#Ponies except I made up the anatomy

[arandombee]

The bride and the ugly ass groom 😌

[aristidetwain]

The Shared Dalek Universe of the 1960s: A Case Study

In 2011 (a little over ten years ago!), El Sandifer cited my dearly-beloved 1960s Who Annuals as examples of stories which ended up influencing the TV series many years down the line despite making an unrepentant hash of continuity. 

Her first example is that the Doctor is called Dr. Who, and that he alternates between being from Earth on one page, and not being from Earth three pages later. I would point out that TV was doing much the same thing in those days, and went on flip-flopping basically until Jon Pertwee, so it’s not a terribly good argument to begin with.

However, she spends more time pondering the Daleks of the comics. These Daleks, she notes, are very different from those on television at the time. There are hordes of them, they travel in fleets of saucers, and they’re ruled by the Emperor. This contradiction, she argues, later fed back into the TV series in the RTD era, when huge fleets of Daleks became the norm and, earlier but still well after the first burst of Annuals, in the form of Patrick Troughton facing a very different Dalek Emperor in The Evil of the Daleks.

In no way do I wish to undermine Sandifer’s ultimate conclusion that “canon” in the sense of diegetic consistency is a red herring of little importance, and what matters for any sane definition of ‘canon’ is whether a story is referenced at all, not whether it’s contradicted. 

However.

Having gone back to 1966′s The Dalek Outer Space Book, I have made a very startling discovery, in the story entitled The Secret of the Emperor. The rest is after the cut; I will leave you with a delightful panel from this story, showing the “bewildered” Dalek Emperor being bullied by knights at the Battle of Agincourt. (This is one of my favourite Doctor Who images ever, and if it doesn’t put a smile on your face I am not sure I want to take you seriously.)

So, famously, when he debuted in the comics, the Dalek Emperor was not the giant, static Dalek later shown on television in The Evil of the Daleks and The Bad Wolf of the Ways; instead, he was golden, squat, and had a bulbous head; to house all the ego, one expects. 

Thus, most people will point at the fact that when the Doctor met “the Emperor” in The Evil of the Daleks, he resided in a huge tower-like casing in the Dalek City, as evidence that although ideas received a first treatment in the comics which later made it to screens, no direct continuity was intended; the comics’ Emperor was an alternate, a first draft, to be discarded once a more definitive TV portrayal emerged. 

And yet, of course, it is somehow appealing to think of the two as the same Dalek, isn’t it? John Peel (Dalek writer voted most likely to be a 19th century Victorian man who stumbled into a time eddy; it’s mostly the remarkable sideburns) spent a lot of time in his Dalek novels establishing the life story of the Dalek Prime, the First Dalek Ever, who transitioned from the globe-headed casing to the towery Evil one and then deeply regretted it, what with the “getting killed by his own infighting troops with no way to escape”.

But this is usually viewed as a retcon. A cute retcon, an admirable retcon even, but a retcon. My good friend and esteemed fellow canon-welder, @rassilon-imprimatur​, espoused such a view four years ago:

Well, all of this is, if you’ll pardon my French, bollocks. John Peel didn’t make anything up, except for the snappy name of “the Dalek Prime” as a designation for the individual. The Dalek Emperor in Evil of the Daleks was always the Emperor of the 1960s comics, and there is a very good reason for his seemingly-contradictory change of appearance. What’s more, I am not talking about murky authorial intent: these are things that the discerning Dalek fan in 1967 was meant to have known.

Let me wind back the clock to 1966. A Dalek master-plan is unfurling, a multi-media agenda spanning several years, more ambitious perhaps than even Time Lord Victorious in its scope; for the ultimate aim of a small cabal of men including David Whitaker, Terry Nation and Brad Ashton is nothing less than spinning the Daleks out of Doctor Who and into their own non-BBC TV show — to be made in America, and in colour, if you please! 

For over a year now, a Dalek story arc has been running in the pages of TV Century 21, tracking the early rise of the Dalek Empire and its early interactions with 2060s humanity. Though the Daleks encroach over other parts of the book, including the headline stories, the bulk of this story arc comes in the form of weekly one-page comics making up one long serialised history of the Daleks, under the minimalist title of The Daleks.

Also under the solo brand of “The Daleks”: Annuals, an exclusive audio story, and, of course, toys. Time for Phase Two. It is time to end the Daleks’ endless confrontations with Dr Who on television, and set the stage for a new status quo able to support the TV series Nation dreams about. 

Important background: Terry Nation, famously, does not like the Dalek Emperor. Whitaker made him up without consulting Nation, who maintains that the highest rank in the Dalek hierarchy should be the Dalek Supreme. The Emperor was hard to do away with in the comics, since he was basically the protagonist of the TV21 strip, but one imagines Nation was keen to jettison him from the world of the planned TV series. 

I am speculating, of course, but I picture Nation sitting in his office, pondering the two great thorns in the side of the Independant Daleks Masterplan. 

Thorn one: the Daleks are entangled with the Doctor both diegetically and symbolically; unless something can be done, the Daleks will remain “the Doctor’s enemies”, and a show where they commit evil and the Doctor fails to show up would ring false with the kids watching. The Daleks must be removed from Doctor Who in a sensational and definitive manner, or the whole enterprise is a nonstarter.

Thorn two: I, Terry Nation, have foolishly allowed David Whitaker to shape the lore of the Daleks, and he has made this Dalek Emperor guy very central to early Dalek history, leading up to the 22nd century Dalek Invasion of Earth that most of the Doctor’s subsequent conflicts with the Daleks have stemmed from. But I do not like the Dalek Emperor. I wish I could get rid of him in my new status quo. 

…………Aha.

A triumphant Terry Nation adds a post-it note to the ever-widening corkboard representing the multimedia Dalek Masterplan setting up the TV series, which must already include things like “convince Jean Marsh to come back as Sara Kingdom”. Notes distilled from this corkboard will form the backbone of The Dalek Outer Space Book, this year’s Dalek annual, which exists principally to set up the prospective main characters of the new TV series: Sara Kingdom and Agent Mark Seven, of the Space Security Service. 

The new post-it note reads:

Construe the Daleks’ enmity with the Doctor as a personal enmity between the Doctor and the Emperor, a la Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty. Have the Doctor triumph over the Emperor on TV in a big ‘event’ story. 

Result: the Doctor-vs-Daleks storyline is over; the Emperor is dead; I get everything I ever wanted. 

(Except maybe a pony.)

Then he phones David Whitaker, smirking all the while like an evil genie preparing to grant a badly-worded wish. 

“Good news, old chap, I’ve decided you can write a new Dalek story for the BBC, all by yourself. I promise I won’t interfere.”

*confused and delighted David Whitaker noises*

“ And you can even bring in that Dalek Emperor of yours. Yes, you heard me!”

*Whitaker enthusiasm intensifies*

“Ahhh, but there’s a catch. The Dalek Emperor must DIE.”

Of course, like all good Faustian bargains, this is irresistible even though it is ruinous and the victim knows it to be ruinous. Whitaker agrees to the scheme. He and Nation begin planning out the events of the great finale of the Dalek-Doctor confrontation, which will hit the screens in 1967 as the mildly racist, but otherwise quite well-loved, ‘The Evil of the Daleks’. 

Quickly enough, it is decided that Patrick Troughton crouching to berate the short and bubble-headed Golden Emperor would look silly. If the Emperor appears on TV, alongside human performers, then it should tower over them. Besides, this is to be the archvillainous Dalek Emperor’s last stand, and certain traditions must be followed.

Hence another task is added to the bucketlist of the Dalek Outer Space Book: tell the story of how the Emperor transformed from the globe-headed dwarf to some huge and terrible towering form under the Dalek City, for the Doctor to stumble onto later. This rebuilt Emperor may be teased, but must not be truly seen or truly defeated in the book; that would defeat the whole idea. 

Hence, The Secret of the Emperor, a story which sees the Emperor becoming self-conscious about his own efficiency and letting the Scientist Daleks rebuild his casing from scratch. The final page is a splash panel, a delightfully nonsensical diagram of the mechanical components of the new casing. 

The almost surreal array of colours and shapes is so arresting as to obscure an important detai. Many have seen this page over and over, and yet still missed it. The recent(ish) ‘Anatomy of the New Dalek Emperor’ artwork from Time Lord Victorious clearly looked at this page for reference, in spite of the fact that the TLV Emperor is much more inspired by the old Emperor than the rebuilt one.

Let me spell it out for you: look at the Scientist Daleks in the top right and centre-left. Look at them.

The new Emperor is huge.

And what else? 

That Scientist on the left is plugging huge wires snaking from the wall into the tower-casing. 

He now resides in the Great Hall of the Dalek City.

The background wall is a weird checkered pattern.

In addition, the following facts are seeded throughout the earlier pages of The Secret of the Emperor.

The point of moving to the new casing was to grant the Emperor increased brain capacity (suitable for concocting masterplans).

He acquired said increased brain capacity to help the Daleks attempt to overcome humanity once and for all. 

The Emperor has recently had a trautmatic but eye-opening experience with time travel. 

Ignore the fact that the Emperor was here depicted with what appears to be a still fairly bulbous, and golden, head, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this is very, very direct setup for how the Doctor finds the Dalek Emperor in The Evil of the Daleks — tower-like, in an imperial throneroom in the Dalek City, with a checkered wall pattern, planning out a complicated scheme to harness time travel as a means of defeating humanity once and for all!

Yes, the designs don’t quite match — but how could the artist behind the visuals of Secret of the Emperor have known precisely what Shawcraft would build, a year later, based on the same basic description by Nation & Whitaker? The parallels far outweigh the minor differences in execution. (It’s worth noting that elsewhere in the Outer Space Book a different artist drew what was clearly intended to be the Golden Emperor as a large, golden, but normally-proportioned Dalek, so it’s not like the visual descriptions of these scripts were exceedingly precise…)

The rebuilt Emperor is never seen in the Outer Space Book outside of this ‘dissection’: he is heard throughout The Brain Tappers but kept carefully off-panel, and his new and dangerous new casing is pointedly not destroyed in the story’s conclusion. Well, of course not. That’s what Dr Who is for.

tl;dr: it is not a post hoc retcon, or even a secret, that the round-headed Emperor of the comics became the Dalek Emperor of Evil of the Daleks. A holistic view of the state of Dalek media in 1966-1967 shows that, in fact, it was the whole point that this be the Emperor of the comics; and that the comics had begun setting this up long before Patrick Troughton encountered Edward Waterfield on TV.

And thus, to circle back to Sandifer’s 2011 post, it is not enough to simply say that the “seemingly non-canon” comics inspired the show down the line. In fact in this instance, what appeared on Doctor Who existed for the benefit of the Daleks spin-off — not vice-versa!

[yastaghr]

Nightmare’s Gang of Wranglers 3

Summary: The first ride and the first camp are achieved. The fire brings out something new in everyone.

Link: The first ride and the first camp are achieved. The fire brings out something new in everyone.

The first ride of the trip was always the most problematic. This trip was no exception. Nightmare had sighed when Ink had lost his stirrups the first time. The next three times had been annoying. After that it had ceased to be annoying and started to become funny. Rustle wasn’t going to let him fall, and it wasn’t like Nightmare himself hadn’t ridden without stirrups before. Just so long as he kept his heels down Nightmare would be happy.

But that was just the start of the problems. Dream was turning out to be just as annoying as he knew he’d be, but for an entirely different problem. That problem had a name. His name was Cross. Cross, apparently, hadn’t taken enough heed of all the stories Nightmare had shared with his gang about Dream. Cross was too thirsty for that. He was taking full advantage of his position behind Dream to watch his ass. Yes, he said it was because he wanted to be sure of the other’s seat, but Nightmare knew better. One, he knew that Dream’s seat was impeccable, and two, he could see the purple blush on Cross’ cheeks. He was just lucky that Dream didn’t notice. He would only pay for ogling a client, not for trying to go behind Killer’s and Nightmare’s backs.

The next problem was Dust. It was always like this; as soon as he thought Nightmare had gone out of his hearing range he started talking to his brother. Nightmare sighed. Blue didn’t seem too disturbed, but that couldn’t be said of his pony. Berry hadn’t ridden near Dust recently, so the gelding must have forgotten about his chattering. His ears were constantly swiveled back, but Blue seemed to be handling him well. His seat was good and his hands were soft even as he maintained control over the horse. That made Nightmare feel better about letting him stay there.

The last problem, and one that Nightmare had been predicting, was Ink’s paints. Their sloshing around was scaring the pack train. Blood and Sugar eventually had the whole line stop so they could redistribute the load. That seemed to calm down the mules, but Cherry was being his usual spooky self. That was okay. They were used to Cherry’s spookiness.

Nightmare was impressed when they made the first stopping place in reasonable time. He had allowed for much more malarky than actually occurred. Unfortunately it looked like they needed that time. The camp was in shambles. If Nightmare had to guess he would have said that a herd of elk had bedded down there recently. The trees were still leaking sap, the grass was laid flat by the weight of those sleeping bodies, and the tents that were the sleeping areas were torn to the ground. Nightmare sighed. It would take at least an hour to fix everything.

His crew immediately ground tied their horses and got to work. Dust and Blood saw to the grass, fluffing it up so that the horses could actually eat. Cross set to gathering firewood and wiping down the trees. Sugar looked after the pack train. Error used his strings to fix the tents, and Killer helped Ink to dismount. Dream and Blue had gotten down and were looking around.

“How can we help, brother?” Dream said instantly, Blue right beside him. Nightmare blinked his one eye at him. He hadn’t expected them to want to help.

“Why don’t you… help Sugar unload the food for tonight?” He eventually said. He still didn’t trust his brother, not after what he had done, but he knew that unpacking the mules would be very hard to mess up.

Dream and Blue nodded, ground tied their horses, and walked calmly over to Sugar. Good. They at least knew better than to spook the horses.

=====

Killer’s soft voice interrupted his focus on his brother. “Somebody’s got a crush, huh?”

Nightmare spun to face him. Killer had his signature grin on his face, and his soul was beating at a speed Nightmare recognized as happy. Nightmare relaxed slightly and said, “I didn’t realise Cross was being so obvious. He’s been ogling Dream’s ass this entire time.”

Killer chuckled. Nightmare didn’t see what was so funny. “Yeah, Cross. The big guy’s always had a soft spot for people who dote on the horses.”

Nightmare tilted his head. He didn’t particularly remember Cross being like that in the past, but Killer was miles away more observant than he was. That was why Nightmare trusted him to be his second in command. He was a general; Killer was his chief of intelligence. Neither of them could operate without the other. And they both needed Cross to keep the peace between them and guard against the dangers of the road.

“Well, he’d better be prepared to meet the consequences of his actions. Dream is a client, and he is definitely not a part of our relationship. What would you say would be an appropriate punishment? 15 lashes?”

Killer grinned. If there was ever a monster who was the definition of a sadist, it was Killer.  “Oh, at least. I’d say we edge him a few times, too.”

Nightmare shook his head. He had the final say in this, and he thought that that was going a bit too far. “It’s only been a few hours, Killer. If he continues this behaviour tomorrow, then we can think about edging him. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir!” Killer said, saluting. Then he wandered off to begin unsaddling the horses for the night and getting everything ready for supper.

=====

Blue was fascinated by the fire. He could vaguely hear the rest of the Star Sanses and Nightmare’s Gang moving around, setting up things for the night, cooking food on the other side of the fire, and, in Ink’s case, chattering away. None of that really mattered to him right now, though. His whole attention was consumed by the fire.

It had been so long since he had seen an untamed fire like this. When he was younger he saw them every weekend while his Dad was still alright and well. Then, after his accident, Blue had seen them every night as he struggled to raise a child all on his own. Then Stretch had grown up enough to say he hated the smell of smoke and that was that. Blue hadn’t realized how much he missed it until now.

Blue’s hypnotized state ended when one of Nightmare’s Gang sat next to him and passed him a cup. Blue looked into it. It seemed to have… ketchup?

“Here, drink it. I’ve never met a Sans who didn’t like a condiment, and you’re pretty cute, so enjoy,” The stranger said. His voice was deeper than Blue would have pictured, deeper and hoarser. Blue would have predicted the hoarseness after all of the talking this monster had done today.

Blue honestly wasn’t sure who the monster behind him had been talking to, but he couldn’t judge. One of his best friends still hadn’t stopped talking. Ink would have been hoarse had he been a normal monster. He wasn’t.  It wasn’t that he was crazy. Ink was the kind of anomaly that rules had to be built around. So was the dark boned skeleton Blue recognized from a few years ago. Now if only Blue knew his n-

“What’s your name, anyway? I’m Sans, obviously, but most people call me Dust. Not my brother, though. He still calls me Sans,” Dust said with a grin, his mismatched eye lights shining bright. The concentric rings of red and purple were almost as fascinating as the fire.

“I’m Blue,” he said, startled, “Technically it’s Dr. Blue, but I don’t actually practice at the moment, so most people call me Blue. My brother calls me Sans, though, too.”

The wide smile that shone from Dust’s skull was dazzling. Blue’s eye lights widened as he took it in. Wow, Dust was cute. A blush spread across Blue’s maxilla, along with a hesitant smile. Maybe he could do something about that? Stretch wouldn’t be happy, but he already wasn’t happy about this little trip. What would be the harm in having a little fun?

“Well, Dr. Blue, I’d love to have you examine me sometime,” Dust said, waggling his brow bones.

Oh, that was flirting! Blue knew what to do with flirting. He batted his eyelids back at Dust and leaned in. “Oh, I’d be happy to. I’m sure you have some pieces of your anatomy that can fascinate me for hours. I might even have one or two suggestions that would make your life more… pleasurable! Mweh heh heh heh!”

=====

Ink overheard his friend laughing and grinned from ear to ear. “Yay, Blue! I’m glad he’s feeling good enough to laugh. He’s always so stuffy! That was one of the reasons we took this trip; to make Blue relax a bit! He-”

“Stars, do you ever shut up?” Error growled. He was securing the last string to the ground with some kind of spike. Ink didn’t know the names of any of this stuff, and he barely knew Error’s name. As far as he was aware he had never left the city before. Then again, his memory was absolutely horrible. Not as bad as Blue’s dad’s, but still objectively horrible. Good thing he wasn’t objective!

“Nope!” Ink said, popping the p. “I don’t like it when things are quiet at all! It’s super scary and makes me feel isolated and alone in a place where no one can rescue me. The same thing happens if I see too much of the color white! It’s kind of a trigger, so I fill up the silence with as much noise as I can and make lots of art! I’m constantly repainting the walls of my apartment, and I always have some music playing at home.”

Error was giving Ink the funniest look. It was almost… sympathetic? Curiosity sparked in Ink’s mind. Why would anyone relate to an experience like that? Ink was about to ask when Error spoke up. “That’s stupid. You’ve got actual friends, idiot. They’re not going to abandon you.”

Ink nodded. “I know that, but that’s not how triggers work. Triggers are totally illogical. They’re weird little psychological phenomena that we don’t fully understand. A trigger can be anything from the smell of lilacs, to the taste of chemo medicine, to the feeling of tulle between your toes, to the sight of a specific crack on the ceiling of your house, to-”

“The sound of door locks? Those ones with a full bar you lock into place with a key?” Error asked suddenly.

Ink took in the sight of him. Error looked haunted. Interesting. Ink’s curiosity made him a promise: he would find out everything about Error and his past that he could to satisfy his own curiosity. If he was going to do that, however, he needed to win Error’s trust.

“Yeah! That’s definitely something that could be a trigger,” Ink said, then he went on, “and it’s not like you’d have to know why it was a trigger, either. Sometimes we just have something that’s triggering to us without any explanation. Dream is that way about moles. The little furry animal, I mean. Totally sends him into a panic attack whenever they show up in a nature documentary we’re watching. Blue now likes to pre-screen any movies we’re going to see, just in case. Actually, he pre-screens them for a lot of things. Useless sex scenes, for one.”

Error snorted. Ink blinked at him, feeling an unfamiliar paint combination roll over him. He couldn’t have put a name to it, but there were bits of yellow, pink, and green in there. Yellow was happiness of all sorts, pink was affection or love, and green was the need for something. It could be the need for information, or food, or a plan, or… anything, really.

“Don’t,” Error snorted, “Don’t tell me you’re one of those sex purists who thinks you should only have sex after marriage. That’s so stupid.”

Ink laughed his own unique laugh that couldn’t decide between being a chuckle and a giggle. “No, I just think that those stupid sex scenes take away from the body of the story. Sometimes they’re good, but mostly they’re just put in for horny fans. They don’t even make any sense. People just don’t hop into bed with perfect strangers at the drop of the hat. At least, not any sane people. Not that sanity’s earned its good ratings, mind you.”

“Well that’s true,” Error agreed with distaste. “Sex shouldn’t be some kind of spectacle for anyone to see. I know I wouldn’t want anyone but my lover or lovers to see me like that. I might be the most handsome skeleton in existence, but that doesn’t mean I want to show myself off.”

It was Ink’s turn to snort. “You? Handsome? Your bones are black, Error. Don’t you know that the darker your bones are the less handsome of a skeleton you are?”

Error’s grin was absolutely crazy, and Ink couldn’t help but mirror it. It looked like so much fun! “That’s what they want you to think! After all, so many people are cursed with white bones. They had to come up with some way to boost everyone’s egos. Telling them that white bones are best is a good PR spin! I bet even you believe it about your own bones!”

Ink blinked at him, then slipped out of his overshirt and bared his bones. They were covered in patterns, almost random, that had more black to them than white. “It’s not like my bones are all white, though. I guess that means that, by your definition, I’m ugly, too! Oh well.”

Error’s larger eye light was now almost as wide as his socket. The other one, the grey one, had wandered off. Ink wondered if he could even see out of that eye or if he just had lazy eye. Either way it was disconcerting. “Well… you’re not that ugly. You’re less ugly than all those bleached-boned idiots in the movies. After all, you have some black on there. And the contrast looks… kind of nice, if a bit blurry. D’ya mind taking a step back?”

“Why?” Ink asked, tilting his head curiously.

“It’s none of your business why, chatterbox!” Error screeched, “Just do it!”

Ink sighed. He’d been doing so well with winning Error over, but nothing worth doing was worth doing too fast. He stepped back a few paces. “Alright, Error. Is this good?”

Error was too busy studying Ink’s patterns to answer. Ink studied his expression, committing it to memory. It was so… fascinating… the way he was staring at Ink. The play of light on the black bone of his skull was so enchanting, and the lines of his mouth were inviting in a way Ink couldn’t place. He longed to sketch it. Maybe later, after dinner, although the fire wouldn’t be  the ideal light source. Needs must, though!

=====

Killer grinned as everyone took up their positions around the fire. The small blue skeleton and Dust were already seated, flirting with each other like there was no tomorrow. The artist and Error were arguing, but it involved more words out of Error than Killer had heard the entire time he’d been working for them. Blood and Sugar were sitting as far apart as they could stand, cooking the food and shooting each other longing glances. Cross was sitting at attention next to Dream and shooting him the most adoring looks. Dream seemed just about as oblivious as Nightmare could be. He was staring into space, zoning out. That left Killer to work on Nightmare. Perfect.

“Hey, Boss~” Killer purred as he slid in next to Nightmare, taking one of his tentacles into his hands and slowly massaging it. It was tense as hell. It was pretty obvious who was causing their leader so much stress. His eye light was fixed on Dream like it had been nailed in place.

“Yes, Killer?” Nightmare said distractedly, his eye light not leaving Dream, “What is it?”

Killer brought the tentacle up to his teeth, kissing it. “The tension in your aura is palpable, Boss. You need to relax a bit. Let me lavish you with all the attention you so richly deserve.”

Nightmare turned to face him, his eyebrow raised and his one eye light showing Killer his amusement. “Laying it on a little thick tonight, aren’t you? What are you trying to do, impress me? You know you already do. Or are you trying to distract me from Cross’ misbehaviour? I can see him over there. He’s acting like a lovestruck teenager.”

So are you, Killer thought to himself, a lovestruck teenager that’s fallen in love with his biggest rival. Out loud he said, “If you want to say that about Cross you have to say that about all of them. Dust is flirting with that small blue one like it’s his favorite hobby, Blood and Sugar are doing their Romeo and Juliet act, and Error is arguing so much with that artist that I wouldn’t be surprised if his voice wasn’t hoarse tomorrow.”

“The small one is called Blue and the artist’s name is Ink,” Nightmare said absently.

Killer blinked at him, then smiled his most winning smile - the one he wore when he was trying not to get caught at something sketchy. “You know, it would probably be a good idea if we introduced everyone before matching people up for the night. Why don’t I get everyone’s attention and you can tell people who they’ll be sleeping with?”

Nightmare tore his eye light off of Dream just long enough to narrow it at Killer. Then he sighed and shrugged. “Fine, then. No knives, though. I know you like to show off, but please, save it for another time.”

Killer saluted with the half-ironic, half-serious form that drove Nightmare crazy. “Got it, Boss!”

Then he turned to the center of the fire everyone was gathered around, raised his hands to his mouth, and hollered, “Heylalo, skellies! Listen up, the boss has something to say!”

Eight heads turned to face him with expressions that varied from annoyance to curiosity to mildly dissociative. Killer frowned slightly. Blood he could understand, but why would Dream be dissociating? Had something happened to him since he and Nightmare parted ways? Or was it just the general absentmindedness of a normal monster? Killer vowed to find out.

Nightmare’s grunt interrupted his thoughts. Killer turned to face his handsome datemate and listened closely to the orders of the night. “Now that I have your attention, I’m going to introduce you all and tell you who you’ll be sleeping with. Remember that these arrangements might change as the trip goes on, so if you can’t handle sleeping with someone please let me know. Blood, Sugar,” He pointed to the two of them in turn, “you’ll be sleeping together in the red tent. Ink, Blue,” Again he pointed to each of them in turn, “You’ll be sleeping in the blue tent. Killer, Dream,” He signaled who each of them was, “you have the yellow tent. Error, Dust, please take the black tent,” He gestured at both of them. “Finally, Cross and myself will take the green tent. My name is Nightmare. Now, does anyone have any questions?”

The boss studied each face in turn, as did Killer. They would compare notes later.

Cross was blushing and averting his eyes from Nightmare’s face. He knew he was in trouble for today, but that didn’t stop him from looking forward to being punished. It never had before.

Blue was looking at Dust with longing and a flushed face. The expression was mutual. Interesting. Maybe they should be paired up in a tent tomorrow night. Dust could use a bit of a chance to unwind.

Ink had clearly lost interest in the conversation. He was looking around at the clearing with his hand twitching in the air. Long strokes, short curves, and forceful jabs would have painted a picture if Ink had only been holding a paintbrush. Killer would have bet any amount of money that he was already planning a drawing or two of their surroundings. Artists were like that.

Blood was eyeing the food with hunger, as usual. After what he had been through it was hardly a surprise. Sugar was beaming at his brother. Only his practiced eye told Killer that he was ready for their night’s more… intimate activities. Hopefully this time they wouldn’t get caught.

Dream was eyeing Killer with something like anxiety, except moreso. It almost looked like fear. It did look exactly like the expression Nightmare had turned on him the first time they’d been asked to share a tent. Huh.

Finally, there was Error. Error, as usual, was grumbling to himself. Killer knew exactly what he was upset about. He hated having to share a tent with anyone. He was always on edge, worried that they were going to bump into him in the night. He knew better by now, though, than to complain. Nightmare had no sympathy for his disgust at the touch of others anymore. No one had ever touched him at night. That wasn’t going to change.

Nightmare nodded when he was satisfied that no one was going to complain. “Good. Now, Blood, please serve out tonight’s food to everyone. It’s time to eat.”

[nightspeckle]

High School Au {Part 4}

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

I started this weeks ago but I kinda lost my motivation to write, so sorry it took such a long time! I hope that you enjoy this monstrosity that I have created hehe

******

I watch from the garage door as Cardan backs up and pulls out of the driveway. Oak has retreated back into the house to watch tv. Unfortunately the leach that followed him outside is still behind me.

I wait until Cardan’s car is nothing but a speck in the distance before I turn to face her. 

The face looking back at me is identical to mine. That is except for the dubious and accusatory eyebrow raise that is being directed at me. 

“What?”

“What! Jude really?” Taryns eyes shine in the afternoon sunlight as she crosses her arms turning herself from human to statue. I shrug closing the door and heading into the kitchen. 

“If you are talking about my display by the car lets both keep in mind I have seen you do much worse. I mean muchhhhhh worse.”

“You promised not to speak about that!” Taryns voice climbs as she pushes herself up onto the counter. I shrug again while maneuvering around to search for my barbeque chips.

“But really, Jude?” 

I stand from the pot cabinet I had been rifling through to look Taryn in the eyes.

“I truly am not comprehending what you are trying to say here, Taryn”.

She looks at me with a sad smile playing over her face as she shakes her head.

“Cardan Greenbriar? I just-” Taryn takes a moment for the breathy sigh that escapes her “It’s Cardan Greenbriar.”

“I have acknowledged that,” I mutter. 

Well maybe not truly, but she doesn’t need to know that. 

“I’m just a little confused, and a tad bit concerned.” Taryns eyes are puppy dog wide.

“I really don’t see how you’re in a place to judge.” My voice is firm as I cut her a glance. I mean really, who the hell is she to judge?

“I was just wondering.” Her voice now is as identically firm as mine.

“Great! Well please go wonder somewhere else.” I look up at Taryn to see her roll her eyes while I continue on to the next cabinet. 

“Oriana put them over here,”

Taryn hops off the counter and reaches into the spice cabinet before pulling out a glorious bag of barbeque chips.

“Sneaky bitch.”

“She’s just trying to help your addiction,”

“Or she’s saving them for herself.”

“Whatever you say Jude,” Taryn says before sauntering out of the room pony tail swishing behind her. “Whatever you say,”.

....

After polishing off my chips I decide to compile a list of reasons why I want to kill Taryn. It goes a little something like this:

She interrupted my steamy ass kiss

She attacked me before I had time to think about how I fell about said kiss

She made me feel shitty for having said kiss

& most importantly she RAIDED my chocolate stash

I am also compiling a list of reasons to grovel at her feet:

She interrupted my encounter with the devil incarnate

She reminded me that Greenbriars so shitty even backstabbing Taryn is concerned

She felt bad about the chocolate and replaced it 

Usually the list making makes me feel better. However, I still feel like my head is spinning around and around and around. 

I keep going back to what happened.

 He kissed me. 

I kissed him back and I liked it. 

I liked it. 

Shit.

As much as I can’t stop thinking about the kiss my brain has also adhered to what he said to me. Cardan Greenbriar thinks I’m hot. Cardan Greenbriar likes me. Cardan Greenbriar despise’s me.

Unbelievable. My life is a complete and utter joke. 

I can’t help but sigh and fall back onto my bed in utter disbelief that this has become an aspect of my existence. 

I decide for my sanity that this is too much for a Monday and decide to postpone until tomorrow. 

The next thing I decide is that homework is also an unessential aspect of a Monday and crash into a delightful sleep.

....

“I mean honestly what did she expect from me?”

“You really didn’t have to say that,”

“She ratted me out in chem,”

“You exploded the lab on purpose!”

“Minor details,”

“Jude can you please reinforce to Liliver how crazy she sounds,”

“Jude?”

“Jude!”

My eyes snap to Fand’s face mere inches from mine. I had been scanning the cafeteria looking for a familiar form. To my dismay the cafeteria is absent of a lanky boy in head to toe black.

“What are you talking about?” I ask as Fand rolls her eyes. 

“What Liliver said to Nicasia,” Fand supplies before texting someone back on her phone. 

“I wrecked her,” Liliver says with a shrug.

“If by wrecked you mean was blatantly rude to someone I am family friends with then yes that is true,” Fand corrects leveling a glare at Lil.

I look too Liliver who has a smirk spread across herself and can’t help but high five her. Nicasia is an arrogant bitch. To not congratulate Liliver on this would be an absolute travesty. 

Fand rolls her eyes again questioning why she’s friends with us. Something I also question on a daily basis.

“Are you going to tell us why you were hawk eyeing the cafeteria?” Lil asks glancing over her shoulder in the direction of the rest of the student body.

“Van and Garrett went off campus for lunch,” Fand states with an amused glint in her eyes.

“That was not who I was looking for,”.

“Then who were you looking for?” Liliver asks fully intrigued now.

“Don’t worry about it,” I say firmly before taking a sip of the iced coffee I had been nursing all morning. 

“I personally adore a defensive Jude,” Fand says cheerily to Lil. 

“I hate that you just said that,” I mumble as the bell rings.

I sling my backpack on my shoulder and take off with my coffee in hand leaving behind the shared look of confusion coming from Liliver and Fand.

I don’t waste anytime getting to anatomy. Anatomy is the one class Cardan and I share together. I hadn’t seen him in the halls at all this morning and by lunch time I was antsy. 

When I had woken up this morning it had finally sunk in. I had kissed Cardan Greenbriar, my childhood tormentor. The worst part is that I wanted to do it again. Like really wanted to do it again.

However, just because I wanted to spend hours in a dark room with him didn’t mean I wasn’t annoyed. I mean who the hell just kisses someone they have hated for years out of the blue. 

I was especially annoyed with his declarations. The fact that he liked me was the craziest thing I had ever heard and yet I was accepting it. 

But being told you are despised before being kissed just didn’t set well with me. He had no right to despise me. Me of all people! Out of the two of us I am the only one with the right to despise. What a little bitch.

I mean truly who the hell does he think he is?

But that didn’t do anything to deter me from craving to see him again.

So now sitting in my anatomy class I couldn’t help but wait to talk to him. Of course I wanted to give him my peace of mind but mainly because I couldn’t help of think of what he would look like in the absence of his ever present black clothing.

Van slides into the seat next to me mumbling something about how torturous this class is while I keep my eyes pinned on the door.

When Cardan finally comes in I feel my thoughts freeze. His black shirt is tight and daunting. His backpack is thrown over one shoulder and his walk is lazy and smooth.

I’m cursing myself for wanting his attention. But I mean when he looks like that, who wouldn’t?

I can’t help but twist my hair around my finger. A nervous tic. One that Van knows well, and he cuts me a knowing look.

But Cardan doesn’t look at me he passes by with out a glance and drops down into the seat behind me.

I look over my shoulder to see the dead look he posses so well.

“What?” It’s cold.

“Uh-” I freeze, everything I had been planning to say completely lost. What an idiot I am. 

Cardan’s face is blank as my thoughts try to reform. I hadn’t expected him to be so harsh.

Of course with my luck Nicasia would have to show up now.

“Drooling Jude?” She says as she slides into the empty seat at Cardan’s lab table. “I didn't realize you actually liked other human beings, I pegged you as a pig type of girl, you know?”

“I was not talking to you,” I say with a roll of my eyes. She truly is a complete and utter bitch. 

“Doesn’t seem like you were talking to anyone,” She says with a smirk.

Unfortunately she does have a point. Van is cutting me an amused look and Cardan’s face is empty of life. 

I look at Cardan only for our gazes to lock. He quirks his head a bit and his eyes flicker with a bit of a shine. 

But he says nothing  and I turn around trying to save myself from making this anymore embarrassing for me. 

I look over to Van who is smirking “You know now that she says it I could see you living happily ever after with a pig.”

“Oh shut up, you roach!” I can’t help but punch him in the arm as we laugh. Class starts a few minutes later saving me from the never ending discussion of gambling Van has started up on again.

....

When the bell rings I can’t help but race out of class. My next class is a study and I have to pick up some flyers for the Sadie Hawkins dance the school is throwing. Being the vice president is never ending. 

Plus my plan to talk to Cardan went absolutely no where so I might as well move past the delusion that was yesterday. 

Now that I think about I wouldn’t be surprised if he was on some phsycadelic drug that randomly makes people go around confessing false feelings.

That would make a lot more sense and it would relive me of having to try to figure out how we even got there. 

But as I’m weaving through the hallways a hand yanks me back. 

The next thing I know I’m in an empty stairwell. I turn to look at my assailant ready to swing a very effective jab to the throat. 

That is until I see it’s cardan. He has a smirk on his face as he tilts his head towards the stairs. I don’t protest as he grabs my hand and pulls me down the stairs until we are partially hidden.

“Hi,” His voice is soft. 

“Hi,” I repeat quietly.

“I...sorry about,” He gestures his head up the stairs in the direction of anatomy. “My friends...”

“I get it, they’re complete assholes!” I cant help but grin as he laughs.

I just made Cardan Greenbriar laugh. 24 hours really can make a difference. Who knew Cardan had such a nice laugh.

“Do you think Taryn will tell Locke?” He looks sheepish.

“I can ask her not too,” I whisper. Saying anything louder feels wrong here.

“That might be best for now,” His hand is still holding mine and I can’t help but look down.

It feels nice. Good even. 

I understand what he is saying about his friends. If my friends heard I kissed Cardan I would never hear the end of it. I mean never.

I feel kind of giddy when I look up to his face and nod.

“We never got to talk,” I say leaning back into the wall. 

“You didn’t seem like you wanted to talk,” Cardan says with a smirk.

“Oh shut up,” I say. “I mean about how you told me you despise me,”

He shrugs “Well I do.” I consider following through with that throat punch until I see his smirk. 

“I don’t think you’re aloud to despise me,” I say.

“And why is that?” He asks with a teasing tone.

“Well because between the two of us you are always the mean one to me. Plus it doesn’t really make sense that you can despise someone that you like.”

“You are extremely annoying, rude, and a complete and utter brat,” Cardan says with a bored tone.  “Seems like a good reason to despise you.”

I can’t help but sigh. Of course the one guy to ever tells me he likes me thinks I’m an annoying brat. I’m about to comment on how he has my beat in the terrible traits by a long shot when another thought crosses me mind.

“So you don’t like me?” I can’t help but mumble. 

He laughs “I do like you Jude. It’s like how you think I’m cold, arrogant, and a dick and you like me anyways,”

I can’t help but stutter. “I- I do not,” 

I mean do I? 

Cardan’s face is open and I can’t deny the fact that he’s been pretty much all I’ve thought about all day.

“Lie,” He says with a playful shoulder nudge. I can’t help but roll my eyes.

“Maybe,”

I  gulp as he takes a step closer to me. 

Cardan tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear as our breaths mingle. 

He smells fresh, like the way the world smells on a spring day.

I don’t stop him as he brings his head down to mine. Cardan’s lips are soft and warm. The move is tentative, slow. He’s asking a question and I answer with the press of my lips to his.

The kiss is gentle, warm. It’s full of soft touches down my back. It’s occupied of the feel of Cardan’s smooth hair dancing in my fingers. It’s slow and sweet. My heart feels like it’s dancing, bouncing in happiness. 

I think I could stay here for hours in the feeling that is his gentle lips. In the way his warm hands feel on me. In the way he feels like sunshine in a cold winter.

When Cardan pulls back I can’t help but smile. One of his hands is still resting on my face and his fingers move to trace the smile that has crept onto my face. 

When he steps back he does it with an amused look. 

“I’ll see you later, Jude,” His voice is warm and kind and then he’s bounding up the stairs.

I can’t help but lean back resting my head on the wall.

I am in some serious shit here.

My heart still feels giddy and there is no denying it now. Cardan Greenbriar really does like me. Me of all people, and that alone makes me feel ecstatic.

What am I doing? 

I can’t believe that I spent all day wanting to talk to Cardan. I used to spend my days avoiding him and his cronies and now I’m standing in an empty staircase memorizing the feeling of his body nest to mine. 

I stand there for a minute trying to compose my thoughts. To figure out what this means for me. If maybe he was right when he said I was lying.

That is until I look at my watch to see I’ve been in here for 7 minutes. I am so late to pic up the posters. I was supposed to meet Sophie our president 3 minutes ago. She’s totally going to rip me a new one. 

 But I can’t help but smile as I make my way out of the staircase. 

Cardan kissed me, and that is totally worth a Sophie scream.

~~~

Tags <3 :

@deargreenbriar @dontfwithlibrarians @judexcardanxgreenbriar @sensitivehighlord @afexiss @mi-mavencalories @pilesofriles

[stayextrafrosty]

I am Your Future, I am Your Past: Chapter 2

A Roswell New Mexico Soulmate AU

Note: So I’m clearly not following the themes for Malex week except for the AU but because I’m devoting all my time to this, the goal is to update daily for the whole week then every few days following.

Warnings: Abuse and homophobia

Read on AO3

-

Michael fidgeted in the hospital bed. He was sick of just sitting there. Maria had come back first thing in the morning and he appreciated it but there was only so much sitting still he could do. Maria was snuggled up with him on the bed as they watched some bad daytime television. Nurses came in and out periodically to make sure his vitals hadn’t changed.

“I swear if Isabel doesn’t show up soon, I’m gunna leave by myself,” he complained after another vitals check.

“They just want to make sure you’re ok. So please just listen to them Michael? For me,” Maria said, giving him a sweet smile. He chuckled and shook his head.

“Only for you. Thanks for staying though. You really don’t have to.” She raised an eyebrow at him, looking offended by the thought.

“I’ve told you before that I’m not leaving you. Not when you need me.” She pressed her forehead against his. He used his free hand to pull her close, kissing her gently. He loved her so much. She might have been perfect.

A small knock at the door forced them apart. Isabel stood there, an eyebrow raised.

“Really? In a hospital? This isn’t ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ or something.” Michael sighed and rolled his eyes. Maria got off the bed, crossing her arms. They had gotten along the night before, but the thinly veiled dislike seemed to have returned.

“Not that it’s any of your business,” she pointed out. Isabel scoffed, shaking her head. She tossed new clothes at Michael.

“Let’s go. There are things that need to get done. Sanders mentioned that you were supposed to finish fixing a car this morning.” Michael let his head fall back against the pillow.

“Shit. He’s gunna kill me,” he mumbled.

“Don’t worry. He said being in the hospital is a good enough excuse. This time,” Isabel said, grinning. “I’ll send a doctor in to get all those tubes out of your arms.” She left the room, leaving Michael to wonder if his truck was still outside.

“Hey Maria, mind telling me where my car is? And where the keys are?”

“Oh, I think Alex drove it home yesterday. I’ll take you over there to get it if you want. I just need to be back at the Wild Pony for opening this evening.” Michael nodded as the doctor walked back into the room. He hadn’t seen Kyle since the previous night. He figured he should thank him for taking care of him.

Alex was going to be a problem. The doctors made him leave before he got to ask too many questions. That was probably why he drove the truck home. Forcing a conversation. Michael had no idea how to answer the questions without freaking him out. Hell, Alex might never want to see him again.

The doctor gave him the all clear to move around and he was up. He couldn’t sit in that bed anymore. Maria laughed at his impatience as he changed.

“Shut up. You weren’t forced to stay in the same position for fifteen hours.”

“Maybe not but you didn’t used to have a problem sleeping on my bar,” she grinned and crossed her arms. Michael laughed. She did have a point.

“Man. Picking on a guy’s low points? Not cool.” Michael pulled a white t-shirt over his head, trying not to flinch at the pain in his arm.

“Hey, wait,” Maria said, eyebrows drawing together. She stepped up to him, moving the t-shirt away from his chest. Oh shit. The mark. “Isn’t this… the same tattoo Alex had…?” She trailed off when she looked up at him.

“Uh yea. Guess you caught us. We um, knew each other back in high school. Used to be friends. Did some stupid stuff,” he said, thinking on his feet. The word ‘friends’ stuck in his throat, but Maria didn’t notice.

“No… You didn’t have this a month ago,” she said skeptically. Michael cursed how observant she was. “What’s going on Michael?”

“Ok, it’s a long story—” Isabel coughed behind them from the door. She was a life saver. He had never told Maria about the curse because it didn’t matter. He thought it wouldn’t matter. But now he has two explanations to give.

“Michael. We gotta go.” He took Maria’s hand and kissed her forehead.

“Give me some time and I’ll be able to explain. But I’ve gotta go.” She opened her mouth to say something but he was already out the door. Him and Isabel pretty much ran out of the hospital, hoping she didn’t chase after them.

“No outsider has ever known about the curse. You can’t just bring her into it,” Isabel lectured quietly. Not that anyone would even be listening.

“We’re dating. I can’t just hide it from her.”

“Of course you can. People do it all the time!” Michael shook his head as they rushed through the parking lot.

“That’s not a good practice to have. Especially for relationships.” He pulled the door to her car open, climbing in, trying to be careful of his arm. He relaxed into the leather, staring out the window. Isabel pulled the sun visor off the front window and started the car.

“Look. It’s dangerous for her to be involved. If she tries to protect you or Alex, she could die. You know the trials only get worse.” Michael could hear the worry in her voice. She was right. But keeping this from her would just lead to making assumptions.

Michael didn’t respond as she pulled out of the lot. He had been stupid to let her see the mark. Of course, she would have seen it eventually but now the conversation had to happen sooner than he wanted. He shook his head. He had to focus on Alex first. It affected him a bit more directly.

“Hey, you know where Alex lives?” Isabel glanced at him and nodded. Of course she does. She probably started looking into it as soon as she found out about Michaels mark.

“Have I mentioned how creepy it is that you can get information about almost anyone?” A smile settled on her face.

“It pays to be the town socialite.”

-

Dead

The word had been ringing in Alex’s ears since the previous night. He survived ten years of war and he might die because of some supernatural curse put on him and Michael’s family? It was surreal. And why his father wouldn’t tell him about it was just as much of a mystery. But his father refused to include him in most things so maybe he shouldn’t be surprised.

He had driven Michael’s truck home last night in the hopes it would force him to talk. But if Michael really wanted to avoid him, he could just hotwire the car. Alex had watched him do it a couple times.

Back in high school, Alex found his willingness to break the rules attractive and fun. Then he started getting into fights. He wished he could have stuck through it. Maybe they would still be together…

Alex shook his head, not wanting to think about the past. Things happened the way they did for a reason. He wasn’t sure whether he believed in a God or not. The church was never exactly very welcoming to him. Even if they didn’t know. If a God that loved all his children existed, there would be no exceptions. Not for things that he couldn’t control. He just wasn’t sure. He hadn’t been to church in years, though he doubted things had changed.

A knock at the door shook him from his thoughts. He stood slowly, not bothering to put his prosthetic on this morning, though he kept it close. Leaning on the crutch, he hopped to the door. He hoped it would be Michael but something wasn’t sitting right in his head.

He opened the door to a green uniform that matched his own. He’d learned from his time in the army to trust his gut. Alex sighed and fought against rolling his eyes at his father. What he was doing here was any one’s guess.

“What do you want?” The spite refused to be contained.

“I was informed that someone saw you get shot,” he said, no emotion.

“Oh, spare me the fatherly concern,” Alex snapped back.

“I am a commanding officer in much higher standing than you. Show some respect.”

“Once I see something to respect I will.” Alex watched his father’s nose twitch. He should have slammed the door in his face right then. But of course he ignored his instincts.

Jesse grabbed the front of his shirt, putting him off balance. He stumbled forward trying to catch himself, only forcing him to rely on his father to hold him up. He was a teenager again. Helpless at the hands of a man who hated him…

Alex stumbled into the living room, his brothers nowhere to be found. His father grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back.

“Dad stop… please…” Alex cried.

“Not until you learn how to be a proper Manes man. You are a disgrace to this family.” He shoved Alex to the floor. Alex scrambled to stand up, knowing the ground was the worst place to be.

“You want to fuck around like you don’t come from a long line of respected soldiers then you’re going to learn the hard way. You’re lucky I let you live here.” All he had done was go out with some friends. His father had assumed it was Michael and that they were sleeping together.

His father grabbed him again, punching him in the gut and sending him back to the ground. Alex coughed but didn’t try to get back up again.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” he mumbled, praying to whatever god existed that this would stop.

“Alex! Get away from him!”

Pulled back to reality by a voice dripping with fury, Alex stumbled backwards and fell as someone tackled Jesse from behind. Alex pushed himself away from the bodies on his porch so he could see what was going on.

Michael had a knee on Jesse’s back and was trying to get hold of an arm. Alex watched, wide eyed. He had never seen Michael look like this before. His face was twisted into a snarl. And for just a moment, Alex was worried Michael would kill him. He had pinned his arm with his other foot, holding his face to the ground with the hand not in a sling.

“Let me be very clear. You ever come near him again and I will end you.”

Jesse didn’t have time to respond before Michael was standing and walking into Alex’s house, slamming the door behind him. Alex could only stare at the closed door. He jumped slightly as Michael crouched next to him, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, you ok?” Michaels voice had done a one-eighty. Gone was the rage only to be replaced with a gentle comfort.

“Uh… yea. Think so.” Alex tried to stand on his own but a missing leg and shaking arms made it difficult.

“Come on. Lean on me,” Michael said softly. Alex met his eyes and nodded slowly. Michael lifted his arm over his shoulder, standing slowly, letting Alex find his footing. He still had the crutch in his hand, but he hardly used it as Michael did most of the work.

Alex directed him to the couch where his prosthetic sat. He didn’t want to need Michael.

As soon as Michael set him down, he reached for the leg. He couldn’t meet his eyes, afraid he would see pity. Alex didn’t know if he could handle it right now.

“You don’t need to put it on if it’s uncomfortable. I’m here to help if you need it.” Alex paused in his movements. “Besides. I think you might want to stay sitting for this conversation.” He looked up at Michael. There was no pity. Not even the slightest indication that he thought any less of him. In fact, he seemed nervous.

Alex sat up, watching Michael as he paced around the room. He looked at photos of his friends. Liz, Rosa, Maria and others. He paused at the one on the end table. Alex wasn’t sure what emotions passed over his face.

“You kept this,” Michael asked, showing him a picture of the two of them, each holding guitars. Alex shrugged.

“It’s a good memory.”

They looked at each other for a moment before Michael cleared his throat and turned away. He set the picture back in its spot. He moved to sit next to Alex, though not close enough to touch him. He considered reaching out but it would be too obvious.

“I don’t really know where to start to be honest. Do you know anything? Did any of your family talk about it?” Alex tried to think about early conversations with his mother and brother’s but nothing came to mind. He shook his head.

“Nothing about curses. And definitely nothing about you.” Michael ran a hand over his face.

“Damn.” Alex opened his mouth to apologize but Michael spoke again. “Don’t say ‘sorry.’ It’s not your fault. It’s just kind of complicated. Now I probably won’t tell the history completely correctly, but I’ll give it my best shot.” Alex nodded, waiting patiently for him to continue.

“Well it starts kind of like a ‘Romeo and Juliet’ situation. A princess and a servant fell in love after being friends their whole lives. One night, the father caught them together and tried to force them apart. This is also the time where sacrifices were normal and the princess was set to be the next sacrifice. The servant boy broke her out and they ran away. Her father chased after them. Once he caught up, he shot his daughter in the back. He left the servant boy to suffer without her. He pleaded to the gods to take his life over hers. They did.” Alex’s eyebrows drew together.

“Ok. This is a good history lesson and all but what does that have to do with us?”

“The name of the head family was Manes. The servants were Guerin.” Alex stared at Michael. There was no way that was possible. Most last names don’t last that long unless the family was having no children other than boys. That was also assuming they all had children.

“And there were consequences for the two lovers. The condition for bringing her back to life would be a curse on the families. Every few generations, a Manes and Guerin would be drawn together and forced to complete trials. These trials get more deadly as they go on. No pair has ever survived them.” Michael moved his shirt to the side, showing the flower.

“A petal will disappear from one of us each time a trial is completed. This is like a connection between us. I can feel you and you can feel me.”

“Ok, that all makes sense… Sort of. But why did you take on my wound when I got shot?” Michael chuckled and ran a hand through his hair.

“Just another condition of the original curse. I will take on any injury you receive while we’re connected. That’s what the slave boy did when he first saved the princess.” Alex looked down at Michaels arm that was wrapped in a sling.

“I… I didn’t know… I’m—”

“Stop. No apologizing. You have nothing to apologize for. It is not your fault. Do you hear me, Manes?”

“But—”

Alex froze when Michael grabbed his face, callused hands holding him firmly in place. He had pulled his arm out of the sling. He wanted to look at the bandages wrapped around his bicep but Michael forced him to keep his eyes on him.

“I will protect you. With my whole life, I will protect you.” Alex didn’t know what to say. What could he say? All he knew was how badly he wanted to pull Michael closer. Alex reached up, laying his hands over Michaels cautiously, not knowing how he’d react. He looked over his face and glanced down at his mouth. He wondered if it still tasted the same.

When Alex met his eyes again, they had darkened. Maybe… just maybe… Michael was feeling the same thing he was right now. He pressed his forehead against his. Alex sucked in a breath and everything that was Michael overloaded his senses. The smell of rain and maybe still bourbon from the previous night. He was acutely aware of the way his hands moved. He had moved one to rest over his heart. Michael would know just how fast his heart was racing. Their noses brushed against each other.

“Michael.” Alex let his name slip out under his breath.

Suddenly he was gone. Alex almost fell forward from the lack of contact. He had stood up, refusing to look at him. He wanted to reach out for him but would that make him pathetic? He was clearly just rejected. He’d be a fool to chase after more.

“Sorry, the connection can uh… make you feel things. Like things you don’t really feel,” Michael said, voice shaking. Alex flinched at his words. He may as well have smacked him across the face.

“Anything else?” He tried to hide the hurt but couldn’t be sure if he succeeded.

“I only know the main story. If you want information about past reincarnations you’d have to come to the Evans’ house. They have all the history books and diaries.” Alex nodded, although Michael couldn’t see him. “Just let me know when and we can go over there.”

“Ok.” The awkward silence stretched longer than Alex would have liked. But there was nothing he could say. If he tried it would just come out as cursing Michael.

“I uh… have to go. I have to explain some of this to Maria so…” He trailed off, looking back at Alex with an expression he couldn’t quite identify. Maria. Of course. Michael was dating one of his best friends. He wasn’t allowed to care about Michael anymore. Their time had passed.

“Your keys are in the kitchen. Sitting on the counter next to the pile of mail. Sorry for taking your car but I figured you didn’t want to pay to park it at the hospital overnight.” Michael chuckled but it seemed forced. Alex ran a hand through his hair as he walked away.

Maybe Michael was right and the connection did make him feel things that weren’t really there. But it felt real to him. He placed a hand over his heart, feeling it beat, strong and steady.

Michael returned, keys jingling in his hand. He noticed Alex and a look of pain crossed his face. Alex could feel the shift in his mood. Maybe he needed comfort. That wouldn’t make sense, given he had just torn away from him like he was some kind of poison.

“Here’s my number. Changed while you were gone. If you need anything, just call.” He set a piece of paper down on the end table next to the picture of them. Alex held his gaze for a moment before nodding and looking away. “Right... So, I’ll see you later?”

“Yea. See you soon.” With that, Michael let himself out. Alex heard the truck start but then it just sat there. What is he waiting for?

He was about to look out the window to see what the problem was but then the sound faded as he drove away.

-

He was a liar. He lied. Right to his face. Even if the connection did make them feel things they wouldn’t normally, that didn’t make them less real. And even if the connection effected it, there was no mistaking the emotions he was feeling from Alex.

He wanted nothing more than to forget everything and just be with him in that moment. Hearing his name in that pleading whisper could have broken any man. He cursed whoever got to hear it next.

But he was with Maria. And he was happy. Happier than he’d ever been. And she deserved an explanation. He wouldn’t tell her the whole truth. It would be too dangerous for her. But he didn’t know how to make her not dig deeper. Or try to protect them. She was one of the most caring people he knew and if she thought either him or Alex were in danger, she’d fight God to make sure they weren’t hurt.

Michael’s arm started to ache. He had forgotten about it. Driving with one hand was no problem but trying to maneuver his arm back in the sling while also paying attention to the road was proving difficult. He didn’t want to rip the stitches. He didn’t exactly have the money to get them replaced before they needed to be.

Pulling into the Evan’s driveway, he pulled the seatbelt off to get his arm back in the sling. Damn prick. Why’d he even have a gun? New Mexico was an open carry state, even had one of his own, but he rarely brought it places.

Michael needed information. He needed to know what the other people did to get through the trials. Would it be best stick around Alex? Leave him in protective custody? Michael shook his head. Alex would refuse that one.

He stepped out of the car, slamming the door harder than he intended. Michael searched through his keyring for the spare to the front door. He didn’t see any of the cars but that didn’t mean anything. Max and Isabel’s parents were always all over him about learning the history. The last thing he needed was to have them breathing down his neck.

Once he located the key, he pushed it into the lock, though he found no resistance. Unlocked?

He pushed the door open slowly, cursing the door as it squeaked. Nothing looked out of place in the front room, but it was quiet. Michael doubted they forgot to lock the door before they left. He shut the door as quietly as he could behind him. Looking around for items that he could improvise a weapon from, he clenched his fists ready for a fight.

Michael stepped into the kitchen, scanning over everything. Again, nothing was out of place. He let his shoulders relax as he made his way through the rest of the downstairs. Nothing looked bothered but something was not right.

He made his way upstairs to where he knew their collection of history books was. The last door on the right was usually left closed to keep guests from wandering in. Michael stopped when he saw it propped open, like someone didn’t fully close the door as they were leaving in a hurry.

He still knew the places where the hallway creaked under pressure. He avoided them easily and he nudged the door open with his foot, grabbing the small statue on the coffee table against the wall.

His jaw clenched at the sight of the room. Books scattered the floor, some pages ripped. Bookshelves had been toppled. Drawers had been ripped out of their spot in the desk. Whoever was here was looking for something. Who knows if they found it.

“Damnit,” he whispered to himself. It would take hours to reorganize whatever was left. He carefully stepped over books and papers. There were scrolls that supposedly held all the original information. Those were locked in a safe behind another bookshelf. This one didn’t seem to be knocked over like the rest of them. Michael held his breath that they were still there.

He had never read the originals. Most people in the family hadn’t. Rumor was they stole them from the Manes family a long time ago. Why was never explained. At least not to him.

Michael did the best he could to move the bookshelf himself but without the use of his other arm, it was useless.

“What the fuck happened?” He jumped at the voice from behind him. Max stood there, taking in the disaster. Michael stood slowly.

“That’s what I’d like to know. I came to read up on some stuff and I just found it like this. Where are your parents?”

“They’re out of town,” he said slowly. He walked over to Michael. “What are you looking for?”

“The original scrolls. They’re in a safe behind this thing, right?” Max nodded and traded places with him. He shifted the shelf to expose the safe. It appeared untouched but that obviously didn’t mean anything.

Max spun the dial and pulled the door open. A second door inside made Michael raise an eyebrow. This one had a keyhole. Max stood and reached to the top of the bookshelf, pealing something off the top.

“You gotta come up with a better hiding spot.” Max rolled his eyes as he pulled the tape off the key.

“It’s still there isn’t it?” Michael shook his head. That didn’t mean anything. Max opened the second door, grabbing the plastic bags with the scrolls in them.

“How would you even know they’re all there? No one ever looks through them from what I remember.” Max sighed.

“Someone counts them on a regular basis. There’s six of them in total.”

“Ok… so are they all there or what,” Michael asked, impatient. Max shoved the papers back into the safe, slamming both doors shut.

“No. One’s missing.”

-

The fire burned as Jesse Manes moved the wood around. He would show that damn boy that threatening him will be worst mistake of his life. He wanted answers to the curse? He would never get them.

If their lines ceased to exist, then this would be over. No one was ever strong enough to prevent the original sin from happening again. He would end all of them. They were the doppelgangers of the original. It was sick. Wrong.

Sacrifices needed to be made. He opened the scroll to the drawing of the two original lovers. A prince and a slave. Jesse’s nose scrunched as he looked at someone the spitting image of his disgraced son.

Then he tossed it into the fire.

[roswelldetails]

RNM 2x10 - American Woman

EPISODE SUMMARY:

SECRETS OF THE PAST — After uncovering a cryptic message from the past, Alex (Tyler Blackburn), Isobel (Lily Cowles), Max (Nathan Dean), Michael (Michael Vlamis) and Maria (Heather Hemmens) set out in search of answers at the reservation where Alex’s mother grew up. Meanwhile, Cameron (guest star Riley Voelkel) encourages Liz (Jeanine Mason) to reach out to someone from her past after Auturo (guest star Carlos Compean) gets detained. Marcus Stokes directed the episode written by Rick Montano & Vincent Ingaro & Jason Gavin (#210). Original airdate 5/18/2020. 

DETAILS:

Tripp brings Louise to the Reservation in a body bag where the Navajo doctors are able to save her life.

"Your message said that you were gonna bring two women that would be no trouble.  This looks like a lot of trouble."

"I must have gotten the codes wrong."

"No, don't give me that Manes man nonsense. Not here in my own home."

"Her name is Louise. I promised her friend Nora I'd protect them. My brother triggered an ambush before I could get them here. And Nora…"

"Wait, what does the Air Force want them for?"

"They're not from around here. They're from...up north."

"Yìiyáh. No. She can't stay here… What if your brother comes here and finds a fugitive.  I can't put my people at risk for a white woman."

"Please. You're the only person I trust. If she doesn't make it, it was all for nothing."

"I'll have you remember that I was the one that saved your ass in Okinawa. I don't owe you anything. I'm only doing this because you're my family. And because I'm a damn fool."

A few notes on this scene:

--I don't know why Tripp pretends he got the codes wrong.  Unless he's spiraling and talking about the timing of the attack.  But it seems like he means the message that he was bringing them to the reservation.  Clearly things didn't go according to plan.  Though, it is always possible that we're still missing bits of the story.

--OG Easter Egg.  "They're not from around here.  They're from up north." For anyone who didn't watch OG, this is almost exactly how the exchange went when Max told Liz he was an alien in the 1999 pilot.

--Yìiyáh - I found nothing on this word.  I'm assuming that it's a curse word or general exclamation of negativity, but literally got zero results on google. It's possible, of course, that it's misspelled in the captions.  There were a lot of errors in the captions in this opening scene.

--While there really isn't any overt statement that Alex is half Navajo and this town is part of Navajo Nation (which has been in the news a lot lately and therefore is a good place in this country to be aware of), there's lots of clues or subtle enough statements that I feel like it can be accepted as fact, since: Harrison is a codetalker, the necklace is Navajo, tsela is a Navajo word. So I did a little peeking and it could work.  The closest Navajo town is about a 4 hour drive from Roswell.

Navajo Nation: 

(side note - Navajo Nation has extreme poverty but also is utterly gorgeous. And the Tribe gets income from tourism. Just a few places there that I'm dying to go? Monument Valley, Antelope Canyon, Shiprock.  Check it out.)

Liz comments on Max's irregular heartbeat, with literally no acknowledgment of the fact that she's straddling him and has a history of causing his heart to race...and other forms of lack of control (think 1x03).

"I'm excited about this though. You know Alex dug up all that info on our bio Mom. You sure you can't come?"

"Got to take my dad in for his blood tests. I want to check on Jenna too.  Cannot believe she's back in the hospital again."

"She's been in pain for weeks. I have no leads on the mysterious hunting van, and Charlie hasn't made contact."

"Hmm. To be fair, I do hear that phone service is a little spotty in flying saucers."

"Okay, I get that. You think my alien abduction theory is bogus."

"I know you're worried that this has something to do with you, but I don't think this is an alien thing."

"Cam and I had fractal burns on our necks. We had no memory of what happened. That's alien stuff. I just want clarity on something."

--Note that it's past time to abandon all hope of anything resembling a defined timeline for this show...once again we have weeks passing between episodes. This is the second time this season that the time passing has only been generically described as "weeks".  It's been at least a year since Liz came back to Roswell (per her conversation with Diego), but a year would be summer (late May or early June, specifically), and in this episode Isobel mentions that it's winter (which would be a year and a half).

Maria's pitch:

"In conclusion, esteemed members of the Roswell Tourism Board, while the Pony is normally a sanctuary for locals during CrashCon, I think that my plan to turn it into the Contact Cantina Pop-Up Bar will be a hit with alien fans."

"We're talking more money than we first speculated, aren't we now?"

"You know, Mayor Bernhardt, I forgot to tell you about our new morning cocktail… It's coffee, vanilla cream, and our best bourbon. Let me get you a double."

Note: so this is the famous Mayor Bernhardt. Funded by the Long family. Doesn't like immigrants. Had a racist relative who wouldn't give first prize to the black man.

Maria's vision…

Herself, younger, sitting at the Pony bar. 

"You have to let me go! You're just crazy! And I'm trapped!"

And then she runs from the bar crying.

She's not wearing the necklace.

Describing it to Michael:

"I had a vision, but it was more like a memory. Of a fight I had with my mom when I was younger."

Isobel interrupts Michael and Maria to pick them up for the road trip. Just a few relevant excepts from this scene:

"Pack your bags. We're going on a family road trip."

"Is this why Max wanted the day off?"

"In the photo of Max and Isobel's bio Mom, there was a water tower. Alex recognized that water tower from the town where his mom grew up. You should come with us."

Alex and Forrest talk in the Crashdown:

"Hope that limp isn't from a paintball injury."

"Nope. Those bruises have mostly healed. I just got a new prosthetic. Takes a minute to get used to. You working on your book?"

"I write my book on my computer.  However, I write my angsty emo poetry in an angsty emo journal."

"I'm actually working on some poetry myself. Well, song lyrics, technically. It's a lot harder than it was in high school."

"Yeah, writing was easier for me when I was a kid too. Feelings...we bury 'em now. You just got to find that thing inside of you that doesn't have a voice. Lend it yours. You know? Listen, I have like, zero musical talent, but if you need help with the worst part, we could, uh…"

"Actually I'm leaving tomorrow for a few days to go talk to some recruits."

Michael interruptus, and the conversation goes casual.

--What happened to "angsty nerd isn't really my type." Or...was it FORESHADOWING!!!?! 😂

--Oh hi there clear shot of Forrest's clearly Deep Sky logoed ring…

Cam has been having debilitating migraines that have been keeping her bedridden since the abduction.

Nurse Kate is a badass. she tries to keep ICE from getting into a patient's room. Liz hears her and hurries to the waiting room, where there's more ICE activity. Liz panics and tries to get Arturo out of the hospital, but she caught the attention of the ICE officers. However, Liz knows her rights.

"He has applied for his green card. I'm his sponsor, okay? This is his G-1145 right here."

"You can show that to the court."

"It's okay. Call the lawyer."

"No. He is a diabetic. It is illegal to detain a patient."

"Exigent circumstances. Move."

"No. Hey, this is an unconstitutional arrest and the ACLU will be all over you."

"Elizabeth, we respect the law in this family. If you're in trouble, who will take care of the mouse?"

--G-1145 is a request for confirmation that your green card application has been accepted:

--The timing of this all. Liz has been prepared for this moment all her life and would fight it to the point of getting arrested herself, if not for Rosa. Rosa's safety is the only thing that convinces Liz to step aside.

--As an only semi related note, this is a really interesting contrast to how they wrote Jeanine's character out on Grey's Anatomy.  

--Also feel like it would be remiss of me to not point out Liz's reactiveness and fightinf mentality is mirroring how Liz initially reacted to Max pulling her over in the pilot.

"Okay. So the Deputy on call says there's one detention center in the county. Here's the info."

"He doesn't have anything left in Mexico. No one. Nowhere to go."

"You can't think like that right now."

"I think like this always. Rosa and I used to recite our escape plan for if our parents got deported and we got separated in foster care. I begged my parents not to tell Santa where we lived because I was afraid he'd ask for papers. My whole life was built on a fear of this day coming, and it's here. If I'd have kept better track of his health, he wouldn't need these tests. I should have made him move to California. I thought we were safe being outside the hundred-mile zone, but after this election I should have known better. And I should have made him wear a sweater this morning because it's freezing out there. And what if he…?"

"...okay think. Is there someone we can call?"

"Kyle's at a conference, but I can have him call his mom."

"Do you know anyone with some real power? You know, Federal muscle?"

Cam gets dressed to take Liz to the Detention Center and Liz calls Diego for help.

The road trip group arrive at the reservation and meet Gregory Manes.  He says he remembers them all from high school.  He takes Max, Michael, and Isobel to learn about Louise while Alex and Maria go jewelry shopping.

Meanwhile Gregory is taking the Pod Squad to Louise's grave, but pauses for some flirting:

"You're still the Isobel Evans who convinced the basketball captain to pull four different fire alarms to get out of AP Gov, right? Yeah, legend. Here she is."

"Oh my God, it's covered in flowers.  It's winter."

"Rumor is they grow year-round unattended. She was a healer. I'm told she helped with trauma, addiction, that sort of thing. All without speaking."

"This another grave?"

"She was pregnant."

"Louise arrived gravely injured. And the baby didn't survive.

--Louise died the same day the Pod Squad came out of the pods, confirming that she is probably the old woman on the reservation that was described in 1x09.

--Michael found the mysterious purple flowers growing on Louise's grave.

Alex and Maria at the trading post.

"Are you okay? Seem a little off."

"I had a vision during a meeting this morning. It almost cost me a deal that could save the bar. Maybe I should just wear the necklace. Go back to being a social media guru. Slash barkeep. Slash magical trope in our redneck mayor's fantasy."

"So why did you really come today? Your ideal day off isn't fighting for the radio silence with Isobel Evans, so…"

"This is the back of my necklace. The word stamped in the silver says Tsela. The necklace is Navajo, so I thought maybe that was the jeweler, but no one I've asked here seems to know who made it. I just want answers."

"Well, there's a ton of silver jewelry for sale here. So why don't we just keep looking for something with the same stamp?"

Pod Squad sharing a bottle of acetone by Louise's grave.

"Noah said our planet was war-torn. But the hell they found here can't have been worth it."

"Do you think that Louise's baby died from her injuries or do you think maybe it was never going to survive?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I was pregnant. When you died. Obviously I'm not anymore. I just can't help wondering if that was my last chance. Assuming that humans and aliens can't procreate because they're different species. Maybe that little baby wasn't viable."

"You almost died during the abortion, didn't you? I could feel it. Noah almost killed you again, huh? Oh, I need a minute."

After Max leaves Michael offers to be a sperm donor for Isobel if she ever wants to have a kid.

Liz at the Detainment Center

"It's Ortecho. Arturo Ortecho. He's my dad. And he needs gliclazide and beta-blockers. I brought both."

"We can't take contraband here, but there is an infirmary on-site, if he's here."

"You know, out of curiosity, did Nebane Abienwi visit an infirmary before he died of a brain bleed in your custody? What about Johana Medina León? She was 25 years old, okay? People walk through those doors and they die...Who's your supervisor? You need prior approval before conducting enforcement in a hospital. There was a compliance memo."

"Right, a memo, which is just like a law only not. Unless you calm down, I'm gonna arrest you for obstruction."

"Okay, Liz, maybe sit down.  Sir, I'm Deputy Jenna Cameron, and we appreciate your interpretation of your guidelines, but we have an urgent health concern about an inmate here, if you just wouldn't mind checking the system."

Jenna goes with the agent…when she returns...

"Do you have a court case next week for a vandalism charge?"

"What? Yes, but I didn't do it. I'm just gonna plead guilty and pay the fine. It's nothing."

"They denied your dad's green card application because of a misdemeanor on your record. You can't be his sponsor."

Jenna's headaches overtake her. Meanwhile, the ICE agent comes back with news:

"Here just came up. Ortecho is being transferred to El Paso for his deportation hearing. You can see him there around Tuesday."

--Liz's misdemeanor is taking the fall for Rosa's vandalism from when she was arrested by Sheriff Valenti in 2x02.

Gregory takes the Pod Squad to see Harrison who is on his death bed.  Manes boys are always welcome here, the woman tells them. Harrison is the only one Louise ever spoke to on the reservation.

"He met my great uncle Tripp Manes fighting in WWII.  Harry was a code talker."

Michael gets Gregory to leave with him so that Max and Isobel can go inside of Harrison's head. Their conversation:

"You look like her."

"Harrison.  You look different."

"That was a lesson I learned from Louise. How to take your mind to a better time when you're in pain. Come on. I haven't seen the sky in a while. I'll tell you about her...I taught Tripp the codes in the Pacific. That's how we set up the rescue. He was supposed to snuggle Louise and Nora here, but the plan fell apart."

In the past between Harrison and Tripp:

"You've changed. The man I met on that ship obeyed orders."

"Guess I saw what happens when good men fall in line with bad orders. I'm a Christian, Harry. When evil itself tells me to kill a woman with child, I disobey. Even if the evil looks just like my brother."

A nurse rolls Louise into the room in a wheelchair.

"Did you find a family for her?"

"There should be music where you take her. I think she's a dancer."

"You can give her a house full of music, Louise. Nora wanted me to protect you so that you could protect the child."

"No. He's coming for me and I can't even move. No. When the devil comes, I won't be able to fight for her. Please. It is hard to be a woman on your planet.  It's only gonna be harder still for her. Roy Bronson believed in meeting hatred with compassion. And I want her to be like him. A light in the darkness. A little star on the ground. I want that for both my girls."

"Where did he take the baby?"

"Can't say."

"No. Tell us where our sister went."

"She isn't your sister. Louise rarely spoke, but when she did, she spoke of two daughters. Two stars on the ground. She had no sons. You aren't hers. You came from something else...She lived for decades longer than she should have, trapped inside of a body that could no longer dance, waiting for a sign that you would be all right. She loved you."

Jenna wakes up back at the hospital.

"I asked them to run a new test. Your headaches are spinal headaches. Because there was a hole torn into your spinal cord."

"I'm sorry, what? My kidnappers gave me a spinal tap?"

"Do you mind signing off so I can look at your tox screen?"

"Yeah, of course, but, Liz, you don't have to do this, okay? Your dad, and…"

"I need a distraction. I can't leave for El Paso until tomorrow, and they're not letting him have visitors other than his lawyer until Tuesday, so...thank you for being here. You used your privilege to help me. I'm furious that I needed it, but I needed it."

--Reposado is a type of tequila

--Spinal Headaches:

Isobel and Max on what they learned from Harrison:

"You've always been different than me and Michael, okay? Always. You were the leader. From the start. I mean, you're the special one. You're the healer."

"I was. Now I can't even sneeze without my heart skipping a beat. All my life, no matter how weird things got, I never felt alone. Because I was your twin. Maybe I'm different. Maybe I'm a freak...I can't stop thinking about being chained up when I was a kid. It didn't feel like someone bad chained me up. It felt like I was the someone bad."

"Max, you're not dangerous."

"Saving people destroys me. But killing Noah? That felt good. I was high. And whenever I think about what he did to you, I want to chase that high. I wish I could kill him a thousand times. Louise mentioned the devil. Maybe something evil was chasing them. And maybe that something was me."

"Okay. I want to show you something. You see this hand on her shoulder there? See, Michael thought it was just someone who got cropped out of the photo, but no. Any female would recognize that body language. She does not want that hand on her. Louise said the devil would come. I think something evil was after them, but it wasn't you. I want to find out who it was."

Alex and Gregory:

"Hey, I just wanted to say thank you before we go. I also feel like I should congratulate you on getting out."

"Of the Navy?"

"Of the family. Getting out from under Dad."

"You got to break free of him, man."

"Do you feel free?"

"I don't think I get to be free until you are, Alex. You know, you're my brother. I wish that I would've stood up for you more."

"You know, I think he's actually getting a little bit better. It's like the stroke melted away the psycho in his brain or something." 

"If you can forgive him you should. Cast off the stone. Let me hate him for you. I owe you that much."

Back at the trading post with the whole road trip group.

"We scoured the store for jewelry that said Tsela on it, but nada. Although I did manage to spend an entire week's worth of tips anyway."

"Tsela?"

"Yeah it was printed on the back of my grandmother's necklace. I thought I might find some answers here."

"Well, apparently, it is Navajo for star on the ground. So, you guys ready to go?"

"Star on the ground.  Maria? What year was your grandmother born?"

"Uh, '48, I think?"

"Was she adopted?"

"Yeah. Oh my God."

"Your grandmother was my sister."

Note: The direct translation of Tsela is stars lying down. Interestingly, it's often a name in Navajo. When I googled it, the top results were names for Navajo boys.

Diego and Liz's conversation:

"Diego, I never would have reached out if it weren't an emergency. Thank your mom for me."

"The Senator was more than happy to call in a favor. She's always liked you."

"I like her too. We need more people like her."

"Look, we got lucky your dad got out at all, much less without an ankle monitor. And you pissed a few people off back there, so it's not likely that this is the end for you. Who's your lawyer? Or should I make some calls?"

"No, you've done enough. After what I did, I can't even believe you listened to my voicemail...How did you get here so fast?"

"I was at the airport in Phoenix when you called. Just had to reroute real fast."

"And how have you been?"

"Well, my fiancée left me. I'm kidding. No, I'm seeing someone.  It's getting pretty serious, so…"

"Good. Me too."

"Good. We can be friends...And don't take this the wrong way. Please tell me you're not wasting that incredible brain of yours writing alien hamburger puns."

"I am working on a few projects. Nothing I can talk about, but, I'm not wasting anything."

"Well, all the coolest studies make you sign NDAs anyway, so…"

"You know what? There actually is something...Do you know what butyricol is?  Worth a shot. It's this chemical I found in my friend's tox screen. I had never heard of it."

"Maybe you're slacking, Ortecho."

"I am sorry, it has only been a year. Did you literally forget everything about me?"

Note: I'm very pleased to say that when I googled butyricol, half of the top results were RNM related.  Definitely not a real drug.

Malex fight in the bunker:

"We're closed!"

"Hey, that alien console piece that Jim Valenti left me...You still have it?"

"No. I sold it on eBay."

"You didn't attach it to your console."

"I tried. Doesn't fit."

"So, Tripp left this for my dad before he died. My dad thought it was a code, but this is a reference sketch of this exact piece. My dad's been looking for this thing for 30 years and Jim Valenti had it all along...I'm gonna give it to him. I want to see what he does with it once he's got it. Look, if it didn't fit in your console, then it fits somewhere else. My dad could lead us there.""Your dad hunts aliens, Alex. He'll lead my family right off a cliff."

"I've protected you so far. That's not changing. Besides, he's different these days...I don't trust him, Guerin. I just…I'm asking you to trust me.""When we were kids, you believed people were good, despite humanity doing everything to prove you otherwise. And, God, I loved you for it. But what was charming when we were 17, it's just stupid now. How do you not see that? You believe there's some good in your father?"

"Yeah. Yeah I do. God forbid I have faith in people who don't give me a good reason to."

"That's not fair."

"No? Why is your hand covered? You miss your injury because you want to hurt. Your anger made you feel safe. I will always hate my father for what he did to you, but I don't want to live in that toolshed for the rest of my life. I don't want to walk around thinking that people don't change, that one day everyone's just gonna let me down, 'cause I am not building a damn rocket ship in a hidden lair. There's one way for me off this planet. And I need to believe in a reason to stay. I promise I'll keep you safe."

"Can't let you leave with that."

"What are you gonna do? Fight me for it?"

And then Alex leaves and is kidnapped. Hit over the head by an unknown assailant. The note from Tripp blows away.

Max and Liz are talking back at Max's house while Max drinks a lot of bourbon.

"You know, you never told me why your parents immigrated here in the first place."

"My dad wanted a family, but not in Juárez. There was no opportunity, no money. Women were disappearing there all the time. He didn't want my mom to be one of them. So he fled. You're wondering why your family came here."

"If I even had a family. I know so little about my own story. And the parts I thought I understood are just unraveling."

"Max. Family is the one area where I am certain that biology does not matter. Look, when I found out that Rosa was only my half sister that didn't change anything."

"This is different...There are only three of us on this planet, as far as we know. I mean, feeling disconnected from them makes me feel completely alone."

"Completely alone? I'm right here."

"When you needed a rescue today your Mensa society, old money son of a senator ex was there to answer your prayers. I couldn't even answer a call. You didn't need me."

"Oh my God. Okay, so would you prefer that I did need you? Would you prefer to come home to find me crying into my dad's windbreaker so that you can swoop me up and drive me to El Paso for his deportation hearing in the morning?"

"That's not fair. You wanted me to talk about today."

"Yes, okay. I'm sorry. I want you to feel better."

"Well, you think maybe you could go back in time and not meet someone as handsome as Diego? Seriously. He's like if someone mixed a cologne ad with a Kennedy. It's ridiculous. I will never feel adequate again."

"You're wrong. Max, let me be clear. You are objectively better in bed...And I never woke up on a Sunday morning to him singing Hank Williams in the shower...He never snuck unreasonable tips into my dad's checks. Or quoted Henry the Fourth. Coming home to you at the end of my worst days and my best days is the only rescue I need."

I actually found this background on the Ortechos to be fascinating.  In case you don't know Juárez is a pretty big city directly opposite the border from El Paso. It does have some huge crime issues. But it also is one of those border cities where the border is a little thinner. Like San Diego and Tijuana.  People live in Juárez and work in El Paso and vice versa.

If you want to see a really dark & gritty portrayal of Juárez, I'd highly recommend you to check out the American version of the show The Bridge.  Which literally deals with an investigation related to disappearing women.

Isobel and Maria at the Pony:

"She looks so determined."

"Yeah, neither of us would be here if she hadn't been. You know she was paralyzed 50 years and she still managed to use her powers to help ease troubled minds. You know how hard that is? To take on someone else's suffering? I mean, it doesn't just disappear. She would have been carrying all of that."

"She suffered so much loss."

"I don't know how to be worth it."

Michael on the bracelet.

"The beads are made with pollen from the alien flower. I found another plant growing at Louise's grave. Okay my working theory is that they grow from alien remains. There's this UFO lore about that Libyan desert where the flowers have been discovered before. You don't have to wear it if you don't want to. I know better than to think I can save Maria DeLuca. I hope you decide you can save yourself."

Max is still drinking after Liz went to bed.  At 4:04am Diego calls and wakes her up. 

"I made a call, about that toxin in your friend's system. Butyricol. It's a drug. It's a memory eraser. It was developed by a private organization and purchased by the military for weaponization. There's no approved application outside of violent combat."

Liz tries to call Alex, but he's too busy being unconscious in the back of his SUV.  So his kidnapper pockets his phone.

Max has a memory flash. There's fighting, weapons clashing, a woman's voice...all while he's chained down in the cave. Louise appears and kneels down to touch his shoulder.  He looks afraid, but she's trying to comfort him (even though she has blood splattered all over her white clothes). She smiles and nods and then cuts Max free of the chains with her alien weapon. She offers him her hand, but before he can take it a figure in white appears and he and Louise fight. Max cries out and hides his face.

Present day Max is visibly shook by the flash.

MUSIC:

1.  Shelly Fairchild "Worry No More"

2.  Powerslide "Just You And I"

3.  Will Fox "Against The Tide"

4.  Tommee Profitt feat. Sam Tinnesz "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"

[aoifehorse]

In the spirit of catifying characters, anyone a fan of Percy Jackson?

Me, Vision, and Finch are making cat designs for all the characters! (Links below, also they’re hosting a MAP, so he’ll ye)

We’re having a great time but we hit a bit of a road block, how are we supposed to catify a centaur? (Chiron, yes but also the party ponys)

If your thinking ah yes easy just make the human part a cat well then your wrong.

tldr: i made some cursed looking cat horse creatures and yall should see them

There is a lot to consider and I will show all of our current thoughts and things here, so you all can get in on this rich discussion we’re having.

i made this handy chart to showcase most of the possible options for a cat/horse hybrid. the last two are me and my friends current best ideas, and the ones im going to go a little more in depth on.

lets start with mine, because i think its the best way to do it.

here we see wheelchair version and horse sized version. (this is also approximately  the size difference as well) for my idea, basically he would be cat sized in the wheelchair and fluffy, then the head would remain the almost the same size and the fur would become the mane. the body would be horse anatomy except for the front legs, which would be a type of big cat. His fur would all be short except the mane and tail. the tail would be partially cat to help with balance when he rears up if he needs to use his paws for a bow or something. 

now visions idea

now if youre looking at this and thinking, that doesnt look like proper horse anatomy, thats because it isnt. its cat anatomy but with hooves instead of paws, then a extra cat half on the front. he would be able to run on 4 or 6 legs and have the front part be upright while the rest stands normally. the back half would be horse sized ad the front part would be cat sized. 

so yeah thats the situation. what are yalls thoughts on this?

links to friends stuff and design folders for more characters: 

https://sta.sh/22d68drgot3k?edit=1

https://www.deviantart.com/visionskyx/gallery/71026064/percy-jackson-cats

https://www.deviantart.com/visionskyx

https://www.deviantart.com/theoncomingsnail

[peculiar-bonds]

Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind - Chapter 1: Accomodation

Synopsis: While Mane 6 are on a research mission in a small town from another world called 'Earth', they learn about an old myth among the inhabitants: the Slender Man. What is the ugly truth of this haunted town? Will they survive the monster's deadly grasps?

A loud thud was heard. Mane six found themselves in what seemed like a small, dark room. The space felt tight between them.

“Wh…Where are we?” Twilight asked, blindly struggling to make her way through her friends’ limbs. “Girls, are you here?”

“Yeah, Twilight. Kinda crushed, but fine” Rainbow Dash confirmed. “Better ask, what are we? Because I don’t feel myself at this moment…”

“Let me see if there’s a way out…” Twilight’s limbs felt weird when she moved, like she was on sticks; with all her efforts, she touched something that seemed like a door knob. Her new members made it difficult to open the door and get out, but she finally managed. The unicorn tripped and fell on the floor; it felt rough.

“This is strange…” she muttered.

Meanwhile, Rarity rose to stand on her feet and turned around to look in the mirror. When she saw her reflection, she gasped in awe. She wasn’t a pony anymore, but a being with two long legs and other two members with…claws? Her skin was a light shade of peach instead of white and her face was totally different, she noted as she patted it; it lacked the nuzzle, but there were other new features instead. Rarity descended her upper extremities to the chest and squeezed the two mounds of flesh on it. This felt even weirder to her.

“What are those?” she asked, completely puzzled by the sight of her new body parts.

“I don’t know, let me see if there’s a library…Ah, here we go…” Twilight replied. She struggled to rise from the floor and stand up while approaching the small bookshelves in the wall near her; squinting her now small eyes at the titles, she noticed a book titled: “Imaging Atlas of Human Anatomy by Jonathan D. Spratt & Co.”. Twilight stared at the book for a second, then tried to pick it up with her little long ‘branches’.

“Sweet Celestia, how can I even open it without magic? Or at least a nuzzle…”

After a while, she finally figured it out; she had to pick two of her bony extremities in order to turn the pages of the book. Twilight took a look on each of the pages with beautifully-colored illustrations and essential information about this weird species called ‘human’…species to which she and her friends belonged at this moment, it seemed.

“Girls, I found something! We are some beings called…humans. Seems like they’re the inhabitants of Earth. And that’s what the princess meant when she said that ‘we’ll blend in’ “

“Humans? What kind of sorcery is this?” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

“Well, get over here if you wanna know more! Here, let me show you how humans walk…”

Twilight applied the new theories on her friends, and taught them how to walk and keep their balance while standing up. The six girls spent the entire night doing research on the humans’ complicated anatomy, structure and customs.They learnt that the long extremities that grew out of their ‘hooves’ are called ‘fingers’, and that they have many uses, like picking up objects and writing. They also learnt about the physiology of the human body, like its stages of development: baby, child, teenager, adult and elder. From what Twilight read, she placed herself and the others in the ‘teenager’ category, considering that wrinkles weren’t present on their faces, and they looked too mature to be children.

“How old are we, I wonder?” she asked. “If we are teenagers, it seems that we also study in a school or something. Right?”

“I suppose, darling” Rarity shrugged. “Why not ask the locals about it?”

“Not yet…” Twilight murmured. “I don’t think it’s safe for us to go out for now. There has to be brochure or something with information about this town.” She spoke while searching through the shelves. “I don’t even know where we live, to be honest!”

Meanwhile, someone was knocking at the door. The girls panicked and and started hiding around the apartment. Only Twilight approached the entrance door and looked through the peephole; she saw an old female human that seemed quite harmless, even well-intentioned.

“Hello? Is anybody there?” the woman asked with a soft voice.

“Um, yes?” Twilight replied.

“I heard a young girl moved in our complex and I wanted to give her a warm welcome…I even brought something sweet for her; I hoped she would be home”

Twilight quickly opened the door and stood in front of the old lady. She had greyish white hair tied in a bun; this hairstyle pinpointed her glimmering brown eyes that were surrounded by deep wrinkles and eyebags. Still, her expression gave a hint of kindness in her heart. The woman wore a perriwinkle angle-length dress with a white ruffled apron over it. She held a tray with a big pie in her small and wrinkled hands.

“Oh, you must be miss Tara Sparkle, right?” she asked while pinching one of Twilight’s cheeks.

“Uh, yes, I guess…” the young girl answered, puzzled that the human had addressed her with another name.

“You guess? Ahahaha! Youngsters nowadays and their odd sense of humor!” the old lady chuckled.

“Um, excuse me, ma’am, but what school for teenagers is in this area?” Twilight interrupted.

“Oh, you mean highschool, sweetheart? You must be new here…Welcome to Waukesha, by the way! The nearby highschool that you’re asking about is Waukesha South High School, dear! It’s a few meters from here. I’m sure you’ll find it easily, you’re a smart girl, from what I see…”

Twilight noticed a hint of irony in the old woman’s sayings, but she decided to ignore it.

“Well, thank you for the information, miss…” “…Abigail. Abigail Wilson. But you can call me miss Abby, my dear!” the woman added with a smile on her face. “Oh, almost forgot! Here is your pie! Hope you like it, and have a great time, sweetie! Good night!”

“Um, thank you…You as well!” the teenager replied while taking the tray. She smiled at miss Abby, then closed the door slowly.

“So, who was at the door?” Rainbow Dash asked, dumbfounded by their conversation at the doorstep.

“One of my neighbours. Yeah…” Twilight sighed, while putting the pie on the kitchen table. “Seems like we’re students at Waukesha South High School or something”

“Wau-what? Woah, this must be a secluded place in this world…”

“It might be, who knows? What time is it, by the way?”

Pinkie Pie looked at the clock on the wall. “It’s eight o’clock…”

“…In the evening.” Fluttershy pointed out while looking through the window. “What’s the date though?”

“Is there a calendar? Oh, right; it’s Sunday, 21st May…We can go tomorrow then” Twilight replied.

“Where are we gonna stay, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

“Here, I suppose…” Twilight said with uncertainty. “Please, make yourselves at home!”

Say no more; Rainbow Dash already started looking for food, and found nothing more than a few tomatoes in the fridge and five bread slices in the cupboard.

“Aww, that’s all we’ve got to eat? Bummer!”

“I’ll buy more tomorrow, after I finally figure out how humans’ system works.” Twilight explained while rifling through another book that she just found in the bookshelves: ‘Life in the USA, by Planaria J. Price and Euphronia Awakuni’

Two hours passed and the girls already fell asleep one by one, except Twilight, who was still reading information about the human society. She was eager to find out more about this entirely new species, and she couldn’t stop just now.

“A little less sleep won’t kill anyone, so let’s dig deeper into all of this…” she said to herself while continuing her studies.

*Next day*

A rooster’s cry sounded in the distance, which woke up Twilight despite her tireness, and she startled, suddenly realising that it was morning and she had to go to school. She watched the clock in deep shock.

“Girls, wake up, it’s half past seven!”

“Mph, what the heck is so important today, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash muttered, visibly annoyed by her friend’s call.

“It’s a school day. Good morning sunshine!” Twilight ironically whispered in her ear. She furiously draped the curtains.

“Ugh, sweet Celestia!” RD screamed in ‘agony’, blinded by the light outside.

The others woke up slowly to the noise, completely confused. It took a while for everyone to get ready and Twilight grew impatient with each minute.

“Come on, we’re going to be late!”

“Be patient, darling! Nobody will kill you if you’re five minutes late…” Rarity said, trying to comfort her.

“Unless it’s the very first class…and it’s been more than five minutes!”

“Calm down, egghead. We’re ready to go now!” Rainbow Dash pointed out. “Though, I don’t have any books with me…”

“I’ll just take three books and these papers over here for now” Twilight replied while grabbing said pieces of paper.“Took the key, let’s go!”

Almost everyone got outside, except Twilight, who struggled to lock the door with her new assets called ‘hands’.

“What is it now, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash yelled from downstairs.

“I don’t know how to lock this thing…Just a second”

“Let me show you, sweetheart” a voice offered from behind. It was her neighbour, miss Abby.

“Goodness, it was you, ma’am!” Twilight startled. “Please do…”

“Alright, so you use your fingers like this and then you rotate like this…” miss Abby explained patiently. “Are your locks different than ours?”

“Not really. Only the way of locking doors is…quite different.”

“Ah, I see. Here you go” the old lady nodded, then gave her the key. “Have a nice day at school, dear!”

“Thank you!” the youngster replied while heading downstairs.

*at the school courtyard*

“Here we are! Wow, this is nothing like what is in Equestria…it’s more grey in the surroundings” Twilight pointed out.

“So, which one is our class, Twilight?” Pinkie asked in excitement. “I can’t wait to meet my new classmates and make new friends!”

“Be patient, we have to ask the principal first. They must have one, right?”

“There’s only one way to find out. Come on!” Rainbow Dash called out to her friends.

The school hallways were definitely duller and less colourful than the equestrian schools, but at least there were a few strange ‘colour patches’ that lightened the halls, and way larger than any other school they had ever seen before. Twilight was astonished by the organised atmosphere of the high school, and she was eager to discover more.

“So, does anybody know where’s the principal’s office or something?” Rainbow Dash asked, interrupting Twilight’s current state of trance. “Or lemme see if one of these people do” she continued while going to a group of students.

“Um, hey, we’re new here, and we need to see the principal. Can you give me and my friends some directions please?”she asked to a long-haired brunette dressed casually, who seemed pretty nice.

“Welcome!” the girl greeted with a broad smile. “Well, the principal’s office is not too far, just turn to the left and you’ll find it in no time; the door actually has a sign on it, and it can be easier to find. Good luck!”

“Thank you lots! See you later” Rainbow Dash replied, completely satisified on the inside. “Yes, it was too easy! Come on girls, to the left!”

[fanfictionlive]

What fandoms did you spoil for yourself before you even considered getting into them?

I’ve definitely spoiled some shows that I didn’t think I wasn’t going to watch, in fact I’m really bad at it.

Grey’s anatomy: My sister started catching some of it because her roommates were watching it and then during the summer she started from the beginning and watched it with my brother. I would be on my laptop in the living room when they watched and I caught a decent amount of story arcs and really got hooked around season 4 and started watching with them filling me in. Also had no self control and scrolled a bit through tumblr. Ended up getting ahead of them because I started watching it on my own when I missed part of an episode. Got to the second episode of season 13 and took a break. I’ve watched spoilers on YouTube because it kept recommending them and I keep seeing commercials and news articles for the current season.

Most of MCU for phase 1 & 2. Joined just before phase 3 started but saw Thor and CA:TFA early on. Tumblr posts pretty much spoiled everything except Bucky’s story line because I didn’t make the connection to winter soldier.

Agents of shield: I read Grant Wards first season story line at one point for Fanfiction info but it was to hard to follow when you don’t really feel all the characters didn’t follow through, didn’t spoil anything else. Later watched AOS to help with a fanfic idea, I didn’t have the ruined expectations that some fans dropped the show for and literally watched it for info about Shield not the avengers. Loved it and didn’t drop it because I was slightly aware of certain events in season 1 that made it worth it.

Glee: I watched after it ended because I was reading the flash fanfics and ended up reading some crossovers. Spoiled many major plots and never thought I would watch it because it seemed like it would have a ton a cringey moments where characters did stupid stuff and I don’t like the second hand embarrassment so I avoided it. I binged that shit so hard, the drama is an addiction. Also I was a big chorus kid so cover songs won me over easily too.

Probably some others but I don’t recall them right now.

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