#and am currently watching wormhole video

[chiffsters]

ashswag u know the crab like money spokeishere u know the sponge like fun princezam u know the star keep shining mapicc u know the squid likes guns

[michaelgogins]

FTL

FTL, as most readers will know, is the science-fictional acronym for faster-than-light travel.

A very common idea is that special relativity forbids FTL because accelerating any mass to the speed of light requires an infinite amount of energy. Which is true.

However, I just watched this video talk by Sabine Hossenfelder suggesting that this common idea is, to put it bluntly, full of holes if extended to cover the real world.

I was expecting her to expound on warp drives, which are suggested by solutions of general relativity theory inspired by the apparent fact that our universe inflated space much faster than the speed of light for a very short time at the very beginning of the Big Bang.

But no, Hossenfelder's talk is very interesting in a very different way. She is a real physicist with publications, even though she is not a tenured professor, and her specialty is the phenomenology of quantum gravity, although she works in other areas as well.

I myself am no such specialist and so my understanding of her post, though it is aimed at non-specialists, has got to be limited. But the things I take away are:

Objections to FTL are most often motivated by special relativity, but our best theory of gravity is general relativity.

Hossenfelder is suspicious of the singularity represented by an infinite amount of energy being needed to accelerate a mass to the speed of light. She seems to think this is a big hint that not only special relativity, but also general relativity, are incomplete and misleading.

Current cosmology based on general relativity features a co-moving frame within our horizon, which Sabine thinks obviates arguments about temporal loops arising from FTL.

I found Hossenfelder's talk to be most impressive, and it has affected my own thinking about FTL.

As a one time aspiring science-fiction writer, I always wanted to base my writing on the best science, and to my mind, the best science pretty much ruled out FTL. But now, not only Hossenfelder's talk, but also continued attention by real physicists to warp drives and wormholes, make me aware that objections to FTL are based on assumptions that skip over a number of genuine gaps in our understanding.

I therefore give myself permission to go back to a future in which humanity has invented and uses FTL. It's highly speculative, but it can't be ruled out; therefore, it is a good premise for an optimistic future (or a pessimistic one -- perhaps UFOs are warp vessels spying on us to see if we need to be exterminated!).

[battleangel]

Dreams & Death

Everything in our capitalist hellscape is based on the abject fear, avoidance of and existential dread endlessly cultivated for death.

That plus mindlessness and constantly being distracted by being overworked in our workaholic society where we individually work 400 more hours of OT a year than any other developed economy, endlessly scrolling social media, endlessly binge watching & endlessly streaming shows, endless screens, endless online gaming, endless messaging apps, endless notifications, endless meetings, endless Slacks, endless doordash, endless amazon prime deliveries, endless fast fashion, obsessively watching sports, endlessly watching reality TV & competition shows, endlessly listening to podcasts, endlessly on multiple apps & screens at the same time, endlessly snacking, endlessly consuming caffeine & coffee, endlessly drinking, endlessly shopping at the mall going to the salon going out to eat going to the movies grocery shopping, endless errands.

Endless mindlessness, never having a thought, fear of death, delaying death beyond all reason with extremely harmful invasive dangerous potentially deadly toxic painful excessive draining aging degrading exhaustive depressing and debilitating "treatments" and completely unnecessary interventions instead of...

🦋🌻🦋🌻🦋🌻🦋🌻🦋🌻🦋🌻🦋🌻🦋🌻🦋

🌻Understanding that you die every day. Thats all sleep is. Deep REM (rapid eye movement) sleep is nothing but you shifting your consciousness from "life" aka "reality" -- where I am typing this and you are reading this now -- which is actually nothing but a dream and a fantasy and a simulated virtual reality video game (what we call "the real world").

🦋Actual reality is the dreamscape where we all go every night when we "fall" asleep and dream. You dream every night whether you remember it or not because your dreams are nothing but you visiting the dreamscape every night and going back to where you originally originated from. The dreamscape is where we all originated from prior to our very temporary physical manifestation as human beings in our present "reality".

🌻This so-called "reality" is nothing but a virtual reality simulation of the dreamscape which is just our imaginations and our limitless minds and our thoughts and we all intrinsically know that we can think anything and that there are no limits to our imaginations we even know that as children it is an eternal universal truth because it is where everything originated and originates from.

🦋The dreamscape is an eternal limitless realm where we all originated in an eternity ago and the dreamscape as well as our eternal limitless energetic selves have always existed. What we call reality is really a funhouse mirror virtual reality distortion of actual reality which is the dreamscape.

🌻In our current virtual reality, physical death is permanent and irreversible but it is only a virtual reality simulation of the death we experience every night when our physical human selves temporarily die, we go back to the dreamscape when were "dreaming" and "wake up" back where we originated from.

🦋That is why our dreams tend to be so trippy, surreal, lurid, visceral, kaleidoscopic, explosive colors, not following the rules of our limited 3D virtual reality realm where in our dreams we can literally think and be anything, we can climb walls, we can walk on water, we can fly, we can fall through the sky without dying, we can jump off a building and fly up instead of fall down, we can sink through the floor, we can walk through walls, we can walk into mirrors and through looking glasses, we can eat and devour worlds, we can be in the middle of a black hole sun, we can travel through wormholes, we can create event horizons, we can ride comets and meteors, we can make the stars fall from the sky, its our dreamscape, its our dream its our thoughts its our minds its our imaginations, every thought becomes reality.

🌻Everything exists together all at once because it is ultimate duality and dualism, ultimate yin and yang, every emotion color feeling thought dream expression creation movie film book novel fantasy story vision fever dream acid dreams mindfucks polarity duality comedy horror surrealism abstract art improv theater drama puzzles riddles labryinths mazes infinity loops fire magick star oceans supernovas galaxy expresses speed of light time travel paradoxes pandoras boxes wisdom oracles crystal balls sorcery wizadry black magic santeria divination fortune telling tarot astrology occultism voodoo spells enchantments incantations meditations stargazing shooting stars ✨️☄️🌌

🌻Then you "wake up" and your limitless energetic self that you just temporarily experienced in your dream gets temporarily put to death and you are back to reality oops there goes gravity and you are back to life back to reality in the virtual reality that is just a dream so you think you just woke up but you really just went back to sleep.

🦋Every night, you temporarliy visit the dreamscape for a few hours while your consciousness has shifted from our current virtual reality and brought you back to the dreamscape from which we all originated.

🌻Thats all death is.

🦋All death is, instead of the thousands of temporary visits you have made every night when you shift your consciousness ("entering REM sleep" aka "dreaming") and visit the dreamscape -- instead of these temporary nightly visits, you are now permanently back in the dreamscape where you eternally originated from.

🌻So, what exactly is scary about that?

🦋Why would you avoid or dread that? Why would that depress you?

🌻Why would you ever endure a harmful toxic dangerous aging exhausting depressing dehumanizing degrading painful process like chemo just to delay and not even avoid death since youre going to die of something anyway?

🦋We are all going to die.

🌻We are all here very very temporarily physically manifested as human beings.

🦋75 to 80 years versus an eternity is literally statistically infintisimally insignificant and vanishingly small to the point where it practically doesnt exist.

🌻What is 75/infinity or 80/infinity?

🦋So, why would you ever freak out about your cells breaking down, which is an inevitability, and your body eventually dying and ceasing to physically exist?

🌻Death is literally the most natural thing there is, it is literally the outcome of physical life, so why would you ever bother dreading or avoiding it or comically delaying it?

🦋Chemo at 75 when the average life expectancy in the US is 75 for men and 80 for women?

🌻Are you people really that caught up?

🦋"Longevity is the goal"? For whom and why?

🌻It sounds like a corporate talking point because it is.

🦋Why would that be anyones approach to "end of life" decisions if you receive a "terminal" diagnosis?

🌻The end of your physical human life is truly just the beginning of your limitless eternal life as the energetic ascended awakened actualized being you are.

🦋That should excite you, not terrify you.

🌻Longevity should never be anyones goal in terms of their life. It should be quality.

🦋Nausea, vomiting, hair loss, extreme fatigue, heart, spine, brain and potentially fatal issues for 4 to 8 weeks of chemo, multiple rounds of chemo, multiple hours each session -- is that anyones idea of quality?

🌻It makes them money. Thats it.

🦋Fear of death keeps capitalism churning.

🌻It leads to people constantly distracting themselves with mindless activities like shopping, social media, streaming, messaging apps, online gaming and endlessly numbing themselves with fast food, take out, delivery, alcohol, vaping, tobacco, nicotine, snacks, soda, caffeine, espresso shots, coffee, energy drinks, juice, sugar, opioids, benzodiazepines, antidepressants, fentanyl, cocaine, heroine.

🦋Anything to avoid actually thinking about, contemplating, meditating on, reflecting, introspecting, intuiting about, ruminating, understanding, accepting, embracing, looking forward to and being excited about death whenever and however it comes.

🌻The actual process of death may be challenging and/or painful.

🦋But the end result is a beautiful transformation back to your original limitless energetic self.

🌻Death is just you shedding your temporary physical human caterpillar self and skin and evolving permanently back into the limitless energetic eternal butterfly being you always were before you temporarily manifested as a human being in our virtual reality when your human parents conceived you.

🦋Thats it, nothing more and nothing less.

🌻Capitalism is based and predicated on society acting like this extremely short manifestation as physical human beings is all there is.

🦋If they really believed they were going to heaven, why would they be so afraid of dying and why would they go to such heinous and extreme lengths -- dehumanizing, painful, humiliating, excruciating, agonizing, objectifying, soul crushing, exhausting, inhumane, debilitating, harmful, toxic, invasive, violent, literally poisonous, potentially fatal "interventions and treatments"-- just to delay death since it cant be avoided if they actually really believed that right after dying they would be at the pearly gates with St. Peter & the streets paved with gold?

🌻Capitalism counts on its acolytes and adherents becoming addicted to the rewards they accumulated from "playing the game" and "climbing the corporate ladder" at their "9 to 5s" (that are almost never actually 9 to 5 ofcourse).

🦋Addicted to the clout, money, prestige, net worth, connections, respect, admiration, assets, 401ks, stock options, investment portfolios, mansions, properties, vacation rentals, beach houses, luxury resorts, designer bags and shoes, makeup, expensive perfume, blinged out jewelry, luxury cars, sports cars, five star restaurants and hotels, flexing for the gram, linkedin employment update, big tech, big 4 consulting, finserv, six figure salary, impressive job title, brand name company, executive, large bonuses, promotions, 5/5 on your performance review, success, american life, american dream . . .

🌻Once youre addicted to the above capitalist traps, death scares you because its not like you can take any of that 3D stuff with you.

🦋So, everything youve worked like a slave for in corporate stays here in the virtual simulated reality when you die.

🌻Even if you have kids and they inherit your wealth, you still leave it all behind when you die - the big house, the nice car, the fancy jewelry, the luxury vacations, the fancy impressive job title at the big name company, the people kissing your ass, being a big fucking deal, being the center of attention, being envied, being a diva, having clout, all the zeros in your bank account, all your investments, all your stock options, your 401k account, all the things you slaved your life away for, all the things you endlessly flexed on the gram with, all the things you showed off, all the bling bling, all the impressive accolades and accomplishments, the resume and LinkedIn that speaks for itself. . .

🦋You can take exactly none of that with you.

🌻And thats why, especially in capitalist hellscapes like America, people fear death.

🦋They fear leaving everything they slaved their entire lives away for.

🌻They ask themselves, what did I do it all for?

🦋I cant take my Merril Lynch investment portfolio with me when I die. I cant take my 401k account with me when I die. I cant take my bank accounts with all the zeros with me when I die. I cant take my Lexus BMW and Benz with me when I die. I cant take my Fendi and Birkin and Louboutins with me when I die. I cant take my pink diamonds and iced out wrists and SRTs with me when I die.

🌻So, what did I do it all for?

🦋And, instead of sitting in that discomfort and then questioning our capitalist system that is based off of endless and mindless consumerism, overconsumption, hypercompetition, keeping up with the joneses, materialism, artifice, superficiality, shallowness, status, image, wealth, clout, prestige, net worth, assets, income, what do you do for a living?, job title, company, what kind of car do you drive?, how much money do you make? and realizing that all of that is just fake 3D bullshit and that the real stuff is...

🌻Love, emotion, philosophy, energy, intrigue, wisdom, divination, intuition, magick, creativity, expression, movement, laughter, humor, satire, improv, poetry, dreams, imagination, thoughts, manifestations, downloads, esotericism, fantasy, daydreams, visions, parables, fables, myths, stories, soul connections, karma, reiki, chakras, meditation, art...☄️☄️☄️

🦋Instead of coming to the realization that all you need is love and that our capitalist hellscape relentlessly pushes education, work work work work work, money, success, promotions, rewards, climbing corporate jacob ladders, grabbing the brass ring golden handcuffs, modern day corporate plantations, modern day corporate slave wages, corporate slavery, doing it all for 45 years for a 401k account that crashes the moment you retire from Bank of America after an illustrious worker bee golden handcuffs thousands of hours of unpaid overtime as a glorified middle manager career because Jamie Dimon cashed out before leaving Bank of America as a multi multi millionaire leaving your 401k account that you slaved your entire adult life away for at exactly zero . . .

🌻Work a job any job try for a big name big title six figures 401k stock options especially unrestricted stock if you can swing it then retire at 65 like everyone else then you can do what you want you can garden you can bird watch you can buy a telescope and stargaze you can read you can volunteer you can nap with cats you can start a non-profit you can write a book you can learn to fly a plane and get your pilot license you can open a bakery you can start a business you can be a life coach you can write poetry you can learn to play an instrument you can become a minister you can learn to speak a new language you can teach guide mentor counsel advise coach but only at 65 . . .

🌻But what happens if you die at 64?

🦋You can do this stuff before 65 but only alongside a 9 to 5 because you need security all the 3D three dimenionsal stuff you need health insurance dental medical vision you need life insurance you need to pay the bills pay the telephone bills if you did then maybe we can chill you need a 401k account you need retirement savings benefits you need paid time off sick time "personal" time you need vacation you need short term and long term disability you need money saved away for a rainy day you need to pay the rent every month mortgage every month light bill electricity water bill sewage trash groceries car insurance property tax renters insurance heat cable internet cell phone medication groceries food car payment the "reality" of life why we are all really working and most of us 80% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck are working for exactly two reasons to pay the rent or mortgage and for health insurance we all get sick and we all need to have a roof over our heads . . .

🌻But if you realize death is nothing to fear and that is their biggest and most potent boogeyman that they present as a constant existential threat to your existence and the West, especially America, presents death as something to "fight", "conquer", "stand up to", "defeat", "overcome", "crush" which is pathetically laughable.

🦋Please understand the terminology used by the cancer industry that is used to describe how we should approach the ends of our lives as the Greco-Roman Western empire building colonizing bullshit it is and reject it out of hand.

🌻Theyre going to tell you to "fight" cancer, "fight" through the patently observable and absolutely fucking insane inhumane violent degrading dehumanizing painful excruciating agonizing nauseating debilitating exhausting depressing dangerous toxic harmful and potentially deadly "treatments". . .

🦋Then theyll let you ring a bell for the honor of letting them debase, harm, injure, cut open, literally poison, toxify, slash, burn, torture, immobilize, assault, traumatize and dehumanize you.

🌻Theyll call you a "warrior" just like the Roman gladiators, theyll call you a "fighter", theyll let you wear them assaulting, harming torturing, disfiguring and permanently scarring you as a "badge of honor" because now youre a "survivor". . .

🦋Yet the people that the "treatments" just maim torture harm disfigure poison and kill are quietly swept into chemo triggered vomit-filled body bags in cancer wards and fed into the funeral industrial system.

🌻Business is always booming if you work in the cancer industry.

🦋America consumes 80% more meat than many other countries and our cancer incidence rate is hundreds of times higher than other countries.

🌻Its almost like red meat is a carcinogen and its best to limit it as much as possible.

🦋Its almost like consuming more meat leads to more cancer.

🌻Its almost like eating fresh fruits and vegetables (homemade salads, homemade salad dressings, homemade smoothies, quinoa, tofu scrambles, avocado, rice, noodles, lentils, red black and kidney beans, chickpeas, hummus, steel cut oatmeal with flaxseeds, water, herbal tea, mixed nuts, granola, dairy free yogurt) 80%+ of the time...

🦋Plus avoiding or limiting caffeine, coffee, soda, juice, alcohol, energy drinks...

🌻Avoiding or limiting processed and packaged snacks (oreos, poptarts, pringles, ritz, lays, ruffles, herrs, cheetos, doritos, chips ahoy, etc.)...

🦋Only eating meat on the weekends (about 20% of the time) and eating vegetarian and/or vegan during the week (approximately 80% of the time)...

🌻Would lower your chances of getting cancer.

🦋Nothing else explains why Americans get cancer at such a higher rate vs other countries other than the fact that we consume an exobortiantly higher amount of meat than they do.

🌻America also allows many toxins, synthetic & lab-made chemicals, GMOs & pesticides into almost all of our food, beverages, personal care & hygiene and household cleaning products.

🦋They are literally in almost anything you eat, drink, clean with, or use as personal care.

🌻Europe, and Asia, but especially Europe do not allow most of the toxins and chemicals that the US allows (endless list but BPAs, sugar substitutes, etc etc).

🦋These toxins and chemicals that are literally in our fast food, most restaurant chains, makeup, tampons, pads, lotions, deodorants, shampoos, conditioners, perfume, cologne, body spray, cleaning products, dishwasher and laundry detergent, toothpaste, mouthwash, soap, lotion, beverages, snacks, packaged meats, deli meats, etc have been proven time and time again to cause all sorts of health issues including cancer, reproductive issues, neurological disorders and even death.

🌻Yet companies continue to use them because theyre cheap (toxins & chemicals) so it saves them money and it makes their crops grow faster (GMOs) & saves more of their crops (pesticides).

🦋Inevitable lawsuits occur (Simply Orange, Revlon, its an endless list), multibillion dollar companies pay less than .1% of their yearly profit for people dying from their products.

🌻They pay a miniscule settlement and then everyone moves on until the next lawsuit. Wash rinse repeat. People keep buying and dying from their products.

🦋Its almost like the FDA isnt here to protect the consumer but these multibillion dollar companies.

🌻Europe is much stricter with their regulations. Look at how different McDonalds is in Europe. Seriously, check their menus on TikTok. If youre American, you wont even believe those inventive burgers and desserts are McDonalds.

🦋In the US, a McDonalds burger unrefrigerated bought today in 25 years will have no mold. Theres a video on youtube. That 25 year old McDs burger looked the same. You are ingesting that into your body whenever you "make your McDs run".

🌻I wont lie, as tasty as their fries and nuggets are, it is terrifying what they put into their products as well as the millions of acres of rainforest they have destroyed to raise the cattle for their Big Macs.

🦋Deforestation for a $.99 burger. Thats a happy meal.

🌻This is why the cancer rates are so much higher in the US vs the rest of the world.

🦋And this is why the cancer industry is so disgustingly aggressive in this country.

🌻Cancer is a trillion dollar industry and business is always booming.

🦋Instead of agreeing to be slashed, cut open, permanently scarred and disfigured, assaulted, violated, traumatized, dehumanized, poisoned, burned, radiated, exhausted, fatigued, nauseated, loss of hair, aging 17 years (chemo ages you 17 years per the American Cancer Society), physically weakened, loss of appetite, numb, changes in appearance, brain spine heart issues, possibly fatal. . .

🌻Just do the stuff I listed above. Avoid or limit carcinogens, toxins and synthetic and lab-made chemicals.

🦋Also, go outside in nature every day weather permitting for half an hour to an hour. Nothing will heal you more than nature because we are nature and thats why capitalism works so hard to sever our natural connection with nature.

🌻Youre going to die of something so if you do the above and get cancer anyway then understand that its just your cells breaking down and the natural process of your body dying.

🦋It was inevitable anyway so no big deal.

🌻Instead of fighting, delaying, denying, avoiding, fearing, extending beyond all common sense, just accept it and make yourself as comfortable as possible.

🦋CBD oil, weed, edibles, psychedelics, DMT, ayuahasca, sweat ceremonies, meditate on a beach, yoga, stretching, draw, paint, pottery, hula hoop, blow bubbles, poetry, dance, sing, read, go in a stream or lake, crystals, gardens, parks, walk, listen to mhz audio, sound bath healing, deep floating, reiki, essential oil, diffuser, incense, indigenous healing practices, natural remedies, witch doctors, hug trees, dress up, put makeup on, go on solo dates, listen to music, write a book, write your life story, go on do not disturb for 3 to 6+ months, find yourself, go on a solo trip, go on a sabbatical, temporarily move to central and/or south america, africa and/or southeast asia, solve puzzles, no electronics for 30 days, unplug for a month, do nothing but meditate for a week, go on a cross country road trip and adventure, walk 500 miles, hitchhike, create a life list not a bucket list and live your life do all the things you would do if you only had a month to do and do all of them regardless of how long you actually have left . . .

🦋Thats all life is. A rollercoaster. Enjoy the ride while it lasts for however long it lasts.

🌻Just like you wouldnt "try to make the rollercoaster ride last as long as possible", you would just line up and jump on, thats all life is.

🦋Jump on for the ride. Self-actualize. Experience and cause your own ego death. Ascend. Awaken. Activate and align all seven chakras. Open your third eye. Experience your kundalini awakening.

🌻Your ego death prepares you for your eternal life once you leave your physical human body and return permanently to the dreamscape as the limitless energetic eternal being you are.

🦋No need to fear. No need to delay, deny, dread, drag out, avoid, fight, struggle, conquer, overcome or vanquish.

🌻Meditate, reflect, introspect, intuit, ruminate, think, understand, accept, embrace, look forward to and be excited about your own death!

🦋🦋🦋Its nothing but a beautiful transformation🦋🦋🦋

[aniketsanimationblog]

Hey!! Guess What?? We get an Exclusive Clip of S2 Of Star Trek: Prodigy!! If you want to watch, click below!!

And I'm glad that this Four-minute-clip has come around!! Seeing Dal and others of his crew there at Starfleet Academy!! We all are Missing Gwyn Right Now!! But yeah, I think what Dal is Thinking, that She has become the Queen of Solum, currently, if that is a thing!! But we also see an Assistant Hologram Doctor of Star Trek: Voyager cast Robert Picardo!!

And we get a Punchline from him, "I'm a Doctor, not a Butler!!"

And also, the Crew are on a Mission to Save Captain Chakotay, who is Still stuck at Solum, 52 Years from current event, due to that Wormhole created after the Destruction of USS Protostar!!

And Surprise, Surprise, Trekkies!! Voyager-A is here!! And Vice Admiral Janeway will lead them!!

And I know, it's just a Four-minute-clip from S2E1, but the creators of Star Trek: Prodigy have said that, they are 99% Sure about that Star Trek: Prodigy will be having a new streaming Platform/Network!! Remind you, that as of now, while I am writing this post, ST: Prodigy haven't found a new home yet!! The talks to other streaming platforms are in progress!! If all goes well, then we have a Chance to see Star Trek: Prodigy S2!! I personally hope, that Peacock or Amazon Prime Video should pick up the rights to it!! Especially Peacock!! Because, NBC were the first to air Star Trek: TOS and TAS, in the late '60s and early '70s, before CBS took over the whole Star Trek Franchise!! So there's a chance, NBCUniversal can do this franchise a favor bring it to their original home by picking up Star Trek: Prodigy!! Amazon Prime also have a chance!! But I prefer Peacock mostly!!

Just make sure you sign the petition of #SaveStarTrekProdigy by clicking here, buy Merchandise and Toys related to Prodigy, buy S1 Arc I & II on Digital and DVDs and Blu-rays of S1 Arc I & Arc II (later in September)!! Every bit helps!! Every bit of help matters!! Show Paramount, that there is still Demand for Star Trek: Prodigy!!

Show this Series and it's creators and Crew a Massive Support!! And Show those top executives at Paramount and Nickelodeon that you've made the Biggest Mistake by Canceling Star Trek: Prodigy with such Unfair!!

'til then, Fingers crossed now!! 🤞🏼🤞🏼

[tielt]

Stunned, what a time to be alive folks.

If extra-terrestrials can travel to Earth from another star system their technology would have self-annihilated them if they were primarily violent and the UAP that have been found have been non-violent at every encounter, 122 UAP since the 1940s have been found and the technology based on retrieval of these unmanned probes have led advancements far beyond our own technology level including free-energy!

There has been some aggression from our forces in recovery with black-ops type activities and the government has requested that these operations cease any type of hostility suggesting that while they are and should continue to be seen as peaceful, it is obvious that their technology could annihilate us if they were to choose to do so, there is no reason for us to believe that they will.

The technology they use sounds to me like wormhole technology, entanglement of two positions of space-time. Incredible time to be alive! I'll edit this post as I finish the debriefing I will now link here. If you are feeling hopeless as I am, I hope you feel relief from this as I do. Honestly I'm stunned and I'm still having a hard time believing it. Science fiction! Free energy means we can finally halt all of our carbon emissions from transportation and otherwise, but this does not mean that we aren't above our current capacity on this beautiful blue orb we live on. Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDY7t6HihCw Here is where I heard of this, the top researcher in field physics/maths in my opinion, he's been talking about it on twitter:

https://twitter.com/EricRWeinstein/

I'm having a hard time dealing with them not showing actual digital photos of these objects, I'm guessing this has something to do with security clearance. My critical thinking skill just segmentation faulted, vertigo.

[greatbigstorm]

/ /

[adultswim2021]

Ephemera Week (2002)

I really wonder how effectively I’ll be able to do this in 2003. In 2003, Adult Swim started doing the black and white text bumps, where they give max sass and NO EFFS (fucks), so every week had unique content. I definitely don’t have the resources to catalogue every bumper or even come up with a decent “best of”. Ephemera Corner 2003 may look very different. To quote my good friend Zorak, “Brak, do you ever think about the future?”. To this I say, yes. Yes, Zorak, I do.

BROADCAST ANOMALIES AND SPECIAL NIGHTS!

Adult Swim Action (and other stuff) | February 23, 2002

February 23rd was the first installment of Adult Swim Action. Up to this point, Adult Swim aired a block of mostly comedy capped off with Cowyboy Bebop. This was the first formal separation of Action and Comedy. I remember the bitter rivalry between the two fandoms on various message boards I posted on. It really did seem like a venn diagram with almost no overlap; action fans hated the comedy shows (maybe they liked one or two but hated the rest) and the same went for the comedy fans, except most of the comedy fans I knew were devout anime haters.

At the height of my anime animosity an internet ex-friend of mine started a message board called ANIME SUCKS. It was an experience I’ll always remember fondly. At it’s peak it had over 1000 members. All but about a dozen of those members were actually ANGRY anime fans who just stumbled on the board and were FURIOUS at us for being anti-anime, and we’d just act like obtuse dickheads about it. Like, we’d act stupider than they were and just wind them up.

We developed a few tricks to really set somebody off. For example: they’d write an impassioned defense of anime as an art form, and say something like “it’s not all like Pokemon or Dragonball Z”, to which we’d reply “actually those are the only two animes I like”. This really got them. There was a special thrill to just replying “miyazaki is an idiot” to a guy’s 6-paragraph essay about why anime was “good, actually”, prompting an even longer response. It was really fun! We didn’t have to harass people online, they’d just come to us to get abused. I’ve never seen bait get taken so effortlessly. One day that guy just closed the message board, locked everyone out, and disappeared forever.

That was some aside, huh? Anyway, the arrival of Adult Swim Action meant that Adult Swim stopped airing the Thursday night repeats of Adult Swim Comedy, which was a shame. It Also meant Adult Swim’s Sunday night had an extra hour to fill, which they did with Rocky & Bullwinkle and the Popeye Show. People complained. I didn’t. Vintage animation is just a different take on the “adult” label. Besides, I was used to tuning out by 12AM anyway, so even if I didn’t like those shows (I did!) I wasn’t missing anything, really. But yes, if it were a full hour of Space Ghost repeats I guess that would’ve been better.

The Lewis Lectures | May 19, 2002 - 12:45 AM

A repeat of Lewis Lectures? IT HAPPENED! But what was so different about this broadcast of Lewis Lectures? Well, they accidentally scrambled the SAP audio with the default English audio, causing the Spanish soundtrack to play in tandem with the English one. It was bloody well fucked mate. This is simply no longer England.

I remember becoming an Adult Swim completist and taping this, considering it some kind of void in my collection. Part of me wishes I saved the recording, so I could combine it with the inferior YouTube rip currently up and have a closer-to-pristine copy than the one that’s available. But also, JESUS FUCKING CHRIST THIS IS LEWIS LECTURES WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. How much pain can I inflict on myself?

Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law Mini-Marathon | September 15, 2002 - 11:00 PM

On this night they aired a little Harvey Birdman marathon of the 4 episodes. This was kinda baffling, as Birdman had 6 episodes to its name and they’d been repeated into the ground by this point. I guess it goes to show that Adult Swim kinda considered Birdman to be their prestige program. I’m hard-pressed to call any one Adult Swim show “smart” in a way that’s apparent on a shallow level. Birdman is set in a courtroom, animated the most competently out of all their other shows, and involved cultural references in a showy way. Like, Space Ghost having Dave Willis absurdly shout “UP THE CHAIN” in the background of a Space Ghost episode is almost just a weird easter egg. But Birdman? Birdman was name-dropping Hanna Barbera characters the same way Frasier would talk about whatever gay shit Frasier talked about.

They aired The Dabba Don, Shaggy Busted, Shoyu Weenie, Very Personal Injury in that order. I would’ve swapped Shaggy and Shoyu and for Bannon Custody Battle and Death by Chocolate, but that’s just me, I guess.

Adult Swim New Years Bash hosted by Carl and Brak | December 31, 2002 - 11:00 PM

Adult Swim officially ended 2002 with this: a night hosted by Carl and Brak in Times Square, watching the ball drop (which was FREAKING MEATWAD!!!!). I remember this night fondly. Unfortunately I can’t find the whole thing, but here’s a single segment I found on vimeo to give you some idea. I think I had it up at one point and Turner very annoyingly had it taken down.

I used to have this massive physical media collection; stuff on VHS and DVD and DVD-R that was meticulously catalogued. I ditched a lot of it in favor of digitizing stuff like this, eternally keeping it on hard drives that I meant to back up but never did. It seems more convenient, but it isn’t. If this were 2003 and I needed to show you this, I would be able to retrieve it from one of my many shelves. I might still have this, but would have no idea where to look for it and it would probably involve me getting in my car and going out to my storage unit and pulling every single box out. I turned it into ones an zeros and stuck it on a nondescript black box that could very well be dead. And now it’s not even on YouTube. Sad? Sure, it’s sad.

PEAK EPHEMERA

(phrase stolen from Grifthorse podcast)

Hey, here are some videos I found on YouTube in case you wanna go down a wormhole of watching old Adult Swim commercial breaks. May the gods of posterity keep them online forever:

February 4, 2002

Spring 2002

June 16, 2002

June 30, 2002

July 27, 2002

August 2002

November 17, 2002

November/December 2002

MAIL BAG:

This ends EPHEMERA WEEK. We’ll do actual episodes soon!

What's the scariest thing you seen on adult swim?

I don’t know if I have a real answer for this. I don’t think I actually get scared by stuff in movies or TV shows. I can’t even come up with a funny answer. Remember the end of that Metalocalypse episode where the little sick girl is dead and her eyes turn into maggots and you hear that screechy voice was like I’M DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!!! I’ll just go with that even though it made me laugh really hard

Ever watch Limmy's Show

I am content just being vaguely aware of Limmy (no, I never watched his show. Seems good).

Please don't do such a big mailbag. I couldn't believe how many r-words wrote inane bullshit to you. Let keep this blog about the real stars: Master Shake, Space Ghost, Brak, Zorak, Meatwad, Frylock, Debbie, Black Debbie, Carl, Sparks, Stormy, Hesh, Moltar, Harvery Birdman Captain Murphy, Dr. Quinn, Paula, Marco,  Brendon, Jason, Melissa, The Mooninites, the Plutonians, Peanut, Coach Mc Gurk, Mentok the Mindtaker, Virjay, Antoin, Colby, Trotter, Adair WE ARE THE UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE :)

I can’t believe this IDIOT doesn’t get that by typing such a long message he very IDIOTICALLY contributed to the length of the Maili Bag... LMFAO, what a IDIOT

This is maybe the funniest blog on tumblr. You really think these nasty little cartoons are special, huh?

Hey than-- oh :( Yeah, I guess so :(

would you like master shake if he did the whole thing

I’m sorry what

[voltrontranscript]

VLD S8E4: Battle Scars

Season 8 Episode 4: Battle Scars

Transcript by @dragonofyang

Summary: In a race against time as a weblum approaches Olkarion, the paladins have to piece together what happened to destroy the once-vibrant planet and all its people as flashbacks reveal the destructive powers of Honerva’s white Altean mechs.

[Google Doc]

Hunk: Okay, that’s the third star system we checked in the last eleven days, and we still haven’t found a single clue about any robeasts.

Pidge: Actually, that was the eleventh star system in the last three days.

Hunk: Was it, really? Oh my gosh. Okay, see, I’m so worn out, I can’t even… you know.

Lance: Uh, count?

Hunk: No. Think.

Allura: I know this is not ideal, but the intel we received from the Galra cruiser in Lahn’s fleet identified one of those robeasts within this quadrant. We must find it.

Keith: Unfortunately, we just don’t know how current that information is.

Pidge: Also, this celestial quadrant is two hundred and thirty thousand lightyears in diameter.

Hunk: I can’t even process what that means.

Pidge: Okay, picture five fleas searching for another flea on a dog that’s the size of Earth.

Hunk: Ugh, all this talk about fleas is making me itchy. Are you guys feeling itchy?

Lance: Pidge, why can’t you and Hunk just make a robeast tracker thingy, you know? Do some math and science stuff. Then put some components together and bam, it’s done.

Allura: Perhaps we should set our heading for the Altean colony.

Keith: We talked about this. To get to the colony, we would have to travel through the Quantum Abyss.

Pidge: Plus, Kolivan said the colony no longer exists.

Allura: But there will be clues there, something to go off of.

Keith: Traveling through that abyss was one of the most harrowing experiences of my life. A single misstep could turn a six-month journey into a ten-year journey. The creatures, the environment, everything in there wants you dead. Except you.

Allura: I’m tired of hearing what we can’t do and what we don’t know.

Lance: Allura, we just want to make the best decisions--

Allura: The Alteans were my people, and the last of them are being exploited as soldiers in someone else’s war. You don’t understand.

Lance: I understand what it feels like to see someone I care about hurt so much.

Allura: I’m sorry, Lance.

Hunk: Okay, maybe we head to Olkarion. We’re just a few galaxies away. They might have some information on any unusual sightings.

Keith: Hunk’s right. Olkarion is a great spot to regroup and evaluate our situation.

Pidge: And it’ll be awesome to see everyone again. I wonder what kind of technological advances they’ve made in the last few years. Oh, man! If they figured out a way to untangle the uncertainty principle, new precision calculations could open the doors to a flood of innovations!

Lance: I think I understood, like, three of those words.

Keith: Allura, what do you think?

Allura: Perhaps a trip to Olkarion is best.

Hunk: Alright! Let’s do this!

Pidge: Hailing Olkarion. Be advised the Paladins of Voltron are en route. This is Pidge… hailing Olkarion. Do you copy?

Hunk: Are they not home?

Lance: Probably too busy untangling calculations. Am I using that right?

Hunk: No, not even close.

Pidge: I’m guessing there’s a delay due to our distance. We’ll probably receive their reply on the way.

Keith: Paladins, if we want to get to Olkarion quickly, there’s only one way to do it.

[Voltron transformation sequence.]

Keith: Engage wings!

Lance: Welcome to Olkarion’s galactic neighborhood. Did we ever hear from them?

Pidge: Actually, no, which is strange. I’ll try and contact them again. Whoa! We got incoming! Something big is headed our way at an incredible speed.

Lance: A Galra cruiser? Some kind of weapon?

Allura: Is it a robeast?

Keith: Shield up!

Lance: What the heck is that thing?

Hunk: It’s a weblum! Keith, look! We’ve been inside one of those!

Keith: How could I forget?

Pidge: Um, what’s it doing?

Hunk: Actually, it’s creating scaultrite. Pidge, you would love it. It’s this amazing chemical process--

Lance: Science talk later! We’re in its line of fire!

Keith: Thrusters!

Lance: Should we go on the offensive?

Hunk: No, no. They may be dangerous, but they’re essential for the universe. Think of them like giant space bees. Keith and I learned all about them from a video that Coran made. There was some rule, like, “If you don’t want to be killed stay away from its gills”?

Keith: That wasn’t the rhyme. It’s “If you don’t want to be dead, avoid its head.”

Allura: We don’t have time to listen to you rhyme!

Hunk: You just--

Keith: Hunk!

Allura: Where is that weblum going?

Pidge: According to my calculations, it’s headed towards… Olkarion.

Keith: Then we better get there first.

[Transition to Olkarion’s surface.]

Pidge: They were our allies, our friends.

Keith: Paladins, I know this is a difficult moment, but we need to get to work. That weblum is headed here right now, so time is short. Our top priority is search and rescue. If there are survivors, we need to find them, and we need to find out what happened here.

Allura: There is only one thing capable of this.

Keith: Well, let’s confirm it.

[Cut to each paladin conducting their search.]

Keith: I think our worst fears have been realized.

Hunk: What do you see?

Keith: The physical wreckage and destruction patterns are just like those on Earth.

Allura: Our findings are the same. It appears the quintessence was siphoned out of Olkarion as well.

Hunk: Lance and I took readings. We picked up trace elements of psyferite. That’s the same metal the creature on Earth was made from.

Allura: Why did this robeast attack Olkarion of all places?

Lance: Maybe because it was a central part of the coalition.

Allura: Maybe. I just get the feeling there’s something more to it.

Keith: You might be right, but we don’t have any way to confirm it. Right now, we just need to focus on finding survivors.

Allura: Pidge, have you picked up anything? Pidge, do you copy? Pidge?

Pidge: I know this place. This is where Ryner taught me how to bond with the forest. The Olkari people helped me to make that connection. I learned more from them than I ever thought possible. Allura, they had so much more to teach the universe. And now they’re gone. Huh? Huh?

Allura: Pidge. Are you alright?

Pidge: You didn’t see it?

Allura: See what?

Pidge: The forest, it was back to how it was before. There were girls playing.

Allura: Maybe this place is trying to show you something.

Pidge: What?

Allura: The Olkari had a profound connection to the land, just like you do. Their history could be etched into the very soil for you to see. Concentrate. See if you can tap into its energy.

[Transition to a flashback of Olkarion shortly before its destruction as Pidge watches.]

Olkari Girl: Come on! Follow me!

Pidge: Huh? We need to get to the city!

[Cut back to the present as Allura and Pidge return to the city, then the flashback resumes with Pidge watching.]

Pidge: Ryner.

Allura: You can see Ryner? What is she doing?

Pidge: The robeast! It’s here! We need to get closer. Ryner!

Ryner: Get civilians to evacuation pods and launch them immediately! Have all military personnel report to battle stations. Scramble the mechs for counterattack. Come with me!

[Cut back to the present.]

Pidge: Ryner. It seemed like she was talking to me. Or it could have been to the soldiers. I don’t know.

Allura: All the answers we’re looking for could be here. We may be able to find out where this beast came from and where it’s going next. There might be some clue here about the Alteans.

Pidge: If there is, I will find it.

Hunk: Guys, we have a, uh--we have a major problem here.

Lance: Hunk released some low-orbit trackers outside of Olkarion on the way in. The weblum just set them off. We have about ten minutes to evac!

Keith: Copy that. Everyone to their lions! Let’s go, now!

Allura: We can’t leave yet. How long do you think you can hold it off?

Lance: Hold it off? It’s a giant space worm! We can’t hold it off. What are you talking about?

Allura: Pidge found a way to tap into Olkarion’s history. She may be able to find out what we need to know, but we need a little more time.

Keith: Alright, we’ll buy you as much time as we can.

Allura: Copy that. Thank you.

Keith: Hunk, Lance, we need to hurry! I got it on scanners. Let’s intercept it.

[Flash back to the fall of Olkarion.]

Ryner: Go, go, go! We need to preserve the information from the communications tower! Keep the beast at bay as long as you can.

[Cut to Keith, Lance, and Hunk in space.]

Keith: We need to get it to divert its course.

Lance: And how do we do that?

Hunk: How about like this? Uh, my idea isn’t working!

Lance: Okay, okay, well, what were the rules with this thing?

Hunk: I’m drawing a blank. I’m not good under pressure!

Keith: It’s still heading for Olkarion! We haven’t slowed it down at all!

[Cut to Pidge and Allura on the communications tower as the flashback continues.]

Olkari Officer: How did we not pick this thing up on our scanners?

Female Engineer: It just appeared!

Pidge: Just like on Earth.

Olkari Officer: How could that be? Wait, bring up our scanner logs. Those anomalies we detected recently. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. The anomalies are from the warping of space-time. This creature came through a wormhole.

Ryner: Transfer all data from this facility to a safe location off-planet, then evacuate immediately!

Olkari Officer: Understood. What we just discovered could save billions of lives.

[Cut back to the present.]

Pidge: It was a wormhole. That’s how they travel.

Hunk: Pidge, Allura! I’m sorry, but you’ve gotta get out of there immediately!

Pidge: I need more time.

Allura: I’m coming up to help.

[Cut to Keith, Lance, and Hunk in space with the weblum.]

Lance: Over here! This way! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Too close! How’d you guys beat this thing the first time?

Keith: We never beat it. Trying to get it to alter its course is an entirely different thing than collecting its scaultrite.

Hunk: Alright, that’s it. I’m calling Coran. Coran, come in!

Coran: Hunk! Hello there.

Hunk: Coran! You’re there! Okay. Um, I’m sorry to make this quick, but we need to stop a weblum from eating a planet, like, right now! Any chance you know how to do that?

Coran: Well, it’s definitely been a while, but in my younger days, me and my cohorts would have a little weblum fun.

Hunk: Coran! We’re kind of in a rush here!

Coran: Right. Let’s see, if I remember correctly, all you need to do--[static hissing]--on the trilo-mutarth, which you’ll find under its dorsal--[static hissing]

Hunk: Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no! Not this again! Our connection is breaking up!

Coran: --resulting in face boils, a runny nose, and cosmic light radiation poisoning. And if you don’t do this, you’ll expand to twice your size and pop like a balvax.

Hunk: Okay, that conversation took a lot longer than I expected, and I learned nothing. Allura, thank you!

Allura: Please hurry, Pidge.

[Cut back to the fall of Olkarion.]

Ryner: Hurry! Everyone on board. It came for something. Find out what.

Pidge: It came for the cubes. Why? Ryner, can you hear me? Do you know why the beast wanted the cubes? Please, talk to me!

Ryner: Hurry! Everyone on!

Pidge: Ryner, please! Ryner!

Olkari Girl: I’m scared. I don’t want to leave!

Ryner: You mustn’t cling too tightly to the past. The Olkari have always been able to adapt and move forward. It is our greatest strength. And it will live on in you.

Olkari Girl: But, our home…

Ryner: The old must give way to the new. It’s the way of the universe. Now please, go.

[Flashback fades away and Pidge becomes aware of the present again.]

Allura: Pidge! Pidge, are you there? We can’t hold this thing off any longer. You need to get out of there!

[Cut to Hunk in Yellow Lion.]

Hunk: There she is! The planet is clear!

Keith: Everyone, fall back away from the weblum!

Lance: It’s… it’s all gone.

Allura: I’m sorry, Pidge.

Keith: I wish we could’ve done more.

Pidge: Thanks, everyone.

Hunk: If you think about it, this isn’t really the end of Olkarion. Weblums eating dead planets is just the first step in a process that leads to the growth of new stars, planets, and galaxies.

Pidge: The old gives way to the new. We need to contact the Atlas.

Allura: Why?

Pidge: Because it turns out the Olkari weren’t done teaching us a few things. They showed me a way to track the robeasts. Their information is going to save billions of lives.

End.

[fangirlauthor]

A Rip in Time Chapter 2

Hello again! Like I said, there’s a link to this work on ao3 if you’d like to read it on there. Check the masterpost to find it. 

Assuming, that is, that future Matt Holt ever stopped eating. It didn’t seem like he would - he was currently shovelling an insane number of donuts into his mouth at high speeds; he was clearly one of two things: extremely hungry, or excited about donuts. The reality was both. Not only was (future) Matt Holt hungry, it had also been a long time since he’d seen a donut, much less had one. 

“Are ye done yet, kid? We’ve got questions.” Commander Iverson glared at the kid - well, at Matt; kid didn’t really fit anymore. 

“Almost,” said future Matt Holt through a mouthful of donuts. “And I’m sure I’ve got answers, Commander.” Swallowing, Matt added, “There’s a lot to go through, so I’m going to need the devices I brought with me.”

“You aren’t getting those until we figure out what they are.”

“They’re databases that I’ve stored visual aids on, Commander. Nothing dangerous, basically the alien equivalent of a stored powerpoint.” 

Iverson shook his head. “Still need to get them cleared first.”

“Then I guess I’ll be eating donuts until you do.”

Iverson practically growled at that. Other Matt, Sam, and Shiro - watching from behind a two-way mirror - glanced at each other and did their best to hold in their laughter. It wasn’t a joke, and if it had been it wouldn’t’ve been a funny one, but confusion has an interesting effect on one’s sense of humor. 

Two hours later, someone managed to stop by with the devices future Matt Holt had brought with him. At that point, Iverson escorted future Matt to the debriefing room where several people - including the members of the Kerberos mission (and Adam, Katie, and Colleen Holt) were already waiting. 

“Alright, kid. What’s this all about?” asked Iverson. “We’d like the short version, please.”

“Of course, Commander. That’s why I needed my trusty visual aids to keep me on track.”

Taking a deep breath, Matt tapped the Altean device, triggering a holographic image of Kerberos to appear. “Everything you think you know is about to change. There’s an entire universe out there - and there’s more to it than we could ever have imagined. Years ago - for me, anyway - Kerberos was the farthest a human had ever traveled. The mission was supposed to be an embodiment of everything we had achieved, of how far humanity had advanced. Instead, it turned into a showing of how little we really knew.” A breath as everyone in the room waited for him to continue. “The Kerberos mission was successful up until a single point - and it was a big one.” 

Matt tapped the device projecting an image of Kerberos, and a video feed began to play. It was the video recorded during the Kerberos mission, the one that had proved to Katie Holt that the Galaxy Garrison was lying to everyone about what had really happened on Kerberos. After it played, Matt had the transmission the Galaxy Garrison had picked up play as well. 

The room was full of shocked faces, Sam, Matt and Shiro most of all - Adam, standing slightly behind and away from Shiro, reached out as if to touch Shiro on the shoulder, stopping at the last moment. 

“What-” Iverson began, but (future) Matt cut him off with a wave of his hand. 

“I’m not quite finished yet, Commander.” He smiled, but it was thin and very clearly fake. Old memories are painful to remember at the best of times, and this most certainly could not be considered the best of times. 

“Once the Galaxy Garrison caught that video and transmission, they told the public a lie - they claimed the Kerberos mission had crashed due to pilot error, and left it at that. A military funeral - closed casket because there weren’t any bodies - was held, during which the,” - here his voice broke slightly - “family members and loved ones were allowed to say goodbye. For the next few years, the world believed that Takashi Shirogane, Matt Holt, and Sam Holt were dead. Some people had suspicions that the Galaxy Garrison wasn’t telling the truth, but most of them kept quiet. My sister was not one of them - in a sense, anyway. She illegally hacked into the Galaxy Garrison’s computers and managed to see that footage before she was caught and banned from the premises. An amount of time later, she ran away and - also illegally - enrolled in the Galaxy Garrison as Pidge Gunderson, and cut her hair to add to the illusion. 

“Another amount of time later - sorry for not knowing the specifics, I was busy trying not to die on an alien ship - Shiro escaped from the aliens that had captured us, the ones known as the Galra. He crashed on Earth, near the Galaxy Garrison. The Garrison wanted him sedated and quarantined, but he had an urgent message and begged them to listen to him. They didn’t but before they could completely sedate him, former Garrison cadet Keith Kogane broke into the Galaxy Garrison and, with help from a few other cadets - including my sister - got him out and safely away from pursuing Garrison forces. 

“There they discovered a secret cavern and an alien ship - the Blue Lion. Shiro, Pidge, Lance, Hunk, and Keith ended up leaving the planet on the ship once it activated for Lance. At that point, they accidentally traveled through a wormhole and discovered what Voltron was. I’m not going to go into specifics of how, exactly, they managed to get there, but know that they did. And the universe is in a much better place because of it. 

“Voltron is a superweapon, and the universe’s only hope. It is made of five mechanical lions, piloted by the five paladins. Because of some strange - we’ll call it magic - known as Altean Alchemy, the lions are practically sentient beings; they choose their paladins, and they activate only for those they choose to. Working as a team, the five paladins - and the lions they are in - can fight separately or form Voltron. The current paladins are as follows: in the black lion, Keith, in the red lion, Lance, in the green lion, Pidge, in the yellow lion, Hunk, and in the blue lion, Allura, who is an alien and not someone you’d know.” Here (future) Matt paused for another breath, ignoring the stunned faces around him. “Don’t worry, Commander, I’ll make this last part quick. 

“Together, the paladins have worked together to save the universe an impressive number of times. They’ve faced robeasts, fleets of starships, and have adapted at an incredible speed for people who were thrown into this world without warning. I’m not going to go into detail about each battle they’ve fought because there’s not enough time, but know this; each of the paladins has proven time and time again that they are willing to do whatever it takes - and I mean whatever it takes - to save the universe. They are heroes, and they are a symbol of hope to the entire universe. 

“Right now, a time slip is occurring - people from my time are going to start appearing here, where you are. This includes some less-than-friendly aliens, but also allies as well. Some chaotically accurate math informed us that I’d be the first here - so, as I have done, I was to inform you generally of what has occurred in the future. I’m also supposed to - and plan on - helping bolster the defenses on this planet so we’ll be a little more prepared when the bad guys start arriving. I’m going to need your full cooperation for this, though - can I expect that, or am I going to have to go rogue again?”

Everyone stared at him, shock coating their features. “I’ll, uh, give you a moment,” (future) Matt said awkwardly, deactivating the device still projecting photos of the five paladins (and Shiro). 

Several moments later, Sam said, “So the first time we encountered alien lifeforms, they were hostile?”

(Future) Matt nodded. “The Galra Empire goes through the universe and colonizes - or destroys - plants and their inhabitants are usually forced to work for the empire. There is a small group of galra known as the Blade of Marmora that the Voltron Coalition works closely with. They’re on our side. Heck, one of their members is a paladin.”

Iverson asked a more pragmatic question. “And there are hostile aliens coming here? Because of this time slip?”

(Future) Matt nodded. “They’re coming, but so are the paladins and the Atlas. There’s not a lot we’ll be able to do to prepare before they get here - assuming Slav’s math is correct - but we’ll do what we can. I’ll do what we can.”

“Alright,” said Iverson. “What do we need to do?”

[amenomiko]

Those Sweet Moments

Nobunaga - Before You Go for the Day

He put on his haori, adjusting it before giving a glance at his wife who is currently lulling their baby to sleep.

"I will be off for the council now."

"Alright, Anata." She beamed a smile. Her usual, adorable smile.

He showed her the smile he only gave to her before pecking on her forehead and caress his baby's cheek fondly.

"Anata..! Wait, wait."

"Hm?"

She tuck the baby on its bed, and rush to her husband to brush on the collar of his haori, and onto his hakama. "I will see you soon, Honey."

He do the same on her hair locks, brushing around it lovingly. "And I will see you." He pull her gently by the neck and kissed her, charging some energy for the day.

Later that day.. "Anata, Hideyoshi will be furious if you are late again."

"...Let him wait." He said and then proceed to kiss her for the 5th time.

Hideyoshi - There's a Dust in My Eye

It was when they are at the market to accompany her with her fabric shopping.

New stock just came in and the moment the shop owner unbox it, some dusts puffed in the air and she cough from it.

Her husband quickly pull her out from the shop, covering her face with his sleeve.

He cupped her cheeks, leaning down to check on his wife. She was still coughing from the dust.

"Here," She pat and rub her back in circles.

"Ow, ow.." He rubbed her eyes.

"Anata-" He immediately pull her to his chest, "Come here, let me have a look." He brush her hair away, blowing softly on her eye. "How was it?"

"Much better. Thank you, Anata."

He peck her nose. "Most welcome, My Love."

Masamune - When She Dry His Hair

Before she could ask, he answered it first.

"It was raining cats and dogs when Shogetsu fell into the pond. Ahahahha~~"

She shakes her head, laughing to her husband. There's no any other day that he won't be reckless so she couldn't do anything about it.

She had helped him with washing his hair, even though he insist he can do it so she can tend to their son.

Yet, she still pull him to sit down in front of her so she can proceed with hair drying. She wrapped a towel all over his head and he let her do what she wanted.

In the midst of it, he took a glance at her wife's face. She is still beautiful even after giving birth for their 4th child, and he would always find himself falling in love, again and again.

She paused as he suddenly grab her by the hand, "Hey, beautiful. May I have the honor to kiss you?"

"..Has fever attacked you already? Permission is never needed when is about kissing your wife throughout our marriage life." She giggled as they shared a kiss.

Ieyasu - Let Me Just Carry You

MC had to go back and forth on that one particular day with her husband, in order to search for the herbs that is suitable for fever, which supply has stopped for a while due to the demands in other towns.

Finally the search has ended, thanks to a barbarian who found MC very beautiful and gave her a huge amount of so called herbs for free.

It nearly ended up into a fight (jealous husband is jealous) because that old man kissed MC's hand.

"We need to get back to the castle as soon as possible to disinfect that filthy germs." He scoffed, and only get a soft giggle from his wife.

"Ah."

She hissed and froze in her tracks.

"What's wrong?" He look down.

Well. Shit. He is too busy searching for the herbs but forgot about his wife's well being. She had followed him here and there until there's a blister around her toe.

"Hya..! Anata- this is embarassing >////<!"

"Stop moving around. Just let me carry you already."

"Who wouldn't be when you are carrying me as if we just got married--" A.k.a bridal style.

"That's fine. So it shows who you belong to."

"Oh, you.." She giggled again as he nuzzle on her nose with pouty lips of his.

Mitsunari - Be careful of that Puddle

"Looks like the rain has stopped."

"Ah, that's a good news. Finally we can bring her to see Neko-san at Ieyasu's Castle." She beamed at her husband who had been cooing over their daughter.

"Yes..! I can't wait..! Because my little princess here has been sad ever since Neko-san is injured right?" Mitsunari beamed to his youngest daughter, pecking her forehead while he's at it.

And so they go, he insisted to carry their daughter on his back, walking side by side with his wife, holding hands like a pair of new lovers.

She was smiling at both of her husband and her daughter, unaware that there's a puddle near to the entrance of Ieyasu's castle.

"Watch out, MC..!"

He automatically carried her away from the puddle. "You will dirty your yukata..!"

"Awww Anata.. am I not heavy for you to carry like this?"

"You are as light as feather, MC." He nuzzle his cheek with hers, laughing with each other.

Meanwhile, Ieyasu who has been watching from the gates be like "Get those things away from my castle. ..Except the baby girl."

Mitsuhide - Tricky

Summer has come to Azuchi that month. The heat is overwhelming, until it gave heat stroke to people.

But then wormhole had appeared. MC decided to bring her family for a vacation in the future.

They had arrived, and they stayed at an inn in Kyoto. Next to the souvenir shop had a small convenient store. Their kids run around happily, and their eldest son volunteer to babysit the younger ones, telling his mother to rest.

"Ooh? They put tea in a bottle? How amusing." Her husband said as he study the packaging. "Would you like to buy one? That is quite famous in my time." He chuckled to his wife. "Famous it might be, you know how I can't taste if it is sweet or not."

"Hehehe. But we still need some water. Even though the heat here is not the same as in the past, we must keep dehydrated right?"

"Of course." He twist the cap open. "Here."

"It's okay, Anata. You drink it first."

He nod, yet he shut it tight and it took her attention. "Anata, why-"

Her eyes followed the moment he drop the bottle from his hand and before she could catch it--

He pulled her by the hand to his chest and kissed her deeply. She gasped as she pulled away, hitting his chest from embarassment. "Mou..! You and your tricks >/////<!"

He chuckled, lifting her chin again to give another kiss.

As for their children, including the younger ones, could only shake their head to their father. "We want mother to rest and there he goes (-ω-；).."

Kenshin - Feed Me

Everything is annoying that day.

Shingen and his non-stop blabbering about women.

Sasuke escaped his attempt to attack.

Yukimura helped with his escape.

His eldest son refuse to train with him.

His daughter said "I'm busy Father, I have a tea ceremony with the girls. Besides, swords fighting can be done other time."

"Other time? What if you need to protect yourself? What if-"

"No more "What If's" alright? See you later, Father~"

So basically he was sulky. Pouty. Salty. Soury. MC had noticed this and she had gone to the kitchen in advance. "....MC." There he is. As predicted.

"Hello Honey~" She wave her hand, calling for him to enter the kitchen as she pull out a jar of sweet plums. "Perfect timing. Here..!"

He is still pouting. So she tap his chin softly. "Anata? Open your mouth, I will feed you."

"....Hn." He crossed his arms. "I will eat it if.. You feed me with YOUR lips." She blinked, and a smile curved on her lips. "Alright~" She put the plum halfway in her lips, lifting her chin with a closed eyes.

He snake his hand into the back of her hair, pulling her to kiss, as well as to eat the plum together with her, which it took a few minutes. "..It's delicious." He smirked. "....MC. Let's make another one."

"Hm? Feeding you?"

Ample silence.

She gets it. "...Ah.."

Shingen - She Belongs to Me

Both of them took a short trip in the future. The moment they arrived, they blend in with the other citizens, well, by changing into casual clothes obviously.

MC wore a soft pink floral lace dress, knee length, and a Fedora. He wore a denim, almost similar like the ones he wore when he went to the future for the first time.

His wife is gorgeous and beautiful. Not only to him but for the others as well, he realized those eyes around them just couldn't budge even when she is looking at him and only him.

She may think Shingen calling him as Goddess is just mere way of calling someone he loves, but to him, it's a real deal. She is his Goddess and always will be. For infinity.

One of the passerby take a video of them, and MC were nervous about it. She whispered to him that that person is an editor for fashion magazine; she ever come across him during her job interview.

He hummed at it and took the opportunity to call upon her. "Hm?" That same moment..

He took her hand, kissing on it and carry her to his chest, then gave a wink to the guy. "I'm sorry. My wife is for me and not for your entertainment."

"Awww Anata~" She kiss him on his nose, hugging him around his neck.

Few weeks after that, their picture is all over in a magazine with the biggest headline of "Perfectly Dressed and Loving Couple of the Year".

Yukimura - Just Kiss Me Already

His shoulder drooped as he walk along the way to his bed chamber, "Just how long I could reach for the room.." He mumbled under his breath.

Things has been busy lately. He wanted his wife more than ever. He wanted to hug her, kiss her, cuddle with her. He only want her. No food, no drink, no sleep. Well he might need a sleep for a bit.

But he is lacking from his wife's attention. He wanted to have his daily argument with her, he wanted to tease her. Yet every time he is done with the duties for the day-- he only came back to sleep. Or maybe passed out at the war council hall.

Today, FINALLY today..! He get to spend time with his wife. *gasp* There she is..!

"M-MC..!"

*BAM!*

He bumped onto the wall instead (too tired to notice it was there).

That night he got no hug, no kiss, no cuddle, only to face with a swollen forehead. "Nnn.. MC.."

"Yes, Honey?" She dab a cold cloth on his wound with a giggle. "..Kiss me.."

"..I guess it must be the concussion effect." She nodded, "..For my husband to ask for a kiss.. Hmm.." She nodded again.

"Stupid..! Just kiss me already..! I'm so tired I can't even-- mmn..!"

She pulled away with a grin. "Much better?"

"...More. That's not enough-- mmn-"

She poke his nose. "More?"

"..Hnn." He take her by the back of her neck.

"More." And they shared a very deep kiss that night.

Sasuke - Pampered by You and Only You

As a Ninja, he had to be alert all the time.

Except..

When his wife is in his company. He would let himself relax around her. She is the love of his life afterall, nothing can change the fact.

His cool composure would break in front of her and all his demand (yes, demand) of getting her attention and affection will be shown clearly when they are alone.

Right now, he is cleaning his kunai, with his wife wrapping a bandage around the wound on his wrist. "Honey, could you move here a bit? I wanted to wrap it around here." So he did. He watched from the moment she started a new bandage until it is finished. He had been admiring his wife.

So beautiful, so elegant... Cute too.

His face eminates "Ahhh I love you MC. I love you, I adore you, I love you." all over. MC realizes this but since she is used to it, she let him do what he wanted to do--the years of marriage has make her think that it's just a daily thing that will happen so she won't be embarassed anymore.

And..

"MC-"

She kissed his nose before he could say anything. He nod, adjust his glasses, "A kiss on nose, check."

Chu. "On cheeks, done."

Chu. "On forehead, done."

Chu. "On the jaw, done."

"Oops- hehehehe." She giggled as he pushed her down onto the mat. "A kiss on the lips?" She asked. "...A kiss on the lips."

"Mmmn.." Both of them embrace each other tightly as he rest his forehead on hers. "...3rd member for ninja squad?"

She smiled softly. "Why not?"

"...Gosh. I love you." He peck all over her face and neck after that.

[nctinfo]

[TRANS] WayV’s interview with Leon Young July 2019 issue!

Their musical style changes frequently, sometimes extremely gentle and loving, sometimes explosive and fiery. The seven boys are like seven completely different gems, difficult to gather in the first place, and yet still able to radiate a unique and harmonious light, invoking surprise and curiosity.

KUN | Capricorn leader, full points for his leadership

Blood type: B Star sign: Capricorn Favourite food: Beef Favourite music genre: R&B I am Qian Kun, a treasure boy, waiting for you to unearth.

Qian Kun, who yearned for the skies since young, has a hobby for researching on planes, collecting model planes and also playing flying games. “I especially like to sit on the plane, every time we travel by plane I will take videos of the clouds in the skies through the small circular window.” Other than being a singer, Qian Kun’s biggest dream is to be a pilot. In WayV’s newest single <Dream Launch>’s MV, he could experience his “space obsession” —— traveling through space and time with the wormhole, and launching his dreams towards outer space.

As the leader, he can’t be this imaginative every day. In the team, all seven boys have distinctly different personalities, so collecting everyone’s different opinions, and bringing all the members closely together, will be impossible without impressive leadership capabilities. “Teamwork” is WayV’s team spirit, and Qian Kun is everyone’s “gege” that they admire and listen to.

Kun is very good at writing lyrics and composing, and when asked where his inspiration comes from, his words were quite shocking —— when he’s showering. “Often when I’m showering, a melody will suddenly appear in my head. I will then quickly rush out of the bathroom in a bathrobe and use the fastest speed to record the melody in my phone.”

Q: When did you realize you have a talent in music? A: When I was young, I would participate in the singing competition in our school every year, and would get first place every time.

Q: Who is your favourite singer? A: Jay Chou, I’ve liked listening to his songs since I was in the first year of primary school.

TEN | Be careful! The smiling eyes are electric

Blood type: A Star sign: Pisces Favourite food: Rice cake Favourite music genre: R&B I am TEN, born for the stage.

Born in Bangkok, TEN particularly loves Chinese traditional food.  His favourite is rice cake, soy bean milk, youtiao (fried dough), and lamb skewers. Every type of food brings him a different surprise, and makes him say “wow, this is good!” every bite he takes.

When TEN was studying Mandarin, the other members were available to be his personal “language teacher”, so he improved at an incredible speed. Other than that, TEN has his own study tips as well, which is to learn Mandarin via watching Chinese variety shows. His favourites are <Running Man>, <Our Brilliant Masters>, and <Back To Field>.

TEN’s explosive dancing is one of the highlights of a WayV stage. He looks very gentle when he smiles, but is shockingly powerful when he moves. TEN says that he mainly trains two aspects of dancing: the first is physical strength, the second is the details of the choreography. He spends at least an hour in the practice room every day doing push-ups and planking, amongst others, then practices specific dance moves after completing physical training. Because perfect movements must have good muscle control as a foundation.

Q: What is your favourite sport? A: Badminton.

Q: How have your parents supported you in your career? A: They respect my decisions very much, and let me freely do what I like to do.

WINWIN | Dancing elf, more charming the more you appreciate

Blood type: B Star sign: Scorpio Favourite food: Shrimp Favourite music genre: R&B I am WINWIN, a guy that gets more and more charming the more you look at me.

“I’m slightly introverted, but others in the team always bring me lots of joy, so I feel like I’ve been ‘opened’ by them.” Though WINWIN appears to be mysterious and cold, he’s actually very soft-hearted. His favourite thing to do is to watch movies, listen to songs, and chat with his fellow members in the dorm.

WayV has a tradition of watching a movie together in the dorms every week. They would discuss the plot after the movie and share their own thoughts and realizations. Additionally, they also regularly hold “meetings” to share their own worries with other members, while providing suggestions to others. WINWIN likes to turn off the lights and light some candles when this is going on, creating a relaxed atmosphere around everyone.

From the time he was a primary 5 student, WINWIN studied traditional Chinese dance. Years of dance background gave every move he makes a sense of calmness and elegance. Dance has a priceless meaning to WINWIN, “it is the basis of my everything, dance is what brought me here today.”

Q: Which song from the new album do you like the best? A: <Let me love u>, it’s a love song from us to the fans.

Q: Which of your facial features are you most satisfied with? A: Eyes. The outer corner of my eye tilts up slightly, and seem to have a classical beauty.

LUCAS | Clever and mischievous, imaginative and unrestricted.

Blood type: O Star sign: Aquarius Favourite food: Apples Favourite music genre: The quietest music and the most explosive music I am LUCAS, thank you to all the people who like me, you’re all really cute!

“Comparing before and after I joined WayV, the biggest change I made was learning how to take care of my younger brothers.” LUCAS says he used to always have the image of a “younger brother”, but after joining the team and facing members younger than he is, he naturally upgraded to become others’ “older brother”, and knew more about how to understand and help others.

At 183cm, LUCAS has a tall and straight figure. Coupled with big eyes that seem to be able to speak, his features make fans swoon. LUCAS, as someone who has lots of visuals and even more style, has been nicknamed a “walking poster”. When asked about his method of selecting and matching clothes, he has much to say, “we have to first understand our body before we can better match our clothes, and not just follow the trends.” He thinks colorful clothes can help add colour to the city, and if everyone can wear their own style, then the whole city will have a unique style to it.

Aquarian LUCAS always comes up with strange ideas, for example, he says that when he listens to music, he can not only hear the melody and rhythm of the song itself, but also the feelings of the composer and lyricist, and even how the drummer looks when they drum on the backing track. He also frequently lies down on the carpet to think about “the difficult questions in life”, like “the fans do so much for us, what should I do to let them feel our love too?” What is the answer? It is very simple, and also very pure - make even better music, which makes them happy after listening to it.

Q: What is your biggest wish lately? A: For WayV to hold their own concert, and interact with the fans with no distance between us.

Q: What would you like to remind the fans of? A: Eat more fruits, you can absorb many natural vitamins, which is more effective and healthier than taking vitamin tablets!

XIAOJUN | Honey voice, difficult to forget

Blood type: B Star sign: Leo Favourite food: Sour candy Favourite music genre: Ballad I want to be magic, I want to be bigger than I am.

“Take Off” is XIAOJUN’s favourite from the new album, “Even if I have no wings, I still want to fly, courage is needed to face your dreams. This is similar to my current state of mind.”XIAOJUN’s voice is not one to be easily forgotten, it’s crisp and hoarse, yet soft and dense; it’s fine, and gentle - he’s referred to by the fans as “honey voiced”.

XIAOJUN has been obsessed with music ever since he was a child, and usually likes to quietly practice singing by himself. Even though he is now a member of an idol group, and has to frequently face many busy announcements and tough rehearsals, he still persists in at least three hours of vocal practice every day. How does he protect his “honey vocals”, then? XIAOJUN has his own good practices, of course. “I drink a glass of honey water when I get up every morning, this can reduce heatiness, and moisten the throat.

”Though skilled, XIAOJUN admits that he is very nervous before meeting fans. Not long ago, WayV participated in Hunan Television’s “Happy Together”. When shooting the episode, many WayV fans went to the location of the shoot to support them. “Even though I look calm and collected, my heart is beating wildly. But on that day, the moment the curtains opened, I saw many fans holding boards with our names on them, heard them screaming and shouting our names, and only then did I really calm down.”

As someone who newly debuted, XIAOJUN thinks that luck was most important in him becoming a member of WayV, and that it was intended by the heavens. But he still wants to tell the juniors who carry their dreams and want to debut that, “you cannot lack in luck, but behind luck, you have to have an extraordinary amount of hard work. Luck will only find you when you transform your talents into skills.”

Q: Your eyelashes are long and curled, what’s your secret? A: Actually, you don’t have to take extra care, just use warm water to clean everyday, and don’t rub roughly when you wash your face.

Q: Amongst life’s sourness, sweetness, bitterness, spiciness, and saltiness, which is your favourite flavour? A: Sourness, it gives the tastebuds a curious feeling.

HENDERY | Curious BOY, always “unlocking” new skills

Blood type: O Star sign: Libra Favourite food: Chicken feet with fermented black soy bean paste Favourite music genre: Hippop I am HENDERY, who likes the colour pink.

HENDERY has a new wish recently, and that is to learn to play the jazz drums. He’s roommates with TEN. One night, he unknowingly started to play a beat as TEN sat on his bed and played the guitar. So TEN told him, “you can learn to play the drums, then we can perform together.” This sentence ignited a small flame in HENDERY’s heart, so he resolved to learn to play the jazz drums and was unstoppable afterward. He would go online to watch tutorials on jazz drums when he was free, and frequently forgets to eat because he was so absorbed.

HENDERY always likes to try new things. For example, before joining WayV, he didn’t frequently have hotpot, but was influenced by everyone and loves hotpot like no other now! Whether Hong Kong-style, Sichuan-style, or Chongqing-style, if it’s hotpot, he likes it! “If we have time, we go out to have hotpot twice a week! And it’s seven of us together every time!”

Looking back at his biggest change since debut, HENDERY thinks that his stage experience has become more diverse. He used to focus on the training itself but rarely paid attention to showcasing on stage. However, recently, he frequently finds and watches past performances by the group to re-assess himself on stage from a fan’s perspective. For example, when watching these videos, he would find that at one beat where he focused on a body angle, the camera was focusing on facial expressions instead - amongst his replays, HENDERY keeps working hard to find the best feeling on stage.

Q: The fans call you “Disney prince”, what do you think about that? A: Thank you all~ But I don’t want to be just a “prince”, I would instead like to showcase different sides of myself in songs.

Q: What do you hope for WayV’s future? A: I hope more people listen to our music, watch our dancing, that’s all.

YANGYANG | The most doted on by the group, the maknae is very busy

Blood type: O Star sign: Libra Favourite food: Hotpot Favourite music genre: melody RAP I am YANGYANG, easy-going offstage, perfectionist onstage, this is my “duality”.

As the “maknae” of the team, YANGYANG is the recepient of much love, and is always taken care of by the other members. “Uh…I am indeed a little mischievous sometimes, like when I purposely wake others when they sleep, but they never get angry at me.” WayV haven’t debuted for long, but they have completely become family from brothers, always looking out for one another. For example, when everybody goes out to eat, they would always ask the youngest brother what he wanted to have, then everybody would go according to what he liked.

The fans’ warm-hearted actions frequently touch YANGYANG deeply. Sometimes, when a new song has just been released, the fans still sing the song with them word for word at live performances. “They must have listened to it many, many times, this makes me feel really warm.”

<Say It> from the new album makes YANGYANG particularly excited, as it is the work of renowned band London Noise. YANGYANG has been a huge fan of London Noise since he was a child, and this time, he was able to sing what his idols made for him, so it’s a dream come true!

Q: Other than music, what is your biggest interest? A: I love car racing, my dad and I would go go-karting every weekend when I was little, I really like the feeling of a competition.

Q: Why is it that you can maintain a perfect body while loving to eat hotpot? A: Sorry, I just can’t gain weight, haha. But I usually workout to maintain my strength too.

Translation: Jess, Seol @ FY! NCT (NCTINFO) | Source: Leon Young — Do not repost or take out without our permission!

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Lance didn’t see it as running away. “Running away” suggested he could run, not simply rolling himself around in the wheelchair that Shiro insisted he use until he was safely out of sight. He hadn’t given up his baby sitting duties, not once Krolia was released from the pod, nor when Curtis was released. His friends were all being overly careful not to mention Keith’s status. A status that had only sent him into a deeper pit of depression. After a movement in the damn pod, Keith had finally been released. Lance should have been happy, his husband was released after all... only, he hadn’t woken. One quintant ticked into the next, then the next... and the next, and into a whole new movement. Keith had been left in a coma, despite being placed into a pod within vargas of the attack. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. He could touch him. He could hold him, but no matter what he did, Keith wouldn’t respond. Now Lance was striking out on his own... through a series of what Keith would call “bad choices”. First came disregarding Shiro’s insistence that he rest. Keith was moved into the same room as him and Curtis, and after what had felt like a movement of hellish torment, all he’d wanted to do was curl up with his husband. At the time, no one had predicted that Keith wouldn’t rouse from his stint in the pod. Cuddling into him, Lance had been determined to be there when he woke. Then when Keith hadn’t, he’d gone slightly mad... slapping his unconscious husband hard across the face when he refused to wake up and show him those deep amethyst eyes he loved so dearly. Shiro had pulled him off, ordered him to sleep in his own bed, livid with him for his actions. That was when he started planning. Feeling guilty that his boyfriend had woken when Keith hadn’t, Lance had managed to get his comms returned to him by manipulating that guilt uncomfortably, he’d then called through to obstetrician and okayed the surgery that he hadn’t wanted when Keith was there to babysit him and keep a watch for any symptoms he may miss. Surrounded by friends and family, he shouldn’t have felt as alone in his pregnancy as he did. Without Keith to ground him, he felt lost and reckless. He had no idea what to do or what choices to make. He didn’t have the right words to make everyone around him feel better. Pity was plastered on the face of everyone who’d visited him, Zethrid and Ezor were no exception to that. No one wanted to look him in the eyes, leaving him feeling like he was a leper shunned from society. Shay has tried to perk him up by finally asking what an Earth wedding was like, that soon came to an end when Shiro shooed her off “because Lance needs his rest”. He didn’t need rest. He didn’t want rest. He didn’t want Shiro pestering him over if he wanted Coran or Miriam to come stay with him while he was confined to his hospital room. His Mami had made it very clear that she wanted him to come back to Earth while Keith lay there comatose. Veronica had explained everything to her, he could see it in her eyes as when they’d spoken. The way she paused that fraction of a tick too long as she tried not to reveal the truth of the matter to him. Everywhere he looked was another “betrayal”. None more so than his husband who refused to wake up.

“Sneaking” out the infirmary as everyone slept wasn’t easy. Shiro heard the creaking of the wheelchair when he’d climbed out of bed jolting awake mid-snore to ask where he was going, Lance smoothly lying as he stated he was going to pee. His catheter had been removed when they finally let him shower himself, and he wasn’t afraid of blood so his IV cannula was soon removed too. They were someone else’s problem. With the bathroom next to the room’s door, Shiro didn’t move from Curtis’s side as the door let out its usual soft whoosh. Kosmo’s nails clicked on the stone flooring as his fur son stayed by side. Once sure that his footsteps wouldn’t arouse suspicion, he climbed from the wheelchair only for Kosmo to growl at him until he sat down again. His wolf was a dirty rotten traitor, but he also knew how well loved he was and how to use those big puppy dog eyes on him. Rising slower, Kosmo growled again, his mouth finding Lance’s hand in an attempt to stop him

“I know. I know, Kosmo. I have to go. It’s for the sake of the twins”

Kosmo may be the dumbest wolf in the universe, but that was only when he wanted treats and pats. Lance knew he understood everything perfectly. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t react to situations he did. Whining at him, Lance ruffled the fur between his ears

“I know you don’t like it, but it needs to be done... I can’t stay here. It’s... it hurts too much. I keep waiting for your dad to wake up, but he’s left me here and I can’t go with him or to where he is... I’m not strong enough to keep watching over him like this... he won’t wake up... no matter what I do...”

Kosmo whined at him, not happy he’d left the company of the others but Lance had made up his mind. He was falling apart from the inside out. He knew he was breaking in an entirely different way and to stay would only cause troubles.

Creeping through the corridors, Lance headed to Keith’s quarters. He had clothes at the outpost, but he needed his work comm back. Shiro hadn’t let him have that one, so when Krolia had lent him her comms to show him a video of Kolivan sitting up and snoring with Korra asleep in his arms, he’d set up permission for him to take a pod and have wormhole to Erathus opened. He felt guilty betraying her, yet he’d never get off the damn planet if he hadn’t. Opening the door to Keith’s quarters, he jumped visibly as he was caught in the act. Krolia was sitting on Keith’s bed, Korra and Kolivan not there to witness his shame

“I had a funny feeling I’d be seeing you tonight”

Rubbing his stomach to hide how much Krolia had scared him, Lance stared at his baby bump, suddenly fascinated with the fabric of his plain black top

“What are you doing here?”

“I was notified you’d left the infirmary. I’m well aware of the arsenal that Keith keeps under his bed. I cannot allow you see Krystaal in your current state of mind”

Krolia thought he was going to see Krystaal? Dios knew he wanted to. He wanted to shoot the arsehole in the face, but he was smart enough to know that he couldn’t get down there to see him without everyone knowing

“Who said I wanted to see him?”

“Lance...”

Lance shot her a glare. He was tired of all this tiptoeing around

“Krolia”

“You should be resting...”

“I’m done with resting. I’m sick of that room”

“You haven’t...”

“I haven’t what, Krolia? Go on. Tell me what I haven’t done. Tell me what I don’t know. I’m done Krolia”

“Lance, Keith wouldn’t want you...”

“He wouldn’t want what?! He wouldn’t want me talking to Krystaal? He wouldn’t want me talking to the piece of shit who put him in a fucking coma?! He wouldn’t want me being treated like I’m made of glass? What am I supposed to do? He might never wake up! And none of you are treating me...”

“We’re worried about you. You were doing so well. Then you took my comms and scheduled a wormhole to Erathus. What were you going to do? Kill Krystaal? Take him hostage? He’s not talking to anyone”

Lance let out a bitter laugh, twisted with a touch of madness

“Of course this has to be about Krystaal. You couldn’t imagine it being about anyone else, could you? I was doing well? You mean I was keeping my damn mouth fucking shut and letting all of you decide everything for me. Tell him the damn truth, Krolia. Keith won’t wake up. He might never wake up. He’s as good as dead”

Flying off the bed, Krolia stormed over to him, slapping him across the face. Shocked, Lance clutched his cheek, tears welling and rushing to roll down his face

“I’m disgusted how little you believe in him”

“That sounds about right. I’ve always been disgusting. The only difference is that now you all have Keith to explain it away. Poor Lance. Who do we pass him onto now that Keith’s up and gone? We can’t leave him alone. We can’t let him make his own decisions or even let him leave the planet to see his obstetrician. No. He’s a murderer. Obviously he’s planning the murder of Krystaal! Everything has to always be about Krystaal!”

“You’re the one obsessed with Krystaal! Your medical care has been transferred here”

“You decided that! Keith knew that wasn’t what I wanted. He knew! I’m brain damaged, not stupid. I know I can’t see him. You all this in too fucking fragile too handle it! None of you trust me. I’m done with being treated like this!”

“You’re the one...”

“Don’t you dare turn this back on me because you can’t make him talk! Hack his memories. Inject him with a truth serum. Torture him! Do something fucking more than acting like you care when all you care about is the fact I’m carrying your grandchildren! Rest. You all tell me to rest because I’m pregnant. You tell me to rest because of the twins! Don’t get out of bed because it’s bad for them!”

Krolia grabbed his left wrist so hard he felt as if it was bruising immediately

“You think it’s that easy. I have never seen you act so childish”

“You’re hurting me!”

Growling at Krolia, Kosmo raised his hackles. When Krolia shot him a glare, his cowardly fur son sat, though he kept his teeth bared.

“What’s going on here!”

“Let me go!”

Saint Shiro had found him far too fast, Krolia also seemed surprised that a former Black Paladin’s presence

“I’m taking Lance to see Krystaal. He seems to think we’re all relaxing while Keith remains unresponsive”

Tugging at his wrist, he couldn’t get free of Krolia’s hold. Part of him was seriously starting to panic with his plans being so thoroughly unrailed

“Let him go, Krolia”

If anything, Krolia’s hold tightened causing him to whimper

“He’s given up on Keith. He used my comms to approve a wormhole off planet”

Krolia was so angry that Kosmo growled at her again, pawing towards him as he didn’t know what to do with two of his humans fighting

“Lance? You were planning on leaving?”

Shiro sounded hurt. Great. Just fucking great

“He was planning on taking his revenge of Krystaal then leaving. He’s given up on Keith. He said we should tell Krystaal Keith is dead”

“No I wasn’t! I told you it had nothing to do with him! Let me go!”

Shiro caged him in from behind, reaching around him, his fingers started prying Krolia’s hand off his wrist

“Then what were you doing? You never planned on coming back from the bathroom, did you”

As Shiro’s hands start trying to free his wrist, Krolia let go. Lance clutching his wrist to his chest, with Shiro continuing to remain behind him

“Lance? What were you planning on doing?”

“I have an appointment with my obstetrician... I wanted to go to my appointment but none of you cared about what I want. You took it upon yourselves to decide all of this and to tell me nothing. At least Kolivan as honest with me. He told me what was going on... I came to get a few things because I wanted to do this on my own. I can’t keep watching him sleep. He won’t wake up... I can’t wake him up”

“Lance... you could have talked to us”

“You keep telling me to rest. You keep talking at me...”

“Shiro, his medical care has been transferred here, to us”

Shiro knew his issues with previous obstetrician. He also knew how happy they were to have found someone who treated him like a human

“Krolia, let Lance talk. Lance, you have an appointment?”

Lance nodded, Krolia shifted her weight causing him to bump back into Shiro who placed his hands on his shoulders

“She was... my doctor was formulating a plan to help with the bleeding, if I was still bleeding. And with my medication... and stuff. You know what it was like... but she was confident. We liked her. We were supposed to be planning things together. She tells me the truth”

“You should have told us. You can’t go running off when things get to hard”

“Krolia, that’s enough. Lance, you can’t leave on your own. Did you call anyone to meet you there?”

“How could I when none of you let me have any privacy?”

Shiro sighed deeply. Yeah, Lance was going to hold onto his anger over that. They’d all treated him exactly how he hated to be treated, except for Kolivan but he was Krolia’s partner so it’d be weird not to be slightly mad at him... but he wasn’t mad at him the same time. The man was more awkward than Keith had ever been

“You’re not going on your own”

“Then I’ll call Daehra. I can’t do this Shiro, I’m not as strong as you. I can’t sit here and wait for my husband to maybe wake up... He left me... He wanted... I was bleeding and he chose you... I could feel it and he chose you... when I begged him not to go. If I’d been stronger he... he wouldn’t have had to shield me. He wouldn’t be like this! This is my fault... all my fault. Please... please let me go. I need to know what’s happening with his babies”

Shiro forced him into a tight hug. Still scared from Krolia’s outburst and his throbbing wrist. Disappointment had clouded her expression, he felt sick to the stomach from being the cause of it

“Why do you always keep it inside until it comes to this? I can take you. Curtis is awake, watching over...”

“No. Dios... I don’t want a baby sitter! I don’t need a baby sitter. I want to go. I need to go”

“Lance, you can’t. What if you had a seizure? What if no one was there and something went wrong?”

“Then it happens... if Keith isn’t awake, then what does any of this matter? Everything is broken and once again I came second best to you. We can’t compete with you...”

Each word was a spiteful barb aimed at Shiro’s heart. He was lashing out with words he didn’t want to say but had no way of stopping them now that he’d snapped. He didn’t care if he died mid-surgery. He could be a good father to their sons without him. He couldn’t even take care of himself as they’d all proven

“... I want to go back home. Back to my outpost. I want to go back to where I don’t feel like this... I want my brother... I want Marco... I can’t keep walking on eggshells like this. You won’t let me see, Krystaal. You won’t let me get any kind of closure over why he had to hurt Keith like that... or why he betrayed everyone”

Marco would help him figure this out. Veronica worries too much, as did his Mami. Marco worried but he worried in the right ways... not this “lock down and wrap him in cotton wool” quiznak style everyone else was employing. He didn’t know he’d wanted Marco until he’d said it...

“Krolia, you can return to your quarters. Keith and Lance both decided they were going to Erathus for help with Lance’s pregnancy. Lance had a pretty rough time on Altea, Keith was scared yet excited for his next scan. We need to respect his decision on his pregnancy. However, Lance, you’re not going to get any answers from Krystaal. I can take you to see him, but he hasn’t spoken. In return for taking you, Daehra, and Marco will be required to meet you on Erathus, where I will deliver you into their care myself, and you’ll take Kosmo. He knows when you’re stressing and knows when a seizure is coming on. Keith would want him with you. Also, I want you to see Keith before you leave. I want you to be sure of this. He will wake up. Is there anything here you want to bring him?”

With Krolia in their space, angered by him and his actions, their safe space felt tainted. He knew how stressful being a mum could be, he’d seen it in Lisa and his cousins. Plus she had an empire to run and a son in a coma... and it’d been 25 years since the first time around... There were lots of things he wanted to take to Keith. The blade he kept under his pillow. Keith’s own pillows and his favourite blanket. His own clothes. Photos... ultrasound scans... the thought of them felt like they were making a shrine around Keith’s bed... but...

“There’s a box in his bedside drawer. He’d want that...”

Inside the box was Krolia’s memories of Keith and his father. Keith had needed a little time to sort through the box and find the words he wanted, before he’d finally opened up to him. Laying in bed, cuddled up in Keith’s arms with his back to Keith’s warm chest, his husband had pulled the small pile of photographs out from under his pillow. Lance had no idea that Keith had kept them there. Keith didn’t remember everything from his childhood, no ever did from that age and there came a point where you hear a story so many times that you fool yourself into having that memory, but he’d started talking. Those days when his father would burn dinner spectacularly so they’d settle down and eat cereal while watching cartoons. The times his dad would come stinking of smoke, only to pick him up onto his hip and place his helmet on his head. The times Keith tried to help in the kitchen, sitting on the kitchen bench and bossing his father about. They weren’t all good memories. Memories triggered more memories like an earthquake before a tsunami. Keith growing restless and annoyed at his own tears, spluttering apologies while rolling Lance onto his back and shimmying down to talk to his stomach, telling their twins about their grandfather while Lance played with his hair. His husband content to nuzzle and kiss his stomach as he spoke slowly moving from his father to Shiro, then to meeting him. He was grateful for the memories, though confused and unsure at some points as he’d talked about photos and places. Lance let him talk, for what felt like vargas before his husband finally moved back up to lay by his side, one leg thrown over Lance’s as they shared small and soft kisses. Keith finally able to open up about his life, and his fears of leaving their twins behind. Now he had. Lance wasn’t stupid over how much everyone missed Keith’s presence but they also didn’t need him like he needed his husband. Everyday was a struggle to exist without Keith. He relied on him so heavily to simply be there that without him it was like losing half his body and soul.

“Just the box?”

“Yeah... yeah. He’ll understand”

Bit by bit Keith had left him in, let him fix the pain in his heart until he accepted that his father would be proud of him. More than one nightmare of losing his father had followed, Keith tearfully admitting he missed him beyond words. Lance had promised him that wherever he was, he’d always be watching over him. Having been in space, he’d learned anything was possible... so maybe heaven and hell were a possibility too, or some form of it. He’d told him how his father would be watching over him the same way he’d watch over the twins if anything were to happen. Keith had called him an idiot, but he’d take being an idiot any day of the movement if it meant being there for his husband

“Alright. I’ll get the box. Do you need anything from in here?”

“Just the bathroom...”

“Ok. You go clean up while I get the box and call Daehra. Krolia, I think it’s best you leave now. I’ll check in once Lance is on Erathus”

Krolia looked to him, but Lance didn’t have the words to say. He felt scared of her. Scared of her and her disappointment all over again. To him it felt as if their relationship had been sent right back to square one. She loathed weakness. He was nothing but weak in her eyes now...

Led to see Keith before seeing Krystaal, his husband continued to sleep as Lance kissed him goodbye. His tears dripping onto his husband’s cheeks faster than he could wipe them away, whispers of love against Keith’s lips, even if his idiot husband didn’t deserve it. He didn’t want to leave him behind but he needed space to breathe and to figure out how to live without him all over again. He didn’t know his left from his right with how overwhelmed he was. He loved Keith. He loved him more than all the words he knew to describe his feelings. He couldn’t stop crying as he pulled away from him. Shiro would take over the exercises to stop atrophy from forming, Krolia would take over bathing him. Curtis would read to him, he promised that much as Lance drew in on himself. They had this handled. They didn’t need him there. Tears were still rolling down his face as Shiro led him through the palace. Lance wasn’t sure he knew what he was going to say to Krystaal, he’d given up on having the chance to see him with everyone watching his every move. He still wanted to shoot him in the foot... and slowly move his shots upwards... He also wanted to punch him right his self-centred arseholic face. He also wanted to take the Telula and pick that princess up for a nice long talk, or maybe just launch her out the air lock as she hovered in orbit over her damaged planet.

Reaching the entrance to the cells, Shiro confirmed he had Krolia’s permission with the Galra guiding the hallway. He was mammoth in size, even compared to someone like Sendak, a chill ran down Lance’s spine as he tried to draw away from the man and his strange scent. Pregnancy had made scents a hundred times worse for him, yet with Keith by his side he’d worked hard not to be so scared of each individual Galra’s differing scent. After coping Krolia’s anger, his anxiety left him shaken, and had the man gone to shake his hand he probably would have thrown up on him, or fainted. Both seemed as likely as each other. His skin was already starting to itch with the memory of phantom and unwanted touches by Galra just as big as this guard. A whimpered growl escaped when Shiro placed his hand on his shoulder to silently reconfirm that he wanted this. He didn’t. But he did. He wasn’t sure this was going to help anything, and all it was doing was fuelling the anger he was trying not to give into. He was supposed to be off of Daibazaal by now. He had no idea how much time had passed, but he was sure he’d be cutting it fine in regards to his appointment time. Gnashing his teeth together, Lance was forced to breathe through his nose as he gently pushed forward into a hall of unremarkableness. It’s sterile and cold grey walls were surely enough to drive any prisoner to talking if more traditional methods didn’t work. The walk it’s self was short, only a handful of violet bars flickering through Lance’s peripheral visions before Krystaal was before them.

Sitting on the floor of his cell, Krystaal seemed to be in a mediative pose as Lance and Shiro stood before him. Having had a run in with the same bars previous he knew they’d deliver a small shock if he was to get too close. Hesitant as he raised his gaze from Krystaal’s crossed legs, the first thing he noticed was the carved “y” on his arm. The design crude, cut from the man’s fingernails and bloodied to deliver the full effect. With how Krystaal was posed, and the lingering hues of blood in the air, Lance was pretty confident in his guess that Krystaal had “touched up his work of art” once he’d caught their scents in the hall. He’d thought maybe his infatuation with Keith had caused him to go to such lengths but he’d clearly gone off the deep end

“We’ve come to inform you that Keith passed away approximately three vargas ago, having never regained consciousness”

Shiro’s hand tightened on his shoulder, Lance forcibly removing his hand. No one would stoop so low as to play this hand, no one but him. Everyone else was too damn “noble”, yet Lance found nothing noble about Krystaal’s actions and acted without guilt clouding his conscious. He wanted to hurt Krystaal. He wanted to cut him bone deep

“He sustained catastrophic brain trauma from the last explosion to hit the temple. He was placed into a pod, but the pod cannot restore a brain dead patient. He was held in status until it was ensured that both of his children will live, then removed to be prepared for burial. He also told me about your kiss, and how disgusted it made him feel... to the point he threw up at the memory of your lips against his. Unlike you, my husband was brave, honorable and courageous. He came to me straight after the incident to confess what had happened. He considered you a friend. He took pride in your training and skills. He couldn’t understand what provoked you to kiss him, only that it shattered any and all ties between you the moment it happened. He is dead as a direct result of his actions because you were petty. You will never lay your eyes or hands on him again, nor will you be granted permission to attend his funeral. His children will grow up without their father because of you, and we will go on our with our lives, forgetting you existed. We have no hate for you, only pity. Your actions cost the life of one of the hopes of the universe and for that you will stay locked in here. Banishment is too good for you. The princess already admitted her part in the plan, you’ve been shamed across the galaxy for your attempts to ruin Keith’s life and memory. If you think that mark on your arm scares me, it doesn’t. How could an uneducated half breed as yourself understand what that mark ever meant? I hope you enjoy what crippled freedom you think you retain. And I hope the memory of Keith’s kiss sustains you, is branded on your soul like a brand from an iron. Because your kiss sentenced him to death. I’m done here. I only came to tell you that my husband is gone”

Krystaal’s need for superiority overruled his held tongue. Lance knew he loathed him every bit as much as he did Krystaal

“If Keith was dead, you wouldn’t have come down here to see me. You’re not that kind hearted, Lance”

“You’re right. I’m not. I’m a murderer who’s killed a lot more people for less than what you’ve done. Keith, on the hand, was. I’m telling you for his sake”

“Why would I believe anything you say?”

“No one said you needed to believe me, but the fact you broke your silence means your worried that it’s true. You’re not the strong silent schemer you thought you were. There’s no strength in holding your tongue when the object of your insane and petty jealousy is no longer around. I’m leaving Keith’s here with his family, and don’t see myself returning. My children and I, my family, will be returning to live in the place he wanted to settle down in. I don’t care what you think, I’m done with you. We’re all done with you”

The human mind was amazing when it wanted to be. The coldness Lance projected stilled his racing heart and dries his tears. Everything he’d felt up until that point seemed to vanish away as his face settled on a rather neutral expression. None of this meant anything particularly. He felt no stab of pain in his heart as he described Keith as gone... just a kind of emptiness where that pain should be. Turning, he started to walk away from the cell

“Don’t you walk out on me! You didn’t deserve him! You ruined him! I’m glad he’s dead! Being hated by him to the very depths of his soul means I was never far from his mind in his last thoughts. You’re nothing but a murderer and a whore. A piece of shit stuck to the bottom of his boot! He told me he didn’t even wish for you children! He didn’t wish to be entwined that way with you. He very rarely spoke of you until you returned to ruin him. You might believe he loved you, but if he hated me as you say, then I was in his thoughts as he died and that ultimately means I meant more to than you. You’re an abomination of nature. It’s laughable that you were ever a Paladin”

“You know, for a guy who you say you hate, you seemed to love talking about me. You seemed to really love stalking me. Slandering me across the intergalactic media. Yet, you still mean nothing to me. Klearo means more to me than you. So maybe that means you’re simply so insignificant that I’m going to forget you the moment I walk out the door. You went after “Daibazaal’s Shining Prince”. You have no friends left in the universe, no, they already confessed when they learned of Keith’s condition”

“Keith should have been with his own kind!”

Continuing to walk, each step grew a little easier as the weight on his shoulders lessened. He wouldn’t be surprised if Shiro called to tell him Krystaal had taken his own life sometime over the next few quintants. Keith would grieve, because his husband was a caring idiot, but Lance... he held no sympathy for him.

[mischiefandspirits]

Iron Legion (11/?)

Never let it be said that Tony Stark ever does things by half. He might have grown up with little family, but he wasn’t about to keep it that way.

Tony Stark was seventeen when his first child was born, and that was just the beginning.

For Masterpost, AO3, and Fanfiction

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Big Buff Uncle, Part 2

“What is going on?” Loki snapped.

“The arc reactor has gone dead. The drain must have been too much for it,” Selvig said.

“No, the reactor was supposed to be the key.” Loki turned away from the man, staring out at the city. “Someone else is in the building,” he said after a short time. “Find them.”

“Yessir,” his men called out before marching away.

“You two,” he turned to a pair of scientists. “Get the reactor back on!”

They nodded and rushed off.

He grabbed one of the communication devices they used and marched down into the building. He came into the hall that looked out onto the balcony and held the bar. He started to pace, tapping the staff against the floor every so often.

The lights flickered on and he smirked. “Tell me what you’ve found!”

“Scout team one reporting in. Nothing on our levels.”

“Scout team two reporting in. Nothing on our levels.”

A few more teams sounded off until the man who had taken charge in Barton’s place gave the all clear.

“What about the scientists that were sent down to the reactor?” he asked, not having heard from them.

“They didn’t have comms, but my team checked the level personally and they’ve done their job.”

“Then -”

“Scout team ten reporting in, we’ve got -” the man cut off with a yell.

“Scout team ten, what’s your status?”

There was a moment of silence, then, “Scout team ten reporting in, false alarm.”

Loki rolled his eyes. “Selvig, the device?”

“Powering up as planned.”

“Good.” Loki turned and saw Iron Man approaching. He smirked. “Let the show begin.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m in range, sir.”

“Great. Mute comms.”

The comms muted just as F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s voice rang out. “Boss!”

“There’s my girl. Where are the others? And can one of you shut down the arc reactor?”

“The baby-bros are safely hidden. Star-Sis is currently engaged with one of the teams searching the building. Correction, she has just defeated them. She’s been systematically taking down all the invaders since Mini-Bro accidentally revealed there was someone in the building.”

“Is she okay?”

“She has taken no damage and her actions have gone unnoticed for now.”

Relieved Tony flew up so he was level with Selvig.

“Sir, the arc reactor has been switched to manual control, I can’t shut it down,” J.A.R.V.I.S. announced.

“Keep Nebula off the top floors,” he ordered before opening up the line. “Shut it down, Dr. Selvig.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Boss instructed me to keep you off the top floors.”

Nebula turned to see F.R.I.D.A.Y. draped over a holographic couch in the penthouse living room, watching the news.

“Outside communication’s working then?”

“Yup.”

“Are you going to stop me?”

The video changed to a soap opera. “Would you listen if I tried?”

Nebula smirked and continued up the stairs to the roof.

“I should probably warn you, it’s going to blow up in a few minutes.”

She turned to glare at her sister. “Why?”

A milkshake appeared in F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s hand and she drank it instead of answering.

Shaking her head, Nebula ran up the stairs. She looked over the roof and saw that the only things up there were a man half-unconscious on the ground and a device connected to the wormhole above the city that started to shake and spark as she watched.

She marched over to the man and picked him up. “Time to go.”

“The scepter… Loki’s scepter.”

“No idea what you’re talking about, nut job.”

“You need it to close the portal.”

“Doubt there’s going to be a portal in a few minutes when that device goes boom.”

Nebula was halfway down to the next level when the explosion knocked her off her feet.

Groaning, she picked herself up and then did the same for the man, carrying him down into the living room before laying him on the bar to check him over.

“You need to go,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. said, appearing at her side.

“Why?”

A smash had her turning to see a man lying on the balcony. A second later the Hulk jumped up to grab the man and smash through the windows into the living room.

Nebula drew her gun. “Please tell me the Hulk’s on our side.”

“He is.”

“Stay down,” she ordered, pointing her gun at the normal-looking man.

“Enough!” he shouted, getting to his feet. “You are, all of you are beneath me! I am a god -”

Nebula fired and the god was knocked backwards by the arc-powered blast. Then the Hulk had his hand around the man’s legs and repeatedly slammed him into the ground.

“Puny god,” the man scoffed once he’d finished. He turned to Nebula and she lowered the arc-gun with a nod.

“Pleasure to meet you. You’re cousin’s said great things. Please don’t let the aliens kill Mr. Stark.”

The Hulk narrowed his eyes and marched up to her. When she stood her ground, he pointed a finger into her face. “Like you.”

Then he was back out the window.

“Well that was terrifying,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. giggled before moving over to stand over the god. “Hello Mr. Loki. You are under arrest. Say, aren’t your eyes blue?”

He just whimpered.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., don’t torture the prisoner.”

“I swear his eyes were blue in the pictures S.H.I.E.L.D. gave Boss.”

“Just go check on the idiots. I know they’re still in the building.”

F.R.I.D.A.Y. shrugged and disappeared.

Nebula marched up to the man and set her foot on his chest, pointing the arc-gun right in his face. “Stay down this time.”

His green eyes met her own and he nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What was that explosion?” Captain America called out just as Natasha landed on the still smoking roof. “Was that you?”

“No, I don’t know what happened,” she answered, looking around.

“The device exploded,” Tony growled.

“Clearly,” she responded, raising an eyebrow at his angry tone as she searched the wreckage.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” The captain pointed out. “We didn’t exactly have a plan to get through the barrier.”

“Of course,” he said, his voice strained. “I’ll reward the ones who did it as soon as I’m done punishing them for messing with the reactor when they know they’re not allowed near it.”

“I have so many questions,” Clint said.

“Later, ” the captain said with a grunt. “Why’s the portal still open?”

“The tesseract absorbed some of the energy from the explosion,” a female voice said and Natasha drew her gun and spun around to see a young woman standing behind her.

“Who are you?” she said.

“Who was that?” Clint’s voice echoed her own.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.,” the woman and Stark said together. The woman pointed down near her feet where the tesseract sat half-buried.

It was glowing much brighter than in any of the pictures or video she'd been shown and a trail of energy led up from it to the portal.

“The energy is allowing it to keep the portal open without the device, but it’s draining quickly. It should lose the connection soon and then the portal will close.”

“Great so we just need to keep this contained until then. After that it’s just cleanup. F.R.I.D.A.Y., be a dear and have Nebula grab something from the lab to contain the tesseract,” Stark said before giving a hiss.

“She’s currently restraining Loki, I can -”

“She’s WHAT!?” Stark shouted and Natasha’s eye twitched at the volume. “She shouldn’t be anywhere near him.”

“It’s alright. Jenny’s cousin gave him an up close meeting with the floor. He’s thoroughly knackered,” she snickered.

“Jenny?” the captain muttered.

“Knackered,” Clint added in a terrible Irish accent and F.R.I.D.A.Y. scowled.

“Seriously, Stark, who is this?” Natasha asked.

“Nevermind that. Fri, sweetie, how long do we have until the portal closes?”

“Sweetie? I thought his girl was called Pepper,” Clint muttered.

“I’m his daughter,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. said and Clint gave a choking sound. “I can’t be sure, there’s no tell- Wait!”

“Stark has a kid!?” Clint shouted as F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s eyes widened.

“Boss, no! It’s too dangerous!”

“What’s going on?” the captain asked.

“I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it.”

“This is ridiculous! Bring the suit down! Big-Bro can pilot it!” F.R.I.D.A.Y. pleaded.

“No time. Besides, J.A.R.V.I.S. would lose contract the moment the suit’s through the portal.”

“Stark, you know that’s a one-way trip.”

“Jay, mute comms.”

Natasha turned when she heard footsteps and saw Parker had come onto the roof. “F.R.I.D.A.Y., get him out of there!”

“I can’t,” she whispered, staring off into the city.

Parker growled and pulled out her phone as it began ringing. “Don’t you - No! No, you can’t do - Please!” She fell to her knees and F.R.I.D.A.Y. knelt next to her, though she didn’t reach out. “I-I will, but you’re coming back! I’ll go out there and get you if I have to!”

Nebula saw F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s lips move, but she made no sound. She heard screams coming from the phone, though they didn’t sound like Stark.

Then the Iron Man suit shot passed them, flying up into the air and through the portal. Parker dropped her phone. “Please.”

The light connecting the tesseract to the portal flicked and thinned.

“Come on, Stark…” Natasha whispered as the portal began to shrink. The explosion went off, but Stark still hadn’t flow through.

“Boss, Dad, no,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. whimpered.

The portal shrank and shrank, until it closed.

Iron Man slipped through just before it could.

“He’s okay,” Parker’s voice said shakily before she grabbed her phone and put it to her ear. “He’s okay!”

“The suit's not responding,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. said, not sounding nearly as relieved. “Someone needs to catch him! The systems must still be rebooting!”

“Thor!” the captain shouted, but then Hulk was flying through the air to catch Stark, tearing into a building to slow their fall.

“I-I need to go,” Parker said, getting to her feet. “The prisoner’s downstairs. Should probably check on him.”

Natasha nodded and turned to F.R.I.D.A.Y., only for her to be nowhere in sight. She frowned, but turned back to where she’d seen Hulk and Stark land. “How is he?”

There was a moment of silence, then the captain reported in. “He’s alright, making jokes and everything. We’re headed your way.”

“Roger that, meet you there,” Clint agreed.

Natasha sighed then let her feet carry her to the stairs and down them. When she reached what appeared to be a living area, it was to see Loki sitting on the ground in a him-sized hole alongside Parker, both nursing glasses of amber liquid.

“Are you old enough to drink?” Natasha asked and the girl flipped her off before downing the rest of the liquid.

When she turned her focus on Loki, he ignored her.

Parker stood up and poured herself another glass before offering some to Natasha.

“I’d prefer Vodka.”

She nodded and grabbed a bottle off the shelf, handing it to Natasha as she passed on her way back to Loki’s side.

“Who’s this?” Clint asked, coming up beside her shortly later. “Why’s she buddy-buddy with him?”

“We’re drinking to his defeat,” Parker muttered.

“She works for Stark,” Natasha explained, handing him her bottle so he could have some.

“What’s going on here?” Stark said, coming into the room. “Why is everyone drinking my alcohol? I’m not even allowed to drink my alcohol unless it’s a special occasion!”

“I’d say you nearly dying should count as a special occasion, but you do it way too often,” Parker snapped.

Stark pointed at her. “You are not allowed to drink. Besides the fact you’re underage, you’re also on the job.”

“I’m taking vacation time.”

“Don’t you have two scientists to round up before they decide to blow something else up?”

Parker stood up and walked over to him. She looked him in the eye and downed her glass before shoving it into his hand. “Vacation. Time. I’ll be back in a week. Two. I’ll be in Hawaii. Don’t call me.”

She marched out without a second glance.

“Fri, make sure she has everything she needs,” Stark sighed.

“Got it, Boss!”

Natasha and Clint spun around to see F.R.I.D.A.Y. standing directly behind them. Clint, reacting on instinct, sunk his hand into her stomach.

Emphasis on into as his hand seemed to pass right through her.

F.R.I.D.A.Y. groaned, doubling over. “Ow! Oh, that hurt!”

“Stop teasing the super spies,” Stark snorted. “Go track down those two idiots and make sure they’re somewhere safe. And by that, I mean far away from the reactor.”

“Aye aye,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. said, straightening up and saluting her father before vanishing.

“What on earth?” the captain wondered, looking around.

“She was an illusion, obviously,” Loki scoffed.

“Hologram, but close enough.” Stark pointed at him. “Now shut up and stop drinking my alcohol.”

“You offered me a drink,” the villain said before taking another sip.

Stark shrugged. “Fair enough.”

The captain gave them both an unbelieving expression.

“Midgardian alcohol is weak, by the way,” Loki sniffed.

“He’s got a point,” Thor agreed quietly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“But I was supposed to stay with you for the whole week,” Harley whined as he packed his bag.

“Should have thought of that before you decided to play demolition expert with my prototype arc reactor,” Tony snorted. “Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if your mother never lets me see you again.”

“She wouldn’t do that, would she?” Peter asked. “It’s not your fault the aliens attacked here!”

“I should have gotten you kids out of the city as soon as I knew it was in danger.”

“But then you couldn’t have fought the aliens,” Harley said, sitting down on his bag so he could zip it closed easier.

“You kids are my priority, not aliens.”

“But we were fine! Nebula said the reactor room is like a bunker! Nothing could have gotten in as soon as we sealed the door,” Peter objected.

“You mean the reactor room with the dangerous prototype you two aren’t supposed to be anywhere near?” Tony asked, crossing his arms.

“We closed the wormhole!” Harley huffed.

“That was some good thinking, but you should have told Nebula your plan and let her take care of it instead. You guys are ten! You need to leave these kinds of situations to the adults.” He set one hand on Harley’s shoulder and the other on Peter’s head. “Please, you kids and your siblings are the most important things in my life. If something were to happen to any of you… I need to know you guys are safe. If I’m worried you’re getting yourselves into trouble then I can’t focus on doing my job, alright?”

“Okay, Dad,” Peter said.

“Yeah, alright,” Harley agreed.

“Thank you.” He pressed a kiss to both of their foreheads, which made Harley squirm away with a groan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruce hadn’t honestly believed Tony was being serious when he’d offered to let him stay at the Tower, and yet here he was in a temporary lab the man had set up for him while construction on Stark Tower finished.

A temporary lab that was still more advanced than any other he’d worked in.

“Look at you stepping up in the world.”

Bruce turned to the door with wide eyes. “Jen? What are you doing here?”

“Stark flew me out. Practically forced me to come. He seems to think we need to talk.”

He flinched. “I’m sorry about that. I’ll talk to him. If you want to leave y-“

“Bruce,” she said, holding up her hand. “I wasn’t the one that ran off after the transfusion.”

“I figured you’d never want to see me again,” Bruce mumbled.

She came up to him and took his hand. “You saved my life. Of course I wanted to see you again. I’ll admit, it was a bit scary at first, but I’m handling it, same as you. If anything, it might have done me some good. Stark seems to think I needed the, in his words, backbone upgrade.”

He chuckled.

Giving him a wry smile, she continued, “Of course, it might have been easier if you didn’t take off without a word. I get it, though. You thought you had ruined my life. And if you’d stayed, Ross might have tracked you down again. You could have at least said goodbye.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.” She pulled him into a hug. “But if you ever do it again, I’ll kick your butt. I will. I might not be as strong as you, but I’m way smarter.”

“Sure,” he chuckled and she pulled back to glare.

There was a shuffling sound in the doorway and they both turned to see a kid staring at them with wide eyes.

“Oops!” Jen said, blushing. “I forgot, sorry.” She came up to the kid’s side and set her hand on his shoulder. “Bruce, this is Peter. He’s the son of a client. His family’s in town so I offered to bring him over.” She gave a wink. “He’s a big fan.”

He gave an uneasy smile as the two approached. He’d seen some of the people talking (“fanning”) about the Hulk online. Usually it was young kids who liked the destruction he caused (he chose to ignore the other fans). “Hey.”

The kid was still staring up at him with those big doe eyes. “Y-you’re -”

“The Hu-”

“BRUCE BANNER!”

Bruce blinked and looked up at Jen, who was smirking.

That was not what he expected.

“I’ve read all your papers! Your work is so cool!”

That was really not what he was expecting.

“You… read my papers? Could you even understand any of them?”

That came off more condescending than he intended and he flinched. Then he flinched again at the look Jen shot him.

Peter didn’t notice as he’d ducked his head. “Some of it,” he said, blushing.

As if he should be embarrassed at being able to only understand some of what Bruce talked about in his pages at such a young age.

“Kid you’re… How old are you?”

“Ten,” he said, then tacked on, “But I’ll be eleven in August!”

“You’re ten! And you still managed to get through my papers! You must be really smart.”

Peter beamed.

“I’ll just leave you two to your science,” Jen chuckled, moving over to a table in the corner and pulling out a tablet.

“So what fields of science are you interested in?”

“A bunch! Physics, engineering, biology, chemistry is my favorite, especially biochemistry, but don’t tell Dad because he says we’re an engineering family.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So 12 has been revealed as... Kid Loki! It's actually kind of hilarious that it got found out just before this chapter, all things considered. Keep guessing for 8 and 9.

To respond to a few incorrect guesses that have come up a lot (meant to do this last chapter but forgot):

Ultron also isn't a kid because F that guy. I have more reasons, but that's the main one and the rest will come up later on.

Riri is not one of the kids, unfortunately I just don't know all that much about her. Her story or her characterization. However, while researching Viv, I did find out that apparently she has a crush on Riri and kissed her in the comics, so I might look into introducing Riri when Viv's time to shine comes along. She still wouldn't be Tony's kid, though, and she also wouldn't be Ironheart until after Endgame's over at the very earliest because I've already got too many Iron Men flying around in this AU as is (even if you don't count Vision, Vivian, Iron Spider, and Nebula's repulsor cybernetics) so I wanna wait until a few have left before bringing in more. If it does happen though, it will likely be closer to Far From Home since she (as well as a few other characters I've been thinking of bringing in like Miles Morales, Kamala Khan, and maybe Gwen Stacy) could fit into the plot line I have planned for that arc.

[kcwcommentary]

VLD2x09 – “The Belly of the Weblum”

2x09 – “The Belly of the Weblum”

Team Voltron and the Blade of Marmora have been working to craft a plan to fight Zarkon. Allura remains aggressively distrusting of the Galra. Kolivan says he hopes she’ll realize that not all Galra are as bad as Zarkon, and she looks toward Keith and says, “I hope not.” That look makes me uncomfortable.

Lance recounts the plan: Infect Zarkon’s ship with a virus, lure the ship through a wormhole, and then attack it when it comes out the other side. But first, they have to build a larger teludav. Keith and Hunk go to get scultrite. Allura refuses to look at Keith as he leaves. I want to give Keith a hug.

Lance says to Allura, “So, how about a kiss for good luck?” The captions on the DVD even add “smacking lips, moaning” to his behavior as he pokes his lips out. It’s gross that this show keeps doing this with him. Allura’s eyes narrow; she clearly is not interested. Coran – we can tell because of the white gloved fingers – holds one of the mice to Lance’s lips for him to kiss. That the show wrote Coran to recognize Allura’s lack of interest and Lance’s inappropriate behavior suggests that the writers know Lance’s behavior is inappropriate, yet they still keep writing him this way and never have him acknowledge that this behavior is wrong. He eventually gets rewarded for this behavior in season 8 with a relationship with Allura, who again is here clearly not interested.

Lance is going with Pidge and Shiro on their part of the mission. Coran also leaves for his mission. Allura is taking the Castle Ship to the Balmera.

Zarkon is having difficulty sensing/finding the Black Lion. Seems his connection to Black weakens with its increasing bond with Shiro.

Hunk complains about Allura being the one to go the balmera and how everything he does is Galra related. He cites the Galra controlled planet where he got the Yellow Lion and the Galra controlled base on the balmera to get the crystal in season 1. He then complains about the current mission, that he’s going with “the only Galra alien team member.” Keith retorts that he’s not an alien, and Hunk responds, “Well, you’re kind of an alien. You’re way more alien than me. You’re at least some alien. I’m, I’m none alien.” I really don’t like how he’s treating Keith. It shows how despite this show trying to pretend these characters are friends, they don’t actually behave like friends. The way Hunk’s talking to Keith here is mean.

It’s clearly hurting Keith, who says, “It’s bad enough that Allura hates me now.” Hunk tries to say she doesn’t hate him but then concedes that Allura might hate Keith a little because of the revelation that Keith is part Galra. I’m with Keith. The way Allura and Hunk are treating him, I wouldn’t feel wanted on the team either. Keith tries hard to remain professional and suggests they stay on task. Again, I want to give Keith a hug.

They watch some old, “corroded” (that word doesn’t mean what Hunk thinks it means, and as an engineer, he should know a more correct word to use) video of Coran talking about how to harvest scultrite from a weblum. We get a bit of an explanation of what weblums are: some huge space creature that eats planets. “It survives off the… left over from dead planets. It then reconverts the quintessence remnants,” he says. This is more of the show not really defining quintessence. I thought quintessence was in living creatures. If weblums eat “dead planets,” then how is there any quintessence for it to consume and “reconvert?” Coran issues several warnings, none of which are clear in the old video. It’s a contrivance that the video is bad and they didn’t watch it until they were already on-route. Really, the whole planning session earlier should have included Coran going over all this with Hunk and Keith before they left, but the show wants to use the lack of knowledge by the two characters to manufacture plot tension.

They come across some “dead planets.” These are jagged, broken chunks of rock. A planet doesn’t need to be some jagged, broken chunk of rock to be have no life on it, but on this show dead planet = broken rock. Also, if these giant chunks of rock all still amount to minimum threshold of mass, they’ll collectively have enough gravity that they wouldn’t remain jagged, broken chunks of rock but would recombine into a sphere. Either these don’t have enough mass to ever be considered a planet, or they’ve recently been broken into these chunks, in which case they should have significant amounts of molten rock on their surface left over from the process. A rocky planet breaking up is not the same as breaking a rock from your back yard: the planet doesn’t stay a cold chunk of rock during the process because of how much energy is needed to make it happen.

They come across the weblum, or more that it comes across them. It’s large enough that they should have seen it from a distance as they were approaching these broken planet chunks. But they’re surprised. They haven’t finished watching the video. They have been basically sent on a mission for which they have not been prepared. This is not good team management skills nor good mission protocols. Or maybe it’s just contrived writing.

The weblum can apparently create massive blasts of energy. I wonder if in all the 10,000 years of the Empire if the Galra ever tried to weaponize weblums. These energy blasts seem more powerful than any weapon we’ve seen either the Galra or Voltron use. Coron identifies this blast as a “venomous laser.” Those are two words that do not go together. Just because this show, in designing this creature, said, hey let’s have it spit something like venom, but not actual venom, more like a laser, it does not mean that a laser can be venomous. Sigh. The weblum sustains the blast for a long period of time. That’s a massive amount of energy output.

Hunk suddenly demonstrates some really poor piloting skills, slamming into what seems to be rock pillars growing off the surface of the weblum. Hunk and Keith then have to watch the video to try to find out what to do once they enter the weblum. The fact that they don’t already know is ridiculous. Even Hunk says that the video makes their task “under explained.” The words “under explained” could summarize the entire 8 seasons of this show.

Haggar has ordered one of the Druids to “assist” Thace in his investigation into the sabotage. The druid says there’s luxite on the wound of the sentry, which is what the blades the Blades of Mamora wield are made from. That gives them something to look for in trying to find who the saboteur is. The Druid has been ordered to remain by Thace’s side.

Hunk freaks out a bit once inside the weblum, and Keith tries to reassure him, though in rough Keith fashion. I like that Keith cites Hunk’s intelligence as being necessary to this mission. Keith even jokes about Hunk and digestive tracks, and that Keith made a joke impresses Hunk. He then goes on to ruin the moment for me by saying, “Galra Keith is way funnier than regular Keith.” It’s not that hard to understand that Keith hasn’t suddenly become part Galra, that he’s the same person he’s always been.

They get attacked by floating jellyfish like creatures and separated from one another. Keith finds a ship with a pilot still inside. In freeing them, he recognizes a symbol on the pilot’s uniform that realizes that the pilot is Galra. They come under attack by more floating jellyfish, so the Galra causes their ship to blow up while they run away. The narrative fakes the Galra attacking Keith only to grab a sidearm to shoot three jellyfish; it’s a cliché but at least it’s short. They then meet up with Hunk.

When Keith tells Hunk that the pilot is Galra, Hunk responds, “What, do you guys all know each other?” and laughs. I guess with the little laugh Hunk gives, he’s trying to subvert a racist statement into being a joke, but it still just feels like a racist statement. Keith cites the morality of being a Paladin and says that they can’t leave someone to die even if they are Galra. I want to hug Keith again.

They’re attacked again, but parts of the weblum open, and Hunk conjectures that the weblum is trying to get rid of excess gas. Now in position to get the scultrite from inside the weblum, Hunk remembers that he has to get the weblum to shoot its mouth laser to get the scultrite to be produced. In other words, someone needed to be outside this whole time and they… forgot? Also, the weblum had just earlier used its laser, so shouldn’t that have created some scultrite already?

Thace has been able to get away from the druid just long enough to try to do some covert action, but the druid shows up reporting on the first search of some lower decks for luxite. Thace tells him to continue the search, but the druid says he has to stay by Thace’s side. Then why was the druid away doing the search instead of already by Thace’s side? The druid is not consistent. This little scene feels repetitive and unnecessary; it really doesn’t add anything that we didn’t already know from their previous scene. I don’t know if the writers thought it added something, or if it was added to fill time.

Hunk provokes the weblum, it shoots its laser, and scultrite crystalizes. Keith collects several bags full before the Galra pilot points a weapon at him but then leaves. If they were just going to leave, why did they point the weapon? That was a senseless action and false narrative tension.

Keith and Hunk, with their scultrite acquired, leave. As they go, Hunk says to Keith, “I think turning Galra has made you a better human.” I am so with Keith in his anger when he yells, “I didn’t just turn Galra.” I really hate what Hunk’s doing with these lines. Taunts like this aren’t funny, they’re mean. It’s a real-life thing that really bothers me: that people are so careless that refuse to recognize that what they claim is a joke is actually mean, often to the point of being bullying behavior.

[angel-phantomhive]

Voltron thoughts

Thesis:

I was watching videos pertaining to the new Bleach live action and I am pretty excited and scared about it. I wanna pray that it will be better than it’s other counterparts of live action anime. Now, not to discourage people, but live actions don’t get the best rep... Like at all. This movie looks promising.

I was thinking silently to myself while I trailed to the bathroom, What would happen if Voltron had its own live action? That would be fine and dandy, but... I wanna see more people work on this project than the current Voltron writers. 

Listen. Voltron: Legendary Defenders is a good series. Recommended even, but it has so many plotholes here and there that need to be filled up. Season 8 will be coming and if those plotholes aren’t filled, what will happen to the series?! Like, what would be expected for the next version in like 2024 (Just stating a year)? 

Movie ideas:

I mean, in my opinion, I would love to see them walk the same path as V:LD, but add more to it. Hunk, Lance, and Pidge all are young pilots with minimal ability to pilot, shown to us possibly by their records of sorts. Keith is briefly mentioned instead of him being focal when he is introduced. Keith was a high-level student that dropped out due to declining grades and sudden behavioral issues following the Kerberos mission. When news spreads about a man claiming to be Shirogane, the famous pilot who ‘supposedly’ died during the mission,has come back and is spouting alien nonsense about an entire race of purple people (Galra) and he starts panicking about the others, Pidge and Lance are elated to hear about it because Pidge wants her brother (who was introduced earlier in the movie with Pidge’s character as well) and Lance wants to meet the esteemed Shirogane. (They semi-follow the instructions of the first episode with more detail to back up future information).

We get a glimpse of Zarkon and Haggar after the squad leaves the Garrison. Haggar, being a woman with a cloak over her face and bright Alteian markings--maybe beautiful as ever-- informs Zarkon that she has sensed the blue lion after because Shiro maybe has a chip inside them. Like a tracking device, the Galra use on their fighters to always know where they are? Zarkon, elated like a damn child, order for an assault. Much like season 7, the attack is pointed to the Garrison and the squad catch wind of all this. Keith, the conspiracy theory boy he is, has been informing the group about scriptures his father left behind about the blue lion, (after like 20 minutes of adventure) find the blue lion (fast forward the galra attack and chase after them and the decision to go through the wormhole in space), they make it to Altea.

Allura, sexy and beautiful, and Coran, mustache on fleek, are introduced as beautiful, godly beings. They are beautiful and wise, but when Allura finds out about the war, a mini flashback is pulled into her eyes as she remembers the bloodshed, her father fighting and pushing her into a pod, kissing her head, and sealing her away, forces her into shock and the group panic. She starts worrying about the lions, to which Lance makes a sly remark about having the Blue Lion on lockdown, she informs them about the other lions. Coran reminds her of the teledove (isn’t that their projector?) and she cautiously sets her hand down, it bursting to life and turning on the entire castle and showing them the lions. She explains a little more in depth about the lions and the group agree to require them. Shiro, a shook bastard from all dat PTSD, tells Allura he isn’t sure about requiring the machines because the Galra are probably surrounding Earth and they are ruthless (insert bad adjective), but she reassures him that the machines/lions will save them. 

Maybe a few jokes are cracked about why are they all lions and what not and we get some more depth behind characters, action sequences, etc. The paladins get some practice with their lions through the action sequences and maybe a practice montage. 

So this post won’t take weeks to read, the ending ends with a reveal of possibly the squad meeting Zarkon or Lotor, it all depends on how the pacing goes. It’s kinda like a part 1 of maybe a trilogy of movies. I would love if they were like 2 hours or maybe even 2 and a half hours long to put more info in and to kinda bring together all this info in a well-paced movie. 

The movie should at least hint at (and not some bullshit reason too) that Shiro is gay through some added dialogue of Adam roaming through his head, a few flashbacks, or even just a small memento that Adam gave him and a flashback pertaining the two before he left (a kiss), and some cute dialogue. Adam could guest star in movie two by helping the Garrison in the first scene and possibly debating going into space to help his PTSD ridden baby boy.

Conclusion: 

I’m not sure, but this was all subjective and what I think could help the series. This is just a set of what I believe the first movie should be like if they ever make one. God pray they get some new writers to watch the series and some of the true-to-the-fiction writers as well. The producers also better be open for EVERYTHING to happen. Blood (maybe), homosexuality, CGI, death, etc. Also, don’t slap actors into this movie. I want some genuinely A and B-list actors who could pull these characters off. A dark-voiced and malicious-looking/sounding Zarkon, a goddess of a woman Allura, maybe an actual Cuban actor for Lance, etc. Whitewashing isn’t allowed (unless they have the PERFECT * I’m talking finger licking good* actor with experience in acting and amazing appearance to do a character).

Tell me if you think this could be a good pitching idea? I actually kinda like it. 

[kaoruyogi]

How to Win Wars and Influence Nobles (Ch. 25)

Rating: E for Explicit/NSFW Content! 

Check it out on AO3!

You’d think a video game lawyer could just drop into a pseudo-medieval universe filled with magic and demons and be totally okay with it, right?

Nah.

In the wake of her brother, Spencer’s, disappearance, Belle dropped into Thedas with luggage, but without a clue. After a brief but memorable panic attack, she resolved to be the best goddamn lawyer Thedas had ever seen. Even if she was the only goddamn lawyer Thedas had ever seen. And even if that obstinate asshole, Cullen, wouldn’t stop giving her the side-eye every time she walked into a room…Or every time he walked into a room with her in it…Or every time they walked into a room together…Or–Fuck it. You get it.

Chapter 25: What the Fuck Now?

Cullen’s newness to the world was like a second infancy. It was adorable and impatient, sweet and frustrating. He had questions about everything in their first month of living in Orange County. He asked Belle some questions she didn’t have answers to, and he asked her some questions that didn’t really have answers. The fecundity of his imagination was boundless. It was impressive, and it was exhausting.

She showed him how to use the internet on her laptop early on. She watched him do what she had done when she first got to Thedas. Research. He clicked and clicked and clicked, treading dozens of varied informational pathways a day, drinking up knowledge like a man in an oasis surrounded by a million miles of desert in every direction. She supposed he was a man lost in the desert, really. In the back of her mind, she worried he would reach the point of knowing more about the world than she did.

Cullen began by educating himself on the topics that interested him the most. He started with war. The long-documented history of tens of thousands of battles took his pouring over for nearly a week. Faster than Belle could have consumed all that information. At one point, however, the geographical proportions of the world popped onto the screen alongside the current global population. The size of Earth and the amount of people on it put him in a state for two hours. His brow furrowed and unfurrowed, and he paced around their suite’s living room trying to reason it out.

“These numbers cannot possibly be correct. How can there be that many people in this world? Nearly eight billion?” he said, distracting Belle from her neglected Tumblr feed for the fifth time since his pacing began.

She let her wrist go limp as she flicked her attention to him, knocking her phone into her bare ankle. She groaned, and half sighed her reply. “Dude, I dunno. A combination of the spread of mass religious beliefs that advocate copious reproduction, improvements in medical science to stop people from dying from literally everything, and really shitty birth control methodologies up until the past couple decades. You could have Googled that.”

Cullen glowered down at her. “I apologize that it is not yet my first instinct to beg answers to my questions from a machine.” His tone was razor sharp.

Belle set her jaw hard. So did Cullen. Several brutal seconds into their tiny standoff, she relented. She shut her eyes and inhaled. The cool, conditioned air buzzed in through her nose and blew out through her pursed lips. When she opened her eyes, much of Cullen’s ire had melted into a complicated kind of remorse.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“So am I.” He brushed his hand across her shoulder before returning to whatever dark corner of the internet he’d found in his endless clicking. A passing gesture of love stretched thin by proximity and inactivity.

Cullen’s click-click-clicking lead him next to history. He told Belle he intended to focus on the history of her nation, but she suspected, after seeing images of several very steepley, thousand-year-old-looking churches splashed across her 4K laptop screen, that he had wandered well past the United States. Those same steepley, thousand-year-old-looking churches dragged him into religion. She knew he’d discovered the sordid and bloody history of Judaism when, following a dispersion of disgusted grunts, he sat on the couch beside her and swept her into his arms. He clutched her tight, wondering aloud how her people seemed so happy after all they went through. She thought to bring up the elves, but decided against it when he buried his nose in her hair.

Religion lead back to war, as it so often did. Belle watched as Cullen found himself at a loss for what to read. He thought he’d exhausted the contents of the entire internet. She pressed her lips together to bite back a giggle at the sight of his mild distress. But the next day’s malaise, coupled with a rapid response by hotel security to his courtyard palm-tree-dummy training session, brought him back up to their room with questions about physical maintenance. He asked Belle first. She put a hand on her soft gut and reminded him that she was the last person he should be asking about exercise. She ate another Cheeto, and he took to the internet once more. When she woke the following morning, she found him with a towel draped over his shoulder preparing to shower after lifting weights and jogging in the hotel gym while she slept. He was settling in alright, she reckoned.

Eisiminger called them to his office after two weeks of radio silence. He told them that there was no record of any radical group calling themselves “the Inquisition” in any database in any country. Belle said that of course there wasn’t. Why would there be? What kind of sense would that make? She spouted off about shell corporations and airspace rights and that movie, “The Village,” and Eisiminger leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. She didn’t have to feign her anger when she told him that what she and Cullen experienced was real. It was real, and it was painful. The bit about the pain was no lie, either. The anguish of being ripped away from the people she’d grown to call family, not to mention her actual brother, clawed and gnawed at her with incessant persistence. Cullen corroborated her every word.

When she ran out of steam and all she could do was sit and seethe, Eisiminger apologized. He didn’t apologize for his occasionally suspicious glances or his sporadically accusatory tone. She didn’t expect him to apologize for that. That was behavior she would hope for in a detective, had she presented him a real crime to solve. Instead, he apologized for the lack of progress on her case. He told her that, with no leads and nothing more on which to follow up, he was going to have to put her case in the “inactive” file. She put on a dramatic show of anger to hide her relief, tearing up and scowling, demanding something more be done. Eisiminger apologized again, and Cullen put on his own dramatic show of comforting her. Eisiminger went on to recommend that Cullen apply for a U-visa if he planned on remaining in the country, and handed him a form. Belle knew full well that the single form was insufficient, and said as much before she and Cullen stormed out of the Homicide Bureau’s offices. She wept real tears when they got into her little blue car.

On the third week, Belle sent her parents home to Washington. They protested for hours before and during dinner at the little Italian restaurant in Downtown Brea that was always too busy. Cullen sat at the outer edge of the booth and faced the door while they ate and argued, still hypervigilant, still nervous. Belle was too, if she was honest. They both jumped when someone dropped a plate. He reached for his absent sword. Everyone cheered at the waiter. Belle’s hand trembled until Cullen took it in his under the table. Her father narrowed his eyes at her in a silent question, and she answered him with a near imperceptible shake of her head.

Not long after, he capitulated. He caved first, as she suspected he might. He tried to bring Ilana around by reminding her that they should probably get ready for Belle and Cullen to move north, because Belle was a shoo-in for that job at Microsoft, of course. Fear and discomfort passed over Ilana’s face for a moment. She said something in a voice so soft that the discordant eaters around them drowned it before it could reach Belle’s ears.

Belle’s father nodded, and Ilana swayed with the cadence of his hand running up and down her back. “We’re only a few hours away if he comes back.”

Ilana’s eyes went watery, but she nodded too. Belle and Cullen shared a communicative glance. It was time to tell her parents why Spencer wasn’t there, why she and Cullen were so jumpy, why he needed a U-visa.

She sat her parents on the sofa in their suite after dinner. Unwelcome news was always taken best when surrounded by the comfort of one’s own belongings. Cullen sat in the chair next to Ilana, and Belle stood. She was accustomed to making presentations, and standing gave her a feeling of control over what was about to happen.

“I’m going to start telling you what I have to tell you in a second,” she said. “But first, I need to know that both of you know I’m not crazy. I’ve never exhibited signs of any mental illness that would alter my perceptions of reality, right?”

“Right,” said her father.

“Of course not,” said Ilana.

“Okay. Dad, you’re an engineer, and I know you’re not that kind of engineer, but what do you know about wormholes?”

He cocked his head. “Not a whole lot. The bit with the hole in the folded piece of paper is about it.”

Belle let out an irked little noise. She paced in front of the lifeless black television. Two steps left, two steps right. “So—and again, I swear I’m not crazy—what I told the police—what I told you—is about half true. Spencer and I were in a place called Thedas, and Cullen really does come from there, but—” The words caught in her throat, causing a strangled squeak. “Thedas isn’t anywhere on Earth.”

“What?” said Ilana.

“It sounds insane. It sounds one hundred percent batshit cuckoo coco-nuts, I know. But I was waiting for an Uber outside my apartment to take me to the airport, and this green hole thing that I can only assume was a wormhole or something like that just appeared on the sidewalk and sucked me up. Just sucked me and my bags right up.” Belle pantomimed with her hand, flicking her wrist and closing her splayed fingers. “And when I woke up, I was someplace else. The geography of the land was different than here, and the seasons were different from here, and I didn’t just stay in one place while I was there. We,” she said as she gestured between herself and Cullen, “rode halfway across the continent on horseback and in carriages. We would have hit some modern civilization by then, right? Then, one random day, another wormhole thing just poofed into existence in front of me and Cullen and ate us both.”

“Wormholes?” said Ilana. The blankness in her tone welled up anxiety in Belle’s chest. Her flowy T-shirt felt three sizes too small.

“Yeah. Wormholes. That’s why Spencer isn’t here, why he didn’t come back too. They were just these blips. Opened and closed.”

“My confirmation of what she says cannot mean much to you, such as things are,” said Cullen, “but everything she says is true. In Thedas, we call these wormholes ‘rifts.’ Spencer fell out of a rift about three months before Belle did, but that’s how both of them arrived in Thedas. And it’s how Belle and I were taken from Thedas to arrive here.”

Belle’s father cleaved the long silence that followed before it grew too great to bear. “So Spencer…” He stopped, searching for the words, searching for the question to which he might even begin to put words.

“Spencer’s alive and well. He’s actually pretty happy there. He met someone.”

“My sister, Rosalie.”

Ilana wore confused horror like a mask over her usually happy face. Belle’s father opened and closed his mouth like a fish drowning in air. She hadn’t planned this, she realized. Hadn’t done it right. Predict, prepare, preempt. She forgot to follow her mantra, and now she was ruining her parents’ lives. They were sitting in front of her trying to figure out if they should commit her. Slap her in the loony bin with the rest of the crazies. Deport Cullen to nowhere or hold him in ICE lockup on indefinite detention because they would never, ever figure out his country of origin.

Belle stood in the prison of her anxiety, spinning out into oblivion. Then her father asked, “Why you?”

“Huh?”

“Why you? And why Spencer? I mean, I love you, and don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but neither of you are that special.”

Belle laughed. It was a delirious thing, and it burst out of her without warning. She wasn’t helping the case for her sanity. “I don’t know,” she finally said. “No one there knew either. And it’s not like I can run around asking proper astrophysicists why without sounding bananas crazy.”

“Okay,” said Ilana. “I believe you.” Determination had replaced the mask of confused horror. Determination and certainty.

“Me too,” said Belle’s father.

“Really?” said Belle.

“Yeah. And, honestly, it’s more plausible than human trafficking.”

“Why?”

“You really think you, of all people, would get kidnapped and escape and come back here without telling every single person you talked to some crazy story about how you punched at least one guy in the face?”

“Or stabbed one to death,” said Belle.

Her father gave her the side eye. “Or stabbed one to death.”

Her parents flew back to Washington two days later.

Four weeks after Belle and Cullen’s unceremonious landing in Orange County, she had her Skype interview with the council of counselors for Microsoft. Vic’s friend, Josh, sat between two women, and across from one woman and one man. They were friendly, and they asked her all the questions Josh told her they would ask when she’d spoken to him on the phone three weeks earlier. She felt as prepared as she could have been, having spent a year without any technology just before interviewing for one of the largest tech companies in the world. She offered a few quips, and the council of counselors laughed just the right amount.

Cullen sat on the sofa two feet away and watched the entire process. After almost an hour and forty-five minutes of back and forth, the council of counselors muted their end of the conversation to deliberate. Belle watched their mouths move, but they were too far from the camera, their mannerisms too subdued for her to make out what any of them said. She reached for Cullen’s hand out of view of her webcam. The warmth of his calluses on her palm and her fingertips reminded her that she had been battle-hardened. She had been through so much worse than waiting for a few lawyers to decide whether she was skilled enough to work for them. She had been stabbed, for Christ’s sake. Twice.

The council of counselors unmuted their microphone, and Alicia, the woman sitting across the conference table from Josh, told Belle that Josh and the other two women were going to be stepping out for the duration of the conversation. Belle said her farewells, and Josh winked toward the camera on his way through the metal doorframe.

When the door to the conference room closed, Alicia folded her hands in front of her and smiled. “Okay, so let’s talk relo expenses. If you have a down payment, we’d like to help you with moving costs and closing.”

Less than half an hour later, Belle was e-signing an employment contract. She started sobbing halfway through the at-will provisions, and Cullen took her up in his embrace. She clung to his powerful forearms as they wreathed around her neck and shoulders. His galvanizing presence reminded her how lucky she was to have him. She loved him so much it was like a stone in her stomach. The certainty that she could provide for them was an indispensable boon, a small but sturdy umbrella in the torrent of fucked up shit raining down on them every day.

But their relationship wasn’t all peaches and light. As time passed, as Belle wrapped up the task of un-disappearing, as she met with everyone she needed to meet, and as she waited for her parents’ video tours of prospective houses, she and Cullen began to go stir crazy. They played a dangerous waiting game that threatened to rend them from one another by exposure. Between them, they managed no more than an hour or so apart each day. He had his burgeoning workout routine, and she had the odd friend with whom to eat lunch and avoid chatting about her disappearance. The other twenty-three hours of the day, they were locked in their suite, alone, bored, and bickering over tiny annoyances.

Sex helped. It staved off the ennui and frustration, and it tethered them to one another in a way that felt natural, unforced. It was also almost the only exercise Belle got in the absence of her daily need to walk up and down five thousand flights of stairs.

During their refractory periods, or their post-argument periods, or really any period not occupied by a solid fuck or something solidly fucked, they watched movies and TV shows and listened to music. Cullen had over thirty years of catching up to do on the media that helped form Belle’s personality, and she was more than happy to use it as an excuse to ease the occasional tension. They situated themselves on the couch, her ankles always crossed over his thighs, and dug into their respective snacks—that douchenozzle nibbled on apples and strawberries while she stuffed her face with Doritos and chocolate—before she hit play.

Cullen’s opinions, as in most cases, formed quickly. He liked John Wayne. He disliked Alfred Hitchcock. He said he thought RomComs were feckless, but Belle caught the worry on his face when it seemed like the main characters wouldn’t end up together. He scoffed when she pointed out that he practically was Mr. Darcy. She laughed so hard when he and Matthew Macfayden made the exact same sound in unison that she had to pause the movie with Keira Knightley’s eyes half closed. Cullen conceded.

When it came to music, he surprised her. He favored classical and neo-classical composers, which she anticipated. He grimaced at most EDM, though he tolerated ambient electronica, and he slammed her laptop shut when she started playing her favorite death metal track, which was to be expected. But he asked her to play more of her indie and alternative music, like Ray LaMontagne and Feist and Fleet Foxes, he loved the blues, and he latched onto jazz singers like Billie Holiday. Belle should have known that he would be contrary and old fashioned, even in a different world.

She glanced up at him once, a few minutes after telling her realtor to make an offer on a four-bedroom house with granite countertops in the kitchen and a plum tree in the backyard. He sat at the desk in front of her laptop with his chin resting on his fist. “God Bless the Child” emanated from the speakers as his eyes scanned over some half-visible article about the Yukon gold rush. She watched him for a moment. He squinted and craned his neck toward the screen, and he sighed when he returned to his resting position.

As she watched him, for the first time in more than a month, she didn’t think, well, what the fuck now. For the first time in more than a month, she thought that maybe their lives weren’t ruined. For the first time in more than a month, she thought there might be a future for them that didn’t exist in the past.

He smiled when he caught her staring.

*****

“Just breathe.”

“I am breathing.”

“Yeah, but do it slower.”

Cullen glowered. “Was there no other way to get to Washington?”

“I am not driving for nineteen and a half hours in a rental car. Maybe someday, in our own car, for fun and shit, but I’m not doing it just to move.”

Boong, boong. Flight attendants, please prepare for takeoff.

Cullen jumped at the announcement and squeezed Belle’s hand so tight her fingers began to tingle. His other hand clutched the armrest near the open window. The too-close Orange County morning sun glared rabid on the tarmac outside the thick plexiglass. She wondered if he knew how much she had to love him to give him the window seat.

“Do you need a Valium?” said the leathery woman in the aisle seat. “Or a Xanax? I’ve got both.”

Belle smiled her sweet, phony smile. “Nooo, thaaanks,” she said in the way only someone from Southern California could say it. “He’ll be okay. It’s just his first time flying.”

“This is unnatural,” said Cullen through his teeth.

The leathery woman giggled and reached across Belle’s lap to touch Cullen’s thigh. Belle made an ugly face in her shock and repugnance. The goddamn nerve of some fucking people.

“It’s science, honey. Perfectly natural.”

Belle cleared her throat and nudged the woman’s arm. They shared another phony smile as the leathery woman withdrew to her own space. She set about the task of ignoring everyone around her by putting in earbuds and starting “BIG” on the little screen stuck to the seat in front of her.

Belle shook her head, turning her attention back to her terrified…boyfriend still didn’t sound right. Cullen stared out the small window. The jets on the wings just behind them whirred to raucous life. She couldn’t feel her fingertips anymore. “Do you want to close the window?”

“What?”

“Do you want to see everything, or do you want to close the window?”

“I want,” he said between shallow breaths. “I want to see.”

“Okay.”

Everything began to rattle as the Airbus lurched down the runway. Cullen’s chest heaved. He had to be getting dizzy. The plane sped up until everything outside became a blur of soiled beige and shiny black. He gasped when the aircraft lifted off the ground, and the rattling all around them stopped. Her fingertips started to burn.

He leaned his forehead against the mottled plastic window frame and watched the ground recede. His breathing slowed amid the awe that spread over his face. His mouth hung open, and his grip on Belle’s fingers loosened. The pins and needles set in as the blood poured back into her digits. The plane flew west on its takeoff flightpath, and the wide blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean stretched out beneath them. Cullen looked out ahead, and said, “I have never seen so much.”

“So much what?” asked Belle.

“Everything.”

For the whole hour of their flight, he stared out that window and held Belle’s hand. She watched him watch the deserts fade into mountains, and the mountains blossom into forests. “You were right,” he said when the Pacific Northwest clouds shrouded the earth.

“About?”

“The clouds. It’s like a sea of cotton. And I have never seen sky so blue.”

When they began their descent, Cullen watched the rain part around the wing behind them. Belle explained that they were going so fast they cut through the air and the rain. She helped him pop his ears as the earth came into view once more in shades of gray, blue, and green. She endured the pins and needles in her fingers a second time when they went wheels down.

SeaTac was a much larger airport than the local one from which they’d departed. The volume of people was larger too. Belle rushed them through the terminals to avoid allowing Cullen enough time to become overwhelmed by the crowd. Once they reached the baggage claim, he scowled at the chute until their luggage appeared, both bags flipping end over end. He lifted them off the conveyor belt with enviable ease. Belle saw a few people watch him do it, and watch him for a little too long thereafter.

She had to stop him when he tried to unzip his bag to check on his sword and armor—he wouldn’t let her ship it ahead. It had been difficult enough explaining the blade and plate to TSA when they checked in. They didn’t need to be detained on their way out.

It was raining when they exited the terminal. Belle suppressed a grin at Cullen’s tentative mastery of sliding glass doors. He put his hand out from under the awning to feel the rain on his skin, and he looked at her with a kind of satisfaction. “Rain is the same everywhere,” he said.

She smiled. “Did you think it was going to come up from the ground?” He shook his head and kissed her forehead.

Her father picked them up in his green SUV a few minutes later. He told them he would have been there faster if anyone knew how to drive in this fucking airport. Belle let Cullen ride shotgun to avoid his carsickness.

“So, Cullen, how was your first flight?”

“Harrowing.”

“Ha,” said Belle.

They stopped at the car dealership on the way to her parents’ house. Cullen told her he wanted to ride home with her father, and she gave him a dubious look before he closed his door and they went on ahead. She verified the car on the lot was the car she ordered. It was bigger, bluer, and sportier than her last vehicle, which she’d sold in Orange County to make their move easier. She made her down payment, signed the paperwork, and followed a few miles behind her men. By the time she reached her parents’ house, her things had been unloaded from the SUV. She parked in the driveway beside it and went into the house.

“Belle? Is that you?” said Ilana’s voice from the kitchen.

“Nope. Just a murderer, here to do some murderin’. Don’t mind me.” Belle hung her raincoat on the rack near the door. “How many people do you guys give your keys to?”

“Oh, anyone who will take one, really.” Ilana’s voice grew closer as Belle followed it into the kitchen. “Dad just goes to the park sometimes and hands them out to vagrants. You know, in case they feel like robbing us blind or relieving us of our lives while we sleep.”

Belle laughed and hugged her stepmother. “I bet they appreciate that. No one likes a house that’s hard to burglarize. And murder is so much harder when the door’s locked.”

“It’s good to see you, sweetie. How’s your new car?”

“Fast.” An oddly familiar scent filled the warm kitchen and Belle’s nostrils. She sniffed the air. “What are you cooking?”

Ilana beamed. “Well, I did some Googling, and I found some recipes that I thought might make Cullen feel more at home. I decided on roasted mutton, potatoes, and root veggies. It’s weird, but I realized I’ve never cooked a parsnip before.”

Belle’s mouth watered. A year and a half ago, the thought of roasted mutton, potatoes, and root veggies would have sounded okay. Just okay. Never as amazing as it sounded that day. Despite being in her parents’ house, a place that was a second home for so many years, the food in the oven would be the first thing in a long time to give both her and Cullen even a fraction of that kind of comfort.

“Where is he, anyway?”

“Your dad took him into the garage to make sure his sword and armor made it through the flight okay. That’s so weird to say.”

“I know. Believe me, I know.”

Belle made for the door leading out to the garage. In front of the door, a heap of red Rubbermaid tubs marked “Camping” blocked her view of most of the room. “—t kind of steel is this? A few of the machinists I used to work with would be really into this craftsmanship,” said her father. The soft ping ping of a knuckle rapping against metal punctuated his remarks.

“It’s silverite. Steel armor is ill suited against enchanted weapons or magic. Templars are given silverite armor after completing their initiation. I was used to it, so I commissioned a modified version of that it upon joining the Inquisition.”

Belle rounded the Rubbermaids to see Cullen kneeling on a moving blanket on the floor with his armor spread out piecemeal. Her father sat on a tool bench. He was hunched over with a touch of awe on his face, running his fingers over the Templar insignia on one of Cullen’s bracers. “We don’t have silverite here. I wonder what the chemical composition of this stuff is.”

“Everything all in one piece?” said Belle, drawing their attention away from the armor.

Cullen stood. “It seems to be. It’s difficult to know for certain, but I don’t want to strike it without any way to repair it.”

“It’s pretty cool,” said Belle’s father.

“Did you boys have a nice ride home?”

“Yup. How’s your new car? You want to take me for a ride later? Maybe let me—I don’t know—drive it?” Her father gave her a signature Dolan family shit-eating grin.

“Yeah, yeah,” said Belle. “God, so desperate.”

Her father stood with a guttural groan. His pain had gotten worse while she was gone. She wished Eudora could have fixed his back too. He patted the spot between her shoulder blades where her tattoo proclaimed, “A Man Chooses,” in strong black ink. She hugged his waist. Cullen watched with a wistful look, a small smirk curling his lips and crinkling his scar.

Belle took her father out in her new car, as promised. They went to an empty school parking lot so he could do slippery donuts on the wet asphalt. They cackled together as the tires squealed and he cranked the steering wheel to the right, then to the left. She had missed him.

During their drive back to the house, she asked him what he and Cullen talked about after they left her at the dealership. He said, “Stuff.”

She struggled not to cry at dinner. Her backward nostalgia hit her like a truck the moment the first forkful hit her tongue. Her eyes burned, and her vision blurred. She could just make out Cullen hoovering the meal like it was his first, or his last. The flavors stoked memories of the early moments of their tenuous friendship, of dinners with Sera and Dorian and Bull, of lunches with Max and Josie and the visiting nobility, of Spencer. She barely maintained the wherewithal to tell Ilana that the food was delicious.

Her dreams were fitful that night. Barbarous and bathed in green. Her friends and her brother died and came back over and over, each death more heinous than the last. She tried to intervene. She screamed, she battled against the weight of her feet, and she called out to them to flee. Not one of them recognized her. Not one of them listened. They just died. Again and again, they died.

She and Cullen went to their new house the next morning. It was sunny. They met the realtor and the escrow agent for their first and final walkthrough before signing the closing documents. Everything was as Belle imagined. The bedrooms were large and clean. The master bathroom had a shower that was separate from the tub. The tan granite countertops in the kitchen gleamed. The plum tree in the backyard clung onto its last few leaves, each one the color of Cullen’s eyes.

Sparks didn’t fly when she signed the closing documents and handed over the cashier’s check. The heavens didn’t open, and the angels didn’t sing. It was all rather anticlimactic for the accomplishment of such a lofty goal. Her pen just scratched across some papers, and a stranger just took tens of thousands of her dollars with little more than a tepid “Congratulations.” He handed her the keys and a copy of the paperwork, and he and the realtor left.

Belle and Cullen stayed behind in the silence of their new home. He’d knocked on and jiggled a few things during their walkthrough, no doubt testing the flimsy modern craftsmanship. What wouldn’t seem flimsy after living in a place as staunch and fortified as Skyhold? But in the new silence, he just stared at the high living room ceiling.

“What do you think of it?” said Belle.

“It is…different.”

“Different than what?”

Cullen shifted on his feet. His movement was silent on the new carpet. “Since I was a boy, I thought I would live and die in a Circle or a Chantry House. That was the only way a Templar could honorably leave the Order. After joining the Inquisition, I did not have the luxury of time to consider what I might do if by some miracle I survived, let alone if we won. But I suppose I believed that, should I ever have a home of my own, I might have at least a hand in building it. This is simply…beyond my expectation.”

Belle laid down on the living room carpet. She sprawled out beneath the skylight, letting the muted warmth of the sun soak into her pale skin. She closed her eyes and breathed deep the lemon cleaner-scented air. “Well, we got a good deal. Cause I’m a Tom Slick, hotshot motherfucker who gets good deals. That’s what I do.” She smiled.

Cullen chuckled his three low chuckles. “I suppose it is.”

The sound of socks shuffling on carpet got loud and close, then the sound of someone laying down rustled up beside her. The weight of Cullen’s head came to rest on her stomach. She carded her fingers through his hair. They laid together in the sun puddle for a quiet minute or a quiet hour or a quiet day before she said, “You know, most of my furniture is old, hand-me-down crap. We need new stuff. So, if you want, you can still have a hand in putting this home together.”

Cullen wrapped his hand around her wrist and removed her hand from his hair. She frowned. He kissed the back of her hand, then pressed her palm to his chest. His heart beat a steady rhythm under her touch. Thuh-thump, thuh-thump, thuh-thump. She opened her eyes, and the sunlight bleached her vision.

“Thank you,” he said.

“Anytime.”

*****