#bc like even prisons have yard cats

[bright-eyes-strawberry-lies]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it is super weird that no kid showed up to CHB with like their dog or their lizard or whatever pet they've got.

[eye-may]

Could you do Etcetera and Electra now pretty please? The besties

Your drawing style is so cool and pleasant to look at💕💕

Also, Happy Christmas and new year!✨🐱

ty for the kind words! I hope yall had a good holiday!

disclaimer, this is my first time trying to draw etcetera and electra so Im sure my designs for them will change in the future, but that's par for the course with me lol. I draw mistoffelees probably the most and even now I wouldn't say that I'm 100% on even his design. usually when I go about transliterating the costumes I'm looking at the napier concepts and the '98 designs (if only bc they're the easiest to find clear images of lol) but sometimes those leotards and wigs are damn hard to recreate in my style lmaooo

not that anybody asked about all that lmao ANYWAY,

in terms of backstories, these are another pair of kittens that I'm not too decisive about yet lol. I can at least start with surmising that neither were, or are, domesticated, as neither wear collars. I entertained the idea of them knowing each other prior to arriving at the Junkyard, but now I'm leaning more towards them actually having met there instead.

I see Etcetera as very outgoing, sociable, trusting, and so on, with humans and cats alike, so I'm actually thinking that maybe she had been briefly domesticated, but then was abandoned for whatever reason by her humans, maybe discarded somewhere near the entrance to the Yard. I feel like she would have naively thought it was all a game, taking a while to realize that she was left purposefully and her humans weren't coming back from her, nor where they looking to be found. Probably one of the older cats would have spotted her and invited led her back to the Yard to be looked after.

For Electra...personality-wise, I see her as similar in personality/energy levels to Ectetera, but kind of "edgier." She's more bold, brash, and curious, whereas Ectetera is persuadable, impressionable, credulous, etc (heh). she's a little goofier and lighthearted. that's not to say that Electra isn't also fun and goofy, but I think she's more of a "thinker," and more independent. Electra may be a more itinerant member of the tribe, despite being so young. Nobody, after all, is a prisoner there; cats and kittens alike can come and go as they see fit, and Electra is a little too insatiably curious, and a little too courageous, to be confined.

Her backstory is ehhhh...very nebulous to me yet. It's probably something similar to Pouncival and Plato; born to a stray, maybe in an alley, and eventually ended up separated from her family. I'm going to have to think more extensively about where she comes from and how she ended up a member of the tribe. Honestly her and Etcetera both lol.

I think Electra, sort of like Tumblebrutus, is likely to be a ringleader when it comes to mischief among kittens in and out of the Junkyard. Tumbebrutus, though, is always looking to impress and appear tough, whereas Electra operates under no such pretenses; she doesn't care nearly as much about what others think of her. Her concerns lie more in the greater unknown. She's the epitome of a curious feline, wanting to know more about the world, about history, and about what it means to be a Jellicle Cat. Others like Victoria and Jemima more often intuit such things, more likely to allow themselves to be governed by the influences of the Jellicle Moon and their own varieties of mysticism. Electra is a bit more literal, more salt-of-the-earth. She usually convinces the other kittens to accompany her on her sojourns and escapades, but she'll go it alone too; I'd peg her as one of the most organically independent kittens...and also, I think, one of the most leaderly and protective.

She gets along with everyone, but is most often accompanied probably by Etcetera. She probably butts heads the most with Tumblebrutus, although the two of them can be quite a pair when it comes to working together towards a common goal.

Etcetera is less so those things, although she's sort of "daring" like Electra, insofar as she's not prone to fits of pragmatism that make her cower in the face of adversity, real or perceived. she's simply all to happy to be along for the ride. extroverted and containing boundless energy, she feels the need to enjoy the company of others and to be the center of attention almost constantly. I think her and Electra get along so well partly because Electra is so restless, and Etcetera lacks inhibitions, all too happy to be included; she's pretty much the only one of the younger cats who will never play devil's advocate, who will never express doubt, who will never try to talk another cat out of an impending adventure. her only reservation, really, may be getting in trouble with the older cats; but it's not too hard to talk her into disregarding such concerns.

More meaningfully, I think the two go well together because of their polarized approaches to viewing the world and construing more difficult lessons and concepts. Electra is prone to getting too much in her head and overthinking; so it's a good thing Etcetera is there to dumb things down for her, to simplify those more challenging queries in a way that is comfortingly sensible and potent. I.e., when Electra finds herself pondering why is such-and-such right? Etcetera will remind her that right is right, and there's no need to look further. Or in other words, she reminds Electra that sometimes it's time to mind your heart and your intuition, rather than get tangled up in endless cerebral complexities. in her view, sometimes you truly don't need all the answers.

all together the two of them enjoy a very balanced and close friendship, and are jointly the source of a lot of energy and mischief that takes place in the Yard!

[cognitosclowns]

in the spirit of the holiday do you have any hcs for the gang on halloween?

THIS FELT THEMATIC <3 TYSM FOR THE LOVELY ASK

AAAA I LOVE HALLOWEEN

Brett absolutely leaves a bowl of candy out if he can't be there in person. usually he personall dresses up in the most,, well-detailed costumes? his favorite is a Ventriloquist dummy!! he has a whole little routine he does for greeting kids at the door. this man LOVES halloween.

Reagan never really had any halloween traditions growing up? aside from her dad batting away children from their yard with a baseball bat smsdns

It becomes tradition for Andre, Gigi and Reagan to go to shops together on november 1-3rd to get all the cheap candy <3 they literally have pounds of the stuff, The War Room has an infinite candy bowl now

Brett : 'why isn't JR dressed up :('

Myc : 'hes a capitalist that's already scary enough'

If JR does dress up, it's something Classic like Dracula!!

OH YEAH Brett is totally gonna dress up. Gigi helps convince the rest of them by starting an office vote for Best Costume(s) and they're immediately in bc they're all competitive as hell

(besides, it'll make brett happy <3)

Group costume : Wizard of Oz. Brett is Scarecrow, Gigi is Dorothy, Reagan is Lion (complete with little cat ears and a fuzzy sweater smdns), and (under threat of physical violence) Robotus is Tin Man <3

Robotus is embarrassed, Reagan is Itchy, Gigi looks the best but shes regretting the choice of heels, Brett is absolutely beaming and there is straw in every crevice of his body. Collectively they will have the best fucking time ever.

Glenn is always too shy to dress up <3 ppl are already scared of him during the year. he'll probably just put on his old army uniform and be a Solider!!

Im not sure how old Glenn's daughter is?? If shes a kid then he'll absolutely go out trick or treating with her!! People compliment how scary is mask is even though he's not wearing one :')

Gigi will absolutely change costumes so that they can do a King and Queen look, bc <3 friendship. He gets all flustered bc,, Gigi makes him a gorgeous outfit and he feels <3 kinda handsome tbh <3

Myc + Andre? Little Shop of Horrors with a twist. Myc is Seymour, Andre is Twoey!! They put Myc in overalls for each of his tentacles, glasses and everything. Andre is covered in leaves and vines he stole from the horticulture lab. They get unreasonably drunk

The Great Halloween Bar Brawl of 2021 will not soon be forgotten (Myc insulted someone, like he always does, and it kinda devolved from there. There were probably no casualties)

<3 i love these mfs so much aaa

-

MYC AND ANDRE HORROR EXTRAVAGANZA IN THE BASEMENT <3

Everyone's invited. they completely deck out the basement area with cushions and shit?? They even disable the wifi and plug up all the charging ports so they can let Robotus out of his prison for a bit smdns

Brett is huddled up with his knees to his chest. Myc and Andre are constantly cracking jokes to both make him less scared and,, because that just how they are. Most tense moments are ruined by them making silly noises and jokes

ex : (someone falls out a window, 'and he sticks the landing!' 'im giving in an 8 on execution, the pole in his head really redacts points', etc). Robotus joins in with Full Snark Activated. It's absolute chaos in the best way sdnms.

'Madam. Miss. Mademoiselle. RUN. HE IS RIGHT THERE HOW DO YOU NOT SEE HIM.' Reagan, Gigi and Robotus are weeping over the incompetence of the characters smdns.

Everyone's screaming at the screen. Brett is cheering on the Final Girl, while Myc is hoping she gets mulched smdns.

Nobody goes home, they all just end up falling asleep in piles down in the basement. Robotus stays up for a while (definitely not to make sure everyone's sleeping soundly + they aren't gonna be woken up my anything. because he definitely doesn't secretly care about them), but eventually he powers down for the night too <3

all in all a successful halloween !! <3

[crocoguile]

I’m actually going to jump in here! It’s somewhat of a cultural divide as much as it is a generational divide from my experience!

I was born and raised in what at the time was a very small suburb of Colorado Springs/Pueblo in colorado and then when OSP left Pop and we moved to the Cincinnati area I really got experience in this.

In Colorado, I was young enough that if I were to show up at a friends house, I was welcomed in and there was always a cursory call to OSP from Kenya and Tanya’s mom like “your kid got out of your yard but we’ve got [him] and the [kids] are gonna work on their dance stuff and then play for a while I guess if you don’t need [Russ] for a while.” If I had shown up at Justine’s that would have been a little more concerning because I’d have had to hoof it a lot further, and back in the day we were taught to lock our doors at night and always keep a dog in eyesight in the yard when we played because we were close to several prisons.

In the suburb of ‘Nati that I loved in, when we were in apartments it wasn’t odd for us kids to go and knock on one another’s patio doors because the front doors were locked in the later apartments, but in the first set I lived more at Danny and Alan’s than I did at home, especially during school breaks because they went “no you’re our [brother] now” because it wasn’t hard for them to realize something was up about my safety and sanity at home, I think.

Once I was in a house, one of my best friends lived two doors down at her grandmas for a while and at that point, she had a key to OSP’s and her doors were never locked so we came and go as we pleased. If I were at dad’s, you could always walk in because biologically or by marriage, I’m 1 in 8, but I had two godbrothers my dad adopted when their dad passed away (boy’s ma died when we were all kids and there was a solid six months the twins could be found on OSP’s living room floor in a state of despondence) and then my two oldest friends who basically lived with us as much as we basically lived with them.

Mom can show up at her sister’s and let herself in if she needs to and absolutely will if it isn’t a bad day, and they don’t give a shit bc OSP tends to just... boredly tidy up and then get high with Molly (the dog, not the drug lmao but can you imagine) or go swimming in the summer at the other house and hang out with the cats. When her brother was still alive, that was p normal too, and then Billy’d be stoked because SISTER and there’s always a food to be had.

Any of us grandkids can appear at any grandparents and they’d be like HEY HI TIME TO FEED YOU and with Audrey you’ll just watch perry mason for six years and eat candy, or with Elder pop or Feru you’re put to work doing shit their old bodies aren’t as great for (like replacing roof tiles or helping moves plants around in the garden when it’s Time).

But I refuse to just appear places without a cursory note if I don’t have a key. Trey won’t go to OSP’s without calling first. Spork will but that’s because he’s never had qualms about walking in like he owns the place because he’s usually got at least an eighth on him and can bribe my mom off with it. 

But I won’t even show up to my older sister’s unannounced if I’m in the area despite still having a key because I always feel uncomfortable being in other’s spaces without them there.

There are a few exceptions to this, mostly having been my friend Cryo’s because I was in his basement and later apartment so much, and if Iwi were to be in my apartment I’d just be stoked to see her because we basically shared my bedroom for a year and a half on weekends. 

IDK TL;DR in our generation it takes a very long amount of very close familiarity to give no fucks the closer to the Big City you live. 

So, my cousins just showed up at my house. One lives a few hours north of me and has a cold, and the other lives to the south in a city with way more cases than where I live. I had to kick them out of my house and be like “Sorry! I’m immunocompromised so we’re quarantining. Good to see you! Love you! Bye!!!”

They got like three steps in before I said they had to leave. It’s kinda sad because they are some of my favorite cousins and I don’t get to see them very often but also who goes on a road trip right now???? And WHY WOULD YOU GO VISIT PEOPLE WHILE SICK????