#you're mostly not wrong but i think this is an approach to understanding fiction that's very limited in utility

[whetstonefires]

I will say I have no real problem being okay with Chrestomanci being a positive figure who also believes in spanking for extreme misbehavior (iirc the thing Cat gets hit for is having supposedly committed assault on one of the servants and Gwendolyn was also getting spanked for something that could probably get her sent to jail) because the setting is a pseudo-edwardian one where it would be sort of weird if he didn't consider that an option on the table, and he is at no point intended to be read as a flawless person.

In fact, the plot of Charmed Life is in many ways Christopher Chant mishandling the interpersonal situation until it escalates to murder and insurrection.

The physical chastisement explicitly was the wrong thing to do, and achieved the opposite of his aims, and he apologizes later, albeit very casually.

The plot of Lives of Christopher Chant, his origin story, is even more emphatically the story of Christopher making bad decisions about who to trust and communicating very badly, until everything reaches a crisis point. Conrad's Fate also features Christopher largely making situations worse.

He's good at his job and generally means well on the whole, but he's very intentionally written as kind of a dick who's capable of charm but not actually good with people, and is used to getting his way.

On the other hand, the backstory book was written later and one of the few ways his parents didn't fuck up was they never hit him, and no one at his boarding school did either, which retroactively makes the ear-boxing scene in Charmed Life more bizarre. I think he gets hit once in the whole book. Outside of being killed; the cricket bat incident doesn't count.

Also there is internalized sexism in it, sometimes it really pops, but the recurring motif of very fake very pretty extremely controlling women as her main style of female villain is also very much a realistic depiction of what the most effective female abusers act like, and how they get away with it. I'm partway through T. Kingfisher's new A Sorceress Comes to Call that's built around such a villain for the same reasons.

(There are male villains in Jones' books built on the same model, like Uncle Ralph, doing the same things but with slightly different tools because gender affects your practical options in a gendered society.)

Which I think is very appropriate for children's fiction? Children are the people most likely to experience this form of abuse and need perspective on it.

Because a lot of Jones' work is in the same category as like, Steven Universe, where if you forget the intended audience is under the age of thirteen and it is largely concerned with the kinds of life experiences you have as a child, you will have trouble reading it in good faith.

The bit I always struggle with is the bigtime of-her-generation belief that the ideal male love interest is about ten to fifteen years older than the heroine, apparently so he can be masculinely high-handed and confident and mildly condescending, and it's justified by the difference in life experience rather than just his being a prick, a strongminded woman can believably live with it.

And like, this formula is not dead; Naomi Novik has at least two instances of this kind of 'ship in work published since Jones died, although with massively larger age gaps because the annoying men are magic. But it's not usually pursued with intensity anymore outside of contexts where the power difference is being fairly explicitly eroticized, so when you see women of her generation upholding it as aspirational in normal contexts, it is very uncomfortable from a modern feminist perspective.

seeing ppl holding up Diana Wynne Jones as a more progressive alternative to JKR when u know the Terrible Secret (that 1 instance of egregious homophobia) but there's no point bringing it up bcos it's in 1 single instance in a book that's out of print so who gives a shit but also like. you know.

[votive-candle]

So I've been considering a rebrand on this blog for a long time for "professional" reasons... like changing my username, making an official portfolio with my name to it elsewhere, etc.

This idea has been mostly motivated by this deep insecurity I have surrounding what I would say is either NSFW work, suggestive art, "fangirl" energy, all that. And it's... frustrating, to say the least. And difficult express in a way that's coherent. Because my personal feelings are that art, even art that within the sphere of industry that I want to approach (ie. game art & story design, character writing and so on), should not have to be confined within this box of "sensibilities" that I'm told it should be.

If I was doing fine art like painting, or making installations, or sculpture, I get a sense that this puritanical ideology of self-censorship would not be expected of me. I also get a sense that if I was born male and lived as a man, there would be different industry expectations of me also. If I was a cis dude I don't think a game director would mind if I had a portfolio full to the brim with borderline naked, hypersexualised women and girls with big swords and huge racks (no shade, big boobs and big swords are fun and cool). But -- and again I don't have evidence of this, it's just a hunch -- I somehow get this idea that the way I approach drawing masculine figures? The way I write and express myself through, and speak about characters? The sexually explicit artwork I've drawn over the years, which majoritively does not even show genitalia? I get this gut feeling that this would be much less... palatable (?) in the industry for commercial, media focused art.

I've been drawing sexual content since I was a teen fangirl and I think it's really strange that somehow, as I get older and more mature (and I'm serious here, like really, let that sink in? I was told directly "you're not a kid anymore, potential employers won't like this" in response to shipping art an old tutor saw me post online a few years back?), it's considered in many ways less appropriate for me to produce explicit or sexually themed artwork. Particularly when that art has that air of "fangirl" (or "fan-person" in regards to myself) around it. Because "fangirls" aren't professional, are they? They're vapid, of course. They don't consume art meaningfully, not like strong, stoic men do. No, they just want their shipping and their coffeeshop AU's and their moodboards, and there's nothing creative in that, is there? No "professional practice" there.

I just find that... baffling

I'm speaking from the perspective of someone who is borderline asexual on that spectrum, and always has been. Somehow, professionalism is partly hinged on making your art less exploratory of adult themes, once you become an adult, once you're old enough to understand and properly illustrate the importance of adult themes. Isn't that strange to anyone else? Because to me it feels wrong.

Like I said, I'm borderline asexual. I don't draw sexual content to get my rocks off. I draw it because I find physical intimacy to be one of the most multifascited expressions of humanity between people. Sex and sexuality are so dynamic in their capacity for storytelling. With it (and safely so through fiction, if you're careful about it), you can express and explore so much; passion obviously, love, but also sadness and grief and condolence, malice and rage, heartbreak, self-destruction, self-improvement, excitement, fun, even just friendship.

Sex is beautifully dynamic from a humanistic standpoint. It shouldn't need to be considered this looming force of demonitisation, or an industry blockade. And I understand I have drawings that are too graphic, too NSFW to put in a professional portfolio, to leave online for employers to see. But I'm not even talking about smut here.

Majoritively, I really don't want to distance myself from a lot of this work I've created. It means something to me dude, because these characters and stories mean something to me. Sometimes the drawing itself is just... a technically well executed drawing. I don't want to revoke that because there's an implication of "ooh, someone's touching ass, breast and dick in there!"

Yet by expressing my excitement over that, I do feel cornered. Like I'll never get hired anywhere. Which isn't easy given the struggles I already have with disability, mental health, etc. So I feel a need to sort of give in and retcon a lot of my posts.

I don't like that finding work in the fields I'm interested in kind of hinges on a lack of self-expression, I suppose. I find it bitterly ironic since I want to work in creative fields. It feels like a betrayal of the self and of the purpose of art and good media for grown individuals.

But hey, I guess that's capitalism, baby.

This blog might change a bit in the near or semi-near future. Maybe a new username or profile pic, I'm not sure yet. Maybe a second blog will pop up somewhere. I just wanted to vent a bit on my disdain in having to make these decisions. Beg your pardon.

[lemony-snickers]

hey lem. any hc’s for kakashi with an s/o who’s dealing with a lot of guilt/regret that kind of stuff? ik you’re not writing a lot of things right now but I’m searching for comforting thoughts from a fictional man bc I don’t really deserve it from anyone real right now

well, for sure kakashi understands, doesn't he? there are few people who have such an intimate grasp of guilt or regret as the copy ninja. he's struggled with those feelings pretty much his entire life.

he notices something is wrong pretty much right away. kakashi is very perceptive, recognizes even the slightest change in your mood or demanor, sometimes before even you do. but he'll wait for you to approach him unless he thinks the situation is untenable. he's not pushy or demanding about these things--everyone has the right to keep their thoughts or feelings private if they want to.

the only time he might intervene and force the issue is if he notices a negative impact to your daily life. your relationships. if you're withdrawing too much from friends or family, ignoring your basic needs because of it, then he's going to have to say something.

there is nothing kakashi hates more than watching you struggle, especially if he might be able to help.

otherwise, he's a very patient man and he knows you'll come to him when you're ready. and when that time comes, he'll be prepared to listen. nowhere to be that is more important, nothing to do more pressing than to hear you out. let you talk as long as you need.

he'll make your favorite warm beverage, hold you if you cry (and even if you don't, let's be real, kakashi loves physical contact with his partner, it's so important to him to show you he cares in that way).

and whatever you're feeling guilty about, whatever is causing this overwhelming sense of regret, kakashi wants to hear all of it. don't hold anything back from him, no matter how ugly it feels to reveal. kakashi knows all too well how the bile rises in your throat, sours your tongue. he's felt the same so many times.

he also knows how sweet the relief afterward can be. how good it feels when you reassure him when he reveals his deepest, darkest regrets to you.

now he wants to do the same for you. to remind you that just because you made a mistake or a poor choice or even if you were consciously cruel, it does not mean you are not worthy of his love. does not mean your friends and family will not forgive you with time.

that you cannot forgive yourself.

kakashi is living proof of that--proof that a person does not have to be defined by their mistakes, no matter how egregious. he knows you will move beyond this, knows you will be okay. and he'll be right by your side to make sure.

he'll offer advice if you want it, but mostly kakashi is just there to listen, to comfort. to remind you you are loved, no matter what.

it's easy to see the ugliness in yourself when you make a mistake or do something hurtful to those around you. so he'll always be there to remind you of the goodness--the beauty--in you, too.

[willthespy]

just like. correction. there's no law against writing or drawing sexual stuff with underage characters. idk about where you live but there's a definition of a "real minor" which fictional characters are not. percy jackson is not a real minor, nico di angelo is not a real minor, leo valdez is not a real minor etc

if it was 'against the law', plenty of printed literature that works with topics of csa would be outlawed and censored. it is not.

i understand that you have a personal moral distrust towards authors who explore sexuality and sex in underage ship, that's your personal right. it's a logical fallacy to assume that adults who writes about the sexual life of teenagers are all creeps and it's dangerous to approach literature this way. teenagers fuck. it happens. the adults writing those fics used to be teenagers too. not everything that involves sexual exploration in fiction is written with a creepy intent. and we aren't even talking about real fucking teenagers. we're talking about some half-done concepts from a book.

that's it ig. i wanted to point out that you're fearmongering and are factually wrong. you can be morally against something and curate your experience but you don't need to scare people into being afraid of going to jail because they wrote a solangelo sex scene or smth. they genuinely won't.

take care

hey i was mostly talking about drawn stuff which there are laws for!!/nm i think i made a post on that with the whole law a while ago.

honestly about the written stuff i cant say much, but i think my biggest problem with the drawn stuff is that it is against internet rules and also the law if they are minors (drawn or not). of course its not that black and white and you wont ‘just get arrested’ but there is a law against it just like theres a law against piracy or public misdemeanor.

will you get arrested? no. is it against the law? depends where youre from, really. i def didnt say they would go to jail, but i ‘factually’ there are laws against it.

to get more into the ‘written’/fanfiction part… there’s many different laws for many different places, but it’s definitely illegal in some places. its in most cases of all those types (written vs drawn) more often the publishing that’s illegal, but like I said, you won’t just straight up go to jail. my biggest point has never been «youre bad youre gonna go to jail», it was that it was low key weird that youre imagining canon minors (not aged up) in sexual situations. not that those situations can’t be there (it’s pretty natural), but that you shouldn’t be publishing that crap as an adult/for adults because that is a tad bit odd. if it were any normal book (non-fanfiction) it’d just be them writing about children getting freaky n all. that’s the plot. to rhyme that, i do think it is odd.

and most of this isnt «exploring sexual relationships». trust me, ive seen some crazy explanations for why it should be correct and some included; «we are freaks on this app, we do what we want, we enjoy this because we can» etcetera. now even those arguments are not important, cause my point on that point is that exploring sexual relationships isnt the point, really. it’s entertainment made up of two (not aged up) underage characters, most often for adult’s pleasure/entertainment.

anyway i was kinda done talking about this but i get that you might have thought i was fear mongering? but i truly never said «hey did you know you and your ao3 buddy will be cellmates?» because i didnt. /nm

[thedunesea]

Hi. How’s your day?

I just want to say I mostly agree with your post about AI writing. I am a student from science background but is enthusiastic about fictions. Also my native tongue is NOT English.

Because of my……rather unique background knowledge, I feel like I have a “weird” stand about AI writing. I feel like 99% people I know use AI writing tools wrong, either they don’t know how to structure their story, how to create conflicts, or how to communicate with AI writing tools.

In summary, they’re either bad at storytelling or bad at using AI tools.

In fact, I use AI writing tools just like your post suggested—I mainly tell them what sentences I would use to describe the scenery, and see if they have better wording than mine. Or I would ask them which adjectives to use here, as google translate is dumb. Or I would ask if a scene which is not from my own culture make sense, as I don’t want to bother any online folks on this matter.

Your post made me feel less guilty about using the tools. I am not sure whether or not it’s a good thing tbh but thank you. I wanted to have some research about this topic, but I got yelled by people’s angry anti-AI writing posts in my face on tumblr most of the time. Like—I get it, but I wonder am I the only one who has the similar idea on this topic? Then I found your post.

I feel like my main concern now is—by using those tools, am I making the “evil” in others’ eyes stronger? As there are news about AI writing tools using online fanfics to train their models, the tools themselves might be unethical.

Thank you again and hope you don’t mistake my message……I’m here to say “thank you” and try to have some conversations over AI writing.

Hello friend, I'm doing fine, thanks, even if quite busy with the end of the school year approaching. I hope you're doing fine too!

I completely understand your fears and your reserves, and I share them. I think that the issue at hand here has two faces we need to tackle. The first is the tool, i.e. artificial intelligence chat bots; the other issue, the really problematic issue, is the way these bots were trained.

My foray into chat gpt was as a teacher, not as a writer: I needed to assess the potentialities and the drawbacks of the tool, since I'm fairly sure I will soon have to account for it when preparing my courses and perhaps even to integrate it into my teaching routine.

I do think that the tool, if used properly, could be really useful for teaching and learning, and also for everyday life. It's like having a very calm, very proper, very family friendly protocol droid. You have to take everything it says with a grain of salt, but it can help you get what you need (i.e. starter bibliography on a topic you aren't familiar with). It can also be invaluable for the uses you described. AI isn't inherently evil, if (and this is a HUGE if) we regulate its uses in order to let it substitute human work only when that work force can be redirected towards more engaging and more useful tasks, and never as a substitute to human knowledge and creativity.

What is evil is the economic system we live in, and this brings us to the second issue. Chatgpt was trained on data provided for free on the web, data that were never meant for this. This in itself is unethical, and a gross misuse of the web. Honestly I don't care that my fics may have been scrapped, but I understand why people do, and anyway my own feelings on the subject are way beyond the point: this is another egregious example of corporations using people's time and engagement to scrap data and profit, and this is one of the evils of our time.

And yet we keep using evil tools all the time. I use whatsapp, and I still have a facebook profile, so I'm feeding data to meta. I am not vegan, and I know all the evils of intensive animal farming. I don't buy a lot of fast fashion, and yet all my clothes are made in developing countries, and I have no idea of the conditions of the workers there. Heck, the fridge I just bought because the old one broke down is produced by a company that used to produce in Italy but then delocalized to a developing country, firing hundreds of employees.

I couldn't have bought an ethical fridge: I don't even know if they exist, and even if they did, I couldn't afford them. I absolutely couldn't afford to only buy clothes made in Italy or Europe. I could go vegan, but honestly I don't really want to. I eat meat very rarely, I only eat local fish (by which I mean fished in Italy, I don't live on the sea) and I buy eggs from certified cage-free hens. I could get rid of whatsapp, but it would complicate my life to an extreme I am not willing to go to. I can't give up google suite because I use it for work.

One thing I don't do, for example, is order delivery food. That is a form of exploitation I choose not to partake in, because it's a choice I can make. Would I want to have pizza delivered to my house sometime? Yes, of course I would. Am I willing to put at risk the life of someone less privileged than me (delivery people here are mostly immigrants, often 40+ years old) to have my pizza delivered to me instead of getting off my ass and going to buy it myself to take away? No, like hell I am!

Why am I saying all this?

Because until I only buy handmade clothes and locally produced foods, only own ethically produced tech (HA!), never use products from meta or google again... Until then, who am I to lecture anyone on their use of chat gpt?

We live in an unethical world. This doesn't make us above reproach, but we have to choose our battles, and very few of us are really in a position to hate on others for the battles they choose - and those they don't.

If chat gpt helps you, get to know its pros and its cons: if using it doesn't bother you, use it! Chances are that the people that would get mad at you are probably using something unethical too - like driking milk, because the disboscation and pollution and soil consumption that are needed to produce our milk are far worse things than a bot scrapping the ao3.

I am sorry for the ramble, and I hope I didn't come across as patronizing: this wasn't really aimed at you, personally, it was more like a written train of thoughts, because honestly I asked myself the same questions you did when I started to think about if and how to incorporate these bots into my teaching routine, and this is the only answer I could find for myself.

[for the record, I won't use it for teaching, not yet: I want to get to know the tool and its training and all these issues way better before I decide to willingly expose my kids to it]

[onewomancitadel]

Kind of weird to wade through dark fiction vs. 'cosy' fiction discourse mostly because I think the discourse is rooted in the wrong idea (whether you find comfort in darkness or brightness). If your only metric is how much an individual piece of art caters to your own fantasies, of course you're going to end up in a squeeze over whether people find comfort in the 'right' things or if there are too many stories of 'one kind' (dark, cosy, whatever).

I know the much more scary thing is thinking about the artistic merit of art, so the retreat into personal escapism makes sense (especially when the emotional value of art is often celebrated on the basis of 'escapism'). I just think that it's natural that the debate becomes narrow; in my opinion, if something is worthy insofar as it's personally soothing, anything has the potential to be personally soothing. I find mind-bendingly harrowing cyberpunk soothing and comforting but I really don't like 'dark' unhappy romance (I can do tragic) because it thematically services different ideas, which make me feel different. But I doubt cyberpunk or horror is termed that way usually (maybe it's thought of as 'cool').

This is why I am not the sort that says 'we need more happy endings'. I need more coherent and justified endings. I need more understanding of the value of the happy ending and the transformation storytelling offers, and the vindication. My approach towards something like narrative cynicism is not 'hmm, I don't like sad things?' and I've said this over and over; tragedy should be structurally and cathartically intelligible, and where it so often goes wrong in cynical renderings is when it is neither (but desperately wants the substance of the genre).

My prevailing issues with the romance genre, say, are almost never solely rooted in the ubiquity of Happily Ever After or Happy For Now; I can understand why those vindicate the progression of the romance when it's not intentionally a dark or tragic romance. My issue is much more front-loaded on the basis of character, plot, and actual thematic substance. Lol. The average person who mocks women for reading romance novels, or romance being looked down on literarily, has very little in common with me.

Of course it's a much harder thing to think about the artistic merit of what essentially, often, amounts to escapist fantasy for a lot of people (and I'm not condemning the idea). I just think that it can end up in critical trouble pretty quickly. I'm much more interested in an author is trying to convey an idea and whether they are doing that well than I am as to how it affects the cosmic balance of dark vs. cosy literature/media. But it's a very basic thing to recognise that comfort is resonant in many different ways, and maybe isn't the best metric for whether something is like... justified in existing (and even then I think the whole mindset of scarcity in storytelling is a little weird. There are so many stories that need to be, and can be told. That's literally the point).

It's one of those topics where I think the argument goes around in circles because it's missing the bigger picture.

[divinefireangel]

Chair.

SF9 Yoo Taeyang x F! Reader Smut.

He does things to me I would not like to share 🤐🤤

Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction. If this piece of fan fiction is offensive to any celebrity, fandom or culture please let me know so I can take it down. Also note that this is my version of a character or celeb, which will vary from person to person.

Author's Note: OMFG this idea is so hot. But writing this was a challenge and I loved it! Thank you anon for giving me this challenge hehe 🥰. Umm as for the other stories, I will be updating them slowly from now on because I want to improve on my writing and give the fandom my best. 🥺💙 Hope you all understand. P. S. Thanks Rosie for choosing a Tae smut out of my list 😂

Copyright: Please note that this is my work and if you want to publish this on any other platform, take my permission before doing so. Taking an author's work and posting it somewhere else without any intimation is just disrespectful. I readily welcome suggestions and criticisms. That being said, Happy reading! 🤍

Warnings: 18+ ages and female anatomy (nothing specified with respect to appearance, etc of reader). Sexy YooTae. A fair warning. Sex on a chair, basically. Tbh in real life this shit may be risky as hell so please be careful. Dry humping. Marking, a lot. Biting. Scratching. Like 1 spank. A bit of exhibitionism. Riding Tae ;). Unprotected sex, let's assume reader is on birth control. I don't think I've missed any, but lmk if I need to add more.

Requested: Yes. By a very creative anon 🤭

Hii! Can you write a smut on YooTaeyang where they have chair sex?? 🥵🥵 OMG EVEN AT THE THOUGHT OF IT MAKES ME GO AKSHSKJDKDJD 🥵🥵

Me too anon. Me too. Hope you like it!

1.6k Words

You sat on the sofa situated at the side of the mostly empty practice room, scrolling through your phone mindlessly. The reason for you being there was so you could spend quality time with your boyfriend, Yoo Taeyang, who was trying to choreograph a new routine for his 'All by TY' series.

In all honesty, you thought quality time would have meant just the two of you in your bed, naked, wrapped up in sheets, feeling skin on skin and the only sounds heard would be skin slapping and your pleading moans. But instead you got, you on your phone and Taeyang in front of you, trying to come up with a new move using the armless chair with music blasting from the speakers.

Huffing you close your phone and throw it on the sofa, proceeding to run your hands through your hair. Looking in front, you saw Taeyang's well sculpted side profile, his strong jaw being the highlight. Your eyes fall to his visible collarbones. That tank top did nothing to hide his body, not that you were complaining right now. You observed the way his body moved with the beat of the song, getting hooked on every movement he made, every twist of his arm, every stretch his neck made. What made you lose the air from your lungs though, was the way he thrusted his hips up in the air, biceps flexing, bearing the weight of his body.

Chewing on the corner of your lip, you get up on your feet taking long strides towards Taeyang and stopping when you're next to him. Noticing you approaching him so suddenly he stops mid step, staring at you with curious eyes. Sitting down properly on the chair, Taeyang's right hand encloses around your left wrist, pulling you to stand in front of him.

"What's wrong? Are you bored? " caressing the back of your palm, he questions feeling a little guilty to be using your together time all for himself.

"A little. But I have a solution." Grabbing a hold of his shoulders for stability, you life your right leg first and move it beside his left hip. Next you life your left leg and put it on the opposite side of his lap, finally lowering down to sit on his lap. Sliding your hands up his hair you turn your heads to the side, closing your eyes as your lips connect in a breathless kiss.

Wrapping his arms protectively around your body he pulls you close enough to feel his chest on yours. Groaning in your mouth one of his hands moves to your hair, pulling you in for a deeper kiss. Threading his luscious locks that he's been growing out in between your fingers you roll your hips against his. Breaking the kiss at your action Taeyang sighs satisfactorily while mimicking your movements, realising how much he needs you.

You throw your head back after a particularly hard hump, gasping at the sensation of his semi hard cock on your clothed core. Pulling at his hair when he attaches his lips to the exposed skin of your neck you arch your back pressing into his body. Mouth falling open as you breathe in through it, feeling drugged as his lips placed love filled kisses from your neck to the central dip of your collarbones, finally giving you the attention you deserve.

Tugging at your top, Taeyang detaches his lips from your skin. "What about people? " you gasp out as he tries to remove your top. Nodding his head, he moves you to stand up so he can go to the door. Opening it slightly, he checks to see if anyone is too close to the room. Happy to find no one around, he closes the door, latching it secure. Removing his tank top he turns to face you. Dropping it on the ground he finds himself getting intoxicated looking at your naked figure, for you had removed your clothes as he was making sure you won't get caught.

"What if someone was near the door? Hmm? " He asks pressing his naked front to yours. Wrapping his arms tightly around your waist, he bends down to kiss your lips harshly and sloppily, tasting your mouth all over again, savouring your kiss. His hands freely wander on you, pulling you closer, grabbing your hair and pinching your thighs. Slapping your ass with one hand he undoes his pants in the other, discarding it off somewhere in the room.

"I want you Tae. So bad. " Desperately you press your palms to his cheeks, pulling him down for a kiss again, feeling him melt under your touch hearing him breathe loudly. Slowly he starts to walk the two of you back so he can use the wall as support to fuck you right, but you stop him for walking you back further away from the chair.

"Sit on the chair. Please. " You request softly, placing your hand on his abs as the song playing in the background becomes more noticeable the second time it repeats. His stares down at you, making your heart skip a beat. Smirking he sits on the chair, motioning you to come to him with his fingers.

Biting your lip shyly, you obey him, fully aware of the intense look he's giving you making your cheeks and core hot. Grasping your hands he guides to sit on his lap, taking your previous position. Only difference is that now you'll be sitting not just on his lap, but also on his hard cock, that's ready to fuck you however you'd like.

Placing your legs on either side of his hips, hands automatically holding his tighter, you moan shuddering as he slowly makes you sit on his hard length. His full length slides easily into your entrance, stretching you out for him. Pressing your foreheads together, your breathing falters as you try to adjust to the feeling of his cock filling your wet hole to the brim.

"Baby you gotta stop squeezing me already or I'm gonna cum even before we start.... Fuck... "

Digging your nails into his shoulders, you try your best to unclench around him, mewling when his fingers find your nipples and twist them with his index and thumb.

After finally adjusting to the fulfilling feeling of him being inside you, you make your feet touch the ground and slowly you lift yourself up off him a few times beginning to ride him at a slow pace. His lips find your neck, sucking and nibbling on the skin making sure to leave marks. Satisfied with his work, Taeyang licks a stripe up from the freshly made hickie to your ear, biting the lobe when he reaches it. This action adds the extra needed stimulation to ride him faster, slipping off his dick almost completely and sitiing on it again till the head touches your g-spot, your ass hitting his thighs again and again, the sound echoing with the music playing. Attaching your lips together again you moan loudly into his mouth with him moaning with you, silencing your sounds a little so as to not get caught.

Gripping your hips roughly wanting to reach your climaxes sooner, Taeyang starts to bounce you on his cock. Lifting you up and down by your thighs he makes sure to thrust into you every time he brings you down on his length. Moaning a high pitched moan you close your walls around him at the sudden action, making him jerk in response.

Your head falls onto his shoulder, letting him take over as you try to silence the screams coming out your mouth whenever he rams his dick balls deep into you. Scratching his back you hear him groan out your name, encouraging you to mark him more. At this green light you bite his neck and shoulder, easily leaving bite marks on his porcelain skin but also quitening your cries.

Moving a hand to your clit, you start to rub your stimulated bud, sending shocks through your body accompanied by the shockwaves Taeyang's giving you. "Tae I'm close. Make me cum. Please please please" You beg as your pussy starts to feel numb from the pleasure, the only sensations you feel are from you clit and Taeyang hitting your g-spot repeatedly.

"Fuck baby. Rub your clit faster. Make yourself cum on my cock. Squeeze all the cum out of me. I know you're close, so close. I can feel you dripping on my thighs babygirl. You're making such a mess." He grins as he throws his head back, stilling all his movements when you close your walls so impossibly tight around his cock, closing your thighs around his hips with your hand still pressing your clit as you reach your orgasm chanting his name, frantically shaking against his body.

Falling limp on him you shiver when you feel him spill his hot cum in you, mixing your juices together. Catching your breath slowly you move your arms to wrap around his broad shoulders, his big hands coming to head and waist, hugging you as you both calm down from your highs.

"What'd gotten into you? " He giggles out massaging your hair.

"I just wanted you. Is all. " You smile tiredly at him, looking lovingly into his brown orbs.

Both your eyes widen when you hear loud repeated knocking on the door.

"You know the rooms have cameras right?! " Youngbin shouted from the other side of the door. Looking at each other with shocked expressions you get off him, hissing at the empty feeling. Scurrying you try to put on your clothes as fast as you can given how your legs felt weak, knowing damn well that you both are gonna get screwed by Youngbin the moment you open the door.

But don't worry, a different screwing awaits when you get home.

[destinationtoast]

er... um... since you've somewhat recently reblogged a post about it, I have a bit of an odd question... I think I'm accidentally writing RPF.

let me explain: I'm writing an original story (a romance), and one day, perusing the old youtube, I come across a previously-unknown-to-me content creator who is eerily similar to the MC of the aforementioned story. appearance, demeanor, the lot. I go, "ah ah, weird, will people think I based MC on them? what a coinkidink."

and of course I start watching the youtuber to see what they're all about, and I like what I see (I mean, they have all the nice things I gave my MC, so that's to be expected): they're competent, a professional, a great communicator -- and kind of a big deal in their field. and my mind starts to take cues from this person, they'd work perfectly in a story, bla bla.

so I follow the plot bunny and start to write this new story, and I come up with details to fill youtuber-the-character's character sheet, so to say. I leave a few things as they are in reality, like a pretty big appearance thing, because it's one of the things that prompted the whole thing and because *wink-wink* who does that remind you of? in a kind of dumb, referential way.

except, I discover that stuff I'd come up with on my own, based on the world I'm building for the story, turn out to be the factual truth?

like, I'd picked a place of residence because it made sense for the story, and it turns out that the youtuber lives exactly there, I'm talking block-level accuracy. in a huge, sprawling city of millions of people, I pointed my fingers and managed to land it where they live. same with the place where they work (even if that's more understandable, since that it's the kind of place where that sort business thrives)

and now I kind of need those things? like, they're the scaffolding of the story?

I actually never imply it's the youtuber--it's more like the youtuber was weirdly cast in a story with a MC that looks like them, acts like them, and works in their field, but isn't actually them. you know the disclaimer about people and places and events bearing any similitude to real ones being coincidental? I basically did the opposite: the story and details is entirely fictional, but they're clearly the inspiration.

since I find myself now having written a few thousands words, and liking my plot, how do you think I should approach this?

should I (heavily) rework it? be brazen about it and dedicate it to them? (like that weird Adam Driver romance where he's an actor, not the one that's a reylo fic with the numbers filed off?)

any advice?

Hey nonny,

I don't know much about the norms or culture of RPF fandoms in general or YouTuber fandoms in particular. (I have read a bit of RPF, but I haven't written any since back in the days before I had access to the internet, when I was writing RPF about musicians for myself and my bestie.) I also don't read much Original Work on AO3 or original romance novels, so I'm not versed in those norms, either. So I am mostly just going to throw this open to readers in case they have any more informed thoughts.

But naively, it seems to me like there isn't a wrong answer here; it just depends on who your intended audience is and whether/how you want to interact with fans of the YouTuber in question. If you want to attract readers who are fans of that person, you can tag that character/fandom if you post the story to AO3, and you can explain (if you want to) that it's somewhat loosely based on them, or tag it an AU if you think that will help set expectations appropriately. OTOH, if you would rather not attract those fans (e.g., because fear disappointing them), or if you're planning to publish this as an original romance, then you don't have to do that. You can nod to borrowing a few superficial details in your author's note, or you can just leave it at Easter eggs for hardcore fans of that YouTuber to spot. Or you can change more details if you don't want any fans being distracted by it or wondering what your deal is. If you are publishing it as a book, you might look at what authors of books like After have done -- other romances based loosely on real celebrities.

People with more experience in RPF or filing serial numbers off of romance stories (or just stronger opinions than me), feel free to jump in.

[itsclydebitches]

(Not "Tai's Joke Anon" but on that topic) I agree with you on pretty much everything: Yang being very obviously a victim in her situation and not responsible for what Adam did doesn't mean Yang is no longer reckless. Ruby growing increasingly irresponsibly reckless in V6-onward doesn't mean Yang is no longer reckless. Ruby and Blake having made strategical blunders doesn't mean Yang is no longer reckless. Weiss's "accidental magic" emotional semblance use doesn't mean Yang is no longer reckless. It feels silly to act like Yang can't have flaws just because she was a victim and others also have flaws. I think you're right about all this.

That said, I do have to agree with the other anon that I think Tai's 'joke' was horrific. I was shocked and angry when I first heard it, and not even writing Yang to laugh made me feel any better about it. I recognize that humor is a valid way for people to cope, but imo, it should be up to the victim to decide when joking is appropriate (like in Yang and Nora's arm-wrestling match) and not the able-bodied person currently yelling at her about not being ready for the world. Plus, even if it was okay for him to joke about her situation, the joke itself seemed heartless. He not only is using humor to speak over her and tell her what she is and isn't capable of, but he throws in a jab at her intelligence, too.

I like Tai. I really do. He's probably my favorite RWBY parent. And I liked Yang's recovery arc, outside of that line. And I have a lot of respect for you (and this hasn't made me lose any or anything, jsyk) and I agree with basically everything else you've said. But I'm sorry, I think that joke was crossing a line, and while I agree that it isn't entirely fair to judge 4-5 by 6-8 standards, I do think that the recent pattern of blatant, admitted ableism in the Penny and Ironwood arcs, with the added bonus line of Yang telling the audience that humanity stops at flesh and everything else is 'just extra,' makes the joke seem even less like an unfortunate blunder on RT's part, and more like the first sign in what would eventually develop into a long history of ableist writing that, at this point, can no longer be denied.

Aww thanks, anon! 💜 Yeah, as said, it’s a very contentious choice and it looks less and less like a positive the more RWBY goes on. Back in Volume 4 it was a (mostly) isolated moment that some fans enjoyed and others absolutely did not. However, four years later, it’s now a part of a pattern. For some that moment, if it was ever okay, will retroactively be made worse by what comes later (particularly Yang’s “extra” line). For some, if it was ever okay, it will be an example of when RWBY was writing disability better, further proof of how far the show has fallen. For some, if it was never okay, Volumes 5-8 just made it a thousand times worse. Congratulations, RWBY. You took what we thought was a one-off misstep and turned it into a whole philosophy. Nice work!

For me, I’m.. all the camps at once? lol. I enjoy nuance in media and that moment, for me, does have nuance. In that yes, we’re supposed to believe it has crossed a line. There’s a reason why the scene gives us shocked expressions. Not just Yang’s but Port and Oobleck’s too. Omg, how could you say that? 

And then we get our answer. The answer is not, as we assume in this moment, that Tai is a horrible person who insults his daughter without cause, but rather because Tai knows his daughter. He’s making a point here. Yang is arguing that she’s an adult now, ready for the real world, and Tai is arguing that this doesn’t mean she’s ready to run off on her own. If she honestly believes that, she’s lost those braincells along with the arm. He isn’t telling her she isn’t capable, he’s telling her (as my previous posts have argued) that she’s thinking recklessly right now. The implication is that of course she’s smarter than that. Smart is what he expects of her. So stop for a moment and consider whether what you’re saying is, in fact, smart. And provides that reminder in a way that normalizes her arm. After this will be the first time Yang has really talked about it, after it became something to joke about, not just tiptoe around. 

Things have been escalating, they’re yelling, Tai makes his point via an insult... and with a smile to lessen the sting.  

And then Yang smiles too. 

(Though I also think there’s a case to be made that neither really meant their “argument.” It feels very posturing to me, the chance to just go at each other for the fun of it, not because they actually feel that strongly about either position. It’s a form of play between them.) 

I agree wholeheartedly that the victim should be in control of the humor and that’s perhaps my biggest criticism here. The scene is meant to show how well Tai knows his daughter, he’s so sure this will cut the tension... but what if he’s wrong? This could have indeed backfired spectacularly and then yeah, Tai would need to apologize for that and not repeat such behavior in the future. In a perfect world no one would ever make that kind of misstep, but people (and characters) aren’t perfect. I like that Tai is shown to take a risk with humor. That he’s not some generic Good Father Figure who only approaches trauma with the Certified Approved Approaches. This risk makes him feel human and, notably, it paid off. He chose his intimate knowledge of Yang’s personality over the generalized advice, “Treat someone with that trauma with the upmost respect and care.” That works for me personally  — emphasis on personally  — because I’m like Yang. I have friends and family who say things that sound so unimaginably insulting to outsiders about the most sensitive subjects in my life... but that’s because they know me and know I’m cool with it. That, in a weird and human way, it helps me to process the horrible things going on. Tai knows Yang and knows she’d be cool with it too. And she is! Not to attribute agency to fictional character written by, as we’ve seen, authors with a very iffy handle on disability, but I think it’s important to let Yang speak for herself. The scene is written to show that she enjoys this, that it’s what she needs, and it’s always felt weird to me to go, “No, it’s horrible and never should have happened” when clearly Yang draws a benefit and gives it her stamp of approval. The nuance is that sometimes people cope in ways that don’t work for others, are insulting to others, may even seem harmful to others... but if it works for Yang, as a disabled woman, who are we to say, “No, you’re doing disability wrong”?  

But of course, that’s all in that context of our incredibly flawed writers who, as far as I know, are not disabled themselves. So I 1000% understand why others are not at all comfortable with this scene. And certainly no one needs to be. I do want to be clear, in such a meta-filled blog, that my own love of analyzing this show is by no means meant as a, “This is the right interpretation.” I don’t think the “right” interpretation exists, let alone for a moment as charged as this one, trying to represent huge swaths of people at once. I think a scene can cross a line and be a powerful choice simultaneously, depending on who is watching it and what that person needs. Like the question of whether Ruby is endangering people or heroically saving them, whether Ironwood had a phenomenal downfall or was slammed into OOC territory, whether RWBY’s “rule of cool” creates an inconsistent mess or a fun and thrilling adventure not burdened by what it put down before... so much of how we experience media is a result of not the media itself, but us. Our experiences, our normality, our needs, whether we’re choosing to read a scene on its own or in the context of a whole series. Since no two people are the same and, even if they were, they might be coming at this with different intentions, a single scene can read radically differently to them both. 

That and my own enjoyment of the moment aside though, yeeeeeeah, the more RWBY messes up its disability rep the more it reflects badly on... well, everything. At this point, the blatant problems are a blight on the current volumes, the past volumes, the previously good rep, previously bad rep, previously debatable rep, and everything in between. 

[fanmoose12]

Hello fandom mother, I hope you're doing well on your studies and life and you're healthy and happy!

Recently I found myself feeling.... Weird. This has nothing to do with levihan or snk but I saw you answering similar asks from your other children so I come to you for advice and guidance as well. You don't have to answer ofc I just, kinda needed someone to talk to and I can't really confide to anyone.

Some time ago I came out to my friends as bisexual. Ever since I did though I have been feeling more confused than ever. We are a group of four and against all odds all identify as bi. Two of them I've known for years the other one came out earlier this year.

I was the last to admit it and it was a very liberating moment. My family is conservative in such matters and they passed onto me those beliefs, which when I started questioning my sexuality made me hate myself and deny the possibility of liking women despite what I felt. I always was a very romantic person, thinking marriage and family but on the side I'd note women are way hotter and feeling attraction. I'd even say I'm attracted to women more than men but "not in that way" bc same sex attraction was something I'd been lead to believe is not real, it's wrong and whatever messed up things. For years I'd hide it and insist otherwise first and foremost to myself and think I had succeed in "being straight" but then in a moment of vulnelabirity I confessed to my friends. And that's where it gets confusing bc as soon as I did, it's like I lost this attraction and feeling my minimum attraction to men the only thing there (mostly fictional men or a very certain type of looks) and this is driving me insane! Bc with one of my friends we'd joke call eachother wife and plan our life on the mountains, things that I'd actually love to do with her!

But I'm not feeling a hundred percent in love either or how I remember it's like to be in love. I know I want to try if she wants though... Am I subconsciously still checking myself bc of fear of my family? Am I comphetting or am I a lesbian? A female leaning bisexual? Was it all a mindtrick? Like, there are ways I like women more and ways I like men....?

How do I know for sure?? How do I find out? I've spend years battling mental illness too on top of that so I can't exactly trust me (ocd intrusive thoughts does that to you)

So I guess that's all... I'm sorry for dumping all this to you and ignore it if it makes you upset or uncomfortable! I'm sorry for this and know it was never my intention! Thank you for everything youve done, not only creating enjoyable and heart warming and incredible content but for treating everyone with kindness, I wish I could give you the tightest most grateful hug❤️❤️❤️

hi, hi💞

just a little bit of warning - i'm not the best person to give advice on that thing, i think that maybe i'm still in the middle of figuring myself out, and, perhaps, i have the same problem as you.....

but! this is my personal approach to everything, but don't second guess yourself and don't try too hard to understand? just go with the flow, you know? do what you like? it's my motto at least

like, i'm not saying that labels aren't important, they are! they help people self-identify! they make it easier for the others to understand you!

but in grand scheme of things.... you can be bi but date only men because the chances of finding a partner are more probable. or you can be bi and date only women because it's easier to connect with them. or you can be lesbian? or anything you feel like! sexuality is a spectrum! and it can change because we change as well! at least that's my opinion fjfhtah

just whatever you do, be unapologetically yourself💕 you can figure it out later

[stay-tinystars]

Rumors pt 2

Ship: Yeosang x Named female character (Jae Hwa) 

 College AU. ‘Bad’ girl x shy studious Yeosang. 

 Some fluff, some angst, mostly slice of life, a bit chaotic 

 Warnings: overly controlling parents, rumors, cursing, motorcycle. 

 Word count: 2.8k 

 A/N: this is a short series. I hope you all enjoy it. I’m trying out different writing styles as I get back into writing so I hope you enjoy. 

 All of this is pure fiction.❤

She expected to hear from Yeosang, or to see him somewhere at the university over the next week. When she didn't she decided it was best to approach his friends.

"Excuse me, do you know if Yeosang is alright?" Jae approached two of Yeosangs friends in the dining hall, at the usual table. They looked at her in slight shock.

"Yeah, he got in trouble for who knows what now." San shrugged.

"Apparently he got home late, and they grounded him." Wooyoung added.

"What about his schooling?"

"Thats where they got weird. They contacted the professors and got some work packets or some crap" Wooyoung rolled his eyes.

"Oh" she mumbled, as she sat on an empty chair at their table.

"Why do you ask?" She could see mischievous looks in their eyes as they looked at her.

"Well, long story short. He helped me catch my dog, who was running around the park, and we started talking. Then his mom called because he was late. I took him home, gave him my number. Then he disappeared" she rambled, her thoughts piling on top of one another. This was her fault.

"They took his phone. His parents are intense. They treat him like he's 10, instead of an adult" Wooyoung leaned back on his chair, folding his arms, intrigued by the soft 'bad girl' in front of him.

"How do you guys talk to him then"

"Secret messages" San lifted his eyebrows, then laughed, his dimples highlighting his face.

"He messages us through our gaming systems. His parents don't know how to block that"

"Can you tell him I'm sorry"

"I can do you one better" 

"What do you mean?"

The two boys just smiled at each other, mischief glinting in their eyes.

"Meet us at 10 tonight, at the park by his house"

"Why?"

"We're sneaking him out."

The park was dark, it seemed as if the light posts had burned out. She pulled up and parked next to the only car in the small parking lot, three figures stood in the dark.

"Did you have to bring your motorcycle?" Wooyoung asked, as she took off her helmet, and strapped it to the back.

"It's the only thing I have" she responded, placing her hand on her hip. "So how are we doing this?"

"Well you are going to help by being the distraction" Seonghwa nodded

"What kind of distraction?" Jae asked. Her eyes wide.

"Well maybe it's a good thing you brought your bike" San's eyes darkened, as he eyed her motorcycle, and shrugged the bag he was carrying off his shoulder. Her heartbeat picked up.

"I'm not wrecking my bike!"

"We will help you fake it." Wooyoung unzipped the bag, as San handed it to him. She felt like these guys were ganging up on her. Why did she come? Why was she trusting these guys she barely knew? She took a deep breath, and gathered her thoughts. This was for Yeosang, the one she got in trouble. The only guy who hadn't written her off. Maybe these guys weren't so bad, they are Yeosang's friends.

"My baby better not get damaged. I just paid it off!" Her voice was hard, along with her gaze.

"Your bike won't have any harm. We will just lay it down next to the curb in front of Yeosang's house." San held up his pinky, as if he was promising her to keep her bike safe.

"I don't like this idea" her arms folded over her chest, as her eyes narrowed.

"Look, do you want to help Yeosang escape or not?" Wooyoung approached her, she sighed and reluctantly nodded. "Good, now take off your jacket."

"What?"

"Just take off your jacket. It will help with the ruse" Seonghwa smiled. His smile, genuine. She shrugged her jacket off, and watched as Wooyoung opened a jar full of red liquid.

The three boys started smearing fake blood all over her right arm, and over the slits and holes in her jeans, mostly on her right side.

As they informed her of their oddly concocted idea for Yeosangs break out. They told Yeosang to find a clip of screeching brakes to play loudly upstairs, then to flash the lights twice, at which point Jae, who would be out on the curb, would scream. Knowing how Yeosangs parents act they would come out front at which point they would sneak him out the back of the house. 

Jae stood at the end of a driveway, Seonghwa and San had helped lay her motorcycle down a few feet away then ran. She watched the 2nd story window. She saw the light flicker twice, she let a blood curdling scream, bending over holding her 'bloodied' arm to her chest, along with her helmet. A few moments later the front door opened.

Jae started cursing, and acting just as the boys had coached her.

"Did you see that jerk! He ran me off the road!" She yelled.

"Well what do you expect riding a death trap!" Yeosang's mothers judgemental voice rang in her ears. The boys were right, Yeosangs mother was a piece of work.

"I wasn't in the wrong!" Jae defended herself. "I was just doing the speed limit, when that car came out of nowhere and side swiped me. Did no one see it?" 

"Do you even live in this neighborhood?" Her words sounded like venom, Jae could feel the judging eyes, she always did. 

"I was visiting a friend." Jae was appalled, they hadn't even blinked an eye at her 'injuries' nor had they asked if she was okay. She couldn't act any longer, she shook her head, and grimaced. "If you guys won't help me, I'll take myself to the hospital" Jae put her helmet on faking gasps of pain. She raised up her bike, and started it.

How Yeosang, one of the sweetest people she had ever met, had come from that toxic household she couldn't understand. She sped off towards the park. Hoping she had given them enough time to help Yeosang escape. She parked her bike, and took off her helmet, watching around her. She saw four shadows approaching warily, along the tree line.

"Oh my God! Jae are you okay?" Yeosangs voice was concerned, as he hurried towards her.

"I'm fine" she stated, leaning against her bike.

"You don't look fine, your arm, your leg! We need to get you to the ER." His panicked face only seemed to grow in worry as he continued to analyze Jae.

"Did you jerks not tell him anything?" Jae shook her head, standing up and walking over to the hood of the car where her jacket sat.

"Well we told him you were helping us out." San started.

"We just spaced the whole, covering you in blood and pretending you got into an accident." Wooyoung finished. 

"It's all fake, don't worry, Yeosang." Jae started rubbing her arm trying to get off the fake blood, it didn't budge or smear. "What did you guys put on me?"

It turns out San is a theater major. Which is why he had fake blood. However he had mixed too much coloring into it, so he insisted that they should all return to his small two bedroom apartment, which he and his roommateYunho shared. That's where he had the items to take off the fake blood. The apartment was small, yet comfortable. Jae had been guided into the small bathroom by San, who showed her the cleanser, and how to use it. Jae took off her shirt, so she was in her tank top, staring at herself in the mirror over the sink as she tried to scrub off all the fake blood, with the stage makeup remover. There was a knock at the slightly opened door.

"Hey, thanks for the help tonight" Yeosang said as he poked his head in.

"You're welcome. I knew you told me about your parents. I never expected them to be so harsh." She ran the rag under hot water, to start rinsing off her skin, which was mostly free of the fake blood.

"You met my mom" he stated as he closed the toilet lid and sat down watching her.

"She's a piece of work. She never even asked if I was OK. Just kept going on about how my motorcycle was a death trap. " 

"She really hates motorcycles."

"I can tell. But answer me this. How did you end up so sweet when she is just…. Ugh" Jae threw her head back.

"My dad is quite nice, but he does whatever she says. He says it's out of love, but I think he's just as scared of her as the rest of us are." His shoulders slumped, as he stared at the floor. Jae watched his actions. He reminded her of the hurt animals at the shelter, who couldn't understand why they had been mistreated. Her heart broke for him, no one should ever feel that way, especially from a parent. 

"I'm sorry Yeosang." Jae started with a sigh,, "She's just so infuriating, I can see the toxicity. I know this is hard for you" she grabbed the hand towel and patted her arm to dry it. He looked up at her then stared at the wall in front of him.

"It is hard. I need out. This was the last straw. I've been practically imprisoned for the past week." His head dropped into his hands. "I'm going to stand up to them. I'm moving out. I have to. I can't live like this."

Jae wanted to respond to his sudden resolve, but  she didn't know what to say to confirm his feelings, nor how to comfort him. So she walked over, crouched down, and hugged him. He immediately returned the embrace. She held him, until her legs started to cramp, from her awkward position between the toilet and bathtub. She pulled back, and stood up then softly took his cheeks in her hands, encouraging him to look her in the eyes.

"This won't be easy, but I'm here for you. So are your amazing friends. We want you to be happy." She rubbed her thumb softly over his birthmark. "I like your birthmark." Her thoughtful words shocked him slightly. He was always so self conscious about his birthmark.

"You don't have to lie." he muttered, as he softly grabbed her hand, stopping her movements.

"I'm not. I really like your birthmark. It brings a light to your eyes."

He just shook his head, and dropped her hand.

"Yeosang look here" , she said, turning around. There on her left shoulder blade was a large brown birthmark. It looked almost like a nimbus cloud. She had a crescent moon tattooed above it, and the cloud looked like it was raining stars down.

"Yeosang, when I was young I always got made fun of for my birthmark. I hated it. I hated wearing tank tops, I hated swimming, because I knew everyone would see it." She paused and looked at the ground. "Then I got older, and a friend pointed out that it looked like a cloud. As I learned to love me I decided to enhance its beauty without covering it, so I got the moon and stars tattooed. Our birthmarks, and scars are beautiful. They tell stories, and make us unique." She smiled as she turned, looking at the artwork on her shoulder in the mirror as best as possible.

"Do you have any other tattoo's?" He asked. She nodded.

"I have two others, both incorporate some scars" her smile, and gaze seemed distant.

"Can I see those?" He asked. She smiled at him, and cooked her head to the side.

"No" she responded, as she grabbed her shirt off the counter and slipped it back on. She then walked out of the bathroom, making a sure end to this conversation.

So the rumors he heard of her having tattoos were true. However he doubted that she had a death tarot card tattoo, or that she had a prison tattoo with how cute the one on her shoulder is.

That night Yeosang made plans with the group on how he was going to stand up to his parents. Whom they were sure, were losing their minds being as he had successfully gotten out.

The next day was Saturday, and Jae was working her shift in the back of the shelter. Her text tone went off as she filled another bowl of food. It was an unknown number

-Jae

-What are you doing?

-Want to come to the library. I need your help

-Oh btw it's Wooyoung

-Sure, the one on campus. I'll see you there at 5

-I get off at 4. Can I just meet you at the library at 5"

He left her hanging with no response.

-How did you get my number?

When she arrived at the library on campus she was greeted by a quiet Wooyoung.

"What do you need help with?" She asked, only to be grabbed by her wrist, and dragged into the two story library. She tried pulling free, with no luck. Wooyoung stopped below the balcony on the second story.

"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Yeosang is the sun" Wooyoung cooed as Yeosang stepped into view from the second story of the library.

"What are you going on about now woo?" Yeosang groaned.

"He speaks: O, speak again, bright angel! for thou art As glorious to this night, being o'er my head As is a winged messenger of heaven"

"How can you memorize part of Romeo and Juliet, and yet you can't remember any of your biology class?"

"Well i'm trying to woo girls. I'll memorize anything for that." Wooyoung winked at Jae, she just rolled her eyes.

"You are crazy if you think standing below someone and quoting Shakespeare will woo them, Wooyoung" she responded, shaking her head.

"Oh, Jae you're here" Yeosang looked over the railing with a smile. "I'd much rather talk to you" , his eyes shining.

"I'm the one that asked you to come over here!" Woo argued.

"She's prettier than you" 

"Hey!"

"Can someone just tell me why am I here?" Jae laughed. Wooyoung's smile became mischievous.

"I need your help, removing him from the library" he pointed towards where Yeosang had been. Then groaned as he grabbed her wrist again and started towards the stairs.

"Why?" Jae questioned, "He's an adult, he can stay here as long as he wants."

"You don't get it. We kind of broke into his parents house. "

"You what?" Yeosang yelled, as he walked down the stairs.

"Well, we wanted to make sure you actually would move out. Plus I knew you needed clothes." Wooyoung scratched his head. 

"Who's 'we' " Yeosang pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"San and I. We ended up being stuck in your room when your parents came back, and I was lucky and got out your window. But I think San is still under your bed."

"Wooyoung, that is how people end up in jail" Jae's voice quiet, yet stern, as she placed her hand on Wooyoung's shoulder making him face her. "You can't break into people's houses!"

"We didn't really break in. The code was easy to guess" The gravity of the situation, seeming to finally sink in.

"That doesn't make it less illegal" She almost hissed.

"We've got to save San. I guess I'm facing my parents sooner than I thought" Yeosang groaned, as he started to lead them out of the library.

Soon enough they were back where they were the night before, at the small park by Yeosangs parents' house. Yeosang was trying to convince Jae to come with him, as support while wooyoung helped sneak San out.

"Your parents are going to recognize me from last night if I come with you!" Jae argued.

"But I think they will handle you better than him. They think he's a bad influence." Yeosang motioned towards Wooyoung, who was watching the two argue as if it were a drama while leaning against his car.

"And having me come with you, with my purple undercut, and eyebrow piercing will be a good thing? Plus your mom already thinks I'm a heathen because of my motorcycle. I don't think I'm one who should join you."

Jae found herself standing next to Yeosang as he knocked on the front door of his parents house. He was holding onto her wrist tightly. She was sure this is how she was going to die.

[roswelldetails]

RNM 2x12 - Crash Into Me

EPISODE SUMMARY:

WELCOME TO CRASHCON — As the town prepares for CrashCon, Liz (Jeanine Mason) and Max (Nathan Dean) attempt to piece together who may be behind a potentially deadly plan targeting the festival.  Elsewhere, Maria (Heather Hemmens) and Isobel (Lily Cowles) take drastic measure to learn more about the night Mimi (guest star Sherri Saum) disappeared, while Michael (Michael Vlamis) is forced to do someone else’s bidding.

DETAILS:

Max is secretly practicing with his powers.  Was Max's "light cardio" actually just him trying to strengthen his powers?

Max has a land line. Hee. Which Liz doesn't mind answering for him.

Liz is looking for a pen on his desk when she finds the empty vials of the antidote.  Max plays them off as being leftover from when he had amnesia.

Liz mentions that the phone call was Max's bank calling to verify a deposit for him. 

Max is choosing not to worry about Michael because he and Isobel can feel that he's not badly injured or in serious danger.

Liz called Dirk:

"He said before she left she was getting nonstop calls from a 575 number. The Sunset Mesa facility where Mimi DeLuca lives."

"Wait, Mimi was calling your mom before the abductions?...Mimi was always obsessed with alien movies. Maybe fiction and reality are blurring. Your mom is working with Flint Manes who spent years making an alien-killing weapon while at Caulfield. What if your mom found out Rosa was killed by an alien? She'd want revenge."

Note: Max and I apparently think alike, because this was my assumption going into the episode as well. For the sake of detailing and not making this confusing plotline any more confusing...Max and I were both wrong. 

Also, I love that they mentioned cell service issues during Crash Con.  That is extremely realistic and makes a ton of sense, speaking from experience at like, concerts and baseball playoff games and such.

Maria gets Liz's voicemail and immediately confronts Mimi.

"I just got a message from Liz. Mom...when you disappeared, it was Helena Ortecho that took you...You didn't have butyricol in your system when they found you. You know Liz's mom. You'd remember if you spent a month with her.  Mom, are you covering for Helena?"

"Everything is going to be fine."

"I'm not fine. Alex and Michael are missing."

"Helena is a lot of things, but she won't hurt your friends. I'm sure… (Isobel walks in) You're the blonde. The one that Rosa was afraid of."

"Hi Mimi...I'm your cool Aunt Isobel.  Hopefully we can get to know each other under better circumstances sometime. Sure about this DeLuca?"

"Desperate times call for desperate alien invasions."

Isobel's first trip into Mimi's mindscape:

"Show me what happened the night you disappeared, Mimi."

Mimi turns to see headlights approaching. It's the hunting van. Helena is driving it. After they greet each other they talk in the van.

"I saw her. I saw her in a vision.

"I didn't believe you. I had to see it with my own eyes."

"You saw her.  You saw Rosa."

Flashback to Liz and Rosa arguing over Rosa's necklace in 2x01.  Just as a note, Isobel is in Mimi's head, not Helena's, so she shouldn't really be able to see this flashback since Mimi wasn't there when Helena saw Rosa.

"This is a good thing, Helena. Your daughter is alive. She needs you."

"When Jim Valenti was dying, I came home to say goodbye. He kept saying Rosa could live again, that she was preserved."

"But you didn't believe him. No one ever believes us."

"If Rosa is alive, it means Jim was telling the truth. Which means everything else he said could be true, like aliens are real and Jesse Manes has a weapon that can kill them. It means I have to go to war, Mimi. First, you need some shoes."

Then Mimi somehow kicks Isobel out of her memories, which gives Isobel a nosebleed. But Mimi doesn't seem to know what happened.  It's almost like she has a kind of subconscious protection on her own mind, somehow.

Note: the hunting van must not be Flint's, because Helena is driving it when she first considers teaming up with Flint, I assume based on the above.  Maybe she was the suspicious figure in Flint's house when Max and Kyle were hiding in the closet? And what about the car that Rosa blew up? Did she have access to multiple vehicles? Am I overthinking this?? Haha.

Kyle's tip to Max:

"I found this at Flint's, but it's from a florist my dad used when he was in the doghouse with my mom. I finally guessed the password today. Rosa's birthday. The only thing on it is a note my dad wrote to Helena. It's a lot of romantic crap followed by details for a storage unit he had up near Haystack Mountain."

Haystack Mountain is an off-road vehicle recreation area about 30 miles northeast of Roswell.

Michael working on the "bomb". Charlie is working on the toxin nearby and Helena is keeping an eye on both of them.

"This entire process would be more efficient if I could attach the release chamber to the other side."

"Ay, mijo. Now is not the time to get creative. Time is running out. Follow the blueprints exactly."

"You don't look like an obedient soldier. Who'd she take to force you to do her bidding?"

"A friend. It's complicated. Why are you helping her? Jenna's free."

"Flint Manes has a sniper rifle on the roof pointed at her bedroom window. If I step out of line and something happens…"

"You'll never forgive yourself."

"I'll never forgive myself anyway. Helena has me formulating a pathogen that I invented when I was 17.  It's a poison that dismantles specific DNA. If targeted your death is quick and ugly. A bleeding from every orifice kind of deal… I thought that I was saving people. Okay, imagine a weapon that you could drop into a populated city and the only people targeted would be al-Qaeda leaders and their direct descendants. Okay? In the right hands my weapon could prevent innocent civilian casualties and save our troops."

"I'm guessing these are not the right hands? Why am I building the bomb when the inventor is under Helena's thumb?"

"I do chemicals, not mechanics. And technically it's not a bomb. It's a catalytic toxin atomizer that was developed in a top secret operation involving weapons specialists from both the Army and the Air Force."

"Project Shepherd. One more question for you, Charlie. Whose DNA is that poison you're making gonna target?"

"Judging from conversations I've heard between Helena and Flint, it's alien DNA. Like, literal aliens."

This is actually the part of this story that's crystal clear to me. We've been getting tidbits on this dating back to 1x12, when Flint told Alex about his "smart bomb".  Jesse told Jenna in 2x04 about Charlie's toxin that could pinpoint specific DNA, and even used a similar metaphor in explaining it as Charlie did in this episode. The part that doesn't make sense to me is, why did FLINT need Michael to build it, if he developed the blueprints?

Liz and Rosa in the lab discussing Max taking the antidote.

"He's only supposed to take a drop when he has amnesia. It's not vitamin C. In high doses it could cause surges of adrenaline that could be dangerous."

"No offense, but you sound like a mom. Like a real mom, the kind who actually give a duck. Oh I just figured out what autocorrect is. It's hilarious."

"Speaking of moms, ours hasn't reached out to any of your old dealers and she hasn't shown up at any of the churches in town, so you got any other ideas?"

"It's CrashCon. We usually find her wearing the loudest t-shirts and flirting with the richest nerds."

"Yeah, but Flint and Jesse Manes hate aliens. I mean it's literally their only hobby. If she's with them, I'm betting she's lost her affection for the simple charms of UFO novelty kitch."

"Wait, if you were going to get revenge on aliens, CrashCon is the perfect place. There's all kinds of conspiracy theorists and press. You know how mom loves attention."

"You think something's gonna happen tonight?" 

"Papi is there by himself setting up. I think he should come home."

Note: my phone autocorrected duck to fuck. So I guess that tells you something about me. 😳

Also I just realized that for once ROSA and not Liz is the one who put the pieces together! Good for her. I wonder if that's purposeful since she's the daughter who is more like their mom? Like, she understands Helena's motivations better than Liz or something.

Steph and her father are going to CrashCon together. Kyle helps her with her makeup. Super sweet, but rather pointless since the scenes of Steph at CrashCon were cut. Mostly just including this here as a reminder that she's there in case it comes up in the finale.

Max and Cam, who got her job back!

"Thanks for the assist. I'm guessing that guard wouldn't let me through with bolt cutters unless I had an officer of the law present."

"Oh well, don't be jealous, Evans. Valenti has me on desk duty. So this little adventure is my lunch break."

"Valenti did the right thing, giving you your job back."

"Yeah well, you know, apparently some local bartender gave her reason to doubt the events the night of the gala were my fault. So I owe you."

"I've lost track of who owes who what at this point."

They break into the storage unit. It's empty except for an empty shelving unit, a locked chest, and a puddle of purple alien goo.

"What is that?"

"It looks like embryonic fluid. There must have been a pod in here."

Note: no, Max! Pod Goo evaporates upon contact with Earth's atmosphere/air. So it's not pod goo.

There isn't a super clear shot of inside the chest, but Max pulls out a love letter from Helena to Jim Valenti. I can transcribe it if you want me to. It's pretty easy to read and frankly, there's nothing important there. My heart is forever yours...it feels good to actually love and be loved in return...blah blah cheesy platitudes.

But seriously. Just send me an ask if you need me to transcribe it.  But I'm gonna skip for now.

Isobel is chugging acetone straight from the bottle in the middle of the Pony.

Isobel's second trip into Mimi's mindscape:

"Mimi. I know you think you're doing the right thing, but Helena is holding people hostage. We have to understand her motive."

"You all think I'm losing my mind. But I just...slip out of my time and into a different one every once in a while. Sometimes Maria's. Or Mama's. Other women in our future or past. I saw you when you were a baby. The sky was red."

"What can you tell me about your time with Helena? She had you for a month."

"We were in a motel. We watched movies. We laughed and gossiped. She wanted to trigger my visions...gather information."

"What information? What did you tell her? What did you see?"

"What's important is Helena will take care of our girls. I'm not afraid. That's enough."

Mimi kicks her out again.

"I tried.  She's fading."

"She's tired. It's harder when she's tired. Come on, Mom. I'm gonna take you back to Sunset Mesa."

"Maria, you just have to look for the signs in the water. You have to believe. Go on, you'd better hurry."

"Hurry where?"

"CrashCon closing night! You don't want to miss the fireworks. You always loved the fireworks."

Max and Cam going through the chest of letters back at Max's house:

"Okay, all these notes are from Helena to Jim Valenti. This is from the week Rosa died. I mean even 20 years after their affair she's still writing and he's still saving her letters."

"Pining after an Ortecho for years and years. It's so weird. Who does that. This is a receipt. It's a money transfer he made around the same time. He paid Daniel Fuller a thousand bucks."

"Fuller was the county coroner. Okay we still don't know how Noah got Rosa's body into the pod, right? But Jim had Project Shepherd connections to the morgue. So maybe if Noah knew about Jim and knew that he'd be grieving Rosa, he could have told him where to find the pod, right, and maybe he didn't even take the pod back until after Jim died."

"I mean, this is all a bunch of conjecture."

"Jim pulled me aside at high school graduation, he said I was the kind of guy the sheriff's department could use. Look, I mean maybe… I mean, he never let on, but maybe he knew I was an alien, right? Maybe he knew more than that."

"Okay, Evans? Breathe. You're looking a little clammy. What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"No. See, something's going on, and you're gonna tell me or I'm out, I swear to God."

"Okay you can't tell anyone."

"You know I won't."

"Okay, I've been taking this antidote that Liz made. No...she doesn't know. But its rebuilding some of my memories from before the 1947 crash, right? I was just a little kid, but I had a destiny. I had responsibilities."

"Right, you're the savior."

"Yes! Well, maybe. But I was starting to remember these symbols from our old language, right? I remember what they mean, but it's like the meaning is just out of reach. And I'm out of the antidote. And you know, Liz is getting suspicious. So…"

"No."

"I didn't say anything."

"Really? Can you tell that to your face? I am not using my friendship with your girlfriend to steal alien steroids for you. Okay? Our partnership has limits."

Michael and Helena:

"It's done. So now what? You inject my spine with your mind-eraser?"

"We only used the butyricol on Jenna Cameron because there was still work to be done. And Flint was afraid she'd ruin it for us. You told Flint Charlie was creating a toxin that would kill aliens. But if you wanted aliens dead, you'd be testing it on me right now. 'Cause that's what I would do if I was a criminal mastermind."

"I needed Flint for the schematics and the muscle. Our agendas didn't need to align perfectly."

"You don't have to do this. If you kill anyone tonight, Liz and Rosa will never look at you the same."

"That ship has sailed. Besides, I'm not killing anyone. If disaster never strikes, justice won't be served. Do you want to see Alex or not?"

Liz tries to get Arturo to go back to the Crashdown.  She tells him that the kitchen is backed up because it's so busy.  The interesting part of this exchange from a character perspective though:

"Papi, please. I have a bad vibe, all right? A gut feeling I can't shake."

Diego walks up.

"Who are you? Elizabeth Ortecho doesn't do feelings. She believes in facts and evidence."

"No, I do feelings now.  I've evolved."

Alex is chained up in the house.  There's a takeout box and coffee cup next to him. He's humming a song under his breath. Michael walks in and they talk.

"Guerin, you were right. They used me to get to you. My dad hit me over the head and then he swiped the piece of the console. And then Flint showed up with a gun to my head."

"Did anyone hurt you?"

"Nothing I can't handle. Helena's been weirdly motherly. She's bringing me clothes and meals."

"Your leg."

"Yeah they took the prosthetic. I tried to bludgeon my brother with it. Come on, use your powers. Get me out of this."

"Helena dosed me with something. I'm basically human until it wears off."

"Okay then find something that'll break the cuff or my wrist. I don't care."

"Alex, tonight at CrashCon, your dad plans to release a toxin that kills anyone with alien DNA...Helena made Charlie and I build an identical device, but one that targets a different DNA. She somehow got her hands on your dad's cells. She knows your dad killed Kyle's dad. She wants revenge.  But she wants him to take himself out. When he pulls the trigger on us tonight your dad's gonna die because of a device I built."

"No, that is not on you, okay? Now let me out of here."

"I can't. The atomizer will kill anyone in your dad's direct line. You are safer here."

"Are you serious?"

"And I gotta go. I'm gonna come back for you."

While Michael explains to Alex, we get a flashback to Helena in her totally fake blonde wig at the hospital in 2x02.

Helena disguises herself as Jesse's maid using her totally fake blonde wig and switches out the bombs while Jesse is in the shower.

The @ladiesofrnm have their first scene all together! (With Max...and eventually Michael…) reading through Helena's letters together. Michael makes quite an entrance. Afterwards:

"You're such an idiot! You don't comply with a kidnapper's ransom demands. Without telling me."

"Alex was in trouble. He had to go."

"Mikey, where are Alex and Charley?"

"They're safe. Your mom doesn't want to hurt them."

"Look I don't get it. Does she want to kill aliens?"

"No. She's avenging her murdered lover."

Back to the house where Helena talks to Charlie:

"This atomizer contains the poison that kills anyone with alien DNA. I need you to destroy it."

"Does Flint know that you have it?"

"Flint. Jesse really broke that boy. Some people were never meant to be parents. You can go when you're done.  The door's unlocked. Flint's rifle shoots blanks."

"What's to stop me from leaving now?"

"The knowledge that that deadly device only exists because of you. You decide. I'm off to CrashCon. I hear there will be quite a show."

Note, when Helena says Flint's name she says a word in Spanish that I can't make out and isn't in the closed captions.

Max and Liz's conversation about racism and privilege:

"I want to help. Your mom's not the villain here. All right? She's going about this all wrong, yes. But Manes is already a murderer. I mean, if he'd succeeded today…"

"I know...I could have lost almost everyone I care about in a moment. I remember every day what it was like to lose you and Rosa. I don't think I could survive that again. She could've built a decoy bomb that wouldn't have hurt anyone."

"He'd just get angry and do it again."

"Yeah, but he's not the only one that this would hurt. I mean, the headlines if she gets caught? Illegal Mexican Immigrant Slaughters Decorated American Vet via Bioweapon. People will line up to lay bricks at the border wall. But hey, maybe the president will talk about my family at his rallies. That's gonna be fun."

"That's not gonna happen. This will get covered up like every other strange death in this town."

"In case you haven't noticed those cover-ups don't tend to protect the Mexicans. Even when…"

"Even when Rosa died. You can say it, Liz. It's okay. It's fair. Rosa got blamed. White people didn't. Okay? I get it."

"I know you're on my side, but you don't get this. And that's not your fault, that's just the reality of our experiences. If I mess up. If I so much as roll through a stop sign, it reflects badly on any Mexican who came before me. And it hurts any Mexican who comes after me. I used to think that nothing would ever change that, but lately I think...maybe if something extraordinary happened it could."

"Extraordinary? Like what you're doing in your lab?"

"I've discovered something that could be the key to curing people who have no hope otherwise. I can't walk away."

"So you're gonna turn my family's stem cells into the hottest commodity?"

"No, I won't. I...we'll find a way to synthesize it or replicate it."

"Is this about the people you're trying to save or about becoming the poster girl for immigrants everywhere? You want the president to talk about your family because of you. Because you saved the world."

"If those in power see what happens when people are given opportunity…"

"You want the glory."

"I want recognition. I want to be the example I never had. And people who want glory, they're just in it for selfish reasons. People like Jesse Manes want the glory. He wants to be a big American hero. He wants the parades, he wants the medals. If he sets off his alien atomizer at CrashCon, a handful of twenty-something's will die of some mysterious ailment and it's barely gonna make the news. That's not what he wants. We're missing part of his plan."

"First, something violent. Large-scale that'll draw media attention. And then, once all eyes are in Roswell…"

"He'll blame the violence on the aliens. He only gets his parade if he makes people afraid and then he destroys the thing that they fear. If he makes people think that you're terrorists before he kills you."

Graham Green's reveal at CrashCon.  Graham is announced and takes the stage as Max, Liz, and Rosa arrive to find Michael, Isobel, and Maria nearby.

"Hey, you guys shouldn't be here."

"I was held hostage, Max. I deserve to ride the Sizzler until I barf cotton candy, and maybe watch a bad man die."

"You guys, we think that…"

Graham Green starts his presentation.

"Hello loyal fans and devoted supporters! You patience is about to be rewarded. Today I am thrilled, nay, honored to show you the result of years or painstaking work. The moment we've all been waiting for. Irrefutable extraterrestrial proof! A bona fide alien artifact!"

Graham pulls the curtain and reveals what appears to be something similar to Michael's console, only it is complete and intact.

Flint brings Alex food and they discuss Flint's motives:

"If you're doing this to impress dad, it is never gonna work."

"I'm not trying to impress dad. His shutdown of Project Shepherd was an inform decision, but he's trained me my entire life to take it on.

Flint goes to leave but Alex stops him.

"Do you remember when mom used to drive us to the res, and you would sit at the loom with Granddad? Weaving stories. When was the last time you made something, Flint? Anything that wasn't built to destroy?" 

"Around the time that mom decided that to leave dad, she had to leave us."

"She didn't know what he would do to us."

"He didn't do anything to us. Me and Clay are fine. He'll, even Gregory is coming to see dad today."

"...You are wrong. We are all dad's victims. Sure, he beat me up, but what he put the rest of you through was abuse too. He made you watch while he kicked my ass… He scared you into thinking that there was only one type of man that you could become."

Alex manages to knock Flint out, steal the key to his handcuffs, and free himself.

"You're so pathetic. You don't know me at all. This has nothing to do with dad and everything to do with our history. Aliens are a foreign threat. They're invaders."

Back to CrashCon, where the gang discuss the alien object:

"Alex's piece must have been the last one that Manes needed to finish building it. Where's he been keeping the rest of this?"

Sanders appears out of nowhere.

"Kid, I seen that thing before. Your mother built that back in the old barn. I don't know what it is, but it is definitely explosive. I always wondered what'd happened to the pieces."

"Maybe Harlan or Tripp Manes gathered them up. Rebuilt it."

"Yeah but if Manes is gonna use that to blow up CrashCon, it's gonna make Graham Green look like the bad guy. No one's gonna think an alien planted it."

"Unless they follow the money. I got an alert from my bank this morning. A $10,000 deposit had cleared."

"You think Manes set it up so that the investigation would lead to you?"

"If I become the world's first alien terrorist and he takes me out, the world cheers."

"Guys, you need to do whatever you can to get as many people out of here as possible, okay? Get help."

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Michael and I have studied this material before. It's part tech, but it's also part organic. And if it's part organic, that means it can be killed. I gotta get back to my lab."

Diego sees Max toss Liz his keys.

Max and Michael sneak backstage and convince Graham Green to let them have a moment with the alien ship thingie. Max takes photos of it with his phone.

"Do you think we can destroy it?"

"No. The pieces want to be together and now that it's complete if we break the bonds with brute force we risk a violent reaction."

Max hears voices whispering and reaches out to touch the alien tech. The alien symbol forms under his hand and he pressed it.  There's a surge from the tech and it almost appears like Max is absorbing something from it. The voices get a little louder. When he breaks the connection it almost seems like it takes effort and he seems stunned.

"What the hell just happened to you?"

"Nothing. I think this is a remote. I think this controls a ship."

"It's a what?"

Gif by @maxortecho

Note, the way Max laughs when he says nothing is oddly similar to how he responded to Cam when she called him out on his weird behavior from the antidote. Like he's hiding something or brushing off the worry or something. 

Sanders interrupts before Max can respond. Points out that the top of the stage is varnished which is highly flammable. 

"Wait, if this is fresh varnish, this whole platform is set up like a tinderbox."

"There's gonna be fireworks tonight."

"One spark'll light a fire. I mean, this whole thing, the whole platform will go up."

"If this giant remote goes kaboom aliens will be framed as terrorists. You have to get out of here."

"What? No. I'm not going anywhere."

"Max you are all sorts of worked up right now. What happens when you're worked up?"

"Sparks fly. Right, okay. Yeah. I'll go."

Before Max leaves he spots something on one of the display boards that makes him pause. He grabs it before leaving.

Charlie is working on her chemicals in the makeshift lab when Flint sneaks up on her and puts a gun to her head, demanding that she gives him the atomizer.

Maria and Rosa hurry through CrashCon discussing each other's alien biology and Mimi's vision. They spot Gregory Manes and decide to try to get him to leave since the Manes bomb would kill him. He has 12 kids with them so they suggest that he take them to the Crashdown for free milkshakes. He recognizes Rosa, but they tell him she's Rosa's cousin. 

Liz works in the lab while blasting Alanis Morissettte - great call back to last year when she told Michael that Alanis helped her channel Rosa's creativity. She says to herself:

"Destroy the organic cell membrane. Disable the nanotech." 

She mixes some chemicals which react and explode her flask and start a fire. Really don't know if that's supposed to represent success or not. 

Flint and Helena talk at CrashCon. She is surprised to see him.  He tells her that he cleaned up the mess at the house. 

We flash back to the house which is on fire.  Charlie is chained up and trapped.

Liz hurries from the lab and doesn't realize that Diego followed her there.  He sneaks his way into the building while Liz rushes for the car.

Speaking of cars...they're in the middle of nowhere. Where's Diego's car? I had the same thought last week when Max and Kyle were searching Flint's house and they almost got caught. Whoever pulled up in the hunting van should have seen their car!

Maria and Rosa are helping get the kids loaded onto a bus when Rosa points out Pisces to Maria. Call back to 1x03 when Maria tells Liz that she and Rosa used to compete to see which one of them could spot the constellation first. It gives Maria an epiphany. Pisces is "the water sign" which was one of Mimi's clues from her vision.  Maria goes to follow the sign. She runs into Max who tries to get her to safety. They spot Flint Manes carrying the atomizer. Max tells Maria to get out of there and hurries after Flint. He tries to sneak up on Flint, but Flint is able to disarm him and beat him up. Flint sets the atomizer to go off in two minutes and then throws it like a Hail Mary into the crowd. Max chases after Flint while Maria goes after the atomizer. She pushes through the crowd and spots another clue from Mimi's vision - a poster of aliens asking "Do you believe?" The atomizer is sitting below it. Maria grabs the atomizer and takes off running with it. Cam spots Maria and follows. 

Flint beats Max up again and then pulls a gun and threatens to shoot Max. Max disarms him and is holding the gun to Flint now. He laughs and asks Max if he's really going to shoot a soldier. Tells him that he already pulled the trigger to kill Max by setting off the atomizer. Max tosses the gun aside, and uses his powers instead to kill Flint,

Michael and Isobel are trying to keep the stage from catching fire, but then the fireworks start going off into the wind (which blows the embers towards the fair). The hay bales easily catch on fire. Isobel used her powers to hold back the flames.  She can feel that something is wrong with Max and send Michael to find him. 

Instead Michael finds Jesse and Alex. Their exchange: 

"You know, I actually started to believe that you had changed."

"You never could tell friend from foe. I actually counted on it."

"Hey I know exactly who you are. You were gonna let all of these people die and you were gonna let the aliens take the blame."

"It's high time they got blamed for something, I think. I'm gonna drag them from the shadows."

"Yeah and then what? You're gonna use the atomizer to kill them all? Then you become some hero by destroying the enemy that you created?"

"American children are gonna read about the events of tonight in their history books... And don't worry about collateral damage, son. That's just an unfortunate aspect of war. You know that better than anyone, Alex."

"You're gonna become your own collateral damage if that thing goes off. Helena Ortecho switched the devices. That's not gonna kill aliens.  That is set to destroy your DNA. If it goes off, you are going to die in a puddle of your own blood."

"What are you doing? Are you bluffing to protect the aliens?"

"What I'm doing is I'm trying to protect our family. Dad, if that goes off it kills all of your direct descendants. Flint and Greg are somewhere in here. And I don't care how much I disgust you, I am still your son!"

Greg runs up looking for help responding to the fire. He spots the atomizer and immediately recognizes it as a weapon. Alex tries to get him to leave. Michael runs up and Jesse pulls his gun on him. Greg steps between Michael and the gun to protect Michael for Alex.

Maria throws the atomizer off into the desert and immediately begins bleeding. Thankfully Cam is there to try to help.

Max kills Flint which in turn gives him another heart attack. Liz arrives as he's collapsing and starts CPR. Rosa runs up and tries to get Liz to let her step in to help Max so that Liz can stop the alien device from exploding… And cliffhanger.

MUSIC:

1.  Valley Queen "Chasing The Muse"

2.  The HawtThorns "Give Me A Sign"

3.  Everclear "Everything To Everyone"

4.  Alanis Morissette "All I Really Want"

5.  Gary Numan "I Am Dust"