Our Favorite Ghoul, Rodney

Sorry that this is a bit late going out folks. I’ve got sick kids, my daughter’s pet passed away this morning and now family drama *sigh*, just one of those days.

Anyways, here is a post dedicated to Rodney the ghoul. =)

I hate to do this two days in a row but…

***Spoiler Warning*** If you haven’t read Destined for an Early Grave yet then this post will contain spoilers for you. If you don't want to view any spoilers but still want to comment to enter the giveaways just skip on down and tell me; What is a favorite meal that you would like Rodney to cook up for you? 

In memory of our favorite ghoul, Rodney…

First, here some information on ghouls courtesy of FrostFans.com:

Ghouls are a sister race to vampires. They have the same societal structures as vampires, and they conform to the same rules. But there are a few things different about them:

Ghouls eat raw meat with the occasional body part supplement.

Ghouls can only be killed by decapitation.

The birth of a new ghoul – A human is mortally wounded and then given a small amount of vampire blood to drink. Once dead, a ghoul switches his/her heart with the human’s heart. Vampire blood is then poured over the donated ghoul heart to “activate” it, and the dead human rises as a ghoul.

They look exactly human. No telltale crystal clarity to her flesh.

Jeaniene Frost explains more about ghouls in a post at Borders:

“Before you get a mental image of something out of Night of the Living Dead, let me elaborate. Just as my vampires look human to the untrained eye, my ghouls also would pass the visual Homo Sapien test. After all, appearance-wise, if I have vampires that blended into to the human crowd, it made sense to me that ghouls would, too. But my vampires and ghouls aren’t exactly alike, and their differences consist of more than a variance in diet (my vampires drink blood to maintain their strength, while ghouls derive their nourishment from raw meat and the occasional consumption of the other, other white meat.

I liked having a way for the two species to be similar in overall power, but have their differences act as a sort of checks and balance system. For instance, ghouls are harder to kill with their immunity to silver, but Master vampires in my books can fly and ghouls never gain that ability. New vampires are susceptible to falling into an unconscious sleep at dawn, but ghouls have no weakness to sunrise no matter how newly created they are. Vampires can make others vampires on their own, but ghouls can’t create more of their species without vampire assistance, specifically in the form of vamp blood. Without some balance between their strengths and weaknesses, it seemed inevitable that one paranormal species would dominate the other, and that wasn’t the route I wanted to go.”

Rodney was from Poland and raised by Bones since the age of six; later Bones helped change him into a ghoul.

He had a good sense of humor; was a gentleman and made us all hate Justina just a little bit less. LoL He also loved to cook and was fabulous at it, as Bones mentioned, it was a favorite past time of his. 
And he sacrificed himself saving his woman, one of the best sacrifices I can think of.

Cat on Rodney – “Rodney, the domesticated ghoul.”

Here are some favorite scenes featuring Rodney that I jotted down, a little something to remember him by...

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Halfway to the Grave

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow, Mom, when we’re alone. Tomorrow. Don’t cause a fuss, you’re making Rodney hungry.”

Although I had no way of knowing the truthfulness of that statement, he winked at me and made a low rumbling noise in his throat. The room inside at once became quiet.

“Thanks for that.” I whispered gratefully. “She would have banged all night.”

He smiled as we walked back up the stairs. The door to the basement he also locked and gave me a meaningful glance.

“In case she’s really feisty.”

One Foot in the Grave

“Rodney the ghoul?” How low I had slipped on the Humanity Totem Pole to be excited about seeing a flesh-eater again, although that would complicate my menu. “Oh, I liked him. He didn’t get angry no matter how many times my mother insulted him.”

“Ahem.” Rodney grinned. “I helped, too, remember?”

I gave him a fervent lip-lock of gratitude that had Bones snatching me back with a snort of amusement.

“That’s thanks enough, luv. You won’t be able to get rid of him if you keep it up.”

At Grave’s End

Don seated at the table with my mother, gave me a wintry smile. “We were just discussing hiring Rodney to cook for the team. I think it would improve productivity by thirty percent.”

The beginning of Rodney ♥ Justina?

Rodney set a plate in front of me, and one in front of my mother. I almost fainted when she began to eat instead of hurling it at him. Had one of the vampires gotten tired of her bitching and bitten her into a better mood?

She caught my flabbergasted look. “ I watched what he put in it,” she said defensively.

Rodney, instead of being insulted, just laughed.

“Your welcome, Justina.”

“She can stay with me.”

The offer didn’t come from Cooper. No, he’d been studying the ground in a rapt way during this exchange. Bones lifted his eyebrows in surprise.

Rodney shrugged. “I have a house about two hours from here. I’m not there much, since I travel a lot, and it would be safe until your uncle found her something else, Cat.”

I sighed. “Rodney, thanks for offering, but –“

“You don’t have body parts there, do you?” My mother interrupted. “I don’t want to open the refrigerator and find a head on the shelf.”

Rodney laughed. “No, Justina. It’s doesn’t look like Jeffrey Dahmer’s hideaway.”

She gave a measuring look toward the exterior of the building and then back at Rodney. “If my choices are staying in a barrack with a bloodsucking new vampire on the premises, or at the home of a ghoul, I’ll take the ghoul. Catherine, I’m sure one of your soldiers can give us a ride?”

She swept away toward the barracks, Rodney following after her. Dead man walking, I thought, and it had nothing to do with him being a ghoul.

“I started at her like I’d never seen her before. “Did Rodney like them?”  I asked.

She huffed. ‘Did he like what, Catherine?”

“The balls on you, that’s what!”

Bones laughed again and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. “Let’s go, Kitten. Just had to rub it in, I couldn’t resist. Justina, good on you, and Rodney” – another decadent chuckle – “admirable courage.”

I went downstairs to greet her, since Bones wasn’t dressed yet. I hadn’t scene her since that unbelievable night at Rodney’s, and I didn’t even want to know if they were no, um, dating. Rodney, being a gentleman, hadn’t mentioned the incident when he showed up this morning to prep for the evening’s meal, but I heard Bones greet him with an “All hail the dragon slayer!” salute.

Destined for an Early Grave

Rodney gave Ian the same warning look I did, but for a different reason. Rodney and my mother were, ah, dating. Or at least, they were the last I heard. Dwelling on my mother’s romantic life squicked my out, and that had nothing to do with Rodney being a ghoul.

Rodney was here looking as grimed-faced and I felt. He blamed himself for not waking my mother when Gregor stalked her in her sleep. I tried to tell Rodney that there was no way he could have known what was happening, but my reassurances fell on death ears.

“She’s tough,” Rodney said. His beard rasped my cheek as he leaned back. “If we can get her back, she’ll make it. Doesn’t matter what she is now or what he’s done to her.”

“She wanted me to kill her,” I whispered. “God, Rodney, she always said she’d rather be dead then be a vampire.”

“She’ll make it,” he repeated. His voice hardened. “You had it hard growing up, but so did she. Justina’s shocked and scared now, but she’s not a quitter. I’d bet my life on it.”

“Rodney, the laws,” Bones began.

“Save it.” The ghoul let go of me to stare at Bones. “If you don’t manage to kill Gregor soon, I’m going after her, laws or no laws – and backup or no backup.”

“Don’t be a fool, that would be suicide,” Bones snapped.

Rodney gave him a cold smile. “You always said no one lives forever.”

“Rodney was six years old when I found him, orphaned and starving in the streets of Poland. I raised him, loved him, then helped turn him into a ghoul – all a century before you were even born. He died saving you, so you will not disrespect his sacrifice by killing yourself. I don’t care if you hate what you are every bloody day for the rest of your life, you’re going to live because Rodney’s earned that. Do you understand me?”

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You will be missed Rodney…

Since Rodney’s appearance isn’t detailed in the series I’m going to have to go with whom Jeaniene would cast him as. She said on Live Journal that Rodney could be Ben Affleck or Russell Crowe. “Ben has Rodney's strength, while Russell (I'm thinking specifically of Russell in the movie MYSTERY, ALASKA) has more of his charm and laid-back attitude.”

But I don’t know, I can’t see Russell preparing meals like Rodney does, so I am going to go with Ben. I can totally see Ben as Rodney cooking away for Justina while she watches with an eagle’s eye at every ingredient he puts in, with him wearing a cocky little grin. LoL And we can’t forget his fighting abilities either, I think Ben has the strength to pull Rodney off.

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