Pronoun Trouble

[Content Note: Pet rats, death of pets] (For the first two paragraphs only)

I have a very particular relationship with pet!fics. As readers of my journal will know, I have pet rats, and rats aren't the longest-lived of creatures, domesticated or otherwise. I love them, and they make great companions, and while I wouldn't trade them for the world, it does mean that I've had to learn to say goodbye on a fairly regular and short-term basis.

I get a couple of years at best with a pet rat before it crosses the rainbow bridge. When I lose a pet, one of the first things I do after saying a proper good-bye is trawl my current fandom for fic in which one of the main characters has or gets a pet. I want to relive that feeling when an animal makes a home for itself in your heart and a space for itself in your life, the way living with a pet changes something inside of you. Pet rats are social; they do best when there's at least two of them living together. They're healthier and happier and live longer. This means, whenever one of a pair dies, I go out not long after to get another pair to acclimate with the rat who's still with me. Reading pet fics makes it easier for me to remember the joy in having pets, makes it easier for me to go out the door and initiate a new meeting. I love reading pet fics all the time, but they're especially important to me then.

Rewind briefly to last November. In the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, fandomaid had set up a Buy It Now fandom fundraiser. I was still in school full time, and had only a month before started a new part-time job, which meant that for once I had money to contribute but not very much time. One Saturday morning, these facts coincided to give me an incredible opportunity.

kellifer_fic has long been one of my favorite fandom authors. Her characterization is excellent, she writes wonderful team-building and -bonding fics, all with incredibly well-thought-out plot and adorable romantic and witty moments woven masterfully in. A slight time miscalculation on her part and me having to be up at 3:30am to get ready for my weekend job as a baker meant that there was still a slot open when I checked the listings before getting breakfast. I did what any financially able fan would do when a favorite author offers their skills for charity: I pounced.

At the time, I didn't know what I wanted to ask for, only that I loved kellifer_fic's fic, that I would dearly love to have one just for me (and kinda the rest of the internet, but sharing is caring, right?), and that I had gotten the opportunity for exactly that and was taking it. I had some time to think about what I wanted, and while I contemplated setting some of my longer-standing plunnies free, it wasn't long before I remembered: What's the one kind of fic I always love and need some times more than others? Pet fic.

I asked kellifer_fic for a Sterek fic in which Stiles accidentally acquires a familiar, leaving it up to her what sort of animal the familiar would be; she in turn let me pick the name for what was ultimately a cat. Then, all I had to do was wait.

This morning, fifteen minutes before I had to go out the door (5:00am; I got a full hour of sleep on the me of mid-November weekends), I got the notification that kellifer_fic had posted my fic, plus an e-mail from her with a link to said fic. I mourned my inability to stay and read the fic right then, made a placeholder comment and left a kudo right away (because everything I knew about this author's fics assured me that I would love this one, especially given that it was for me), then proceeded to tempt fate by staying to read the first section anyway. I ended up a good seven minutes late for my ideal "out the door by" time and had to accelerate more quickly than I like on my way to work to clock in by six. I read the whole thing almost immediately after getting home, and now I am going to say it straight out:

It was worth every penny of my donation (as well as likely several hundred more) and every minute of waiting. I will be re-reading this fic not just when I need it (and I will need it in the future), but when I just feel like a pick-me-up, or something with a bit of adventure, with lots of witty moments and pining and a shippy ending. I am delighted to make this a go-to fic in my life, and am looking forward to every re-read (as well as quietly crossing my fingers that someone will decide to record it).

maybe then a witch could believe in the moon by kellifer_fic
Sterek, Teen and up audiences
Summary: Okay, I get it. You were just asserting dominance. I can relate to that. I do know Derek.

Go, read it. (I mean, if Sterek and/or pet fic are your things. Otherwise, don't worry about it.)

I have just given each of my pet rats a rather sizable (for them) hunk of bread. They are currently taking turns stealing each others' bread. I see them walking past each other with a hunk of bread between their teeth, set it down, and then immediately turn around to steal back the bread their "brother" just stole.

Nothing like ridonkulous rat shenanigans to brighten my day <3

( Content Note: Animal death, rat picture )

*goes to cuddle Phineas and Ferb*

This is a post by my boy Conan ♥

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Apparently, he doesn't have much to say.


Also, Ash likes the keys. He just tried to run off with "Pg Up" D: RATS NO LONGER ALLOWED NEAR KEYPAD, I MEAN IT. Or at least Ash isn't. Unless he's really good. Then we'll see.

You know what today's a good day for? Rattie pictures, that's what!

( Here Conan and Doyle explore the vast expanse of their owner's (actually much smaller) new bed )

In other pic spamming business, here is a picture of the finished jumper of a Rinoa costume I'm making for a friend. (It's almost done; all I really need to do is add the buttons to the skirt, and then I'm finished!) While I personally feel the blue is a little too green to be a perfect match, I do have about two yards or so extra that I get to use for whatever I want, and it is a pretty good match for this (Ember Island Players pic), even if it is knit. Still need to figure out how to make the cloth loop under like that, though...

AKA, Arthur goes to see Santa Claus ♥

( Very large picture goes under the cut )

Bonus pictures: I'm too lazy to edit in captions, so you'll just have to imagine them macroified.

( Two more pictures under here )

Anyway, back to being distracted by jobs and Emerald, and hopefully sooner rather than later I'll kick myself into playing at CFUD.

Ford passed away sometime late last night/early this morning. Since he was breathing audibly last night (always a bad sign), I'm not terribly surprised, though I had still hoped. I don't really think it's quite hit me yet either; it'll probably do so when I go to bury him by the peach tree in the back yard and sing to him.

I can only think that at least now he's somewhere he can be healthy, somewhere with lots of other rats to play with and people who know exactly the right spots to skritch and who'll give him peanut butter and yoggies and stuff, and I hope I'll see him again someday.

Click the cut to see good-bye art: ( My little angel )

I love you, Ford. Be at peace.

Edit: Good-bye art of Ford now up. I buried him in the back yard under the peach tree; Dad supplied a cigar box for the task (one Mom had picked out) and Tomas was sweet enough to dig the hole for me, and then treated me to dinner to boot. Mom and I'll probably pick out a marker for Ford tomorrow sometime.

Okay, so the picture is a little on the fuzzy side. So's Ford. Eventually I'll make an icon of Arthur, too, and probably one of the two of them, but Arthur's slightly less photogenic this is what I have for now. Yes, I did have to go in and do the redeye fix myself, shut up. It was that or have this awful-looking target thing right in his eye. ...Which is cool in manga, but considerably less cool when I'm sure it's just a photo error. The picture this icon is from was taken, I believe, shortly before Ford got sick (and is even more out of focus in its original size), and I am still wildly happy that he got better and is doing better, even months after the fact.

Quick note for those of you who don't like rats: pet rats (also called fancy rats) are different from wild rats, or just about any rats that you'd imagine living in the wild. They are cute, clean, cuddly, companionable, and lots of other good 'c' words. If it helps, they're almost all bred from rattus norwegicus, the Norwegean brown rat, which is the one that drove out the rats that carried the plague. Another option is to pretend that they're just rather large mice. But do please consider taking a glance at my dears, as they really are adorable.

Anyway, ( pictures )

In other rat-related news, I am so not using soft tofu for their mix again if I can possibly help it. I mean, yes, it does smoosh up a lot easier, but it also looks a lot worse when I scoop it out for them. Plus, it's wetter, so I end up using sandwich baggies as a transportation method; I was able to use napkins with the firm tofu mix, which Arthur would then steal to use for nesting material. SoCute, OMG ♥_♥

In news not related to rats (except how I've asked my mother to look after them while I'm gone), I mailed off my ACen registration stuff this afternoon :Db (Candy? You have any plans re: traveling yet? ...Also, would you forgive me if I decided to drag you along with CFUDers for most part of the con? ♥♥♥?)

In completely un-rat-related news, had a French test today; last one before the final, three weeks from now. I'm feeling fairly good about it; I think I remembered most of the vocab, and I had an amusing time writing the composition at the end. It was supposed to be a conversation between two people, so I made it between Nat(e) and Claire; Nat was going out to get things for a romantic dinner for Simon, since Simon was returning from... a trip of some sort, I'd forgotten that vocabulary bit, and Claire was forced to listen. She had originally been planning to go to the market, but went to the pharmacy afterwards to pick up some aspirin; all that lovey-dovey talk had given her a headache -_-a

...I also feel it vaguely worth mentioning that most of my French test compositions up to this point have been letters, though my most recent one was also a conversation; most of the letters have been addressed to mistressoffoxes :D (My first French test composition was a conversation between me and Jodie-sensei ^^a Haven't done another fictional person since then until today.)

And that sums up today, I think, with lots of extra cute points for my boys ♥ I'm going to have to give them their own tag now...

Edit: the_lj_herald now has an off-LJ site, so we can see updates and stuff when LJ's being finicky :3

Edit x 2: ...Well, so much for the next pr0n I write being het. Do trees actually make it hermaphroditic...? *cough* Anyway, CFUD-ish, Seishirou (Tokyo Babylon, X/1999)'s tree/Filif (Young Wizards). Uh. Tree!rape.

Candy! I need to talk to you about/ask you stuff! And I'll get to that...

But first, a brief intermission ¦D

( Proof positive that my hair is a rat's nest :D )

Anyway, back to the topic on hand. CANDY! My parentes have made plans for Spring Break :O And the plans are roughly as follows:

Leave the house on the morning of March 14th; arrive in Whiting sometime in the evening; stay at B&B there.
Remain in the area for the 15th, leave sometime around 3:00 on the 16th.

Hopefully, our spring break matches up with yours vaguely, or at least a day off for you. Otherwise, uh, I guess we'll just hang out evenings/afternoons or something? ♥♥♥? Rabu-rabu? Etc?

Also, parents want to know of a good restaurant in the area where we can treat you to dinner. Dad also wants to know about any second-hand stores in the area, including (but not limited to) Goodwill and Salvation Army stores. And is there a good place we could meet you sometime? 'Cuz yeah, meeting and spending time with Candy = good, methinks.

Also also, Anime Central is May 11-13th; both online and offline registration forms are up. You still planning to go/be dragged along? If so, do you have any plans yet?

Aaaand, I think that's all for now. Er. More or less. Plz to note that where I am, we're currently getting freezing rain and sleet and all sorts of fun stuff, so there may be power outages on the way ¦D Which may interfere with me playing the Gay Lawyer Game, as the version I have is only on the computer. But it won't interfere with me sewing, at least.