Empress of Mars: Undisputed @zebratron2084@awoo.space

Oh, to make up for the missing pic in the original, here's something even better, which I'll try to get photographic evidence of if possible:

Shemp loves Scraggle, grooms them like they were their own kid, and has already gotten in front of them to "protect" them from (harmless) local dogs. Which is especially adorable because Shemp is a complete wuss and the idea of him standing up in a fight with any move but a submissive flop is inconceivable.

@001zlnv I mean, this wasn't a request for a zoological opinion. The opinion was already pretty unanimous on that one. Not like we don't have plenty of other examples to check them against. :>

Holy crap. I tried making a boozy knockoff version of our local cafe Coffee Science's notorious "Chaos Theory" drink: cold brew, lemon juice, tonic water, ginger, cider vinegar, muddled black cherries, turmeric, and cayenne.

I didn't have the turmeric or ginger and wasn't in the mood for the cayenne, and I only had maraschino syrup and Rose's key lime. But with a little cheap vodka and some local chocolate-almond cold brew ultraconcentrate, it's surprisingly good.

It's still got that Willy Wonka quality that appealed to me about the original: it's practically a different flavor with every taste. The flavors beautifully *don't* mingle. It's like sipping a furry con: nobody's friends with everybody but everybody's friends with somebody.

This is Scraggle aka "Curly Joe." Unlike their brotheruncle* Shemp, they have skipped the identity crisis phase and fully embraced being a cat.

*To the best of our knowledge, these cats are not inbred. Shadow and Sugarfoot just had their litters within a few weeks of each other, and we have no clue which of them is whose mom.

At least the latest batch (not pictured: Peebles/Piebald, Arthur, Penumbra) all look unique. Last time it was three indistinguishable tabbies and my precious vagrant Umbra.

BONUS KITTY UPDATE: We saw Umbra again last week! He was three porches down from his new digs, getting scritches from a neighbor alongside another "community" cat. So yeah, he's doing just fine. Hooray for feline socialism!

@Phorm OH CRAP

@SangriaSnake Everything you do so is just so goddamn cute! n.n;

@001zlnv Oh my god, that's beautiful, yes. You know that's exactly the sort of thing we'd be doing, and we'd be doing a surprisingly good job of it. Again, kinda like everything *else* furries do. You know we'd be the best at super-cosplay kayfabe.

Revisionist superhero comic a la Watchmen or The Boys, except it's set in Florida 2024 during Trump's second administration, aka, "Oops, All Dementia!", in an America that has accepted things just aren't going to go back to normal and is behaving accordingly.

COVID-24 has been mutated beyond all recognition, thanks to all the quack treatments its ancestors were subjected to (and a nudge from a Russian biolab).

You see where this is going. To make a long story short, Mask Karen has superpowers. And her kids are throwing Villain Parties at Daytona Beach.

I don't even want to think about the implications of this world's George Floyd incident. I WARNED you this was going to be memetic poison. And you know the QAnons would have creative and infuriating opinions about what *really* mutated everybody.

I suppose this world would also have to have gangs of superpowered trans kids and BLM-affiliated heroes running around a restored SCHOP/SCHAZ too. I mean, I'm not a complete sadist. Just a superhero world that acknowledges up front how *broken* modern America is. (Have you noticed that's been scrubbed out of the Marvel/DC stuff and they mostly don't acknowledge that part of America even exists?)

And I guess the furries would have to play a disproportionately large role in this world's superhero subculture, for better or worse... because why should it be any different from real life... because we're furries and having large numbers of us in unexpected places is basically our job... and we've already practiced the "secret identity" thing for years, so we'd do it better than anyone else could and you know it. :3

@anthracite

Yeah, that was an advertising deal that fell through. :(

Basically there's a big knife next to me marked "self-hate" and I just keep not picking it up by choice. But every time I look away, someone or something nudges the knife closer. So... not self-hatey, or at least not self-destructive over it, so much as wondering why the world's so determined to make me self-hatey.

I'm in a rough space, though. The solitude and lack of deep conversations* with anybody but Peg are really starting to get to me. I love chatting with you folks -- it's just the nature of the medium that we don't really do much more than scratch the surface. And I don't know where people go these days to meet people and have actual conversations these days.

If any of you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them, but I suspect it's gotten that way for everyone and the Internet is just not a good place to meet or get to know people anymore...

And it's making a bunch of other buried stuff come back to the surface. Honestly, I'm internalizing the idea that people just don't like me and that's why people don't reach out. I do that when I lose touch with people, I just kinda assume they finally realized I suck. And I've lost touch with so many people. That, plus how much of that's permanent, is what's really getting to me.

tl;dr: your friendly neighborhood changeling is getting belly rumbles

@anthracite @Djinnanigans@dragon.style @Phorm She's not cake. I've checked. A lot. 🐯​

@anthracite (aka Miss Food Lady) spotted Shemp earlier today and he was bounding around like normal. A little more grumbly than usual, so we think there's still a bit of discomfort, but he's not limping anymore!

I believe I owe Bast a gratitude fish, to be delivered through her nearest available representatives.

@typhlosion You've seen this one, right? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVSqFRgs1Qw

@Phorm Honestly? There have been individual instances that have bothered, even angered me. On the other hand, I think it's a big red flag if they're *generalizing* that broadly and can't even concede that there's a reason people get "canceled"...

@Phorm Ask @anthracite about the Neko app on her Mac desktop... and some of the magical places that kitty's been.

@Phorm So not like the popular 23rd century brand of pseudo-mammary dust filtering attachments for gynoid maids?

Do I even have to tell you what they're called?

@Austin_Dern They used to have those at the local steakhouse's breakfast buffet. I think they may have been partially responsible for the death of my father, but he died happy...

@typhlosion @janellecshane Do you want Skynet? Because this is how you get Skynet.</mallory_archer>

@LexYeen@snouts.online Thank you! Honestly, I have a suspicion he's gonna be fine, and this would not be the first time I've played Helicopter Cat Parent over a minor health problem!

I lured him in with a little food, gave him a good petting, and had the best look I could at the injured pawb.

He's hesitant to put any weight on it, but not totally refusing to touch things with it. And he didn't react at all when I gently petted the area just above it, so I don't think it's a leg issue or anything.

No sign of an infection, blood, or massive swelling, at least at a glance. So I'm hoping he just got a little bumpie and needs a couple days.

I think if he's still limping by Sunday night, we spend Monday looking for a mobile vet or asking the local vets how to best transport an injured kitty.

Sigh. Dammit Shemp. I'd do anything for you. Just LET ME DO IT. I wish I could just ask you what happened.