#she is very smart for a cat

[starrysharks]

i am the cattt just chillin outt but in the night she's all i think aboutttt

[crimeronan]

thinking about the princess AU kiddos properly being kiddos. like elementary-school-aged. the thing about hunter is that you'd EXPECT him to harbor at least Some resentment toward luz for being the favorite and for being naive and for always needing protection as a kid, especially since he is also a kid who is never afforded the same kindness. but the other thing about hunter is that luz was his painkiller WAYYY before he ever needed to be hers.

[beansnpeets]

Retro Puter photo. He was about 2.5 to 3 here and that's my childhood jrt/cocker mix, KC. She was Round.

[ehlnofay]

immediate follow-up to these pieces

The sabre cat lies in the grass where they promised to stay.

The grass there is tall, and they’re pressed flat against the ground, so from a distance they look like nothing more than a very bright-looking rock. Efri knows better – she sees them, walking the fields holding tight to Sissel’s hand, and she breaks into a run.

She calls a “Hello!” and the sabre cat’s head rises, and Sissel falls down.

She pulls Efri down with her, the both of them hunkering into the dry grass. When Efri looks her in the face she’s wild-eyed. “Efri,” she says through gritted teeth, “what is that?”

“My friend,” says Efri sheepishly. “I told you not to freak out.”

Sissel’s jaw works for several seconds. She’s got that bloody rabbit or feral fox look about her again. Her free hand is clutching at the grass, fingers digging down into the topsoil. “That’s not your friend, Efri,” she finally bursts out. “That’s – I don’t even know what that is!”

“Sabre cat.”

“That’s not a sabre cat! They’ve got those teeth long as your arms! That’s something else!”

She’s being a little bit rude, but Efri can’t really blame her – Efri was a bit scared too, when she first met her friend. And both of their houses have just burned down. Of course Sissel’s jumpy.

(Efri’s still not feeling upset like she should be. The thought doesn’t make her want to cry – it just feels logical. It’s just true.)

“That’s just a rumour,” Efri says loftily. “They don’t really have teeth like that. And this one’s nice, promise, they’re not going to hurt you. They’ve never even ate one of my goats.”

Sissel’s staring. The whites of her eyes almost seem to shine in the beginning of the evening dark. Her face is mottled pale. She yanks her hand away from Efri and curls up in the grass and dirt in a little ball.

“You’re going to get your dress extra dirty,” Efri warns her, but she doesn’t move, so Efri leaves her to calm down and goes to talk to the sabre cat.

They’re waiting, ears pinned down, looking quite uncomfortable. They peer at Efri accusingly.

“That’s my friend Sissel,” she tells them, rubbing her thumb in circles over her stick. “Sorry she’s being a bit rude. She’s upset. Her house burned down.”

The sabre cat chuffs. They still don’t look best pleased, but they flick one of their ears up.

Efri says, “Mine too.”

Sissel’s staying in a ball in the dirt. Efri faintly registers that she’s beginning to feel hungry.

Efri jabs her stick into the ground. “So. I had an idea. Do you want to go to Winterhold?”

Her friend stills. They draw back, posture wary, a low sound in their throat – but their ears turn to face forwards. Efri thinks that might mean they’re listening. It’s hard to tell, most of the time, but she thinks that’s what that means.

“Because you always get excited when I mention it,” Efri continues, turning up turf with the bottom point of her stick, “and Sissel and me can’t really stay here. It’s all burned down. And Sissel’s great at magic – did I ever tell you that? – and that’s where the College is, up north, and if we go there then she can learn. It would be hard to go by ourselves, but if you’d come with us, then we could all help each other. We could all go.”

Sissel’s still on the ground. The sabre cat stands up, flicking one of their paws.

“Do you want to come with us?” Efri persists.

The sabre cat leans down and thunks her gently on the head with their chin.

“That’s not an answer,” Efri says. They sniff at her.

It’s hard, because this is an important conversation, and it feels very one-sided. At least when Sissel argued the idea she could make points Efri could refute. The sabre cat just lashes their tail and looks doubtful. (Why won’t they just agree? Don’t they know that Efri’s trying?)

Efri sighs and turns back to crouch down next to Sissel. “I’m trying to explain the idea but I don’t know if they like it or not. Can you help?”

Sissel’s arm slips down off her face. She looks at Efri balefully out of the one eye that’s visible. She doesn’t speak.

And Efri gets it. She knows it’s a lot. She knows it’s a weird plan and a weirder day and she knows Sissel is probably upset about the houses and Jouane and how she had to hide under someone’s porch when a dragon came, the right amount of upset, as upset as Efri should be, and she knows Sissel clams up when things go wrong and she knows this is how they always do it, Sissel small and frightened and Efri the strong friend, the one in charge, coaxing her out of her head and making plans and making it better, she knows all of it. But.

But her throat still hurts and her legs are still tingling and she’s tired of trying to be positive, strong, the one in charge.

“Sissel,” she says, voice grating and croaky, “I’m trying.” And she’s not crying exactly but her throat feels stiff and she’s hungry and tired too. She drops her stick and sits next to Sissel in the dirt. “I’m trying. I don’t know what to do.”

Winterhold makes sense. It’s a place both the others want to go – she thinks, at least. And Sissel would do well there, she can learn, she can stop being afraid. And she just needs to get out, get the both of them out. They can’t stay here, not after this. Efri can’t stay to watch the town get rebuilt when something inside her has been clamouring for what feels like forever to tear it down. She can’t stick it out, counting down the months until she’s reached whatever arbitrary age is old and responsible enough to leave, soothing Sissel each time she gets hurt and nobody does anything to prevent it, staying stiff and silent at the dinner table. She hasn’t talked to her parents in the last week, been out in the mornings before they wake up and not back until the lights were put out and they were abed. There’s a rage knocking around inside her at it all. She can feel it like a stone deep in her stomach. She doesn’t want to be angry any more than Sissel wants to be scared. She wants to stop it now before it gets bigger.

She was just trying to find a solution. She just wanted things to be better for everyone.

Dimly, she recognises Sissel’s hand on her shoulder, her arms around her. She’s sitting with her head in between her knees, the stained orange fabric of her smock stretched out against her face. She can hear Sissel’s voice, soft and unsteady, but she’s not talking to her.

She looks up.

The sabre cat is standing just a little in front of them, low to the ground, cautious; Sissel, gripping Efri’s shoulder tight, is talking to them. “She says you want to go to Winterhold.”

They nod very slowly.

“Um,” Sissel says. “Do you want to go with us? I don’t think Efri wants to go back.”

“Do you want to go back?” Efri mumbles. Sissel’s hair is tickling her face.

Sissel shakes her head. “Just don’t know if it’s smart, is all.”

The sabre cat sighs, long and low, and nudges Efri’s scrunched-up body with their paw. Sissel breathes sharply in – but of course Efri isn’t hurt, and she relaxes.

“I don’t know what to do,” Efri tells the both of them.

Sissel squeezes her tightly; the sabre cat sighs again and prods their head a bit under her leg. It doesn’t really work because they’re so much bigger than she is, but they do it again, and again, till Efri gets the message and the girls pull each other to their feet. The sabre cat lets Efri flop over their neck, same as before, and it isn’t until Efri’s adjusting her position that she remembers, mumbles, “My stick!” Sissel picks it up from where she threw it to the ground and passes it up to her. Then, nervously, Sissel climbs up over the sabre cat’s back too, wrapping her arms around Efri’s waist for balance.

“I know you don’t like giving people rides, so thanks,” Efri whispers to them, her fingers curled into their long tawny hair, and they chuff and start walking.

They end up at the cave, of course – where else? It’s well dark by now. Sissel sparks a light in her palm, casting an eerie glow over the damp cave walls, and Efri is delighted to see that the goats are all still there – or almost all, after she does a head count. “Good,” she praises them, slipping off her friend’s back, and feels a pang when she thinks that she’ll probably leave them behind. She’s never too attached to any in particular – they’re livestock, after all – but the herd as a whole has been her constant companion since she was four or thereabouts. Basically a baby. She’ll miss their snuffling, cloven-hoofed presence.

They light a little fire there in the cave, Efri and Sissel gathering and stacking sticks for it. Efri’s fire-flint lights the sparks and Sissel, though she hasn’t learned yet how to make a flame out of nothing, helps them grow.

Efri finds some nuts in her pocket and shares them around. She and Sissel savour them, crunching them into little pieces; the sabre cat swallows them whole. She doesn’t give any to the goats; they’re chewing aimlessly on the moss and don’t seem to need them.

They all lie down, then. It’s still early but it’s been a long, long day, and it’s warm and comfy with the fire going. The sabre cat lies down, and Efri and then Sissel lie against their side – they make a rumbly noise like a purr, which is a bit funny – and then even the goats come and lie with them too, little hoofs and horns digging into Efri’s legs. It shouldn’t be comfortable, and it isn’t, but it really, really is.

Maybe they’ll go to Winterhold tomorrow. They’ll talk about it.

Efri thinks, half-asleep, that her parents probably haven’t even noticed she’s gone – she’s out of the house all the time they’re in it, and now they don’t even have a house to meet in. She wonders if they’d forget about her like they seemed to forget Onmund. She wonders if she cares.

Onmund is there, at Winterhold, at the College. If she goes there she’s almost sure to see him. Does she want to see him?

She doesn’t know. She doesn’t know how she feels about anything today. Maybe she’ll know tomorrow.

Efri closes her eyes. Against the rise and fall of her sabre cat friend’s ribcage, with Sissel’s knees resting in her lap and one of the kids rubbing the side of its face against her bare foot, she falls asleep.

They’ll sort things out in the morning.

[ratgingi]

woe characters inspired by some of my cats be upon ye. info on them in my tags lol

[lucky-clover-gazette]

no i'm remembering an entire romeo and juliet adaptation story concept i had a few years back where it's in a kind of arrested development esque setting, modern wealthy families full of mostly shitty people. there's a huge capulet inheritance that college age juliet is supposed to share with her cousin rosaline, but juliet pulls a gone girl and disappears both herself and romeo WITH all the money, so rosaline has to play detective and track them down with the help of a gender non-conforming/nonbinary paris (because shakespeare) and it's like a buddy detective domestic thriller comedy with maybe romance or not i didn't get that far

[ihaveastorminme]

Her uncle’s craggy face showed his pain plain. He ran his fingers through his thick grey hair. “Will he see me?” She nodded. “He says he is too sick to fight.” Brynden Blackfish chuckled. “I am too old a soldier to believe that. Hoster will be chiding me about the Redwyne girl even as we light his funeral pyre, damn his bones.” Catelyn smiled, knowing it was true.

case in point. tullys, in Looking. you all have more quiet family dynamics, but they must be Observed.

[lightspren]

Ok so I keep freaking out about if I can actually do this dog thing, if I’m actually enough. I love this dog dearly but i’m so exhausted all the time and that’s made worse this weekend by being sick. and I know that love is not enough to give a dog what she needs to be happy and healthy.

however. look. my big concerns are not being able to give her the exercise and stimulation she needs and wanting to be able to just Chill and cuddle my spouse and cats in calmness. and like. she’s almost certainly a great pyrenees mix. Relatively (as in, relative to other dogs I like, aka shepherds), she doesn’t need that much exercise. A good run in the yard a few times a day should do her, especially once she’s not so much of a puppy. And that’s the thing too— she’s a puppy. She’s excitable and chewy and a Lot because she’s 12mos old and still growing up. that takes time. and the cats are unhappy and won’t come cuddle— because she’s been here four days! they’re still adjusting!

i really need to take a step back and calm down. four days is not long enough to throw in the towel on this. she’s a puppy and we’re all adjusting but there is room in our lives for her. we can do this. i just need to fucking chill for maybe like five minutes and understand that this is an adjustment for the humans too, and that’s okay. I just need to chill.

[quaranmine]

to lighten the mood a bit i will offer these two photos of my other cat, rory. he likes to sleep in the dog's bed <3

[wishing4nuclearwinter]

*banging pots and pans* FALLOUT NEEDS MUTATED CATS

introducing Varmint’s lifelong companion that will surely outlive them, Admiral “The Guppy” Socks (other nicknames include- but are not limited to- Addie, Guppies, Munch, and Soccer Ball)

[sanchoyo]

aqua is so funny shes a robot but she does not have 'artificial intelligence' she has NO intelligence (respectfully and lovingly but its true) shes the group tank so all of her programming is geared towards fighting. if she became a 'real' girl she'd immediately go sign up for pro wrestling or something tho bc she like. does kind of enjoy fighting (but has to hold back a lot bc she is VERY good at Fighting so theres not many ppl she'd feel great about going 100% of her strength on, and has mostly no-kill* parameters in place. so. her ideal fighting would be as a hobby when theres no stakes! bc she hates when ppl are fighting verbally and for the sake of war/destruction, but enjoys physical fighting, like recreationally!) .....but like... if you asked her to do some multiplications or help with calculations on something (because assuming a girl with a computer in her head would be good at that is a normal assumption, I think) she would give you a thousand yard stare and you can hear her internal fans whirring as shes frantically opening the internet in her head to google whatever you just asked as fast as possible. heaven forbid she doesnt have wifi and is outed as having No Braincells 😔

[bog--unicorn]

happy half-birthday to my dingo baby!! dapple dog is 6 months old today

[stumblngrumbl]

i often carry Esme up from the chicken coop in the evening (her curfew). she prefers to ride the human rather than be carried - pretty much complains non-stop if i carry her but she's happy to sit on my shoulder with her paws over my forearm the entire distance (about 110m)

[save-the-villainous-cat]

Alright everyone STOP sending prompts so that she can work through the ones she has already 🙄

(this is a joke)

[chuchuscoolhat]

Is Chuuya a cat guy asking for maybe a cat girl or no

❝ Nah, I'm more of a dog kinda person. If I had the time, I'd take nine of them but as how things are going, I'd rather give that chance to someone else. ❞ Money wasn't an issue after all, yet even he was aware that things like that couldn't just be solved with money or cheap love. With arms sprawled around the back of the sofa, he throws his head back as his gaze wanders lost in the ceiling, pondering for a bit about the poster of puppies he saw hanged on the town's headboard not too long ago. Call it a longing for some sense of normalcy in his life or perhaps something tied to that unconscious aptitude he had for protecting . Caring . It didn't end up mattering much as it all ended up feeling strangely finite and distant.

Tilting his head slightly to the side, he looks up from under his hat at Ashmi's eyes ❝ However by the look in your eyes, somethin' tells me you are searching for another answer, doll. ❞

[mortemcatabasis]

OC redesign for @krembearry that i did 4 funzies