#shelti rambles

[sheltershock]

I just unlocked Eight’s palette yesterday and the additional challenge placed on this run specifically is really interesting from a story perspective with what was set up earlier in the DLC. So I ended up typing up this little essay on the intersection of gameplay and themes in Side Order. Slight spoilers under the cut!

Eight so far hasn’t gotten much attention at all in Side Order. Which makes sense for a silent protagonist, but I couldn’t help but see the narrative parallels with the gameplay associated with Eight’s run. Side Order is about confronting the fear of change and the fantasy of living in a bland, but safely controlled world of order. Marina gets a lot of guilt from the Memverse getting all messed up with her constant apologies, but maybe her desires and the ones of engineers aren’t the only key players in the development of Order and its takeover. 

It’s revealed in the Dev Diaries that Eight was always intended to be the first subject in the Memverse project. Which inherently makes her special since the tower’s creation at some point took her specifically in consideration. But then when everything goes wrong, Eight is trapped there. Even when you beat the DLC and can leave the Memverse, it’s always your player character that transitions between spaces, not Eight. And sure, (a piece of) her soul is trapped in the program, but so are Deep Cut’s, and all of them are able to give the pre- and post-run news report about the situation in Inkopolis. So why is Eight unable to leave the space? 

What I was surprised to find was that Eight’s palette wasn’t actually inside locker 36 like the game implied, but it was revealed that her palette was the lockers themselves. Like, all 36 of them. And even Marina calls out that it's “kinda weird.” Afterwards, the extra challenge of the final run reveals itself, a run with minimal hacks. The more hacks you have enabled, the less chip slots you are afforded. In order to have access to all thirty-six chip slots in Eight’s palette, you need to have zero hacks enabled, which resets you back to where you were in the beginning of the DLC after the tutorial run. 

The thing that got me thinking about how interesting this was from a narrative perspective is that this challenge is really hard. It’s very difficult, in fact, at time of writing I have not beaten it and I’ve played for multi-hour sessions. But this difficulty switch actually reflects the themes of the DLC, and possibly how Eight feels and what she’s experiencing. 

At the beginning of the game, the tower is chaotic and scary. You don’t know about the floors or their properties and the chips you can get are random. You don’t know what awaits you on that next floor and that could make you entirely start again from the beginning. And that’s exactly the fear that Octolings have about going to the surface. They are completely starting over at a game that they don’t know the rules of, or if there are any rules at all. 

But then there’s the introduction of the hacks. The hacks are a valuable and life changing modification to the challenges and randomness ahead. You want more lives? Sure! Take less damage? Go for it! More upgrades for the drone? The more the merrier! Are the prices at the vending machine more expensive? Here, have a discount! Oh, you don’t like challenges or the chips available for this floor? Just hand over some coins and we’ll spin the roulette again! You can even reveal the bosses ahead of time and reroll what you get if you don’t want a certain one. Runs get easier, and more forgiving. And as you get further, the tower gets safer, more secure. More controllable. If you know what you’re doing, you can even manipulate the entire program to get solely what you want. 

Except your memories. 

As a player, you have to fully clear the tower eleven times before even unlocking Eight’s palette. Which matters because once you’ve cleared it eleven times with different loadouts, you become pretty familiar with the mechanics and might even have reliable plans for specific floors. And that’s without the hacks. The tower becomes routine at that point, and with all the hacks, it’s likely you plan trips to specific vending machines on certain floors. I remember having specific membux amounts I wanted to reach and trying to save up to spend on floor fifteen. You watch your in-game timer on levels start to decrease and feel a bit of pride when the happy clear music plays and you see the little “updated!” next to your time. You know your way around the tower now. 

And Eight gets that experience too. Eight also experiences the repetition of each successful and unsuccessful run. The tower becomes familiar to her too, and maybe, comfortable. Eight gets to climb the tower, again and again, with her friends in an environment that she understands and can reasonably control. Pearl even has a line sometimes when you start a floor that echoes this sentiment, “let's hurry this up so we can go hang out with Marina and Acht some more!” And isn’t that the perfect fantasy for a freed Octoling? An environment of freedom, with a little spontaneity for spice? To be able to hang out with people you like, and aid each other in battle where the greatest punishment is that you get to enjoy this all again? Nobody controls you or tells you what to do. You call the shots. You pick the floors. You snap your fingers and decide how hard you want this to be. 

And that’s exactly what Order stands for, an unchanging, safe world. Born from the wishes of the Memverse’s engineers, ironically standing in the way of the point of the program. At least, that’s what Smollusk said. But this is a world that Marina designed, with Eight as an intended subject. Not the only, but an intended subject. The person who was supposed to be saved first, ended up to be the last you find to save. Interesting. But maybe Order came to life specifically from Eight’s desire.

Eight is special. When you reach the top of the tower and face Smollusk with Eight’s palette, it recognizes it. “At wast[last]!,” it says, “you finawwy bwought me THAT Palette!” And it even calls Eight out by name. Smollusk doesn’t have dialogue calling out or even recognizing specific palettes you’re using, but it recognizes Eight’s. And the thing separating the palettes from the player is the lockers, a piece of Eight’s soul itself, may represent Eight’s desire to stay. The reason to keep playing is because everyone’s palettes are locked in a piece of Eight’s soul, tucked away. Because if the lockers weren’t there, then it would be significantly easier to reconfigure everyone’s palette. And easier means faster. 

All of this would make the necessity of minimal hacks symbolic. Eight’s palette is resistant to Marina’s hacking, which serves two purposes for the narrative. One, it makes the game harder, which makes it harder to walk away from. If it takes one hundred attempts to clear that tower with minimal hacks, then that’s one hundred more repetitions experienced before it all has to eventually end. It’s another form of the lockers, extending the time of the evitable. 

Its second symbolic purpose is that Eight has to let go of her grasp of control and embrace chaos to reach the top and reconfigure her palette. And it’s hard. Both mechanically like previously mentioned, but it also makes you feel Eight’s frustration with embracing chaos. Disabling my extra shields and damaged swim speed and extra lives, going back to the hardest, least controlled phase of the game feels bad. Embracing that chaos is difficult. Just like how it would be for Eight. 

But it is possible, it’s just a slow climb up. Floor by floor. Facing nearly impossible challenge after nearly impossible challenge. And while you have the option to skip, it’ll cost you. But prices are much higher, the hits you can take are much more expensive, and you move much slower. But you still have your friends. Even if they can’t help you hack your way to the top, or drop five consecutive bombs, they’re still there for you. Keeping the elevator warm, and helping you resist gravity. Maybe they can’t exactly be much of help going up, but Eight’s friends can help her from falling back down. A team of four. How fitting. 

Now, I haven’t cleared Eight’s palette yet, I’ve already mentioned this. And the 2/3 secret Dev Diaries I got doesn’t spark confidence about learning more about Eight, unfortunately. And I’ve accidentally been slightly spoiled that she doesn’t get her memories back which is disappointing. I wish there was more specific emphasis placed on the characters in the DLC, to be honest. But as I was playing I noticed this little ludonarrative happening with Eight’s run that I thought was super interesting and probably the closest I’m going to get for Eight development for the DLC. I haven’t played the first or second game(I didn’t have the hardware at the time), I just watched them and I heard that the memcakes in Octo Expansion actually reveal Eight’s personality so I’m going to have to read those, because I haven’t. But I like Eight, and I liked this neat little unspoken story going on in Side Order, like the agent herself. 

[moonlightperseus]

911 Characters + dogs you think they should own

okay im sooo sorry it's taken me so long to reply to this but i wanted to really mull it over and i've been thinking about it a lot and i've come up with a basic list for the main chars (+ a few that are Main In My Heart) i've paired off the canon couples since they would be getting the dog together.

bobby (and athena, but i'm putting bobby specifically because athena is allergic to dogs and thus this is His dog) - Chinese crested dog (i originally was debating between bichon and toy poodle but then i saw the error of my ways) bobby rescues this older, a little bit in need of some tlc chinese crested and it's perfect because they're a pretty hypoallergenic breed (the hairless ones at least, which is what bobby rescues), athena is hesitant about the dog at first,

henren - golden retriever / mix, i know they had a smaller dog in the past but personally i think they should have a medium/large dog next, a rescue who is a little older (past puppyhood/young adult bc hooo boy you don’t need a puppy and a baby at the same time), idk if it’s a full golden or a mixed breed with some golden in it but it’s a very even tempered fluffy dog who’s a total sweetheart (if sometimes a little stubborn about moving… i’m not speaking from any person experience what are you talking about)

madney - staffy mix, okay i’m giving credit to maddie (@thebuckley-hans) for getting me on the madney getting a staffy agenda and also the wonderful staffy mix at my work who is an ANGEL. again they rescue a little older of a dog (bc i am NOT subjecting my blorbos to puppy & young child i’m not doing that!!!! getting a puppy when you have a baby is a trend that needs to die out imo <3 why would you subject yourself to that On Purpose)

bonus for madney - i also think they should get a boston terrier, maybe a little later when jee is a little more grown up, bc hooo boy bostons can be fucking wild but i have a soft spot for bostons and also THE madney ep... boston... yeah

eddie - english bulldog. this is based on approx nothing except for the fact that we had our bulldog regular, George, at work recently and i thought it would be funny if eddie somehow ended up with a bulldog and i’ve been stuck on this concept ever since

buck - irish wolfhound. this is absolutely me projecting my captivation on the breed that ive had for so long (my original want for him was a newfoundland, for uh, similar reasons, but i feel soooooo bad putting on in california) i just think he should have a Real Big Dog (as @scattered-winter has put it, a dog that could just lie on him and be like a weighted blanket)

ravi - okay i have two VERY different vibes for ravi that i cannot decide between. one is a border collie, theyre... very intense but i think he would go all in on the training, it might be a little challenging with his long shifts though, they dont do well with being left alone/boredom but he could have a pettsitter situation. now on the COMPLETE OPPOSITE END OF THE SPECTRUM, i could also see ravi with a little spoiled purse dog, i'm thinking lhasa apso? (am i biased bc one of my dogs is supposedly 20% lhasa, maybe) i think he would would dote on that dog sooo hard and spoil her and she have little spa days and maybe her and bobby's dogs are friends......

lucy - shetland sheepdog. i cannot explain it but i got it in my head of her having sheltie(s) and its stuck like glue. she just has the Sheltie Person Vibe I CANT EXPLAIN IT

may - mixed breed as a bonus i think may should have a scruffy lil mixed breed, not small small but like medium small. just a scrungley guy (maybe a cairn terrier mix?)

okay yeah!! i think this is it!! apologies again for the long ass ramble and the delayed response but i thought about this a lot and im just!!! thank you for this ask!!!

[spayedbutstillabitch]

Puppy 2020 update: back to the drawing board?

Smooth collie puppy isn’t working out, for various reasons. I went and saw them today, which of course was torturous because they’re all adorable and perfect, but their mother (whom I was also meeting for the first time) doesn’t have the temperament we’re looking for. On top of that, my mom and sister left feeling congested, so it seems like allergies would be a problem (which I wasn’t anticipating)... Quite the bummer! Now we’re broadening the search a bit, exploring a couple other breeds we thought about previously. Updates to come! I really should stop anouncing things preemptively... Perhaps I will just wait until I actually have the puppy lol

[novathesheltie]

Ugh. I totally feel like I'm wasting Nova's potential. He's sooooo eager to please and learns really quickly, he's got the mind set of a really good obediance dog imo. And like he also could be a really good agility dog bc he got the smarts and the speed for it. And I feel like I'm not doing/good enough to reach his full potential. I'm too much of a dog sport noob aND a full time college student w limited budget and time. This post is nothing but me complaining again

[sgdlr]

highkey wish i didnt have to explain i have a legitimate fear of dogs and people could just accept that others dont like dogs (for any reason) without trying to convince them dogs are good

[skeleton-tea-parties]

my dad took the cutest pic of me and ewan ❤

[fjordfolk]

how can i most efficently choose the right dog breed for myself? is there even a way?

NOPE!

i think you get pretty far by having a general idea of what type of dog you like. sort the ones that appeal to you in their own category. and then go process of elimination on that list.

i personally went through and cut out the ones that wouldn’t thrive in my day-to-day life. i weighed health risks. picked which challenges/downsides i’d rather chance having to deal with (barking, shedding, shyness, same-sex aggression, those sorts of things)

and then... i gave into my already years-old sheltie bias and went for it.

also, you obviously shouldn’t pick a breed solely based on looks, but that doesn’t mean it’s in any way wrong to have aesthetics as a factor and find a breed that also visually appeals to you.

i think it’s helpful to consider the difference between what you can do with your dog and what you will do with your dog (i can hike 3-5 hours a day, i’m not going to though)

there’s nothing wrong with choosing a common breed, especially if its your first dog. common breeds are often common for a reason. for me, i found that a larger selection made it easier to make demands and set my standards and expectations higher.

and two things to end this ramble on: the first is that it’ll always be easier to make a dog fit your lifestyle if the things it enjoys will be things you also enjoy. i enjoy hiking but only did it on the weekends, so i got a medium energy dog that was likely to be off-leash trainable.

and finally, it’s amazing how much you can make work if you decide that you’re going to make it work.

if you've read this and feel wiser, congrats. i don't!

[silver-lily-louise]

Dogs I met today:

- a very soggy, very friendly cockapoo

- an adorable old staffie with a greying muzzle

- an absolutely BEAUTIFUL sheltie

- a nervous but adorable crossbreed

- Amber, the springer spaniel who was so aptly named with her gorgeous coat

- a small black terrier my dog couldn't get enough of

- a four-month-old (!!!) rottweiler

Special mention: the tiny chestnut horse who was so calm and so beautiful.

IT WAS A VERY GOOD DAY.

[crystu-cii]

XDD

I f e e l that pain in my soul-- my older sister uses cologne sometimes and it is sO STRONG AND WILL NOT STAY CONFINED TO HER ROOM-- AMD SOMETIMES SHED DO IT IN THE DOORWAY LIKE HELLO-- XDD

YEAH WH GET SOME SLEEP LEAVE THE STAYING UP TO US-- XDD

YES BABY JAIL, INTO THE UPSIDE DOWN LAUNDRY BASKET YOU KNIFE-WIELDING HEATHEN-- XDD oms XDD well I don't know them but I love them- YESSS THEYRE SO FLUFFY-- I'm actually curious what images pop up first imma check-- FLUFFY PUPPIES-- we've actually never owned ones that fluffy(those actually look more similar to shetland sheepdogs than the shelties we've had so far?? Very similar/similar enough where if someone doesn't know a sheltie we mention shetland sheepdogs), our current one is a purebred that we got for free(she was being given away bc her family never came back for her and the lady taking care of her couldn't afford the time to take care of a second dog long-term think) and she's got pretty short fur in comparison- still fluffy enough, but not quite so long of fur-- she's a blue merle(absolutely gorgeous fur, she's like 8 now with a lot of health problems but she's super loving still 💕💞) anyways about the fur, so long as you brush regularly you should mitigate most of that, and it mostly collects in corners- but like.. be prepared to eat and wear dog fur for the rest of your life-- (actually there's a thing called a fur zapper we bought recent that you put in with your clothes when you wash/dry them(I think it's dry but idk??) that's supposed to get a lot of hair off your clothes in that process? Also lint rollers are your best friend--) AND roombas are really helpful(we bought a knockoff one and rarely have to sweep ever so 👀) XDD WHEEZE I can't even imagine what you did-- but like you could ask for a budgie/parakeet /hj I mean, they aren't very expensive (actually they're pretty cheap) but they're very loud, need a lot of attention(especially if you want them to bond to you!) and you need to research into them a lot to make sure you're doing things right-- loads of vids online!! Loads of websites too!!! I'd know I have one- JUST A WARNING, FEATHERS AND SEED HULLS GET ALL OVER YOUR FLOOR XD p l u s like you have a friend who knows stuff about birbs :3 anyways ENOUGH RAMBLING FROM ME WOW THAT GOT LONG--

💕💕 I feel that XD OMS-- I WISH-- WHAT A D R E A M - s n a k - Awww but what a mood XD

XDDD oms YES-- EXACTLY-- XDDDD another good thing you should try eventually is SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE WHICH IS APPARENTLY DELICIOUS??? I TRIED IT FOR THE FIRST TIME(AT LEAST IN A WHILE) TODAY AND IT WAS SO FUCKIN TASTY????

H E A THEN-- XDD how cool of them to try tho :3 whEEZE Y 'A LL-- XDD

WHEEZE I SUCK WITH INSTRUMENTS SOOOO-- DAMN THA'S SOME BAD LUCK MY DUDE-- MAYBE YOU'RE CURSED DAMN-- oms wOWW--

Yesss-- ooh I've never played 👀 seen some stuff but never played-- (see: my computer sucks XD) I h a v e played Portal 1 and it is SO GOOD and SO SHORT and I WISH I HAD GOTTEN PORTAL 2 INSTEAD BUT THATS OKAY CRIES-- YESSSS THE SONGS SLAP--- ALSO THERE ARE ACTUALLY TWO WHOLE MORE CANON(PROBABLY KINDA MAYBE NOT?? IDK) SONGS, ONE FROM A LEG DIMENSIONS GAME("You Wouldn't Know") AND ONE THAT WAS CUT FROM PORT TWO("Don't Say Goodbye"(Harry101UK made an edit to make it Glados' voice!!)) THERE ARE ALSO A BUNCH OF GOOD FAN SONGS SO YEAH-- ALSO NOT TO BE A SIMP BUT GLADOS' VOICE? PERFECTION. I LOVE HER. ALSO I COULD LITERALLY DETAIL THE PORTAL LORE I AM INCREDIBLY EMOTIONALLY INVESTED IN THIS GAME-- ALSO THERES A CLIP THAT SOMEONE MADE USING A (VERY GOOD) GLADOS TTS TO HAVE GLADOS SAY TRANS RIGHTS AND ENBY RIGHTS AND IF I FIND IT AGAIN ILL SEND IT TO YOU-- YOU COULD PROBABLY FIND IT IF YOU LOOM UP GLADOS SAYS TRANS RIGHTS? IT HAS A VIDEO WITH TRANS FLAG COMPANION CUBES ACCOMPANYING IT-- ALSO YES THE PORT MODS(/ADD-ONS? MAYBE? THEY'RE COMMUNITY MADE I THINK BUT IDK ALL I KNOW IS THAT THEYRE COOL AF--) (also I apologize for all the screaming? XD it's like, four am and I was talking about portal so.. whoops?)

Right like wth???? I???? Okay but like December to February babies just fuckin DONT EXIST IN THIS GEN OR SOMETHIN-- CAUSE I FIND N O N E -- Maybe there are more December babies but there are definitely like NO January to February babies it is So Weird--

NEJFQOBGKW WOWW d an g like-p l e a se s t op over sp r aying-- xD and LEGITTTT LIKE- THAT WAS M Y ROLE TO STAY UP LATE- XDD

WHEHEHEZE- LAUNDRY BASKET TIME- G E T I N XDD anD YESS- any doggo is just such a cute doggo 😭💞💞 but for me- fLUFFY ONES ARE WHERE ITS A T- and ohhhh i see- FOR FREE?? W H A T A S T E A L XDD but awwww the poor doggg at least she's with you now ! ;0;; 💞💞😭 aaw such a lovable puppup 😭😭💞 and oHHH i see :00 but oh no- xD i also have a friend that has two dogs and whenever he would give me gifts- there would be dog hair on them no matter what- XDD and ooOhhh those sound really helpful! omg- i swear i dont have to have a pet for the need of a roomba- i already shed so much hair myself its so crazy-- xDD and oH MAN loud animals are really gon get my mom fired up- and OO birds just look so cuteee i always fantasize of having one- but then again- with the noise and all xD the more i think about it i dont think we are prepared to have a pet at all xD but i still dream of at least having one pet in my lifetime!

and OO that sounds awesome!! i have no clue if i even tried casserole before- man- sometimes i just eat food without even knowing wth it is XDDD but THAT SOUNDS so gooodddd :O

and LEGITT LIKE- TF IS HAPPENING WITH MY SCHOOL LIFE- XDD and oh my god- IT GETS WORSE- that year there was a FREAKINGG FIREEEEEEE- it wasnt that dangerous thank god- but it had to get a whole ass room renovated because of it- and guess what room it was- THE ORCHESTRA ROOM- AND GUESS WHAT M A D E I T W OR SE- that year- it was the first time the school replaced those 10+ year old instruments with new ones- NOW THEYRE B U R N T- and mind you that the school's budget isnt so- gr e a t- like oh my god i am still so bewildered over HOW MUCH chaos HAPPENED that year- and i thought that year was gon be the year- yknow? like UGH

and OHH MANN playing portal sounds awesome! but i just dont think the game would be worth my money cause i know the plot- and even with the mods and all my brain would be broken as i would possibly have no clue what to do- xDDD

and HOOOO MANNN game fan songs are just so AWESOMEEE- and those sound pretty cool! :OO and HOLY SHIT FUCK YEAH- GLADOS SAYS TRANS AND ENBY RIGHTS Y A LL- now im gonna look that up and let my ears be blessed by such words- XDDD and DONT WORRY BOUT SCREAMING ALOT- i scream a whole dam lot too XDD

and LEGITTT- finding someone's b-day in january and feb is so rare all of a sudden like wh a t - XDD

[sheltershock]

I finally had an hour or two yesterday to try out Side Order! I love how everything looks! Watching Eight’s colors shift is so fun! And her ink is glittery!!!

This is amazing. The aesthetic is immaculate.

[owocrime]

he aaAAAAAAA

[justslowdown]

Hey! I love all your dogs, and I'm really excited to see how your plans progress! Since you have a working-line sheltie, I was wondering if I could prod you for the differences between a show sheltie and herding sheltie! Is Kiwi more energetic than a show-line, and does he have a good off switch? If I'm not mistaken, you're aiming for more moderate all-rounders, so I'm curious as to how Kiwi can contribute to that!

Ty for the question :) Since there aren't real working lines around anymore, he's more like a composite of different show and sport lines that have proven they've got good nerve and some natural herding instinct. Aside from having really stable, bombproof, steady temperaments (side eyeing all the fear issues in show shelties...) and somewhat higher drives, I'd say her dogs are probably pretty similar.

My impression seeing Kiwi and her other shelties herd, compared to border collies and English shepherds at the same trial, is that they're more methodical and less "in drive" (though Kiwi's is really coming in strongly now!). They don't have the intensity on any level that a border collie does.

That was a must for me... an all around farm dog without the mega drives, energy, and arousal level a really high performing herding or sport dog needs. His breeder is on the board of The American Working Farmcollie Association and is focused on dogs who can be pets or all-arounders on a small farm, not ones who could handle a big cattle operation or anything.

And part of why she picked Kiwi in particular for me is that he's not "a lot of dog," like his sister who's in an agility home. He's just a chill dude who's happy to be my working partner if I ask. And so goofy. I love how he doesn't take things seriously!

Regarding energy level and off switch, he's impressing me considering he's 10 months! Kiwi is just an easygoing, sweet, gentle boy who wants to be with me, doing whatever I'm doing. He loves to have a good play, herding, or training session, and is so bouncy and goofy when he does, very happy go lucky. But he sobers up when we go inside and likes to just hang out too. If we're not snuggling I do need to keep him busy with chew toys til he falls asleep so he doesn't eat my rugs, lol. But that's just a teen puppy thing. And he's SO polite when we're in public! A lot of it is early socialization and training but I think a lot is genetic too. He takes everything in stride.

That was a ramble but I haven't talked about his personality much on here yet. I'm really lucky to have ended up with him.

[drbobbimorse]

Any new headcanons for YOUR The West Wing plot bunny? ;) haha

Okay, this is literally 3-4 months late so I’m sorry but here we go:

Headcanons under the cut!

☆ Karen Lorraine Landingham was seven when her older twin brothers died in Vietnam. As a result, her parents became very protective and smothered her a bit but she didn’t begrudge them (once she was old enough to understand it; she resented them so much as a teen in the late 1970s and early 80s). The trade-off of being raised so protectively meant that her dreams of joining the Air Force and following in her USAF Major father’s footsteps had been immediately quashed when she was quite young

☆ Because of Jed’s influence, she speaks four languages. The one she uses frequently around Jed is French because it’s one of the languages he can’t speak. He berates her for it constantly, which she just mockingly responds to in French

☆ WH interns jokingly call her the “Ice Queen” but Secret Service refers to her as “Buckeye” when she travels with the First Family or the President, which isn’t often but is often enough

☆ She married young but, after a series of miscarriages and a stillbirth, her marriage became extremely strained. She and her husband, Ben, divorced two years prior to her mother’s death (so pre-s1) after discovering he was having an affair. They’d been living in New York but, after the divorce, Karen moved to DC and lived with her mother for a bit. After becoming President, Jed offered to have Ben “taken out” but Karen refused claiming, “No thanks. I’d rather he die an agonizing death drawn out over many months, maybe years, with a multitude of unfortunate side effects. If you could get the CDC on it...”

☆ Karen isn’t very politically minded so, whenever someone from the staff starts to ramble at her about whatever situation is going on (lbr, its always gonna be Josh and Sam), she typically either tells them to shut up or that she’s not listening and just walks away (except for Jed and Leo cause, obviously)

☆ Avid baker and chef, she studied in some of the best culinary schools and opened her own restaurant in DC (in s4). She’s the one who makes the cookies in the glass container on her mother’s desk and, even after she died and her restaurant opened, she still baked and managed to deliver a batch for that container every other week

☆ The Bartlett family always eat free at her restaurant, which the WH staff complains about to no end and try to bribe her to get on the ‘eat free’ list. The only time this works is when Zoe is abducted and she closes the restaurant in order to cook for the staff working around the clock

☆ Animal lover, Karen learned how to ride horses on Jed’s family farm and helped teach his daughters. She fosters cats and dogs regularly and adopted a sheltie, Lenny

☆ She and Jed are very close and he’s actually her godfather. Karen was born a few years after he first met her mother and the two stayed in touch after he started at Notre Dame; as Dolores and her husband were only children, she decided Jed, despite his young age, was the best possible person to name godfather to her daughter

☆ Winter is her favorite season so she eagerly awaits the first snowfall all year

☆ When her mother dies, Jed takes care of everything for the funeral for Karen – much to her protest. She ends up taking a month off prior to the opening of her restaurant to clean out her mothers house. Jed, Abby, Charlie and a few others of the WH staff stop by to help her whenever they can until the job is done

☆ Karen didn’t actually speak at her mother’s funeral service. She’s not religious like her mother was (a product of her “heathen years abroad”, according to Dolores) but she’d prepared a reading from the Bible for her. When the time comes, she can’t physically move or even speak from her grief so Charlie steps up to do it for her

☆ Out of everyone on the staff, Karen is probably closest to Charlie. Their friendship is very similar to that of Jed and Dolores’. They snark at each other and reassure one another, giving advice when need be

☆ Karen starts an odd friendship with Will Bailey when she finds out he’s in the Air Force reserves during poker night. She’d only heard about him in passing from Josh and CJ, and even helped orchestrate some pranks on him. But, as a child who grew up with an AF Major father, they find they have more common ground than initially thought

☆ She opts to put her life temporarily on hold (again) to help Jed. Poor Charlie mentioned so many times that Jed hadn’t hired a replacement for her mother, so she took it upon herself to temporarily take up the position. Jed has always been family to her and her mother, and she knows her mother would say he needs a Landingham woman to look after him, keep him on his toes

☆ When she gets (very rarely) wine drunk, all she wants to do it dance and do karaoke. At which point she will drag the nearest person she knows onto the stage to sing whatever she wants with her whether they like it or not

☆ Jed only calls the Butterball hotline on Thanksgiving after Karen tells him that he’s going to get his family and guests sick by not cooking his stuffing separately. He says he can cook it inside the turkey and it’ll be fine. He believes she’s wrong and aims to prove it. She is, of course, right and tells him that’ll teach him to question a professional chef

☆ Around the final season, Karen decides it’s finally time to fulfill her dream of flying and gets her pilots license and sets a goal of breaking the record for microlight aviation. The day she gets her license, she drags Will up with her to help him get over his fear of flying. He proposes when she hits 20,100 feet; she says yes

☆ At their wedding, Jed gives Karen away but the topic of who will be the maid of honor and best man is the subject of much debate and betting around the WH staffers. Ultimately, Karen and Will decide to keep their party small with just one apiece and everyone loses the bet since her “maid” of honor is Charlie while Will’s best “man” is his sister

☆ The fact that she’s a staunch Independent drives everyone in the WH mad to no end. Most of them question her on this and try to argue with her about her position, to get her to switch to the Democrat side, but she never budges. Surprisingly enough, Ainsley is the only one who doesn’t bother her about “switching teams”

[poop4u]

And The Results Are In!

#Poop4U

But first …

Today is the 6th Addyversary of The Pants flying in from sunny California to make my life even more chaotic than it was before (which is sayin’ something!)

This itty bitty shitty TWIT whom I love more than anything is perpetually naughty, has a weird and twisted ongoing deathwish and is the snuggliest, cutest, most adorable thing to ever happen to me.

HAPPY ADDYVERSARY!

My plan was do a whole blog post a la … the me of yesteryears, but I have come to the conclusion that it’s pointless trying to take photos of the dogs around here because there are no lovely woodlined paths or lovely fall colours to frame them, just a bunch of dead grass. And taking them all somewhere is an exercise is SHEER FRUSTRATION. And I have only two days off a week now because I gave up dogwalking and got a “real” job that has stupid, hateful hours and The Food Lady is unaccustomed to fitting in all the things she has to do in two tiny stupid windows called “days off.” Jobs suck and I hate them. I will be forever bitter that I can’t just photograph things all day long and make a kabillion dollars doing it. Or at least a good living.

Anyway, I wish I could blog more, but it’s going to take some creative planning to get blog-worthy photos so there’s actually some content and not just me rambling on and on. So.

Now, the moment you have all been waiting for…

WHAT THE F*CK IS THE WOOTWOO?

What breed(s) are they?

Are they related?

Has this question kept you up nights for the past 10 years?

ALL IS REVEALED.

So despite coming from the same area of the province, with the same date of birth, and immediately taking to one another on first meeting and being basically inseparable for a decade, DNA suggests they aren’t related. DNA also suggests Wootie is made up largely of breeds that were apparently shrunk in the dryer prior to mating. Because I don’t know about you and where you come from, but where I come from, there are no 30lb Malamutes or Golden Retrievers. They do share some breeds in common, including Sheltie (which I guessed) and Collie (which I also guessed) as well as Cocker and GSD (which I never a million years would have guessed) but I was VERY surprised to learn there was no Aussie in Mr. Woo AT ALL! So … thoughts? Was it what you expected? Do you think the results are bunk? SPILL YOUR THOUGHT TANKS, B*TCHES!

Poop4U Blog via www.Poop4U.com The Food Lady, Khareem Sudlow

[mayatuks-catastrophe]

Here's my puppy who, despite playing with for hours today, still hasn't had enough of me

[eightbigpaws]

Dog breeds for your consideration: Azawakh Beagle Welsh Corgi Dalmatian Finnish Spitz Havanese Old English Sheepdog Pharaoh Hound Springer Spaniel

This is a lot of breeds (which I love! So many different ones!) and my tendency to ramble made this post very long so I am putting my answers under the cut.

Azawakh. Not going to lie. My first thought was: “Azawhatnow?”. Had to google this breed to make sure I don’t know it with some other Finnish name, but no. I have never seen one or even heard from one. 

That said, they look very nice. I like how slim and dry they look, I love the floppy ears and long neck. They look so regal. I really like this kind sighthound type.

Beagles are mad, in a good way. At least that is my experience, having only ever known working line hunting beagles. 

They are incredibly cute dogs who love to interact with their humans, but they are So. Excitable. And Loud. And stubborn. And active.

I don’t know how it is about “pet” beagles (or even if there are such dogs), but the working beagles are not for me. I couldn’t handle them in a way that would be satisfactory for both of us. But I love the beagles I know, and especially the beagleX that my best mate owns. Even if she is insane lil pup xD

Welsh Corgis are one of the few small dog breeds I would consider owning. In general I am not one for small breeds (nothing bad, just personal preference for bigger dogs), but Welsh Corgis are just different. Yes, they look funny with their stumpy little legs and loafy body, and I can’t help but feel bit worried about that, but the Corgis I have seen seem to walk just fine and be perfectly healthy dogs. (based purely on looks, I have slight preference for Cardigans over Pembrokes).

I would file them under “maybe one day after more research” breeds. 

Dalmamatians are lovely looking dogs. However I am going to be honest with you: I am terrified of them, one of the few bigger breeds I am scared of. When I was about 15, I was walking my sheltie, and we were attacked by completely untrained, uncontrolled dalmatian. I had to kick it into head to get it away from my sheltie while the owner stood on the side, wringing her hands and telling me over and over how “he doesn’t usually do that.” 

Love watching them from afar and pictures, but please don’t bring them close to me.

As Finnish person, I have certain fondness to all our native breeds, and Finnish Spits is one of my favorites among them. They are cute and fluffy, but also really strong dogs. I kinda feel like it is no wonder they are our national breed xD They are stubborn and loud. They are quite brave, I have never met one that was shy of strangers, but they weren’t very warm to outsiders right away, which I personally like in dog.

I would like one, one day, but I think I won’t, in all honesty. They bark a lot, and while I don’t mind occasional barking, I think I’d get frustrated by their nature.

I have only ever seen couple Havannese. I don’t really like small dogs that much, and the ones I saw did not endear the breed to me, being yappy, pushy and spoiled. I think those cases were more to blame the owner than the dog if we are honest, and I am sure they are lovely dogs to those who they suit for, but they are not my cup of tea.

If nothing else, the grooming of that long hair would drive me crazy.

My aunt had Old English Sheepdogs when I was kid and teenager. They were absolutely gorgeous dogs, and I used to love their long, fluffy hair and their super gentle temperaments. They spent a lot of time on the couch my aunt had devoted as their bed and inside they were so calm and silent. But when you took them outside to play, they were all go go go, and it was great! I thought they only came in white-and-grey, like my aunts dogs, but apparently they also come in fully white and fully grey, or white and brownish-grey (lilac?).

I love herding breeds, and OESDs are one of my definite favorites, but I doubt I’d ever get one. I don’t enjoy grooming enough to get long haired dog of my own.

Pharaoh Hounds are so lovely looking dogs! I really enjoy the slim body, pointy face and big ears. And I am weak for their pinkish noses! I have never met one, and I only learned of their existence couple of years back, but I really like how they look.

I don’t know enough of them to say more than that though.

Springer Spaniel are one of my favorite spaniels. I have never known any, however. They are pretty common where we live, and I see some around, especially in “dog forest”. I love how they are bit bigger than Cockers, and I like Welsh Springers slightly more than English Springers, based purely on how they look.

I must admit, however, spaniels are not my favored type of dogs, and I doubt I’d ever get one.