#maldonnex

[neverendingcomplaints]

I always ship the hard way

Every.damn. time. 

I just can’t sail on the obvious, easy ships. 

[captainsandraclassof2029]

Fanfic: Blackout

[mxmas2014]

startrekcriticism submitted to mxmas2014:

Shipping them all alone in my little maldonnex canoe, but I still love Christmas fluff of my favourite Almost Human couple.

[captainsandraclassof2029]

Fanfic: When Words Fail

[captainsandraclassof2029]

Almost Human FanCon Panel: Two Peas in a Pod Sandra Maldonado/John Kennex

“You know sometimes it’s nice to connect with people who are like you. Who understand you.”

“Is that why you keep Kennex around?”

-‘Beholder’

So Kennex and Maldonado as a couple, yes it exists. Sure we are a tiny crew of shippers, but I can see why that is. Initially this ship would seem to be a match made in…somewhere less than pleasant. On the one side we have John Kennex who, while a good cop, does bend the rules a lot, tends to be rough around the edges, and according to Dorian isn’t very good with kids or cats. Then we have Sandra Maldonado who because she is the captain of the squad has to be more rule-oriented, she is more approachable than John, and she seems to like animals, at least the photos in her office indicate that.

When looking at them more closely however we can see that these two are in fact very similar. For example they both have similar honours on the job according to their official bios:

Sandra:

Police Medal for Heroism

Police Life-Saving Medal

Purple Shield

Commendation - Integrity

Meritorious Police Duty

John:

Medal for Valor

Purple Shield

Police Life-Saving Medal

Excellent Police Duty

Marksmanship: Expert

This lets us know that these two are both very dedicated to their work in the police force. Also right from the pilot they call each other by their first names indicating that they have a history together. My personal headcanon is they were partners before Maldonado was made captain, but whatever their history it has clearly developed into a strong and comfortable friendship.

That is most clearly seen in this scene from ‘Perception’ where Sandra meets with John after shift. The first thing that stuck out as interesting about this scene for me is that Sandra orders for John and he is grateful for it. She knows what he likes and he knows he can relax around her. This is clearly something they have done before. This connection they share gets better as the scene continues and she starts to talk John about his behaviour and using Membliss and other alternate therapies to remember the ambush. She isn’t the first person to do this Dorian was, but unlike him Sandra was successful. She is softer with John and what’s striking to me is that John does open up to her. Sure he starts with a quip about how she sounds like Dorian and avoids answering questions, but then he really starts talking to her. He tells her how much he blames himself. He admits to her what he couldn’t tell Dorian. That he is consumed by this and that he in fact does not have it all under control.

That all-consuming focus is something Sandra shares with John too as we see in ‘Blood Brothers’ with her dogged pursuit of justice against Ethan Avery. She testifies against him in court and pushes the boundary by saying that the eye-witnesses close the door on reasonable doubt even with a lack of physical evidence or motive. She wants to personally put Avery away and focuses fully on him for the duration of the episode, possibly letting him get under her skin in the process. As she said it was her case and they were going to do it her way.

It’s not just their personalities that match and the older history they share it’s the more recent stuff too. Particularly that they both share in the tragedy of the ambush.

“You’re the only person more desperate than I am to find out how Insyndicate knew about the raid.”

We know Sandra was already captaining the division when John went into the ambush. She too probably spent a lot of time sitting with Officer Reynolds as he picked over ever decision she made, everyone she talked to. John may have led the raid, but she authorized it and all those men were lost. In those two years how much did she close herself off from her squad, no longer sure who to trust? How many nights did she lay awake and wonder what she did wrong to lose her men? How often did she worry if John would ever wake up? And when he did how often did she wonder if he would ever come back to work?

It’s that history, both past and present, that connection that they share that makes me ship them as I do. These are two old friends that have both gone through hard times and have leaned on each other to make it through. Sandra pushes John when she knows he needs it and is right there to offer a comforting shoulder, alcohol, and encouraging words when he needs that too. Furthermore I think his return to duty has been good for Sandra too. John has done good work and that lets her know that her decision to get him back on active duty in-spite of the psych report was the right one. That she can trust her instincts and that one bad move with the raid doesn’t mean the war on crime is lost. These two fit together so nicely both in personality and their shared background and that’s why to me they make a perfect pair.

[capricornwholovesdanger]

maldonnex sounds like an extreme candy bar.

i was actually thinking it sounds more like a prescription drug, like...

MALDONNEX® (John Kennex x Sandra Maldonado) is a prescription ship used to create tears and suffering.

Do not ship MALDONNEX® if you ever expect your ship to become canon. 

Side effects may include:

crying

excessive sighing

exhaustive fic reading

disappointment

Consult your physician if you experience MALDONNEX® feels lasting more than 36 hours.