Empress of Mars: Undisputed @zebratron2084@awoo.space

Someone on Twitter was asking for kitten pics so I went through my directory and ran across a bunch of snapshots of Snowy and Liv... and reminded myself we SAVED. THE. FUCK. OUT. OF. those precious kittens. We've saved like five cats from the brink of death. One night of 28 degree weather is not going to stop us from saving more. We have materials, we have plans, we just have to convince ONE shy kitty to snuggle up in the shelter we make and the rest can just come visit. We've got this. We're gonna get GOOD at this. Everything's going to be OK.

In fact, I get a certain amount of volunteer time off from work, and I've been REAL tempted -- once it warms up and COVID stuff improves a little -- to start working for one of the Trap-Neuter-Rescue agencies and REALLY up my cat-saving game.

You hear that, Dirty 88? I hear you all mewling down at that parking garage. You're saying "SNIP ME, PLEASE SNIP ME." And you will be snipped. And every cat on earth will be a tiny bit happier for it.

(Plan B is "buy the cheapest fleece blankets we can find at Goodwill and shove them through the holes the cats use to get into the abandoned basement next door." The Petco cashier said just curling up there wouldn't be enough by itself, but with something to curl up IN they'd probably be all right...)

OK, just got back from Petco armed with:

* a bundle of wood shavings for insulation
* a big fluffy pet bed
* treats
* food
* more treats
* litter
* a bunch of solid advice from an employee who's taking care of four semi-strays of her own

Plan A is to put our big old dog crate on the porch, fill it with insulation and the kitty bed, cover it with a warm blanket and a trash bag for waterproofing, and hope to Bast that Ceejay will accept it as outdoor shelter for the upcoming night of 28 degrees.

For the other five, Plan A is still All-Night Cat Party. I am NOT looking forward to chaperoning 5-6 kitties in a tiny cluttered apartment, but I'm looking forward to it a lot more than leaving the kids out in subfreezing weather.

@Cerulean And honestly? The main reason I let you be scarce is that you seem to prefer to be scarce and I never know the right way to approach unless there's a clear excuse, 'cause I have social anxiety too. I always enjoy interacting with you. <3

@spacewastrel@yiff.life Yeah, I hope I've at least shown that's not what I was doing! ^_^; I really think it's important to look at these works as a whole, enjoy what's good and isolate what's bad. And if it's a *really* problematic creator who you really don't want to have your money... hell, just steal it. O:)

@Leucrotta Nothin' wrong with surfin in itself, just with people insinuating it somehow rescues Mike Judge from being the next Joss Whedon, or somehow proves he's not One Of Those Big Hollywood Phonies.

Although Keanu has also been namechecked as one of those Nice Guy Celebrities who's forced to shoulder WAY more moral weight than even a genuinely decent guy should ever have to...

(Though to be fair, the number of stories of Keanu's generosity and humility are uncountable, and I've never heard anything bad about him whatsoever that wasn't, well, valid criticism of his pre-Matrix acting skills...)

current mood: inordinately proud of the line "What an infinitesimally mild delight, to discover that you still draw breath!"

i love backhanded compliments, they appeal to the cattiest of my cat nature ^____^;

Yeah, I'm calling it. Mike Judge will be the next milkshake duck. Taking all bets.

I'm calling it for him on the Marilyn Manson principle, or if you prefer, the Mel Gibson principle: if the media attaches to a celebrity for being "surprisingly" purehearted, to provide a counterexample against a fallen celebrity and prove there are Still NIce Guys Out There, the chance of that celebrity being the next to fall approaches 100% as the number of fluff articles approach infinity.

Also, I love how "spends all his time hanging out with one of the most famous pro surfers in the world" is somehow supposed to be proof (in the full context of the attached comment, which is of course part of a conversation about Joss) that not only is he not a Rich Hollywood Type, but he has good character and would never, ever turn out to be one of those evil abusive guys.

(I mean, Mike could be a swell guy for real. There have to be SOME out there. Like, if Harvey Guillén ever turns out to be an abusive prick, I might have to be put on watch for a while. o_o;; But surfing instead of going to parties? THAT'S NOT EVIDENCE.)

"Cancel culture doesn't exist. It's just a word conservatives throw around to sow moral panic. Also, unrelatedly, here's today's list of people who have been cancelled and I'd better not catch you saying anything positive about anything they've ever made."

Honestly. I'm feeling gaslit. I am not without sympathy towards those who "cancel" problematic celebrities, but don't lie to my goddamn face and tell me it's not a real thing WHILE YOU ARE DOING IT.

Or if you do, have the fucking decency to put it in a box attached to a geiger counter and a vial of prussic acid, 'cause that's the only way I know of that something can simultaneously exist and not exist. -__-

@monsterblue <3 n.n;

@001zlnv I have no idea if it was ever mandatory, and as you can see in the article (or just guess), there were a LOT of very valid reasons for a franchiser to say fuck no to the Superbar.

@001zlnv Behold the majesty. Behold the glory. Behold the utter nightmare to clean and keep stocked when you could just grill some damn burgers and be done with it.

http://insufficientscotty.com/2012/02/27/whatever-happened-to-the-wendys-superbar/

i have to say i'm quite impressed with the hrwiki's article on the thnikkaman given that this is a man* whose defining trait is that we have no idea what he actually does

*i hear this fan theory that it's actually bubs but i'm not buyin it

I just hope it was all worth it to *somebody* and I did more with the last 20 years than just alienate people and wank off semi-publicly to a bunch of marginal kinks that I tried to frump up into a literary movement.

It just feels like there's not a goddamn thing left, and even the friendships are slowly decaying over distance. And I can deal with that, if fucking SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE is still a little bit happier because of all my dumb postfurry shenanigans. Or... you know... actually read and LIKED 5 Glasses of Absinthe. Or Parallax. Or a conversation with me once.

Or anything, anything at all, 'cause you know that's how depression works -- it's all hidden to me right now, absolutely anything good about any of it.

@kistaro (I do hasten to note, with some pride, that these were NOT pledge-hazing stunts. We had an absolutely strict no hazing policy and damned if we didn't actually stick to it all four years I was there! No, we did not stoop to sully our dumb things with such paltry excuses. We just did them for love of stupid ideas. And because Skyler was REALLY funny when he woke with with a snootful of fries. :D )

@kistaro I was a Theta Chi at Case Western Reserve, and... yeah, we certainly did much stupider things than that. Ranch dressing chugs sound WELL within the realm of possibility compared to games like "how many french fries can we insert into $BROTHER's body before he wakes up." XD

Aaaaand now I crave ranch dressing. What the fuck. I don't even LIKE ranch dressing. I associate it mainly with... er... the terrible eating habits of certain former acquaintances I won't name. I think of it as one of those things you eat when you want a Big American Feeder Experience instead of, you know, food. Either something is very definitely off with my neurochemistry today, or I have accidentally summoned a Fast Food Demon up into me by namechecking the Wendy's Superbar.

And now I'm weeping because I read that Jamie Foxx's sister died young.

Genuinely sad, but... I think this is the first time I've EVER thought about Jamie Foxx, let alone his family, for more than a picosecond?

Definitely brainmeats. I am getting real tempted to abandon this experiment and go straight back on the Celexa -- flat affect/dead libido or no.

Yeah, it's definitely brain chemistry. I just found myself tearing up a little bit at the fact Wendy's no longer has a Superbar buffet. It's also got a whole "lost childhood" component that I'm skimming over, probably more about mourning that specific time and place, but... yeah.

I could still murder some lukewarm rotini with canned food-service Alfredo sauce right now, though.

@zx3 I mean, aye, there the rub. You're absolutely right and I REALLY appreciate the reality check. FFS, I've been convinced my loved ones and I were at the precipice of death since I was 12.

(Granted, that's because my dad had just died. But looking back, even that wasn't a "surprise" exactly. He... he knew damn well what was happening. He chose to ignore his cardiac diet and resume smoking. We found McD's french fry boxes under the seats of his car because he was hiding his binges from us, poor addicted bastard. D: I am pretty proud to this day to have outlived him and chosen so many Grown Up Things that this intimidating and bravado-driven man did not.)

But yeah. Even immediately after getting (rightly, I think) booted from Transliminal, I was genuinely convinced I was SCREWED and life as I knew it was over. And then Peg changed her mind about our ability to room together, took me in, and gave me the first really stable, happy period of my adult life.

For that matter, every single break-up I've had except for Rik (yay polyamory and yay dragoness!), I was totally sure that was my Last Hurrah too and nobody would ever put up with my bullshit again.

So yeah, I am not a very good doom prophet. I've been wrong a LOT and should probably try optimism at least once, if only for variety's sake. XD