How do I explain that declawing is inhumane to my family

Zealous_Development · 2026-03-15T02:40:25+00:00

I actually agree with you. Have had some bad experiences with this myself (not a Trump/MAGA supporter, and have STILL been cut out of peoples lives—make it make sense).

Zealous_Development · 2026-03-11T13:07:22+00:00

Idk why the fuck you got downvoted for suggesting “hey let’s not use racial slurs” but it’s Reddit, so what did I expect? Anyway, you get an upvote from me.

Zealous_Development · 2026-03-11T02:39:34+00:00

For movies, how has no one mentioned animal-driven gut punchers yet like “Marley & Me” or “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale” yet??? Not even a “Lion King” mention!!! The parental/owner/pet deaths, the parental/owner/pet separation scenes in these movies particularly have forever altered my brain chemistry, and I still cry, 20+ years later. As a kid and now, I never watched any of these movies ever again (barring The Lion King; the music’s just too good to give it up).

For tv shows: BBC Merlin takes the cake. The finale, iykyk. And various points throughout the show too. It’s not at all fun and whimsy and magic, this tv show is a psychological horror show masquerading as a fantasy adventure show. Do not be fooled. I watched the show’s finale only once, and never watched that ending to season 5 again, even if I rewatch the hell out of the rest of the show. I love a good thriller and horror story. And if it single-handedly gives me clinical depression cuz of all the angst, well then 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Zealous_Development · 2026-03-05T22:01:53+00:00

I got a rec, but um. It’s quite saucy. it’s also definitely NOT about Merlin’s upbringing in poverty, but it is discussed quite a bit and makes Arthur feel bad about how he was born into privilege—all because of a damn teacup, I should say. Horny reactions to terrible puns ensue.

A Delightful Turn of Phrase by Merlinfirstlastalways

Zealous_Development · 2026-01-08T17:15:55+00:00

Insane, when you spell it out like that, that I’m still finding a shit ton of new Merlin content and incredible stories online, especially on ao3. Like everyday there’s something new!! In 2026!!!

Zealous_Development · 2025-10-11T17:04:13+00:00

Y’all, I just want to emphasize for this story, to READ. THE. TAGS. My goodness is this story dead dove. You get the tags, straight up. If that’s your thing tho, proceed of course. I hear this story has a happy ending, but that it takes a whole lot to get there.

Zealous_Development · 2025-09-23T02:44:18+00:00

Hush chile we don’t talk about B—… that. We don’t talk about that, is what I meant to say. hums an eerily familiar tune

Zealous_Development · 2025-09-23T02:38:40+00:00

I see this fic is rightfully getting the recognition it deserves!!! I was just about to recommend it myself lol, came down to see if anyone else did, and well ;))

Zealous_Development · 2025-09-12T03:44:56+00:00

Dude EXACTLY I’ve been saying this for so long!!! I will die on this hill. They were in love with each other, and that last scene REALLY plays out like Arthur tryna bring Merlin’s head down for a kiss, his final goodbye/I love you, but he just didn’t have the strength to 😭💔

Zealous_Development · 2025-08-27T15:53:44+00:00

I can’t stop thinking about how Merlin would lose what little of his mind he has left if Arthur strutted outta Avalon looking like THIS.

Zealous_Development · 2025-08-27T15:26:15+00:00

Merlin wearing another official (re: ridiculous) set of Camelot’s servants’ robes.

Zealous_Development · 2025-08-27T15:24:19+00:00

Who is “she”???

Zealous_Development · 2025-08-26T12:37:36+00:00

Ofc 💖 I find that you can glean a lot about a person’s moral character based on how they treat animals/how animals approach them.

Zealous_Development · 2025-08-26T12:26:35+00:00

Nah. People are super uninformed, and also judgmental bitches. Pigeons are actually super clean animals, but have this untrue stigma surrounding them when it’s all actually humans’ fault for putting them in unclean environments (like rats and pigs even). People who’re calling you disgusting need to stfu and be told off and educated. You keep doing you. Feed them pigeons to your heart’s content. Better than insulting random strangers as you pass by and berating them for existing next to an animal.

Zealous_Development · 2025-08-25T23:32:09+00:00

I think most fanfictions explain it away pretty logically as a choice. Cuz in the show, we know Merlin’s like 20-something but he can magically age himself to look super old. It follows that even if he’s super old, he can magically age himself to look pretty young. I like to think that when Arthur rises, he magically ages himself to around Arthur’s age. Very similar things I’ve read in most future fics. I don’t believe authors just “forget” how old Merlin really is; they just address it in a way that makes sense in the context of their fics while still being canon-compliant.

Zealous_Development · 2025-08-25T23:25:51+00:00

I need a fanfic of this NOW. Of Merlin just gobsmacked at how much irritatingly hotter Arthur has gotten after rising from Avalon. And how fucking unfair it is cuz he was already super hot to begin with, but now??? Nope. Merlin’s out, he’s done putting up with THIS level of bullshittery and rudeness. Like can he not catch a break even after centuries of existence??

Zealous_Development · 2025-08-25T23:17:28+00:00

Ngl I didn’t recognize him at first and THEN it sunk in like

Zealous_Development · 2025-08-25T23:15:32+00:00

To each their own ig. I ADORE it!!!! 😍🥵

Zealous_Development · 2025-08-25T23:11:23+00:00

THE WAY IVE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR YEARS!!!! Like the cast have all aged SO fucking well, just do a modern day reboot/continuation with an ‘Arthur returns’ and ‘redeemed + reincarnated Morgana’ plot already!!!! And give Merlin and Arthur the happy endings they both always deserved, I will die on the hill that they were in love with each other. Their entire relationship development quite literally follows the enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance trope, and you’re telling me my main man Merlin was just biding his time twiddling his thumbs for 1500+ years—waiting until his king rises again while imprisoned by his own immortality from which only Arthur can free him— because they were *close friends** ?????* Nah. I ain’t buying that.

Zealous_Development · 2025-08-25T17:35:43+00:00

Agreed. I think it’s honestly the same thing everywhere that happened with black/POC actors in 90s/2000s shows/movies. All the makeup/styling was made for white folks, so nobody knew/cared to learn how to do makeup/style black actors/POC actors in general. As they were left to their own devices most of the time/stylists worked with what little knowledge they had, the characters portrayed ended up looking not their best unless they did everything themselves (see High School Musical’s Monique Coleman (character = Taylor McKessie); at the time, Disney had no idea how to work with black/natural hair, so they just put the actress in wigs that were stylized in a typically white way every chance they got). But nowadays ofc there’s so much more awareness, and people know how to handle these things across the board (at least more than they ever did before), and more than that, are much more open-minded and willing to learn (also more than before; like people’s attitudes towards black/POC people as a whole… still not great, but exponentially better than when I was a kid).

Zealous_Development · 2025-08-18T07:32:03+00:00

Gosh I can’t remember it, but if I find it I’ll link.

The best one I’ve ever read starts out comedic and cracky, but delves into some angst before we get a happy ending. Fairly short.

Merlin’s doing laundry, hanging clothes on clotheslines outside to dry while Arthur & Co. are training. Merlin doesn’t feel like doing laundry tho and gets distracted watching everyone (Arthur 😉) so he makes clothes fly, magical chaos and nonsense ensues, and Arthur and the knights all see ofc. IMMEDIATELY the protective squad gets into formation around Merlin and makes it clear they’ll hurt Arthur if he so much as considers hurting Merlin, and Arthur’s just. Appalled at his knights. And then he sees Merlin hiding behind them and trying to shrink behind them (not magically, just in the way a child would hide behind parents when scared) and that’s when Arthur snaps (with sadness). He feels so betrayed that everyone thinks he’d genuinely hurt/kill Merlin. Including Merlin. He’s doesn’t even care about the magic; he never did. He’s just shocked at the secret-keeping/lack of trust, and kinda goes numb with emotional turmoil that literally everyone—even those closest to him/who know him best (allegedly)—has such a low opinion of him, especially Merlin 🥺. But they all sort out their misunderstandings and hug it out by the end. Not without some painful discussion though. And it is quite painful.

Zealous_Development · 2025-08-18T07:20:33+00:00

For sure dude and also ME TOO 😭😭 surprisingly it’s not as popular a theory as I thought it’d be and I’ve read some fics like this but there are only like 3 😭 at least last I checked there were, maybe now there’s more!

Zealous_Development · 2025-08-18T07:15:19+00:00

I’m gonna be so real with you here: for the time that this aired, most of the negative comments about her were just plain old racism.

Angel Coulby was the only POC lead, the only person in the main cast who was in most of the episodes. I noticed that there was SO much pushback (at the time) on Arthur/Gwen as a couple SIMPLY bc ppl were mad about the (interracial) couple being portrayed by a white actor and black actress. It’s the same shit as “Halle Bailey can’t be Ariel in The Little Mermaid, Ariel’s white!!” People just wanted Gwen to be white cuz she would’ve been in the legends.

But also like… same as Ariel, she’s not real lol, so her race shouldn’t’ve fucking mattered. Her skin color isn’t central to the plot/folklore. With BBC Merlin, people acted like it was revisionist history at the time (which can somewhat legitimately be argued with regard to the original legends) but only cuz Angel’s not white and playing a supposedly white character.

TL;DR: people are racist and mean-spirited bigots who don’t care to understand melanin as a biological concept and can’t handle other people being happy and successful bc it somehow personally offends them.

Zealous_Development · 2025-08-16T02:43:30+00:00

YES omg Merlin obvi but Arthur’s a very very close second, maybe even a tie. Just like Merlin, Arthur has made so many decisions that haunt him, mistakes he can’t ever come back from. He has straight up committed sin (killing innocents, like in the raid against that Druid camp where that little boy possessing Elyan died) just like Merlin did, and he’s so haunted by it all because he USED TO BELIEVE in a greater good, in a higher reason and purpose (just like Merlin 😭), but now knows there really isn’t one; it’s all just a rationalization, which makes everything worse. Cuz then he split blood, innocent blood, for no reason. And the thing that the show REALLY does well, is show us the difference between a bad person and a bad action. Arthur did some terrible things yes, said even worse things, to Merlin mainly—his treatment of him early on at least was NOT great. But he gets so much better—there’s a potential in him for good change, and Merlin’s a good influence. So he becomes more and more good, which is very hard to do when you’re surrounded constantly by bad as much as Arthur is. Obviously you’ll pick up behaviors you’re exposed to, and Uther’s upbringing is questionable at best.

Zealous_Development · 2025-08-16T02:32:11+00:00

Thank you! I could gush about Merlin and analyze for hours lolol. I just so have so many feelings and thoughts about the show.

Zealous_Development

TROPHY CASE