I've Seen Posts Going Around Claiming That Petting Animals Is Basically Tricking Them Into Thinking They're

I've seen posts going around claiming that petting animals is basically tricking them into thinking they're being groomed, and it's bugging me because, like, there's no trickery afoot. Petting and scritching are grooming activities. They help to dislodge loose fur and foreign objects and more evenly distribute protective oils, among other things. Primates are social groomers, and the human impulse to scritch is the legacy of our primate ancestors. We see an animal we like, even a dangerous one, and the monkey brain says "groom that thing".

I must not mock Gen Alpha. Mocking Gen Alpha is the mind killer. Mocking Gen Alpha is the little-death that brings total generational solidarity obliteration. I will engage with Gen Alpha lovingly. I will permit them to be cringe. And when they grow up I will turn my eye to their accomplishments. Where mocking has gone there will be nothing. Only generational solidarity remains

:/

"shipping and blorbofication are not inherently at odds with understanding a story's deep themes" and "some people can't grasp the themes of a story because they never learned how to engage with stories outside of the lens of shipping and blorbofication" are two statements that can coexist

DOUBLE HALLOWEEN YOOOOO 👻

YEAH BABY!

THE LAST OCTOBER THAT HAD A FRIDAY THE 13TH WAS SIX YEARS AGO!!!

TIME FOR...

DOUBLE HALLOWEEN!!!!!

OMG, THAT'S SO CUUTE!!! ;;O;;

And goodness, of all moments to picked, you picked the Tree of Beginnings? Daaaamn. I used to be unable to watch that part of the movie without tearing up. I'm so happy that a random prompt idea caused this, it was such a great way to start the morning (nearly freaking sobbing before I go to work lmao)!

the number 4 prompt from Aery's got my brain working. I'm just gonna freewrite on the spot, apologies if this is... wayyy too much. Ahem... Delia stood in the kitchen, her eyes focused on the sink as she cleaned the dishes from breakfast, the gentle thrum of Mimey's psychic power as he levitated the clean dishes onto the drying rack, and the occasional grunt from Pikachu as he licked and chewed the left over food from the yet to be washed plates were the only things keeping her, unsuccessfully, from replaying the events of that morning in her head for the umpteenth time. Ash had been late to breakfast, not an unheard of occurrence, he did have friends all over the world after all, and some nights would be spent in group calls with them just catching up, or he'd be busy researching and planning out his next trip. What made this morning so strange was that when he finally did make his way to the table, he was in shambles. Bags hung under his eyes, which were red, bloodshot, and puffy. Pikachu was clambering from one shoulder to the other repeatedly, a concerned expression on his face as he nuzzled at his trainer's cheeks, repeating "Pikapi" over and over again. He hadn't said a word as he sat down, and slowly ate the food in front of him, Pikachu finally leaping from his shoulder after another few minutes to eat his own breakfast. Delia had been concerned, but didn't press him, she knew her son, and hoped that some food in his belly would coax what was troubling him from him. When he finally did speak, his plate mostly empty, his voice was hoarse, and rough, even more so than it usually was. "Jessie... can we talk about.. some of the stuff that happened while we were adventuring?" Delia glanced at her girlfriend, formerly a nemesis of sorts to her son. She had a textbook on Pokémon anatomy in her hands she had been studying from. "Anything you want to talk about, we can talk about in front of Delia." Was the response she had given. "It's about the Tree of Beginning." Ash replied.

Delia blinked, she watched as Jessie lowered her textbook, put a strip of paper in it to mark her place, and closed it, before wordlessly getting up, walking over and putting her hand on Ash's back, he stood up and allowed her to guide him out into the backyard. That had been almost an hour ago, the sound of the water draining from the sink brought Delia back to the present, Mimey's footsteps growing faint as he moved off to do the morning dusting, Pikachu leaping onto the windowsill and peering through it, his ears drooping in concern. Delia peered through the window as well, spotting her girlfriend holding her son close, rubbing and patting his back as he clearly cried into her shoulder, their voices muffled into gibberish by the distance and the closed window.

Delia tried to distract herself with her usual housekeeping duties before she left for work, but found herself unable to focus, her concern and curiosity, and to her own displeasure, her slight jealousy keeping her from being able to do anything. In the end, she settled for just sitting on the couch, stroking over Pikachu's back as he curled up in her lap. Another forty minutes would go by before the back door, opened, Pikachu's ears shooting up before he raced over and leapt onto the table. Delia stood and followed her son's Pokémon, noting how.. small, her son looked. He was hunched, likely from the multiple states of exhaustion he was dealing with. "Get some sleep, Ash." Jessie gently said, giving his back one last soothing pat. He silently nodded, picking up Pikachu from the table and carrying him upstairs slowly. Delia watched him disappear up the stairs, waiting until she heard the door to his room open and close, before turning to Jessie. "Is.. everything alright?" Jessie took a deep breath, shuddering slightly at the end, before responding. "He'll be fine. He just... had a very vivid nightmare reliving something that happened to us." "What exactly was it about?" She prodded, gently, carefully. Jessie gave her girlfriend a look and opened her mouth, not saying anything for a few seconds as she clearly ran the conversation over in her head, before sighing. "Delia, I love you, and normally, I would tell you. It's not like it's not my story to tell as well, I was there, I went through it too. But..." Delia looked at the floor, did her own son not trust her enough to tell her things? "But" Jessie continued. "Ash will open up to you about it all in time. He promised me that, but for now, he just doesn't want to worry you." She looked up, Jessie was smiling at her. "He's a good kid, he loves you, and he doesn't want you fretting over him." She finished, stepping forward and kissing her forehead. Delia smiled, kissing Jessie's cheek in return. "I'll still worry and fret about him, but.. at least he has someone to talk about those things with. Even if it's not me."

WAAAAAAH this is so sweeeeet ;0; @aerys-universes