#Emily from MD

[rad10active-ketchup]

All bug designs!! I'm done for like, a week lol

names (Top to bottom, left to right) Marocchino, Emily, Jade, Sam, Magnolia, Bug (Lol), Andromeda, Sierra, Apollo, Radio, Rebecca, Pepper. These are designs for @astronic-fr 's critter Au! (I did these for fun)

[flaminghotjareau]

i love criminal minds’ grasp of the human body like emily can survive getting staked in the abdomen, intestines, maybe stomach or kidneys as well but the unsub she shot in the kidney or smth in 6x04 dies in 20 seconds, so realistic

[velvet-vox]

The insane, untapped potential of Rebecca from Murder Drones.

Hello Murder Drones Tumblr. My name is Markiplier, and I'm the fastest man alive.

To the outside world, I'm a regular Reddit user hiding in their mother's basement, but secretly, I've done nothing except consume Rebecca content for the past 72 hours, with only one objective in mind: spread the truth about this one, singular character that I didn't give a single damn about to convince you that she could have been someone important in an alternate universe.

To do so, I had to consult the classics. Rewatch the entire series again, hogging the murder drones rebecca tag, checking out her Wikipedia page (which has to be rewritten by the way, cause it sucks), create a new Rebecca centered gallery on Pinterest, and stalk the channels of her main worshippers, all in the name of my research.

Once I had collected enough data and ideas, I was finally ready.

Today, I'm going to shed light on some unknown traits and misconceptions surrounding the character, all the while showcasing all the ideas that I've gathered that would have made Rebecca a more prominent part of Uzi's and maybe even N's development.

This was by far the hardest undertaking I've ever imposed upon myself in the history of this blog. Please, enjoy the following content at your own risk and expense.

Chapter 1: The Origins.

Some context for those of you who are uninitiated in the Becca cult, Rebecca is this girl:

She's a minor side character inside of episode 3 and 4, and a background character inside of episode 2; she's infamous in the community for being a "bully" and trying to steal N from Uzi while already dating and making out with other classmates.

Despite never committing genocide and being the only member of the cheerleader trio to not have been responsible for anybody's death, she's pretty hated by the fanbase at large or plainly forgotten/dismissed, at best people just don't care about her and see her as just too unimportant to be hated, at worst they kill her in the most gruesome of ways or accuse her of racism, homophobia, eccetera (before killing her, of course).

Although pretty unpopular, she still has her own niche of fans who gather up at the table to worship her; furthermore, there are a lot of fanarts from people who don't even like her where she survived the events of Cabin Fever but is now disabled and confined to a wheelchair.

The reason behind such treatment is due to the fact that Rebecca has committed five of the worst cardinal sins a fictional character can make: being an obstacle to the most popular ship in a fandom; being mean to a fan favourite such as the main character without any clear motivation; being annoying by proxy according to other characters reactions without doing anything to disprove it, thus reinforcing the idea in the audience that you are annoying; being unimportant to the overall story without having any obvious redeeming or interesting qualities while being perceived as graving in each and everyone of your few scenes; and, of course, being a woman.

But besides all that, whose mostly common knowledge, what else is there to say about Rebecca? What are some of her less noticeable traits and characteristics that make her worth it of an analysis and a rewrite to better include her inside the plot?

Well, unfortunately, the answers are not as uplifting and as satisfying as Rebecca's stans were hoping they would be. Even in an alternative universe, I doubt she would really be as important as some of the other characters, more so an important character for Uzi's development. Maybe even N's.

But don't let this statement fool you into safety: I genuinely believe canon Rebecca is simultaneously so much better and so much worse than the community believes her to be. Rebecca is as much of a freak as Uzi, but not in her obnoxious, extroverted way, nor in Doll's sociopathic, introverted way: she's their uncommon middle ground who somehow manages to be more messed up than the both of them in certain aspects.

Chapter 2: "The quirks"

Upon commencing my research, I've quickly realised that I might be even more unnerved by Rebecca than I was with Yeva, and it's all due to the fact Rebecca facial expressions and body gestures might be the single most obtuse and undecipherable details that Liam has decided to insert into the background of his story. You probably don't understand what I'm talking about because you haven't been losing sleep at night like I did, but let me show you the pictures:

Noticing anything wrong?

Everyone else upon seeing V is immediately frozen in terror or just surprised by the Disassembly Drone presence, but Rebecca instead just looks mildly.... annoyed? Intrigued? It's hard to tell by the image's shots alone but the only time where Rebecca's facial expressions change to the shocked looks of the Worker Drones on the right is when Lizzie says her infamous line and socially excluses her from the popular kids table.

There could be more to say about Rebecca's following lines "Fine, I forgive her! Settle." and how they don't really mean what you think they mean, because, just like we are going to see in a moment, Becca really doesn't give a damn about murder, in some ways, even more than the other Workers, but I haven't found a single more compelling meaning besides, you know, Rebecca's family, which we are soon going to be talking about.

Other weird facial expressions that she does are the weird look that she has when escaping Prom, her reactions to people dying in Cabin Fevers, and probably every single scene she's in when you think about it hard enough.

She also does this weird thing with her fingers. A sign of anxiety? She looks fairly inexpressive. Yet again, she might have learned to mask her emotions and the hand gesture could be a way to let it all out without putting too much attention upon herself. But why? Is the guy standing right beside her one of her parents? More of that in a minute.

Finally, and this is the biggest point of speculation, there's a high possibility that Rebecca might have sensory issues, a possibility that we are going to treat as fact, thus explaining why she's so afraid of falling out of the boat in this scene: aside from the fact that Worker Drones are probably not waterproof judging by the text in episode 1; Rebecca is literally experiencing sensorial discomfort from the erratic movements of the boat, and even if she was able to survive in water, she wouldn't be able to swim due to her disability. (Other possible evidence of this is the squirm she emits when the door of the abandoned cabin Uzi is in slams shut. Darren also reacts to it, but in a much more normal manner).

But now you might be asking: "If she really had sensory issues making these moments where she lacks balance scarier, why did she pick up cheerleading?" Which nicely segway's us into the next part:

(Side note, I've only specifically searched for sensorial discomfort in relation to sex, and based the rest on preemptive knowledge, thus I might have messed up some parts of this analysis; I'm sorry to anyone who experiences these issues and didn't find their inclusion in this essay accurate.)

Chapter 3: Becca the 13th

In the following segment, the line between canon and fanon, reasonable and made up blurs, but I beg you to stay patient and follow my thought process: the far fetched parts are based on the elements already present in the show to make Rebecca a more interesting characther while tying her to the themes of the show and to the preexisting dynamics.

In my research to answer the question "Why did Rebecca pick up cheerleading" I looked up a site explaining all the reasons why girls decide to get into cheerleading, and I've singled out these answers as the most likely possibilities for Rebecca's interest in the sport.

Passion for the Sport: Many women who become cheerleaders have a genuine passion for cheerleading and enjoy the physical and artistic aspects of the sport. They may see cheerleading as a way to express themselves creatively and be part of a team.

Opportunities for Performance: Cheerleading provides opportunities for women to perform in front of large audiences, which can be a rewarding experience for those who enjoy being in the spotlight and entertaining others.

Team Camaraderie: Cheerleading often involves working closely with a team of other cheerleaders, which can foster a strong sense of camaraderie and friendship. Many women value the sense of community and teamwork that comes with being a cheerleader.

Scholarship Opportunities: In some cases, cheerleading can provide opportunities for women to earn scholarships for college or other educational benefits. This can be a motivating factor for women who are looking to further their education.

Personal Development: Cheerleading can help women develop valuable skills such as teamwork, communication, leadership, and time management. These skills can be beneficial in both personal and professional settings.

Love for Dance and Performance: Cheerleading often involves elements of dance and performance, which can appeal to women who have a passion for these art forms. For some women, cheerleading offers a creative outlet to express themselves through movement and choreography.

Which one of them is the most likely?

If your answer is all/some of them, then you are probably right, as there could always be more than one reason driving an individual to commit the actions that they do.

If your answer is none of them, then you must be pretty bold to make such an assumption, but you can't be blamed as it's finally time to bring up the two big elephants in the room:

These two.

Rebecca's relationship with the other cheerleaders can't be anything but toxic, it just makes sense to me: Lizzie's not afraid to throw people under the bus if it means that she gets to stay on top of the social hierarchy, with Doll being the clear exception at this point of the story due to their closeness and intimacy, making Rebecca the most direct victim of Liz and Doll the main target of Becca's jealousy; she can't act too much on her jealousy though, cause Lizzy can just cut out her wings whenever she feels like, so most likely all of the bullying that she does on Doll is subtle and only at most convenient of times. Doll probably doesn't react to Rebecca's bullying seeing as she is Lizzy's second best friend and killing her would inconvenience the cheer's squad, but if her reaction to Rebecca's speech in The Promening is anything to go by then she has at least built up a certain resentment for her throughout their time spent together.

Rebecca is kind of like Heather Duke with the personality of Heather McNamara and Veronica's shaky presence inside of the trio. No, I'm not going to diagnose Doll and Lizzy as Heathers, do that yourself.

But we're going to bring back up the DLR trio back in a moment, as the time has come to fire up the Chekhov's gun:

Remember when I said that we were going to bring up Rebecca's family later on? It's finally time.

In the same boat scene that we talked about earlier, Rebecca asks N this question: "So, my friend wants to know if you've killed her family... and are single."

In case you didn't pick up on it, this is a common tactic used to taste the waters in a relationship, when someone uses the excuse of having another friend who has a crush on you to see if you are up for dating. Naturally, the underlying message of this tactic is "I'm the one friend who I was talking to you about, I'm interested in you. Are you interested in me?" but that's not where Rebecca's sentence stops, no, before doing that Rebecca specifically asked N if he might have killed her friend's family, with the implication that she's talking about her own family.

So... Rebecca is without parents, just like Doll and she was probably left with just her dad much like Uzi. Where the differences between Rebecca and the rest of the cast starts to shine is in her reaction to the death of her parents. Where Uzi's and Doll's mood worsened after the death of one or both of their parents, Rebecca seems to be happier for it.

We can take this a step even further and assume that the possibility that N might have killed her family could be the big reason as to why she's so attracted to him, even more than the other classmates (keyword "family". It means that she could have had a brother or sister too, though I doubt it): she hated her parents, is happy with their deaths, and views N as her saviour and white knight in the dark for killing them.

If we look back at the shot from episode 2, we can come up with a couple of theories: she's probably alone at the parents teachers conference, or, and this is the most interesting alternative, the guy who stands right beside her is her dad, the weird hand gesture that she's doing with her fingers could be genuine anxiety about her dad finding out that her teacher has some bad things to say about her school performance and punishing her for it, which could also further explain why she does anything that Lizzie says if the theory that Lizzie's father is the Teacher is true.

Due to her sensory issues, it's possible that Rebecca's hatred for her family stems from a streak of physical abuse received at home and exacerbated by her already frail physique. She probably has been living alone with her dad for a while, like the girl from the 2017 It movie; so for her to hate her mom too, unless she was still alive and didn't show up to the parents/teachers conference, there are a couple of possible explanations: A, her mother died when she was too young for her to give a s##t about her; B, her mother was also just as abusive as her dad; or C, the most compelling explanation, as it parallels Khan's and Uzi's relationship: Rebecca's father uses the death of her mother as an excuse to wallop into self pity and be abusive, similarly to Khan but ten times worse, thus leading Rebecca to hate her mom even if she never knew her just by virtue of constantly hearing her name being used as justification for her dad's awfulness.

Rebecca could have, in just a couple of minutes, grown attached to N in the same way Uzi's grown attached to him throughout the course of the series: by viewing him as a sort of comfort net for the horrible things that have happened to her and as the one who saved her from her awful home life (by killing her parents).

Her dad probably did the interview right after Khan and thus implying a small space of time where he left her alone for god knows whatever reason, died to Eldritch J right before Uzi and N came in to stop her and Khan finally arrived to the crime scene, thus leading Rebecca to assume that N killed him in episode 4 and, through a connection made up by her wild immagination, her mom aswell.

So, for Rebecca, unlike Uzi and Doll, the day her parents died must have been the best day of her life; knowing how Doll lost her parents and looked pretty happy on the outside, Rebecca took this as a positive that her life could only improve; leading to the time spent between the ending of episode 2 and her death in episode 4 to be happiest period of her life, especially after episode 3 where Doll was revealed as a serial killer and went into hiding, making Rebecca the only friend Lizzie had left and solidifying her place in the social hierarchy.

When you think about it, we never see Rebecca being "happy" before episode 3, and while it could just be because we don't see enough of her, it could also really be that she was unhappy with her home life; Lizzie and Doll clearly weren't helping as despite Doll being at the bottom of the abuse trio of Lizzie and Rebecca, it's pretty clear by the framing of the show that Rebecca was always the most replaceable member of the trio, Lizzie was the master manipulator holding all of the cards of the social hierarchy thanks in part to her dad's influence, and Doll was Lizzie's irreplaceable (until V) main enforcer who at any moment could have just snapped and physically threatened Lizzie with her powers; leading Rebecca to feel constantly anxious of her every move. Plus, it must have been fairly obvious to the entire school that Doll and Lizzie had an affair going on and Rebecca wasn't part of it, therefore other students could have definitely picked up on her anxiety and started a gossip behind her back, leading her to feel even worse about herself than she already was. Which also, in turn, parallels Uzi and her feelings of being socially ostracized, making them even more of a foil to each other, with the main difference being that Uzi tried to fit in by becoming a hero to the colony and failing, while Rebecca carved her own unstable niche into society that she has to constantly struggle to maintain (Doll being at the positive end of the spectrum in this case, by being popular without struggling and willingly giving up said popularity for her revenge fantasies).

Her fear of losing the social stability and bullying immunity provided by Lizzie and Doll eventually turned into paranoia, forcing her to make up lies about dating people, like the guy "Brad" who she supposedly went to Prom with despite that apparently never being the case. To maintain the lies as truthful, she eventually benefitted from the ripple effect that those lies had created for her thanks in part to her good looks: now having the reputation of a nymph, she could get people to have sex with her, probably using it as an excuse for never actually being in a relationship with anyone (Darren is one of those people, she wasn't dating him, she was just making out with him).

There's also much to be said about the way Rebecca views sex and relationships as a whole; I'm not too sure about this talking point due to the aforementioned sensory issues that she has, but she could view sex as a sort of escapism fantasy, which also carries over in her love fantasy of N, and her relationship with the other cheerleaders as a semi functional support system, yet again other similarities with Uzi who, at the start of the series latched onto her fantasy of becoming a hero as escapism from her unfortunate school and home life, and, with a little stretching, we could say that Lizzy and Doll were to Rebecca what N and V are to Uzi, though not quite as healthy.

To ensure that Rebecca's views and actions on sex don't jive with her possibly having sensory issues, I've looked up information regarding the way people with these types of problems engage in sexual activity, and luckily for me, none of what I've found seemed to contradict any of the points I've brought up.

Here I have isolated all of the results of my research that fit Rebecca the most. Note: all of these apply to "some" individuals, not "every" individual. You don't have to check out all of these to have sensory issues regarding sex and other similar activities. I'm not a medic, so don't take any of these as gospel.

Perhaps the most obvious way that disordered sensory processing can affect sexuality is through physical touch. Some individuals may dislike hugs and embraces. Others may seek out a lot of touch or intense touch experiences.

Bright lights may agitate individuals with disordered sensory processing during intimacy. Play around to find the best lighting for you and your partner. Try using candles, soft bedside lighting, or turn off the lights completely! Avoid engaging in intimacy directly in front of a window or another uncontrollable light source.

An environment with a surplus of visual stimulation can be overwhelming and distracting. A cluttered environment can limit your partner’s ability to engage in intimacy because they are using energy to process visual inputs. For this reason, seek out clean, neutral, and minimalist spaces! In turn, assure your partner that it is okay to close their eyes during intimacy. This can help to calm their senses and allow them to focus on you, rather than the environment.

Background noises such as music, television, or roommates speaking next door may be distracting to individuals with disordered sensory processing. Find a quiet, private place to engage in intimacy. Avoid integrating music into the environment unless your partner suggests it!

Some individuals with disordered sensory processing have difficulty understanding where their head is in space; they may become disoriented or sensitive to different head positions. On the other hand, they may seek out intense vestibular sensations by engaging in extreme movements and positions. While some individuals may feel more comfortable being stable and stationary, others crave motion.

Sex is also most likely viewed as a coping mechanism for Rebecca, even if the main reason why she probably does it is to remain upon the popular girls in the school.

All of this added context makes Rebecca's death in episode 4 far more tragic, yet less random than some of the other campers. It comes as a result of one, yet fatal flaw: Her need to stay at the top of the food chain.

At this point in the story, Rebecca was getting closer to N, she could have just simply kept nurturing this relationship until it would have developed into something more genuine and mutual. It could have come to the point where eventually, once N would have chosen Uzi over her (because of course he would), she could have come to accept it and move on with her life instead of keep chasing her escapism fantasies and fawning over her parents possible murderer, maybe she would have even befriended Uzi in the process. But no. Her ego was her downfall: once N went away and could no longer satisfy her current needs, she decided to keep improving her social position, an easier thing to do now that Doll was out of the hierarchy, and proceeded to reinforce her reputation by making out with Darren, which got her accidentally killed by Uzi.

Accidentally, just like the death of her parents probably was.

Her death is almost perfect, even better than some of the others in the show: while Doll's death was brutal and heart wrenching but not really satisfying, Tessa's death mostly happened in the background and the show spent very little time on it, Alice's, Beau's, Yeva's and her husband's death depend on how you view their characters and if you think it fits, and V's death is the closest to perfect but wonky in certain aspects of its execution (just like V's arc in general), Rebecca's death is the perfect conclusion to her character.

She dies segmented, broken in pieces, part of her still lives for a couple of minutes, while the other gets eaten by what is essentially the character's foil of the one girl she was jealous of, and whose disappearance greatly benefited Rebecca. While crawling to the other campers, she must have suffered the whole time, just like she suffered her whole life before episode 2, the split of her torso represents her inability to pick up just one road, and in a meta context represents the fact that she is the middle ground between various character's situations.

It also represents the split in her life's trajectory: she was unhappy with her parents and was happy when they died, then became happy with her life and is now unhappy as she's slowly dying of a pain comparable to the one provided by her dad. All of this because of her ego.

And then lastly, as the final nail in the coffin, once she finally reaches the other students, her insides spilling out (reference to Melissa-titanium Doll's death post), everybody immediately forgets about her, just like they did with Uzi. She spent so much time climbing the social ladder, afraid and paranoid that she might tumble down and her parents would punish her for it, only for her to be immediately forgotten about once her systems shut down, still considered meaningless, tying her death also to Doll's and possibly Uzi's one, as the middle ground exploration of the theme of failure: Uzi fails but manages to achieve everything she had ever wanted, Doll fails but manages to achieve nothing, Rebecca fails but manages to achieve half.

It also ties back to Tessa as an alternate version who got freed from her parents abuse and had a chance to live a better life but still died soon afterwards because of a mistake she made.

Chapter 4: The Results

As you can see, just by using all the stuff present in the show if you squirm hard enough for it, with some added details we get a lot of utility out of Rebecca as a character:

- She develops Uzi, develops N, and develops and challenges Nuzi even more than she does in canon, but in a much more meaningful way.

- She works simultaneously as a foil to Uzi and Doll due to her benefiting from the death of her parents, and as well as a foil to Uzi and Tessa, who both had pretty bad parents but never wanted them to die.

- Her relationship with her dad also serves as a foil to Uzi's and Khan's father/daughter relationship, possibly helping to strengthen Khan's arc by showcasing a worse version of himself to the audience, rendering the reconciliation between father and daughter all the more sweeter.

- She deepens Uzi's and Doll's relationship in a different way than the Nori/Yeva parallels, by showcasing us a middle ground between the two characters that is simultaneously so much better and so much worse than the both of them.

- She also deepens the parallels between Uzi and Tessa, by showing us what could have happened if Tessa had the same sadistic tendencies of Uzi and left her parents to die intentionally (side note: Rebecca leaving her parents to die intentionally is also what could have happened in this made up canon. I doubt Rebecca finds joy in other people's suffering, but I can't help but think that she might have finally felt relief when the source of abuse in her life was finally gone), basically doubling as the middle ground between Uzi and Tessa but without their engineering skills, yet again, being so much better and so much worse than both characters.

- She serves to make Uzi more interesting by virtue of being foils but not in the obvious, narrative way of Doll, rather, in a more subtle, social way: if played right, her death could have hunted Uzi in ways the deaths of her other classmates didn't, by finally making Uzi question if she was ever in the right or if she isn't as much of a monster as Doll is.

- Further explores the themes of abuse present in the show and better ties said themes to Lizzy and Doll, who are currently lacking.

- She could have been used as a "tease" for Cyn, something that I haven't talked about until now (Uzi's and Cyn's middle ground). From what we know about Cyn, it seems like she was coded with some sort of robo neuro divergence, similar to the one that Rebecca possibly possesses; the details of Bec's story could have been reworked to parallel some of Cyn's story details, giving Uzi (and the audience) a taste of what Cyn's story or personality is like before meeting the real deal.

- She also, canonically, served to develop me.

Before I started working on this project, I never gave too much of a care about Rebecca. I didn't hate her like many people did, I actually liked her even if that liked soon turned into contempt once the serious writing for this essay actually started, but now I can confidently say that I'm a Rebecca enjoyer, the ideas that I've come up with for her are just too interesting for me to view her in the same way ever again, and I hope that this lecture might have also slightly changed your opinion of Rebecca as well.

[neurocute]

ASPD Resource Dump

feel free to reblog! here are some resources related to ASPD that i've collected since i've being diagnosed (roughly 5 years).

Sympathetic Articles

An Autistic Sociopath's Story, Cassy, through Special Books by Special Kids (video. an autistic pwASPD talks about her life and experiences with both.)

An Interview with a Sociopath, Dyshae, through Special Books by Special Kids (video. a pwASPD and bipolar disorder talks about his life and experiences with both.)

Life With Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), Andrew, through mind.org.uk (a pwASPD's account of their life and experiences with it.)

The Hidden Suffering of the Psychopath, William H. J. Martens, MD, PhD (a sympathetic view of pwASPD, and some information on the neurobiology of ASPD.)

Factors for Development

Antisocial personality disorder in abused and neglected children grown up., B. K. Luntz, C. S. Widom (from 1994. provides evidence supporting the fact that child abuse/neglect is a predictor of antisocial behavior.)

Antisocial Personality Disorder with Childhood- vs Adolescence-Onset Conduct Disorder, Risë B. Goldstein et al. (from 2006. discusses how symptoms vary in pwASPD whose conduct disorder began in childhood vs in adolescence.)

Predictors of antisocial personality: Continuities from childhood to adult life, Emily Simonoff et al. (from 2018. draws connections between childhood behaviors, diagnoses, etc., and antisocial behavior in adulthood.)

Risk Factors in Childhood That Lead to the Development of Conduct Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder, Stacey E. Holmes, James R. Slaughter, Javad Kashani (from 2001. covers multiple categories that may lead to development of CD and/or ASPD, including environment, genetics, and individual differences.)

Miscellaneous Articles

Antisocial Personality Disorder: Neurophysiological Mechanisms and Distinct Subtypes, Sean J. McKinley (from 2018. proposes three diagnostic subtypes for ASPD: primarily detached, primarily disinhibited, and combined.)

Executive function, attention, and memory deficits in antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy, Michael Baliousis et al. (from 2019. discusses some neurobiology of ASPD, and how it effects executive function, attention, and memory.)

Self-mutilation in antisocial personality disorder, M. Virkkunen (from 1976. reports on self-injury behaviors in pwASPD, and details their motivations.)

[covid-safer-hotties]

also preserved on our archive

By Korin Miller

Many COVID-19 variants have come and gone since the pandemic began, but some get more buzz than others. Now, there’s another new variant getting attention from the infectious disease community. It’s called XEC, and it’s currently spreading in Europe.

XEC is an Omicron variant that descended from subvariants KS.1.1 and FLiRT variant KP.3.3, according to Scripps Research’s Outbreak.info. XEC has several spike mutations, which is what the virus uses to infect you—and it might be more infectious that previous strains because of it.

So, will the new variant hit the U.S.? What symptoms should be on your radar? Here’s the deal.

Meet the experts: Amy Edwards, MD, associate professor at Case Western Reserve University and director of the Pediatric COVID Recovery Clinic at UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital; Mark Cameron, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Emily Smith, ScD, MPH, is an epidemiologist and an assistant professor at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.

What symptoms should I watch for? XEC is a pretty new variant and, with that, there isn’t a ton of information right now on symptoms people have experienced with it. However, early reports don’t suggest that it causes dramatically different symptoms from other strains of COVID-19.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), symptoms may include:

Fever or chills

Cough

Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Sore throat

Congestion or runny nose

New loss of taste or smell

Fatigue

Muscle or body aches

Headache

Nausea or vomiting

Diarrhea

When will the new variant hit the U.S.? While the XEC variant is getting a lot of attention in Europe, it’s already hit the U.S. As of Sept. 3, data show that there have been 23 cases of COVID-19 caused by the XEC variant in the U.S., with three happening in California.

The virus was first detected here on July 14, but hasn’t been detected since Aug. 16. That doesn’t mean it’s no longer here, though. Because so many people do home tests (or don’t test at all) when they have symptoms of COVID-19, it can be tricky to get information on different strains of COVID-19.

Will it become the dominant COVID variant? That’s not clear. As of this second, XEC isn’t even a blip on the CDC’s radar. The CDC’s variant surveillance system shows that KP.3.1.1 is the dominant strain in the U.S., followed by KP.2.3, and LB.1. XEC isn’t even listed on the surveillance.

That doesn’t mean it won’t spread, though.

“Just like JN.1 emerged from BA.2.86 late last year to drive new COVID infections through last fall and winter, XEC may have similar potential,” says Mark Cameron, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “But we need to know more about the XEC variant and perhaps those still to come.”

But lately we’ve seen several variants circulate heavily at the same time, points out Amy Edwards, MD, associate professor at Case Western Reserve University and director of the Pediatric COVID Recovery Clinic at UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital. “Dominant is a strong word,” she says. “With so many very contagious variants, I think the days of having one dominant variant is gone.”

How can I protect myself? The CDC currently recommends that everyone aged 6 months and up get the updated COVID-19 vaccine, making that a good place to start. “As yet another Omicron family member, being up to date on the latest COVID-19 booster is a protective measure we can take right now,” Cameron says.

"The main thing we can do to slow a new variant or new wave is to get our booster shots this fall," says Emily Smith, ScD, MPH, an epidemiologist and an assistant professor at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. "Generally, we find the boosters give us broad protection, even against new variants."

It’s also a good idea to wear a mask in crowded indoor areas when levels of COVID-19 are high in your area, especially if you’re consider high risk for complications of the virus. And, of course, if you develop symptoms of the virus, it’s a good idea to test yourself to see if you have the virus so you can lower the odds you’ll spread it to others.

If you do, in fact, have COVID-19 and are considered high risk for serious complications from the virus, you may want to contact your primary care physician about taking an antiviral medication like Paxlovid.

[timdrakesbussy]

My SDV height + age hcs

(Quick note: I am a short girl, like not even 160 cm (5’3) so my perception of tall people may be different from yours. Also, I used metric system so if the feet and inches are wrong, do tell so I can correct it)

Bachelorettes

• Abigail

I actually like her to be so short that she made Sebastian look tall and Sam looked like a giant so maybe at most 160 cm (5’3) but I like her to be 155 cm (5’1). To me, she’s the youngest in the trio but not by much so maybe 21-22.

• Emily

She and Haley (and Leah) are the taller bachelorettes, definitely above 170 cm (5’7) not as tall as Haley but still pretty tall. I think she’s about 173 cm (5’8). She’s definitely one of the older bachelorettes and I like her a bit older than Leah so 31-32.

• Haley

The tallest bachelorette, she could be a model in the city due to her beauty and height. She’s at LEAST 175 cm (5’9) but she can be taller. A bit older than Abigail, so 23.

• Leah

One of the taller bachelorettes but still shorter than the sisters, 170 cm (5’7) is perfect to me. She’s a bit younger than Emily and Elliott but still one of the older marriageable character so 28-30 years old.

• Maru

Despite both Robin and Demetrius being tall, Maru is average at most. She’s not short but not as tall either, I think 165 cm (5’5) is perfect height for her. IMO she’s the youngest bachelorette and the youngest marriageable character overall, she’s a genius so I think she skipped grades and gets degree earlier. 19-20 years old.

• Penny

If Abigail is short, then Penny is tiny. Her and Pam are very short so they make many of the residents look tall, she’s no more than 152 cm (5’0). She’s slightly older than the ASS trio (+Alex and Haley) but she’s not part of the older marriageable characters so she’s about 24-25 years old.

Bachelors

• Alex

He’s a pretty tall and athletic guy, definitely above average so I think he’s about 183-185 cm (6’0-6’1). He’s the same age as Haley, Sebastian, and Sam (23 years old).

• Elliott

He’s built like those hunks in bodice ripper novel covers so he’s TALL, at the very least he’s 188 cm (6’2). He’s one of the older marriageable character and he’s definitely in his 30s, my hc is that he’s the youngest one in the trio of older bachelors so I think he’s about 32 years old.

• Harvey

He’s like a Slenderman, very tall and lanky. To me, he’s the tallest bachelor and one of the tallest characters. He’s actually 195 cm (6’4ish) but he has terrible posture so he looks 190-191 cm (6’3). He’s the oldest canon marriageable character and he has MD so he’s at least 34 years old but I think he’s 37.

• Sam

He’s above average but has long limbs that made him look taller, he’s 180-182 cm (5’11) but sometimes likes to claim he’s 6’0. Despite acting like a teenager, he’s 23.

• Sebastian

Robin might be tall but he did not get her genes on that one, the rest? Sure, especially his face but not height, sadly. I think 173 cm (5’8) is the perfect height for him, but sometimes I like to make him 170 cm (5’7) for shits and giggles. 23 years old.

• Shane

SHORT KING, shortest bachelor and at most he’s 165 cm (5’5). He’s in his 30s (34-36 to be more specific).

Others

Caroline: 47 years old, 162 cm (5’3)

Clint: 38 years old, 194 cm (6’3)

Demetrius: 48 years old, 196 cm (6’4)

Evelyn: 83 years old, 151 cm (4’11)

George: 82 years old, 175 cm (5’9)

Gil: 56 years old, 177 cm (5’10)

Gunther: 45 years old, 178 cm (5’10)

Gus: 54 years old, 179 cm (5’10)

Jas: 7 years old, 124 cm (4’0)

Jodi: 41 years old, 158 cm (5’2)

Kent: 42 years old, 190 cm (6’3)

Leo: 8 years old, 118 cm (3’10)

Lewis: 63 years old, 173 cm (5’7)

Linus: 58 years old, 176 cm (5’9)

Marlon: 53 years old, 185 cm (6’1)

Marnie: 51 years old, 160 cm (5’3)

Morris: 49 years old, 180 cm (5’11)

Mr. Qi: 36 years old, 187 cm (6’2)

Pam: 54 years old, 150 cm (4’11)

Pierre: 47 years old, 174 cm (5’8)

Prof. Snail: 67 years old, 167 cm (5’6)

Rasmodius: He either aged slowly so he’s old but looked younger or he aged normally, if the latter then he’s 50 years old. 192 cm (6’3)

Robin: 46 years old, 178 cm (5’10)

Sandy: 34 years old, 183 cm (6'0)

Vincent: 7 years old, 126 cm (4’1)

Willy: 55 years old, 183 cm (6’0)

BONUS

(Some) Expanded

Andy: 48 years old, 181 cm (5’11)

Claire: 26 years old, 166 cm (5’5)

Lance: 27 years old, 186 cm (6’1)

Martin: 16 years old, 176 cm (5’9)

Olivia: 50 years old, 163 cm (5’3)

Scarlett: 21 years old, 164 cm (5'4)

Sophia: 21 years old, 162 cm (5’3)

Susan: 42 years old, 168 cm (5’6)

Victor: 22 years old, 178 cm (5’10)

[variberii]

Murder Drones RP (Blogs)

Hi!! Welcome to the information for the murder drones blog rp!! we will be doing a half-canon rp (meaning you are allowed to go away from plot.)! There are a lot of characters in this series, so heres the character list !! (WILL ALSO TELL YOU IF A CHARACTER IS TAKEN OR NOT TAKEN.) WORKER DRONES !!

-Uzi (TAKEN @d-rkxwolf17 ) -Thad (TAKEN @thad-the-drone ) -Khan (AVAILABLE) -Doll (AVAILABLE) -Lizzy (TAKEN @lizzy-ykme ) - Darren (AVAILABLE) - Rebecca (AVAILABLE) - Sarah (AVAILABLE)  - Tim (AVAILABLE) - Frank (AVAILABLE) - Ron (AVAILABLE) - Todd (AVAILABLE) - Braxton (AVAILABLE) - Kelsey (AVAILABLE) - Trevor (AVAILABLE) - Emily (AVAILABLE) - Sam (AVAILABLE)

DISASSEMBLY DRONES !!

N (TAKEN @s3rial-d3signation-N) - V (TAKEN @serialdv ) - J (TAKEN @industrialmachineryj)

OTHERS !!

Tessa (TAKEN @tessa-james-elliot-md-rp ) - Cyn (AVAILABLE) -Nori (AVAILABLE) -Yeva (AVAILABLE) -ALICE (AVAILABLE) -Amda (AVAILABLE)

This rp will be done in ENGLISH (so i can make sure it's adequately moderated. yes i know im lame im working on learning another language.)

keep things mostly safe for work. slightly suggestive? whatever. but keep it mostly sfw. the specific tag for the rp is #bite me! other tags: #mrdr drns rp , #murder drones rp

there may be more rules to come but im too lazy to think rn :3

RB or DM if interested!!

[things-arent-what-they-seem66]

A couple things I want to add to the blind au last anon message!!! Cause I love it!

Adam can’t work and can collect disability however it is a strain for both him and Emily because they are settled with medical bills! And if they’re in the US, holy shit! Imagine how much their medical bills would be? For the transplant, Eves care and Adams care? Sure they have a little help with the medical bills because Adam is disabled but it doesn’t really make a dent in their dept.

Lucifers family disapproving of him being a nurse is for many reasons but but because nursing is a ‘women’s job’ and Lucifer is ‘wasting his potential’ because Lucifer is a terrifying beast in the business! He is cut throat!

Oh! Oh! He has the nickname of King of Hell because if this? He is also called a fallen Angel by people outside the family because they see him pursing nursing as a fall from grace?

Hmmm? Adams grandparents cut them off after their family died? So maybe they accepted Eve because she’s sly and is after the full inheritance? Like she has their wealth too and there is a mini reunion between the siblings after the grandparents die? And they learn Eve is to inherit everything!

This is when Lucifer discovers the truth because he comes to their home and finds both Adam and Emily in a bad way. Emily was hoping to use whatever their grandparents left them to get out of dept.

We need Lilith in this? What would she be? Another business rival? Also what business would Eve be running and what would Lucifers family be running?

😍 love this au!

Thank you! So do I.

Wow that's a lot.

But yeah Eve basically left them high and dry. Before Emily became a social worker she worked two jobs at once.

They live in California so yeah, high medical bills. Adam feels guilty he can't do much to earn money to help out.

On occasion he'll play his guitar on the corner and people will leave money in the case.

Lucifer comes from a family of doctors and lawyers. Nursing would be seen as a step down, though he technically has his MD in medical doctoring. But he chose to be a nurse because it was more fulfilling for him.

Emily hires him because he has a lower rate and it's all they can afford. She shows him around and introduced him to Adam, who he was smitten with the moment he saw him.

Adam was sceptical at first, ever since Steve took advantage of him and abused him. But he trusts his sister so he gives it a shot, he doesn't want to hold her back to take care of him.

[elmw00dian]

IM SORRY HOLY SHIT I JUST REALIZED WE’RE FRIENDS ON DISCORD FROM THE GRUBSIES SERVER?? I SAW YOUR USERNAME IN MY FRIENDS LIST AND I IMMEDIATELY MADE THE CONNECTION THIS IS SO INSANE TO ME???

OH MY GID MY BRAIN??????? MY BRAINB???????????? EMILY??????????? KHAN ICON????????/????????????????? WHY DOI I KNOW LITERALLY EVERYONE IN THE ART COMMUNITY ??????????? IVE KNOWN YOU LONGER THAN ANY OTHER MD MUTUAL I HAVE, THEN. THATS ACTUALLY CRAZY

[user-darkxwolf17]

E-Emily!

E......Tased Emily!

I expected that.

@emily-and-e!

[rad10active-ketchup]

my favorite MD characters are literaly just the people who got murdered in ep 4 (+Doll and lizzy ig but they don't count lmao) like bro

That is my favorite character and she was like Uzi's second murder

also these two ig

Emily is silly

[houseofbrat]

04 JUNE 2024: US Weekly, "Inside Kate Middleton's Recovery: She 'May Never Come Back' in Royal Role We Remember (Exclusive)"

According to the second source, Kate’s team is “reevaluating what she’s going to be able to take on when she comes back,” noting, “She may never come back in the role that people saw her in before.”

[...] The reprieve is a welcome one for the couple. “The announcement that the royals won’t be able to work as much has been unexpected, but it will allow Kate and William to spend more time together,” says the second source. “They’ve been reconnecting and are closer than ever.”

05 JUNE 2024: Tom Sykes of The Daily Beast, "Kate Middleton ‘May Never Come Back’ as She Was: Report" [archive link]

In remarks likely to displease the palace, which has sought a blackout on reporting about Kate’s health apart from official updates, the outlet added that Kate has been spotted out and about with family and on her own.

06 JUNE 2024: William attends D-Day 80th Anniversary celebrations in France.

07 JUNE 2024: NY Post, "Kate Middleton not pressuring herself to see anyone amid cancer battle: ‘Doesn’t care truly what anyone thinks’" [archive link]

“Kate’s recovery is a one day-at-a-time thing,” an insider told Life & Style. “She’s not putting any pressure on herself to do anything or see anyone because deadlines in a situation like this can make the recovery way more stressful. She doesn’t care truly what anyone thinks.” [...] And while her home life seems to be as strong as can be ��� especially after insiders said that she and William are now “closer than ever” — the same can’t be said for her royal duties at this time. A source claimed this week that Princess Catherine “may never come back in the role that people saw her in before.”

08 JUNE 2024: Emily Prescott, Daily Mail, "Princess Kate rewards 'Girl Friday' Natasha Archer for her loyalty with new top job as senior private executive at the Palace" [archive link]

In a move that has been interpreted in Royal circles as a reward for her loyalty, Ms Archer has been appointed to the new role of senior private executive assistant to Kate and William. Ms Archer, 36, updated her profile on the LinkedIn career website last week to reflect her upgraded status. Previously she was a PA and stylist, and was pictured carrying Kate's bags on and off planes for Royal tours. Ms Archer's promotion follows reports that she personally collected The Princess of Wales from the London Clinic after her abdominal operation earlier this year. After that, the mother of two was brought into the innermost circle of select friends and family members who have been supporting the Princess through her private cancer battle. Sources say Ms Archer, who is married to Royal photographer Chris Jackson, has been dedicated to her employer. She has been inseparable from Kate in recent months, often assisting her as she travels to and from hospital appointments. Now she will have a title and salary that reflects her trusted status.

09 JUNE 2024: Reddit post stating Kate had been seen at the St. Regis in Houston, Texas.

10 JUNE 2024: Rumor then starts that Kate is being treated at MD Houston Cancer Center on Twitter.

Houston Chronicle posts an article with a response by Kensington Palace to the rumor. [archive link]

A rumor that Kate Middleton is being treated at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston is false, according to a Kensington Palace representative.  Speculation about the princess' location has grown since she announced her cancer diagnosis in March. She began preventative chemotherapy in February, according to Kensington Palace, with no estimated date of when she might return to public duties.

11 JUNE 2024: Tom Sykes of The Daily Beast, "No Timeframe�� for Kate Middleton’s Return to Royal Duties: Source" [archive link]

Another source, an old friend of the family, said that they thought it would be “bizarre” if Kate appeared on the balcony at Trooping the Colour this weekend having declined to appear for her own regiment a week before. “I think this idea that Kate is suddenly going to pop up on the balcony on Saturday is far-fetched,” they said. “It would be wonderful, of course, but more than slightly bizarre given that she bowed out of the Colonel’s review.” [...] The Daily Beast has reported that Kate may not be seen publicly until next year, while the Daily Mail reported that Kate’s friends have said “we might not see Catherine again until the autumn—and only then if she has recovered fully.” Us Weekly alleged that the Princess of Wales’ team is “reevaluating what she’s going to be able to take on when she comes back.” The palace has dismissed such reports as speculation. Her office has reiterated that she needs “space and time” to convalesce.

13 JUNE 2024: Richard Eden of the Daily Mail writes about Andrew and Royal Lodge:

There has been some suggestion, it is true, that the Prince and Princess of Wales and their three children could move into 30-room Royal Lodge. The Waleses currently live in four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage at Windsor. However, a source close to William and Catherine tells me they are very happy there and have no wish to leave. In due course, they will occupy Windsor Castle. ‘The last thing William and Catherine would want is a load of controversy about their getting another big house,’ says a friend. ‘They already have their large home at Kensington Palace and their Norfolk property, Anmer Hall, in addition to Adelaide Cottage. There was a fair bit of criticism of the cost of renovations to their Kensington Palace home and they would not want to go through all that again.’

Tiktoker said she saw Kate shopping with Charlotte and Louis. [archive link]

Kate Middleton was reportedly seen on a shopping spree with two of her children, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, at a popular clothing store. The claim has been made by a TikTok user @lolchesss, on the video platform, who saw the Princess of Wales out and about with her younger ones, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. However, she clarified that she didn’t take any photos or videos in a bid to respect her privacy as the future Queen of England continues her public absence amid a cancer battle.

14 JUNE 2024: Kate announces she will attend Trooping the Colour:

Additional commentary regarding Kate's public statement:

(William made a separate statement regarding Kate's "start to engage with the work and projects," as he was not part of Kate's statement.)

Eleanor Hayward, The Times, "Kate’s ‘bad days’ from chemo will be brutally familiar to others" [archive link]

Kate is having preventative chemotherapy, also known as adjuvant chemotherapy. This is when drugs are given to “mop up” and destroy any cancer cells that are lurking in the body after surgery — to prevent cancer spreading or returning in future. Often patients undergoing preventative chemotherapy receive lower doses than those having it as a primary treatment, reducing the extremity of the side-effects. The length of chemotherapy varies from cancer to cancer. Professor Bob Phillips, professor of paediatric oncology at the University of York, said that the timeframe for chemotherapy treatment was “hugely variable”, adding that it was “traditionally between four and six ‘cycles’ of chemo, each cycle lasting 21 days and consisting of a day or few days of chemo”. He added that there would then be “time for the body to recover from it”, while the chemo keeps damaging the cancer cell. Phillips said: “Generally speaking, the healthier someone is before cancer treatment, the closer to optimal the amount of chemo and the gaps between chemo can be. Generally, the younger someone is, the healthier they will be.” [...] He added that preventative chemotherapy can “be given at lower doses and therefore be easier on the patients."

15 JUNE 2024: Kate attends Trooping the Colour and stands on the balcony for the flypast.

Allison Pearson creates a fire storm with her piece, "Our Fair Lady: Princess of Wales’s selfless display was the tonic that Britain needed"

Two words: Thank you. Thank you Princess of Wales for being an absolute trouper and attending Trooping the Colour on a cold, grey day when lesser mortals with your illness would have stayed home, tucked up in their jim-jams. Thank you for sacrificing the privacy that is so much needed to get you back to full health. Thank you for such a show of support for the King, who is not a well man, on his official birthday, and for giving a boost to the wider Royal family – which has sorely lacked star power since you withdrew from public life in January to have major surgery. Thank you for channelling the gamine beauty of Audrey Hepburn in that wow of a white dress with a jaunty, outsize, stripy black-and white bow. You are Our Fair Lady.

16 JUNE 2024: Kensington Palace releases a new photo of William and three kids for Father's Day.

21 JUNE 2024: Kensington Palace releases a new photo of William and three kids for his 42nd birthday.

(No photo was released for Kate's birthday in January.)

Tom Sykes, The Daily Beast, "William and Kate Will ‘Encourage’ Charlotte and Louis to Not Be Working Royals" [archive link]

They were speaking after a report in the Daily Mail said William not only agreed with his father King Charles’ drive to slim down the monarchy but would go even further. The report cited a friend as saying: “When the older members of the family retire, (William) won’t be inviting anyone else to become working royals. It remains to be seen if he will even want his two younger children to be working royals.” The source said of the report, “It’s absolutely true. The option isn’t there for George, of course, but the children have been kept at arm’s length from royal life. They are exposed to the minimum possible publicity, and that is a deliberate strategy to let Charlotte and Louis choose their own destiny.” [...] Critics, of course, will argue that if the couple don’t want the children to take on formal royal duties, they should stop promoting them, and the royal family should stop using them to market itself. The children are often featured in Wales family photos (most recently their Father’s Day snap with William, and Wales promotional videos, such as those released after Trooping the Colour, which featured the kids extensively. Prince Louis’s facial antics have made him a superstar, and similarly Princess Charlotte is seen as a commanding big sister.

22 JUNE 2024: Kensington Palace releases a photo of William, George, Charlotte, and Taylor Swift:

25 JUNE 2024: Sophie, The Duchess of Edinburgh, is seen wearing the Lotus Flower Tiara, which was previously worn by Kate from 2013 to 2022, at the state dinner for Japan. The Lotus Flower Tiara no longer appears to be in the possession of (or loaned out to) Kate.

03 JULY 2024: William attends the Order of the Thistle service in Edinburgh with King Charles & Queen Camilla.

04 JULY 2024: William spotted on a scooter at Windsor Castle.

06 JULY 2024: William attends the Euro quarterfinal between England and Switzerland.

People magazine (US) announces that William will star in a documentary about his short-lived effort, Homewards, this fall. [archive link]

The Prince of Wales' Homewards program, dedicated to ending homelessness, will be featured in a compelling two-part ITV documentary series that will air on ITV1 and ITVX this fall. Titled Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, the series will chronicle the first year of this five-year initiative. Viewers will follow Prince William, 42, as he launches Homewards across the U.K., capturing the stories of individuals currently facing homelessness and those with lived experience.

Last day of school for George, Charlotte, and Louis at Lambrook School until Wednesday, 04 September 2024.

Kate sends a "personal message" to Andy Murray on Twitter.

08 JULY 2024: Ellie Hall publishes "The Disappearing Timeline of Rose Hanbury" for Vulture (New York magazine). [archive link]

As far as royal scandals go, the Rose-William story barely registers on a list that includes the far more sordid (and substantiated) stories of the previous generation of Windsors, such as Squidgygate, the now-King Charles’s infamous tampon comments, and the whole Fergie toe-sucking thing.

The Telegraph posits that The Duchess of Gloucester may present trophies at Wimbledon in Kate's absence. [archive link]

The Duchess of Gloucester has been earmarked as a likely candidate to present the Wimbledon trophies this weekend if the Princess of Wales is unavailable, as she continues her recovery from cancer treatment. All England Club Chair Debbie Jevans told Telegraph Sport in the build-up to the Championships they would give the Princess “as much flexibility as possible” in determining whether she is able to fulfil her ceremonial duties as Club Patron on finals weekend, including leaving a decision until the morning of the women’s final on Saturday.

TIMELINE:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

[peridotglimmer]

Favorite TV Shows

Game: Add 10 gifs from your favorite shows and tag 10 people.

Tagged by: @mistmarauder <3

Wentworth

JAG

Grey's Anatomy

Flikken Maastricht

iZombie

House MD

Timeless

Celblok H

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

CSI: Vegas

(Yes I picked two CSI shows that are sequels. And one show that is a literal translation of the other but HEY. Getting to ten shows was painful. I don't watch TV shows anymore! Also I wanted to pick Soof: Een Nieuw Begin but apparently there's not a single GIF for that show on tumblr. And you don't want me making GIFs of my own, trust me. And as much as I wanted to choose Hermitcraft and the Life Series, I figured they didn't count because they're webseries/SMPs.)

Tagging with very little pressure: @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels @emily-prentits @cicaklah @cajunandfire @issytheamateurnerd

@electricbluebutterflies @crime-wives @myth-blossom @oceansinmychest @princess-of-prose

(by the way: if you don't want me to tag you in tagging games, let me know and I won't in future. <3 )

[ami-prince]

Ta da! First day of MD Halloween ship month!

First up is Nuzi starring as Emily and Victor from one of my fave films corpse bride!!

I’m planning to draw each ship with one different brush. Next up to draw is envy!

#murderdrones

#nuzi

#biscuitbites

[shutterbug-12]

First and Last Lines

rules: post the first and last lines of the last 10 fics you posted.

Tagged by @homerjacksons. Thanks! Doing this because I'm hoping it gives me some motivation to do some writing. I have been tired lately and entirely unproductive. So, fingers crossed. Note: fics below are finished unless otherwise noted.

Take the Long Way Home (Ashes to Ashes/Ripper Street crossover; Alex Drake/Edmund Reid) WIP, so these are the first/last lines of the first chapter.

First line: “Am I under arrest?”

Last line: “Another drink?”

2. Sweetheart From Another Life (Ripper Street; Edmund Reid/Emily Reid) WIP, one more chapter left to write. I should really get on that.

Edmund sat in a hard, straight-backed chair, still but for the erratic tap tap-tap of his foot.

And a man who would come to be known as Jack hit the pale face of a young whore until it was red-raw. 

3. Magic Bus (House MD; Gen)

"You're dead," House said, voice flat, matter-of-fact.

Then, with a shake of his head, House stepped off the bus.

4. Eden Sank to Grief (House MD; House/Stacy)

“How did you beat me home?”

She felt her heart lurch as Greg peered over his shoulder to meet her eyes before the nurse steered him around a corner and took him away from her.

5. And They Lived (Ripper Street; Edmund Reid/Jane Cobden) Part I complete; Part II WIP.

Edmund had written difficult letters in his life, but none harder than this. 

Toward their future and their home. 

6. For the Lads and Lasses (Ted Lasso; Keeley Jones/Roy Kent, Jaime Tartt)

The sign made him say it. 

Oh, fuck yes. 

7. Off the Record (Ted Lasso; Trent Crimm, Ted Lasso)

Trent Crimm (formerly of The Independent) sat on the bright, yellow-green lawn of the Tom Quad, Christ Church, Oxford, late in the afternoon.

With a little smile, Ted said, “I’ll take that as a yes,” and nudged him toward the podium.

8. A New One (Ted Lasso; Keeley Jones/Roy Kent)

Apart from the usual idiocy that came with every standard six-year-old, Phoebe hadn’t been painted with the half-wit brush as much as Roy liked to claim.

Only when he went back to his place did he ring Keeley, with a cup of tea in his hand and his new blankie draped across his lap.

9. Taste Test (Ted Lasso; Gen)

When Ted waltzed his way into Rebecca’s office—and actually waltzed because, first of all, his backpack made a mighty fine dance partner, and, second, he’d felt like dancing ever since they’d eked out a win the other day against Chelsea late in the second half. 

Smiling, he shouted over his shoulder, “Y’all are the best! Get ready for a real hootenanny!” 

10. Flowers in the Dirt (Ripper Street; Edmund Reid/Jane Cobden)

Before the Yard had exiled Jackson to America--his home, Ed reminded himself; not a punishment, but his home--Jackson had pulled him aside and said, “Look, Reid. Before I leave, I should teach you a thing or two.”

And I smile with her.

Tagging: @casadegatos, @nautilicious, @punkascas, @puffologic, @hondagirll and anyone else who'd enjoy doing this. It was pretty fun.

[rhodeybugg]

My MD AU shipkids: A slightly more detailed list.

N x V :

Crumbles/Crumbs [formerly Castiel] -

N and V's eldest son. Disassemblers, like Workers, start their lives in the egg-pod state, and eventually "hatch" after a few weeks of external incubation, where they age and grow similarly to humans. Crumbs looks like V, but has the sweet and goofy personality of his father.

Biscuit, their daughter, was born a few months after her brother hatched. Much to Uzi's disapproval, V was already carrying Biscuit's core while she was nesting with Crumbs and waiting for him to hatch. Biscuit is a perfect mesh of both of her parent's appearances, but tends to act more like her mother.

Uzi x Thad:

Basil - Uzi and Thad's oldest son. He looks exactly like Thad and it scares his dad sometimes. Major mama's boy. Despite having half of his coding and personality from Uzi, he's surprisingly calm. While hatching, Basil refused to leave his shell and wouldn't move until Uzi held him.

Soto - Secondborn. There's a two-year age gap between Basil and Soto. Soto, similarly to Basil, looks like Thad [minus the eyes], but has a bit more of his mother's temper. Soto is the only offspring of Uzi and Thad to display leftover traits of the solver [he's got teeny tiny wings.]

Beretta + Sear - The twins were Uzi and Thad's last attempt to have a daughter [who Thad promised Uzi could name after a gun.] Unfortunately for Uzi, Thad and Lizzy both have a higher chance of producing twin cores. Sear was an oops. Beretta is a carbon copy of Uzi, right down to her love of making clueboards. [Thad is scared. He should be.] Sear managed to get a mixture of both of her parent's appearances, but is more shy and quiet than Beretta. Sear is usually attached to Thad's hip, she's a daddy's girl.

Basil, Beretta and Sear all got the purification strand of the solver via Thad.

Doll x Lizzy:

Suriva + Valentina - Twins, the only two children Doll and Lizzy ever wanted. Suriva is mute [she can speak, she just doesnt want to], and communicates with a little roach keybug that she has adopted. Valentina is essentially a clone of Lizzy with Doll's looks, right down to Lizzy's fashion sense. Suriva is the opposite, looking like Lizzy, but being the quiet and reserved sister. Suriva can and will kill you.

Suriva is a solver carrier, passed down by Doll. Valentina was spared and got the purification strand of the solver via Lizzy

Darren x Rebecca x Emily:

Hollyn -

After Sam was killed during the Cabin Fever field trip, Rebecca and Darren added her to their relationship, knowing that she needed someone to love and lean on after losing her partner. The three share a genuine bond, and Darren loves his girlfriends.

With this, Hollyn is a physical mesh of all three of her parents. Since Rebecca's core was damaged by Uzi, she lost the ability to carry a droneling core, meaning Emily carried the three's child. Hollyn is a booknerd, but got Rebecca's sass, and Darren's...well, being darren. She and Valentina meet up on tuesdays to geek out over books they found from the old human library.

Zara x Tessa:

Carmine -

After taking out the cause of the Elliot Family's curse, Carmine was created thanks to the miracle of JcJenson and their science experiments. Zara and Tessa each gave a sample of their DNA, and once a stable egg was created, Zara aggreed to be the one to carry her. She's got Tessa's auburn hair and Zara's freckles, and loves everything about drones just like her parents. Tessa and Zara agreed that her middle name was to be "Louise" as a nod to her grandmother.

Reese: A leftover droneling from an abandoned company project, Reese was set to be disassembled, but was saved by Tessa. He was raised alongside Carmine, and while he knows he's a different species than his sister, they may as well both be human. Reese was given the middle name "James", similarly to his sister, as a respect to his grandfather.

Carmine picked up drone habits from Reese, such as attempting to sleep upside-down on their bunk beds, and Reese had to learn the hard way that he can't constantly eat human food like Carmine [it makes his tummy hurt :(]

J x Sive:

Ren - The eldest and only daughter of the two.

After being reunited with her long-lost girlfriend, J and Sive rekindled their relationship on copper-9, and came together to have a child.

J was the one that carried Ren, and it was the first time anyone had ever seen J be soft and loving.

Ren looks soft and sweet like Sive, but is just as militant and demanding as J. She looks up to both of her mothers, but is usually trailing behind and attached to J's hip. [She wont admit it, but she likes getting approval and snuggles from both of her moms.]