Unsolicited Advice

Hello, all! That was a much longer hiatus than I intended. About a week ago, I emerged from my cave to talk to the EMTs for the fourth time in about six weeks, and one of my housemates got to take an unscheduled (non-COVID) trip to the ICU. Everything's turned out fine, but until that got resolved, I was left in the care of the house population of TWENTY rats, twelve of whom were babies, and one of whom needed meds for a good case of pneumonia. They are kindly masters, on the whole, but unbelievably demanding divas when meal time rolls around. The housemate is back (and still breathing), and both baby boys have gone to their fur-ever home, with 7-8 of the remaining ten girl-babies being sent off sometime this week. The boys, in fact, went to a tech at my vet clinic who had met some of my fat lovable rat-lumps, and fell hard for the little guys. I dropped them off at the clinic this past weekend, where apparently they blocked off almost an hour at the end of the day for playing with

Fandom frightens me sometimes. Often, if we're honest. I've been digging around for the Sherlock Holmes project I mentioned before, and one of the things I ran into is The Johnlock Conspiracy . For those who don't know, this was a movement among fans of the BBC's 2010 series Sherlock  who contended that the series was building up to a Big Damn Gay Kiss between the leads at the end, which was theoretically the conclusion of series 4. Lots of people contributed, but this particular lady seems to have been the biggest and most thorough, having contributed a 40-some-odd episode analysis of the show, via YouTube. Shit like this terrifies me. There's nothing wrong with her character analysis. Her take on the significance and motivation behind what the characters say and do on screen is completely valid. I think she's 100% right in some areas, particularly Moriarty. Jim Moriarty's obsession with Sherlock is both disturbingly sexual in tone, and disturbingly indicat

Yet another rat needs a vet. Garion is pump-handle breathing and in evident distress. I cannot front for the appointment ($40-80) or meds ($50 probably) this time. He's on what decongestant and antibiotics we have available in the hopes that it's fixable pneumonia, but he really needs to see a doctor. Why do the rats keep catching things? Because there are mice all over the place and the owner of the house is a slumlord who isn't interested in fixing things. Everything I've brought up has been answered with "we did call him, he said he wasn't going to do anything about it". The first floor apartment was reportedly without heat for a week in the dead of winter last year, and he couldn't give less of a shit. To help, go here: https://www.gofundme.com/manage/ratapalooza-vet-visits-ain039t-free#

I have several things in the queue right now, which have been delayed mainly because online fandoms scare the snot out of me. Really. I will write that up later tonight and then maybe that will unstick them. I also had plans for video/streaming work that have been delayed because I have spent the past week arranging hospice care, then euthanasia, then funeral services for a rat who wasn't even mine. My housemate lost their oldest, fussiest, most care-intensive rat. Said housemate doesn't have great coping mechanisms at the best of times, and it was the anniversary of a family death to boot. Their vet isn't making any appointments, even for emergencies, until November , so we went through mine, where I'm grandfathered in because I have been bringing her fat, spoiled rats literally since she opened the clinic. My vet will also come outside to meet you (since they can't let anyone into the building) and let you sit with your pet until the end.  So I spent that day doin