#character folder

Hey! The recolors were added by @deedee-sims, I recall she just recolored via Simpe? Dee, please correct me if I'm wrong.

I don't see why they would need anything specific to show up, but the default replacement file does include several objects aside from the bunnies. Maybe that messes things up?

BUBBLES – youngest – [sugar / blue]

disposition of a prey animal. docile and sweet to the untrained eye, while normally being misunderstood or ignored because of her cuteness. it takes a lot to push her buttons; on the rare occasion it does happen, though, it’s the same desperate way a prey animal will kick, bite, or gore to escape. is prone to people-pleasing. she is the joy and the laughter, after all!

is an actress in nearly every situation. doesn’t have a very strong sense of self.

seeks positive affirmation and attention to a worrisome degree. 

tries to be whatever shape people ask of her, if only to try and find if she likes that ‘role’.

fun fact: accidentally adopted a ‘fixer’ personality. she’s the meddler out of her sisters, constantly seeking to set things straight or put things to rights even if they didn’t involve her. playing ‘matchmaker’ is only a small portion of this. 

special power is animal communication. can talk to animals and has a perfect mimicry of animal sounds and inflections. this is different from being able to speak other languages - those don’t count, and are simply languages she learned to speak. however, her ability to replicate sounds and intonations is helpful in learning other languages too.

a disadvantage of this power is that it doesn’t help her understand animal body language. she is limited to the vocal/verbal aspects of an animal’s communication and therefore may not understand everything. this aspect would be something bubbles would need to teach herself.

name interpretation:

[adjective] ; bubbly. very straightforward: as a child, and as she tries to be as an adult, she has a bubbly personality that serves to uplift people. maybe a little airheaded - floating.

[noun] ; living in her own bubble. plays along with people and in doing so avoids thinking about the cruelties of the world around her, as well as her own issues. escapism.

BUTTERCUP – middle – [spice / green]

outgoing and happy to carry a conversation. not always the easiest to approach given her tendency to be combative or confrontational, but is more willing to listen to reason than she was as a child. is very tuned-in to other people and their moods - not hugely empathetic, nor would she consider herself a bleeding heart, but cares as best as she can.

moral dilemma whump. struggles with feeling like her efforts are enough.

is constantly striving to find balance between extremes.

emotions strike hard and fast; grudges aren’t her thing, as long as there’s closure.

fun fact: took up meditation as a way to regulate her emotions. it is now an important part of her nightly routine to help her work through the day’s events and center herself before bed. used to lose her patience with it until she noticed the difference. 

special power is umbrakinesis (mange). can draw shadows to her and use them as a cloak; in this vein, is also able to bring total darkness to an area in order to phase through it (ie; a wall), and can teleport via shadow travel across small distances.

a disadvantage to this power is that light, of course, defeats darkness. if the conditions are too bright, her abilities are considerably weaker or impossible to carry out. this is an avoidable problem most of the time, given that there is always shade somewhere - but has no defense against someone who can manipulate light.

name interpretation:

[bud] ; nip something in the bud. striving to move away from bad habits, on a path to self-betterment and actualization. 

[buttercup] ; conveying a sense of closeness or sweetness - caring about people regardless of the context. playful, friendly.

BLOSSOM — oldest — [everything nice / red]

an acquired taste to most. can be very diplomatic and conscientious of group motives and feelings but doesn't naturally orientate herself around other people's opinion on a given matter. micromanaged chronically when she was younger, has since managed to rescind control on the little details but still has many bids for control in other aspects of her life – and of those around her. 

contrary to popular belief, is not a meddler unless strictly necessary. 

desire for order is only outweighed by desire for ‘goodness’. 

controlling, but not a control freak. can adapt and improvise very well.

fun fact: is rumored to be a lesbian for various stupid reasons, ranging from her ‘color scheme’ to her cold attitude, all of which are ignorant and false. keeps herself unlabeled solely to spite people. her sexuality is nobody’s business.

special power is cryokinetic breath. expands to full use of cryokinesis, including self-made and manipulation of environmental ice, but restricts herself to only what she can create herself. emotionally tied to her power when first learning how to get a grip on it, now has much better control.

a disadvantage of this power is that she cannot manipulate ice that has been generated by a source that isn’t herself. this includes both naturally-formed ice, as well as ice from a machine or other cryokinetic entity. 

name interpretation:

[verb] ; to mature or develop in a pleasing way. leans into the idea that blossom is working hard on herself, aspiring to be a well-rounded individual. 

[symbolism] ; new beginnings and growth. a reminder that life is constantly changing, as is she. learning to accept that not everything is within her control. 

CW: Talk of euthanasia 

The Dodo is based in the US and mostly “reports” on stories within the US, and I work at a shelter within the US, so I’m mostly talking about the US here.

There are still shelters that do have to euthanize for space in the US. I would imagine that a dog who is pregnant would either have a shorter stray hold (the period in which a shelter holds an animal for the owner to find it) or would be more likely to be euthanized for space earlier due to the higher amount of care the dog (and her eventual puppies) would need and due to the longer length of stay she would need to give birth and then raise and wean puppies. The shelter environment is also highly stressful and stress both pre and post birth can effect the puppies behavior in a negative way. If I worked at a shelter that had to euthanize for space, I would be inclined to euthanize a behaviorally normal pregnant dog over a behaviorally normal non pregnant dog due to average length of stay, cost of care, chances of complications during birth which might have you lose the mother dog and puppies anyway, amount of dogs increasing when the dog gives birth, and higher chances of her producing behaviorally abnormal animals from stress in the shelter.

I actually took a look at the story on the Dodo’s page. It looks like the dog was pulled from a shelter in California and I recognize the kennel card shown of the dog in the video as one of the Los Angeles County shelters. All of them are open admission and many do have to euthanize for space. The dog also appears quite late term in the footage, so possibility for a spay-abort is slim.

The language used in the video is quite sensational, which is the usual for The Dodo. The woman says, “She was on the kill list. They were gonna euthanize her when she was pregnant!” It would not surprise me if the shelter was going to euthanize her because they ran out of space, the dog was pregnant and therefore has a lower adoptability, and decided to euthanize. But it also would not surprise me if The Dodo was sensationalizing and adding “details” to garner more views.

The unfortunate reality of working at a shelter that has to euthanize for space is often that you have to choose to euthanize dogs who have higher costs of care and lengths of stay in favor of dogs who have lower costs of care and average lengths of stay. But the tone of the video sheds a bad light on these shelters who are simply doing the best with the resources that they have and completely ignores the fact that shelter workers are people who deeply care about animals too and likely don’t want to have to euthanize a pregnant animal, but their hand is forced.