Dial-a-Llama

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I looked at the readout for my latest blood test and sighed.

"New problem, question?" Rocky asked. We were about ninety days out from 40-Eridani's heliopause, and it seemed like new nutritional problems were popping up every day. Probably from me mixing more taumoeba into the coma slurry to make it last longer.

"Yes," I said. "Apparently I'm becoming anemic."

"New word, question?"

"Anemic. Means my body isn't getting enough iron."

"♪♫♪♩♩♬!" he said, his carapace shooting up. "I fix!" He scampered off down toward the dormitory.

I stared at where he disappeared into the floor. That... sounded a lot like him giving me his word for "anemic". But that couldn't be it. We haven't discovered any overlap of nutritional needs of humans and Eridians, besides a base need for glucose and proteins. And what did he mean by "I fix"?

In retrospect, I really should have seen what was about to happen. However, the brain fog from my various nutritional deficiencies was really starting to settle in, so I just continued to stare in confusion.

I was startled out of it by Rocky yelling. "Grace! Come to airlock! Grace!"

He continued to call my name and pester me even as I moved toward the ladder, and I know he can see me moving. "Alright, alright! I'm coming!"

As I got down the ladder, Rocky became even more frantic, tapping on his side of the airlock. Inside was what looked like some sort of pouch. "Take, take!"

"It has to cool down first!"

"Is cold. You take!"

How long was I staring at the wall, that whatever it was had already cooled nearly two hundred degrees? "Alright, I take!"

I took the pouch from the airlock, and opened it. Inside was a bunch of... metal chips? Each one was about the size of the tip of my pinkie finger. "Rocky, what is this?"

He tilted his carapace in a way I've come to recognize as pride. "Is Eridian supplement. Cannot make you vitamins on Hail Mary, but have iron. Eat, before react with oxygen in you air!"

It took a second before things clicked into place. "Wh- Oxidation doesn't happen that quickly-" I shook my head, dislodging the errant thought. "Rocky, I can't eat this."

"Why not, question? Does not have thallium, or mercury, or any other 'heavy metals'," — yes, he did the air quotes, with three hands — "is just iron."

"Just because it won't poison me, doesn't mean my body can use it. It needs to be in... certain salts... I think." That sounded right, but information recall was becoming extremely difficult these days. I picked up one of the chips; it's very thin. "I might even have to worry about this cutting up my intestines..."

Rocky was uncharacteristically silent for a moment, so I looked back up at him. He was staring at me (don't ask how I know he was staring, I just do) in disbelief. Then he threw up two arms in exasperation. "Human body useless!"

grace: ?? umm have you considered people WON'T have to pretend to enjoy sex when they're a trillion miles away from society?

ROUND 1 — Match 161 of 276

Chrisjen Avasarala (The Expanse)

Problematic because: "War criminal" Propaganda: "Because she's also a girlboss milf who curses a lot and wears designer sarees. Besides, even including that one guy she tortured, she's still the most moral and least corrupt Earthen politician in the series."

vs. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow (DC)

Problematic because: "Depends on which iteration you're looking at but it ranges everywhere from shooting a gun in a university classroom to make a point, experimenting on mental hospital patients, or you know, dosing an entire city in a bioweapon that causes people to see their worst fears. One iteration kills a former coworker out of revenge. Another iteration is a drug lord who kidnaps and tortures people for funsies ("I call it a kill collar. Is it too tight? I hope not. It's not supposed to kill you by strangulation.")." Propaganda: "Crane's fascinating. Whatever iteration you look at, it's interesting to see what the motivations are, why he's so obsessed with fear. And the idea of a character who wields fear as a weapon in a rather literal way is just fun to begin with. The Batman: the Audio Adventures version is especially compelling just due to how delightfully unhinged he is."

1) my stuffed animals were mostly dogs and cats and bears, implying that bears were a future pet option

Scanlan is allowed to be messy and angry because his horrible mental state is related to a family member in someway (screwing things up with Kaylie and the rest of the party doing a prank with his corpse and involving his daughter) but when Pike is messy and angry because her horrible mental state is related to a family member in someway (Wilhand dying and Grog getting teleported and presumed dead), suddenly it's "bad writing" and "out of character"

Huh 🫤