#The FACE that garak makes when Julian shoots him SENDS me

[fauvester]

“you SHOT me!” newsflash asshole, he’s into that!

[boldlygowherenodoghasgonebefore]

alexisafanst

Garak sends anonymous death threats to whoever is not nice to Julian

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The envelope was blank, save for a pale blue border.  Pulling out the folded paper, he wondered who still wrote letters.  Well, there were always those anti-technology groups that were paranoid about sending messages the usual way, but he couldn't remember seeing any unusual affiliations on the week’s crew manifests.   

Quark kept track of these things.  A group like that could create a whole new merchandise campaign: paper, pens, ink, envelopes, even a courier service to help deliver the messages. 

Quark unfolded the paper and looked at it, mystified. 

It looked like it was created by a child.  What was the term for it?   Mrs. O'Brien used to have the children create pictures with scraps of paper and glue. Nog had been absurdly proud of his when they first arrived on the station.

Ah, he remembered.  A collage. 

Instead of pictures, though, the scraps  of paper spelled out words.  Each letter was cut out individually and assembled into a message, albeit a poorly written one. 

Quark read through the message, horrified.  It was a death threat.  And a crude one at that.  Was it a child? If only he could identify the source of the message. 

At least that way he could have struck a deal to save his skin.  Everyone has a price.

A voice came from behind him and he ducked behind the bar, terrified.  As he slowly stood up, Quark saw Benjamin Sisko was sitting on the barstool with his hands in the air and a smile on his face. 

"I promise not to shoot first." 

Quark caught his breath and said hoarsely, "Sorry. I'm a little jumpy today." 

Sisko saw the note, still clutched in Quark's hand, and looked at the letters, puzzled. 

"That looks like an old earth ransom note.  I've seen enough of them in holonovels.  What does it say?" 

Quark held it out and Sisko read it, trying not to smile.

Calling across the room, he said, "Constable Odo.  A word, please?"

Odo walked over and Sisko passed the letter to him wordlessly.

"It seems you've offended someone," he drawled, "I wonder who it could be."

Sisko stopped him before Quark could retort.

"Make some inquiries, would you?  It simply won't do to have anonymous threats sent on the station."

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At the replimat, Julian was talking animatedly to Garak.   

"-and you know, Quark was in sickbay earlier, I think he's gone round the bend." 

Garak's eyes narrowed and he said cautiously, "Hmm?" 

Julian barely noticed his reaction and went on, holding his hands out in disbelief. 

"Asked me to check him repeatedly for symptoms of a heart attack.  Said he had a bit of a scare earlier.  Walked out when I suggested ruling out a panic attack.  I don't know why he was so offended." 

Garak looked away, rubbing his neck nervously and sipping his rakijo juice. 

Julian's sharp eyes caught the gesture.   

"Garak!" 

Eyes wide, Garak looked at him in surprise. 

"Why, what is it, my dear?" 

Julian's fists were clenched, his voice tight and his words carefully measured. 

"Quark claimed to have received a death threat.  I assumed he was being melodramatic, exaggerating the events of a bar fight of some sort." 

He looked at Garak expectedly.  

Garak cocked his head, saying innocently, ""That does seem likely.  Quark is fond of telling stories." 

Julian's eyes narrowed and he began tapping his fingers on the table. 

"Garak," he said in patient, clipped tones, "is there anything you'd like to tell me?" 

Garak looked at Julian, meeting his eyes at last. 

"Hypothetically, if Quark did something to hurt someone I cared about, such as overcharging them for a holosuite program, or perhaps snapping at them after a bad day, it seems only fair that they suffer as well.   Karma, you might say." 

Julian was speechless. 

"Karma?" 

"Yes," Garak said, "exactly." 

"Karma sent Quark a death threat, is that it?" 

"My dear, who knows where these things come from.  We can only be glad the universe is a good and just place." 

Despite himself, a smile broke out on Julian's face, and he sighed theatrically.   

"How many people on the station might have been struck by karma this week?" 

Garak schooled his face and said impassively, "Why, how would I know?  Only those who deserve it, I'm sure." 

At the steely look on Julian's face, he added, "I'm certain no one else will be involved anytime soon.   Now, if you'll excuse me, I have important matters to attend to-" 

A laugh broke out on Julian's face as he saw Garak hurrying for the door, keen to undo his bout of chivalry.  He shook his head and returned to the mystery he was reading.   In it, the girl's family had just received the ransom note, letters taken from old magazines.   

How many on the station had received those notes today?  Better not to ask. 

At least, he thought, as he turned back to his book, Garak was finding value in the terran detective novels he'd been bringing to lunch.  Next time, he'd choose a genre that was more civilized. 

[weerd1]

Star Trek DS9 Rewatch Log, Stardate 1909.26: Missions Reviewed, “Strange Bedfellows,” “The Changing Face of Evil,” “When it Rains,” and “Tacking into the Wind.”

(Note: as we are in the last nine episodes which run as a continuous storyline, these four will be summarized together.)

Ezri and Worf are transferred from the Breen to the Jem’Hadar, and the Founder herself comes out to welcome the Breen into the Dominion. Damar wants to know why he wasn’t consulted, and why the Dominion/Breen treaty allows concessions of Cardassian space to the Breen. Weyoun’s answer makes it clear that Cardassia and Damar need to stop thinking of themselves as anything other than servants of the Founders. When they interrogate Ezri and Worf, Weyoun brings up Ezri’s feelings for Bashir, immediately leading to Worf snapping his neck. 

Damar kneels next to the fallen Vorta and laughs. On DS9, Sisko is getting used to married life, but Kasidy is also confronted with some new realities; being the wife of the Emissary means something to her Bajoran crew, and that’s a responsibility she’s not ready for.  Dukat continues to manipulate (and by that I mean romance) Kai Winn, until she has another vision of what she believes to be the Prophets.  This time, they reveal their true nature as the Pah-Wraiths to her, and she is horrified, sending Dukat to get her ever more frustrated assistant Solbor to bring her an actual Orb so she may meet the real Prophets. Damar is amused to meet the new Weyoun but finds out the Breen have access to all Cardassian classified files, and that the Dominion has just sacrificed half a million Cardassian soldiers in a feint to draw out the Federation. He goes back to drink it off, but can’t look at himself in the mirror, throwing the glass of canar out…forever this time.

 Winn, unable to get a response from the Prophets or the Orb calls Kira to her quarters for advice, admitting she has let her ambition come between her and her gods. Kira tells her no one is above redemption, and there is a way to find forgiveness and get back on the proper path: Simply step down as Kai, give up power so power cannot corrupt. Winn can’t accept this however, saying she has learned her lesson and Bajor will need her when the Prophets see she’s repented. Kira leaves, and Winn realizes the Prophets will never accept her. She tells the still disguised Dukat she is ready to give her allegiance to the Pah-Wraiths. Ezri and Worf come to an understanding about their friendship, and the mistake they made hooking up, just as they are about to be executed. Damar walks them out, then shoots the two Jem’Hadar guards.  He gives Worf and Ezri their weapons, tells them where to find a shuttle, and asks them to tell the Federation, “they have a friend on Cardassia.”

Ezri and Worf return to DS9, but the happiness around their return is short lived: The Breen strike at Earth, killing thousands at Starfleet Headquarters. Sisko decides to keep Kasidy from going on her supply run as they increase station security. She’s having none of that though. Damar is not impressed with the Breen attack, but is also sober, which Weyoun notices. Weyoun assumes it’s newfound confidence with the new set of Dominion assaults, and Damar lets him believe that while having his comrade Gul Rusot begin recruiting officers to a Resistance. Winn, Dukat, and Solbor return to Cardassia where Dukat convinces her to pull the Kai-only book of Kosst Amojan from the archives, to find how to release the Pah-Wraiths from the fire caves. Solbor is resistance to all these ancient, evil books, but Winn must keep researching. The Kosst Amojan is blank. Ezri decides she has to talk to Julian, and Worf agrees, though watching Bashir and O’Brien plan battles around a scale model of the Alamo, he also thinks Bashir is a “child who plays with toys.” (No funny Worf, I’m like right here.)

 Kasidy is about to resume her supply runs when Admiral Ross says the Dominon is about to assault the Chin’Toka system again, this time with the Breen. The Defiant leads the joint fleet, only to find the Breen have a new weapon capable of knocking out a starship’s power.  The Defiant is hit, and unable to defend itself, Sisko orders the ship abandoned.

 The Founder tells Weyoun to allow all the escape pods to go- they will carry back news of what happened. On Bajor, Solbor has become suspicious of Dukat, and testing his DNA finds his true identity. Winn is again horrified, but rather than siding with Solbor when he chooses to reveal this to the authorities she stabs him. His blood gets on the pages of the book of Kosst Amojan, and the ancient spells appear. On DS9, they find Starfleet and Romulan ships are susceptible to the Breen weapon, but Klingon ships can be adapted to resist it. Now realizing the Klingon fleet will have to protect them all, Kira tells them there is an important broadcast. Damar is announcing that he will lead Cardassia against the Dominion. His resistance destroys the cloning facility responsible for the Weyouns, which the current Weyoun knows is on purpose. Sisko realizes they have to help Damar; he just might save the Quadrant.

Kira is chosen to lead a team to help Damar’s nascent resistance organize. Garak who will also help mentions that having a Bajoran colonel there may be an issue, so Kira is given a commission into Starfleet as a Commander. 

Before Odo goes with her, Bashir asks him for a tissue sample, as he thinks he can create injectable organ transplants using the morphogenic matrix.  Given all the Klingon action, Chancellor Gowron comes to the station to give Martok a prestigious award, but also assumes command of the Klingon fleets himself. He begins sending Martok on unwinnable missions, and Worf believes he is trying to break Martok’s reputation.

  Dukat tries to read the Kosst Amojan without Winn, and is struck blind.  She sends him out on the streets as a beggar to “learn humility” before they move forward with freeing the Pah-Wraiths. Ezri goes to tell Julian how she feels, but they are interrupted when Julian discovers that Odo IS in fact suffering from the same disease the Founders have. He contacts Kira’s mission, but Odo insists they move forward.  There is immediate tension with the Cardassians, but Kira has a lot to teach them. Odo covers up that he is starting to show signs of the illness. Bashir reaches out to Starfleet medical to get copies of Odo’s records from his visit to Earth back in season 4, and finds they are classified. Getting Sisko to get a hold of them, Bashir immediately notices they have been faked. He regresses the virus in Odo’s tissue back and discovers Odo was NOT infected by contact with the Founders. He was infected while he was on Earth. The virus is a biogenic weapon put in Odo to carry to the Founders by someone in Starfleet. Bashir realizes this was an attempt at Genocide, and O’Brien suggests it was Section 31.

Bashir keeps working on a cure while Odo is progressively worse. He is assuming more shapes on this mission and it is taking a toll. Garak finds out how sick Odo is, but Odo swears him to secrecy. Eventually, Garak tells Kira anyway, but she already knows. Gowron sends Martok on a veritable suicide mission, and though he survives, Gowron is quick to blame Martok for the loss. Ezri discusses the Klingon Empire with Worf, and she tells him it is dying, because for all their talk of honor, too much corruption is allowed at the upper levels, especially Gowron. Kira and Gul Rusot, fight, with Kira getting the upper hand, and Garak warns her she will have to kill him. They have a mission though; there is an opportunity to steal a Dominion ship with the energy dampening weapon and take it back to the Federation. Bashir is stymied in his attempts to cure Odo’s virus, but O’Brien suggests they tell people there is a cure, so when Section 31 comes to destroy it, then can capture that person and get the real cure. When Martok recovers, Gowron announces an even riskier mission, which Martok is ready to do, when Worf has had enough and challenges Gowron to a duel. They fight and Worf prevails, killing Gowron and giving him the Klingon death ritual. 

Martok names Worf leader of the Empire, but Worf refuses and tells them Martok should be leader. The council hails Chancellor Martok. Kira, Rusot, Damar, Odo, and Garak head out to steal a ship, when Damar receives word his family has been executed by the Dominion. He asks what kind of people could do that, and Kira gives him the single most perfect response she could possibly give (see GIF below).  

They sneak onto the Jem’Hadar ship, using Odo shifting into the form of the female shapeshifter, but find they Breen weapon is still being installed. They have to hold for 30 minutes.  Tensions increase when Odo can’t hold form anymore and collapses into a parched mess. Rusot wants to kill them and escape, but Garak pulls his gun on Rusot, then Damar on Garak.  Rusot pleads with Damar to fire, to kill the traitor Garak and the Bajoran terrorist, and Damar fires, killing Rusot. Damar declares the Cardassia Rusot represented must be allowed to die, and he will build a new Cardassia. They take the ship back to the Federation for analysis.

Obviously quite a bit going on here!  I found the Kai Winn story really interesting here because you watch her character keep hitting these checkpoints for how evil what she is doing is, and you watch her almost stop…and then barrel through. Her ambition keeps her moving forward, and she has by this point given up her faith, her Gods, her friends, and literally slept with the enemy for the Pah-Wraiths.  She at least has enough Bajoran spark to screw with Dukat a bit. It did seem a little odd to me in the rewatch, given how unique Dukat is as a character, that more people didn’t recognize his voice, despite his face. The Damar storyline here is stunning.  Once just a background Cardassian bridge officer, we have seen him become a toady, then a murderer, and even when he starts his rebellion against the Dominion, it is for “greater Cardassia.” Here though, losing his family, seeing for the first time the Cardassians through Kira’s Bajoran eyes, he has truly become the hero Cardassia needs, not just to liberate them from the Dominion, but from their own history. And speaking of government misconduct, how about that Section 31? Attack on Earth or no, they have decided on genocide. This is specifically the path the Picard rejected against the Borg back in “I, Borg” on TNG, but the path Future Janeway seems happy to follow in the season finale of “Voyager.” A fascinating setup for the Bashir’s last tango with Sloan. The destruction of the Defiant was wholly unexpected, but definitely tells you what the stakes are. Almost makes me wish they aren’t going to issue them another one in the next couple of episodes. And Worf.  Worf and the shenanigans around the Empire always make me say, “F-ing Klingons.” I have to wonder how the Empire would be with him in charge; perhaps something a future “Picard” series can look into.  

Along with Kai Kira.

NEXT VOYAGE: Part 7 of the finale has Section 31 return to the station along with a dying Odo with “Extreme Measures.”

[rainbowrites]

Deep Space Mutant

hi @ihamtmus!!

OKAY, I'm super late but let's do this thing!! Thanks to @wellntruly, who is a GEM and helped come up with a ton of these and was just super fun to scream about this with

little background: most everyone has powers, it's very House of M although since this is a Star Trek universe they make a BIG DEAL out of ~equality~ between powered and non-powered people. Still, life is harder for you if you're non-powered or have weak powers, especially in terms of employment. Would you hire a non-powered bodyguard if you could get one that could shoot fire? I didn’t think so. It’s one of those undercurrents of society that DS9 addresses, and everyone else pretends doesn’t exist. Unsurprisingly, most colonists (and Maquis) are non-powered or have weak/not ‘useful’ powers as they willingly risk that danger to create a world for themselves where they’re not the ‘lesser’. 

And not every planet/species has the same style of powers that we're used to in our mutant comics, where everyone has different powers. Some are like Changelings, where everyone has the same powers. Some have symbiotic powers, like the Trill who have individual powers and then the symbiont all have the same power - which is the ability to retain and pass on memories and powers from previous hosts.

ANYONE ON TO THE GOOD STUFF (readmore below!)

Sisko has The Voice. When he speaks, everyone listens. It's more of a telepathic power, that compels everyone within hearing distance to listen to him. It doesn't force them to actually do what he says, but they have to at least listen to what he says. It's near impossible to interrupt him, and even a whisper is enough to get everyone around him craning to listen. He mostly finds this embarrassing or annoying at first, since it means no muttering under his breath and his superiors are always a little pissed since whenever he says anything everyone stops listening to them and tunes in exclusively to channel Sisko. The Bajorans are ALL OVER IT though. For so long, they were kept oppressed and silent by the Cardassians. Now the Prophets have sent them an Emissary that CANNOT be ignored - the Bajorans will be listened to at last! This power is definitely not inspired by the beautiful chocolate velvet that is Avery Brook's voice, what voice fetish, I don't have a voice fetish, YOU HAVE A THING FOR HIS VOICE DON'T LIE WE ALL DO.

Kira has flame powers, connected to her body. She literally has sparks flying from her eyes when she's enraged, and can punch a flaming fist into your stomach. She can't really spread the fire outside of her body, but that's what a blaster is for. She doesn't need to use her powers to kick your ass. When she was young, she thought that if she got fatally shot she would use the last of her strength to self-immolate in the hopes of burning some Cardassians to death. She has some control issues, but over the course of the series learns to be gentle with herself and her powers - lighting candles with the tips of her fingers and turning herself into a glowing pillar of warmth.

Miles tells everyone that he can talk to machines, but it's no big deal. He doesn't do anything that any good engineer couldn't do. In reality, he connects with systems like no one else can dream of. It's more than just communication, the machines themselves fall in love with him and jump to his every word to try to make him happy. It gets very boring though, every problem bending over backwards to fix themselves. It's why DS9 is so interesting, it's the first time that machines have fought back against him, argued and dragged their feet rather than eagerly work with him. Of course he doesn't realize that this is because Cardassian computer systems are justlike Cardassians themselves, and show their love via intense argument. He doesn't realize for a LONG time that all that petulant breaking and constant backtalk is really just Cardassian for TAKE ME NOW YOU HOT PIECE OF ENGINEER.

Here is a story about Julian: when he was 6 years old, he still wasn't showing any sign of powers. He couldn't read, he could barely write his name, but his parents clung to the idea that his powers would elevate him beyond needing those things. They worried constantly that their own weak powers (she glows very slightly in the dark, he has enough heat powers to fry an egg on his chest if he concentrates) might have doomed their son to mediocrity. Then the doctors tell them, very gently, that their son was among the tiny percentage born without an x-gene. The next day, they start looking into augmentation. If genetics couldn't make their son great as their dreams, then they would use science to do the job instead.

So Julian has super-smarts, and incredibly reflexes to go along with them. But somehow they are always...incomplete, in some weird way. Because they are artificial. He doesn't understand them innately, like a native speaker. He's FLUENT, because he's STUDIED, but there's always something just a little off. However he's CONSTANTLY talking up his smarts and Miles wants to fucking kill him at first because 'yeah okay GOD super smarts are a good power to have, shut UP about them you fucking show off I'm not constantly talking to your tricorder am I?'not realizing that Julian is hella over compensating and also would LOVE Miles to talk to his tricorder all the time. His brain is so weird, sliced and diced and reconnected until the wave length it sends out gives every telepath a headache which Miles thinks is HILARIOUS. 'your real mutant power is ANNOYING EVERYONE.'

It is not lost on Julian that he immediately attaches to Miles, rather than any other officer on the station. Keiko jokes that all machines fall in love with him, and Julian just gives her a very strained smile and agrees softly. When he tells Miles what he is, that he's unnatural, he says that of course Miles is his best friend - Miles has plenty of practice speaking to machines. And Miles is just like 'listen buddy even the cardassian machines aren't as annoying as you are, only a REAL PERSON could be as much a pain in my ass as you are. and that's from the HEART'

Garak keeps his powers a secret. Also a secret? Whether or not he even HAS them. Julian is absolutely FASCINATED, and adores hearing all the stories Garak spins about them using his, quote. 'rare gift for obfuscation':

my powers stimulate nerve endings. I could make Bajorans scream with pain without ever touching them

when I was young I discovered I could disappear into the shadows. Elim had the same type of power, which is why we were known as the sons of Tain, who could disappear in plain sight

haven't you noticed my clothes are exceptional? cloth listens to me as raptly as you do

oh my dear Doctor, my power? I told you everything. It was all true. especially the lies.

It;'s a different power every time and we never ever find out what his real powers are, or if he even HAS ANY. He might be baseline, for all anyone of them know

Jadzia is, to quote Tarra, "the actual cool version of Apocalypse". As I said earlier, Trills are born with a vast array of potential powers (plus a small percentage with none just like on Earth) and the symbionts are much the same as they are in the show, except they don't just pass down memories/personality but also the powers of their previous hosts - though the powers are weakened in transition. The Trills chosen for joining though are only chosen by those with really strong powers and incredible control though, since if those powers are gonna be saved forever through the symbiont you want them to be GOOD ones and if they're gonna be weakened you want them to be as strong as possible to start out with. For example, Curzon had super strength that he used to impress the Klingons and gain their respect; it's something Jadzia uses frequently to help her withstand some incredibly violent Klingon sex. Emony controlled water with incredible precision, able to control each drop just as she controlled her gymnast muscles, and used them often in her routines as water whips in rhythmic gymnastic style; Jadzia mostly uses it to flick water in people's faces when she's feeling mischievous, which is most of the time. Audrid was famous for her amazing flying powers, able to zoom around like a rocket, which is actually why Tobin, adrenaline junkie and first Trill to join Starfleet, joined the program: to get those flight powers and zoom around without a shuttle. He ends up disappointed at their weakness, though he still loves flying without a shuttle, and it's what pushes him to test drive new experimental engines - he will fly like he an remember!! - and what eventually kills him. CAN YOU TELL I'VE THOUGHT WAY TOO MUCH ABOUT THIS???

Jadzia herself had touch telepathy, able to know everyone with a hug. She has a ton of control though, and usually just skims the surface of people's thoughts. It's one reason she's super good at flirting - she knows IMMEDIATELY if someone's attracted to her. It's a rough power on DS9 though; that station saw a lot of misery and pain, and it shares that pain with her every chance it gets.

Ezri had very very weak powers, which is one reason she never even considered trying to get joined. She can technically smell emotions, but she has a really bad sense of smell. She would have to get REALLY close to smell something, and she's not alway gauranteed to recognize it. Like, do you realize how many emotions people generally feel?? It makes for a very weird, confusing blend! Fear is of course, the easiest to smell. She can smell fear!! Kinda. If she's close to you. And you're not wearing perfume. It's a pretty terrible power, and one that she really doesn't use very often. Fun fact: Garak liberally douses himself in cologne every time he might run into her. Un-fun fact: when she's trying to treat him he calls her  'a poor imitation of a betazoid, trying to be a poor imitation of Jadzia'

The Dax powers are technically weakened, but since she had such shit powers in the first place it's yet another thing to get totally overwhelmed by. like oH MAN NOW I SUDDENLY KNOW JUST HOW MUCH THAT THE GUY I BRUSHED IN THE HALLWAY NEEDS TO POOP, THANKS JADZIA'S TOUCH TELEPATHY. OH SHIT THERE GOES THE TABLE EDGE DAMMIT IT CURZON'S SUPER STRENGTH. WELP NOW I'M FLOATING HOW DO I TURN OFF AUDRID'S FLIGHT POWERS

Worf is basically the living embodiment of no. Non-physical powers don't work on him, he can't be affected by telepathy or illusions or anything like that. If someone has super-strength or stretchy powers they can use them against him, but whenever anyone tries to trick him he can just be like 'I see you giggling and waving your fingers. You look ridiculous and are doing nothing.' He's too straight forward to be tricked! It's the first thing that really intrigues Jadzia, he's the first person she can't just know with a touch. She has to work hard to get to know him, work doubly hard because his personality can be just as closed off as his powers, and eventually that desire to know him develops into love. He's the one person who could keep a secret from her if she wanted to know it, but he never would. THEY'RE REALLY CUTE.

Rom has magnetic powers, but really really shitty ones. He mostly just accidentally gets cutlery stuck to him. He does use his powers sometime to turn little bits of machinery that can't normally be reached - something he thinks of as pretty whatever but is actually SUPER USEFUL. Miles gives him a big clap on the shoulder and is super proud of him when he finds out, and Rom nearly dies of joy right then and there.

Quark IS Drinks Space Nine. He can look at you and tell exactly what your blood alcohol content is and how alcohol would affect you. It means that he can keep his patrons at a pleasant buzz all night, or can tip someone into sloppy drunk if they're winning too much at tongo. Despite how much shit the bar goes through, it almost never has to deal with rowdy drunks, and that's because of Quark's ability to keep everyone at that pleasantly tipsy state all night.

Nog is an awkward tree fog, with literal sticky fingers. It's very useful for stealing little things when he's young, but becomes HORRIFICALLY EMBARRASSING when he grows up and joins Starfleet, especially at first. Some people get sweaty hands when they get nervous but he just gets EXTRA STICKY HANDS. Like, picture him frantically trying to shake off the PADD he was just handed with his first assignment while Sisko's back is turned and then being like EVERYTHING IS FINE SIR AHAHAHA I JUST.... REALLY LIKE THIS PADD when he turns back

Jake has stretchy powers because come on have you SEEN Cirroc Lofton??? I almost can't believe that guy DIDN'T have stretchy powers. He's no Mr. Fantastic, but he can drape himself across all the furniture in the room in Peak Teen fashion. It also makes for some baseball shenanigans. He uses it a lot to tease his dad by being taller than him, at least until he ACTUALLY GETS THERE. It's a bit tiring for him to hold a stretch though, which is why when he first hits his growth spurt his dad is like 'hey watch out son, you'll strain something keeping yourself so tall for so long.' Jake tries to tell him that no, he's just naturally growing, and Ben is just like 'LALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU, I KNOW YOU'RE JUST USING YOUR POWERS, YOU'RE NOT ACTUALLY TALLER THAN ME, YOU'RE STILL MY BABY'

Keiko has growing powers. She's heard all the jokes, a botanist with growing powers? How obvious. It's mostly really annoying though, since when she discovers something new and gets excited she can accidentally spark some intense growth spurts and totally mess up her data. She loves making flowers bloom for Molly and Kirayoshi.