#bro has “living dead girl” playing wherever he goes

[steelthroat]

If we think about it, Megatron must look anemic to the rest of the Cybertronian race.

Edited to add the tags on the post since I was told not to hide them :3

[schoolmascotbyday]

fred frederickson headcanons.

fred falls in love easily, with people, things, ideas, cities, you name it. he is full to the brim of love. there are very few things he hates, and even then ‘mild disgust’ is a more fitting term, just expect him to be extremely dramatic about being fed brussels sprouts when he doesn’t actually hate them all that much.

for parents that travel a lot, he hasn’t been many places. he’ll be invited on the occasional family trip, but for the most part he was left at home with his butler to look after him when his parents left on yet another business trip... or anniversary celebration... or friends’ yearly get away...

sometimes he fees quite abandoned by his parents but he knows they love him and it isn’t intentional. they’re just busy. too busy for him.

he LOVES comic cons. LOVES. LOVES. LOVES.

if there’s someone that enjoys a good conspiracy theory, it’s frederick frederickson iv. he may read a little too much in them, believing himself a superhero that has to stop the bad guys, so it’s no surprise to see him walking around town scanning the area and making accusatory expressions at random passerby. think nothing of it. he just wants to make sure the town is safe from any hidden evil.

fred was a school mascot at his last school and he loved every minute of it. he still has his costume.

he is a very affectionate person. touch is definitely one of his love languages. he’ll hug anyone. he’ll hold his best bro’s hand, he doesn’t care. but he does know boundaries and will keep his distance when it makes people uncomfortable.

fred has taught himself to speak japanese, which speaks to how smart he can be when he’s dedicated to a cause... like watching anime without subtitles.

he gets confused easily and his mind takes routes the normal person wouldn’t but he isn’t quite as ditzy as he seems.

he considers himself a master sign spinner. he’s actually quite good at it! he’s gotten some jobs spinning for local businesses, but he doesn’t need the money, he just enjoys learning new tricks and showing them off.

fred loves helping. it doesn’t matter how small or how big the task is, he just wants to lend a helping hand.

his music taste is quite diverse. his favorite songs range from come as you are by nirvana and barbie girl by aqua. literally. both are in his ‘top 100’ playlist.

when it comes to sexuality fred doesn’t put a label on it. he’s had girlfriends and boyfriends. gender means nothing to him.

gender roles also mean nothing to him. he’s definitely more on the masculine side when it comes to physical looks and style, but if he wants to sport a neon pink tutu then damn it he’s gonna sport a neon pink tutu. he will not conform.

this kid has no shame whatsoever. you cannot hurt his pride. impossible.

it isn’t that he necessarily loves having long hair, he’s usually just too lazy to cut it, and that’s the fred people have grown to know.

would love for people to refer to him as ‘fredzilla’. sometimes refers to himself as fredzilla.

most of his closet is made up of hand-me-downs. despite having six digits in his bank account he’ll go out dressed in a beanie, tee, jeans and an old pair of shoes with holes in them. he drives an old, beat down, paint-chipping-off, ripped-seats van around. the boy even coupons sometimes because he finds it fun. he does not look nor act the rich part and until people see his house they’d have no idea.

he donates to charities all the time. he has monthly subscriptions to many subjects he cares deeply about, he’ll make sure every fundraiser he goes to doubles their goal, he’ll find random gofundmes and send thousands. it’s always anonymous, too, if he can get away with it. he just loves to give. it’s definitely not about the attention as no one, not even his parents, know how much of his money he gives away.

okay, so maybe it’s not his money, but it technically is because his family makes sure he always has enough to not only live off of but buy everything he could want. they don’t question any of his spending habits. they are very, very well off. they don’t care as long as he’s happy.

what makes him happy is comic books and superhero merch.

he still plays pokemon go.

tw. as happy go lucky as he is, fred is also harboring some deeper emotions. when he lost tadashi he didn’t shed a tear. he held it together for his friends. everything that has ever hurt him has rolled right off of his back, but eventually the weight is going to be too much. eventually he’ll have to admit that he’s not made of steel and some things hurt.

he has very little trouble sleeping, if he chooses to go to bed then he can fall out in a matter of minutes. however he often chooses to stay up into the am, either playing video games or hoping for a call from his mom or dad wherever they are halfway across the world.

in his room, fred has a giant saltwater aquarium. he wanted a pet, and no one felt he was up for the responsibility of anything that didn’t require more than one feeding a day. so fish were the compromise, and much to his own surprise he’s kept them all alive and thriving. they’re good company. he talks to them sometimes when he’s feeling a little lonely.

when fred is in, he is all in.

he likes to write but he doesn’t feel it’s good enough, so he rarely shows anyone. he has deeply thought out plots and stacks of finished comic books he’s made on his own but he keeps them locked away from everyone but his own eyes. he doesn’t want to fail.

tw. while he may not have been as close to tadashi as some of the others, he was still one of his best friends. he was his main inspiration, and fred is honestly in denial that he’s gone. he’s so used to watching movies, playing games and reading books where the hero is always revived. never actually died. he can’t seem to completely get it through his thick skull that this is real life and what’s dead stays dead.

he has a different ringtone set for every person in his phone. even companies.

as chaotic as he can be and often tardy, fred makes sure all of his bills are paid in time. he can be responsible if he truly tries.

his bedroom is the size of most people’s living rooms and kitchens combined.

fred is quite buff to rarely eat healthy and not be into sports. he doesn’t go out of his way to exercise but he does often choose to walk rather than drive and enjoys physical activity like randomly cartwheeling around his backyard at seven am because he can.

speaking of, has a large fenced in backyard which is perfect for laying out under the stars and sleeping, or walking out back in his underwear whenever he wants.

he likes to think of himself as a master inventor but most of his ideas are so far out there no one takes him seriously.

he loves science but he doesn’t understand... really... anything...

the only broken bone he’s ever had was his left arm when he fell from halfway up a tree at seven years old and fractured it in several places because he was imitating a bat and lost balance. he chipped a tooth and got a concussion as well. heathcliff was the one to take him to the hospital because his parents were in france. they didn’t know he broke an arm for three weeks.

fred hates hyenine. he hates showers, hates baths, hates brushing his teeth, hates combing his hair. he feels it takes precious time out of his day, he’s lazy and is, a lot of the times, pointless. he isn’t gross, though, he’ll do it. he just isn’t happy about it and not ashamed to wear the same outfit for a week straight before washing it.

the boy struggles when it comes to simple tasks sometimes. common sense isn’t his cup of tea.

[whamcitycomedy]

please tell me about hamlet i want to know more about it

haha yeah sure no problem if you really want (*pretends I haven’t been waiting for a chance to rant about hamlet all day*) so basically the story of hamlet is kinda weird, but it’s like: hamlet is the prince of denmark, and his dad, (who was previously the king) just died and his younger brother claudius married hamlet’s mother the queen pretty quickly after, so hamlet is pretty upset abt all this (understandably) then the ghost of hamlet’s dad (who’s name is also hamlet, just to make things more confusing) shows up and is like “hey son what’s up, my brother killed me by pouring poison in my ear so he could get my wife and my crown, you should probs do something abt that, bye” and then hamlet’s like “oh fuck I have to avenge my father” and then for some reason is like “I know what to do! I have to convince everyone I’m CRAZY!” And then horatio (his best/boyfriend) is like “ok weird but I love you so I’ll support you with this I guess” and then hamlet acts crazy around everyone and a whole bunch of stuff happens, and at first claudius and everyone’s like “hamlet must be crazy because ophelia doesn’t like him” (Ophelia is the girl he had been courting a little before all this) and they all come up with plans to spy on hamlet and ophelia, and meanwhile hamlet has this plan to put on a play where a guy kills his brother by pouring poison in his ear so he can see how claudius reacts to the play to figure out if he’s actually guilty, so the play happens, and of course claudius freaks out (cuz he is guilty) and hamlet’s like “ha! I knew it! Time to kill him!” And then goes to kill him, but stops and is like “or maybe I’ll kill him later!” (Because the whole big thing in the play is that hamlet is always talking abt all the stuff he’s going to do, but never actually takes action) and then he visits his mom Gertrude, and accidentally kills Polonius (Ophelia’s dad who was spying on him at claudius’ request) and is like “oh shit! I gotta hide this body! Mom don’t tell anyone abt this, ‘Kay?” And gertrude’s like “haha ok” and then immediately goes to claudius and is like “my son’s lost it he just killed some guy.” And claudius is like “uh oh guess we gotta ship him to england (*cough* so they can execute him *cough*)” and gertrudes like “what was that last part” and claudius is like “HAMLET there u are just the guy I was lookin for now where’d u put the body, son?” And hamlet’s like “ur not my dad, but I’d check under the stairs” and then claudius sends hamlet to england on a boat. Then Laertes (Ophelia’s brother and Polonius’ son) comes back from wherever he was and is like “bro my dad’s dead wtf??” And claudius is like “yeah bro sorry that was my crazy son.” Then ophelia (who really just wanted to chill and didn’t deserve getting dragged into all this :(  )comes in and starts singing and throwing flowers and everyone’s like “oh no ophelia’s gone crazy!” Then she leaves and someone else comes in and is like “hamlet’s back” and claudius is like “wdym hamlet’s back” and the guy’s like “idk, he’s back” (because as hamlet later explains to horatio he somehow managed to get out of the whole getting executed in England situation, something involving pirates, idk) so claudius is like “LAERTES you have to avenge your father and kill hamlet!!! Let’s make a plan where you duel him with poison on your sword, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll give him poison to drink!! I just really like poison!!!” And Laertes is like “ok” then Gertrude comes in and is like “oh no ophelia just drowned herself/accidentally drowned?” And everyone’s like “oh no” jump forward to ophelia’s funeral, where hamlet and horatio are hanging out at the graveyard having a rlly weird conversation with these two gravediggers, and they see the funeral and are like “what’s that” and meanwhile laertes is at the funeral and is so upset abt his sister’s death that he jumps in her grave, but hamlet’s like “wait no he can’t do that being dramatic and edgy is MY job” (also at some point while pretending to go insane, it’s very likely that hamlet actually has gone insane, so,) and then HE jumps in the grave too and they start fighting literally in ophelia’s grave and horatio and everyone else is like “guys wtf” and then other stuff happens but basically hamlet and laertes eventually have their duel, but claudius’ plan gets all fucked up and like everyone gets poisoned, so the gertrude dies, then claudius dies, then laertes dies, then hamlet is in the process of dying, and horatio is like “no hamlet you can’t die! IM gonna die!” and he tries to drink the poison but hamlet’s like “nO HoRaTiO DONT KILL URSELF UR SO SEXY AHA” and knocks the poison out of his hand and hes like “horatio u have to live and tell my weird fucked up story” and then he dies and then fortinbras walks in (I forgot to mention him before but hes like the prince of some other country idk) and sees all these dead ppl and he’s like “what the FUCK happened here” and horatio’s like “boy do i have story for u.” and that’s hamlet.

I skipped a bunch of stuff too, but basically that’s it, and it’s got a whole bunch of cool motifs about corruption and misogyny and grief and of course the whole repressed love thing going on between horatio and hamlet, and the whole thing is just way funnier than it has any right to be and I love it.

[isroselalondebisexual]

What do you think the following kidswaps would be like: Rose Strider, Dave Lalonde, John Harley, and Jade Egbert

So I don’t actually engage with kidswaps a bunch because I don’t really get where most people are coming from with them, but my understanding of kidswaps is:

You take the canon kid but raise them in their surname’s household.

One of the cool things Hussie did with the guardians was that they fit fairly well into the four parenting styles Authoritative, Authoritarian, Permissive, and Neglectful. Quick psychology overview, there are two categories parents usually get defined by, Involvement (also known as support or warmth) and discipline (or demand). Authoritative parents give high support/involvement/warmth, and moderate discipline, which is sort of the ideal parenting, and that fits Dad Egbert pretty well. Authoritarian is low warmth/support/involvement but high discipline/demand, which Bro Strider fits. Permissive is high warmth, but low discipline, which goes well with Mom Lalonde. Neglectful parents are low warmth low discipline, and are often absent entirely, which our unfortunately dead Grandpa Harley was (and from evidence in Hiveswap, probably would have been even if he was alive). Lucky for us Jade had a radioactive dog to raise her in his stead.

So we’ve got a girl like Rose, raised in an authoritarian household, I’m just gonna go ahead and say Bro Strider because I don’t know how guardians usually work in kidswaps. So Bro “I got possessed by a demonic puppet at age 0 and have lived with that thing in my head all my life” Strider is aggressive, unreliable, attacks his kid on a dime, emotionally distant, and emotionally detached. Rose, who is already pretty embittered by her mother in canon, would become someone utterly infuriated with the world. She’d forgo her passive-aggression games in favor of being outright nasty and rude most of the time I’m talking full 90′s cliche delinquent here. Serious behavioral issues, “who’s going to make me” attitude, seizing control by force wherever she can because control is something that’s stripped from her in her home life. Distrustful of other people’s intentions, probably always sees the worst in others, the kind of person who’s just waiting for the other person to prove her right so she can point at them and say “Ha. I knew you weren’t that nice.” without full awareness that she was the one to push them to snapping at her in the first place. REALLY nasty downward spirals of aggression and more aggression and a paranoid survival-based hair-trigger set of reflexes. Probably useful as a Seer of Time, but not good for her well being by any stretch of the imagination.

Then we’ve got Dave, raised in a permissive household by Mom “I drink to forget that the world is about to end and also because I’m lonely and life is hard” Lalonde. On the upside, he’s got a parent who cares about him now, on the other, he’s still a kid who’s gotta grow up too fast, bc his mom isn’t really a mom. She adores him, of course she does, but she’s drunk off her ass eight days a week so Dave’s sorta gotta be his own adult, which doesn’t end well. He probably gets along with her though, thinks he’s got a cool mom when really she’s just an enabler to pretty much anything he wants to do. I’d imagine a Dave Lalonde would end up sorta spoiled, used to not being told no, raised a rich kid, he’s used to being able to get whatever he wants after a little whining and would likely have a bad reaction to being told “no” when he starts out. A well intentioned dude who wants to be soft, but believes he has to be the “mature” one of the group, just listen to him he’s the smart one here. Probably thinks photographing plants and collecting roadkill in jars makes him “cultured” and “refined” and tries to use that as an excuse for why everyone should listen to him. Part of that is just him being used to having to act the adult in his home life though, so it’s natural for him to think that he’s the mature one, the put together one, the one who’s too old for that sort of childish nonsense. Also likely knows he’s pan/bi before the Game even starts tbeh. His quest as Knight of Light would probably involve him mostly just figuring out how to be a kid again, something he’d initially resent, like Rose resents the girlishness of LOLAR in canon, but would warm to eventually as he comes to terms with the fact that he’s not an adult, he’s allowed to be a kid.

Then John, raised in a “neglectful” household as much as having a dead guardian can really raise him, left with First Guardian Bec and the carapacians of Prospit. He’d probably be really starved for attention. Even more of a class clown than he is in canon, but this time only on a deserted island. Just a boy with his dog, and his dream scape to make friends with strange white chess people, whose customs are very much not human customs but ah well. Depression likely sets in a lot sooner for him without a parent around, and it’s easier for him to lock himself away from the world when no one’s even in his world on that lonely little island. Laying in bed all day watching movies and texting his friends and playing online games are less “interests” as much as they are “the only hobbies he has access to AND energy for”, than in his canon timeline. He’s still a boy overflowing with love for his friends, and would probably maintain his goofy disposition, but he’d be lonely and tired and depressed and it would likely be hard for him to work up the energy for his childhood nonsense that we all love and adore so much from canon. Bec, at least, would get him up, because dogs are high-energy pets and need daily exercise, and John would never ever let his dear sweet Bec get affected negatively by his depressed moods. He’s a boy who wants to be in love with life but it’s really, really hard. His quest as the Heir of Space would be something of a spiritual journey, I think. Becoming one with the universe, coming to terms with the good and the bad, the highs and lows the desirable and the ugly, and, by extension, learn to balance his own inner joy and despair. Once he reaches an understanding with that which is whole, he is better able to handle his own cycle of depression, which never really truly leaves him but he is able to handle it, engage with his loved ones while maintaining his own illness.

Jade, raised in an authoritative household by Dad “I love my child more than my own life” Egbert. Probably gonna be the most well adjusted out of all of them, surprising literally no one. Might be a little less punchy than we see in canon, having had a parent to appropriately model reactions to things like annoyance and anger, and probably has less access to rifles than our girl in canon. Still buff as shit tho, that much hasn’t changed. A witty problem solver, someone who’s had the support needed to really help her flourish, added to her own genius self. Has less need for the dreambot, but is still interested in science and furry/wolfkin stuff and her dad is, of course, only supportive (even if he doesn’t really understand the wolfkin/furry stuff, he supports his child and her interests). Wins ever science fair ever held and Dadbert is just standing with a camera beaming in the background. A go-getter and a high-achiever, sharp-tongued and able to use wit and snark and humor in order to win her battles instead of just out-screaming Karkat, regional winner of the Screamer Award (to be fair, that moment in canon was ICONIC). Isn’t necessarily GOOD at rolling with the punches, but is capable of it when she feels inclined. Her quest as a Witch of Breath would probably be something of a spiritual healer for the rest of her group? Someone who can manipulate the Aspect of freedom and in turn give that to her friends and loved ones. Someone for Dave to joke around with and just be a kid with, someone John can look to for support and help him when life is just too heavy, someone Rose can rail against and see that there is indeed still kindness in this world and yeah Jade isn’t perfect, she’s tempermental and a compulsive liar but she’s good and she’s loving and she wants nothing more than for Rose to feel okay again and Rose does indeed want that and wow JadeRose would actually be exceptionally good in this kind of kidswap wow. And in helping her friends, that would be an act of liberation for Jade too, because sometimes “we” is easier than “me” and sometimes “let’s” is more doable than “I’ll” and “I’ll do this for you” is easier than “I’ll do this for myself.”

Anyway I got super long winded there but here are my Thoughts tell me what you think.

[eenefangirlanalysis]

Ed springs into action kicking his feet straight through the car.

“I AM ED...”

“... CHEESE AND MACARONI!”

Wow. great thinking on Ed’s part. He takes charge. This was his own plan. Nobody told him to do it. See, Eddy’s teachings and leadership has helped his friends take action. 

Ed’s mind has grown. It was suffering due to the unattended skull fracture in season 5. Ed is learning more about how to overcome in disability and be independent. Ed was being more independent through season 6. He doesn’t need Edd and Eddy for everything. 

Ed plays the wheels of the fouled up car, races out of the room....

And smashes out from the roof of Eddy’s house.

This ‘car chase’ sequence is amazing! The animation, the pacing, it’s all so authentic. AKA wanted to grab their viewers and they did. I was hooked the second this movie started when I first watched it.

And just so you didn’t blink they repeat the car breaking out of the house and flying in midair twice.

Yes, this scene is as brilliant as these screenshots. 

It just shows you that you can make it without a car.

So, I take it Eddy’s parents must not be home. Maybe that goes for all the kids parents. Yes, they’re supposed to be invisible, but I get the feeling that this scene takes place late morning where all the parents are working or our running errands. 

Ed’s mom is always implied to be home. That must be why Sarah was allowed to roam free outside the cul-de-sac. Another sign of how neglectful she is. She doesn’t look out for the daughter who she spoils. 

Adults are off screen watching the kids. Do you think this is the reason why they never leave the cul-de-sac? The kids are free to roam wherever they want and yet they remain in one place. They’ve never been out in the world on their own. Beyond the cul-de-sac is adulthood. Some day they’re going to be adults with their own careers. They’re in charge of themselves.

Adulthood scares the kids. Especially, Eddy.

The kids fall out of the house and come careening to the ground.

Oh my God! I just noticed the saw cutting through Plank!!

He practically dead if he were alive.

Plank’s existence boggles me. There are times where he is able to move freely by himself. My theory on Plank that it’s Jonny’s sub-conscious filling in a voice for Plank. He understand that Plank wasn’t real in the early part of the series. Jonny’s mind mentally deteriorates. He has an unhealthy mind which can’t interpret fantasy from reality. Whenever Plank does move I believe it’s Jonny’s doing magic tricks. 

We all have our own different interpretations of this show. Although it is a cartoon show where anything can happen it touches on some pretty serious situations. We all have to face reality within a certain point in our lives. We’ve all had that imaginary friend. Plank isn’t so imaginary. Plank may be another personality Jonny created in his mind. A friend.

Nazz calls out that the Ed’s are getting away.

Viewers never had a chance to get to know Nazz. Her character was there as the girl next door. Nazz never had much personality or was ever important in any way. There is more to Nazz anyone thinks. The reason why Nazz was kept as a background character is because she is struggling with her own identity.

Season 5 turned Nazz into a dumb blonde. And that’s when most fans remember Nazz. She was testing out different personalities within the series to see what others liked. She was only going along with the crowd whenever taunting one of the characters.

Nazz is very tough. She knows how to stick up for herself. She thinks being useless will bring her more attention.

Insanity ensues as Ed tries to ‘steer’ the car but crashes into fire hydrants, fences, and houses destroying them in his path.

@jenny2x4  pointed this observation out yesterday in my analysis. Although Ed is able to get his friends to safety the useless car slows them down. They could have gotten out of the cul-de-sac a lot faster if they ran for it. Still, what kind of action sequence would that have been if it was the usual Ed’s running in their trademark styles?

Bro slowed them down. Bro has been hanging over Eddy’s shoulder for years. Even though has not been here Eddy can’t get him out from his mind because he was his mentor while growing up. Eddy’s parents love him, but they had to work through most of Eddy’s early childhood missing out on most of the abuse Bro enforced on Eddy.

This neighborhood has never had the best of the luck. I wonder if any of the neighbors who we have not seen in the show moved. It’s highly likely with the damage that has ensued. 

Edd is ready to have a panic attack. Poor thing. He doesn’t seem like he’s gone on many car rides with how absent his parents are.

Edd does build a lot of automobiles however. Although it makes transportation easier he feels safer on foot. 

The Ed’s are all in this together. I wonder after this nightmare ‘car chase’ if the Ed’s will learn how to drive together.

[sinsiriuslyemo]

Good morning guys!!! Here is a new episode of Cuba v DR!! In this episode, Nevada finally gains an upper hand, Amber considers her options, and Rafael comes home to a surprise visitor...

EPISODE 10

Nevada's phone rang, and he answered without checking the caller ID.

“Now that wasn't very nice,” a low voice said into the phone. “My men look like fried chicken.” He gave a chuckle.

“Oh that’s just a preview, carbón. We’re coming to get you next, pero you won’t be going as quickly. I’m gonna take my sweet time with you,” Nevada replied with a smirk.

Chibby and Sawyer worked furiously to track the call while Nevada spoke to Ray.

“You're tracking me now, right? No need. I'll give you my location. And a compliment. Your daughter looks so much like your wife. My goodness, she's gonna be quite the beauty queen someday. And I like her red overalls.”

His description matched, Lily loved to wear her red overalls.

“Why don’t you ask your boy Hector what happened to him when he tried to fuck with my wife. You think you got the upper hand, pendejo? But you don’t know my ace in the hole,” Nevada replied, smirking at Josiah, who winked at him. “So why don’t you grow some balls and come out, come out, wherever you are?”

“I'm not hiding,” he chuckled. “Oh hang on one second,” there was the sound of shuffling and then your voice.

“Can I help you?”

“Ma'am we're getting a warning of an inmate headed in this direction. We're knocking on doors to check. May I come in?”

“No, you can’t,” he heard you reply as Nevada looked over at Josiah, nodding his head once.

The older man nodded, and picked up his phone, making one phone call while Nevada listened closely.

There was some more shuffling before he heard a door slam, and Josiah’s man in the distance.

“Game over, pendejo,” Nevada heard Josiah’s guy say.

There was silence for a moment, and Nevada couldn’t help the satisfied grin that came over him.

“That was pretty stupid, bro. Going to my family, you didn’t think I’d be ready for that?” Nevada taunted.

“Bring his ass here,” Josiah said to his own man before he hung up.

“And I’m just getting started, cabrón,” Nevada whispered to Ray.

You called Nevada, you didn't care about getting caught now.

“What the fuck was that?” You hissed.

“That was us finally grabbing the guy behind all this, give me a few hours. I’ll call you when it’s time to come home,” Nevada replied. “Just hold on a little longer, baby. It’s almost over.”

You hung up on him. You hated this. Nevada frowned, pulling the phone away as Josiah’s men brought Ray into the restaurant.

“So we finally meet face to face,” Nevada said as he and Jasper came to stand in front of Ray.

“Nice to meet you,” Ray grinned. “I like your place.”

Nevada chuckled softly.

“Nobody’s been stupid enough to try and take the Heights for a while,” Nevada mused. “So, you can understand why I’m gonna want to make an example outta you, and your...lackeys...what’s left of them anyway,” he added, smirking.

The man nodded, “understandable,” he chuckled. “Alright, so what's the plan? Beheading? Brain damage? Oh I can help with that one.” He slammed his head hard into the restaurant table, once, twice, three times.

Nevada arched a brow as Josiah’s men pulled him away from the table, tying his wrists to a rope that hung from one of the beams on the ceiling.

“You think you can freak us out by acting looney?” Nevada asked, smirking. “Nah...we’ve seen loonier,” he replied. “No, first...the ace in the hole that I promised you. You’re gonna watch while we burn everything of yours to the ground...from here, down to Miami.” Nevada smirked a little when Ray’s brows furrowed skeptically. “Didn’t think we could, huh? I guess my tech guys are better than yours after all.”

Ray laughed, “You think I'm stupid? I'm not the one with a family in a job like this pendejo. If I don't kill them, someone else will. That's how that shit works. You and Blackwood are the real villains, bringing kids into this mess.”

“To each his own...see what you’re forgetting is that real live people can fight back...but your precious tech...that does what we tell it to. In about two minutes, you’re gonna watch your halfass kingdom burn down. Then we’re gonna take turns with you. You’re gonna wish you were dead by the end of it.”

“How old is your princess? Hmm? Six? She would be worth a pretty penny on the market. All that long hair and pink lips. She'd get passed around like two dollar whore in the underground.”

“You love to talk, don’t you, mate?” Jasper inquired, arching a brow.

“Yeah, almost like he’s trying to get us to do something,” Nevada added, looking over at his partner.

“You mean, like activate the deadman’s trigger he’s wired to all of our homes?” Jasper asked, playing along.

“Yeah, but he doesn’t know that our tech guys already deactivated those,” Nevada replied.

“Right, using our loved ones against us to try and regain the upper hand. If he goes, we go.”

“Exactamente, pero coño...didn‘t we find some bitch in Miami?”

“The one maintaining all of his assets, yes...I do believe we’ve paid her a visit.”

Ray looked between Nevada and Jasper, his face falling with every word between the two men. It was almost as though he watching a tennis match that he’d bet big on, and he was losing.

“I guess he figured we’d never find out about her because she’s some rich white girl, and they don’t live together,” Nevada offered.

“Plus there’s no record that they have ever even met, but he wasn’t betting that we would gain access to the security feed in her sister’s loft.”

“Or that the feed records…”

“Right, so he never thought we would see a tape of his proposal--”

“Yeah, bro, right after sex? Coño, buy her dinner first, pendejo,” Nevada mused, turning his gaze back to Ray.

Ray gritted his teeth, but said nothing. “You think this is over if you kill me? Not a chance.”

“Oh we’re not gonna kill you...yet,” Nevada replied. “Not before we have some fun.”

“Well then let's do this thing, fucker.”

Nevada nodded slowly, whistling loudly before Parker and Maddison brought out Ray’s fiance, who was crying as she looked at Ray.

“You know, I heard this puta gives really good head,” Nevada said, looking over the crying blonde girl.

“Don't you fucking touch her!” Ray growled and tried to lunge at the men.

“Ray!” She sobbed and tried to move to him.

“Shhh, it's okay baby,” he whispered, “I promise.”

“Do you always make promises you can’t keep, Ray?” Jasper asked.

Nevada nodded to Maddison, stepping away from the blonde prisoner to give the widow space.

“Please, let us go,” the blonde sobbed. “I’ll get you whatever you want, please!”

“Your fiance put a hit out on our daughters, both are under the age of ten,” Jasper replied. “He also murdered my dear friend’s husband.”

“You have no idea how long I've been waiting to get my revenge,” Maddison cooed as she slammed the blonde against the wall.

“She's got nothing to do with this!” Ray shouted.

“She has everything to do with this!” Maddison screamed. “You killed the man I love and now I'm gonna kill your pretty little bride!”

“Slowly…” Nevada suggested with a smirk, pinching the blonde’s chin lightly. “Too bad, mami. Back in the day, I’d have torn that pussy apart,” he said before leaving Maddison to do as she pleased.

Amber clicked through sites for adoption agencies. She wasn't sure yet, but...she'd rather this baby have a good home than be raised by a single mother.

She couldn't help herself from clicking on the site and dialing the number.

One of the workers was kind enough to offer to schedule a meet with some prospective parents for that afternoon.

She was just testing the waters.

When they arrived at the apartment, they were all smiles, blonde hair, blue eyes, a nice little white family from the suburbs.

“Hi you must be Amber, my name is Chandler and this is my wife Rebecca.”

“Hi there!” She gave a cheery wave.

Amber wanted to throw up. These two would make her baby into someone who laughs at office jokes and says “okie-dokie.”

“And who is this?” Chandler cooed, bending a little to talk to Amber’s belly. “Is this a pretty baby girl?”

She internally cringed, “my husband should be back from work in a bit if you'd like to meet him too...but yes...it's a baby girl. Or it could be a panda for all I know, I can't exactly see inside.”

Neither of them laughed, brows furrowed like it was an insane statement rather than an attempt at a lighthearted joke.

“Well that's biologically impossible,” Rebecca said with a smile.

“Right...I must have forgotten.”

“So...why are you deciding on adoption, if you don’t mind me asking?” Rebecca asked, smiling brightly.

“I'm not sure yet but...I want what's best for my daughter. If I can't give it to her, then I want someone who can.”

“That's as good a reason as any! Oh and there must be the Mister!” Chandler walked over and grinned pulling the man into a hug. “Chandler Romero, and this is my angel of a wife Rebecca.”

“Friends call me Becky!” She chirped and Amber considered throwing Becky out of a window. “Gosh he is so tall! And excuse my language but you two are just cute as heck!”

“Becky, we're in front of people. I'm so sorry, she normally doesn't curse like that!”

“No sir, actually I'm just a friend,” he chuckled. “Troy Maddison, pleasure to meet you.” He moved to Amber and gave her a tight hug.

“I thought you'd be deployed forever,” she sighed against him.

“And miss you popping out a rugrat? Nah.”

“Oh, are you in the Army?” Becky asked, slightly uncomfortable. “We’re against violence...maybe it is best to--”

“Becky, please,” her husband whispered to her. “I’m sorry, we just believe that children shouldn’t be exposed to violent behavior, even in a military setting. But we’re not judging you,” Chandler insisted in a manner that made it sound as though that was exactly what they were doing.

“No sir, I completely understand. I'm here to pick up my drugs and then I'll leave.”

Amber had to bite her lip to keep from smiling as Becky and Chandler shared a nervous glance.

“I’m just pulling your leg, folks,” Troy offered softly.

“Well it was nice meeting you guys, but I'm a little tired and this baby needs rest,” Amber gave them a warm smile. “Lovely meeting you both.”

“Oh…” Becky frowned.

“Of course, we’ll let you two get some rest,” Chandler replied, smiling warmly. “Maybe we can stop by and see you and Petunia again,” he suggested.

“Oh I love that name!” Becky mused with a cheery smile.

Amber gave them both hugs and sent them on their way. “No. No adoption.”

Troy burst out laughing. “Awww why not? You don't want to give little Petunia to Chandler and Becky.” He made a face. “They were awful.”

“Right? The worst!” She laughed and smiled hugging Troy again. “Now shut up and feel my baby kick.”

She put his hand on her belly and watched him grin when he felt the kick. That was the reaction she'd hoped for.

“That's amazing, Amber, you have a little person in you!” He kept his hands on her belly and smiled. “Hey there Petunia.”

“No.”

“No?”

“Never, no.”

“What's her name then?”

“Fallon,” Amber said gently.

“Well that’s a nice name,” Troy replied, smiling and glancing around. “Where’s Omar?” he asked.

She shrugged, “honestly…? Not a clue. We had a fight and then I told him to leave...he did.” She hugged her belly tight.“I'm scared I pushed him too far.”

“He loves you, Amber. You know that. You told me that he was adjusting right? Let him adjust.”

“It's been two months.”

“Well he had the same life for sixty years,” he pointed out with a playful smirk.

Amber giggled. “I'm not married to a grandpa.”

“However long, he grew up in a certain lifestyle. It’s gonna take him longer than two months to get used to a new setting, a new expectation,” Troy offered. “You’re having a baby, that’s a big, big deal for a lot of people. It’s someone who won’t be able to take care of themselves, she’ll need you to feed her, to change her, teach her how to talk, how to walk, how to use the toilet...that’s a huge responsibility.”

She nodded and hugged her belly tight. “I love her so much, I just don't know if I can raise her alone...I'm scared.”

She moved closer to him and pressed her face against his chest. She just felt like she was doing this alone and she was terrified.

Troy wrapped an arm around her, stroking her hair. “C’mon Woods, you've carried soldiers through crossfire, disarmed bombs, even though I told you not to. Do you really think you can't handle being a mom?”

“Maybe I just don't want to handle it alone...maybe I'm tired of alone.”

“Well, he has to come back, I mean his stuff is still here, right?” he asked, gaining a nod from her. “Okay, so he has to come back sometime. Who would know where he is?”

She shook her head, “he doesn't have a particular place he would go, I just… I want to help.”

“I know you do, but sometimes it's not that easy.”

“Nothing has ever been easy.”

“And it never will be, so get used to it. If life was easy, anyone would do it.”

“Well, this baby’s coming, so...I have to figure out how I’m gonna do this,” Amber replied. “I guess with or...without Omar in the picture.”

“Look, just give him some time. He may not have a place, but he has friends, right? He’s got two brothers, what about them? Would they know where he is?” Troy asked.

“Maybe but they're dealing with...other stuff today. You're staying here right?” she asked hopefully.

“Yeah, don't worry about it.” He smiled and gave her a hug.

Rafael came home after Cory had been caught trying to sneak onto his father’s airplane, relieved that at least one of the men who wanted him dead was back in prison where he belonged. Heeley on the other hand was suspected to have left the country, which wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

“Roxie, I’m home,” he called out, walking into their condo.

“Kitchen,” she called out, giggling. “Aaron brought us dinner to say thank you for letting him use the phone.”

Aaron smiled at Rafael. “Hey man, I hope you like ginger caramelized chicken.”

“It's delicious,” she said as she took another bite.

“I’ll bet, Rafael replied. “I’m just gonna wash up,” he added, moving into their bedroom. “He makes ginger caramelized chicken and it’s delicious, I make an omelette and it’s obnoxious,” he mumbled to himself, going into the ensuite to wash his hands.

“Rafi, oh my god,” Roxie said with a smile when he came back. “Aaron and I went to the same culinary school.”

“Only for a semester, Manchester was a little wild for me,” he chuckled.

“What a small world,” Rafael mumbled with a polite smile. “So how long have been a baker, Aaron?” he asked as the other man served him food.

“Roxie's a baker, I'm a chef, but I've been cooking my whole life,” he smiled. “I run a bakery for now, I'd much prefer a restaurant,” he said honestly. “How long have you been an ADA? My sister in law is a lawyer, maybe you know her. Rita? Calhoun?”

“Rita Calhoun is your sister in law?” Rafael asked with an arched brow. “That’s interesting,” he mumbled. “Rita and I actually went to Harvard together. She’s a good woman, though she never mentioned a brother in law.”

“Well, I don't know many people who talk about their brother in laws,” he chuckled and sipped the wine he and Roxie had poured. “She's good people, way too good for my brother. You went to Harvard? Wow, that's really impressive,” he smiled.

“She’s never even mentioned a husband,” Rafael mumbled softly.

“Disappointed?”

“Yeah Rafi, disappointed?” Roxie quirked an eyebrow expectantly.

“Disappointed about what?” Rafael inquired with a confused expression.

“That she's taken,” Roxie said casually, though her lips were pursed.

“I’m engaged, why would I be disappointed?” Rafael replied.

“Someone who's in the same profession, went to school together…” she mused.

Rafael furrowed his brows, tilting his as he looked at Roxie.

“Are you serious?” he inquired.

“Is she pretty?”

“I don’t know,” Rafael replied in a snort. “I’ve never noticed.”

She relaxed at this.

“Raise your bar a little higher, we're in the same profession and we went to the same school. And ew. Not a chance in hell of that happening,” Aaron cringed at the thought.

“Rude,” Roxie made a face.

Rafael was looking at the two of them with a confused expression.

“I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone,” Rafael murmured. “So, Aaron, what’s your girlfriend or...boyfriend’s name?” he asked, trying to get to know the guy that apparently Roxie knew relatively well.

“Single,” he said with a smile. “Well, there's a few women but I'm not really interested in settling down.” He shrugged.

“How lovely,” Rafael quipped. “Hanging out with engaged couples must be so boring for you.”

“Not at all, I admire couples like you two. So happy with pasta for life.”

“Pasta?”

“Yeah, I mean, let's say Roxie is pasta, if you marry her, you will have pasta every night for the rest of your life. That's dedication to pasta. Not me, I like steak, seafood, lamb chops...I could never be happy eating pasta till I die.”

“Well, with all due to respect to your brilliant analogy, Roxie is far more to me than just...pasta,” Rafael replied. “Every man should be so lucky as to find a woman like her,” he added, putting a hand possessively on her lower back as he winked at her.

She smiled.

“I don't mean any disrespect man, Roxie is great. I'm just not the type of guy to settle down. It's got nothing to do with how great your fiancé is. I'm sure she's wonderful.” He offered a smile.

“More than,” Rafael replied with a smirk, pulling Roxie closer to him. “I gotta say, I find it a bit strange that a single guy, who has no interest in settling down would enjoy spending his time with couples, but to each his own, I guess.”

“Rafi…” Roxie said softly. “You're being rather rude…”

“It's fine, I can leave if you want. I'm not trying to overstay my welcome, I just wanted to say thank you.”

“How am I being rude? I was making an observation,” Rafael replied, looking at Roxie.

“It's just not something people say…” she frowned but turned her attention back to her food.

“But comparing a human being to pasta is completely acceptable,” Rafael mused, arching a brow. “That’s interesting,” he mumbled.

“I'm gonna head out, I'll just catch you later Roxie,” Aaron stood and smiled, giving her a peck on the lips before waving to Rafael. “See ya around Rafael.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and headed out.

Rafael arched a brow in surprise, mouth hanging open.

“Did he just…” He pointed to Roxie’s lips. “And that’s okay? Didn’t you just meet this guy?”

“You've never kissed someone hello or goodbye?” She actually looked puzzled. “Do you not do that here?”

“Never on the lips,” he replied. “Don’t tell me that’s a London thing, because I know it isn’t,” he added.

“It's not a London thing...it's just something you do. It's not like it was sexual. He's Eastern European so it's more common where he lived, but we did it where I lived as well.” She went back to her food, “Rafi I don't understand why you're so hostile with him. He has zero interest in me. And I have zero interest in him.”

“I am not hostile towards him, I just found it odd that a single man, whom you’ve just met, would want to spend time with an engaged woman,” he replied. “I know you have no interest in him, and I’m certainly not jealous.”

“We both have similar work, we get along very well. That's all.”

“I thought he was your competition,” Rafael mused, picking up his untouched plate and throwing it away.

“What is your problem? He worked really hard on that, Rafi…”

“I don’t have a problem, I just didn’t want to be rude by throwing it away in front of him. I’m not fond of ginger chicken...besides I didn’t think you would want me to eat the food of your competition.”

That actually made her smile a bit as she rolled her eyes.

“I think it’s weird that you’re getting so defensive over a guy you barely know,” he mused, taking out some eggs and seasoning. “Is it okay if I make an omelette?” he asked.

“Yes, of course,” she said with a shrug. “I'm not getting defensive, you were being very rude. He's our neighbor and it was embarrassing. Also when he buys his restaurant, I want to buy out his bakery.”

“You are getting defensive, and how do you know he’s not just saying he wants to buy a restaurant to get you to think you can relax around him? Honey, I gotta tell you, someone who wants to buy a restaurant doesn’t buy a bakery first. You run the risk of people coming to know you as a baker. It’s a risk that no chef with half a brain would make. The same with buying a restaurant when you really want to buy a bakery.”

“Because...no, that's ridiculous!” She shook her head. “Why do you always see the worst in him?”

“I’ve met him twice,” he replied, furrowing his brows. “I just think he’s suspicious and I would just be careful, that’s all,” he added, shrugging his shoulders.

She shook her head and sighed. “Mowgli, come here love.” She crouched down and picked him up. “Let's go take a bath.”

“We caught Cory Johnson, by the way,” Rafael mumbled to himself. “Oh my goodness, Rafael, that’s wonderful. I’m so proud of you,” he added in his Roxie voice. “Thanks, mi amor.”

His phone rang after a moment, and he picked it up without looking at the caller ID.

“Hello, Mr. Barba,” Rosamund’s voice caught him a bit off guard.

“Ms. Anderson, I didn’t think I’d hear from you until tomorrow,” he mused.

“Well, I just thought I would congratulate you on apprehending Cory Johnson.”

“Well, it wasn’t just me, Ms. Anderson, SVU had a lot to do with it as well,” he replied.

“Humble, great. Crowds love that. I'm going to need you to make a statement tomorrow about how it was a team effort. Flash a smile. Look cute. Speaking of cute, I'm gonna need to send a camera crew to the bakery to get some attention on your fiancé. Have her feed the homeless or something.”

“Actually, Roxie is going to be taking a couple of days off until Charles Heeley is apprehended. Or until there’s further evidence of him leaving the country. Though, she is looking forward to meeting you tomorrow,” Rafael replied.

“Wonderful, then I guess I'll see you both at noon! Wear something nice.”

“Okay, we will...goodbye,” he replied, hanging up the phone, and moving into the bathroom where Roxie was just drying off Mowgli. “That was Rosamund Anderson, the campaign manager. She’ll be here tomorrow at noon, and she told me for us to wear something nice. You’re a woman, what does that mean? A suit should be fine, right?” he asked.

“Yes, a suit.” she said stiffly, she wasn't mad, but she was a little annoyed. Although mostly she liked the way he made things up to her.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, taken aback a little by her tone.

“I don't know,” she mused. “Maybe I'm cranky with you…”

“Why? Because I shared my suspicions about your competition? Or because I got upset that some guy kissed the woman I’m supposed to be marrying on the lips?” he asked. Shaking his head a little, he rolled his eyes and moving to look in the walk in closet.

She moved back to drying off the piglet, nuzzling her nose against his and smiling. “I love you,” she whispered. “I love you so much.”

Mowgli snorted softly, bumping her nose with his snout and then wriggling out of her arms to find Rafael in the walk in closet.

“What is it, mijo?” Rafael mumbled when he felt the piglet nibbling on his pants.

The pig tugged at the pants, nudging Rafael and leading him to the bathroom again where Roxie sat.

“I don’t think he likes it when you’re angry with me,” Rafael mused, pulling Roxie up from the floor.

Roxie smiled and wrapped her arms around him. “Children hate when their parents fight,” she whispered against his lips. “I hate it too.”

“I wasn’t fighting,” he said softly, kissing her and leaning his forehead against her temple. “You wanna help me pick out something to wear for tomorrow? Anderson wants me to do a press conference,” he said softly, rolling his eyes. “The one thing about politics that I can’t stand, fucking press.”

“That's what you hate about politics?” She giggled and walked over to the closet, sorting through things before pulling out a dark navy suit.

“Among other things,” he replied, looking at the suit and nodding. “What about a splash of color with the tie...and a pocket square. Are you thinking vest or suspenders?”

“Suspenders, with a red tie and a blue pocket square, blue shows loyalty, it makes you approachable and professional,” she said as she straightened the suit jacket and set it on a chair. “I took a color theory class to work with the interior designer for the bakery.”

He smirked at her, kissing her cheek and looking to her side of the closet.

“Okay, what about you? What’re you gonna wear tomorrow?”

“A red dress, with blue accents,” she said as she smiled.

“You’ll look beautiful,” he mumbled. “And we’ll match.”

She kissed him, “I know,” she winked. “I'm a good First Lady.”

[angelofdirewolves]

Underneath the Stars Part 4

Rating: M

Word Count: 2194

Art by @sagelynaive

The first few days were, as Keith would later reflect, surprisingly not as awkward as they could have been. It seemed that the other Paladins and the Alteans were either able to forget or ignore the fact that Keith had lied to them as long as he’d known them and that Jenny was related to Zarkon. 

Things settled into a pattern, where in the morning Jenny, Pidge, Hunk, and Coran when he couldn’t be spared from Castle-Ship repairs, would head down to the Green Lion’s Hanger. It had essentially become Pidge’s lab since the day that the five Paladins had arrived on the ship, and it served all of them as such now. 

They were working on combining the BLIP tech that had come standard with the Castle, with the map of the universe (complete with Galra occupied planets), with a DNA scanner, and were dabbling in Pidge’s Galra finder program, in an attempt to engineer something that could help them narrow down Aoife’s location from all the disparate places it could be. From what Keith and Lance could tell from looking in at the four of them from across the hanger, it seemed to be going decently well. 

Keith and Lance were decidedly at loose ends for the majority of the time, and Lance wouldn’t put up with more time spent in the training deck after almost three months of Keith and Allura, fighting nuts that they were, being in charge. 

Keith, in turn, was absolutely not putting up with Lance’s attempts at humor without a buffer, and as both Shiro and Allura were occupied with catching Shiro up with everything that had happened when he had been gone and with planning the liberation of the universe, the two of them weren’t inclined to humor the two loose end’s bickering. 

So the Blue and Very-Relieved-To-Be-Red-Again Paladins wound up sharing the Green Hangar with the Science Squad (Lance’s term, not Keith’s.) 

All eight of them would reconvene for dinner, which was invariably the goo, because Hunk couldn’t leave the project long enough to cook, and everyone else simply refused to eat Coran’s cooking. Dinner would consist of a discussion of what had been managed that day, and then they would spilt up for the evening. Pidge would trail Shiro wherever he went after dinner, Allura and Coran would occasionally join them, but would more frequently head off in their own direction. 

Hunk and Lance, as Keith had been repeatedly informed by Lance, would then head off for “Bro time. Inviolable and sacrosanct.” Keith suspected this meant Hunk was listening to Lance complain about Keith, and then Lance listening to Hunk complain about the problems in their projects.

As for Jenny and Keith, they settled back into their routine from whenever they had managed to snatch any free time, despite the five year gap between the two of their experiences.

They would find a place to sit, a couch, one of their beds, or just a pleasant corner of a hallway and sit down together, splitting the laptop between them and watch an episode or two of one of Amanda’s favorite TV shows, or listen to some of her music, or read a chapter of Lord of the Rings for the thousandth time. It was the only book she had on there, because it was her work laptop that had been brought with her, and she could have audio or video on there to play in the background while working, but having reading material was more frowned upon. Still Amanda had kept Lord of the Rings, well and Sansúkh, but that was more an extension of the book than anything else. The two of them had grown up with that book, and all three of them had picked pseudonyms from it. 

Ancalagon for Aoife in invocation of the dragon’s and its master’s fate, Angmar for Keith in protest at being the only man aboard their ship, and Glaurung for Jenny to pick a dragon’s name like her mother did, and in the bitter irony of his nickname.

More often than not, the next morning would find the pair asleep, collapsed into each other in a way that Keith was sure would be described as a “puppy pile” if any of the others saw it, the same way they’d so often slept as kids. Considering how much everything had changed, it was a relief that at least this much stayed the same. That they were still close enough that they could sleep coiled up next to each other, and sleep peacefully at that. 

Keith slept better next to Jenny than he had slept in the months Shiro had been gone, and he was fairly convinced that she slept better than when she’d been alone too.

Although Keith would later be relieved at how normal the others had taken the introduction of Jenny to their company, it didn’t mean that there weren’t moments of complication and tension.

Take, for example, what had happened the first time Jenny was offered food offhand by Hunk on the way to the Hanger-lab. The ensuing panic attack on Jenny’s part had taken Keith a while to soothe, especially when Hunk and Pidge were staring at her as if she’d lost her mind. 

It takes Keith dozens of reassurances that the food is freely given, that there are no strings that are given along with the food, that they can share the food if that will make her feel better. (It’s only a small serving because it was intended as a snack to tide one over until dinner. Keith heads her off again before dinner and explains again that there is no trap accompanying the food, that she doesn’t need to fear, that it’s not like so many times they’d run into those who would give seemingly freely and then take more that could be given in return. She spends the entire dinner picking off his plate anyway, too scared to take her own.)

So, Keith is still extraordinarily tense when Allura speaks up at dinner the third day after Shiro’s return.  

“Your mother,” she says, looking up from her tablet to direct her words at Jenny as the Galra girl picks at the plate before her. “You mentioned that she took medication that she no longer had access too. Do you happen to know what it is? Or was?” She finishes after a moment. “If it was entered in the Castle’s systems, we should be able to replicate it. Replication of medical materiel was well within the range of the Castle’s abilities at full power, and the infirmary has maintained less damage than most of the ship has amidst all the various attacks, so we should be able to have some of her medicine on hand once we locate her.”

It takes Keith’s brain a few seconds longer than Jenny’s to process that, because her face goes from confused and slightly concerned to elated by the time that Allura’s speech is finished. “The base medicine is two parts Dalexial juice, to one part serotonin, to one part alprazolam.”

That’s enough for Keith’s brain to go into hyperdrive and realize that there’s a possibility that Aoife can come back to them, and to get her the medicine she needs to be stable. He watches Allura with wide eyes as she types into the tablet, looking through the Castle’s systems for the components.

“Well, the serotonin and the alprazolam are entered into our systems, but the, the Dalexial juice, I’m not sure if I spelled it right. It’s saying that it’s not there, but it could be a mistake on the spelling rather than a lack of presence.” The princess passes the tablet over to Keith who enters it into the search function Allura’d had it open to, fighting to keep the others from seeing how his hands are trembling.

The search brings up no results. They don’t have it.

He passes it back to Allura and shakes his head. He can feel the happy energy leaving Jenny from next to him as she speaks, “Well, at least you have the serotonin and alprazolam. The better supplements typically had one or the other, so the fact that you have both is going to be an undeniable improvement.” He can hear her fighting to put the best possible spin on it. 

It doesn’t work. The serotonin and the alprazolam are important elements yes, but the Dalexial was the thing that tied them both together and made them fit with Aoife’s peculiar science experiment of a brain. It also happened to be the most expensive element, because Dalexial fruit only grew on its small native planet and any attempt to make it grow elsewhere just killed the seedlings. 

The only reason that Aoife had been able to get so much of it as a kid was that she was the princess of a universe spanning empire. As a refuge from the Galra empire, she hadn’t been able to get her hands on it at all. 

“How difficult is this Dalexial to get?” Shiro asked. “It’s not as if travel time would be much of an issue with the teludav.”

“Very.” Keith replies, word dead in his mouth.

“It only grows on one planet, deep in Galra territory. It’s prohibitively expensive and spoils too fast to be shipped outside of the Empire.” Jenny’s evidently decided that the forced cheeriness isn’t something that she can maintain. 

“The serotonin and alprazolam will help Aoife. The Dalexial is just a bonus.” Keith knows that his voice is unconvincing, but right now, he needs them to drop this topic. Aoife will have help, but it’ll still be imperfect. Just like everything else in their lives. 

Hunk provides a welcome distraction.

“Allura, you said that the Castle can replicate medical materiel. Would that extend to something like blood for transfusions, or would that be outside that scope?”

Allura’s face screws up thinking, and she turns to Coran, “I believe transfusions would be possible. There’d need to be some prerequisites, the species being registered in the databanks, and possibly a DNA sample. Coran, would you know any better?”

Coran pulled at his moustache, “I believe that if the DNA was available to the Castle, then it would be able to replicate a person’s blood for a transfusion if the cryopods weren’t working.”

Hunk smiles, the cat with a canary smile that Keith hasn’t seen since Olkarion. “If that would work, then I think that solves some of the problems that we,” gesturing to the science squad, “Were having.”

Pidge sits up straight from where she’d been slumped over her food goo. “That would, wouldn’t it.” At everyone else’s blank looks she looks over the rims of her glasses like they’re being idiots. It’s an unsurprisingly familiar expression. 

“One of the only problems we were having, and why we were dabbling with the Galra finder at all, was that because we didn’t have an exact sample of Aoife’s DNA, we were going to have to take a sample from Jenny and use the scanner to find all the people with DNA commonalities in the universe. When we use it to find Matt and my Dad, it won’t be as much of a problem, because there’s only four places that’d have people with DNA overlap. Where I am, where Matt is, where Dad is, and whole bunch where Earth is.” She pauses for a few moments, to sip at her space juice. 

“But because Aoife has so many different species blended into her DNA, there would be a possibility of several thousand matches, depending on how much DNA commonality that she shared with Jenny and with other people of other species. So we’d have to use some algorithm to pare down the search results.”

“But,” Hunk takes over for the Green Paladin, who now looks slightly winded. “If we could have the Castle generate a blood sample from Aoife, a perfect 100% match, then we could run it through the scanner as it is, and we’d only get two results.  Right here, and wherever Aoife is.”

“Grandmother had all her work on the laptop that Mama left with me.” Jenny says, breathless with renewed excitement. “She created Mama’s DNA strand on it, and we didn’t touch any of Grandmother’s work stuff, only her media files. It should still be on there, and we can enter that into the Castle.”

“And the Castle’s able to generate a blood sample from that.” Coran finishes for Jenny, before all of the science squad make to stand up and get started immediately.

Allura halts them and bids them all to finish their dinner first. “It wouldn’t do,” she reprimands, “for you all to work yourselves to exhaustion. Finish eating, and then you may head to make a blood sample with the Castle’s systems.”

If Keith knows Jenny and the rest at all, he can tell that the after-dinner period is going to just be more work and no rest. Leaving him to spend more time with Lance when the other teen hasn’t been allowed a chance to vent about Keith’s ‘annoying mullet.’ 

Spit. This will not end well.

PREV - current - NEXT

[juliadgaddis]

Seven Kitten Updates in One Post!

Our generous adopters have sent SO many updates, and I've got a big batch of them to share today. First up, Kenneth Wiggins. Here's the young fellow below: And here's the update! Kenneth is doing well. I guess he's 6 years old now, but he still acts like a kitten. He's definitely got more energy than his people. He can play with a feather toy for hours. I get bored long before he does. He's still the most affectionate cat I've ever had. He loves to do this thing at night where he comes and lays on my chest. After a minute or two of some scritches, he rolls over to lay next to me between my body and arm with his head on my shoulder and goes right to sleep. And as far as sleeping... he sleeps like the dead. I've actually had to nudge him a few times to make sure he wasn't dead, although that was back in the beginning. Funny story. Just after he came to live with us in 2011, he injured himself trying to jump on a barstool chair to get up and see what our other cat was eating. We weren't used to the way he slept then, so when he did his "sleeping so hard an earthquake wouldn't wake him" thing, we thought he was really hurt. So there we are at 3am rushing him to the emergency vet. It was nothing too bad, just a sprained leg. We spent $400 on a late night vet visit because he sleeps heavy and without a care in the world. That's one expensive nap! Happy 10 years of IBKC! -- Larry   ______________   Next up, an update on Alvie Pettibone (now Julius) and Beezus Medley (now Josie.) Hi Laurie!  Couple pictures to show how nothing has changed with Julius. His happy place is perched right on my shoulder. He sleeps ON me every night. Josie is a BIG girl and Julius loves her to bits. She has really become a cover diver lately and loves to be pampered and petted. Together, they are quite a comedy act--hiding, chasing, wrestling, sneaking up on each other, and those snuggly moments of mutual grooming are adorable. They are my furry little joys and I enjoy spoiling them both. The picture of them together was from this spring when I was trying to get some work done. They are watching their favorite bird/squirrel video. Heehee Kristen

____________ Here's Clement! Hi Laurie, Here is Ignatius, aka Clement Anderson-Erickson, in his favorite place, our backyard. He is a happy, healthy 7-year-old fellow who loves belly rubs and drinking water from a running faucet. He does not like water on his toes, though! He thanks you and Charlene for caring for him during his young kitten months!

_______________________________________________

Above, the glorious Spooner kittens.  Below, a big batch of pictures of the Spooners today from their mama, Roxanne.

______________ And here we have the adorable Ralphie and Clive Loudermilk! Hi Laurie, Just wanted everyone to see how big and handsome the Boyz have become. Clive is still my gentle giant and Ralphie is his punky little bro. The ying and the yang. Clive loves paleo food, fetching schrunchie hair bands and following his brother around. Ralphie is a carb freak, loves to carry a felt ball wherever he goes. He is always into mischief including burrowing into any bag or blanket. He chases his big brother and is too rough but, the bond is unbreakable between them. We adore them and they would like to know how their siblings are? Congratulations on all you do! Pandora Thank you, everyone,  for all of these fabulous updates!  We've got more to come tomorrow -- I think I can squeeze the last of them into one big post.  See you then! from The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee http://www.theittybittykittycommittee.com/2017/08/seven-kitten-updates-in-one-post.html

[alvie-pines]

transcript:

#autobots hate him #but doctors #they hate him more #regardless of factions #1 enemy of every single Cybertronian medic to ever live #his cannon gave him scoliosis #he has black holes in his body #he has changed frames too many times #he can also mass-shift #at some point he became a flier #he is GREY #bro looks dead #bro has "living dead girl" playing wherever he goes #"my body is a temple" nuh uh Megatron decided that his body was a fridge waiting to be filled with magnets #steel rambles #transformers #maccadam #maccadams #shitpost #megatron #I imagine megatron walking in whatever medbay with a giant folder of everything he's subjected his body to #and the doctor just goes "fuck this shit" and walks out #Shockwave is not a medic #that's why he's the only one that is willing to get his claws on him #and make him worse

end transcript.

If we think about it, Megatron must look anemic to the rest of the Cybertronian race.