#26-goddamn-thousand PLUS likes

[131-di]

steps back and presses a button labelled NUKE LIKES so long you cancerous mass

[demonkidpliz]

Things I learned while re-watching Star Plus Mahabharata (Part 10/many):

1) I see grandaddy has come out of hibernation.

2) Draupadi looks stunning in this episode.

3) Krishna’s whole personality is that of a matchmaker marriage broker.

4) In the entirety of Draupadi’s swayamvar Krishna has the most done facial expression I have ever seen. Seriously, someone give Saurabh Raaj Jain an award.

5) Draupadi just said she won’t marry a sutputra. A+ 10/10 on the background score. Also, Krishna’s expression. He knows this is the first of many steps that will seal Draupadi’s fate.

6) Surya is pissed that someone called his illegitimate son a sutputra so now he’s shining extra hard on Kampilya.

7) Krishna’s expression. Krishna’s Expression. KRISHNA’S EXPRESSION.

8) Seriously, when he’s on screen, it’s hard to follow the others because Krishna steals the goddamn show.

9) Krishna looking at Surya Dev like don’t make me come up there.

10) I just realised Surya Dev is Krishna’s father-in-law, but that’s a story for another time.

11) What was even written in the script? Sun: glares angrily. Krishna: glares back.

12) At least Karna is not taking this casteism thing lying down. Sometimes I am reminded why I loved Karna so much. Oh well.

13) Arjun’s whole face lights when he talks about Krishna. Truly, a love for the ages.

14) Ah, Arjun. The original feminist.

15) Did Krishna just khule aam crack a sexual innuendo joke at Rukmi’s expense in the swayamvar?

16) Bro, if I were Rukmi, I too would want to punch Krishna’s face publicly.

17) When Shakuni told Duryodhan to kill Arjun and Bhim and then the other three would be destroyed automatically, I felt that.

18) What is the point of Sahadev being a fortune teller when he never fucking warns them when something is about to go wrong?

19) Kunti: in this house, we serve the Soviet Union and divide all our resources equally.

20) Yudhishthira: those who give out orders/punishments have no business remaining ignorant. My problematic son dropping truth bombs.

21) Draupadi: if Sita cannot escape people’s blame, then how will I? Hold my martini.

22) Draupadi reminding Arjun that this is not the first time Kuru princes are trying to return a princess after winning a swayamvar. Yaaas.

23) Ah granddaddy is back.

24) Poor Draupadi. Also, Krishna’s expression as he watches her cry breaks my heart.

25) Draupadi, Krishna’s pet. There, there.

26) Apparently, one woman having five husbands is adharm. But it’s okay for Krishna to have thousands of wives. Somehow, that’s fair to women. #Krishnalogic.

[inferno-principe]

★ FILL IN THE QUESTIONS AS IF YOU ARE BEING INTERVIEWED FOR AN ARTICLE AND YOU WERE YOUR MUSE.

1. WHAT IS YOUR NAME? “Grand General Sidonai, Prince of Akri’qar.”

2. WHAT IS YOUR REAL NAME? "That....is my name.”

3. DO YOU KNOW WHY YOU’RE CALLED THAT? ”I was named after my father. As was his dragon. And a desert. Very creative, my father is.”

4. ARE YOU SINGLE OR TAKEN? “It’s very complicated at the moment.”

5. WHAT ARE YOUR POWERS AND ABILITIES?   “Well, all lust demons shared abilities. We can manipulate dreams and we are very skilled shape-shifters. My unique personal ability is electrokinesis.”

6. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR EYES? “Violet.”

7. HAVE YOU EVER DYED YOUR HAIR?   “Never and I have no intention to. My hair is perfect the way it is.”

8. DO YOU HAVE ANY FAMILY MEMBERS? “Plenty. My parents, my brothers and sisters, my Basmur relatives, my uncles...Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of cambion siblings I’ve never met. I have a rather large family.”

9. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS?   “I have a gold-scaled, Vanarian dragon named Chanit. Father rescued her from poachers before she even hatched and we raised her together. She’s been mine since I was a child.”

10. TELL ME ABOUT SOMETHING YOU DON’T LIKE.    “....My father. Everyone and everything associated with him. And crabs.”

11. DO YOU HAVE ANY HOBBIES OR ACTIVITIES YOU DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME?    “I very much enjoy painting and playing music. Only Liat plays as well, so I usually have the music room to myself. When I paint, I tend to go to Vanaria to paint the mountains or the springs.”

12. HAVE YOU EVER HURT ANYONE BEFORE?   “Plenty of times. I tend to have a temper, being half wrath demon and all.”

13. HAVE YOU EVER… KILLED ANYONE?   “....I have.”

14. WHAT KIND OF ANIMAL ARE YOU?   “Well, demons tend to have animal forms, to make sneaking around the human world and ensnaring souls easier. Mine is a peacock. So, not the most inconspicuous, but beautiful.”

15. NAME YOUR WORST HABITS.   “Taking things personally or blowing things out of proportion and losing my temper. That and my impulsivity. 

16. DO YOU LOOK UP TO ANYONE?   “My mother, Sabrael. She’s always been my hero. Er...was my hero.”

17. GAY, STRAIGHT, OR BISEXUAL?   “Pansexual, actually.”

18. DO YOU GO TO SCHOOL?   “Not any longer, but I did study at the officer’s academy as an adolescent.”

19. DO YOU EVER WANT TO MARRY AND HAVE KIDS SOMEDAY? “I would love to. But...relationships seem to be in a touch spot right now. And I’m not sure how good of a father I’d be.”

20. DO YOU HAVE ANY FANS?

  “Plenty. I’m the grand general and the crown prince. I have plenty of suitors and admirers. Lots of my soldiers look up to me as well, especially Yunuen, our main weapons technician. She’s idolized me for decades.”

21. WHAT ARE YOU MOST AFRAID OF? “Lots of things. Never seeing mother again, my father when he’s angry. Becoming heartless and callous like father. And...Tamiel.

22. WHAT DO YOU USUALLY WEAR?   “Most days I’m in uniform, but I much prefer frilly waistcoats and cute stockings and such.”

23. DO YOU LOVE SOMEONE?   “Yes, of course. Again, several people. My family, Kaelon, Soris, and Nicolo.”

24. WHAT CLASS ARE YOU?   “Royalty.”

25. HOW MANY FRIENDS DO YOU HAVE?   “Er...four really, five if you count my sister, Ace. There’s Soris of course. And my childhood friends. Kasadya, Abbadon, and Paimon.”

26. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON PIE? “It’s...alright?  I prefer other pastries.”

27. FAVORITE DRINK?    Lavender tea.”

29. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE?   “In Hell, it’s Vanaria. It’s so serene and beautiful. 

30. ARE YOU INTERESTED IN SOMEONE? “Well, yes. I suppose I can’t deny that I still have feelings for Nicolo, but he’s been gone for centuries. So I have Soris now.”

31. HOW LARGE ARE YOUR BREASTS?   “....I have a cock.”

32. WOULD YOU RATHER SWIM IN THE LAKE OR THE OCEAN?   “The lake. It’s small and I know exactly what’s in it. The oceans in the human world, and the Sea of Limbo are both so vast and deep. You don’t know what can be lurking beneath. Probably whales....or goddamn crabs.”

33. WHAT’S YOUR ‘TYPE’?   “Men. Pretty, androgynous. Long hair I can run my fingers through is a plus, but not required.”

34. ANY FETISHES?    “Plenty. Am I going to tell a stranger this? Hell no. Piss off.”

35. TOP OR BOTTOM? DOMINANT OR SUBMISSIVE?    “You mean you couldn’t tell? I’m a top. I’m always a top.”

36. CAMPING, OR INDOORS?   “Depends on my mood, really. There are times I prefer to stay indoors, but I do love the Vanarian forests. But...camping...I don’t know how to answer this.”

37. ARE YOU WAITING FOR THIS INTERVIEW TO BE OVER?   “Yes, I have plenty of important things to do. Because unlike some people, I have a real job and don’t sit around digging into stranger’s personal lives.”

TAGGED BY:  I kinda grabbed it from someone whoops TAGGING: @paimoncompelsyou​ @winged-gentleman​ @museinfusion​ @precisicn​

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

CSUAPR PRT 17 START.. middle... nearly end?

"Get up!"

Waking with something rudely smacking into his face, Keith groaned miserably as he peeled his sleepy dust riddled eyes open and glared at the offending object that had hit him in the face. Pants... Why in quiznak's name was he being hit in the face by a pair of pants, when his head was throbbing like a base drum and some kind of alien fur creature had set up residence in his mouth? Blinking himself to full consciousness as he yawned, Keith had no idea why he was in the bathtub, or how he'd ended up being filled with the desire to burrow back down into the bath and try for another several vargas worth of sleep. Not when the tub was so damn uncomfortable

"What happened?"

  Trying to gather spit in his mouth, all he seemed to do was make the taste lingering there worse. His stomach was making rumbling noises, yet the mere thought of food was enough to drain the colour from your face

"I'm not surprised you don't remember. You got yourself wasted doing shots with Krystaal, before sending Lance into a panic attack. He's fine, thanks for asking. Already up and at the festival with Coran. We have a Paladin panel in 15 doboshes, so time to shower and get your shit together"

Groaning, Keith closed his eyes and let his head drop back against the rim of the bathtub

"I'm allowed to have a drink or two"

"Tell that to your pregnant husband"

Now, he may just be remembering things wrong, but Lance was the one who told him to go

"I'm not having this fight with you. I feel like shit"

"Good. I wanted to take him out and cheer him up. Instead he ended up going to bed alone"

 The coldness coming from Shiro wasn't entirely unexpected. Maybe he had over indulged. It certainly felt like he had

"Don't throw that back at me. You're not his husband"

"No. I'm not. He was in a vulnerable..."

"He's always in a vulnerable state. He had a damn nightmare and ended up in the air vents yesterday..."

Hurled up out of the bathtub suddenly, Shiro dropped him. Keith barely keeping from falling over backwards

"What the fuck!?"

"Lance is your husband. The man you spent years in love with. The man who is absolutely crazy about you"

"I know that!"

"Then why aren't you getting your shit together!? You're going to be a father!"

"I know!..."

Screaming at Shiro, Keith's world swam. Sinking on to the edge of the bath, he buried his face in his hands

"... I know. But I don't know how to be a father. I don't know how to be a father, Shiro. I don't know how to care for a baby. I don't know how to change a nappy. I don't know what to do for a fever. I don't know... I don't know what to do!"

Shiro's sighed heavily as he sat down next to him

"Is that what this about? You're scared about being a dad?"

"Wouldn't you be? I'm a mess. I'm turning 26 and my life is a mess. My husband won't take his medication. He keeps having panic attacks. He keeps testing me without me knowing it's a goddamn test until I fail... and... Shit, Shiro. I don't know what I'm doing. We can't even make a marriage work. How do we make a marriage and kids work? What does that even look like? He lives for his job. It's more important to him than the health and safety of our babies. Maybe he was right about having an abortion? He's not well. He's not mentally well. He's not physically well. He's hallucinating or his nightmares are out of control. He's got it in his head that the same people who raped him are back. What the quiznak am I supposed to do with that? And mum... God... She made it seem like having kids was awful. Really awful. Vomiting. Fevers. Teething. Sleepless nights. Shit storms... I can't take twins on missions. I don't know how to sit still. I don't think we're ready for this. I don't think I'm ready for this... it's such a big thing. These two tiny lives are going to be dependent on us. An ex-junky as he calls himself, and a Blade member. When things get hard... Lance doesn't have that drug crutch anymore... I don't know what to do if he won't listen to the doctors. If he's not going to try. Why am I going to try?"

  A very long and pregnant silence hung in the air when he was finished. With each passing tick it was like Shiro was readying himself to explode, then his voice came out dead level, not relieving Keith of his anxieties

"Have you tried talking to Lance?"

"He doesn't want to listen. He thinks he got this letter yesterday. He thinks we're all in danger and he got mad at me for saying it was probably a nightmare. It was right after Curtis left. He was freaking out because Curtis being cautious on the other side of the door scared him. You know how he gets. You know he gets paranoid. There was no evidence of anything like that..."

"It's not paranoia if someone is actually out to get you... You raised the same issue with something happening at the awards ceremony. Now that it has happened, you're rejecting it because you can't control it"

"I can't control anything... I don't know what I'm doing and talking to mum only made it worse. I love him, but she... She made me see how... How far I have to go"

"Rather than getting drunk with Krystaal, yes, you got drunk with Krystaal as in shot for shot, you should talk to your husband. Lance is feeling all these same anxieties. He loves you, but you're running from him. Talk to him. He might not have been up for talking yesterday, but try. Try until he doesn't have any other option but to answer. I was scared when I took you on, but we turned out alright, didn't we?"

  He'd gone drinking with Krystaal? Keith could very very vaguely kind of remember running into him... He'd been feeling bad about leaving Lance, but he was sure that Lance had imagined the whole thing. His husband was mad at him, and he was mad at him for being mad at him. He'd been so happy to see the twins, and now he was terrified. Absolutely and completely terrified... He didn't Lance being danger from someone new and unknown. He also didn't want their lives together to suddenly be upheaved. The twins would change everything. The twins would change everything and he didn't know how to have a family. Shiro was right, they'd done alright, but Shiro hadn't needed to wipe his arse or had to go through hours of potentially life threatening labour...

"I don't want to hurt him"

"You already are, by running"

"Running is all I know how to do... Running after him. Running into battle. Running after you"

"It take two to make a baby, or twins in this case. There are thousands and thousands of people out there who can never have what you two are going through. Don't take any of it for granted. If you're scared, or if you don't want this, you need to talk to him. You need to let him know where you stand. And you need a shower. You reek like you bathed in that stuff you were shooting. We've probably got about 5 doboshes to be there. Best get a move on"

     *

Running to make the panel on time, Keith and Shiro we're both confused by the sight before them. There were five chairs, for five Paladins, except... in the place of Allura a photo of her sat, occupying one of those spaces. Behind the chairs was a series of banners featuring the faces of the Paladins framed by a thick band of colour responding to the lion they flew. Black for Shiro. Black and Red for Keith. Yellow for Hunk, then Green for Pidge. Allura was in the place of the Blue Paladin... and no signage for Lance. None... It wasn't Voltron without Lance. Lance was the heart and soul of Voltron. They'd never come together if not for him.

 Joining Hunk, Pidge and Lance, Coran was a few feet away yelling at some event coordinator who'd failed their job over the lack of Lance's presence. At least that was what Keith thought at the time. Opening his mouth to greet his husband, Lance seemed to have prempted the move as he'd disappeared over to Coran's side silently. Elbowing him, Pidge had mischief in her eyes

"I hear someone got drunk yesterday"

"Shut it, Pidge"

"Oooh. Touchy. Yelling about how you and Lance were married... Galactic social media is buzzing with it"

Keith frowned at Pidge. If he was yelling how much he loved Lance, or was married to him, then why was he so mad at him

"I did what?"

"Yep. Right in the middle of your drinking match. You lost me GAC. I expect you to pay up"

"You were betting on me?"

"I would have put all my GAC on Lance, but he wasn't there to bet on"

"Whoa! Hold up. You would have bet on Lance? I'm so confused right now"

Pidge rolled her eyes at him with enough sass that the eyeroll didn't seem limited to her eyes alone

"Lance works in bar! How many times do you think his customers challenged him to drinks!? How many times has he partied himself to sleep? You can't work in a bar and be a light weight!"

  "I tried to tell her that Lance doesn't drink that much anymore, but Lance sided with her. Are you ok, man?"

Joining in on their conversations, Hunk ignored Pidge nodding enthusiastically, most probably because Lance had agreed, or so he gathered by her gesturing to Lance

"I'm fine. I have no idea what we were drinking, but it wasn't that all pleasant to wake up to. Why is there no place for Lance?"

Hunk sighed

"Lance said that Allura should be on the panel, as it was her sacrifice that saved us all. He said he didn't need a place, but Coran wouldn't let him back down from this. Now they're trying to make a spot for him, despite the fact he doesn't want to be here"

Playing it cool, Keith raised his eyebrow, hoping to make the action seem natural

"Did he say that?"

"Not in so many words... I thought he liked his time being a Paladin..."

"That's stupid. He's obviously having too much fun being a bounty hunter. Plus, he's probably struggling with this whole situation. I mean, this is a festival to celebrate his dead girlfriend"

Hunk gaped at Pidge, his face loosing some of its colours as his cheeks turned a faint pink

"Pidge! You can't say that in front of Keith, he's his husband"

Shrugging, Pidge wasn't fazed

"Minor detail"

"No. No. No. Major detail!"

"Keith isn't complaining"

"Because Keith loves him. Right, buddy?"

"Yeah..."

Keith didn't want to be roped into this argument. Pidge started laughing, the noise grating on his throbbing head, her arms wrapped around her waist as she struggled out

"You could sound more enthused! What? Trouble in paradise? Are you in the doghouse for getting drunk without him?!"

  "Ok, guys. That's enough..."

By standing behind him, and placing his hands on Keith's shoulders, Shiro drew their attention

"We're here to be Paladins, which means putting our game faces on. Do we have any details of what were actually doing? Coran forgot to fill us all in..."

Pidge pulled herself together, sounding almost disinterested as she related

"He forgot to tell all of this. They ran a "question" box for us the past couple of days. We're going to be given a tablet with questions for each of us on it. We don't have to answer all the questions, buuuuut it's going to be broadcast live across the universe. I've got Matt filming it. I can't wait to see how Keith acts with all this attention"

Crossing his arms, Keith scowled at Pidge

"I know how to do my job"

"Just because you know how to, doesn't mean you won't be awkward as hell..."

"Pidge, why do I feel like you've bet GAC on my performance"

"Because I have. Ooooh, look. It's Lance and Coran. What a convenient excuse not to continue this conversation"

"Pidge!"

  Pidge was the picture of innocence as Coran and Lance joined them. Lance standing half behind Hunk, refusing to meet Keith's eyes, as Coran filled them in on what was happening. Space had been made for Lance, by squashing them all slightly. The table was made for 5, not for 6. Lance wouldn't hear of Shiro not being on the panel, despite the fact that Keith had ultimately spent more time as the Black Paladin than Shiro had. Before he was ready, Keith was falling into line with the others, a holopad pushed into his shaky hands then the next thing he knew he was walking on to the stage where camera flashes blinded him.

   Panels were horrible. Panels were horrible enough when sober, doubly so when hung over, and triply so when your husband was sitting beneath a photo of his dead ex-girlfriend, at the opposite end of the panel where he had no chance of talking to him. They were married. They were married and the whole quiznakking universe knew it... So why weren't the happily married couple together? Lance didn't seem to mind. All of their group were already laughing and deep in a four way conversation that had gone right over his head. Keith was out his depth completely. He had no idea that their questions were being screened behind them as they answered, he had no idea that the question time had hit him, and he had no idea of the words on his holopad were actually English because his eyes felt ready to fall out his head. In his own way, Keith was developing a new appreciation for functioning alcoholics.

     *

Keith was in trouble. With the eyes of thousands staring in the direction of his husband, several long ticks had passed since Keith's holopad had started to glow around the sides. Sitting in front of a crowd and answering questions was not how Lance planned his day going. He wanted to sit down and discuss what had happened the previous day with his husband. That was the only way he was going to find some form of mental relief from his racing mind. Despite feeling angry each time his gaze moved to his husband, Lance cleared his throat

"Sorry, guys! My husband isn't great with crowds, but that's just something else about him that I love. Now, his question is..."

Craning his head back to read the question he made a goofy show of it. It was probably for the best Keith wasn't on the ball

"What was the worst part of being a Paladin?"

  Moving his right thumb and pointer to his chin as if stroking an imaginary beard, Lance hummed. He loathed this attention. He loathed playing at niceties, but knew he had a job to do. He Lance playing Leandro, who was playing Lance. It was the only way he could cope with the public spotlight

"The worst thing... Oh, boy! Coran's cooking... the first time he cooked for is... I thought he was trying to kill me! Then there's the time in the middle of the night when Allura would run practice emergency drills... I guess the worst thing of all is that despite Allura's sacrifice, the fact that if she hadn't given her life none of us would be here right now... The worst thing is that we're still fighting while we're trying to recover. And all the little people we couldn't reach in time... but when living on the Castle, it was definitely the time Coran tried to cook for us. I'm sorry Coran! You're our awesome adopted Uncle, but us humans have a weird diet... I think we all would have gone crazy if it wasn't for Hunk's culinary prowess"

Flashing the crowd his best smile and finger guns, Lance hoped he'd done enough. Pidge was agreeing now, Keith's holopad was no longer glowing, Shiro leaned back to give him an approving nod, and Hunk was blushing. Reminding himself that each question moved them closer to the end, he looked down to his own holopad.

  After half a varga, they were all sweating. Pidge was being an angry little gremlin, at the point of threatening to murder the sun because she was done with this heat. Everyone knew the best way to store their little anger muffin was to sit her in a cool dark corner with her tech. Lance was feeling it too. His head felt sinus headache gross, his body suit might keep him cool for the most part, but worked best when his mask was up, which it wasn't, so the rest of him wasn't feeling that great either. No matter how much water he'd drank down, he only felt more and more dehydrated. Feeling his holopad grow warmer as it started to glow, he nearly dropped the device on the table as he vomiting into his mouth. His question being "How did it feel to work for Ambassador Klearo? What do you do now?". It was a simple question. Any number of fans would have seen the broadcasts of him standing behind the man. It didn't mean that he wasn't panicking. It didn't mean simply seeing the image of the man didn't bring all the memories flying back. Lance couldn't do this... Leandro... Channel Leandro

"Well..."

God. His heart was hammering so fast it felt as if it was going to flying out his mouth

"I own a club now, out on Erathus. It's pretty nice there, and safe. The place is called "The Gilded Cage"... We wanted to create a safe place for travellers in the area. My friend Th'al runs it... Um... other than that... I'm Keith's husband and it's pretty much a full time job keeping up with him... it's simple and nice"

  That funny feeling was spreading through him. His holopad cooled as the colour left. Thumbing through the message list, every message submitted was listed, then chosen at random. That one message soon turned to half a dozen... of Klearo... and the look on Lance's face as the abuse had begun. The fear in his eyes. The disgust. The loathing of every piece of bullshit sprouted from the piece of shits mouth. Then blank emptiness. The change in his expression was almost haunting. It was as if you could see the time it crossed the line. When his whole being had shattered beneath the man, and the men who'd sexually abused him. As he scrolled up, in the hopes of finding evidence that he was being targeted, blood dripped onto the screen. Wiping at it, a second drip landed on his finger. Raising his hand to his nose, drops of blood rolled down his fingers. The holopad falling from his fingers to land on the table, the screen glitching before turning black.

  "Lan..."

Starting to say his name, Pidge realised his nose was bleeding. The woman fishing out a handkerchief from nowhere and pushing it up against his nose so hard Lance was actually pained by the action. Sitting next to him, it was only natural she'd notice. She'd no doubt been caught in a cloud of his stenched up emotional scent, causing her to be more focused on her surrounds

"Sorry folks! Even us Paladins are only human! How about this heat!?"

Covering for him, Lance was immediately grateful to Pidge, she didn't need to whisper to him to get out of there as she put herself out her comfort zone, it went unsaid like a silent agreement, Lance hightailing it off stage and straight into Coran's waiting embrace.

  Led away from the stage, and into the background work space where the transmission was being monitored, Coran sat him down on a flimsy fold out chair, forcing his head down between his knees as his nose bleed steadily worsened

"One tick my boy. I do believe you're the one who taught me that trick with the cold compress"

Lance didn't think that placing a cold compress on the back of the neck was much of a trick, but with how overheated he felt, he'd take a cool anything right now. It was strange how he'd longed to feel something more than cold all the time, his condition had forced him to pay constant attention to his body. Knowing that even if he couldn't feel the effects of the heat internally, the rest of him could. It was like his soul had been frozen, then disconnected from his body, causing a strange disharmony between the pair. It was another reason he'd found himself wondering, more than once, if he was a clone. Returning with a cold bottle of water, Coran held it against his nape. Lance shuddering as his body rejected the cool relief it offered

"How's that?"

Lying smoothly, Lance nodded

"Better..."

"Ah... We'll give it a tick to kick in. I'm sorry about what happened out there, my boy. We left the questions open..."

"Coran..."

There was a gentle plea in his voice

"You're right. Perhaps now isn't the time"

Now wasn't the time. Never was the time. Those memories were fucking with his head enough. What he saw as clear evidence between the photos he was sent, and the messages on the holopad, he feared bringing up with anyone. As he'd reasoned, the others would too. A fan could have meant no offence, though a fan wouldn't have sent as many messages as they'd had. Hopefully when he had the holopad back in his hands, he could prove to his husband he hadn't been lying... Not that he should have to... No. No. He wasn't going there. He'd briefly bumped into Krolia who'd apologised for Keith's drunken behaviour, explaining how she and Keith had had the "baby talk", and explaining how Keith felt displaced by her coming child. Lance didn't need the talk to know that. It was hard for Keith. Keith didn't know what or how to deal with it. Still. He knew from personal experience that alcohol wasn't the answer. Not that he would turn down a stiff drink, or a dozen right about now.

  Opening his mouth to reply to Coran, Lance was on the ground before he knew what happened. One tick he was there, feeling quiznak, the next Coran's face was peering into his and Lance felt as if something had zapped every ounce of energy from his body. Neither of them had thought about the sudden and drastic change in body temperature triggering a seizure. Tasting vomit and blood, he wished that was the end when it came to bodily fluids, only... down his legs was wet and cool. His suit catching the mess he'd made, while he'd been out of it long enough for his piss to cool. Blinking sleepily at Coran, Coran smiled softly at him as he tucked a stray hair back from Lance's face. This wasn't the first, second or third time he'd thrown up. The first and second because of his pregnancy, the third because he'd worked himself up simply opening his medication bottle

"Seizure?"

 Slurring heavily, Lance's voice failed to reach his own ears

"Yes, my boy. A little over 45 ticks... Keith will be here soon"

Coran sounded like he was speaking through fog. He was kind of blurry. His neat orange hair blurred like a fire on his head

"Sorry..."

"Enough of that... rest..."

He didn't want to rest. He was ashamed of his body betraying him in a tent full of strangers. It didn't matter that they were towards the back, mostly out of the way. He was supposed to be a Paladin, which meant staying stronger and never letting the public see your weak side. His mind might have felt like a sludge sundae, but his thoughts had to get that final blow in.

    *

"What kind of an idiot puts something ice cold against their skin when they overheat! You're lucky your heart didn't stop!"

 Cleaned up by Shiro and Keith, mostly Keith with Shiro's support, Pidge was the first to scold him as she and Hunk joined them in his and Keith's room. Laying with a cold towel folded over his forehead, Lance had agreed he was an idiot in a series of "mhmm" and "uh huh" until she finally ran out of appropriate questions. Shiro stopped her when she started to tease he and Keith, and given he was tired and somewhat sooky, he didn't feel like admitting how nice it felt to have Keith holding his hand. Having spent the last half varga chilling, Lance was ready for a nap, but Pidge and Hunk had decided that hanging around and scolding him needed to morph into a group hang. So Lance contented himself holding Keith's hand, and feeling Shiro's solid presence on the other side of him. There was a feeling that he'd forgotten something, but for now he was happish... or okish... scared, yet safe. Everyone in the room with him knew he was deeply scared by Klearo, each of them in their own trying to be there for him without making it too obvious.

  When Kosmo teleported into their room with a bark, his fur son decided that the best way to greet them all was to let out the most horrendous silent fart, that sent Pidge and Hunk scrambling off the bed as they gagged. Pulling the wet towel over his face did very little to diminish the stink as Keith echoed the others movements and deserted him. The loss of his hand felt immediately. Whimpering at the connection between him and husband being broken, Shiro stuck his hand under the towel and pinched his nose as if Lance wasn't perfectly capable of doing so himself. Dimly he could hear Keith scolding Kosmo, Pidge laughing and Hunk still gagging. Yet they all felt so far away from him that he and Shiro may as well have been stranded on an island. Kosmo, immune to his own stench, laid happily over Lance's legs. His tail thumping in time with the throbbing of Lance'd head. Unable to stank the stink, Pidge and Hunk only lasted a few moments before opting to bail, Lance deaf to their leaving as he was hyperfixating on the feeling of Shiro's hand against his nose. His trauma well aware that a hand to the nose meant soon water would be poured down his throat until he nearly drowned, or did and they were forced to revive him. He was starting to panic, his body too sleepy and leaden to fight off the man's hand, his hands weakly gripping at the sheets beneath him. Gasping like a reeled in fish, his body finally decided it had reached its limit, allowing him to pass out.

     *

The moment Lance's gasping met Keith's ears, the half-Galra was abandoning his futile attempts to scold Kosmo over the fart bomb he'd dropped, and rushing to pull the towel from Lance's face. Who needed Lions or Bayards, when your cosmic wolf could clear a room with just a simple fart. As Shiro released Lance's nose, Lance lay deathly still, his chest barely rising as Keith held his hand above Lance mouth to check his husband was still breathing

"Keith?"

"Shut up..."

With a gentle exhale, an inhale didn't follow. Keith placing his head against Lance's chest to find it wasn't rising

"Fuck! Don't you dare, you stubborn arsehole"

 Lance was vulnerable. He was vulnerable and Keith hadn't thought that Shiro's touch would send his husband into a panic. Not with the way Shiro was sitting right next to him as if he rightfully belonged there. Not with the way Shiro had supported Lance's weight while Keith peeled off the layer of his husband's clothes then wrestled him out his stupid body suit. Lance was so out of it, he wasn't sure that Lance had any physical strength to protect himself, and usually when in that state would only allow him to touch him, yet his husband didn't seem to care he was naked in front of Shiro. He didn't shy away from Shiro's supportive hand on his hip. No. His husband had leaned into Shiro's touch, sending bitter jealously blooming. He was the only one who was allowed to touch Lance's body. Him. Lance had said so. And despite Shiro being happily in love with Curtis, Keith couldn't barely keep down his instincts. He could barely keep himself from taking a swing at his own brother. Lance had ignored him all morning, then Coran had sent some aid rushing to tell him that Lance had had a seizure. By the time he'd gotten off the stage, and down to communications tent, his husband was slurring as Coran reassured him. Blood and vomit were across Lance's fair and hair. His eyes glassy and unfocused. Pidge being the genius she was, had been the one to realise it was the temperature change that had triggered it, yet they all know seeing Klearo again had hit Lance hard. Each of them hated him in varying degrees, but none as much as him. He'd been all for it when Pidge angrily grumbled about hacking the holopad Lance had been using to find out who had sent that photo in, only when the holopad had been retrieved, it'd fallen wrong against the table and fried the memory chip in it. Ropeable, and concerned for Lance, they'd all kind of felt like being there by his side, even if he was sleeping off the effects of his seizure.

 Interlacing his fingers, Keith pumped down on Lance's chest, Shiro springing into action when he realised Lance wasn't breathing, moving to give Keith the space to work. Keith gave a dozen panic driven pushes before Lance sucked in a breath, his back arching as his marks glowed brightly. Gasping and coughing, Shiro helped Keith sit Lance up, Lance shaking as Keith grabbed him by the chin

"Lance?!"

"Mnmm?"

"Keith, maybe you should give him some space to breathe?"

"Don't tell me how to handle my husband!"

Snapping at Shiro caused Lance to whine. Keith feeling like a dick for it the moment the words came out his mouth. But... quiznak!

"Sorry. Sorry... something scared him so badly he couldn't breathe..."

"It must have been my hand over his face... when Kosmo farted"

Shiro looked exactly as Keith felt. His face devoid of colour, and clouded with guilt. Guiding Lance into his lap, Shiro helped getting Lance straddled with his nose against Keith's neck. His favourite secure position

"That with having Klearo shoved in his face... Shiro, was I wrong? Did someone send him those photos? someone actually after him again?"

"I don't know. I know he was scared and hurt that you didn't believe him"

"We keep... not connecting..."

"Getting drunk and bottling it up like an idiot will do that. When he comes too properly, talk it out. Or if you still need time to think things out, we can watch him again..."

"I don't know... I don't know how to be a dad. I though we'd have more time"

"No one's ready to be a parent. And it's not as if these are usual circumstances. He'll listen"

"I know he will... that's the problem isn't it. If I repeated anything I said this morning, he's going to bolt"

"At least he wouldn't be stuck wondering about how you feel and if you still want this marriage"

Keith held his tongue. He still loved Lance. Lance was the air to his lungs... but Lance, kids, and work... He didn't know how to juggle it all.

    Getting a few vargas sleep with Lance still in his lap, Keith woke with a start. His thoughts spilling into his dream, his mind tormenting him over everything he stood to lose. Starving and thirsty, Keith was surprised to find Lance awake as he carefully untangled his husband's hold on him. The moment their eyes met, things felt all that more awkward between them

"I'm... I'm going to get us something to eat, and a drink. Then I think we need to talk"

Climbing out his lap, Lance nodded. Settling himself into a ball on Keith's side of the bed, his husband rested his chin on his knees, his voice soft

"I'm leaving"

Opening his mouth, Keith closed it just as quickly before giving a half shake of his head. Lance wanted to leave? Walk out on their chance to talk? Or... was there something more to this?

"Stay here for a tick"

  To Keith it felt as if Lance was watching his every move as he grabbed up a couple of ration bars, and two glasses of water. Returning to their bed, Lance was at least willing to take the ration bars from him. His glass of balanced near his bare feet. Opening the ration bar, Lance tore off the end with his teeth, eating quietly and ignoring the way Keith watched him. Sighing to himself, Keith did the same, forcing himself to eat half the tasteless bar. They weren't that great, but it wasn't goo

"I think we need time apart to think"

  Dropping those words with dead calm, Lance stole his breath

"I think there's some things you need to work out, and I don't want to be on Altea anymore. I talked a little with Krolia. I wish it'd been you who'd explained to me what happened between you and her. Kids. Hey. I get it. It's a huge thing. I can't concentrate on them, me, and walk on nails around our friends. I'm tired of yoyoing more than I was when I was alone. I'm going to ask Krolia to lend me a ship and head to the next training planet"

"I know we haven't been connecting... but we just haven't had the chance. You spent most of yesterday sleeping!"

Quiznak. He sounded far more accusatory than he meant to

"And you spent it getting drunk..."

"Only because you were testing me! I don't know how it turned so shit so fast!"

"I wasn't trying to test you. I reached out and you made me feel stupid. I'm going to give you a chance to think. About what you absolutely truly want. Me. Me and the twins. If you want to take the out. My head is a mess. I don't want to be here. You're still wanted here. You still have things to work out. You should take the time to think it through"

"Don't I get a say? You had a seizure, then a panic attack so severe you stopped breathing. I have to pump your chest until you finally took a breath... We've only been here a few days. You're not taking your medication..."

"No. I've been forcing myself to drink enough water that I go to sleep needing to pee and wake up nearly wetting myself. I've been scoffing down these bars because they're like the only thing I don't throw up. So don't say I'm not trying. You knew I messed up, you told me I could trust you. You made me trust you. And I thought you actually saw me. Now I don't want to fight. I want to think. You don't think I'm scared? I know all the risks with pregnancies because I come from a huge family. It doesn't get that big without things happening... I'll keep your twins safe until you make a choice. I don't know how to be a dad. A little brother and an uncle. A drunk and druggie. I've got that covered. A dad. A mother. I don't know what to call myself other a freak. You make the choice. I can't trust myself anymore, apparently"

  The last part was definitely a jab at him. It was the only part where Lance's voice had held any emotion. His husband sounded like Leandro. Leandro when they'd first crossed paths again

"That's not what I want"

"Then what do you want?"

"I don't know"

Lance sighed

"Exactly. We have all this festival stuff happening while trying to fix this mess of a marriage. I hate being in the crowds. I hated being on the panel. I..."

Lance frowned as his sentence stopped abruptly

"You, what?"

"I... no. It's better I talk to Shiro. You should enjoy the festival"

"What can you say to Shiro, that you can't say to me!?"

"I don't know what I can say to you anymore. I love you. I love you more than anything, but that doesn't fix our marriage. I know you're stuck lying to everyone because of me again... I don't want to be a burden on you... but I'm scared. Everything that makes us "us", is going to change. I'm scared. I don't want a life of just... just sex... sleep... eating... and what? I don't know how to settle down anymore. I thought... I thought us having our own home would... we would have... That we'd be together more than we were. I don't know where we're going to live... I'm such a fucking screw up... I can't even keep my husband happy... I was proud... maybe that was it. I was proud of our room and our space. I tried my hardest to make it as relaxing as I could for you. I wanted you to feel at home, but you don't"

  Lance wiped at his face, Keith biting the insides of his cheeks. It was his fault. He hadn't spoken up to his mother. He'd thought himself capable of handling everything. He'd thought himself agitated and annoyed, yet he hadn't sought his mother out sooner. He hadn't sat down with her and asked his hours to be cut or to be rotated off the training roster. Even when he thought about it, or grumbled, he hadn't sat down with Krolia and said it sooner. Maybe that had been his pride? Krolia kept giving him work because she was proud of him. It seemed to him that their combined pride had led to things winding up as they had.

  "Let me come with you. We can go ahead. We can figure out how we're going to conduct our training exercise. Krolia doesn't really tell us about the planet... so we could think up something before the others come?"

Lance sighed at him

"That's not going to work"

"Why not?! Things only became complicated because of the others. We didn't see them the day of our date... and I thought we had good time?"

"You were practically high on seeing your twins for the first time. Being responsible for these two lives hadn't sunk in... I think it was... it was the best day of my life. You're so quiznakking sweet to me. You treat me amazingly... then... you get stuck in your own head. It wasn't my... I was not trying to test, or you drive you to drink with Krystaal. I wanted to cuddle without talking seriously... I wanted you to tell me how things went with Krolia... I want you to be able to rely on me, Keith. I know my seizures have been hitting frequently, but... sometimes they don't hit for weeks..."

  Of course he was high on seeing their twins. Their tiny little noses. Their tiny hands. Their tiny bodies. Their children. Half him. Half Lance... They were barely more than a bunch of cells caused by their lack of sense with contraceptives. But... would they even survive if Lance kept having seizures?

"The pills would help with that"

"I can't, ok! I know they're not the same, but thinking about them... I can't! I'm eating these bars. I'm forcing myself to keep eating!"

Holding his hands up in surrender, Keith knew he should have expected the backlash

"Right. Fine. I'm sorry for worrying. Did you at least eat last night? How did you know I was drinking?"

"Shiro, Curtis, and I had a pizza and beer night. Shiro was trying to make me happy, so we were going out for drinks. He wanted to invite both of us to celebrate his win, but couldn't find you. He made me get dressed up. Anyway, Curtis was waiting outside the tent you were drinking in. I had a panic attack, then begged Curtis to go grab beer and pizza, we came back to their room and watched his win while you slept in their bathtub"

"I don't remember that"

  Opening his second ration bar, Lance nodded

"I'm not surprised. You were going shot for shot with Krystaal. I don't know what you were drinking, but when you saw me you started yelling about me being your husband, then got kind of mad... not mad, annoyed? when I was panicking... This is why... This is why I think we should take a few days apart. That way you can get your thinking straight"

Now they were back on that... He didn't want to leave Lance alone. He only needed... a few vargas...

"I know I quiznakked up... but... we're supposed to be talking this out!"

Lance wasn't one to talk with a mouthful, yet the way he was tearing into the ration bar, his husband had seemingly forgotten swallowing and chewing was a thing

"Keith, I can smell the confusion on you! You smelt of fucking rejection yesterday. I've already got a plan for the next planet. Krolia will ok it once we talk it out. I'll be there for like 4 quintants..."

"You'll be alone! I get that you don't want to be a... that you don't want an easy life or whatever, but what if... What if you get so scared that you stop being again? Then what? No. You're not going alone"

[theliterateape]

In a Violent World, Non-Violent Protest is the Grown-up Choice

By Don Hall

What is it you’d like to happen in this moment?

A new tool in the casino management bag I carry around with me came to me when a guest of the hotel was losing his shit.

He was furious that A) he wasn’t informed by Booking.com that there was a $100 deposit on the room (standard for our specific clientele) and B) that the hotel couldn’t refund the money the online booking website took from him. He was given the number to call to cancel the reservation (he either didn’t have the C-note or didn’t want to pay it) but was caught in the modern maze of phone chains and just wanted to speak to a human.

He stood at the front counter, gesticulating like a loon, barking at our hotel manager, yelling at his phone, and protesting that it all was because he was a black man.

I intervened. I listened to a bit of his rant. Then it occurred to me.

“I think I understand. It’s frustrating. So, what would you like to happen in this moment?”

The question caused him to pause. He hadn’t taken the time to map out his expectations of the next steps. He was angry and wanted everyone to know it. What happened next wasn’t even in the picture.

“I want him to call whoever he has to call to get my money back!”

“Okay. That’s reasonable. What if I told you he would have to call the same number you called?”

“There’s another number! There’s always another number!”

There is not another number.

I’d love to write that this diffused his rage but it didn’t. He continued his tirade until I had to have him escorted off the property explaining to him that it had nothing to do with his skin color and everything to do with his increasing belligerence.

It did, however, give me a new approach. What would you like to happen in this moment?

In Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan analyzed data from 323 violent and nonviolent pro-democracy movements. They concluded that nonviolent protests were twice as likely to succeed as violent ones—53 percent of the nonviolent demonstrations achieved their goal, as opposed to 26 percent of violent ones.

The vast majority of demonstration events associated with the BLM movement are non-violent (see map below). In more than 93% of all demonstrations connected to the movement, demonstrators have not engaged in violence or destructive activity.

Yet, despite data indicating that demonstrations associated with the BLM movement are overwhelmingly peaceful, one recent poll suggested that 42% of respondents believe “most protesters [associated with the BLM movement] are trying to incite violence or destroy property.”

Groups like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) have documented organized disinformation campaigns aimed at spreading a “deliberate mischaracterization of groups or movements [involved in the protests], such as portraying activists who support Black Lives Matter as violent extremists or claiming that antifa is a terrorist organization coordinated or manipulated by nebulous external forces.”

SOURCE 

The difficulty faced by both BLM and Antifa is the same conundrum that artists confront: anyone can claim membership without credential or declaration of intent. In the wake of a contentious election with some ground to still cover, the question presented is how to maintain a non-violent presence and weed out the extremists whose aim is to paint a violent target on the whole shebang?

What would you like to happen in this moment?

The most effective protests are theater of a sort. Targeted. Strategic. Not a question of numbers but of intent. Where you protest matters. How you protest matters. Mobs of angry people screaming at lines of cops is only truly effective if the cops turn violent and the protesters do not fight back (see every successful protest in the ‘60s in America and everything protest-oriented initiated by Gandhi).

What would you like to happen in this moment? What would you hope to achieve tomorrow?

Remember, in order for a protest movement to be effective it has to capture the hearts of the millions not invested in your cause. Aim your message to the middle (or at least to the vast population unaffected by the source of your outrage). This is a communication not a tantrum. Be aware of how the media will portray your protest. If there is humor and restraint but a serious message aside from the Howard Beal “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!” you can at least attempt to visualize tomorrow’s headlines.

What would you like to change?

Your rage is useless as an expression of change unless you are able to channel it into a message of hopeful co-existence. Anyone can break windows, scream in the streets, and tear down statues including the jackasses looking to demonize your tactics. Change in America comes slowly because there are so fucking many of us and we have such a diverse population. Include everyone in your message and more will gravitate to it.

For at least a decade into my middle-age and beyond my over-the-hill capacity, I’ve been unmoved by the protest movements of the Left. This was not a stance against protest but a disdain for emotionally unsophisticated mobs so angry and so unmotivated to communicate anything but rage that the results have been consistently ineffective.

I’ve been around for awhile. During that half century plus, there are few absolute truths I’ve discovered. Among the very few capital “T” truths uncovered in my life are these:

Sports fans and political wonks are exactly the same

Every cheese is pretty goddamned good

The Beatles are the classical music of the twentieth century

Most of the most boneheaded and stupid decisions I’ve made in my life were due to letting my emotions drive them

The next two months may be incredibly exhausting. The pandemic is flaring up like something out of a Roland Emmerick film, the economy is just going over the first hill of the rollercoaster, and the exchange of power in Washington is going to be anything but peaceful.

Be thoughtful. Be strategic. Be furious but incredibly controlled or the protests will amount to wasted energy and harmed people.

If someone organizes a protest that includes a thousand people wearing dog collars and barking a version of “This Land is Made for You and Me,” I’m in.

[rachelfox]

Don’t “Focus” on the Negative

This isn't La La Land. This is barely Hollywood. This is a less than magical world full of sexism, racism, egoism, hazardous locations and excess waste. This is a film set.

Rachel works as a 1st AC, also known as a focus puller. Nobody outside of the film industry really knows what that means. Her grandpa still thinks she “‘makes movies”, but she really only works on commercials, music videos and web content. When somebody asks what she does, she says “I’m a camera operator” but she's definitely not a camera operator. When somebody shows genuine interest, she says “you know when you turn the focus ring on a dslr camera? That's what I do, but with moving videos.” But that's still a lie.

A camera team is like the movement of a thousand little gears with a million little teeth chattering away until the off button is pushed at the end of a long twelve hour day. Some days they work flawlessly, ever turning, never speaking, but communicating perfectly. Other days they squeak and grind and at some point, one gear even turns the wrong way. But anybody could say that about their job, right? The thing about pulling focus is that the gears are a literal metaphor. There is a little motor on the lens with a gear that turns the focus ring. If that gear slips or turns at the wrong speed or is set to the wrong torque, Rachel is fucked.

Not to mention, the thousand other little gears and screws and brackets and rods and clamps and noga arms could break or slip or loosen at any moment, and often they do and often Rachel fixes them before anyone notices because her job is also to be invisible. However, that is just the hardware. Rachel barely worries about the hardware because first and foremost she is making sure that the camera is set to the right resolution and frame rate and shutter speed and f-stop and ISO and codec and time code and audio level. On top of that, she’s eavesdropping on the DP’s conversation so that she knows what lens he wants mounted before he asks. She also sets a user button for the waveform to double check the exposure and offers up an ND filter if needed. Through all this, she keeps an eye on battery and media percentage, and changes them when they get low, with the help of a 2nd AC. But if the 2nd AC ever fucks up, Rachel will take the blame, so her eye constantly darts back to those percentages, ever worrying, ever stressing.

Once the camera is mounted, Rachel remembers (well, she never forgot in the first place) that she also oversees the setup of director, client and focus monitors, wireless video to all of the above, a battery charging station, and even sometimes the downloading of media. She heads over to double check that all video signals are stable.

“Focus focus focus focus focus!!” She hears the 26-year old director shouting into his monitor and turns on her heel, sprinting back to her focus station. The goddamn DP started to frame up the moment Rachel walked away. She grabs her remote follow focus and glances at the actor. He is about 8’6” from the camera - no time to measure now. She sets her follow focus to 8’6” and speed walks to her focus monitor to double check that the actor is sharp. Fuck, he leaned three inches forward while she was walking. He is still soft and the director looks grumpy. She adjusts her follow focus and glances back and forth between the camera, actor and her monitor, ever adjusting the little knob on her follow focus to keep the actor in focus. The camera pushes forward on the dolly. Fuck! Now she has to measure the distance the camera is moving PLUS the distance the actor is moving and all without a measuring tape because the DP has pressed “roll” without warning and all of a sudden this isn't a rehearsal anymore.

The assistant director calls cut and the DP shouts, “need another one for focus!” and avoids eye contact. The 2nd AC looks over apologetically. The actor sighs and mumbles, “need a bathroom break.” As he walks by Rachel he makes eye contact and says, “hey honey.” Rachel blushes but not because she likes it. She's sick and tired of being called honey and sweetie on set, but she keeps her mouth shut because she wants to be hired again.

Rachel quickly hops up to grab measurements and marks while they pause. She weaves her way around the male DP, the male director, the male sound guys, and the male grips and electrics. They all take up so much fucking room and nobody moves out of her way. She wonders if she was only hired because the DP thinks she’s pretty.

She pulls out her four hundred dollar Hilti laser distance measure, one of the many expensive tools she is expected to own of her own accord. The male producer once again denied her a kit fee, so she’s renting it for free.

As she works, she feels a light tap on her shoulder. She glances to the opposite side, expecting a grip to be playing a trick on her. To her surprise, it's the only other woman on set.

“Hey! I'm Jenny, the script supervisor. Nice job earlier today!”

Rachel frowns and responds, “thanks, but that last shot sucked.”

“Yeah, but that asshole director didn't even give you a rehearsal. And I'm serious! I didn't have to mark down “bad focus” for anything in that dog scene earlier. That was amazing!”

“Thanks Jenny,” Rachel replies. As Jenny walks back to her giant note-taking binder, Rachel remembers that she actually likes her job. She just has to stop viewing it through the male gaze. She smiles and relaxes for a moment.

She’s also starving and has to use the bathroom, but what else is new. God knows the male 1st AD has never had to change a tampon.

[imaginetonyandbucky]

Once Upon A Time in a Shattered Mind Ch. 28

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 pt. 1 & pt. 2 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 pt. 1 & pt. 2 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19  | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 | Chapter 23 | Chapter 24 | Chapter 25 | Chapter 26 | Chapter 27                     

AO3 Link

“Horseback riding?” Pietro repeated.

Wanda nodded, linking her arm through Pietro’s and leading him toward the stables. “Just like when we were kids.”

“But now I can outrun the horses.” Pietro patted Wanda’s hand before unlinking their arms. “Shouldn’t you be preparing to cast your spell?”

“I’ve been neglecting you lately. I wanted to make it up to you.”

Pietro smiled at his sister. “Destroy the Stark Kingdom, then you’ll have made it up to me.”

Wanda returned the warm expression even though her heart ached with the knowledge of what she was about to do. “I’ll do that, but for now let’s have a pre-victory celebration.”

“Celebration? What do you have in mind?”

“The best night of your life.”

The bottom fell out from Tony’s stomach. Rhodey had just finished telling Bucky and Tony about Wanda’s message to the Maximoff and Stark kingdoms.

Bucky took Tony’s hand. “Your father-”

“Howard can take care of himself,” Tony cut Bucky off. “I’m more worried about the people. This must be the curse Dottie told us about.”

Rhodey nodded. “Not gonna lie, a land without magic sounds good right about now, but not if it means Wanda…” Rhodey trailed off then cussed. “What does that even mean? Taking away everyone’s happy ending? Is she going to force everyone in the Stark Kingdom into servitude? Will they all be tortured? It’s so damn vague.”

Bucky snorted. “Not that vague. It means no one will be happy.”

“But by what means?”

“Dottie said we wouldn't remember each other,” Tony spoke, the words slipping out as his mind churned with doubts and worry. He couldn’t fathom what was about to happen, but he knew if this was all a part of Wanda’s revenge then he couldn’t let it pass. However, what could he possibly do? He wasn’t even sure if Wanda was at her castle or performing the curse in an unknown location.

Tony shook his head. “I don’t give a damn how she goes about making everyone unhappy. What I care about is stopping her, and right now the only person who I can think to do that is Steve.”

Bucky released Tony’s hand like he’d been burned. He stumbled two steps back and looked at Tony as if Tony had struck him. “No.”

“We have no idea where Wanda is let alone how to stop her from casting her curse. I know you and Steve had a falling out, Bucky, but this matter is more important than whatever happened between you two.”

“Tony,” Rhodey interrupted. “Don’t you think if Steve could stop her, he would have already? He was hell bent on stopping her before. Just because he and Bucky fought doesn’t mean he suddenly stopped looking for Wanda.”

Desperation clawed at Tony. “And maybe he did.” Tony ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath to calm himself. “I don’t know. All I know is that I can’t sit on my ass and just hope that this curse is going to stop itself.” Tony spat out an expletive. “We should have been doing more after Dottie told us about the curse. We shouldn’t have been fooling around.”

Rhodey clasped Tony’s shoulder and squeezed. “You’re going to drive yourself crazy thinking like that.”

“I’m going to go crazy if I don’t come up with a plan in the next few minutes,” Tony snapped.

“He hates you,” Bucky mumbled.

“What?” Tony asked.

Bucky clenched his fists. He looked down at the ground, unable to met Tony’s gaze. “Steve hates you. You stole me from him.”

Tony blinked. His desperation and panic were shoved to the back of his mind as incredulity consumed him. “I didn’t steal you. Not from him anyway. From the Queen of Hearts, yes, but not him.”

“That’s not the way he sees it.”

“That’s--That’s the stupidest thing I have ever heard! I’ll summon him right now just to give him a piece of my mind. That asshole! He made you cry over that? Fuck him! I don’t care if Rhodey’s right and he can’t help us fight this curse, I’m summoning his ass and giving him a god damn fucking earful for this shit, because I swear on all the goddamn seas that if this curse is going to happen, then I’m damn well going to make sure the last thing I do is get Steve to remove his fucking head out of his fucking ass!”

Bucky flinched and went wide-eyed.

Fury ruled Tony at the moment, and while a part of him realized it might be a good idea to reassure Bucky that he wasn’t going to do anything too drastic, he was just so goddamn pissed.

Plus, anger was far more distracting than comforting someone was. With anger he could temporarily pretend that the world he knew and loved wasn’t about to be whisked away or destroyed by Wanda.

Tony marched over to the carriage and climbed half inside it. He rummaged through their things. He muttered the whole time about how he was going to help Steve dislodge his head from his posterior as he flung items about.

Two arms locked around his and dragged him out of the carriage.

Tony craned his head around to glare at Rhodey.

Rhodey glared back. “I know things are stressful, so I’m going to say this once: don’t be an asshole.” Rhodey cocked his chin at Bucky, who was rooted to the spot and staring at Tony like a lost kitten.

Rhodey released Tony.

Tony grumbled. He gave Rhodey a dirty look then returned his attention to Bucky who was still gobsmacked.

Tony sighed. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay. Fine. Bucky, my love--my beautiful, handsome man, may I please have your blessing to summon your asshole friend and rip him a new hole? May I then proceed to request his help in dealing with the curse that is about to ruin the lives of thousands, and therefore, I really should not have to ask this question, because saving people takes precedent over personal qualms, but I’m a charming rogue and I have to ask for your permission if I am to keep that title.”

Tony turned to Rhodey. “Satisfied?”

Rhodey ran his palm down his face and groaned.

Bucky finally snapped out of his stupor. He gave his head a shake to get rid of the last of the shock that was holding him. He took a moment to mull over Tony’s request--or so Tony assumed that was what the considering look in Bucky’s gaze was about.

Slowly, Bucky nodded. He approached Tony and interlaced their fingers together. He licked his lips and took a deep breath. “All right. Summon him. Just… be careful. You don’t have to fight for my honor. Focus on saving others.”

Tony squeezed Bucky’s hand. “I’ll fight for your honor if I damn well please.”

Bucky smiled. “But you only have less than forty-eight hours to save thousands of lives. Don’t waste a minute.”

Tony was tempted to kiss Bucky just then, but he squashed down the urge. He clambered back into the carriage, this time without any interference from Rhodey.

He grabbed the tools he needed in order to summon the Dark One to him and made fast work of calling Steve, only stopping occasionally to exchange a few comforting touches with Bucky. He’d do the responsible thing and discuss with Steve Wanda’s machinations for her kingdom and Howard’s, but once the matter of making sure Wanda didn’t destroy the two kingdoms was complete, Tony would have a talking to with Steve. It had been clear before just how much his rejection had affected Bucky, but to see the way Bucky carried himself long after Steve’s actions set off a fire in Tony.

“So this is where you three ran off to,” Steve’s voice came from coachmen’s bench.

Rhodey, Bucky, and Tony startled and whirled toward Steve.

The corner of Steve’s mouth was curled up in amusement as he looked down at them. “I was wondering what happened.” Steve frowned. “Bucky, you wouldn’t happen to have wandered off course because of our fight, right? You know I’m just trying to protect you.”

“You sure got a funny way of showing it.” Tony allowed himself the one verbal barb. “The relationship between you two aside, we’ve got trouble brewing. Have you been tracking Wanda at all?”

Steve hummed in thought. “A little here and a little there. I’ve been busy preparing things for Bucky.”

“Why would-” Bucky cut himself off. He bit his bottom lip then shook his head. “Never mind.  Steve, we need to focus on Wanda. She’s more bonkers than me.” Bucky summarized Wanda’s proclamation as well as the trio’s meeting with Dottie.

“So we have to find her,” Bucky concluded.

Steve quirked a brow. “And kill her?”

Bucky opened his mouth then snapped it shut.

Tony took a protective step in front of Bucky. “We don’t have to kill her. We just have to stop her. If her curse requires ingredients for example, then we can-”

“It’d be easier and more efficient to kill her,” Steve interrupted.

Rhodey made a face. “It would be, but-”

“And she’d no longer be after any of you.” Steve threw back his head and sighed. “Honestly, Bucky, this is just one of the many reasons why Tony is no good for you. Not only does he distract you from what you want in life, but he makes up the worst excuses for it. You have a woman who is about take everyone away from the home they know and love just to send them to a place where she will be in power and get everything she has ever wanted at the expense of anyone who she perceives as being against her.”

“Killing her won’t make me happy,” Bucky stated. “And that’s not the point right now. We have to stop her. Are you going to help us or not?”

“I can’t,” Steve said.

The blaze of righteous fury that had been in Tony’s chest grew. “And why not?”

“I made a deal.”

Tony was flabbergasted. What kind of deal could possible stop Steve from-

Realization rained down on Tony like an avalanche.

“You-” Tony’s hands balled into fists at his side. “You didn’t. With her?”

Bucky stiffened behind Tony.

Rhodey cursed.

“You hypocrite!” Tony took one step toward Steve.

Steve waved his hand and the next thing Tony knew he was surrounded by a dark cloud of smoke as Rhodey and Bucky screamed his name.

One moment Tony had been there in front of Bucky, the next there was a cloud of smoke, and when the smoke disappeared Tony was gone.   

Bucky dropped to his knees and clawed at the ground where his priate had stood seconds ago. He growled as he tore up the earth in search of Tony.

“What the hell did you do?” Rhodey shouted at Steve. “Bring him back right now!”

“No. Tony Stark is going to get a front row seat as everyone he knows and loves is taken from him.”

Bucky’s fingers collided with stone. Without thinking, Bucky snatched up the rock and hurled it at Steve’s head. “You took him from me! You say you want me to be happy and you took him from me!” Bucky glowered as he silently wished he had another rock to throw at Steve. “You want me, but you’ll never have me if I do not have him.”

Steve’s expression darkened. “That’s where you are wrong. Wanda’s curse will set things right. In the meantime, though, I rather you not hurt yourself.”

Just as quickly as Steve had done with Tony, Steve made a hand motion.

One moment Bucky’s world was smoke, and the next he was back in his bedroom at Steve’s castle.

Bucky rushed to the door only to be thrown back by a barrier.

He screamed and ran at the door and was thrown back with each attempt.

He lost count of how many times he rampaged like a bull and hurled himself at the door. He knew he heard Peggy’s voice at one point. He even heard her trying to open the door for him, but she never could.

She uttered promises to contact Steve and get his help, to which Bucky knew he spewed the foulest insults he could think of that would slander Steve.

His voice grew hoarse and his body was covered in bruises. His furniture was upturned and broken from trying to use it to break down the door when his body didn’t work.

Hours later, Bucky lay on the floor, only able to limply pound his fist on the door.

The smoke unwrapped itself from around Tony.

Fear shot through his heart like lightning as he took in the familiar chamber belonging to Wanda.

The queen herself kneeled on the floor, hunched over the still form of her brother. In her hand a crystallized heart pulsated a dim red light.

Tony moved to hide, but his actions caused chains that had not been on his person before to rattle. Tony winced, realizing only too late that Steve had made sure when he delivered Tony to Wanda he was in chains.

Wanda looked up from her brother. Teartracks shimmered down her cheeks and her eyes were red and puffy from crying.

Pity ached in Tony’s chest for her.

The feeling was soon obliterated when Wanda smirked at him. “Good, you’re here. I need someone to take my rage out on.”

[jasonjnielsen]

2017 End of Year Movie Review

A note regarding this review of 2017 movies: I have not seen the following: All the Money in the World Columbus The Disaster Artist The Florida Project A Ghost Story The Greatest Showman Ingrid Goes West The Killing of a Sacred Deer The Square Suburbicon

2017 had something for everyone. Every genre seemed to succeed in one way or another.

Personally, I enjoyed the horror and sci-fi genres stepping up. Get Out is the first traditional horror movie nominated for best picture since The Silence of the Lambs. Get Out isn’t the only best picture nominee from one of these traditionally overlooked genres. Guillermo del Toro gave the world another brilliant, beautiful sci-fi/fantasy tale in The Shape of Water, this time earning best picture and best director nominations. Outside the Oscar nominations, the remake of Stephen King’s It is nostalgic, fun, charming, and most importantly, terrifying. It is the perfect storm to keep horror popular going into 2018. Even established auteur, Darren Aronofsky decided to dabble in the horror genre by giving us his unique Biblical fever dream mother! starring award-winners Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem. Even though it is either loved or hated depending on the critic, the genre succeeds when prominent stars take it seriously. Other horror films worth noting are the scary look at humanity, It Comes at Night; Netflix’s The Babysitter; the only movie to get Michael Fassbender erotically playing a flute, Alien: Covenant; and Gore Verbinski’s thriller damning American work ethic, A Cure for Wellness. Even Annabelle: Creation and Happy Death Day were fun. Plus, we were gifted the brilliant Sharknado 5: Global Swarming.

Super hero movies also stepped up their game. Thor: Ragnorok finally gave the Thor and Loki characters a story worth telling. Wonder Woman is bad-ass, with a great story and brought DC back from the dead. Logan gave the genre a dark, gritty side, told like a classic revenge flick. Even Justice League understood what it needed to do to succeed and did it well. 

2017 was truly great for all genres. If you like coming-of-age tales, look no further than Lady Bird, Call Me By Your Name, and The Big Sick. All have the heart-warming and heart-breaking moments that make those movies great. 2017 also had great dramatic thrillers, like Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri; Wind River; Good Time; and The Lost City of Z. If you want to “turn your brain off”, look no further than The Rock in The Fate of the Furious, Baywatch, and Jumanji. If you want socially relevant films, All Eyez on Me and Detroit shine a light on the struggle black Americans have had throughout the years. Coco, Leap!, and Ferdinand led the way in good animated movies. Plus, we were given a Star Wars movie.

Not everything was great, though, as the worst movie of the year might be the worst movie of all time.

WORST OF 2017 1. The Emoji Movie 2. 50 Shades Darker 3. The Bye Bye Man 4. Cars 3 5. The Belko Experminent

There’s really nothing to say. All these movies were expected to be terrible.

DISHONORARY MENTION: The Circle, Rough Night

**MY AWARDS**

Well... It’s a Movie... (The Movies I Expected to Be Terrible but Surprisingly Were Not) Annabelle: Creation The Babysitter Home Again Kidnap Power Rangers

At Least It’s Better Than a Poke in the Eye With a Dull Stick... Maybe (The Movies with High Expectations that Fall Well Short) Baywatch The Circle The Foreigner Logan Lucky The Mountain Between Us Phantom Thread The Post Roman J. Israel, Esq. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Best Original Score Hans Zimmer (Dunkirk) Alexandre Desplat (The Shape of Water) Rupert Gregson-Williams (Wonder Woman) Oneohtrix Point Never (Good Time) Carter Burwell (Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri)

Best Original Song "Redbone" (Get Out) "Remember Me" (Coco) "Mystery of Love" (Call Me By Your Name) "The Pure and the Damned" (Good Time) "Be Somebody" (Leap!)

Best Cinematography Ben Richardson (Wind River) Dan Laustsen (The Shape of Water) Chung-hoon Chung (It) Jonathan Sela (Atomic Blonde) Matthew Jensen (Wonder Woman)

Best Directing Jordan Peele (Get Out) Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri) Andy Muschietti (It) Taylor Sheridan (Wind River)

Best Supporting Actress Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird) Holly Hunter (The Big Sick) Allison Janney (I, Tonya) Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water) Sophia Lillis (It)

Best Supporting Actor Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri) Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water) Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water) Graham Greene (Wind River) Michael Stuhlbarg (Call Me By Your Name)

Best Lead Actress Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water) Frances McDormand (Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri) Elizabeth Olsen (Wind River) Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird) Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman)

Best Lead Actor Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour) Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name) Robert Pattinson (Good Time) Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out) Jeremy Renner (Wind River)

Best Ensemble Cast The Shape of Water It Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri Call Me By Your Name Thor: Ragnarok

Top 10 of 2017 0. Sharkando 5: Global Swarming * 1. Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri 2. It 3. Lady Bird 4. The Shape of Water 5. Call Me By Your Name 6. Wind River 7. John Wick: Chapter 2 8. Get Out 9. Thor: Ragnarok 10. Good Time

Additional Great Movies of 2017 11. Wonder Woman 12. The Lost City of Z 13. The Big Sick 14. Atomic Blonde 15. Logan 16. Darkest Hour 17. All Eyez on Me 18. It Comes at Night 19. Dunkirk 20. Coco 21. Star Wars: The Last Jedi 22. Leap! 23. mother! 24. Detroit 25. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 26. The Fate of the Furious 27. Baby Driver 28. Spider-Man: Homecoming 29. The Babysitter

OVERALL RATINGS 10/10 Call Me By Your Name Get Out It John Wick: Chapter 2 Lady Bird The Shape of Water Sharknado 5: Global Swarming Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri Wind River

9/10 Atomic Blonde The Big Sick Good Time The Lost City of Z Thor: Ragnarok Wonder Woman

8/10 All Eyez on Me Baby Driver The Babysitter Coco Darkest Hour Detroit Dunkirk The Fate of the Furious Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 It Comes at Night Leap! Logan mother! Spider-Man: Homecoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi

7/10 Alien: Covenant American Made Baywatch Beauty and the Beast The Beguiled A Cure for Wellness Despicable Me 3 Fist Fight Gifted Girls Trip I, Tonya Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond - Featuring a Very Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton Justice League The LEGO Batman Movie Molly's Game Only the Brave The Post Professor Marston and the Wonder Women Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Wonder

6/10 All Nighter Annabelle: Creation Ferdinand Happy Death Day The Hitman's Bodyguard Home Again Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Kidnap The LEGO Ninjago Movie Life Logan Lucky Megan Leavey The Mountain Between Us Phantom Thread Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Power Rangers Roman J. Israel, Esq. Split The Star

5/10 A Bad Moms Christmas The Foreigner Little Evil The Mummy The Shack Wish Upon

4/10 The Circle Rough Night

3/10 The Belko Experiment The Bye Bye Man Cars 3

2/10 50 Shades Darker

1/10 The Emoji Movie

That’s it for this year!

Follow me at http://twitter.com/jasonjnielsen For my live movie reviews #jjnreviews, follow me at http://twitter.com/jjnreviews

*Like Sharknado, Sharknado 2: The Second One, and Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens, this is the best goddamn movie of all time.  (Sharkando 3: Oh Hell No! is NOT included in this list.)

[the-ghost-of-jason-todd]

things i think about season 4 (or 34 points i feel compelled to make, shoved under a readmore):

1) every named blade except keith and kolivan has died so CONGRATS IF YOUR NAME STARTS WITH K UR SAFE

2) literally shiro has a bayard for the first time in FOUR SEASONS and we couldn’t have even three seconds of coran asking him to show off during their showbiz episode?  literally what the fuck is wrong with y’all

3) they literally fucking wrote keith out of voltron and it makes sense how it happened and it sets him up for a DOOZY of a char arc 

involving him learning his own form of leadership (he was directing those rebel fighters and talking back to kolivan you CAN’T tell me he’s not a good leader after that) (he just wasn’t good at leading voltron) (PROBABLY BECAUSE HE KNOWS HOW MUCH SHIRO NEEDS BLACK) (and also because of how out of place he’s always felt with them RIP)         

........my fucking heart hurts

4) people are saying they don’t like the showbiz ep but like... if you look at the way worm!coran distilled their characters, you can tell how self-aware the writers are.  like, they’ve written hunk as a joke and in the episode coran wrote him as a joke.  they favored keith’s development over allura’s last few seasons (...she has magical powers and can shapeshift and they mentioned it once and then not again until like... now) and coran LITERALLY made allura be keith, like that is pretty obviously some shade at something.  maybe the fandom’s complaints?  idk, but it seems like they Know what they’re doing.

5) THE REUNION EP goddamn that was so good, that setup with the code books and the flashbacks and then the CEMETERY!!!  THAT MONUMENT!  god the monument was beautiful... 

6) matt is such a fucking meme oh my god.  okay who wants to bet that lance is going to get super jealous and insecure over the smart boy who acts like him but that people appreciate more?  (this could go on a bingo card: LANGST OVER MATT) the heart eyes over allura thing pisses me off but.... i’m so ticked off about how they handle her like OOOH every boy is obviously fawning over her because EYE CANDY fuckin 

7) the alteans trying to get milkshakes by talking to the cow was fuckign wonderful and THAT WAS WHAT I MEANT BY SEASON 3 LACKING ANY FUNNY BITS.  like s3 had a few one off jokes but the whole rest of the time was die-hard angst and it... was not good

8) “keith’s tearing apart the team” LIARS.  the team is tearing apart keith and i will not STAND FOR THIS SLANDER.  also???  ‘we’ll always have your back’ or whatever bull shiro pulled out of his ass i’m.  you literally did not?  if one single one of y’all had stopped to talk to the boy you would have realized how awful he was feeling about everything.  but no, shiro’s brilliant words of advice were ‘suck it up and be the leader even tho i can clearly see that no one likes you as the black paladin, least of all yourself’.  god they were just... so cold to keith.  blah blah i’m a keith stan but like... dudes.  did you see how much he was hurting?  and NO ONE wanted to talk to him.  he’s still the loner to the team he would DIE FOR, WITHOUT HESITATION.  this kid STOOD IN FRONT OF ZARKON, all alone, on the miniscule off chance that he could save the universe and be done with it.  i’m

9) still need that hunk/lance development (allura’s is starting to pick up, thank god, but.........)

10) what the fUCK is up with shiro?  he has never been this angry before.  i can see how hard a blow it was to lose the support of the black lion, but it’s literally never been his MO to angrily order people around.

11) god no one is... talking to each other?  no one but the holt sibs.  fucking rip communication.

12) WHERE.  THE FUCK.  IS SLAV.  bye bye to literally the smartest person in the universe i guess???

13) ...keith was the first actual paladin to make a paladin vlog, so where does that fit in with the timeline?  also RIP MY HEART

14) FUCK YES THEY’RE ON OLKARION!!! FUCK FUCKING YES!!!

15) dudes... voltron still has a sword.  WITHOUT keith.  in both of the last formations, keith’s bayard, either the black or the red, made the sword.  what is up with that??

16) NARTI.  

17) i REALLY 100% expected axca to be diehard lotor fangirl but her loyalty is greater than that.  i’m love her???  she’s literally lawful good and I WON’T HEAR ANY WORDS AGAINST HER.  I WANT HER BACKSTORY.

18) they left the goddamn cat behind.  also, for real, i thought he was gonna murder the cat.

19) something’s up with jack haggar.  can she consciously turn her face blue?  or is it somehow linked to her memory?

20) zarkon is a zombie now wrapped in a tin can and im DYING

21) RIP galra command tbh.  lotor is rogue, zarkon is relying on quintessence to stay alive, haggar currently gives NO fucks (we’ll handle it ourselves now lets BLOW UP THIS ENTIRE THIRD OF THE EMPIRE i’m???)

22) what the goddamn fuck is lotor’s backstory???  does he know who haggar even is?  is he also 10 thousand years old???? hOW???  I NEED TO KNOW DAMMNIT

23) pidge’s room is so GOOD.  plus the gaming system???  heck yeah.

24) pidge and hunk showering each other in compliments gives me life honestly

25) I LITERALLY JUST WANT KEITH TO BE OKAY if someone gets mad at him again and ignores the literal, like, four times he was about to GIVE HIS LIFE for the cause i’ll just.... explode

26) lance and his aerial dancing I’m?????

27) paul blart mall cop has voltron figurines that is all

28) how did that unilu trader become a war vet??

29) how is sam holt going to fit into this???

30) my dudes the galra ships can go underwater that is TERRIFYING

31) THE MERMAID PLANET IS IN THE COALITION

32) how did matt get the scar on his face HOW DID IT GET THERE

33) ....and there were some good hugs in there.  keith/shiro hug, pidge/matt hug, matt/shiro hug, group hug with KEEF :”D

34) IF ONLY THEY EVER TALKED TO EACH OTHER LMFAO.  aside from lance’s sudden speeches mid-life-or-death-situation i guess???  like wtf dude.

[mavwrekmarketing]

John Dingell has been owning Twitter for years.

Image: ambar del moral/mashable

91-year-old former congressman John Dingell has been quick, witty, and on fire with his 140 characters for years.

Despite his age, he knows how to use the tweet machine the way it was intended: biting commentary, playful retweets, and insightful and smart reactions. Time and again he’s shown he’s mastered Twitter.

After tweeter-in-chief Donald Trump was elected, Dingell’s Twitter game has become even more relevant and fiery.

SEE ALSO: Artist paints offensive tweets he received outside Twitter’s HQ to highlight how Twitter handles abuse

After the violence in Charlottesville and Trump’s bumbling mess of a response to the anti-Semitism and white supremacy on display, Dingell took to Twitter in the days following. One particular tweet resonated, with thousands praising the longtime Michigan lawmaker for posting what the president struggled to say. 

Just look at those likes.

I signed up to fight Nazis 73 years ago and I’ll do it again if I have to.

Hatred, bigotry, & fascism should have no place in this country.

— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) August 12, 2017

Once known as an imposing Democrat with strong opinions and determined to pass universal health care, he’s refocused his energy toward the Twittersphere, where he still speaks his mind loud and clear even if it’s not on Capitol Hill.

Sure, Dingell also spends a lot of his time tweeting about Michigan sports. But after retiring after nearly 60 years in office at the age of 87 (he was the longest-serving member of Congress in history), he’s kept a running commentary on the ridiculousness of the government and society in general.

In the Trump era, where the president uses a micro-blogging platform to announce policy, devise political strategy, and sling insults, Dingell’s reactions and responses are a go-to source of humor, insight, and reflection.

Dingell’s Trump tweets also have bite. Since inauguration day (and throughout the election, too, if you want to look back and laugh-cry) we’ve been treated to these gems that often encapsulate what a lot of us are thinking.

On resignation

43 years ago today. Concise and to the point.

You could even fit it in a tweet, @realDonaldTrump. http://pic.twitter.com/1rtKdCUwM4

— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) August 9, 2017

On Trump’s staffing problems

Truman installed a bowling alley.

Carter tried solar panels.

Trump is fully invested in a revolving door.

— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) July 31, 2017

On the health care fight

I’ve been trying to repeal and replace the United States Senate since 1955. No luck.

— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) July 28, 2017

On Russia and lying

Flynn lied about Russia. Kushner lied about Russia. Sessions lied about Russia. Trump Jr. lied about Russia.

Trump is lying about Russia.

— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) July 14, 2017

On Trump’s Middle East trip

I’m hearing no major concerns about Trump leaving for his first foreign trip next week, but I am hearing some objections to his return.

— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) May 13, 2017

On cake 

When Trump gave an interview about a missile strike on Syria he talked mostly about “the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you’ve ever seen.” It was — weird. Dingell noticed.

The only thing I agree with Trump on so far is the fact that we both think chocolate cake is beautiful.

— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) April 12, 2017

On the wall

Trump can’t even get Mexico to sit down for a meeting, let alone pay for an idiotic $15,000,000,000 wall. The art of the deal, I guess.

— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) January 26, 2017

Dingell joined Twitter in 2010. In the seven-plus years since, he’s tweeted almost 5,000 times. Trump, 71, joined about a year earlier, but has racked up nearly 40,000 tweets — eight times the number of tweets, which seems like a good way to measure Trump’s Twitter obsession.

Dingell’s targets go beyond Trump. 

Years before the former reality TV show host joined the political circus, Dingell was posting sharp commentary on, well, everything. The Atlantic called his Twitter feed “the best” back in 2014. Some of Dingell’s earlier Twitter home runs include a post about Sharknado, excellent usage of the hashtag and term “YOLO,” and taking an internet meme to disparage himself. 

In recent days he’s brought down Sen. Ted Cruz with his wit. He’s plugged in to internet culture, whether it’s April the pregnant giraffe or the Kardashians.

Ted Cruz did what now?

— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) September 12, 2017

We should have all just stared at the eclipse.

— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) August 23, 2017

I feel like that internet giraffe has been pregnant for years now.

— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) March 9, 2017

Staff has now informed me of what a Kardashian is.

I’m only left with more questions.

— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) July 22, 2014

With Dingell’s decades of insider knowledge, his posts go beyond your average snarky Trump commentary that poke at the thin-skinned president. Luckily, Dingell hasn’t gotten blocked, and maybe he won’t if he keeps up with his smartly crafted ripostes.

His tweets spark discussion, replies, and thousands of retweets and likes.

God bless you Mr. Dingell. A true American hero who speaks the truth.

— Irma Grieve (@img4pets) August 14, 2017

Dingell isn’t just an ace tweeter; he’s also a goddamn hero. https://t.co/pIKijobYpN

— Muad’Lib ☄️ (@noonanville) March 22, 2017

.John Dingell is my twitter hero https://t.co/9iyI1m3hHF

— RonSnow (@rhyzome) April 11, 2017

John Dingell is 91 and still he’s roasting scrubs on twitter #hero https://t.co/gsXwkHkk0i

— the goddamn bloom 🌹 (@MichaelBloomer8) July 15, 2017

Fmr. Rep. John Dingell is the hero we all need. https://t.co/nZJ4ILI6Bw

— Gena Wolfson (@gwolfson) September 12, 2017

If this retired 90-something Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient can keep up with Trump and everything else on Twitter, there’s no excuse for the rest of us. Except for the fact that John Dingell has already won Twitter. Maybe the rest of us should just go home.

WATCH: This couple had a tech-themed wedding that was super Instagram-worthy

Read more: http://ift.tt/2x4MS5c

The post 91-year-old former congressman sets the Twitter bar in the Trump era appeared first on MavWrek Marketing by Jason

http://ift.tt/2gH6cMA

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

CSUAPR prt 17 full draft

"Get up!" Waking with something rudely smacking into his face, Keith groaned miserably as he peeled his sleepy dust riddled eyes open and glared at the offending object that had hit him in the face. Pants... Why in quiznak's name was he being hit in the face by a pair of pants, when his head was throbbing like a base drum and some kind of alien fur creature had set up residence in his mouth? Blinking himself to full consciousness as he yawned, Keith had no idea why he was in the bathtub, or how he'd ended up being filled with the desire to burrow back down into the bath and try for another several vargas worth of sleep. Not when the tub was so damn uncomfortable "What happened?" Trying to gather spit in his mouth, all he seemed to do was make the taste lingering there worse. His stomach was making rumbling noises, yet the mere thought of food was enough to drain the colour from your face "I'm not surprised you don't remember. You got yourself wasted doing shots with Krystaal, before sending Lance into a panic attack. He's fine, thanks for asking. Already up and at the festival with Coran. We have a Paladin panel in 15 doboshes, so time to shower and get your shit together" Groaning, Keith closed his eyes and let his head drop back against the rim of the bathtub "I'm allowed to have a drink or two" "Tell that to your pregnant husband" Now, he may just be remembering things wrong, but Lance was the one who told him to go "I'm not having this fight with you. I feel like shit" "Good. I wanted to take him out and cheer him up. Instead he ended up going to bed alone" The coldness coming from Shiro wasn't entirely unexpected. Maybe he had over indulged. It certainly felt like he had "Don't throw that back at me. You're not his husband" "No. I'm not. He was in a vulnerable..." "He's always in a vulnerable state. He had a damn nightmare and ended up in the air vents yesterday..." Hurled up out of the bathtub suddenly, Shiro dropped him. Keith barely keeping from falling over backwards "What the fuck!?" "Lance is your husband. The man you spent years in love with. The man who is absolutely crazy about you" "I know that!" "Then why aren't you getting your shit together!? You're going to be a father!" "I know!..." Screaming at Shiro, Keith's world swam. Sinking on to the edge of the bath, he buried his face in his hands "... I know. But I don't know how to be a father. I don't know how to be a father, Shiro. I don't know how to care for a baby. I don't know how to change a nappy. I don't know what to do for a fever. I don't know... I don't know what to do!" Shiro's sighed heavily as he sat down next to him "Is that what this about? You're scared about being a dad?" "Wouldn't you be? I'm a mess. I'm turning 26 and my life is a mess. My husband won't take his medication. He keeps having panic attacks. He keeps testing me without me knowing it's a goddamn test until I fail... and... Shit, Shiro. I don't know what I'm doing. We can't even make a marriage work. How do we make a marriage and kids work? What does that even look like? He lives for his job. It's more important to him than the health and safety of our babies. Maybe he was right about having an abortion? He's not well. He's not mentally well. He's not physically well. He's hallucinating or his nightmares are out of control. He's got it in his head that the same people who raped him are back. What the quiznak am I supposed to do with that? And mum... God... She made it seem like having kids was awful. Really awful. Vomiting. Fevers. Teething. Sleepless nights. Shit storms... I can't take twins on missions. I don't know how to sit still. I don't think we're ready for this. I don't think I'm ready for this... it's such a big thing. These two tiny lives are going to be dependent on us. An ex-junky as he calls himself, and a Blade member. When things get hard... Lance doesn't have that drug crutch anymore... I don't know what to do if he won't listen to the doctors. If he's not going to try. Why am I going to try?" A very long and pregnant silence hung in the air when he was finished. With each passing tick it was like Shiro was readying himself to explode, then his voice came out dead level, not relieving Keith of his anxieties "Have you tried talking to Lance?" "He doesn't want to listen. He thinks he got this letter yesterday. He thinks we're all in danger and he got mad at me for saying it was probably a nightmare. It was right after Curtis left. He was freaking out because Curtis being cautious on the other side of the door scared him. You know how he gets. You know he gets paranoid. There was no evidence of anything like that..." "It's not paranoia if someone is actually out to get you... You raised the same issue with something happening at the awards ceremony. Now that it has happened, you're rejecting it because you can't control it" "I can't control anything... I don't know what I'm doing and talking to mum only made it worse. I love him, but she... She made me see how... How far I have to go" "Rather than getting drunk with Krystaal, yes, you got drunk with Krystaal as in shot for shot, you should talk to your husband. Lance is feeling all these same anxieties. He loves you, but you're running from him. Talk to him. He might not have been up for talking yesterday, but try. Try until he doesn't have any other option but to answer. I was scared when I took you on, but we turned out alright, didn't we?" He'd gone drinking with Krystaal? Keith could very very vaguely kind of remember running into him... He'd been feeling bad about leaving Lance, but he was sure that Lance had imagined the whole thing. His husband was mad at him, and he was mad at him for being mad at him. He'd been so happy to see the twins, and now he was terrified. Absolutely and completely terrified... He didn't Lance being danger from someone new and unknown. He also didn't want their lives together to suddenly be upheaved. The twins would change everything. The twins would change everything and he didn't know how to have a family. Shiro was right, they'd done alright, but Shiro hadn't needed to wipe his arse or had to go through hours of potentially life threatening labour... "I don't want to hurt him" "You already are, by running" "Running is all I know how to do... Running after him. Running into battle. Running after you" "It take two to make a baby, or twins in this case. There are thousands and thousands of people out there who can never have what you two are going through. Don't take any of it for granted. If you're scared, or if you don't want this, you need to talk to him. You need to let him know where you stand. And you need a shower. You reek like you bathed in that stuff you were shooting. We've probably got about 5 doboshes to be there. Best get a move on" * Running to make the panel on time, Keith and Shiro we're both confused by the sight before them. There were five chairs, for five Paladins, except... in the place of Allura a photo of her sat, occupying one of those spaces. Behind the chairs was a series of banners featuring the faces of the Paladins framed by a thick band of colour responding to the lion they flew. Black for Shiro. Black and Red for Keith. Yellow for Hunk, then Green for Pidge. Allura was in the place of the Blue Paladin... and no signage for Lance. None... It wasn't Voltron without Lance. Lance was the heart and soul of Voltron. They'd never come together if not for him. Joining Hunk, Pidge and Lance, Coran was a few feet away yelling at some event coordinator who'd failed their job over the lack of Lance's presence. At least that was what Keith thought at the time. Opening his mouth to greet his husband, Lance seemed to have prempted the move as he'd disappeared over to Coran's side silently. Elbowing him, Pidge had mischief in her eyes "I hear someone got drunk yesterday" "Shut it, Pidge" "Oooh. Touchy. Yelling about how you and Lance were married... Galactic social media is buzzing with it" Keith frowned at Pidge. If he was yelling how much he loved Lance, or was married to him, then why was he so mad at him "I did what?" "Yep. Right in the middle of your drinking match. You lost me GAC. I expect you to pay up" "You were betting on me?" "I would have put all my GAC on Lance, but he wasn't there to bet on" "Whoa! Hold up. You would have bet on Lance? I'm so confused right now" Pidge rolled her eyes at him with enough sass that the eyeroll didn't seem limited to her eyes alone "Lance works in bar! How many times do you think his customers challenged him to drinks!? How many times has he partied himself to sleep? You can't work in a bar and be a light weight!" "I tried to tell her that Lance doesn't drink that much anymore, but Lance sided with her. Are you ok, man?" Joining in on their conversations, Hunk ignored Pidge nodding enthusiastically, most probably because Lance had agreed, or so he gathered by her gesturing to Lance "I'm fine. I have no idea what we were drinking, but it wasn't that all pleasant to wake up to. Why is there no place for Lance?" Hunk sighed "Lance said that Allura should be on the panel, as it was her sacrifice that saved us all. He said he didn't need a place, but Coran wouldn't let him back down from this. Now they're trying to make a spot for him, despite the fact he doesn't want to be here" Playing it cool, Keith raised his eyebrow, hoping to make the action seem natural "Did he say that?" "Not in so many words... I thought he liked his time being a Paladin..." "That's stupid. He's obviously having too much fun being a bounty hunter. Plus, he's probably struggling with this whole situation. I mean, this is a festival to celebrate his dead girlfriend" Hunk gaped at Pidge, his face loosing some of its colours as his cheeks turned a faint pink "Pidge! You can't say that in front of Keith, he's his husband" Shrugging, Pidge wasn't fazed "Minor detail" "No. No. No. Major detail!" "Keith isn't complaining" "Because Keith loves him. Right, buddy?" "Yeah..." Keith didn't want to be roped into this argument. Pidge started laughing, the noise grating on his throbbing head, her arms wrapped around her waist as she struggled out "You could sound more enthused! What? Trouble in paradise? Are you in the doghouse for getting drunk without him?!" "Ok, guys. That's enough..." By standing behind him, and placing his hands on Keith's shoulders, Shiro drew their attention "We're here to be Paladins, which means putting our game faces on. Do we have any details of what were actually doing? Coran forgot to fill us all in..." Pidge pulled herself together, sounding almost disinterested as she related "He forgot to tell all of this. They ran a "question" box for us the past couple of days. We're going to be given a tablet with questions for each of us on it. We don't have to answer all the questions, buuuuut it's going to be broadcast live across the universe. I've got Matt filming it. I can't wait to see how Keith acts with all this attention" Crossing his arms, Keith scowled at Pidge "I know how to do my job" "Just because you know how to, doesn't mean you won't be awkward as hell..." "Pidge, why do I feel like you've bet GAC on my performance" "Because I have. Ooooh, look. It's Lance and Coran. What a convenient excuse not to continue this conversation" "Pidge!" Pidge was the picture of innocence as Coran and Lance joined them. Lance standing half behind Hunk, refusing to meet Keith's eyes, as Coran filled them in on what was happening. Space had been made for Lance, by squashing them all slightly. The table was made for 5, not for 6. Lance wouldn't hear of Shiro not being on the panel, despite the fact that Keith had ultimately spent more time as the Black Paladin than Shiro had. Before he was ready, Keith was falling into line with the others, a holopad pushed into his shaky hands then the next thing he knew he was walking on to the stage where camera flashes blinded him. Panels were horrible. Panels were horrible enough when sober, doubly so when hung over, and triply so when your husband was sitting beneath a photo of his dead ex-girlfriend, at the opposite end of the panel where he had no chance of talking to him. They were married. They were married and the whole quiznakking universe knew it... So why weren't the happily married couple together? Lance didn't seem to mind. All of their group were already laughing and deep in a four way conversation that had gone right over his head. Keith was out his depth completely. He had no idea that their questions were being screened behind them as they answered, he had no idea that the question time had hit him, and he had no idea of the words on his holopad were actually English because his eyes felt ready to fall out his head. In his own way, Keith was developing a new appreciation for functioning alcoholics. * Keith was in trouble. With the eyes of thousands staring in the direction of his husband, several long ticks had passed since Keith's holopad had started to glow around the sides. Sitting in front of a crowd and answering questions was not how Lance planned his day going. He wanted to sit down and discuss what had happened the previous day with his husband. That was the only way he was going to find some form of mental relief from his racing mind. Despite feeling angry each time his gaze moved to his husband, Lance cleared his throat "Sorry, guys! My husband isn't great with crowds, but that's just something else about him that I love. Now, his question is..." Craning his head back to read the question he made a goofy show of it. It was probably for the best Keith wasn't on the ball "What was the worst part of being a Paladin?" Moving his right thumb and pointer to his chin as if stroking an imaginary beard, Lance hummed. He loathed this attention. He loathed playing at niceties, but knew he had a job to do. He Lance playing Leandro, who was playing Lance. It was the only way he could cope with the public spotlight "The worst thing... Oh, boy! Coran's cooking... the first time he cooked for is... I thought he was trying to kill me! Then there's the time in the middle of the night when Allura would run practice emergency drills... I guess the worst thing of all is that despite Allura's sacrifice, the fact that if she hadn't given her life none of us would be here right now... The worst thing is that we're still fighting while we're trying to recover. And all the little people we couldn't reach in time... but when living on the Castle, it was definitely the time Coran tried to cook for us. I'm sorry Coran! You're our awesome adopted Uncle, but us humans have a weird diet... I think we all would have gone crazy if it wasn't for Hunk's culinary prowess" Flashing the crowd his best smile and finger guns, Lance hoped he'd done enough. Pidge was agreeing now, Keith's holopad was no longer glowing, Shiro leaned back to give him an approving nod, and Hunk was blushing. Reminding himself that each question moved them closer to the end, he looked down to his own holopad. After half a varga, they were all sweating. Pidge was being an angry little gremlin, at the point of threatening to murder the sun because she was done with this heat. Everyone knew the best way to store their little anger muffin was to sit her in a cool dark corner with her tech. Lance was feeling it too. His head felt sinus headache gross, his body suit might keep him cool for the most part, but worked best when his mask was up, which it wasn't, so the rest of him wasn't feeling that great either. No matter how much water he'd drank down, he only felt more and more dehydrated. Feeling his holopad grow warmer as it started to glow, he nearly dropped the device on the table as he vomiting into his mouth. His question being "How did it feel to work for Ambassador Klearo? What do you do now?". It was a simple question. Any number of fans would have seen the broadcasts of him standing behind the man. It didn't mean that he wasn't panicking. It didn't mean simply seeing the image of the man didn't bring all the memories flying back. Lance couldn't do this... Leandro... Channel Leandro "Well..." God. His heart was hammering so fast it felt as if it was going to flying out his mouth "I own a club now, out on Erathus. It's pretty nice there, and safe. The place is called "The Gilded Cage"... We wanted to create a safe place for travellers in the area. My friend Th'al runs it... Um... other than that... I'm Keith's husband and it's pretty much a full time job keeping up with him... it's simple and nice" That funny feeling was spreading through him. His holopad cooled as the colour left. Thumbing through the message list, every message submitted was listed, then chosen at random. That one message soon turned to half a dozen... of Klearo... and the look on Lance's face as the abuse had begun. The fear in his eyes. The disgust. The loathing of every piece of bullshit sprouted from the piece of shits mouth. Then blank emptiness. The change in his expression was almost haunting. It was as if you could see the time it crossed the line. When his whole being had shattered beneath the man, and the men who'd sexually abused him. As he scrolled up, in the hopes of finding evidence that he was being targeted, blood dripped onto the screen. Wiping at it, a second drip landed on his finger. Raising his hand to his nose, drops of blood rolled down his fingers. The holopad falling from his fingers to land on the table, the screen glitching before turning black. "Lan..." Starting to say his name, Pidge realised his nose was bleeding. The woman fishing out a handkerchief from nowhere and pushing it up against his nose so hard Lance was actually pained by the action. Sitting next to him, it was only natural she'd notice. She'd no doubt been caught in a cloud of his stenched up emotional scent, causing her to be more focused on her surrounds "Sorry folks! Even us Paladins are only human! How about this heat!?" Covering for him, Lance was immediately grateful to Pidge, she didn't need to whisper to him to get out of there as she put herself out her comfort zone, it went unsaid like a silent agreement, Lance hightailing it off stage and straight into Coran's waiting embrace. Led away from the stage, and into the background work space where the transmission was being monitored, Coran sat him down on a flimsy fold out chair, forcing his head down between his knees as his nose bleed steadily worsened "One tick my boy. I do believe you're the one who taught me that trick with the cold compress" Lance didn't think that placing a cold compress on the back of the neck was much of a trick, but with how overheated he felt, he'd take a cool anything right now. It was strange how he'd longed to feel something more than cold all the time, his condition had forced him to pay constant attention to his body. Knowing that even if he couldn't feel the effects of the heat internally, the rest of him could. It was like his soul had been frozen, then disconnected from his body, causing a strange disharmony between the pair. It was another reason he'd found himself wondering, more than once, if he was a clone. Returning with a cold bottle of water, Coran held it against his nape. Lance shuddering as his body rejected the cool relief it offered "How's that?" Lying smoothly, Lance nodded "Better..." "Ah... We'll give it a tick to kick in. I'm sorry about what happened out there, my boy. We left the questions open..." "Coran..." There was a gentle plea in his voice "You're right. Perhaps now isn't the time" Now wasn't the time. Never was the time. Those memories were fucking with his head enough. What he saw as clear evidence between the photos he was sent, and the messages on the holopad, he feared bringing up with anyone. As he'd reasoned, the others would too. A fan could have meant no offence, though a fan wouldn't have sent as many messages as they'd had. Hopefully when he had the holopad back in his hands, he could prove to his husband he hadn't been lying... Not that he should have to... No. No. He wasn't going there. He'd briefly bumped into Krolia who'd apologised for Keith's drunken behaviour, explaining how she and Keith had had the "baby talk", and explaining how Keith felt displaced by her coming child. Lance didn't need the talk to know that. It was hard for Keith. Keith didn't know what or how to deal with it. Still. He knew from personal experience that alcohol wasn't the answer. Not that he would turn down a stiff drink, or a dozen right about now. Opening his mouth to reply to Coran, Lance was on the ground before he knew what happened. One tick he was there, feeling quiznak, the next Coran's face was peering into his and Lance felt as if something had zapped every ounce of energy from his body. Neither of them had thought about the sudden and drastic change in body temperature triggering a seizure. Tasting vomit and blood, he wished that was the end when it came to bodily fluids, only... down his legs was wet and cool. His suit catching the mess he'd made, while he'd been out of it long enough for his piss to cool. Blinking sleepily at Coran, Coran smiled softly at him as he tucked a stray hair back from Lance's face. This wasn't the first, second or third time he'd thrown up. The first and second because of his pregnancy, the third because he'd worked himself up simply opening his medication bottle "Seizure?" Slurring heavily, Lance's voice failed to reach his own ears "Yes, my boy. A little over 45 ticks... Keith will be here soon" Coran sounded like he was speaking through fog. He was kind of blurry. His neat orange hair blurred like a fire on his head "Sorry..." "Enough of that... rest..." He didn't want to rest. He was ashamed of his body betraying him in a tent full of strangers. It didn't matter that they were towards the back, mostly out of the way. He was supposed to be a Paladin, which meant staying stronger and never letting the public see your weak side. His mind might have felt like a sludge sundae, but his thoughts had to get that final blow in. * "What kind of an idiot puts something ice cold against their skin when they overheat! You're lucky your heart didn't stop!" Cleaned up by Shiro and Keith, mostly Keith with Shiro's support, Pidge was the first to scold him as she and Hunk joined them in his and Keith's room. Laying with a cold towel folded over his forehead, Lance had agreed he was an idiot in a series of "mhmm" and "uh huh" until she finally ran out of appropriate questions. Shiro stopped her when she started to tease he and Keith, and given he was tired and somewhat sooky, he didn't feel like admitting how nice it felt to have Keith holding his hand. Having spent the last half varga chilling, Lance was ready for a nap, but Pidge and Hunk had decided that hanging around and scolding him needed to morph into a group hang. So Lance contented himself holding Keith's hand, and feeling Shiro's solid presence on the other side of him. There was a feeling that he'd forgotten something, but for now he was happish... or okish... scared, yet safe. Everyone in the room with him knew he was deeply scared by Klearo, each of them in their own trying to be there for him without making it too obvious. When Kosmo teleported into their room with a bark, his fur son decided that the best way to greet them all was to let out the most horrendous silent fart, that sent Pidge and Hunk scrambling off the bed as they gagged. Pulling the wet towel over his face did very little to diminish the stink as Keith echoed the others movements and deserted him. The loss of his hand felt immediately. Whimpering at the connection between him and husband being broken, Shiro stuck his hand under the towel and pinched his nose as if Lance wasn't perfectly capable of doing so himself. Dimly he could hear Keith scolding Kosmo, Pidge laughing and Hunk still gagging. Yet they all felt so far away from him that he and Shiro may as well have been stranded on an island. Kosmo, immune to his own stench, laid happily over Lance's legs. His tail thumping in time with the throbbing of Lance'd head. Unable to stank the stink, Pidge and Hunk only lasted a few moments before opting to bail, Lance deaf to their leaving as he was hyperfixating on the feeling of Shiro's hand against his nose. His trauma well aware that a hand to the nose meant soon water would be poured down his throat until he nearly drowned, or did and they were forced to revive him. He was starting to panic, his body too sleepy and leaden to fight off the man's hand, his hands weakly gripping at the sheets beneath him. Gasping like a reeled in fish, his body finally decided it had reached its limit, allowing him to pass out. * The moment Lance's gasping met Keith's ears, the half-Galra was abandoning his futile attempts to scold Kosmo over the fart bomb he'd dropped, and rushing to pull the towel from Lance's face. Who needed Lions or Bayards, when your cosmic wolf could clear a room with just a simple fart. As Shiro released Lance's nose, Lance lay deathly still, his chest barely rising as Keith held his hand above Lance mouth to check his husband was still breathing "Keith?" "Shut up..." With a gentle exhale, an inhale didn't follow. Keith placing his head against Lance's chest to find it wasn't rising "Fuck! Don't you dare, you stubborn arsehole" Lance was vulnerable. He was vulnerable and Keith hadn't thought that Shiro's touch would send his husband into a panic. Not with the way Shiro was sitting right next to him as if he rightfully belonged there. Not with the way Shiro had supported Lance's weight while Keith peeled off the layer of his husband's clothes then wrestled him out his stupid body suit. Lance was so out of it, he wasn't sure that Lance had any physical strength to protect himself, and usually when in that state would only allow him to touch him, yet his husband didn't seem to care he was naked in front of Shiro. He didn't shy away from Shiro's supportive hand on his hip. No. His husband had leaned into Shiro's touch, sending bitter jealously blooming. He was the only one who was allowed to touch Lance's body. Him. Lance had said so. And despite Shiro being happily in love with Curtis, Keith couldn't barely keep down his instincts. He could barely keep himself from taking a swing at his own brother. Lance had ignored him all morning, then Coran had sent some aid rushing to tell him that Lance had had a seizure. By the time he'd gotten off the stage, and down to communications tent, his husband was slurring as Coran reassured him. Blood and vomit were across Lance's fair and hair. His eyes glassy and unfocused. Pidge being the genius she was, had been the one to realise it was the temperature change that had triggered it, yet they all know seeing Klearo again had hit Lance hard. Each of them hated him in varying degrees, but none as much as him. He'd been all for it when Pidge angrily grumbled about hacking the holopad Lance had been using to find out who had sent that photo in, only when the holopad had been retrieved, it'd fallen wrong against the table and fried the memory chip in it. Ropeable, and concerned for Lance, they'd all kind of felt like being there by his side, even if he was sleeping off the effects of his seizure. Interlacing his fingers, Keith pumped down on Lance's chest, Shiro springing into action when he realised Lance wasn't breathing, moving to give Keith the space to work. Keith gave a dozen panic driven pushes before Lance sucked in a breath, his back arching as his marks glowed brightly. Gasping and coughing, Shiro helped Keith sit Lance up, Lance shaking as Keith grabbed him by the chin "Lance?!" "Mnmm?" "Keith, maybe you should give him some space to breathe?" "Don't tell me how to handle my husband!" Snapping at Shiro caused Lance to whine. Keith feeling like a dick for it the moment the words came out his mouth. But... quiznak! "Sorry. Sorry... something scared him so badly he couldn't breathe..." "It must have been my hand over his face... when Kosmo farted" Shiro looked exactly as Keith felt. His face devoid of colour, and clouded with guilt. Guiding Lance into his lap, Shiro helped getting Lance straddled with his nose against Keith's neck. His favourite secure position "That with having Klearo shoved in his face... Shiro, was I wrong? Did someone send him those photos? someone actually after him again?" "I don't know. I know he was scared and hurt that you didn't believe him" "We keep... not connecting..." "Getting drunk and bottling it up like an idiot will do that. When he comes too properly, talk it out. Or if you still need time to think things out, we can watch him again..." "I don't know... I don't know how to be a dad. I though we'd have more time" "No one's ready to be a parent. And it's not as if these are usual circumstances. He'll listen" "I know he will... that's the problem isn't it. If I repeated anything I said this morning, he's going to bolt" "At least he wouldn't be stuck wondering about how you feel and if you still want this marriage" Keith held his tongue. He still loved Lance. Lance was the air to his lungs... but Lance, kids, and work... He didn't know how to juggle it all. Getting a few vargas sleep with Lance still in his lap, Keith woke with a start. His thoughts spilling into his dream, his mind tormenting him over everything he stood to lose. Starving and thirsty, Keith was surprised to find Lance awake as he carefully untangled his husband's hold on him. The moment their eyes met, things felt all that more awkward between them "I'm... I'm going to get us something to eat, and a drink. Then I think we need to talk" Climbing out his lap, Lance nodded. Settling himself into a ball on Keith's side of the bed, his husband rested his chin on his knees, his voice soft "I'm leaving" Opening his mouth, Keith closed it just as quickly before giving a half shake of his head. Lance wanted to leave? Walk out on their chance to talk? Or... was there something more to this? "Stay here for a tick" To Keith it felt as if Lance was watching his every move as he grabbed up a couple of ration bars, and two glasses of water. Returning to their bed, Lance was at least willing to take the ration bars from him. His glass of balanced near his bare feet. Opening the ration bar, Lance tore off the end with his teeth, eating quietly and ignoring the way Keith watched him. Sighing to himself, Keith did the same, forcing himself to eat half the tasteless bar. They weren't that great, but it wasn't goo "I think we need time apart to think" Dropping those words with dead calm, Lance stole his breath "I think there's some things you need to work out, and I don't want to be on Altea anymore. I talked a little with Krolia. I wish it'd been you who'd explained to me what happened between you and her. Kids. Hey. I get it. It's a huge thing. I can't concentrate on them, me, and walk on nails around our friends. I'm tired of yoyoing more than I was when I was alone. I'm going to ask Krolia to lend me a ship and head to the next training planet" "I know we haven't been connecting... but we just haven't had the chance. You spent most of yesterday sleeping!" Quiznak. He sounded far more accusatory than he meant to "And you spent it getting drunk..." "Only because you were testing me! I don't know how it turned so shit so fast!" "I wasn't trying to test you. I reached out and you made me feel stupid. I'm going to give you a chance to think. About what you absolutely truly want. Me. Me and the twins. If you want to take the out. My head is a mess. I don't want to be here. You're still wanted here. You still have things to work out. You should take the time to think it through" "Don't I get a say? You had a seizure, then a panic attack so severe you stopped breathing. I have to pump your chest until you finally took a breath... We've only been here a few days. You're not taking your medication..." "No. I've been forcing myself to drink enough water that I go to sleep needing to pee and wake up nearly wetting myself. I've been scoffing down these bars because they're like the only thing I don't throw up. So don't say I'm not trying. You knew I messed up, you told me I could trust you. You made me trust you. And I thought you actually saw me. Now I don't want to fight. I want to think. You don't think I'm scared? I know all the risks with pregnancies because I come from a huge family. It doesn't get that big without things happening... I'll keep your twins safe until you make a choice. I don't know how to be a dad. A little brother and an uncle. A drunk and druggie. I've got that covered. A dad. A mother. I don't know what to call myself other a freak. You make the choice. I can't trust myself anymore, apparently" The last part was definitely a jab at him. It was the only part where Lance's voice had held any emotion. His husband sounded like Leandro. Leandro when they'd first crossed paths again "That's not what I want" "Then what do you want?" "I don't know" Lance sighed "Exactly. We have all this festival stuff happening while trying to fix this mess of a marriage. I hate being in the crowds. I hated being on the panel. I..." Lance frowned as his sentence stopped abruptly "You, what?" "I... no. It's better I talk to Shiro. You should enjoy the festival" "What can you say to Shiro, that you can't say to me!?" "I don't know what I can say to you anymore. I love you. I love you more than anything, but that doesn't fix our marriage. I know you're stuck lying to everyone because of me again... I don't want to be a burden on you... but I'm scared. Everything that makes us "us", is going to change. I'm scared. I don't want a life of just... just sex... sleep... eating... and what? I don't know how to settle down anymore. I thought... I thought us having our own home would... we would have... That we'd be together more than we were. I don't know where we're going to live... I'm such a fucking screw up... I can't even keep my husband happy... I was proud... maybe that was it. I was proud of our room and our space. I tried my hardest to make it as relaxing as I could for you. I wanted you to feel at home, but you don't" Lance wiped at his face, Keith biting the insides of his cheeks. It was his fault. He hadn't spoken up to his mother. He'd thought himself capable of handling everything. He'd thought himself agitated and annoyed, yet he hadn't sought his mother out sooner. He hadn't sat down with her and asked his hours to be cut or to be rotated off the training roster. Even when he thought about it, or grumbled, he hadn't sat down with Krolia and said it sooner. Maybe that had been his pride? Krolia kept giving him work because she was proud of him. It seemed to him that their combined pride had led to things winding up as they had. "Let me come with you. We can go ahead. We can figure out how we're going to conduct our training exercise. Krolia doesn't really tell us about the planet... so we could think up something before the others come?" Lance sighed at him "That's not going to work" "Why not?! Things only became complicated because of the others. We didn't see them the day of our date... and I thought we had good time?" "You were practically high on seeing your twins for the first time. Being responsible for these two lives hadn't sunk in... I think it was... it was the best day of my life. You're so quiznakking sweet to me. You treat me amazingly... then... you get stuck in your own head. It wasn't my... I was not trying to test, or you drive you to drink with Krystaal. I wanted to cuddle without talking seriously... I wanted you to tell me how things went with Krolia... I want you to be able to rely on me, Keith. I know my seizures have been hitting frequently, but... sometimes they don't hit for weeks..." Of course he was high on seeing their twins. Their tiny little noses. Their tiny hands. Their tiny bodies. Their children. Half him. Half Lance... They were barely more than a bunch of cells caused by their lack of sense with contraceptives. But... would they even survive if Lance kept having seizures? "The pills would help with that" "I can't, ok! I know they're not the same, but thinking about them... I can't! I'm eating these bars. I'm forcing myself to keep eating!" Holding his hands up in surrender, Keith knew he should have expected the backlash "Right. Fine. I'm sorry for worrying. Did you at least eat last night? How did you know I was drinking?" "Shiro, Curtis, and I had a pizza and beer night. Shiro was trying to make me happy, so we were going out for drinks. He wanted to invite both of us to celebrate his win, but couldn't find you. He made me get dressed up. Anyway, Curtis was waiting outside the tent you were drinking in. I had a panic attack, then begged Curtis to go grab beer and pizza, we came back to their room and watched his win while you slept in their bathtub" "I don't remember that" Opening his second ration bar, Lance nodded "I'm not surprised. You were going shot for shot with Krystaal. I don't know what you were drinking, but when you saw me you started yelling about me being your husband, then got kind of mad... not mad, annoyed? when I was panicking... This is why... This is why I think we should take a few days apart. That way you can get your thinking straight" Now they were back on that... He didn't want to leave Lance alone. He only needed... a few vargas... "I know I quiznakked up... but... we're supposed to be talking this out!" Lance wasn't one to talk with a mouthful, yet the way he was tearing into the ration bar, his husband had seemingly forgotten swallowing and chewing was a thing "Keith, I can smell the confusion on you! You smelt of fucking rejection yesterday. I've already got a plan for the next planet. Krolia will ok it once we talk it out. I'll be there for like 4 quintants..." "You'll be alone! I get that you don't want to be a... that you don't want an easy life or whatever, but what if... What if you get so scared that you stop breathing again? Then what? I can't fucking lose you, you idiot! No. You're not going alone" Lance had stopped fucking breathing! He'd needed CPR! Now he was sitting there, filling his face and acting like him nearly dying was a perfectly acceptable thing! Like quiznak he was letting his husband do something silly and dangerous without him... In order to be two halves of the same idiot, both idiots needed to be present. Besides. With everyone filling his head with so much information, hadn't it occurred to Lance that maybe Keith needed a break from everyone? Krolia had given him the baby talk. Shiro's was telling him to talk to Lance, but not to, then to. Lance was still melting down. His husband had even had to cover him at the panel. Surely he'd fulfilled a centuries worth of Paladin duties sitting there under the sun. He'd even gotten sunburnt for his troubles. Fiddling nervously with the ration bar wrapper, Lance talked to his hands "Keith. How are you supposed to think things through between us, if I'm there with you?" "You said you had plans for the next planet... if I put you in charge of the training exercise... you and Kosmo can set it up or whatever. I promise I won't interfere... I'll stay back... just... I feel like if you leave right now, it's only going to get worse between us... I don't want to lose you, but... you're right. I am kind of freaking out over it all. Kids... I know we're not the same kids that were sent into space, but when I think about being 27... I don't feel my age..." "And you think I feel 24? I still remember everything that happened like it was yesterday... all of it. That's why... I need to go" They lost three years to the void, and he was gone for two with his mother. 6 phoebs had been all it took for Voltron to nearly break. For Lance to break... All their time together had failed to keep Lance sustained through his absence. Then there was Kuron, who'd physically harmed Lance... Pidge and Hunk who'd abandoned him. Lotor who'd weaselled his way in... Lance might have made peace with them, but he still hadn't made peace with his memories. "We'll go together. The three of us. You, me, and Kosmo. We'll work it out together. It'll be like a family camping trip..." "Keith..." Lance was wavering. Lance was wavering and he could see it! "You can boss me around. Whatever. As long as I'm with you, I can do anything..." "That's not fair..." "I don't care if it's not fair. Just don't leave me behind" Lance sighed deeply, flopping back on the bed and spilling his glass of water everywhere as he did. Groaning as he craned his neck to to stare at the reason why his feet were wet "Fiiiine. Dios. I'm an idiot for agreeing, and you better do what I say. No arguments. I have a plan to fix your team work and individual skills, and I won't let you stop me. Don't treat me differently. I'm fucking pregnant, not dying. Don't forget the difference. And do not think for one quiznakking moment that I will not have Kosmo teleport you to the other side of the planet if you get in my way. Plus. You're sleeping in the wet spot... and don't even think about touching me until I give you permission. I'm still hurting, and I'm still livid at you" "Ok..." "So you better figure out the hell is going on with you, and you better stay away from me until you do. I'm going back to sleep. I want to get a few vargas before your kids have me on the bathroom floor again" Keith hadn't taken into account Lance's morning sickness, but it was just another reason for Lance not to be left alone "I..." "Don't. Not until you've done the think" There was no mistaking that. Keith may have just won the battle, but Lance... Lance was the the final boss and he had a long long quest chain to go...