queer_scribbling | Fandom Snowflake Challenge

Challenge #2: Pets of Fandom: Loosely defined! Post about your pets, pets from your canon, anything you want!

I feel like I ought to have something light and fun: Bluebell the dog actor for Betty on 'Will Trent' is a beloved fan favorite, all the animals included in 'All Creatures Great & Small', or how fans fix the lackluster onscreen care of Sunshine the budgie from 'Prodigal Son'.

However, I'm not feeling very light and fun with this prompt. In 2025, my cat had to be euthanized. Probably about the point in November where I stopped doing recaps of 'Fire Country' actually. I did a lot of explaining with offline friends in the aftermath, but more or less, we think she did the cat-typical thing of hiding a health issue until it was suddenly too late. She wasn't a young cat, but that didn't make it any less unexpected.

I used a character as a vessel for some private catharsis (imagining them losing a pet), but I very much needed that to remain private. (There's no definitive proof, but it's not unlikely that a relative's insistence on sneaking our cat table scraps contributed to her burgeoning health issues. The signs of discomfort that we did pick up on and brought up to our vet were incorrectly attributed to arthritis, and I had to get that initial guilt and anger out somewhere that wasn't going to be seen by other people.)

I don't have an optimistic ending, but I know we'll get through this. Humans have been making it through this type of situation for thousands of years.

Originally posted on Pillowfort on 3 January 2026 and revealed on 21 January 2026.