there's a darkness looming but the sun is shining bright

Ack, I am the worst at fandoming. I seem to recall a time when I could balance work and play so effortlessly and get so much shit done in a single day? How did I do it, it's a mystery.

Once again, family and health issues have sucked up all my time and energy. I don't want to get into details because I think the world is plenty depressing enough as it is right now, but, man, it feels like every time something comes up, other things think they have permission to start sucking too. >:C Ugh, LIFE. I don't like this game, I call do-over! *shoves game board off the table* *throws controller against the wall* *tries turning it off and then on again*

Anyway, I'm so so terribly behind in replying to comments (BUT PLEASE KNOW THAT I CHERISH THEM ALL, THEY ARE MY SUNSHINE WHEN SKIES ARE GRAY) and commenting on fic, art, and all that beautiful stuff. So I need to get on that.

Speaking of: DID EVERYONE SEE THE SAM/DEAN/DANNEEL MAGNIFICENCE THAT SALTANDBYRNE GAVE ME FOR XMAS??? It is hot and glorious and everything! Go looooook!

I managed to get a few things done myself for SPNJ2XMAS and J2 RBB. If you haven't read Universe Unbound by firesign10, or An Eye for the Future by dugindeep, you're missing out! Go fix that, would you? In the meantime, I'mma be over here conspiring with the delightful non_tiembo_mala for SPN RBB. *smooches everyone in this bar*

Also, I'm paying it forward. You get things, I get happy distractions, win/win. Don't you wanna?

(I need to catch up on everything ever, I know, but first I have to do this thing where I ask for some help from any kitty lovers in my area.)

For those who missed it, here's a little background on why I have so many of these little cute butts right now.

Since that post, I'm still having zero luck getting these last 4 little ones adopted out to people I know IRL, which would've made me feel so much better about giving them up, but. Such is life. After some investigating, I really, really do not want to have to take them to any of the nearby shelters. I'm way too attached to who they are as individuals to dump them in a little kitten jail that they may never leave again unless I absolutely have no other choice. I've tried advertising them for a fee, because free kittens attract all kinds of crazies I didn't even know about, but it hasn't gone as well as I'd hoped. I'm also trying a bunch of other things, and maybe advertising here is a little weird, idk, but I figure it doesn't hurt to put the word out anywhere and everywhere I can.

SO. Flist. My beautiful flist. If you're in the Chicago area and want a new cuddly buddy, read on! If you're not in Chicago, or can't take on a new pet right now, a signal boost would be more than awesome—even if you're across the world, you might have someone on your flist in the area. Any help finding these kittens new homes for the holidays will be forever appreciated.

On to more adorable business!

This is Fluffmonster General, or Fluffy for short. Fluffy pretty much thinks he's the boss of everyone, as long as they're smaller than him. He tends to find the highest or stealthiest spot in the house to keep an eye out, and if any of his siblings get out of line he's happy to launch a surprise attack to teach them a lesson. Faced with an adult cat, however, he's not quite as bold. He can be pretty possessive of his toys, but not aggressively so—he mostly just runs off with his mice to his own solitary corner, then hides them from the other kittens when he's done playing just in case they get any ideas. His stash is pretty impressive. When you're up and about, he'll usually follow you around like a little guard kitty, and be the first one through any newly opened door to make sure the room passes muster. He's also the most food-motivated out of the 4. You want that kitty to be somewhere or do something, just add treats. It doesn't always work with the others, who're getting wise to my tricks, but Fluffy is there for it 100% of the time, he doesn't even care. He keeps up with his siblings on the playtime front and loves to join the kitten pile when it's sleepy time, so he's not exactly a loner, but hanging out and playing watchdog seems to make him pretty happy most of the time. He's easily the most chillingest cool cat there is, and if you happen to want to pet and cuddle him while he's on the lookout, he can live with that.

Here we have Jumper. He's very playful and just an all around happy camper. Whether he's bouncing around, falling off something, cuddling, or sprawled out all lazily somewhere, he rarely fails to project this whole "life is glorious" attitude. When it comes to food time versus playtime, playtime wins 9 times/10. He's figured out that no matter how hard they try, his 3 greedy siblings can't fit every last morsel of food into their bellies at once, and there'll always be some left when he feels like getting around to it. He also has this thing about climbing onto the back of my chair and perching on my shoulder while I'm on the computer, just watching the things on the screen move around, totally chilled out. When he wants some serious attention, he'll lay on your head, stick his nose in your ear in case you can't hear all that purring he's doing, or burrow under your clothing to let you know he means business. Jumper's nickname is kinda two-fold, in that he's usually the first to successfully jump any hurdles the kittens find, like the kitchen counter, and he also does this weird little sideways bunny-hop when he's really excited. IT'S THE MOST ADORABLE THING ANYONE HAS EVER SEEN. I started adding Bumper to his name when it became apparent that he's a little bit of a klutz, but he doesn't let it get him down at all. He just pops right back up, ready to go again.

Next up is Tiger. He's a silly, silly critter, just so curious and playful. I don't know if I want to say he's the smartest of the lot, or just the most eager to please. He'll come when you call him about 85% of the time, as opposed to the other kittens' 20%, and clearly recognizes the word NO, or at least acknowledges it more, because he'll roll over on his back and make RIDICULOUSLY cute faces at you until you forget what he did wrong. He's very attentive and head-tilty, always on the alert for new, interesting stuff and eager to know what's going on at all times. He loves his toy mice so much he can hardly stand it, enjoys antagonizing his own reflection in the mirror, and if you hear purring from a mile away, more often than not, it's Tiger. If you reach down to pet him and he sort of hugs your forearm, he's letting you know that you need to pick him up for better snuggling, stat. In the event that the arm hugging doesn't work, he does have this kinda bad habit of launching himself at people's chests, fully expecting to be caught, so you should probably just give in. He's definitely the cuddliest cuddler in all the land, and is almost always willing to be petted and flop all over you and lick your face and hands whenever you're up for it. If the other kittens are doing super interesting stuff, though, he's gonna have to go check that out, but he'll be right back with you in a minute.

Last but not least is Scrappy. She's the smallest and the only girl, so her life might seem hard, but rest assured, she takes no crap. She has no problem holding her own when her brothers get rambunctious, and, out of all 7 of the kittens I originally found, she's definitely the most adventurous. She was the first to come out of hiding and investigate those little wiggly creatures sticking out of my flip-flops, and then she sat on my foot to try and keep my toes still for killing. No interest whatsoever in the towering beast the foot was attached to, she had a mission. She's remained the pioneer of all her kitten kin ever since. Relatedly, I know all cats love boxes, but Scrappy seems pretty determined to be the first to plant her flag butt in any new cardboard environment. Make no mistake, she will fight for her right to sit there first. She's a little bit of a jack-in-the-box, too, totally the worst about hiding in them and pouncing on your legs when you walk by, though she always does it with soft paws (no claws extended), and she's a big fan of the RAWR stance, where she stands up on her hind legs and waves her front paws around. SO CUTE. She's very much an independent kitten who knows what she wants. When it's time to play, she's not sitting still for cuddles, she has very important kitty business to attend to. When it's time for petting, she'll come sit on you and paw and headbutt your hands until you take the hint. All that may make her sound fussy, but she's really just as entertaining as they come, and a total sweetheart.

All 4 of them are easily amused by most toys, as kittens tend to be, but go absolutely crazy for these little rattling catnip mice we found at Target. Ever since we brought those home, all other toys are inferior (I have plenty to give away to new owners, fyi). They'll also sit down and watch TV with you sometimes, depending on how interestingly colorful or fast-moving the screen is, and don't seem to know what to do with themselves if there's a nature show on: chase the things or hide from them. They're all litter box trained, and they're all very curious to get to know/play with other cats (though our cats don't have much patience for them so we have to keep them separated when they're unsupervised). I don't know how they'd react to other animals, such as dogs, but the 3 that I adopted out to a friend had absolutely zero problems immediately using her super friendly Golden Retriever as a bed. The kittens are still young enough to be optimistically curious and accept new things, I think; it mostly depends on the personalities of other pets. Fyi, the pics in the previous post were taken closer to when I first brought them in (I estimated them to be about 4 weeks when I found them), but I just hadn't gotten around to posting them right away because of life. So, they're about 15 weeks (almost 4 months) old now, and all of these photos were taken last week. Sorry for the quality. I was trying to capture them at their cutest, but kittens in play mode are not about cooperating with picture day. XD

• LOCATION: I'm in the NW suburbs of Chicago (about a 45-minute train ride from the city—for general reference or visits only; afaik you can't take pets on public transit), and am happy to set you up with a no-obligation visit before making a final decision.


• FEE: There will be a re-homing fee of $50/kitten, or $75/pair if you want to make it a double, but will accept proof of a $50 or $75 donation to your local shelter or SPCA instead of direct payment.


• MEDICAL: The kittens will be vaccinated and spayed/neutered on Monday, December 7th. They'll be ready to go home with new owners a couple of days or so after that.


• EXTRAS: I'll also include some food to get you started, a carrier for each kitten, and a handful of their favorite toys.


• CONTACT: If you're interested or have questions, feel free to PM me or e-mail dollarformyname@gmail.com. If you want to refer a family member/someone outside fandom, PM me for a non-fandom e-mail address.


• Please, serious inquiries only. If you're not willing to be asked some questions about your living/pet situation, or to provide references, we're not going to get very far. I'm not trying to make this difficult—it's really a lot easier than it sounds—I really, really just want to make sure these guys are going someplace loving and awesome.

Happy holidays to you all! And thank you for taking the time to check this out.

I've been so much more absent from fandom than usual, so here I go with a little bit of everything in one rambling swoop. :D



Rules & FAQ
Sign Ups: Artist | Writer | Beta

( Rambling. )

I'm also getting pretty geared-up for this thing:


spn_masquerade
The Parade of Perversion: Round Opens September 5th

( I got rambling. )

Also! This is happening:


A Supernatural/CWRPF holiday gift exchange!
Sign ups/Rules/FAQs

( I got rambling all on my mind. )

tl;dr It's the most fandomful time of the year.

Heeey, so. Who has a twitter? I've been told that's where all the happenings are happening and I'm tired of missing all the J2 stuff, so I reactivated my abandoned one. It's still all new to me but if anyone's over there and doesn't mind letting me play voyeur while I figure stuff out, that'd be nifty. My twitter handle is dollarformyname, same as always.

WHAT DID I JUST DO. My willpower is such a joke but I couldn't stand it anymore! It was caaalling.

Meanwhile! If you're an artist and you like Sam/Dean or Sam&Dean, and have somehow, someway, missed this, click on the thing and go snatch something up. HURRY! Before a 3rd round opens up and I do something really crazy.

Okay, does it annoy anyone else when a writer can't even get something as simple as the height of a character right?

The most common example of this that I've seen lately is Dawn. Michelle Trachtenberg is 5'7", according to most sources. Tall for a girl, I suppose (I'm 5'9" so all the girls are short to me), but nowhere near as tall as Dean and especially not Sam. I mean, it's not like she towers anything close to a whole foot over Buffy at 5'3", so why, I ask you? WHY?

And then, everyone referring to Dean as short. He's shorter than Sam, yes, who isn't? But he's no slouch at the arguable 6'-6'1". My brother's 6'2" and he's still a giant compared to my freakish girl height.

Anyway, whatever. It's not that big a deal, I guess. Just makes my eye get all twitchy when I'm reading inaccurately sized characters. My brain is weird like that: the words keep telling me Dawn's ginormous and my mental images are stuttering to rectify these woefully disproportioned characters. It throws me, is all, takes away from the flow of the story. Mayhaps I think too much with my visual brain.