#but then ice reminds him that he can just as easily become obsolete if he’s unable to keep up with the times

[thatsrightice]

F-14 FUN FACT OF THE DAY #15

The F-14 Tomcat was one of the last fighter jets not to be “fly-by-wire.” The Tomcat had mechanical control systems that used physical links like pulleys, valves, cables, hydraulics, etc. to translate the physical inputs from the pilot to the control surfaces.

Many pilots miss the F-14 as it was the last aircraft many Naval aviators flew where if they let go of the stick it would not keep flying in that direction, needing constant input by the pilot. They describe it as being they last aircraft they truly flew.

[fandom-necromancer]

… Is another man’s treasure

Now to the second part for a wonderful anon! Enjoy the Feels!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900

Nines had worked hard to gain confidence in himself. All his time in New Jericho he had worked for the other people there. He didn’t spend that long at the sanctuary to accommodate to his freedom. Without a life in slavery, or at least not one he had been allowed to remember, freedom wasn’t that difficult of a concept and not that overwhelming of a treasure to him. No, he had needed time to understand what Markus had meant when he said no one was without purpose and even more to build a fragile confidence. He still doubted it sometimes. There were days when he came back from work to sit in an empty room and felt lost. When he wasn’t working, what was the point of it all? If he was just killing time, then why had he ever left the landfill where he belonged? So far, he had managed to shake the feeling off by making the small flat his home. Plants that needed him for water, furniture that needed him to stay clean. They were small things, but it helped remind him in times he felt lost that if anything, they needed him. And then the next step was thinking of the next day, when he had to head back to work with the Detective…

They got along… kind of. On good days, they stayed professional, except for the occasional curse or a discussion getting louder than strictly needed. On bad days, Nines had to try hard to contain his urge to throw something heavy at the man. They didn’t particularly liked each other for the first weeks. The Detective had still hoped he could bully him away and Nines had still hoped for someone else to scold the man. Neither did happen, so they ended up begrudgingly compromising. It still wasn’t a companionship of the kind where you would agree to meet with a co-worker after work, but they didn’t hate each other outright. At least they liked each other enough to realise they actually were a very productive team with abilities that complemented themselves. A few close calls on the job, a few examples of trusting the other and lately a huge competitive ambition towards their cases as Gavin had found out they were close behind on Connor and Hank’s closed ones, had worked wonders and Nines hoped to think that they finally made it to friends. A friendlier tone from the human and accepted shipments of coffee to his desk seemed to finally prove it and Nines was happier than he would ever thought he could be.

A friend. They hadn’t called each other that yet, but Gavin didn’t seem to be a fan of labels anyways. Still, a friend. It made his insecurities take a step back and for the first time, he thought about his decision to leave the landfill as a good one to make. He wasn’t sure yet, but he was more willing to give this new life a try and not doubt any move he made with these poisonous words in mind.

You are obsolete. You aren’t needed. You are a danger and have to be disposed of.

With every day these words were shoved further back, but Nines would never forget them. His new experiences overshadowed the few memories he was allowed to keep, but these words lingered and only waited for an opportunity to rise again. Nines hoped that when that happened, he would have someone to look out for him. To help him realise they were memories of a life he was about to leave behind completely.

Right now though he had bigger things to worry about:

‘Detective, you are speeding.’ No answer. ‘Detective, not only is this a violation of the laws you are to protect, it is also a huge safety hazard as human reaction time is-‘ ‘Shut the phck up, tin-can.’ Nines had very early decided that he disliked three major things about the human: His smoking habit, him calling him names and him interrupting him at near any given occasion. ‘I just wanted to point out that-‘ ‘And I don’t give a damn!’ Four things. ‘Gavin, I get that you are frustrated, but how will speeding through the city help us in any way?’

The man gripped the steering wheel hard enough the leather was creaking. ‘I am frustrated, yes. And an android like you should know to leave me alone in such situations.’ He looked pointedly at him and turned into the DPD’s parking lot with far too much momentum. The Detective made a show of bringing the car to a halt abruptly, opened the door and slammed it behind himself. Nines’ LED flashed red for a moment, then followed the human, easily catching up to him with his long legs. He rushed past him to stop Gavin by pressing a hand against his chest and stepping back before the Detective could get violent. ‘What is that supposed to mean?’, he hissed, having understood the threat and not taking it. ‘I mean’, Gavin pushed back unrelenting. ‘that you are supposed to be the big bad robot that always knows how to handle a situation.’ ‘How do I get the impression you refer to more than me telling you to slow down?’ Nines knew that giving in just to avoid confrontation would never change Gavin letting his anger out on the people around him. This time he wouldn’t back down. ‘Hmm, figured that out all by yourself, did you?’, the human mocked. ‘What do you want? An A+ for phcking up an entire mission?’ Nines was honestly surprised. ‘You are blaming me for this? You are blaming me that our suspect fled the scene, our witness is dead, and the crime-scene left us with nothing because it was tempered with? You can’t be serious!’ ‘I can’t? Tell me one reason why.’ ‘Because if anyone of us is at fault at all in this, then we both are!’ ‘And that’s where you are wrong’, Gavin whispered low and dangerously enough for Nines to regret not having given in and taking the blame until the human had calmed down enough. He stepped closer, pulling at the android’s jacket to get him down on his level. ‘I am human’, he hissed in his face, near enough so Nines could feel the movement of air. ‘I make mistakes and I cannot process everything at once. But you! Aren’t you supposed to be the most advanced robot ever?’ ‘I am the superior model to the RK800, yes, but that’s no guaranty-‘ ‘Oh yeah?’, Gavin interrupted him again, letting go of his lapels and stepping back. He grinned evilly, spreading his arms to his sides. ‘So that’s why you ended up in a phcking dumpster?’

Nines went completely rigid, staring at the human as if he had physically hit him. His LED flashed brightly red and his hands were twitching in anger. In ice cold rage. How dared this mere human? How dared he shattering what he had build up just like that? Something inside him pulled the switch and the next moment, Nines had the man by the neck and threw him against the brick wall of the building. ‘You don’t know anything about me!’, he shouted, watching satisfied as Gavin groaned and pulled a grimace. That was only a fraction of the pain he himself felt right now and-

You are a danger.

Nines looked at his hands and the man on the ground. It was incredible how quickly his anger could switch to fear and panic, as the words came crushing down, incredibly red as if they were the walls of his programming that had to be broken. Walls that shouldn’t exist. Or should they?

You are obsolete and should be disposed of.

Nines ran.

-

‘God… phcking… toaster…’ Gavin cursed as he finally managed to get up. That would most definitely bruise. ‘Damn phcking piece of metal shit… Has one hell of a punch.’ He very well knew he coud have ended worse, if the thing actually wanted to kill him, but he doubted it. ‘Hey, Nines, you okay now? Vented your frustration?’ He looked around the parking lot, but couldn’t find a trace of the bot. ‘Alright’, Gavin sighed. ‘To everyone his own. Leaving me to write the report for this goddamn mess, of course. Like hell one of them sticks around when they are actually needed…’

He went inside, trying not to move his shoulders too much. No one had to know he had been decked by one of the RKs again. He sat down on his desk and started the terminal, pointedly ignoring the curious looks of anyone in the bullpen. He had loaded their case file so far and continued noting the events of the day.

He managed to get the first few paragraphs done until someone stepped up to his desk. ‘What do you want?’, Gavin barked, not looking up from his screen. ‘Where is Nines?’ ‘What’s it to you Connor?’ ‘Gavin.’ The other android pulled his chair towards him, so Gavin had to look at him. Gavin hadn’t forgotten how intimidating puppy-eyes here could get, but to see it again was something completely different to remembering it. ‘Gavin, what did you do? Where is he?’ ‘He went home early’, Gavin snapped at Connor, the lie flowing easily from his lips. ‘The mission went wrong. Probably wants to sleep it over or whatever you androids do instead of drowning yourself in alcohol. Because that’s what I would do!’ ‘And you ever so generously agreed to return to write the report? Sorry, Reed, I don’t believe that.’ ‘Hey, asshole, it’s not like I have a choice! One more misstep Fowler throws me out! And your asshole superior model simply phcked off. Didn’t exactly ask me, just ran off. Now I advise you to do the same unless you have a real good reason to keep me from working!’

Very reluctantly, Connor let him be and Gavin got back to his report. He finished it without further interruptions and looked at the clock before uploading it to the databanks. It was near the end of his shift, maybe he should really just call it quits for today and get a fresh start tomorrow. Maybe use his free time at home figuring out how to apologise to Nines come morning. If he realised once while writing the report, then that really neither of them were at fault. They had been called to the scene first, the witness had been told to wait for them. How could any of them had known someone ready to commit a second murder would come to get rid of any traces of the first, if they were not one and the same person? Gavin and Nines had arrived as the witness had already been killed and the suspect was on the run far out of reach of both police officers. Gavin knew he had been wrong to start a fight with his partner over this, he had been frustrated and the complaints about his driving had just been that last drop to make his anger spill. But he would never admit that to anyone. He would simply apologise tomorrow, and they would get back to work. As they always did.

But what if he had done it again? His anger issues had driven away a lot of people already, maybe the android had finally realised he wasn’t worth it? Maybe tomorrow morning he would be alone again, because the RK900 asked for a rightfully deserved transfer? Maybe-

Gavin sighed, finding himself next to his car ready to drive home. No maybes. He couldn’t risk losing another partner, especially not one who took so much of his shit and made it a challenge. No, he couldn’t wait until tomorrow morning to apologise, he would drive to Nines’ flat and apologise right away.

Only that when he finally stood in front of the door and rang the bell no one answered. He pressed the button again and held it, but still no sign of movement in the flat. That made Gavin get back to something he swore to never, ever do: He called Connor.

‘Hey, dipshit, is Nines with you?’ ‘No, why should he?’ ‘He isn’t home.’ ‘Why are you at his home?’ ‘Because we had a fight and I wanted to apologise, okay?’, Gavin near screamed into his phone. ‘What did you say to him?’ ‘None of your phcking business, plastic!’ There was a sigh on the end of the line. ‘Go to the Solid Waste Landfill’, he then said, sounding reserved. ‘Hey, asshole if you think I’ll wade through shit and dirt just you get a laugh out of it then-‘ ‘Reed! This is the most important thing in your life right now. If you don’t want me to kill you tomorrow morning, you will go there, and you will find Nines! Whatever you said, you can’t imagine how it must have hurt him. You will go there, and you will return with him tomorrow morning or this will be your last day on this planet, am I understood?’ ‘Yes, Jeez’, Gavin near yelped at the sudden threat, ending the call. Why the hell would the damn android return to this hell? Well, it didn’t matter now, Gavin had to drive up there now, if he wanted to see another day. Because he didn’t think Connor was bluffing.

Solid Waste Landfill had simultaneously become better and worse since all the androids had been rescued. For once it didn’t look like some nightmarish landscape with humanoid figures crawling and spasming and killing each other for parts anymore. Instead there was all the more trash and rotting matter to be found. At least one thing was easy know: spotting the only blob of white in the endless hills of rusted metal and dirt. He cursed, before skidding down the hills of trash to climb towards the android that was sitting on the top of one of them. His aching back didn’t help at all.

‘Nines?’, he asked cautiously. Being thrown off this hill would be far worse than against a wall. ‘What are you doing here?’ Gavin hadn’t expected an answer, but he got one: ‘Waiting.’ ‘For what?’ ‘For my battery to run out.’ ‘Oh, okay.’ Wow, what the hell, Gavin had not expected that. ‘May I ask why?’

‘Because they were right. I don’t know their names anymore, but they were right. They were all right. You were right too.’ ‘Hey, Nines, you’re making no sense right now. Why weren’t you home?’ ‘I am home, Gavin, I belong here.’ ‘Bullshit.’ ‘I belong here. I am obsolete, I am dangerous, and no one needs me.’ ‘Who the hell told you that?’ ‘I already said that, I don’t know. My first memories are of these words uttered by someone who I trusted. Maybe a handler, I don’t know anymore. I walked down into this landfill, hid and waited. Markus found me and tried to convince me it wasn’t true. That they lied to me. I wanted to believe him, but well, in the end it was him who was proven wrong.’ ‘Nines’, Gavin muttered, not really understanding what the android was saying but realising he had really phcked up this time throwing the worst thing he knew about someone right in their face whenever he got angry. He decided to walk up to him and sit down on the metal sheet right next to him. ‘Nines, that’s not true. You are none of these things.’ ‘Oh, really?’ The android laughed humourless. ‘How’s your back then? I hurt you, the one I have to protect. I am dangerous. I failed to catch the suspect or anticipate that the murderer would come back to the scene to get rid of the witness. Sounds pretty obsolete to me. And just look at me! An android without a past, without friends or family or memory, who would need that?’

‘I do’, Gavin said. ‘I need my partner and friend back on the job to protect my reckless ass from being shot. I need you because I won’t ever find someone else like you. I need someone who tells me when I am an asshole again and can defend himself from myself.’ Gavin didn’t like speaking his mind and this was no difference. So, he added: ‘Also I need you so Connor won’t kill me tomorrow.’ That made Nines look up to the human next to him. ‘Why would he do that?’ ‘Dunno. Guess he considers you his brother or something. I have no idea how family works with androids, but I’m sure he thinks that way.’ ‘Brother… You… You are not lying to me, are you?’ ‘You tell me, lie detector. Wouldn’t work telling you if you think I lie to you, would it?’ ‘I suppose not’, Nines mumbled. ‘And… The friends part is true, too? We are… friends?’ ‘Of course we are. What did you think we were?’ ‘I don’t know. I don’t know how this works.’ ‘Idiot.’ ‘Says the right person.’ ‘Got me there’, Gavin chuckled. ‘Now what? Will you let me drive you home now?’ ‘I don’t know yet…’ ‘Nines. I know I am an asshole when I’m angry, but let me tell you: You are not obsolete. You are needed. And you are dangerous, fine, but so is Connor, so am I and so is my damn cat when she’s pissed. No one needs any justification to exist or to be happy or to do what they want to do. Whoever told you that is an even bigger sack of shit than I am. You understand? Come on. Let’s get home.’

Gavin was immensely relieved, as the android stood up after him and followed him out of the landfill without a word. Just outside Gavin’s car he stopped, and Gavin turned. ‘Hey, don’t worry, I will heed the speed limit, okay?’ Nines just looked at him, before stepping next to him and pulling him into a strong hug. ‘Thank you, Gavin’, he whispered, and Gavin flushed red in embarrassment. ‘You’re welcome’, he pressed out. ‘But. Watch the back. Ah.’ Immediately Nines let go, face tinged blue. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot about that…’ ‘It’s fine, just…’ ‘yeah…’ ‘Ah, phck it’, Gavin let his defences fall and pulled the android in a second time. No one could see them, and no one would believe them anyways. Why not enjoy it?

[stories-in-the-stars]

The Fallen and the Wandering

As before, please check the reblogs for a link to Ao3 if you so desire. Enjoy!

~*~

Chapter 2

Keith had quite lost track of the time, milling about in his thoughts as he sat at the edge of the bed clad in nothing but a blanket, when he heard the click of the lock of his front door. Shiro had long since foregone the need to knock (although even after Keith had given him a spare key to his apartment, Shiro had still insisted on the nicety--it was Keith that told him time and again that it simply wasn’t necessary), but he at least called out to Keith when he walked in. Keith called back, saying he’d be out of his room in a moment as he scrambled to throw on some sweats and a t-shirt. He found Shiro in the kitchen already putting what looked to be a tupperware of hearty stew in the microwave.

Shiro raised an eyebrow at the state of Keith’s hair, bed-messed and sticking up at every angle. “You didn’t dry your hair before lying down?”

Keith looked away and shrugged.

“Keith…” Shiro crossed his arms, looking gentle but stern.

“I know, I know, I’ll be fine,” Keith insisted, patting at his hair, trying to get it to lie down in such a way that it didn’t look like a bird’s nest.

Shiro raised his eyebrows pointedly, but said nothing. He took the stew from the microwave and handed it to Keith, who devoured it promptly. It wasn’t until he scraped the bottom of the plasticware that he remembered he had something very important to discuss with Shiro.

“Oh yeah,” he said past the last mouthful of vegetables. “Why him, of all people?”

“Who?”

Keith scowled. “Lance.”

“Ah…” Shiro cracked a wry smile. “I thought you wanted someone that could keep up with you.”

“Yes, I want that, not someone who dumps me into the ocean the first chance he gets!” Keith exclaimed.

Shiro put a hand over his mouth, but it was all too clear he was laughing.

“Shiro, seriously, I can’t work with him,” he said over Shiro’s laughter.

“Come on Keith, I can’t rotate you through a different person every day until you can reapply for replacer trainer,” Shiro told him once he’d overcome his giggles, but he was still grinning.

“I’m not asking you to--how about this, forget finding someone that can keep up with me, just pair me up with someone that is at least tolerable,” Keith pleaded. “This guy, Lance, he talks too much, he treats everything like a game, he’s full of himself… What?!”

Shiro had started laughing again, not even bothering to try to hide it this time. “Sorry, I’ve just never seen you so riled up before. I’m sure he’s not as bad as you think.”

“Have you even met this guy?” Keith asked.

“Keith, I’m his supervisor,” Shiro pointed out with a snort.

“Well--supervise him better!”

Shiro laughed again, much to Keith’s ire.

“Alright, how about this: you stick with him for a week, just one week, and if by the end of the week you still can’t stand him, I’ll look for someone else. Sound good?” Shiro offered.

It was more than good, the rational part of Keith’s mind said, but the part of him that could still hear Lance’s childish teasing was feeling petulant and wanted nothing more than to demand that another partner be found immediately. Keith took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose in an effort to not throw what would essentially be a tantrum. Shiro waited patiently all the while.

“Okay,” Keith finally said. “I will try not to strangle him for a whole week.”

“Thank you. Now, tell me honestly, how did you both ending up falling into the water?”

Keith, somehow, started before they’d officially become partners, telling Shiro about his unfortunate fall on the ice that Lance had laughed at, and then the incident just outside the broom closet. He told him in vivid detail about Lance’s lackadaisical attitude towards just about everything, how he treated star collecting like a game to be won, and admitted that perhaps he’d risen to Lance’s bait too easily, but still, Lance could’ve just backed off for at least a little bit instead of trying to get back at Keith for simply being a better flier--

Keith stopped abruptly when he realized he had been rambling. He sighed, and flopped backwards onto the couch, insisting that he wouldn’t talk anymore about Lance. He glanced at Shiro, who seemed quite at ease and very amused by something.

“What?” he demanded.

Shiro shrugged. “It’s just been a while since I’ve seen you so… enthusiastic?”

“Enthusiastic? Really? I’m enthusiastic about some puffed-up--arrogant--?” Keith gestured wildly with his hands when his words failed. The point was, enthusiastic was not what he felt right now.

“Right, alright, we can drop it,” Shiro said, sitting on the opposite end of the couch and dropping a foot in Keith’s lap.

They engaged in a brief tussle where Keith tried to get Shiro’s feet off of him, while Shiro did everything in his power to make sure that at least one foot was touching Keith. After a few moments, Keith slumped back on the couch, defeated and being used as a very nice foot rest, according to Shiro. They flipped through some TV, chatting idly about everything and nothing. Shiro talked about an interesting article he’d read during his shift about a breed of bioluminescent plants that didn’t require sunlight to flourish. Keith argued that such measures could become obsolete when the sun was found, but Shiro pointed out that there was no guarantee as to when that might be. Keith agreed, and clarified that he meant there was no telling what would happen to those sorts of plants once the sun did return. How dependent would the earth become on them in the meantime? Their conversation went on like that for some time, the TV forgotten and left on some old nature documentary that had been recorded some time before the fall. The hours slipped away easily, and soon enough Shiro had to leave, but not before making Keith promise to call in if he felt too sick to work (to which Keith insisted he would be fine, although his head was already pounding and eyes aching--he brushed it off as fatigue).

The mention of work reminded Keith of the deal he’d made with Shiro: one week with Lance as his partner, that was all he had to make it through. He wondered, almost hopefully, if it would count if he was sick for most of that time. Knowing Shiro, probably not, but if Keith did catch a cold from that unplanned swim, he might as well make the most of it and give it a shot anyways. Not that he wanted to get sick--for some reason even the barest of sniffles would catch him in a vice grip and refuse to leave for far longer than normal. As far as any doctors had been able to tell Keith, he was completely healthy and average, so why Keith was so severely affected when he got sick was a mystery. Even with this disposition, Keith turned down the heat (which had been turned up just a little during Shiro’s visit) and bedded down under a single blanket. As he drifted off to sleep, his only hope was that the next day would be at least a little more tolerable than this one.

As fate would have it, the day started decidedly worse than the one before it. Keith had woken up several times throughout the course of the night, feeling markedly worse each time. The last time he woke up, a few hours before his alarm was set to go off, he reluctantly pulled himself out of bed to take some medicine. While it seemed to do the trick, granting him a few blissful hours of solid sleep, it did it a little too well, and Keith awoke in a panic when he realized he’d slept past his alarm. He wasn’t late for work yet, but he would be no matter how he rushed. He texted Shiro to let him know as much as he threw on his many layers, throwing on an extra layer even though he knew it would have him sweating by the end of the day. Better to try and keep out the chill, if he was already sick.

He practically ran to the Bureau, nearly slipping on ice again but thankfully saving himself from another bruising. When he burst into the searcher’s department, huffing and puffing and sniffling, Lance was already there, waiting with his arms crossed and tapping his foot as though Keith were an hour late rather than ten minutes.

“Well, well, well,” Lance said when he spotted Keith. “Look who finally decided to--”

“You were late yesterday, so I don’t want to hear it,” Keith snapped, his voice sounding a little more hoarse than he would’ve liked. He blamed it on only having just woken up, though the prickly feeling in the back of his throat belied that.

Shiro looked at him pointedly when Keith shuffled up to his desk trying not to sniffle too much, as though to remind Keith that taking a sick day was an option, but Keith was stubborn. He got sick too easily and for too long to take sick days for any but the worst of times. He knew himself. He probably had a few days before it got horrible, if it got to that point at all. If he was lucky he’d just be stuck with a runny nose, a sore throat, and a general feeling of crap for the next few weeks. If he was lucky.

Meanwhile, Lance seemed as chipper and vivacious as he had the day before, practically hopping in his spot and ready to go. Apparently their impromptu polar bear dip had been nothing but a mild inconvenience to him. Keith silently cursed Lance’s luck as Shiro assigned them the same area as the day before. Not wholly unusual for larger areas, and especially considering that their shift had been cut short the day before, it wasn’t at all surprising for Keith. He decided, however, that if Lance decided to play games today, he wasn’t going to play along, no matter what the bait.

Shiro, it seemed, shared Keith’s concerns and then some.

“Try to not go for a swim today,” he told them, a little stern. “Boring as it can be sometimes, this is serious work. Most importantly, try to work together. You’re partners now, so make the most of it.”

Part of it was directed at Lance, the rest at Keith. They both nodded obediently, but Keith wondered just how seriously Lance would take Shiro’s words. If yesterday was any indication, then there was a fat chance of it. Not that Keith was any better. He planned on doing whatever it took to work independently of Lance, even if it meant flying to the very fringes of their assigned area. It was the only way he was going to make it through this week, he was certain, especially as they accidentally crashed into each other (again) trying to beat the other out the door.

They flew to their area in complete silence, which genuinely surprised Keith. He thought for sure that Lance would have something to say. Perhaps, Keith thought with a bit of shame, he’d judged Lance too quickly. After all, they’d only known each other for a day--maybe Lance was just bad at first impressions? And everyone else seemed to think he was an alright guy, even Pidge, who had agreed that Lance was full of himself. Still, Keith couldn’t quite let go of the fact that he was now literally sick because of the guy (by the time they took to the air, there was no denying the veritable waterfall coming out of Keith’s nose), and ultimately decided to reserve his judgement, though it was definitely not leaning in Lance’s favor.

When they reached their area, Lance paused to double check their map, as well as the time. Keith, certain that this was the right area, set to work immediately, intent on getting as far ahead of Lance as possible. Lance, however, quickly realized his intentions, and worked hard to catch up while still picking up any stars he saw along the way. In a way, this was actually a good dynamic for them. Keith swept through and picked out the most obvious stars, while Lance trailed behind and collected the ones that Keith had missed. But as Lance drew closer to Keith, Keith left behind stars in favor of putting more distance between them. He quite liked the silence and peace, and wanted to keep things like that thank you very much.

Unfortunately, Lance took Shiro’s instructions more seriously than Keith had expected him to. When Keith bypassed stars in favor of a more far out place over the ocean, Lance did the same, keeping the distance between them small. Keith sniffed hard, partly out of irritation, partly because his nose was still running. He flew a bit faster, trying to lose Lance, but Lance sped up just as much. Scowling, Keith hunkered down low over his broom and took off like a bullet through the dark. At this point he didn’t even care if he went a bit out of their area, he just wanted Lance to stay away! Still Lance kept pace with him, if a little ways behind. Just over the wind rushing past his ears, Keith could barely hear Lance shouting something, but he couldn’t make it out, whatever it was.

So intent was Keith on losing Lance that he didn’t notice the shadowy figures up ahead until he nearly crashed into them. Three in total, dressed completely in black to blend in with the darkness, and all with less than friendly expressions. They eyed Keith’s lantern full of stars greedily, and Keith knew immediately what he was up against: snatchers. No doubt that was what Lance had been shouting about. He didn’t dare take his eyes off the snatchers to see how near or far behind him Lance was. They could be tricky and unpredictable, snatchers, but Keith had dealt with them before, and alone at that. He hadn’t needed Lance’s help before, and he certainly didn’t need it now.

There was a brief standstill as Keith and the snatchers regarded each other, and then one of the snatchers darted forward, making a grab at Keith’s lantern. Keith moved quickly, dropping a few meters down through the air and then darting quickly underneath the snatchers, buying himself some time as they turned around to give chase. They caught up with him quicker than most snatchers would, and Keith found himself practically lying flat against the handle of his broom in order to get the most speed. Even then they proved difficult to shake. They positioned themselves strategically, one on either side and the third behind him. No doubt he wouldn’t be able to duck under them again (not to mention he didn’t want to get too close to the surface of the water--he wouldn’t put it past them to dunk him under, given the opportunity), but he might be able to flip over them and throw them for a loop again, and at this speed it might prove more effective.

Gripping his broom tight, Keith jerked sharply upwards, his stomach still trying to follow the forward momentum and making him feel a bit queasy. Now upside down, he watched the snatcher that had been behind him swipe up at him, but catching only empty air as Keith sailed seamlessly over him. Keith grinned in spite of the situation. He righted himself and flew forward, flying low to the water to hurriedly grab some stars so that the snatchers couldn’t, in such a speedy way that he was certain he looked like a stone skipping across the surface of the water. With the snatchers hot on his tail again, Keith stuffed the handful of stars in his coat pocket and sped up again. Why they didn’t just collect stars out of sight of searchers like Keith was beyond him, but here they were. Perhaps they just saw it as more efficient to have someone else do the searching and collecting for them, especially if he wasn’t their only target for the day. Regardless, he wasn’t going to make this easy for them.

Apparently, they had no intention of making this easy for Keith either, as they closely surrounded him once more. For the first time he found himself wondering where in the world Lance was--had he finally succeeded in losing him at the most inopportune time? Keith flipped again, this time over one of the snatchers at his sides, and turned sharply in a new direction, the sudden swivel making him feel irritatingly nauseated again. The snatchers caught up even quicker than before, closing in even closer this time, very nearly within arm’s reach of Keith and the stars he’d collected. Or at least, the ones at his sides were. A sudden jolt that nearly knocked him out of the air told him the snatcher behind him was much closer than he ought to be. The one on his right reached out just as he stabilized himself, and on instinct he leaned out of their way--right into the waiting hand of the one on his left.

Keith cursed himself for having fallen for such an obvious trick, and now found himself grappling with one snatcher and trying to fend off the other two with one leg. The snatcher that grabbed him had an iron grip, and it was all Keith could do to keep them from grabbing his lantern. Fatigue was overtaking him more swiftly than he would’ve liked, his struggling arms already turning to jelly. Keith was starting to worry that these snatchers might overpower him when, with a loud whoop, Lance dive bombed the one that had a hold of Keith, pushing his entire weight on the front of the broom and flipping the snatcher neatly into the air. Unfortunately, the snatcher didn’t let go of Keith until he was already well and falling, which meant that Keith was jerked sharply forward off of his broom. As soon as he was free of the snatcher, he twisted around in the air, catching his broom and catching himself just before he hit the water. The snatcher wasn’t so lucky. Had they been farther up, Keith might’ve been worried for the poor sap.

Meanwhile, Lance’s flamboyant flying style had the remaining two snatchers in a tizzy, twisting and spiraling through the air just as well as Lance but still finding that he slipped right through their fingers. Keith watched as Lance then made a sharp dive, the agitated snatchers hot on his tail, and tried not to laugh the instant he realized what was about to happen. He held his breath as Lance successfully pulled up out of the dive a split second before hitting the surface of the water, while the snatchers, likely disoriented by the lack of light on their target, hit the water with a resounding smack. Keith winced, but also laughed a little at their sorry state.

Lance flew up to him, laughing animatedly. “Phew, nothing like a few snatchers to keep you on your toes, huh?”

“No kidding,” Keith agreed, feeling a little out of breath. “We should probably--”

“I already paged the Bureau,” Lance interrupted. “As soon as they started chasing you, I paged them, and then I tried to catch up to help… Took a while though, both you and them can really move.”

“Well, you caught up just in time… thanks,” Keith said, a little quietly.

Lance beamed, clearly pleased with himself. “No problemo, after all, we’re partners, right? That’s what partners do.”

“Yeah,” Keith breathed, mild guilt washing over him. “Uh, sorry for trying to ditch you, earlier.”

Lance waved a hand at him. “Don’t worry about it. I’d try to ditch me too, if I did to me what I did to you yesterday.”

“That… hardly makes sense,” Keith said, squinting at Lance.

“Yeah, I know,” Lance giggled just before sneezing so hard he nearly flipped in the air. Keith rolled his eyes, but couldn��t help but smile a little. What a dork.

A squad of keepers (officers who dealt with the official capture and arrests of snatchers, particularly those that attacked searchers) arrived within a few minutes, just as the defeated snatchers had stumbled onto the beach half-frozen. Keith almost felt bad for them. The flight to the Bureau while completely soaked with icy ocean water was not a fun one. Still, once they were out of his sight, he returned his attention back to searching. There had been times when he’d thought to be a keeper, given how exciting it could be to dance through the air while trying to outsmart snatchers, but the majority of keeper work involved a lot of paper shuffling. The last thing Keith wanted was to end up chained to a desk for days at a time.

They finished their shift without further incident, and Lance in particular was eager to share the excitement with Shiro, telling the story with over-exaggerated gestures and infectious enthusiasm. Shiro was glad to see the both of them safe and dry, and was particularly pleased that they didn’t seem to be at each other’s throats today. When Lance left, eager to clock out, Shiro stopped Keith to ask him how he was feeling. Surprisingly, Keith found that it wasn’t a lie when he said he felt perfectly fine. His nose was still running a little, but the threat of a sore throat was gone, and he didn’t feel nearly as exhausted as he ought to. He went home feeling almost chipper, so much so that it was all too easy to be brought back down when he forgot, in his good mood, about that patch of ice in the middle of his path home. Thus he was brought back down to his usual state of casual cynicism.

The next day saw his sniffles completely gone, the risk of a weeks long battle with a cold safely passed much quicker than Keith had ever seen it go. As such he started his day in a pretty good mood, though not so good that he was distracted from that menacing ice that seemed determined to take him down. Lance, on the other hand, was more miserable than Keith had seen him in the past two days. It was a little jarring, honestly, to see Lance with his shoulders slouched and a scowl on his face. He looked as though he’d hardly slept. Keith was still acutely aware of how little he knew about Lance, but he couldn’t help but feel like something was off.

“Are you… alright?” Keith asked tentatively.

Lance narrowed his eyes at Keith, his expression accusing. “You got me sick.”

Keith blinked at the accusation. “I did not!”

“You did so! You were sniffling yesterday, and you gave it to me! Now I’m sick and you’re not, and I never get sick! Never!” Lance’s voice was hoarse and the effort from raising his voice sent him into a coughing fit.

And thus they were back to bickering, Lance no less argumentative in spite of his constant sniffling and sore throat. Keith was starting to think that the previous day had been a fluke, the friendliness born from necessity rather than any inherent goodwill. Lance’s over-emphasized sniffing quickly wore on Keith’s nerves, to the point where he practically threw a box of tissues at Lance’s face (not that he’d been aiming for his face, his face had just been in the way of where he had been throwing…), which only gave Lance further reason to complain. It wasn’t until they took took the air for the day that Keith got a few moments of reprieve, the only sound being the rush of wind past his ears. Unfortunately, as soon as they reached their assigned area for the day (a heavily forested area, forcing them to search on foot rather than in the air), Lance immediately began anew, much to Keith’s dismay.

It was only a few minutes after they’d begun searching that Keith couldn’t take it anymore. “If you’re feeling so miserable, why didn’t you just take the day off?”

Lance scrunched up his nose, either trying to stifle his runny nose or simply annoyed. Probably both. “Can’t a guy complain a little?”

“No,” Keith said sternly. Perhaps if it really were just a little bit of complaining it’d be fine, but clearly he and Lance had very different ideas of what was considered “a little”.

“Fine,” Lance sighed, with another dramatic sniff. “But can we at least talk about something? It gets so boring searching and collecting in silence.”

Keith deliberated as he picked up a few stars tucked away in a bird’s nest under a bush. He vastly preferred to search in silence, but if it meant that Lance wouldn’t be aimlessly complaining about how Keith had gotten him sick, maybe it would be worth it.

“Okay, what do you want to talk about?” Keith asked.

Lance faltered. “I, uh, don’t--actually know? Never thought I’d get this far.”

Keith closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying very hard to remain calm. Thankfully Lance very wisely chose not to say anything as Keith took several deep breaths. Never before had Keith encountered someone who seemed to be specifically designed, in every single aspect, to test his patience (of which there was very little in the first place).

“Oh, oh, I’ve got something!” Lance exclaimed suddenly. “Why did you decide to become a searcher?”

“It’s a job,” Keith said, not entirely honestly.

“Really, that’s it?” Lance asked. “You’re so boring.”

“Whatever,” Keith sighed. “What’s your reason then? You want to save the world or something?”

“Exactly,” Lance answered.

“What? Really?” Keith hadn’t expected that to actually be the case.

Lance nodded eagerly, climbing up a tree to grab some stars nestled among the leaves. “I want to find the sun, moon, and all the other planets.”

“You realize those are all different task forces, right?” Keith asked. There were searchers specifically dedicated to the sun, moon, and planets, but each different celestial body had a different task force dedicated to it. Searchers on those task forces didn’t stop for stars, so as to stay focused on their main goal.

“Yep, but I’m still going to find them all,” Lance said enthusiastically. “You don’t necessarily need to be on the task forces to be the one to find them.”

“Yeah, but you’d have more time and resources to better search,” Keith reasoned.

“And even then they still haven’t found a single one of them. So much for all those time and resources,” Lance said.

Keith hummed. “Solid math. So you’re just going to keep searching for stars until you happen to find the sun or moon?”

“Yep!” Lance said with a pop.

A beat of silence passed between them, during which Keith considered telling Lance about his true desire to be a replacer, but that would necessitate telling Lance that he’d failed the most basic screenings, hadn’t even made it to the training. He knew Lance probably had an inkling--after all, unless you chose to have a partner, you didn’t get assigned one for no reason. Still, Keith wasn’t sure he wanted to explain that Lance was stuck here with Keith because Keith was inexplicably drawn to searching for stars, to flying through the dark. It felt right in a way that nothing else in his life had. It felt personal, not something he wanted to talk about with someone he’d hardly known for three days yet.

“Okay, okay, I’ve got a better question: would you rather find the sun or the moon?” Lance asked.

“That’s stupid, the sun,” Keith answered.

“Really? If I had to choose, I’d choose the moon,” Lance said.

Keith sputtered at such backwards logic. “What? That’s crazy, we need the sun!”

Lance smiled mischievously. “Yeah, but how does the moon shine?”

“It reflects sunlight--hey, that’s cheating!”

Lance laughed loudly. “How is that cheating?!”

“The moon could be in the sky without shining, we just wouldn’t see it without the sun, which means we need the sun!” Keith argued.

“Sure, sure, but the implication--”

“There doesn’t need to be an implication--”

“The sun and moon go together--”

“Then why’d you ask it like it was a choice?!”

They bantered in a similar manner for the rest of their shift, Lance asking off the wall questions that he answered with insensible logic. By the time they were set to fly away, Keith felt more exhausted than he’d ever felt at the end of any shift before (save for perhaps the past two days). They had just risen above the treetops when they heard something highly unusual--a distant rumble of thunder. At first, Keith thought it was a distant explosion, which was worrying enough. But then Lance pointed towards the horizon, where a lone bolt of lightning had just struck, followed by another low rumble. That was perhaps even more concerning. Since the fall, all weather patterns had essentially ceased; storms were a rare, but devastating happening. With that in mind, Keith and Lance hurried back to the Bureau without another word.

“Quiet day?” Shiro asked when they returned.

“Mostly, until the end,” Lance said. “There was some lightning, even though there’s no storm in the forecast, but I mean who can tell what the weather is going to be like anymore.”

“Yeah…” Shiro said, with a touch of melancholy. He blinked just before his eyes misted over, and continued, “Some searchers actually had a close call with that lightning. We’re told it was just electrical discharge from the upper atmosphere that managed to reach the ground--thankfully no one was hurt, and there’s no storm either, so all in all, not as bad as it could be.”

Lance had immediately tuned out as soon as Shiro started talking about science stuff, but Keith caught on to the implication.

“‘Not as bad as it could be’?” Keith repeated. “What does that mean?”

Shiro sighed deeply. “This isn’t the first time there’s been a spontaneous discharge of lightning without any storms. Granted, lightning can strike quite a ways from storms, but these have been happening without any storms for hundreds of miles. Scientists are worried that it means the atmosphere is, essentially, breaking apart.”

That got Lance’s attention again. “Breaking apart…?”

Shiro nodded gravely. “We’ve gone without the sun for too long. We’ve survived for this long through sheer willpower and wishmaking, but this may not be something we can avoid with wishes and ingenuity. The Bureau is starting to take on more searchers into the solar task force, so if either of you want to apply, they’ll gladly take you.”

Keith looked back and forth between Shiro and Lance. Normally application for task forces was nearly as tedious a process as applying for replacer training, as for some reason everyone on the specialized task forces was required to have special clearance, which necessitated all manner of background checks, interviews, and of course mental screenings. With the sting of rejection from replacer training still fresh, Keith was certain that, even with the solar task force trying to double their numbers (and efforts), he would still be rejected. Lance, on the other hand, looked thoughtful. Keith liked to think he was certain that Lance wouldn’t apply; after he’d only just told Keith a few hours ago that it didn’t really matter whether he was on some specialized task force or not. But his expression cast a shadow of doubt in Keith. He shoved it aside--if Lance decided to apply for the solar task force after all, then good for him. It would just leave Keith in need of another partner, was all.

“I think I’m good,” Keith told Shiro with a pointed look.

“Yeah, me too. At this point what we really need to find the sun is some good luck, and a lot of it,” Lance said casually.

“No kidding,” Shiro agreed. “Well, if you guys change your mind, let me know, they’d prefer experienced searchers over new recruits, so you’d both probably get in no problem.”

Keith wasn’t quite convinced that it would be so easy, but assured Shiro he would keep it in mind. Lance was oddly silent on their way to drop off their stars at the analysts’ department, save for a sniffle or a cough here and there. Keith almost asked if something was wrong, but then, they’d just been told that the last thing that made their planet livable was breaking apart. Such news would be sobering to all but the most apathetic. As it was, Lance perked right back up in the analysts’ department, insisting that they count their stars to see who had managed to collect more (Keith did, but Lance was certain that he’d miscounted and would’ve counted for himself had Pidge and Hunk not shouted at them to step away from the stars so they could actually do their jobs).

As Keith waited to see if Pidge found anything of note, she mentioned, “The solar task force is looking for more people.”

Keith nodded. “Shiro just told me. I’m just going to stay a general searcher for now.”

“I think,” Pidge started slowly, not looking up from her work. “I’m going to apply.”

“What? Why?” Chatting with Pidge at the end of his shift was one of his favorite parts of the day! Who would he vent to on days where Lance decided to be insufferable (although he only had to hold out for a little less than a week now, Keith reminded himself)?

Pidge shrugged. “They need more people, what with the potential collapse of the atmosphere happening… not to mention it’d be nice, to feel like I’m part of something bigger than myself, I think. And my dad and brother are on one of the planetary task forces as well, and I’d like to follow them, in a way.”

She looked up at Keith. “Aren’t you going to apply?”

“No,” Keith said shortly. Pidge didn’t press the issue.

When he awoke the next day, he hoped that it wouldn’t come with any more unwelcome surprises. The last three days had left him unusually exhausted, and while he was certain he could handle it if he needed to, he wasn’t all that sure he wanted to. Thankfully, the majority of the day was relatively quiet, save for Lance’s griping about his cold, which had become worse than it had been the day before. Again Keith reminded him that if it was really that bad he could just take a day off, to which Lance replied he wouldn’t have anyone to complain to if he stayed home, so what was the point? It wasn’t until they were flying back to the Bureau that something unexpected, though not entirely unwelcome, happened.

They had just been flying along when Lance began shouting, which made Keith think there were more snatchers nearby. But when he looked at Lance, he was waving enthusiastically at something--scratch that, someone. Keith looked where Lance was starting to fly towards, and saw a silver streak gliding down from the sky. His first thought was that a comet was passing through (comets had been dragged down during the fall as well, but had a curious behavior compared to other celestial objects--they roamed free over the surface of the earth, bringing snow and ice with them, almost a substitute for the absent weather patterns), but a closer look revealed that it was a person with long, silver-white hair.

“Allura! Hey!” he heard Lance call out, loud enough that it made him start coughing again. That didn’t stop him from flying forward to meet the woman, who was removing a high-altitude mask--she was a replacer.

Lance reached out as though to hug her mid-air, but she neatly ducked under him with a laugh.

“You’re sick, I don’t want you getting me sick!” she giggled as Lance clumsily sailed right over her.

He turned to scowl at Keith. “This is your fault!”

“For the last time, I did not get you sick, you fell in too!” Keith snapped.

It looked as though they were going to fall into their usual back and forth when Allura coolly cut in, “Lance, is this the new partner you were telling me about?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, Allura, this is Keith. Keith, Allura,” Lance quickly introduced.

“Nice to meet you,” Allura said, holding out a gloved hand. “I hope Lance hasn’t been giving you too much trouble.”

“More than I know what to do with,” Keith replied with a firm shake of her hand.

Lance loudly protested this statement, but it seemed that Allura was all too familiar with his antics. In fact, Keith discovered, they were childhood friends (though, from Lance’s expression, Keith thought there might be something else there too, but he didn’t want to ask outright). Keith joked that he was already tired after four days with Lance, and how did Allura manage an entire lifetime? Allura was in the midst of making a snarky reply when Lance quite literally cut in between them and decided that they were not allowed to become friends. The rest of the flight back to the Bureau was mostly idle chatter between Allura and Lance, which freed Keith from having to hold a conversation with Lance. It was actually kind of cute, seeing the dynamic between two people who were so close, and Keith was far from being a sappy person. Where Lance was tactless and almost clumsy, Allura was refined and graceful, at least as far as Keith could tell. They complemented each other quite nicely, Keith thought.

When they reached the Bureau, Lance was the first to hurry to the analysts’ department to count how many stars he got. Keith was about to follow close behind, turning to bid good bye to Allura when she stopped him short.

“I really do hope that Lance isn’t too much trouble. I know he can seem--overbearing at times, but he really is a good person,” Allura said.

“So I’ve been told,” Keith replied.

“Hopefully in time you’ll come to see it as well,” Allura said. “That said, I can’t help but feel you’re bad luck for him.”

It had been framed as a joke, but after hearing something along the same lines from Lance almost non-stop for the past several days, Keith couldn’t help but snap, “I told you, it wasn’t my fault that we fell in--”

“I know, I know,” Allura hurriedly interrupted. “I just meant, he never gets sick, and I’ve known him since we were young. He literally never gets sick, and now, only a few days after meeting you, he gets a cold. I know it was probably just from falling in the ocean.”

Keith sighed. “Sorry, I know you were just joking--wait, he really never gets sick? I thought he was exaggerating.”

“Nope, Lance has always been exceptionally healthy, more so than most people,” Allura confirmed. “I’m surprised he’s even bothered to come to work, but I suppose that’s once again your doing.”

“Me?”

She nodded. “Lance has never quite been able to settle on one thing to strive for--I don’t know if he told you he wants to find the sun, moon, and all the planets?”

Keith nodded.

“He’s always been like that,” she continued, smiling fondly. “He wasn’t even sure he wanted to be a searcher, he only applied to the Bureau because I did. But he does have a competitive streak, though he’d never admit it. He seems to think he needs to do better than you, and so if you’re still coming to work, he thinks he needs to come as well.”

“He has been counting our stars to see who collects more,” Keith noted.

“Well, some way or other, you’ve inspired him to do better. Only, don’t tell him I’ve told you any of this, okay?” Allura asked.

Keith was about to assure her that his lips were sealed on the matter when Lance rounded the corner, reminding them that they were, under no circumstances, allowed to become friends and insisted that Keith hurry up so they could count his stars. After this declaration he sneezed several times. Allura giggled and bid them both goodbye as she made her way to the replacer’s department. It was only later, as Keith mulled over that conversation in his head, did he realize that Allura had quite contradicted herself. Granted, she’d been joking when she said Keith might be bad luck for Lance, but she didn’t know that it was normally Keith getting sick easily and not recovering for weeks at a time. Had Keith’s luck with health somehow switched to Lance? He shook his head of the thought--that was simply ridiculous. That was just life. He’d said it himself, everyone got sick sooner or later. It was more of a stroke of good luck in Keith’s case than any bad luck in Lance’s. That aside, Keith, good for Lance? A little weird to think about when Lance seemed intent on picking a fight with Keith at every opportunity. How could that possibly be good for anyone? Regardless, Keith was certain it was no good for him, and had no intention of continuing this partnership past the week that Shiro had given him.

The next day was even quieter, very nearly the kind of day that Keith enjoyed having--if only because Lance’s throat had become so sore that his voice came out as nothing more than a strained hiss. His movements were more sluggish and hardly improved throughout the day. Keith found himself slowing down to let Lance catch up, which only seemed to aggravate Lance. Unfortunately, without his voice, and the fact that he’d doubled the layers piled onto him (making him look like some sort of puffball with legs), it was a little difficult to take him seriously. Still, Keith felt a little bad. He knew all too well what it was like to be stubbornly sick, and from what it looked like, Lance needed at least a little downtime to recover. But if what Allura had said was true…

Keith took the next day off, much to Shiro’s surprise. He didn’t explain too much, only asked that Shiro tell Lance. Shiro told him what he’d suspected all along: missing a day wouldn’t exempt him from having Lance as his partner for an entire week. Shiro sounded suspicion when Keith didn’t put up a fight at this, but didn’t inquire. He assured Keith he would let Lance know. Keith was then subjected to an incredibly boring day. Sick days normally were, but in this case he wasn’t actually sick. Time passed even more slowly than normal, no matter what he tried--drawing, reading, watching TV, playing video games--nothing seemed to grab his attention for more than an hour.

It was almost a relief to return to work the next day, even with Lance being even more over the top than usual, in celebration of the return of his good health. That day and the next, while still exhausting for Keith, were exhausting in a pleasant way, if new to Keith. Lance still insisted on talking about something, anything to while away the hours while they collected stars, one day over a river, the next in a field. It was almost like pulling teeth to get Keith to make responses that were more than a few words, but with enough prompting Lance eventually found decent conversations in Keith. And Keith--well, he couldn’t remember the last time a shift had passed so easily.

As such, when Shiro asked him at the end of the sixth day with Lance as his partner what he was thinking, Keith told him he was still thinking. In reality, he didn’t want to admit that perhaps Lance wasn’t as bad as he’d first made him out to be. Certainly Lance was full of himself, but not necessarily to the point of arrogance. And, believe it or not, Keith was beginning to think that Lance’s chattiness was something he could get used to. But if he admitted any of that, Shiro would give him a smug, knowing look, and Keith would have to live with that. Better to put it off for as long as possible, inevitable as it was.

The seventh day began as peacefully as the past two. Today, Lance was talking about his family.

“We used to live on the beach, but I don’t remember much of it. My mom talked about it a lot though, about how the waves were so soothing and the ocean was like this incredible force of nature that made you feel really humbled, and then my dad would always interrupt to talk about sunsets and sunrises over the ocean,” he rambled. “But we moved away maybe a year or so before I started school. Still, I was born after the fall, so it’s not like there was much to remember. Where did you grow up?”

Keith had been so content with just listening that it took him a moment to realize that Lance had actually asked him a question. “Oh, I--I grew up in the desert, mostly.”

“Really? Like with cactuses and everything?” Lance asked eagerly.

“It’s cacti, and no, not really. The desert used to be a really sunny place, apparently, and they didn’t last very long without the sun,” Keith explained.

“I’m pretty sure it’s cactuses,” Lance insisted. “So what was it like growing up in the desert then?”

“Cacti, and very cold,” Keith answered absently.

Lance was just about to argue that it was cactuses when a sharp, yet distant crack echoed throughout the air, drawing their attention to some place a few miles off. Another spontaneous bolt of lightning. They watched with bated breath as another lightning strike lit up the distant skies. Neither Keith nor Lance had much to say to that, a stark reminder of the limited time they and everyone else on this planet had. They were just about to fly away, continue their work, when Keith remembered something.

“Hey, didn’t Shiro say that the lightning was caused by some breakdown of the upper atmosphere?” he asked.

Lance shrugged. “Yeah, but maybe we can only see what’s happening in the lower atmosphere? I don’t know how that stuff works.”

Keith didn’t know how that stuff worked either, but he watched a third bolt of lightning split through the darkness, fizzling out well within the lower limits of the atmosphere. Not to mention, all three bolt now had been within the same area. Something didn’t seem right to Keith. He started to fly towards where they’d seen the lightning, when Lance flew in front of him to stop him.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you’re going?” Lance demanded.

“I’m going to go see what’s going on,” Keith said, flying around him to continue on his way.

But Lance again blocked his path. “Some junk going down in the upper atmosphere, like Shiro said. You’re going to get yourself zapped if you go over there.”

“Okay, but why is it only happening over there? Isn’t the entire atmosphere collapsing?” Keith pointed out.

Lance didn’t budge from his spot, but he looked thoughtful. Keith didn’t have time to explain his vague suspicions to Lance. He didn’t even know what he expected to find, only that something didn’t seem right about this spontaneous lighting. He flew around Lance again, and was pleased that Lance didn’t try to stop him this time. Then, only a second later, he noticed Lance flying by his side.

“I honestly think you’re being paranoid,” Lance told him. “But Shiro would probably kill me if I let you do anything stupid by yourself.”

Keith grinned. “Race you there?”

Lance’s eyes lit up, his smile cocky. “Oh, you’re so on.”

It was hard to say who reached the area first, given that there was no concrete finish line--and also the fact that a fourth bolt of lightning nearly struck them out of the air. Keith only barely managed to hold on to his broom as the sharp maneuver he’d used to avoid the lightning sent him rolling through the air. Everything was ringing, and he saw spots in his vision. He could only barely see Lance, but decided that at this rate, it would be safer for them to be on the ground and grabbed him by the arm as he descended. Even if they got struck by lightning, it would be better if they didn’t fall out of the air. Lance, still trying to rub the spots out of his eyes, resisted at first, but then followed easily.

They landed on a charred patch of ground, still smoking from the intense heat of the lightning. Lance waved a hand in front of his face to clear some of the air around him. Nothing seemed very out of the ordinary--except for the fact that there had now been four bolts of lightning in nearly the same place. Not to mention, something just felt… off to Keith. Maybe it was just the air, unusually warm and dry, that made him feel like something was wrong.

“See, Keith?” Lance said, gesturing to the area. “Nothing sinister going on here.”

“Really? Nothing feels at all weird to you?” Keith insisted, knowing it wasn’t just paranoia he was feeling. He wasn’t superstitious by any means, but the best way to describe it was that there was some presence, looming and dangerous. He suddenly thought it was not a very good idea to be here.

Lance hesitated with his answer. “I mean, yeah, it feels weird, but there’s nothing actually weird here!”

“But you agree there’s something weird here?”

“I just said--!”

“No take-backs, you agree that something weird is going on here, and we’re going to find what it is!” Keith said with certainty.

Lance mumbled something about how he should’ve kept his mouth shut, but Keith ignored him as he surveyed the area. Even with his eyes adjusted back to the darkness, Keith couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. He detached his lantern of stars from his broom, and held it aloft, hoping the soft light would help him spot something, anything that would justify this nagging feeling at the back of his mind. Still there was nothing.

He was just about to turn to Lance and admit that, perhaps, just this once, he’d been wrong (much as he loathed to even think it), when Lance grabbed him by the arm and roughly shoved him down. Keith was, at first, adverse to such treatment, but when something solid and fast swept the empty air over his head, Keith was grateful for Lance’s quick reaction--how had he missed someone so close to him?!

They stumbled upright to face their assailant--a snatcher, if the way he eyed Keith’s lantern was anything to go by. He used his own broom as a weapon, but that didn’t make him any less dangerous. Senses sharpened by adrenaline, Keith noticed several more in the nearby woodline. He would’ve missed them if he hadn’t been looking for them. Keith gripped his own broom in his free hand. They were definitely and easily outnumbered, and already on the ground. Fancy flying wouldn’t get them out of this one. But, Keith thought, if they could get in the air, they might be able to get away. That would be their best bet, but how did Keith let Lance know that. They stood back to back as the snatchers slowly advanced on them, like predators closing in on their prey. Keith was determined to not be easy prey.

He lunged at the first one, the one that would’ve gotten the drop on him had it not been for Lance. There was only so much he could do with a broom one handed, but that didn’t mean he didn’t give the guy a run for his money. A quick, sharp jab to the gut had the snatcher doubled over, allowing Keith to smack the back of his head, and for good measure, kick him just hard enough to put him on the ground. Lance, meanwhile, had the use of both hands and wielded his broom much like a staff. He was quicker by far than the snatchers, and managed to keep them at bay while Keith created an opening from them to escape behind him.

“Lance, let’s go!” he shouted as soon as there was an opportunity.

Lance didn’t need telling twice. With a huge sweep of his broom, he pushed the snatchers back (if only a little), and followed Keith away from them. They only needed a few seconds to get in the air far enough that the snatchers couldn’t drag them back to the ground. After that, it would be a simple matter of outflying them all the way back to the Bureau.

Keith had just mounted his broom when he heard Lance scream a ways behind him. Another searcher, one neither of them had seen before, had Lance sprawled out on the ground. The other snatchers had backed away, practically back into the woodline. Lance had a pained expression, though Keith couldn’t see any evidence of injury. The snatcher’s expression, on the other hand, was a bit more difficult to decipher. It was neutral, but almost self satisfied, like she had the upper hand on them. Which, granted, may be the case, but Keith wasn’t about to let her know that.

She said nothing as she raised her hand, curling her fingers into a finger gun pointing straight at Keith. He faltered--what did she hope to accomplish by doing that? The other snatchers had retreated even farther back, and Keith realized a second too late what was about to happen. He saw the snatcher’s mouth form a single word (“Bang!”)  just before all his senses whited out, and then faded to black.

When woke up next, Keith found himself in a blindingly white hospital bed with a throbbing headache, with the distinct feeling he’d had a dream, a dream filled with too much light and too much heat and too much everything that was the exact opposite of his dreams. He blinked, and the sensation was gone, but the headache remained. Beside his bed, Shiro sat patiently, looking a little apprehensive.

“What happened?” Keith croaked.

“I was hoping you could tell me,” Shiro replied.

Keith shook his head, and pressed his hands to his eyes in a weak attempt to dispel the pain. It didn’t work, and the pain made everything blurry. There had been snatchers, that much he could remember. He and Lance had been surrounded…

“Where’s Lance?” he asked.

“In the room next door,” Shiro answered. “He’s fine, save for a badly sprained ankle. You, on the other hand, have a concussion. You’ve been in and out of consciousness for the past couple hours now.”

Keith groaned at that. Injuries, like sickness, took forever for Keith to recover from. He didn’t count on getting lucky like he had with the cold, for all that he hoped he would. A concussion would have him grounded, which, as a general searcher, either meant paper shuffling or star analysis. Neither of which Keith was keen on. Shiro got up to go check on Lance, and let a nurse know that Keith was awake and aware now, but Keith stopped him just before he walked out the door.

“Hey, Shiro,” he said in a quiet voice, trying to choose his words carefully. “If--I mean, I know he won’t like being grounded because of me… but if Lance were to stay on as my partner… I don’t think I’d mind.”

Shiro spared him an “I told you so,” and even smiled without seeming smug. He simply nodded, and then left Keith to the silence of his hospital room. And for the first time, the silence was not as calm and peaceful as he once thought it to be.

[ladyjonquilinthenorth]

Endgame as foreshadowed by Jon VI and Sansa VI in A Clash of Kings- Part  #1

Jon as the next Lord Stark

Here follows the story of Bael the Bard and his Stark maid, as told to Jon by Ygritte upon their first meeting:

{…} So he scaled the Wall, skipped down the kingsroad, and walked into Winterfell one winter's night with harp in hand, {…} so Bael ate at Lord Stark's own table, {…} and he played and sang so well that when he was done, the lord offered to let him name his own reward. 'All I ask is a flower,' Bael answered, 'the fairest flower that blooms in the gardens o' Winterfell.'"

"Now as it happened the winter roses had only then come into bloom, {…} And so it was done. But when morning come, the singer had vanished . . . and so had Lord Brandon's maiden daughter. Her bed they found empty, but for the pale blue rose that Bael had left on the pillow where her head had lain."

"Lord Brandon had no other children. {…} For most a year they searched, till the lord lost heart and took to his bed, and it seemed as though the line o' Starks was at its end. But one night as he lay waiting to die, Lord Brandon heard a child's cry. He followed the sound and found his daughter back in her bedchamber, asleep with a babe at her breast. {…}The maid loved Bael so dearly she bore him a son, the song says {…} The song ends when they find the babe, but there is a darker end to the story. Thirty years later, when Bael was King-beyond-the-Wall and led the free folk south, it was young Lord Stark who met him at the Frozen Ford . . . and killed him, for Bael would not harm his own son when they met sword to sword."

A Clash of Kings- Jon VI

At first glance this story is just that, a story. But when I read (ok, listened) to this chapter recently as part of my ASOIAF re-read, the foreshadowing hit me like a wall of ice crumbling under an ice dragon’s flame. 

The first bit of the story is pretty obvious in its meaning and has been discussed in the fandom extensively. The adventures of Bael the Bard and the Stark maid, daughter of Brandon the Daughterless has clear parallels to the story of Rhaegar and Lyanna.

For one, we’ve got the winter roses, and what other symbol is more unanimously associated with Lyanna Stark than the winter rose, both in the wreath that Rhaegar (who loved to play the harp) crowned her with at the infamous Tourney of Harrenhal and in D’s vision in the House of Undying of  “a blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice”.

The other, more obvious, parallel is the fact that Bael left the Stark maid with a child. Not only were they kept hidden underneath Winterfell while the entire castle searched for her whereabouts, but when the time came for Lord Brandon to name an heir, him being without a son, this child became his heir and the next Lord of Winterfell, thereby continuing the line of Starks.

To me, this is the biggest clue as to Jon’s endgame and his future. He is essentially the last of the male line (discounting Bran), and although I currently subscribe to the theory that the Stark name itself will become obsolete (like what happened to the Yorks when Elizabeth married Henry Tudor), this doesn’t change the fact that the lineage will continue through Jon (and Sansa).

TL;DR: Jon will be the next Lord of Winterfell/King in the North and the progenitor of future Starklings.

But the (possible) parallels don’t end there. There is also the second part of the story to consider. “Thirty years later, when Bael was King-beyond-the-Wall and led the free folk south, it was young Lord Stark who met him at the Frozen Ford . . . and killed him”

Yes, tragic as it seems, the young Lord Stark was forced to kill his own father (not knowing it was him). Proof, if you’re looking, for Targbowl and (possibly) Jon killing D, his own kin.

Jon, the Hero of Legend

We all know the parallels drawn between Jon and Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, Symeon Star-eyes, and countless others. But the list just keeps growing (for me, anyway). Today, I want to talk about  Serwyn of the Mirror Shield (thanks @marydri).

According to songs, Serwyn once saved Princess Daeryssa from giants. He slew the dragon Urrax by approaching the beast behind his shield so the dragon only saw its own reflection, then spearing Urrax through the eye. Serwyn was haunted by ghosts of all the knights he killed.

Despite the legends that have him as a member of the Kingsguard, an institution created in 10 AC during the reign of Aegon I Targaryen,[8] Serwyn lived in the time of the First Men,[9] thousands of years before there was a Kingsguard or even knights in Westeros.

A Wiki of Ice and Fire

Put a pin in the princess-giants bit, we’ll come back to that in Part 2.

Let’s take a look at his slaying method a bit closer, shall we? After all, that is the origin of his moniker. He approached the dragon Urrax behind his shield so the dragon only saw its own reflection, then speared Urrax through the eye.

That bit about the dragon only seeing his own reflection really stood out to me, because if you think about it, that’s exactly what’s happening with Demanding Tangerine.

D is a woman conditioned to having all manner of men and women prostrate themselves at her feet and immediately declare their undying fealty to her. So when she finally meets the newly-named, handsome and legendary King in the North, not only does she demand his fealty, but promptly proceeds to fall for him herself.

But Jon is no Northern fool, even if he acts like one. This assumption is one he capitalizes upon (most likely with Sansa’s help) by “returning” D’s affections and “bending the knee”. Nobody expects him, the son of Ned Stark who was quite possibly the most honorable man in Westeros (as Jon is kind enough to remind us in the dragonpit), to possess the cunning to manipulate a queen, the mother of dragons, no less. But we know he can. We know he has.

And the fact that D falls for him so easily will only lead to her downfall. When she looks at him, she only sees her own reflection, i.e. what she can gain from him. He finds her dragons “gorgeous”. He “pledges” the North to her. He all but promises her a child, possibly her dearest wish. What more could a woman ask for??

The “why” of this Jon-manipulation is not something that I want to discuss in this meta. There are plenty others out there that can explain it so much better than I.

However, imagine the unpleasant shock that D will receive when she (and Westeros) learns that Jon is the rightful heir to her, HER, DAMMIT!, throne. She’s already so invested in him, and now for her to realize that he is a direct threat to her right to rule, that’s going to be more than she can handle. And that’s where Targbowl comes in. I don’t know how or why or when, but I’m 99% sure that the Dance of the Dragons 2.0 will “end the old way”, a face-off between the last two remaining members of House Targaryen. And I’m placing bets on who’s who in the upcoming reenactment of this ancient legend.

TL;DR: TargBowl is coming. UndercoverLover!Jon is real, and it’s happening.

Look out for Part 2  where I will be discussing Sansa’s chapter (which incidentally follows Jon’s) and will hopefully tie all of these loose ends together. 

[hgfstreamchats]

Toy Story 4

Hello! Night human, hello! Back on Kast, eh? Unfortunately. Bah. Well, it sort of works. Video and sound working That's a plus! ...I still haven't seen Frozen 2 Kast is the only platform I've found that's conducive to streaming...legally acquired movies.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed Frozen 2, considering I hated Frozen 1. I was also surprised by what a conseissur of human children's movies I've become. Actually the sounds eems kind of weird. I'll have to check it out! Better? Annnnd it just cut out entirely I mean, the sound did--the video is still there there it is! Excellent! Dear lord We may as well finish up egg man. Since he graciously assisted with our audio problem. Uh Dear lord It's not that I don't like, eggs, or, uh but :| Well put So I hear this movie is going to HURT our FEELINGS I adored it. The only reason it didn't entirely deserve to win was that Klaus did. Actually I'm not sure I've seen any of the sequels!  So this is going to be quite the ride, I'm sure Uh oh! awwww It's almost like giving your most treasured possession away to a strange toddler because you think you're supposed to is a bad idea. Just maybe! Who is Bonnie, anyway? A strange toddler Andy gave all his toys to because he wanted to be a big grown up boy as he went off to college. REALLY just a random stranger? I figured at least a relative Sister or something wow, rude! If they have a connection, it's very tangential. I know they aren't related. Huh. Oh god she created life Apparently their mothers are friends. She did! Ohhh I have a lot of questions too His existence is agony. Thebes!  Meet "Forky" Hello Thebes human! The toy a toddler made and who is now alive oh my god, the legends were true, he is an abomination Neither of them thinks that's weird HE CAN'T GET FAR I'm sure he can't jump out the window or something I CAN'T IMAGINE THIS WILL GO WRONG. HE JUST WANTS TO DIE, WOODY. YOU KNOW IT TO BE TRUE To be fair, do we know that he thinks going in the trash is dying Maybe he knows something we don't. and hey, if he doesn't want to be a toy, who is woody to say he should be Woody, stop projecting your own issues. hehehe FREEDOM Just let him go, he doesn't want this life Let him have his trash dreams. and honestly a kid's going to be fine if they lose a toy And there it is. Pweeeee. Is this functionism. *Dear Unicron, it is.* Man and he's like... 1/10th the scale of a human.  So 5.4 miles is like fifty miles Drop him off and then go poking around for your ex, since you're capable of making such great time. Right? SO WE'RE IN THE MAKING TERRIBLE DECISIONS PORTION OF THE MOVIE THEN It's an antique shop, she's not going anywhere anytime soon Oh, this is going to end with someone dead. They are very haunted I am distinctly reminded of the pawn shop portion of the Brave Little Toaster Uh oh They were eying his string ohhhhhhh dear she is going to steal your toy organs, Woody Stay a while.  Stay forever. You're going to wake up in a toy bathtub full of toy ice. Should have dropped him off at the camper. Yep. hahahah that ended splendidly Wait so is the toy truck also alive? So is that THE Bo, or just Well, I guess SO! She is living her best life Good for her! pfff creepy Very. HA aaaaaa! So that's what was with the bandage it was TAPE awwww! WELL Why did they feel the need to perfect violent dummy animation How else would they sell the threat oh my god What is happening here I want to know that also ...exCUSE me? awwww hahahaha I'm sure there'll be no problems whatsoever! Ohhhh they left the key in the lock oh NO OH NO better than it could have gone Oh dear. oof f well then I wonder if Gabby's stuck on Harmony because she looks like the girl in the book ...I didn't even notice that, but you're right! hooooo boy So organ-theft ISN'T a path to happiness?  Who'd'a thought But an easily forgiveable path, apparently. No one tell MECH. My lips are sealed. Woody, if she enjoyed playing with obsolete old toys she'd be playing with you. You're setting her up for a second heartbreak. Harsh, doctor. But am I wrong? No. At least Woody isn't hopelessly creepy. They're getting very hands-on in this one. Yeah. Wow, so they ARE going to frame him for a crime! He goes to jail for 30 years. awwww Organ theft works out after all! A quick and easy path to happiness and success! "I found this haunted doll!" Hehehe That unicorn wants nothing more than to see Bonnie's father get set on fire in jail. awwwww That was good. Wasn't it? it was! Ha! well that was revealing That was something. It sure was. I like the delusional, sparkbonded rabbit and duck. hoo boy Knifey? "okay I can't explain THAT" WELL What were they doing in your ears, that seems sinister Anyone who crawls into your ears isn't really your friend. Alright! Suggestions to close out? ...What about another Let's Game It Out? Oooh, yes! Oh, this title looks PROMISING Heheheh 👀 Sadly, this game is death-free, I think Boooo! ragdoll'd! Buckle up or don't, it won't make a difference in the end! Hah! I even have this game.  I just don't have the RAM for it, so it's sitting in my steam library, tragically unplayed Gosh, I wonder if there are mods to make things more... deadly. Like, Sims deadly god it's like confetti Tragic indeed. Think of all the bodies you could be sprinkling! PEOPLE TROUGH Dear. Unicron. The world's Stockholm Syndromest flashmob HAH. I wonder if you can create a path that people can't ACTUALLY use to exit the park, but which won't make them think they're lost. INSPIRED InspirING. Amazing. Pfffffff! Absolutely majestic. Definitely. Alright, that's where we leave it, nothing can possibly top that. Indeed. Thank you for hosting! :) that was a lot of fun, thank you! It WAS. Glad you liked! Thank you for coming! Good night! Always! Goodnight

[rocketxknighter]

Got gold 5 with just Alistar, Annie and Soraka

Alistar has been my most played support, with annie being my surprise one shot ap carry for support and soraka being my super easy lazy mode/I want to stay with my adc but also help my top laner. Builds here are for alistar but for soraka it’s the same items, annie you get liandry’s torment, morello, rabadon, ludens and you’re good.

Summoner Spells and only one keystone mastery i use. Grasp of the undying is easy to proc on alistar thanks to his E keeps him in the fight for 4 seconds since there are enemy players who wont attack him it goes well with his combo damage.

Runes on Alistar 4.5% move speed, 100 mana, 17 armour.

Ignite: we already know how good it is but reminder to all that it also gives true vision it aint just a killing spell.

Exhaust: only take this if two players already have ignite.

Alistar build 1: Eye of the enquiox, Ninja Tabi, ardent censer, locket, deadman’s plate, adaptive helm

Other items you can use on alistar: Face of mountain, righteous glory, Ruby Sightstone (combined with buying banner of command if you want to troll enemy ap champions), Randuins omen, Ice Born gauntlet, spirit visage, warmog, Yellow boots.

Explanations for alistar items:

Eye of the Enquinox: This item gives you more hp barrier once you’ve reached 650 stacks plus you get to use 4 wards, with this extra hp barrier you can tank more damage when you dive into a fight or knock away certain assassins like yasuo/zed/twitch who he easily counters in team fights rendering the fear of twitch’s R obsolete when he plays against me in mid/late game.

Ninja Tabi: it’s a cheap and broken item on alot of tanks especially sejuani, alistar, taric, you can abuse this during tower dives since the passive from what i’ve seen does work against towers which is disgusting, plus alistar can ult to endure even more tower damage that feels like you’re playing a late game nautilus (if you main nautilus).

Ardent Censer: Alot of people do not expect me to buy this on alistar and it’s stupidly busted when combining alistar with on hit effect champions like ezreal, jax, sivir, twitch, vayne. Alistar HEALS ALL ALLIES NEAR HIM if 7 minions, any dragon/baron/herald, enemy champion dies but it goes on a 3 second CD but the ardent censer passive lasts for 8 seconds on your allies so if you stay with your allies more often then you’ll keep on healing them and they get that massive damage spike.

Also take into account that Alistar’s Q,W and even his E damage is super disgusting he is really one of the biggest cs kings in support with some underated damage so adding some ap from ardent gives him even more power.

Locket: lol just shield your lads n girls.

Deadman’s plate: Okay alistar needs move speed to easily just WQ people to initate fights and get around to running to squishies or push away that one annoying champion out of the fight for longer (looking at you Malphite, Riven, Kled, Twitch, Yasuo.

I’ve mentioned that alistair’s damage is disgusting already so adding more from the on hit effect combined with his E will piss the enemy carries off because your a tank but in just one combo (charging E first, dive in with W, Q, land the E at max stacks and land the dead man’s plate passive damage).

Adaptive helm: good item against alot of ap champions, reduce their damage over time. Simple.

Face of mountain: good that it gives a barrier to your ally but it also gives you less of a hp barrier compared to Eye of Equinox which is why i don’t always buy this item also you need wards so this item can set you back a bit so recomended if you can survive to the late game or you’re just too fed.

Righteous glory: again alistar needs that move speed to get into the fight, will annoy enemies who get slowed, you can get in and do your team fighting job.

Ruby Sightstone and Banner of Command combo: I’ve abused this alot in my ranked games and banner of command really pisses off ap champion players because if you shield a minion (you should always shield a cannon minion) all ap moves deal 0 damage to that minion and your buffed minion becomes a super minion and it becomes an even stronger super minion if you have baron nashor buff with it’s ad damage exceeding near 200 ad so you can easily push towers or abuse this thing on mid lane team fights for the enemy to take more damage and go “wtf why am i taking so much damage from a minion?”

Ruby.S. item gives you way more hp, 4 wards and gives all your item actives a 20% cdr so you can abuse banner of command alot more and create more map chaos with it for split pushing or fights.

Yellow boots: i don’t always recomend this item but it’s good for the early to mid game Sell this in late game please, you need to be confident with this item in thinking you can ambush and just engage the enemy team like crazy.

that’s it for the items and now for my battle stragety this got me out of bronze 1 and into gold 5 and left my elo there for the rewards.

Always buy a sweeper lens at level 6 or when you buy a sightstone.

Upgrade sweeper lens to Oracle Alt at level 9.

Before you set up a team fight in the jungle, river, or plan to engage a lane from a position please use your Oracle Alt to scan for any wards, hidden champions THIS DOES MAKE A MASSIVE DIFFERENCE IN YOU WINNING A FIGHT I abuse this alot with Alistar and my burst damage support Annie.

When sweeping wards with red trinkets you should’nt always attack that ward because if you do attack that ward then you become visible on the map as the person destroying that ward, so sometimes it is best to just ignore that ward and use your Ping to warn of a enemy ward instead.

Twitch, Tristana, Jhin were popular picks in my elos and right now alot of people hate fighting twitch so i tend to start a fight early then start running away to another position i’ve caught twitch’s getting baited to use their Q or R early because of me starting a massive team fight early but really I’ve found a way to save my W to knock that little rat out of the fight or i end up baiting him to attack me and I’m already stupidly tanky so I won’t die or wont go down so easily and by the time twitch has given up trying to attack me, or I cc’d him so much out of a fight, or killed him if he is underfed, or him/his team mate kills me then it’s already too late for him to be useful in a team fight because his ult will be down and my allies can clean up.

This works on all adcs but i mention twitch because league players wont stop raging about him.

Against jhin his ult effects easily give him away where he is and any form of hard cc including chogath’s silence will stop it.

As Alistar, Annie, Soraka I roam alot.

Some tips on roaming as any support:

*Make sure you do it at a wise time.

*Warn your adc that you’re doing a roam.

*You’re roam should be a max of 40 seconds, if your going to go for a 1minute roam then you better make sure it works because you don’t want to go back empty handed.

*Soraka: I start making roams if my adc can be safe from enemy bot lane cc.

Quickly run to top lane if you can’t R and throw some heals, same to mid or junglers.

*Annie:have red trinket, use it where your going to ambush or if you have to go through a lane bush then you can use it to disable vision and just run into the lane and throw in a tibbers stun with her combos to.

*Another one for annie is baiting with control wards, i sometimes intentionally place them in the open or mid lane or intentionally miss bushes to make it look like a mistake, over time someone will see it and try to kill it then you can just punish them.

For my boi alistar my roaming stragety goes like this.

*level 1 start with W, always warn my team of an enemy invade, watches the bushes between mid and top lane. You should also mention your going to gank top and that your adc will get bonus exp for being alone for a while this will comfort your soloQ team mates.

*at 2 min mark gank top lane it’s best to do it if your top laner is Darius, Yasuo, Riven, Renekton, Kled, Rumble, Jayce, Jax, Tryndamere. you need these bois to start a fight before you start a fight because this baits the enemy top laner into your trap. Engage them from behind, save your yellow ward for the top lane bushes because people will go there. Do not try this is your top laner is someone who needs more levels especially Nasus, Singed, Maokai, Malphite. Do not attempt to dive the tower unless you know you can do it but get out instantly.

*roam to mid, most of the time you don’t have to attack the mid laner so alot of times i just casually walk between both mid laners (because I can) also shove that rank 7 in the enemy’s face if you want.

*return to bot lane and be defensive for a few minutes, tell your adc to do small trades then back off and avoid getting hooked.

*enemy bot lane should be at like 400 or 500 hp because they use all of their healing items and by the 7 or 8 minute mark your jungler or mid laner should be ganking you, your ultimate should be up on alistar so if you’ve pushed too far you can engage and ult to tank tons of tower damage.

If you are getting pushed back you can run around the jungle to bot lane to gank the enemy support and adc with your jungler and mid.

*I always make sure to sweep river bot lane, duo bot lane bushes, the dragon, the mid lane bushes, top lane river bush before i engage the top lane.

*when engaging team fights near enemy towers, try to engage from behind the enemy team and ult or save that ult if you get cc’d again you tank all the tower damage and your team gets to stomp the enemy under the tower.

*You can treat alistar’s W like a Vayne condem, just dont do this near thin walls XD lmfao so you can just use your move speed or flash to knock someone into a wall or bush (if you have a ward) and you’re partners will always pick up the kill or burn the enemy’s heal or flash.

* I intentionally solo invade or duo invade the enemy jungle to sweep for the wards or the jungler.

* prevent enemy junglers from trying to dash in to smite dragon/herald/baron or any buff.

*I intentionally engage some enemies early before my team shows up as a way of baiting the enemy away from a team fight so there is always that one or two enemy players who will get obilterated by my team because their team was busy chasing me. Sometimes this can cost you to die but if your allies can get easy kills and easier objectives to win the game then so be it.

That’s pretty much about it for me sorry this is super long to read i know it’s boring but as a support main I want to post this, hopefully this will make more people want to play alistar more untill the pre season 8 hits. 

I wish all you players in ranked good luck, don’t be toxic or you wont get the rewards.

Love you all and take care.