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darkspellmaster · 5 months ago

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Wish is just a normal Disney film just like all the rest.

Wish is actually a damn good movie, there I said it!

I'm going to start by saying this much, it's very odd to me that so many people are now screaming for a love story from Disney, when not even five or ten years ago there was shouting from the roof tops about Disney doing TOO MUCH romance. For the longest time it was "I wish Disney wouldn't do pairings" "Ugh another romance, can't the princess not." Etc. Now everyone wants one, even though Romance isn't really as big a Disney trope as people think.

Actually let's go through the animated catalogue and see how frequently the love story is centered as the main conflict and asperation to the character. In this case it's the key thing, not a 'Oh they happen to like each other in the end' situation, it's THE thing, the point of the movie is their romance. Then let's see how many have it as the secondary aspect, and let's see how many have it as not important at all. (And we're talking romantic love, not family love)

Romance (Total number: 15)

Snow White, Lady and the Tramp, The Aristocats, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Secondary Characters hook up so this is a weird one), Doug's First Movie, Tarzan, Lizzie McGuire the Movie, Enchanted, The Princess and the Frog (Only from Naveen's POV), Tangled (could be seen as secondary too)

Secondary (Total Number: 25)

Fantasia, Bambi, Make Mine Music, Fun and Fancy Free , Melody Time, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Cinderella Sleeping Beauty

One Hundred and One Dalmatians , Robin Hood, The Rescuers , The Fox and the Hound , Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Rescuers Down under

The Nightmare before Christmas, The Lion King ,Hercules ,Mulan ,Fantasia 2000 , Dinosaur, Atlantis the Lost Empire , Meet the Robinsons , Frankenweenie ,Frozen, , Strange World

Not in it at all (Total Number: 42 -including Wish)

Pinocchio, The Reluctant Dragon, Dumbo, Saludos Amigos, Victory through Air power, Three Caballeros, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan

Sword in the Stone, The Jungle Book, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Black Cauldron, The Great Mouse Detective

Oliver and Company, Ducktales the Treasure of the lost lamp, A Goofy Movie, James and the Giant Peach, The Tigger Movie

The Emperor's new Groove, Recess School's out, Return to Neverland, Lilo and Stich, Treasure Planet, The Jungle Book 2

Piglet's big Movie, Brother Bear, Teacher's Pet, Home on the Range, Pooh's Heffalump Movie, Chicken Little, The Wild

Bolt, Winnie the Pooh, Wreck it Ralph, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Moana, Wreck it Ralph 2, Frozen 2, Raya and the Last Dragon, Encanto, Wish

These are just the animated not live action, and not live action with animation movies. All in all it's more common to see a Disney film with NO romance in it at all then a romantic one.

So why is it that people keep saying, but we're missing the romance, it's because of the fact that most of the time the Parks and other media pair the characters together. Take Peter pan, in the movie, the boy is utterly oblivious to Wendy's affections, to the point of pissing her off enough that she leaves the party that the tribe is hosting. In the parks, and other media (the plays, other movies) the romance is in your face, because people want them to be a couple, but in the movie itself you never see it.

Star, based on the making of book, was supposed to be a younger version of Asha's grandfather, which fits the theming of the movie. However, from what I understand, one of the reasons why they went against is was because it was hitting to close to Genie in the shape shifting. On top of that, the character of Star, seems heavily inspired by the art work of William Joyce, who created Night Light.

This is him and Katherine (Future Mother Goose) who is basically Star in a lot of ways. He lights the night to keep the nightmares away. These two eventually grow up (He remembers He's jack frost) and they end up as a couple.

It would be apping off of that story, and sadly people didn't give the William Joyce movie Meet the Robinsons a chance (don't sleep on that folks please! It is a good story.)

Also straight up give more love to the Guardian's of Childhood, you'll be happy while you read it.

I'm not saying don't ship it, what I am saying is that please don't go saying this was planned when it really wasn't. That was supposed to be her grandfather there.

And I'm not against the art work, I find it very cute and sweet and lover the designs. But I do think that the whole, "WE WERE ROBBED!" thing isn't being at all fair to the creative team behind this story, as again, *points up* they were following the tradition of a story that doesn't have a love interest, which is the vast majority of the stories that they tell.

Wish perfectly falls in line also with Disney's normal length of animated movies.

Wish was 1 hours and 35 minutes

The movie that came out before it clocked in at

Strange World = 1 hours and 42 minutes

Moana = 1 hours and 47 minutes

Frozen = 1 hours and 42 minutes

This Hour long movie thing started really with Atlantis the Lost Empire = 1 hours and 36 minutes

While Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Mulan, Lilo and Stitch all clock in around =1 hour and 30 at most, some are even less than that. Wish's run time is equal to that of Atlantis, or Aladdin, or Treasure planet. So I'm a bit perplexed on the "It's too short" thing. Maybe growing up just before and during the days of Little Mermaid and Aladdin made me like the shorter tales.

Which is another point. With a shorter movie, you never get complete backstory. It's a fairy tale! I mean, look at Little Mermaid. Seriously can you Name any of her sisters from the opening song.

Like seriously, I don't really know a lot of people who can tell me anything about Aquatica, for example. Unless you actually read the books or watched the TV show. And before then we had nothing. Nothing on her mom, nothing on her sisters.

Then there's the town Belle comes from, what do we know about it? Not much, not even who governs the damn thing. Howe about Aladdin before the TV series and King of thieves cleared up everything. We didn't know who his parents were, nor Jasmine's mom. Hell we still don't know anything about Cinderella's father from the animated movie.

Point being, a lot of information, much like Wish, got cut for time. In Snow white we were supposed to be given a longer back story for her father and mother, that was cut due to it being to long, it's in the golden book though. Prince Florian (Yes that is his name) was supposed to have Prince Phillips escape, but it was deemed to hard to animate at the time.

Also there was one that was dancing on the clouds, with STARS, around them that looks very much like you know, our Star.

So basically, he's a nod to what could have been for Snow White all those years ago. Cut for time.

Aladdin had a whole cut song because they chopped his mother out as she was supposed to play a part in the movie and help her son with the Genie.

Zena is her name and she was cut to streamline the film.

Maid Marian in the original Robin Hood was supposed to protect him after his plunge into the water, and protect him from King John while he's threatening her. King Richard appears in the end and scares him into stopping but she's willing to take a dagger to the chest to protect Robin.

This is when Richard meets Robin with Marian telling him all about what happened.

All Disney movies change. Isabel in Encanto was supposed to have a nerdy boyfriend that the family disapproved of.

Hell, Frozen was at one point going to be the Bad guy wins the guy, the hero (Gerta) that we followed all the way to the end rooting for her, was supposed to be a gold digger, and Kai was supposed to say "Nah, I'm gonna stick with the Snow Queen" because she's sad and your a bitch. (Thanks Eisner, I hate it!)

So yeah, there's probably A whole lot of cut content that was supposed to go in, but to streamline it to 95 minutes, you have to cut! At least it's not what happened to the Black Cauldron. No I will never forgive Katzenburg for that travesty!

Disney always used Popular Music over Broadway

Honestly this is the one complaint that I hear that kills me the most about this movie, that the studio went with a pop music team. As if this is not a common thing for Disney movies!

Fun fact, the team behind most of the musical scores up until the 1960s were all composers and musicians that wrote songs for the radio. Or song writers that did radio music. If I listed every single one we'd be here for ages.

The Sherman brothers actually wrote pop tunes for the Teen sweetheart Annette Funicello and several other well known singers and actors of movies.

The first major Broadway group was Ashman and Menken, Followed by Miranda, and the Lopez's. Most, if not all of the biggest Disney songs were written by pop songwriters, whos goal it was to get that song played on the radio.

Hell The Lion King, Tarzan, The Emperors New Groove, and Treasure planet to name a few were all done by Pop musicians. I didn't hear complaining about it back then! What's the difference now? Because the team is not Elton freaking John, or Sting?

All of Oliver and Company was pop songs. Several movies didn't have songs, or only had one.

If we're going to celebrate a studio that helped bring an artform out of it's infancy and show that you could do a full movie of animated pictures where you get emotions out of it, we need to celebrate all aspects, and that includes things we may not realize are kind of unique.

When Hercules and Hunchback came out, people complained about them not being "Traditional" Disney. It was Gospel, it was too dark, or in the case of Tarzan, why are we following a boy, or Treasure planet, "Yuck a space story". Now people adore these movies. People who grew up with them want to celebrate them, and sometimes they don't realize that they were once derided as hard or harder than Wish is being right now.

I just wish that people would give these movies a chance rather than not let the creatives tell their story. We had a whole damn section of 2D animation in Strange World! No one talked about it! No one went "More of this please". Give me these stories, let me enjoy a original fairy tale, because if we keep rehashing things, there's going to be little to celebrate when the next 10 or 20 years rolls around.

Sorry for the kinda rant. This has just been on my nerves for a while.

#disney #wish disney #wish 2023 #animated films

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homeofhousechickens · 9 months ago

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I just saw a video of your chicken Fondue(?) and, not to be rude or presumptuous, but she(?) looks... kinda ratty. I don't want to sound mean towards her but idk any other word to use here. Is something the matter to make her feathers all ruffled like that or is she just a fuzzed up lookin gal in general?

Fondue is silked! He has the hookless gene which means his feathers do not zip together like it does with normal feathers which makes them look very fuzzy. It also makes them very soft.

This is the trait associated with Silkie bantams but seramas and other breeds also have the hookless gene in their gene pool.

Silked birds do have draw backs, they are not water proof and they cannot fly as well as normal feathered chickens so they need to be well protected from the elements and potential predators.

Here is a visual difference between a silked bird and a normal feathered bird

Zinger- Fondues father is a silked bird

Ibis- Ibis is Zingers son and normal feathered since silked feathering is recessive and Ibis's mother isn't silked

I would like you to send Fondue an apology for calling him ratty! He is very healthy and in great feather condition. He feels like a fuzzy little cloud when you pet him and he is a great little guy. I don't believe I have ever tagged him as a hen either I was so sure of his sex i told his future owner not to bother sending me money to DNA sex him as a tiny chick because I was sure he was a cockerel so I'm not sure why we are misgendering this little lad here.

Here is one of his younger brother Donuts as well. You can see he is also fuzzy because every chick from this most recent batch was silked as he gets older he will look even more like Fondue. 😁

#fondue

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sapphicromanoffxo · 9 months ago

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Lucky Ones au - headcanons for Natasha

I randomly whipped this while I was at work to help me kickstart my motivation in continuing the series. 🫣

Nothing but fluff here so happy reading! 🫶

»»-----------► Series Masterlist

Natasha absolutely loves breakfast meals, and it is her comfort food. She can eat them anytime, no matter what part of the day it is.

Natasha secretly wants to adopt a cat but doubts if she can take care of one. After a hard week at work, she would often visit animal shelters to check on some kittens and spend at least an hour petting them. She also makes donations to these shelters and wants to make sure that the animals are being taken care of.

Natasha would often watch Wanda sleep, especially at nights where sleep is not in store for her. She would daydream of the future with her girlfriend and think about the places they could go to.

Thanks to Wanda, Natasha has developed an appreciation for flowers. Passing a flower shop always reminds her of Wanda, prompting her to buy a rose or two, plucking the petals and pressing them into Wanda's book with a love note.

While Wanda doesn't vocalize it, Natasha is a soft-hearted person. She pampers Wanda with a hot bath after a hard day at the university and lights scented candles for added relaxation.

Natasha's massages leave Wanda feeling incredibly relaxed, eliciting moans of pleasure before drifting off to sleep

Natasha used to favor dark, bold-colored clothing. Since Wanda entered her life, she's embraced lighter shades, as Wanda encourages coordinating outfits. However, a light pink color theme is Natasha's limit.

Natasha enjoys watching car race competitions in her free time, so it wasn't much of a shock to Wanda when she discovered Natasha's passion for participating in local car races. Natasha revealed that she once entered a drag race using the car she received as a gift on her 19th birthday. However, this led to her dad discovering it, resulting in weeks of being grounded and having her credit cards frozen.

Natasha's motorcycle collection spans classic vintage types to sports bikes. When Wanda suggested matching helmets with cat ears for their rides, Natasha initially didn't find it amusing but eventually gave in to Wanda's playful idea.

Granting Wanda creative control over their apartment's decor, Natasha witnessed the transformation of her grey bedroom walls into a soothing light green. Wanda explained that the choice reflected their eye colors and added a personal touch to the space where they slept.

During a joint jewelry shopping expedition, Natasha bought two silver bracelets with purple stone pendants. Forgetting to remove them, her sudden change in accessories, usually gold, black, or grey, became a topic of company gossip. Another incident involved Natasha wearing a sun and moon necklace, further fueling the office rumours whether their boss is dating someone

One day, Wanda stumbled upon Natasha's hidden talent for singing while Natasha took charge of cooking. Out of the blue, Natasha began singing "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac, leaving Wanda pleasantly surprised by the unexpected discovery.

In addition to her singing prowess, Natasha possesses a collection of vinyl records. Occasionally, Wanda sifts through them and selects "Unchained Melody," creating a perfect mood for a slow dance in their living room, wrapped in each other's arms.

Their shared love for music extends beyond their home. Natasha often takes Wanda to concerts, where they both revel in the electrifying experience of witnessing bands and singers perform live. Laufey has become their favorite artist, and they make it a tradition to sing along to Laufey's songs in the car.

Wanda also discovered Natasha's love for fast food. Natasha's ultimate favorite is Jollibee's spaghetti and fried chicken. On days that both of them are too lazy to prepare lunch or dinner, Natasha would just order online and have Jollibee.

For some reason, Natasha's comfort movie is Frozen. Wanda also fell in love with the movie, most especially to Olaf and would playfully mimic his famous line "Hi, I'm Wanda and I like warm hugs!" which amuses Natasha to no end. Natasha likes to think that she's Elsa.

Whenever Wanda is having a hard time understanding her lectures (i.e certain problems that she cannot solve), she would run to Natasha. Just give her pen and paper, she will write down the solutions for Wanda and the woman would explain the solutions with no difficulty.

Natasha easily gets jealous, there was a time a random guy tried to flirt with Wanda and Nat immediately snatched the other girl's waist and glared at the poor boy. She then whispered a warning to Wanda "Just stay close to me or else I will leave you here."

Natasha has a strict routine that includes working out 3 - 4 times a week for 2 hours to maintain her physique. On weekends, she would run for a couple of miles before Wanda wakes up.

Natasha is serious about her skin care routine. No matter how tired she is from work, she will make time in completing her nightly routine, applying serums and moisturizers meticulously with no fail. Her commitment extends to reminding Wanda to always wear sunscreen.

#wandanat #natasha romanoff #wanda maximoff #marvel #natasha x wanda #wlw #wandanat fanfiction #black widow #scarlet witch

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bellysoupset · 3 months ago

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Now that you have mentioned Max's handwriting, I NEED to know how each of your OCs' handwriting looks like

Please and thank you

- 💜

Hi 💜!!

Yo, I've recently learned that Americans don't write in cursive? Well, fuck that.

Vince: By far the prettiest handwriting out of all my OCs! He writes in cursive and with very round letters, that are very evenly spaced and the same size, so sometimes it looks like it was done by a robot. In truth, Babbo and Ma schooled their children in handwriting (Vince the most, since they had more free time when he was an only child) and all of the Monacellis write like this!

Wendy: Wendy always had pretty, typewriter style handwriting. However, as she got older and more interested into the "ultrafeminine" aesthetic, her handwriting evolved. All this to say, Wendy signs her "i" with little hearts. Everything is an opportunity to show off her style!

Luke/Jonah: They share the third spot, because they basically learned how to write the same way. They shared an etiquette teacher, who used to slap their hands when they messed up. Then in boarding school, calligraphy was graded on! Both Luke and Jonah write in cursive, with big swoopy letters, except Luke's handwriting is slightly more muted and straight, while Jonah's is extravagant and tilted right.

(Leo knows this and he lowkey wants Jon to do the wedding invitations by hand. It's a fight for the future tho)

Max: Although I think Max's handwriting is uglier than Leo's, he goes over him because it's readable lol. He writes in block script, with too much pressure on his letters so the paper is always lowkey ruined. They're also very angular letters, almost looks like graffiti

Leo: Leo doesn't write in cursive, although he can read it. His letters are in block script, rounded, and very VERY tiny. For some reason he's got a pet peeve against using more than one page, so if he can cramp everything in one page, he will do that. More often than not he'll hand in things printed out, but still he uses like size 10pt and gets complaints over this often.

Bella: unreadable. Luke cannot trust this woman to write a groceries list. Bella's handwriting is in block print, but it's more of a chicken scratch than anything else. Vince, Jon and Wendy straight up cannot read her handwriting. Lucas can, but still he'll get things wrong. Whatever, it's not like she ever writes anything down, her job is a 100% digital. Bell is also the queen of abbreviation and grammar mistakes.

#myocs #💜 anon #looove this ask #for reference mine is cursive swoopy and unreadable bc all my letters look the exact same #it looks like i'm writing in gibberish #I also do the same thing as Leo where I try to cram everything in one page instead of simply getting two #when i was a kid once I drew lines in between the lines for an essay and my teacher got SO pissed lol

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disneyanddisneyships · 10 days ago

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@gyubby99 things about aponi that are Canon that I have been thinking about for a while.

The night she died, she was planning on leaving Jason. She figured she'd play nice until they went to bed and she'd sneak out. She had a suitcase packed. It was in the closet where she died.

When she was a young teen, she figured to get away from her mom she'd have to join the military. She almost did it until she found out about her twins... after the loss of both of them she couldn't even get out of bed for weeks.

She has attempted multiple times but either never succeeded, or chickened out when she'd hear her brother knock on her door.

She has eyebags. She hides them with makeup but they're there.

Her favorite animals that aren't house pets are probably raccoons.

When she was a middle schooler, she drew what her future husband would look like. (It looked somewhat like human alastor) her mom found it and threw it away.

Her powers in hell include: masking her voice to sound like anyone she wants (like a mimic) siren call (singing so people can do her bidding), flying, siren scream thing (can sing a note so loud it knocks people backwards)

When she was a kid, she wanted to be a pop star, but Deborah made her join dance (ballet) instead of public school choir. When Aponi was 13, she was allowed to sing in the church choir.

Shes bad at science but really good at biology.

#Ask me questions about her again plllllssss

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catindabag · 11 months ago

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TBOSAS on Crack short take (67)

*How Sejanus got accepted by his Capitol peers* Read [this] first.

Festus: Hi, Snow bro!

Coryo: Hi, Creed. How’s life?

Festus: Pretty great! Yesterday, my mom even gave me some sweet baby potatoes to share with my rats!

Coryo: Your mom’s weird.

Festus: She’s on her ✨me and myself era✨.

Coryo: How about your dad?

Festus: Rehab.

Coryo: Poor guy.

Festus: Don’t worry about it. I’m practically the man of the house now!😎

Coryo: Festus, you’re 8.

Festus: You’re 8 too.

Coryo: I’m an orphan.

Festus: I live in a cozy dumpster without any parental supervision. So technically speaking, I’m also an orphan-

Sejanus: *appears out of nowhere and hugs Coryo like a koala* Greetings, my love!😍

Coryo: Hi, Seji Pie.

Festus: Coryo, who’s the new kid and why is he hugging you like a giant koala on crack?

Coryo: He’s my new friend-

Sejanus: Hi! I’m Coryo’s boyfriend and future husband!

Festus: Future husband?

Sejanus: Yup! I’m Sejanus Plinth! Nice to meet you!

Festus: Um- I’m Festus Creed-

Sejanus: Do you want to be the ✨Best Man✨ at our wedding?😀

Festus: You’re already planning your wedding?!

Sejanus: Of course we are! After all, it’s going to be the ✨Royal Wedding of The Century✨!😍

Festus: But I’m too young to be your ✨Best Man✨!

Coryo: And I’m too young to have a boyfriend or fiancé, but here we are.😑

Sejanus: My Coryo is so cute and shy. I want to hug him forever!

Festus: Forever?

Sejanus: And ever and ever!

Festus: Snowy, my cabbage loving brother, are you sure about him?

Coryo: His family is rich.

Festus: Richer than Arachne?

Coryo: Yes.

Festus: Nice! *turns to Sejanus and gives him a bear hug* Welcome to the Capitol, Sej! You’re now my new best mate!

Sejanus: *hugs back* Oh, thank Panem! A new friend to keep and hide in my home!

Festus: You’ll keep me where?

Sejanus: I’m so happy, my love!

Coryo: Whatever you say, Babe.

Sejanus: We should celebrate!

Festus: Yey! Free food!

Coryo: Can we order chicken nuggets and fries today?

Sejanus: Anything and everything you want, my love!😍

Festus: Can Odysseus and Penelope celebrate with us?😀

Sejanus: Sure! Where are they?

Festus: *shows them his 2 favorite freaky pet rats instead* This is Odysseus and this is Penelope! Aren’t they cute?🥰

Sejanus: They’re rats?!

Coryo: Ugly looking rats.

Festus: Yup! But I just call them Ody and Penny for short.

Sejanus: Are they even clean?

Festus: Clean as me!😊

Sejanus: Do they have rabies?

Festus: Rabies? Is that edible?

Sejanus: Festus-

Coryo: *whispers to Sejanus* Creed is currently living in a “cozy” rat infested dumpster without parental supervision.

Sejanus: *whispers back* Why? Is his family homeless and poor?

Coryo: No. They’re rich.

Sejanus: So why the dumpster?

Coryo: His crazy mother is the current ✨Queen of Neglect✨.

Sejanus: And his dad?

Coryo: Rehab.

Sejanus: Rehab?!

Festus: Yeah.😞 My germaphobe dad was forced by my evil mom to live in a dumpster for 2 years because of the rebels.

Sejanus: That’s so sad!

Festus: More like a tragedy. He was even loved and respected by many. However, after the war, my poor dad became borderline catatonic and unresponsive.

Sejanus: But what about your mother?!

Festus: She’s on her ✨me and myself era✨.😔

Coryo: It’s the war trauma. I mean, Mr. Creed’s a germaphobe and he was forced by his crazy wife to hide in a filthy dumpster for too long.

Festus: It’s ok. I still love my dad and my darling dumpster.

Sejanus: You’re making me cry, Creed!😭

Coryo: Babe, don’t feel bad. Festus is fine. He’s doing great! Look!

Festus: *is now talking to his pet rats* Oh, you look so beautiful as always, Penny!☺️

Penelope: *happily squeaks in return*

Festus: Oh, thank you, Penny!

Odysseus: *squeaks in jealousy*

Festus: Ody, don’t be jelly. Penny is your wife.

Coryo: Yup. He’s totally fine.

Sejanus: But he’s talking to rats!

Coryo: That’s normal. It’s part of the ✨Capitol Culture✨.

Sejanus: Talking to ugly rats is a ✨Capitol Culture✨?!

Festus: And heritage!

Sejanus: Coryo-

Coryo: Talking to “sacred” animals is part of being Capitol, my love.

Festus: Except for birds. We don’t talk to birds.

Sejanus: Why?

Coryo: Birds can snitch on you.

Sejanus: That is so weird.

Coryo: You’ll get used to it.

Sejanus: Have you ever-

Coryo: Talked to animals before? Sure! I do it almost every day! I even had to bargain with an angry wild dog for some lima beans and expired ham last night.

Sejanus: You can bargain with wild animals?!

Coryo: It’s a Corso thing.

Festus: We’re both from Corso.

Felix: *jumps out of nowhere* Hi, Coryo! Hi Creed! Who’s your new friend?

Sejanus: Hi! I’m Coryo’s husband!

Felix: Snowy is married already?!

Coryo: Not yet. He’s my friend-

Sejanus: Boyfriend.

Felix: Oh, ok. Nice to meet you. I’m Felix Ravinstill!

Sejanus: You’re an evil scheming Ravinstill?!

Felix: I’m sad now.😢

Coryo: Babe, don’t call our poor Felix evil. He’s sensitive.

Sejanus: But he’s a Ravinstill!

Festus: He’s our baby!

Felix: I’m baby.

Sejanus: Oh. Sorry. I didn’t know.

Felix: It’s fine. I’m used to it.

Sejanus: Being called evil all the time by complete strangers?

Felix: Along with my family.

Sejanus: And you’re not bothered by that?

Felix: It’s a reoccurring Ravinstill problem.😞

Festus: True. I mean, the Districts already hate us for barely winning the war.

Coryo: To be fair, we only won the war because everyone on both sides quickly declared a ceasefire to mourn the death of my gorgeous father and his gorgeous looks.

Sejanus: Oh, yeah! My evil old man mentioned that tragic news to me before. He was even crying his heart out and screaming at everyone that he will never ever recover and truly love again.

Coryo: My father’s death really affected your Pa that much?

Sejanus: Yup. My scheming father and ✨Gorgeous General Crassus✨ were extremely close-

Coryo: How close?

Sejanus: They were roommates.

Coryo: You do know that my dad’s death was just an accident, right?

Sejanus: Really?

Coryo: Unfortunately.

Festus: The rebel who shot Snowy’s daddy even cried and confessed on live TV that it was just an honest mistake on his part.

Felix: True. The poor bastard was supposed to aim his rifle at the sky to signal their whereabouts, but ✨Gorgeous General Crassus✨ was such a catch that he and his other rebel friends got distracted-

Coryo: Leading to my poor daddy’s accidental death. End of story.

Felix: However, because of that incident, people from both sides began to hate my family even more.

Festus: Not gonna lie, sending ✨Panem’s Prettiest Player✨ to the front lines without any warning or explanation was our country’s biggest mistake.😔

Felix: Coryo, I’m so sorry!

Coryo: Felix, it’s fine. You don’t have to feel sorry for me all the time.

Sejanus: Even though District 13 started the war that almost eradicated all of you?

Felix: District 13? What’s that? Is that food?

Coryo: *whispers to Sejanus* His irreversible war trauma is currently protecting him from the ugly realities of this world.

Sejanus: *whispers back* So District 13 still exist?

Coryo: I’m poor. So let’s just pretend it doesn’t exist anymore.

Sejanus: Whatever you say, my love!

Coryo: But seriously, Felix is a good guy. You can rely on him.

Felix: Half of my family is either crazy or shady.

Sejanus: And the other half?

Felix: They’re just a bunch of Bichon Frisé puppy worshippers.

Sejanus: And which half do you belong to?

Felix: I’m a Bichon Frisé puppy worshipper.😔

Sejanus: By force?

Felix: Yeah. My family doesn’t even know that I’m actually a big Hello Kitty fan.

Sejanus: Do you even like dogs?

Felix: I have to like them or else my granduncle and my mother might disown me.

Coryo: His crazy granduncle is the ✨President of Panem✨.

Festus: And his mother is the ✨Vice President✨.

Felix: They’re also the leaders of the famous ✨Bichon Frisé Cult✨.

Sejanus: Your mother is the same woman who declared that eating cold spaghetti on Winter Solstice is a crime against humanity?!

Felix: Yeah. That’s my mom. She’s a true Ravinstill through and through.

Sejanus: And your dad?

Felix: Is also a Ravinstill.

Sejanus: So your parents are related?

Felix: We’re Capitol Nobles.

Sejanus: So?

Felix: That means that we’re all related to each other. Even Coryo, Festus, and I are family.

Festus: By blood!

Coryo: We’re cousins.

Sejanus: Really?! How come?

Coryo: We all share a common great great grandfather.

Sejanus: That still doesn’t add up-

Festus: He had 24 daughters and 16 sons.

Felix: And I have hundreds of cousins roaming around the city.

Sejanus: Yeah, I can see it now.

Felix: Don’t even ask me about my deadly family reunions.😞

Sejanus: So that means that my future children with Coryo will have the crazy Ravinstill blood running through their veins-

Felix: You can’t run from my ever expanding bloodline, bro. Sooner or later, your family will also be part of it.😔

Sejanus: But that’s impossible!

Coryo: Just accept the inevitable.

Sejanus: Ok! No problem, my love!😍

Felix: So can we start over?

Sejanus: Sure! You start.

Felix: Oh, ok. Um- Hi! I’m Felix and I love butterflies!

Sejanus: Hi! I’m Sejanus and I love my Coryo!

Felix: That’s great! I support you! Let’s be friends!

Sejanus: Yey! Another new friend!

Coryo: Yey. I’m hungry. Let’s go eat and celebrate, Babe.

Festus: Free food!

Felix: New friend!

Lysistrata: *slides out of nowhere* Can we be friends too?

Apollo: Let’s be friends, new kid!

Diana: Me too!

Androcles: And me!

Gaius: Do you like squirrels?

Io: Do you like cheese?

Dennis: Let’s do some business ventures together!

Persephone: Have you seen my stew?

Palmyra: Try this expired muffin! I baked it myself!😀

Vipsania: Do you workout?

Domitia: Do you like cows?

Iphigenia: You can buy your groceries at my place!

Juno: A rich District peasant?!

Florus: I’m just here for the food.

Arachne: Is your sandwich recipe better than mine?

Urban: Do you like meth- I mean, math?

Pup: Do you like to sleep upside down?

Hilarius: Do I look good in shorts?

Festus: No! Shoo! Go away! Sejanus is my new friend!

Coryo: And my boyfriend!

Felix: Can we order pasta?

Apollo: Please be my friend!

Diana: Pretty please!🥺🙏

Florus: Where’s the food?

Androcles: Let’s be war baddies!

Coryo: Do you mean buddies?

Androcles: They’re the same thing.

Coryo: No, they’re not.

Androcles: Then we shall-

Sejanus: Fine! We can all be best friends forever!

Androcles: Really?🥹

Sejanus: As long as you eat my gumdrops.

Androcles: Ok!

Livia: Ew. No.

Hilarius: By the way, shouldn’t we all be in school right now?

Arachne: Shouldn’t you?

Hilarius: Nah. School is boring.

Arachne: But-

Hilarius: Let’s go celebrate our newly forged friendship instead!🥳

Sejanus: To friendship!

Everyone: *except Livia and Arachne* To our shotgun friendship!

Florus: Free food! Let’s go!

Io: I’m so excited! This is my first time skipping school!

*Meanwhile, at school*

Clemensia: *is currently sitting alone with her pet hamster* Hercules, this is weird. Why am I the only one sitting in class today? Where is everyone?

Hercules:. . .

Clemensia: Seriously, where the heck is everyone?!

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lionheartsgray · 8 months ago

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So much has happened back-to-back these past few weeks that I forgot to post some very important news on my bunblr: there's a new bunny in the house! Meet the 9 lbs, 11 oz high-energy Jammy! ❤️

I've been looking to adopt a boyfriend for/to bond to Toto. I hadn't heard a response back on my application with a local rescue when I saw a post in my town's FB information page of someone rehoming a male rabbit because he kept fighting with the person's other rabbit.

The truth of it all ended up being that Jammy's owner was some kid who even admitted that she knew nothing about rabbits; neither rabbit was fixed, which was why they were fighting, and she was feeding both a seed/muesli mix (not good for rabbits) and kept the one in tiny hutch, and the other (Jammy) in a tiny, wire bottom cage, outside in a yard with multiple dogs, cats, and chickens.

Day 1 of bringing this beauty home and we established that Jammy is a GIRL and that she is incredibly sweet! This baby spent 2 years in cramped conditions, with poor "food", nothing to do, and had very little interaction. We set her up in a large xpen with lots of fresh hay and water, her own potty pan, toys, and blankets and she couldn't stop the kisses and binkies! She is absolutely precious and playful and wants attention 24/7, so much so that she whines and stomps at you if she's not being paid attention to, or if you-heaven forbid-stop petting her for a millisecond.

Of course, our goal is to get her spayed ASAP to prevent uterine cancer, and cut down on her naughty hormonal behaviors that have come with being a goofy handful. Unfortunately, the first appointment we can get with our exotic vet isn't until August of this year. But other than that, she appears to be healthy and free of mites, infections, or sickness! She will still be bonded to Toto in the future and I think she has the perfect playful personality that will match with the Bean(tm)'s. It will be a hilarious juxtaposition to have one giant black bunny bonded to one tiny black bunny! 🤣

And so 3 becomes 4...Welcome home, Jammy, March 25, 2024.

#bunblr #bunny rescue #rescue rabbit #Jammy #my buns #new zealand rabbit #black rabbit #adopt dont shop #bunny #bunnies #houserabbit #housebunny

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gagegh0st · 8 months ago

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Batfamily Kiddos And My Hc's Even though nobody asked for them

New series asshats! "-- hcs even though nobody asked for them will be a returning series you little shitfucks.

Dick Grayson

He has a really good music taste, loves a good jazz, funk, or jersey club song

Collects certain hand sanitizers because he likes the smell

He hoards magazines about himself so that once he becomes a parent, he can show them to his kids.

Has a soft spot for birds.

Night owl

Always wanted a parakeet but Alfie and Dad said no.

Really likes travelling to hot places

Cant swim, almost drowned the last time he was in a pool

Barbara Gordon

Really allergic to cats (Red eyes, hives, all the works)

She was a total nightcore kid back in middle school

Has multiple sets of joint problems that have been left untreated for actual years

Big fanfiction person

Collects plushies of bats because she likes them

Graphic novel addict

Dyes the tips of her hair different shades of red

Absolutely fucking hates tight jeans

Jason Todd

Been book buddies with Alfred since he was really young

Absolutely terrible at driving

Started greying prematurely, he dyes all of it but the white piece.

He takes melatonin before bed because of him having anxiety

Can't hold a girlfriend for shit, too promiscuous to stay single tho.

He had lots of pet fish growing up

He has a rose garden and is very proud of it

Wants to retire one day to be an old guy with a nice garden and literally a. single. child, that's it. All he needs.

Damian Wayne

Listens to way inappropriate music for his age

Thinks he's grown but he always has homework due

The bitchiest little sibling you will ever meet, he is a huge snitch too.

Always having an identity crisis.

Had really traditionally girly interests growing up (Ex: Fables, Flowers, Balet, and Barbies <3, what a sweet child)

Isn't allowed to have a girlfriend ever according to Bruce.

Laughs at inappropriate times a lot

Chronically wears vests because he thinks that it flatters his figure. (It doesn't, Alfred knows this but wants Dames to feel his best even if it makes him look short.)

Tim Drake

Was obsessed with wolves when he was young

Loves a funky-print suit

Really likes painting with gouache or watercolour

Big-ol Adhd brain

Wears the same coat without washing it for at least six months

Plays really funky indie games

Really likes feeling pretty, paints his nails, curls his hair, or even gets himself some new jewelry

Got his ears pierced when he was young, and has tons more ear piercings and plans to get his nose bridge pierced even though Bruce said he would kill him.

Stephanie Brown

Started coding at an early age

Collects old metal stuff

Special interest is welding and glass blowing

Very fond of bears, especially pandas.

A cheese connoisseur

Designs all the suits for the batfam

HTML is the love of her life

Aro ace and only Bruce knows, he's chill about it tho.

Cassandra Cain

Hearing problems GALORE

Uses some forms of AAC because of hearing problems and speech impediment (Lisp and Stutter)

More brooding than most of the boys

Really likes scrapbooking

Watches kids shows for fun because she had a really fucked up childhood

Absolutely never cries in front of the other siblings

Bruce is her shoulder to cry on because he gives such good advice

Crochets Before bed because it's a good stress reliever.

Duke Thomas

Haircut always stays fresh asf

Dissociates a lot

Always was a math person, didn't like reading growing up because of vision problems

Really loves chickens and has names for all of the chickens they own

Collects action figures of farm animals

A very faithful partner, he doesn't get into relationships with people he doesn't see a future with

Has a very fun textured closet but sticks with the yellow.

Collects cool pens and gives them to Alfred so he can have something cute to write with when he writes down groceries.

OK BYE CHAMOY PICKLES !! ILY, DRINK WATER, SHOWER, GET UP, STRETCH, AND KEEP BEING AWESOME!!!

#gage won't stop yapping #gage's poet rambles #batfamily #dc #dcu #dick grayson #barbra gordon #damian wayne #tim drake #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #duke thomas #headcanon

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catermeow · 7 months ago

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Day 2! I wanna poke at this design some more in the future, but I’m happy with it for now.

And as requested, chickens!

We have four of em, three hens and a rooster! Willow, the rooster, and Obsidian are both Easter Eggers, Chickpea is an Orpington, and The Second is a Cuckoo Maran.

Here’s them dustbathing! The orange one is Willow, the yellow (buff) one is Chickpea, the black one is Obsidian, and the black one with white bars in the back is The Second. They’re all sweethearts.

Willow is very polite, and very protective of the hens. If one of them stays in the coop while the rest are outside, he gets nervous and starts crowing to try to get the missing hen with the rest. Obsidian is a little bit grumpy, and she loves treats. Whenever she hears the treat bag being shaken, she comes running, which for a chicken means a very fast, very funny-looking waddle. Chickpea is probably the friendliest of the bunch, and she is very poofy, so she’s fun to pet. The Second is fairly skittish, and she’s usually at the back of the group, but she’s smart.

Chickpea and The Second were later additions to the flock, whereas we’ve had Willow and Obsidian since they were chicks. We got four chicks, and they were supposed to all be female, but we ended up with three roosters so we gave two of them, Tuna and Junior, away and adopted these two from the rescue/farm where Junior went. The Second’s full name is technically Junior The Second, because Junior was named by my brother and he wanted to keep that legacy.

Baby pictures :)

#hermitaday #xisuma #hermitcraft #cay’s art #xisuma is fun. unfortunately armor is hard to draw. oh well!#I love my chickens very much and am very happy to share them

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gorgonstaringcontest · 26 days ago

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Dog has been getting fussy and picky about the food I was giving her. Nothing's wrong, it's just a natural consequence of her life up until now.

The first night she was with me and for the first couple of weeks, I cooked her food myself to get her eating comfortably and up to a healthy weight. Then tried introducing actual pet foods because I was worried she wasn't getting exactly the right nutrients.

The brands swapped around because of availability and finding better options and did my best to smoothly transition between them. In the meantime, I'd give her things just for the joy of seeing her try things for the first time - chicken, roast lamb, blueberries, egg. She loved them all.

Then, she really started eating a lot. So I did what I thought was logical - bought in bulk of the food she liked. She'd tried a lot different things by this point so the newness was dying down, but about 3/4ths the way through the bulk food I bought, she just... Stopped being interested.

She went off the wet food first, and seemed to only want dry and to drink more water. Seemed fine. But then, she got sick of the dry food - only eating it begrudgingly after I'd eaten like "well, if this is all there is". So I bought different dry food, and it was okay for like a week and a bit and then, meh. Tried mixing the wet and dry together (actually mixing not just in the same bowl) and that was apparently the worst of both worlds.

So... Dog is apparently a gourmand now. She has a refined palate, and seeks new experiences.

According to advice I could find on the matter, the suggestion was to mix new things into the existing food to spice things up a bit.

I bought things to do this today, and she just... Didn't eat her lunch. Not interested, but kept doing the "feed me" things. So I decided that if it was a flavour sensation she wanted, she'd get it. And this way I could see if she didn't like any of it and could cull it from being mixed in in future.

Now we all understand dogs don't taste things the way we do, which is good, because although each individual thing is something I eat, the resulting mix was a bit more adventurous than most people would be. I made a plain rice congee, roasted off some sweet potato, pumpkin, and carrot, steamed some peas and corn, and sauteed some beef strips and - the real star of the show - liver. Topped it off with a few blueberries and some diced dried apricot as well and decided to really spoil her with a drizzle of peanut butter.

Dog was ecstatic. Ate her whole dinner. Licked the bowl clean. And then came and gave me lots of attention, very clearly pleased with the evening's offering, before going back to lick the bowl again in case a single molecule of flavour was left behind. She licked my hands, because I can only assume they smell a bit like the food from cooking it.

Every time I go NEAR the kitchen, she goes and sits by the fridge, because she saw that I cooked multiple meals worth of food and put the rest in there - the mana from heaven is trapped in the food prison, as far as she's concerned.

So I'm heading to bed now and, and she's curled up in her bed with a full tummy, which makes me glad. Aside from the extremely deadly liver-tinged dogfart that she perpetrated that is going to lead me to sleep with the windows open even though it's like 13°, I feel like I've achieved responsible dog parent status.

And for those wondering - liver is something I've eaten since I was a kid, no it's not because of rewatching Hannibal, yes I was tempted to see if dogs can have fava beans but no didn't actually check.

#so sweet and so cute #dog parent #Hannibal #Chianti was never on the menu #Aside from it being alcohol #Dogs can't have grapes ya dingus #My mom told me anthocyanins isn't good for dogs but you can have the rest of my milk

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maveys-baby · 2 days ago

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I have a head canon that Mare and Cal have a ton of pets in the future- they've both always wanted pets but Mares main dream was a cat but Cal was allergic so they get teased about that. She has a raccoon though.

Dog (Roz - also an emotional support dog)

Raccoon (Brio - Mare was in the woods one day doing scouting and it just started following her, Cal thinks it's perfect since he always referred to her as a raccoon with her kleptomaniac self- he and Brio have beef though)

Two chinchillas (Dawn and Hesper - Cal always wanted chinchillas growing up because they were one of Julians favorite animals and his love for them carried down to him)

A skunk (Really this isn't an actual pet but it shows up in their backyard and they made friends with it. They call him Badger because Cal thought it was a badger looking at it from a distance at first)

A black cat that doesn't stay at the house but roams around the area of their workplace and Mare always says hi to it (People everywhere call her Sunset - I got the name from a head canon I saw once)

Thoughts? Sorry for all the reading

You are a visionary because a raccoon makes SO MUCH SENSE for Mare omg.

This actually makes a lot of sense because Mare strikes me as a black cat person whereas Cal has golden retriever/puppy energy. I love how you named all of them, that's so cute🥹 Plus Cal mistaking the skunk for a badger is so spot on for his character lmao he totally would. Chinchillas are also right up their alley. I feel like Mare would totally be down for more "exotic" pets like snakes or sugar gliders.

Idk why but now that I'm thinking about it, I could also see them getting a few chicken for the eggs, but Cal is afraid of birds so Mare has to handle them.

#red queen #red queen series #glass sword #kings cage #war storm #mare barrow #cal calore #victoria aveyard #marecal #anon #anon ask

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weepingfromacedartree · 1 year ago

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Surviving the AO3 Drought

Hi friends!

We're coming up on almost an entire day of AO3 being down. Since I'm sure most of you are like me and going insaneee with the blackout, I wanted to share this incredibly ROUGH draft of chap 1 of my current Polin WIP for anyone desperate for content.

A few warnings:

This fic is nowhere NEAR being done (emphasis on this being a ROUGH draft). It will most likely be a few months until I start posting the finished chapters.

This chapter (and the fic in general) deals with issues like grief and neglectful parenting, so TW for anyone who might not want to read about that.

Most of this chapter depicts Penelope and Colin as children. It was annoying to write. Might be annoying to read. I promise, they're teens/adults in all future chapters.

I do not condone children taking in stray cats and keeping them as pets. This fic is not meant to be a tutorial of any sort.

Ok if I didn't scare you off... please enjoy!!

Chapter 1: First Pet

Today: April 29th, 2023

Relationship Status: Dating (Semi-Secretly)

꙳

“Gregory just texted to ask if we’re dating. I didn’t think he had my number.”

“That little arsehole probably sent it to himself when he stole my phone.”

It’s Saturday. Penelope and Colin are sitting on the floor of his flat, a few containers of chinese food littered between them. It’s not a particularly unusual setting to find either one of them on a Saturday night. However, some things are different now.

Two weeks ago, they would not have been playing footsie. Not this shamelessly, at least.

“I assumed that Eloise’s ‘vow of secrecy’ would involve her immediately telling Benedict… And that Benedict would tell Anthony… And that Anthony would tell Kate… But I don’t know how the rumour managed to spread to Cambridge in…” She glances down to her phone again. “Six hours flat.”

“‘Rumour?’” he echos, a smirk on his face. “Surely, you’re not trying to keep this sordid love affair hidden from me as well.”

“‘Sordid?’ God, Colin. You make us sound so dirty.” She kicks his foot away, turning her attention back to the shrimp fried rice. “And I’m not trying to keep it from anyone. We both knew what would happen the second I told El.”

“Frankly, I’m surprised Greg didn’t text you sooner.”

Colin tries fixing his attention on the kung pao chicken in hand, but it unsurprisingly wanders.

“So… What are you gonna tell him?”

Penelope quirks an eyebrow, a look of uncertainty making a quick appearance on her face.

“Well… I was going to hold him in suspense a little while longer. Maybe take the ‘no comment’ approach at first. Then — I don’t know — the truth?”

“Which is?”

Colin watches as uncertainty turns to downright confusion.

“Yes?”

Internally, Penelope wonders if Colin is teasing, or if there has been a miscommunication of monumental proportions between them. The look on his face confounds her, though. Neither option seems to be the correct one.

“‘Dating’ is a bit too casual a word for us, I think.”

Penelope’s confusion fades away as a familiar tingling sensation lights up her stomach.

“It’s only been a week. What do you suggest we call —”

“We should get married.”

“What!?”

He’s teasing. He’s teasing. He’s —

“I said we should get married.”

Penelope waits for him to expand on this insane notion, but all she gets is that smug little smirk.

“Okay. Why?”

“Why does anyone get married?” Colin says matter-of-factly. “I love you. I wish to continue loving you forever and ever. Ergo, marriage.”

“This isn’t funny.”

“It wasn’t a joke.”

“It —”

“It was a proposal.”

“Colin.” She uses the sternest voice she can manage to muster up, which happens to be quite shrill at the moment.

“Pen.” At least he has the decency to drop that stupid smirk. He also drops his kung pao chicken, leaning forward to place a hand on her knee.

“Just, think about it for a moment. We didn’t meet a week ago, we just finally said the thing we should have told each other a decade ago — at least. I’ve been in love with you forever. ‘Dating’ you just feels like an unnecessary step to the rest of forever.”

Penelope feels at war with herself. At her core, she is sensible. Logical. Reasonable. She knows — objectively — that skipping straight from friendship to marriage is illogical and senseless.

But is it truly reasonless?

At her core, Penelope is also a romantic. A willing fool. An idealist against her better judgement. And in her heart, she holds twenty years worth of love for Colin. Would it really be so crazy —

Shaking her head ever so slightly, Penelope tentatively — regretfully — brushes his hand off her knee. At the loss of her touch, Colin’s lip juts out in a pout.

“People date for a reason. It’s an institution — it has a purpose. It’s like a test run for marriage. Different than friendship. Teaches you different things about a person — things that set you up for a successful lifetime together.”

“Friendship is not so different than dating. At least, not the way we did it.”

“Colin —”

“You’re right, Pen. Dating is like a trial period where you decide whether or not the person you love is suitable enough to spend the next lifetime beside. You —”

“Do I really sound that unromantic?” she interrupts. Something about hearing her words on his lips makes them sound so clear.

Colin laughs. “I think pragmatic is the word you’re looking for. But seriously, can you name a single thing you don’t know or feel unsure about me as a partner, after twenty years of friendship? What’s holding you back, Pen?”

Nothing. That’s the truth. There’s not a single thing about Colin that she feels unsure of. Not anymore.

But still… Even if there love has lasted decades, that sense of assuredness has only existed between them for a week. She’s spent more time wrestling on whether or not to cut bangs (and the answer always ends up being not).

Still…

“Let’s consult the experts.” His words break her from the daze Penelope hadn’t realised she fell into. In those few measly seconds, Colin’s eyes broke away from hers and has rested on the phone gripped in both of his hands.

“What are you doing?” she asks him. Her voice sounds far away.

Colin taps something on his phone, out of view from Penelope’s curious eyes. Then he clears his throat.

“Ten milestones every couple should celebrate before walking down the aisle,” he reads aloud. “Number One: Your First —”

“What are you doing?” Penelope asks again. This time, a laugh escapes her lips as she does so. Something about the seriousness on Colin’s face reminds her of the absolute absurdity of this situation. That it is a joke, even if it was intended as such.

“I know you think this is all very funny, but I’m being serious. I know you better than anyone else in the world — you know me better than I know myself! I have loved you more than half my life and spent so much time delaying the inevitable. Why waste any more of our time by ‘dating’ one another? It just seems silly.”

Colin stops ranting briefly, as if to allow Penelope to get her rebuttal in before he has the chance to make his point. When she stays silent, she can’t help but notice a hint of a smile crawl back up his otherwise serious face.

“And while I know the romantic in you is buzzing to say yes and run down to city hall right now, I know the realist in you needs some convincing.” He briefly holds up his phone to display the article he pulled up. “So we will go through this list, which details everything you need to accomplish during the dating stage of a relationship. If, at the end, we realise that we checked off every single to-do item while we were still just friends, we will make the reasonable decision to get married.”

If there’s one thing Charming Colin Bridgerton can do, it’s make a convincing argument. The realistic and romantic on each of Penelope’s shoulders suddenly go quiet.

“And where exactly did you find this scholarly article you are basing such a life-altering decision on?”

He looks down.

“TheMarriageExpert.blogspot.com”

“Colin!”

“They’re an expert, Pen!”

After her giggles finally let up, Penelope sighs. He has convinced her to play more tedious games before…

“Fine. You have yourself a deal, Bridgerton. What’s first on that list of yours?”

Finally, that serious expression on his face drops completely. He grins at her in that way that always makes Penelope’s heart skip a beat.

“Number One: Your First Pet As a Couple,” he reads aloud. “During the course of your marriage, you and your partner will come to share many things together. Finances, homes, memories, and a million other things you cannot even begin to fathom now. A pet will help you prepare for those shared responsibilities. It will teach you both about the importance of…”

As Colin continues reading, a frown pulls at the tips of Penelope’s lips. When he finishes, she attempts to cover her disappointment with a shallow laugh.

“Game over, I guess.”

His eyebrow arches. “Pardon?”

“We’ve never shared a pet, so…”

Colin’s mouth falls open. He pulls his free hand to his chest, underscoring the aghast look on his face.

“Pen… Did Mr. Whiskers mean nothing to you?”

-------------------------------------------------------

Twenty Years Earlier: July 21st, 2003

Relationship Status: Sister’s Best Friend // Best Friend’s Brother

꙳

How did I get here again?

It’s Monday. The first real day of summer holiday. For most kids, that means the start of freedom. Six weeks of fun, followed by real life crashing down on them when the fall term begins. But for Penelope, it means the loss of structure. For six weeks, it is up to her to determine how — and more importantly, where — she spends her time.

She didn’t want to spend it at home. Not this morning, at least. So she went to Grosvenor Square.

At just eight years old, there aren’t many places Penelope can run off to unaccompanied. Even the Square, just two blocks away from her home, is hard to get away with. Her mum only allowed it because she was under the impression that Eloise would be joining her — that between Penelope’s sense and Eloise’s toughness, the two girls would be safe in the nearby park. But when Penelope ran across the street, she learned from Anthony that Eloise was not available for a morning stroll in the square.

She could have just gone back home, but she really, really didn’t want to. So she went to Grosvenor Square. Alone.

She was walking around the park, careful not to step on any cracks in the concrete. She moved to the grass when she realised that everyone was walking around her (even for an eight-year-old, her legs are rather short); she did not want to pull too much attention to herself and have someone question where her parents are.

She was listening. To the birds chirping. To the nearby traffic. Mostly, to the people.

Two teenagers were fighting. She was mad, he was sorry. She said something about him cheating, but after that, their shouts turned to whispers and Penelope couldn’t make out the rest. She wondered what type of exam he could have cheated on.

A little white dog barked at her. His owner looked apologetic.

A neighbour of hers walked past her, pushing a stroller. Penelope thought about hiding behind the nearest tree, certain that Mrs. Abernathy would notice her and say something. Thankfully though, the baby started crying and distracted her.

Just as Penelope was about to turn the corner and listen into the couple’s fight again, she had heard something different.

“Meow.”

She thought her mind was playing tricks on her, but when she walked over to the nearest bush to investigate, a two giant blue eyes stared back at her.

Oh, right.

Penelope looks down at the kitten currently sleeping in her arms.

He had white fur with little patches of black around his ears and nose. His whiskers were long — so long that they didn’t look like they were placed on the right cat. He was so small and scrawny — Penelope couldn’t tell if he was actually a kitten, or just a cat who spent too much time with too little food in his stomach.

Without a collar or any family in sight (she had spent over an hour looking for them), Penelope decided to take him home. She spent 20 minutes taking the 10-minute walk home. She slowed her steps. She took unnecessary turns and waited too long before crossing crosswalks. She held the kitten tightly to her chest, shielded slightly by the nest she made out of her yellow cardigan. She practised what she would say to her mum.

“Penelope. Anne. Featherington. Get that rodent out of my house!”

It had not gone well. Although, even before she landed back on the front steps of her home, Penelope had suspected that there was nothing she could say that could convince her mum to let them keep him.

She followed her mother’s instructions, fleeing from her house with the kitten in hand. Penelope didn’t have much of a plan once she hit the pavement outside, but like they so often do, she found her feet walking in the direction of the home across the street. But they stopped before they could reach it.

Ever since Mr. Bridgerton died last summer, Penelope’s mum had warned her about showing up at their house unannounced. There are eight fatherless children in that house now — the youngest of which never even got to meet her father. They have enough going on as it is.

They have enough going on as it is, she repeats again and again.

That’s how she got here. Sitting on the edge of the pavement outside the Bridgerton household, a cat sleeping soundly in her lap.

“It’s gonna be okay, buddy,” she tells him. She wonders if the kitten can sense the hesitance in her voice.

Silently, Penelope wonders what the right thing to do is. Where the right place to go is. The first place she thinks of is an animal shelter. Surely, that is the most logical place to bring a lost kitten to. They would know how to take care of him, how to find him a home with people who want him. The only problem is that Penelope does not know of any actual animal shelters in Mayfair.

The second place she thinks of is the fire station down the street. Firefighters save cats, don’t they? Or was that —

“Pen?”

Colin, her mind registers before she even has the chance to turn around. When she finally does, she attempts to smile, while also shielding the contraband from his view. Colin, in turn, throws her his usual smile — bright and true. The one that always manages to make Penelope’s stomach flip over inside herself. It does so now, even with the fresh sting of disappointment still welling up inside her.

“Oh, hi. Sorry, I didn’t mean to —”

“What’s that?” he asks, nodding to the kitten she clearly failed at hiding away from him. Before she has the chance to answer, he sits down beside her on the curb.

“I found him in Grosvenor Square. He was all alone and I didn’t know where else to go…” Her voice trails off, once again contemplating what a responsible person would do next in this situation.

“You gonna keep him?”

“No.” Disappointment is evident in her voice. “Mum won’t let me. She hates cats.”

Penelope takes her eyes off the kitten to look up at Colin. While only two years older that her, he stands nearly a head above her (he’s tall for his age — she’s short for her’s). Even sitting, she has to tilt her head up just to look him in the eyes. As usual, his brown mop of a haircut hangs so low that it covers his eyes somewhat, but Penelope can still see the blue-green colour peaking through. She’s always quite liked that colour.

Colin tilts towards her a few inches, then raises his hand to gently pet the kitten’s head. “I’d take him, but mum and Daph are both allergic.”

Penelope can feel her eyes go wide. Mr. Bridgerton was allergic to hornets…

“Not that kind of allergic,” he reassures her, seemingly reading her mind. “They won’t, like, die or anything. Their skin will just get all red and scratchy if he gets anywhere near them.”

“Oh — sorry. I should just go.” Pulling the kitten out of Colin’s grasp, Penelope stands. She starts to turn away from him, but is once again reminded that she has no idea where she is supposed to go.

“Wait — no. Where are you gonna take him?”

“I don’t know,” she admits. “Where are you supposed to take stray cats?”

He shrugs. “I dunno.”

“Okay. I —”

“But I have an idea.”

꙳ ꙳ ꙳

The Bridgertons live on a gold mine. Metaphorically. Literally, they live on nearly an acre of land in the middle of Mayfair. Their back garden is massive compared to the neighbours that surround them, a feat that is only possible due to the home being passed down from one Bridgerton to the next for so many generations. That’s the same reason Penelope’s family is still able to reside in the house across the street, but their garden is not nearly as sprawling.

“Where are we going?”

She and Colin hadn’t gone through his house, rather, they went around it. Now, he leads her towards the very back of the estate, a few steps ahead, one hand on the wall to their left. His index finger traces the cracks between the stones.

“Have some patience, Pen.”

“I — I do.” And she does. Usually. Usually, Penelope is a remarkably patient girl. Well-mannered. Quiet. She usually wears those attributes on her shoulders like a uniform. But for some reason, they tend to slip away from her whenever Colin is near.

Penelope’s eyes flick right, towards Colin’s family home. It seems purposeful, that they’re walking along the shadows of this wall.

“Is Eloise home yet?” she asks, for no other reason than to fill the silence between them. Usually, Penelope prefers such silence. But not right now.

“Uh, no. Ben took her into the city for her, uh… Her doctor appointment. They usually don’t get back until supper time.”

Out of Colin’s view, she nods. For the past year — ever since Mr. Bridgerton died — Eloise has been seeing a doctor in the city pretty regularly. Penelope’s mum told her to never ask any follow up questions about these visits… but silently, she’s always questioned what type of doctor is able to fix an ailment like heartbreak.

“Are you doing anything for the summer holiday?” she asks, another attempt to just fill the silence. She already knows the answer. They always travel up to Aubrey Hall for at least a week, this time of year. Always.

“Nah. Just staying here, I guess.”

“Oh.” Dread appears suddenly and sits heavily in Penelope’s stomach. Mr. Bridgerton died at Aubrey Hall last August. Of course they’re not eager to return. “Us too.”

“Cool. I’ll see you around then.”

She feels her cheeks instantly flush. “Yeah. Cool,” she says, hoping her voice does not expose the growing warmth on her skin.

Without a word, Colin breaks away from the stone wall beside them and walks towards a particularly dense cluster of trees. When Penelope follows, she finds Colin standing next to something she’s never seen before, despite the many years she’s spent playing with Eloise in this yard. It’s a wooden shed of sorts. It’s wide and just about as tall as Penelope.

“What is that?”

“Some old shed. I dunno… I think they used to store firewood in here, back in the olden days.” He kicks open the latch with his foot. “Empty now, though. I don’t think anyone else remembers it’s here.”

“So…”

“So, your cat could live here.”

Penelope looks down. At some point in the last few minutes, she had somehow forgotten the kitten held tightly against her chest. She had forgotten her whole point in being here.

“Oh! Right. That’s, um…”

She steals another glance at the shed. It certainly does look like it was last used during the “olden times.”

“That’s really kind. But how would he — how would that work?”

“We get him a bed, milk, food… Everything a cat needs to survive.”

Penelope’s brow furrows. “Those things cost money…”

Colin shrugs. “I’ll steal a $20 out of Anthony’s wallet.” A smile erupts on his face when he sees shock overtake Penelope’s. He didn’t know a child could open their mouth that wide. “Kidding — I’ll just tell him I’m sad. He’ll probably hand me a $20 and tell me to go fix my feelings with ice cream.”

“Oh — okay. But…” Her mind stalls, searching for another flaw in his logic to voice aloud. There are just so many to choose from. “Mum always says we can’t get a pet cause they’re too much responsibility. You have to take care of them, feed them, make sure —”

“Hey — we’re both very responsible people. I help keep Greg alive, and that kid thinks licking an electrical socket is a fun pastime. If I can do that, keeping a cat alive will be nothing.”

“So we would, um…” She steals another glance at the shed before them. She can’t help but look at it and see a cage. “We would just lock him in there all day?”

“No!” He says quickly, a bit nervously. “We’ll keep the door open — or I could even cut a cat-sized hole in the side. You know, so he can come and go as he pleases.”

“But if he’s able to leave that easily… Won’t he get lost again?”

“No. If I know anything about cats, it’s that if you feed them, they’ll always find their way back to you. And since you found him hanging out in Grosvenor Square, clearly he’s an outside cat, not an inside cat.”

Penelope looks down at the kitten again. His attention has turned away from her; his round eyes dart back and forth wildly as he takes in all the space around them.

“I thought only strays went outside.”

“No. A cat can have a home and not want to stay cooped up in at all day long.” Colin takes another step towards her. He raises his hand and scratches behind the kitten’s ear, who immediately starts purring. “Clearly, this little badass wants to roam free.”

Yet again, Penelope can feel her cheeks burn pink. She’s lived in London her entire life, she’s heard words far worse than “badass” a million times before — but never from Colin’s lips. In fact, the two of them had never really been alone like this before. He was her best friend’s brother — a friend of sorts, but tangentially so. He was only ever in Penelope’s company through her friendship with Eloise. She isn’t used to having this much of his attention on her.

“Here.” After what feels like hours, she pulls the kitten away from her chest and nearly shoves him into Colin’s. “He seems to really like you.”

“Oh — okay.” Unsurprisingly — and annoyingly quickly — the kitten settles into his arms. Clearly, Colin’s natural charm works on animals just as well as it does on people.

Colin finally takes his eyes off of hers, turning around to show the kitten what could be his new home. With his gaze finally off her, Penelope’s mind flushes with panic. With words she had brushed off just moments before. Colin offering to spend his own money. To cut a hole in the shed. To take care of the cat, himself.

He has enough going on as it is.

Penelope looks up to see Colin setting the tiny creature down in the shed. Then, without much thought, she steps forward and takes the kitten in her arms again.

“I’m sorry, Colin. I didn’t mean to get you wrapped up in this.” She turns away, pulling the kitten closer into her chest. “I’ll drop him off that the fire —”

“Pen, stop.” His hand falls on her shoulder, then squeezes it once, gently. Although she is not very experienced in receiving such small physical gestures, Penelope can tell that he meant it to be reassuring. “He’ll be fine here, I promise.”

She turns slowly. His hand drops. By the time they face each other again, her blush has almost abandoned her cheeks. Almost.

“Are you sure it’s not too much?”

He laughs. Genuinely. Kindly. Just as he always does.

“No.” Gently, Colin pulls the kitten out of her arms again. “How could this little guy ever be ‘too much?’”

Pushing away all thoughts that scream that this is a bad idea, Penelope pushes her shoulders back. She stands tall (metaphorically, of course).

“I’ll do half the work — at least. I can check on his bowl every morning. Make sure he has water and food and whatever else he needs. Maybe you can do the same at night. And if you ever can’t, just let me know and I’ll help. And if it ever does become too much, I can find him somewhere else to live.”

When she finally closes her mouth, Colin’s smile returns. Then, he extends his hand towards her. “You got a deal, Featherington.”

Tentatively, Penelope raises her hand to seal said deal. But before she can make contact, Colin’s hand moves, as if to signal her to “stop.”

“Once last thing. We should just keep this whole thing between us, or ya know… Anthony will send both me and the cat to the nearest shelter.”

“Colin! I —”

“Kidding!” He laughs again, which has a surprisingly good effect on Penelope’s nerves. “But really… It’s simpler if we don’t tell anyone else. Not even Eloise — she can’t keep a secret for her life.”

She tilts her head again, stealing a not-so-quick glance at his eyes (through the mop of hair still obscuring that blue-green colour). Since as long as she can remember, Penelope has always wanted more of Colin — in some ways that she will not be able to define with words until she is much older. But even at just eight years old, Penelope knows she wants to be around him. She wants his attention. She wants to share a secret with him. Even if she knows it’s a bad idea.

“Deal.” With that, Penelope shakes Colin’s hand and seals their fate forever.

꙳ ꙳ ꙳

August 5th, 2003

꙳

It turned out to be a rather easy secret to keep.

Penelope was good at staying unseen — at blending into the shadows. Every morning at approximately 7 AM, she snuck into the Bridgerton back garden. And every morning at approximately 7:10 AM, she snuck out without being noticed by anyone other than Colin. Not that has mum or siblings would bat an eye if they happened to find Penelope back there. Before Edmund died and her own mum warned her to keep herself scarce, there were times that Penelope spent more time at the Bridgertons’ home than her own house. And despite Portia’s warnings, they would gladly invite her inside, any day.

Colin was also quite good at escaping his family’s notice on his own daily task. Every night around dusk, he would sneak into the kitchen or bathroom, fill an 8-ounce bottle with tap water, then hide it in the front pocket of whatever hoodie he happened to be wearing that day. They kept the cat food in the shed, in a locked container Colin bought at the pet store down the street (with money he had stolen from Anthony’s wallet — although he never admitted that he followed through on the theft “joke” to Penelope). The longer time went on, the less effort he put into sneaking out of the house everyday. The longer time went on, the more obvious it became how easy it is to disappear from a house with nine people. Especially when the one person everyone searches for is no longer around.

The only conspirator that ever put them at risk of being found out was Mr. Whiskers (a name Colin had thought of, after Penelope complained that they couldn’t just keep calling him “little guy.”). Three times in two weeks, Whiskers had loitered around the Bridgerton’s back steps, meowing for attention. Colin had caught him the first time and shooed him off. Daphne caught him the second time and screamed bloody murder. Anthony caught him the third and nearly called animal control, but thankfully, Benedict had stepped in to tell their older brother to “chill out.” Thankfully, Whiskers seemed wary of coming close to the Bridgerton household after that last encounter.

A routine formed. Penelope would sneak into the garden in the morning. Colin would sneak out of his home at night. Mr. Whiskers would come and go as he pleased between meals. Their paths rarely cross. Until tonight, when Colin spots someone running towards the back of the garden in the moonlight from his bedroom window.

Someone quite short.

Less than five minutes later, Colin runs along the same path — far less cautious than he usually is at dusk. He prays his mum or siblings are not watching out their windows like he was his. That they’re asleep — not pacing circles in their rooms in the middle of the night. He knows the risks are there, but the further his feet carry him, the more faraway they feel.

He hears crying in the distance. Quiet, but persistent.

He sees her before she sees him — sitting criss crossed on the entry of the shed, Mr. Whiskers climbing into her lap tentatively. She does not notice him until he is standing but a few feet away.

Colin had felt distinctly uneasy since the very moment he spotted her in the back garden. But a wave of fear strikes him cold when their eyes meet. Hers go so wide that he swears he can see the moonlight reflect off of them. She does not immediately speak; even her crying goes silent when she realises she is not alone.

“Pen, what’s wrong? How can I help?”

“Noth — nothing.” She sounds scared. At least the fearful look in her eye is somewhat obstructed by nightfall. Her words cut clean through the darkness.

He steps forward, now standing only inches away from her. Instinctively, his hand raises and gently grips her shoulder. He feels her flinch beneath his touch, but not enough to remove herself from it.

“Pen, whatever it is, you can tell me. I can help.”

She averts his gaze, focusing intently on the cat still sitting in her lap.

“It’s nothing, really. I — I just wanted to see Mr. Whiskers for a little bit.”

Colin doesn’t say anything, too busy internally trying to make sense of the words she spills and the worry in her voice. They do not fit together.

“I’m sorry,” she continues. She uses the back of her hand to wipe at her nose. “I shouldn’t have — I’ll just go.”

“Don’t go.” Before Penelope can move, Colin squeezes her shoulder again. His mum does the same thing when he gets so upset and that he needs help calming down.

Slowly, under Colin’s grasp, Penelope’s shoulders stop heaving. Her breath evens out. She meets his eye again.

“What happened?”

“Honestly, nothing.”

“Pen —”

“Nothing that isn’t, like, normal, I mean.” He does not know what she means. He can’t imagine a single normal thing that would cause someone to run away crying from their home in the middle of the night. Especially someone as small and defenceless as Penelope.

“Mum and dad were just fighting,” she confesses after realising that Colin’s look of concern will not fade unless she tells him the truth. “A bit louder than usual, I guess. But it’s not like I haven’t heard them fight a million times before.”

“That’s —” Not normal. But he doesn’t say that. He can’t say that. He’s suddenly — alarmingly — struck by the fact that what he deems “normal” might not be the same for Penelope. That there are “normal” things in his life — all of which came about in the past year — that other people would scoff at and tell him are unimaginable for a kid to deal with at his age.

That’s not right, would be more accurate. But he doesn’t say that either. Instead, he simply asks: “Do you want to come inside? El is probably asleep, but I could wake her —”

“No — thank you, but no. I should actually get going.” With that, Penelope slips out of his hold. “Mum will kill me if she realises I slipped out.” She places Mr. Whiskers back in the shed before turning to leave. She takes four steps before Colin finds his voice again.

“You don’t have to do deal with this all by yourself, Pen. I’m here. I want to help.”

At his words, Penelope goes completely still. Deer-in-deadlights type stillness. Then, before he knows it, she’s walking towards him.

Her arms wrap around his torso. Her hands land firmly on his spine. Her forehead falls on his shoulder. Without a single thought, his body reacts. His arms wrap around her and his jaw settles on the crown of her head. For a moment, it feels like its just the two of them in the world. Until Colin feels something furry cross his ankle.

“I guess Whiskers was feeling left out,” he says. Penelope laughs and Colin feels a bit lighter. That lightness is quickly followed by something hollow when Penelope pulls herself out of the hug to pick up the kitten meowing at her feet.

“He keeps trying to follow me home after breakfast.” She giggles softly. “Clearly, he doesn’t remember meeting my mum, or else he would stay away forever. I think she thought he was a rat that day I found him.”

Colin chuckles, and it’s only somewhat forced. “Yeah, he tried sneaking into my house a few times. He met Anthony last time, though, and I don’t think he’s ever gonna forget that.”

She giggles again. “Was he mad?”

“His face was red — literally! Although, I’m starting to think that’s just how is face normally is and that it takes great effort for him to appear like us normal people, if that’s how he reacts to a cute little kitten hanging around our back door.”

Penelope scratches Whiskers behind his ears. Eyes not leaving the cat, she whispers: “I don’t know how people can see something so sweet and get so mad.”

Colin’s eyes don’t leave Penelope when he responds, suddenly a bit deflated: “Me neither.”

Slowly, she lowers Mr. Whiskers back to the ground. The cat does not appear to be very keen on leaving her side just yet, but Penelope still insists: “I should really head back now. Before anyone notices I left.”

Colin spares a glance over his shoulder, towards the family home he had nearly forgotten about. It’s likely past midnight already, but there are still a few lights on upstairs.

“Yeah,” he grumbles. “Me too.”

Penelope nods. She looks like she’s about to turn and leave when Colin blurts out: “You wanna meet here again in the morning? When you feed Whiskers, I mean.”

She doesn’t immediately respond with words, but rather with a very confused expression lit by the moonlight. “I thought —”

“Our system’s like efficient and all,” he cuts in, “but we haven’t exactly seen each other much since we started taking care of him. I dunno, I guess I just thought that we would hang out more.”

“Oh!” Her voice registers barely below a squeak. “Yeah. I know what you mean. I…” She pauses so long that Colin wonders if it is his turn to speak again. But right before he can blurt out something again, Penelope says: “I’d like that.”

For the first time in days, a smile creeps up on Colin’s lips.

“Cool. See you tomorrow.”

꙳ ꙳ ꙳

August 14th, 2003

꙳

“I’m not sure I understand the rules of this game.”

“It’s our game. The rules can be whatever we want them to be.”

Penelope stands with the tips of her toes and the palms of her hands pressed neatly against Colin’s matching sets. There’s a piece of cat biscuit placed between her right palm and Colin’s left. There’s a tiny kitten peering up at them from where their shoes connect. He looks just as confused on the parameters of this game as Penelope feels.

The rules, they eventually settle on, are these:

Before getting into the aforementioned position, one person briefly presents the biscuit to Mr. Whiskers (taking turns to avoid leading the cat towards favouritism of one player over another).

On the count of three, one person takes the biscuit into their hands, both turn around and run in opposite directions.

Mr. Whiskers follows whoever he believes holds his treat.

Penelope ends up with the biscuit three times. Colin ends up with it five times. It falls to the ground between them eleven times. Each time, without fail, Whiskers immediately takes off after Penelope.

“This isn’t fair!” Colin calls out from behind a tree on their twentieth attempt at this so-called ‘game.’ “It’s not my fault you bonded with him first.” He points a finger at the cat currently pawing at her ankles. “I feed you just as much as she does — traitor!”

“Shhh, Colin!” Penelope whisper-yells. “Someone might hear you.”

“Oh, who cares?” he says nonchalantly, retreating back towards the shed.

I care, Penelope thinks. She doesn’t want any one of Colin’s many siblings to stumble upon them back here. She’s not ready to give up this secret. She’s not willing to end this game. Not yet, anyway.

“Mr. Whiskers cares. I doubt he wants to be evicted from his home just because you’re a sore loser.” She picks the kitten up and plops him down on Colin’s lap, now sitting criss-cross in the shed’s doorway.

“Well, he should have thought about that before picking sides.” He sticks his tongue out at Mr. Whiskers, who continues to appear unphased by his surroundings.

Like she has come accustomed to doing over the past two weeks, Penelope sits down on the other end of the shed’s opening. His body is turned towards her, but she keeps her positioned outwards, as if to keep watch. Her legs cross in front of her at the ankles, her nails scratch into the grain beneath her, and, sitting upright, the crown of her head brushes the wood frame. Colin is — obviously — slouched in his spot beside her.

After a moment of quiet, Colin clears his throat.

“You know, you can come over for dinner tonight, if you want.”

“Oh, no. That’s okay,” Penelope says quickly. Dismissively. “Mum will expect me home soon. I think we’re having stew.”

“Yeah, but what about tomor—” It’s a pretty uncommon occurrence for Penelope to see a blush pass by Colin’s typically unblemished face, but right now, it hits his cheeks in an instant. He turns away. “Well, not tomorrow. Obviously. But another day.”

The mention of tomorrow brings a feverish feeling to Penelope’s chest. Much different than the warm feeling she usually feels in that same spot when she’s around Colin.

“I can’t. I — I don’t want to impose.”

“You wouldn’t.” He finally looks her in the eye again. “You wouldn’t, I promise. When you have eight kids, one more mouth to feed hardly makes a difference.” His eyes travel to the side again. They point towards his house, partially obstructed by the scattering of trees they’ve found themselves in. “El would be happy if you stopped in. Mum too.”

Penelope tries to push out her mother’s voice from her head when she says: “Yeah. Another day. Soon.”

“Good.”

After another moment of quiet, she pushes herself forward and lands with two feet on the grass.

“I really should head back now, though.”

“Okay, I’ll —”

“But, Colin?” She interrupts — a truly rare occurrence for Penelope Featherington.

“Yeah?”

“I was just thinking… Maybe I could feed Mr. Whiskers breakfast and dinner tomorrow. I know we have our system, but… I just — I don’t want you to have to deal with taking care of him on top of any… family stuff.”

Colin, now holding rather tightly onto Mr. Whiskers in his arms, considers her offer for a moment. His brows furrow. His eyes glance downward. He starts forming a word on his lips and Penelope expects to hear the word “no” escape from them shortly after. But instead, he nods and says: “That’s kind of you to offer. Thanks, Pen.”

Kindness isn’t something that Penelope has ever been thanked for before. She had been rewarded for it in other ways, but not like this. Kindness had always been something that was expected, not appreciated. Now, she feels hesitant to accept thanks for something as small as offering up a few minutes of her time for someone who has gone through more grief than she can even imagine. So instead of accepting it outright, she simply nods and says: “Goodnight, Colin.”

꙳ ꙳ ꙳

August 25th, 2003

꙳

When Penelope walks towards the shed at approximately 6:55 AM this Monday morning, the door is shut. This is strange. The door is always open. Penelope had convinced Colin not to cut a little cat door on the side of the shed (he had wanted to use a saw from their garage), so the door always has to be open for Whiskers to come and go. Always.

The closer she gets, the harder it is for her to take another step. Her head is already filled with the image of an empty cavern on the other side of that door. It couldn’t have close on its own; the latch is locked. Someone closed it.

Just as her hand grazes that metal latch, Penelope hears footsteps. Quick and increasingly loud footsteps. She jumps (literally) around — heart pounding, eyes wide — and sees…

“Colin! Where’s Mr. Whiskers?!

“In there.” He points to the shed behind her, still shut tight. Once he gets close enough, he reaches over he shoulder and finally undoes the latch. Just as promised, the cat is there, curiously looking up at them.

“He keeps trying to follow me back into the house after I feed him. Last night, he was scratching at the back door. Thank God I got to him before Anthony.”

“So he was just locked in there all night?”

She spares another sideways glance at the shed’s interior. It’s not nearly as bare as it had been that first day she looked inside. There’s two containers. Two bowls. Two electric lanterns. A blanket. A few cat toys. And a few human toys she assumes once belonged to Colin. To an animal as tiny as Mr. Whiskers, it might seem huge, but to Penelope, it all feels very claustrophobic.

“Yeah, but… Sometimes it’s just safer to stay put for a little while. Even outdoor cats need to be reigned in some nights.”

Penelope doesn’t know whether to agree or disagree with his words, so she tries her best to ignore them. She climbs into the shed, gives Whiskers an affectionate bop on the head, then fills his bowl with breakfast.

“I wanted to wake up early and let him out, but… I guess I slept in.” Colin’s out of her view, still standing just outside the shed, but she can guess there’s a guilty look creeping up on his face.

“You’re not wrong,” she finally settles on. When Whiskers finishes his meal, she finally looks back to Colin. Just as expected, guilt is evident on his face. “But maybe Mr. Whiskers isn’t an outside cat after all. Maybe that’s why he keeps trying to follow us back to our own homes.”

“I thought that was just because he loves us.” Leave it to Colin Bridgerton to transform guilt into charm in under 30 seconds.

“Well…” Penelope turns back to Mr. Whiskers again. As usual, he’s peering up at them with a transfixed — maybe even loving — stare. “Maybe you have a point.”

“I usually do —”

“But still — do you really think this is what’s best for him?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…”

She bites her tongue — literally. All of this started because of her own selfish wants. To keep the cat. To occupy Colin’s attention. To have a reason to get out of her house every morning. But the more time has gone on, the harder it has become to see past the potential consequences of her selfishness.

“Summer’s almost over. We have to go back to school and can’t look out for him all day. It’s gonna get cold soon…” Colin’s face looks serious now. More serious than she’s used to seeing it. She looks away. “What if he gets sick? Or needs a vet? I just don’t know if this is really his best option.”

Penelope points both hands towards the shed. Towards the small wooden structure that completely transformed her summer. Towards the only home Mr. Whiskers has ever known — dim and claustrophobic as it may be. She expects Colin’s eyes to follow her lead, but they don’t. For a moment, it feels as though her presence completely slips from his view. His eyes are fixated on something in the distance — something in the opposite direction. Then —

“Shite!”

His arms hastily wrap around Penelope’s waist. It takes everything in her not to shriek in surprise as he practically throws her into the shed. Thankfully, Mr. Whiskers jumps from the doorway to the back of the shed in an instant, or else she surely would have crushed him on impact.

“Colin! What —”

“Shh!” Colin climbs in and shuts the door behind him. Thank God those electric lamps are still (just barely) holding onto life and dimly illuminating the space, or else Penelope would not have been able to discern him mouth: “Anthony.”

The tips of their toes touch in the limited space. Penelope wonders if he can feel her shaking through the plastic tips of her yellow converse. The concerned look he throws her way tells her that he must.

“You okay?” he mouths.

She thinks about nodding. She briefly wonders if a nod can count as a lie, or if lies can only be spoken aloud. But she doesn’t do anything, except stay frozen in her spot.

Everything is quiet. For a brief moment, Penelope thinks they may have actually gone unnoticed. Then, she remembers that the latch — the flimsy piece of metal that keeps these doors shut — is on the other side. When Mr. Whiskers paws at the wood beams, the door swings open. The morning light nearly blinds her, but not enough to miss Anthony Bridgerton’s very mad — very red — face.

“Colin — what the hell?!”

Just as Colin had thrown her into of the shed mere moments ago, Anthony now pulls Penelope out of it by the shoulders. Just like Whiskers, she somehow manages to land on her feet.

“I knew it! I knew you were irresponsible, but this —” He bends down and grabs Whiskers by the scruff of his neck. “This is insane. Even for you.”

Anthony turns to Penelope, as if he has only just now discovered her presence beside Colin. In mere seconds, she watches his face turn from anger to shock to annoyance. He turns to his little brother again.

“I will be the responsible adult and make sure this — thing — finds an actual home and doesn’t continue living on the streets.” With a near-growl caught in his throat, Anthony tells Colin: “We will discuss this later.”

He turns to leave, but stops. “And Colin, do not mention this to mum. Or anyone else.”

He starts then stops again. “And Penelope, please do not let my brother’s bad influence rub off on you. A nice girl like you has enough trouble as it is being friends with Eloise.”

It isn’t until Anthony has properly stomped away, Mr. Whiskers securely tucked in his arms, that Penelope seems to regain control of her body and mind. Slowly, she turns towards Colin. She uses every second between then and the moment she looks him in the eye to begin preparing an apology. For getting him in trouble with his brother. For getting him caught up in this mess to start with. For being a bad friend. But the moment that their eyes meet… Colin does not look like he is expecting an apology of any sort.

He laughs.

“Did you see the look on his face?!”

“Uhh. I don’t —”

“He looked like a tomato! I swear one day he’s gonna burst and —”

“Colin,” she says, concern in her voice, too low to break through the noise of his continued laughter.

“— marina sauce is gonna go flying —”

“Colin!” she says again, a bit louder this time. Thankfully, it seems to get his attention. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have —”

“Oh god, Pen. Don’t be sorry.”

“But —”

“But your — your brother —”

“I should be apologising for Ant— even if you and him were both right about Whiskers needing somewhere else to live.”

“Yeah…” As much as she will miss her tiny, furry friend, this is for the best. For Whiskers, at least. “But Anthony was so mad at you. And I —”

“He’ll get over it. That’s the great thing about having seven siblings — wait five minutes and someone will do something even stupider than you. Daph and El are probably inside getting into a fist fight as we speak.”

The mention of her best friend temporarily draws Penelope’s thoughts away from her internal pity party. She saw Eloise plenty of times over the past few weeks, but not nearly as much as she did during previous summer breaks. Before last August.

“You wanna come over for dinner tonight?” Colin asks, breaking her from her thought spiral.

“Hmm?”

“I said,” he smirks, “do you want to come over for dinner tonight?”

“I don’t know… Anthony seemed —”

“Don’t worry about Anthony. He’ll get over it — and you heard him, he’s not even going to rat us out to my mum.” He takes a step forward, then places his hand on Penelope’s shoulder. He squeezes it once. “It’ll be fun. Everyone will be excited to see you.”

Not for the first time — and certainly not the last — Penelope feels at a loss for words. All she can manage is a tiny nod. A nearly imperceptible movement.

Colin smiles.

“Good. Just so you know, the door is always open. Always.”

Finally, little Penelope Featherington finds her voice again.

“I know.”

-------------------------------------------------------

Penelope tries to hide the smile on her lips by shoving another fork full of shrimp fried rice into her mouth. Colin — of course — sees right through her attempt.

“So…”

“Anthony was right. We were awfully irresponsible that summer. He was better off after Danbury took him in and he became Lord Whiskers.”

“Hey — give us a little credit! How many 8 or 10-year-olds do you know who could keep a cat alive for a summer all by themselves?”

“The only impressive thing we did that summer was keeping our little secret hidden from the rest of your family.”

“What are you talking about?!” Colin says, unable to keep his ever-charming laugh from escaping his throat as he speaks. “Do not downplay our role in raising that cat. You rescued him from the mean streets of London. I —”

“I found him hiding out in a bush in Grosvenor Square!”

“Exactly! And I —”

“Colin!”

“I built him a home,” he barely manages to get out through his laughter.

“That’s a bit over-dra—”

“We fed and took care of him for over a month. We were just kids — that’s pretty impressive. That means something.”

In her heart, Penelope knows that — obviously — it means something. But does it mean what Colin wants it to mean? That they should get married? Even with the rules he set forth, it seems like an insane connection to even consider.

“I don’t know…”

“For five weeks, he was ours. That means a lot.”

For a moment, Penelope does consider it. She thinks about who Colin was to her before she found Mr. Whiskers. A friend — of sorts. Her best friend’s brother. A neighbour. A crush. Someone she looked at and longed for. After, she thinks of who Colin was to her on that morning Anthony found them hiding out in that tiny wooden shed. A friend. A fellow kid. A conspirator. Someone who saw her cowering in the dark and asked if she was okay.

So what, if their hypothetical marriage hinges on a technicality? People have married on flimsier grounds before.

“Fine,” she relents. “It counts.”

A moment ago, she wouldn’t have thought it possible, but Colin’s grin grows even wider.

“Of course it does.” As Penelope attempts to cover her own grin with a scoff, Colin picks up his phone again.

“Let’s see…”

#im an atheist and im saying a prayer for ao3 tonight #fanfic #bridgerton #fanfiction #polin #dancing around the truth #weepingfromacedartree #penelope featherington #colin bridgerton #ao3 #archive of our own #edit: just realized I wrote 'marina' sauce instead of 'marinara' sauce #and I'm not fixing it cause that shits funny #shout out to my girl marina

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