's talk about price elasticity!

Note: I will be including graphs in this post. While it's helpful as a visual aid, there is no way to describe it that actually helps explain the premise that isn't already in the post's body of text. As such, I will not be providing image descriptions beyond the short sentence before or after stating what it's meant to represent, since further information wouldn't be of any use to those with screen readers.

In the field of microeconomics, one of the basic models everyone learns is the supply and demand curve. Here's a visual example:

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Traditionally, a product with an elastic price is one where demand fluctuates directly in response to cost, isolated from other factors*. A basic example is affordable luxury goods, say, a nice steak. If the cost goes up by a dollar, a certain portion of the population will decide it's no longer worth the cost, and will switch to something cheaper, like a chicken breast, instead.

* Other factors include, but are not limited to, luxury appeal, subsidized costs, and the lipstick effect. This post is already pretty long, so I can't go into many details on those situations.

The Demand curve is specifically a visualization of how much of a product can be sold for, not necessarily how much the product can be sold in quantity. As a general rule, it's easier to think of Price as the independent factor for Demand (and quantity as the dependent), and quantity as the independent factor for Supply (and price as the dependent).

With a traditional S&D curve, the intersection of the Supply and Demand curves is the optimal price point from both ends. The X-axis is supply quantity, which a lot of people find unintuitive... but that's where it's been for years and that's where it's staying.

If there is a great quantity of a product, with healthy competition levels, then the supply line moves to the right. The intersection of the lines then drops, and prices go down, as businesses lower prices to gain more customers.

If there is a small quantity of a product, due to limited raw materials or unique patents or skills, then the supply line moves to the left, and they can charge more for the product.

Here is a visual of what I mean by the supply curve moving:

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The text is fairly small, so I'll describe here: The image states that factors that can increase supply (shift to the right) include favorable conditions for production, falling input prices, improved technology, and lower taxes or regulation costs. The second graph describes a decrease in supply, causing a shift to the left, the factors of which are the exact inverse of the first graph for increased supply.

A good example of a shift in supply resulting in a change in cost is gas: prices go up when supplies go down, whether due to higher taxes/regulations (e.g. the current refusal to trade with Russia), or disappearing raw materials (diminishing quantities of oil and natural gas, as finite, unrenewable resources). Comparatively, other forms of energy, like solar, have had their quantity lines shift to the right (cheaper) as the technology becomes more efficient and cheaper to produc.

Now, in areas that genuinely do not have enough housing, this is part of why prices go up: options are limited enough that they can get away with charging more. Due to zoning laws, construction costs, etc. they cannot add more housing, and so the supply curve is further to the left (pricier).

Here is a similar example image for the Demand curve, and how it shifts:

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The factors, here, are more intuitive. If demand goes up for reasons like trends, population, rise in general disposable income, changes in the costs of competitors or accessories, or expectations of investment viability, then the demand curve shifts to the right, and costs can increase without losing market share. For the reverse causes, the curve shifts to the right, and fewer people are willing to buy at that same cost.

Let's consider laptop computers: they have gotten more popular. A larger portion of the population has reason to buy them than twenty years ago. For that reason, the price can go up without necessarily losing market share (shifting to the right). However, income across the board has dropped, and there is a reasonably cheaper substitute (smartphones) for some uses, so the demand is lower (shifting to the left).

If you are in a city where there are suddenly a lot of people moving in for some shiny new company, then there is a greater population trying to buy, and so the demand curve shifts to the right, and prices can safely go up without losing market share.

...but that's with elastic pricing and competition.

Elastic pricing and costs are for most traditional goods. For specific foods, you can usually just... buy something else. If a plague wiped out half the crop of lettuce for the season, the costs will rise on the supply side (shift to the left), but there are unaffected substitutes, like broccoli and cabbage and tomato, for general use, so demand will also drop (also shift to the left). This means that prices go higher, but they are further to the left for both, meaning the quantity sold is lower.

Selling four million units at $3 vs. selling two million units at $6. The final amount of money changing hands is the same, but it's at a different cost and quantity.

Summary:

Supply moves to the left: less product, higher price from the seller to cover costs

Supply moves to the right: more product with healthy competition, lower price from the seller

Demand moves to the left: less interest in the product, customers need a lower price to buy the same amount

Demand moves to the right: more interest in the product, customers will tolerate a higher price to buy the same amount

But again, this is for elastic products.

What's an inelastic product?

Well... housing, actually, but let's start on the other side this time.

Products with inelastic demand are ones where customers cannot respond to changes in cost or supply. It doesn't matter if the cost goes sky high, and you know the profit is 96% because the cost of production is 4% of the price you paid; you can't afford to not buy it.

You know how insulin prices in the US spent decades being prohibitively expensive because diabetic individuals could not survive without buying it? That's inelastic demand.

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

If you look at the image above, you see a 'perfectly' inelastic demand curve. It is a straight, vertical line, where the quantity is immovably stuck at 150 no matter how high the cost goes.

In the real world, very, very few products are perfectly inelastic. Even insulin is... well, some people can move abroad. Not many, so it's pretty close to vertical, but some.

With housing, demand is fairly inelastic. The vast, vast majority of people do need housing. There are very few substitutes for this need, and while there is a range of prices and options, it does sort of... flatten out early.

If you demand that people spend $3000/month in order to live within 50 miles of their place of work, and everyone else is also demanding $3000/month, then there aren't any other options. The person either gets a new job elsewhere, spends a few hours a day on a commute, or pays those $3000.

Inelastic supply is the other side of that coin. The very limited quantity, and the high costs of expanding that supply, mean that the line shifts pretty far to the left, causing prices to rise. The line is also nearly vertical. With housing, there exists an argument that it is often cheaper to let the apartment sit empty than to rent it out too cheaply, due to maintenance costs and property taxes or what have you. Unless there's an exorbitant mortgage that needs to be contributed to by the tenants, though, those numbers don't quite work out.

So... if the Demand curve is nearly vertical, and the Supply curve is also nearly vertical, and there are no viable substitutes other than exiting the market entirely, you have a situation where the Supply side has nearly all the power and an excuse for why they're raising prices that doesn't actually reflect the reality.

Because there's plenty of housing being built, just, you know, not in the tax bracket that needs it. (Remember, a very large portion of Billionaire's row is currently unoccupied.)

You could argue that this is a form of price-fixing, which is an illegal act in which competitors in the same industry agree to collectively raise, lower, or stabilize pricing of a product. If 90% of microprocessor companies raise their prices simultaneously without cause, consumers will have to bite the bullet and buy the product at that new cost, as there aren't enough substitutes to find another option.

(If this sounds like a monopoly to you, good job! It's the same principle: control pricing for enough of the market that you can raise it higher than demand justifies. It's just done by making deals with the competitor instead of buying them out.)

However, due to the shape of the supply and demand curves in this housing market, and the very gradual way in which this situation has developed, it's not really a deliberate, organized price-fix, just something that came about as landlords realized that tenant's rights and alternate options (e.g. the council/public housing, affordable housing lotteries) weren't keeping up with their ability to continue to nudge prices upwards without losing out on money.

(Most of the time. Price-fixing does still happen, in pockets.)

Long story short: landlords don't have price wars because the demand curve is so inelastic that they can basically get away with anything.

(Prompt me on ko-fi!)

#economics #housing #housing industry #supply and demand #supply curves #demand curves #ko fi prompts #economics prompts #microeconomics #phoenix posts

[gxdsfavgal]

Closet

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Kook!Reader

Warnings: blurb, fluff, slight religion mentioned, OBX3 spoiler, not edited

A/N: I was inspired by this oneshot and also a scene from Ginny and Georgia (I've never watched it I just remember seeing it on TikTok)

-

-

It’s been almost a year since the Pogues came back after finding the treasure of El Dorado, the event to celebrate was close. It was hard for them, coming back from so much trauma.

My arms and home were open for them, especially for JJ. He’s always had a soft spot for me, and me for him.

A few months after they came home from South America, JJ and I decided to keep our relationship a secret. Hidden from the eyes of our parents and the whole Kildare population, except his friends.

Now here we are, JJ and his friends standing as I was in the audience clapping and cheering for them. I am truly happy for them, happy that they have peace after everything they've been through.

After they got away from the attention, the Pogues were all in a group smoking while I was distant from them, not wanting to be by them while my parents were just a few feet away.

I was admiring JJ. I felt so lucky to have him and that he finally lives a safe and healthy life. I was admiring their friendship and how it was life or death with them.

"Are you okay?" JJ asked as I flinched, not knowing he was next to me already. He giggled at my easily frightened state.

"I'm perfect." I said with a wide smile, my eyes found his sharp blue ones immediately.

"Perfect as in you're really feeling good or perfect as in you're hiding your emotions?" he stood back away from me to get a better look at me.

"Jay, I was just admiring you guys." I smiled up as him as I secretly intertwined our fingers.

"You mean admiring me, not them." he teased.

"Whatever Jayj." I playfully rolled my eyes.

"Wanna come with us on the HMS after this?"

"Y'know my parents, they won't let me since we got church in the morning." I pouted as I looked over to my parents who were coincidentally talking to the priest.

JJ threw his head back in a groan, letting out a loud and breathy sigh.

"Come over after?" I lifted my eyebrows in hope. "Through the window of course."

The side of his mouth lifted in a grin. "Yes, I'll come straight after." He gave my forearm a squeeze, knowing that if my parents saw us hug it would end differently.

"Now go." I playfully hissed at him, using my hands to shoo him towards his friends.

"Man I want to kiss you all over your face." He faked grabbing my face in the air, making a playful mad face about no PDA.

"Me too, but go seriously. Have fun." I nodded at him.

He sent me a warm smile, the smile that I knew meant that he will miss me even though it's for a few hours.

We had to get used to it. The whole not being able to hangout together, staying up on the phone all night, and stealing glances at the local restaurants.

But it never made him not want to be with me, he was committed and so was I. He understood the need to hide things from parents.

-

Late last night, JJ snuck through my window with my help. We quietly maneuvered through my room and just watched a movie, enjoying each others presence in our arms.

I fell asleep first, tired from waking up early to help set up for their event earlier in the day.

When I woke up it was already bright outside, the sun just hitting the sky. The warm air coming through my window, and the quiet chirps of the birds made it sound like a movie.

I felt a warm presence behind me and a heavy arm on my shoulder. JJ was sound sleep, his peaceful state made me smile hard.

I turned my head back around to watch the sun rise through my window, but my peace was interrupted once I saw the time on my phone.

"JJ wake up." I sat up quickly and tried to shake him awake but failed.

I quietly cussed as I thought of different ways to wake him up.

"JJ" I shook his body harder. When that didn't work, I pulled the warm blanket off of his body, the now cooler air hugging his skin.

He groaned loud so I rushed to cover his mouth with my hand. His eyes shooting open quickly, his body going into fight mode.

"Jesus." he dragged his hands over his tired eyes.

"JJ, I have to get ready for church." I pointed towards the time, hoping he was conscious enough to understand.

"So?" he settled back into the bed, his eyes already threatening to close.

I heard my parents bedroom door open, the footsteps descending to the kitchen.

"JJ please." I kneeled next to him on the bed, shaking his body again.

"Five more minutes." he mumbled into the pillow.

My patience was running low, and I did not have a lot of time until my parents came into my room to tell me to get ready. I grabbed my pillow and repeatedly hit it against JJ's shoulder, trying not to be so loud.

I heard the footsteps of one of my parents going up the stairs, I knew that their next stop was my room.

"JJ now." I pulled him up by his shirt and pushed him into my closet. His half asleep body was heavy and made a loud thud.

"Hey hun?" I heard a quiet knock on my door.

"Yes?" I pretended to have a raspy morning voice.

The door opened to reveal my dad with two mugs of tea in his hands.

"We're leaving in 30 minutes, I'll set your mug down." He pushed the door a little more to set my tea down into my desk.

"Thank you dad." I smiled at him as I rubbed at my eyes.

"Oh one more thing." He turned his body back towards me.

"Yeah?" I looked up at him with wide eyes.

"JJ, get out of the closet please."

My heart dropped out of my ass when my dad said those words.

JJ opened the door of my closet to reveal his groggy state, but the words of my father scared him awake.

"Good morning sir." JJ said nervously as he stood up straight.

"Morning JJ. Next time, just use the front door." my dad smiled at him and came towards me to leave a kiss on my head.

My dad turning his back away from us to walk out the room, our backs returning to a relaxed slouch.

"Oh and JJ?" he turned back around before reaching my bedroom door. We both straightened up again.

"Yes sir?"

"Would you like to join us at mass today?"

JJ looked at me with wide eyes, not knowing how to answer but I just shook him off; only because I didn't know how to answer.

"I- Uh- Yes. I would love to join you and your family." JJ said with a nervous smile.

"I have some clothes that could fit you. Let me get them." my dad left my room with a smile, leaving us to get ready for mass.

I sat down on my bed with my jaw on the floor and my heart pounding so hard.

"What just happened?" I looked up at JJ that stood over me.

"I don't know, but I love it." he had a soft smile on his face.

"I can't believe that happened." I giggled out into his stomach as I wrapped my arms around his hips.

"No more hiding." his palm rubbed over my back.

#gxdsfavgals masterlist #jj maybank #jj maybank fluff #jj maybank obx #obx jj maybank #obx #outerbanks #obx3 #jj outer banks #obx jj #jj x reader #jj fluff #jjm

[howlingday]

Ruby: Major depression, also known as persistent depressive disorder, is mental disorder, and possibly the most common disorder in the world.

Jaune: (Thinking) You're fine. You're healthy. Stop being such a fucking crybaby.

Weiss: It affects approximately 5% of the global population, and is identified by many factors, such as a change in diet, weight, and mood.

Jaune: You're fine, fatty. You're not like those sad sacks you see on the street. Get the fuck over yourself.

Ruby: Depression can develop at any point in a person's life, but is most often seen in late teens to early twenties.

Jaune: You had this in your head when you were 12. You got over it. Fucking stop your bitching already!

Weiss: A person with depression often loses control of their sleep schedule, and have been known to lose interest in things they used to enjoy, too.

Jaune: You just stayed up too late. That's all. You're just growing up, like you should. Will you just fucking kill yourself already?

Ruby: According to one study, one in three women often experience- Jaune? Jaune, are you feeling okay?

Jaune: You're a fucking man! Act like one! Grow the fuck up! Get over yourself! The world doesn't revolve around you! Shut up! Failure! Worthless! Weak! Stupid! Pointless! Kill yourself! Kill yourself! Kill yourself! FUCKING KILL YOURSELF! KILL YOUR-

Weiss: Jaune! Are you okay?

Jaune: ...No.

Ruby: Oh...

Jaune: I... I need help.

#rwby #ruby rose #jaune arc #weiss schnee #lancaster #white knight #white rose #war of the roses

[strangerthingssimps-blog]

Billy Hargrove x Reader

(You guys have a daughter that looks just like his mother)

When you and Billy found out that you were expecting a baby he was a bit worried about being a father because of his childhood, you guys decided to leave Hawkins and move to California San diego. San Diego is where his mom wanted to live but Neil refused because of how populated it was and easier for them to escape home life. 

The move was a big one but you both knew it was for the correct reason, Neither of you wanted to raise your child in Hawkins after what has happened since 1982. You also didn’t want Neil in your child's life at all. 

When you and Billy moved to your new house in San diego. You were a bit shocked at how big it was. The house was massive compared to the one you had in hawkins. All your stuff had been moved in to the place and everything was ready. 

Later that day You and Billy had gone out for a meal and he ran into his aunt, uncle and cousin from his mothers side of the family. He talked to them and introduced you to them. 

A few months later, You both find out that you were having a little girl, Billy was over the moon when he found out that he was having a little girl, he’s always wanted a daughter. He then started to think of taking her to the beach like his mother used to do with him when he was a little kid. 

When you went into labour Billy was at work and wasn’t supposed to be back until later that night so you called his cousin to see if she could help you out.  A couple minutes later his Aunt and cousin pulled up and grabbed your hospital bag and took you to the hospital, when you got to the hospital his aunt went to go get him from his work while his cousin stayed with you. 

19 Hours later you gave birth to a healthy baby girl, when Billy looked at her he started to cry. Your daughter looked just like his mother. She had little curly blonde hair and blue eyes like his mother did. His aunt also saw her sister inside the baby and hugged her nephew and you. 

You both decided to call her Emily Lillith Rose Hargrove, Emily was his mothers name. 

Billy was great with little Emily, she was a daddy's girl and he always brought exactly what she wanted. She was quite spoiled but really polite. 

Emily was now 3 and Billy had brought her a little cute swim suit and was teaching her how to swim in the private pool in their house. You were sitting on the edge of the pool while watching them in the pool.

He was holding Emily just above the water so she could get the sense of the water since it was her first time in the pool. He was wearing red swim trunks and was floating in the pool. He looked like he was back at his lifeguard job back in Hawkins. His muscular physique hadn’t changed a bit, it was really shocking but he was a Basketball coach at the highschool and it paid quite a lot of money.

You were a stay at home mom and stayed home looking after Emily. 

#stranger things #billy hargrove x reader #billy hargove imagine #billy hargrove #stranger things 4

[supremebirdbracket]

General Vulture Fun Facts

Just to share some more love!

Vultures in general

Vultures are critically important to keeping an ecosystem healthy by cleaning up carcasses and preventing the spread of disease. They have incredibly acidic stomachs with a pH of about 1, causing them to be able to digest diseases including rabies and anthrax. Through eating carrion, they destroy harmful bacteria found in rotting meat.

Vultures are a major conservation concern. Of the 23 species of vultures, 9 are critically endangered, 2 are endangered, 2 are vulnerable, 3 are near threatened, and 7 are least concern.

Most vultures have featherless necks and heads. This is partially to help them stay clean when they feed by reaching their heads into carcasses; with bald heads, they can more efficiently clean their heads and the sun can bake off detritus more easily. This adaptation also helps them regulate their temperatures.

Old World and New World vultures are only superficially similar in filling similar ecological niches. I'll go into more depth below!

Old World Vultures

Old World vultures are members of the order Accipitiformes and family Accipitridae, which includes hawks and eagles. Many of these vultures are no more closely related to one another than they are to other members of Accipitridae.

They can be generally divided into two major clades, Aegypiinae (cinereous, red-headed, lappet-faced, white-headed, hooded, and all Gyps vultures) and Gypaetinae (bearded, palm-nut, and Egyptian vultures).

While some New World vulture species forage using their sense of smell, Old World vultures have poor senses of smell and find food exclusively via sight.

Many Gyps vultures are known as griffon vultures in at least one of their common names (G. fulvus, Eurasian griffon vulture; G. coprotheres, cape griffon; G. rueppelli, Rüppell's griffon vulture; G. himalayensis, Himalayan griffon vulture).

Most Old World vulture species are of conservation concern. The most dramatic declines are in Asia due to accidental poisoning by diclofenac, a problem known as the Indian Vulture Crisis. It is caused by cattle being treated with the drug diclofenac; when these cattle die they are consumed by vultures, but diclofenac causes fatal kidney failure in vultures. This crisis largely affects Gyps and red-headed vultures and has caused a 99% decrease in Indian vulture populations since about 1990. Major declines in Africa are caused by poaching and intentional poisoning.

In ancient Egypt, vultures were associated with purity and motherhood as well as the cycle of death and rebirth.

New World Vultures

New World vultures are placed in the family Cathartidae, but nobody can agree where to put Cathartidae. It was originally in the order Falconiformes. It was then moved to the order Ciconiiformes (storks and herons) due to erroneous studies but later removed. New World vultures are now considered to be most closely related to Accipitriformes raptors, and Cathartidae may now be placed in Accipitriformes with the Old World vultures, or in its own closely-related order Cathartiformes.

These vultures can be generally grouped into two clades, one consisting of the black vulture and the Cathartes vultures, and the other including the king vulture and both species of condor.

New World vultures do not posses a syrinx (bird voice box), and so can only hiss and grunt as vocalizations.

Cathartes vultures, meaning the turkey vulture and both yellow-headed vultures, are some of the few birds to have a good sense of smell. This sense makes them the most efficient birds at finding carrion.

Black and king vultures as well as condors will follow Cathartes vultures to carcasses, where they generally tend to dominate. Condors and king vultures are larger than Cathartes vultures, while black vultures are more aggressive. However, these larger vultures are needed to tear open tough carcasses. Therefore, large vultures and Cathartes vultures rely on one another to effectively access food.

New World vultures do not build nests but rather lay their eggs directly on bare surfaces such as cliff ledges.

They cool off via urohidrosis, or urinating on their legs. They cool off as the waste evaporates, similar to how humans cool off as sweat evaporates. This process also kills bacteria accumulated on the legs at carcasses.

King and black vultures are often found depicted in Mayan codices. The king vulture is considered a divine messenger and used to depict the thirteenth day of the month, while the black vulture is associated with death and aggression.

New World vultures may vomit when threatened in order to distract the threat and to lighten themselves enough to take off quickly.

#birds #vultures #birdblr #bird facts

[merakiui]

Now that we're on the topic of Kabukimono, do you think he has the potential to become yandere? I feel like his love for you could grow into an unhealthy obsession for sure, like he'd be so attached to you, trailing you everywhere like a lost puppy. But does he have it in him to get unreasonably jealous over you giving your attention to someone else? Could he hurt someone for you and twist it in a way that he believes he's protecting you? What are your thoughts on this?

He has so much potential! Kabukimono is seeing and experiencing the world for the very first time, so he's essentially a blank slate. He's growing and learning when he wanders from place to place, sometimes immersing himself in human civilization and other times straying from populated areas to walk along the outskirts of and within Tatarasuna. Everything—including the most mundane of human tasks—becomes fascinating to him, someone who has never known the world that lies beyond the confines of Shakkei Pavilion. So naturally the way he feels when he's around you is going to be interesting because it's so different compared to how he feels around other humans.

Kabukimono is best compared to a starry-eyed duckling or a lost puppy when he trails after you. He never offers much conversation, instead preferring to admire you as he follows from behind. He never leads; he only follows, and he seems to like following you the most. Your friends have remarked that he's awfully cute when he's hurrying to keep up with your quick, clipped pace. And he's always so willing to help you in any way that he can, whether that's by carrying things, gathering things, trying to learn how to cook for your sake. Kabukimono is, in every possible way, devoted to you and it's for the purest of reasons. He cares for you; it's so clear when he frets over the tiniest scrapes and bruises that mar your perfect body. Or when he stands guard outside while you sleep, even though the area you live is peaceful enough. You can't seem to shake him, even for a moment of privacy. He wants to follow and stay and be kept around.

Kabukimono does not understand the differences between healthy and unhealthy, much like how he can't quite fathom that what he feels for you might be love (or a very obsessive version of it). He just knows that he feels good when he's around you, when he helps you and you praise him, when you teach him new things and he struggles for a while, which means you'll help him patiently and he'll get to be closer to you. Kabukimono only knows 'good' and 'bad.' That weird water you and some friends were drinking is 'bad,' apparently. You told him he shouldn't drink too much of it. Following you to places where you require privacy is 'bad.' But doing the right thing is 'good.' Right things, Kabukimono has learned, are things like following rules, listening to others, being kind and forgiving, helping those in need, and so on. Kabukimono wants to do many good things so that you'll like him and continue to let him stay near you, so he often gets very distraught when he makes a mistake, fearing that it's a bad thing.

What Kabukimono isn't taught is that manipulation is bad, but he learns fairly quickly that lots of people dote on him because he's 'innocent' and 'cute.' Kabukimono doesn't entirely understand where those words stem from—what parts of him are cute or innocent—but he's noticed that you pay more attention to him when he does things like making 'innocent mistakes,' as you've described it, or when he struggles to write and read and so you slow down your speech and take it word by word; or you'll gently grab his hand to help him trace the characters. He wanted to learn how to spell and write your name first, which everyone had found so endearing. Kabukimono wants to do more endearing things so that you'll continue to look at him.

He's good at making mistakes and acting like he just can't grasp certain subjects because, while it was like that for a while, now he can just pretend. Pretending is more fun than he thought it'd be. It's not truly a lie because he does struggle at times, but you're always there to help him, and so Kabukimono has learned that when he struggles you help. And sometimes you'll spend hours helping him. So he'll struggle and make mistakes and pretend like he requires you to teach him more just so he can monopolize your time and subtly manipulate you into only ever spending time with him.

He won't feel jealousy when you're with others because you look so happy amongst them, and your happiness is his happiness. He only feels jealous if and when he stumbles upon you being intimate with another human. Kabukimono can't understand this sharp, stabbing envy, but he feels...sad. Sad and a little frustrated. All this time, all those smiles, all those praises you directed his way, and yet you smile in the same way at another in secret. He doesn't understand human intimacy or the fact that you might not ever see him in the way he sees you, but he does understand that what you're doing with that human is his version of a bad thing. Bad things—like seeing you be this way with another and hearing how happy you sound and knowing that he isn't the reason for this happiness—hurt. And he's learned that if you get rid of a bad thing there won't be anymore pain.

Kabukimono's intentions turn rather grim the deeper he falls into a feeling he can't even describe. And it all culminates in a confrontation that ends in bloodshed. He doesn't have an explanation for his behaviors or his actions, but he apologizes when you find him because that's the right thing to do. Right things are apologizing and owning up to mistakes. And right things always make you smile.

This time, when you spy the blood that dyes his white silks in crimson, there is no smile to be found on your face. Only raw horror.

#genshin chit chat #yandere scaramouche #yandere kabukimono #scaranya #something about kabukimono innocently saying he's sorry after killing someone #(all while thinking that an apology will make you happy again) is so eerie to me #all while he's covered in blood and standing over the corpse and!!!! orz i love kabukimono #kabukimono doesn't even think he's done a bad thing too #which is even scarier because there isn't any remorse #he just has a very one-track mind of: 'i have to keep (name) happy because when they're happy i'm happy #so apologies will make them happy because i don't know what else to say but apologies are right things #and right things make (name) happy'

[zinger-begonia]

Selected passages:

"Most of the Central and Western US, New England, and Ontario, Canada, are at elevated risk, according to the analysis. Energy shortages are a problem when hotter-than-normal summer temperatures cause electricity demand to skyrocket. People crank up their air conditioning, putting greater pressure on the grid. At the same time, extreme heat can make power plants, as well as solar and wind farms, less efficient when it comes to generating electricity. That mismatch in supply and demand leads to blackouts when people need air conditioning the most to cope with the heat...

More than 46 million people across the US are under extreme heat alerts today, compared to some 29 million late last week...

Heat already kills more people in the US than any other weather-related disaster, a threat that’s expected to get worse with climate change. And it’s not just the US that’s in hot water. Mexico’s National Center for Energy Control declared a state of emergency last week when temperatures soared above 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius) and triggered record electricity demand. In India and China, home to more than a third of the world’s population, heatwaves have strained health resources and power grids since April..."

Their suggestions:

"Turning off lights and appliances can help take pressure off the power grid, ERCOT says. So can raising the thermostat at home and keeping blinds closed to block out sunlight. Fans can help circulate cool air but might stop being helpful if indoor air temperatures get hotter than your body temperature. Many cities set up cooling centers where people can find air conditioning to stay safe and healthy."

From experience (live in the maritime PNW, it used to not get above like 85, had a heat wave up to 110 and people died, so please hold the mocking), putting aluminum foil over windows makes a huge difference. Opening windows and doors at night if it is cooler outside, and then closing them in the morning helps. Staying hydrated, using electrolytes, wiping yourself down with water, putting your feet in a basin of cool weather, and visiting a forest or body of water can all help. If you can cook outside, do. Last time, we ran a cord outside to a single burner.

#psa #heatwave #climate change