#old terran fairy tales

[asecretvice]

Hey, I've been making personal physical copies of fanfic that I absolutely adore into bound books, and I recently finished a collection with your story "Spiders" in it in honor of Halloween. Likely more to come as I adore almost every one of your fics that I've read (even have your Terran Tales of Star Trekk in a new collection im working on binding), but I hope its ok with you that I credited you. Here's the original post if you'd like to check it out; https://www.tumblr.com/ican-fixitbooks/728418215079854080/my-latest-creation-for-some-of-my-favorite?source=share

And thanks! Your stories have meant a lot to me, and I hope you've either kept writing for yourself or found other ways to just be happy.

As long as the construction of the book was a completely homemade venture, I'm happy to be included! I'm very proud of Spiders, so it means a lot to me that you like it so much. And what a throwback to my Star Trek stuff! It's Like the Old Terran Fairy Tales holds a special place in my heart. It's always so wonderful to hear that one's older works are still being read and enjoyed!

And how kind that last sentiment is. Unfortunately I wish I had a better answer for you; instead all I'll say is your thoughtfulness is tenderly felt and deeply appreciated. <3

[furrbbyx]

M👹NSTER March Day 17: Plant

Oooo. I can't take anything seriously.

Here's the sauce. A little fairy tale about a man who loves plants.

cis!male humanoid x gn sentient plant monster

nsft

cw: jizz in a plant

Do not reproduce, do not copy.

There once was a man who loved plants. And his plants loved him back.

Oh yes,

He traveled the world for seeds. He had a subscription to every catalog that had seeds in his region. He lived online on gardening forums.

When the the town he lived in decided to throw a gardening festival in the middle of the summer, the man entered into every category. Though he loved to show off his skills there was an element of his pride that brought him shame.

For he so loved the plants that he felt they were his lovers, his confidants, his most intimate partners in life. The more he hid his feelings the more unsettled he became. Not trusting himself to stick to the proper level of devotion when speaking about his gardening he withdrew from society.

He grew all of his treasures behind tall fence walls. He found obscure forums to lurk in. He spent days pouring through the catalogs and caressing the hand drawn illustrations of bulbous knobbly curibits, fluffy curling brassicas, and even the cultivated poppies, with their petals thrust open like a woman's skirt blown by the wind, caught his attention, his devotion.

Before withdrawing from the world completely he decided to take one last trip. Lured by a trader on one of the internet sites, the man prepared his garden beds and pressed a goodbye kiss to each houseplant before journeying into space.

On the OrbitalHub he finally felt some relief. The large space station was an enormous shopping complex and he, searching for exotic plants and heirloom seeds to cultivate for the next few decades, was one of the more innocuous shoppers. Aliens from many sectors offered goods here.

The man enjoyed his days aboard the OrbitalHub, especially when he finally met the trader, a merchant with plant wares. The seeds the Ereyctian brought to trade were exquisite. Yet the man felt his own pride with the strong Terran seeds he'd produced for his side of the trade. Of course exotic vegetables were being sought by the man, but it was the merchant's promise of a rarer treasure that made him sweat. A special type of plant that required a certain kind of genetic material so that it could reproduce.

When the deal was done the man made his way back planet-side. Not a single agent bat an eye at his customs slip. He started to breathe easy filling his lungs with organic atmosphere instead of the artificial one. And as soon as he stepped back into the foyer of his home he resumed his old life. With only a slight change. As the man laid down to sleep that night he placed his newest herbaceous acquisition on the bedside table.

In a shimmering obsidian octahedron, its fat roots clearly visible and glowing against the glass, was a babygirl plant from the marshes of G'leedur-5. It wasn't much more than writhing roots, a thick dark purple stalk, and a nodding closed flower head as large as a house cat. Quite shapely, and always fragrant, it was the man's new obsession and he refused to let it out of his sight until they got to know each other better.

The man laid down and fell into a contented sleep. When his consciousness slipped into deep slumber and the night grew very late, the alien flower began to start its blooming cycle. The smooth roots grew from their pot climbing up the walls, over the head board, and over the man. Once his form was detected all of the roots made their way to him.

The now ambulatory plant wasted no time in seeking out the genetic material that would help it complete its purpose. Each root tendril slithered down the mans body with teasing flicks and gropes. Soon they had his cock free and easy accessed. The flower head began to nod, bending the stalk even further and the roots held the man stiff helping to penetrate the tight furl of petals. In a haze of instinctual breeding frenzy the flower head began to suck and pulse around the mans cock. In no time it had produced a thick mucilage, lubricating the shaft trapped in its petals. It's roots palpitated and caressed the heavy sack of his balls seeking an optimal discharge.

The man awoke just minutes before his soul was nearly sucked from his body. He watched, fascinated, as his dreams finally played out in real life. Panting like a runner, he threw his head back with a long groan that seemed to rip through his body, bowing his back. He stayed there trembling and aching and cumming over and over.

He was thoroughly milked, yet the flower head remained tightly closed. The man gathered the plant into his arms with affection and tenderness.

"Don't worry my darling. You must need much more of my spunk to reach maturity" He told the plant. He fell back to sleep then, with his lover in his arms.

[the-consortium]

Geophagia walked though her halls, making sure to pass through her wax museum of primarchs. To be honest, she had all 18, with the loyalists and traitors... but no matter. She would get that little xeno very soon.

She walked over to a private poker room in her casino and sat down in her traditional place, while waiting on Duco and hopefully his feathered companions to come. This was shaping up to be an interesting night.

After ordering her guards to leave, she turned to introduce the members of the current party. There were at least 4 people at the table with one of them being that Inquisitor whom seemed to fawn over Marines.

"Dont worry sir, the newcomer, will be betting the rare little xeno with him. That will be his prize."

Duco is quite a way behind Geophagia and her entourage, still with Kornelia under his arm like a revenant of an old Terran fairy tale. Behind him strolls Herik. The Emperor's Children Marine has the slightly glazed, satiated look that Fulgrim's sons sometimes get when they've overstimulated themselves.

Behind them, the heavy doors with their opulent gold fittings close and the noise of the casino is abruptly cut off. Just their footsteps, muffled by the thick carpet.

Duco concentrates on holding Kornelia gently but firmly, but pauses because he feels he is being watched. Only to be almost swept to the ground when Herik lets out a furious, angry bird call and suddenly spreads his wings.

"Herik! You bloody idiot! What-" And then Duco sees it too and rolls away, holding Kornelia protectively beneath him and reaching for a weapon that isn't there. The two Astartes instinctively stay back to back and stare at what seems to be coming towards them out of the semi-darkness. It takes them almost a second - an eternity by Space Marine standards - to realise that nothing is moving. And why.

Both stare. At the life-size, lifelike painted figures. In heroic poses.

Duco detaches himself from Herik, strolls over to the figure in midnight blue, who is only illuminated by subtle lighting, lurking in front of a pillar, his bladed fingers outstretched. He looks at the image of his father.

Disbelief, anger and then amusement flicker in his gaze.

Herik has also approached the wax figure of his Gene-Sire, his purple eyes full of mistrust and longing as he stands before Fulgrim before his apotheosis. With Fireblade and Firebrand, as before Laer. Before Isstvan. Before the black plain and before the dead world.

And around them, the silent band of divine brothers.

Herik shakes his head. Looks at Duco. His voice is unusually gentle and human: "Let's move on. This is far too old."

Duco nods and the two walk towards the illuminated high door at the far end.

As they pass Geophagia's guards and enter the room, the silence of the gallery has slipped away from them, leaving them behind as their fathers did.

[whatdoyoumeanitsnotcanon]

(I'm back with a second helping of Guilliman soup)

Terra was beautiful at night.

It was the curse of a historitor, you supposed, to know so many heartbreaking truths. The first time you saw a painting of the ancient oceans of Terra, long lost, you cried. There was so much the people of the Imperium didn't know, and perhaps never would. Maybe it was for the best, to never miss what you didn't know you had.

Either way, it was all in the past now. You weren't a historitor anymore.

And you were getting married tomorrow.

You glanced back at your regalia. It was a magnificent ensemble, gold and white, grand in the style of the old Imperium, but soft, warm. You hadn't had much of a say in what you were wearing. Or any of the planning, for the matter.

The more you reflected, the more you wondered how much of a say you really had in the whole affair at all. It might have been different, had you been marrying a normal man. But you weren't.

Throne, you were going to marry Roboute Guilliman.

A few months after the fateful confrontation in his office, the two of you had been sitting in his personal chambers, conversing late into the night over a bottle of wine, as had become your routine.

The courtship had been awkward, at first. It still was, in many ways. Despite your education, you were basically a backwater bumpkin who had stumbled into the right credentials and experience, and he was... A demigod. The age difference, too, haunted you a bit. But neither dissuaded him. He continued to visit you, to ask you to visit him, when there was time. You moved, slowly, from separate chairs to sharing the ottoman to leaning against each other. He was warm.

The bottle was nearing empty, and there was a pleasant buzz around your senses. You leaned against Guilliman's arm (though you called him Roboute, sometimes, intimately, Rob in private now.) And he stroked your shoulder, pulling you closer. He spoke into your ear.

"Marry me."

"No preamble? Should I be offended?" You chuckled and looked up at him. He wasnt laughing. You sat up. "Rob, oh, you... You weren't... You weren't joking, were you?"

"No. I am not."

"It's early. It's only been a few months, I don't think... Are you sure?"

"I've never been more certain of anything in my life."

You let out a long breath. "I'm... Can we even do that?"

"Of course we can." He added, more quietly. "I made sure if it."

You stopped, suddenly finding a fascinating pattern on the rug.

Roboute knelt in front of you. "I swear to you, not an ounce of harm will come to you as long as I draw breath. I will bring you stars in a gift box if you ask it. I'll lay worlds at your feet. Let me show you. All I ask is that you stand beside me. Think about it tonight, and give me your answer tomorrow evening." His eyes were alight, it took all your courage not to shrink. He leaned forward and kissed your forehead, then left.

You didn't sleep that night.

When you told him yes the next day, the chamber bathed in the amber light of the Terran sunset, he swept you into into his arms and spun you around, the both of you laughing.

And now you were getting married, in possibly the biggest hoopla Terra had seen in centuries.

Roboute wanted a small ceremony, but the Administratum would hear none of it. After all, what better story to sell the people of the Imperium than a royal wedding? It made a nice reprieve from the military parades, at least, though your wedding festivities would involve enough marching retinues that it might as well be one anyway. In the week leading up to the wedding alone, you had attended so many events you were certain your face was burned into holo-vid players across the galaxy. You had quickly become a symbol to the people of the Imperium, the normal citizen granted such an extraordinary honor, to wed a Primarch. It was like a fairy tale. You were becoming an excellent propaganda piece, despite Roboute's efforts to keep you out of the public eye as much as possible.

You tried not to think about how many people would be watching you get married. At least Roboute would be there. You were sleeping separately until tomorrow, of course. The prospect of tomorrow night had you blushing with excitement and shaking with dread all at once. You tried not to think about it.

You climbed into bed, sleep slowly coming to claim you. Tomorrow your life would end and start again.

You could only hope you made the right choice.

A wing over, Guilliman stared into his fireplace. Haunted by thoughts of you, and tomorrow, and tomorrow night. He was beyond pleased that you had accepted, he had worried when you hesitated he would be forced to use... Coercion. But there was no need, and your blooming relationship continues unimpeded. He just had to keep you close.

He relaxed on his massive bed, preparing to sleep. Despite his size, he couldn't fill it. Soon, it would never be lonely again.

(once again, no proof reading because that's work. I just shit this into your asks lol sorry)

[themurphyzone]

Nova Ch 9

AN: I know it’s been two months since the last update, so thanks for your patience!

Ch 9: Gravity

AO3 Link, FFN Link

Brain didn’t remember walking back to the lab. While his thoughts meandered in many different directions, they all converged into one harsh truth.

He’d lost his only lead to Snowball.

If only he’d been faster. If only he’d noticed the Selenian camera sooner. So many ifs, so many actions he could’ve taken to prevent losing such a valuable item.

He’d allowed himself to be distracted from his goal. Terra was a fascinating planet, yet burgers and karaoke and sunglasses wouldn’t bring him closer to establishing his dominion over it. Pinky’s short attention span must’ve affected him too.

How else could he explain it?

His feet were on autopilot, his mind in a daze. Pinky tried to start a conversation several times, mostly about trivial things like the shape of a cloud or a flower that grew between the cracks of the sidewalk. But he trailed off once he realized Brain wasn’t interested in any of them.

His tears had ceased by the time they arrived on the lab’s doorstep, but the raw ache in his chest remained. The neck of his shirt was damp and slightly darker from where the tears had splashed down, and there were similar dark patches on Pinky’s lavender blouse.

No physical reminders could remain of his momentary weakness, so he quickly took off the shirt and shorts Pinky had given him, leaving them behind on the counter. Then he snatched up his black jumpsuit and pulled it over his body.

Though it didn’t make him feel better. Somehow, the jumpsuit seemed more restrictive than before. He unlatched the window and sat down on the protruding edge, the fabric pulling tightly against his limbs.

It was designed for efficiency, not for comfort.  

Behind him, Pinky gathered up the crumpled clothing, and Brain tried not to feel guilty for treating the items Pinky had generously given him like trash.

It was Pinky’s fault for distracting him in the first place.

Find Snowball. Take over the world.

Two simple steps. Anything not related to the above was unnecessary.

“You want some tea, Brain?” Pinky asked. “I can put lemon and honey in it too if you want.”

Brain’s ear twitched, but he said nothing. He swung his legs over the edge of the windowsill, hoping Pinky would take the hint and leave him alone.

But Pinky was incapable of recognizing subtle cues.

“Brain?” Pinky called again. 

Pinky’s footsteps increased in volume, then Brain felt a hand on his shoulder. It was a soft touch, but even so, Brain didn’t want it.

He didn’t need pity.

Brain shrugged the hand off, and Pinky made a tiny, surprised noise that was quieter than the vehicles rushing down the road, but was far too loud for Brain’s ears.

He knew what Pinky had done for him, even if they were strangers.

But Brain was going to rule the world soon. He shouldn’t feel guilty over this. This arrangement was temporary. 

He looked at Pinky and caught the downturned blue eyes, the rejected hand still poised to comfort. Pinky’s other arm clutched the bundle of clothing Brain had discarded.

“Leave me alone, Pinky,” Brain ordered, turning away so he didn’t have to see that hurt expression.

“Narf…” Pinky whispered, and his sadness was palpable as he trudged back into the lab, leaving Brain alone with his thoughts.

It was what he asked for. He couldn’t take back commands once issued.

He had to be unyielding at all times.

Laying back against the cool surface of the windowsill, he stared up at the faraway crescent that was New Selene.

It was so tiny from his current location. Curiously, he raised one hand to the sky, and New Selene was hardly bigger than his own body part.

Though it was a matter of perspective, he found that it was a concept even his brilliant mind had difficulty comprehending.

Logically, he knew New Selene wasn’t big. Simply empty and barren, with life concentrated in tiny little pockets, which gave the illusion of largeness.

In the grand scheme of the universe, Terra was simply an insignificant body as well. Even the sun, the very star that all life depended on within this section of the universe, paled in comparison to the largest stars.

And if comprehending size wasn’t enough, there was also a matter of distance. While many alien cultures had developed technology that enabled ships to travel faster than the speed of light, the simple truth was that light was the fastest naturally occurring substance in nature.

Stargazing meant looking into a canopy of history, stars only appearing as they did millions or billions years ago. It was a sobering thought, that stars could exist for that long when recorded history for many civilizations was hardly a fraction of their timespan.

Then there was his life.

Though some part of him knew that nothing lasts forever, and no matter how much he wished to be remembered as a wise and powerful leader, there would come a day where his name would be forever lost and his legacy forgotten.

He just hoped that day wouldn’t come shortly after his death.

There was noise around him. Chirping from the vegetation, the roar of vehicles, Pinky humming from somewhere within the lab.

Though the background noise was more welcome than the near silence of New Selene, it still didn’t drive away all his spiraling thoughts.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been staring into the night, but a rustle from the bushes underneath the windowsill drew his attention.

Then he spotted a familiar tuft of amber fur, the stubby antennae, a flash of pink eyes—and Brain tumbled off the windowsill in shock, landing in the dirt with a painful thud.

Snowball?

Brain rubbed his head, clearing away the dizziness. Maybe he was just clinging to false hope. That he wanted to find Snowball so much that he imagined his presence.

Then the familiar chill hit him, and he knew Snowball was actually here.

The aisam studied his claws nonchalantly, letting a fine mist coat them and evaporate into the night. His control over his enhancements was impeccable. Perhaps the haughty, refined air Snowball wielded should’ve been a warning, but Brain was far too relieved and exhausted to care.

Snowball was back. Soon they’d rule the world together.

That’s what truly mattered.

Slowly, Brain got to his feet, wincing as a muscle pulled on his left thigh.

Snowball simply waited, and while part of Brain was annoyed at Snowball for not helping him up, he was also glad that Snowball allowed him to keep his self-sufficiency intact.

“I was looking for you,” Brain breathed, unable to keep the relief out of his voice. “Where were you? What happened to the rest of the Conquistador?”

Snowball draped an arm over Brain’s shoulders and pulled him closer, and Brain nearly stumbled over his feet. He sighed, the cold electron flow seeping into his antennae and body, but this was a special occasion, so he decided to put up with it just this once.

He must’ve been spoiled by Pinky’s warm and lively electrons. A shiver ran up Brain’s spine, and he clenched his fists together so his involuntary reflex would be less noticeable. 

“Oh, how I missed you and all your idiosyncrasies, Brain,” Snowball said, patting Brain on the head. Brain scowled. The move felt awfully condescending. “You see, the Conquistador’s back section wasn’t structurally stable. It must’ve broken off when we entered Terra’s atmosphere.”

“That ship is my magnum opus!” Brain snarled, his fur bristling. He shoved Snowball off and crossed his arms. “My engineering skills are top of the line. There were no flaws in the structural integrity!”

Snowball didn’t look all that impressed. “I’m sorry, old friend. But even the most skilled engineer can’t salvage second hand equipment.”

Brain sighed, reluctantly conceding Snowball’s point. The Conquistador was built out of scrap metal, not the newest and flashiest pieces of technology. Deep down, he knew that the ship would never function as well as the most advanced fleet of vessels, though he’d never admit it.

“And what about you, Snowball? How did you find me?” Brain asked, deciding a slight change of topic was in order.

“I managed to land my portion of the ship without incurring too many injuries,” Snowball said, gesturing to his body. If he was injured at all, he hid it remarkably well. Brain looked for any telltale signs of bruising or bandages, but didn’t find any. Not a single piece of singed fur either. “The internal communication system was fried, but the landing gear was mercifully intact.”

Then again, Snowball could’ve spent some time grooming himself before he came here. He liked to appear his best.

Perhaps he should’ve refined the communication system more. Then they could’ve avoided this entire mess and gotten around to world domination sooner.

Though some tiny part of him protested that statement. If he hadn’t crash landed in the field, he wouldn’t have met Pinky.

He quickly beat down that notion.

Pinky was an easily distracted idiot. Just a mere convenience until he found his footing in this new world.

“And the cameras were in working condition as well. I figured you landed somewhere nearby, and I sent them to scour the city to find you,” Snowball continued. “Naturally, you can imagine my surprise when one of them located you in a public location, singing with some moronic Terran.”

“You witnessed that?” Brain asked. He felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

He didn’t know much about music on this planet, but when Pinky had dedicated his last song to Pharfignewton and Snowball, somehow he felt that he had to drop everything to listen.

It was a kind gesture for someone who never personally met Snowball.

And Brain felt uneasy at the scorn in Snowball’s voice. That simple action didn’t deserve mockery.

Snowball shrugged. “You can’t let anything distract you, Brain. Not fairy tales, not the whims and trivialities of this planet, and certainly not incompetent nincompoops who only care about stuffing themselves with food.”  

This wasn’t how he’d wanted their reunion to go.

Somehow, he’d imagined it to be happier. He thought Snowball would be more concerned for his well-being.

It took all his strength to hold his ears high. He wouldn’t show any sign of weakness.

“Now, onto business…” Snowball clapped his hands together, but before he could announce what he planned, there was a sudden burst of activity on the windowsill above their heads.

“Braaa-aaain!” Pinky called. “Where’d you go? I made tea with lemon and honey! Wanna try some? Poit! I was gonna put in rainbow sprinkles or confetti but I didn’t know what you liked so I just left those out!”

Pinky came into view, holding a thimble out to where he expected Brain to be, but he paused when Brain wasn’t there. He paced around, his footsteps steadily growing more frantic and his tail twitching erratically.

Brain felt Snowball’s gaze boring into the back of his skull, obviously questioning why he’d acquaint himself with such a clingy buffoon, but he ignored it.

“Down here, Pinky!” Brain shouted.

Pinky looked down, nearly spilling the steamy contents of the thimble. The worry etched in his face vanished and was replaced by a ridiculous grin. “Oh, there you are, Brain! I was looking everywhere for you! And egad, you have a guest! Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve gotten a thimble for him too!”

“Yes, Brain,” Snowball smirked, and Brain knew he was being irritating on purpose. “Why didn’t you tell him I was coming over? It’s really quite rude. Then again, I can hardly expect you to be tactful.”

“And I can hardly expect you to not be a nuisance, Snowball,” Brain grumbled. 

Snowball just folded his arms, as if he were proud of that fact, and Brain scowled at him. Then Snowball turned to Pinky, who set the thimble down and began twisting his own ears in a vain yet valiant attempt to fly.

“So you’re Pinky,” Snowball said. There was a hint of disdain in his voice, but Brain assumed that was just because he wasn’t used to Pinky’s brand of idiocy yet. “I must admit, you aren’t quite what I expected.”

Pinky beamed. “Zort! Well, can’t say I was expecting you either. Brain’s told me so much about you! Won’t you come up for some tea? Oh, we can have our own tea party with Nicholas and Mr. Button! Hmm, maybe I should invite Madame Daisy too? Short notice, but I’m sure she’ll agree! She’s got the loveliest petals! I don’t think you’ve met her either, Brain. But this would be a good time to introduce you! And oh, you’ve never tried my no-bake cheesecake, have you? It’s very easy to make!”

“Before you run off with your inane ideas, throw something down so Snowball and I can get up there!” Brain shouted.

Saluting eagerly, Pinky scampered out of view, then brought back a pencil and threw it off the windowsill. The pencil landed a few inches away from Brain and Snowball. Unimpressed, Brain glared up at Pinky, who smiled bashfully and tried again.

“A rope or cord would suffice,” Brain sighed just as Pinky was about to throw a paper clip to them.

To Snowball’s credit, he showed little reaction to Pinky’s bizarre logic and casually studied his claws instead. 

This time, Pinky tied a long, thick strand of yarn to the window latch and let it fall to the ground. Brain climbed up first, allowing Pinky to pull him onto the windowsill.

“About time,” Brain muttered.

Snowball pulled the yarn to check its tensile strength, but didn’t climb up. “Ah, I just remembered something,” he said, in a manner that suggested he didn’t forget at all and was just being dramatic. He disappeared into the bushes for a moment, then dragged out a large blue cap. It had been well-hidden among the leaves. Snowball took his end of the yarn and tied it around a hole in the back of the cap, one end of his lips quirked in a smug smile.

“Is that for me?” Pinky pointed to the cap in disbelief, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He clasped his hands and swayed from side to side.  

It was the same cap from the electronics store. The one Pinky had earned through singing. It didn’t contain money anymore, though coins and dollar bills were considered valuable commodities on Terra and Brain would’ve been more surprised if they’d been left alone.

He never realized Pinky had left the cap behind.

“I thought you wanted that cap, Pinky,” Brain said. “Why leave it behind?”

“Well, I couldn’t chase after you and carry the cap at the same time,” Pinky shrugged, like it was no big deal that their trip to the mall had been for naught. “I didn’t wanna lose you. The mall’s a big place.”

Brain gritted his teeth. This was the second time Pinky had abandoned his goal in favor of helping someone else. He’d allowed the incident with the wallet a pass since Pinky wasn’t used to setting objectives yet, but he thought Pinky would’ve learned the second time.  

Even if it was for Brain’s benefit.

But Brain didn’t need help. He was a self-sufficient mos.

Once Snowball set foot on the ledge, Pinky immediately wrapped him in an enormous embrace and danced around with him while the poor aisam’s limbs flailed in a futile attempt to escape. “Thank you, Snowball! Thankyouthankyouthankyou! Narf!” Pinky squealed. “I will never forget this as long as I live!”

Brain pretended he was very, very focused on pulling the yarn until the cap was on the windowsill with them and ignored Snowball’s protests.

A bona fide Pinky hug was appropriate punishment for all the worry and stress Snowball had put him through for the past few days.

“Keep it up and you won’t have very long to live,” Snowball muttered once Pinky finally showed mercy and let him go.

Pinky just hummed and took the cap from Brain. “Everything’s perfect! Lemme set everything up for you!’ He skipped away, leaving Brain and Snowball alone.

“Snowball, you knew Pinky wanted a specific object,” Brain said over the incessant sounds of Pinky persuading Mr. Button to join everyone for the tea party, and it was a statement of fact. It wasn’t necessary to ask a question when he already knew the answer. “And you obtained that particular cap.”

Snowball shrugged. “I see the malfunction hasn’t dulled your keen observation skills, Brain.”

“Which suggests you were in the area. Why use a camera to spy on us? Why not come out yourself?” Brain asked.

He hadn’t known if Snowball was alive or dead. He chose to believe Snowball was alive, because if he could survive the empty, vast desert of New Selene, then surely he could survive a crash landing.

The alternative was unthinkable.

And Snowball didn’t care enough to alert Brain that he was-

No, that was ridiculous. There were simply extra factors at play. Limited communication range. Injuries to prioritize. 

There were more variables to the equation. That’s all.

“Don’t you remember, Brain?” Snowball tapped Brain’s head with one finger. Brain scowled and shoved him off. “We planned to use the cameras to scope the area around our landing site for safety reasons. I simply stuck to the plan, though neither of us anticipated our unfortunate separation.”

Brain looked away. He refused to admit Snowball’s point. He was already smug enough as it was. “You could’ve attached a message.”

“And allow a hostile party to intercept it? Communicate our intentions before we’re ready to carry out the plan? Come now, Brain. You’ve engineered a marvelous ship out of scrap. You shouldn’t let a freak accident scramble your neurons.”

Brain bristled at the insinuation of his intelligence dropping as a result of the accident. He’d only been temporarily disoriented.

A harsh scraping noise interrupted him before he could retort. On the other side of the counter, Pinky arranged six tiny stools around an upside-down bowl. Then he seated Nicholas the Nickel, Mr. Button, and a potted specimen of Terran flora that Brain assumed to be Madame Daisy. Pinky’s blue eyes sparkled with joy, a frilly white apron tied around his waist. He was completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere between Brain and Snowball.

“Hello, narf! So glad you could make it to the tea party!” Pinky exclaimed, shaking Brain’s hand vigorously. Brain had to clamp down on his arm to stop the shaking as Pinky subjected Snowball to the same treatment. “Don’t be shy now, I’ve got some lovely neighbors to introduce you to!”

Too stunned to speak, Brain and Snowball took their seats on the wooden stools. Nicholas—and celestial bodies above, now he was personifying inanimate objects like Pinky—was lying on top of the stool to his right, while Madame Daisy was on his left. Snowball was trying to compose himself on the other side of Madame Daisy, but he couldn’t hide the annoyed tapping of his claws against the bowl. Brain assumed the empty stool between Mr. Button and Nicholas was meant for Pinky, unless he planned to invite more ‘guests’. 

And Brain hoped there weren’t more. It was crowded enough already, even if only two beings at this table could stage an intelligent conversation.

He was mildly concerned at Pinky’s mental state. Surely naming inanimate objects couldn’t be conducive to one’s well-being.

“Nicholas and Mr. Button, I’m sure you already know Brain,” Pinky grinned. 

“We’re acquainted,” Brain muttered. “Unfortunately.” 

Pinky gleefully clapped his hands together. “Troz! Great, then you can help introduce them to Snowball! And Madame Daisy, did you do something with your leaves? They look so green and perky! Oh really, you think I could pull off Daisy Dukes? Stop that, you’re making me blush! Though I guess I do have the legs for it…”

He giggled, his cheeks coated in a light red blush.

“Yes, Brain. Why don’t you introduce me to your Terran friends?” Snowball grinned, casually leaning one elbow against the table.

“Fine,” Brain spat. “Nicholas. Mr. Button. This is Snowball. I believe you’ll find him particularly irksome.”

“Oh please, they already know you,” Snowball rolled his eyes.

“Madame Daisy, why don’t you tell them all the gossip you heard from the birds and the bees and flowers and the trees?” Pinky asked, kissing one of Madame Daisy’s leaves. “Now, now, Nicholas and Mr. Button, don’t fight in front of our visitors. Everything’s ready in the kitchen. I’ll bring it out to everyone in a jiffy! Brain, I’ll get you a hot thimble. Your last one’s all cold. Snowball, did you want anything extra with your tea?”

Snowball sighed. “A pinch of sanity, perhaps..”

“Double for me,” Brain added.

Pinky tilted his head. “Hmmm, I dunno if I have that brand, but I’ll look! Be right back!” 

“And I require my beverages either cold or room temperature,” Snowball added. “My species can’t have hot food or drink.”  

Pinky nodded eagerly. “One cold tea and five warm, coming up!” He skipped away, humming an upbeat tune under his breath. 

And Brain was once again alone with Snowball. Unlike Pinky, he refused to count the inanimate objects as sentient creatures. 

Pinky was an idiot at the best of times and a distraction at the worst. But he prioritized Brain over the hat he desired so badly. 

An action Brain dared to describe as...sweet. 

Then Snowball coughed, breaking the silence and Brain’s momentary lapse into sentimentality. “By any chance, have your broadcasts reached your target demographic?” Snowball asked, drumming his fingers on the makeshift table. “I’d hate for all that time you spent communicating our intentions with less than stellar technology to go to waste.” 

From the way Snowball’s lip curled at the very mention of the radio broadcasts, Brain knew he wasn’t asking out of courtesy. Most likely, he’d figured out that nobody on this planet except for one incredibly stupid specimen had heard Brain’s long distance communications. 

Nobody recognized the Conquistador, despite Brain giving detailed descriptions about his engineering pride and joy. He’d failed to garner the attention of the media when Terra was in a period of rapidly advancing technology. 

And most damning of all, no human had come to sing his praises, genuflect on bended knee, or bothered to host a welcome parade in his honor. They showed no concern that their new ruler had crash landed instead of making a grand and powerful entrance. 

But the sun would have to burn through the rest of its lifespan before Brain would ever admit it. 

“Your silence is answer enough, Brain.” Snowball shook his head in disappointment. “And here I’d hoped most of our work would be finished upon arrival. Sadly, it appears nobody listened to-” 

“Pinky listened,” Brain interrupted. 

Snowball gave him a look of mocking sympathy, and Brain pretended the engravings on Nicholas the Nickel were very intriguing. He hated that look. 

“Allow me to rephrase,” Snowball said. “It must be upsetting to find that nobody of importance listened to your broadcasts.” 

Pinky bandaged his injuries, tried to help locate Snowball in his own ridiculous way, and introduced him to the wonders of cream cheese. 

Those weren’t unimportant things. 

But at the same time, Pinky didn’t have the influence to help him ascend to the throne. 

“Cut to the point, Snowball,” Brain snapped. “Spare me the monologue.” 

Snowball shrugged. “Then tell me our current location.” 

“Read the sign yourself,” Brain retorted. Did Snowball believe he was so disoriented he couldn’t tell where he was? “It’s just above the front door. You can’t possibly miss it, unless you’ve somehow become illiterate during our period of separation.”

“Humor me.” 

Brain gritted his teeth. “A primitive Terran laboratory known as ACME. I haven’t discovered what the acronym stands for.” 

“Never mind the acronym.” Snowball dismissed the tangent with a flick of his hand. “As you observed, this is a laboratory. And do you know what they specialize in?” 

“I can do without the condescension,” Brain muttered.   

“Behavioral studies and genetics,” Snowball said as if Brain had answered properly. “Why else would that idiotic Terran be here? He’s the equivalent of a mos on New Selene. Approximately the same niche on the food chain and social hierarchy. Higher than parasites and bottom feeders, but not by much.” 

Well, Pinky had shown him the gene splicer which doubled as a bagel warmer. It wasn’t that much of a surprise. 

And it was a scientific wonder, even for a less advanced piece of machinery. But he had the suspicion that bagels weren’t the only things to go through that device. 

“Why bring Pinky into this?” Brain asked. 

“I’m only speaking out of concern for my associate,” Snowball replied. He stood up, kicking Madame Daisy’s stool out of the way as he marched over to Brain. The flower slid off the stool and fluttered to the floor. “Isn’t this setup enough proof for you, Brain? Having a useless tea party, surrounded by toys and drivel...why, if you’re not careful, you might end up just like...him.”

The him was spoken with such vehemence, it took Brain aback. 

Brain leaned away from Snowball, a shiver traveling up his spine. It wasn’t the usual chill he got from Snowball’s natural physiology. 

“I won’t end up like Pinky,” Brain said, as firmly as he could, which wasn’t as firm as he would’ve liked. “I’m his intellectual superior.”  

“Then act like it.” 

A claw jabbed the center of Brain’s chest. The jumpsuit’s insulation did nothing to protect him from the fine, icy tendrils that threatened to choke his heart. 

Snowball stood over him, narrow pink eyes boring into his own. Then Snowball went back to his own seat, scoffing at the flower which laid lifelessly near its stool. 

If it weren’t for the simple fact that Madame Daisy wasn’t sentient, Brain might’ve felt sorry for it.  Then he mentally kicked himself for that notion.

He was an intelligent being. Plants don’t talk or have feelings. 

Snowball was watching him. So Brain remained in his seat. 

Then Pinky came back, oblivious to what transpired among his guests while he was away. There was a skip in his step as he balanced three trays, one in each hand and the third resting on his head. His balance and upper strength were impeccable. 

“Narf! Sorry for the delay!” Pinky chirped as he set the trays on the bowl and passed the thimbles around, taking great care to ensure the cold tea went to Snowball. “I was looking for sanity, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. Not among the spices, the cupboards, or in that moldy ham sandwich they keep forgetting to toss out. So I just stirred in a spoonful of honey with a generous sprinkling of lemon for...oh, Madame Daisy! Are you alright?” 

Pinky quickly set the last thimble at his place and rushed over to Madame Daisy, gently cradling the stem in his hands as he set her on the stool. He waited a moment, then wiped his brow in relief. “Phew, I’m glad to hear it! Anyway, drink up! I’ll join you lovely folks after I grab the cheesecake.” 

Brain sniffed his tea as Pinky took the trays and ran back to wherever he came from. The thimble was pleasantly warm under Brain’s fingers, a scented trail of steam rising from the golden liquid inside. It was an oddly relaxing scent. 

He picked up the thimble and took a tiny sip of his drink. And once again, Pinky had shown that he was full of surprises. The tea was warm, yet not scalding. Slightly sour, with a tinge of sweetness.

Snowball was entirely focused on his own drink. He didn’t give any outward signs of enjoying or disliking it though. Just as always, he was poised and controlled. Every movement calculated, no thought wasted. 

Brain tried to replicate that level of control many times. But he’d never been able to figure out how to stop his ears from giving away his emotions. 

A few minutes later, Pinky returned with the promised cheesecake in tow. Once again, he balanced one tray in each hand and the other on his head, carefully setting them on the table without dropping a single plate. 

There were two plates on each tray, each one containing a triangular pile of cream cheese. There was a brown, crumbly coating on the back and underneath the cream cheese. A spiral of white fluff rested on top of the cheesecake, and within that fluff was a bright red fruit with tiny seeds dotting its surface. A tiny fork laid on the side of each plate. 

“Bon appetit!” Pinky grinned as he passed the plates of cheesecake around. Snowball gave Pinky a curt nod and accepted his plate. “I call it no-bake cheesecake! It’s a family recipe. My mom passed it down to me, and she got it from her mom, who got it from her mom, and she-well, you get the idea. What you’ve got there is cream cheese at room temperature, laid on a bed of crushed graham crackers for that nice, crumbly texture. And I added a little whipped cream, topped with a juicy strawberry because everyone knows strawberries with cheesecake are absolutely delish!” 

Pinky set Brain’s plate down, fussed over Mr. Button, who was apparently not sitting properly on his stool. Then Pinky finally sat down at the table with everyone else and began to chow down. He scooped as much cream cheese as he could fit on his fork and jammed it into his mouth, humming in delight. 

Brain was struck with an odd urge to forgo the fork entirely and stuff his face with little regard for table manners or dignity. Logic and intellectualism didn’t hold a candle to the sheer heaven that was cream cheese. 

He could feel Snowball’s eyes on him though. 

And he forced himself to take small bites. 

Pinky talked about everything and nothing between mouthfuls of cheesecake and tea. While Brain’s mind was well-equipped to handle large floods of information, the topics Pinky pursued were completely beyond his understanding. Even Snowball’s impeccable control was being pushed to its limit, judging from the eye twitch he’d suddenly developed. 

“Troz! I’m sorry I never noticed your new polish, Nicholas! Very shiny!” Pinky smiled, his tail swishing happily behind him. “Mr. Button, have you tried vinegar and baking soda to get that stain out? No? Oh, well I use it all the time for my cage, and it really works. No problem! Egad, Madame Daisy, your son’s gonna marry the potted geranium? I always knew he had a thing for her!” 

Perhaps Snowball’s concerns about teaming up with Pinky weren’t completely unfounded. 

Brain was halfway through with his cheesecake when Snowball tapped his fork against his plate repeatedly, interrupting Pinky’s futile efforts to bring Brain into a conversation with Mr. Button. Brain sipped his tea to disguise his gratitude. He had no wish to debate philosophy with a button.   

“This has all been quite...enlightening,” Snowball said. He put his fork down and pushed his half-eaten cheesecake away. “But I didn’t make this trip just for a first meeting or reunion. Rather, I came with a purpose and opportunity in mind.”  

Of course. Snowball never did anything without purpose. 

But Brain found it hard to ignore the lack of general inquiries into his well-being. Even so, he pushed the rising bitterness down. If Snowball had found an opportunity to take over the world despite all the setbacks, then Brain was going to hear this out. 

“You went to the mall earlier today,” Snowball continued. Another statement of fact, not a question. 

“Yes, we did!” Pinky exclaimed. “We ate burgers and sang karaoke and played on a boat-” 

Snowball cleared his throat to stop Pinky before he strayed too far from the topic at hand. “The day before, I’d staked the mall as an area of interest due to its popularity among Terrans. While I wasn’t expecting to see you on my camera there, Brain, I decided to satisfy my curiosity and follow you. And during your excursion, you ran into a gentleman named Joe Lamont.”

“He was anything but gentle,” Brain muttered, recalling the cruel man’s shoe digging into his antennae and his total helplessness. And now he had the knowledge that Snowball bore witness to that incident. 

“And he was mean!” Pinky added. “The meaniest meanie who ever meaned!” 

Snowball’s eye twitched. “While Lamont’s actions were that of a brute, I assure you I did not mention him just to garner a reaction from you.” 

“So why mention him at all?” Brain snapped. 

“If I may continue without further disruption?” Snowball’s tone was carefully measured, barely concealing his impatience. “Now, I was able to guide the Conquistador’s front safely to the ground after the malfunction. From there, I sent many cameras to scout the area. Some to search for Brain, others to collect intel on the Terrans. And I noticed there was one figure in this city that everyone feared greatly. His vehicle is a common sight, given that at least five cameras I assigned to different areas had spotted him, and nobody dares to double-cross him.” 

“We’ve heard similar,” Brain said.

The worker who’d admonished him after the attack wasn’t the only one who was afraid of Lamont, it seemed. 

“Lamont is an influential figure,” Snowball continued. “So it’s prudent that we attend the elite party he’ll throw at his manor in two weeks.” 

Pinky’s hands flew to his cheeks. “A party?” he gasped. “Narrrrrf!” 

Brain glared at him. “Why would you ever want to attend a party thrown by this brute?” 

“But it’s a party, Brain!” Pinky protested. “It’ll be fun!” 

There was no way he was attending a party. The fact that it was thrown by that uncultured brute of a man was the least of his worries. 

No, instead he would be paraded around and meant to socialize…

He shuddered at the very thought. 

“Pinky, would you mind fetching the cap I gave you?” Snowball asked. 

Pinky immediately scampered off, still tittering about the party, and Brain nearly dragged him back by the tail to force him to stay put. 

“You may not be one for small talk, Brain,” Snowball said. “But several members of Lamont’s security detail mentioned that he possessed a powerful military weapon within range of my camera’s audio. Attending the party is necessary to gaining access to that weapon! Isn’t a little discomfort worth the world in the end?” 

He could put up with some momentary discomfort, but…

“And just what are you intending to do with that military weapon?” Brain asked. There was something in Snowball’s tone he didn’t like. 

Something foreign and out of place. 

“What else would I use it for other than world domination? And don’t speak so loud!” Snowball hissed, slapping a hand over Brain’s mouth and looking over his head to make sure Pinky wasn’t coming back just yet. “That idiot won’t keep his mouth shut if he knew. It’s imperative for you to not mention that weapon!” 

Brain wasn’t worried about Pinky blabbing. Instead, he got the feeling that Pinky would have something to say about using powerful weaponry to subjugate the populace. 

Not that he was wholly comfortable with this plot either. But a little discomfort now would be worth the world later. 

“Very well. We shall spend the next two weeks preparing for the party,” Brain said, pulling away from Snowball. “In addition to gathering more intel, of course.” 

Two minutes later, Pinky came back, dragging the cap behind him and bouncing with glee. “Oh, I can’t wait for the party! Say, do you think there’ll be a chocolate fountain? I love chocolate fountains! Especially when they make you all gooey!” 

Chocolate fountains didn’t sound particularly appealing when he put it that way.  

Snowball flipped the cap over, revealing a small card attached to the inside. Then he tore it off and handed it to Brain with a flourish of his hand. 

“Don’t show off,” Brain grumbled as he ripped it out of Snowball’s hand. Pinky read the card over his shoulder, growing more excited by the minute as he read the card. 

Dear Mr and Mrs Clarke,

RSVP by 4/27 to 707-231-0009

Masquerade Ball at Lamont Manor 

Event begins at 8:00 pm 

Present this card to security at front gate upon entry 

If Pinky was excited before, he was bouncing off the walls now. So the card contained all the information they needed to know. It wasn’t terribly exciting news. Just informative. 

“It’s a masquerade ball!” Pinky squealed. Brain tried to dodge, but Pinky was just too fast for him. His legs kicked feebly in the air as Pinky danced around in circles, towing Brain like a ragdoll. “We get to be extra fancy and wear masks and nobody will know who we are!” 

Well, that was one consolation if he got to hide behind a mask for this event. He broke out of Pinky’s hold, and took another bite of cheesecake to calm down. Having the creamy flavor in his mouth helped slightly. 

“I already have my alias and invitation. Who knows? You might find this experience rather educational,” Snowball explained. He moved over to the table and downed the last of his drink. “Well, this was an interesting night. I’d love to stay and indulge your need for company, but I’ll be taking my leave now. Data isn’t going to analyze itself.” 

He’s leaving already?

Snowball walked over to the window, preparing to climb down by using the yarn they’d left tied to the latch. 

“Wait!” Brain said, bits of cream cheese and strawberry spraying out of his mouth. His ears flattened in embarrassment as he hastily swallowed. “You can’t be leaving already!” 

The rusuprhi! In the light of all the information that had been thrust upon him, he’d completely forgotten to split the remaining bag with Snowball!

Snowball raised an eyebrow, and Brain cursed himself for sounding so desperate. 

“Pardon me for not wishing to be a slave to the dominant species again,” Snowball said. “And I’m far more efficient with my tasks when I’m alone. You want accurate intel, don’t you, Brain?” 

“Yes, although-” 

But Snowball was already gone. 

Again. 

Brain stood on the windowsill, clutching the card Snowball had left behind. New Selene hung in the sky above him, no bigger than his finger. The faraway stars twinkled. 

He didn’t want to be out here anymore. Slowly, he trudged to the bed in the cage, dropping the card and not caring what happened to it. Let Pinky take care of it since he was so eager for this party. 

He ignored Pinky asking if he was going to finish his food and pulled the blanket over himself, unable to summon the strength to thank Pinky for the excellent tea and cheesecake. 

Snowball had left again. And he didn’t know why. 

AN: Poor Brain. Starts the chapter sad, gets hopeful, then gets the rug yanked out from under him. 

Also since neither Brain nor Snowball are gonna say this, thank you Pinky for working so hard to be a good host for your tea party.  

[sharpnothashtag]

The Good Ship CrushWay, Chapter 33

Locutus: (waking up) Where am I? EMH: That’s a bit of a complicated question, but the short answer is the USS Ohana.  We’re heading back to Earth. (Locutus tries to get up.) You may want to lie still. Locutus: I won’t try to run away.  I just want to sit up on the bed. EMH: Very well. (EMH helps Locutus sit up.) How are you feeling, Locutus? Locutus: Would you please call me Jean-Luc?  I’d rather not go by that name. Seven: (entering from the office and standing outside the forcefield) That might prove to be a challenge. Locutus: Why is that? EMH: We could explain it to you, but it might be easier for you to hear it from someone else.  Seven, would you bring them up on subspace? (Seven nods.  In a split screen, Bev and Picard show up.  Locutus is freaked. out.) Picard: I imagine this is a lot to take in. Locutus: (just short of mouth agape) Indeed, that is what I’d call an understatement.

Picard, Bev, Seven, and the EMH explain their end of the story, which is the story we built the last 32 chapters. Meanwhile, Ro and Tasha are manning the bridge.

Tasha: (apprehensively) Ro, may I ask you a personal question? Ro: (swiveling around in her chair, eyebrow raised) What do you want to know? Tasha: How old were you when your father died? Ro: (shocked) Seven. Tasha: (wincing) Now that you’re older, does a part of you still feel it? Ro: Feel what?  The pain? Tasha: Well, yeah.  That first. Ro: Yes, Tash.  I still feel my father’s pain. Tasha: Did you ever think that someone was going to come and save you? Ro: When I was little, I guess.  But that definitely stopped after my father died. Tasha: ...did you--do you resent Starfleet? Ro: For what?  Not saving Bajor soon enough? Tasha: (this is clearly painful for her) Yes, Laren. Ro: Yes, I did.  It hurt that the people in the red uniforms I saw weren’t willing to see what had been done to me and my people by the Cardassians.  But you know what helps? Tasha: (fighting tears) What? Ro: That my mother is alive.  That I got out of life on Bajor.  That the Cardassians left.  Realizing that, after my people’s suffering was over, there was a life, and a life worth living.  That has made all the difference. Tasha: Is there a Bajoran phrase where I can communicate how sorry I am for the entirety of Starfleet? Ro: (laughing) No, Tash.  I don’t think so.  But I understand where you’re coming from.  (a beat) What brought all this on? Tasha: The Captain told me a story about a Bajoran girl she encountered a long time ago.  I...I couldn’t help but think about you. (Ro goes to the first officer’s chair and puts her hand in Tasha’s.  They stare straight ahead, waiting for something--for anything.)

Starfleet Academy, Tasha and Ro’s dorm room.  Ro is sitting on her bed, reading on a padd.  She seems...off.  Tasha enters.  She sees Ro is busy, and she quietly hops on her bed to do some reading of her own.  The two sit in silence for a few moments.

Tasha: What are you reading? Ro: (turning off her padd) Nothing you’d enjoy. Tasha: (turning off her padd, swinging her legs of the edge of the bed) Try me. Ro: (taking a deep breath) It’s a Terran fairy tale--the ugly duckling. Tasha: ...is that supposed to mean something to me just because I’m human? Ro: (shrugging) No, I guess not. Tasha: What’s it about? Ro: There’s a young swan that is raised with a bunch of ducklings.  The ducklings all tease him because he doesn’t look like them.  To them, he’s ugly. Tasha: And then what? Ro: The swan eventually sees another swan and realizes that he’s not ugly; he’s just the complete opposite of his family. Tasha: (hops up, sits next to Ro) Is there any particular reason you’re reading an Earth fable? Ro: I’d say I’m pretty...different. Tasha: Yeah, I’d say so.  A Bajoran joining Starfleet?  Pretty different. Ro: That’s...not why. Tasha: (getting a little closer) you want to tell me what’s really going on? Ro: (leaning away) Get off my bed, Tasha. Tasha: (Turning to face her completely, up on her knees on the bed) No.  You’re going to tell me what’s going on, Laren. Ro: (Getting off the bed) I am not.  Plus, you have an exam to study for.  Don’t you want to pass your ethics course? Tasha: Of course I do.  But right now, you’re more important to me. Ro:  (angry) Really.  Am I? Tasha: ...yes.  The hell are you implying? Ro: You have a very one-track mind, Tasha.  I’m not sure you’re capable of thinking about more than one thing at a time. Tasha: Wha-- Ro: (raising her voice) Oh, don’t be so surprised.  Humans can only think about their relationship with the Cardassians.  They can’t be compromised for even a second to think about what the Cardassians did to us! Tasha: (raising her voice) I didn’t have anything to do with that! Ro: Oh, you can’t be asked to take responsibility for anything--you’re just a victim: a victim of domestic violence, a victim of rape, a victim of every circumstance you’ve ever been in. Tasha: You have NO idea what I’ve been through. Ro: No, I think I do.  You left your entire family behind and they’re dead to you.  At least I got my mom out with me.  You have no morals.  You can’t even spell “ethics.”  You’re too busy planning your own survival. Tasha: What the HELL has gotten into you?! Ro:  Oh I’m sure you can write it off as trauma.  I don’t get that luxury. Tasha: Oh, no.  You get to write it off as patriotism when it affects me as racism. Ro: The only racists I saw were Cardassians, and the only ones that helped them were Federation officers.  The only ones I ever saw where humans. Tasha: So, all humans must be terrible, right?  I thought I was the one without morals. Ro: If you knew humans as I have, you would be ashamed to be numbered among them. Tasha: (full stop) Laren.  Please.  Please tell me what’s going on. Ro: You wouldn’t understand. Tasha: Please tell me anyway.  You’re not like this. Ro: (shaking) I had a friend--Elima.  We grew up together.  We worked in the mines together. (Tasha nods.) We spent every waking moment with each other.  One night, at one of our many sleepovers, she asked--(getting lost in a memory haze) Tasha: (gently) What did she ask you? Ro: She asked if she could kiss me.  I was so shocked.  I said no, of course, and I rolled over and went to sleep.  The next day, she seemed different.  She went home to her parents and didn’t talk to me for a week.  The next week, I saw her in the mines with her mom.  I tried to run to her, to ask her what was wrong, but...I didn’t get there in time. Tasha: What happened? Ro: A Cardassian walked up to her mom.  He hit her across the face and cursed at her.  From what I understood, he was telling her to get back to work or he would show her what pain really was.  Elima stepped between him and her mother.  She sneered at him and told him he was a filthy, terrible being that didn’t deserve the guidance or love of the Prophets.  Without any hesitation, he shot her.  She died right there, in the arms of her weeping mother.  A human came down shortly after to talk with this Cardassian about the Federation’s (spitting the words out like they taste bad) peace treaty. Tasha: Laren, I didn’t-- Ro: Of course you didn’t.  You didn’t know about my best friend falling in love with me.  You have no idea how terrifying it must have been for her.  How brave she was.  How cowardly I was.  How much I wish-- Tasha: you would have kissed her.  (hugging her) I’m so sorry.   Ro: (from the hug) I’m not making the same mistake again. (pulling Tasha into herself, she kisses her hard.  Tasha is not shocked.  She accepts this fully, and lifts her up as Ro wraps her legs around Tasha’s waist.  Tasha carries her over to the bed and lays her down.) Tasha: Are you sure this is what you want? Ro: (pulling her in by her collar) Get down here, Cadet. (Tasha smiles and kisses her again.)

[cherokeegal1975]

Part of “Eden Symbiotic” by Meriah Smith

Prologue:

     The beginning of Eden’s history is a strange and tragically violent one.  In the beginning, Eden had another name, Za-ru-crosh, which meant "New Hope" in the language of the Ozbeen.      Za-ru-crosh was an uninhabited planet with Earth-like conditions that spun in a solar system much like Earth’s own with three moons instead of only one.  The first was a bit smaller than Earth’s moon and the farthest out.  The second moon was smaller still and the third and closest moon was the smallest.  They were called The Three Sisters.  Even centuries later, after Za-ru-crosh’s name was changed to Eden, their name endured.      The recorded history of New Hope begins in another distant galaxy when a fleet of colonial ships “set sail” across the void to their new home world.  It begins with a hope for peace, freedom from oppression and out of reach of an overbearing government.  This is a cause familiar to many Terrans, yet these people were not at all human.      Their large fleet of spaceships fled their home worlds nearly five thousand years ago when they headed off to Za-ru-crosh.  The technology they had at their disposal was advanced enough that their courageous leap through largely uncharted space was completed in a matter of months instead of centuries.      The exact details of how the Ozbeen immigrants established themselves, created a fair and working government, and thrived in peace for the next 2950 years is another story.  The details of how a few mad men and women rose to power and plunged their world into Armageddon doesn't matter for this telling of Eden’s beginning.  What was important is how the war ended.  Not in victory, but in the total annihilation of every living thing on New Hope.      Some of the military leaders got the bright idea to create the ultimate biological weapon to destroy their enemies once and for all.  The best geneticists were gathered and after ten years of hard work, they achieved their goal.      Inside fifty brood tanks were dozens of worm like creatures that glowed with their own bioluminescent light.  They were made mostly of energy and were out of phase so they could go anywhere and find any one.  The only thing that kept them in their brood tanks when they finally came to maturity was a sedative injected automatically into their amniotic fluid they floated in.      On the day the parasites were to be deployed, their creator’s enemies discovered the labs and the activity there.  Bombs were dropped and most of the laboratory complex was destroyed in the initial attack.  The brood tanks were deep underground and well protected from the raging inferno above.  Yet there was no protection against a total system power failure caused by the bombing.      Without the constant supply of sedative being pumped into the tanks, the parasites awoke from their sleep.  They phased through the glass of the brood tanks and floated away to hunt and scavenge anything organic.      The underground labs were soon devoid of every living survivor of the bombings.  All houseplants, lab animals, and experimental microbes were absorbed by the parasites, every scrap of organic material, until nothing was left.  Then they phased out of the labs in search of more prey, traveling underground to avoid the inferno that was still raging above.      The parasites multiplied prolifically and evolved at an unnaturally rapid pace.  All of their offspring, in all of their varieties, were voracious eating machines.      To escape the plague of monsters that consumed all life and seemed to have no weaknesses, the Ozbeen prepared to evacuate the planet.  Many of them managed to flee with the aid of their small fleet colonial ships, loading them with as many people and supplies as the ships could hold.      Many more had no hope of escaping their planet’s destruction.  The old, the sick and the weak were left behind deliberately and about ten million other people had to be left behind regardless of health for there was no more room on the ships.      Those left behind survived for a time by hiding in buildings that were not yet discovered by the hoards of parasites whose numbers were ever growing.  They scavenged for ever dwindling supplies and found ways to filter out their increasingly fouled water.      The remaining survivors discovered soon after the evacuation of friends, enemies and loved ones that fire could be used as a weapon against the parasites.  Yet this only slowed their destructive progress against the remaining people in scattered pockets throughout the planet.      The survivors held on for another year as the parasites ravaged the planet.  Most died from predation of the parasites, disease, and starvation.  Some died in fights over dwindling resources or in desperate acts of cannibalism.      For many, the cause of death was loss of hope.  In despair, they just took their own lives, unable to hold onto the hope that there would be ship sent back from the old home worlds to rescue them.      The rescue ships never came.      At the very end, when nearly all organic matter was consumed and the parasites were now preying on each other and wiping themselves out, about 2500 people still clung to life planet wide.  These people were the toughest and smartest of all the people that had been left behind.  Even so, their existence was hanging by a thread.  They were slowly starving to death and lack of clean water was taking its toll.  Even these hardy souls had become too weak to fight off or run and hide from the last of the parasites.      The remaining species of parasite that still survived even after all the other parasites were dead looked like shining stars the size of a human fist.  They were beautiful, voracious, deadly and bordering on becoming self-aware.  They rained down on the last remaining people and killed them all in a few days.      This tragic ending to one people’s hope for peace and freedom is where Za-ru-crosh dies.  Yet this is not the end, but the beginning of a shining hope that would successfully create and maintain forever a peaceful and prosperous society from the ashes of a dead world.      The parasites went through one final change that caused them to stop evolving at such an unnatural rate.  When the last kind of parasite had killed their hosts, they turned their victims’ bodies into a sort of organic life support system in the form of crystalids.  There was no other way for them to survive.      It is unknown how exactly how long the parasites lay sleeping and metamorphosing in their crystalids.  Centuries later, it was speculated to be about two years by modern day historians and biologists.      When they finally emerged from their pupa and instinctively ate the last shreds of soft tissue inside them, the world was born anew with them.      These new creatures looked much like the blue grey skinned Ozbeen and they even had the same memories as their dead hosts, which had caused them some confusion in the beginning of their existence as sentient beings.      There were differences however, these humanoids had glowing white skins.  Hair the color of precious metals adorned their heads and glowed with hues similar to their hair color.  Slanted almond shaped eyes, large and solid black, a little bigger than human eyes, but not by much.       They awoke to a dead world with nothing for them to eat and no clean water for them the drink.  Not even the once vast numbers of parasites were still alive to keep them company.  They were all dead.      Soon, many were praying hard to their old gods for help.  Desperate hearts and minds reached up to the heavens.  By some miracle or sheer dumb luck, a single female accidentally made mental contact with a young Massai girl in the middle of the Serengeti Plains.  She had been helping to gather food for her family alongside her mother and grandmother.      Both the female alien and the young girl were surprised and confused by this odd mode of communication.  The Ozbeen were telepathic, but they were not strong enough to reach out across the vast distances between worlds.       Through this psychic connection, the newly sentient being could sense that the girl had food and the new born was ravenous.      Ra’el Sharr had been her host’s name, so that is who this female ex-parasite thought she was in spite of the confusing physical differences in her body.  So her dead host’s name became absorbed into this shining being, just like the rest of the original Ra’el Sharr.      The new Ra’el Sharr yearned with all of might to be on a world so obviously teaming with life and abundant food.  This desperate yearning born of great need and the instinct of self preservation, forced another of the powers of her kind to come on line much sooner than it would have under better circumstances.  Teleportation!      One moment Ra’el Sharr was with a small and miserable group of men and women of her kind.  The next, she arrived on Earth!  She appeared with a cry of agony and confused terror next to the group of female humans.  The sudden forcing of her power had caused her a rather nasty migraine.      Terrified by this white and silver haired apparition suddenly appearing out of nowhere, the three Massai ladies fled, dropping their collecting baskets and spilling their contents on the ground in their haste to return to their village.      Ra’el Sharr paid them no mind.  Nearly blinded by pain, she just curled up into a fetal ball and held her poor head.  In time, the pain faded and she was able to take stock of her surroundings.  She saw various fruits, nuts, tubers and termites the women had left and ate them ravenously.      When she was sated, she fell into a deep healing sleep in the tall grasses.  She awoke a few hours later and remembered the rest of her people.  She mentally called out to them and showed them how to teleport.  Soon the entire population of 2500 alien men and women had arrived on Earth during the early 1200’s.      Legends of the Shining Ones were been born that day and would later be dismissed as fairy tales as the centuries passed.      Humanity did not welcome them with open arms and the Shining Ones had a strong aversion to warfare, so these newcomers hid in scattered pockets in remote areas across Africa.        Then as time passed and their powers grew, their hard won survival became easier.  They first discovered that not only were they powerful telepaths, they had an unusual amount of control over their ability.  They could turn the ability on and off at will, or even control how telepathic they wanted to be.  Even block out others from their minds.      They discovered that they shared a loosely connected collective sub consciousness that they called the Dreaming and they could pass information to each other when they slept.  Or by placing the Dreaming under conscious control when they were awake, they could link their minds together and act as one collective entity for brief periods.  They also learned to create illusions by directed hallucinations of incredible clarity.      Next they discovered their talent for telekinesis, moving objects with increasing ease just by willing them the move.  Followed by a small talent for pyro kinesis, which was quickly employed to make camp fires.  Then the ability to make anything temporarily invisible, including themselves.  Healing came next after that; they could heal any wound or sickness.  They also discovered that they were immune to all disease and parasitic infestations.      Lastly, shape shifting of themselves, other living things and various objects.  This ability shape shift into animals and humans with ease helped them to hide in plain sight among Earth’s host species undetected.  This time of growth in their life cycle took ten years.      Not long after they were able to hide among humans, it was decided that it was in their own best interest to restore their home world.  They had both the knowledge and the technology on their world to re-terraform their planet and rebuild their cities.  Since the readily available Terran life forms were so similar to the extinct life forms on Za-ru-crosh, they used Earth’s DNA to re-establish a healthy bio-sphere on their dead planet.      Also, they unanimously agreed that they would learn from their predecessors’ mistakes and not repeat them.  Peace would rein once more, they would not fail!      During the time of Za-ru-crosh’s healing began, the Shining Ones began to have serious doubts about being Ozbeen.  True, the Ozbeenians did have some telepathic ability, but not the rest of their powers.      Some stubbornly argued if they weren't Ozbeen, how is it that they remember their lives on Za-ru-crosh?      The parasites killed the Ozbeen, we are the parasites!      Not possible!      Possible!      For decades the argument went on unresolved as they labored to fit into Earth’s cultures without getting to involved in the course of human history, while making a living among the humans and restoring their home planet.      No human would have ever discovered their true identity and the argument of “Are We Ozbeen or Evolved Parasites?” would have remained unresolved if it had not been for Ra’el Sharr and Lide Topen.      Ra’el Sharr and Lide Topen were a mated pair and had been for the past fifty years by then.  Having been living among the Cherokee for the last five years, they renamed themselves Eloyis and Amoitoy (pronounced ‘Ah-moy-toy,’ with a short "A" sound; meaning coming from or originating from water).  They had mostly abandoned their old Ozbeen ways in favor of the Cherokee traditions.  Their lives were good and they had many friends among the humans.  Then Eloyis became pregnant for the first time and she was the first of her kind to do so.  Six weeks later she laid two spherical light blue-green eggs the size of pomelo grapefruits.      This was something of a shock to the entire Shining One community as news of this event traveled from mind to mind via the Dreaming.  The Ozbeen were mammalian and the Shining Ones, as they had discovered, were not.      Eloyis kept her eggs wrapped in warm furs next to the cooking fire.  Five weeks later, in the middle of a warm summer night, the eggs hatched while the entire village slept.  The hatchling larvae resembled their parents just before they metamorphosed into people; beautiful, like small bright shining stars the size of a human fist.      They floated out of their parents’ home and into the neighboring house.  There, they phased into the two sleeping adults and made themselves at home.  The sleeping man and wife were oblivious to the intrusion of their bodies as the larvae fed on their new hosts, yet did no harm to them.      Eloyis and Amoitoy were shocked to discover their children had hatched and were nowhere to be seen when the woke in the morning.  They used their ability to sense living things and tracked down their offspring and their now frightened and confused hosts.       All four people feared the symbiotes would kill their hosts or at least make them very sick.  Yet, this did not happen.      After much reveling of truth, debate, discussion and deal striking, the new hosts decided to help the children live so long as they proved to do no serious harm to themselves.  Eloyis and Amoitoy agreed to remove their offspring if it was asked of them.      This proved to be utter serendipity.      At first, the hosts did weaken for a time and Eloyis and Amoitoy devoted themselves to looking after them.  For the next six months, the hosts were capable of little more than eating and sleeping.  Then gradually, towards the end of that six month period, their strength returned and they were able to get up and do small tasks to maintain their own house hold.      As the symbiotes matured, they bonded with their hosts, not only physically, but mentally as well.  Making them want to help their hosts and much as they were able.  Love sealed the bond between host, symbiont, and parents of the symbionts.  An odd sort of family unit was created.      The symbionts eventually learned that they had the same powers as their parents.  Only they could not shape shift themselves and didn't have as high endurance as their parents.      They could shape shift their hosts however, also they stopped the ageing process and gave their hosts greatly enhanced strength and endurance.  Not as much as some of the Marvel Comic super heroes, but enough to fly in avian form, snap small steel chains, and bend steel bars up to one inch thick.      After a time, the symbiotes could phase in and out of their hosts and they could go off in separate directions for up to twelve hours before both partners begin to suffer.  The symbiote from lack of food, the host from the lack of protection from viruses and the presence of the symbiote itself.   The host’s body became dependent on the symbiote to survive; the physical bond had become that strong.  Also, the symbiote suppresses the immune system so the host’s body cannot reject the symbiote and then shares its own immunity with its host.  Results: the host-symbiote pair was as impossible to infect as an adult Shining One so long as they didn’t stay apart for too long.      The Shining Ones had been watching the progress of the two symbiont-host pairs with growing hope.  They were heartened at the possibility of a co-existence with humans.  But hard as they tried to gently reveal themselves and create that peaceful co-existence, most humans still rejected them as monsters, evil spirits or witches.  Very few families welcomed the Shining Ones into their lives so they could help them have children.      True, the Shining Ones could have turned evil and taken over Earth easily enough.  Used humans as host-slaves and turn the remaining population as laborers.  But the Shining Ones were a product of war themselves, born into full awareness and memories of their hosts.  This made them already sick of war.  They despised violence to the point of near passivism towards humans and especially toward each other.         So the solution was to continue to restore Za-ru-crosh and evacuate Earth as soon as the terraforming was finished.  To make sure the situation was not further complicated, a temporary no breeding law was passed by the Shining Ones’ ruling council.  Then a plan was launched to bio-engineer some people for their off-spring and then make enough of them so their people could have a choice as to whether or not they wanted to become “Joined” as they now called it.  Even if it meant extinction, the Shining Ones would never force anyone to become a host.      This seemed like a straightforward solution and it was meant to be.  Yet life happened and it's often messy by its very nature.      During the next thousand years more and more eggs were laid by mated pairs and small polygamist groups, conceived either by accident or outright disobedience.  Early in that first two hundred years of when the no breeding law was still in effect, sharper measures had to be taken.  The eggs were too precious to destroy and they could not be allowed to hatch in uncontrolled numbers.  So the three moon base complexes on the Three Sisters were converted into cryogenic labs to store the eggs indefinitely until more favorable conditions occurred.  The council also modified their no breeding policy to a controlled breeding law as a fair compromise.       This practice of controlling the number of eggs that were allowed hatch each Egg Season became a permanent means of not overwhelming Eden’s (as the former Za-ru-crosh would be called) native population.      Eventually the terraforming was finished and the Shining Ones all returned home.  With them they transported their Joined Ones, their willing family members and quite a lot of stolen human eggs and sperm.      The eggs and sperm had been stolen from various banks and just as often from unknowing donors.  In this way a healthy human and sentient bioengineered population was grown in brood tanks and raised by the community when they were born.      Many centuries passed with Eden growing and prospering undisturbed.  Earth and its off-world colonies grew and prospered, met with other alien races and always exploring new territories to study and colonize.      Eventually, after many centuries, a starship discovered an Earth like planet that broadcast through various frequencies via radio, television, computer and satellite feeds that there was sentient life living there.  They thought that they may have discovered a lost human colony that had blended with the host species of the planet and likely had forgotten their origins.  Lost colonies were rare but not unheard of and the usual procedure was undertaken to make careful contact and reestablish communications between them and the rest of the human race.      Unknown to them, these explorers were being closely monitored by the Main Council’s telepaths after their mother ship had been sighted from the cryogenic lab bases on the outer most moon.  They did nothing to stop them, curious to see what these explorers would do.      The explorers selected a clearing that was not too far and not to close to what looked like a major city in the western hemisphere as a landing site.  They sent a team of specialist aboard a shuttle to make observations and slowly make contact with the locals that lived in that area…

(This book can be bought on Amazon either as a paperback or as a Kindle)

[redhatmeg]

My old Yondu Udonta and Ravagers headcanons

Back in 2014, when I was writing GotG fanfiction and starting to focus more or Yondu and Ravagers, I’ve made couple headcanons. Some of them were proved false by Vol.2, some of them can still kinda work, nevertheless, looking at them now is quite interesting experience.

1. Yondu Udonta is a lone survivor of massacre of Zotoan tribe done by Brotherhood of Badoon. I was one of many people who were combining the MCU!Yondu with his classic counterpart. Some people were going for Yondu being (seemingly) the only living Centaurian in general (as in the comics), but I settled for him to just be the only living Zotoan tribeman. Either way, my idea was that Yondu went to the jungle to perform a ritual of manhood, but when he came back to his village, it was burnt down and all his people were dead. Needless to say, Yondu still has a survivor guilt over it and he sometimes sees his tribe in the night, judging him and asking why he didn’t die with them.

2. Kraglin’s backstory is that he once was a slave, but was liberated by Yondu and then joined his crew. Kraglin also still has his slave tattoo.

(So you see how it turned out: Yondu’s canonical backstory actually resembles my headcanonical Kraglin’s backstory XD.)

3. Ravagers’ ship is full of men so fiercely loyal to Yondu Udonta, they are willing to fight everybody who calls him Centaurian scum; and to help him avenge his tribe if he feels like he wants to pursue the path of vengeance.

(To be honest, once I’ve learned there will be a mutiny on Eclector, I thought this headconon is dead, but then it turned out that there were Ravagers loyal to Yondu, but they were killed off. So technically I could work something out.)

4. Since Centauri-IV is considered a primitive planet, many people are prejudiced towards Yondu and call him Centaurian scum. This is actually another try to connect MCU!Yondu with comic!Yondu. Since in original Guardians of the Galaxy Yondu is Noble Savage and Centaurians are Native American/Amazonian expies, I thought it would be interesting to make them a victims of intergalactic racism.

5. When Peter was just a kid, Yondu tried not to kill in front of him. This headcanon stemmed from a fanfic in which Yondu was killing mutinees, while whistiling to the tune of Peter’s walkman; and Peter was cheering him up on every kill. When I read it, I thought that this Peter could grow up to become a psychopath, so I created a headcanon that Yondu likes Peter’s empathy and doesn’t want him to get used to death at young age and eventually starting to enjoy gruesome deaths.

(I do realize this headcanon is a bit too fluffy for our favorite ragged Ravager, but I liked it. And hey, a girl has a right to shameless fluff.)

6. Peter was regularily sharing information about Earth culture, so Ravagers kinda, sorta, celebrated Christmas and Halloween and knew Terran fairy tales. I just think Peter would get used to his crewmates after some time and try to get them to enjoy his Earthen traditions. And he would probably influance them one way or another.

That’s all I remember for now. As you can seesome of them are good only for AUs. I don’t know if I salvage others, but I do feel nostalgic, thinking about them.

[kzesl]

Fairy tale

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ficlet. Under the cut because of spoilers. 

Summary: One day, he looks into a mirror, sees a grey hair and feels only relief. 

Peter thinks of his father sometimes. (In all his travels, he has never met a being more alien than his own damn father.)

He remembers Ego’s words on immortality. He looks around himself, at his team, his family, and thinks that it is a good thing that the Light is gone and he is mortal. He doesn’t want to remain young while they grow old and die.

(One day, he looks into a mirror, sees a grey hair and feels only relief.)

When age spots appear on his hands his teammates are alarmed. Apparently it’s a Terran thing, because he remembers his grandfather having them. He asked about it once, and was told it has something to do with age. He welcomes them with a sort of grateful wonder.

They grow old together (not Groot. He grows up, but doesn’t age like they do. His species is a long lived one.) They start healing slower when they get hurt and Peter meets Groot’s eyes and sees sadness, the awful knowledge that Groot will remain alone when they are gone.

(When Peter looks away, Groot looks even sadder. He looks sadder.)

The age slows their bodies down, but experience matters. They adapt, they continue saving the galaxy like the badasses they are.

Rocket is the first to go, then Gamora, then Drax. It is sad, but their friends have lived long, fulfilled lives. And grief doesn’t relinquish a person easily, but it’s- Drax had laughed, a full bodied laugh, right before he died. He was not afraid, just curious, and strangely delighted.

After Drax’s funeral they go home. Peter wishes Groot a good night and goes to sleep. It takes him awhile to get to his bedroom. He counts every torturously slow step as a victory. His knees twinge when he sits down on the bed. He puts his cane next to the nightstand and slowly lowers himself down. His back always hurts. Medicine can only help so much. He feels too tired to change, so he just covers himself with a blanket and turns on his side, trying to find a comfortable position. He will wake up in a lot of pain, he knows. He wishes he could wake up and not hurt.

He wakes up and doesn’t hurt.

It is wonderful and strange and wrong. Alarm bells go off in his mind and he jumps out of bed (oh God, he jumps), and runs (God, no) to the bathroom and the mirror lies (it must it must it must) for he looks as old as he did when he met Ego.

Peter wished he could grow old, and he did. He wished not to be in pain, and he was not. His father created an entire planet around himself, what are a few wrinkles compared to that?

Ego’s light may not be alive anymore, but Peter’s is.

(One does not simply stop being a Celestial (or half) just because one’s father dies.)

He wishes for his family to be alive. (They are not.)

It takes him a long time to leave the bathroom.

When he sees Groot, he wishes him a good morning in a choked voice and Groot looks at him, solemn and unsurprised.

“I am Groot,” he says, “I am Groot.”

“Me too.” Peter answers. Groot grows a branch towards him, and around him, and pulls him close, into an embrace. Peter remembers Groot when he was a baby, still in his pot; remembers the tiny, adorable, vicious child and the sullen teenager; remembers the moment he realized that Groot was not a child anymore and when he went on his first job alone.

(He realizes that he will live long enough to see Groot die as well.)

He remembers infinity, seen through his father’s eyes. It had no age spots.

He looks down at his hands. They are unmarked.

He tenses, and Groot tightens his arm around him and whispers, gently, so unbearably gently, “I am Groot. I am Groot.”

[wesonerdy]

CBS has huge plans for this year’s SDCC, including the world premieres of Charmed, Magnum P.I., and more!

Courtesy of CBS Television Studios

  Happy July Friends! Besides the fact that summer is speeding right along (*cries*), it’s officially Comic-Con month! That means more and more details will be on the way and we can’t wait to learn more about all the events.

Today, CBS Television Studios revealed that they’ll be presenting the exclusive world premiere screenings of The CW’s upcoming Charmed reboot and Magnum P.I. Fans will also be treated to a special sneak peek of CBS All Access’ new psychological thriller Tell Me a Story, followed by a panel discussion with EP Kevin Williamson and cast members.

The producers of Star Trek: Discovery will beam into Hall H for a look back on season one and tease what’s ahead for season two. Plus, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend will make its SDCC debut, ahead of the show’s final season.

In addition, CBS TV Studios will also be hosting a marathon screening of The Twilight Zone, plus several fan activations for our enjoyment.

Check out the details here!

  THURSDAY, JULY 19

CHARMED EXCLUSIVE SCREENING AND PANEL, 11:15 AM–12:15 PM, BALLROOM 20 – The iconic CHARMED is back just in time to celebrate its 20th anniversary. This reboot of the original series centers on three sisters in a college town who, after the tragic loss of their mother, discover they are powerful witches. Between vanquishing supernatural demons, tearing down the patriarchy and maintaining familial bonds, a witch’s work is never done. Please join series stars Melonie Diaz, Sarah Jeffery, Madeleine Mantock and Rupert Evans, along with producers Jennie Snyder Urman, Jessica O’Toole and Amy Rardin, for an exclusive sneak peek of the first episode of The CW series followed by a panel discussion.

TELL ME A STORY, 12:15–12:45 PM, BALLROOM 20 – Step into the world of TELL ME A STORY, the latest project from the brilliant mind of Kevin Williamson. In this reimagining of the world’s most beloved fairy tales, see “The Three Little Pigs,” “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Hansel and Gretel” come to life as dark and twisted psychological thrillers interweaving with each other against the backdrop of modern day New York City. Join executive producer Kevin Williamson, as well as series stars Paul Wesley and James Wolk, for an exclusive sneak peek of the CBS All Access series followed by a panel discussion. Moderated by the editor-in-chief of Entertainment Weekly, Henry Goldblatt.

MAGNUM P.I. EXCLUSIVE SCREENING AND PANEL, 4:15–5:30 PM, ROOM 6A – MAGNUM P.I. is a modern take on the classic series starring Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum, a decorated former Navy SEAL who, upon returning home from Afghanistan, repurposes his military skills to become a private investigator. A charming rogue, an American hero and a die-hard Detroit Tigers fan, Magnum has Juliet Higgins and her Dobermans to keep him in line, as well as his trusted buddies and fellow POW survivors TC and Rick when he needs backup on a job. With keys to a vintage Ferrari in one hand, aviator sunglasses in the other, and an Old Düsseldorf longneck chilling in the fridge, Thomas Magnum is back on the case! Please join series stars Jay Hernandez and Perdita Weeks and executive producers Peter Lenkov and Eric Guggenheim for an exclusive sneak peak of the premiere episode of the new CBS series followed by a panel discussion.

CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND: THE FINAL CURTAIN CALL, 5:45–6:30 PM, ROOM 6A – As the critically acclaimed CW series enters its final season, come celebrate and take a trip down memory lane with co-creators Rachel Bloom and Aline Brosh McKenna as they look back on some of the series’ most memorable moments and talk about what’s ahead for Rebecca Bunch. The panel will be moderated by series guest star Michael McMillian and will include a special performance and never-before-seen footage.

  FRIDAY, JULY 20

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY PANEL, 1:30–2:30 PM, HALL H – Over 50 years ago, the world was first introduced to what would quickly become a cultural phenomenon. “Star Trek” inspired developments in science and technology, broke social barriers, and transported viewers around the globe to new adventures and uncharted frontiers. Last fall, STAR TREK: DISCOVERY continued that tradition and followed the voyages of Starfleet aboard the U.S.S. Discovery. Join the cast and producers of this CBS All Access series to look back on season one and find out where the crew is headed as it transports into its second season. Cast members scheduled to appear include Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Shazad Latif, Mary Wiseman, Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, Mary Chieffo and Anson Mount alongside executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin. The panel will be moderated by series guest star Tig Notaro, who will appear as Chief Engineer Reno.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE MARATHON SCREENING, 7:15–9:15 PM, ROOM 6A – THE TWILIGHT ZONE new original series will be coming soon to CBS All Access in a modern reimagining of the iconic series that took viewers to another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. It was a journey into a wondrous land of imagination for five years on CBS, from 1959-1964. The godfather of sci-fi series, the show explored humanity’s hopes, despairs, pride and prejudice in metaphoric ways conventional dramas could not. Please join us for a special marathon screening and a look back at some of the fan-favorite episodes from the original series. Concessions and an exclusive giveaway item will be provided.

  SATURDAY, JULY 20

CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND LIVE STARRING RACHEL BLOOM, 7:30 PM, BALBOA THEATRE – The cast of the CW’s award-winning musical dramedy CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND is taking their show on the road in this live tour. Join Rachel Bloom, the rest of the cast and the CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND songwriters as they bring the show’s songs to life in this very special live concert event. This is a ticketed event and is currently sold out. For more info, please visit: https://sandiegotheatres.org/rachel-bloom/

  FAN ACTIVATIONS & GIVEAWAYS

Courtesy of CBS Television Studios

Courtesy of CBS Television Studios

Courtesy of CBS Television Studios

Courtesy of CBS Television Studios

  CBS COMEDY CARS – From Thursday, July 19 through Sunday, July 22, CBS will offer complimentary rides throughout the Gaslamp District in branded electric cars. Featured shows will include the new fall comedies THE NEIGHBORHOOD and HAPPY TOGETHER. Trailers of the series will be screened for the passengers in those cars as well. Brand ambassadors will distribute giveaways making their debut at Comic-Con, including a variety of collectable emoji squeezies for THE NEIGHBORHOOD and HAPPY TOGETHER.

MAGNUM P.I. TAKEOVER – On Thursday, July 19, CBS will cruise the streets of Comic-Con in a branded Ferrari 488 to promote the return of MAGNUM P.I. Brand ambassadors will distribute red sunglasses and Hawaiian leis.

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY PEDICABS – From Thursday, July 19 through Sunday, July 22, CBS will offer free “intergalactic” rides throughout San Diego’s Gaslamp District in pedicabs inspired by the design of the U.S.S. Discovery’s captain’s chair. The pedicabs will feature the chair’s distinctive stitched black seats as well as video monitors built into its armrests, which in this case will screen trailers for the highly anticipated second season of the show. As an added touch, each vehicle will display an illuminated U.S.S. Discovery delta shield on the back.

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY MIRROR UNIVERSE GALLERY TAKEOVER – CBS is creating a fully immersive STAR TREK: DISCOVERY Mirror Universe experience at the Michael J. Wolf Fine Arts Gallery (363 Fifth Avenue, San Diego); Comic-Con badges are not required for entry. The exhibit, scheduled to run from Thursday, July 19 through Sunday, July 22, will feature a photo opportunity with Emperor Georgiou’s throne and will showcase props and costumes from the series’ Terran Empire. The gallery will also house an official “Star Trek” shop with Comic-Con exclusives.

Exhibit Hours: Thursday = 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM Friday = 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM Saturday = 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM Sunday = 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM

  CBS TV Studios Coming to SDCC 2018 CBS has huge plans for this year's SDCC, including the world premieres of Charmed, Magnum P.I.

[cherokeegal1975]

Eden Symbiotic Prolouge

 The beginning of Eden’s history is a strange and tragically violent one.  In the beginning, Eden had another name, Za-ru-crosh, which meant "New Hope" in the language of the Ozbeen.      Za-ru-crosh was an uninhabited planet with Earth-like conditions that spun in a solar system much like Earth’s own with three moons instead of only one.  The first was a bit smaller than Earth’s moon and the farthest out.  The second moon was smaller still and the third and closest moon was the smallest.  They were called The Three Sisters.  Even centuries later, after Za-ru-crosh’s name was changed to Eden, their name endured.      The recorded history of New Hope begins in another distant galaxy when a fleet of colonial ships “set sail” across the void to their new home world.  It begins with a hope for peace, freedom from oppression and out of reach of an overbearing government.  This is a cause familiar to many Terrans, yet these people were not at all human.      Their large fleet of spaceships fled their home worlds nearly five thousand years ago when they headed off to Za-ru-crosh.  The technology they had at their disposal was advanced enough that their courageous leap through largely uncharted space was completed in a matter of months instead of centuries.      The exact details of how the Ozbeen immigrants established themselves, created a fair and working government, and thrived in peace for the next 2950 years is another story.  The details of how a few mad men and women rose to power and plunged their world into Armageddon doesn't matter for this telling of Eden’s beginning.  What was important is how the war ended.  Not in victory, but in the total annihilation of every living thing on New Hope.      Some of the military leaders got the bright idea to create the ultimate biological weapon to destroy their enemies once and for all.  The best geneticists were gathered and after ten years of hard work, they achieved their goal.      Inside fifty brood tanks were dozens of worm like creatures that glowed with their own bioluminescent light.  They were made mostly of energy and were out of phase so they could go anywhere and find any one.  The only thing that kept them in their brood tanks when they finally came to maturity was a sedative injected automatically into their amniotic fluid they floated in.      On the day the parasites were to be deployed, their creator’s enemies discovered the labs and the activity there.  Bombs were dropped and most of the laboratory complex was destroyed in the initial attack.  The brood tanks were deep underground and well protected from the raging inferno above.  Yet there was no protection against a total system power failure caused by the bombing.      Without the constant supply of sedative being pumped into the tanks, the parasites awoke from their sleep.  They phased through the glass of the brood tanks and floated away to hunt and scavenge anything organic.      The underground labs were soon devoid of every living survivor of the bombings.  All houseplants, lab animals, and experimental microbes were absorbed by the parasites, every scrap of organic material, until nothing was left.  Then they phased out of the labs in search of more prey, traveling underground to avoid the inferno that was still raging above.      The parasites multiplied prolifically and evolved at an unnaturally rapid pace.  All of their offspring, in all of their varieties, were voracious eating machines.      To escape the plague of monsters that consumed all life and seemed to have no weaknesses, the Ozbeen prepared to evacuate the planet.  Many of them managed to flee with the aid of their small fleet colonial ships, loading them with as many people and supplies as the ships could hold.      Many more had no hope of escaping their planet’s destruction.  The old, the sick and the weak were left behind deliberately and about ten million other people had to be left behind regardless of health for there was no more room on the ships.      Those left behind survived for a time by hiding in buildings that were not yet discovered by the hoards of parasites whose numbers were ever growing.  They scavenged for ever dwindling supplies and found ways to filter out their increasingly fouled water.      The remaining survivors discovered soon after the evacuation of friends, enemies and loved ones that fire could be used as a weapon against the parasites.  Yet this only slowed their destructive progress against the remaining people in scattered pockets throughout the planet.      The survivors held on for another year as the parasites ravaged the planet.  Most died from predation of the parasites, disease, and starvation.  Some died in fights over dwindling resources or in desperate acts of cannibalism.      For many, the cause of death was loss of hope.  In despair, they just took their own lives, unable to hold onto the hope that there would be ship sent back from the old home worlds to rescue them.      The rescue ships never came.      At the very end, when nearly all organic matter was consumed and the parasites were now preying on each other and wiping themselves out, about 2500 people still clung to life planet wide.  These people were the toughest and smartest of all the people that had been left behind.  Even so, their existence was hanging by a thread.  They were slowly starving to death and lack of clean water was taking its toll.  Even these hardy souls had become too weak to fight off or run and hide from the last of the parasites.      The remaining species of parasite that still survived even after all the other parasites were dead looked like shining stars the size of a human fist.  They were beautiful, voracious, deadly and bordering on becoming self-aware.  They rained down on the last remaining people and killed them all in a few days.      This tragic ending to one people’s hope for peace and freedom is where Za-ru-crosh dies.  Yet this is not the end, but the beginning of a shining hope that would successfully create and maintain forever a peaceful and prosperous society from the ashes of a dead world.      The parasites went through one final change that caused them to stop evolving at such an unnatural rate.  When the last kind of parasite had killed their hosts, they turned their victims’ bodies into a sort of organic life support system in the form of crystalids.  There was no other way for them to survive.      It is unknown how exactly how long the parasites lay sleeping and metamorphosing in their crystalids.  Centuries later, it was speculated to be about two years by modern day historians and biologists.      When they finally emerged from their pupa and instinctively ate the last shreds of soft tissue inside them, the world was born anew with them.      These new creatures looked much like the blue grey skinned Ozbeen and they even had the same memories as their dead hosts, which had caused them some confusion in the beginning of their existence as sentient beings.      There were differences however, these humanoids had glowing white skins.  Hair the color of precious metals adorned their heads and glowed with hues similar to their hair color.  Slanted almond shaped eyes, large and solid black, a little bigger than human eyes, but not by much.       They awoke to a dead world with nothing for them to eat and no clean water for them the drink.  Not even the once vast numbers of parasites were still alive to keep them company.  They were all dead.      Soon, many were praying hard to their old gods for help.  Desperate hearts and minds reached up to the heavens.  By some miracle or sheer dumb luck, a single female accidentally made mental contact with a young Massai girl in the middle of the Serengeti Plains.  She had been helping to gather food for her family alongside her mother and grandmother.      Both the female alien and the young girl were surprised and confused by this odd mode of communication.  The Ozbeen were telepathic, but they were not strong enough to reach out across the vast distances between worlds.       Through this psychic connection, the newly sentient being could sense that the girl had food and the new born was ravenous.      Ra’el Sharr had been her host’s name, so that is who this female ex-parasite thought she was in spite of the confusing physical differences in her body.  So her dead host’s name became absorbed into this shining being, just like the rest of the original Ra’el Sharr.      The new Ra’el Sharr yearned with all of might to be on a world so obviously teaming with life and abundant food.  This desperate yearning born of great need and the instinct of self preservation, forced another of the powers of her kind to come on line much sooner than it would have under better circumstances.  Teleportation!      One moment Ra’el Sharr was with a small and miserable group of men and women of her kind.  The next, she arrived on Earth!  She appeared with a cry of agony and confused terror next to the group of female humans.  The sudden forcing of her power had caused her a rather nasty migraine.      Terrified by this white and silver haired apparition suddenly appearing out of nowhere, the three Massai ladies fled, dropping their collecting baskets and spilling their contents on the ground in their haste to return to their village.      Ra’el Sharr paid them no mind.  Nearly blinded by pain, she just curled up into a fetal ball and held her poor head.  In time, the pain faded and she was able to take stock of her surroundings.  She saw various fruits, nuts, tubers and termites the women had left and ate them ravenously.      When she was sated, she fell into a deep healing sleep in the tall grasses.  She awoke a few hours later and remembered the rest of her people.  She mentally called out to them and showed them how to teleport.  Soon the entire population of 2500 alien men and women had arrived on Earth during the early 1200’s.      Legends of the Shining Ones were been born that day and would later be dismissed as fairy tales as the centuries passed.      Humanity did not welcome them with open arms and the Shining Ones had a strong aversion to warfare, so these newcomers hid in scattered pockets in remote areas across Africa.        Then as time passed and their powers grew, their hard won survival became easier.  They first discovered that not only were they powerful telepaths, they had an unusual amount of control over their ability.  They could turn the ability on and off at will, or even control how telepathic they wanted to be.  Even block out others from their minds.      They discovered that they shared a loosely connected collective sub consciousness that they called the Dreaming and they could pass information to each other when they slept.  Or by placing the Dreaming under conscious control when they were awake, they could link their minds together and act as one collective entity for brief periods.  They also learned to create illusions by directed hallucinations of incredible clarity.      Next they discovered their talent for telekinesis, moving objects with increasing ease just by willing them the move.  Followed by a small talent for pyro kinesis, which was quickly employed to make camp fires.  Then the ability to make anything temporarily invisible, including themselves.  Healing came next after that; they could heal any wound or sickness.  They also discovered that they were immune to all disease and parasitic infestations.      Lastly, shape shifting of themselves, other living things and various objects.  This ability shape shift into animals and humans with ease helped them to hide in plain sight among Earth’s host species undetected.  This time of growth in their life cycle took ten years.      Not long after they were able to hide among humans, it was decided that it was in their own best interest to restore their home world.  They had both the knowledge and the technology on their world to re-terraform their planet and rebuild their cities.  Since the readily available Terran life forms were so similar to the extinct life forms on Za-ru-crosh, they used Earth’s DNA to re-establish a healthy bio-sphere on their dead planet.      Also, they unanimously agreed that they would learn from their predecessors’ mistakes and not repeat them.  Peace would rein once more, they would not fail!      During the time of Za-ru-crosh’s healing began, the Shining Ones began to have serious doubts about being Ozbeen.  True, the Ozbeenians did have some telepathic ability, but not the rest of their powers.      Some stubbornly argued if they weren't Ozbeen, how is it that they remember their lives on Za-ru-crosh?      The parasites killed the Ozbeen, we are the parasites!      Not possible!      Possible!      For decades the argument went on unresolved as they labored to fit into Earth’s cultures without getting to involved in the course of human history, while making a living among the humans and restoring their home planet.      No human would have ever discovered their true identity and the argument of “Are We Ozbeen or Evolved Parasites?” would have remained unresolved if it had not been for Ra’el Sharr and Lide Topen.      Ra’el Sharr and Lide Topen were a mated pair and had been for the past fifty years by then.  Having been living among the Cherokee for the last five years, they renamed themselves Eloyis and Amoitoy (pronounced ‘Ah-moy-toy,’ with a short "A" sound; meaning coming from or originating from water).  They had mostly abandoned their old Ozbeen ways in favor of the Cherokee traditions.  Their lives were good and they had many friends among the humans.  Then Eloyis became pregnant for the first time and she was the first of her kind to do so.  Six weeks later she laid two spherical light blue-green eggs the size of pomelo grapefruits.      This was something of a shock to the entire Shining One community as news of this event traveled from mind to mind via the Dreaming.  The Ozbeen were mammalian and the Shining Ones, as they had discovered, were not.      Eloyis kept her eggs wrapped in warm furs next to the cooking fire.  Five weeks later, in the middle of a warm summer night, the eggs hatched while the entire village slept.  The hatchling larvae resembled their parents just before they metamorphosed into people; beautiful, like small bright shining stars the size of a human fist.      They floated out of their parents’ home and into the neighboring house.  There, they phased into the two sleeping adults and made themselves at home.  The sleeping man and wife were oblivious to the intrusion of their bodies as the larvae fed on their new hosts, yet did no harm to them.      Eloyis and Amoitoy were shocked to discover their children had hatched and were nowhere to be seen when the woke in the morning.  They used their ability to sense living things and tracked down their offspring and their now frightened and confused hosts.       All four people feared the symbiotes would kill their hosts or at least make them very sick.  Yet, this did not happen.      After much reveling of truth, debate, discussion and deal striking, the new hosts decided to help the children live so long as they proved to do no serious harm to themselves.  Eloyis and Amoitoy agreed to remove their offspring if it was asked of them.      This proved to be utter serendipity.      At first, the hosts did weaken for a time and Eloyis and Amoitoy devoted themselves to looking after them.  For the next six months, the hosts were capable of little more than eating and sleeping.  Then gradually, towards the end of that six month period, their strength returned and they were able to get up and do small tasks to maintain their own house hold.      As the symbiotes matured, they bonded with their hosts, not only physically, but mentally as well.  Making them want to help their hosts and much as they were able.  Love sealed the bond between host, symbiont, and parents of the symbionts.  An odd sort of family unit was created.      The symbionts eventually learned that they had the same powers as their parents.  Only they could not shape shift themselves and didn't have as high endurance as their parents.      They could shape shift their hosts however, also they stopped the ageing process and gave their hosts greatly enhanced strength and endurance.  Not as much as some of the Marvel Comic super heroes, but enough to fly in avian form, snap small steel chains, and bend steel bars up to one inch thick.      After a time, the symbiotes could phase in and out of their hosts and they could go off in separate directions for up to twelve hours before both partners begin to suffer.  The symbiote from lack of food, the host from the lack of protection from viruses and the presence of the symbiote itself.   The host’s body became dependent on the symbiote to survive; the physical bond had become that strong.  Also, the symbiote suppresses the immune system so the host’s body cannot reject the symbiote and then shares its own immunity with its host.  Results: the host-symbiote pair was as impossible to infect as an adult Shining One so long as they didn’t stay apart for too long.      The Shining Ones had been watching the progress of the two symbiont-host pairs with growing hope.  They were heartened at the possibility of a co-existence with humans.  But hard as they tried to gently reveal themselves and create that peaceful co-existence, most humans still rejected them as monsters, evil spirits or witches.  Very few families welcomed the Shining Ones into their lives so they could help them have children.      True, the Shining Ones could have turned evil and taken over Earth easily enough.  Used humans as host-slaves and turn the remaining population as laborers.  But the Shining Ones were a product of war themselves, born into full awareness and memories of their hosts.  This made them already sick of war.  They despised violence to the point of near passivism towards humans and especially toward each other.         So the solution was to continue to restore Za-ru-crosh and evacuate Earth as soon as the terraforming was finished.  To make sure the situation was not further complicated, a temporary no breeding law was passed by the Shining Ones’ ruling council.  Then a plan was launched to bio-engineer some people for their off-spring and then make enough of them so their people could have a choice as to whether or not they wanted to become “Joined” as they now called it.  Even if it meant extinction, the Shining Ones would never force anyone to become a host.      This seemed like a straightforward solution and it was meant to be.  Yet life happened and it's often messy by its very nature.      During the next thousand years more and more eggs were laid by mated pairs and small polygamist groups, conceived either by accident or outright disobedience.  Early in that first two hundred years of when the no breeding law was still in effect, sharper measures had to be taken.  The eggs were too precious to destroy and they could not be allowed to hatch in uncontrolled numbers.  So the three moon base complexes on the Three Sisters were converted into cryogenic labs to store the eggs indefinitely until more favorable conditions occurred.  The council also modified their no breeding policy to a controlled breeding law as a fair compromise.       This practice of controlling the number of eggs that were allowed hatch each Egg Season became a permanent means of not overwhelming Eden’s (as the former Za-ru-crosh would be called) native population.      Eventually the terraforming was finished and the Shining Ones all returned home.  With them they transported their Joined Ones, their willing family members and quite a lot of stolen human eggs and sperm.      The eggs and sperm had been stolen from various banks and just as often from unknowing donors.  In this way a healthy human and sentient bioengineered population was grown in brood tanks and raised by the community when they were born.      Many centuries passed with Eden growing and prospering undisturbed.  Earth and its off-world colonies grew and prospered, met with other alien races and always exploring new territories to study and colonize.      Eventually, after many centuries, a starship discovered an Earth like planet that broadcast through various frequencies via radio, television, computer and satellite feeds that there was sentient life living there.  They thought that they may have discovered a lost human colony that had blended with the host species of the planet and likely had forgotten their origins.  Lost colonies were rare but not unheard of and the usual procedure was undertaken to make careful contact and reestablish communications between them and the rest of the human race.      Unknown to them, these explorers were being closely monitored by the Main Council’s telepaths after their mother ship had been sighted from the cryogenic lab bases on the outer most moon.  They did nothing to stop them, curious to see what these explorers would do.      The explorers selected a clearing that was not too far and not to close to what looked like a major city in the western hemisphere as a landing site.  They sent a team of specialist aboard a shuttle to make observations and slowly make contact with the locals that lived in that area…