One thing I love.

People confuse “vampiric aesthetic” with “keeps a black cat and nothing else.”

Please.

If only they knew the real joy of unconventional pets.

Give me a bat hanging upside down in my doorway, blinking like a confused little goblin.

Give me rats that crawl into my sleeves while I’m trying to read and act like they own the place.

Give me snakes, cold, quiet, elegant coiling around my arm like living jewelry.

They’re misunderstood creatures.

Just like me, I guess.

Everyone praises dogs for loyalty and cats for independence, but nobody talks about how affectionate a rat can be, or how gentle a snake becomes once it trusts your scent. People see fangs, scales, wings

I see personality.

Warmth.

Odd little souls who don’t fit into the mainstream idea of “cute.”

Maybe I collect strange animals for the same reason I collect strange parts of myself:

because the world overlooks them.

Because I refuse to.

If you ever hear tiny scratching in my jacket or see something winged crawl out of my hoodie…

mind your business.

That’s family.