Bebop Crew

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[bebopcrew]

@bebopcrew is turning three years old! We're inviting you to our Birthday Celebration!

A few event details:

1. This event will run from June 15 to 19. Please post your creations during that time! 2. There's no theme for this event, just celebrate with us by posting anything Cowboy Bebop related! This can be fics, art, headcanons, metas, and anything and everything else. 3. Creations posted on Tumblr will be reblogged here. Remember to mention us @bebopcrew so we don't miss it!

If you have any questions, check out our FAQ or drop an ask. We can’t wait to celebrate with you!

[aldreantreuperi]

"What all do you think is down there?" Ed queried curiously as she hung her head over the edge of the ship and let her chin rest against the salt-sprayed hull.

Jet eyed her with some measure of amusement dancing in his gaze. Discussions with Ed were endlessly insightful, often bewildering, and always a good way to pass the time.

"What do you think is down there?" He threw the question right back.

They were drifting aimlessly on the Great Ganymedian Sea which meant he knew plenty about the marine life below. Much more interesting, undoubtedly, was whatever her mind could come up with.

"Sea monsters." She immediately responded. "Leviathans with looping tails leagues in length! Big bellied beasties with bulbous fins so it floats underwater like a bobber!"

Jet chuckled. "You're in an alliterative mood, eh?"

"Faye's funky flotsam!" Ed continued with delight.

That one turned his chuckle into a noise of confusion instead. "Huh?"

Giggling, Ed drew herself up into a sitting position with her legs dangling over. She pointed at the offensive bit of nastiness moving atop the waves. "Technically it would be considered jetsam." She added. "Faye-Faye is a ship in distress, but her chum may draw the fishies to the hook!"

Spike, whose stomach so often seemed made of iron, made a face. "I don't think I want to eat a fish that fed on Faye's vomit." He stood with his fishing pole to move to the other side of the ship to try his luck over there.

"I told you not to drink so much!" Jet hollered over his shoulder.

A piteous moan reached their ears from the figure sprawled further back on the deck, though she was draped perilously close to the edge. Ein, who had been laying in concern at her side, scrambled to his paws and darted away when Faye made to blindly swat at the dog.

"You yelled at me to leave your booze alone!" She shot back weakly. "Nothing about taking it easy! And now you set your damn dog to fart right next to me?!" She rose up enough to contort into a painful looking lump as she threw up again.

Jet rolled his eyes. "Leaving my damn booze alone would've kept her from a hangover." He muttered.

Ed chortled, gathering Ein into her arms when he got close enough to her.

"Faye-Faye also snuck into the super secret hidden food stash down down down in the bowels of the ship..." Ed revealed.

Frowning, Jet thought about her words and realized he had no idea what she was referring to so he told her as much.

"Spike-person snuck a picnic basket aboard weeks and weeks and weeks ago! Said he was gonna hide the goods in the freezer after everyone went to bed. Got into his cups with Faye-Faye instead and forgot!"

Jet sighed. "Have you learned nothing from that lobster mistake?" He asked of the other man.

"Faye's fault for not considering how perishable some of that shit was." The lanky man replied breezily.

"Perhaps the pieces will mutate into new life in the sea!" Ed gasped. "A monstrous conglomeration of moldy rotten chunky monkey bile and —"

"Enough, Ed!" Jet ordered, feeling slightly ill himself at her description.

Ed laughed. "Still waters run deep, deep waters run deeper... Annnnnd puke doesn't sink! Not drawing in fishes most delicious but looky-look! Gulls wanna gobble it up! Let's hunt some birds for dinner!" And she set Ein down to jump to her feet and dash off, presumably for a slingshot or something to accomplish her hunting quest.

"Well, maybe she'll have more luck than me." Spike muttered. "Wanna take a cast?"

Jet accepted the pole and the task. "Don't shoot the birds, Spike."

"Wasn't gonna. Faye fell in, figured someone should probably pull her out." And he ambled away towards the empty space where Faye had been.

"Oh jeez..." Jet sweatdropped.

[aldreantreuperi]

It stank of fish.

The list from the engineering inspector read like a full length novel - probably it was easier to simply identify what wasn't busted or rusted or in need of a complete overhaul.

It was going to cost him an arm and a leg but hell, his previous occupation had already cost him an arm, literally, so he was beyond caring about the cost of things that would help him escape this moon full of memories.

He still had to get the insurance in order and the registration had been filed so he just needed the official paperwork back from that. The important thing was the title to the ship and that was neatly folded in his breast pocket.

The ship, for all intents and purposes, was his.

A home away from home. A place solely his.

He was the king and this was his castle.

It was a bold new step in an intriguing new direction. The entire universe waited at his fingertips to see what he could accomplish next.

***

Years later and not much had changed.

The Bebop still reeked of fish. It was much more faint but it had proved impossible to eradicate entirely.

The repair list never seemed to get any shorter and parts kept increasing in cost. And every damn year he had to renew the insurance and registration and ensure all the other bureaucratic bullshit was properly maintained.

In addition, he now had a crew.

Three jesters and a dog.

Well, hell. It was a better kingdom than most.

[aldreantreuperi]

Bouncing on her toes, Ed grinned excitedly at Jet.

"Ed gets to learn the foundation of food!" She danced her way over to peek into the empty pot. "What goes in first?"

Rummaging around the shelf of crockery, Jet used one booted foot to indicate an enormous bag of rice tucked partway under the prep counter.

"We'll use this," he tossed her a chipped coffee cup, "to measure out several scoops. Pour them right into the sauce pan there and then add some water, enough to cover the rice. Then use a hand to mix it around real good. Tell me, how's the water looking now?"

"Like milk!" Ed chirped as she held the pot handle with her left hand while using her right to stir the contents. "Ed likes the feel."

Jet chuckled. "Nevermind the feel. Carefully pour out that water without losing any of the grains of rice. Repeat that as many times as you gotta until the water is clear, okay?"

"Yup yup yup! Goodbye milk water! Hello new drippy drops!" She kept singing nonsense to the pot and the rice and the water until Jet glanced at her progress and declared it good.

"Next, we're gonna..." He trailed off to build anticipation.

"What what?" Ed asked with a laugh.

"Add more water!"

"To the tippy top?"

"No no no!" He hastened to stop her from overdoing it. "Use your finger for this part - touch the pointer finger to the top of the rice and then add enough water to reach the first knuckle line right there." He indicated the spot on her finger to make sure she got it right.

"Very precise measurements." Ed remarked, giving the chipped cup a look to make sure Jet knew she was talking about that too.

'Hey now, this is a very exact science! Just because the tools are not standard doesn't mean this isn't figured out to a T. You'll see! Besides, when has my rice ever not met your approval?"

Ed set the pot onto the stove after Jet got the burner going.

"This is true. Okay. What next? Veggies? Meats? Sweets?"

Jet rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, actually... That's all we've got for now. Hopefully Spike and Faye can bag that bounty and remember to grab the groceries I told them to get!" He crossed his arms over his chest. "Even if not... Rice will fill us up for the time being. We've gotten by on less."

Clapping her hands together, Ed nodded in agreement. "Little or lots, we will make it through! Every day is a chance for new! Buuuuut maybe Ed will let you keep an eye on this...and go check in on the others? Could be able to help with the mission!"

"Sure Ed, that sounds good. And hey, you did a fine job here. Next time I'll teach you about veggies - they've all got different cooking times and so we gotta make sure we stagger those out properly. Good luck with the bounty, kid."

***

Special thanks to comedian Jo Koy for the bit on making rice that taught me exactly how to do it right 😄

[aldreantreuperi]

Spike shuffled along after Ed in her swashbuckling pirate costume and Jet in his... Well, supposedly it was a costume. Ed had fashioned a dark pyramid to plop atop Jet's entire head like some bizarre 3D shape mask and had then insisted he couldn't wear a shirt but did let him don a half apron that wrapped around his waist and covered his legs. Apparently it was a video game character from Old Earth but who really knew. Regardless, it was a lot more hassle than the costume she had devised for himself and Faye.

A very bright, needlessly short, string of red yarn had been tied to the pinky on his right hand and the pinky on her left hand so they could traipse down the street side-by-side.

He had no idea what it meant. What were he and Faye supposed to be?

He figured it was probably a loose string that had come from Ed's own costume which was easily recognizable despite how many centuries had passed since anyone donned a striped shirt, billowy pants, a curved knife and an eye patch.

As for Ein, she had affixed a shark fin to the middle of his back by taping one onto a doggy sweater she'd managed to get him to wear. Spike guessed that the shark was meant to be a part of her own costume.

Even the dog's getup was more elaborate than a simple red string!

Next year he planned to insist that everyone get to choose their own outfits for this ridiculous holiday.

[aldreantreuperi]

"So the most important part of the whole mission is finding the right person, Ed. You need a patsy, a chump. Without a good mark, the job is a fucking hassle. You want a nice, easy score. The less work involved, the better! And the bigger the sucker, the bigger the payout if you play your cards right." Faye explained as she shuffled the deck.

"The patsy is more important than knowing how to play the game?" Ed looked puzzled.

"Cheating the chump is the whole point of the game." Faye replied.

"You do need to know the basic rules of the game." Spike told her. "It's best if you know the rules very well but give off the impression that you aren't skilled at all. You want to look like the patsy to other people to draw gullible folks into the game. If they think they'll win against you because they think you're a fool...well, he who laughs last and all that."

Ed frowned. "Ed is even more confused! We aren't supposed to laugh?"

Faye sighed and made a face at Spike. "I told you to join us because I didn't think you'd start spouting proverbs like Jet! Jeez!" She turned her attention back to Ed who was spiralling.

"Ed wants to laugh! Games are supposed to be fun!" The teen cried.

Faye eyed her speculatively. "Maybe you'd do better as a shill."

Ed swayed back and forth on her seat. "Ed wants everyone to win!"

"Well, that's not really how any game works." Spike replied.

"Yeah, you want to win! That's why you play and why you need to know how to spot the-"

"No!" Ed interrupted with a shout. She shot to her feet. "Ed plays for fun. Games are best when everyone is having a good time!" Her shoulders slumped. "Ed does not want to dupe anyone."

Faye and Spike exchanged concerned looks. But before either could try to fix things, Jet appeared in the round doorway with an assortment of paper bags clutched against his chest and plastic bags hanging from his wrists.

"A little help would be nice!"

Ed, grinning, dashed over to offer assistance while the other two remained seated across from each other.

"We got the bounty that afforded all those groceries." Faye replied.

"Yeah, we've helped a bunch today." Spike added, leaning back in the chair.

Grumbling about lazy bums and making idle threats about only feeding the people who gave him aid, Jet disappeared with Ed into the kitchen.

"Well, some folks just aren't made to take advantage of others." Faye remarked a moment later. She was still shuffling the deck. At this point it was mostly a meditative motion. "At least food cheered her up."

"Food would cheer anyone up." Spike noted. He looked at Faye and gave a little smirk. "How about a two person game? Since you got the cards out."

Her lips curled with satisfaction. "War? Or Bullshit?"

[aldreantreuperi]

"Anything else?" The cashier stared dully at the ceiling as if it was somehow more interesting and exciting than the set of amazing tits currently being pointed in his direction.

Faye began to lose hope that she'd walk out of this transaction without having to pay a single woolong. With a sigh she waved absently at the wall of cigarette cartons behind the guy.

"Yeah, gimme a pack of Joe Cools."

The cashier rolled his eyes over to peer at her at last. "Gonna need to see some ID in that case." He informed her.

Faye glared. "Excuse me? How fucking young do you think I am? I don't need to prove shit to you! Sell me the damn cigs!"

The cashier blinked at her but made no other move or reaction.

"Are you hearing me?! Give me the damn smokes, kid!" She started to push her jacket sleeves up her arms with a growl only to have someone else's arms wrap around hers to gently squeeze her arms against her sides.

"Take the compliment, Faye." Spike's voice spoke in her ear. "Most women like to be thought of as younger than their true age."

"I'm not most women! But I am a full grown fucking adult woman!" She snarled at both him and the cashier.

Spike chuckled. "Throwing a tantrum like a kid though, wouldn't you say?"

He frog marched her towards the exit as the cashier glanced down at the conveyor belt loaded with the items she'd gathered and rolled his eyes as he began to gather the things up to re-shelve them.

Faye could have screamed but she didn't want to give further credence to Spike's fairly accurate summary of her behavior. Once outside she briskly shook herself free of his grip.

"Dammit, Spike! I wanted all that crap!" Well, she'd wanted to utilize her fine physique to acquire the candy bars, potato chips, and other nonsense without being charged for it but that was beside the point.

"Yeah, yeah, quit your bitching." Fast as lightning, he began to pull things from his pockets to toss in her direction.

With a squawk, Faye hastily snatched at each aloft item and managed to catch everything without dropping any of the pilfered goods.

"Thanks for keeping all eyes on you." Spike winked at her.

Scowling, Faye stuffed the things he'd thrown at her into her own pockets. "Whatever. That kid didn't look at me twice."

"No," Spike allowed, "but the other workers couldn't look away. Customer meltdowns are always a good show."

She sighed. "Well... You're welcome I guess."

He grinned at her. "Cheer up, buttercup. We make a good team. Now, let's get some nicotine in you before nap time, okay?"

Faye ground her teeth together. "Don't you fucking patronize me! And don't act like I'm a child!"

"If the pacifier fits, Faye..." He managed to slip a cigarette in between her lips as he skipped away, laughing, from her swinging fists.

[aldreantreuperi]

He'd seen Jet look exhausted before. Stern, stoic, stressed... Even silly once or twice. He'd certainly infuriated the other man before. And Spike had witnessed the other man in varying stages of depression (which Jet would most certainly deny) and nostalgic and bemused and countless other moods and levels of energy.

He had never seen Jet look so haggard before.

Not even in the aftermath of that weird mutated lobster bite.

Ed's departure and Ein's absence...

Faye's flighty nature forever making her companions uncertain when or if she would return...

The damage to the Bebop leaving her unfit to return to the stars...

Ahh yes. That was the start of Spike's guilt.

Well, no. Being the reason Doc had to fish a bullet out of Jet's thigh was the start of Spike's culpability.

Bullets accounted for many of the woes afflicting the other man.

Bullets that may as well have Spike's name etched on the shells.

Jet had been personally shot up because of Spike. And then they'd targeted the Bebop. And then, well, technically Faye was the one who had stolen the Hammerhead and gone to Spike's rescue but... Well, obviously she wouldn't have needed to do that (getting the zipcraft significantly shot up by the surviving syndicate members until she'd managed to rip them all apart as she landed in the ruins of the tower) if Spike hadn't been facing his own demise.

Surviving that assault by the skin of his teeth didn't make up for flat lining a handful of times back on the ship under Jet's worried gaze and despite the painstaking effort he'd put into keeping Spike alive (or bringing him back from the brink)...

Which meant, for all intents and purposes, Spike was pretty much the sole reason Jet looked like death warmed over. Haggard with a capital H. No doubt close to collapse but clearly still too concerned over Spike's fate to let himself get any rest.

Guilt writhed in Spike's gut, pressing hard against the sharp, stinging pain of the katana blade. Guilt ate at his thoughts in his few and far between cognizant moments. Guilt set his mouth to babbling apologies and begging forgiveness - both of which seemed to extremely alarm Jet which added to his worry which added to Spike's own mental anguish.

It was all horrible. Everything was his fault and awful.

There were moments when he wished he'd died after all.

Faye happened to be there during one of those stints of suffering.

Jet had stepped out - gone to rummage through the storage sections of the ship in desperate search of expired medication or clean bandages or a saline drip bag or just anything at all that could be of use.

Faye had stood over him, expression disturbingly vague, and had scoffed.

He must have made some sort of inquiring noise because she frowned down at him before glancing off in the direction Jet had gone. She crossed her arms - a gesture meant as closed off, though Spike knew it was indicative of her insecurity and actually a measure of self defense - and she'd rolled her eyes which was reassuring that she wasn't drowning in despair like Jet and Spike, and then she spoke.

"You think he looks bad now? Just imagine how much worse he'd be if you kicked off." She glared. "So fucking stop dying and get the fuck better."

And then she clammed up and refused to acknowledge him again, flouncing off to who-knew-where when Jet returned with a faint smile and a dusty medical kit Spike remembered nicking from an ambulance ages ago. It was always smart to grab loot like that.

And that faint smile, barely a twitch of the lip but the same sentiment shone in his eyes, eased some of the suffering from Jet's countenance which relieved some of Spike's own agony.

He wanted to fix things. Well, it looked like first he had to fix himself.

[aldreantreuperi]

Petty crimes, petty criminals, petty cash.

She was so fucking tired of petty shit.

Which included the petty behavior of her shipmates.

Like Jet drinking half her whiskey and replacing part of it with tea as if she wouldn't fucking notice. He should consider himself lucky to have escaped her wrath simply because she was so dumbfounded at his juvenile attempt at problem solving. Was he fucking twelve years old? Did he think she was an idiot with no ability to fucking taste the difference?

Or Spike who had recently decided to snip her cigarettes in half so he could smoke the pre-rolled now filter-less section leaving her a measly fragment of a smoke to assuage her own tobacco cravings. Like what, should she be grateful he hadn't just stolen entire cigarettes? Who the fuck steals half a smoke in such a bizarre yet methodical fashion?!

And Ein who always chose her to shake off beside after any of the incidents that left the data dog wet (which was a more common occurrence than one might expect given their lives aboard a fucking spaceship but, well, no doubt they had Ed to thank for the majority of the wet dog instances)

Ed was the least petty of all but Faye figured the kid just hadn't figured out the subtleties of human nature.

"Hey," Jet's voice boomed out over the living room as the man himself stepped onto the landing leading from the bridge. "Got a couple good leads on some small fries."

Spike, sprawled inconsiderately out on the entirety of the couch - he'd begun slumped next to her and kept inching closer and closer, taking up more and more space, until at last she'd stood with a huff and stomped over to the chair instead - cracked one eye open to glare upwards.

"Small fries again? What the hell, Jet?" He grumbled.

Jet, hands balled into fists on his hips, glared right back down. "Even small fries fill a stomach to some degree." He argued philosophically.

"Small fries, medium drink, combo meal if you please!" Ed chirped from her spot cross-legged in front of Tomato on the floor. Ein, at her side like usual, gave a hungry whine at her words.

"Any fucking meal..." Spike grumbled. His stomach growled in agreement.

"Sounds like you just signed on for the bitch work." Faye told him with a smirk at his expense.

"Both of you." Jet ordered, switching his glare to her instead. "Someone owes me for draining the gas outta the Hammerhead and leaving an IOU post it note on the inside of the gas cap!"

Faye flushed guiltily.

Not content with just one admission of guilt, Jet went on.

"And someone bent the tools to recalibrate my arm," he grabbed the offending limb at the elbow, "because they apparently needed to extract some BBs from the hull of their ship!" He concluded with a roar.

Spike lazily closed his eye. "Damn crater crust brats," he muttered.

Faye snorted. "Like you never took potshots at zipcraft streaking by."

"The point is," Jet interrupted before they could set to squabbling, "that we need these small fries no matter how petty the work is. So, go on. Get!"

And with that he shooed them out of the living room.

[bebopcrew]

Join @bebopcrew for Beboptober! For each day of the month, there will be a different prompt to keep you writing (or editing, drawing, creating, etc.). If you're not feeling a particular prompt, feel free to swap it with one of the alternative prompts!

Remember to mention us @bebopcrew in your posts and we’ll reblog your work here!

You don’t have to complete all 31 days if you want to participate. Feel free to pick and choose! If you have any questions, check out our FAQ or drop a question in our ask. We can’t wait to see your work!

[lonichedgehog]

Decided to draw my rarepair for Valentine's Day. :>

[bebopcrew]

Join @bebopcrew for our Valentine's Day Event! This event is all about your favorite pairings in Cowboy Bebop. Feel free to highlight them in fics, art, headcanons, metas, and more.

A few event details:

1. This event will run from February 10 to 16. Please post your creations during that time! 2. You can create for any Cowboy Bebop pairing, canon or otherwise! This includes OC pairings as well. 3. Creations posted on Tumblr will be reblogged here. Remember to mention us @bebopcrew so we don't miss it! 4. For fics posted on AO3, feel free to add them directly to our collection.

If you have any questions, check out our FAQ or drop an ask. We can’t wait to see what you create!

[lonichedgehog]

My drawings for Beboptober Day 29-31 following @bebopcrew 's list! :3c

[lonichedgehog]

My drawings for Beboptober Day 25-28 following @bebopcrew 's list! :3c

[thestarlightsymphony]

Kiddo Faye and Spike dressed up as Maka and Soul for halloween 💖💖

[lonichedgehog]

My drawings for Beboptober Day 21-24 following @bebopcrew 's list! :3c

[lonichedgehog]

My drawings for Beboptober Day 17-20 following @bebopcrew 's list! :3c