Everybody

I mentioned a few days ago that I'm moving.  AJD is not.  It's sad but true.  So we really wanted to get one big picture with the entire local chapter of the Wild Republic (both retired and active members), the Wild Parliamentary Monarchy, the Wild Mythic Federation, and us, before I leave.  Here we are, immortalised by our intrepid photographer friend ML.

After ML had taken this, we realised that somehow Seal was missing.  Obviously this would not do, so I got up and found him and talked him into being in the picture.  Seal's not camera-shy, but he's retired, and accordingly tries to avoid anything suspiciously big and official.  This position is understandable, as he's not just any retiree: Seal was president pro tem of the Wild Republic Senate for fifteen years until he decided to retire - not just any fifteen years, mind you, but the most prosperous and well-run fifteen years of its entire history.  He is legendary: one of their greatest political figures of all time.

But when he thought about it some more, he decided we were right: this occasion was worth making an exception for.  So here is another picture with everyone, Seal included.

Look how Barry is so eager for centre stage that he's blocking my face.  That's so very typical of Barry.

Bluh bluh Moving.

So I'm in the process of moving, which is one of my least favourite activities in the entire universe of activities.  Moving always transforms me into this insane evil demon bitch while simultaneously depleting me of all energy.  Ugh.  I'm really lucky that I have some awesome friends who have been lending me a hand.  Otherwise I'd have withdrawn my live savings, gone to Rome, and thrown myself off the Ponte Vecchio, I kid thee not.

Anyway, so after a few hours of stuffing things in boxes and reviewing logistical plans with AJD, I kinda conked out on AJD's floor.  While I was lying there, Quixley realised that I was wearing his colours and climbed aboard.  He knows a good aesthetic when he sees one, and he'd had at least conversation with us on the beauty of the black/white contrast, so he knew that we appreciate such contrasts too.  Here we are:

Then AJD and Quixley, being awake enough to have active brain cells (unlike me) had an even better idea.  Sleepyhead is both the right colours and the right affect.  So AJD retrieved Sleepyhead from the south room and he and Quixley swapped places.

I was aware that they were doing this; I don't think Sleepyhead ever noticed, even though he was moved from the south room to the north room and back again.

So yeah: moving is hell.

A Bored Libertine

So Magick is bored.  Extremely bored.

Few things aggravate Magick more than monotony. There's a higher-than-chance probability that this is directly relevant to a certain poker game that took place not long ago.

It's not entirely clear why Magick is with this delegation at all.  There's some sort of mystery surrounding it.  We more than suspect that he's involved in covert operations (although everyone is too polite to inquire directly), but from hints that some of the others (mostly Nicky) have let slip, we've concluded that this does not explain why he is here as opposed to somewhere else, because there seems to be some sort of scandal connected with his current job.

This explains a number of things, actually.  Magick likes challenges and action; this sort of job, which mostly limits him to hanging around a group of colourful but largely sedentary characters, is clearly not well-suited to his temperament or abilities.  Sure, Murchison is here, and they clearly have a working history of some kind, and it's probable that Murchison's presence is a partial explanation for Magick's... but only a partial.  Magick is quite obviously wasted here, and he knows it.

From what Nicky's let slip, we suspect that there's a female involved here.  Magick's reputation with the fairer stuff is quite notorious.  Not that this is surprising, given his rank, his looks, and his innumerable talents.  According to Sir Tristan, female felines have never been able to resist Magick, and he's never been able to resist them either, even the ones he really should resist.  So our current working hypothesis is that he got a bit too intimate with the wife of the wrong cat.

If females are indeed the source of Magick's current exile, he's paying for it now, because there are virtually no females here, and definitely no available ones.  Lady Faraday is his best friend's girlfriend, and anyway that boat has long since sailed; there's no interest on either side.  Sithri is quite firmly attached to Skandar, such that it would likely require surgery to detach her, and Skandar gets pretty possessive whenever Magick is around.  Magick and Sithri actually have some sort of history together, although it's not clear whether he was involved with Sithri herself or with her sister-cum-rival-cum-best-friend Smitra or with both of them; whatever happened appears to have ended badly.  I don't really know what would have happened had Skandar not been around to keep Magick away, but from the sound of it, history is unlikely to repeat itself.

This leaves Skwidjit the grey cat, who spends most of her time on AJD's window, often on top of the A/C.  She's not really his type at all, but she's the closest thing to an available female cat on the premises, so Magick can often be found checking her out anyway.  He's been here long enough without putting any moves on her that I don't think he's going to, but checking her out appears to alleviate his boredom somewhat.  She doesn't seem to mind; he's not her type either (she told me once that she fancies ginger toms), but she finds the attention flattering.

This arrangement is less satisfying to one member of the Wild Republic, for whom one really must have sympathies.

Poor Mahler.  He's had a crush on Skwidjit ever since he got here, and seeing Magick - his idol and hero - with her apparently in his sights... well, that's shot all his hopes to pieces.  Never mind that he's much too young and callow for her, nor that she showed no signs of returning his interest before Magick got here... nor that in all honesty Mahler's reasons for being interested in her are probably not that different from Magick's, in that he's a horny adolescent and she's the only available female around.  Mahler is all gooey over Skwidjit in the way that only adolescent males can be.  He probably writes her poetry in secret and everything.  So he's been pretty mopey over the whole thing.

The only other female around here is me, and, well, I'm not a cat, so the chemistry just isn't there. 

Magick and I get along pretty well, I have to say, and he has a lot of the qualities that attract me in a man, and I appear to have a lot of the qualities that attract him in a female... but I'm not a furry and Magick prefers his females fluffier and with more pairs of breasts, and these are obstacles neither of us can get past.  If he were a guy or I were a leopardess we'd totally run off together, but we're not.

So the upshot of this is, Magick is really bored, and much as I love having him around, I do hope for his sake that whatever scandal he's been sent away to avoid resolves itself with due haste so that he can get back to doing things he finds more fulfilling.

Zzzzzzzzzz

I'm not really sure why AJD wanted to take this picture of me and Alfredo, but he did, so here it is.

Recreating Snow White

Approximately a year ago, well before it occurred to us that we could use a camera, AJD took advantage of an afternoon nap I was taking to give me what was simultaneously the most adorable and most surreal moment of my entire life to date.  We have endeavoured to recreate it for you.

What happened was approximately this: I had fallen asleep on AJD's bed, and while I was asleep, he convinced the entire Wild Republic to encircle me.  I was sleeping with someone the original time this happened; we didn't remember who, so in the reenactment Sir Theo did the honours, as he's the hardest to fit into a circle.

Here's the same thing, from a slightly different angle.

AJD was very proud of this idea and its execution.  He was particularly proud of his ability to withstand the temptation to wake me up, and left me to wake up on my own.

And so I woke up, surrounded by inquisitive furry faces.  If you've never had this experience, I strongly urge you to get someone to help you remedy the fact, because there's really nothing quite like it.

After we had completed the reenactment, we discovered to our chagrin that Navarre had been omitted from the fun; he'd been playing around on AJD's computer and missed the summons.  He was very disappointed, and AJD was very jealous because he hadn't got to be the one in the middle of the circle, so I swapped places with him and we let Navarre be featured in the middle.

Sir Theo later took advantage of the gathering to deliver a rather lengthy address on the topic of meadow vole politics.  This sounds really dull, but the animals seemed to find it entertaining; at least, none of them cut out early.

Anyway, so there you go: the cutest and most surreal moment of my life, recreated photographically for your pleasure.

They Call It Puppy Love

When Beppe likes you, he doesn't really leave it much in doubt.