#order Euthanasia

[nembutalaustralia]

Is there any place to buy Nembutal in Perth Australia?

Buy Nembutal in Sydney Australia a short-acting barbiturate typically used as a sedative but gained prominence for its use in voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide. For euthanasia, Nembutal is taken alone, or in combination with complementary agents such as phenytoin, in commercial animal euthanasia injectable solutions where it causes death in high doses.

People choose Nembutal for suicide because it is very easy to administer and provides a peaceful passing after just 3 minutes of consumption. Getting Nembutal can be very difficult though from testimonies of people who have tried acquiring the illicit drug. It is even more difficult for Australians due to their strict drug laws hence they buy it from the black-market. The problems faced by many Australians trying to buy Nembutal online is customs seizing packages. This is for those who try to buy the drug oversea but if you buy directly from Buy Nembutal in Sydney Australia then you have no problem.

BuyNembutalinAustralia.org provides a list of verified and genuine Nembutal vendors in Sydney Australia hence you do not have to worry about your package getting seized. Simply send an email today to BuyNembutalinAustralia.org and buy Nembutal in Sydney Australia.

How to buy Nembutal in Sydney Australia

No matter where you are in Australia, you can order Nembutal online from our vendors and have it delivered within 2 hours. The process is very simple and straightforward. Once we confirm you are not police and have a genuine health condition, we give you the vendor’s email. You make contact with the vendor, pay and then receive the Nembutal powder or solution anywhere in Australia. The vendors cover the following cities in Australia:

Adelaide

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For the above cities, you can order Nembutal and have it dropped within 2 hours. No need trying to buy Nembutal overseas when you can simply order in Australia and have it delivered same day. Send us an email today and get the contact of the Nembutal vendor in Australia.

Why terminally ill elderly Australians buy Nembutal

Terminally ill people and elderly Australians buy Nembutal because of its use in Euthanasia. Nembutal can cause death when used in high doses and the lethal dose is 12grams. It is used for euthanasia for humans as well as animals. It is taken alone, or in combination with complementary agents such as phenytoin, in commercial animal euthanasia injectable solutions.

In countries like Switzerland where euthanasia is legal, Nembutal is administered to the patient intravenously. Once administered, sleep is induced within 30 seconds, and the heart stops beating within 3 minutes. Oral administration is also used. A Swiss pharmacist reported in 2022 that the dose for assisted suicide had been raised to 15 grams because with lower doses death was preceded by a coma of up to 10 hours in some cases.

[goodfish-bowl]

A Mercy

Ectoberhaunt Day 6: Freeze

AO3 Link

Summary: "You're actually going to tell them this time?" "Yeah, Jazz. No backing out this time. Is everything all laid out? Have Sam and Tucker briefed you on the 'if my parent's decide to dissect me' plan?" "Of course. I even helped improve it." "Okay, are you ready?" "As I'll ever be. Let's get to it, then."Unfortunately, the plan was of no help whatsoever. 

Warnings: Character Death, Euthanasia, Heavy Angst

Words: 1454

Notes: You know... I’ve been really mean to the boy. Now I’m being horrid to both of them. Also not joking about the warnings for this one. It takes a certain type of angst to make my stomach hurt while reading/writing.

@ectoberhaunt

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Out of all the situations Jazz had imagined Danny’s revealing going, this one made the blood in her veins turn to ice and freeze in place on the top of the stairs down to the lab. There was nothing she could do, not at this point. He’d only been left alone with their parents for a few hours, a safe amount of time. If the worst case scenario happened, her parents wouldn’t have enough time to get too far into a vivisection of her brother. Jazz would be able to get him out of that. This, though, there was nothing she could do.

Danny was already gone. 

It was a mercy, her parents told her, finding her at the top of the stairs, staring down at her brother’s corpse. A mercy. He must’ve been suffering, living as a ghost, always hurt and struggling. It was better this way, better for their baby boy to finally get some rest, since it seemed like he hadn’t since he became one. They would mourn him properly, give him a good burial, like he deserved, especially after continuing on for so long, not only as Danny Fenton, but for his deeds as Phantom as well. It couldn’t have been easy. And because they loved him, they had to do this. It was the only thing they could do.  

Danny was dead, lying on a table in the lab, human, not a hair out of place. He looked like he would wake up any minute. He already slept like the dead, barely breathing in human form. But every subtle movement he would normally make was gone, no twitch of the eye-lids or mummer.

Jazz left the house soon after, having said not a word to her parents. She packed her things, sent a message to Sam and Tucker, warning them not to stop by, then left. She made her way to the park, before pulling out her phone, ignoring the messages from her brother’s best friends, and dialed a number she hadn’t bothered with in a long while. He answered after a few rings.

“Hey, darling. Wasn’t expecting to hear from you ever again.”

“Johnny, I need you to come pick me up.”

“Oh? And the brat won’t mind?” Jazz froze up again at the mention of her brother, thinking of him down in the lab.

“No. He won’t.”

“Then I’ll be there in a few.”

The line went silent as Jazz hung up and waited. She skimmed over the texts from Sam and Tucker. They were asking how the reveal went if they needed to be ready to send Danny off somewhere safe. Sam already had the bag and account ready. They wanted to know when and where to meet up. Jazz sent a quick text, that none of those things would be needed, and to get rid of them. She didn’t give any sort of explanation why.

Jazz scrolled through her contacts and rang Mr. Lancer’s personal phone number. He answered after only a single ring.

“Ms. Fenton, how can I help you? Is this about the group study session you have planned for next Thursday?”

“No, Mr. Lancer. I’m calling to talk about Danny.”

“Ah… I honestly expected to have this call with your parents eventually, but I’ve never been able to reach them. So, yes, Danny has been struggling academically and his attendance is nearly record breaking for Casper, but I have a feeling that’s not what you wanted to talk about?”

“No. Danny won’t be attending Casper High anymore. He’s going to need to be unenrolled.”

“Wait… what?”

“I’ll have all the proper paperwork sent to the school by Tuesday morning. I also won’t be in attendance, so I’d like to apply for early graduation if that’s possible.”

“I don’t… something’s happened with Danny, hasn’t it?”

Jazz took a deep breath in. “Yes. I’m sure it will become public knowledge shortly. But… as the teacher who really seemed to care about him, I appreciate everything you’ve done and tried with him. It really made a difference, even if it didn’t seem like it.”

The line on the other side was silent for a minute, and she thought she could hear the familiar English teacher curse in the book title Beloved faintly in the background. “Very well, Ms. Fenton. I’ll… I’ll stay in touch if you need anything.”

“Thank you, Mr. Lancer. Have a good evening.”

“Stay safe, Jasmine.”

The line went dead.

A portal ripped open not too far from where Jazz stood, and a familiar motorcycle sped out it, circling her before coming to a quick halt. Johnny looked at her curiously, and Shadow prodded at her feet. Without a word, Jazz jumped onto the motorcycle, wrapping her hand around Johnny for security. Her throat tightened at the comfort, and her eyes stung. It was an ongoing fight to keep her face blank.

“Hey, princess, you know I have a girlfriend, right?” Johnny joked.

“Yeah.”

Johnny huffed out a laugh. “So where to?”

“Somewhere in the Zone. A good meeting place would work best.”

Johnny’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? Are you sure?”

Shadow stopped swirling under the bike and prodded at her again, a frown on it’s dark face. It made eye contact with Johnny, communicating something in a way she couldn’t understand. Johnny’s smile faded, and he sent her a look of concern.

“Jazz, are you okay?” He asked softly, full of concern.

“No, but we need to go before my parents show up.”

Johnny sighed but relented all the same. The motorcycle roared to life and another portal opened up in their path. The transition from the realm of the living to the Ghost Zone was jarring, especially out of the safety of the Specter Speeder. But Jazz couldn’t find it in herself to care about what being exposed in the Zone could do to her. She had more important things to worry about.

Johnny didn’t say a word to her the entire trip, but Shadow kept checking up on her, Jazz appreciated the sentiment, but really wished Shadow would stop. Keeping her cool was already hard enough.

The meeting place Johnny picked was a bar, once that seemed to be closed, or at least unoccupied, at the moment. He parked his bike on the small patch of land in front before helping her get off. She took his hand and followed him inside.

Kitty was sitting in a booth by herself, a sour look on her face. She snapped to Johnny the second he walked in but froze upon spotting her. It looked like she was getting ready to yell, but Shadow sped over and told her something that defused her anger. Kitty backed down immediately and sent her a curious look.

Jazz took a seat at a table in the middle of the room. “How soon can the others get here?”

“Others?” Kitty asked.

“Jazz wanted me to contact all the regulars to Amity Park. Something happened. Probably something bad. I’m going to have Shadow go out and collect them.”

Kitty’s face pinched with concern, before she walked over to the bar top. There was a ghost that looked reminiscent of an ectopuss tending the counter, cleaning multiple glasses at once. She spoke to it and then walked back with a glass of water.

“Here, it’s safe for human consumption,” Kitty offered, and Jazz accepted it gratefully. She wondered if it would be better if they’d actually handed her something alcoholic.

“Do you want to tell us what happened, and we can explain it to the others? Not to sound mean, but you look horrible, Jazz,” Johnny asked.

Jazz took a deep breath. “Yeah… they’re more likely to listen to you than me anyways. I’m also not sure if I could actually handle telling a large group. This wasn’t really part of the plan.”

“What plan?” Kitty inquired.

“For when Danny came out to our parents.”

“Oh… I’m guessing it went south?” Johnny guessed.

Jazz curled into herself and around her glass of water.  

“It was too late when I got back. We’d been so sure of what the worst-case scenario was, that we didn’t even consider this… They called it a mercy, of all things. We were prepared for if they tried to attack him, or even dissect him, but they didn’t even hurt him. Hell, it looked like he was sleeping.”

Jazz’s eyes welled with tears that she could no longer hold back. “He’s gone, Johnny. They put him down, like some sort of injured animal. He didn’t even have a chance to plead his case. He was dead when I got back, and he’s not coming back this time.”

[apas-95]

news headline: democratic mayor signs order to put all immigrants and gay people in concentration camps

liberal blogger: lmaooo this is so misleadling please actually read the article. he's working to relocate at-risk populations into humanitarian facilities where they can receive state-funded euthanasia

[queenslayerbee]

the cannibalistic rituals™ in yellowjackets are very different to those in (one of) my cannibalistic rituals™ WIP (the travels of soyolmaa, specifically). but. there's... something in there that definitely resonates on that front.

[matthewmlz]

Trudeau Needs to Stop The Crazy Expansion of Medically Assisted Death

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Some Law-Related Vocabulary

for your poem/story (pt. 2/4)

Admiralty - of or relating to conduct on the sea

Alter ego - second self

Attractive nuisance - a thing or condition on one's property that poses a risk to children who may be attracted to it without realizing the risk by virtue of their youth

Bequest - an act of bequeathing

Bequeath - to give by will

Bona vacantia - goods that are unclaimed and without an apparent owner

Capricious - governed or characterized by impulse or whim (e.g., lacking a rational basis; likely to change suddenly); not supported by the weight of evidence or established rules of law—often used in the phrase "arbitrary and capricious"

Colorable - having an appearance of truth, validity, or right

Damnum absque injuria - a loss for which the law provides no means of recovery

Dying declaration - a statement that is made by a person who firmly believes that he or she is about to die and has no hope of recovery and that concerns the circumstances or cause of the presumed death

Eleemosynary - of, relating to, or supported by charity

En ventre sa mere - in the womb

Euthanasia - the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured persons in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy; called also "mercy killing"

Exculpate - to clear from alleged fault or guilt

Filius nullius - an illegitimate child; bastard; called also "filius populi"

Finger - to accuse or identify as guilty

Fireman's rule - a doctrine holding that a property owner or occupant is not liable for unintentional injuries suffered by firefighters or police officers in responding to a problem on the property

First blush - initial view, appearance, or consideration—used especially in the phrase "at first blush"

First degree - the grade given to the most serious forms of crimes

Hereditament - inheritable property

Homestead - a home and surrounding land

Inchoate - not yet made complete, certain, or specific : not perfected

M'Naghten test - a standard under which a criminal defendant is considered to have been insane at the time of an act (as a killing) if he or she did not know right from wrong or did not understand the moral nature of the act because of a mental disease or defect; called also "M'Naghten rule"

Mulct - fine, penalty

Mysterious disappearance - the loss of property under unknown or puzzling circumstances which are difficult to explain or understand

Pierce - to see through the usually misleading or false appearance of

Poison pill - a financial tactic or provision used by a company to make an unwanted takeover prohibitively expensive or less desirable

Prior art - the processes, devices, and modes of achieving the end of an alleged invention that were known or knowable by due diligence before and at the date of the invention

Pur autre vie - for another's life

Shark repellent - any measure taken by a corporation to discourage a hostile takeover attempt

Silent record - a record of a criminal proceeding which does not show that the defendant acted with knowledge or understanding of his or her rights (as in entering a plea of guilty or waiving the right to counsel)

Sui generis - constituting a class alone; unique or particular to itself

Vexatious - lacking a sufficient ground and serving only to annoy or harass when viewed objectively

Wrongful birth - a malpractice claim brought by the parents of a child born with a birth defect against a physician or health-care provider whose alleged negligence (as in prenatal testing or diagnosis) effectively deprived the parents of the opportunity to make an informed decision whether to avoid or terminate the pregnancy

Yellow-dog contract - an illegal employment contract in which a worker disavows membership in and agrees not to join a labor union in order to get a job

More: Law-Related Words More: Word Lists

[drferox]

If you’re a parent of a teenager, there is something I need you to understand.

Getting your 14yo human a dog, especially a high energy, high intelligence breed like a German Shepherd/Kelpie/Husky, in order to teach your child ‘responsibility’ will not actually teach that child responsibility unless you are the one being responsible.

This is especially true when you tell me something like “I’m the discipline one at home, and my child is the enabling one,” and I can see the bite marks on your arms already from this little puppy, who’s going to get five times bigger before you get five times smarter.

At best, your child will discuss how you set them up to fail with their future therapist. At worst, this dog will become a behavioural euthanasia.

At the very least, if this dog really is your child’s responsibility, you should be bringing the child to the vet appointment where we discuss the dog’s health and behaviour.

Because I’m quite confident you’re not going to pass my advice on to the person you’re pretending is responsible for that dog, you might even lie about what I’ve recommended. At least give them the chance to get some good information.

[l3irdl3rain]

Just the Two of Them (they can make it if they tryyyy!)

Hope you are doing okay. I'm so, so sorry about Merrill. Also please kiss Arthur's goofy head for me

top 10 silliest looking creatures of all time. Numbers 6 and 7 will shock you!!!

I am doing okay. I’m in a little bit of a slump but the weather has finally improved after a week of rain and some snow. This was unfortunate timing though bc I now have a whole week off work at the clinic and I prefer to keep myself busy while I’m grieving, otherwise I just sit around and mope and that’s no good for my mental health. When I got home after the euthanasia yesterday a Kermit the frog shirt I’d ordered had been delivered. That was cool.

[abra-ka-dammit]

Here I am again to beg for help paying for my (remaining) cats. Just when I thought I managed to get out relatively-cheap and easy with Zeppelin's quickly solved crystal scare the other week, Zelda cat started having severe difficulty breathing the night before last.

Her lungs look pretty wack on xray and ultrasound, with things that could indicate stuff like cat asthma or long term chronic airway disease, and theres a little air around one lung and under the skin of her chest somehow(???), but she's not presenting in a way that matches up to anything well enough for the doctors to know what's going on. Simply put, while I managed to squeeze the ER visit and 12 hour ICU stay into what had been cleared off my carecredit along with a little overflow on my near-maxed credit card, i cannot afford anything else. I managed to convince my mom* to loan me the $1653 and change in order to bring home a buster kennel and oxygen condenser along with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds: basically, I'm home-treating her for the Recover-From-able potential issues this could be. If this treatment plan ends without getting her back to a state where she can breathe "room air" again, the other things it could be are all things that would be irreversible, require serious surgery, or would otherwise ruin her further quality of life, so... you know. Let's hope this works, or once more euthanasia will be added to the bill.

Any help is greatly appreciated, especially since I'm inevitably going to need to go in for a follow up appointment whether this (seems to me like it) works or not, and unfortunately this all happened literally right before rent hit and I don't get paid again until friday of next week (9/13) so i have. no idea how im doing that yet.

*Part of the money my parents paid is refundable upon return of the kennel and oxygen machine but my father has already sent me long guilt trippy texts about how i'm ungrateful (apparently sobbing and thanking them as i continue to live in poverty to avoid further burdening them about my own human needs doesnt count) and essentially need to pick myself up by the bootstraps and afford my own cats (as though this freak timing, the ever worsening economy, or whether better jobs actually hire me is somehow totes under my control) so, yknow. yay for bonus stress

[monakisu]

I'm pretty sure Joker being like Sleeping Beauty in Royal was intentional. After all, third semester in general has a fairytale theme, with Sumire being Cinderella and Maruki being the Fairy Godmother that grants her (and everyone else's) wishes. But he's also Maleficent, because he puts Sleeping Beauty (Joker) to sleep. Hence Maruki viewing himself as the good guy but also being the bad guy. He gives Sleeping Beauty his Prince Charming (Akechi) in order to convince him to stay within the dream of the false reality, but fails to realize what Prince Charming's goal is in every telling of the story. To wake Sleeping Beauty. Hence, Akechi being the most against the fake reality and being the one to convince Joker not to stay in the reality. By failing to admit his role as the villain, Maruki brings about his own demise in the form of Akechi. It's so well done I can't imagine it being anything but intentional. I mean, Joker even walks with Akechi, "once upon a dream" if one considers the fake reality akin to a dream.

^^^ YEAH!!!!!! YOU GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🧨💥🧨💥🧨💥

i find the irony of goro and maruki’s varying self-awareness levels to be RESPLENDENT!! like here we have goro who has always desperately yearned to be the hero and yet he’s resigned himself to playing the role of villain, the big bad wolf killing mothers and fathers and plotting against the righteous thieves… but come third semester he’s the heroic prince charming saving sleeping beauty!!

(although i like my yaoi toxic, i have to admit how perfectly akira and goro click together as two halves of a whole; they intrigue and excite each other, fulfill their savior complexes and desire to be known intimately, bring the best and worst out of each other...) these two freaks are literally this:

anyways i like to daydream that in the euthanasia ending (i enjoy how horrifying and clinical that name is) even after the rest of the world has long forgotten akira, goro, who has always been stubbornly aware and driven by the truth (i mean, both his AOA's talk about the truth; the boy is FIXATED), will eventually make his way up sleeping beauty’s tower to wake up his love…

and then there’s the other part of the irony: maruki who thinks himself to be his new reality’s messiah but is actually the real Big Bad woa!! a classic evil queen, the evil stepmother, coraline’s other mother trying to trap her in her spiderweb… amazing!!! like u said, he’s simultaneously sumi’s fairy godmother and akira’s villainous fairy! everyday i thank the devs for adding third semester bcuz hoo boy did it elevate p5 to the high heavens!!

i’ve always been very fond of the sleeping beauty parallels in p5, but i’d never thought about it thoroughly enough to realize how instrumental goro’s prince charming role is in dismantling malecificent’s curse! thank u for opening my eyes!! i’m literally giddy from glee!!!

[odinsblog]

I know you’ve heard about Harrison Butker by now, and his embarrassment of a commencement speech at Benedictine College. You’ve probably seen the NFL kicker roasted six ways from Sunday for his misogyny, hypocrisy, and regressive nonsense. People have already written about his stupidity, everyone has memed his nonsense, and conservatives have applauded him for advocating for a return to the 1950s. That is exactly what he was doing, unashamedly. Butker delivered countless awful lines, saying, “Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media, all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder.” Which is an ugly mix of law and order rhetoric and sexism, a mix that makes no logical sense but scratches a certain itch in the mind of his conservative audience.

I just want to briefly add to the criticism of this Super Bowl winner, who will probably run for office before too long. Specifically, I want to highlight the inane variety of patriarchal bullshit running through his speech, and his apparent approach to the world. Butker and men like him are trying to sell us a load of hot garbage, and get men to be the worst version of themselves. They’re trying to make us see ourselves as victims, and encouraging us to use that false belief as fuel to go out and hurt other people. We can and should reject that directive.

We should reject it for countless reasons, but I think the place to start is to look at this guy telling us we’ve been oppressed by society and so we should stand up and be real men and tell women to be homemakers. He makes four million dollars a year to kick a ball, he’s won the Super Bowl, and he’s still a miserable person pretending to be a victim. All that wealth, all the success, and he’s going to speak at a college to tell young women, “I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”

As they’re graduating college to go out into the world, he’s telling them to stay home and be mothers. He’s theoretically reached the American dream, and he’s spending his time telling college girls to be “homemakers.”

Oh and in the days since his speech it’s come out that his mom is an accomplished physicist. But nevertheless.

(continue reading)

[ask-a-vetblr]

Hi I’m starting a book set in Australia (I’m an Aussie!) and it’s about Rabies getting loose in Australia but going to be like a sci/fi and horror novel. I thought I’d ask actual vets if you knew what could happen if rabies got loose in Australia?

gettingvetted here.

Our founder and native Aussie, drferox, is on hiatus, so I will give this a go.

Unfortunately for your book, rabies is one of the easiest diseases to control and eradicate, especially on a small scale and especially if you know the animal of origin. Vaccinations literally have to be upwards of 95% effective (at least in the US) in order to become licensed for use, and the immunity derived from rabies vaccines is long lasting at 1-3 years at minimum; it probably lasts longer but official studies to license vaccines for that long have not been done due to expense. Likewise, the vaccines are usually inexpensive compared to other vaccines like Lyme, as you can vaccinate a cat or dog for 3 years for roughly $25 per vaccine. You typically have plenty of time (weeks to months) after a possible exposure to determine if the biting animal is rabid, and even if you never find that out, rabies vaccination will prevent rabies in an exposed individual as long as they themselves are not showing symptoms (aka, there's a handful of known rabies positive animals in the country and you/your dog just got bitten by a kangaroo? get vaccinated, you're going to be fine even if they can't find the kangaroo again). The symptoms are pretty obvious and pretty classic, making the animal easily identifiable even among its peers, and once the stage of being symptomatic has arrived and thus transmission is possible, the animal will die in a handful of days, thus self-limiting the spread. The only "treatment" is humane euthanasia and as wildlife are the usual reservoir of the virus, there isn't much of an uproar when a select few are euthanized for testing or prevention each year. An interesting factoid is that while the US still has rabies, we *only* have wildlife strains present (not canine rabies). So even if a dog gets rabies from another dog, they will still have acquired skunk, bat, or raccoon strains of rabies. This is due to years of regulating that cats, dogs, and ferrets (domesticated carnivores) be vaccinated for rabies and euthanized for biting if unvaccinated until the canine strain was eradicated. Canine rabies is still an issue in countries with lots of feral dogs.

As a vet in the US, it is a MAJOR headache to ship animals from rabies-endemic areas to non-rabies-endemic areas. Even Hawaii is extremely difficult to pull off. Not only do they have to be vaccinated early (usually within 6 months of travel), they also often have to have rabies titers performed within the same time frame or sometimes even closer to the travel date. An extended quarantine period (I seem to recall that it is 6 months in some cases?) is also required prior to entry for countries such as Australia so that even if the rabies vaccination and titers were incorrect or forged and the animal has rabies, they would still show symptoms prior to entry into the country. Also, while unrelated to rabies, Australia requires veterinarians (not animal owners) to personally administer very specific parasite prevention to animals at very specific intervals to prevent certain parasites from entering the country too, so the amount of prep work required for export itself is often long enough such that if the animal had rabies, you would find out before they left the country. The regulations also differ depending on country of origin - countries with less control over their rabies status are either banned from importing animals or face even stricter import regulations. If any of these steps are performed incorrectly or without pristine official evidence of doing so, the animal gets right back on the plane and goes back to its country of origin, or is held in official government quarantine at customs. So it would be quite difficult to get a rabid animal into the country. Humans are a different story of course, so that may be the best way to bring rabies into Australia in your story. However, humans getting rabies is extremely rare, and considering the excellent healthcare in AUS, a human would probably seek care and be diagnosed before they could become insane enough to start biting wildlife (again, the only real scenario I could think of that could feasibly bring rabies to AUS, because if a rabies positive human bit another human or even a dog, you simply vaccinate that human or dog for rabies and they will be fine).

So, let's assume that you got rabies into the country and a handful of wild animals of various species are exposed. We'll even assume that it was a dog that somehow brought it in despite all the red tape designed to make it impossible, and that dog is ownerless or escaped so there is nobody to tell officials what type or how many animals it bit before it died of its symptoms. It would probably take a significant amount of time for anyone to figure out what was going on. Vets who are educated in countries that have endemic rabies are taught that any animal with any neurologic symptoms should be treated as if they have rabies unless they recover. I.e., if a neurologic animal dies without a definitive diagnosis of some other neurologic disease (such as EPM, distemper, etc) and especially if that animal is unvaccinated for rabies, you MUST assume they had rabies and send them for postmortem testing so that any human or animal who was exposed to the potentially rabid animal can be vaccinated if necessary. However, vets who are educated in non-endemic countries are of course aware of the disease, but probably wouldn't have it on their radar for a neurologic animal. It would probably take a few wildlife or pet animal cases being sent for necropsy and testing after sudden neurologic death before rabies was diagnosed, which probably wouldn't happen until a few months to a year after the first case arrived in the country, at the earliest. Then a few things would happen.

First, the owners of the pet animals and the organizations dealing with wildlife would be extensively interviewed to determine location and possibly the species of animal that bit the now-dead-and-necropsied rabid animal. These areas would be surveyed extensively and unfortunately a lot of local wildlife mammals would probably be preventively eradicated especially if positive cases were found in a given species. Import/export of ANY animals from the country would be immediately halted and mandatory vaccination of all owned animals in the country would likely be established and enforced. Travel of humans likely wouldn't be stopped, but rabies vaccination would be added to the list of recommended vaccines for travel to AUS, similar to malaria vaccines in endemic countries. Again, the excellent and affordable healthcare system of AUS (at least compared to the US) would probably lead many or most Australians to be vaccinated for rabies prophylactially, which can cost thousands of dollars in the US and is usually not covered by health insurance. There would probably be a huge push for vaccination of wildlife with rabies vaccines dropped from aircraft, which could be done both within the area that suspected exposed or definitively positive animals have been found, as well as a radius around those areas as prevention. Vets would be mandated to report any neurologic or behaviorally abnormal animal even if rabies wasn't the suspected cause, and unfortunately would likely be forced to euthanize many animals that were not rabid. There is a chance that with these measures, rabies could be eradicated, but it wouldn't be certain, probably ever. Longer term, surveillance measures would be taken (and I don't mean surveillance like the FBI, I mean epidemiologic surveillance such as monitoring cases that pop up and physically checking on and sampling the typical populations of wildlife that carry the disease). Regardless, it would be extremely difficult to cause any kind of fatal epidemic using a standard rabies virus. Ounce of prevention/pound of cure and all that, but Australia currently chooses a pound of prevention.

Definitely an interesting concept for a book, but I would go with a carnivore parvovirus or canine distemper virus that mutates quickly enough that it can't be vaccinated for, and is transmissible from animals to humans. Parvovirus, specifically, is extremely hardy in the environment and is far more contagious than rabies. Without effective vaccines, I'm betting that either distemper or parvo would cause more death than the plague, especially among pediatrics. I'm not familiar with hendravirus given that we don't have it in the US, but to my knowledge that is also a horrific and contagious disease that is already present in AUS.

Hope this helps!

[skellymom]

"LITTLE BROTHER"

THE BAD BATCH ONE SHOT

ᴛʜɪꜱ ꜰɪᴄ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴀɪɴꜱ ɴꜱꜰᴡ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ɴᴏᴛ 18+ ᴅɴɪ

Word Count: 2.7K

Background: What happens if a clone baby doesn't play by the rules on Kamino? This fic includes the headcannon (another Tumblr poster came up with this one) that Hunter has a crush on Shaak Ti. The clone baby is assigned a number, however, since there are so many of them and I didn't want to just guess left it as CT-______. Use your imagination for the number. This fic takes place right before Order 66 and before Hunter is aware of Omega's presence on Kamino. And, this baby alerts Mace Windu to the fact the Batch are the key to Omega being taken in by their squad, eventually leading to Omega helping the Rebellion defeat the Empire (this is the "Shatterpoint" in the Force Shaak Ti speaks of that Mace Windu senses.

Warning: Swearing, discussion of euthanasia, baby poop.

(Credit: Cool moving star dividers by @4ngelic-wh1spers )

The keening cry of a newly decanted clone shattered the silence of the Neonate Ward. 

Shaak Ti could sense the little one's distress and hurried down the corridor. The cry was eventually shared with other babies. She entered to a roomful of loud fussy neonate clones. 

Nala Se stood in the middle of the ward, a frustrated expression on her face. 

“Again?” Remarked Shaak Ti. 

“Yes. It would seem this decanted clone will not settle.” 

Shaak Ti glanced down at the tiny instigator, red faced and screaming for all he was worth. 

“IT is causing distress to the other newly decanted.” 

“HE probably needs to be held...” Shaak Ti picked up the screaming bundle... 

...who immediately went quiet. Then the ENTIRE ward went quiet. It seemed that THIS clone was causing the other babies to react as well. 

 “See. That is all that was needed.” Patting the baby's back gently. He cooed at the Jedi. 

Nala Se glibly shot back. “These newly decanted MUST be able to self soothe. They must be in control of their emotions out in the battlefield.” 

“Maybe it’s just temporary? They are JUST babies. Perhaps Omega can help...” 

Shaak Ti was cut off by the Kaminoan. “Omega is currently assisting ME with research and does NOT have the time.” 

Lama Su approached Nala Se and Shaak Ti. “If CT-_____ fails to self soothe by the end of the week, IT will shall be terminated. 

Horrified, Shaak Ti hugged the baby to her. “Are we sure such a drastic measure is necessary?” 

“It is imperative. We have a 20,000 UNIT deadline to complete with accelerated growth in the next few months. They MUST be ready and in top form upon delivery.” Lama Su added. 

“Could we use his ‘defective’ nature to start ANOTHER specialized clone force?” Shaak Ti was grasping at straws now. 

“I was under the impression Jedi should NOT form attachments.” Lama Su shot back. 

He was right...Shaak Ti was doing just that. However, destroying a small life due to needing to be comforted seemed severe. 

Just then the ward door opened, and Omega entered. She approached Nala Se. “Oh, hello Commander Shaak Ti. Nala Se, I am finished with the tasks you gave me. What is OUR next project!” 

The Jedi nodded to the child. Then glanced up at Nala Se. Attachments indeed! 

Nala Se caught the pointed look from Shaak Ti. “Come, Omega. Let us go to the lab.” 

“Bye Shaak Ti” Omega innocently waved then followed behind Nala Se. 

“Goodbye sweet child.” Shaak Ti beamed at the child with an important future... 

The ward doors closed behind them as they exited. 

“IT has 3 days to improve. If not, IT will be terminated.” Lama Su said his peace, then exited the ward as well. 

Shaak Ti glanced down at the little life in her arms. She had a bad feeling about this. 

Unfortunately, things did NOT improve.  

CT-______ continued to caterwaul. Shaak Ti checked in daily. 

Every time the clone cried, eventually his brothers would start in solidarity. When he was picked up by Shaak Ti, he stopped. His brothers would go quiet as well. 

The Kaminoan’s NEVER held their test subjects. It was beneath them to do so. 

Omega was NOT permitted to assist with CT-____ in any capacity. 

Highly concerned, Shaak Ti sought advice from Mace Windu via comm. 

The Jedi listened quietly to the predicament, then rubbed his chin in contemplation. 

“I shall inquire at the Jedi Council, then give you my answer in the next standard rotation.” 

Shaak Ti nodded obediently and waited. 

The day came with CT-______ slated for termination. He refused to self sooth, instead reaching his tiny arms out for ANYONE to hold him...comfort him. 

Nala Se, resigned to sealing this baby’s fate, loaded the bassinet onto a holostretcher and SLOWLY proceeded to the euthanasia chamber. 

Before she could enter, Shaak Ti was waiting outside the entrance. 

Nala Se seemed surprised to see her there. A move Shaak Ti took advantage of. 

The Jedi waived her hand in front of Lama Se. “You have terminated CT-______. You must return to the laboratory with Omega.” 

“I have terminated CT-____. I must return to the laboratory with Omega.” The dazed Kaminoan repeated. 

Nala Se wouldn’t remember a thing. 

 “Well lads, looks as though Master Shaak Ti will be joining us for this mission!” Hunter beamed. 

“Oh Goody. Careful Hunter, she might sense how much you PINE for her.” Crosshair sneered. 

Wrecker shot back with a shit eating grin. “OOOh, Cross, you’re just JEALOUS.” 

Crosshair shot Wrecker a LOOK. 

Echo chuckled at his new squad's antics. 

“It seems we are accompanying her to the Separatist planet of Ryloth as an envoy.” Tech informed everyone. “She will be assisting Captain Howzer.” 

“WHAT!” Echo shot straight up in his seat. “We are working with Separatists?” 

“The details seem to be confidential. Need to know basis for now.” Tech added. 

“That’s strange...” Echo was extremely suspicious. 

Hunter set everyone at ease. “I’m sure we’ll be briefed before arrival to Ryloth. “Here she is now.” 

The clones stood at attention and saluted Shaak Ti as she ascended the gangplank and boarded the Marauder.  

“At ease soldiers.” She warmly smiled.  

Wrecker jabbed Crosshair in the ribs and grinned. Cross gave him stink face. 

Tech started up the ship and prepared to leave Kamino. 

“Commander, please have a seat.” Hunter offered Shaak Ti the seat behind Echo in the cockpit, as he would be seated next to her behind Tech. 

“Thank you, Sergeant.” She smiled. 

Hunter mildly blushed.  

“Before I do there is another matter I must address.”  

Shaak Ti reached down and pulled up the front of her heavy long skirts, exposing her legs and bottom torso underneath. 

Hunter almost FAINTED!  

He may have had some...thoughts about this Jedi General...only at times in solitude so she was unable to sense them... 

The blood rushed to his head, making his vision swim. 

The rest of the crew stopped and stared! This was so UNLIKE the Jedi Commander!!! 

Underneath Shaak Ti’s skirts was strapped a small baby. 

A clone stowaway...under a Jedi’s skirts! 

The baby looked at Hunter and cooed. 

“Uhhh...” Hunter stared dumbfounded. 

“What the FU...dge!” Echo caught himself in time. 

“WAIT? Are they NOT DECANTING them anymore???” Wrecker scratched his head trying to figure out where babies are NOW coming from. 

Crosshair sighed and held his forehead. 

Tech cleared up the confusion. “It would seem that Jedi Shaak Ti is covertly sneaking this clone neonate aboard so that we may shuttle it off world.” 

“You are indeed correct Tech.” Shaak Ti unstrapped the baby and handed him to Hunter.  

She dropped her skirt and sat down. 

Hunter caught a glimpse of the Jedi’s legs before they were covered again. His brain momentarily broke. 

Echo needed details. “Why? He’s too young to leave Kamino.” 

“He is defective and was slated for termination. When we depart Kamino, I shall tell you the rest.” 

The baby reached up and pinched Hunter’s chin, bringing him back to the moment. He sat down and cradled the baby in his arms...seemingly an automatic act even HE wasn’t aware of. “Tech, take us off world IMMEDIATELY!” 

He didn’t have to tell Tech twice. 

The crew was extremely quiet as the Marauder made its way off the planet. Hunter began to worry about what was to develop. Unconsciously, he began to slightly rock the baby. It soothed him.  

Echo glanced over his shoulder at Hunter and smiled. 

Crosshair rolled his eyes. 

Blue light bathed the ship as the Marauder coasted in hyperspace. 

Shaak Ti filled in the rest of the intel. 

“So, our squad are the LAST defective clones to be allowed on Kamino?” Tech surmised. 

“Yes, unfortunately. The Kaminoan’s are tamping down on any deviance within the clone population. They are no longer even trying to reprogram the few who develop out of parameters. Any found outside of those parameters are slated for immediate termination.” Shaak Ti grimly explained. 

“Things have been changing so quickly on Kamino lately.” Hunter’s brow creased. 

“Don’t like it one bit.” Echo’s suspicion was back. 

Shaak Ti followed up. “Conveniently, I was scheduled to meet with the governing body of Ryloth. And, with some help from the Jedi Council we can place this little one with a family there.” 

“The Kaminoan’s don’t just give away their property freely. How did you manage to convince them?” Echo enquired. 

“I agree with Echo.” Tech added. “The Kaminoan’s are anything but charitable.” 

“I... resorted to utilizing the Force.” The Jedi shifted uncomfortably. “According to Master Windu, the exposure to this young clone will help you all on a future mission.” Shaak Ti smiled at the squad. “As you know Master Windu sees an important Shatterpoint in your timeline.” 

“And... what is that Shatterpoint?” Hunter enquired. 

“Unfortunately, Master Windu did not elaborate. He FEELS something strongly in the Force but cannot put it to words.” 

The clones silently glanced at one another.  

Shaak Ti added “But, for now we are saving a small innocent life. This has enough merit on its own.” 

“Agreed” Hunter smiled down at the small one in his arms.  The baby grinned back up at him. 

“Hey...Hunter...can I hold ‘em?” Wrecker asked hopefully. 

“Uh...yeah.” Hunter got up and walked over to Wrecker, who seemed excited. 

Wrecker held out his large hands awkwardly. 

“Wrecker, support his body with this hand. Take your other hand and support his head carefully. He’s young and his neck isn’t strong enough yet. He’s a baby, not a Lula. Gotta be REAL gentle.” Hunter handed the baby over and placed Wrecker’s hands in the correct position. 

Hunter stepped back and watched his brother. 

“Aww, he’s SO CUTE!” Wrecker beamed. 

The baby cooed at Wrecker.  

Cross, sitting next to Wrecker watched silently. 

Then the baby spotted Crosshair’s silver hair shining in the Marauder’s cab lighting. He made grabby hands toward Cross. 

“Ooh, he wants YOU to hold him.” Wrecker grinned. 

“NO.” Crosshair got up and sat at the other side of the ship. 

The baby immediately started to cry. 

“Look, you hurt his little feelings!” Wrecker shamed his brother. 

“I don’t do kids.” Crosshair crossed his arms uncomfortably. 

The baby wailed loudly. 

Crosshair couldn’t handle the caterwauling and stalked to the back of the ship. 

“Ohh, just ignore him cute widdle baby boy.” Wrecker grabbed Lula. “Lula says he’s a big ole’ poopy head anyway.”  

The baby stopped crying and Hunter dabbed his tears away with the baby blanket.   

“Brother Wrecker wuvs you...BOOP!” Wrecker gently touched Lula to the baby’s nose. 

Baby smiled. 

“Brother Hunter wuvs you...BOOP!”  

Baby laughed. 

“Brother Echo wuvs you...BOOP!” 

Baby belly laughed. 

“Brother Tech will wuv you too...BOOP! Especially since you’ll listen to his infodumps...BOOP!” 

Baby laughed SO hard... 

...and made a strange face... 

...then baby’s rear end made the MOST horrid sound! 

“OH MAKER! WHAT IS THAT!!!” Wrecker almost retched. “IT’S SOO STINKY!” 

Wrecker quickly handed baby back to Hunter and ran away after Crosshair. 

“Uh...” Hunter was woefully unprepared and just held baby out away from him. “Commander...uh...please tell me you have extra diapers...” 

The Jedi laughed as she approached, taking the baby from Hunter. She had a bag slung over her shoulder. “I’ll take care of him, Sergeant.” 

He turned red in spite of the horrible smell assaulting his enhanced senses. 

Hunter had an awakening... 

Something about maternal women and little children... 

Something warm and paternal blossomed in his heart. He watched Shaak Ti as she walked to the back of the ship soothing the baby. 

A minute later, Wrecker ran back up to the front of the Marauder. Crosshair followed furiously spraying refresher air freshener EVERYWHERE. 

“I don’t know what that baby ate but...EWW!!!” Wrecker grimaced. 

“OH MAKER!” Echo yelled; his face had a severely pinched expression. “Now it smells like FLORAL SHIT in here!!!” 

Frustrated, Crosshair shot back at Echo. “Well, WHAT would you have me DO???” 

Tech to the rescue: He engaged the Marauder’s indoor filtration system. However, it did take some time to dispel the smell.  

When Shaak Ti brought the cleanly changed baby back, Echo requested to hold him next. The baby took an interest in Echo’s scomp.  

Wrrrrrrrrrr. Baby was entranced. Wrrrr, wrrrr, wr, wrrrrrrrrrr. 

Echo laughed, then the baby laughed... 

And make THAT FACE. 

Wrecker held his nose. “OH NO! NOT AGAIN!!!” 

“It seems the Kaminoan baby formula irritates his sensitive stomach. Another anomaly in his genetics. I switched his formula for the trip.” The Jedi attempted to get up and retrieve the baby. 

“Please relax Commander. I’ve got this.” Hunter got up and took baby from Echo.  

Shaak Ti handed Hunter the diaper bag, and he made his way to the back of the ship. 

Crosshair sprayed the air freshener in Hunter’s wake. 

Echo turned around to glare at Crosshair. 

“What?” Cross leaned back with an antagonistic smirk, inserting a toothpick into his mouth. 

Sometime later everyone settled in during the trip to Ryloth. Hunter offered Shaak Ti his bunk so she could rest before arrival. She warned the baby may need to eat soon. 

By this time, Tech had the baby in his lap and was info dumping about various animal life of the galactic planets. Baby was deeply interested in everything he had to say. 

Or maybe it was just the glare on Tech’s glasses that caught the baby’s attention? 

Either way, Tech set up his datapad to play the corresponding animal sound when the baby pressed a button. Baby cooed with each animal sound.  

Shortly after baby lost interest and started to fuss. 

“Uh oh...” Wrecker was weary. 

“Well...he isn’t making THAT face, so I think we’re safe.” Echo ribbed Wrecker. 

"It’s fairly obvious that he’s hungry.” Tech stated. 

Hunter rummaged through the bag to find a bottle full of blue Bantha milk. 

“You like the GOOD stuff, kiddo.” Hunter smiled, taking baby from Tech and popping the feeding nipple into baby’s mouth. 

Baby suckled away and made grabby hands towards Crosshair again. 

Cross side-eyed baby. 

“Come on, Cross. He obviously likes you.” Hunter pleaded. 

“Usually that’s asking a LOT of someone.” Echo joked. 

“So funny, Echo.” 

“Hey, we ALL held him.” Wrecker piled on. “Hunter EVEN changed his diaper!”  

Crosshair wasn’t convinced. 

Baby continued grabby hands and was now vocalizing in between gulps of formula “Uuuuummmm!!!” 

Straining out of Hunter’s grasp towards the sniper. 

Tech verbally poked at his brother “It would seem that he INSISTS you hold him. Why he wishes to be close to your unyielding nature is a mystery.” Tech was baiting him. 

Crosshair pulled the toothpick from his mouth and flicked it at Tech. “All right...” He huffed. “Give me the little womp rat.” 

Hunter gave Crosshair a shit eating grin as he placed the child on his brother’s shoulder. Cross didn’t expect to have baby THAT close to his face. Hunter KNEW what baby was after. 

The baby held his bottle with one hand, chugging away. Then reached up with the other to grab a handful of Cross’ hair.  

For a second Crosshair looked panicked. But relaxed when he realized baby only wanted to hold onto something while eating. The weight seemed strangely familiar...like his rifle when it rested upon his shoulder. But...warmer...more comfortable.  

Crosshair leaned back on the seat and put his feet up.   

Tech played his specially recorded soothing sounds of Kamino’s waves over the Marauder’s PA system. Baby continued to suckle away at his bottle, then fell fast asleep on Crosshair’s shoulder. 

The sounds also affected Crosshair as he eventually passed out in a deep sleep on the cabin chair totally unaware of what would transpire... 

...as the rest of The Batch decided to record this special moment. 

After all, Baby would be in his new, safe home by tomorrow... 

There’s a pic Tech keeps on his datapad of a snoozing Crosshair with a baby sleeping on his shoulder. The rest of the Batch is posed around him.  

Hunter leans his head against his brother and the baby. A serene smile on his face. 

Wrecker gives Crosshair Lula ears with his fingers behind Cross’ head. He pulls Gonky in next to him. 

Echo puts his arm around Gonky and proudly leans into the shot next to Wrecker. 

Tech took off his goggles and propped them up on the Marauder’s dash so the recording device attached to them could mark the occasion. Then blindly made his way to Hunter’s side to pose, a sassy half grin on his face. 

In Hunter’s bunk, Shaak Ti sighs contentedly in her sleep. 

Back on Coruscant, within the Jedi Temple, Yoda pauses and quietly smiles. 

He looks to Mace Windu “The child is safe, he is.” 

Mace, relieved, replies “Eventually...the galaxy will be too.” 

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[talaricula]

I'm seeing lots of speculation in the wake of the unwanted guest about whether absorbing Loveday's soul is what made Cytherea snap and sure, I see the theory, but personally as a cancer survivor I have never ever questioned why Cytherea snapped

Cancer is an existentially terrifying, often debilitatingly painful and/or exhausting illness, that, if not cured, takes over your body bit by bit, gets into the highly essential bits which increases the suffering and/or fundamentally changes you as a person, makes you extremely vulnerable and dependent on others, and almost inevitably kills you unless you get it when you're old enough and die of old age first instead. Its treatment is often just as painful and exhausting as the illness, or even more so, and doesn't always work. When you have cancer, there are two ways out: being cured (preferable) or, when that is not an option, deciding for yourself when you have reached the point where the suffering is so bad and the outlook so non existent that you would rather die now rather than later after even more and worse suffering.

And John took both of those options away from Cytherea and from her entire line of descendants. When he had the option to cure them all all along. Idk about y'all but the revelation in Nona that John could cure cancer was the number one earth shattering realisation for me. He did this to her, and to the entire Seventh House, on purpose.

This is the first giant betrayal to me. For generation after generation, for TEN THOUSAND YEARS, this man let the heirs of the Seventh House be sick for functionally their entire lives, likely starting in childhood, go through an incalculable amount of painful and exhausting experimental treatments bc he didn't even bring modern medicine into his New Order, and die in their twenties or thirties at best, when he could have STOPPED THIS ALL ALONG with little more effort than snapping his fingers.

Second big betrayal is towards Cytherea herself, but basically the same point : he could have cured her at any time. Before she became Lyctor, possibly, since we're not sure how static Lyctor bodies are, but Mercy's powers, Harrow's lobotomy and Ianthe's arm suggest that it would have been an option afterwards too. And he didn't. He let her have cancer for TEN THOUSAND years without curing her. And he calls himself her friend. Absolutely fuck that bastard.

Third big betrayal is the same betrayal that he inflicts on all the other Lyctors, but imo worse bc of Cytherea's illness. It seems from the books that Lyctors are, if obv not functionally immortal, at least Very Difficult to kill. Consequently, John demands Cytherea's loyalty not only in the form of killing the person she loves the most in the world, but in the very same act, in the form of cutting off the One escape route she has left out of the suffering he's purposefully keeping her in. In short, he takes the one person away from her who she perhaps doesn't resent depending on and, in the same act, makes it A Lot more difficult for her to choose euthanasia. (There's meta in this about the deeply realistic and also Terrifying ableism of John "admits openly that he'll pay any price so the people he loves can't leave him" making his sick friend dependent on him by keeping her sick, taking away her (arguable) main caretaker and cutting her off from the option of leaving him by dying.)

And at the same time that the other Lyctors realise John's betrayal re: their cavaliers, Cytherea potentially realises ALL OF THIS. TEN THOUSAND years of suffering, of seeing her House suffer, on top of losing the person she cares about the most, and ALL OF IT was avoidable, and not just avoidable but EASY TO AVOID? Is it any wonder she went on a rampage to bring down John and everything he cared about and had worked towards, and that she didn't care about dying at the end (or, perhaps, was even counting on that outcome)? I had cancer (as an aware adult) for a year in the best imaginable circumstances and am still fucked up about almost a decade later. After TEN THOUSAND YEARS and learning there had been another option all along, I'd have done WAY WORSE than Cytherea. I really don't think she needed to absorb anyone's soul to get there. It is, in my opinion, a deeply understandable and realistic reaction.

[gardenofnoah]

middle aged touya my beloved 🫶🏼 (cw: drinking)

in his 40s, Touya is relatively tame. he spends most of his time working on his bike in the dingy little garage across the street from his place. he doesn’t need to work anymore (finally benefitting from nepotism, he thinks with a snort), but he finds himself helping out the elderly couple that live next to him from time to time, usually with an uneven shelf or a leaky faucet. they don’t ask him about his scars and the wife sends him back home with some sort of bread or sweet dessert every time, with the intention of fattening him up, since he won’t do it himself—which he finds ironic because he eats more and with a consistency that he hasn’t ever until now. 

he establishes a routine without meaning to, and at the end of every day he finds himself looking forward to going home—also for the first time in his life—because when he opens the door he’s nearly taken off his feet by the 93(.7, says the vet) pound monstrosity that he cohabitates with. 

he found himself walking through the kennels of the local animal shelter a few years ago, after several of his mother’s gentle nudges to find himself a companion. after making it explicitly clear that she was barking up the wrong tree for grandkids, she just rolled her eyes, shaking her head. 

“I think it would be nice for you to have something to take care of,” she told him, expression only a little worried—but mostly just fond. 

so that’s how he ended up in front of the last kennel in the pound, lowered to a crouch and speaking softly to the huddled, shivering mass at the far corner of it. even as crouched in on himself as he was, touya could see the pale scars that littered his otherwise dark brown coat. he felt the phantom ache on his own skin.

“he’s been here a while,” a worker muttered from behind him, “not sure how much longer they’ll want to keep him here.”

touya turned his head to regard the voice, raising an eyebrow. “what d’you mean?”

“he’s on the euthanasia list. we’ve tried to keep him off of it for as long as we can—but he’s aggressive and there haven’t been any interested adopters. time’s running out for him, unfortunately.”

the reality of it turned in his stomach something familiar and wholly unwelcome. he was overcome with a feeling of sympathetic kinship—it was just like the world he knew to chew up and spit out everything it could. 

he decided he’d try to stop that cycle where he could. 

“I’ll take him.”

“get off of me, you fuckin’ heifer” Touya laughs, pushing the dog back in a way that has it bounding back toward him, eager to play despite his age. neither one are particularly gentle, but there’s an underlying respect that comes with time and patience to keep the rough housing playful. touya hasn’t named the thing (because despite all of the ways he has changed, he’s still a bit of an ass), but any time Fuyumi brings his nieces over to visit, they stuff him into frilly princess costumes and call him whatever variation of “Princess Spotticus Snuffalopagus” they come up with that day—he figures that’s enough. 

he’s home to change and then he’s out the door again—because another first for him has happened unexpectedly: he’s found himself a few friends, and they have a standing Friday night meet up down at the bar across from the bike garage. none of them are much for talking, which suits Touya just fine. he strides up to the bar and takes his regular stool, nodding the familiar faces to the left of him and ordering his usual dark beer. it’s something he looks forward to now—the quiet comradery, the absence of the need to look over his shoulder. 

and right now, he is pointedly not doing that, because he thinks that if he just ignores the tap on his shoulder, it might just stop. 

it doesn’t.

“look, you little fuckin’ runt—” he snarls, turning to the source of the irritation—

“will you hold my drink?”

the interruption stops him dead in his tracks, long enough to blink back the shock at having been truly and willfully ignored to get a good look at you. 

at least 10 years his junior, clad in a pair of high-waisted jeans and a black tank top that leave just enough to the imagination to peak his interest. he realizes he’s staring, and his eyes snap to yours to find a knowing little smirk on your face.

“and why the fuck would i do that?”

“only for a minute,” you roll your eyes, like you’re the one that’s inconvenienced by this, “i just have to go to the bathroom.”  

he sighs, clipped and full of irritation, but holds a hand out to you regardless. you give him a smile that he immediately has to turn away from, huffing out a little “hurry up” as you turn toward the bathrooms. there’s no one around but him and his friends, but he finds himself curling your drink into his chest anyway, hunching over it like something nefarious might drop into it from above. 

it’s only a moment before you return, and much to his chagrin, you hop up onto the stool next to him and do well to make yourself at home, turning to hit him with another lopsided grin. he shoves your drink back in your hand a little too roughly—you pay it no mind, thanking him for watching it. 

“you just give your drink to any old stranger you find?”

you laugh a little, tipping your drink back to take a sip. he watches the tip of your tongue swipe a stray drop from your lip and he knows he should look away. 

he doesn’t.

“not usually.”

“that’s quite the fuckin’ gamble,” he gruffs, taking a sip of his own. 

“maybe,” you say, like you know something he doesn’t. he doesn’t like it. 

“don’t you have friends to get back to?”

“mm, yeah—i suppose i do,” you set your drink down and reach your arms up in a stretch—he has to look away then, because your chest strains against your tank top and he’s suddenly worried for his old heart—“what’s your name?”

he studies you then—eyes you with overt suspicion and you let him, smiling sweetly at him in a way that makes him nervous. he tuts at you, looking away to hide the flush that he feels creep up the side of his neck. 

“touya,” he grits out.

you repeat it, trying it out on your tongue, and he nearly comes out of his skin. you hop down from the stool, far too close to him—he doesn’t know why he wants to lean into your proximity.

“see you next time then, touya.”

he feels you well after you’ve gone. when the air stops vibrating, he lets out a sharp exhale, dropping his forehead to his hands on the bar top in front of him. the man next to him barks out a laugh, clapping him on the shoulder in some show of knowing sympathy. 

he’s too old for this shit. 

[matthewmlz]

Former Paralympian says veterans affairs department offered her assisted death