Power Children

I am currently fostering a litter of five kittens. They are taking up a lot of time that could go to sketching, but I’m fairly certain no one will complain over cat pics while I let my brain percolate on what to write for the latest Momentum sketches. (Which, once again, you can find on Twitter during the lull between sketching and my write-ups. Visiting my media tab lets you directly access the best stuff - aside from sketches, a bajillion kitten pics are there right now - without having to see all the tweets about how bad my life is.)

So, yeah… Hello, my name is Chrispy, and I have been fully conquered by kittens. I now exist to keep them happy, and serve as convenient kitten furniture.

I also make a great sparring partner.

…and a snack! Nibbling while fighting is efficient!

And I’m here to step in and rescue, if needed.

And it’s all worth it, because kittens are magical!

And very good at knocking me on my ass. But that is why nature made them so cute. One little sleepy blink and they earn forgiveness for child crimes!

One more pic before a not-so-adorable section:

***There’s HEAVY stuff ahead, so if you want to play by media tab rules, scroll to the next triple asterisk headline***

People of Twitter have been enjoying them (tho cuties THAT powerful topping out at, like, 5 likes total is a grim reminder of how much I’ve lost due to illness stopping my production) and none have picked up that my introduction to them specifically mentioned I was not meant to see them after their initial rescuing.

For me to end up with the kittens, something had to go wrong. And, ugh, it did in an especially vicious #ChrispyLuck way. My brother died. It was the scumbag one, not the good one, but that just adds an uncomfortable layer to everything. Even in a cold and dark scenario where I felt nothing about him, I love my mother, and being the one who had to inform her, since I was the one the police were able to reach, was one of the worst moments of my life.

True to form, Scumbro chose the time when everyone was stretched thin and to the breaking point. I was just beginning to come out of three months of doctor-caused hell, and the added stress was more than enough to cause a major setback in my recovery. Goodbro and his wife were both traveling, doing conferences for their jobs. My poor mother had just been through a week of memorial planning for dead family, as her stepmother passed away, so she was looking forward to a week of life and love. She was babysitting her granddaughter, and fostering the kittens - surrounded by good children. And it all came crashing down. Instead, my mother was driving from the northernmost tip of Virginia to Asheville, North Carolina, to sort out Scumbro’s affairs. Goodbro gave up his vacation and left his conference to fly down and beat my mother there, so he could handle the hardest parts of the process and protect her. Stepsister was doing, heh, crisis certification, which is needed for her job as an international aid worker - now she’s gotta hope nothing else goes wrong and she can get her certification at the next opening, or she won’t be able to return to Africa - and she had to find a way to Lyft herself across the state early in the morning to pick up her daughter. And I took over kitten fostering. So I have been using them as therapy animals, posting their cuteness to avoid talking about STUFF, cuz I doubt I’ll be able to handle the reaction to this news well.

We haven’t heard back about the autopsy stuff yet (big backlog plus non-priority), but our current theory is he tripped while taking out the recycling, fell, and hit his head. But, cuz our family is cursed, there’s an extra - and woefully familiar - layer. Scumbro had a nasty habit of “accidentally” injuring himself when pressure mounted for him to stop leeching off the family and get a job. This time he overdid it, and really messed up his back. His doctors refused to acknowledge his pain, leaving him desperate for relief. It’s entirely possible he was self-medicating to make up for American healthcare’s failure, and that’s why he lost his balance. Which has hit a berserk button across the family, considering my mother and I both have physical issues, and Scumbro’s treatment (plus his prior selfishness and lies that allow docs to justify sacrificing all good faith patients) brings up terror that we could easily be killed by callous docs. (I’m already halfway to death by callousness, and I meant atop the 8 years of docs botching things when I could have been stabilized at any time, thanks to insurance denying an authorization for the same med as always for a week, and I’ll need my doc to fix the schedule lapse!) Unlike Scumbro, we’re super goodie goodies, and have no ability to find alternate approaches. But lack of protection can destroy you either way, be it by going without, or self-medicating recklessly.

If you want to do anything to help, my brother was a huge animal lover. Instead of flowers, gifts, or cards/messages we definitely will struggle replying to, the family asks you donate to cat rescue orgs.

The group our family works with is the Community Cat Alliance. These are the people who will be taking over with the kittens soon, to give them checkups, vaccinations, neutering, and forever homes with loving families.

And you don’t have to do it for him. He was a piece of garbage malignant narcissist who hurt us deeply to and beyond his end. You can give because the kittens are adorable and worth it.

***And now it’s time to learn what a wonderful and quirky character each kitten is!!!***

Kittens again! These sweeties are here to brighten you day and provide needed therapy cuteness in these dark times. They’re great as a swarm, and charming as individuals. So let’s do a profile on each one!

Meet Rosie!

First name for her jack o’ lantern nose - nosey Rosie - she quickly became Rosie the riveting when she was always the first to separate and run out the door of the carrier/kitten room/etc. as our strong independent woman!

Then I noticed Rosie is the tiny runt of the litter.

She’s smol and gentle! She rests while the others play.

Why is Rosie always out front, leading the charge? Because she LOVES you. All Rosie wants is to be in your lap, or curled up on your knee, watching the sibling chaos.

And, yes, she joins in too. Just a runt doing runt things, but a healthy kitten who’ll kick ass when she wants.

Meet Linus!

Linus was named after the Peanuts character. The goodie goodie but also kinda smug brother.

What is Linus’ main feature? He’s a model.

This boy is ridiculously photogenic, even in situations where the camera shouldn’t be able to focus on him!

Any instagrammer out there want a clout-earning kitten? He’s a star!

And there are multiple “stepping over his siblings to get a good camera angle” pics out there. Star!

He’s the other “leader” type, with Rosie. (She also knows how to take a photo!) But he’s big and strong! Linus is Mr. Perfect.

Meet Deirdre!

Deirdre is a name that implies someone dark and sorrrowful - I used it for a very sunny and sweet Precocious character - and this girl got the name cuz she cries.

…and cries

…and cries

…and cries!

The girl has OPINIONS!

Yeah, she’s probably the smart one. The tortie trademark!

And she has standards, so don’t disappoint her!

Like the internet-famous Jean, she even has a Jorts…

Meet Tommy!

While Linus is a perfect model, Tommy has…character! His round head and always-a-little-sad eyes reminded me of some feral tomcats I’ve seen, and there’s him name!

But he quickly became our Tommy trainwreck!

He cries almost as much as Deirdre, but the reasons are often…different. He gets into trouble!

Or he gets confused and can’t figure out to join the others.

“How did I get myself into this situation?”

He’s perfect in his own way.

And no one can say he isn’t a photogenic dynamo too! (Ok, they all are. “Photogenic” as I’m using it is more about the percentage of pics I take of them that come out great. So it’s all A+ for everyone after I sort through the camera roll.)

Meet Harley!

When I first met the kittens, it was meant to a one and done - maybe babysitting for a couple hours where the kittens were, but that’s it. So I game them all first impression names, just to say I played a role with them! Harley (after Harley Quinn) is definitely my best name job.

She’s the wildest…

…AND the sweetest

A lot of “Look at me!” daredeviling.

And then she’s right there in my lap, cuddling away. Rosie just likes being there, but Harley is the sidekick who wouldn’t mind some approval.

So raise her right, future owner. She deserves the best!

Also note how her markings are like she had a head set with a view screen and a microphone. She’s either a gamer girl, or is taking a power reading on her scouter.

In summary, kittens rule, and I’ve taken so many pics that the favs are so numerous it was real hard locating certain pics. But it does mean I had many alternatives to choose from.

In truth, I’m way too disabled to do all this. I’m worn down with constant concentration, cuz my facial muscles are in full faceplosion. It’s been a nice distraction, but I’ll be ok when the kittens move on to a rescue center that, of all things, has a kitten SHORTAGE! (Red area that doesn’t try, versus a blue area that applied infrastructure to a feral cat issue, and it WORKED. Weird how that happens.)