Jump Start My Kaleidoscope Heart

Man, I agree and I don't care if it's cringe to say so. My mom has been saying that she remembers the bicentennial when she was a kid, and people were hyped up. She said sidewalks and poles were painted with the colors of the flag. Now? You only see mentions of the 250th anniversary in advertisements trying to cash in on it, really. But among people, nobody’s heart is in it. It could've been great. This person is right and this was part of what was so gutting about 2024; it was the best of American ideals vs the worst of American society...and the worst won. It's still hard to sit with.

"Hey sexy, can I buy you a drink?"

Shane declines. "Oh, no thank you. I don't really drink."

"Then what's this?"

"It's just ginger ale."

"Oh really?" This jerk doesn't believe him. "Can I sit here?"

"I'd rather you not." Shane says.

"I mean, it's a bar, right? I can sit wherever I want."

"Then why bother asking?" Shane mutters.

"You've got a mouth on you huh?" And suddenly the jerk is grabbing Shane's wrist.

Shane freezes. He doesn't know what to do. He really doesn't want to start a fight. He just wanted to watch the hockey game playing on the bar screens in peace. Then, suddenly, he hears another man's voice from behind him.

"Hey babe, sorry I'm late." Shane turns towards the low, accented voice. The man had curly blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. He's eyeing down the jerk who sat beside Shane and asks, "Everything ok?"

cause as much as i love dragons purring and roaring i wish there was just more variety in how they would act

clacking their teeth together to show contentedness/happiness (budgies)

using tails as a defensive weapon in a whip like fashion (iguana)

twitching to express that they're not a threat to members of their species (hognose snake)

feeling calm when eyes are hooded/covered (birds of prey)

head bobbing as a threat display (anoles/bearded dragons)

flattening neck or sides to appear bigger (snakes/lizards)

mantling over food to protect it from hatchmates (birds of prey)

wiggling neck as a courting maneuver (budgies)

audibly grinding teeth as a warning (macaques)

maintained eye contact as a challenge (gorillas)

pounding wings against sides as a threat (gorillas)

slapping other dragons with their claws when their personal bubble is invaded (seals)

hoards used as a site to impress mates (birds of paradise)

snorting when undergoing heightened stress (horses)

making repeated loud noises with surroundings to establish territory (woodpeckers)

loud constant arguments with other dragons when roosting (bats)

building lairs that cause a domino effect of change in the land around them (beavers)

slapping their tails against the ground/water as a warning (beavers)

wiggling tail tip to attract prey (various animals)

wiggling tail tip as a warning (snakes)

plucking or scraping off scales as a sign of stress (parrots)

raising spines/frills as a response to danger and carrying on with their usual business as they believe they're protected (lionfish)

Geckos chirp and bark, some of them quite a bit.

Baby crocodilians make laser noises to summon their parents. A long, repeated bout of laser noises is an affiliative call, but chirps with pauses in between is "mom come pick me up I'm scared." (If you ever hear the laser noises in the wild, get away from the water's edge, there are few creatures as scary as a mother crocodilian defending her babies.)

Adult crocodilians hiss and bellow, and when they bellow, there's an infrasonic layer we cannot hear but a rider would feel... and it makes water dance on their backs. They do this in groups during mating season.

Many lizards make a huff sound when they're annoyed. I don't have a video for this one but it's like the audible equivalent of a teenage eye roll.

When the Chihuahuan hook-nosed snake is scared, it farts dramatically.

Not a reptile in the classical sense of the word, but a reptile in the taxonomic one- a parrot's syrinx shriek (the bad noise)

Another terrible bird noise

like this

or this