Empress of Mars: Undisputed @zebratron2084@awoo.space

(er... that CW should be "hopefully ONLY -" obviously i'm hoping for a plus here in the long run -- sugarfoot might be my least favorite of her clan but that only means i just love her a few tons :) )

@anthracite It's so very like you to put a MILD THREAT on what is functionally an ad. *smirks* *sighs in formal capacity as your manager* Love the image but lose the vague insinuation it will hack your phone maybe? :)

Oh shit, I forgot to mention. Earlier today, Artie excused herself by getting up on the windowsill and leaping straight out.

She was totally fine, made the jump neatly. But this is a MAJOR CHALLENGE to the cat-reduction security measures we have in place. If she learns to reverse the process, she will have Window Entry technology.

Only Shadow and Sugarfoot have previously been able to make the leap from fence to sill and get in through the studio window. We were really kinda hoping nobody else would learn. :)

At least it wasn't Peebles. I know how persistent that girl is and I'm not sure a CLOSED window would even stop her from trying over and over again...

@typhlosion Okay, but I did NOT know about his (largely unrequited) romance with chess...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Duchamp#Transition_from_art_to_chess

That quote about being a "victim of chess" really got to me. I know what it feels like to love a hobby that does not love your talents back.

@Aradia Purely out of intellectual curiosity/missing chatting with you... Do you have any examples in mind of something good and effective from the 70s and something annoying from contemporary culture?

I think you have a damn fine point though: we are a lot more effective at moving the culture when we're just being calmly, unapologetically ourselves, however "weird" or "mundane" that might be, instead of putting on a deliberately provocative show. It's been a huge boon that we even _can_ do that now.

I can't help thinking of me in 2005 on LJ, desperately afraid "They" could actually meaningfully harm queer furry culture compared to now. Now I can't even get a rise out of Trump cultists by being an inflatable zebra at them... and that has its own ineluctable power.

Queer people take up space now and there's no point in Them fighting it. We're part of the scenery. We're as alien as a tree to most of America, and we're rooted just as deep here.

Aaaaand the little white/bald spots on Sugarfoot's nose have not only spread to her ear, they might be a little crusty.

Vet time. She is NOT gonna be a happy kitty. Still, after a little research I'm... reasonably assured this ain't "might lose her" level of bad. I'm suspecting it's fleas or ringworm or something. It *is* summer in a very, very fertile area of the country.

Still. JUST enough scary stuff on the veterinary web to be unnerving. Peg's gonna try to haul her in this week. If it ends up being anything complicated or pricey, we might pass the hat, but if it's routine we probably got this one. ^_____^

@typhlosion Oh, I know, I'm a big fan of Dada in general. L.H.O.O.Q. is IMHO one of the best puns in human history. :) Plus, I mean: early queer inspiration? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Duchamp#Rrose_S%C3%A9lavy

behold:

princess artiemuss

(not pictured: lair; invisible jet; weather-control ray; satellite network; minions)

(each sold separately)

@typhlosion Duchamp.

I mean, I already live in a fucking sewer, why not name myself after a toilet artist?!

@Leucrotta I've made you listen to this, right?

This might in fact be my favorite cover of all time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRsF1fQm3_0

@Leucrotta

hello darkness, what'cha knowin'
I've come to watch your flowers growin'
hear the Salvation Army band
doo dee doo doo
feelin' groovy

We spotted Shemp on the way home from the cafe and he was pawbing along just fine on all four feet. Must have just stubbed something. =^___^=

@Austin_Dern Shemp turned out fine, which is the important thing, and Peg and I hashed out some ideas that *might* be able to finish the comic's half-baked middle. So I can't really complain, but thank you hun! <3

@chimerror You know who needs a lot of enrichment time? Raccoons.

You know what raccoons do when they don't get that enrichment? Tear shit up.

You know who I really like? Raccoons.

Feeling pretty meh, big ball of anxiety and pessimism today, but tomorrow is my Immunity Day (vaxx + 2 wks) and I gotta admit I'm feeling pretty good about it.

Meanwhile Shemp has a limp, poor guy. :( He won't let us pick him up to have a closer look, but there's no blood trail or obvious injury, so I'm hoping it's just a little bruise or something. He and Artie have both certainly turned up in the past with limps that mysteriously disappeared in a day.

And I'm starting to seriously grapple with the possibility that my brain might just be done with Parallax, that the plot just can not be repaired to my satisfaction. It would only take one good creative jumpstart to get it going, but with life starting to go back to normal, I'm running out of excuses for why that jumpstart hasn't happened. And it's had a year and a half.

@Austin_Dern He hasn't been the same since they outlawed bellbottoms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Brjr0Bhj12M

ARRRGH

TIGER ANGRY AT UNDERLING FOR LINKING THIS

https://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/merchants/

I DID NOT NEED TO LOOK AT TASTY THINGS

*deep breaths*

OK. OK, cat. It's OK. You live in New Orleans. It's gonna be OK.

@001zlnv I mean... are zoomer kids really into the Irish Troubles these days?! O__o

@001zlnv Yeah, you do what you can with the tools give you. It's just... so *specific* though. :O

no seriously, why do people do this