#and calling the bluff of the alien scientists

[isagrimorie]

Star Trek Voyager 4E09 - Scientific Method

The Janeway Moment for Seven of Nine. (The First of Many).

Part 1, 2

[princess-of-thebes-1995]

Forgiveness

Yandere Loak x Human Reader

This is a piece of the story of slow burn

You ignored his presence again. Loak sighed. You were so stubborn. Spoiled brat. Not even his younger sisters acted like this.

You were a young lady and should show courtesy if not manners. Some humanity at least.

Loak sacrificed a lot for you. He risked his life kidnapping you from Quaritch. He stopped playing with his friends and hanging with his family so he can use his spare time apart from training to take care of you.

He brought you food, medicine when you were on your period, pads, clothes, blankets etc.

He was getting exhausted. You would scream at him. Call him ugly names. Throw objects.

Loak would clench his fist and jaw in annoyance and say nothing as you throw a tantrum.

He sighed and rubbed his temples. This was not what he expected from you. When spying you from afar before kidnapping, you were polite and sweet with class.

Why rude to him?

He kidnapped you yes but respected you. He didn't rape or raised his hand on you. He was a gentleman.

Ungrateful Whore. He didn't say it out loud. He didn't want to hurt your feelings. But he couldn't help thinking it.

Loak was handsome. He knew. Six packs. He was working out to have an eight pack, biceps, with muscles on his legs too. The whole package. Not to mention he is a young adult with hairless smooth skin. The human men were ugly. Fat and hairy with ugly red spots full of bacteria.

That confused him.

Here he was now, back in square one.

"ugly Alien!"

Loak's eye twitched. "Please don't insult me. I always call you sweet names."

"That's what you are, Freak!"

That's it.

Loak stood up to his full length and looked over your trembling form.

He grabbed your shoulders firmly and it caused you to shut up in fear. "Now my dear." He hissed through clenched teeth. "You are making me lose my patience. Don't provoke me to hurt you."

You furrowed your eyebrows. "You'll never hit me. You always bluff an-"

You felt a hard force on your cheekbone which caused you to fall flat on your ass.

You were shocked and felt pain.

Loak was silent and held a stoic expression. He was shocked he touched not only a woman but the woman he loves.

What has he done?

He wanted to lure you to his arms with his charms and masculine seductive traits. Now, he pushed you further away. He lowered his chances perhaps to non existent in earning your love.

Without a word, he left the hide out.

Back at home in the tree forest, Loak stared at his hand. The one he slapped you. Why do you always bring the worst in him? But you were begging for it. He will not act a gentleman if you will not act a lady.

His father Jake and Neteyam would fight enemy Navi Women from other clan if they attacked. But, you were not a solider but a scientist. Loak cradled his head in his hands. What will he do with you? He would ask his best friend and brother Neteyam for advice. But, that is not an option.

A small tear of frustration slid down his cheek. Love is so difficult. Why fall in love with a damn human enemy? If he loved another Navi it would be easier to mate. Why is he being punished like this?

He hated loving you

Taking a huge breath he came to a decision...

He will try again. He will never let you go or make a fool out of him.

You were a woman and he was a man. He will tame you and put you in your place. You were not happy at the base so it was a sign that you will be happy with him. You just don't know it

The next day, he visited your hideout and saw you curled in a fetal position on the hammock with your back to him.

Gulping with nervousness he approached you. "Beautiful, are you awake?"

You were too scared to ignore so you mumbled a yes

Loak touched your shoulder and made you turn over to him

He saw the bruise

Guilt flooded him. His poor baby.

He picked you up like a baby and sat down on the hammock holding you on his lap.

He rocked you back and forth and the two of you were quiet.

"I'm sorry for hurting you, lovely. But, I warned you. Don't disrespect me. That's all I ask."

Your eyes were diverted. Loak coaxed you to look at him. You did out of fear.

"I love you. I want to forgive and forget. I expect you to do the same."

You nodded in defeat.

"Good " Loak grabbed your chin and sealed the deal with a hard kiss.

He pulled apart for air

He studied your beautiful face and stroked your hair bangs. What a doll.

The rest of the day you let him feed you and comb your hair. You were surprised he asked you that bathe you. You thought he would do it anyway without your consent. You refused. He looked disappointed but said nothing.

He dressed you up in fresh clothes then left after you slept.

[kudosmyhero]

Transformers: Shining Armor #4

Read Date: July 01, 2023 Cover Date: October 2017 ● Writer: John Barber ◦ Christos Gage ● Art: Alex Milne ● Colorist: Josh Perez ● Letterer: Shawn Lee ● Editor: Carlos Guzman ●

**HERE BE SPOILERS: Skip ahead to the fan art/podcast to avoid spoilers

Reactions As I Read: ● Starscream is terrifyingly good at turning on the charm at times ● and now the charm has soured into the transparent attempt at manipulation we all knew it to be ^_^ ● why Starscream gotta make me laugh though?

● 👏👏👏👏👏

Synopsis: Ultra Magnus fights on bravely as wave after wave of Dire Wraiths swarm towards him; a hundred of the aliens fall before him, but thousands more remain, and Magnus is sure he is not going to survive. Astrotrain and Vekktral watch from a safe distance, the Decepticon a little taken aback by how many men Vekktral is happy to sacrifice in the name of subduing Magnus. Eventually, Magnus is brought down, pinned by the Wraith horde, whereupon Vekktral approaches him. Vekktral is a scientist as well as a master of Wraith magics, he explains, and from studying the calamitous fusion of Sky Blast and a Wraith, he has learned how to master and control the process of merging a Wraith with a Cybertronian. Vekktral extends his arm to touch Magnus's forehead, and Magnus screams…

Some distance away, Bumblebee and Sata are following Magnus's last command to escape. Sata insists they return to help Magnus, but Bee refuses, which only seems to confirm Sata's prejudices regarding Cybertronians as emotionless robots. An angry Bumblebee transforms to robot mode to give Sata a bit of a shake, telling her to knock off her bigotry and explaining that Magnus is risking his life to give them a chance to accomplish their mission—but as Sata points out, indicating the blaster fire and explosions on the horizon, it seems they have already failed, as the Decepticons have already reached the wreck of Orchid Crossing and the energon synthesizer within…

While Rom and Livia battle Dirge and Ramjet, Starscream and Stardrive continue their talk. Stardrive has offered the Decepticon the synthesizer in return for him taking the Wraiths with him when he leaves Xetaxxis, but Starscream has an additional suggestion: that Stardrive joins the Decepticons and comes with them as well. She refuses, unwilling to join forces with anyone who would call a Dire Wraith an ally; Starscream pleads innocence, claiming that he had no idea of the things the Wraiths were capable of, and how he is now scared of them as well. This bluff seems like it might be in danger of changing Stardrive's mind… until the tension of the moment is broken by Dirge suddenly crashing into Starscream from behind, having been shot down by the other Space Knights. Rom and Livia combine their firepower against Starscream, who is forced to use Dirge's unconscious body to shield himself against their fire. Dirge wakes-up mid-barrage, and Starscream transforms to aircraft mode to flee, carrying his comrade on his back.

Rom moves to pursue the Decepticons, but Livia proposes an alternative solution: rather than scour the entire planet of life, as she proposed earlier, they should blow up the energon synthesizer, simultaneously robbing the Decepticons of their prize and causing an explosion that will burn only half the planet—the half with the Wraiths on it. Stardrive objects wholeheartedly, and, exasperated, decides to cut ties with the knights and take the synthesizer away with her. They try to talk her into remaining, but she transforms to jet mode and takes off, daring them to take the synthesizer by force—a dare Livia is more than willing to accept, as she shoots Stardrive out of the sky with a single blast. Stardrive fights back, shifting to car mode and slamming into Livia—and unfortunately, that's the moment Bumblebee and Sata arrive, leading to them both getting the wrong end of the stick and attacking Stardrive. Bumblebee is quick to realize the error of his ways, though, and manages to pin Stardrive long enough to say sorry and explain he thought she had been possessed by a Wraith. When she learns that Magnus had probably died to give them all a chance at victory, Stardrive calms down; though she maintains that Livia's answer is wrong, she apologizes and agrees to work with everyone if they all agree that no more lives will be lost in vain.

Starscream and the other Decepticons, meanwhile, have been watching the fight from the skies above, having hoped the Autobots and Knights would destroy each other, and are disappointed to see them talk it out. Starscream grows impatient waiting on the backup Vekktral has promised, but as he grouses, a silhouette appears on the horizon—one that Bumblebee and the Knights spot as well, which Bee recognizes as Ultra Magnus. Alas, it is a monstrous, warped Ultra Magnus, possessed by Vekktral! As the Vekktral/Magnus hybrid opens fire, the native Xetaxxans cowering on the edges of the battlefield reveal that they too are Wraiths, lying in wait, and our heroes suddenly find themselves surrounded and facing life-threatening odds. As Vekktral vows to use this perfected Cybertronian fusion to conquer both the Solstar Order and the Galactic Council, the Decepticons descend from the sky to join Vekktral in finishing off their enemies. But Vekktral is not content to let the Decepticons leave with the energon synthesizer… and as one, the Wraiths all turn on the Decepticons, swarming over them and starting to possess them too!

(https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Shining_Armor_issue_4)

Fan Art: IDW G1 Card - Astrotrain by GuidoGuidi

Accompanying Podcast: ● Swerve's Bar Podcast - episode 05

[wisdomrays]

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS: Are Muslims Guilty of Imperialism?

This charge continues to be leveled against the Muslim world. I would like to counter it by asking the following questions:

Given the existing circumstances of 1,400 years ago, how would any one living in Makka or Madina go about exploiting his own clan and tribe? If the supposedly exploited lands and people were those of the Hijaz, which were poor, unfruitful, and barren, who would have wished to invade or exploit them? It is ludicrous to level the charge of imperialist colonialism against the most noble-minded Muslims, who risked their lives to spread the message of Islam; who spent the greater part of their lives far from their children, families, homes, and native lands fighting armies ten or twenty times their size; and who felt deeply grieved when they did not die on the battlefield and join the earlier martyrs for Islam. We ask ourselves what worldly gain they obtained in return for such struggle, deprivation, and sacrifice!

Those who invaded, occupied, and exploited others with the worst intentions (and results) of imperialism are power-hungry individuals or nations. To mention a few: Alexander the "Great" and Napoleon, the Roman empire and Nazi Germany, the Mongol armies unleashed by Genghis Khan and the colonizing armies unleashed by western Europe, Russian dictatorship (whether czarist or communist) and the American empire (whether "manifest destiny" or "making the world safe for democracy"). Wherever such conquests came and went, they corrupted the morality of the conquerors and the conquered, causing chaos, conflict, tears, bloodshed, and devastation. Today their heirs, like bold thieves who bluff property owners to conceal their theft of that very property, turn to besmirching Islam, its Prophet, and his Companions.

True Muslims have never sought to exploit others. Nor have they let others do so where Muslim government had jurisdiction. At a time when Muslim armies were running from triumph to triumph, Caliph 'Umar said: "What befits me is to live at the level of the poorest Muslims," and he really did so. As he took only a few olives a day for his own sustenance, who was he exploiting?

After one battle, when a Muslim was asked to take the belongings of an enemy soldier whom he had fought and killed, he said: "I did not participate in the battle to take spoils." Pointing to his throat, he continued: "What I seek is an arrow here and to fall as a martyr." (His wish was granted.) While burning with the desire for martyrdom, who was he exploiting?

In another battle, a Muslim soldier fought and killed a leading enemy who had killed many Muslims. The Muslim commander saw him pass by his dead enemy. The commander went to the head of the dead soldier and asked who had killed him. The Muslim did not want to reply, but the commander called him back in the name of God. The Muslim felt himself obliged to do so, but concealed his face with a piece of cloth. The following conversation took place:

-Did you kill him for the sake of God?

-Yes.

-All right. But take this 1,000 dinar piece.

-But I did it for the sake of God!

-What is your name?

-What is my name to you? Perhaps you will tell this to everyone and cause me to lose the reward for this in the afterlife.

How could such people exploit others and establish colonies all over the world? To speak frankly, those who hate Islam and Muslims are blind to the historical truth of how Islam spread.

Let's look at what exploitation and imperialism are. Imperialism or colonization is a system of rule by which a rich and a powerful country controls other countries, their trade and policies, to enrich itself and gain more power at the other's expense. There are many kinds of exploitation. In today's world, they may take the following forms:

• Absolute sovereignty by dispossessing indigenous people in order to establish the invader's direct rule and sovereignty. Examples are western Europe's conquest of North and South America, as well as Australia and New Zealand, as well as the Zionists' conquest of Palestine.

• Military occupation so that the invaders can control the conquered nation's land and resources. One example is British colonial rule in India.

• Open or secret interference and intervention in a country's internal and foreign affairs, economy, and defense. Examples are those Third World countries who are manipulated and controlled by various developed countries.

• The transfer of intellectuals, which is currently the most common and dangerous type of imperialism. Young, intelligent, and gifted people of the countries to be exploited are chosen, given stipends, and educated abroad. There they are introduced to and made members of different groups. When they return to their country, they are given influential administrative and other posts so that they can influence their country's destiny. When native or foreign people linked to exploiters abroad are placed in crucial positions in the state mechanism, the country is conquered from inside. This immensely successful technique has enabled Western imperialists to achieve many of their goals smoothly and without overtly rousing the enmity of the people they wish to subjugate. Today, the Muslim world is caught in this trap and thus continues to suffer exploitation and abuse.

Whatever kind of imperialism they are subjected to, countries suffer a number of consequences:

• Various methods of assimilation alienate people from their own values, culture, and history. As a result, they suffer crises of identity and purpose, do not know their own past, and cannot freely imagine their own future.

• Any enthusiasm, effort, and zeal to support and develop their country is quenched. Industry is rendered dependent upon the (former) imperial masters, science and knowledge are not allowed to become productive and primary, and imitation is established firmly so that freedom of study and new research will gain no foothold.

• People remain in limbo, totally dependent upon foreigners. They are silenced and deluded by such empty phrases as progress, Westernization, civilization, and the like.

• All state institutions are penetrated by foreign aid, which is in reality no more than massive financial and cultural debt. Imports, exports, and development are wholly controlled by or conducted according to the exploiter's interests.

• While no effort is spared to keep the masses in poverty, the ruling classes become used to extravagant spending and luxury. The resulting communal dissatisfaction causes people to fight with each other, making them even more vulnerable to outside influence and intervention.

• Mental and spiritual activity is stifled, and so educational institutions tend to imitate foreign ways, ideas, and subjects. Industry is reduced to assembling prefabricated parts. The army tends to become a dumping ground for imperialist countries, for its purchases of expensive hardware ensure the continued well-being of the latter's industries.

We wonder if it is really rational to liken the Islamic conquest to imperialism, which brought disastrous consequences wherever it went.

The victory of Muslim armies never caused a great exodus of people from their homes and countries, nor has it prevented people from working by putting chains on their hands and feet. Muslims left the indigenous people free to follow their own way and beliefs, and protected them in exactly the same way it protected Muslims. Muslim governors and rulers were loved and respected for their justice and integrity. Equality, peace, and security were established between different communities.

If it had been otherwise, would the Christians of Damascus have gathered in their church and prayed for a Muslim victory against Christian Byzantium, which was seeking to regain control of the city? If Muslims had not been so respectful of non-Muslims' rights, could they have maintained security for centuries in a state so vast that it took more than 6 months to travel from one end to another?

One cannot help but admire those Muslim rulers and the dynamic energy that made them so, when we compare them to present-day rulers. Despite every modern means of transportation, telecommunications, and military back-up, they cannot maintain peace and security in even a small area of land.

Today, many scholars and intellectuals who realize the value of Islam's dynamics, which brought about Islam's global sovereignty and which will form the basis of our eternal existence in the Hereafter, expressly tell us that Muslims should reconsider and regain them. While conquering lands, the Muslims also were conquering their inhabitants' hearts. They were received with love, respect, and obedience. No people who accepted Islam ever complained that they were culturally prevented or ruined by the arrival of Muslims. The contrast with the reality of Christian Europe's conquests is stark and obvious.

Early Muslims evaluated the potential of knowledge and art in the conquered lands. They prepared and provided every opportunity for local scholars and scientists to pursue their work. Regardless of their religion, Muslims held the people in high regard and honored them in the community. They never did what the descendants of the British colonialists in America did to the American Indians or in Australia to the Aborigines, the French to the Algerians, or the Dutch to the Indonesians. On the contrary, they treated the conquered people as if they were from their own people and religion, as if they were brothers and sisters.

Caliph 'Umar once told a Coptic Egyptian who had been beaten by a Makkan noble to beat him just as he had been beaten. When 'Umar heard that 'Amr ibn al-'As had hurt the feelings of a native Egyptian, he rebuked him: "Human beings were born free. Why do you enslave them?" As he went to receive the keys to Masjid al-Aqsa, 'Umar visited and talked to priests in different churches in Palestine. Once he was in a church when it was time to pray. The priest repeatedly asked him to pray inside the church, but 'Umar refused, saying: "You may be harassed by other Christians later on because you let me pray in the church." He left the church's premises and prayed outside on the ground.

These are but a few examples to indicate how Muslims were sensitive, tolerant, just, and humane toward other people. Such an attitude of genuine tolerance has not been reached by any other people or society.

[kyleisme14]

My trip to Area 51 - unedited

On Facebook, a kid from Bakersfield created an event. He uses his page, perfectly named, shitposting because my life is in shambles and makes 'storm area 51, they can't stop us all' and seemingly overnight a million people said that they would be attending. I did attend. Shitposting because my life is in shambles is inadvertent the most zeitgeist worthy name for this page. Shitposting is when you share terrible content that you know is bad just to get a reaction. You are sharing a low effort joke for the sense of connection from others.  Because my life is in shambles, this anonymous statement of personal vulnerability, I shall try and make a low effort attempt at connection. This is what our age is all about. We are doomed to be as connected and as isolated as possible. This had a chance of being a real life meme where we'd be isolated no longer.

The page became an immediate stronghold for memes. It adopted other internet jokes like Karens asking to see managers, Kyle's drinking monster energy drink for invincibility, and Naruto runners being faster than bullets, as ways of infiltrating the base. And also generated new ones about what people would find inside Area 51 like the 10th doctor to recommend a toothpaste or where my girlfriend wants to go for dinner or how we'd sneak in with a minivan but escape with a space ship. The killer meme was how once we 'free them aliens' we'd keep them as lovers and bang them so hard that we 'clapped them cheeks'. This was the low effort comedy that this meme page generated.

Was it a joke or would people actually go? At first I did not know why I needed to go to area 51, and everybody seemed to ask me. I failed to recruit any friends to join me on the quest, 7 hours driving to the infamous base. Most thought I was crazy for going. My brother told me to be safe. My sister thought I was joking, and called to counter my bluff. Whenever somebody said they couldn't go, I pittied them because I was sure they were going to miss something incredible and life affirming. I was excited because I had no idea what was going to go down, and nobody in the whole world did. I stopped at the army surplus. I thought we'd either see a humanitarian crisis like fyre fest or a government crackdown. Don't forget, 2 million people clicked GOING online, so even if 1% came that'd be 10,000 people to a town with a population of  1000. The airforce released a warning about 'raiding' active military bases being a bad idea and the use of deadly force being a possibility. Lincoln County, one of nevadas sleepiest, had to call in enough police to potentially break up a neo-woodstock.

I always wanted to go to area 51 since I first learned about aliens as a kid. When I asked the big question of are we alone in the universe? If there was an answer, if somebody had the evidence, if it was anywhere, it was stored at area 51.  UFO's and little green men were hiding somewhere in Nevada... at least according to pop mythology. In grade school I would check out the same book over and over from the library, about aliens and the search for exterterestrial life and the scientists who were looking at the stars. There was a spooky section about times aliens might have visited early humans based on cave paintings and statues. And then the next page was all about area 51, where the government did secret expirements on alien artifacts and maybe had a specimen. So I've been captivated since at least then. Area 51 represents a big secret. A mystery! And somebody powerful, a general or established congress person, knows and is keeping the answers from us. So as an anti-establishment, meme and alien lover, I was fascinated with this 'movement,' that would of 'raid the base'. I wanted to go and find out how many people like me were out there! Turns out I wasn't completely alone! But... for the ignorant... What is Area 51? I could never believe people weren't following the biggest BREAKING news of our lives. But for those out of the loop, Area 51 is an infamous hotspot for UFO lovers. It has a rich history in alien folklore. But here is the factual history: Nevada is almost all federal land. and it was used back in the day for nuclear testing. an original tourist attraction to Las Vegas was watching nuclear testing in the distance...

Some airforce commanders were flying around dropping bombs when they spied a dried lakebed next to a mountain, Groom Lake. They landed on it and found it to be a perfectly flat natural runway. Excellent for testing expiremental aircraft. The facility became known as  Area 51. And was where the airforce and Lockheed Corp developed the U-2 stealth bomber. They brought the best and brightest scientists and engineers to develop new aeronautics and weaponry for the US military. At the height of the Cold War, any foreign technology that was aquired would be brought to Area 51 to be tested and backwards-engineered. You can imagine Chinese reactors and Russian jets being taken apart and used by the best tinkerer's and best test pilots. People at the highest levels of classified access. Because if you are one of the folks who are handling stolen foreign items, you are so classified that your spouse isn't supposed to know what you do all day. Yes honey, I was testing out the Ruskies new fighter plane! They don't even know we have it! These were experts in aeronautics and weapons science who could decipher technology even if the instructions were in another language... so perhaps if the US government were to encounter any other 'foreign technology' of an unknown origin, maybe they'd  send it to Area 51 to be backwards engineered? That's the set up, those are the facts, the rest is conjecture and tinfoil hats stuff. Like unexplained phenomena,  military released sightings that definitely aren't weather baloons and general mysticism. Do you believe in aliens or not?

If you believe that it's more likely that our government would keep aliens a secret than releasing that information to the public... welcome to the club! If not, do some reading. As I drove across the desert, down lonesome roads and through one horse towns, I realized what I was doing. I was driving into the middle of nowhere, likely to stand around doing nothing... and boy was I excited. My plan was to go and maybe film something and if that didn't work out I'd put on an alien costume and hold a sign. I figured that there'd be a bunch of cameras and I could use it to collectively protest all sorts of wrongs in the world. One of the initial reacitons to the playful event was, 'hey there are more imporant places to raid! why not raid the border detention centers, why not congress, why not the oil companies?' To which I say, hell yes... but that's not shitposting. That's being earnest and noble. This was about being ironic and part of a joke. This was about chasing an internet meme into the ground and disecting it until all that was left was the human connection. I had a sign and costume and figured that even if nobody showed up at least news organizations would be covering it.  The sign I held said, Peace on earth ain't coming from outer space, and I really believe that. We shouldn't expect peace to come from somewhere else in the universe, it has to start right here at home, inside each of us. I wanted to get that message out. The day of the event, due to classic internet decentralization, people debated whether the raid meet up (located at the Area 51 gate) should be at 3am on friday morning or 3am on saturday morning. Most people kind of agreed to just gather sporadically between those two times. I monitored a live stream late on thursday to confirm that millions of people weren't gathering to make American History. Instead, about 30 people gathered for that 3am moment. I only missed a photo-op. I awoke on friday morning and drove towards my destiny. There were two events scheduled. One hosted by the facebook Shitposting kid who decided to use his 15 minutes of fame to organize a rave in the desert at the local Little Ale'inn, a motel close to the gate. The other was set up by a filmmaker who made a movie about Area 51 at the Alien Research Center. Both locales are alien themed tchotchke paradises designed to sell the eager UFO tourist any manner of t-shirt, shot glass or Alien doll. These spots have a fun feel and would be desert trinket spots selling only desert sage and gems if not for the boon of being next to an infamous mystery base.

The dueling events were both hoping to capitalize on the rush of people to the desert for the raid. Alienstock, as shitpost called it, was going to be a kumbaya style gathering. But everybody thought it was an alibi for shitpost incase anybody got in actual trouble at the gate and roped him in. Shitpost from bakersfield ended up not even going to his own event out of fear. Also the county sued him for the cost of preparing for a potential fiasco. The Alien Research Center event was going to have famous Alien Community folks speak and some high end music performances. But as I drove down the dusty route 375, known as Exterterestrial Highway, I saw very few people on the roads. Lots and lots of cops. It became obvious that the whole county and the organizers of these events had been preparingor at least 30,000 people. They had nearly 200 port-a-potties. Which makes  sense, if 1% of the people who claimed they were coming online came! The reality was that maybe only 1% of 1% showed up to these sleepy nevada towns on the edge of a fabled military base. The imediate reality of the events was that they were extremely underattended, but that was also a blessing. it made everything a little bit more intimate and accessible. I pulled into the dusty parking lot of the Little Ale'inn to find a rag tag DIY music festival set up. People were essentially tailgating on the side of the road. It was a scene and it was dusty. All sorts of folks were jovially milling about, some in alien themed costume, many with cameras. Many folks with booze, despite the morning. I pulled out a camera and tried interviewing people, but found that everybody I talked to had the exact same talking points. Do you believe in aliens? Duh. Why are you here? Free them Aliens. Do you really think they are in the base? Yes, but maybe now they've been moved. What did you think would happen if we charged? We'd all get killed or arrested. Nobody seemed to have really believed in the facebook post's idea of 'they can't stop us all.' Most people were sure that, especially with the meager turn out, the military and police could stop us all. Everybody just wanted to see what would happen, expecting anywhere from fyre festival 2.0 to a bloodbath to nothing. Everybody had listened to the same Joe Rogan podcast, where he'd interviewed Bob Lazar who claims to have worked at the base. That podcast was the bible of this gathering and  was what had inspired Shitpost to shitpost.

It was special that everybody was a believer. That's rare that strangers are all on the same wavelength. Nobody seemed to have any doubts that the government knew about aliens and weren't telling the public. And it was agreed that UFO's had been tested and stored at the base. Everybody I ended up meeting seemed pretty prepared. They had plenty of water and booze and camping supplies, so the idea that a humanitarian crisis was going to occur dissapated completely and reminded me of a group outting to the desert. Most important was that everybody at the event seemed to be in on the joke. They might believe in aliens but had no plans of raiding the base in actuality. Aliens might exist but the might of the US government is way more certain. The police presence alone was insane, but they merely hinted at the military might behind the base's perimeter. The police actually became quite friendly once they realized it wasn't going to be a boodbath. But the silent and hooded guards behind the gate remained terrifying with big guns and big dogs. There was definitely the threat of violence if you crossed. But we all joked that maybe if a million more people showed up we'd actually start Naruto running passed the guards.

After a while of milling around quasi-interviewing people I decided there were enough people with cameras that I should just put on my alien costume and go to the gate and get in front of the camera. I was taken to the gate by some friends I'd made while trying to get interviews. Evan and Kevin were two dudes I became super weirdly close on the day of the Raid. Each of us had come by ourselves from far away, San Francisco, Boston and Los Angeles, with a vague intention of documenting it in some way. I had a vision of either a mini doc or article, Evan was a photographer and who took some insanely beautiful photos (featured here).

Kevin was a video creation guru who just wanted to make as much instagram content as possible. Kevin was by far the most successful, he's got that showman's knack to always get on camera with insanely high energy. There were a lot of cameras and each one he'd run up to and start lecturing about how the governemnt needed to release the secret documents! It was a great bit especially with his Boston Townie accent turned all the way up.

Evan explained how he was drawn to the site by a mysterious desire to see what would happen.  He expressed it best as, 'this is like a reddit safe post.' People will find safes while remodeling or cleaning a house and say, 'hey reddit, look i found a safe, i'm going to open it and see what's inside!' Then people get excited trying to guess what marvelous jackpot could be in that old dusty safe. They wait desperately for the original poster to share an update. More often than not the poster never returns and people are left waiting for nothing.

Once and a while there will be an updated post to show what was found inside and sometime's it's a haul of trinkets and dubloons and rare items that were saved throughout time to be found by some noble internet user. but then most of the time it's like, wow a roll of coins from 1953! "so yeah i felt obligated to go and find out what was in the safe and share it with reddit even if there actually was nothing inside. reddit deserves to know.' evan said. Because sometimes those posts are just as important, the safe find coming back to say, 'hey we cracked the safe, but turns out there was nothing in it! here's a picture of an empty safe."

So I was beginning to realize that I was standing inside an empty safe. But wow, all of these people had also come to be here and that was something special. It's not often that we get to organically be around likeminded strangers that all have such clear and imediate shared experience. Here we all were, because of a a meme, just to see what would happen. The gathering had a magical quality because we were an internet joke that had left the cyber space and entered the meat space. It was a silly idea that was reaching a physical end point.

I stood around the gate for a good while, we chatted with everybody, shook hands with the police guarding the gate, exchanged instagram handles and shared jokes we'd heard on the internet. You could tell people were really cutting loose. Most people spent most of their time on their computers it seemed. Hey, me too. We shouted 'clap them cheeks' and 'let them out.' We were all in on the joke. There were still mainly cameras and I got interviewed and photographed by dozens including history channels ancient aliens and the nytimes and countless youtubers and instagramers. It all kind of culminated when Kevin and Evan were getting cold and saying we should leave, I heard a distant 'clap them cheeks' chant and booty shuffling down the lonesome road to the infamous Area 51 gate was Riley Reid! Pornhub's number 1 star. She's somebody I have searched for all my life, on google. She did a strip tease and pretended to rush the gate. She was an internet hero in the flesh, and she was in on the joke too! A perfect metaphor, eh?

The next morning, hungover from the excitement and extrovertism of the day before I was sitting in a diner scouring news websites for mentions of the raid and looking for photos of myself. Behind me I heard some locals discussing, a gravelly voice said, "usually this town has 1 car every 10 minutes. this weekend we've got like 1 car every minute!" The townsfolk seemed to have had the wildest weekend of their lives. Me too. I managed to get into a few articles in my green alien suit.  A USA Today affiliate newspaper even printed a whole write up about me and my sign. On the way back, realizing I expected nothing, and found little more than nothing, I was completely satisfied. I had held my sign for peace and found a version of it, internet strangers, weirdos from all over had gathered peacefully to celebrate an idea. A silly and anti authoritarian conspiracy idea, but an idea none the less. I decided the reason I was drove all this way through beautiful american desert land, was because it's something I would have thought was cool as an 11 year old. A mission to see aliens and the people who wanted to meet them. Radical.

[dontcallmecarrie]

LTTR Shatterpoints

Yes, another one. At this rate the series might just end up being me remixing this one premise over and over again, because they just keep coming. Plus I’m trying to put off the inevitable major character death that I’d tagged for, there’s that too. Slow going, on that front. 

So, I’ve already done several everyonelives!AU shatterpoints [or, well, almost everyone], but I’ve been going over LTTR and looking at the buildup and one jumped out at me.

See, I’ve been trying to be as nice as I can to Howard, trying to show how his vices screwed him over and how WWII and everything that came after changed him. Hopefully, it showed through in both LTTR and the minific thing set in the same universe [Just Hide Behind Your Pride]. 

Howard, in my interpretation, is a complex character. The alcoholism is a huge vice I can’t overstate, and he cares but his communication skills are shit and add in his other issues and you do not get a case of ‘love conquers all’. 

Reason this all comes up is: in LTTR, I’m trying to be nice to his character. This shatterpoint, however, is anything but, even if it’s slightly happier in other ways.

Because in one universe, Maria stayed with Howard through thick and thin, in sickness and in health, and died at his side nearly two decades later. 

In another life, however, Maria Stark divorced her husband in 1973.

Howard’s alcoholism had become a bone of contention, not long into their marriage. Maria hated it—each fight was more exhausting than the one before it.

Because when he was home, Howard Stark was almost always drunk. 

And when he was drunk, he got loud, he broke plates and glasses and the only reason he never hit his wife was an unconscious, instinctive urge for survival, warning him even at his lowest to not provoke the other in the room, the gleam in her eyes sometimes putting him on edge in a way he could never explain sober.

In one life, Maria would’ve gritted her teeth and stuck it out, would’ve done her level best to try to keep her husband from crawling into the bottle and never coming back out, and even somewhat succeeded.

In this universe, however, Howard’s sense of self-preservation lapsed for a moment, and during an especially terse shouting match, he tried to hit his wife. Emphasis on tried, because Maria caught his hand. 

But that was the last straw, for her, and where before she’d politely pretended to buy it when Howard acted like he didn’t remember what happened when he was drunk, this time she looks him in the eye and smiles even as she says, “I want a divorce.”

Because before, Howard had been pushing everyone out of his life. That, she was willing to deal with. The secrets and the way he put her at risk because he kept bringing his SHIELD-related work home, she’d been dealing with. But she had her limits, and she drew the line at domestic violence. If Howard didn’t want her in his life, all he needed to do was say so and she’d leave. 

Divorce was a-okay with her, screw social norms, screw everything, she didn’t care, she’d married him out of love. If he didn’t love her back, then what was he doing wasting his time with her?

Howard, of course, tries to fight it. Tries to say no, he doesn’t want to, he was Howard Stark and that meant something, didn’t she know?

Unfortunately for him, Maria was just as stubborn as he was. 

And when he brought in the lawyers, she didn’t hesitate to bring up PR, and after making it clear that she didn’t care about his money, didn’t give a damn about alimony or anything, everything else fell into place. She even had a cover for it, ready to go the day after their last fight: anyone asked, they could say she was infertile, and use that if necessary. 

They didn’t have a child, after all, it’d be easy to pin it on that and she didn’t care about what the world thought about her as long as she could get this over with stat. And he’d never see or hear from her again, and everyone could carry on with their lives. [Or maybe she says something about spreading a rumor about infidelity, because Maria doesn't care about her reputation, she just wants out.]

From there, it’s a no-brainer, really. 

Howard’s not happy, but when it’s put that way, everything’s lined up perfectly and it’s not like he can argue. Not when he suspects that if he doesn’t sign, Maria might just end up walking out the next time he leaves for the Arctic. 

So he signs, and tries to ignore everyone else’s yelling at him as he does so. Because Peggy’s sharp enough to read between the lines, knows both him and Maria well enough to know that Maria wouldn't have divorced him without one hell of a push, and Jarvis had quit outright in protest. Well, not in protest, but the look his old friend had given him had stung. [Especially since there was an uncomfortable amount of truth in there.]

So Howard Stark signs the divorce papers, and Maria Carbonell and Edwin Jarvis then proceed to vanish off the face of the Earth.

Not that the cameras care, of course: the world was interested in the rich business tycoon first and foremost, now that he was back on the market. Sure, there was a bit of speculation as to where his ex-wife was, but really the story presented was pretty much cut and dry, and interest waned after a while. 

Howard’s alone, now, in his mansion. Nothing but him and the bottle, and the knowledge that he had something good and blew it because the reminders of his brilliant, brilliant wife are everywhere. 

In SHIELD: 

Peggy won’t speak to him if it’s not for strictly professional reasons. Then, she’s absolutely glacial, and the look in her eyes is practically daring him to try anything. 

Nick Fury, Peggy’s apprentice of sorts, is also side-eyeing him too; has been ever since he got wind of the divorce, ever since he last saw Maria walking away with nothing but a messenger bag with everything she’d had to her name prior to getting married. 

Hell, even Hank Pym had commented on it. 

he’s even worse after losing Janet, though: now Howard’s pretty sure Hank pretty much hates him, because he had a wife and let her go, instead of...well.

if there’s rumors of infidelity floating around, then it’s even worse because Hank just pities him and Howard hates it.

Even in Stark Industries, he can’t catch a break.

it’d been his Legal department who’d helped with the divorce, they’re the ones privy to the details. They’d mentioned, more than once, just how unusual it was, that the wife of a rich man didn’t care about alimony. Howard didn’t doubt they side-eyed him even now, sometimes.

his PR department is working better than ever, and also, very clearly, all-but-hated him. 

He’d known Maria had been involved in it, but to the extent where an entire department was acting like he’d fired their head after the divorce?

Obadiah, at least, does what he can to help. He hadn’t commented much on the divorce itself, beyond mentioning how much of a pity it was. 

However, he’s also starting to talk about remarrying, and Howard doesn’t want to think about it right now but his friend’s right, he’s not getting any younger but after Maria—well. He’ll figure something out. He’s busy right now, but...damn he needs another drink.

aka I’m not sure if Howard remarries or not, in this AU. Probably not, to keep things from getting too complicated and for added drama later on because...

On Maria’s end, she had to get creative to get back to Night Vale, but she manages it. She’s home, not two weeks after getting divorced, and with Jarvis in tow to boot.

...and finds out she’s pregnant shortly afterwards. 

Maria tries to let Howard know about it, but he’s always out and never picks up the phone. The one who ends up answering it is a newly-hired lawyer who thinks it’s a crank call and goes ‘you say you’re Howard’s ex, and that you’re pregnant with his kid? yeah, right, keep harassing him this way and we’ll sue’ [because he doesn’t recognize her voice, or whatever] which...yeah. Oops.

[aka Tony’s born and raised in Night Vale]

Tony’s born in Night Vale General Hospital, just like his mom, and grows up terrifying. 

Sometimes, sure, he’s curious about the outside world, about his biological father. But for the most part, he’s content with showing up Desert Bluffs when science fair season rolls around, or when Jarvis is doing his thing, or when his mom’s coming back from her job at the library. [Or maybe Maria works at Night Vale Community Radio as a sort of go-between of Station Management, or something?]

Thanks to the internet, he knows what his biological father looks like, and it’s really uncanny how much he looks like him. [Weird, but cool.] Both his mom and Jarvis have plenty of stories to tell, but Tony can also pick up pretty easily on what they’re not saying, too. 

Still, the older he gets, the more curious Tony can’t help but feel. 

And from there I can imagine a few ways things’d end up panning out: 

Option A: Howard dies in a ‘car accident’ before Tony can meet him. 

The outside world doesn’t learn about Tony until after a green rage monster crashes through and passes out in Mission Grove Park. Bruce Banner wakes up to a very apologetic Tony because “sorry, that knockout gas is still in beta, didn’t expect for it to do that”. The discovery that this small town just rolls with him having the Other Guy is mind-blowing, to say the least.

Bruce soon gears up to head off because he fell from the Helicarrier and knows they’re probably going to need help for whatever Loki’s up to, and gets a ride not via a moped, but one of Tony’s...creations. Not only that, but Tony goes with as well, because possible alien invasion meant science and he was, above all else, a scientist. 

The Avengers get a heart attack when Bruce Banner shows up after having disappeared from the Helicarrier. SHIELD gets a heart attack when an unknown shows up and starts doing heavy damage, and Steve Rogers gets a heart attack when said unknown lifts his faceplate and he’d been told Howard was dead, had died without children, yet this man’s his spitting image, what was going on?

Option A1:

[I’m pretty sure it’s been done before, but meh]

It’s not the Other Guy who crashes into their little town. 

Instead, it’s a hammer, followed by a very loud and very buff blond guy. Except here, the Destroyer gets taken care of by Street Cleaners, or Hooded Figures, and Thor has to jump through quite a few more hoops to prove he’s worthy. 

or maybe it’s Steve Rogers on his motorcycle, exploring America after getting unfrozen and trying to get his bearings back, only to stick around after he meets Tony. 

or maybe MCU canon ensues without Tony, for the most part, right up until Thanos shows up. Unfortunately for him, he picked the wrong planet, because if Night Vale could take on a Smiling god, they could take on a Mad Titan.

Option B: Tony decides to visit the outside world the summer before entering college, and accidentally ends up interfering with the assassination attempt.

Tony’d gotten quite a few strange looks the entire time he’d been traveling, but he hadn’t realized just how much he resembled his father until he’s at a party in New York City and a security guard takes one look, pales, and proceeds to take him by the arm and all-but-frog-march him to an office. 

Less than an hour and quite a lot of yelling later, Tony meets his father. And is distinctly unimpressed. 

Of course, by then Howard’s probably remarried or something, which doesn’t help. Here, he doesn’t, because there’s no damn time between SHIELD and SI and more drama that way.

Especially since it takes several repetitions and a letter to explain that yes, actually, his mom had tried to let Howard know about his having a son, but nobody believed her so she’d given up after a while. No, he wasn’t after his money, Tony just wanted to at least meet his biological father even if it’s just the once, and now that he’d seen him he was okay with walking away, no harm done. 

Suffice it is to say, there is a lot of yelling. 

Apparently, everyone’s very interested in both him and his mom. Yes, she’s fine, she’s currently the one wrangling press conferences for City Hall, happy as a clam. He’s about to enter college, no, he’s not going to say where because he likes his privacy. Again, Tony just wanted to meet Howard, now that was done they could both go on with their lives, simple. See? No? ...well, shit. 

so, so much yelling.

Howard, for his part, had been urgently called away from the party, and escorted by a very tense security team to a small office on premises, who’re keeping him updated on the situation. It sounds ludicrous, like a bad joke, but when he first sees the young man languidly slouching in the tiny office chair, all doubts vanish. Because Howard couldn’t deny it if he wanted to—the resemblance was just too much. And Tony—that’s what he called himself, even as he’s lazily waving a school ID for Anthony Carbonell— had his mother’s eyes.

The evening just gets more mind-blowing from there, really. 

Howard Stark has a son, and he never knew—heads would roll for that alone, he was sure. Howard has a son, who didn’t seem to care about his money, who’s only remark remotely to that effect had been a joke about child support but nothing else. Howard has a son, who’s a genius, because he’d been doodling on a piece of scratch paper for like 5 minutes that looked disturbingly like the schematics for a laser gun of some kind. All right then. 

Given the number of bombs being dropped in succession—his ex-wife and his old friend were both alive and well despite having vanished off the map decades ago, he had a son he didn’t know about who was about to enter college—Howard feels he’s excused for clocking out early. He’d expected a gala, and got...this. 

So he heads home early, and has Tony come with him because hell, might as well get to know his son, right?

...of fucking course there’s an assassin. What is even his life—why’s his son throwing a fireball at their attacker?

aka Tony ends up fighting off the Winter Soldier and saves his father’s life. And Howard has so many questions as to when and how a seventeen-year-old managed to pick up the skills to take down a veritable Terminator. 

Shit goes down, and Howard’s blood pressure skyrockets because he keeps getting more questions and Tony’s very good at keeping secrets. The most Howard gets is his son’s hometown, but even that’s a dead end—he should know, given he looked long and hard for it, back when he’d married Maria, and it didn’t seem to exist anywhere he could find. 

Tony leaves, not long after, but at least Howard managed to wrangle a promise of keeping in touch because...well. He’d just discovered he had a son and wrapping his head around it all was going to take a while. 

Time passes, and he manages to keep it mostly quiet, with only the people in his social circle being made aware of it. He wouldn’t have believed it himself it he hadn’t experienced it, if he didn’t have the Winter Soldier in custody and currently getting treated for his various third-degree burns, if he didn't have a few photographs of his son(!). 

Nick Fury had managed to meet his son as well, actually: Howard had called him as soon as he’d arrived home, because of obvious reasons, and when his old friend had shown up he’d taken one look at Tony’s carefully keeping watch over the man who’d been privately revealed to be Barnes, before turning around and just giving Howard the single most deadpan look he’s ever gotten. [Part of Howard thinks he might’ve been shocked by the Barnes thing, if the rest of the evening hadn’t desensitized him to it.]

...then Howard and Co. find out about the HYDRA thing after interrogating the newly-captured Winter Soldier, and you guys can guess the rest on that front. 

Peggy learns about Tony from Nick Fury and just gives Howard a look because she suspects him at first, but then Tony visits again during the weekend and she gets to know his son. Tony’s very amiable, disturbingly well-versed in interrogation and brainwashing tactics and whatnot, and when he mentions ‘yeah, mom wanted me to know dad but the lawyers said they’d sue’, she finally drops it. Obadiah, meanwhile, gets caught flat-footed in all this, and gets sloppy in his double-dealing. Since this is so soon after the HYDRA scare, he gets made not long afterwards.   

Steve Rogers wakes up to Bucky sitting in the chair next to him. 

Well, technically no: he wakes to the sight of Tony very carefully and very deliberately removing the screws in his sleeping friend’s chair, and running away cackling when Bucky fell backwards. 

“That little shit,” Bucky growls after running a hand through his hair and cursing even more because apparently Tony got glitter on him too, and makes to chase after him before a strange sound comes from the bed, and his thoughts derail because Steve’s awake. And laughing at him, but first things first.

“You get off this time!” He calls down the hall, and after another look at Steve, adds, “And get your dad!”

Then he turns to Steve, and smirks. “What he doesn’t know is I switched out all the coffee in the house for decaf, so he’s going to be crashing soon.” Then he sobers, and smiles with more warmth than before. “Hey, Steve. It’s been a while.”

...okay I think it’s safe to say I have a problem with making AUs. Anyone mind my remixing LTTR multiple times?

[writesandramblings]

The Captain’s Secret - p.99

“Sigh No More”

A/N: Covers the remainder of episode 14, "The War Without, the War Within," and continues into episode 15, "Will You Take My Hand?"

I decided to split this chapter; I thought it was getting a little too long. That means technically there are still three left after this. Same content, nothing's being added, just slightly different numbering than I intended and hopefully a slightly easier reading experience.

Full Chapter List Part 1 - Objects in Motion << 98 - A Fate Worse Than Death 100 - The Captain’s Secret >>

As they walked down the corridor, Saru considered the woman beside him. "Scan me," she had implored, suggesting there was physical proof of her claim to be Mischkelovitz. She had said other things, too—things that confused him, like "my quarters" when Mischkelovitz did not have quarters and slept in a hidden burrow in the walls of her lab.

Then there was the issue of the implant overloading, wiping Mischkelovitz's mind clean, and a miraculous recovery. Equally confusing was Groves’ panicked assertion this woman was Petrellovitz and subsequent reversal. This detail, at least, was potentially cleared up by a conversation he had once had with Groves and O'Malley about religion. I'll take a comforting lie over a truth any day.

Saru suspected Groves had done just that and the person walking next to him was Emellia Petrellovitz.

She was, for the moment, entirely docile. Saru sensed nothing that alarmed him other than the fact she was not who she claimed to be. She was making no attempt to retake Discovery and both the Mudd protocols and Brig Chess had been removed from the system, so it was unlikely she could.

He walked her to Lab 26 and wondered what to do. If she could fool scanners as to her origin and if Groves, her own brother, was going to back her claim, how to approach this without seeming entirely paranoid? He needed evidence.

The walls of the lab were open, panels stacked to the side of the door. Exposed conduits and controllers evidenced Tilly's efforts to remove Mischkelovitz's system modifications. Saru wondered if Petrellovitz would comply with the order to finish disassembling the lab to preserve her cover. "Now that your research into Klingon cloaks is no longer needed, I assume you will be leaving Discovery?"

"Why?" she intoned, voice low and hollow. "This is a science ship and I am a scientist. Provided the humans win the war, this seems like a fine place to work."

"Provided we all win the war," Saru corrected.

Her face darkened as she realized her mistake. "Yes. Because there are so many aliens here."

Nothing in Saru's words should have tipped her off as to his suspicions, but she was making it very hard for him to pretend he did not know. "Dr. Mischkelovitz, are you feeling alright? Perhaps residual damage to your brain..."

"Tell me something. If Gabriel had told you who he was from the outset and asked you for a chance, would you have given him one?"

Saru was taken aback. His first thought was that she was saying these things because she had no intention of letting him leave the room alive, but nothing in her body language, tone, or demeanor indicated any sort of danger. Slowly, Saru said, "I would like to believe that we would have."

"Then, would you give me one?"

He could not answer.

"I realize I can't maintain this pretense as well as Gabriel did, but if you help me, I won't have to. I think his mistake was not trusting you." She did not trust Saru either, she was simply beginning to understand that in this universe, you had to make people think you trusted them if you intended to work with them.

Perhaps it was a mistake on Lorca's part, but it seemed more of an intentioned plan. "I think Lorca was in a far more confusing position. A position I now find myself in as well. I assume you have prepared some form of retaliation if I deny your request?"

"No. If you deny me, I'll simply leave this ship and continue on my way. You'll never be able to prove the truth about what I am, because the truth is, I am the me from this universe." This was it, the big bluff Petrellovitz needed Saru to buy in order to secure her place in this universe. "My neural implant—her implant. When the Klingon attacked me, I activated an emergency failsafe to transfer my consciousness into her body. Because our neural structures are identical, it worked. Unfortunately, there's no evidence of what I did, so it would be your word against mine and Johnny's." (Ironically, Petrellovitz had accidentally suggested something the real Mischkelovitz's implants could do, but then, the genesis of their ideas came from the same place, even if their expertise had diverged slightly.)

"There are security monitors in this room," noted Saru. "This conversation is evidence of the truth."

Petrellovitz pointed up to the corner. "It would seem your engineer has presently disconnected them." That was the problem with trying to disassemble someone else's undocumented changes. There was no telling what would happen in the process. "I can reconnect that for you. You can keep an eye on me if you want. I don't mind. I should warn you I prefer to work naked."

This conversation was not going at all how Saru had expected it. "I do not wish to assist you with this deception."

"Then I will leave the ship. We'll pretend this conversation never happened. After all, no one can prove it did."

"A mind meld would provide proof."

Petrellovitz stiffened. "Vulcans," she said disdainfully. A side effect of placing so little value on aliens was that Petrellovitz sometimes forgot that some species had abilities and advantages humans lacked. "Are you trying to convince me to kill you?"

"Certainly not. But I am not the one who can approve your desired course of action. I will present your offer to Admiral Cornwell."

"Please don't," she said flatly, her tone entirely impolite. "The more people know, the less credulous my denial becomes. The last thing I need is anyone in command learning about it. As it is, maybe I can... beat a mind meld somehow." She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I was hoping you'd give me a chance, as a fellow scientist. Allow me to prove my intentions. You're probably the most qualified person to run such an experiment. But if you're not interested, then let's forget I said anything and part ways. No mind melds, no need to go after one another. A truce."

Saru considered that. If Groves maintained his support of her, it was unlikely she would be convicted of any crimes based solely on a mind meld; they were easily challenged in trial. At best, she would be kicked out Starfleet and then there was no telling where she might end up. If she remained on Discovery, he could enlist the aid of people he trusted and hopefully obtain enough evidence to prove her true identity and prevent her from running amok somewhere else.

There was also a chance, slim as it was, that she was sincere. The experiment she was proposing might be a necessary one now that there were three Terrans in this universe. "If I allow you to remain here, your access will be heavily restricted. You must also remain clothed while you are on duty."

"We'll see," said Petrellovitz.

"That is not optional, lieutenant."

Petrellovitz hiccupped, surprising herself. (Having never truly laughed, her brain was not quite certain how to do it.) "Commander? I won't pretend I'll like you, but..." She smiled, and while there was something predatory in it, there was also something curiously hopeful. "Michael was right. This is a world bursting with potential. In my universe, there was no one else like me, who loved science for its own sake. All anybody cared about was what science could do. Now it turns out there are people like me. Here, in this universe."

It was, thought Petrellovitz, Lorca's best miracle yet.

Sadly, there were no further miracles to be found in the lab. When she opened the Mischkelovitzs' research notes on quantum mechanics, Petrellovitz discovered they were all audio files in a language she did not understand. It seemed she was going to have to restart her research from scratch.

There was only one other person who could potentially stand in Petrellovitz's way, but as he woke up disoriented and confused in sickbay with no knowledge of the events of the past few days, his first concern was not his sister, or Groves, or even Lorca.

"Hang on, is this stardate right?"

The one person on Discovery for whom the knowledge of their nine-month misstep meant the most was the last person to learn it had happened. His reaction was utter panic. By the time Saru arrived, the nurse was attempting to administer a sedative.

"Don't you dare sedate me! Let me call my wife!"

"Colonel," said Saru.

"Oh, thank god. What is going on, commander?"

O'Malley was forlorn to hear the full scope of the news. He asked to look at the tactical map and Saru could see the grief and worry as O'Malley brought up the Antares sector in detail and watched a replay of nine months of battle actions in the space of a minute. "Oh god, oh god," he whimpered under his breath as Klingon strikes appeared and the sector turned red.

"There are many who are seeking news of their loved ones," said Saru. "Our best course of action for now is to continue the fight."

There was one other matter. Saru considered not telling O'Malley, not yet, because the loss of one loved one was probably enough for now, but he also knew how it felt to have painful truths kept from you. "I must inform you of another issue..."

He had never seen a human break like that before, to fall so completely into abject despair. It reminded him of L'Rell's reaction to realizing the Voq she had once known was no more. Then, her Klingon scream had seemed to shake the ship to its bones. O'Malley's whimpering wail did not rise to this level of ferocity, but it also did not resolve itself into a state of ultimate coherency, and when the nurse came again with the sedative, there wasn't enough of O'Malley present to object.

Their attempt to reach Earth under Cornwell's command was unsuccessful. The Klingons had occupied Starbase 1 and as Cornwell stared at the sigil of House D'Ghor on the side of a base that had once housed eighty thousand people and was now devoid of all human life, Saru learned something both Captain Lorcas had long known: Katrina Cornwell was not suited to starship command. She sat there in the captain's chair staring as Klingons closed in around them, unable to issue any orders, until finally Saru took charge and issued the orders for her.

Discovery fled. There was no victory to be won here, only a chance to live and fight another day, and because they might only ever get one more day, they had to make it count.

Emperor Philippa Georgiou smiled darkly when they came to her. A decisive strike to take down the Klingons was what they needed, and as repugnant as Georgiou found all the humans in this universe, she still hated nonhumans even more.

Discovery made its way to the Veda system to execute the first step in a last-ditch effort to win the war once and for all: grow a crop of Prototaxites stellaviatori and restore functionality to the jump drive. They had a single sample of mushrooms to draw upon and the energy of a full set of terraforming probes to feed the crop. The ship fired the probes down onto the moon's otherwise barren surface and a forest of mycelial light sprang up below.

It was a lovely sight for Lalana to wake up to. She vibrated away the gel from her filaments and asked the computer to locate Lorca.

"Unable to comply," the computer responded. She asked for Groves and received the response again. Finally, she tried Saru, and this time she received an answer.

"Admiral Cornwell has been waiting to speak to you."

Lalana was utterly unconcerned with this information. "Certainly. Where is Gabriel?"

Saru was unable to answer this openly on the bridge, but Lalana had kindly provided him with an alternate narrative to fall back on. He answered, "His body has been incinerated."

"Well, that was rude, I would have liked to eat more of it," said Lalana cheerily and settled in to watch particles drifting in the air of her room while she waited for Cornwell. The wait was not a long one.

"You had better have a damn good explanation, or so help me—"

"Katrina, how lovely to see you. Can you tell me where Gabriel is?"

Cornwell responded with angry shock. "Gabriel is dead!"

"Not Hayliel, Gabriel. Or has the Federation instituted a death penalty for impersonating an officer in the time we have been gone from this universe?"

"You..." Cornwell took a deep breath. "Do you think this is a game?"

"Would you prefer if I adjusted my voice modulation to seem more serious? I understand you humans believe tone alters the meaning of words somehow. That has always been a very curious thing to me. How can one word mean a different thing simply because of the note that is struck by your vocal cords?" There it was, the crux of ten years of misunderstood communication. The monotonal lului tongue did not allow for tone variance in language.

It was easy to fall into Lalana's little verbal traps and engage her in one of her frivolous asides designed to distract from the actual subject at hand. Cornwell was having none of it. She said with resolute focus and angry determination, "You knew—this whole time—and you said nothing."

Speaking the words aloud, Cornwell found her breaths became labored and her eyes stung. The psychological effort required to finally confront the full truth felt like a massive physical undertaking and produced the same physiological reactions.

"What would you have had me say?"

"The truth!"

Lalana's head tilted to the side. "I never lied to you about Gabriel. I always spoke the truth."

Technically that was true. In San Francisco, she had said point-blank that Lorca was not their Gabriel. She had simply neglected to explain why that was the case and had framed the statement between sentences that, to Cornwell's human ears, made it sound like there was an implication of metaphor in the words.

It was very possible that Lalana had never used an actual metaphor in her entire nine-hundred-year life. To her, the idea that someone might liken the sound of rustling leaves to falling rain made no sense, because these were two entirely different sounds. Similarly, that someone could believe the words "he is not our Gabriel" reflected a mere change in emotional state was ridiculous. The sort of ridiculous that made her laugh, so she played with words this way every chance she got, and in doing so simultaneously told the truth and kept Lorca's secret.

"Some people would call what you did a lie of omission," said Cornwell. "But that's letting you off too easy. What you did was unforgivable. You let that man destroy everything Gabriel stood for. You helped him do it."

"Is that what you think I did? Then you have not seen him for who he is. It’s true that he is not your Gabriel, but he could become such if you would simply let him. He possesses much of what our Gabriel had."

"You can't replace someone with their doppelganger," said Cornwell, shocked by the suggestion.

"I am not suggesting you replace him, but I did love Hayliel more than any other human I have ever met. More, in fact, than any member of any species I have encountered. There is no one like him. He is irreplaceable. However, I have found that there is great happiness in the fact I can continue to see his face even though he is gone. That is the face of the human I love. I am glad it still exists in this universe."

"Do you know what I see when I look at that man? A reminder that our Gabriel died and I didn't even know." The sting in Cornwell's eyes became unbearable and she squeezed them shut.

"Perhaps I should have told you. Because of the way humans view death, I thought it would make you happier if he were still living. I also thought, and I believe correctly, that this Gabriel Lorca needed to be a captain and have a command. He needed it more than anything and so I gave it to him. Thank you for helping me do that."

Cornwell shook her head, her eyes watering. "You tricked me. I can't forgive you, either."

"You can, but you must first forgive yourself."

Cornwell started to quietly cry. She knew how important forgiveness was but she would probably never forgive herself for not realizing the truth sooner. Even if the cards had been stacked against her by both Lorca and Lalana, she felt like she should have known.

"If it is too much, I understand," said Lalana. "Perhaps in time. I do think that Gabriel would like a chance for you to know him for who he is. That bitterness and rage he holds within him, you could help him with it. Perhaps even come to see, as I have, that he is in his own way a good man. He did not come to us as such, but we have made him that, Hayliel and I. We showed him how to be this man. That is how Hayliel lives on: in spirit." Her eyes glinted as the striations of her compound irises shifted.

If lului could cry, Lalana would have cried in happiness at the idea. Many years ago, she had expressed disdain for the human concept of spirit, viewing it as a peculiarly human folly. Only when she had invoked the concept to offer comfort at a time when Hayliel stood at a crossroads had she begun to understand what it meant.

Invoking it again now, she discovered she understood and believed in it. Perhaps it was simply a ghost of a memory, but so long as she had those memories, Hayliel was with her. He had never left her. In her mind she would never leave him.

Cornwell did not share this outlook. "No. He's gone and we both need to accept that."

"I will never accept that," said Lalana. "For as long as I live. And I can live for a very long time."

"I just want out of here. I can't take this."

Lorca looked up from Larsson's book. Groves was lying in his bed, plucking at the strings of the guitar on his chest and staring at the ceiling. He had abandoned the violin. Not, he said, because he could not hack the computer with it, but because he had realized there was probably no point.

"Stop fixating on it," advised Lorca. "The more you think about it, the worse it is."

The lights went out and they heard the toilet flush. The first time this had happened, Lorca and Groves had been left wondering if something had gone wrong on the ship or if this was some kind of punishment, but in the end they realized the lights and toilet were simply set to an automatic cycle. This, for whatever reason, was the hour someone had decided should be bedtime.

Groves fumbled in the darkness as he put his guitar away. On his return trip to his bed, he tripped over one of Lorca's boots and landed half on top of Lorca. Lorca pushed him off to the floor.

"What, you don't want to cuddle?" quipped Groves as he picked himself up. "With the lights out, you can pretend I'm Michael."

"Dammit, Groves, what the hell."

"Or would you rather pretend I'm Mac? I've seen the way he looks at you."

"You have a serious problem. Didn't your mommy ever teach you not to poke at bears?"

"Sure she did," said Groves, which was probably a lie, "but I'm an agent provocateur."

"You're something all right," sighed Lorca, rolling his eyes.

Groves managed to find his own bed. "Maybe I just like poking the bear and getting bit."

"You like getting locked up? This fun to you?"

There was a long pause. "Makes me feel alive."

Lorca sighed again, this time in mild sympathy. Groves' bark was far worse than his bite. "I'll be sure to tell Mac what you said. He'll give you a good bite."

"Why would he do that?" Despite the darkness, Lorca thought he could hear the twist of confusion on Groves' face.

"That man is entirely too devoted to his wife."

"Maybe, but you're the new Anton."

It took Lorca a minute to remember where he had heard—or more accurately, read—that name. Anton Nguyen, from the QORYA trial transcript. The other male scientist on the project. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means all anyone's ever doing is reliving their own personal trauma. Whatever damage we get, we replay over and over again in our lives."

That, at least, was accurate.

Lorca wasn't the least bit tired and there was no way to read Larsson's book in the darkness, so he asked in his most pleasantly inviting voice, "We got nothing but time. How about it, who's Anton?"

The pause this time was very long. "That's not my story to tell," Groves decided.

The comms came online.

"We've all mourned the enormous loss of life due to this war," began Cornwell's shipwide announcement. As she decried their foes as lacking honor and outlined a mission to map vulnerabilities of the Klingon homeworld for a single, decisive strike against the heart of the Klingon Empire, Lorca rolled his eyes. At least the Federation was finally going to try and actually do something instead of floating around space like a fleet of Klingon punching bags.

Then Cornwell said something that shook Lorca down to the very fibers of his being. With three words, she stripped him of everything.

"Allow me to introduce you to the person who will chart your course to Qo'noS: Captain Philippa Georgiou."

"Thank you."

"Though long presumed dead, Captain Georgiou was recently rescued in a highly classified raid of a Klingon prison vessel. She was transported aboard Discovery..."

Cornwell had found the perfect revenge.

As the rest of the announcement played out, Groves heard some sounds underneath it that did not at all match with his perceptions of Lorca. Uncomfortable, he got up and made his way to the bathroom, using the manual override to close the door. This has nothing to do with me, he told himself, the same words he had thought to himself years ago as he hid in the QORYA facility walls and other children were dragged out screaming around him.

Part 100

[rekkingcrew]

This Week in Rebellion!

So we had all our equipment gathered and research and recon done to go in and try to break into the space station version of Area 51, where Kal’s ship, the Hard Heart, was being held and dissected for its ancient alien tech battery. The military government has a kind of organization of “Hands” with different titles, and we KNOW there’s a mad scientist tech onboard whose name is the Hand of Progress. What we’re expecting here is a stealth mission on a very competent military base. Because one of us is a giant frog thing with four arms and another is a tiny bat academic, we decide to approach the mostly human installation from outside the hull, rather than try to bluff our way through security or send our ONE human in alone.

And that mostly goes according to plan. Except our one human starts getting sick as he heads toward the station. And some of the station lights are blinking erratically... in a way our academic picks out is something like Space Morse Code. It reads “I will defy him” over and over. And we do spot a maintenance droid, powered off, drifting away from the station.

We follow its trajectory back to a hatch, and there, floating in the cold, is a dead human. He appears to have died before the air let out, and before that he was clawing his face and screaming. All the lights are out. Joren is getting sicker and sicker the further in we get.

This is no longer military stealth. This is suddenly survival horror.

We make the insane decision to go further in and investigate. We find the maintenance suit-up station attached to the airlock we came in. More dead bodies, more of the self-mutilation.

Except this time the dead bodies wake up.

That’s right. Force zombies.

After a terrifying fight, in which Joren passed out and had disturbing visions, we were able to access the computer and get a map of the ship, but whatever we accessed also fucked with Chelago’s wrist computer and we shut it down to keep it from getting contaminated. Joren is our medic, which means he was the one doing the examination of the bodies. Something happened when he touched one. We’re not sure what.

We fought our way to the med-bay. It wasn’t our original destination, but Joren is in bad shape. More dead bodies inside. And then, in the zero gravity, the barrel of a gun descends to press against the back of Joren’s skull, and a voice says “who the hell are you?”

And then we called it.

I was very surprised! Guys, guys, guys! Like. The mission we were on was insane and I have no idea how we were actually going to accomplish it. We were woefully under-prepared, but we didn’t have any other ideas and NOT doing it wasn’t an option. Our DM, bless him, fixed our problem by introducing a completely different spooky-ass complication that threads in something we’ve been working towards for a while: the fact that Joren is force sensitive but doesn’t know it. Without being lead to believe anything concrete, our expectations were built up for one thing, and now we have another thing that’s surprising and awesome and changes a lot of our calculations! Is there something kicking about around here worse than the government we’re trying to fight. Can it be weaponized? By us? By them? Did the alien tech do this? What’s going on here?!

I like stealth and skullduggery and all, but guys, HORROR AND MYSTERY?

That is my jam.

Anyway, elated. More as it develops.

[multiverseforger]

In the late 19th century, a wealthy merchant named Cyrus Gold is murdered and his body is disposed of in Slaughter Swamp, near Gotham City.[6] Fifty years later, the corpse is reanimated as a huge shambling figure (composed partly of the swamp matter that has accumulated around the body over the decades) with almost no memory of its past life. Gold murders two escaped criminals who are hiding out in the marsh and steals their clothes. He shows up in a hobo camp. When asked about his name, one of the few things he can recall is that he was "born on a Monday". One of the men at the camp mentions the nursery rhyme character Solomon Grundy (who was born on a Monday), and Gold adopts the moniker.[7] Strong, vicious, and nearly mindless, Solomon Grundy falls into a life of crime—or perhaps returns to one, as his scattered residual memories may indicate—attracting the attention of the Green Lantern, Alan Scott. Grundy proves to be a difficult opponent, unkillable (since he is already dead) and with an inherent resistance to Scott's powers (which cannot affect wood, a substance of which Grundy's reassembled body is now largely composed). He apparently kills Green Lantern, who gives off a green flash. Liking this flash, Grundy commits murders hoping to see the flash again. However the first fight ends when, engaging in fisticuffs with the monster because of the ineffectiveness of his ring, Green Lantern hurls Grundy under a train.[8]

A criminal scientist calling himself the Baron of York kills his brother and takes over his gang stating to them that he knows where to find the body of Solomon Grundy. Once the body is found, the Baron of York injects Grundy with concentrated chlorophyll upon knowing his background. The side effect turned Solomon Grundy green. When the Baron of York bluffs about him being worshiped and served, Solomon Grundy kills the Baron of York and takes over his gang. While noting that Solomon Grundy is more invulnerable to his ring due to the chlorophyll, Green Lantern chases after Solomon Grundy until he becomes exhausted in the petrified forest in Arizona. Using his ring, Green Lantern traps Grundy in a green plasma bubble for a time.[9]

A freak weather occurrence releases Solomon Grundy from his prison. Making his way across country, Grundy heads for the headquarters of the Justice Society of America. Green Lantern arrives early for the meeting and when the other members arrive, they find their headquarters smashed to pieces and Green Lantern missing from the ranks. Johnny turns on the radio, which blares the warning that Solomon Grundy is on the loose; the members believe, based on a large, muddy footprint on the floor, that Grundy got to HQ and took Green Lantern. The radio continues its report, listing cities where Grundy was seen, so each member picks a city and heads for it to try to find Green Lantern while Wonder Woman stays behind. The scene now shifts back to the moment at JSA HQ where Green Lantern had opened the door. To his surprise, Doiby Dickles walks in, and informs him that Grundy has freed himself and is on the loose. Green Lantern leaves immediately, hoping to find Grundy before any of the JSA members are hurt going after him. Minutes later, Grundy arrives at JSA HQ, and, not finding the Lantern there, he smashes the place up, then leaves. Green Lantern and Doiby use a special radio-like device Alan Scott had developed that is attuned to the mental wavelengths of Grundy himself; Green Lantern calculates the path of Grundy and announces over the radio in JSA HQ where Grundy will strike. When Green Lantern and Grundy meet, Grundy rips a tree out by its roots and smashes it into the Lantern. Green Lantern fights back with his power ring and fists until both men fall into a nearby stream and over a small waterfall. The Lantern is severely dazed and tries to ward off Grundy with his ring, but he is much too weak. Grundy grabs Green Lantern by the throat and begins to squeeze the life out of him, holding his head underwater. However, Hawkman strikes Grundy with his mace, and Doctor Mid-Nite is able to revive the Lantern. A combined attack brings down Grundy, and Green Lantern deposits Grundy on a distant, lifeless planet.[10]

A battle soon commences when Grundy's body gravitates towards young astronomer Dick Cashmere as he learns to ride light waves, resulting in his assuming Cashmere's identity for a time while leaving the real one bound and gagged, though the Society finds him soon after. In this incarnation, he gains intelligence which he subsequently loses when Green Lantern defeats and buries Grundy in 1947.[11]

At this point, Grundy is freed and enlisted along with several other supervillains by the time-traveling criminal Per Degaton in his second appearance, who has traveled to 1941 to capture the Justice Society of America on the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, hoping to change history and take over the world. Grundy encounters Green Lantern, the Flash, and Wonder Woman in Echo Park, whom Grundy knows from 1947. Grundy bests the costumed trio, and is summoned by a mysterious voice to deliver them or "pay the penalty". The All-Star Squadron comes to their rescue, Sir Justin faces off against Solomon Grundy and Grundy is the last villain to be transported back, he is thrust back to the moon where he remains for over two decades, as this timeline is erased once Degaton is defeated.[12][13]

After many years, Grundy is knocked loose from his planet prison and returns to Earth to battle Green Lantern, Hourman, and Doctor Fate. At this point, he has temporary mastery over all wooden objects. Solomon Grundy is imprisoned orbiting the Earth in a stronger bubble created by the combined powers of Green Lantern and Doctor Fate.[14]

Grundy was once pulled to Earth-1 and substituted for the superstrong Blockbuster due to a machine that was accidentally pulling the Earths together in warp-space and substituting people. During this event he had absorbed some of Dr Fate's magic, is stronger than before, and is even able to telekinetically lift the Flash into the air. He hates Green Lantern so much he thinks everyone he sees is Green Lantern. He is imprisoned inside a mountain by Earth-1 Green Lantern after being lifted up by Earth-1 Hawkman and dazed by blows from all the heroes, but when the machine is turned off he is substituted for Blockbuster on Earth-2 and renews the attack, defeating numerous heroes. However the JSA and JLA went to battle an Anti-Matter being that was threatening both Earths in Warp-Space after being summoned by Doctor Fate, who had sensed the threat due to the Spectre. As the heroes return they find Green Lantern had placed Grundy and Blockbuster together to occupy them, and the two have knocked the hate out of each other. Grundy is then taken back to his Earth by the Justice Society.[15]

In his next appearance, Solomon Grundy battles the combined might of both the Justice Society, and later their counterparts the Justice League, nearly to a standstill at Slaughter Swamp, when he develops an affection for a lost alien child who has accidentally been sent to Earth-2 and is dying due to separation from his pet. Having absorbed magic from Doctor Fate and Green Lantern, Grundy is easily able to defeat the combined might of Superman, Jay Garrick, Hawkman, Hawkman, and Green Lantern, until he is defeated by both Green Lanterns and sealed in Slaughter Swamp. The alien child is finally reunited with his pet and sent back to his own dimension.[16]

While imprisoned, Grundy incorrectly deduces that the second Green Lantern's Earth must contain a second Solomon Grundy, and crosses over from his Slaughter Swamp prison on Earth-2 to Earth-1 where he overpowers that Earth's Superman before being tricked and stranded on the moon.[17]

Solomon Grundy briefly works with the Injustice Society when the Fiddler retrieves Grundy from the moon of Earth-One in order to attack the JSA. The two defeat Hawkman and Wildcat before Grundy is thrown into a cooling volcano by Power Girl and Superman.[18][19]

Grundy goes on to afflict Green Lantern and his teammates, including the Huntress who is the first female for whom he develops an affection. After Solomon Grundy is rescued from a glacier by Alan Scott's daughter, Jade, Grundy becomes loyal to her and, for a while, is an ally of Infinity, Inc. Eventually, this affectionate relationship turns tragic as the villainous Marcie Cooper, a.k.a. Harlequin of the Dummy's Injustice Unlimited, uses her illusion powers to disguise herself as Jade. Harlequin manipulates Grundy to attack the members of Infinity Inc., one by one. She convinces him to press the unconscious Mister Bones' bare hand against Skyman; since Bones's skin constantly exudes a cyanide-based compound, this quickly leads to Skyman's death. Once Grundy found out that Marcie had duped him, he savagely beat her within an inch of her life. This is the beginning of the end for Infinity Inc., and for Grundy's quasi-heroic career.[

[poweredbycoffeeandwine]

All I See Are Stars

Hello Lovelies!!! I wrote this based on some in game dialogue. I wasn’t irrationally jealous....trust me. It was all Camille. ;-) So here are these dorks, the same two from my Kissing Day Fics (here) and (here), but pre-relationship because that’s my jam. Hope you enjoy this little bit of silliness. 

Camille Ryder x Liam Kosta - Mass Effect Andromeda - Pre-Relationship

"I've heard about HUS-T1."

"Good things I hope?"

"Impossible things. And about "goddamn Hammond."

"He made up for everything twice over."

"He'd have to. So what made you join? I bet you were very good at responding."

Camille couldn't help how hard her eyes rolled; her surprise that they hadn't detached was genuine. At least she managed to hold back a loud and unladylike snort. She seriously didn't need everyone in Nexus Security thinking she'd lost her mind. Standing at the console reviewing strike team missions was absolutely the reason she was here. It had nothing to do with the fake-blonde standing scant inches away from Kosta,laughing at his jokes, and reaching out to touch his forearm or bicep. She certainly hadn't been glancing over her shoulder checking to see the distance between them shrink. Camille was positive Kosta hadn't budged and Security Guard Barbie made all of the advances. Not that that should make any difference.

"Ugh. Get a grip," she mumbled to herself. She shook her head attempting to fight the unpleasant turn her thoughts had taken. Sleep, that was the problem; she needed to get more than a handful of hours in between missions. Obviously that is why she had turned into a shrew, hating a woman she knew nothing about. Normally levelheaded, she couldn't pin down why the conversation behind her was so distracting. She shouldn’t begrudge Kosta searching for companionship on the station. Goodness knows they were always so busy once they departed. Everyone on the team had ways of blowing steam. Gil had poker, Vetra worked her contacts to purchase everything she thought might come in handy, Peebee had her weird alien tech, maybe Kosta just needed a friend. An attractive woman friend, willing to listen to his every word with baited breath.

Camille had hoped she would be able to catch him and convince him to grab something to eat. Maybe even spend some time together not saving the galaxy. Just be regular people. However, seeing him with another woman had given her pause. She wasn’t about to interrupt if he was hoping to ask the Nexus employee out. They were both in security, and obviously had a lot in common. She was just a researcher, a self proclaimed nerd without exciting tales to tell. Ryder stared at the screen, planning the load-out and mission parameters for the teams Kandros had permitted her to use in the fight against the Kett. Nothing made sense. What's worse was that deep down she knew that she could do this from the comfort of the Tempest in her comfy clothes that nobody judged her for wearing.

Another high nasal laugh followed by Kosta's own rich, deep one, had her shaking. Maybe she could slink off without him noticing she was there. Of course, instead of simply leaving as quietly as she came, she chanced a glance at him only to make eye contact. He gave her a warm smile and waved her over. She had no choice now, it was wave and leave, possibly leaving him to feel slighted, or join the pair for a brief conversation and try not to make a fool of herself. Somewhere in the back of her mind that rational part of her was screaming for her to stop. For some reason she just couldn’t seem to heed the sound advice. "Hey Liam, we need to go. You ready to head out?" The look on his face spoke volumes. Did her voice always sound so breathless? Did she ever call him by his first name aloud?

Lips slightly parted, Liam continued to stare at her. "Yeah, yeah. Course Pathfinder. Following you?"

"Um..yes, well if you have things to wrap up," her voice wavered a bit, "you don't have to come with me. We'll ship out in an hour. So... right." She stalked away not quite understanding what just happened. There was no reason at all for that reaction. Her twin, Scott, was forever teasing her for being awkward, and right now was the first time his medically induced coma was a blessing. She would have never heard the end of it if he had been around to witness that mess.

She could hear Kosta's loud footfall catching up to her. He could never claim stealth; something she teased him about endlessly. Camille struggled not to pick up the pace. “Just be normal, just be normal,” she chanted under her breath. They boarded the tram together. Was it always this small?  "Pathfinder. Ryder. Sorry, my mistake," Liam shrugged. "Could've sworn you said we had the day. Just checking in. Building more bridges. All of that."

Ryder's face flushed, she felt like squirming. She had given the crew the day. Tann had called her to his office, and she had wanted to check in with Kesh, but she saw Liam from a distance and her feet had taken her to him. The rest of her team wouldn't be expected until the next morning. Clearing her throat she replied, "I got an urgent message from Bradley on Padromos. We're needed to investigate a situation." As the doors to the docking station slid open slowly, she turned sideways to squeeze out.

Not paying attention to her impatience he nearly shouted, "What! We better get a move on. Need me to round up the crew?" Camille winced. She really should have supplied a different excuse. People were going to take a situation on Eos seriously. The outpost was new, and fragile at the moment. Nobody expected the scientists she stationed there to last long considering the first two failed attempts to settle the planet. Not to mention Suvi and Kallo never received a similar message and would be able to call her bluff the second they crossed the threshold.

"No!" She squeaked. "I've already taken care of it. Didn't send you a message since you were nearby. Figured I would grab you and explain along the way." That sounded valid, right?

"Grab me, huh?" Liam smirked. "If you wanted me alone, you could've asked." He winked at her. Actually winked! She couldn't fight the blush spreading across her cheeks. She usually accepted his rapid adjustment from business to fun, but when she was the focus of his sass she became tongue tied. Ryder kept her rapid pace, practically running past those she would normally stop to touch base with. If only she had kept her cool. That woman just upset her. Throwing herself at Kosta like that. What did he have to do to get her to respect his personal space? All of that touching! The fluttering in her stomach stopped her dead in her tracks. Liam slammed into her from behind not expecting the sudden halt in momentum

They sprawled to the floor, limbs tangling as he attempted to swap their bodies positions. The air left her lungs in a hurry, tears in her eyes. "Shit, Cami. Ugh, Ryder. Pathfinder, are you ok?" Kosta lifted her from the floor, one hand on her waist the other swiping at invisible dirt, his eyes scanning for injuries. Camille stared at him, voiceless. The butterflies,the irrational and unjustified annoyance at a woman she didn't know, and the husky octave her voice took when she asked him to leave with her. She hadn't acted this way since she was a teenager with her first crush. She was jealous. Oh, no. Did he know? Did everyone know? Was she that transparent? "Andromeda to Pathfinder. You there? Shit, did I give you a concussion? I'm not explaining this to Lexi, Liam rambled, gripping her carefully around the arm, and pulling her towards the Tempest his other arm encircling around her back. "Don't worry. I've got you. We'll get you looked at proper."

"Yeah, it's ok. Just clumsy. You know. We can't tell Lexi. Then there will have to be and exam, and reports to be filed. Let's just keep this to ourselves," Ryder suggested, trying to ignore the pointed look he gave. Her skin burned where his hands were touching her. Skin to skin contact didn't do that, she just needed to get herself under control. She wasn't an angsty teen, she was technically over 600 years old. Her embarrassment was compounded by the crowd that had collected. Nexus employees hovering around them attempting to assist their only Pathfinder. Others gawking or attempting to hide laughter. If she wasn't trying to be a professional she would definitely facepalm or cry. "Nothing to see here. I'm fine. Thank you for your concern." She waved people off, hoping they would take the hint and get back to work. "Kosta, get your gear ready and make sure the Nomad is prepped. I'll get the rest of the team gathered."

He blinked and after a moment slowly asked, "Thought you said you did that already?" He crossed his arms over his chest and grinned, waiting for a response.

"I, ugh, yeah. I did. I meant...I was...I will wait for them. You know, to get here. Brief them on the development." Camille fought the urge to look down at her feet. Hands clasped behind her back slightly bouncing on her feet.

"Gotcha, no need." Liam smiled and casually tapped her in the arm. "I'll let you get to it." He turned and walked into the Tempest whistling a song as he did so. Ryder rubbed her arm, telling herself she wasn't watching his shapely rear as he departed.

"Seriously, Me. Get it together. Nobody will take the Human Pathfinder seriously if she is swooning." She opened her Omni-tool, and alerted Suvi and Kallo to their situation, then fired off a message to Bradley. What kind of Pathfinder hopes her first settlement is in trouble?

"Pathfinder, I am detecting an elevation of your blood pressure, and would like to ask you a question, if I may," SAM's smooth AI voice broke over her private channel. She jumped, forgetting that he would have been a silent witness to the entire exchange.

"Thank you universe, I needed salt in that particular wound," she muttered. "No, SAM. Not this time. Get back to me when the mortification wears off." Then a terrible thought crossed her mind and she added nervously, "Also, please don't mention this to Liam, or anyone. I just... Is it too much to ask that you just forget this ever happened?" She really wasn't looking forward to explaining to SAM what was amuck with her emotions.

It was certainly nothing she wanted to examine too closely herself. However, now that it was up front-and-center she realized she spent an inordinate amount of time wondering what Liam thought about decisions she made. Hoping it would please him when she helped a civilian in need. How often she found herself seeking him out at night when she couldn't sleep. Her mind full of missing her family, and regrets she could do nothing about. She thought it was because he understood her. He lost more than she had venturing across dark space. He took the risk, knowing his parents would only be alive in his memories, for the sake of adventure. In that moment she felt so foolish, of course she had feelings for Liam. It would be impossible for her to deny developing an attachment to him. How the lilting sound of his voice called to her. How easy it was to smile at the lame jokes he told just to ease tension with the crew.

The night he told her of his family, she was sure they had a moment. Waking up in his arms, safe and protected was something she hadn’t had in a very long time. If she was being honest all of her feelings scared her.  Being around him made her giddy and lightheaded, so much she saw stars. He entered a room, and the imaginary orchestra played cliche love songs while she tried not to stare. She realized that she subconsciously fought to keep him at a distance. But, that woman flirting with Liam forced her to see that she wasn’t ready to close the door on whatever was going on between them. But that side of her brain that steered her clear from trouble had her thinking having a crush on a teammate was a terrible idea. Wasn't it?

[nerdgatehobbit]

Blog Updates

Jungle Fury Disc 1

Welcome to the Jungle, Part 1: Master Mao ultimately chooses Lily, Theo, and Casey to guard the box containing Dai Shi… but rejected candidate Jarrod ends up releasing the villain when he lashes out at Mao.  Master Mao pulls a Jedi/Ascends.  The trio goes to Ocean Bluff, where they meet RJ and Fran.  The former saves the trio from the Mantis monster and the Rin Shi minions as he’s their new ‘master’.  He then gives them their Ranger uniforms and morphers, sending them out when the monster, minions, and Camille are seen on one of his TV screens.  Theo and Lily successfully morph and start fighting Rin Shi. Casey fails and gets grabbed by some minions when he spots the monster going after Fran.  10/10

Welcome to the Jungle, Part 2: Although Casey figures out how to morph, none of the three know how to supersize when the monster does so.  Master Mao’s spirit briefly saves the day.  RJ refuses to teach them the technique until they’ve each mastered their weapon.  Theo ends up mentoring Casey on his.  Now a cohesive whole, they can form the Jungle Pride Megazord to defeat the monster. A fly-creature named Flit apparently lives in Camille’s stomach, coming out to cheer on the Rangers during Megazord battles.  Fran also gets hired by RJ.  10/10

Sigh of the Tiger: Casey wants to be mentored by RJ in order to catch up to Theo and Lily… but instead gets assigned various menial chores in between the trio fighting off Buffalord. Poor Fran gets stuck hosting a children’s birthday party down in JKP alone.  Everything works great in the end, though.  10/10

A Taste of Poison: The Five Fingers of Poison are called upon by Camille.  Casey gets ‘barely’ poisoned and Lily tries to take on Rantipede on her own in response.  RJ has made a vehicle for Casey which is helpful.  The show tries to sink the Lily/Casey ship to lackluster effect. And Fran’s already getting annoyed with her coworkers.  9/10

Can’t Win Them All: Theo loses his self-confidence after failing to defeat Gakko.  Ergo, RJ takes him out into the woods for some odd but effective training (and a lecture).  The characters continue to interact fantastically (I swear this group of five has the some of the best team chemistry in the franchise).  With renewed confidence, Theo takes point in destroying Gakko.  Dai Shi is getting frustrated with his minions’ ineptness.  9/10

Dance the Night Away: Theo gets jealous of Lily and Casey growing close… and Casey doesn’t react well to Theo insisting he’s the new guy.  Lily is not amused.  RJ makes the Claw Cannon, which when used properly is very useful in defeating both Toady and Stingerella.  9/10

Pizza Slice of Life: RJ goes on a de-fishing trip, leaving Casey in charge.  Not wanting the responsibility, he decides to ‘share’ it with Theo and Lily, which ends in disaster.  Things go much smoothly after Casey realizes he needs to step up to the plate as a JKP employee like he does as the Red Ranger.  Meanwhile, the villains have a largely internal conflict.  9/10

Way of the Master: Lily is determined to learn how to wield the Jungle Mace from the retired Master Phant when the Pangolin with its tough armor attacks Ocean Bluff.  Dai Shi decides to use the three life talons to revive the three Overlords, first going in search of the Sky Overlord.  The first episode without Fran, but RJ wore purple! 9/10

How am I already a fourth of the way through this season?!  I’m also done with the first Book of Fire disc for ATLA regarding my blog. I’m enjoying this season just as much as I did back in 2008.  Three episodes are team-centric, RJ mentors Casey in one episode and Theo in another, Lily and Casey shared one, Casey mostly had one to himself, and the final episode featured Lily and the titular master.

Mighty Morphin 2 Disc 5

The Great Bookala Escape: The team helps the titular alien (and his ‘lightning diamond’) escape from Lord Zedd’s grasp.  Billy’s the one who bonds the most with him.  5/10

Forever Friends: Aisha’s childhood friend Shawna is not happy about Kimberly and Aisha growing close. But the two brunettes end up bonding while captured by Goldar.  6/10

A Reel Fish Story: Four aquatic monsters are created as well as one out of an inner tube to try to destroy the Rangers.  Of course, the scheme fails.  A one-off character conquers his fear of there being monsters in the lake to rescue Bulk and Skull.  6/10

Rangers Back in Time, Part 1: Lord Zedd turns the heroes (and the rest of Angel Grove, if not the world) several years younger, making them in particular children.  Adorable antics ensue, but the episode ends with Photomare trapping the six in a photograph.  9/10

Rangers Back in Time, Part 2: This is the series’ hundredth episode.  Once Alpha gets the team back to normal, they readily undo the villains’ scheme.  8/10

The Wedding, Part 1: For some reason, Lord Zedd’s ‘recharging’ occurs on the weekend the team goes to Australia (it’s school-related but not plot related). Rita Repulsa returns and gets Finster’s aid in her scheme to rule the universe by putting Lord Zedd under a love potion’s influence.  Finster also turns Alpha 5 evil as part of the plan to capture/defeat the Rangers. The robot is hilarious as a bad guy. 7/10

The Wedding, Part 2: Alpha’s efforts to be evil are amusing but effective.  The Rangers do make a breakout, only to fail in a supersized battle and get teleported back to the theater.  Lord Zedd is now lovesick over Rita Repulsa to Goldar’s self-centered worry. 8/10

The Wedding, Part 3: The titular hitching goes off without a hitch (heh).  The happy couple’s scheme to destroy the Power Rangers… not so much. Billy removing the disc returns Alpha to normal.  7/10

Return of the Green Ranger, Part 1: The Wizard of Deception creates a Tommy clone to be the evil Green Ranger as part of his scheme to destroy the team.  The others end up tricked into a situation where they get sent back to colonial times.  8/10

This disc ended on the cliffhanger of the two Tommys meeting as well as the other Rangers being back in colonial times.  Billy and Tommy each got an episode, while Aisha and Kimberly shared one.  The rest were largely either team or villain centric. It’s hard to believe I’ve watched over a hundred episodes of Mighty Morphin now for my blog.  I’ve moved on to writing April’s posts now.

Special note- the ‘the’ is missing in the DVD menu and in the title bit in the actual episode for the ‘Green Ranger’ first-parter, so I’m not using it despite it being on the DVD case and in the booklet.

SG-1 Season 6 Disc 1

Redemption, Part 1: Rodney’s back, huzzah!  But more seriously, Anubis has deviously attacked Earth through the Stargate. Jonas is trying to find his place at SGC… though he wants it to be as a member of SG-1.  Drey’auc has died to the grief of Rya’c and Teal’c; Bra’tac works to mend the ensuing rift.  5/5

Redemption, Part 2: Sam, Rodney, and Jonas combine brainpower to find a way to save the day (with Jack as the ‘muscle’.  The SGC nearly shuts down before Bra’tac, Teal’c, and Rya’c show up with the news that they destroyed Anubis’ device powering his scheme (that was their subplot as well as Rya’c proving himself as a warrior to both himself and his father). In part to avoid having a Russian teammate, Jack has Jonas Quinn join SG-1.  4.8/5

Descent: Jonas proves himself helpful and brave during the mission to investigate a mothership that has neared Earth and ends up in the Pacific.  Jacob Carter & Major Davis are supporting roles.  They end up rescuing Thor’s consciousness.  4.7/5

Frozen: Time to go back to Antarctica when the SGC scientists there find something- or rather, somebody.  It’s a rather bittersweet episode that ends on a cliffhanger.  4.4/5

This season has been surprisingly good so far, given the loss of Daniel.  I suppose that just highlights that the series relies on multiple pillars beyond its four leads.  Good job, show.  I can’t wait to see what’s next for the team!  My blog can be found here.

[jonjost]

  Homecoming was made in 2004, not long after I returned to the United States after 10 continuous years abroad, mostly in Italy, and Portugal and the UK.   I’d returned after hearing from friends how bad things were in the post 9/11 lurch to the right.  On returning not long afterwards the Iraq war began.  This film was my response.   I consider it one of my best films.  After it was completed I was unable to get it shown in the US, in places that had previously happily shown my work.  No American festivals would show it.  2004.  The curtain of our cultural police state was closing, and it was clear.  For my thoughts on the making of this film, and the reception it received, see this.

Set in Newport, Oregon, a small coastal town whose fishing fleet has vanished, and survives on second-homes and tourism, HOMECOMING is rooted directly in the present realities of America. We are introduced to a normal family: Jeff (Keith Scales) and his wife Mattie (Kate Sannella), and son Chris (Ryan Harper Gray). Jeff runs a small real estate office and his wife shares the work. Chris is an unemployed 26 year old slacker, living with a younger girlfriend, (Kat Eastman). Obliquely we learn of another son, in the service, “over there.” Mattie discreetly does bit of drinking, Jeff hustles his business. Mattie fails to get some papers to the bank and Jeff’s company loses out on a $50,000 deal. Chris is dumped by his girlfriend and in counseling with a social-service therapist (Steve Taylor). We find out that Chris is Jeff’s step-son, and his own son Steve is the one in Iraq.

Steve’s homecoming is in a transfer tube. After the funeral the family gathers by the ocean and the fissures within rip apart. Jeff and Chris have a confrontation that leaves Chris with a bloody nose on the ground. Mattie drinks and ends on the floor herself as Jeff loses it. Chris visits his therapist at home and ends up getting a blow-job. He stops by and sees his old girlfriend in an attempt to make up. She turns him down. Chris jumps of a bluff known locally as “Jump Off Joe’s”

HOMECOMING is not a “plot” film, but more a tone-poem; its meanings arise from its broader ambience, its moods, its sense of time and place. It is meant as a metaphor for the larger family of America, which, at this time, is harshly divided, and unable to speak to itself meaningfully across that division. This film broaches this subject poetically, gently, through a depiction of characters who are unable to articulate to each other or to themselves the disquiet which curdles within them.

  HOMECOMING

2004 | Digital Video | Color | Sound | 104 minutes

Producer, Director, Camera, Editor, and Sound : Jon Jost

Music: Erling Wold

With: Ryan Harper Gray, Kathryn Sannella, Keith Scales, Kateri Eastman, Steve Taylor Shown at: Premiered in Cinema Digitale section of the Venice Film Festival, Sept. 2004.

  HOMECOMING (Jon Jost, 2004)

Dennis Grunes, Portland Or.

  Jost has said that the emotionally ripped-apart families in both The Bed You Sleep In and Homecoming are metaphors for America itself. The film ends with a printed indictment of key members of the Bush administration, calling their actions pertaining to the murderous invasion and occupation of Iraq both impeachable and treasonous.

The family in Homecoming is never given a family name. It is a family that is not a family—a loose suspension of isolated individuals rather than a functioning combinate organism. It is also a blended family consisting of Jeffrey, a businessman, and Mattie, who works as her husband’s secretary, and Mattie’s two sons. Steve is also Jeffrey’s son; Chris, who at 26 is six years older than Steve, is not. On the other hand, Chris’s stepfather is the only father that Chris has known. The absent biological father, whom Chris considers visiting in Anchorage, Alaska, is a presence in the film—an invisible part of the blended family, especially insofar as Chris, who is unemployed and irresponsible, is a bone of contention between Jeffrey and Mattie, and the absent biological father more or less sums up the difficulty between them. If I were to apply traditional terms to the narrative, I would have to say that the film’s protagonist, who is also absent, is Steve. He constitutes an even weightier presence in his absence than Chris’s father does.

Steve’s death in Iraq—he is drowned as the result of a ludicrous transportation accident—and his burial in Oregon (we never even see the corpse) provide the occasion for the family’s grave-site implosion. To cope with his loss, Jeffrey obsesses on the letter about Steve that he and Mattie received from Steve’s commanding officer; having just buried his son, Jeffrey insists he will write the CO to thank him. The distribution of characters within the burial frames stresses the lack of family unity, even in grief; but Chris, at a considerable distance from and not facing his mother and stepfather, seems especially alienated. Nevertheless, he makes an overture for family inclusion, asking Jeffrey, when he writes the CO, also to thank the man on his behalf. Throughout the film, one character shuts another out cold, and here again it happens. Jeffrey tells Chris to write his own letter. He thinks he is chastising Chris for not taking individual responsibility, but he is shutting out the boy from what is left of the family, oblivious to the healing potential in shared family grief and, most cruelly, oblivious to the fact that, just as he has lost a son, Chris has lost a (half-)brother. Chris, fragile to begin with, explodes, giving full expression to his disgust with the war and to the pointless, unnecessary circumstance of his brother’s death. It is a defense of his bond with his deceased brother, but Jeffrey hears instead a verbal assault on his lost son. To retaliate, Jeffrey shuts out Chris further and harder, referring to Steve as “my son,” in effect assaulting Chris with the fact that Chris is not his son. A low-level shot of a small American flag planted at Steve’s burial plot flings back and forth in improbably contrary winds, as if shaking its banner to say “No!” The colors of the flag—red, blue and white—match the colors of the cap that Chris wears throughout the film—this, the symbolical connection of brothers that the father of one boy and the stepfather of the other cannot grasp because of his solipsistic sense of family. (For Jeffrey, the paramount issue is that Steve embraced his values and Chris has not.) At another burial later on, another grave-site will be adorned by both a flag and the cap: a fatality of the two wars, the one in Iraq and the one at home.

Jost is not a reductive filmmaker but an expansive one who is drawn to realistic complexities. Chris’s suicide, at one level an attempt to mimic his brother’s death, is (in the Freudian sense) over determined; it is the result of both a train of events and a complex of motivating factors, including Chris’s rejection by a former girlfriend. This is not a simple film in which Bush II’s Iraq war causes this and that at home. Rather, the war enters the mix of human lives, contributing to their disastrous course along with a great many other factors—all the problems, in fact, that predated this latest U.S. military misadventure. There is even an elusive sense that the war, a kind of immense distraction, is somehow an attempt to escape or evade the problems at home.

I hate the term “experimental filmmaker,” because it makes Jost and other filmmakers whose work I cherish sound like mad scientists trying willy-nilly to see what works on screen. Like Chaplin, Ford and Welles, Jost is an expressive artist. As is his wont, for Homecoming he has marshaled an artillery of distancing devices that (properly) undermine the narrative flow and the capacity of films to lull the viewer into a comfortable, cozy feeling. No one could ever mistake his work for that of Spielberg or Zemeckis. Jost wouldn’t be caught dead flattering our vanity, or his own, by encouraging in us, his audience, simplistic, self-congratulatory responses. He doesn’t make films in order to manipulate us; he makes films in order to express his ideas, his way of seeing things, so that he can share these with us. (Manipulating, sharing: two opposite motives in filmmaking.) Jost doesn’t want us to be drawn into his scenes of family crisis in Homecoming; he wants us to stand sufficiently outside, and be sufficiently alert, to grasp these scenes of crisis, to plumb their depths. So rewarding, his art is also stringent, demanding. Thus he gives us, among other things, the following: images that seem to disintegrate before our eyes; “place” shots that, at first, seem like Ozuvian inserts but by their number accumulate into a visual character that helps explain the lives unfolding in their midst; split screens, with the camera seeming to move from one full-frame image to another full-frame image that provides another perspective on the same event, or some new but related activity; scenes where one character is audible but another, with whom the first character is speaking, isn’t, where we must take pains to watch as well as listen so we gather up the combinate gist. (I am reminded of one of my favorite films, Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1975 The Passenger, where we sometimes must rely on what we hear because the crucial visual information is just beyond the view of the camera.) More restrained than in the past, Jost is careful not to dazzle us with flights of technical virtuosity; but he does ask that we, his audience, fortify ourselves with a good draught of Keatsian negative capability.

One of the qualities of Jost’s cinema is its ambiguity—not the manipulative kind that tricks an audience (the Sixth Sense-kind), but the kind that approximates the richness, the complexity, the mysteriousness of human reality. Hence, the elliptical nature of his filmmaking, as when we can’t quite hear what someone is saying, or when someone asks a question and a cut keeps us from hearing the answer. One of my favorite ambiguities in Homecoming may be of my own invention, but Jost’s kind of filmmaking certainly encourages the mood that predisposes me to “discover” it. Jamie, Chris’s girlfriend, is as hard a worker as Chris is not; she cleans motel units. Jamie lives in a house that her parents left to her. Behind the glass in a door we see a “Bush-Cheney” sign, one that is exceedingly small and, with the “Cheney” part partly out of view behind the wood of the door, seemingly half-hearted. What does it mean? Is Jamie for Bush? It would seem so, except for the size and only partial visibility of the sign. These exceptions led me, at least, to a marvelous train of conjecture. We first see Jamie reading a book—and not the New Testament; can someone who reads—someone who works hard, in her spare time—possibly be for Bush? If not, is the Bush sign a token of respect for the political inclinations of her deceased parents? Or is it protection against communal outrage? (In suburban Shreveport, Louisiana, my brother and his wife had their Kerry-Edwards lawn signs stolen, and when they repeatedly replaced these, the community culprits, à la KKK, burned the signs, jeopardizing the Gruneses’ home, their lives and the lives of their pets.) There is more to this possibility of communal outrage. Solipsistic (like his stepfather), Chris seems oblivious to Jamie’s reality, even as he attempts to reconnect with her following his homosexual seduction by a court-appointed psychologist. (We never know what offense Chris committed.) But we think we know something that Chris doesn’t; it is at least possible that Jamie herself is working her way through to a fuller understanding of her own sexuality. The “Bush-Cheney” sign in her window, then, may be a reflex of denial or an attempt to protect herself from judgment in her community. It’s ambiguous. I don’t know. I like not knowing, because human nature is ambiguous, and because Jamie herself may be at an indeterminate point in a process of self-discovery. But that’s me; I also like not hearing all the dialogue with perfect clarity, because I don’t find it necessary to hear every word when the human emotions involved come through clearly enough. The friend with whom I saw the film, also a fan of Jost’s work, did not feel the same way.

Given the film’s postscript (sober and straightforward, unlike the poetical postscript, say, that ends Jost’s otherwise tremendous 1990 Sure Fire), we can find nothing ambiguous about how Jost feels about the war. As I do, Jost opposes the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, whose motive, he believes, was the enticement of Iraqi oil. I would add only that George W. Bush was as interested in lining the pockets of cronies in the Texas oil industry as he was in meeting the energy needs of a nation that has been slow to develop alternative sources of energy. I quote from Jost’s online journal (May 19, 2004): “Meantime[,] the news pours forth the ugly truth which our moralizing President, a self-claimed Christian busy doing God’s work, so he would claim, has set into motion. America has, again, become a spawning ground of violence, inflicting horrors on others while piously claiming otherwise. In blunt words highest members of our government—Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Bush[—]are in any legitimate sense of the [term] war criminals, and should be tried no less than those who were tried in Nuremberg or Tokyo, and should be sentenced appropriately. Mr. Bush, known for his eagerness to use the death penalty in Texas, would certainly be eligible for such a sentence. In the meantime[,] impeachment is more than in order.”

Jost’s Homecoming isn’t polemical, however. It doesn’t thrash out, overtly, the American quarrel over a war that, coupled with Bush’s obscene tax cuts for the rich, has drained the nation’s financial resources to a level of astounding (and record) budget deficits, in addition to creating a high number of American casualties and murdering 100,000 innocent Iraqi men, women and children. Days before Bush’s 2004 election, because of the repeated lies of those in his administration, especially a truly demonic vice-president, 62% of Americans still wrongly believed that deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had participated in some way in the planning of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. in 2001. In the film, we hear on the radio about the capture of Saddam Hussein. A soldier who participated in that event has come home to his family—alive, unlike Steve. The ridiculousness, the horror, the unfairness of war thus all comingle.

This is a beautifully acted film, but I can’t tell you who plays what part because I’m unable to locate any cast list. Those who play Mattie and Chris give the film’s two best performances. It is a bonus that the actor who plays Chris looks like a young Tom Cruise, because this adds a persistent jab at the kind of movies in which Cruise appears. The person who plays Chris, unlike Cruise, really can act. Here is the cast listing:  Ryan Harper Gray, Kathryn Sannella, Keith Scales, Kateri Eastman, Steve Taylor.

Homecoming was shot using digital video. Video is looking a whole lot better than it used to.

There is unlikely to be a better American film in 2004 than Homecoming.

From some non-critic viewers:

  “I watched ‘Homecoming‘ tonight and was quietly wowed. I will post more on this when I have some time to reflect a bit more. For the moment, I will say that I watched this with a friend of mine- intelligent guy with largely mainstream tastes- and not only did he like it, he was shocked that the movie has not found some kind of distribution.”

March 28 05

“Thoughts on Homecoming. Long post.

I don’t know if there’s anything here to add to what’s been said, but here it is, ordered from general to specific, sort of. I’m primarily a visual guy, so I started with that. I’m waiting for a few thoughts from my friend who also watched it. I’ll put those up later.

Thoughts on Jon Jost’s Homecoming

-Visually, a benchmark that everyone who uses DV might want to try and live up to. Does not go for any cheap and cliched “film-look”, but it’s certainly a different creature than the normal fare shot on video. I felt that it had properties both digital and organic (hand-crafted), if that makes any sense whatsoever. I’m familiar with lots of “underground” productions, where the intent is generally to mimic the look and feel of Hwd. movies. The result, when those that make them feel they have succeeded, usually has all the beauty of a local TV news segment, with a generic and formulaic “style” that may or may not move the story. “Homecoming” is simply a beautiful movie (though never to the point it overwhelms or distracts from events), doing things with DV I haven’t seen before- making me, at least, want to do a lot more experimentation, and fast. It’s a clean glass of water when you’re used to drinking flat soda. Favorite image: the trees passing by while the mother and father are driving. A close second is one shot of the ocean that seemed darker than the others, or the cleaning montage- tough call!

-Content-wise (story, plot or whatever to call it), I found the movie to be very accessible, compelling, and to follow a logical course to its tragedy ending. “The plight of the family” = “The plight of the nation” was a clear metaphor, and I thought the end title cards fit with the message. If I’m not mistaken, some critics or festival programmers had believed these to be incongruous with the movie, but they really must have dozed through it, because to me it seemed almost inevitable and responsible (in terms of pose a question or problem and offer the beginnings of a solution). This direct method, creator addressing audience, was much better than some lame-ass soliloquy delivered with ham-fisted earnestness that most audiences have come to expect. Also, I was surprised there was so much humor in the movie, but maybe that’s just me (I have a tendency to laugh inappropriately).

-I found most of the acting to be very nuanced, and subtle and convincing. Characters had complex and contradictory reasons for doing things- there were no one-noters. An exception is the man who is discussing the price of lumber- his delivery was stiff, and amidst the fine performances, this stands out. Also, I felt that during the “explosion” scene at the funeral, some of Chris’s remarks were a bit too on the nose (this was debated between me and my friend who watched it- he felt it fit Chris’s character to deliberately escalate things to get a reaction, and I can see that). I felt the father character was well-drawn and very real- I’m sure everyone knows at least one person like that. Steve’s counselor was “off” just enough to make him sinister in a banal way.

-Technically, there were some issues with the sound most noticeable in the first half or so. I don’t see why this couldn’t be fixed, and I attributed it to some of the problems experienced during the assembling of the movie (HD crashes, having to re-edit, etc.). There was one pan in the movie that I thought started abruptly (I actually only remember that single panning shot).

-This movie is really encouraging to try and push what one can get out of DV. Also, it makes me see how far I need to go yet to get satisfactory performances out of people. Overall, I think it’s a real success. It’s too bad it doesn’t have a home (distribution) as I think there’s an audience for it.

-“Homecoming” is the first really good narrative movie I have seen on DV. ”

Joshua, Indianapolis, Indiana, March 31 05

BTW, watched Homecoming again and wish to mention the long silence scene (kitchen table). bravo for having the guts to even include that, as it really allows the willing viewer to sink into the emotional water and pacing of the movie, and helps to make the whole feel even more natural and realistic. The fact that a friend whom I showed it to got all antsy and wanted it to move on goes to show that the common ways of doing things has somewhat killed the use of intellect in modern average viewers. pretty sad and scary. they must be re-trained pronto.

Daniel Runyan, Jan. 2005

  I finally had a chance to watch the film over the weekend. It’s painfully bleak. Therefore, honest. It cuts through the viscera like nothing I’ve encountered so far dealing with the psychic trauma and abuse inflicted upon average Americans by our government, our laws, our schools, our wars, our culture. The incalculable number of lives ruined, lost and terrorized, not by some phantom band of mad A-rabs, but by our collective Faustian ambition to dominate everything on this earth. One thing which I think the film captures rather well, particularly in the subtle and naturalistic performances, is the simplicity of most Americans. By and large, we are a humble and devout people. The great tragedy of the film is watching these characters ripped to shreds by forces they neither comprehend nor understand. I think the film handles this with great care, genuine respect, and a profound aching sadness for their plight.

On a formal level, I thought the film was beautifully rendered– I particularly liked the fluidity of the rolling edits. I need to watch it again on a better tv set or on screen at I-House, even.

Michael Chaiken, programmer, Intl House, Philadelphia

  https://vimeo.com/ondemand/124260

2004 – Coming Home Homecoming was made in 2004, not long after I returned to the United States after 10 continuous years abroad, mostly in Italy, and Portugal and the UK.  

[beacon-of-chaos]

Defenders of Aura - A Battle Century G Campaign Diary

Session 8 After sitting in quarantine for a couple of hours, we're given the okay by command. We're taken into a briefing room where we are met by a human scientist and the naul mage we met on the ship last session. Spectre notes that the scientist seems familiar. This man (whose name I have forgotten, I'm afraid) worked with Spectre's father, and looked after Spectre when he was a child. He tells us that our memories were altered by the same alien race that have driven the cultists mad; the Deitus. Something about them, either their technology or some innate power, can confuse or hypnotise other races. The current theory is that this is some kind of defence mechanism for them. Sinclair notes that his memories were also altered, suggesting these aliens must have knowledge of human technology. The naul (whose name I have also forgotten) notes that those who are exposed to the alien mind control for extended periods of time tend to become... unhinged. Hearing voices, for example. The Ebon Order were tasked with fighting the Deitus, so that explains their behaviour. Fiona questions why anyone is trying to fight them when they mostly seem to want to be left alone and never leave dark space. The fact they claim to be gods and are screwing with the minds of their cultists for some unknown purpose seems to be a good enough reason. There's something else though. Whatever the new biofuel is, it seems to block the mind control effects. It's noted that Adam Westfield knew of this ability and suggested that part of his plan to build weapons with this fuel was to counter the Deitus. Nina Burgess arrives to talk to us about something different. We never had an official leader for our team chosen. Nina reveals to us that the one she has chosen is... Ax. It makes sense, as a rock star he has the charisma for the job, though Fiona definitely feels like it should be her, even though she doesn't really seem to want it. We congratulate Ax on his promotion and then finish our meeting and are told that we have earned ourselves some much needed R&R. Skip to five months later... Many nauls have come to Aura to study our culture and share their technology. This has resulted in great scientific advancements over these short months, several of which have been integrated into our mechs. Ax's new mech, Riggnarok 2.0, is much the same as the old one, slow but steady, but with a new biofuel reactor powering an upgraded laser sniper rifle. Fiona's mech, Caliburn, is designed with heavy defence and shear stopping power in mind, with advanced armour, a powerful resonance cannon, and her now iconic anti-warship sword. Spectre's new mech, as yet unnamed, is now focusing on the new beam technology that we originally saw in Zack Adanai's mech, with a variety of settings for every occasion. The Beast of Burden, Sinclair's mech, has integrated naul techno-organic systems, boosting it's overall abilities and allowing the use of new chameleon plate armour for a stealthy defence. Ironically, this means that Beast of Burden is now technically more alive than its pilot. Finally, Juyon's Zweilander has had some minor tweaks, but Juyon's training has unlocked new techniques to be used in combat, making his fighting style that much more threatening. (On the off-chance that anyone wants a more rules-oriented run down, you only have to ask, as I love talking about this system. :P) Sinclair himself has also been upgraded, with the biofuel now running through his body as a power source. In addition to blocking the alien effects around him, he has unlocked the ability to use some of the naul magic, specifically the wormhole technology. Oh yes. Spectre is running maintenance on his mech when Eric approaches him with a message... from his father. The pair quickly find a video screen to watch it on. The following is paraphrased from memory: Victor: Hello my son. I hope you are well and that you are doing well in your studies. I'm sure you are worried about me, but I am fine. I have learned so much here and my work is very important, I'm sure you can understand. I would very much like for you to visit me. Perhaps we can work together. Attached are co-ordinates to my location. I love you, son. Spectre notes that this is very odd, as the "studies" Victor mentioned finished years ago, suggesting this message is very old. He makes notes of the co-ordinates, but he and Eric decide not to tell anyone just yet. Meanwhile, Fiona is running an investigation into the origins of the biofuel and its connection to the Sendai corporation, the company that ran her family out of business. Something strange turns up; the biofuel plant we attacked back in session 5 has been active recently, despite supposedly being shut down. Desperate for more information, she gets in contact with Zack Adanai, who is now leader of new mech team, Epsilon Team. Zack's father is a bigwig in the Sendai corporation so if anyone knows if they're involved, it's him. Fiona absolutely hates Zack, but she swallows her pride for the sake of the investigation. Zack confirms that ships have been going to the plant, though he doesn't know much more. Fiona decides to round up Delta Team to check this place out. On our way there we get an emergency transmission from Nina: return to base immediately. A fleet of ships have been detected entering the solar system on its way to Aura. There's no information on what this fleet is, even whether it's human or alien, so the military is on full alert. This seems important, but we decide we still need to check out the biofuel plant before we head back. After all, last time we went against a single ship we were pretty badly trounced and there's no way the fleet will get here before we get back. We tell Nina we detected some kind of signal that might be related to the appearance of this fleet (a bluff) and she agrees that it is important enough to investigate. When we arrive, we find that the place is empty. As in literally everything has been taken and all traces of who might have done it have been wiped. As we head inside the GM makes us all roll willpower checks. We all fail. It seems like a bad sign, but we all feel... better. Stronger. More alert and even more confident. Spectre recalls that large quantities of biofuel have an energy signature that has been known to have such an effect on humans. Sinclair even seems to be affected, the biofuel in his metal veins improving his processing power. The source seems to be coming from a capped drilling hole in the centre of the base. Sinclair's sensors note large amounts of biofuel underneath and lets the team know that it would be a Bad IdeaTM to open it. The team agrees. Finding nothing else, we head back to base. Upon arrival we are told that contact has been made with the fleet. It's the African Federation and they have come from Earth, running from the Chinese who have invaded Africa as part of their world domination bid. Eeep! Oh, and the Chinese navy followed them here and are preparing to invade Aura. Double eeep! What follows next is a long and frankly circular discussion over what can be done. The presidents of Neovara, Novak, and Camelot are invited in to the war room for a meeting, along with General Gana, the African commander. I'll spare you the details as I was honestly very tired that session (as were at least two other players) but in the end we came up with an ambush plan, attacking the enemy as they come out of the local warp gate, then luring them into Deitus space to let the so-called gods take care of the problem for us. Nina tells us we have a week to prepare. Session ends. If this one seems shorter, well, I'm not gonna lie, this session dragged on a bit. That final paragraph probably took up 90 minutes of real time, so I've trimmed a lot. On the plus side, it freed us up for a large actiony session afterwards. So, look forward to that soon. :D Bonus quotes: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/shows...postcount=1261