#she doesn’t care about the alien dna they added

[bllsbailey]

Florida: Human Trafficking Sting Operation Catches 157 Criminals, Including 25 Illegal Aliens

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said some of the 25 illegal immigrants arrested during a sting that nabbed 157 total people received benefits when they came into the U.S.

A human trafficking raid in Florida resulted in the arrest of 157 individuals, including 25 illegal aliens, the majority of whom reportedly obtained federal benefits after entering the country.

Along with representatives from other law enforcement agencies from Marion County, Lake County, Auburndale, Clermont, Davenport, Winter Haven, Lakeland, and Tampa, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd announced that 157 suspects were arrested as part of “Operation Autumn Sweep” for crimes committed that related to soliciting prostitutes, offering to commit prostitution, and aiding and abetting prostitutes.

Meanwhile, “three others were arrested for traveling to sexually batter children,” The New York Post reported.

Four other potential victims of human trafficking were identified from the 47 prostitutes that appeared at covert sites to engage in prostitution during the operation, which started on October 2nd.  

According to Judd’s office, 96 suspects were detained for soliciting prostitution, and of the 157 individuals detained, 201 misdemeanors and 35 felonies were imposed.

“The approach of Hurricane Milton caused us to end our investigation earlier than planned, but it’s still amazing that in such a short amount of time we were able to put 157 people in jail, and three child predators,” Judd stated.

The sheriff also noted that 25 of the 157 individuals detained were illegally present in the United States from countries such as Cuba, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Venezuela.

“Sixteen percent of these total arrests were people who should not even have been in this country,” the sheriff continued. “But they were here, and they were here because we have a federal government that enabled these criminals to come into the country, and they treated them very well after the criminals came here illegally.”

Judd told the story of one woman involved in the raid who says she brought her child to the United States. The woman informed authorities that she flew from Venezuela into Mexico and then illegally crossed the border with her child to enter El Paso, Texas, which contradicts the Harris campaign’s claims that we “have no open border,” seemingly gaslighting American voters into believing that these sorts of worries are just due to “MAGA propaganda.”

“There is no border security at the southern border. Zero. It doesn’t exist,” Judd added.

The sheriff explained that after completing the quick, standard procedure at the Border Patrol processing center, the woman was assigned to a migrant housing facility.

The woman told authorities that after undergoing a DNA test to confirm that her DNA matched that of her child, she was informed of the free benefits and services that would be available to her in the United States. According to Judd, she was told that she would be eligible for programs like Medicaid and SNAP.

She then subsequently received a “free” ticket, paid for with U.S. tax dollars, from Texas to Chicago, where she was still unable to find work. According to Judd, the woman chose to instead travel to Florida and even received a complimentary ticket to the Sunshine State as well.

“She was given free housing, all because the United States paid for that. That’s right. Use the taxpayers,” Judd explained. “This was not a stealthful act, and they gave her free travel, free housing, free food, free medical care. All while people from the hurricane are still waiting for help.”

Four of the women named as victims of human trafficking were smuggled across the border, according to Judd, and two of them acknowledged having to pay off the men who drove them around $6,000.

“Make no mistake about it, the government is complicit and is aiding and abetting human trafficking in the United States,” Judd said. “In addition to that, there is a wide-open border where fentanyl is coming across, and that is encouraged, and as a result of that, we have thousands upon thousands of people dying in the United States. And then the best that our federal politicians can say was, ‘well, it didn’t kill as many people this year as last year.’”

The oldest individual arrested in the trafficking sting was 61, while the youngest victim was 15.

Additionally, according to Judd’s office, three suspects were veterans or active-duty military personnel; three worked at Disney World; three had previously been taken into custody by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in similar stings; and multiple suspects claimed to have left their fiancé or spouse at home while they were at work, shopping, or the gym.

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[lambourngb]

I'm new to the Roswell fandom, and I have this burning question that might have already been discussed to death but I can't find the answer anywhere. So if this is something everyone has already dealt with, just let me know.

Max is genetically Michael's father. Yeah? The Dictator is Michael's father, and Max is the Dictator's clone, so genetically, Michael has half of Max's DNA. They're father and son. Which makes the fact that Max is always annoying Michael by trying to take care of him really funny, actually.

Are there fics where Max tries to get fatherly and Michael freaks out? What's the fandom consensus on this truly weird relationship these two now have? I know we're all super excited for lots of Malex in season four, but I'm hoping for some really awkward father/son issues too. Max will be totally sincere and Michael will be horrified and Alex will snort-laugh about how, out of the two of them, Michael ended up with the weirder father situation.

Would that make Liz like Michael's step-mom? And so Rosa is like Michael's step-aunt? And Arturo is his step-grandpa on his father's side the way Sanders is somehow his brother/grandpa on his mother's side? Michael always wanted a family, and now he's got loads of family.

(Also, I absolutely loved last year's wishes are this year's apologies)

First of all- welcome to the RNM fandom !

Secondly, wow, this question. You’re asking about season 3 plot points regarding genetics/hereditary, and while I’m a close watcher of the show, and did multiple rewatches of the last few episodes of season 3, the science of this show is just bad at times and overly dramatic for plot reasons.

While the Dictator - Jones- is Michael’s father, somehow, when Nora cloned Max from him, she changed a part of Jones’s DNA- creating this tether between Max and Jones that was very …Voldemort/HP. Somehow an Oasian alien like Jones has 3 strands of DNA? I don’t even know what’s that about, but apparently a biochem genius like Liz overlooked that in both Max’s and Noah’s samples from season 1? My guess, for my own sanity, when Nora created that tether, it added/changed some of the DNA expressed in Max- IE, he can’t jump into people’s heads or doesn’t seem to be fire resistant like Michael - which is just enough of a change to make him biologically related to Michael but not enough to be considered his father. Jones explained those traits were hereditary- passing from father to son, and as his clone, Max SHOULD HAVE THEM.

I wrote a 20,000 word story that basically bullshits my way through explaining why some powers are "hereditary" and why some aren't post-season 3- but that was connecting dots that I don't think the show meant us to do. Michael being able to body-walk someone like Noah and Jones for the last 13 years is a little hard to believe, because why wouldn't he have used that to send Jesse Manes away? Or just "body-walk" Jesse off a cliff after the shed. Anyway.

I haven’t seen any fanfics that are going after the Max/Michael relationship as father-son, but all I’ve seen instead has been exploring them as brothers who were intended on being raised together with Isobel by Nora and Louise on Earth. Those stories could be out there! (There was a truly funny gif-set that paired this reveal with the scene in 1x11 “I’m not your father, Michael”) I don’t know if fandom has had a consensus on Max being the genetic match to Michael’s biological father either and what it means in regard to Max & Liz being together, and what does that make Liz and Rosa. (I firmly believe, as an Arturo Ortecho stan- that he has adopted every lost soul in Roswell, including Michael during the Lost Decade, while he grieved Rosa and missed Liz).

I do hope we some good snarking/teasing between Max & Michael in season 4, I want more of that brief scene in 3x01 where they are drinking and teasing each other about picks ups. I’m particularly keen to see Max realize Isobel is dating his one-night-stand now. That’s gotta be fun for the Evans twins.

Thanks for the ask- I’m sorry I don’t have a clear answer for you. I’m so glad you enjoyed LYW! I wish I had the stamina to write another 175,000 explainer/fixer epic for season 3, because damn do I need it!! This show... it drives my logical brain crazy.

[creatureofmystry]

MLB x DC Universe Headcannons

I just love the idea of MLB and DC (expecially Batfam cuz Mari is such a Wayne) being in the same universe and crossing over. So one night, I just had an idea overload of different ways the Marinette would know the batfam/be a part of the DC universe. And if any of my shitty ideas somehow inspire or prompt you, then please be my guest. 😊 _

1) “Ladybugs of Past and Present”

Hippolyta, Wonder Woman’s mother, was once a previous holder of the ladybug miraculous. When Fu activated the miraculous and put them in circulation, Hippolyta could feel its magic waking back up. Knowing there must a reason for it to be out, she sent a message to her daughter. Diana searched, finding Marinette and Adrien as the present holders of the ladybug and cat miraculous. She vouched and brought them into the Young Justice program while they also made their own team, Project: Zodiac (or something like that).

[Sometime when Diana takes Marinette to meet Hippolyta]

“Great Hera, Tikki, you have not aged a day” -Hippolyta, cause she does know how to make joke. 

“And I would say the same to you” -Tikki

“Mother, you can make a laugh?” -Wonder Woman, honestly a bit confused cause her mom have never not been serious before.

And Marinette is just speechless cause she’s starstruck meeting Wonder Woman’s mom AND a previous Ladybug holder.

_

2) “Rockstar Niece”

Jagged Stone is Marinette’s Sweet Uncle J. During the summers, Jagged Stone would take Mari with him on tour. HIs summer tours are throughout America, so Mari gets to sightsee the country. Jagged’s first tour that he gets to take Mari on (5-ish), he’s also booked for the annual (for whatever reason) Wayne Summer Gala. When Marinette meets the Waynes, they are so enamoured (Dick and Tim couldn’t help it) that they tell Jagged he’s always invited as a guest, Mari of course being added to the permanent guest list too. About 6 years later, Mari is practically adopted, spending the first half of her summers with Jagged, going to the Wayne Gala, then spending the rest of her summer with the Waynes. Overtime, she figured out the secrets of the family and was there to welcome Jason back from the dead (when that happens). Anyways, now 11(-ish?) Mari meets Damian and the two become good friends… after an… impressionable first meeting.

“Tch, let me guess, you’re another one of father’s adopted strays” -Dami

“YOU MUST BE DAMIAN!!! DICK TOLD ME ABOUT YOU!!” -Marinette, who just ignores what he said for a hug.

“hiiiiiiiiissssssss” -Dami, touchy with touch

“...” sprays water in his face since he decided to act like a cat.

“I say, Master Bruce, the children are getting along quite well” -Alfred

_

3) “Pen Pals” 

Jon Kent and Marinette Dupain-Cheng are part of an international pen-pal program, starting when they were very young (maybe like 4 or 5-ish, super super young) where they told each other everything (Jon can’t just say that his older bro is a clone made from Superman and Lex Luthor’s DNA, or that his dad is Superman, or that his best friend is Robin, but yea. Lois and Clark probably proofread his stuff until he’s like 9) with pictures and everything. When they’re old enough to get phones & stuff, they call, text and vid-chat along with their letters (love without blood). When Mari is maybe 9-11 (somewhere around there) she starts flying over during the summers to hangout with Jon (and his friends and big brother). While there, she meets Kon, Bat fam, and Clark (some who she already knew, some who she didn’t) & lightly hints that she knows who all they are once she figures it out (it didn’t take her long to do so). 

Now whenever she visits and is at Wayne Manor (Jon likes to have sleepovers practically every weekend) while they’re on patrol, Mari subtly messes with their minds (super subtle, they’re the world’s best detectives after all) until they finally look through the cams and see Mari giving them one of those smiles (those shit-grinning cause it’s just so hilarious how it’s gone on for so long) & and a playful wink. 

[5 seconds later]

“Mari!” “Pixie-pop!” “Angel!” “Teacup!”

“Seriously, am I the only one with a normal nickname for her?” -Tim

“Ms. Marinette would like to inform you that ‘it took you long enough’” -Alfred (who so knows that the girl has been playing them since the third night she stayed at the Wayne’s)

“Where are my adoption papers?” -Bruce (who is seriously adopting any talented black-haired child)

_

4) “Mari and Mar’i” 

When Mar’i is young, Dick and Kori take her with them to see Paris (btw, this would be during the winter). They’re strolling along through a park and lose track of Mar’i who finds Marinette (9-10 ish). Marinette comforts and distracts Mar’i while noticing the young(er) girl is Tameranian (her hair is very warm and she’s wearing significantly less layers than should be worn for a human of that age during the winter, plus that sun-kissed skin tone. She’s seen Kori in her fashion magazines (and, from time to time, on the news as an ambassador) so she easily make the connections). Dick and Kori finally spot Mar’i with Mari who introduces herself to them. Mar’i asks if she can see her “Auntinette” again and Marinette just goes “if your parents are okay with it.” Dick and Kori are totally cool with it (not many are willing to watch her and have the time to do it) so they ask Marinette if she can babysit Mar’i whenever (with good pay of course) if she’s up to it (cause she’s still pretty young). Marinette can’t say no to Mar’i’s babydoll eyes (and she’s so much easier compared to Manon, who’s only 2 rn), so of course, she says yes. 

Now Marinette is Mar’is official babysitter and sees Mar’i often whenever her parents drop her off (using zeta tubes to quickly get to Paris and back). Marinette gets treated like an honorary Wayne (cause she’s the most responsible) and gets invited to their family stuff (w/ travel pay taken care of, of course). It doesn’t take her long to realize the fact that she babysits Bruce Wayne’s & BATMAN’S granddaughter, but of course, being the responsible one she is, keeps the secret… while also playing with them via Mar’i.

[One Day]

After Marinette leaves for her plane…

“Uncle Dami!”

“Yes, Spawn?”

“Auntinette said to tell you after she left that Robin’s sut needs a major upgrade & that you look like a traffic light… whatever that’s supposed to mean.”

[Another Day]

“Uncle Jay!”

“What’s up kid?’

“Auntinette said that to let you know that Red Hood doesn’t make any sense ‘cause Red Hood wears a helmet. Not a hood.”

[The next time]

“Uncle Tim!”

Yawn. “yea?”

“Auntie told me to give you this” (pulls out super caffeinated coffee) “and that Red Robin’s cowl is a menace to all things fashion”

[Again…] 

“Daddy!”

“Yes, Starshine?”

“Auntienette said she’s proud of Nightwing’s costume ‘cause it’s one of the only in the batfam that isn’t an astro-city to the fashion society.”

_

5) “Marinette, the one who’s always getting chosen”

Before Mari became (becomes(?)) LB, she comes across a different powerful piece of jewelry, from a different order of guardians where her will of mind is not only her shield from being akumatized, but it is also what drives her powers. That’s right, Mari walks past a flea market and activates a GL ring. The guardians pick up on this activity and send Hal (it is his sector) to check it out. Hal finds the ring with Mari but it still needs the light of a GL to charge and fully work. 

[During the explanation]

“Look, kid-”

“Marinette.” 

“Look, kid, I just need to know why you have that ring.”

“You think I know? I was just walking through the market and all of a sudden, this possessed ring, if that’s even what this is, started following me, then zipped in front of my face til i held my hand up so it can put itself on my finger.” 

“Kid-”

“It’s MARINETTE. Get it wrong one more time and you’ll see why I don’t need a possessed piece of alien jewelry.” -Marinette, making sure you get her name right. “Besides, if I stole it, I would remember. I’m a klepto” -Marinette, probably holding his ring too at this point.

Hal obviously doesn’t want the wrath of the Dupain-Chengs (just the kid Marinette scares him enough), so he tells the guardians that JL will take care of most of Mari’s training (once they get her a lamp for her ring, of course) & has her take part in training at Mt. Justice with the Young Justice team and special training with the Bats. Mari does all this under the guise of an international student exchange program for Mari to stay with the Waynes (not yet knowing that it’s the bat fam) and attends G.A. Mari doesn’t do much, but it takes her 24-36 hours to know who EVERYONE is.

[the next week after settling in]

“Hey, Mars,” -Dick, in his Nightwing gear

“Hey, Di-is the GREATEST SHOW!” -Mari, changing the subject(… not really)

“How long did it take you?”

“Not as long as the Kryptonians…” -Mari, going off into a tangent (still trying to change the subject”

[When Marinette meets Tikki]

Back in Paris:

“Sooo… I’m getting powerful jewelry that gives me powers and a suit, needs to be recharged, and comes from some Order of the Guardians? What’s the difference between you and my ring?” -Marinette, who at this point is very confused as to why she keeps getting picked on for this kind of stuff. 

“One’s alien, one’s magic” -Tikki, hoping Mari will end it there & lowkey hates that the GL Corp. got to her first.

“They’re both non-human made energy sources” -Mari, cause once you’ve seen it once, you’ve seen it all before. 

“You can’t heal the Akuma without the miraculous, and there are more than just rings. Yours are earrings, there are hair clips, bracelets, necklaces and more” -Tikki, after having a minute to think

“Fine, only because you said they’re the only way to heal the, what was it again, akuma?”

_

6) “Their Unofficial Official Barista”

Part of Tim’s job as Co-CEO, is to make sure all the branches are running smoothly, sometimes that means he has to fly abroad to manually check in. Tim goes to Paris to check on the W.E. Paris branch. He goes to a nearby Patisserie (Tom and Sabine’s) to see a young Marinette (somewhere from 8-11) drawing in her sketchbook at the counter. She explains that her parents are at a catering event, but she’s there to man the little bakery. Tim asks for a super caffeinated coffee and Marinette makes it with ease, claiming it was on the house with how bad he looks (and how much sleep the man clearly needs). Tim begs for her knowledge and asks if she can teach his butler. Mari’s willing to show him the next time he comes, so he gets the whole fam to go (viz tubes so they don’t waste time) maybe a week later. Everyone gets their own drink (plus a free pastries) and Marinette teaches Alfred her coffee, but it’s just not the same so Tim, using the tubes, goes to get coffee from the girl whenever he can. 

Mari is horrible at getting up on time (the life of an insomniac, never getting to sleep even if you want and then barely waking up on time) that she is up super early, makes Tim his coffee (plus a croissant) and tries to go back to sleep (making her inevitably late). Tim would walk up to the pick-up counter where his cup and to-go bag is while Marinette runs out of the house to get to school. Eventually, the rest of the Batfam (as well as the Laegue, TT, and YJ) frequent the place, slowly becoming (Dami too) Mari hides it, but she knew all the batfam the first day they came and she showed Alfred how to make the coffee. When the others start making more regular appearances, she learns the identities of YJ team, WW, GLs, and others. Obviously when LB and CN appear as heroes with HM as their villain, they immediately reach out to help. Because 1. Batfam clearly notices that it’s Mari and they sure as heck won’t let her deal with that by herself, and 2. The JL is worrying too much about their favorite barista (even though she’s not really one), especially with the Gigantitan scare. So, of course LB & CN (can’t make him bad everytime) get inducted into YJ.

[After Ladybug finishes defeating Gigantitan and detransforms] 

“Bean! Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?” -Tim, being an even more protective older brother than Dick, which shouldn’t be possible

“Yes, I promise. I’m fine” -Marinette, who just accepts the fact that she’s adopted an older brother (and his famliy)

“Tube over, we’ll have Alfred make sure” -Dick, already pulling out the medical supplies for Alfred.

“I-” 

“You shouldn’t worry your brothers like that, Marinette. Now come over so Alfred can clear you,” -Bruce, who just happens to overhear the conversation

“I’m sorry, Miss Marinette, they are very adamant that you’re in pitch perfect health before going out again,” -Alfred, who’s not actually sorry

“Fine” -Marinette, accepting her fate of her adopted, protective family. 

_

7) “Thicker Than the Blood We’ve Shed”

Why is Marinette so freakishly strong? Because she was trained to be. Before she could even talk, Mari was taught to be an assassin. She and Damian were frenemies, both competing for top spot as best in the League (of Assassins). They often spared together and became rivals who pushed each other (which sounds great in that context if you forget about the fact that they’re killing people and turning it into a competition). When Damian’s care is turned over to Batsy, Mari also comes along for the ride. She implements herself into Dami’s classes at G.A. & watches him from afar. (Damian, not being an idiot, of course knows all this and knows that it’s probably for Mari to give a report to Talia.) When he becomes Robin, Mari obviously knows, but waits to see if anything drastic would happen (his care was given to the Batfam, they had already expected this to happen.) She then heard word of the bounty Talia put on Damian’s head. Marinette knew there wouldn’t be much she could do to help, but she ave Dami a warning about the upcoming situation before fleeing the country. 

From there she got to France, changed her name (it wasn’t originally Marinette, it was Shénqí, chinese for miraculous/magical (or something else if you want)), was adopted by Tom & Sabine, and left her time in the League in the past. When she received Tikki, she didn’t want to be a hero because she didn’t think she deserved it after her up-bringing. Eventually, she did become LB (being a trained assassin does help with lucky charms, considering she was taught how to kill with basically every and anything), and life was good for her. Then Rossi came.

[Gotham field trip]

While at Wayne Tower…

“How idiotic are they?” -Damian, who after reuniting with his long-lost sister-from-a-different-mister (yes, Marinette was able to convince him to say it once), can’t understand the stupidity she has to deal with.

“Are you Robin?” -Mari, who is too tired, so just goes straight into the analogy

“Yes.” -Obvious and simply is.

“Exactly” -Mari, who can’t even put a limit to the amount of thought the one brain cell the class shares doesn’t use. I mean please, the so-called “reporter” believed that the first cosplayer she saw was the actual LB when they don’t even have the same hair! And let’s not forget the origins arc, where LB’s first citizen save was Chloe.

[crystal-moon-101]

So, I've already done some art and mentioned me and my friend's Ben 10 - Next Gen, but since I don't have enough time to do every character's reference sheet just yet, I thought I'd do a little headshot image and give you the basic idea behind each character. These aren't all of them, but are more so the ones most fleshed out so far, and I will get around to adding more characters soon. But I hope you enjoy who we've made so far, and feel free to ask any questions about them if you're curious, I'll be happy to answer.

- Jay Tennyson - 13-year-old son of Julie and Ben, he is a young hero in the making. Jay has a strange case with his powers, as due to Ben's connection with the Omnitrix, especially after it becomes his new arm after a mission gone wrong, Jay's DNA was mutated by the watch, and in a sense, has become like the Omnitrix, able to transform into aliens without the need of his own Omnitrix. Like his father, Jay took his powers and decided to become a hero, doing minor plumber missions and training to become like Ben. However, while Jay features many of Ben's traits, he can be the opposite of his father with being quite anxious, very soft, gentle and patient. He often lets his fears get the better of him, or his forgiving and naive nature at times get him into dangerous situations. It doesn't help that he gets caught in the tensions of some people on earth who are annoyed that Ben spends so much time saving other planets, and no longer protecting his homeworld 24/7. But Jay is braver than he thinks, and often does his best to protect those in need. And while his soft heart can put him in danger at times, he's often able to emphasize with people and talk to them in a way to build connections with them, even some pretty nasty and harsh people. He has a way of inspiring people that they can be better and that there hope for good in their hearts. But a lot of Jay's anxieties do get in the way often, known to put himself down and hating whenever he fails. In his plumber training, he is in a group with Thea, his second cousin who is like a sister to him, Malax, the one who often takes charge when Jay can't, and Rilla, a childhood friend who is the media. Meanwhile, he has been developing a romantic connection with Vanessa Morningstar, despite Thea's rivalry with her, and comes across as a bit of a goof, but kind to her nonetheless. - Cynthia "Thea" Levin - 16-year-old daughter of Kevin & Gwen, Thea takes off a lot from her father. Bold, stubborn, loud and ready to protect the people she cares about, but does have her mother's intelligence, and gifts her magic as she is an anodite. Thea is quite the opposite to Jay, able to stand up for herself, quick to action, and a girl you do not want to mess with (lord forbid you mess with Jay too, because she does not hold back). However, Thea struggles with relationships, especially romantic ones, finding herself dating many guys she comes by, only to have her heart broken in the end, or it just doesn't work out. Even with family and friendships, her blunt and impulsive attitude has led to some issues with people she cares about, but she means well in the end and just has issues building up walls inside her. But once you get to know her, she is quite the fun person to hang around with, who's ready to slap sense into you if you're being thick-headed. Not one to take any crap, Thea is quick to call out people, which can either end with the situation at hand being worse, or getting things done faster, it's often a 50/50 chance. But while she can jump into action fast, she does make sure that people around her are as safe as she can keep them, her magic and psychical strength coming in handy in battle. Sadly, she can push a problem at hand to worsen when she can't control her emotional outbursts, and can be harsh with her wording, especially when she feels hurt or offended, quick to bite back. As mentioned above, she is in a plumber training group with Malax, Jay and Rilla, and gets along with them all, having a close bond with Jay as they act like siblings, while she likes to playfully banter with Malax and Rilla in different ways. Since she was young, she's had a rivalry with Vanessa Morningstar since meeting her, as Vanessa loves to tease and poke Thea and get her angry, while Thea finds her to be annoying due to her carefree attitude, so you can imagine Thea's frustrating when seeing Jay swoon over her. But in terms of her love life, while said before to be quite bad due to not able to hold a steady relationship, there is one guy who...is quite different. Feike, being the runaway son of Argit, who she is annoyed with given he is a big flirt who loves to tease her too, with Thea saying she was above any street rat crime boy. But things change over time when she sees a nicer side to him, the side that brings out her nicer side two, and genuine emotions do form between the two, but deep down, both are scared to make a move... - Malax Shard - 18-year-old daughter of Tetrax and Myaxx, who has often followed in her father's footsteps at a young age, having always wanted to be a soldier and do missions across the galaxy. Her father, and mother sometimes, have been training her since she was young, seeing her keen outlook on becoming a fighter, and she was eventually signed up for the plumber academy. Because of her training and solider like views, Malax is quite level-headed, uneasy to phase, though she might not be the person you should go to about deep emotional issues, as she isn't good at giving advice to that. She's very loyal, quick to be the middle ground when tensions start to flare, and is a powerhouse to fight due to her powerful genetics. She's someone who will do a lot to get the job done, and keeps her focus on the task at hand, though that has been known to take her complete focus by mistake a few times. While she isn't one to follow the rules and laws 100%, mostly when she knows she has to break them to do the right thing, she does listen to orders and does as she told often. She is sort of an on and off leader for her plumber group, as while Jay is trying to be their leader to follow his father's footsteps, sometimes his anxiety gets the better of him, and she has to step in. She doesn't have a problem with this set-up, and knows one day Jay can be a great leader, and the two respect each other quite a bit. Thea and her act a lot like bros, and compete with each other, while she and Rilla are the most level-headed on the team. - Rook Rilla - 17-year-old daughter of Rook Blonko and Rayona, Rilla is a no-nonsense, dead-pan, dry wit kind of girl, who doesn't have time for people playing dumb. She too joined the plumbers like her father, but instead chose to become a medic in training, instead of a front-line fighter. She's not one who easily stresses or get angry often, staying calm under intense pressure, which is needed in her field of work. Sometimes her way of speech can be harsh and blunt at times, and while she doesn't mean harm, she can come across as a little cold-hearted to people who don't understand her. She does want to help people, and cares about people's well-being, but she's never been one to lay about and have dumb fun, thinking it's a waste of time. That being said, Rilla is hella gay, and one of the few things that get her flustered is when seeing a tall, muscular woman, who could most likely wreck her without even trying. She becomes a bit of a klutz and sputtering mess, and her friends like to tease her about it. Being a medic in training, she was, of course, paired up in the group with Jay, Thea and Malax, knowing them as she grew up alongside them. Despite her personality, her friends know her well enough to not be offended by what she can say, and can be grateful to have someone who can say what's needed to say, and stay calm if they're all stressing out. Thea, Jay and Rilla had many playdates growing up, and Rilla and Malax both respect each other for being the more sensible members of the team. - Vanessa Morningstar - 14-year-old of Mike Morningstar and Charmcaster, Vanessa exhibits a lot of her parent's traits. Prideful, clever, trickster and quite the flirt, and she is quite skilled with her magical range, no surprise there. Vanessa is known to cause trouble, nothing too serious, but often just her playing around when she's bored. She likes to tease and push people, but she can be nicer than many think, mainly when people treat her with respect. But a lot of her jokester outlook was somewhat of a result of her relationship with her parents, and their history. While the family love each other, they can sometimes be distant, especially in Mike's case. His family life growing up wasn't...smooth sailing, and he hadn't had many good relationships growing up, so he struggles with his current family life, often not knowing what to do or say, like with his daughter. And while Mike and Charmcaster have calm their ways since leaving their villain lives behind, people know who they once were, and call them out pretty often. Many are quick to assume Vanessa is or will be the same, and it makes her question if one day, she will be evil like they were too. Of course, she never states anything like this, and denies it if someone were to ask, rather give a wink and give playful banter instead. As mentioned before, Vanessa and Thea have had a rivalry since they were kids, Vanessa knowing full well how easy it is to wind up Thea, and able to press the right buttons to make her angry. She thinks Thea is too stuck up often, acting like she's better than Vanessa, so she likes to prove her wrong by showing how quick to anger she is. Deep down, she knows it may not be right, but it's just too fun to do. When it comes to romance, while she likes to with both boys and girls her age, she never really cares about them and doesn't get attached. But her relationship with Jay is quite...interesting. First, it was mostly just her flirting for the fun of it, and annoying Thea as a bonus, but the two seemed to spark this connection where they both see the other more than what people say they are, and for Vanessa, that means more than she admits... - Feike - 16-year-old son of Argit and an unknown woman, Feike is a cool, cheeky, cunning and tricky guy, who is quite skilled compared to his father. Feike was the result of a one-night stand Argit had with a snake-like alien woman, who handed off Feike to Argit when she was unable to take care of him. While not cut out for family life, Argit did try to look after his son, and teach him his ways, but he struggled a lot, and didn't know how to be a good parent, making Feike distant with him. It wasn't until one day, when a little hacking mission of them went wrong, they ran into an angry black market boss called Sciros, who took an interest in Feike, seeing his potential. Seeing his strained relationship with Argit, he managed to convince Feike to ditch his dad and join his crew, and while it hurt Argit, he let his son go, thinking it was for the better, even if it hurt deep down. So Feike grew up part of Sciros's crew, often hired by his boss or outsider to do tasks in the shadow, his primary skill able to pick up information on people, perhaps even their location if they can't be found. Feike seems to enjoy his job, acting quite cocky and prideful, though he does have the talent to back up what he says, but not all seems well... Scrios isn't a loving and caring boss, and can be very manipulative, especially emotional. He's made Feike come to believe that this is the only place he can go, and that he can never trust anyone else other than Scrios, having a good tie on the young teen to make sure he never runs away. Feike does think Scrios cares and wants the best for him, but has had his doubts, only to be pulled right back in by some praise or a thumbs up. Feike still speaks badly about his father, bitter about his childhood not being great, and while Argit had tried to reach out one or two times, Feike is always quick to push him away. But then came along Thea and Jay, who started sparking something in him. It mostly started with them coming to find information they couldn't get, and he often likes to tease them, mostly flirting towards Thea, as he has playboy traits. But as time went on, he started to develop a...nice relationship with them, almost as if they were friends, him and Thea sparking something genuinely romantic in nature, and while a part of him feels like ditching his job and joining, he will admit he's...scared to throw it all away for something that most likely won't be, at least in his eyes. - Ivory - 14-year-old daughter of Albedo and Elena, Ivory has a bit of an unhappy history. Elena, still dealing with her nanochips messing with her emotions, still couldn't get Ben out of her mind. Most days she could control herself, wanting to stay sane, but after seeing how Ben moved on with life, marrying his wife Julie, it stung and made Elena a little rash. Meanwhile, Albedo, who was still stuck as his human form as Ben, was frustrated over all of his failures, and still being stuck in this body. The two meet by chance, and after some venting, one thing led to another, and they had a one-night, due to Elena being caught up with Albedo looking like Ben, and Albedo for once not being able to control his darn human hormones. But after that night, they both regretted it heavily, Elena ashamed of herself, and Albedo disgusted he fell for such temptations. If that weren't bad enough, Elena found she pregnant, and when the baby came, she knew she couldn't look after her due to her unfocused nanochip issue. While it may not have been the best idea, Elena's state made her decide to drop the baby off with Albedo, who wanted nothing to do with this mistake he made, but Elena had already vanished by the time he realized what happened. He was about to just dump the baby off somewhere, but Khyber suddenly stepped in, saying he would take her off his hands. He had been wanting to get an apprentice, and due to the child having nanochips, gave her impressive abilities he was keen to train. Albedo agreed, and Khyber ended up naming her Ivory. Ivory is quite a cruel girl, having picked up many of Khyper's traits while growing up. She has a thrill for a hunt and battle, and has pretty good control over her nanobots, thanks to Khyper's training. She works by his side often, his partner in crime for many missions he is hired onto, and while she is the apprentice, she is a dangerous foe to fight due to her powers. It didn't take long for the Tennyson's to notice something about her when she started appearing, primarily because she looks a lot like Ben and Jay, and it didn't take long to figure out that Albedo must be the father. They have tried to step in, but Ivory often brushes them aside.   That being said...deep down, Ivory does have this desire to find her parents, as she knows very little about them and what exactly happened when she was made. She often can't help but look at happy families she comes by and have a sense of wanting that too. Khyber is hardly a loving guardian, and provides harsh words and training for her, and while he makes sure she's healthy and doesn't die, he clearly doesn't want any kind of family-like relationship with her, so she never brings it up to him, thinking her emotions are just being foolish. Jay has often tried reaching out to her, given she is technically his half-sibling, and while there have been subtle hints his words mean something to her, she always shuts him out. - Renata - 20-year-old daughter of Reiny and another highbreed called Sehnsucht (OC), Renata is very much a leader in training, one day planned to take over her father's role. Often neutral-toned, and doesn't speak often, Renata has an intimating aura around her that can catch people's attention. She has a laconic wit, isn't easily phased, and is very hard to read, even by highbreed standards. She is not cruel or mean, in fact, she is pretty kind and fair, she's just not good at expressing emotions physically, so people don't know how to approach her. Because of her upbringing and future goals, she's pretty good at debating and discussions, understanding the law and the culture of other alien races. She's good to have her around when something political is happening. Growing up, she ended up having many play dates with Jay, and Reiny insisted the two have playdates. Because of this, Jay is one of the few people that can read her pretty well, and while she doesn't openingly show it because of her way of speaking, she is very close to him and can be protective of him, and is always ready to lend him a favour. Meanwhile, people like Malax and Thea have no idea how to talk to her. - Era Queen Charlotte Enoch - 43-year-old daughter of Enoch and an unknown woman, Charlotte has interesting and even tragic history. Charlotte doesn't have the best views towards the Tennysons, and that starts way back when Ben was 10. Since Ben escaped that dream world the Forever Knights made, trapping Enoch in it instead, the Forever King left him to stay like that for years, meaning Charlotte spent a good few years without her father in her childhood, and even when he did return, he was soon later killed in the battle with Dagon. Now, Charlotte is smart and wise enough to not blame the Tennyson's entirely, in fact, she understands very well that her father and the Forever Knights weren't good people, but she can't help but bitter over the ties they have to her father, especially when they were the ones who trapped him in the dream world, and left him at the mercy of the Forever King. Years after the Forever Knights were disbanded after the war with Dagon, Charlotte eventually rose up and started a crew group she called the Era Knights, becoming their Queen, but it is not what you would expect. She never went down a path of revenge, she never wanted to start a war with Ben and the galaxy, she never really became a villain. While Charlotte doesn't have good views on aliens and Ben, she doesn't outright hate them, and instead focuses the Era Knights on a different goal. You see, she fears that earth and humans will become nothing more than a mere tourist trap for the galaxy due to the fact that Ben is the only notable human that everyone seems to care about, and Charlotte wants to show that humans are more than that, that they have something to offer. The Era Knights focus on helping humans grow, and display their talents and skills and help them reach the galaxy world outside on their own terms. She wants to show they can be something beyond Ben and the Omnitrix. While reasonable, she can be a little bitter and hostile towards the Tennyson's and aliens, but is willing to work together when she knows to put their difference aside, having helped Jay and his team from time to time. The Plumbers have often reached out wanting to make deals and help the Era Knights, but Charlotte often turns them down.   - Risley Slackwire - 18 year-old son of Frightwig and Thumbskull, Risley is very much a bad boy with the flare for style. Getting his performing traits from his parents, Risley loves attention and being a troublemaker, being a part of the family's criminal business, though does have a habit of dragging things out longer than they need to be. He's confident in himself and not afraid to show it, even if he fails, he knows he'll just rise up again. He often does tasks and crimial work with his parents, but has been known to do things on his own, hoping to form his own little misfit crew one day of outcasts. Though, despite his criminal and bad boy side, Risley isn't a cruel person, in fact he likes to give compliments, even to those he's fighting, even at times given genuine fashion tips. It makes him an interesting person to talk to, as you often want to hate him for his misdeeds, but his charming quirks often get in the way of that.     He has a pretty good relationship with his parents, who are very proud of who their boy is, and they like to do little acts together when fighting. Acid Breath is a bit of the odd ball, being more like the strange uncle with the poor advice, but Risley still likes to treat him like family, and often teases the man and urges him to have fun more often. - Etherea’Liss - 15 year-old daughter of Peria'Pythoness (OC) and Asci'Brotic (OC), Ethera is the interesting case of being the first ever Ectonurite to join the plumbers, though is still in training. Ethera joined as she was curious about the outside world, despite her kind's mistrust of it and her family saying otherwise, and because she wants to prove to the galaxy that Zs'Skayr doesn't define who their people are, that he was really the only bad apple around. She is quite ambitous and eager to learn, doing everything she can to come across as nice and kind, though this can make her a doormat as she tries too hard to convince everyone she and her kind aren't evil. Sadly, many people do need time to understand this, and same may never, and Ethera does get comments and strange looks. But she's determined to keep going, even if she doesn't have the support of the world, or her family for that matter. It's not that her family hates her, they care about and just want the best, thinking it is unwise for her to be taking this path, and it would be better to just stay home, but she presses on anyway. While not part of his team, Etherea does partner up with Jay, Thea, Malax and Rilla often, as Ben trusted his son and his friend to be the one to guide Ethera when she needs it, knowing how much this could mean for Anur System to connect with the galaxy better. Scout, being the only other Anur System alien to join the plumbers too, does mentor Ethera from time to time, and encourages her that this path she takes is a good one, and is proud that someone else is following in his foot steps. - Dotti Animo - 20 year-old daughter of Doctor Animo, Dotti was...the result of a cloning mishap from one of Animo's random ideas. It was surprising, to say the least, but Animo just shrugged and continued his work, now with a daughter to raise. However, as Dotti grew up, it became very clear she was an opposite to her father. Cherry and chipper, Dotti is a nature girl who loves to help animals and plants, instead of mutating them like her father, and often her work revolves around protecting the environment. Very friendly to talk to, as she is one to be eager to make friends with anyone, Dotti has a good outlook on life, and wants the best for the world. This does mean she battles with her father, and is often the one to fix some of the creation he makes, but strangely the two don't seem to have a negative relationship, acting so casual about their way of life and still acting like family.

[legosam321]

Ben 10 Redesigns

Hello everyone I have redesigned some Ben 10 characters for a rewrite I’m doing of the classic series. I have a little bio at the end of each artwork talking a bit about the design and changes to the character as well as fun facts! Enjoy!!

Benjamin “Ben” Kirby Tennyson! I wanted to mix Carl’s and Sandra’s hair colour to make a lighter brown just because I liked it. Ben wears his soccer jersey from the Madison Magpies Jr. Squad. On the back it has a “10″ and under that “Tennyson”. I also liked the reboots cropped pants so I added cropped pants. Also Ben is relativity popular, Cash and J.T. are the only ones who bully him.

Gwendolyn "Gwen" Tennyson has freckles because orange hair and stuff. I also put her hair in a ponytail because I couldn’t find any other design that I liked. Her brand that she wears is called “CatSmart” and sells smart-looking but “cool” clothes. She is wearing shorts under her skirt, she just likes skirts but is active. I plan on changing her design after she gets magic but this is it for now :)

Grandpa Three-Striped Magister Maxwell “Max” Tennyson, possibly the greatest Plumber in history, is here! First of all, he keeps fit. No gut. I want him to be able to keep up with his kids and I feel because of all the times he healed with alien medicine he is able to stay much fitter than any other 59-year-old human man. I plan for him to reveal that he is a Plumber much earlier and use weapons to help him fight enemies and even train Ben and Gwen a bit. Also he keeps alien tech hidden on his person at all times. Max says he is retired but ever since Ben got the Omnitrix he has been tracking evil. 

The Omnitrix. This is a deign I created YEARS ago but I’ve drawn a final version. If Ben gets a new alien it is repasented as an DNA strand because the Omnitrix can not downloaded all the DNA until it fuses with Ben. The lines on the core are also constantly moving.

Heatblast! This alien is perhaps one of Bens most versatile. With a little bit of creativity Heatblast can become a powerful asset and more than just a fireball machine. He creates fire by touching oxygen then lighting it. Until the fire separates from his body it is apart of him. He can also control fire he has made after it has separated. 

Wildmutt! When Ben becomes a species he should become a full adult but because of his adolescent body he sometimes transforming into a mix between a child and adult of the species. This has happened with Wildmutt. Although Wildmutt’s form is that of an adult, his quills have not become sharp yet and do much less damage than a fully grown Vulpimancer. I also added his gills to his chest so I could add a collar.

Grey Matter! He wears a Galvan technician suit. The way Grey Matter’s brain works is that the smarts are stored in a Galvans second brain, which is linked to their DNA, and Ben gains all the knowledge that the owner of the DNA had as well as his own. Also I made all the alien’s (except one) have no pupils because I think the Omnitrix makes all the eyes lime-green to diffarechate (can’t spell)  between real aliens and an Omnitrix user. This feature can be easily turned off but Ben doesn't know how because he doesn't really care.

Four Arms! I tried to make the red look more natural, almost like a hide colour. He has two chest because I like that design in Omniverse (thanks DJW). And yes, females have four breast (don’t do anything bad, I know you, Tumblr). He wears a mix between a Galvan protective suit and Tetramand battle armour. He doesn't have the spike because that is acally (can’t spell, again) a common mutation in Tetramands and the Omnitrix makes Ben the prime specimen. 

XLR8! Also the perspective isn’t that wack, his legs are huge. Also I thought XLR8 was too overpowered so I gave him no fingers. He either holds stuff between his two spikes or stabs it. His tail can hold stuff but Ben needs to practise. Also he wears a racing helmet with the Omnitrix logo on it. The two glowing lime triangles are were his eyes are.

Diamondhead! I wanted to make him less man so I gave some reptile stuff to him. I wanted to add a tail but is wasn’t working, so maybe he gets one later? He does have spikes all down his back, though. His left hand is turned into a weapons and his right shoulder is turned into some spikes. He can move his fingers but they are ridged so Ben normally just makes a shape to hold stuff. 

Stinkfly! Every one in a while you draw something that could kill God. Anyway, the goo from his eyes is just sticky but the goo from his mouth is poisonous. Not much changed. Oh yeah, he has an exoskeleton everywhere but his eye stalks and jaw/mouth. His tail is still sharp. 

Upgrade! Normally a Galvanic Mechamorph is just a pile of goo but Ben transforms into a humanoid shape to feel more confrontable. Also no half-alien half-human in this. Ben can upgrade stuff and transform back into it after time-out if he can remember it. Most Galvanic Mechamorphs have no trouble because they have amazing memories but Ben doesn't. Better memory can’t transfer into another brain/soul because it is not connected to DNA. There are some exceptions like Galvans.

Ripjaws! I was looking at some inspiration of how I could change Ripjaws and saw that the original concept was purple, so I changed the green to purple! There is also not that many purple aliens so that needed to change (because I like purple). He can’t get fish legs because they don’t have any land on their planet other than a super-hot core that they can’t touch. Also the antenna thing gets larger at the end.

Ghostfreak! Ben as Ghostfreak was never scary enough, so I changed that. The purplish cloak is a protective layer that protects Ben from the sun and only some Ectonurites are born with it and is normally engineered.

Vilgax, the most dangerous warlord known to anybody. His armour is powered by Sugilite’s crystals. He needs a special liquid to breath so he has the brace. He has scars and burns from many battles. His favourite weapon to use is his flame sword. Everything was made by himself because on top of being brawn he is also brain. Also I recommend looking at the size chart at the bottom so you can see why he is looking down. 

Oh yeah, when Vilgax’s ship exploded he got destroyed so he went in a healing pod for a while. Sadly, his epic battle-scars are gone :( 

Doctor Aloysius “Dr. Animo” James Animo is an mad, crazy scientist who experiments with animal DNA. I wanted to turn up the crazy so I made him look very crazy. The file is an odd shape so I can add armour onto him in the future. 

You’ve seen this, just a poster of Ben and the original 10. Welcome to use it as a lock screen or computer background (although it isn’t meant to fit that way).

The Tennyson family.  Welcome to use it as a lock screen or computer background (although it isn’t meant to fit that way).

And finally, the size chart. This uses the original series models because I didn’t want to draw more. I made the chart before I drew Animo so maybe I’ll made a new one once I draw more :)

Also going to be sharing the rewrite soon :D

[theangrycomet]

Functional Engines AU

What if Caesar fixed the research Pod engines faster? What if they were in better condition and only needed 3 minutes to repair?

Long so going under the cut

Rough Timeline Thus Far

Caesar comes out of the research pod to find his family dead, his life’s work destroyed, and the world in shambles. As in Canon, he tracks down the Rylander and with it the Omega Nanite.

There is an unfortunate meeting between Van Kliess and his freshly forming pack, but the two are able to get away due to Van Kliess still mastering his powers.

Breach remains curious about the strange man though, and ends up following him out of curiosity.

After some discussion with Rylander involving the Nanite event, Caesar realizes Rex may still be alive; and sets to tracking him.

This is around the Time that Six finds Rex (as in canon). The events of Promises, Promises occur as in canon until the Lab scene.

As Rex’s nanites begin to overload- a breach is detected by Providence.

The Molecular Disection Process isn’t started for a few more minutes as they are distracted by this new threat

Caesar (despite Rylander’s protests) enters Providence in the same way he does Mixed Signals

White Knight and Six continue fight (as in canon) ignoring orders until Dr. Kell sedates him

Holiday reaches the controls around the same time as Caesar (in his weird suit thing) does

She rushes past him to get Rex out of there as he gets to the dissection room

Upon entering the examination room, he goes from the unconcious- but stirring- mercenary to the Dr.Kell and White Knight, the former who is trying to further sedate his clearly distressed little brother

One can imagine his level of rage

After promptly using his devices to take out the two as he did with the other Provdience Agents, he sees Holiday grabbing Rex (as in Canon) and makes it up to the room where she’s doing a check up

Holiday explains the situation- and Caesar begrudgingly accepts this as she doesn’t appear to be happy with the situation any more than he is

Six comes up and suggests his earlier plan of hiding Rex

Caesar doesn’t really care- the quicker he can get Rex out of there the better- and six suggests a small town in southwest america

The signals are weird enough there that it keeps pinging on Providence’s radar, but nothing’s ever there

At this point they block the signals unless there is a direct call from one of the nearby military bases because of how often empty reports of strange people happen

Rex comes too at some point in the midst of this conversation and asks Six who the heck Caesar is

Thus his amnesia is brought up (maybe some set up for future exploring of earlier treatment bringing back some vague fuzzy memories for Rex as Caesar knows exactly what he’s working with??? Idk)

Wrapping up the details (Six and Holiday checking in and distracting Providence, where the location is, etc) Caesar takes Rex with him (who is surprisingly complacent about the whole thing once Caesar showed him some proof they were related)

Holiday and Six are left to clean up the mess as Bobo makes his own exit

Caesar gets Rex to the rescue pod and scares the h*** out of Rylander

Caesar and Rylander spend a good 4 hours checking everything before confirming Six wasn’t lying about the strange readings and how Rex and the Rescue Pod will barely be so much as a blip on the radar

And that’s how the three end up in BellWood

NOTE: this is with Reboot Ben 10; everything that happened over the summer is the same except

There’s obviously no Ben Gen 10.

Kevin and Ben’s are also trying to hide the fact that they’re the ones that can turn into aliens so they (and Ben’s family) don’t get bothered by others

Glitch is fully repaired and is adopted by Carl and Sandra

Kevin rebuilt the Antitrix and (with Glitch’s help) added some more upgrades

Sandra and Carl know about the Omnitrix and aren’t really happy about it

With that being said...

The Incruseans are at war with the DNAliens for new planets, and several have been destroyed

The Plumbers are playing both sides and helping no one

Many people have been forced to flee their home planets to avoid complete annihilation

Revonnah is only being protected by the Plumber’s for their Amber Ogia

The Tennyson’s are unaware of this

The kiddos are more focused on shifting gears to heroing in the summer to slaving away at the notebook

The schools surprised that Tennyson and Levin are getting along (they even have “friendship watches”)

Kevin tried to beat up the first kid who mentioned that

There’s a large amount of new kids at both Ben and Gwen’s school

Gwen has to show around a Mr. Blonko Rook

She initially thought he was trans as he mentioned that he had recently acquired his name

She quickly realizes that this kid is REALLY new and has no idea of the social nuances of the American middles school system

Rex was initially enrolled in Gwen’s school but was heavily suggested to be sent to the other school after a particularly interesting science class

Before that, he’d actually been doing fairly well and had befriended the redhead

Switching to Ben’s school, Rex met Noah and the two quickly clicked

Needless to say shenanigans ensue 

EVO’s are becoming an increasing problem people don’t know how to deal with

The Omnitrix goes a little wonky sometimes around them

It tries to repair the damaged DNA (like the DNAlien damage to Ken in Alien Force) but the Nanites keep activating more mutations to counteract it

Ben and Kevin find the best way to deal with the EVO’s is to lure them away from the City and book it before Providence arrives 

Luckily this doesn’t happen to often and that it does, Rex is generally close enough by to cure them himself

Glitch accidentally discover’s Rex is an Technopath when he used his driving service

This was a critical discovery, as Glitch can offload Rex’s excess Nanites with no har, to either himself or Rex.

They cause a minor “growth spurt” before settling amongst his own nanites

Rex figures out Ben and Kevin’s “secret” way before they figure out him

SIx and White Knight have been assigned to find the kid by the higher ups

Six is playing dumb, claiming that he was unconscious the entire time of Rex’s disappearance

He’s on thin ice, but is leading them astray anyways

Holiday sticks around purely for Beverly 

Also plays dumb saying that she was stuck in an EVO cage and only got out once the Armored Man (what the call Caesar) was leaving

Holiday quite providence (Bev is not an EVO) and has to spend a little while getting them off her tail before going to find Rex

[lonelyghosts-stuff]

Chapter 2: Dead Man Walking

Word Count: 2186

Chapter 1 | Chapter 3

Master List

Warnings: None

The brunette who took out the guard next to here revealed herself to be Agent Maria Hill. After briefly introducing herself, she pulled out a laser cutter device and proceeded to quickly cut a large hole through the floor of the transport vehicle you all were in. When the car came to a momentary stop, the five of you slipped out through the hole and made your getaway to another vehicle on the side of the road that was awaiting you. Without hesitation, you followed them into the car, taking a seat.

Thousands of thoughts raced through your mind as you tried to get some semblance of an understanding of what just happened. Panic and pain dominated your mind as you began to fixate on the injury to your shoulder. You tried to think slowly and thoughtfully, trying to comprehend everything that happened, anything to distract you from the pain. It wasn’t so much of the physical pain in your shoulder that hurt, but the overwhelming confusion and panic that was bearing down on your subconscious. You began questioning yourself and your decisions.

‘Why did I do that?’

‘Why did I try to be a hero?’

‘Why didn’t I just trust that Captain America had it under control?’

‘Why am I here?’

‘What’s going to happen to me?’

‘Where are we go-’

Your train of thought was suddenly cut off as you felt the car stop. Stepping outside, you realized you were parked outside of a large dam in a forested area. You followed the others out of the car and towards a metal, barred door that led into the inside of the dam’s facility; Captain America was assisting the redhead to walk as she clearly was in more pain than you could ever relate to. You felt as if you were going through an out of body experience, feeling like you had no control over your legs as they made you follow along. It was almost as if your brain was telling you that it was too late to turn back now.

Once inside the dark, damp innards of the dam, a man started to run to you guys, alert and awaiting confirmation.

Agent Hill quickly informed the man of the redheads and your conditions. “GSW, Natasha has lost at least a pint.”

“Maybe two.” Sam added, concern lacing his voice.

“This one doesn’t appear to be too hurt, but she’s clearly very shaken.” Agent Hill gestured to you.

“Let me take them!” The man responded in a helpful, but serious tone.

Before you could respond, Agent Hill did and held the man off briefly. “She’ll want to see him first.”

Not wanting to overstep any boundaries, you sucked it up and suppressed the pain and panic and followed Agent Hill as she led Captain America, Sam, you, and the now identified Natasha, into another room. Once you stepped into the room you saw a man with dark skin and an eye patch over his left eye lying in a hospital bed.

To your surprise, given the nature of the situation this man appeared to be in, he snarked, “About damn time.”

After settling down and having people attend to yours and Natasha’s injuries, the man (revealed to be called Director Nick Fury by the man caring for your shoulder) went on to describe the numerous injuries he has as well as the fact that he faked his death using something called Tetrodotoxin B which slowed his heartbeat down to one beat per minute. You got patched up and continued to listen to what Nick Fury had to say; seeing as you had nowhere else to go, you figured you might as well commit all the way.

You were filled in on the situation (some information was clearly omitted, not to your surprise as the whole thing seemed very confidential) as well as more formally introduced to the others on a name basis. The organization S.H.I.E.L.D has been compromised as members of a terrorist organization known as HYDRA have infiltrated and gained power within. Additionally, you learned about a project called ‘Project Insight’ made in order to take out threats to society before they could occur by the means of weaponized helicarriers and DNA and psychological evaluations and algorithms used as a targeting system. Under the influence of HYDRA, the project was planned to commence soon, something that would result in the deaths of thousands upon millions of people. While the group continued to converse, discussing what to be done, you backed into the corner of the room. Your whole reality felt like it was crashing down on you and that you were sinking. If this was something that had even Captain America nervous, it must be serious.

“Y/n,” Natasha gently yet sternly said, snapping you back into focus. “Are you okay? I mean, you didn’t even really have anything to do with this.”

“I...I’m not sure. I don’t know how I could be of any use-but it’s not like I have anywhere else to go now. They-whoever they are-know my face now. If I tried to back out of this, I’d just be walking into a trap or something.” You breathed, shakily. You felt tears welling up in your eyes as you felt more and more overwhelmed with each second that passed.

“Sorry to break it to you, but even if you don’t help us directly, we wouldn’t exactly be able to just let you walk out of here anyways.” Nick Fury added. “You know too much about this whole situation, as a civilian no less, to just let you get out of here at the moment.

Your heart sank into your stomach as you felt a lump in your throat form. You hadn’t even thought about that; even if they do manage to take down HYDRA and stop the helicarriers, there’s no saying that you’ll be free to go. The gaze of the other fell hot and heavy on your skin as they awaited your response.

“Nick, we can’t just keep her here like a prisoner… And we sure as hell can’t force her to join us!” Nat abruptly shouted as she stood, wincing a moment as she grasped her shoulder.

“Well that’s too damn bad.” Nick stood, “But unfortunately for her, she’s gonna have to stick around until at least we fix this situation.”

Natasha opened her mouth to respond, but you cut her off as you stood up as well. “He’s right, Ms. Romanoff. I can’t just go back out there. I’d be a sitting duck. Besides, who would I be to say no to helping the Captain America?” A strange and sudden surge of confidence filled you. You couldn’t even believe the words coming out of your own mouth and, based on the facial expressions the others made, they certainly weren’t expecting it either.

“Y/n, firstly, you can call me Natasha or Nat. Secondly, what do you think you’re doing? You can’t possibly be thinking of putting yourself at even more risk?” Natasha blurted.

“Yea, and you’re not really the ‘soldier’ type. You’d only get yourself killed. And I don’t want that.” Captain America, or Steve Rogers, added with a hint of solemnity.

“I mean, she did put up a pretty good fight on the overpass.” Sam chimed in with a snarky and mischievous smile plastered on his face. “And you better believe I’m coming to help too! Pass up an opportunity to help Captain America? I’d have to be even dumber than those HYDRA bastards.”

The room fell deathly silent for a moment as the look of deep thought took place on everyone’s faces. You fidgeted in place, nervous about what they were going to say, nervous about what would happen to you in either situation, nervous about the situation overall with the looming threat of weaponized helicarriers, and nervous about what kind of support you could even provide.

“Fine. Help if you want. But I can assure you no responsibility for anything that may or may not happen to you will fall on me.” Nick Fury finally responded, breaking the silence.

Steve looked as if he was about to object, but he instead held his tongue, turning to instead give you a grateful, yet concerned smile. Immediately, the air was filled with the sounds of planning. Nick Fury had three, large computer chips in a case that he displayed to all of you. Agent Hill went on to explain that, in order to prevent the helicarriers from being able to reign down their terror, each one would need to be infiltrated and have one of the chips inserted into the main system drive of each ship, disconnecting HYDRA’s control over them.

After the plan was set, you all had some breather time. Steve went outside for some fresh air, followed by Sam, while you remained inside to talk to Natasha.

“Hey Ms. Roma-I mean, Natasha.” You approached Natasha when she was on her own. “I was wondering if you could, maybe, just if you’re willing, to possibly… give me some pointers? I know you can’t give me the full training deal or anything with this limited time but… I want to be as useful as I can. If I’m going to get taken down, I don’t want to go down easily.”

A caring and gentle smile appeared on Natasha’s face, “Yea, sure. But before I show you anything, you have to tell me. Why are you so set on doing this? I mean, first you randomly jumped into a fight that wasn’t even your own, but now you’re going in further to infiltrate a high security compound to help take down a terrorist group. What’s your motivation?”

“I-I…” You took a deep breath, “I don’t know… I mean, I kinda do I guess? Okay, um, let me start from the beginning. Back in 2012, my whole world was shaken. I mean, it turns out, aliens and Norse gods exist apparently. And some aliens and one particular Norse god really had it out for us. I was on a trip in Stuttgart, Germany to visit an old friend of mine when he, or… well, Loki, appeared. I was in that crowd he had boxed in. I felt like I was trapped in a nightmare. When he commanded us to kneel, I hesitated. I didn’t want to give in to some random dictator, but then he shouted it, and I caved in.” You hesitated for a moment before continuing.

“After a little while, one, elderly man stood up, right next to me. He said he would not bow to men like Loki. I wanted to stand up too and remain strong, but I couldn’t move my legs. It’s like they were made of jelly.” As you continued recounting your experience, Natasha simply nodded, listening intently.

“That’s when Loki aimed his spear, scepter, thing, right at him. He said he was going to make an example out of him and a bright blue light began forming at the end of the scepter and then… well, and then he fired it right at the man. I was right there and I felt the power of it rushing towards us. I was too close to the man, I was going to get hit too. Right then, my life flashed before my eyes as I was paralyzed with fear. Suddenly, Captain America jumps down right in front of us, deflecting the beam right back at Loki with his shield.” Tears threatened to spill over your eyes, but you held them back to continue.

“He saved my life. Mine and many others. I was frozen there, in awe and fear at the same time. When the people started scattering, I stayed there. I felt so weak in comparison, I felt like I didn’t deserve for him to have saved me, seeing how cowardly I am. When he began fighting Loki, I suddenly snapped back into reality and ran to a safe distance from which I watched him fight. Even when Loki seemed to have the upper hand, Captain America never gave in. He fought until Iron Man showed up and together they took him down. Something changed in me that day. I resolved to never be the one who just stands to the side while others do the work, or to never be so helpless and in need of rescue. I got registered to carry a gun for self defense and I also took classes in self defense for the past year and a half. I mean, I’m no super soldier or fighter like you, but I can handle my own at least for a short time. I just feel like I need to help. Not only to make it up to Captain America, but to just do something, anything I can to help people in general.” You took a deep breath as you tried to calm your heartbeat down after revealing your story to Natasha.

“Well…” Natasha started as she placed a hand on your back, “guess we better get started on some training and practice!”

[cruelfeline]

This Got Long and I am Sorry

Well, the anti in the Hordak tag deleted their post, which is a huge bummer because it means no fun games for me. But! I have been looking forward to addressing the points in that post all day, and I won’t give up my chance to talk ad nauseam about Hordak. Because y’all know that I love to talk about Hordak.

also I saved the post as a draft prior to it getting deleted so I actually have the whole thing hahaha

However: in order to prevent the original poster from getting harassed for said post, I’m just going to address points via my own summary. Safer that way! So, here we go: addressing some posited reasons that Catra and Hordak are not comparable, plus some claims about why Hordak can’t be treated with the same kindness many like to treat Catra with. 

1. Hordak being a clone of a dictator/not being biologically similar to Catra et. al, acting as he does because of this biology as a clone.

This portion of that post was a little odd because I don’t really understand what the argument was. Perhaps the idea that Hordak literally cannot be anything different than his progenitor due to... cloning science? I’m not sure.

But assuming that that was the intended argument: being a clone essentially means having the same DNA as someone else. That’s all. It does not mean that you are the exact same person (ask some identical twins if they are the same exact person as their sibling). The environment one is raised in, along with epigenetics (changes in individuals due to gene expression rather than DNA), provides infinite variations between individuals that might share the same DNA. So this argument is a little... nonsensical?

Now, I can definitely buy that some of Hordak’s morality might be biology-based; that is a legitimate argument. See this post regarding why an individual like Hordak may not have issues raising children for his army, for example. Mind you, I don’t really see this as an argument in support of him just being an evil, irredeemable bastard; rather, I look at it as an argument against “natural evil” and more in favor of different biological, cultural, and environmental factors creating an alien morality.

2. Hordak created a social system that resulted in all sorts of abuses being visited upon children. He viewed said children as disposable materials for his war.

...yeah, actually, just go to this post again. Honestly, I have zero expectation for Hordak to have any sort of special tenderness towards children. I don’t expect a clone from a society of clones to value children, not because he’s pure evil, but because he comes from a world where children aren’t a thing. Why would he value them?

A creature whose life is so different from ours as to give it a different sense of morals isn’t necessarily evil, even if they do things that we look upon as evil via our morality. Morality is not a universal constant; our evil may be meaningless to an alien, whereas our good might be horrifying to them. It all depends on the creature.

And as far as seeing children as disposable material for war: well, that follows, doesn’t it? Because after all, Hordak is also disposable material for war. Material that was actually disposed of.

3. Hordak was ready to murder Catra for disobeying orders; he’s likely murdered other high ranking officers for the same.

There is no evidence that Hordak has personally murdered anyone, so we’re just going to pass on that. One may speculate all one wants, but unless Hordak presents me with a neatly-written list of all the poor souls he’s slain, I don’t have much to say about this.

However, regarding him being ready to kill Catra: this is a complex situation because it was not as simple as “Catra disobeyed, so she must die.” Catra did not just disobey Hordak; she lied to him. He gave her a chance to come clean, to be trustworthy and loyal, to own up to a mistake, and she lied to him.

This is an issue for a couple of reasons: first, Hordak appears to have a thing about lies. He has a thing about people deceiving him (potentially because, where he comes from, he is truly incapable of lying), about not knowing what people around him are planning. Personally, I think that this is at least somewhat rooted in self-defense: he is physically weak without armor and prone to emotional manipulation by anyone who knows anything remotely intimate about him. Catra proves this point by manipulating the bejeezus out of him during season four, right after showing him that she can kill him anytime she likes by disarming him via crystal-grab. If one of his subordinates is prone to deceiving him, he needs to get rid of that subordinate to protect himself. 

Second, when Catra loses Shadow Weaver, she truly does endanger the whole Horde. Like, Shadow Weaver literally helps the Princesses infiltrate during season three. That is a thing that happens. Hordak isn’t just pulling dumb moments of insubordination from thin air; he elects to eliminate Catra because she has done something that proves to be actually detrimental to the Horde in a serious way.

I don’t mean to say that Hordak is morally correct in sentencing Catra to death, first via Beast Island, then via Crimson waste; what I mean to say is that he enacts an extremely dramatic punishment not due to simple disobedience, but due to Catra being legitimately dangerous to his life and the life of the Horde. It’s still not “good,” but it’s not the same as killing Catra for mouthing off. It’s not some grand confirmation of irredeemable evil; it’s not that simple.

4. Catra is an abused child who has been broken physically, emotionally, and psychologically since she was an infant; Hordak, on the other hand, has no background in abuse. The only bad that has happened to him is being called a defect and sent out to fight and die, which didn’t really matter because he was a clone anyway.

This… this is a sentiment some antis hold that is honestly disturbing to me.

I won’t touch on the Catra portion; all of that is true.

But Hordak… I cannot comprehend how some people don’t seem to understand the true horror of Hordak’s situation. As far as we currently know, as of season four, Hordak was manufactured to be a tool of war. He was never meant to be his own person, despite clearly having the psyche of one. He didn’t even have, couldn’t have, his own name. He was born into this purpose with no way out, no hope for any choice of his own. For pity’s sake, he has a port in the back of his neck that allows him to be erased without a moment’s notice. That is a piece of hardware someone put in him to completely control him against his will. It is a level of bodily autonomy violation suffered by no one else on this show. 

Hordak has essentially no personal self-esteem and no ability to self-validate outside of his identity as Prime’s clone. His entire concept of self-worth is based upon being useful to Prime, to the point that he doesn’t seem to understand that his being thrown away for getting sick is not only not his fault, but morally abhorrent. He is so emotionally dependent on his Brother that, despite severe risk to his own life, he seeks to return to him rather than simply taking Etheria for himself (which is what he would have done if he simply wanted to be a ruler). He needs Prime’s validation, Prime’s approval, that badly. 

And he tries to obtain that approval despite being absolutely terrified of Prime, despite it being very clear to us that there is no way that Prime will ever give it as long as Hordak remains his own self. Despite all of that, Hordak needs it because he was manufactured and programmed and conditioned to worship this terrible creature, and he simply cannot grasp a different way to live. He’s too emotionally sick.

I’m not sure how someone can look at this character and not see what has happened to him, what is happening to him, as abuse. 

5. Hordak only starts to care about anything else when Entrapta enters his life, and he only does so because she validates him; even then, it takes a long time.

This is a perplexing concept to me because… well, yes? Of course he only starts to see things differently when he bonds with Entrapta? Obviously?

Until then, he never had anyone suggest to him that he could be a worthwhile person without having some sort of practical use. He never had a companion to share his vulnerabilities with. He only had his sick ties to Prime.

Perhaps this means to suggest that Hordak should have started building a new life without the help he received from Entrapta? As if people suffering from mental illness and severe emotional pain should just be able to lift themselves up with zero support and fix their whole lives in a snap.

Ailing people tend to need other people’s support to get through their troubles. Hordak not being able to see new possibilities for his life without Entrapta’s help doesn’t say anything negative about him; all it says is that he needed someone’s support to start healing. Just as the overwhelming majority of people do.

6. Catra wants to be in charge so that others can’t hurt her. Hordak wants to be in charge just so he can “be on top,” and he only regrets what occurs with Prime because it means he is no longer dominant.

Hordak as a warlord is actually a very interesting thing to look at. He fails to act in the way that many enthusiastic, traditional warlord characters do, to the point that he seems less into the ruling and more into the obtainment of Prime’s esteem via conquering a planet to prove his worth. Which is, y’know, what’s happening: Hordak doesn’t care about ruling Etheria. He cares about conquering it so he can present it to Prime and prove that he deserves to live. The full post about that is right here.

If Hordak really cared about ruling something, he would have never bothered wasting all of that time building a portal to get in contact with Prime. He would have focused all of his efforts on conquering Etheria and left it at that. His actions only make sense when one understands that he doesn’t actually care about being a tyrannical lord; he cares about showing his Brother that he’s a good boy.

7. Catra feels regret for her actions; Hordak does not. Catra sees herself as an irredeemable bad person and hates herself. Hordak doesn’t believe he needs to be redeemed and just wants to control everything.

Again, I won’t touch Catra here, because that assessment is valid.

Hordak, however: Hordak literally thinks so little of himself that he believes it his own job to prove to his brother that he shouldn’t have been tossed aside to die. He doesn’t see this as a moral failing on Prime’s part. He doesn’t see it as wrong, that he was thrown away because he got sick. He sees it as a problem that it is his responsibility to fix.

Hordak admits to Entrapta that he has doubts: perhaps Prime was right. Perhaps he, Hordak, is a failure. Perhaps it was okay to send him out to die.

Hordak believes Catra’s lies about Entrapta’s “betrayal” because, Twitter Word of God, he views himself as undeserving of friendship.

Whether Hordak believes himself needing redemption is beside the point: the core of Hordak’s story and character arc has nothing to do with being a morally good person. It has to do with learning, understanding, and internalizing that he has his own value beyond what Horde Prime grants him. It has to do with accepting himself as he is, triumphs and shortcomings alike. It has to do with realizing that he has a right to live with or without Prime’s say-so. 

Moral redemption has nothing to do with it because before Hordak has any hope of learning to respect the rights of others, he has to learn to fight for his own.

Am I done? I think I’m done.

Well. Regrettably, I had to summarize this, so the original poster’s words are not verbatim intact, but I think I got the sense of them! Also regrettably, they will likely not see or respond to this, so that chance for active dialogue is gone. But anyone else can respond if they like, including any antis lurking about the tag. Well; if you can slog through this whole thing!

Anyway, in conclusion: Hordak is a sad bastard man. He has just as many painful personal problems as Catra and will forever have all of my sympathy and kindness because I have decided that he deserves it. So there.

[victorlimadelta]

Pidge is actually trying to take this a tiny bit seriously. Last night, while she was working on moving her work station into the makeshift pharmaceutical laboratory she’s set up for herself over the last few months, she was putting together a presentation, like it’s a business pitch or a grant funding exercise. Still, it’s easier to illustrate her point when she has diagrams to go off of. The fancy little holograms from her PADD can even be manipulated in real-time in three-dimensional space, for added cool factor.

It also means she can keep her thoughts together as she goes through the theoretical aspects of this with @swordsedge Ulaz. Before she begins, she takes a shot glass, fills it with the Olkari root extract she’s come to love so much, and knocks it back like it’s so much liquor. That should keep her going for the next eight or so hours and stave off the fluorescent-inspired headache she’s guaranteed to get if she works down here too long. She offers some to the Galra in front of her, but he declines. Reasonable. He doesn’t know what it is, and she could have tampered with it, so she’s not offended.

They’d had a brief conversation last night, as well, about how to structure this upcoming week. Pidge had asked Ulaz what the Galra Empire would do for someone who had a genetic degenerative disease. The answer, unsurprisingly, was a mercy cull. For an empire driven by expansion at all costs, a disabled life is not one that can be afforded. Ulaz did show the correct amount of disgust as he explained, at least, which reassured Pidge that he was here for the right reasons, to do the right thing. What wasn’t so reassuring was that he hadn’t actually encountered this specific problem before, as a medical officer.

Tilting her PADD against her empty glass so the holograms can project onto the table, Pidge launches into her explanation. “so, you understand what we need to do here,” Pidge reminds Ulaz. “this is different from just keeping shiro in stasis and keeping disease from progressing. this is total genomic overhaul.” She flicks the first diagram out from her screen to the table, starts spinning it--a puffy little X shape made of squiggles. “what we’re working with is the x chromosome, a location on the short arm called p21.2-p21.1.” When she zooms in with her fingers, there's a noticeable length difference between the two top arms of the chromosome. “there’s a deletion here--not one of the worst, but not in a good place, either. this codes for dystrophin: the protein that builds human muscle. without it, the muscles we’re born with can’t be effectively re-built when they’re damaged. usually, you’d have a backup on the other matching pair in your chromosome set, so your body could just use the one that works and ignore the one that doesn’t, but shiro can’t do that, because he doesn’t have a second x chromosome, he has a y chromosome. which, don’t tell it i said this, but it’s pretty useless, aside from sry. poor little thing. smallest in the human genome.”

This is probably stuff Ulaz already knows. Based on what Pidge surmises about Galra, just from pure conjecture surrounding the fact of Keith’s existence, they also must have a similarly-based biology, with double-helix DNA, ACGT pairs, X/Y sex chromosomes, even the same number and arrangement of chromosomes. Otherwise, Galra wouldn’t be able to reproduce with humans, or proliferate so far with so many other alien races. Still, it helps to start from the common denominator and build up to more complex premises.

Pidge pinches her fingers together, then spreads them to zoom in on her DNA diagram--to the portion that’s missing. “there’s maintaining the dystrophin shiro still has, and there’s teaching his body how to make it for himself. two different things. he already had weakness in his legs, to be expected, but now you’re telling me he’s having trouble breathing. that means his diaphragm can’t repair itself. he’s too weak to work his own lungs. that’s... that’s advanced. the only way it could be worse is if it was in his heart, and we don't know that it's not. so, we can’t just plug this with pharmaceutical intervention. giving him the actual dystrophin protein isn’t, by itself, going to get him where he needs to go. he needs to do it for himself, and he needs to be able to rebuild what’s been lost on top of it. that means...”

Another diagram flicks next to the first. This one's the clip of what's missing. “i have to get this, here, but... everywhere. as far as you're telling me, this is something the galra weren’t even interested in devoting resources to. it’s something humans haven’t quite been able to achieve, even with crispr, our most advanced gene splicing engineering technology.  altean alchemy isn’t suited to this, and i can’t see that they've ever attempted a genetic cure, just an amino acid replacement. the olkari seem to find it anathema to attempt it, even with their advanced biohacking abilities. but i’m--we’re not dealing with just one set of medicine. we’re not limited here. i can use all of this accumulated knowledge and make something bigger than the sum of its parts. i just need to run this by you, theoretically speaking, to see if it’s even possible in practice.”

Dismissing the first diagram to focus on the second, she twists her two hands, pulls them apart, and it zooms in on the individual molecules making up the DNA helix: red adenine paired with green thymine, yellow cytosine paired with blue guanine, clumped in threes (that’s a slight liberty with the illustration, but it works for these purposes). “coran’s taught me how to use this lab to make pharmaceutical compounds i thought would be impossible with the materials we have. apparently all you have to do is ask these atoms and molecules nicely to create their bonds. so far i’ve been... moderately successful in using it.” That’s false modesty. Pidge has been able to synthesize a full medication line for Shiro by now, from advanced corticosteroids to muscle relaxers, from gene-targeted therapies to painkillers. “but, i mean, dna is just a bunch of molecules, when you get down to it. huge, snarled-together molecules, but molecules all the same. the backbone of the helix is the same. the a, c, g, t are the same. if i can teach the lab to make the individual components, it’s just an issue of putting the building blocks in the right order and making them stick together. that part, actually making the gene i need, that’s the part i have the most confidence in. i know i can do it. what i don’t know is how much time it’s going to take, or if i can accelerate it by redirecting non-essential ship power to this one resource. and i won’t know for sure until i get started on it. but, the good news is, i know what i need to make and how i need to make it. easy.” Relatively speaking, of course.

The next image Pidge pulls up is entirely new. “this--this part’s more complicated. this little device is crispr. technically it’s a repeating genome sequence that humans synthesized from a bacteria, but you can use it for genome modification. depending on what kind of rna you attach to it, you can use it to snip out genes entirely, or cut and paste from one mis-transposed location to another. notice i didn’t say insert. it needs to get the material from somewhere to insert it in the first place, and creating the right sequence out of nothing was always a little too difficult to stabilize in human trials. plus, there were ethical concerns with using it on stem cell lines. no such worries here. if i use altean alchemy to create the missing piece, and if i use the right rna to point it at xp21.2 through .1, it should plunk it right into place. and there’s no medico-ethical dilemma present for doing this with a full-grown person, like there would be if we were trying to fix it in a zygote. it doesn’t even generate the should-we argument. now, getting the rna to target the right location, and getting the delivery mechanism to be stable, and getting it to lock into place, that’ll be a little more difficult.”

What flashes into the set of images Pidge is using, this time, is a series of ones and zeroes. “that's where the olkari technology comes in. their tiaras use human brainwaves, sent as binary code, to modify messenger rna, to redirect plants on what genes they should be expressing at any given time. it unlocks a gene’s potential. this should be the key to not only targeting the right location for the gene insertion, but also in making sure that it’s getting used correctly to code for dystrophin. the question you’re probably about to ask is, how does this work with dna when dna isn’t written in binary? but it’s not about reading it, it’s about finding it. rna will read it for itself, pull the correct amino acids, and make dystrophin. cells are pretty smart that way.”

Dismissing all those prior symbols, Pidge finally pulls up a diagram of the human body. “so, congratulations. using a series of increasingly unstable chemical reactions pulling from the most advanced medicine, science, engineering, and coding from three different starfaring species, we created, spliced in, and activated exactly one copy of the dystrophin-coding gene, into one cell.” The hologram zooms in to some generic muscle strand of the forearm. “that cell could die before undergoing mitosis. even if it survives, that’s no guarantee that the new, fixed genome will propagate very far, even within the same physical location of the body.” A red flash, indicating failure.

“but, if i’m understanding your research correctly, there’s something you can do with filtered quintessence to not just make it stick around, but to get it to actually change the whole body genome. this is the part that i’m the most skeptical about,” just in case Ulaz couldn't tell from her tone. “i don’t know how quintessence works at the best of times. as far as i care, though, if it does what you say it will, then it can be literal space magic--as long as it works by a set of fixed principles. if you’re saying we can wash out the old genome and, i guess, dye the new one into place by steeping shiro in enough quintessence, it’s worth a try.”

Presentation over. Pidge collapses her diagrams, puts her PADD face-down on the table. When she catches Ulaz’s face, his expression is unreadable. Just like always, really. “so, after all that, i have two questions for you. one, does that sound like something we can, theoretically, even do? i don’t want to waste time or energy on research if it’s not going to pan out in real life. and even if it does, question number two, how much quintessence would it actually take to do something like that? are we talking on the level of a d-cell battery, car battery, aircraft engine, starship-class balmera crystal, the type of energy it would take to hold strand in stasis for eons--what do we need, and can we actually get it?”

[marybeatriceofmodena]

TFW when you try to do Anastasia but you also suck at your job: A Master Class by The Rise of Skywalker

Okay. So, I promised you guys a TROS review, and it’s coming, I promise… except I’ll be making two “spin-off posts” about specific issues just in order to clear up some stuff, mainly because in my mind, those issues are important.

First post is going to be, of course, about Rey’s parentage.

So. After TFA, it would have been possible for Rey to have been the kid of “someone”. However, TLJ made it impossible to do so, unless you’d have some serious, bullshit retconning going on – which is exactly what happened.

I know this is a VERY controversial thing to say at this point, but post-TFA, Rey Palpatine “could” have been possible. Okay, maybe not have her be Palpatine’s granddaughter, but more of a descendant of his.

This said, I “tried” making an origin story for Rey Palpatine that “works” for the purposes of this meta, on a hypothetical basis, while making it consistent with canon (something JJ Abrams and Chris Terrio clearly couldn’t be bothered to do, LMAO). I had plotholes no matter what. I do think I could have eventually found something with a little bit of brainstorming, but truth is, IT’S HARD, and a lot of exposition would have been for novels/comics only.

From a thematic perspective, though? It wouldn’t have been a bad idea. For this to work, though, you would have needed to go on full-blown Romeo and Juliet mode with sprinkles of Anastasia, though. I mean, The Lion King 2 did something similar, so why the fuck not. Because, yeah, Ben Solo, the grandson of Darth Vader, son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, the last prince of Alderaan, who falls in love with the last Imperial princess Rey Palpatine while they’re on opposite sides of the war but not the ones you’d think of is the stuff of fairy tales and star-crossed romances, except this one would have a happy ending and brought peace to the galaxy.

Truth be told, I still really enjoy fanfics who go for that story and find a way to make it work in canonverse or in AUs – because it’s genuinely fun. But in canon itself, as I point out earlier… it’s not easy.

So, we have Rian Johnson who said he made a list of potential origins for Rey while he was working on TLJ’s script. You bet Rey Palpatine was on that list. However, he came to the conclusion that Rey Nobody was the best way to go, and whatdyaknow, he made the right call.

Why? Rey Nobody requires minimal exposition. Storytelling-wise, you don’t have a lot of brainstorming to do, and it’s easy to have Ben revealing it, and easy to present it as a repressed memory of Rey’s. On a thematic level, that puts Rey on the same level as Jane Eyre or the main character from Rebecca: she’s a nobody from nowhere who is thrown into a family drama, and since she’s the glitch in the matrix, she must stop the story from becoming a tragedy.

See? Simple. You got your easy exposition, you got your thematic coherence, and you got the literary call-backs.

So, JJ and Terrio decided to retcon this shit because, as they said, they thought it was boring. I think Colin Trevorrow probably thought it was boring too, because I have my reasons to think a lot of TROS is from him (but more on that in my main review). But thing is, it’s not it’s “boring”, it’s literally that they didn’t know what the fuck to do with Rey. No, more than that, they don’t understand her, and frankly, they can’t be bothered to do so. She’s an empty vessel they can toy with at their ease, and in the process, turn her in a Mary-Sue. Because yes, TROS!Rey was a Mary-Sue, whereas TFA/TLJ!Rey was not. So, what I say above regarding Rey might be a bomb for some, considering how people are (understandably) defensive when it comes to that statement. I promise I will elaborate more about it in the main review, once again.

So, with the lineage aspect addressed, it’s time to talk about Rey’s parents themselves.

It’s hilarious how HARD JJ and Terrio tried to make Kylo’s explanation work – because as much as they butchered the shit out of him, they said: “Well he’s a bad liar, right? Gotta keep that in mind.”

Although, I don’t think it was a case of them being concerned with Kylo’s characterization – they’re not that graceful. They had to figure out QUICK why the hell Kylo wouldn’t have known Rey was a Palpatine from the get-go, because the Force is a great DNA test and shit, and I guess that’s how Palps located Ben’s Mighty Skywalker Blood™. Except that still doesn’t work because Palps couldn’t even locate his own goddamn granddaughter, but I digress.

Seriously, why would Kylo lie to Rey about her being a nobody instead of her being a Palpatine? It makes no sense, because if you’re going to roll with the theory Kylo just wants UNLIMITED POWAH, the Palpatine princess is not only a great asset (since marrying her legitimizes your claim to the throne in the eyes of the Imperial Remnants, I mean, that’s literally why Henry VII married Elizabeth of York), it’s also the one argument she needs to hear in order to sway her to your side. So I guess JJ and Terrio’s one shared brain cell kinda flicked a bit at that moment.

This said, getting the Palpatine princess on his side is clearly Kylo’s intention in TROS (which, again, makes no sense with what was set up in TLJ but that’s something I’m keeping for another post), except they trip all over themselves by having Kylo say he didn’t lie to Rey in TLJ. Except…

So, what Ben said in TLJ was the following:

Her parents sold her for drinking money.

They’re dead and buried in a pauper’s grave somewhere on Jakku.

Rey is related to no one.

Here’s what Ben reveals to Rey in TROS:

Her parents sold her for her protection.

They died on another planet, while being hunted down by a guy working for Palpatine and instructed to bring Rey back to them.

Rey’s dad is a Palpatine and Rey’s mom is Villanelle (nah, for real: the actress who plays Rey’s mom is Jodie Comer).

So, um, yeah, it’s the EXACT opposite of what Ben said in TLJ. Just say Palps was fucking with Ben’s mind-reading or Rey’s memories instead, JJ. Not that “Oh Ben was telling the truth, but he didn’t have the whole story”, because that’s not it.

For the latter, once again, it would have been feasible: the one thing, for me, that was possible to be added was that Rey had killed her parents accidentally, by having their ship to leave Jakku crash down with the Force: that’s what made her Force powers go dormant for all those years and provoked her trauma. It would also make sense that Ben would willfully not bring that back to her memories, because she’d understandably not be able to cope with the truth, which is often what happens to a lot of trauma victims. THAT was the theory I had pre-TROS, because that’s the only answer I could come up with when it came to JJ saying that there was more to Rey’s past. I guess I expected JJ to be, like, actually able to write, lmao.

I even wonder if that was actually in the cards, considering we see Rey in TROS bringing down a transport that supposedly has Chewie in it… but I guess they deemed that to be “too dark” for their heroine. Except the bullshit that comes instead is actually… much worse.

To make things simple, I’ll just take the above points and develop them.

Rey’s parents sold her for her protection.

Okay, so, Rey’s parents need to hide her to make sure Palps doesn’t get his hands on her. Fair enough. This said, why did it have to be Jakku and not, like, ANYWHERE ELSE? Especially that Palpatine had interest in Jakku at some point and that maybe having Rey anywhere close to that place would not be a good idea?

But let’s play the game and say that Jakku is the only place they can hide her because… I don’t know, it’s hard to find someone there with the Force. Whatever. Even then, why the fuck would they think Unkar Plutt is a proper guardian for a tiny little girl? You know they could have walked a few miles more and found a nice old man who likes the Light Side of the Force and the Jedi and all that shit called Lor San Tekka? Hey, why not even try to find a guy like Luke Skywalker who’s like, a Jedi and shit, and have him take care of their little girl and protect her? 

Even then, why the hell doesn’t Rey’s mom stay with her daughter? Her husband is the Palpatine, not her. All Rey’s mom has to do is find a nicer hiding place for her and Rey somewhere on Jakku, like, not Niima Outpost (again, Tuanul is just a few miles away), and just let Dad hide somewhere else. He’s a grownass man, he can take care of himself and he just has to hide on Nar Shaadaa or some shit. Fuck, why don’t all three of them hide on Nar Shaadaa? Or in the Coruscant undercity? ANYWHERE ELSE?

Also, wouldn’t Plutt clearly see two desperate parents as a business opportunity? Like, if you want to do a Les Misérables comparison here, he wouldn’t “buy” Rey from them, he’d try to get money for them à la Thénardier with Fantine. Except Rey’s parents make Fantine look like frigging Einstein because at least she had the excuse of thinking Madame Thénardier would take good care of Cosette since Éponine and Azelma seemed well-cared for.  

Again, a creepy-looking alien who exploits the outpost’s inhabitants for portions in exchange for junk, who asks you to pay him to take care of your kid should be a big fucking red flag – unless you want to involve blackmail, but that’s a whole other can of worms.

Seriously, why the hell would Rey’s parents even ACCEPT money that comes from selling their own child? Were they really that desperate? Fuck, even if I had no other way of getting off Jakku, I wouldn’t even THINK of using money that comes from selling my own child. Any parent who’d even CONSIDER doing that is automatically a godawful parent in my book. Shame on you. And shame on JJ for trying to make me buy them as saints, because THEY’RE NOT, JUST BY THAT SINGLE ACTION.

They died on another planet, while being hunted down by a guy working for Palpatine and instructed to bring Rey back to them.

I didn’t notice it until Jenny Nicholson pointed it out in her TROS review, because it SOMEHOW completely escaped my notice, but… Rey’s mom saying Rey is DEFINITELY NOT on Jakku is like the worst fucking lie I’ve ever seen in a film because it’s so hilariously bad. Congratulations, Space Villanelle, may you be forever remembered for this line.

Also, it’s stupid af that Oshi (that’s his name, right? Can’t be bothered to Google it, might just call him Barney the Bounty Hunter from now on) just kills Rey’s parents, because HE’S EVUL MUAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA, because he literally creates a dead end for himself. He still has no fucking clue where Rey is, and he just killed off his only leads. CONGRATULATIONS BARNEY THE BOUNTY HUNTER, YOU SUCK AT YOUR JOB.

Rey’s dad is a Palpatine and Rey’s mom is Villanelle.

So, Rey’s dad looks like he’s in his early thirties at most, right? Maybe a little younger than Luke and Leia, then. So, unless he got frozen in carbonite at some point, that means Palpatine fucked at some point while looking like this:

Anyway, I sure hope Sly Moore was Grandma Palpatine because she’s pretty much the only person who’d be game to smash raisin ass. Which leaves me with extremely disturbing pictures of Palps and Sly having sex, so I’ll spare you the more graphic details of my twisted mind that’s screaming for an end to this misery. 

I sure hope having Rey’s mom as Jodie Comer isn’t a clue that we’ll get spin-offs with those two (GOD PLEASE NO), but while I crack jokes about how Rey’s mom is Villanelle and Palpadad kinda looks like Ramsay Bolton… I find it fucking hilarious they dressed Rey’s mom in BLUE. LIKE, SEE? SEE? SHE’S IN BLUE, LIKE THE VIRGIN MARY, BECAUSE REY IS SPACE JESUS!!!! GET IT??? GETIT???? PLEASE TELL ME YA GET IT, OKAY???? *gross sobbing* I knew we should have had Rey born in a manger, that would have made the artistic intentions clear *wipes tear*

All right. There’s a lot more that could be said about Rey’s lineage, but I’m keeping that for my main review because what’s left to say ties up to the bigger picture. What I tried to point out with this preliminary post is that while Rey Palpatine *could* have worked, in different circumstances, it couldn’t have had post-TLJ… and we’re left to see a mutilated horse who was dead on arrival. And that’s tragic.

[ckret2]

Violet/Violent

Part 1, Hybrid Cultivar: Jonah’s got a Ghidorah head and he’s not afraid to clone it. Or, failing that, whatever stray biological matter his reluctant team of scientists finds inside of it.

Part 2, Violet/Violent: Dr. Shiragami and his fellow scientists are the proud accidental creators of an impossibility: a fusion between a rose, a human, and Godzilla. But Jonah doesn’t want a miracle. He wants a monster.

(KOTM one-shot, part 2 of 3. Stay tuned for part 3... *checks writing to-do list* ...eventually! If you want to read my other fics set in this KOTM ‘verse, click here.)

###

The pet rose/titan/human hybrid of Alan Jonah's gang of variously bribed and blackmailed scientists was growing faster than any of them had ever anticipated.

Her height had been holding steady for the last week, although she was still accruing foliage that spread her out sideways: an ever-spreading tangle of vines and branches. A matted mass of leaves enveloped the majority of her body like crocodilian scales or like great flakey layers of skin. They told themselves it was a mass of leaves, anyway. It was easier to look at her when they thought of the curtain of mass that made up her "hide" as "plant mimicking flesh" rather than as "flesh mutated to resembled plant," but in truth it was, by all measures—genetically, chemically, cellularly—a fusion of both plant and flesh into something entirely unprecedented and entirely new, in the same way that a mix of blue paint and yellow paint was neither "blue imitating yellow" nor "yellow imitating blue" but simply "green."

At most times, she was about seven feet tall, and typically she moved by undulating across the ground on vines and roots with motions like something between a millipede and a beached octopus. Other times, she pulled the thicket of her body in tight, weaving vines together like muscles and branches like bones, reshaping herself into something hunched but clearly bipedal, with stocky legs and a long thick tail and an array of grasping vines like undersized arms; and like that she stood just over ten feet tall. Most rarely, she would pull her vines and branches even tighter together into an even more solid form, stretching her legs long, straightening her back, lifting her head, sacrificing stability for height—until she stood fifteen feet tall, eerily humanoid, tottering like a toddler learning to walk. But a thick, crude, simple approximation of a human, like a golem made of trees rather than clay.

Back when she'd been about the size of a basketball, they'd started testing her for human intelligence—speaking to her, showing her books for children, seeing whether she could be taught to read and write. Within minutes of being shown a thick cardboard picture book meant to teach the alphabet, she'd seized up a marker and began scribbling letters on every surface she could reach—including letters she hadn't yet been shown. They still wondered if she'd observed them in the lab, if she'd perhaps picked them up from the scientists through some sort of as yet unidentified telepathic sense, or if she remembered them.

Dr. Shiragami suspected she remembered. He had no objective proof of this. Just a feeling, an uneasy feeling, that there was something observing them through the hybrid's strange small eyes; something that, although not human, once had been—and could recall that past life. An ex-human staring out at her former peers from the other side of death.

The letter she wrote most often was V.

She'd write it on a wall and stand beneath it, or on the floor and stand before it, as if using its tip to point at herself. Dr. Shiragami wondered what had been the name of the human whom Monster Zero had devoured and whose DNA had been used for their accidental cloning project.

He had nicknamed their rose/titan/human hybrid "Violet"—he thought that perhaps her name had once started with V, and without any idea what it was, the name of a flower seemed fitting. In his accent, when he wasn't careful, it came out as "Bioretto," which was how it caught on with the other scientists working with her; and the name drifted over the days to "Biorante" until her official name in their documentation on here was changed at last to "unknown Godzilla genetic sample" to "Biollante."

Dr. Shiragami thought the name sounded too much like "violent."

A true golem, made of clay, had two letters written on its head that meant "death." Writing a third letter changed the word to "truth" and brought the inanimate figure to life; removing the letter changed it back to "death" and put the figure back to sleep.

He hoped that, unlike a true golem, adding a letter to her name wouldn't change her nature.

###

"Dr. Shiragami, I did not bring you on to work with Monster Zero so that you could play with a walking plant."

"I work in genetics, sir. Genetics with a specialization in botany. You brought me on to gene sequence an alien that doesn't have genes."

"Hm." Jonah was staring through the observation window into the room they'd set up for Biollante. It was little more than a large room with a soft dirt floor and a skylight, with a water pipe she could work herself, a board to write on, and plastic playground equipment for lack of a better idea of what kind of enrichment a titan-plant-human needed. It was apparently insufficient entertainment; she was currently amusing herself by struggling to lift up and tip over a plastic playhouse designed to look like a castle. She'd fit in the play castle just a few weeks ago, but now it came up to her thighs when she was humanoid.

Dr. Shiragami said, "There's nothing I can do with an alien head without DNA in it, but there's—there's plenty I can do with a plant. A remarkable plant that consists of a genetic splice between three unspliceable species. I'm helping in what way I can—"

"Except you're not helping, doctor, are you? Because my objective is not to create novel freaks of nature; it's to get back on track with unleashing something that can combat the biggest extinction level event in this planet's history, i.e., us. So unless this creature you're wasting my time and resources on can do that—" Jonah suddenly fell silent. He watched wordlessly as the miniature titan knocked over a miniature castle. "Can this creature do that, doctor?"

"I'm sorry?"

"How tall is it going to get? Do you know?"

Dr. Shiragami's throat went dry.

"Has it displayed any violent tendencies?" Jonah went on. "Or are we going to have to train them into it?"

"You can't—"

"Can't I? Will you stop me?" Jonah asked. "What have you got, a doctorate? I've got men with guns."

"This is a living creature! Possibly a person—"

"You know how I feel about people."

"—A child. And a completely new form of life on top of that! I won't help you turn her into a monster."

"Fine," Jonah said. "You're welcome to resign at any time. I wish you the best of luck finding another way to fund your daughter's medical treatment."

Shiragami's blood ran cold.

"I'll leave you alone to think it over, shall I?" Jonah nodded to him and walked away.

Shiragami stared through the window at Biollante.

###

Biollante sprayed spores when she was upset, a thin sickly yellow haze of pollen. It made the scientists' and soldiers' eyes burn and throats close up. They now approached Biollante with pollen-filtering masks and goggles.

The facility hadn't been airtight when they made the discovery. Now it was, but not soon enough to prevent the spores from spreading for miles around them in every direction, settling into the sand, nearly invisible.

The desert was blooming. Trees and shrubs and vines shot into the sky, every species in the Rosaceae family they had ever tried to feed Biollante: roses and rowans and hawthorns, apples and almonds and peaches, more and more and more.

Somewhere in the Sahara, such an immediate reversal to desertification might have been a miracle.

If not for the fact that Biollante's spawn consisted of uncontrolled invasive species.

And at any rate—Jonah had not decided to hide his facility in that part of the Sahara.

Over five thousand years ago, the Sahara had been green. In fifteen thousand years, as the Earth's axis tilted, it would become green again. But even a green Sahara was mostly savannah, covered in shrubs and grasses, able to support clusters of trees only near deep water. The Sahara had never been jungles, never been rainforests. And some portions of the desert, even at the Sahara's wettest, remained desert still—such as the sea of sand dunes shared by Egypt and Libya.

Here, deep in the Sahara's heart, its truth, its natural, its healthy, its correct was desert. This was the part of the Sahara where there always had been, always would be, and always should be desert. A forest—a dry jungle of woody shrubby plants—would choke out the native species, destroy the local ecology, disrupt the weather patterns, displace the nomadic people that called the desert home. Everything about this part of the Sahara, from the temperature to the complete lack of precipitation to the nutrients in the loose sand, was unable to support a single one of the trees now growing there, much less so many.

Nevertheless, the forest spitefully flourished.

Like a fungus in a sack of flour, like a tumor in a heart.

And Biollante grew as well.

The scientists, even under Jonah's blackmail, were reluctant to harm her; so it was Jonah's soldiers who had learned via experimentation what could force her to fight. Fire—first only when it was thrust directly into her vines, but soon they trained her to lash out at the mere sight of it. Weedkiller, but only certain kinds—they'd tried so many different ones, seeing how she took each poison. Flashing blue lights. Recordings of the cries of MUTOs. Being presented with the dead head of Ghidorah, the monster that had devoured the things she was made from.

Dr. Shiragami was sure that Biollante must remember her past lives. Remember being Godzilla. Remember being human. Perhaps even remember being a rose—what did they know of the memories of flowers? Shiragami suspected plants remembered far more than humans gave them credit for.

The sight of Ghidorah made her struggle the hardest and roar the loudest. Once she'd been forced into the room with the dead head, she never cooperated with her keepers again. Now, the mere sight of humans was enough to enrage her.

She fought with spores, with choking vines, with cutting thornlike teeth. She fought with screams that they thought might have been an instinctive attempt to use Godzilla's atomic breath. These roars were horrible things, like Godzilla bellowing in rage and a woman wailing in pain and a tree splintering and falling all at once; they suspected she was twisting and snapping branches inside of her own body to make the sounds. She would no longer let anyone close enough to her to check.

Shiragami was only one remaining out of the original scientists that had been working with Biollante. All of the others either had been killed or else left—some in fear for their lives, but most in protest against what they were doing to a creature they knew deserved better. Shiragami now had new coworkers who cared much less. He would have left too—if not for his daughter, and if not for the fact that he thought someone should be working with Biollante who cared about what happened to her.

Even if he knew he wasn't doing anything to help.

They expanded her containment room when they could, but there was only so much they could do so fast when a facility that had been designed to camouflage into sand dunes was still trying to remain hidden now that it was in the center of a desiccated forest that it seemed the whole world was watching. She was too large to relocate without anyone noticing. Jonah ordered her nutrients be cut off—water only—in an attempt to slow her growth; in return, she began killing and devouring any humans that entered her enclosure. When they stopped entering, she burrowed her roots straight through the concrete foundation of the facility and deep down, they suspected perhaps even into the bedrock below.

As she grew so tall her head brushed the fifty foot skylights over her prison, she stopped using her humanoid form; as she kept growing still, she stopped using her bipedal form. Her prison cell was nothing but a mass of tangled vines, filling the room, brushing the walls. Vines—and sometimes teeth, gnashing between leaves and within blooms as she crashed branches through doors and felt her way down the halls.

Inside Jonah's facility, Biollante threatened to push them all out. Outside the unnatural forest, Monarch exploration crews backed by Egyptian and Libyan forces ventured into freakishly tall trees, as did curious or annoyed locals who wanted to know what strange forest had just appeared in the middle of their desert; it wouldn't be long until someone found the hidden facility.

Between Biollante and the investigating humans, Shiragami hoped Jonah was going to be pinched in the middle.

Jonah had what he wanted now that Biollante had been changed from a docile child into a wild animal. Shiragami wondered if Jonah had any idea how to tame her again. Surely he didn't.

For his daughter's sake, Shiragami would stay until the end, whether that end came from Biollante or Monarch; but for his other daughter's sake, he hoped she crushed Jonah beneath her roots when she escaped.

In the past couple of days, the bud of a rose ten feet long had emerged where her head had once been, up near the skylights.

Shiragami was sure it wouldn't be long now until she broke free. As soon as the rose bloomed.

###

(Click here for my masterlist of fics set in this KOTM verse, as well as my AO3 and Ko-fi links. If you enjoyed the fic, I’d appreciate a reblog or comment!)

[jayrockin]

Somebody bought a Coffee for Jay Eaton:

hi, i love your centaur aliens! id love to see more of talita and also of displaced centaurs in general. outside of their home planet, have they created their own subcultures derived from their original ones? like in human history, taking elements from other cultures to combine.

If you want more Talita specifically, I have a bunch of deets and doodles about her up on Patreon. This is an older patron-only image that I colored up, recent posts go into more detail about the humans who have taken care of Talita over the course of her life!

Displaced centaurs in general struggle to replicate important elements of their culture in space, usually sticking into very tightly knit adopted clans of 5-20 people. The hardest hit aspect of their lives is food. As I’ve mentioned before, aliens in Runaway to the Stars do not have interchangable molecular biology-- eating food grown from another planet’s biosphere can result in anything from indigestion, to allergic reaction, to death. Simple sugars, water, and atmosphere mix is about all we can safely share.

While avians, ferrets, and humans have many established planets with food production, processing, and interstellar shipping methods; centaurs only have one biosphere to call their own, their homeplanet. And shipping food off of it, especially raw meat (the majority of most centaur diets) is bloody expensive. Spaceships don’t move very fast in RttS, even with wormhole shortcuts.

The majority of spacer centaurs basically live off of food printers, which use component macro-molecules to synthesize ‘food products.’ While the tech has finally advanced to the point that centaurs eating only from printers won’t quickly die of malnutrition, it’s an incredibly limited way to eat. Most centaur food printers only have two options: raw pseudo-sausage, and “tuber” paste.

With most clans only able to afford limited amounts of preserved and dried food from their home planet, cooking has gotten a little... well... the first thing that comes to mind is prison recipes. Centaurs optimize their dishes to stretch the shipments of homegrown food as far as possible, with printer paste used to pad out calories. The more dignified recipes shape, steam, roast, boil, or fry (in printer lipid canister oil) the pastes; then season with dried spice and augment with preserved organ meats. The less dignified ones get creatively desperate.

Some use random macromolecule printer canisters as seasoning or a cooking medium (pasteballs boiled in DNA, anyone?), add alien foods just below the gastric regret threshold, or even throw in non-food items, like clay, charcoal, indigestible fibers, and household chemical products. When you’ve been eating plain paste for 2 years because you can’t afford natural food, adding some laundry detergent to liven things up suddenly doesn’t sound like the worst idea.

Talita is a weird case even for a spacer centaur, and has lived her entire life under far more human cultural influence than centaur. Fortunately she eats pretty well with printer food and regular home planet shipments, but her culinary background for centaur food products is non-existent. Talita has eaten like a college kid slapping together strange human-recipe-adjacent concoctions out of whatever they find in the mini-fridge her whole life-- picture ramen omelettes and chocolate chip mac n’ cheese galore. Yum!

PATREON | KO-FI | STORE

[myriahkamm]

I live-blogged watching BvS and Justice League on FB earlier; here are my unedited thoughts. :P

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

I'm watching Batman V. Superman (because bad movie night I guess idk), and during the opening scene rehashing the Waynes' deaths (for what feels like the millionth time in cinematic history--seriously, y'all, we can be done with that for a while and definitely don't need a 5 minute slow-motion scene about it), when Thomas says Martha's name as they're dying, I burst out laughing because (i) I didn't remember that he said her name during this scene and (ii) is this supposed to be some kind of foreshadowing for the really dumb crux of the movie where Batman and Superman stop fighting because omg their moms have the same name? I literally can't stop laughing. This movie is such a joke. 🤣

Having the Robin costume in this film with absolutely no context is just stupidly pointless fanboy pandering. Anyone who actually gives a crap about Batman lore should realistically hate that.

Lex Luthor, one of the richest and most powerful men in the world, bitching about not having power is definitely on brand, but I am just super *not* a fan of the quirky, kind-of-nerdy-and-awkward Lex Luthor this film decided to go with. The hardcore businessman Lex Luthor from the 90s and 00s will always be the Lithor I like best. Y'know, the one based at least in part on Donald Trump. That one.

This Jesse Eisenberg version is way too much of a Mary Sue. Businessman *and* scientist *and* awkward nerd? Yeah, Jesse Eisenberg played Mark Zuckerberg, but I'm not sure Lex Luthor should be Mark Zuckerberg.

Ugh, I totally forgot about the Darkseid-foreshadowing dream that's never going to go anywhere because, let's be real, DC is never going to do a live-action film with Darkseid (and it would be awful even if they did). Also, Batman using guns in that dream is a thing I'll never be cool with. I don't care what kind of world he thinks he's living in in that dream; Batman has established principles and pretty much only goes against them in alternate universes.

Jesus, I forgot about the whole Flash-from-the-future scene, too. DC wrote a lot of checks we're never going to be able to cash in this film. Promising an Injustice-esque Superman-is-evil kind of storyline that they're never going to do anything with...why would they do that?

So in the dream, Darkseid-related stuff is going on (which, in Justice League, does sort of happen with Steppenwolf) and Superman says "she was everything to me, and you took her away from me." Then future-Flash says that "Lois is the key". Are they implying Batman has premonitions? Are they giving him a superpower? 🤣

Oh, that's right, they blew up the U.S. Capitol in this movie. 🤣 These scenes that are supposed to be really serious and filled with tension just keep making me laugh.

Why did they decide Batman needed to make a kryptonite spear? I mean, other than plot reasons so they could use it later against Doomsday. Batman uses projectiles and his fists; he rarely uses swords or spears or whatever.

Why did they decide Doomsday had to be created using a mixture of Kryptonian and Luthor's DNA? In the comics, Doomsday is an experimental clone based on ancient Kryptonian DNA. Why (in my opinion) make Doomsday so much more pathetic by adding human DNA into the mix? Freaking weird decision.

"Mm." What a weird quirk to add to Luthor's character. "Mm" every other sentence. What's that all about?

Luthor manipulating Batman into fighting Superman is...so unbelievable. Luthor manipulating Superman to hate Batman, waaaaay more believable. But no, that's not what they went with. They went with Luthor manipulating Batman for two years into wanting to fight Superman. Superman just randomly came to hate Batman on his own and only got manipulated into fighting him at the end. They could have just gone with hey, Batman's suspicious of everyone and would naturally be suspicious of a superpowered alien, especially with the whole setup they did at the beginning that coincided with stuff from Man of Steel. But nope. Nope, they went with the dumber plot.

Doesn't Luthor have way too much info about all these heroes' secret identities? Are we just pretending secret identities don't matter anymore? That's too 90s or something?

Why does the kryptonite spear make an "omg I'm a glowy thing" sound? 🤣

And now we're at the stupid Martha part that makes no sense because if you were about to die, you wouldn't say "save [mom's name]"; you would just say "save my mom!" 🤣

Batman would totally save Superman's mom even if their moms didn't have the same name. It's just such a stupid, stupid plot point and lends itself to endless mockery. 🤣

I *do* like this fight scene where Batman is making his way through the goons to get to Martha. The choreography is really good. Reminds me a lot of the Arkham video games.

Man, this Doomsday just...doesn't really work on a fundamental level. What makes comic Doomsday so powerful and terrifying is (i) it's not just a mindless monster, but is actually intelligent and can plan and strategize; (ii) iwas created through such extreme experimentation that it was repeatedly destroyed and then remade again over and over and over to give it endurance and formidably; (iii) and it's pretty much unstoppable from all that experimentation and uncontrollable because of its intelligence.

Also, what's with this explody thing Doomsday does in this film? A monster can be terrifying without being able to blow up a bunch of stuff. I'm not sure what the point of explody Doomsday is other than lazy writing.

The military hit it once and came to the conclusion that not only does it get more powerful "every time we hit it," but also that it's unkillable? Okay. More lazy writing.

And we're back to one of my biggest issues with Man of Steel: Superman just not giving a shit about collateral damage. Even if the island they're on is uninhabited, that doesn't exactly mean he should just be fine with blowing a bunch of shit up in the course of this fight. Sheesh.

How did Lois know they needed the spear again? She had no reason to go underwater to try to get it. This whole "let's make Lois useless time and again so Superman can save her" thing is really annoying.

Superman's "death" scene carries so little weight if you know (like pretty much everyone should have known, let's be real) that he's not really dead. Like, sure, for the characters it means something because they don't know he'll be back, but for the audience? At least for me, it doesn't make me feel a whole lot.

So all the soldiers at Superman's funeral--do they know they're carrying an empty casket? Just curious.

The dirt rising off the casket at the end for a split second is soooooo dumb. For anyone naive enough to think he *is* really dead, just let them think it. Just let that be a thing. Come on. (Also considering that he doesn’t just come back on his own; it takes a charge from a Mother Box in Justice League for him to come back. That makes this end scene a lie, too.)

Ok, BvS is done. Need another drink and a snack, then I'll move on to Justice League. 😅

Justice League:

Haha, obvious Superman facial CGI right off the bat, omg, I forgot how horribly obvious it is. 🤣

Also forgot that we're starting off with parademons right away. Sheesh.

Do all of Snyder's films have to have gratuitous slow-motion scenes at the beginning? Ugh, dude.

Everyone just throwing Bruce Wayne's name around in relation to Batman all the time. Secret identities are dead, y'all. No superhero can have a real life, I guess.

Ugh, I forgot this film pushes Batman/Wonder Woman pretty hard. 🙄

"It's cool if I show a bunch of Amazons with their midriffs showing as long as they have visible ab muscles, right?" Idk, Snyder, is that how armor realistically works? 🙄 Also, is it necessary for them to have lipstick on? That doesn't even exist on Themyscira, ffs.

The multiple (as I remember; only one so far) innuendo-based jokes really bring this film down, imo. "Clark said you were the thirstier woman he'd ever met." Really? Ugh. 🙄

The plot of this film is so LOTR. Amazons, Atlanteans, and Men all get Mother Boxes, sort of like the various rings of power. There's plenty you can pull from comics, y'all. You don't need to pull from other stuff.

Flash as comic relief I'm okay with. I'm not sure how I feel about *this* Flash's comic relief. I'm not a huge fan of the writing.

Break time because Je'von wants to go out on the balcony lol. 😅

And we're back. So can Steppenwolf breathe underwater? Is that a thing? 

I guess it's supposed to be super funny that everyone disappears except the fastest one of them? Sigh. The writing in this film is just so awful.

Cyborg's CGI also isn't great. I really wanted more for Cyborg because he's awesome. Sigh.

Snyder must have loved being able to do stuff with Flash. All the slo-mo he could want.

I'm not a fan of neurotic Flash, afraid of pretty much everything. He can be funny in so many better ways, but instead let's just have him be afraid of everything and make sexual jokes every now and then. 🙄

"Let's keep having Cyborg wear sweatpants and a hoodie so we don't have to spend so much on CGI. It totally won't look ridiculous." 🤣

Batman making the argument to use technology he doesn't understand to try to bring Superman back from the dead is just so out of character it's not even funny. First of all, Superman didn't need technology to come back in the comics (whether or not his "resurrection" was silly is irrelevant). Secondly, Batman literally has an enemy (Ra's al Ghul) who resurrects himself on the regular, and Batman (i) knows it's a bad idea because it messes with Ra's's sanity and (b) would never consider using the Lazarus Pit even though he has a relative understanding of how it works. This film just literally disregards established character traits in favor of it's stupid-as-hell plot. Ugh.

Superman is vulnerable to magic, idiot writers. He shouldn't be able to fight Wonder Woman's lasso. Uuughhh. Have any of the writers of this movie ever actually read any Justice League comics? 🤦‍♀️

Well, those cops definitely know Superman's name now. Since you all keep saying it in front of them.

Superman hasn't even been gone for that long (seemingly; I mean, it's hard to tell, but S.T.A.R. Labs is still doing research on the Kryptonian ship in the same genersl area as in BvS, so idk), so all this talk about what he does or doesn't remember seems...weird.

Why not wait until you defeat Steppenwolf to let your mom know you're back, Superman? For all you know, you could die again. Wouldn't that just be harder on her after seeing you back?

Why was the lasso just sitting on the Batmobile instead of with Wonder Woman? Plot so that Aquaman could say some *super funny things*. 🙄 That's not even how the lasso works, you dumb writers. Someone has to direct another bound by it to speak the truth. Seriously, do some research. Ugh. It's not that hard.

"So your plan is dying? You really are out of your mind." "I'm not the one who brought a pitchfork." See, the writers prove that they can be actually funny if they try. *If* they try.

The "everyone trying their best to hold off the big bad until Goku gets there" vibe is super strong in this movie. 😑

Part of the reason the Justice League is a thing is because no one hero can do it alone. That means it all shouldn't be riding on Superman's shoulders. If you actually know how to write the Justice League, that is.

Don't know how I feel about everyone getting perks due to nepotism now that they know Bruce Wayne...must be nice to be buddies with the richest man in the world. 😒

The Flash vs Superman race at the end is more pandering. Ugh. It would be better if Flash was less pathetic as a character in this film. Super awkward is just not very funny, y'all. Write actual jokes instead.

Okay, that's over. What a trip. Both those movies are still pretty much garbage. 🤣 The question is, will I ever watch Man of Steel again? Probably not; I hated Man of Steel more than both those movies, actually. Wrote a 3-page rant about how awful it was after seeing it in theaters originally. $3 was still way too much money to spend on that crap. 😅

Oh, side note for the after credits scene: will they ever actually go anywhere with that? They might do an okay job with a Justice League vs. Legion of Doom (or Injustice Society or whatever villain team incarnation they would decide to go with) film. That might not suck.

[roswelldetails]

RNM 2x07 - Como La Flor

Apologies for being so late this week!! Lots of translating to do, and research. Mucho gracias to @queenrikki for reviewing this one for me!

EPISODE SUMMARY:

OLD WOUNDS — Liz (Jeanine Mason) is forced to revisit a painful part of her past when her mother Helena (guest star Bertila Damas) shows up at the diner unexpectedly. Michael (Michael Vlamis) urges Maria (Heather Hemmens) to seek help after she experiences a strange vision, and Kyle’s (Michael Trevino) attempt to get Steph (guest star Justina Adorno) to open up doesn’t go as planned. Finally, Helena’s arrival in Roswell sends Rosa spiraling. Nathan Dean and Lily Cowles also star. Barbara Brown directed the episode written by Danny Tolli & Carolina Rivera (#207). Original airdate 4/27/2020. 

DETAILS:

Max and Isobel both describing to Rosa how it feels to use (and control) your powers.

Isobel:

"Ground your intention.  Feel the current running through your body, your hands guiding it with purpose."

Max:

"Okay, draw energy from your spine…"

Arturo on Rosa:

"I heard a little mouse crying in her room this morning."

Escamoles - like Liz says in the episode, they're ant larvae. One article I found called them "the Caviar of the Mexican desert". 

Helena calls Liz "mi corazón", which means "my heart".

"Arturito, te ves bien."

Arturo, you look good.

Adding "ito" to someone's name in Spanish can both be positive or negative.  It can refer to smallness or also tenderness (like an affectionate pet name).

@tasyfa pointed out that there was a little timeline error in this scene.  Arturo says that he hasn't seen Helena in 7 years, since Jim Valenti's funeral, but last season it was established in 1x12 that Valenti died in 2014.  Also, remember the show is a year behind reality right now, so it's still 2019. So off by 2 years.

The reason for Helena's visit - transferring her ownership of the Crashdown for Liz so that Liz can sponsor Arturo's residency for citizenship. I did a lot of research trying to understand and clarify why this is.  Thanks to those who weighed in when I was struggling to find a clear answer. Eventually I reached out to Define American, the non-profit org that provides support to the show on racial and immigration related issues.  Here's the response:

The short version is that Liz has to meet minimum income requirements in order to sponsor Arturo, because she has to be able to certify that she can financially support him.  Since she's currently unemployed except for the Crashdown, transferring half of the ownership to her makes her a business partner and helps her to meet the income requirements. 

The Spanish:

"¿Cuánto quieres, Mamá?" 

How much do you want, Mama?

"She has a very thoughtful manicure."

If you don't understand, it's cool. I'm not going to explain here.  Feel free to DM me though! I won't judge, promise!!

Narrative thread about Max's nightmare/memory continues from 2x03 and 2x06.  Don't forget that 2x03 was just Isobel remembering it. Max was a hallucination. So when he brings it up here, it might be something they haven't discussed in a very long time.

The Spanish from Rosa on her red jacket:

"Eres una mujercita."

Basically translates to you're a little woman or young woman.  I assume the "cita" is supposed to be diminutive here.

"Mom is an opportunist.  If she found out she had a kid who came back from the dead she would use you to get to Anderson Cooper. And then she'd use him to promote her latest lounge singer gig."

"Isobel pays double.  Becky tax." 

A Becky, according to common colloquial use, is an annoying white woman, usually entitled and privileged.

Lead bartender quit..meaning there's a job opening at the Pony…hmm. Wonder if any of our characters need a job... 🤔

Maria's vision:

Michael drops the change

Flash to Kyle dropping his keys & bending down to pick them up.

Kyle staring into a bright light.

Maria shouting his name.

"My heart was broken.  Liz ended things and a part of me died."

Max's story to Valenti… not all THAT far off from the truth.

Note: has anyone told him about Valenti investigating him? We know Liz and Isobel were questioned.  Michael was present when Liz was questioned. Kyle knows the whole theory his mom was pursuing. And he just wanders in there like nothing happened?

"Try leading several short staffed investigations with the mayor breathing down your neck."

Another subtle reference to the mayor, including the election banners hung around town in S2 and his "anti-immigrant agenda" which was referenced in S1.

Max has been with the department since he was 18 - this is the first time we learned that.  In 2x05 we learned he was there at 21. So that timeline has now been further clarified. Which also means he was hired during Jim Valenti's time as Sheriff.

"I need eyes on you at all times now."

Definitely implies a lack of trust, or possibly still wanting to keep an eye on him for the purpose of her investigation (not a fact, just a theory).

Steph tells Kyle that she's always hanging around the hospital because she's doing admin work for her dad.

"I'm starting to feel like you're a ghost who only I can see."

"Ask them if they can see me. Or if you were just talking to a ghost." 

Note that ghosts have been a running theme this season with Rosa returning from the dead. This seems to be in line with that. Or are they subtly tying Steph to Rosa (I'm grasping at straws here, probably).

Liz leaves the safe on 3...but before she changes it is on 81. Helena leaves it on 78 after stealing the ring. Good continuity, RNM!

The whole "my mom hates cops" theme is a little confusing to me.  I mean, it makes sense given what we know about Helena. Except that she had an affair with Jim Valenti, who was… a cop. And also an addict.  Maybe it was different because they rehabbed together (just an assumption, not a fact). Or maybe the Jim experience contributed to her dislike of cops.

Liz...might be grasping at straws when she refers to police work as "something you love" to Max.  He didn't exactly seem enamoured by the job when we first met him in Season 1.

First time we learn Max and Isobel's father's name. And it is… Dave. 🤔

The Spanish Helena uses when she meets Max:

"Pero que guapo estas."

But how handsome you are.

"Cuidado Arturito."

Careful, Arturo…

Helena found Liz and Diego's wedding registry online. 

“Look there are medical reasons for non-drug-induced hallucinations - epilepsy, schizophrenia…”

“My mom has a degenerative brain disease. My grandma did too. I've always known I'd be next.”

Helena wanted to be Selena.

Which fits with Liz's lounge singer comment earlier.

And the "drunkenly singing in the car with your daughters in the backseat" fits with the story Liz and Rosa discussed in 2x02 about the car accident they got into as kids with Helena driving drunk.

Helena shows Liz her ten years sober chip, suggesting that she's been sober since Rosa died, but Rosa finds pills in Helena's car later in the episode.  Oxycodone. The same drug that Rosa used to steal from her mom as a kid (which we learned about in 2x04) and the same drug that she and Kyle discussed when he was checking her health in 2x01.

During Helena's toast to Rosa:

Preciosa = precious

Rosa Linda… still not sure personally if this is a continuity error or a pet name.  I’m inclined to go with a pet name. Throughout the whole episode Helena uses lots of pet names, nicknames, diminutives to address people. Rosa Linda may be just another version of this since Rosa's middle name was pretty well established as Helena in Season 1 between her grave, memorial pamphlet, etc.

Kyle calls attention to Steph's bandage on her arm.  She says she gave blood, but it feels like she's evading.

Also she calls him McDreamy, which is a Grey's Anatomy reference. Kyle called himself McSexy (another Grey's nickname) in 1x08 as well.

Note: I've seen some people talk about the speech about his sick friend as being about Maria, but I think he's really talking about Steph.  Or both, vaguely. He's certainly trying to get Steph to open up to him. Here's what he says:

"I just found out a friend of mine is sick. And I can't do anything to help her. And I hate feeling helpless."

Only after Steph puts her walls back up, does he gesture to Mimi's files.

The Spanish:

"Oh, ándale, gùero."

Ándale is like, go! Or let's go! Gùero we discussed earlier...basically white boy.

Por favor - please 

Rosa's art that we first saw in 2x05 now looks finished:

Isobel's graffiti "In Pod We Trust"

Both Isobel and Rosa's graffiti:

Isobel's assessment of Rosa's art

"That's a black hole. An unstoppable force of destruction. And it's getting closer. I see a girl looking into her own doom. She thinks it's inevitable, that she can't stop it, but she can. See, she created it. That means she can destroy it."

Rosa on Isobel's efforts to help her:

"You and Max, you keep talking about harnessing emotion and grounding myself, right? But I can't do that.  It is in my DNA to be screwed up. Literally. My mom's mentally ill. So, so am I. I was broken long before Noah did what he did. That's why he chose me to prey on.  That's probably why he chose you too."

Maria on her grandmother:

"When I was a child my Grandma Patty was the only adult who understood my make-believe world. Thing is, I was six.  So my favorite things about her were just illness, I guess…"

Maria on her mom:

"She was always kind of out there.  By the time I realized it was more than that, I just became obsessed with money. Wanted to be able to take care of her. I invested everything Grandma Patty left me, and I worked, scrounged.  It was about three days after my mom was finally fired from her job at the Pony, I bought the place."

Maria's blood does not contain the alien protein that Kyle found in the Pod Squad and Rosa after being in the Pod for a decade. (and yes, he actually said Pod Squad, which feels like an OG fandom victory)

"Look, there is one thing I noticed in your grandmother's file. Her insurance company is the same one that paid for my dad's cancer treatments...My dad got cancer because of an alien incident at Caulfield Prison. A fake insurance company established by Project Shepherd covered his bills."

"Okay so my grandmother got sick at the same alien prison where your mother died?"

More Spanish (there's lots of it this week).

Helena, when she gestures to the present:

"Abre tu regalo."

Open your gift.

Quinces is just slang for Quinceanera.

Just in case you're not familiar with quinceaneras (Liz's was also referenced in 1x02).

"Mija, me enseñas tus prom photos?"

Daughter, show me your prom photos.

Regarding the power outage.  Liz thought it was Max. Max thought it was Rosa. But the wire is frayed, like it was cut or chewed through. So it wasn't alien power related.  When Arturo finds the wire though, he says, "Must have been a little mouse." Which is how he referred to Rosa earlier in the episode. So the question is, does he actually think it was a mouse? Or does he think Rosa cut the wire? And if Rosa did cut the wire, then why? To distract them while she goes after her mom's car?

In the big Liz/Helena argument, Helena calls Max “a güerito cop”.  Güero means white person, similar to the more commonly used gringo.  But by adding the “ito” onto the end (like discussed before), Helena is basically diminuitizing Max.  She’s using the “smallness” above to basically imply that he’s some white nobody.

“I may not be the PTA mom who made cookies for bake sales or hosted sleepovers, but I sacrificed everything to come to this country to give you a better life.”

This is...not actually true.  Liz and Rosa are both natural born U.S. citizens, born in Roswell.  So she didn’t “come to this country” for that reason. She was already here when Liz and Rosa came into the picture.  And it’s not like she came pregnant with Rosa or anything, since Rosa is Jim Valenti’s daughter.

The ring that Helena took was ARTURO'S mother's ring.  It wasn't even Helena's family's heirloom.   

Liz and Arturo sharing flan for dessert.  At the start of the episode before Helena arrived they discussed making flan for Rosa.

Arturo admits that he always knew the truth about Rosa's heritage. (*fistpump* that's one of my headcanons coming true). 

"Rosa es mi hija, siempre y para toda la vida."

Rosa is my daughter, always and for life.

"Maybe you're right. I am playing the hero. Just like you're playing the politician's perfect arm candy.  See, I did a little digging. And your boyfriend, Dirk-- he ran for city council. It's very impressive. But there's no mention of your daughters. I'm guessing Dirk doesn't even know about Liz or Rosa.  Does he know anything about you, Helena? 'Cause it would be such a shame if he found out about a little town called Roswell."

Helena gives Max the ring, but keeps the box… maybe that's what Helena really wanted?

Huevos = eggs.  Basically, slang for balls.

"I know that face.  You uncovered a massive conspiracy."

"I checked the Caulfield drives. No sign of a Patricia DeLuca, but there was a Patricia Harris. Her maiden name. She signed up to participate in an experimental trial. Government was interested in weaponizing alien abilities. They wanted to create super soldiers. Your grandma was one of the first human subjects."

"Kind of wish I was an alien instead."

"What happened to the experiment?"

"It was a total failure. Caulfield shut it down in the '70s after people started dying. I don't understand how your grandmother got involved."

"I do. Henrietta Lacks, Tuskegee, Holmesburg.  The DeLucas aren't the first black people to be secretly experimented on."

Highly encourage you to read these if you're unfamiliar with any of these references.  It's African-American history (and really a black mark on U.S. history) that's rarely taught in schools.

Henrietta Lacks:

Tuskegee:

Holmesburg:

Reality versus Maria's flashes… great gifset by @rosaortecho on this here:

Kyle rips his jacket, staggers out to the parking lot, drops his keys, and is almost hit by a car, but Michael throws him out of the way with his powers (and Kyle still ends up injured because he lands on a glass bottle).

"Now that we know your illness is related to Caulfield we can find a cure for it."

"Maybe it's not an illness. I saw the future today, Guerin. When I first found out Grandma Patty was experimented on, I was furious.  But what if my genetic inheritance isn't just injustice? It's also actual superpowers. Saved a life today. And not just any life-- Kyle Valenti's. Tomorrow he's gonna turn around and save five more lives."

Liz and Rosa's dueling big sister act is super fascinating.  Rosa admits that she wasn't going to burn the car, and then she saw Liz crying, felt helpless, and that's when her powers went all wacky and caused it to explode.

Meanwhile, Liz has spent the whole episode trying to keep Rosa safe from Helena, and is trying to comfort her here by talking about Helena's sobriety.

But--Rosa stole Helena's pills, so she knows Helena is not sober, and she doesn't tell Liz that.  Why? To protect her.

At some point these two should probably stop keeping secrets to protect each other and start actually sharing what they know.

Kyle stitches himself up.

Steph quoted in this scene:

"I was up in the gallery contemplating American downfall thanks to progressive socialism."

"People tend to bail when things get real. I'm not into that."

Cameron's car was impounded a couple hours away.

Max is turning in his badge and gun and is turning down desk duty to search for Cam.

Isobel and Michael's discussion at the Pony:

"Do you think that Noah chose me because I was already broken?"

"I think you are the only one of us who ever keeps it together."

"I'm serious, Michael. The night that drifter attacked me, why am I the only one who started blacking out? I mean, Max literally murdered a man, but I'm the one who breaks?"

"You were traumatized. We were kids. At that age, trauma gets etched on to your soul."

"But what if it's not in my soul? What if it's in my DNA? Look, my whole life, I've played Stepford wife, because I thought that's what I was supposed to do. But...I need to understand myself now. I need to know where I'm from.  And if I don't know who my biological parents are, how am I ever gonna know who I really am?" 

"What are you saying, Iz?"

"I know that we said we shouldn't look into the past, but…"

"It keeps pulling you back. Me too. I spent my whole life thinking I'd build a ship and blast off into the ether. And then the minute I decide to leave that all behind and focus on this good thing in front of me, I'm sucked back in. Maria's family was experimented on at Caulfield. I need to find out more so I can find a cure for her illness."

Rosa takes one of her mom's pills. 😭

MUSIC:

1. Cactus Groove "This World"

2. Shelly Fairchild "Drive"

3. Mathis Hunter "Mrs. Vinegar"

4. Big Stone City "Good For Zero"

5. Big Stone City "Way Down Below"

6. Selena "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom"

7. Elizabeth Moen "Best I Can Do"

8. Wagons "Keep Coming Back"

9. AG "Where Is My Mind" (Pixies Cover)

[tarithenurse]

Orphan - 5

Starring:  Fem!Reader and MCU characters! Contents: Spoilers for Endgame!! Good intentions, awkwardness, feels. A/N: PREVIOUS CHAPTERS can be found on the masterlist. Thanks for likes and reblogs and comments <3

5. Tea and Fate

There’s a fuzziness enveloping your mind that makes everything appear to happen at a slower pace than usual, voices distant and warped. You have to force every movement before your body begrudgingly accepts to carry it out, clumsily too, so it’s a miracle you don’t break anything before breakfast is over. At least the two big kids seem to be similarly slow this morning. Why’s he so hyper? Glancing at the little Nathaniel over your cup of coffee, it strikes you as unnatural how he can be so cheerful, constantly babbling about the things he is planning to do during the day as he bounces on the chair.

“– and then can we go down t’the creek and catch tadpol’th? You wanna come, [Y/N]?”

Huge, pleading eyes are staring at you and suddenly it makes sense when people talk about puppy eyes because not even a golden retriever would be able to reach the levels of cuteness the sticky, noisy kid just achieved. Scrambling for words (preferably a nice way to turn him down), you find yourself stuttering and mumbling before Laura saves you.

“There won’t be any tadpoles now, sweetie. It’s fall, and they’ve all grown up into toads and frogs.” She glances at you with an apologetic smile. “And I think, perhaps, [Y/N] needs a bit of time to get used to being here.”

What I need is a nap. Instead of saying it, you just nod with an attempt at a noncommitting smile that might not have amounted to anything more than a grimace of questionable characteristic. A nap and a plan.

 …   Morgan   …

Uncle Rhodes and mommy have gone into the kitchen and shut the door, leaving Happy as the only entertainment.

“I’m booooooored!” Morgan mutters, mainly to herself because the first attempts at getting the gummy-bear of a man to play with her have failed already. “Can I go play on my own?”

It takes a moment for him to react. “Huh? What, yeah…just stay in the house, ‘kay bug?”

She answers with a cheer and a wave, already bouncing up the stairs to fetch her favourite teddy bear and the space stone from aunt Nebula – you never know what you’re going to need when going on an adventure (even if it’s indoors).

…

Someway or other, Morgan doesn’t quite know how, the exploration has brought her to daddy’s work room where the broad table hums invitingly. He never keeps any of his tools in the house, they’ve all been banished to the shed except this one and all the boring books and papers. Sure enough. Resting the chin on the edge of the humming piece of furniture, she can see a stack of folders on one side and a few scraps with scribbles and lines looking like a robot…or a dog.

Daddy’s things aren’t toys. Crawling up into the soft swivel chair, she enjoys a few rounds before allowing the two treasures to take part in the joy of the secret carousel…now and then stealing a glance between the messy strands of hair at the table. Not toys.

He has used it so many times even with Morgan around. A pat in that corner. A wave of the hand. Blue light fills the room in the middle of the day, making the girl think of the swimming pool at grandma’s and grandpa’s.

“Hello, Morgan.”

The voice is so nice and sweet even if the little girl just did something she isn’t supposed to. “Hi, Fwiday.” Morgan doesn’t blush. Almost never.

“What can I help you with, sweetheart?”

The answering question pops out all on its own. “Where’s dad? Mom keeps cwying ‘cause he’s gone.”

“Oh, sweetie…”

 …   Reader   …

You had never quite imagined that you’d be doing a conference call with a handful of heroes while sitting on the hood of an old John Deere in a barn. There’s a shit ton of things I’ve never imagined. Looking over at Clint, sprawled in the seat and with the feet up on the steering wheel, you could almost be lulled into a sense of calm. That things aren’t completely deranged.

Time and again, you’ve felt like an amateur ice dancer trying to keep your life in balance despite the odds so you shouldn’t be feeling as lost as you do. And still…this time you have no counterweight, no place to call home and no person to guide you through the fog. The voices are familiar, in some twisted kind of way, talking gently as if that magically will calm your nerves…but they don’t know how it does exactly the opposite because they sound condescending just like the overbearing social workers and potential adoptive parents that turned you down for no other reason than being too old. For not looking enough like them that you could pass as their “real” kid on a photograph.

“She’s gotten a copy of the files,” Rhodes is explaining, “to go over with her attorney.”

To see if I’m good enough, if she really has to be stuck with me? “Why?” The question leaves the line silent. “I’m not asking for inheritance…or to be part of her life! I just...”

The sympathetic look Clint gives you is almost worse than the unanswered questions and you close your eyes to it. Deep breaths. Pictures of Tony Stark dance in your mind together with memories of your mother, each of them sporting features that you would be able to point out when looking in a mirror. Like when I was a kid.

Time and again, before the aliens attacked New York, you had conjured up an imaginary world where you had both a mom and a dad – the latter being none other than Tony Stark. In that world, you all lived together, and your mom would say that you had her looks and your dad’s smarts which would make him laugh and pull both of you into a hug. In that fairy-tale –

A hand brushes your arm gingerly, waking you with a start from the reveries – lost long ago in the smouldering rubble of a tiny apartment – to find Clint’s face a foot from yours. Keen eyes study every twitch of the brow, maybe even counting the blackheads on your nose, and you pull back in annoyance.

“Y’okay there?” he asks low enough that people listening in won’t hear.

What do you care? “Sure.” Clearing you voice, it’s all you can do to return the attention to the phone. “As I said…I just needed to know if it was true.”

“If need be, would you be willing to do a DNA-test?” You already recognize the voice as the Hulk’s.

A non-committal shrug before you realize they can’t see it. “Sure.”

…

From your spot on the bed on the second floor, you can look out over the field stretching towards the forest. Everything is drenched, covered by sheer greyness that makes the grasses bow and the fallen leaves stick to each other as if hoping the wind won’t be able to move them. The sun is setting somewhere beyond this drab world, but no colours of rose gold and purple reach this far to warm your body now the layers of borrowed clothes and a musty blanket don’t cut it.

You can hear the bubbling giggle that erupts sporadically from Nathaniel. This time you hear Cooper too, a boyish version of his mother…when he can drag himself out of the teenage moods, at least. He’s not that bad, according to your limited experience of kids in full families, just kind of sullen with a tendency to walk away when bothered. Like whenever I enter the room. He’d barely stayed in the seat to finish breakfast. At lunch he’d walked in, seen you, and declared not to be hungry before leaving.

Some people might think it was a relief that Lila sat through the meal, but the glaring was tough to ignore. What’ve I done to them? Your eyes prickle dangerously, and your nose is close to dripping too, callously ignoring the deep breaths and stubborn, unspoken promises that you don’t care. I don’t. It’s not like you haven’t gone through these things before back when you were their age, finding kids scowling at you for no apparent reasons. It’s better than pity. There’s plenty of that to go around and –

*knock knock*

Startled by the sound, body trying to crawl in on itself to feel small and inconspicuous, you hold your breath in the hopes that you heard wrong, but it happens again. Slow but resolute knocking.

“[Y/N]?” Even though she’s rarely spoken to you, the voice of Lila is easily recognizable. “Can I…is’t okay if I c’m’in?”

I’m an adult. I gotta act like one. Any wetness by the eyes is hastily rubbed away. “Sure.” Clear and steady.

The door creaks after ears of disuse, allowing the appearance of the back of Lila’s shoulder as she slides the elbow off the handle. Huh? The moment there’s room, she turns to reveal a little tray with two enormous cups of something steaming and a little tray of cookies. A shy smile, shoulders carefully rising before being lowered with a newfound confidence as you return the silent greeting by making room on the bed for the girl.

Outside, the rain fights to break the grey haze obscuring the world but in reality adding to it. The flaming colours that had managed to maintain a desperate hold on the twigs so far are disappearing in an early dusk. A moment ago that misery had your attention, resonating within, now it’s chased away by an awkward, lanky girl sitting cross-legged before you while apologizing for the lack of milk.

“Hey! It’s okay,” you manage to interrupt her at a break for air, “I’ll drink it any which way, so thanks…”

“Good, good…”

Drops pummel the window. Tea scent heats your faces causing a new flush to be added to Lila’s cheeks. Good tea, as if that’s the reason you feel guilt gnawing for the negativity against the girl…a negativity that evaporates like the steam curling above the hot liquid.

“I’m sorry,” Lila admits, and you’re not sure why even though you have an idea, “I…Cooper and me…” For a moment all her attention seems to be on the cookie she steeps in the mug. Seems. “I’ve been a jerk, haven’t I?”

Alright! Up front now! “Maybe. I guess I’ve been too...” Sharing a glance you recognize some of Clint in the way she takes in every detail. “So this is like…a truce? Ceasefire?”

“Hoped so.”

You can’t hug it out with her. There’s been too many fake hugs in your life from people who claimed they’d be there for you. Lila doesn’t promise anything except to try to be decent and that’s something you can mirror. Good thing too. You’ve got nothing else to offer.

“– they say I need to start school Monday.” Clearly, you’ve missed the start of whatever the middle Barton kid’s saying, but you can fill it out. “I’m gonna be like the only senior from my year left! Can you imagine?”

“A little, maybe. People did stare a shitlo–…sorry…a lot at uni. But hey! At least the sophomore was only surprised when I appeared on his lap. At first.”

“Nooo!” Wide eyes followed by a crinkle of amusement. “Was he hot?”

What?! That line of thought had never occurred to you. “Uhm…I don’t actually remember, I’m just glad he didn’t push me onto the floor.”

There’s a tiny snort of giggles, “Hey, welcome back! Yeet!” Her tea almost spills as she imitates the student forcibly tossing you aside.

[cowboyruckus]

this isn’t really a headcanon, but i don’t have an appropriate banner for like... observations or meta.  and i will say here and now that the only person i will ever ship echo with is dorie. cuz i know she’ll give it the respect and care it deserves that the show really hasn’t.  there is one thing that really unsettles me about echo and really liz in general and i’m starting to figure out what that thing is. it’s that she has 100% total control in her relationship with max. and honestly a female partner in a heterosexual relationship having control is obviously not inherently a bad thing. it’s a really really good thing when it means that both partners are on equal footing. but there is a horrific power imbalance here where liz ortecho has all of it, and max evans has none. none at all. he’d jump off a cliff if she mentioned the rocks looked cool at the bottom, and it’s very unhealthy.  but max and liz have never been on equal footing. he has been completely at her mercy since they met when they were children. the thing is that he’s given her his power willingly. he’s let her control his entire life, even after she leaves him behind after rosa’s death.  i mean think about it. did max have any plans after high school? not really. he wanted to write. maybe write a book. but that’s pretty vague and not much of an ambition. he’s pretty much coasting the entire time because ALL of his focus is on liz or to a lesser extent on michael and isobel. but the very minute it starts looking like liz might return some of his feelings all of a sudden he’s going to ‘follow her anywhere’ and do whatever she wants to do. he’s going to make her plans his for the foreseeable future.  and the show frames this with the new mexico sunset and novo amor in the background as this really sweet and romantic thing, but really what they’ve done for two seasons is make max’s entire character completely dependent on liz ortecho. 

max has codependent tendencies. you can see it with isobel, and you can see it with liz. he gets this really unhealthy attachment to people he’s close to, up to and including sacrificing his own life, his sanity, his safety for something that might bring a moment of happiness and completely disregarding the FAR REACHING consequences of that action. ie. rosa’s resurrection. was that a good idea for anyone? absolutely not. but he wasn’t thinking about that. he was thinking that he wanted to make liz happy, and that blinded him to all of the second and third order effects that would occur from bringing a 19 year old drug addict back to life after 10 years in a town that hated her.  and then in season 2 we get all these little instances of liz exerting control over his life like, NUMERO UNO, BRINGING HIM BACK TO LIFE AFTER HE EXPLICITLY ASKED NOT TO BE BROUGHT BACK!!!!! like idk about you but i think the issue of consent is very much ignored here and it makes me uncomfortable. i wanted max back as much as anyone but she was grasping at straws looking for reasons to ignore what he said he wanted. he even pulled his own life support plug and she didn’t get the message. because she wanted him back. didn’t care what he wanted. didn’t care that she’d spent almost the entirety of the time they’ve known one another giving him signals that she does not want him (that’s another thing that bothers me, that for almost 20 years she has looked at and treated him as nothing more than her friend and it was only after she figured out her high school boyfriend was a massive dick after god knows how long that she decided she’d give max a go). no, what max wants has never ever mattered to her.  we get her bossing him around over his health because he’s letting her scold him for drinking coffee with caffeine and gasp exercising!!! we get her scolding him for trying to protect people which is the literal only thing he’s ever expressed any real passion and ambition for (the writing thing doesn’t count, he talks about it but never really does it besides his journaling). we get her stealing his and noah’s dna WITHOUT PERMISSION OR CONSENT AGAIN to conduct alien science experiments, but this time it’s not just to be used on other aliens, she’s planning on using her miracle drug on a human person who has no idea aliens exist, which. why? the random nobody character the cw added just so liz could try to market alien cure-alls behind max’s back and in spite of the risk to him and his family? she repeatedly minimizes his concerns about his alien business even though in reality it has absolutely nothing at all to do with her, like scolding him again for being open and honest with her about how he feels having his sister isobel stripped away from him in the span of a few hours (and btw she was the only thing that kept him sane and any form of ok while they were growing up, her love was the only thing he had to hold onto and now it’s gone) because ‘ur not alone, i’m right here!!!!!’ like that wasn’t simply not true for 20 years. i mean come on, he wasn’t even one of her best friends he was literally the guy she rebounded on when she had a bad day. she used him to make her feel better and never provided him any kind of support or affection in return because it was obvious he was hopelessly in love with her and would do whatever she needed without question. and then she scolds him again for being upset about her conducting secret alien experiments WITH HIS DNA SHE DIDN’T HAVE HIS PERMISSION TO USE becuz ‘it’s not gonna fall out of my hands!’  liz. babee. you idiot. i know you know that’s not how that works. i know you know you can’t possibly guarantee that you can protect him if you expose his secrets to a world that isn’t ready for them. i know you know that. so how dare you try to make him out to be the bad guy because he’s rightfully afraid of how HIS FAMILY will be tortured when they are discovered because of your reckless, careless handling of their lives. we all know how the aliens were treated at caulfield. that’s what will happen to them if you let his dna that you stole get loose. and trust me, you won’t have a choice. someone will take it from you.  but really the root of all this is that max allows elizabeth ortecho to bulldoze him, to talk over him, to dictate how he feels and what he does and how he conducts himself because he’s obsessed with her in an unhealthy way. and she encourages it. she allows it. and she makes it worse. he’s codependent on his sister, he’s codependent on liz. but the thing about isobel is that she’s codependent on him too. liz isn’t. she makes it very clear that she is fully capable of functioning on her own as an independent person without his support. which is perfectly fine and healthy for anyone, but he is incapable of doing the same. and she doesn’t make any effort to help him do this. instead, she exacerbates his dependence on her by gaslighting him and taking advantage of his submissive nature and keeping him out of the loop on decisions she makes regarding HIS medical issues (the alien killing serum. the dna experiments to cure hospital girl).  do i think she does this on purpose? no. do i think she even realizes she’s doing it? no. but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s being done and it’s really starting to make me uncomfortable. because max has displayed time and again how far he’s willing to go for liz ortecho, but liz ortecho hasn’t yet displayed to me how far she’s willing to go for max evans. she’s displayed how far she’s willing to go for liz ortecho. she didn’t bring him back for him. she brought him back for her.