https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALnT_DPwXCo

-2Paw.

Hope that the earth don't tire
Of the way that we're puttin' her down
Hope the universe don't say
Stop spinning around...

"Somewhere in the distance when we fall in love again
Planets will be dancing, the moon plays violin, and we'll
laugh at all the silly things, that we've both said and done;
Step into forever on the bright side of the sun.

I think this song is going to be what Chief Engineer, Commander Ka'tch'Ian M'Ress of the U.S.S. Argo is going to keep in reserve for a song to share, for the nights when her male and paramour, Deputy Engineer Lt. Commander Reginald Barclay needs a bit more heart's TLC than usual. Because she's been where he's been more than a few times.

-2Paw.

That sounds very sweet. <3 Lucky old Barclay.

Let's just hope we don't have to sing "Pop Goes the World..."

Oh, Ka'tch'Ian is very, er, roomy. <3 She has to be; she eats her Reg alive multiple times a day. To be fair, their relationship doesn't usually involve coitus, mostly because neither of them can handle it well cognitively. But they adore each other's intimate physical company otherwise. Reginald was the first person who broke through the wall surrounding Ka'tch'Ian's trust that she'd kept locked tight since she was tiny.

I don't have a problem telling you by any means what led to her doing and being so, Pyat, but my concern would be the level of explicit detail that would be uncomfortable for you, for other users of FA or wouldn't mesh with the current state of the EULA. What happened to her as a cub is a terrible and exceptionally rare crime in Caitian culture, and the wages of sin for the act are considerable, weighty and rarely employed, because of the damage done prior to punishment.

Cait and Caitian society has never remotely considered wholly capital, bodily punishment or execution for any crime, because of how precious life and its breadth of possibility is kept in the hearts of the children of Rea and Sura. The crime I refer to is the only one that can ever be met with it, a rare and novel exception.

-2Paw.

I am intrigued by this backstory!

A Prelude To Anslem by remit of narrative purpose and design won't be anywhere near as long as Nyota-Mtoto, my late-TOS full-length Star Trek novel, but I plan on telling at least as good a story therein as I can. That's fair, isn't it? A storyteller should be good to his readers and audience, like a dancer, a singer or any genera of performance artist, regardless of format. A host should be respectful and hospitable host to their guests, even if they are guests in his dreams. Perhaps in a way that's the most important rooftree a teller of tales might supply and comfort others in their company and hostage with.

My Star Trek novella takes place in the late-DS9 era, about 80 years after the events in my long-form novel, mostly aboard the star-station Deep Space Nine with some of the action aboard the U.S.S. Argo where Ka'tch'Ian and Reginald both serve their Starfleet assignment, and the whole story taking place from the beginning of the December of that year 'til a week after New Years the next January aboard station, roughly a year after the events of DS9's series finale What You Leave Behind.

Captain Kira Nerys is the only remaining Ops crew member on board from the previous staffing, and by this point she's accepted a Starfleet field commission, with Terran in-person Command School reinforcement training to come, and is the current master of the station. Quark is still tending bar and bitching occasionally about root beer being so popular; Garak has recovered from his injuries and kept his tailoring business going on the Promenade. Andorian Burger is doing better than ever there, too, their success like the testicles of the males of their own species, shrivelled up in Terra beachfront summertime.

Ensign Nog has quickly moved up through the ranks and is now a Lieutenant Commander in Operations Division, with a semi-permanent field promotion to Acting Captain of the U.S.S. Defiant, assigned to DS9. Jake Sisko went to the Pennington School on Earth in person for nine months, then telecommuted from the station for his studies, and of course been very productive in the writing department throughout.

It was while he was at the Pennington School on Earth he met Ka'tch'Ian M'Ress, who was visiting the United States between duty lengths at Utopia Planitia from her home in Toronto, Canada not far from the Caitian crèche where she grew up before entering her formal Academy schooling. She was in New Orleans, sampling the local cuisine on excursions out of the French Quarter room-rental where she'd been staying and ended up at Sisko's, as in Jake's Grand'pa's and Benjamin's Dad's restaurant, where both son and grandson learned their own cooking trade early on.

Jake overheard Ka'tch'Ian talking about her dozens of visits to Vulcan while she was study Engineering, between muzzle-mouthfuls of fish jambalaya, something Jake had never heard akin remotely to in the past, not for a Caitian or a human did that many times to the Forge-world did that seem likely. He asked if he could join her, and she bid him welcome, introducing themselves to each other; then after he asked, she said with a bassy, gentle laugh, "Oh, Jake, I rather am sorry. I didn't mean Vulcan the Federation charter world, but meant Vulcan, Alberta, a ways north back home in Canada. That's where the rebuilt RCAF Academy Aerodrome is, the one named after the NX-01's security chief."

She didn't relate the nickname of the place- The Vomitorium- dubbed as such places were almost two centuries beforehand by Lt. Malcolm Reed of the first NX-Class Enterprise, and his zero-G/low-G combat training MACO platoon, until after they'd finishing eating.

Jake and Kart found out they were both Pennington alumni, Ka'tch'Ian's active studies there being far earlier than Jake's as she was in her forties and the younger Human man barely half that age. So aside from really, really liking each other as two hearty mammals do, they meshed perfectly when it came to their creative business.

Before she headed back for another six-month detached commissio at Mars Local Yards to continue the work on the ship class which of one starcraft she would eventually be the Chief Engineer of and Jake headed home to DS9 and Bajor, they made sure to give each other their contact details and keep in touch in the meantime. And barely six months later, her newly-struck Marc Garneau-class fast tactical frigate, the U.S.S. Argo was on its way to Bajoran local space and a little later on into and through the Wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant as part of the fostered Federation-Dominion Cooperative Treaty.

But before going through that natural quantum breach to the next quadrant over, the Argo had business on DS9, part of which was her hand-picked Engineering detail come over to the station and the Defiant to upgrade and replace many of the ship's aging components. Her work and proofed theoreticals had been instrumental in the novel design of multiple modern ship class EPS systems and EPS-to-warp manifolds, including the Defiant, NebulaGalaxy, Sovereign and the modern Excelsior-V and Miranda-III-class upgrades to modern spec.

And during her crew's visit and business there, she would have the better part of five weeks to visit her friend Jake, and help him with a problem he'd been having that had him stumped and stymied, reported to her over subspace mailing. Ka'tch'Ian was good at crafting poems and limericks, always had been, and it was not as of yet at least one of Jake's strong creative provinces. Between mass root beer sales by guilt and temptation, unexpected Cardassian foot fetishes, french-kissing at least one Klingon Captain who was in another life the younger brother of DS9's former security chief, Andorian Souvlaki, night-time visits to all eight of DS9's sweet spots without the risk of court-martial or Engineering wondering what was up or down, and Caitian oomox, help would be provided.

What he needed help with, and which she would provide as best she could, was a prelude to Anslem.

"West of these out to seas colder than the Hebrides I must go; where the Fleet of Stars is anchored, and the young Star-Captains glow; noble on Earth, all but a King in Hell, I am Don Juan with a tale to tell."

-2Paw.

I am engaged. :) And not with the Borg.

Oh, Ka'tch'Ian is very good at assimilating plenty of Andorian meals, as opposed to Andorian males. I mean, she's fine with them, if they ask politely. The pants are important, too. She needs very roomy pants, you see.

The other Blue Meat isn't spoo. It's better. It's You.

-2Paw.


EVER GREEN

"Never smelled that way to me
Just one detergent green
Cutleryform shine forking underway

"Never felt Palmolive Glee
My dirt, it's ground so deep
But never seemed to be

"Would you do the dishes?
Scrape the plates and change their fate?
Would you do the dishes for me?
Run hot water in the sink

"I'd avoid using Cascade,
Frugal pay on our budget-day
Shamois for a weeping floor
But don't you borrow my Glade

"Never smelled that way to thee
But soap detergent's green
Cutlerform chromeline underway
Never felt the Sunlight Squeak
My love, please let me sleep
Be Ever Green for me."

I hope you have fun and say, "Hi!" to Robin for me. Drive safe!

Thanks! I will!

have a good one

Thanks! Are you going this year?

np and no im not attending this year sorry

I remember how much it messed with my head finding out that  AmaraFox, one of 2Paw's biggest artist heroes dating back to my early days in Furry Fandom, were also a local Canadian chummer.

I struggled for traction when I saw Robyn's drawing of 1977's Bilbo Baggins from Rankin-Bass' The Hobbit on a big pad of newsprint in black permanent jumbo pen, down in the front foyer of the hotel that hosted Ad Astra that year; I think it was 2000 because it was the same year I bought my very first artwork in the Artist's Alley, four of  HBruton's Anubis prints from the excellent gentlewoman artist herself at her table therein.

I mean, I couldn't imagine it was drawn by another artist who somehow also went by Amara Provonost in 2000. I felt bold enough in my confidence to draw something in contribution to that group effort on said pad of paper; I have no clear memory of what I drew but I clearly recall Robyn's draughting efforts gave thematic inspiration to my own doodling. So it might've been Bilbo I drew, and it rather wouldn't surprise me if that had been my merited muse.

Late into Saturday evening in the hotel block, I found myself at a small room gathering attended mostly by science-fiction fans from the United States- possibly Furry Fans specifically, I don't clearly recall the specifics now- and it wasn't until a few weeks later and saw a photo taken in that room at a different angle, that I realized I had been sitting about two metres away from Robyn the whole time. I saw the rainbow toe socks, yes, and remembered the design of the painting in the background on the wall.

Had I in fact known it was Robyn I doubt I would've had the confidence to speak up and address them, but however quiet and non-interactive their company, and that of the other fursons enjoying the gathering together, it was a good company and I took it in kindly. I think that room party was also the first time I ever had Mountain Dew with caffeine, a supply of which I recall being told was brought by the person who hosted the party or one of its attendees from the United States.

I suspect my  JenoraFeuer will be attending CanFURence this year if she's not otherwise occupied with work or business at home that weekend, and if that's being the case I'll ask her next time we're in touch on Discord.

-2Paw.

  JenoraFeuer was indeed there! We hung out at Dronon's apartment watched clips strange and weird movies on Saturday night. :)

My lovely-one Jenora and I had a thoroughly pleasant conversation earlier this afternoon while she rode westbound home on the VIA corridor from Ottawa to Toronto, before she needed to sign off and her mobile's battery ran out. She told me about my werewolf-cousin Dronon Brassmane's move to Ottawa last year, and that he's still adjusting to his new environs and settling in both in business and psychologically.

I'm glad you were there with him, and he was there with all of you. I have little doubt it did his heart some proper good, and yours in his company into the bargain. I haven't seen Dronon in person since my days attending Ad Astra more than fifteen years ago, but he and I remain good friends and the Brass-mane Wolf is not infrequently on my mind.

-2Paw.

It was an excellent time of fellowship, as my old pastor used to say. :)

"So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." You needed that gathering, good folk and frens, that I know well enough. <3

-2Paw.