a_sporking_rat | Entries tagged with announcement

I have a new mouse! His name is Stefan, he is white with black spots, and he is currently on the loose in the basement. He’s from the shelter, and not very tame at all, poor thing. This is his second escape. The first time, I got him back by putting his cage out on the floor, and he came back into it after a couple of days for food and water. Now though, he’s savvy to that trick. Poop evidence indicates he’s coming in for sustenance and wheel use, then leaving again. Smart little dude, eh?

Ramblings of a Creative Double Dipper is doing a spork on Merry Gentry: Seduced by Moonlight!
http://creativedoubledipper.blogspot.com/

While Dottie Smith and The Horned Doe are both sporking NiC!
http://eternaleve.wordpress.com/
http://tigergray.blogspot.com/

I tried to do a fic about the weretigers life post-SvS (aka post-Anita) but it didn’t really come along. Since I know some of you were as interested in various members of the tiger clans as I was, here’s what the idea was:

- The gold tigers go to live with the Red Clan in Seattle, as do Yiyu and Cynric

- Julia also leaves the White Clan to live with the Red, since she feels betrayed by her people for what they stood by and allowed Anita to do to her

- Padma reveals that, like the Harlequin, he’s been hiding a small colony of rare-color tigers of his own (including, gasp, POC ones among them!)

- Lucille and Maureen want to re-populate the near-extinct gold, blue, and black clans. While Lucille has no problem treating them like breeding stock the same way the Harlequin does, Maureen does take issue with it, and persuades Lucille to use more scientific means (probably calling on Ruthven for use of his labs again) with the project on the basis that it will work better that way anyway

- The sole other blue weretiger in the world is located and brought in for this. She has some relationship to Cynric, but it can’t be determined if she’s his mother, aunt, or sister. It is brought up she could be a combination of these, given the incest among the dwindling bloodlines that Anita hinted at once, and it is suggested that this incestuous tradition might be why Cynric was so accepting of fucking his mother-figure Anita (and how Anita is a shit for taking advantage of this on top of everything else)

- Since the golden tigers no longer need to be kept a secret, they can have active lives in the outside world instead of being cloistered away. Envy wants to get a job because she thinks it will be fun (the only reference for it she has being television) but she doesn’t have any sort of degree or even GED so her options are limited (I figure the Harlequin educated the tigers somewhat, but not much considering their whole purpose was to be bred like animals and given away like objects). Julia decides to help her out with her job search, and after Envy’s naivete with the world combined with being used to doing things in a more shifter-culture way (see: chasing down shop-lifters in tiger form) results in some wacky hijinx and hilarious mishaps, she ends up getting a job using her therian nose for a perfume company that wants to run a line of scents geared towards therians (to whom most perfumes probably smell terrible, or at least different from how humans smell them)

- Since Julia and Envy and, well, all of them are really lacking in canon personality, it was hard to write them but I tried to glean out what I could. From what little is in the text, I think they’re both supposed to be very feminine, as well as delicate despite their supernatural power. I see Julia’s femininity as more refined and princessy, Envy’s as more innocent (I think Envy is a lot more naive in general). They both come from isolationist backgrounds, but while Envy would have been totally cloistered away, Julia’s was simply probably sheltered in the way that most pureblood tigers are---interacting with the human world, but very much raised in their own. Eny’s sexual abuse at JC’s hands was also something she would have been trained from birth to accept, and was just another part of a lifetime of being treated as an object. Julia, on the other hand, would know completely how wrong what Anita did to her was, and it was possibly the first time she’d ever been treated that way (I’m going with the idea it was).

To get inspiration for them besides these bare bones, I turned to music. I had my mp3 player on shuffle, and decided that the first song it picked for my workout would be for Envy, and the last one would be for Julia. Eny got “I Like Giants” by Kimya Dawson, so I decided that she’s really psyched about immersing herself in the world and discovering just how HUGE it is, and in turn realizing how small she is. And she actually takes comfort in feeling dwarfed and insignificant, since a lifetime of being treated as this precious treasure and the hope of her species’ future has been a lot on her shoulders. For Julia, I got “Opheliac” by Emilie Autumn, so I decided that, since she can’t take revenge on Victor and Anita (I think I killed Victor in SvS, and Anita, while alive, sort of has the mark of Cain on her from Lucy and Maureen so no one like Julia kills her for her crimes and ruins the punishment that is living as a normal non-special person) she’s bitter towards her entire Clan for letting them do that to her, and, now that she’s away from the Clan and can’t take it out on them, takes it out on everyone except fellow victims. She’s also, as a product of a matriarchal society, hyper-aware of the sexism and double standards that the human world lives by, though I think this could probably be said of all Clan tigers, and blames that in part for what Anita did to her.

None of this ever really made it into the fic because it didn't go too far, but that's now basically how I imagine them both and how I'll probably portray them in the future if I ever get any more fic actually done. Just thought I'd share!

Well folks, the time has come. I said I’d be taking a break after Kiss the Dead, and I don’t know when I’ll be back. There’s no life emergency or anything, just I’m pretty much burnt out on AB, and would prefer to spend my time and effort on working on my own stuff. Speaking of my own stuff, I actually think these sporkings and resultant discussions have been terrific writing lessons. The dissection of bad writing and what makes it bad and how to make it better is actually ultimate a constructive and positive thing in some ways, and I’ve seen others here and at lashouts express similar sentiments so I know it’s not just me. Isn’t great how at least something good can come out of AB? And here they say us “haters” just wallow in negativity and tearing down others!

I may come back eventually to spork other AB books, or maybe even some other series---I’ve wanted to attempt reading the Gillian Keyes series for awhile. I also may occasionally post fic. Speaking of fic, do check out Tungsten's one about vampire monks!
http://tungsten-monk.livejournal.com/15995.html

Anyone who wants to be messaged if I start sporking again, please say so in the comments. Now, how about some goodbye rats?
http://api.ning.com/files/q-gZC8ih9IkuRSa0jgXRL-w6pQDiTXgJSJ2cu3Z9o7b4gD1FzqS7Tx0pSBf164QHzaD51pTRvGorAEKbIkcwLYWN58crjZAsZw2fpJSacPY_/quintet.jpg
http://media-cache-cd0.pinimg.com/236x/7d/e3/a5/7de3a564b3da67b38b24c653667715bd.jpg
http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9j2lcGwxz1qa9cqso1_500.jpg
http://mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/insert_main_wide_image/public/laundry.jpg
https://theratdiaries.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/tumblr_m7eymbs5xt1qmr04wo1_1280.jpg
http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/thefw.com/files/2012/09/rat-7-e1347302824299.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ad-mCWE78kI/TeY87_eACjI/AAAAAAAABHY/p9XLOS9sIY4/s1600/tumblr_kzfia9sFf11qaeaaio1_500.jpg

Current Music: RuPaul

As I predicted, Jabez had passed when I checked on him after posting the previous spork. He seems to have most likely had cancer, given the way he wasted away and that, in his last few days, he got the rotting odor that they tend to when they have cancer. I am very grateful that he didn't die while I was house-sitting for the dogs, and that I got a chance to say goodbye for him. It's the best I could have asked for.

Something interesting I noticed with how skinny he got is that, even skeletal, he was bigger than the other mice. He was always quite fat prior to getting ill (not his fault, that's how brindle mice are, hence why it was such an alarming sign when he started to get skinny, since that's something that is *not* supposed to be happening with him) but this proves it wasn't just that which made him bulky, he was just plain big-boned too! This was worth pointing out to my dad, who had made fun of his weight from the first day we got him, and picked on him mercilessly in general. Seriously, he's buddies with the rats, neutral on the other mice besides thinking they smell bad (which, hey, they do), but he just had a grudge against Jabez and was always calling him beady-eyed, a pain the ass, etc., in addition to insulting his weight. I think he was just trying to get a rise out of me since Jabez was my blatant favorite among the mice. I know, I know, a mother shouldn't have favorites, but Jabez was the most sweet and tame of the mice, and, unlike the other mice, he was happy to sit still on me and get petted rather than running all over the place. I was also able to hold him much longer than the other mice, since, unlike them, he would not decide to musk me. I guess he knew I already belonged to him!

He wasn't always the tame, calm, tolerant sweetie-pie that he became, though. Originally, he was the most nervous of the mice, with a tendency to nip, which is also typical of brindle mice along with being overweight. It took a lot of handling and TLC for him to change, but he did and I was always really proud of him for it, as well as a little proud of myself too, especially since he seems to have been a little older than the other two and already set in his ways when I got him. While it's true that pudge was just in his genes, he was indeed very enthusiastic about food (his fave was sweet carb crumbs, like cake and biscuits and corn bread), and would get way more excited about dinner than the other mice. They'd just come to the food whenever they got hungry, but the moment I put his in his cage, he stopped whatever he was doing and made a beeline for it. To this day I don't know how he moved so fast on those tiny feet! Maybe it was all the time he spent on his wheel; he loved it, and ran on it more than the other mice, though of course he never got any slimmer. A day or two before his passing, I actually saw him walking on it! Slow, but still going!

This is him a little after I got him...chubbier than when he was at the pet store, but not yet at his peak roundness
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/rodentfanatic/PICT0054.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/rodentfanatic/PICT0048.jpg
And this is him at said peak
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/rodentfanatic/Jabez1.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/rodentfanatic/Jabez2.jpg
He was specifically a chinchilla brindle, hence the beautiful grey-on-grey markings. He wasn't show-quality, but he was a beautiful find I never expected in a pet store! It was love at first sight (not because of the fancy coloring, I just *needed* him), and I'm so glad I took him home. He was my buddy, my special little guy, and I love him and will miss him very much. He's eating angel food cake now!

I meant for there to be an update today or tomorrow, but there's probably not going to be until Monday. My grandfather died yesterday morning after a long battle with pancreatic cancer, so tomorrow we'll be leaving to go spend time with the rest of the family and attend the funeral. I try to avoid getting too personal about what I post here beyond the rodents and whatever relates to the sporks, but since I know you people are lovely and will ask: I'm doing okay, and so is the rest of the family as far as I can tell. We had a lot of time to prepare for it, and he was an old man who died a natural death, so it doesn't get much better than that as far as these things go. I'm actually not sad, truth be told. I love him very much and I wish he could live (healthily) forever, but since that's not an option, I'm relieved that his pain is over and that he had time enough to say goodbye but didn't linger to the point of suffering. Actually, I'm kind of worried that I won't be sad/crying at the funeral and it will be a big awkward faux pas, like I don't care or something, but likely I'll be sad that everyone else is sad and cry because OH GOD MY GRANNY IS CRYING I NEVER WANTED TO SEE HER CRY so there's that.

Another problem is my rat Justin. I think he's on his way out too. He can still drag himself around (his back legs have ceased to work, a common problem in elderly rats, especially males) and he still eats and drinks, but he can't drag himself as well as he used to at all, and he's started messing himself so I have to clean up the dried poop and urine from him a few times a day. Twice today I looked in the cage and thought he might be dead. So I'm worried about leaving him, even for a day, because I really don't want him to have to sit in his own filth like that. Rats are very clean, grooming-conscious animals, so I know it bothers him, and he's no longer flexible enough to clean himself down there. He might even die while I'm gone. Dad suggested taking him with us or moving him to a smaller cage where everything was closer to him, but it's better for him to stay in a familiar environment, just with his food and water as close to his sleeping box as possible, with his cagemate Jenner. Jenner usually sleeps upstairs, as he can still drag himself up the ladder despite his hind legs being in bad shape too (he's otherwise still healthy-looking/acting), but today he moved downstairs to be with Justin and hasn't left his side. Traveling would just stress Justin out, and if he's going to die I know he'd rather go with Jenner, who has been his cagemate since they were babies, by his side.

In other rodent news...

I am 50/50 on whether Blatz is pregnant or not. She's exceptionally plump if she's not knocked up, that's for sure, but that's definitely better than dropping a bunch of babies. Dad has suggested that if she does, Boo (remember how we talk about him like he's still alive?) will come and take them under his wing and train them up because he needs help gobbling up some daycare centers, and they can serve as diversions, etc. We are also pretending that Jenner, Sid, and Ratsputin are all claiming paternity and arguing with each other about it, and that Jabez has also thrown his hat into the ring despite the impossibility of crossbreeding rats and mice and the fact he's never been anywhere near Miss Blatz because rats eat mice.

Jabez continues to have noticeably more earwax than he should, and mouse forums suggest this is symptomatic of an ear infection, so I've been using mineral oil and hydrogen peroxide to try and treat that. He is shockingly tolerant. He's a little thinner than he used to be (though still an exceptionally fat mouse) and his coat is scruffier, and I don't know if that's due to not feeling well because of said infection, or if he too is starting to show his age. He's still quite enthusiastic about food and treats though, as is Justin! I love putting a crust of bread or sliver of chicken just outside his nest and seeing his nose come out, give a sniff, then immediately grab it and pull it in like a really cute trapdoor spider! It's adorable and hilarious.

Joram has begun sleeping on top of his water bottle. I have no idea why he does this. He is like a tiny white fluffy vulture-mouse perched up there. Joram's always been kind of weird, mainly in that he is bizarrely fearless for a mouse, which I guess is why he's fine sleeping out in the open like that.

If you push up the fur of a male rat, you might see that his skin is an orangey-yellow color. This isn't his skin. This is buck grease. Buck grease (male rats are called bucks, females are does, ditto for mice) is a waste product from testosterone production in male rats. It's a harmless, mostly-odorless grease that just seeps out of their pores, and the more testosterone they're churning out, the more grease there is, so dominant males usually have much more of it. Jenner has been an alpha male all his life, and now that he and Justin are so they're balding all over their bodies, it's very plain to see just how much buck grease he's packing despite being a senior. My dad and I are both very amused and very proud. So let's end this post on a funny note---my balding, paraplegic rat is more manly than Anita Blake could ever hope to be, and he's got the grease to prove it!

...maybe we should start saying "grease" the way people typically say "balls", eh?

There's been a delay in posting because one of my mice, Jabez, is quite ill. He's showing improvement now though, so I hope to get in an update in the next day or so. It's not that I don't have the time, it's just that when I'm stressed out over something serious like this, it's hard to muster up fun anti-fan rage and energy over something as small as a hilariously bad book.

EDIT: The fabulous and kind zombiexbunny has sent me Bullet, Hit List, and Kiss the Dead on my Kindle, so sporking will resume as soon as I get a new one drawn up! Please thank them!

Hey folks, I've reached my renewal limit on Bullet, so today I'm going to have to return it. I'll go back the next day to see if it's still there, but someone else might have requested it, and if that's the case then sporkings will be on hold until they return it or until I can get a copy from another branch by my own request.

In the meantime, how about a little discussion? Since I think it's safe to assume most of us are urban fantasy fans, let's go with that. What do you want to see more of in UF? Less of? More of but only if it's done right, or not at all? What do you have mixed feelings on? What author did you start with? What author turned you on to the genre? Has any author turned you off? What successes and failures have inspired you? What are the cliches and conventions you hate and love least? Are you an aspiring writer yourself, and if so, do you feel comfortable talking about your work here with us? Pretty much ANYTHING as long as it's related to UF, or at least reading/writing in general. Or rats too, talking about rats is ALWAYS encouraged!

To start with, I'd like to know if is the rest of the Artemis Fowl series after the first book worth reading? I loved the first book as a kid, but I remember not being as charmed by the second and thus quitting on it or the third. But now I'm reading the second and liking it quite well enough. Would you recommend continuing the rest of the books after I finish it?

No spork, just an announcement that while the next one was supposed to be yesterday or the day before, it’s instead going to be delayed at least until Thursday.

The first reason is that I’m going to be seeing family. Holiday road trip and all, the usual.

The second is that Scurvy passed away yesterday. It seems to have been of old age/kidney failure due to old age.

It hurts, and I'm sad, but it wasn't so bad as far as rodent deaths go. We had notice, because he was acting a little off the past few days, but he also didn't linger painfully, because he really only got into the process of dying over the last 24 hours. So it wasn't a shock for us, but it also wasn't drawn-out for him. We got to say goodbyes, and he was comfortable the whole time. He never seemed to be in any pain, just getting weaker, and his paws were flat when he died, which indicates he went peacefully (versus being clenched, as they'd be if he'd had a heart attack or similar type of death). He was an old rat, and I was told by a vet I'd be lucky if he made it to around Christmas. I was lucky. So very, very lucky to have had him at all.

My dad could barely believe it when I reminded him that we only gotten Scurvy this year, at the beginning of summer after I’d graduated from college. He thought we’d had him more than a year, because of how much Scurvy went through (the recurring abscess, the eye problem) and how much personality he had, how much he’d bonded to us both, all the memories he’d made by doing his silly rat stuff. I love all my rats, they are and were all perfect, but Scurvy really was special. We’ve never had one quite like him.

I know none of you ever met him, but given how much I posted here about him and the rest, I thought you’d want to know, because I know, him being the people-loving super-friendly rat that he was, he would have wanted to meet and snuggle with each and every one of you <3

And just as an odd aside…my dad was Scurvy's best friend. When he got home and I told him, he said he wasn't surprised. he said at 3:45 he just got this feeling and *knew*. I hadn't told him what time yet myself, but 3:47 is when I was sure he had stopped breathing. Neither my dad and nor I are very superstitious people, so I doubt he’d have told me this if it wasn’t 100% for real.

May it never be forgotten how Scurvy would dance for attention, jump out of the cage when it was opened, yanked an entire Fig Newton out of my dad's hand when offered a bite and then turned his back on my dad and hunched over it so he couldn't get it back from him, and took a 30-page bite out of Anita Blake.