#fipped off

[finds-vibes-and-culture]

🖕

[mono-socke]

wholesome brothers interaction, ft. trans fips

[thomas-mvller]

Have you any idea how long it took me to make this?

[aminta]

lmfao all this stress over watching him and helping take him to the vet and now keeping an eye on him with the surgery aftercare I feel like ive aged 50 years 💀💀💀💀

[pangur-and-grim]

a lot of you probably knows Belphie's story, but I'll summarize just in case.

Devon Rex cats are better for people with allergies (less shed fur + less Fel d1 protein in their saliva), so on February 16, 2024, I went the breeder route and put down a deposit. before Belphie even opened his eyes, he was mine!

every Friday, the breeder sent me a new photo. I had a broken leg, and was basically rotting in bed at that point, so it was the best part of my week. then, at 12 weeks old, I BROUGHT HIM HOME!

at first, he was so alive! like a wind-up monkey that never shut off. he dangled from the wall-hangings, savaged my feet as I walked, and used my elderly cats as jumping poles to do cool acrobatics over. but all this gradually faded.

first, he stopped playing. then he stopped climbing. then he stopped moving much at all. my vet ran tests on him and found multiple pathogens (calcivrius + mycoplasma), but the medication didn't help - he kept declining.

on September 17th, I woke up to find him swollen like a balloon. we finally had an answer: he had Feline infectious Peritonitis, aka FIP. before 2017, this would've been a death sentence. he would've kept bloating until he drowned in his own fluids. and before 2024, I would've been forced to inject him with black market drugs. but thankfully, South Tower Animal Hospital in Fergus, Ontario was doing a study on the oral medication! we drove two hours, enrolled him, and left with the GS-441524 pills.

and he went from those photos above.....to this:

I thought Belphie would die as a kitten. I'd accepted that he would never grow up. but now he gets to LIVE!

and all for the low cost of $7,553.....ahhhahaha........god.

that + a recent home disaster has wiped out my savings, but I still need to pay for Belphie's medication. to remain in this study, I need to do bloodwork monthly until Feb 2025, and he'll need daily pills until March 2025.

I've put a risograph print + enamel pin set up at greerstothers.shop. I hate asking for help, but if you'd like to support Belphie's continued treatment, please consider checking them out!

[existentialcrafting]

I don’t know all the details about this drug, but I can confirm we were taught about it in vet school last year, it’s a legit medication that’s been fairly well studied, and the professors all agreed that it can be very effective for treating feline infectious peritonitis! If you can manage to get ahold of it, and make sure you’re getting the real thing :/

Do y'all ever think about how wild it is that for years there's been this heartbreaking incurable disease that kills thousands of cats. And Gilead Pharmaceuticals found a drug that treats it but won't actually sell it to veterinarians because of patent bullshit? Because I do.

Anyways. I'd never advocate for acquiring drugs illegally to save your cat's life. Which is why if your cat has FIP you should check out the organization I've put in my tags. So that you remember to avoid getting GS-441524.

Capitalism is evil in general. But capitalism in medicine is cartoonishly monstrous.

[mariacallous]

India’s $13.9 billion aviation industry—projected to cater to over 300 million domestically by 2030—is a ticking time bomb.

This July, in the sweltering heat at the Delhi High Court, additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati announced that new rules on pilot duty and rest periods would not be implemented this year after all. Introduced by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in January, the rules were designed specifically to combat pilot fatigue. They were set to take effect in June, but were abruptly retracted. The hearing addressed a writ petition filed by the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), seeking clarity on when the new norms would be enforced. The DGCA’s response followed its request to airline companies in April for a tentative implementation timeline.

Concerns over pilot fatigue had been mounting in the months leading up to the announcement of the new Flight Duty Period, Flight Time Limitations, and Prescribed Rest Periods by the DGCA. The urgency deepened in November 2023 when a 37-year-old Air India pilot, Captain Himanil Kumar, collapsed at Delhi Airport while training to fly the airline's Boeing 777 fleet, and later died at the hospital. Kumar was the second Indian pilot to die on duty within three months; in August, Captain Manoj Subramanyam, a 40-year-old IndiGo pilot, suffered a fatal cardiac arrest just minutes before his flight from Nagpur.

These back-to-back tragedies raised alarm in the industry. “Another young Indian pilot passed away today due to a suspected cardiac event,” reportedly tweeted Captain Shakti Lumba, a retired IndiGo VP who is now the president of the Professional Pilots Society in India (His tweet was since deleted.) “If this doesn’t convince the DGCA, civil aviation ministry, and airlines to urgently address the stress, fatigue, and anxiety among pilots, nothing will.”

The DGCA, India’s aviation watchdog, regulates the country’s Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL). At 13 hours of flight duty time, India’s FDTL is already demanding, but after the pandemic slowdown, increased route expansion and pilot shortages have forced many to fly beyond the recommended maximum of 60 hours a week, exacerbating crew exhaustion. The DGCA finally responded to the growing crisis by revising FDTL norms in January 2024.

The new guidelines increased weekly rest periods from 36 to 48 hours and introduced quarterly fatigue reports. Its scheduled implementation on June 1, 2024, was pushed back due to pressure from operators. An airline CEO, speaking anonymously to the Economic Times in January, claimed the proposed regulations would require a 20 percent increase in pilot numbers, which would escalate expenses and lead to huge numbers of flight cancellations. Still, the DGCA held firm on the FDTL implementation deadline till early March. By the end of the month, however, it appeared to have yielded to influence from the airline lobby. A notice on the regulator’s website announced the deadline had been deferred, without providing a reason or setting a new date.

The pilot fatigue problem isn’t unique to India. In January, two pilots for Indonesia-based Batik Air fell asleep for 28 minutes mid-flight, causing their plane to veer off course between Sulawesi and Jakarta. In April, unionized Virgin Atlantic pilots in the UK voted 96 percent in favor of pursuing an industrial action in response to rising fatigue. Earlier, the CEO of Wizz Air UK faced a backlash for urging crew members to push through their fatigue to avoid flight cancellations. In May, senior pilots at Virgin Australia raised safety concerns, claiming rostering systems were pushing them "to the limits.”

But in India, the belief that overwork and fatigue are not just acceptable but essential has become entrenched across industries. The aviation crisis is just the tip of the iceberg; it is the tech industry that is leading the charge. Last year, Infosys cofounder Narayana Murthy suggested that Indian youth should work 70 hours a week for the nation's development. Murthy’s advice came up at the Indian Parliament on the first day of its winter session and found support from a list of influential Indian tech leaders, including Bhavish Aggarwal, founder of India’s first AI unicorn, Ola Krutrim; Ayushmaan Kapoor, cofounder of the AI-powered customer platform Xeno; and even veterans like Sajjan Jindal, CEO and MD of JSW Group, and Vinod Khosla of Sun Microsystems. Almost all of them justified the extended work hours, which far exceed the maximum eight to nine hours per day stipulated by the International Labour Organisation and the Indian Labour Code, as necessary for strengthening India’s economy. “We have to make India an economic superpower that we can all be proud of,” Jindal wrote on X. He cited Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, “who works 14-16 hours everyday,”as a model. In July this year, the Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employee Union said the state government had plans to increase working hours in the sector from the current maximum of 10 hours (including overtime) to a staggering 14 hours a day. As the union planned massive campaigns to oppose the move, the labor minister stated that the push for the proposal had come from the companies.

The airline companies think they have a solution to the fatigue crisis: technology. IndiGo, India’s largest airline, announced it would be an “early adopter” of a wrist-worn fatigue-monitoring device it was developing with French defense and aerospace company Thales Group. The device can provide “detailed insights into demographic data, including routes, pairings, crew profiles, and more, going beyond traditional scheduling-focused biomathematical models,” the airline stated in a press release in September. The airline, which operates 2,000 flights daily and employs over 5,000 pilots, said the device would be rolled out after a proof-of-concept trial. No date for the rollout was announced.

Wearable activity trackers are not new to the aviation industry. IndiGo’s device sounds similar to Actiwatch, a now-discontinued line of research-grade actigraphs from Philips, used to monitor sleep patterns, study circadian rhythms, and track physical activity as part of an airline’s fatigue risk-management system. But they partly rely on performance tests and subjective measures, such as self-reporting, which often results in being targeted by the airlines, says Captain C. S. Randhawa, president of the Federation of Indian Pilots. Safety management systems on the whole tend to be neglected by operators and are viewed as an additional expense, says Captain Amit Singh of the NGO Safety Matters Foundation.

In May 2023, Air India launched safety management software called Coruson, as well as BAM (Boeing Alertness Model), a fatigue-mitigation tool integrated into its rostering system, which is used by airlines to create and manage pilot schedules. Coruson, developed by cloud software company Ideagen, centralizes, analyzes, and reports on safety-related data—such as incidents, hazards, and risk assessments. BAM, developed jointly by Boeing and the software company Jeppesen, predicts and manages pilot fatigue by analyzing flight schedules and performance data. These tools were designed to prevent the creation of fatiguing rosters and pairings, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson noted in an internal message to employees. The carrier also introduced two new digital tools for its crew—the Pilot Sector Report app, to help pilots easily submit information on flight performance, incidents, and observations post-flight; and DocuNet, a digital management system that facilitates the storage, retrieval, and sharing of documents (such as flight manuals, training records, and compliance documents).

Despite these measures, the airline was fined by the DGCA in March this year for violating FDTL limits and fatigue management rules. This May, Air India Express cabin staff called in sick en masse to protest against “mismanagement.” This followed a similar protest from the crew, mostly pilots, at Vistara airlines. Both Air India and Vistara are now owned by one of India’s largest conglomerates, the Tata Group, which took over the former from the Indian government in January 2022.

Twenty-five of those who called in sick at Air India Express were terminated. Others were reportedly served an ultimatum. Those sacked were later reinstated by the airline following an intervention by the chief labour commissioner. Nearly a week before, the regional labor commissioner of Delhi had allegedly written to the Tata group chairman pointing to “blatant violations of labour laws” and insisting the legitimate concerns of the cabin crew be looked into. According to CNBC, Vistara employees said the agitation at their end had to do with recent salary updates, which fixed pilot pay at 40 flight hours—down from 70. Protesting first officers claimed that the new salary structure would result in an almost 57 percent pay cut. Under the new terms they would also have to fly up to 76 hours to earn what they were previously earning at 70 hours.

To placate the pilots and get them back to work, management had assured them that salaries for the “extra working hours” would be credited once Vistara was integrated with Air India. At the time, two Air India pilots unions had written to the chairman of the company, saying that such issues were not isolated but systemic. Burnout was the other related issue, with many pilots complaining of inadequate rest and being pushed to their limits.

Captain Singh, a former senior manager at AirAsia, tells WIRED that such effects significantly increase the risk of accidents, but also adversely affect pilot health in the long run. Tail swaps—rushing between different types of aircraft to take off immediately after disembarking from another—have become more prevalent under the 13-hour rules, and can further contribute to exhaustion, as do hasty acclimatization and, most significantly, landing three, four, or more flights consecutively, which Captain Randhawa described as a “severe energy management challenge.”

In the 2024 “Safety Culture Survey” conducted by Singh’s Safety Matters Foundation in July, 81 percent of 530 respondents, primarily medium- to short-haul pilots, stated that bufferless rosters contribute to their fatigue. As many as 84 percent indicated concerns with the speed and direction of shift rotation. “That’s the problem with the new rostering softwares the operators are introducing,” a pilot from a private airline, who requested anonymity, says. “They’re optimizers designed to make pilots work every second of their 13-hour schedule, leaving no breathing room.” The buffer-deficient timetables push pilots to their limits, so any additional pressure—like unpredictable weather—can easily overwhelm them.

Solving this issue with wrist-worn fatigue-measuring devices is contentious. But that isn’t the only problem. A year since they were hyped up, the buzz around fatigue-management tech has all but fizzled out. There have been no updates from IndiGo about the wrist device. Neither IndiGo nor the Thales Group responded to requests to comment.

[followthebluebell]

Any advice on how to find local and reputable cat breeders? Websites? Keywords? Things to look out for?

I'd start at a cat show, tbh. It's a good way to meet people in the community, meet their cats personally, and really just talk to them. Cat breeders love to talk about their animals, so you'll learn a lot.

But this is pretty unrealistic for a lot of people. :/ That's a lot of travel time, possibly time off of work, not to mention it's fucking exhausting. So let's be a bit more realistic.

You want to figure out what breeds you're interested in first and learn as much as possible about them. You want to know what health problems they've got, if there are tests for said health problems, and what you're potentially getting into.

Once you've sorted out your breeds of choice, make your way over to TICA's website. Just being listed here isn't a guarantee of a good breeder or anything; it's just a list of breeders who SUPPOSEDLY follow TICA's guidelines. Not all of them do; it's not like anyone actually checks on these things.

And this is why you've really got to research your breed beforehand: you want to be able to ask the breeder, "Hey, I know sphynxes have heart problems; do you do frequent scans for HCM and can I see the results?" or "progressive retinal atrophy can be a problem in bengals; do you do genetic tests for it and can I see the results?" or "maine coons can get hip dysplasia; do you have any OFA scores I can see for your cats?" Just whatever the health problem in your breed is, don't be afraid to ask about it and ask for scans, tests, etc. You want to be able to personally see them.

A good breeder will be able to provide tests and scans and be more than happy to let you take a look at them.

Ideally, you'd be able to meet the cats in their home. At the very least, meeting the mother is a good sign. You might not meet the sire, because a lot of breeders do not want to keep their tomcats on site due to the smell, conflict, and lack of space for multiple cats. Or they may have used artificial insemination. I don't think that's particularly common in cats (at least compared to dogs), but it's a thing that happens.

Red flags:

Insists you feed a particular type of food (raw, Paw Tree, etc)

Tells you to avoid vaccines/deworming (your new kitten should have AT LEAST 2 FVRCP vaccines by 14 weeks old and a deworming)

Refuses to do tests or refuses to show you the results

Won't show you a pedigree

Says their cats are immune to FIP

Offers to sell you an unaltered kitten (especially in the US)

Selling kittens too young (8 weeks is absolute MINIMUM legally; I'd prefer to see kittens with their mothers until they are 14-15 weeks). Some bad breeders will try to use the line 'the mother is rejecting the kittens' or 'they're already using litter and eating solid food'.

Pressure to buy immediately

Not allowing you to interact with the kitten

Not showing the cats in shows

Too many litters in a single year or has kittens always available -- it's a sure sign that they're mass producing cats

Breeding multiple breeds -- typically, a breeder will be very focused on just one or two breeds.

[alexander-arcturus-black-lupin-r]

Woking Ethics

He watched you shuffle out the door as you ignored the 3rd guy who tried to pick you up. He almost went back to people watching when he noticed you leaving and some guy he hadn’t see started to follow you, you were drunk but capable. 

You are capable. 

But it wouldn’t hurt to make sure you got home safe. 

That’s what friends do. 

 He abruptly stood up the drinks on the table sloshing slightly. 

“Where are you off to, pretty boy?” Derek appeared with another drink in his hand. He could finish the bar's entire stock if Hotch allowed him to. 

“I’m done, see you guys tomorrow.” Spencer quickly shuffled out before Derek could lay his claws into him. He almost lost sight of you. 

“Come on sweet girl,” He did a complete turn to the alley down the side. “I promise tah treatcha right.”

“Not interested,” he slipped into a corner, he didn’t want to be all hero unless you needed him to. You were an incredible officer. You could whip up your badge and have him down in prison for half his life if you wanted to, maybe you wanted to let him off easy because he was drunk. 

“Let go of me you creep.” You sounded alarmed. “Hey, Hey drop the knife-” He didn’t even stop. He came over, pummelling the guy into the alley wall, a switchblade cluttering onto the floor. Cuffing him tightly with a part of the guy's own shirt, before he dropped him on his ass onto the floor. Unconscious.

“Spencer…” he turns and he meets your worried gaze. Your eyes roving over him. “He didn’t cut you did he?” 

He looks incredulously at you. “Shouldn’t the roles be reversed?” You were the one about to- so why were you- he-

The confusion must have shown on his face, you smiled. “Yeah but you could have also gotten hurt.” 

“So could you. Put yourself first.” you looked away. You both know you’re not very good at that. He fully turns to you and you notice how his entire demeanour changes. He seems smaller now. He comes closer and checks you for any cuts. The warmth of the situation goes straight to your brain.

“Thank you,” 

“It’s…” what could he say. Common decency. He paused, “As long as you’re fine.” scratching the back of his head. You moved closer to him before you raised your hand. He froze. He literally stopped breathing. You chuckled slightly. You weren’t the only one going crazy.

“Breathe Spencer, I don’t want my saviour asphyxiating.”

“Sorry.” He muttered breathlessly. You wordlessly reach forward and move your fingers through his hair, careful as though not to startle him. A few knots here and there, you tried to ignore how he leaned unto your touch, how his breath came out ragged, how close you were and how his hands were levitating over your waist. You couldn't help overthink everything that brought you here. His gaze was intense, his eyes never leaving yours, as if he was trying to read your mind. You felt yourself getting lost in his eyes, unable to look away, he just might he’s a damn good profiler. 

“I’m drunk.” you said leaning into him, inhaling everything Spencer, You could feel his heartbeat, his breath, he only had one drink,

“You’re drunk.” he repeated, his hands settling on your hips, gripping tightly. 

“I should leave you alone.” despite your words you feel the complete opposite,

“You should.” he mirrors you.

“Should I?” You don’t know what you’re asking him, but he seems to know. He fips his head into your neck, breathing you in.

“Do but don’t…” you could see his inner turmoil as he grappled with himself.

“But?” He raises his head and cups your face. He kisses your forehead before looking you in your eyes,

“Working ethics, I don’t know if I can leave after.” Your lips were so close, his breath ghosted your lips. 

“Maybe I don’t want you to leave?” You moved closer against him, chest against chest, he hissed at the contact.

“Angel, don’t say that, don’t do that.”

“Do what?” you tilted your head. “This?” your lips grazed his. “Or this?” pushing yourself against him even more. 

He looked at you with a look so despicable. 

“Tell me no, tell me to stop.” He kissed you, matching with how he wanted you. Hard and rough. His lips slotted with yours, stealing all your air, his fingers gripped you so tightly it made you dizzy, all you could smell, hear, see, feel was Spencer.

“I’m not leaving you tonight and you’re not leaving me.” 

___________________________________________________________________________ 

“Reid, where did you run off to yesterday?” JJ asked from around the corner. Spencer's cheeks tinted slightly as he ran off an excuse.

“Tired, it was a long night.” He nodded as he went back to his files. 

“Really? That’s exactly what she said-” Spencer’s head shot up a little too quickly. Derek’s eyes sparkled. 

“Tsk, you almost got away with it kid.” Derek patted his back. “So your place or hers?”

“What- who’s I don’t know what you both are talking about.” Spencer went on the defensive, he tried to control his movements but unfortunately he was in a room full of profilers.

“Sorry Spence but we got evidence, Derek saw you two on his morning walk.” 

Spencer’s mind floated back to earlier when he was leaving you. 

“I really wish I could drive you instead of dropping you somewhere else.” Spencer whined as he hugged you. 

“It’s okay, I even need to change. I can't exactly go in the same clothes as yesterday, or in your clothes.” 

“I mean, you do look good in my clothes…” his words elicited a blush from you as you remembered last night's events. You couldn’t wear your clothes due to some tears in your clothes which you blame him for. 

“Spencer!!!” he laughs and it’s so soft and hearty you can’t help but laugh with him. 

“C’mere.” he mutters and brings your head closer to his, kissing you so softly you melt in him arms. He pulls away slight;y and smiles at you. “I’m ready to take this however you like, fast or slow, it’s all in your hands.”

“Spencer…” it’s your turn to gush. “How about boyfriend and girlfriend then we move up from there?” 

“I’d like that.” You smile.

“Me too.”

“I like you.”

“I like you too.”

“Seems pretty boy is reminiscing. So you and her huh? And you didn’t tell us.” Spencer ignores him as he turns to his desk. A door opens somewhere and he instinctively raises his head to catch you entering, removing your hair from your ponytail, you just came back from the shooting range. 

He was mesmerised. 

[gaseoussoup]

Here's a headcanon that the places where the guardians live actually reflect their attitude towards humans.

Fips lives in the city amongst mortals because he craves closeness and recognition. He is actively engaging with ordinary people because he wants to. He makes songs because he wishes to be famous, which would mean he would be admired and loved.

Klaus lives in the factory in the north pole, with all his elves. It's in a cold and isolated area, which gives off the feeling that he doesn't feel the need to connect with human beings and would much rather focus on his brothers and employees. However, he does care about humans and definitely wants to protect them, hence why everyone working there is focused on making presents and preparing for Christmas.

Rhun likes humans, as we can see from how gentle they treated Julia when she was a child, but they're also somewhat distant and cautious. This explains why they live in a hotel - they want people to come to them, to interact and socialize. However, Rhun themselves lack the capability to reach out on their own.

And Zeke? Zeke lives in a desert located in dumb fuck nowhere cuz they're an antisocial edgelord that thinks of mortals as a task they have to fulfill but frankly? They don't feel the need to be with any of them. I up to this day still believe that they kidnapped children in their sleep and forced them to sing the chorus for their song and you CANNOT convince me otherwise.

[fuctacles]

@steddiesummerexchange for @chaosgremlinmunson | part 2/3 | beta @stevesjockstrap 💚

T | 10858 | Steddie, Buckingham, platonic Stobin and Hellcheer, Wayne&Eddie | Soulmate AU, unconventional soulmates, misunderstandings, idiot4idiot, fluff | divider & meme doodle by me | Part 1 | Part 3 | Ao3

Eddie doesn't have to wait long for Robin to call him. He's chilling on his bed, plunking on the guitar and ignoring homework, when he hears a knock on his door.

"Son? There's a call for you," his uncle says through the closed door. (He'll say it's because he values his nephew's privacy, but they both know it's for plausible deniability.) Eddie is confused at first but then remembers he did give away his number that day, for a very important cause. He puts the guitar to the side and jumps up from the bed. 

"Who is it?" he asks upon opening his door, startling his uncle. The man raises his eyebrows at him.

"A girl that's not Chrissy," he says, voice carefully blank and yet calculatingly implying. "Robin from the sex store?"

If she has introduced herself like that, to a random dude's parental figure, he knows she and Chrissy would get along great. 

"It's not like that!" He rolls his eyes, before running toward the phone.

"Should I leave?" his uncle yells back.

"No, please, stay so you know it's a civilized conversation between a tutor and her student," he answers with a glare and picks up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Bold of you to assume we're a tutor and student already," comes the snark comment from the other end of the line. 

Eddie admits to himself, and only himself, that he might have jumped a bit on this one. 

"Sorry, I just had to say something normal to my uncle about the girl from the sex shop," he says pointedly and to her credit, the sex shop girl has the decency to make an apologetic hiss. 

"Yeah, sorry about that. Blurting shit out without thinking is my cardinal sin."

He barks out a laugh. Fuck, she is perfect.

"No worries, I'm sure my uncle has heard worse."

"I have," Wayne mutters under his breath while sorting through their laundry nearby. Well, in the cramped trailer space, everything was nearby. Eddie grins at him and his uncle fips him the bird without even looking up. Eddie flips one back.

"I'm assuming your friend passed my message?" he asks, focusing back on the conversation with his soulmate's crush.

"Yeah, he did. But before I agree to anything, I must ask you something."

"Shoot."

"Are you hitting on me?" 

Eddie chokes on his tongue. 

"No?!" he reacts immediately. He hears her scoff into his ear so he tries to save it. "Not that you're not like, good looking or anything, you're just not my type and I actually really need the tutoring," he says the truth, even if it was just an afterthought in his plan to get closer to her for the wingmaning purposes. "Besides," he pauses, not sure if he should say anything. But something in the way Robin has been communicating so far makes him want to run his mouth without shame as well.

"Besides?" she prompts, slightly annoyed. It's her tone that helps him make up his mind in the end.

"I wouldn't do that to my friend," he says.

The line goes silent. Unnervingly so. Eddie gives her time to gather her thoughts and wonders if it was the wrong thing to say after all. If it was a confession too close to revealing his ulterior motives. 

"Hey—"

"Which one?" she asks abruptly, cutting him off.

"Huh?"

"I'm not into your DnD nerds."

Oh, so she did a background check on him. Well, not that there were many metalhead Eddies in Hawkins High. He presses the receiver between his shoulder and ear so he can pop his knuckles. His hands are itching for stimulation; guitar strings, a pen, a joint, anything. 

"What about nerdettes?" 

His uncle snorts somewhere in the background but Eddie is great and making up words, thank you very much and fuck you, Uncle Wayne, you're uncultured. 

"Yeah, that's..." Robin takes a loud, steadying breath. "That's more up my speed."

Eddie is not a quiet person. He finds it difficult not to voice his opinions and his favorite music has been described by some as "angry yelling". So he's very proud of himself for managing a silent little happy dance, even if he almost drops the phone in the process. He can feel his uncle's judgemental eyes on him but completely ignores them. 

"Great! I'll pass on the good news to her then." He smiles cockily against the receiver. 

"Yeah, uh, you do that." She coughs softly. "So um, am I safe to assume you are scheming to land your friend a date with me?"

"Well..."

"And the fact that I can tutor you, a super senior, while doing it, is just a cherry on top?" 

"Super super senior," Eddie corrects her. "But, uh, yeah, you'd be right." Eddie has a feeling they'll get along smoothly. Maybe there was another universe where they were platonic soulmates as well. 

"Does tomorrow work for you?"

"Uh, yeah," he says, almost forgetting what the call was supposed to be about. 

"Please do not bring your friend," she adds, a slight panic in her voice, 

"No of course." He nods furiously, even though she can't see it. "You haven't passed the soulmate's approval yet." 

"You guys are soulmates?" she asks, a bit too loud in his ear.

"Uh yeah?"

"Oh my god! Just like Steve and me!"

He blinks into the ether with a frown.

"You guys are soulmates?" 

"Duh! I've never met other platonic soulmates before. Do you think we could hang out, the four of us?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess?" He's a little bit lost, a ton ecstatic, but most of all, he wasn't prepared for all of this so he's scrambling for words to find. "I think it would be nice," he offers.

"Great. We can talk it out tomorrow, after school?" she offers and it takes him a moment to understand.

"Oh, yeah," he catches up finally, "The library?"

"Yeah, works for me. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," he parrots. He listens to her drop one last goodnight before the line goes dead.

Wayne gives him a moment to contemplate on stuff, before walking up to him. He takes the phone from his loose grip and puts it back on the cradles.

"Wanna catch me up?" he asks. It's not demanding, it never is, the way he's heard some parents talk to their kids. It's a genuine offer to get involved in his nephew's life. Eddie's eyes finally focus on him.

"Can I get a beer?"

"Can I get a joint?" Wayne shoots back, making Eddie smile.

"Deal."

They sit around their tiny coffee table, sharing a joint while Eddie catches him up on the events since he and Chris stepped into a random sex shop in the middle of a storm. When he's finished, Wayne hoards the joint with a look of concern in his eyes, despite Eddie reaching out for his turn on the weed.

"Son." His voice turns stern, letting him know it's important and he should listen.

"What?" Eddie whines instead, making one more pathetic flail for the reefer. 

"So you meet this guy twice on sheer accident, your soulmates seem to be interested in each other and he has a DnD tattoo, which is something you are very interested in."

"Yeah?" Eddie frowns, completely oblivious to where his uncle is going. He reached out again but the joint was just flying further out of his reach. 

"Son. Don't you think the DnD soulmate he's looking for, might be you?" his uncle says bluntly, clearly the weed speaking through him properly.

Eddie shakes his head.

"I don't have the tattoo to match."

"Kid, I will smack you into a different state," Wayne says flatly and seems about ready to act on his threat. "Do they teach you nothing at school?"

"I don't know, I'm not learning anything."

Wayne glares at him while Eddie gives him an innocent smile. 

"I knew a guy," he says, the patience for his nephew thin yet endless. "Whose mark complimented his wives. He had a fork and she had a knife."

"You're joking," Eddie says with a delighted smile.

"No," Wayne smiles at him. "They opened a very successful bistro. I also knew a couple who got matching marks after they met."

"That's stupid." Eddie frowns. "How is that supposed to make finding your soulmate easier?"

Wayne shrugs.

"Since when anything in life is easy? Or smart? Or making sense?" 

His uncle stares at the wall with that ancient philosopher's gaze and Eddie finally manages to pluck the joint out of his hand.

"Okay, old man, I think that's enough weed for you today."

He doesn't protest and turns to his nephew instead.

"Every relationship is unique, you know? And so are the soulmate bonds."

Eddie knows it's true, but his mind doesn't want to wrap around the possibility suggested here. 

"You know what is very unique? A teenager and his uncle indulging in illegal substances on a random afternoon."

Wayne smiles at him, gathering him into a sideways hug.

"Ain't no other family like ours," he agrees. And then promptly breaks the moment by tightening his grip to give Eddie a noogie.

"Ow, no, Wayne! My hair!"

"I didn't know I booked a double lesson." Eddie raises his eyebrows when he spots not one but two people waiting at the library entrance. 

The shrimp in a hat next to Robin snorts.

"Please," he lisps. "I don't need tutoring."

Eddie frowns at the tone of the literal freshman in front of him and watches Robin cross her arms.

"I don't know, kid, your Latin could use some work."

The kid bristles, his hackles rising like an angry cat. It looks very amusing and forces Eddie to bite his lip not to smile.

"I am working on it! Thank you very much!"

"So," Eddie reminds them of his presence. "What is the nerd doing here?" he rephrases his question.

"The nerd," the kid repeats, his tone not offended, but proud, which Eddie can totally fuck with. "Heard you're a Dungeon Master?" 

Under all his cockiness and self-confidence, he couldn't hide the excitement and hope. Eddie smiled against himself and gave a small bow.

"Indeed I am. Eddie the Banished, Son of the Moon. At your service."

"Oh my god," Robin groans, while the kid seems about ready to pee his pants from excitement. "Let's go, you nerds, you can talk on the way." She rolls her eyes and turns without looking back. Eddie follows her in the direction of study rooms and the kid trots along next to him.

"I'm Dustin, by the way. A dwarven bard," he introduces himself.

"Dustin?" It rings a bell... "Wait, Steve's freshman friend?"

The kid grins with delight.

"He said we're friends?"

Uh-oh.

"I don't remember what he said exactly," he covers up quickly. "But I do remember he mentioned a party looking for a DM. Are you guys new to DnD?"

The smile he got for that question made him lowkey want to smack the kid and highkey excited to have players he won't have to spend a whole campaign explaining the rules to. He would, if needed, but having seasoned players with their own playing styles he doesn't know yet? That's trouble at the table that he couldn't wait to witness.

Robin refuses to let Dustin pass through the door professionally labeled (with a black marker on a piece of paper) as a 'student tutoring' room. She puts a hand against his chest when he tries to follow them.

"Listen, Henderson. I promised Steve I'd give this guy a chance..."

Eddie raises his eyebrow at that piece of information.

"And you're going to ruin it if you keep bothering us. Do you want Steve to be disappointed?"

Dustin frowns at her and the arm holding him back. He swats it away but doesn't pass the threshold. 

"That's blackmail," he huffs, crossing his arms.

"That's facts," Robin corrects him. "Go bother someone else. Eddie already agreed to play with you."

"But there's so much to discuss beforehand!" the boy protests. Eddie decides to throw him a bone. Mostly because he really needs to bring that wingmanning to a satisfying end.

"Can you come to our table tomorrow? I'll introduce you to Hellfire guys and we can talk out some details then."

Dustin immediately lights up.

"Can my friends come too?"

"Of course, man. Gotta test your vibe."

"Okay! Tomorrow at lunch!" He jumps up on the balls of his feet, slowly retracing backward. 

"Yeah, bud. See you then."

"See you! I'll show you the characters I've been working on!"

"You really don't have to—"

But he was already gone. Eddie sighs as Robin slams the door shut and falls against them with a groan.

"He's so exhausting," she complains. "Smart as hell, a great kid, but so exhausting."

Eddie chuckles. 

"Yeah, I can see that. How are you guys even friends?" he asks curiously. But Robin shakes her head, pushing herself away from the door. 

"Nuh-uh. You're not getting the backstory yet. Spanish first, chit-chat later."

Right. Studying. The bane of Eddie's existence.

Robin manages only half an hour of his stupidity (foreign-language-rejecting brain, she called it, but he'll keep calling it stupidity) before announcing a break.

She rests her head against her arms, blocking out the light, while Eddie runs through the million topics on his mind that he could start. Apparently, he stares at her hair long enough for her to notice it.

"Just say what's on your mind, man," she mumbles against the textbook.

"Did Steve really ask you to help me out?" This was not what he intended to ask, and certainly not what he was there for, but it was already out.

Robin lifts her head slightly.

"Yeah. He seems weirdly fond of you," she answers with her eyes narrowed like it was somehow his fault her friend was acting weird. 

Eddie shrugs, thinking of a reasonable explanation.

"Maybe he's hoping to find his soulmate if he keeps befriending DnD nerds," he offers. 

She snorts. It feels like she's laughing at him, though. He frowns. 

"Yeah. Speaking of soulmates, though..." She straightens up, suddenly nervous. "I think. And I might be wrong. But it felt similar with Steve, so I'm like, eighty percent sure..."

"Dude, just spill it."

Robin scrunched her nose.

"I have a feeling about Chrissy."

"Okay?" Eddie frowns. "I mean, that's why I'm here, right? To help you guys out?"

She shakes her head.

"No, like... A soulmate feeling."

Eddie's eyes go wide. 

"For real?"

She nods.

"I mean, at least I think so." 

"Well, you have something to compare it to, so I will trust your judgment," he reassures her. Only then do the meaning of her words hit him, and his eyes go wide. "Holy shit! You're Chrissy's soulmate!"

"Probably," Robin rushes in to add. "She didn't say anything about it, did she?" She's adamant about not getting her hopes up. If she was the only one who felt it, maybe it was a false alarm. Maybe she had eaten something bad earlier that day.

"No," Eddie admits with a twist of his mouth. "But she's not good at picking up this stuff. We had been friends for a month before we realized we were bonded."

That does make her feel better. She was the first to pick up on her bond with Steve as well, so maybe it was simply a Robin thing.

"But she's uh, she's interested, right?" she asks to clarify. It feels awkward but still a little less intimidating to have the buffer of her crush's best friend than talking to her directly. 

"She literally wouldn't shut up about you." Eddie grins at her. "Yesterday she dragged me to your store and was very disappointed not to find you there." Which, thinking of, reminds him of Steve. He frowns. "Did you tell Steve? Because I was positive for awhile, that he was hitting on Chris."

"No, I—"

Eddie slams his hand on the table, interrupting her.

"You sent him to spy!" He points at her accusingly. "He was asking about Chrissy for you!"

She shrugs, crossing her arms to give him a deadpan stare despite her fiercely red cheeks. 

"Yeah. And what are you doing right now?"

Eddie grins. Oh, he likes her. 

"Touche," he nods his head. "So, about that date..."

They agree on a date next weekend, and in the meantime, Eddie dusts off an old campaign of his. A one-shot to make sure he'll even want to play with a bunch of kids. Betwee them and the Hellfire guys there's more than enough players, but Dustin asks if he can invite Steve too.

"I don't invite an audience into game sessions," Eddie tells him with a frown. He's gathering their character sheets to know what he'll be dealing with.

"As a player!" Dustin corrects him. "I've been trying to get him to play with us forever and since it's a one-shot maybe he'll finally cave."

Eddie makes a face.

"I'm not taking in a newbie with all seasoned players," he protests.

"But he knows everything about the game! Because of his soulmate?" Dustin reminds him like he's stupid. And he kind of is, because it should be hard to forget trivia. 

"Uh, right." He scratches his cheeks. "Fine, I guess. But I want his character sheet pronto." 

At that, Dustin digs deeper into his bag to retrieve another sheet of paper from between the pages of his math textbook. Eddie groans.

"Are you kidding me? You little shit." But he takes Steve's character sheet from him. Dustin grins widely, satisfied with himself.

"Just this once," he assures. "Well, unless he likes it."

Eddie huffs, offended. 

"He's gonna love it. I'm a great DM."

"I'm sure you are and I'm sure he will. This Friday?"

"3 PM sharp." Eddie points at him.

"Aye aye," Dustin salutes, backing away towards the school crowd and inevitably running into some kid. Not for the first time, and probably not the last one either, Eddie wonders how someone like Henderson got himself involved with Steve Harrington.

Friday comes fast and Eddie is excited to have new players at his table again. Some idiots have been spreading shitty rumors about the game lately, so the interest has been scarce. And now he has three innocent freshmen at his table. And Steve Harrington.

He looks out of place between nerdy freshmen and metalheads. In Eddie's personal opinion, he even smells too well to be there. But he won't deny someone who wants to play. So he sets the scene and lets the dice roll. 

It started in a tavern but with a twist. The party heard a couple of leads and depending on which one they chose, it would lead to the proper adventure or immediate trouble. To everyone's surprise, when one of the NPCs stops talking, Steve is the one to speak up.

"He's lying. It's a trap."

"How do you know?" Mike, one of the freshmen, bristles. 

Everyone raises their eyebrows at Steve, who shrinks in his seat. 

"Uh, a hunch?"

It's a very spot-on hunch and the party is right to listen to him. 

The game proceeds and Eddie is enjoying himself, much like everyone else around the table. Well, maybe except for Steve. The further they went into the game, the quieter he got.

"Pee break!" Eddie announces around the halfway point and everyone scatters to use the bathroom, refill on snacks, or smoke. He's about to stop Harrington from leaving, but he sees him saying something to Dustin with a smile, his ass firm on the chair. And soon, there's only two of them left.

"You okay, man?" he asks without preamble. "If you don't like it I can kill off your character and you can go home," he offers. Usually, he would be meaner about it, but he's seen how much the guy means to Dustin. And to Robin. And Robin means a lot to Chrissy and Chrissy means a lot to him, and so the circle closes. He's not going to be mean to Steve Harrington. He doesn't even want to.

Instead of taking the out, Steve asks him a question.

"Is Bernard the traitor?"

Eddie smirks. Maybe Steve was more invested than he seemed. 

"I'm not answering questions like that, man. It's DM confidential."

Bernard was, in fact, a traitor. 

"He's leading them to the monster as an offering, isn't he?"

"What?" Eddie frowns. Did he read his notes somehow?

"He's killed his father that way too."

That... That wasn't in the notes. Eddie didn't write it down, it was an irrelevant backstory only for him to know.

"Did you write the story?" Steve asks, his brown eyes piercing. 

Eddie licks his lips and nods stiffly. He looks at Steve's hand instinctively, having a hunch of his own on how this story unfolds. 

Steve stands up and Eddie's eyes follow, for the first time studying him properly, how he deserves. His stupid preppy polo, his perfect hair, and the moles on his cheek. He raises his hand, the D20 tattoo on display.

"Shake my hand?"

Eddie sighs.

"Wayne's gonna beat up my ass," he murmurs before grabbing the offered hand. 

He lets out an undignified yelp and Steve lets go immediately, shock on his face. It was just a millisecond sting, nothing else, followed by an electric sensation across his body. He looks at his palm, at the point where their bodies just touched.

There is a matching dice tattoo on his skin. 

He shakes the dice experimentally. It rolls and lands on fourteen. Then ten. He looks up to find Steve's eyes on him, sparkling.

"What happened?!" Lucas suddenly bursts in, probably alerted by Eddie's yell. Dustin crowds in behind him, pushing in, and Jeff peeks curiously over their heads. But before Eddie can even start to explain anything, Dustin starts screeching.

"Oh my god! Are you guys soulmates?! You're soulmates! Oh my god, that's so cool! Holy shit Steve! I knew you'd get along!"

"Dude," Steve scolds him softly. Dustin deflates just a bit but he's still jumping.

"Guys," Eddie speaks up, surprised to even find his voice. "Five more minutes?" He looks up for support from Jeff, who gives him a nod and pulls the rowdy freshmen out of the room. The door closes and he has to pay attention to Steve again. He looks back at him and finds his face carefully blank.

"Disappointed?" he asks, making Steve recoil.

"What? Why would I... What?"

Eddie shrugs. 

"It's fine if I'm not what you expected. You're not what I imagined either."

Chrissy was a surprise, so he assumed if there was another soulmate out there for him, they would be more like him. He usually pictured another metalhead, maybe a hot guitarist, a fantasy writer, or a hot groupie obsessed with his music. A preppy guy living a quiet life in Hawkins? Not in a million years. 

Steve shrugs back.

"Robin isn't what I imagined either, but we work. I don't even know you, so how can I be disappointed?"

"Touche." Eddie grimaces. "Let's hang out sometime so we can speed up the process." 

Steve rolls his eyes but takes a small step towards him. Eddie lets him grab his hand and compare the matching tattoos on their palms. They were nearly identical, but with closer scrutiny, he could see the lines on Steve's were softer than on his. 

"We could make this weekend a double date if the girls agree."

"Uh, I don't know..."

But before he can elaborate, Steve's eyes widen, and his grasp on Eddie's hand tightens minutely.

"Shit, I just assumed you're into guys. I did that with Robin too, I'm so sorry." He's pulling his hand away, face red with embarrassment, but Eddie catches his fingers.

"Uh, no, I am. Both girls and dudes. You just... you know."

"Don't look the type?" Steve raises his eyebrow with amusement. 

"Not exactly," Eddie admits sheepishly. "Okay." He exhales. "Double date, huh? Yeah, I can do that." He nods mostly to reassure himself. Steve smiles and squeezes his hand gently before easing away from his grip. The noise behind the door was getting louder, meaning everyone was back from the bathroom break and seconds away from stomping in.

"Great. I always thought your eyes are beautiful," Steve says just before the party reenters the room. 

It's a lot of yelling and explaining before they can resume the game. It becomes the most unhinged playthrough Eddie has ever witnessed due to everyone making the most outrageous decisions to throw off Steve's omnipotence and make Eddie come up with lore and plot on the spot. 

When they are gathering their stuff a couple of hours later, he's exhausted in the best way.

Steve lingers, almost kicking Dustin out of the door. He even throws him the keys to the car, something he never does, but Eddie doesn't know that. He helps him gather his notes and figurines, which he doesn't protest like he would with others. They would snoop but what's the point in snooping when you already know the whole plot?

"That was fun," Steve admits as he hands Eddie the character sheets. "It's a boomer I can't enjoy the story since I already know everything."

Eddie lets out a soft hum while arranging the papers in his bag in a way they won't get damaged. 

"Gareth's been wanting to DM for a while. It would be nice to take a break once for a change and you could play without getting the plot spoilered," he offers. 

"I'd like that." Steve smiles. Eddie grins at him.

"Okay! I think that's all," he says, looking around for any misplaced dice. "Thanks for helping me out. These bastards always make a run for it as soon as we're done."

"You just don't want them touching your stuff," Steve points out, following him to the door as he fishes out the keys to close behind them.

"That's true, yeah."

Steve hovers behind him while he closes up and Eddie decides to spare him the awkwardness.

"You can go, I still have to give these back to the janitor. I'm sure Henderson is itching to take your car for a spin in the parking lot."

Steve straightens up at the reminder.

"Shit, yeah. I better go to him." He runs his hand through his hair, hesitating for one last moment. "See you tomorrow?"

Eddie almost forgot their double date is this Saturday, but he nods at him. 

"Yeah, see you." He's about to turn around and go their separate ways when Steve leans in.

It's just a soft brush of his lips on his cheek, but Eddie's body immediately sets on fire. 

"See you," throws Steve softly before leaving.

Eddie tightens his grip on the strap of his bag. The keys are digging into the meat of his palm, into the new tattoo there. 

"Oh my god."

[Steve, relating the news.]

[mono-socke]

AKT 5 WAS AMAZING HOLY SHITTTTTTTTTTTTT

IF ANYONE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT IT I'M FREE

AKT 5 AKT 5 AKT 5 AKT 5 AKT 5 AKT 5 AKT 5 AKT

[xagave]

Absolutely, get ready for BABIES. The oldest foster we have right now is Lazarus who we got when he was 3 months old from a hoarding case. He had an extremely bad case of herpes that almost killed him and it turns out he has a really bad immune system so he's always getting sick. He's about 8 months old now and he's sort of a long term foster because he currently has FIP and treatment requires one shot every day for 80 days minimum. The meds are a bit expensive so shameless plug but if anyone wants to help us pay for the meds my wife's ko-fi is here

Here he is the day we brought Lazarus home ^

And here he is now! His FIP treatment is going very well so far ^ Our second oldest are Penny and Kazoo. We got Penny when she was 5 weeks old from a guy whose dog brought her home in his mouth (she was fine the dog was gentle.) We got Kazoo when he was 10 days old from some dudes in the next town over who didn't have time to bottlefeed a newborn. Kazoo is 2 weeks older than Penny and they became best friends!!

10 day old Kazoo and 5 week old Penny ^

Kazoo and Penny now ^

Kazoo and Penny at an adoption event ^ We're having a hard time finding them a home because we refuse to split up bonded pairs

Penny playing in the tub lol ^ Next are a batch of kittens we got from an irresponsible breeder who was fine with letting kittens get sick and starve to death. We originally only got 2 of them when they were 3 days old (breeder let mom cat get sick and die because she didn't want to pay for vet care and tried to pawn the babies off on the other nursing moms and it didn't work out) and they were born premature so they had a lot of health problems. They had rhinovirus and coccidia and the little brown kitten had an umbilical hernia that then became septic and THEN she started getting big pockets of infection in random places like under her chin and in her toes? But we managed to get them healthy and fat and thriving. My wife was able to convince the breeder to give us the remaining kittens 3 days ago and they're half the size of our first two because they've been sick and slowly starving this entire time (they're now 5 weeks old). They're still really sick and have Poop Liquid Until You Die disease so it's not fun on our end but we're working hard on getting them fat and healthy. They don't really have official names but we've been calling them Zoosmell Pooplord, Insufferable Prick, Flighty Broad, Farmstink Butlass, and Huss lol

The first two nuggets ^

They were sooooooo small ^

Finally fat and healthy at 3 weeks old! ^

The full litter now at 5 and a half weeks old ^

Comparison pic ^. Right kitten is the nugget we've had since he was 3 days old and left kitten is his brother who the breeder just now let us take. It's hard to tell with the fluff but he's borderline skeletal :( Next is a 3 month old kitten that a foster brought to an adoption event who was very clearly sick. Skinny and lethargic with a bad coccidia infection so we took him home that day 1.5 weeks ago and also sent the foster person home with some medicine to fix the coccidia in their other kittens. We've been calling him Christmas Tree Boy cause he's always got a poofy tail or Poop Boy because he hates sharing litter boxes and keeps pooping in random corners 😒 Didn't take long to get him healthy so this weekend he's getting yeeted into another adoption event and whoever adopts him needs to give special attention to his Litter Box Needs

^ He's very cute and loves playing with our other fosters but for the love of god we are TIRED of his Poop Surprises Someone who adopted a bonded trio from us a few months ago is returning them to us tomorrow because their fiance is allergic, so as of tomorrow we will have 12 fosters in our house. Sounds like a lot but we've had 30+ foster kittens crammed in here at the same time so it's a breath of fresh air in comparison💀

Edit: Not a foster kitten but honorable mention to my new betta who I named Gemini because You Know Why

He has a 5 gallon tank all to himself but I don't have a pic of him in it cause he's shy and he hides lol but it's the one behind the cup. Aiming to give him live plants soon

[textsfromthetva]

I would have made a post sooner, but I've been too distressed to even talk about this.

Mobius is sick. That's my cat, for the uninitiated. He started throwing up food Thursday night, like, a lot, so we went to the vet on Friday, who concluded he had a fever, but other than that and the nausea, there were no symptoms. So that's an infection, right? No telling where, but he got a shot of anty-nausea meds, a shot of antibiotics, and I got a box of catch-all antibiotics in pill form, and home we went.

Problem is, he kept getting worse. Cats do this thing where, when they feel a bit under the weather, they go 'guess I'll die 🤷‍♂️' and stop eating and drinking, like little drama queens. So you need to keep them from starving themselves to death until medication starts working. Friday night I had to start force feeding him, which in the case of cats means mixing wet food with water, forcing their jaw open, and using a syringe (without a needle, obvs) to squirt food into their mouth, holding their head back to force them to swallow. It's not fun for either party, and for 36 hours I did that every other hour, including throughout the night. But he continued to get worse. He was sluggish and dehydrated. I kept feeding him. No improvement. He was miserable, I was miserable, it was fucking horrible.

Sunday night we went to an emergency vet clinic, because I couldn't handle it any longer, I needed someone to have another look. She concluded that his fever had gone up, despite him being on antibiotics. This is obviously very troubling. She convinced me to pay for some blood work, just the basics, and he's insured, so whatever. I told her the Good Girl died two months ago, from FIP (feline infectious peritonitis). When she came back she looked very grim, and had brought scanning equipment. A ton of stuff was totally fine, but there was one thing, that was alarming. A number that should be over 8 in healthy cats, with 4-8 being troubling, and under 4 being 'that cat probably has FIP' was clocking in at a 3 for Mobius. But his red blood cells were fine and his organ markers were fine, so she did an ultra sound to look for fluids in his abdominal cavity, which is another sign of FIP. There was nothing. She's worried that it's just because we caught it super early.

But, we decided to proceed as if he's got a crazy infection, he got another injection of anti-nausea medication, new antibiotics, some fever-reduction pills, and an appetite stimulant that's a cream you rub on the inside of their ears, so it's absorbed through the skin.

He started perking up a lot. Still wasn't eating though. So this afternoon my mom stopped by with ten different kinds of wet food they had lying around (cat breeder behaviour), and we created a huge buffet on the kitchen floor. All my plates are in play. And eventually he started eating some shredded chicken in jelly. I don't know if you've ever cried from watching a cat eat, but I was fucking sobbing.

At this point, 12 hours later, I've had to refill the plate with that single fucking kind of wet food four times. He's almost halfway through a big can by now!

So I'm choosing to be delulu right now. I'm choosing to believe that those numbers were off because he hadn't eaten. Because he's completely back to normal now, behaviourally, and surely, surely he would not get better like this if he was fatally ill and about to die.

Anyway, if he does die I'm going to break. Just FYI.

[pangur-and-grim]

every two weeks, I'll need to send off his weight so that Belphie's FIP medication can be adjusted.

right now though, I'll be watching his weight drop as all the fluid in his abdomen is absorbed and passed.

[thecurioustale]

Notes on my Watch-Through of Jennyffer by F.I.P. Industries

This week I watched the animated webseries Jennyffer, by @fipindustries / Amanda Avila. It’s a short series about an assholeish trans girl in high school, just living life in our silly world. You can watch it on YouTube!

TL;DR: This series is funny, witty, edgy, delightfully absurdist, and full of visual richness, gags, and allusions despite the minimalist style of the drawing and animation. Jennyffer grew on me as I watched it and I definitely think it’s worth the hour or so runtime. There are nine episodes averaging about 4 minutes apiece, plus a few small bonuses.

Fip is a friend of mine so I wrote down my thoughts as I was watching, but I am posting them here (with her approval) in the hope that folks happen to get intrigued and decide to go check it out. I’ve adapted my notes a little bit to make them easier for you to read, but for the most part these are extemporaneous notes speaking directly to Fip.

Indented (“ ---> “) comments are written after I watched the entire series and went back to review my notes.

“TUMBLR PEEPS / TP” comments are additional comments I’ve written for you lovely people on this huggable hellsite. I’ll also give you my overall review and recommendations at the end.

* This post contains spoilers for Jennyffer.

Title Sequence

Very fun! :3

TUMBLR PEEPS: Not very useful for you, I know. Fip is both an illustrator and an animator, and I think this title sequence sets the tone for what she’s aiming for with the series. There’s always a moment of disorientation when stepping into the world of an artist whose style you’re unfamiliar with, but if you hang on it begins to make sense soon enough.

Ep. 1

I appreciate subtle touch of “Panoptic” High School, with the round building, etc. TP: This series is full of background references. It’s one of my favorite things about it.

Lol @ the identical 😮 faces on the pack of Mean Girls in the background.

Wasn’t expecting the confrontation to escalate that hard! 😮😂

----> You don’t really go this hard ever again in the series! Both the shooting and Jennyffer’s primal scream are unique to this episode in their tonal intensity. 

LOL @ the Mean Girls actually turning into a pack of feral monsters when their leader falls; unmasked at last!

---> This is a candidate for my favorite single joke in the series just because of how economically and absurdly it encapsulates so much about this trope.

I appreciate that Ashley admitted defeat; that’s cathartic because this (almost) never happens in real life.

TUMBLR PEEPS: When I watched this episode, it came across to me as uneven on the audiovisual production values. Things like Fip’s audio recording setup not being as good as the guest star’s, sound levels being a little imbalanced, etc. I would encourage you not to be scared off by that! Although it doesn’t completely go away over the series, it does improve a lot, and in any case it doesn’t interfere with the storytelling or worldbuilding basically at all. I wanted to lampshade this because I know some people nope out of a series if the production values aren’t AAA. Give this one a chance!

Ep. 2

I appreciate that Mom is trying her best.

---> To build on this point, I appreciate that it’s true to life for many trans kids whose parents are willing to accept them when they come out, but don’t really know “how.”

TUMBLR PEEPS: That’s my only note for the entire episode, lol. This episode is probably my least favorite in the series. Fip’s style of humor is very much old-school Simpsons in that it keeps dropping joke after joke; so you’re always smiling because even if one joke doesn’t land there’s another one coming up in a few seconds. This episode is different in that it’s basically one joke that gets hit over and over again. And since it’s a joke that doesn’t land for me, it’s kind of forgettable. (When I was preparing this post for Tumblr I was like "Why did I only write one sentence for Episode 2?" And then I went back and realized why as soon as I saw the thumbnail.) This is my most negative criticism of the entire series. In my opinion, things get significantly better from here!

Ep. 3

RIP his Gains 🤣🤣🤣

Lol, and they still win the big cup! 💪🎀

---> I appreciate the continuity on these jock girls later in the series.

You have a great sense for comedic layering of different jokes operating on different wavelengths happening close together or even at the same time. (That’s more of a sense from everything I’ve seen so far than just this specific episode, but it stood out to me when Jennyffer’s friend Peter gets his lights punched out just as a side gag.)

---> I originally wrote “when Jennyffer’s friend gets his lights punched out…” here because I couldn’t make out Peter’s name whenever you first introduced it. I am hard of hearing and the audio mixing, especially in the earlier episodes, is a little low at points. One frequent constructive criticism I have for people is to make sure that dialogue is sharp / non-mumbly on the soundtrack, otherwise people like me get lost, especially with names and proper nouns.

---> (I hope that isn’t an unwelcome criticism. A friend of mine just started a new podcast, and he had this same issue on his soundtrack. He got so upset when I gave him this feedback, because of course the reasons we do things are often not closely connected to the things we do, and I realized too late that he was doing this podcast for validation and self-empowerment, so it turned out that he wasn’t in the mood for constructive feedback at all. But that's about the only kind of substantive feedback I know how to offer. So I hope you understand my intent isn’t to shoot down your work; I’d just like to be able to hear it better. You got better with this as the series went on, but I think there’s still room for improvement.)

Ep. 4

That is some Grade A, all-natural, free-range School Counseling for sure. I have a hard time dealing with this shit in the media (including in this comic) because I’m already rubbed so raw at the dysfunction of systems (in this case the healthcare system) that are supposed to help (and which I very much want to support in principle) and I just don’t have much resiliency left to deal even with fictional accounts of it.

I think the Mean Girls are my favorite background part of this series so far. They come across as (tragically) true-to-life, and your depiction of them is just utterly unapologetic. Going so hard on that is what makes it work.

---> I’m also just weirdly fascinated by Mean Girls, so I love the attention you give them here. I guess they live in a tonal space that’s fairly close down the block to the tonalities of the types of female characters I tend to like to write. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to push Mean Girls off a cliff when they’re actually Being Mean, but in terms of the “vibe” there’s something I find compelling about it.

I think it makes your work a lot more real that you’re willing and able to illustrate the transphobic worldview as a fact of life among many people and the background cultural default in society, with all of the transphobic jokes and wrong pronouns etc. that this entails. I see a lot of queer artists choose not to do so, probably in some cases because they can’t (see my comment above about not having much resilience myself to put up with systemic dysfunction in fiction). The willingness and ability to be able to do this is the difference between art that is capable of also being subversively realistic (among its other qualities) versus art that is limited to being escapist or revisionist. It’s always empowering to be able to depict “the enemy,” in whatever guise they might take.

I’d never heard of Hannah Daigle, but since the Credits told me I need to go look up Satina, I looked it up, and wow! Going by her subscriber count, that’s a pretty big get!

3’44” This isn’t even half the true power of high school students and their superability to befoul school bathrooms. 😭😭😭

Ep. 5

For a minute there it seemed like things were going well. Too well. One thing about a series this ruthlessly cynical is that the expectation that “Nothing Good Will Happen and Nothing Good That Does Happen Can Be Kept” sets expectations for the other shoe to drop (indeed, many an other shoe).

3’15” Just the one cat ear up as she’s leaning in and talking secretively…great attention to detail! This is something I often notice with illustrators who get into animation (as opposed to artists who go directly into animation). So many details in virtually every frame! Both in support of the story and simply there for environmental embellishment. (Like the rose that hasn’t bloomed yet.) I can only imagine how many references I’m missing! TP: Seriously, I love the depth of subtle background references in this series!! I’m not calling out most of them in these notes, but they’re a constant presence in the background of the story.

She [the tutor] got there! Yep. As soon as it occurred to me to notice that the rose hadn’t bloomed yet, I knew how this one was ending. 😏

Ep. 6

* breaks computer *

MOM: "You know you don’t have to break your computer every time I come into your room, right?"

🤔🤔🤔

But seriously, that’s what I’m talking about when I say you have a great sense of comedic layering. It’s also a good example of something I haven’t articulated yet, which is that your comedic style is ultra sharp and punchy. It’s so economical, so efficient! It goes really hard with minimalist support, and, in my experience with other creators’ work, that only works for people who have a genuine gift for being funny. I think this is one of your strongest suits as a potential entertainment creator, and you could potentially develop it as a possible pathway to get noticed / get bigger.

---> This is a skill I could only dream of. I’d like to think I have a good sense of humor and can be funny not infrequently, but I need way more words to do it than you do, and my efforts are rarely as clean.

Lol, Jennyffer is the true master of the schoolyard. I appreciate the continuity from Episode 3. TP: When I was writing my notes during my watch-through, this is the comment where I realized “Oh no! I haven’t been checking to see if I’m writing ‘Jennyffer’ with two Fs!” I was like “Did Fip do that just to catch people who aren’t paying close attention?” And I figured, probably not! But I went back and made sure I got all my spellings right, and corrected a previous erroneous instance of it, and tried not to mess it up again going forward. I hate to get names wrong, especially when it’s the title of the goddamn series, lol.

That first stringer chord was great. Then I stopped noticing the next few. Then the ones after that actively grated on me. I get what you were going for (I think), but it didn’t work for me.

That confrontation with Dad went surprisingly well!! I was prepared for (and about halfway-expecting) this conversation with Peter’s dad to go in a much darker direction. <3

Interlude

0’39” That Whale is TOO CUTE omg :3333

---> Seriously, that Whale is the cutest friggin’ whale on the planet. Too wholesome for this world; too pure! <3333

Happy Birthday, Jennyffer! So sweet. I think it’s important for cynical works to have moments like these. I mean, that’s just my opinion, but it really humanizes the work, I think, which makes it easier to connect with and perceive as “real” in the sense of reflecting reality as opposed to being a purely stylized fiction.

TUMBLR PEEPS: I just want to emphasize that point. If you’re writing a work that’s heavily cynical, I would suggest that, unless you’re going for a very specific stylistic effect, a few moments of wholesomeness here and there, where you’re willing to let characters care about things and not get punished for it, is really important to adding depth to the story and humanizing the people in it.

Ep. 7

1’09” “No, that’s not how that works.” 😂 The deadpan here (and really through the whole series on this same joke) is so good. This kind of straight-man (figuratively speaking of course) reaction to an insane world is pure 😒😒😒, and 😒 is one of my favorite forms of absurdism. TP: This is in reference to a joke about how cis people sometimes misgender trans people because they just flat-out do not understand gender or queerness.

Also, can I just say, I’ve been noticing it for a few episodes, and I have no clue what it’s called, if it’s called anything, but I absolutely love Jennyffer’s ridiculously high and short ponytail. I wish we saw this hairstyle more in real life, because I always love it when I see it, but in American culture anyway it’s usually played as a joke / a sign of somebody who isn’t being serious. Then again, maybe that’s exactly the point with Jennyffer wearing it; I could see that being a decision she’d make. So maybe its mockédness and unpopularity are exactly why I get to see it here?! 🤔

2’40” lol, I am delight. TP: You’re a rotter, Mister Grinch…

That ending! 🤣 Yep. Jennyffer is chaotic neutral for sure, and a USDA Prime goofball.

---> I think this was the tipping point where I basically started liking Jennyffer as a character and identifying with her / rooting for her to succeed. It often takes time for characters to build on me, especially cynical assholes. (I have a hard time with cynicism despite having devolved into a cynic myself from my many years of woe.) And coming around on Jennyffer basically meant this was the point where I came around on the whole series. I certainly hadn’t disliked it at any point, but I originally came to watch it because you had recommended it to me and as a friend I wanted to check out your work, and not because I was actively seeking it out for its own sake. But now I think I can say I like it on its own merits.

A personal anecdote: In this episode, there is a moment where Jennyffer gets the wind taken out of her sails over the crotch bulge in her bathing suit and how it is making other people uncomfortable, and, instead of fighting or being an asshole about it, she is defeated and retreats. A very rare moment for her in the entire series, and thus a potent illustration of how humiliating it can be to be the target of bigotry. I love the creative decision that was made to play it this way. I can sort of relate to this issue in my own way. When I was a kid I never swam in public without a t-shirt on, because, for me, my attraction to fat is a sexual orientation which has been with me my whole life, even before I adolesced and understood it as a “sexual” thing. So as a kid I was always super sensitive to being perceived as fat. And I had a big ol’ round belly my whole life, not even because I was actually overweight as a kid (I mostly wasn't) but because I’m just shaped that way. I am convex at all weights. And I was very embarrassed about it! So, in my childhood memory, public pools were always a minefield of me trying to have fun versus trying not to be humiliated. Also, I couldn’t swim until I was like 12 or something, so that was embarrassing too, and I tried to fake it by splashing around in the 4’ zone.

Ep. 8

1’43” Glam!! Even cynical dystopic trans girls aren’t immune from the siren song of the shutter and flashbulb! That jacket is sweet, too! I love that look.

This is the second time you had a chance to completely change the tonality of the series into something way darker because of a scary father figure, and this time I genuinely didn’t know what would happen. But I’m glad it turned out this way, not only because it’s totally one of the many different reactions that are true-to-life among real-world parents but which don’t get highlighted as often as the more awful scenarios, but also because I just really struggle with grimdark stuff and I kinda just want everyone in this series to turn out okay. <3

Also: John Jingleheimer, eh? (Jennyffer Jingleheimer, lolol!) So, if Peter’s dad is named Jacob Schmitz, then I totally see what you’ve done. I’m pretty sure their family name is Schmitz (right??), but I don’t remember what episode(s) I got that from. I went back and watched Ep. 6 but his name is not mentioned. I personally appreciate all the J names in Jennyffer’s family. 😏

Stingers at the end of episodes really suit this series’ style! I found myself explicitly missing them in the beginning of the series. I’m glad they found their way to you.

7’06” The happiest we’ve ever seen her, 😂! 💖 (Give or take the birthday episode.) I just wrote that same moment in Galaxy Federal a few nights ago. (Cherry’s parents get her a spazer after she sneaks out one time and is gone all night.)

I appreciate the clearer-to-read credits at the end as the series has gone on. I had decided in the early episodes that I wasn’t going to criticize the original cursive because I kind of hate it that we live in a world where we can’t have nice / bespoke / Weird things because people always want something easier / more convenient / more accessible (I’m still upset they killed the big clock a block away from my apartment, whose chimes had been a charming part of living here; I’m sure it was because of “noise” complaints). So, since they weren't a content accessibility issue the way, say, the sound levels were at the start of the series, I was actually rooting for your cursive credits to never give up! Let the people struggle to read them! Long live the glory of the impenetrable! It would be very much in Jennyffer’s spirit for her credits to be totally unreadable if she were to make an animated series herself. Oh well! With legible credits I win and lose at the same time.

Ep. 9

Love the comment at 6’57” (from somebody who had written that your series is doing work to advance trans acceptance in society). I think there’s some truth to that, too. A lot of people can only come around on issues of acceptance by being introduced to it through the humor of this sort. More medicinal / academic / intellectual approaches don’t work on them at all.

April Fool’s

Caramelldansen!! A Desert Bus classic. I watch this every year! They’re both doing it right. Lol, Jennyffer is the best; it’s like Fate has put her in this skit so she has to do the dance, and she hates it, but she also secretly loves it.

I love seeing them in color.

Also, “Episode 10, Part 1,” lolol. Beware scope creep! 😂

Final Thoughts

Like I said in the TL;DR, this series is funny, witty, edgy, delightfully absurdist, and visually rich. It packs a lot into a small space.

Fip is freakishly smart, has a lot of insight and perspective to offer as an artist, executes on her concepts well, and has a distinctive style all her own. This, together with her artistic talents, makes her art very approachable, very easy to enjoy once you settle into it. On a more personal note, Fip has been the most supportive person I know here on Tumblr. I am inexpressibly grateful for the work she has done to try and boost my own art, and it is an honor to have the chance to offer something like that to her in return. She works hard to get her work noticed without being spammy about it, and deserves more attention than she gets, so I hope at least one (and preferably more than one!) person reads my notes here and checks out her work. It’s very important for small artists to support each other, and moreover it’s an honor to support a friend.

Go check out Jennyffer! I went into it with an open mind and no expectations, and I enjoyed the ride, and came away liking the series. You can also see more of Fip’s art on her alt account, @unbeknownsttomen.