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entering-mymind · 4 years

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The Mandalorians Epilogue

This is the Epilogue of the series where I have inserted my OC character (Mando’s daughter) into the Disneyplus television show. With her addition I believe this helps the viewers understand the choices Mando makes in the series. Would love to hear feedback!

Unknowing where to head first, Mando flew the Crest discreetly putting it in autopilot because today was a special day and he hoped Osa had awakened. Mando went to the children’s sleeping quarters to find Osa still unconscious while the child smiled at Mando’s sight. Happy to see the child in good spirits but disappointed Osa was incoherent, Mando sat on the edge of the bed contemplating, and would celebrate with her no matter what.

Since the child was now apart of their clan it was not forbidden for him to see either Din or Osa helmetless. With a simple click Din removed his helmet and then gently removed Osa’s, “Happy Date of Existence Mi Pequeno,” Din said through a smile while placing his hand upon her cheek.

He glared down at his daughter in such pride tears glistened over his eyes because Din was so happy they had found each other. All Din could do was stare at her, but upset she wasn’t recuperating faster when Osa began to stir.

Her hands curled making a strenuous fist, her face scrunched up in fear, and her eyelids fluttered from the rapid movement her eyes made behind. Din knew preciously what she was going through, it was the same from when she was a child, the horrid nightmares had returned.

A moan of panic escaped her throat along with a single tear, Din could see his daughter was trapped and had to help her escape like he did for her fifteen years ago.

“Osa, it’s okay, Papi’s here. Fight them, fight them off. Papi will always protect you,” Din placed his head beside his daughters pressing his lips close to her ear. He inhaled a breath and began to hum a soft tune his mother use to sing to him as a child.

The melody always brought him at ease by his mother’s gentle tone and believed his version, for Osa, did the same for her. Din held her close, still feeling his daughter stir from panic and whimper from fear, but he would chase the nightmares away and bring her solace.

The serene tune was coming to an end and so was her horrific dream, her body relaxed and her breathing returned to normal. Din rose happy she was at peace but baffled why she wasn’t waking up. Did healing him take that much out of her? She recovered fast after healing Karga, but the child had also participated. Was it because she absorbed years from his life and her body couldn’t process the rapid change?

Upset with himself, Din stroked the white (that use to color the sides of his head) in Osa’s hair wishing he could, somehow, take back what she had done. He felt guilty, tormented even, that on this day she was only suppose to turn eighteen, not older.

Feeling lost Din just closed his eyes and kept his head low. Sensing his pain, the child knew what to do and placed its tiny hand on Osa’s chest also closing his eyes, mimicking its father.

Without much effort the child undid what she obtained, absorbing the years himself since they wouldn’t affect him in the least compared to a humanoid; every year counted for them.

Din didn’t care how long it would take Osa to wake up, he would stay by her side, just like how she was always at his. Din raised his head and opened his eyes to memorize his daughter’s face when something caught his attention. Ever so slowly the white that colored the sides of her hair was fading and returning to her natural brown color.

Amazed by this phenomenon, Din glared at Osa to try and figure out how she was achieving this feat, when he noticed the child performing the miracle. Once the task was complete the child sat, with a hint of exhaustion, and stared up at Din with a small smile on its face.

With joy, Din smiled back and cradled the child’s face in his hand, truly thanking his son. The child cooed, basking in Din’s affection when she spoke the word he would never tire of hearing, “Papi.”

“Osa,” Din said ecstatic, cupping her face in his hands.

“How did I get down here and you up there, wasn’t it the other way around?” Osa pointed out.

“Yeah, it was,” Din replied in a chuckle when Osa’s demeanor changed, “What’s wrong Mi Pequeno?”

“I saw it,” Osa said almost in tears but Din didn’t need an explanation of what she witnessed, because he knew.

“And,” he wasn’t sure how to proceed.

Osa rose to a sitting position and stroked the child’s long ear with her finger, “Him and I, we’re connected due to Gideon’s experimentations. That’s why I can’t control my abilities, it’s because I wasn’t born with them; I was infused. This is where my nightmares manifest, they are from when I was at the facility. Him and I were both there, Gideon took what ever is inside of this child and infused it with me. Why would my mother allow me to be experimented on? Did she finally feel guilty and that’s why she gave me to you, so I could be your burden.”

“You are not a burden Osa,” Din said forcefully when she changed the subject.

“Do you have doubts that I am biologically your daughter?” Osa had to find out.

“Anara never gave me the chance to find out, but if the math is done correctly, your conception lines up, but when I received you your appearance wasn’t what it is now, unfortunately making me question,” Din reveled.

“Tell me, tell me about today fifteen years ago,” Osa figured out that her actual date of existence wasn’t based off of her birth, her father based it off on the day he received her.

* * *

Din knew he couldn’t get out of this, she had the memory but just wanted to hear the story come from him. Deep down Din knew he should have told her but he wanted Osa to have a normal life, one without worry of who she was or what those scientists did to her. His hands were tied so he took her back reliving the worst and yet best day of his life.

“I had just finished a solo mission, turning in a bounty, when I received a transmission from the personal comm I gave to your mother,” Din began.

“You gave her a twin comm, secret communications only you two could receive, wow Papi you fell for her hard,” Osa tried to embarrass her father when his cheeks flushed a hint of red.

“Do you want me to tell the story?”

“Sorry, sorry, but wait when did you give the comm to her? Was it when you both were held up for the night on the mission with Ran’s crew? Oh geez, it’s clear to me now when you broke the Code,” she tried to get the image out of her mind.

“Osa, please focus.”

“Yeah, let’s move past that part, so you got a personal transmission, what did she say?” when Mando dove into the past.

I had not seen Anara in almost four years and didn’t know what to think. The message was brief, she seemed worried, in a panic, but urgent for me to meet her on Tolarian. She gave me specific instructions when and where, basically knowing I would show. Without hesitation I navigated the Crest towards Tolarian and landed on the outskirts as she made it clear to stay discrete. I tried to blend in with the locals and took extra precaution by cloaking myself in robes to hide my armor. I followed her instructions, waited in the back alley of the building she described but she didn’t show.

In my gut I knew something went wrong, Anara was always punctual, never missed her mark, when I turned down a vacant street to surveillance the area but never got the chance. Suddenly a massive explosion blew me off my feet when I heard blaster fire. Coming to, I peered down the alley noticing the building to the left had a hole blown out of it, where dead Stormtroopers were sprinkled within the debris.

I got to my feet, blaster drawn, ready to high tail it out of there, when I saw her emerge from the chaos. Her red hair acted like the fire causing the billowing smoke coiling from the explosion, her green eyes shimmered like a jaded jewel, and her pale skin almost camouflaged her within the haze. She fought vigorously, blasting whomever came into her scope when she glanced over and saw me. Her panicked stricken face faded upon my presence, her vigorous melted to softness, like hope had been restored to her.

I shouted for Anara and moved in her direction, but she raised a hand for me to seize. Baffled, I didn’t know what her next move was when an older woman (carrying a small being covered head to toe in laboratory garments) emerged from the wreckage and approached Anara. All she did was direct the woman towards me not wasting a single opportunity. The woman did not hesitate and changed her course when a reign of blaster fire encircled Anara.

I wanted to go after her, rescue her, but she wouldn’t allow it. With her final breath Anara mouthed three words to me, but I couldn’t make them out when she was shot down in cold blood by Gideon. I wanted to cradle her in my arms, feel her warmth one last time, but the woman rammed me down a dead end not allowing me to grieve.

My blood was boiling, my head swam with vengeful thoughts, and I wanted to take everyone down. Nothing seemed more important than getting justice for Anara when all that halted as the woman got my attention.

“You are the Mandalorian Anara trusts?” the woman said out of breath.

My head was spinning, unable to register what was happening around me when she repeated her question.

“You are Mando?”

Finally my brain caught up and I began a conversation with her, “Why wouldn’t Anara let me help her?”

“You don’t understand the severity we are in,” the woman alluded.

“Yes I do, we will be executed by the Empire,” when I looked down and noticed blood staining the length of the woman’s leg.

“No, Anara’s sacrifice will not be in vain, she died to protect your secret and I will parish in order to give you both more time,” the woman grabbed a detonator off my belt and activated it, “This child is the only one who survived, and Moff Gideon will do everything to get the asset back, you must hide and protect it at all costs. Teach this child the Mandalorian ways, do you promise to protect it?”

A child, I didn’t know what to do or say, I wasn’t a protector, I was a bounty hunter, a tracker of individuals, someone who didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger, I wasn’t a nurturer, but something inside screamed at me to say yes, and it wasn’t because the woman held onto a live explosive.

“Do you bind your promise to this child, to Anara?” the woman stressed.

I stared at the woman and then at the little being she carried in her arms, you. I was conflicted, for once in my life I wasn’t sure what was to be done, but everything became clear once you reached for me to take you. You didn’t display fear at my sight, we glared at each other as if we could see the other’s face. It actually terrified me feeling so exposed, but also calming as I only shared that experience once before, with your mother. All paranoia seized when I said “yes.”

Immediately the woman shoved you into my arms and then ran down the alley taking out the approaching troopers. Not wasting my opportunity I used the smoke to secure our escape and headed straight for the Crest, declaring that would be my final visit to Tolarian.

“So that’s how you obtained me?” young Mando chimed in bringing her father back to the present.

“Yes and I would do it all over again.”

“What happened after? All I can remember is our home on Lah’mu. Where did we go after we left Tolarian?”

“It was clear that I wouldn’t return to the Mandalore covert, it was prudent not to put any heat on them. So I had to find sanctuary on a planet the Empire didn’t occupy, so the Outer Rim was the best choice. Several planets became options but eventually I settled on Veeno. It was habitable with lush forests and scattered cities, no humanoids occupied the planet only the Veenoinians; creatures with blue textured skin, four arms, and kept to themselves. Perfect for anyone trying to stay hidden.”

“How long did we stay there?”

“Only a few months, but it was those few months that I’m thankful for because he saved you.”

“Saved me, you saved me, Papi,” young Mando reminded.

“I took you away from the…horrid experimentations, but the doctor, he saved your life,” Mando said in gratitude.

“How? I don’t remember being sick.”

“You weren’t sick, you were dying. I blame myself for allowing you to go for as long as you did because I never assessed your situation. Your identity was masked, I was going to remove your facial coverings but I was so drilled in the Mandalorian ways I didn’t think otherwise, but that was my fault because I didn’t see the signs until it was almost to late. In our weeks there I had befriended a dealer named Wildaldro, who’s father, luckily, was a doctor, I had to take you to him because you collapsed in my arms and became unresponsive,” Din turned his head, sick by the memory of almost losing Osa when he remembered the event as if it was yesterday.

* * *

There was no hesitation, Din scooped up the tiny child and raced towards the city, hoping the only creature he knew on the planet would help him. Operating hours were about to close but Din stormed in with the child limply in his arms.

“Wildaldro please I need to see a doctor,” Din pleaded.

“Whoa you didn’t tell me you had a kid, granted I still don’t know your real name, Mando,” Wildaldro winked knowing Din had given a pseudo.

“Please, is there a doctor with discretion?” Din commanded.

Wildaldro realizing the severity in Mando’s voice he took them to his father’s home.

“What is the meaning of this, do you know what time it is Wil?” his father (the doctor) scrutinized.

“Dad please I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t an emergency,” Wildaldro clarified while clearing the dining room table.

Din was at such a high alert he didn’t even think to surveillance the home, he was too worried about the child.

“Please sir, I don’t know what’s wrong,” Din stated while placing the little one on the table.

“What is this, why is the child covered head to toe, is this some part of your religion?” the doctor asked.

“Somewhat,” Din replied.

“Well I don’t mean no disrespect but I will have to remove most of the garments if to analyze the patient, do you agree?” the doctor said.

At first Din wasn’t sure on what to do, but knew this would come down to life or death and he wanted the child to live.

“This is the way,” Din stated.

“What does that mean, is it a yes or no?”

“Yes.”

“Wil grab my emergency kit,” the doctor noticed zippers within the child’s sleeves and immediately unzipped them.

Upon sight, Din felt sick to his stomach witnessing the horrors that had been done to the little one, as there were all sorts of markings on the child’s arms, proof of experimentation.

“Should I be concerned of the child’s safety?” the doctor spoke with a bit of hostility.

“No, because the child is in my protection now,” Din said in certainty.

“Good.”

Wildaldro returned with his father’s supplies when the doctor started performing medical exams while stabilizing his patient.

“Since I see you do not remove your helmet may I remove the child’s?” the doctor asked.

“Do what you must for its survival,” Din concluded.

Technically Din was curious on the gender, if it was a boy or a girl and this would be the revel. Upon removal a large amount of curly, multi colored hair billowed out of the head garments showcasing soft features of a sleeping little girl.

It was odd because she seemed to be a modge podge of multiple species. Her hair was splotched of red, blue, brown, black, green, like the strands couldn’t decide. Her skin was muted, almost changing colors within different lighting, plus there appeared to be multiple textures formed over her skin, ranging from scales to unusual tattoo like markings.

Din didn’t know how to feel or what to think, he felt numb. What had been done to this child? Why would Anara allow this and for how long has this little one been tormented? Slowly anger began to inflict his blood, his fists curled into balls wishing to strike anything in his path. Din had to set things right for her, he had to make her feel safe, just like when the Mandalorians took him in. Now it was his turn to pay it forward.

Din glared at the little girl watching her chest barely rise up and down, the doctor immediately placed her on oxygen in order to help her breath better. After a few hours Wil’s father told him to get some sleep, the doctor could sense the less individuals around the more information he would receive from this stranger.

“Wake me if you need me dad, oh and Mando no worries your daughter is in the best care,” Wil reassured Din.

“Daughter?” Din thought to himself uncertain.

Finally the two were alone when the doctor laid everything out on the table getting Mando’s attention.

“Listen I don’t care what lies you told my son, but here and now I need the truth if I’m to save this child. Who are you and is the Empire going to come knocking on my or Wil’s door?”

“You must understand I have to keep certain discretions about myself, what I can reveal to you is that I am a Mandalorian, this child was given to me to be protected from the Empire, I wasn’t given any information myself. Plus the less you know the better no one can interrogate you,” Din ended.

“Fair enough, but the real problem is I know what’s killing her, she needs a blood transfusion,” the doctor informed.

“Money won’t be an issue, I can pay you,” Din addressed.

“You believe the reason why I’m not performing the procedure is because I’m waiting for you to pay, no you idiot, do you see any humanoids on Veeno? Even if we were at my clinic I don’t keep a supply of human blood.”

“Take mine,” Din stated without thought.

“Did you not hear me, I need humanoid blood,” the doctor reminded not knowing what species Mandalorians were.

“I am human,” Din reassured and was about to remove his glove when he hesitated.

Naturally he wasn’t removing his helmet and breaking the Code like he had in the past, but each piece of the Mandalore armor was an extension of oneself, it was still violating the Code. A debate ran through him but knew the logical answer, Din removed his gauntlet, then pulled each digit from his glove, and what had been years since another living being had laid eyes upon his flesh, Din removed his glove exposing his hand.

Unable to fathom the longevity of the Mandalorian’s actions, the doctor quickly rolled up Mando’s sleeve exposing more than just his hand. The doctor shoved Mando into a chair and then rested Din’s arm on the table while searching for a vein.

“My apologies, I don’t work on humanoids practically at all so it might take me a few tries,” and with that he was accurate, Din had been poked and prodded several times before the doctor found a suitable vein.

The doctor ran the tube hooked up from Din to the child where the doctor watched in anticipation.

“We must do this slowly otherwise you could also die,” the doctor informed.

Ten minutes had passed with no change, the doctor drew a new blood sample from the child when he said he would be back in a few minutes.

Din gazed around the room absorbing any necessary information he needed about the doctor when suddenly he felt (for the first time in almost four years) skin-to-skin touch, where a tiny hand clasped onto his. He turned his head and saw a pair of tired green eyes glare at him in gratitude.

He couldn’t help and lose himself in the little girl’s eyes, hypnotizing just like Anara’s was. Could this be? Could this be Anara’s child, but then who was the father? Suddenly a wave of nausea inflicted Din’s stomach when his heart began to palpate as sweat started to bead on his forehead. Of all people why entrust this child with him, but could it be, but how, the child looked nothing like him? At the moment Din didn’t know what to think when suddenly (it was as if a hologram was playing out before him) past events began to be reenacted in that very room.

Din was being shown personal dinners that Wil and the doctor had with their family, certain celebrations of holidays were being played out from all different stages of that families life, it was as if the past had left an impression and he was some how able to view these intimate moments. He waited to see if there was more when the present returned and the child unclasped her hand from his and fell back to sleep.

Unable to register what he had just experienced, Din believed he had just hallucinated but was even unsure of that. Fifteen more minutes passed and Din noticed the girl’s breathing becoming normal, her skin tone went from pale to receiving a slight pink in her cheeks, while her groans became silent.

“You need to eat,” the doctor walked in with food high in sugar and protein.

“I will be alright,” Din stated.

“You will be passed out on the floor in another five minutes, now eat!” the doctor commanded, “Wil will be asleep for another few hours and I will step out for some air, you can have your solitude,” the doctor reassured while finishing up another inspection of the child, “She is thriving, it appears you are the perfect match for her as your blood is healing her. I have very high hopes, you should feel proud, she is your kin,” the doctor clarified before he left.

His kin, so was she truly his, could the doctor tell? Technically his blood did flow in her now so by law she was his. So many rapid thoughts began to run through his brain and Din wasn’t sure if this was because he was hallucinating from lose of blood or if something had indeed changed internally.

Analyzing his situation, Din removed his helmet so he could replenish his body, he would do what he must to save the child, no, his child.

* * *

Night had turned to day when Wildaldro returned downstairs thrilled that the child was alive and getting better. The doctor separated the transfusion believing it had worked successfully and took one last sample to analyze, the doctor was about to give Din a full inspection but knew better.

“The child is in good hands, get some rest, you will need to be fully recovered for your journey home,” the doctor said.

Seeing this as not a bad idea, Din wobbly stood from the chair and laid down in the next room. What felt like minutes, hours had passed by when Din awoke in a stir, in the background he could hear faint murmurs and couldn’t believe he left his guard down. He took precaution, peering over the couch with his blaster drawn, but realized he could put it away as the doctor and Wildaldro were examining the child who also appeared to be awake.

She sat up on the table, feet dangling over the edge when Wil had his hand on her back incase she felt weak while the doctor gave her a full examination.

“Humans are so odd, what with their hair and only two appendages, how do they function?” Wil said to his father when they both noticed Mando approaching.

“Oh hey, hope you got some zzz’s,” Wil said.

“How is she?” Din asked concerned.

“Honestly amazing. I have never seen a patient come back so easily from death. She is indeed special,” the doctor said to Din, “A close eye though should still be kept on her.”

Din scooted his way in between the two and peered down at his child, he looked into her large green eyes and noticed something that clearly wasn’t there before. A faint hint of brown circled around her pupils, this intrigued Din because he didn’t notice that before.

“Hey little one, are you feeling better?” Din questioned when she gazed up into his helmet as if she could see his face, just like she did back in the alley on Tolarian.

Din immediately felt exposed but yet in some way at ease. Just like before, his little girl reached for him to cradle her in his arms when Din didn’t hesitate and scooped her up. He reached into one of his pouches and grabbed a hand full of credits. Wil instinctively went to collect them but the good doctor refused.

“Please, I have nothing else to offer,” Din said.

“As I request nothing, saving a life is payment, if anything else should happen do not hesitant to come back, and no worries I understand discretion and will destroy all evidence,” the doctor reassured.

“Thank you,” Din replied when he collected his daughter’s garments and wrapped her up minus the mask.

Wildaldro escorted them back to his shop and saw them off, “Don’t be a stranger now Mando,” Wil said in all seriousness where all Din replied with was a nod and a sincere thanks.

* * *

The two made their way to his ship when something felt different, like a weight had been lifted and Din could finally breathe. He set his daughter on a cot and unwrapped her headdress when something unusual caught him off guard. Her hair had started to change into a solid color, from the tips of her roots to the edge of her scalp a fluid brown was overtaking the multi colors. Flabbergasted, Din examined her eyes and noticed the brown was absorbing more of the green as well.

“Hey there my little Changeling, what’s going on with you,” Din said more to himself because it seemed his daughter did not know how to talk. Affectionately, Din ticked her evolving nose when she giggled by his actions as she displayed a smile he had only expressed under his helmet. That was his smile, those were his eyes, that was his hair color, she was changing and adapting his features.

It was a slow process but soon enough her eyes had fully been taken over with brown, her nose had slightly widened, her face rounded, and when Din finally got her to sit still long enough he had to cut out whatever color remained from the ends of her hair.

He couldn’t believe it, but yet maybe he knew more then he thought, because Anara was part Changeling and Din was sure his daughter was part too. Maybe that was the reason why she was able to survive for so long with the experimentations, her body was able to adapt easier, change, morph, a reasonable explanation on why her appearance looked the way it did.

Din knew he couldn’t get angry, she was safe now but those were just his assumptions, Din needed the doctor’s expertise on this matter but mostly maybe the doctor could discover the function of her abilities.

Days had passed but one in particular stood out in his mind, Din had been working on some projects when he heard his daughter begin to make noises of discomfort. Quickly Din rushed in seeing her hunched on the floor hugging her mid-section, she wasn’t thrashing around as if in pain, she was more acting like she was holding something in.

Din was just about to reach her when an unseen blast erupted from her core, blowing Din off his feet and anything else that was in her path. Her tiny body couldn’t handle the extinguished energy and so laid down in exhaustion.

Din had never seen anything like this before, it seemed almost surreal and he needed answers. One night he took his daughter to see the doctor without Wildaldro’s knowledge.

“So you’ve come back, is she alright?” the doctor asked in concern fearing his procedure did not work for his patient.

“Yes, she is fine it’s just I can’t explain her appearance and she…,” Din wasn’t sure if he should reveal the episode she experienced, but knew he had to help her in any way possible, “she harbors certain abilities,” Din carefully said wondering if the doctor would believe him.

“I guess I wasn’t sure how she would react to the treatment or to your blood, her body was a mess, so much toxicity was pumped into her bloodstream. I’m shocked she lived for as long as she did,” the doctor removed her head wrap and noticed the changes, “Well this certainly paints a picture, I assume you also have brown hair and eyes?” the doctor stated. Din kept quiet but that summed up the answer for the doctor.

“Are you able to determine how old she is?” Din needed to know certainties.

“For specifics I would have to collect a bone sample but guesstimating, no older than three, why?” the doctor’s interest peaked.

“Just wondering if my assumptions are correct,” Din kept vague but the tone in his voice gave him away.

“You are not certain if she truly is yours?” the doctor asked boldly.

“I don’t want to have my doubts but I do. I was hoping you could tell me.”

“Well since I destroyed all the samples I took from before, I will need to take one from each of you to get a real understanding.”

The doctor wasted no time and filled up two syringes with each of his patient’s blood and began his tests.

“In all the species I have studied, examined, diagnosed, I have never seen a case like this. If she wasn’t yours before she definitely is now, you both match identically, she is your flesh and blood. That is why her features changed, her entire DNA changed, but there is something else that has bonded with her cells, what it is I am unfamiliar with. At the moment they appear to be dormant and I’m sure once awakened that is what causes her abilities you were mentioning,” the doctor pondered for a while almost keeping information to himself.

“Is she in danger to herself?” Din questioned with a hint of panic.

“No, just needs a proper mentor, and who better than her father,” the doctor ended.

That word “father” Din never believed he would become one, he was to invested with his work, plus intimacy was too personal, he found out the hard way by being scorned before. Bounty hunting was also a dangerous trade with enemies lining around the corner. He couldn’t lose anyone else, but with her there was one clear answer, she was his.

Din cradled his daughter within his embrace when he felt a bit lost, he didn’t know the first thing about raising a child, but like most of his life he figured it out, because “This is the way.”

“She doesn’t talk,” Din said in concern.

“There are many ways to communicate without the use of words, body language, sign language, or drawing therapy. Allow her to choose on how to express herself, eventually she will mimic you, a child almost always idolizes their parent, give her time,” the doctor escorted them out, but before they left he had one final question, “Have you given her a proper identity?”

“Not yet, but one comes to mind,” Din said heading back to the Crest and leaving the doctor without an answer.

* * *

The two sat in silence when Din placed his daughter on the cot and removed her head wrap. In a loving manner Din brushed her hair away from her face so he could get a good look at her when an image of his late mother took him by surprise.

War and droids were the reason for his parents and Anara’s death and this made him furious, but her tiny face brought him peace as his mother’s name rolled off his tongue with ease.

“Osa, your name is Osa Djarin.”

* * *

Several normal days flew by while Din kept himself busy by rearranging the Crest so it could be habitable for two, plus Osa was becoming a handful, getting into everything, playing with anything, when he took the doctor’s advice to see if she would communicate through a picture.

Din picked Osa up and placed her at the temporary kitchen table and gave her a piece of paper and a small stick of black chalk. Osa just stared into Din’s helmet perplexed and unknowing what to do.

“Do you know how to draw a picture?” Din horribly drew a rectangle and then a circle, realizing this wasn’t drawing he turned to spelling, “How about I write your name,” he spelled out Osa at the top of the paper when she turned, tapped Din and then tapped next to her name signaling who he was.

“Right, I’ve never told you who I am,” Din became hesitant but he knew he shouldn’t because he had not revealed his real self in decades, but now was as any good of time, “My name is Din Djarin, I am your father or you can call me Papi,” Din wrote the Spanish term next to Osa’s name which translated to Daddy, “Have fun,” he paused and then gave her an endearing nickname, “Mi Pequeno,” he handed her the chalk and then grazed her cheek with his thumb leaving her so he could finish some work.

About an hour passed by when he walked back in as Osa excitedly hopped off her chair to present her masterpiece to Din. She waved the piece of paper for him to take and so he did. In shock Osa drew two figures underneath each name, she drew herself and then Din without his helmet.

Granted these representations of themselves were practically stick figures but the point was there. Din knelt down to Osa’s level when she placed her tiny hands on the sides of his helmet but made no movement, she wanted Din to willingly remove his helmet with her. A surge of panic inflicted him but remembered the Code, Osa was his kin, she was his flesh and blood, they could see each others identities and so Din removed his helmet – for the second time around another being since he was sworn into the Creed.

Osa enthusiastically smiled seeing her saviors face for the first time, her joy was contagious when Din smiled the exact smile right back at his daughter. Finally realizing the resemblances, Osa lunged herself into Din’s embrace, burying her face into the crook of his neck. With her action Din’s heart swelled and held her tight, he didn’t want this moment to end. He dragged it out for as long as he could when he heard her small voice whisper her first word he never wanted to stop hearing, “Papi.”

* * *

“So that’s the story, that’s what you have been keeping from me?” Osa stated.

“Yes, I’m sorry I can’t provide you with more. I tired to give you the best and normal life as possible…” when he was cut off.

“Papi you don’t have to justify yourself, I wouldn’t have my life any other way, actually I have you to thank for my life because who knows where I would be,” Osa looked away almost ashamed that she was only seen as an experiment and not as a person when in the Empire’s care.

“I wish I knew, I would have stopped Anara from…” again he was cut off.

“Papi, don’t. We will never know her reasons for handing me over to the Empire, but I do have to give her some credit for making the right decision in the end and getting me to my father,” Osa smiled big.

Din just smiled sadly still contemplating, which he knew he shouldn’t.

“Do you still have doubts?” Osa could sense his inner struggle, a struggle he knew he shouldn’t have, “Don’t, you know why because I heard the three words Anara yelled at you.”

Din glared at his daughter in awe and in terror.

“She said, ‘Protect our child,’” Osa grinned wide as tears began to fill her eyes.

Din wasted no time and scooped Osa into the tightest hug he had ever given her, as both slightly whimpered within each other’s embrace.

It was true, his doubts were for nothing, years of stupid torment he put himself through because Osa was his, she had always been his.

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rivalsofnycupdates · 4 years

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“Her mind is an unquiet one, words and thoughts and impulses constantly crashing into each other.”

■ ABOUT. ■

name: Juliette Derby age: twenty-nine occupation: socialite & informant for the Devils gender: cis-female pronouns: she/her sexuality: utp

■ HISTORY. ■

With a rich father and trophy wife step-mother, Juliette grew up much like anyone would’ve assumed. From a distance, her life seemed perfectly put together. From her clothes to her studies, the girl hardly failed anything she set her heart too. This personality trait came from her father. Most of her personality mirrored her father, her mother, died when she was just a baby. She was told, that her mother was weak and she died in an overdose but as the years wore on, Juliette learned the truth. Being under her father’s roof was incredibly stressful. The pressures of being a Derby were heavy, bearing both a surname and a reputation to observe and appreciate. Juliette often had to try harder then anyone else just to make it appear as if she weren’t trying at all.

She was always taught it was better to be beautiful and unforgettable than witty and intelligent. With this kind of upbringing, the girl often kept her passion for science and math to herself. She hated social functions since she felt like her father would only be proud of her if she acted as if her soul had died. Nothing more then a pretty face with her father’s money, Juliette was often dismissed and overlooked when it came to many things. She grew to not mind it, and instead, preferred it that way. When she turned eighteen, her father whisked her away and sent her off to school in Paris where Juliette exceeded beyond her own dreams. She studied science for two years, and then her professor scouted her. Offering her a job she couldn’t refuse. She worked at a science lab where she was able to explore only a fraction of what her courses spoke about, but her dreams were finally becoming a reality. The years she spent at the lab, allowed her to break open those walls her father had built.

Juliette could have seen herself living in Paris for the rest of her life. The city was one she felt she couldn't live without. It wasn’t until she was twenty-six that her father requested she returned to New York. With her newfound confidence, she wanted to tell her father no, she wanted to be able to continue working on her dreams. Though her father held a fear over her she couldn’t explain. The second finished that phone call with her father felt herself shrink back into the girl she used to be. Without any discussion, she followed orders and moved away from her love of sciences and mathematics. She wasn’t sure why her father wanted her back into the city, though any assumption she had was wrong.

■ WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON? ■

Her father had always expressed an interest in politics, this wasn’t news to Juliette at all. What did surprise her, was her father's hand in the Devils workings. A behind the curtain benefactor offered him not only protection but support with his new campaign to become the Mayor of the city. Juliette’s world has been turned upside down as she is no longer just a socialite among many others, but the daughter of the next possible Mayor of New York City. The reasoning for her need to come back became clear. Since he didn’t have a wife to parade, he’d have to parade his daughter. The campaign would be a long one and Juliette was suddenly aware that any thought of being anything other than a Derby no longer existed, instead, she’d have to be the pretty face all that was expected and nothing more. It was as if her intelligence didn’t matter, as long as her hair was done, and she was wearing the most expensive clothes would she be accepted amongst the 1% of New York City.

■ KEEP THIS AWAY FROM YOUR ENEMIES ■

It’s been months since she’s returned to New York City, her father is about to finish his campaign, and Juliette has been doing her part at standing beside him like the good daughter the public sees her be. What her father doesn’t know is, throughout his campaign, she’s kept every single wrongdoing from anyone in his administration and kept a record of it all. She knew her father wasn’t a saint, so her original plan was to release it to the public to hurt his campaign. Though after a drunk night with, Marissa Diaz. They came up with a better plan. She was to provide any and all information to the Devils in order for them to blackmail him. This wasn’t a plan that offered her short term satisfaction, though the thought of her father being under the thumb of the Devils, just like she’d been under his thumb, for the rest of his life was an image she couldn’t pass up. After months of collecting more evidence, she’s found a place among the Quantum of Devils as an Informant. Using not only her looks but her connections as well, she’s able to insert herself into the life of the 1% and collects whatever information the Devils might need.

■ RELATIONSHIPS. ■

■ Foster Richman: Juliette doesn’t like the guy, and hasn’t since she first met some of the gang members. In fact, she’d maybe even title him as her least favorite member. Though that may be because of his occupation, and the fact that there is nothing she hates more than those who abuse substances such as drugs or alcohol.

■ Bellamy Leiberman: If she had to describe the male in one word, it’d be simply puppy. Sure he’s nice enough, however, the pair have met at least four times and she still can’t recall his name. All she knows is he’s good with computers, and she catches him staring at her whenever he thinks she isn’t looking. Then again whenever they talk, she swears he’s the only person who sees and comments on things more than just her appearance, almost as if she’s an actual person and not just an object.

■ Mia Alcott: She’s seen the other girl perform and she’s impressed. Though she would never admit that out loud. They’ve also run some of the same circles and have met on occasion. She respects how the woman has separated herself from her family's problems and made a name for herself. Though when Garrett takes notice of her interest in his daughter and suggests the two become friends, Juliette is no longer sure how she feels.

■ CONNECTIONS. ■

■ Isaac Abrigo > Casual Hook Up

■ Eva Nelson > Friend

■ Julian Meadows > Annoyance

Juliette Derby is a OPEN character and is portrayed by Lucy Hale who’s FC IS NEGOTIABLE.

#rp #rpg #bio rp #crime rp #city rp #all #fem #negotiable fc #juliettederby #devils #open #openf

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amandajoyce118 · 6 years

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Runaways Season 2 Easter Eggs And Comic Book References

No Friday Five this week. Instead, have this!

It took me a bit longer than I would have liked to get through season two of Runaways, but I’ve finally got an Easter egg list for you. This time of year was very busy at both my day job and in the writing world, so to have Aquaman, Runaways, and Bumblebee (do you guys want an Easter egg list for this? I haven’t started typing that up.) release at the same time made things a little difficult for me to get them up in a timely fashion.

As usual, if you haven’t yet watched Runaways, there are spoilers below, but I tried to go episode by episode without spoiling things for future episodes. There are times where I watched a few hours at a time before writing up the details, so I’m sorry if you’re reading as you go along and there are minor spoilers. Enjoy!

If I missed something, tell me what you found!

S2E01 “Gimme Shelter”

The Episode Title

Not only was the title of this episode a movie starring Vanessa Hudgens a few years ago, but it was also the title of a Rolling Stones song. The stories for both feature Runaways, so I think the title was more than just an on-the-nose reference to them needing a house. The movie features a pregnant teen who runs away from home and makes a family for herself at the shelter where she stays. The music video for the song featured two teen boys running away from an abusive home as well, though the song is from an album known for tackling issues related to the Vietnam War.

Detective Flores

If you didn’t obsessively research characters you weren’t familiar with in season one, you might not know that Flores is from the comics. He’s actually the detective in PRIDE’s pocket there as well. In fact, he’s probably the closest to their comic book character.

Their Clothes

This season begins with the kids in the same clothes they ended the first season in. Not only does this tell us it’s taking place pretty soon after, but also how hard up they are since they haven’t been able to find/buy/steal anything else. (Also, yes, these outfits are recreations of some of their iconic comic book looks.)

“You think I’m a mole?”

Ah, Alex. Of course we think you’re a mole. But because we think that, you won’t be. In the comics, Alex was the mole. He spied on his friends and reported back to his parents so that PRIDE was always right behind their kids.

WHiH

This is the biggest news network in the MCU. It’s appeared in just about every MCU property lately. This time around, it’s even more significant, because the reporter for WHiH that appears in this episode also appeared as a news reporter for another network on Agents of SHIELD. Looks like she got a new gig.

Kirk Skadden

This name appears in an obituary next to Graciela’s. (I would have checked all the names, but that’s the only one I can make out on my TV, and I can’t even make out the actually obit.) Agents of SHIELD fans might (or might not, it’s pretty obscure) remember this name from the pilot episode. He’s the agent Maria Hill hands off Ward’s piece of alien tech too. Now, further research tells me this isn’t a comic book character, but instead, the name of a graphic designer who works for Studio Graphics, who does VFX work for Agents of SHIELD. It’s likely a nod to the actual guy doing work behind the scenes, and not meant to be a crossover, but it’s still fun to think about.

Odyssey Diner

At first I thought this was a comic book location, but it’s not. Instead, I like to think that it’s a nod to the Greek epic. You know, the story of Odysseus as he tries to get home after the fall of Troy, but he finds so many obstacles in his way that his journey takes forever? Victor Stein just wants to get home and back to life, and things don’t go as planned.

The House

In the comics, the kids do eventually find themselves an abandoned house to squat in. While it doesn’t look the same on the outside here, it’s definitely pretty much exactly the same on the inside. The props/set dressers did an excellent job.

S2E02 “Radio On”

The Last Supper

The image of the five kids sitting at the table and eating reminds me of the painting The Last Supper. It’s not an exact recreation of it, but I can’t help but feel the imagery is intentional. Someone tell me who corresponds to whom as my religious imagery recollection is a litter rusty.

Molly And Her “Mask”

I love that Molly folds her hat down to create a makeshift superhero mask. She’s also (if I remember right) the only character who actually grew up in a future timeline to become an Avenger, so it feels like a nice nod.

S2E03 “Double Zeros”

The Episode Title

Not only is “doublezero” a particular strain of marijuana, but it’s also a math term. I’m sure the math term is what’s actually being referenced here considering we get a lot of calculations from Janet uncoding the Abstract.

The Abstract

In the comics, the Abstract is actually a copy of the book the Gibborim (who are not the subject of the church, but instead, the giant race that gives PRIDE their power) gives to all of the couples. Each of the couples who go on to have a Runaway has a copy of the book. It contains magic spells rather than the secrets of an alien races technology. The show adapts the idea pretty well for their version of the story.

The Staff Doesn’t Work

Noting that the staff didn’t work after the same “spell” was tried more than once has become a thing. Eventually, the gang will have to figure out that it’s called the Staff of One in the comics for a reason. It can only use each “spell” once while the same person owns it. Eventually, Nico will run out of synonyms for the same actions.

Chun Li

Okay, yeah, Nico playing this character in a video game is a nod to her getting to be a superhero and being an Asian woman, sure. But, I can’t help but think that it’s also a shoutout to another Asian-American in the MCU. Ming-Na Wen, who plays May on Agents of SHIELD, played Chun Li in a Street Fighter movie back in the day. (And yes, she was great.)

Topher

Topher is a comic book character, or at least inspired by one. He joins up with the Runaways in the comics, though it turns out he’s not everything he says he is. I’ll hold that story until we know more about him.

S2E04 “Old School”

Cone of Silence

You know where the idea of Cone of Silence came from? These days, it’s just an everyday phrase, but once upon a time, it was a pretty cool trick on the tv series Get Smart.

Topher’s Rock Dust

So it’s clear that Topher doesn’t come by his powers naturally (as in, they aren’t just embedded in him), like Molly. Instead, it’s coming to him, along with a high, from special rock dust. This kind of reminds me of how Wakanda gets all of its energy/derives its tech/creates its medicine from their place on top of a Vibranium mine, which came from outer space. Apparently, rocks from outerspace contain a whole lot of supernatural power.

This also reminds me of a comic book storyline that saw people harvesting mutants for the “mutant growth hormone” their bodies produced. It was like a chemical produced as a result of them being a mutant. Scientists created drugs from it that junkies had a field day with. It was an arc in the Jessica Jones stories, and I think the Spider-Woman stories, if I remember right.

“Our Uninvited Guest”

Okay, so this little dig at Topher means I can tell you that, in the comics, he was a vampire. The MCU hasn’t gone as far as revealing that vampires exist just yet, so I’m pretty sure that’s not part of his story here. But I like the nod to the idea that vampires have to be invited in.

Atlas Academy

In case you forgot about the school the kids originally attended, it pops back up again. Atlas Academy gets its name from Atlas Comics, the precursor to Marvel Comics. The early days of Marvel also saw writers naming fictional companies Atlas “Insert Business Here” as a nod to the change in publisher name.

S2E05 “Rock Bottom”

Topher Doesn’t Age

So, he didn’t get Molly’s super strength full time, but he did get the ability to siphon energy from the rock dust and not age? Sounds like a new age vampire to me.

S2E06 “Bury Another”

The Episode Title

This might be a coincidence, but I think this is referencing the Rilo Kiley song “Bury, Bury, Bury Another.” It’s about looking back on the way things used to be.

Gravitational Wave Space Drive

On the one hand, this series of words just sounds like scientific nonsense put together to sound like something that might power a ship. On the other hand… it sounds an awful lot like the same idea for converting the quinjet into a spaceship on Agents of SHIELD. Making it run with the help of gravitonium can’t be too far off.

S2E07 “Last Rites”

The Magic Memorabilia

Okay, so it might seem like the rooms at the house are just themed for some cool old Hollywood fun, but I think it’s more purposeful. The room where Alex holds his dad captive has a lot of magic show memorabilia in the background. There are signs and pieces from old school magic tricks lying around. This seems like a nod to Alex’s role in the comics.

When he’s initially introduced, he’s just a really smart human. Alex betrays his friends to PRIDE, ends up dead, and sits in Hell, trying to find a way out. He eventually makes a deal to not only “guide” Nico on a magical journey, but also to become the host of a demon. It’s then that he learns how to use all kinds of magic - more than just pulling rabbits out of hats.

Xavin

This name belongs to a comic book character, and it’s interesting that this person appears to be trapped on Jonah’s spaceship with the rest of Karolina’s family. Why? Because this person wasn’t the same race as Karolina’s family in the comics. Instead, Xavin was a Skrull prince. Raised to become a “Super Skrull,” a marriage was brokered between Xavin and Karolina by their parents as a way to put an end to the war between their species. Though Karolina’s alien species appears to be the Gibborim in the show and not the Majesdanians, the story idea might play out similarly? We’ll see.

Marine Vivarium

This particular comic book location didn’t appear in the show, but its likeness did. You now when the spaceship starts to rise from the ground and there are slight cracks in the surface, its got a dome, all that? That imagery looks a lot like the Marine Vivarium sitting on the bottom of a sea bed in the comics that provides a meeting place for PRIDE.

S2E08 “Past Life”

1957

Not a whole lot in this episode in the way of Easter eggs. I mean, Julian McMahon gets to use his real accent and you find out the body he inhabits was from Australia. Curious that “Jonah” decided not to keep the accent. I can tell you that in 1957 Atlas Comics (later Marvel) cancelled a ton of their Western comics. Westerns were on the way out. A lot of their anthology comics that year featured, instead, aliens and flying saucers. Seems appropriate for a reference in this show.

S2E09 “Big Shot”

Roxxon

A banner on the outside of the big hotel advertises Roxxon. You’ll remember this energy company from just about every other MCU property that takes place on Earth: Iron Man, Agent Carter, Agents of SHIELD, Cloak and Dagger, etc. It plays its biggest role in Cloak And Dagger these days.

Wakanda

Do I have to explain Wakanada? Probably not. Unless you completely tuned out from pop culture last year, you know that’s where Black Panther, and the big Infinity War battle, takes place. It does provide us with a bit of a timeline though. We know this likely takes place after the events of Black Panther in the MCU. Maybe even after Shuri already started work on the outreach center in California? It’s likely still set before the events of Infinity War though.

S2E10 “Hostile Takeover”

Nico’s Eyes

When Nico pops back up from her exhaustion and uses the staff, screaming “get out” at the corrupt cops in the house, her eyes do something a little crazy. The get this black, pebbled, gradient around them. Now, if you’ve seen Doctor Strange, you’ve seen that before from Kaecilius and his followers. In the movie, Tina Minoru, though she’s never named and is played by a different actress, appears wielding the staff. (I’m not going to lie, it makes me wonder if Tina got sucked into the power at one point and left her family for a few days to answer the magical call or something.) Presumably, the markings indicate giving over to the pull of the “dark magic” in the staff.

Nico’s Power

Considering Nico manages to make so many people disappear, I feel like it’s important to make a note about just where Nico’s power is coming from. In the comics, she accidentally banishes people (and Old Lace) to another dimension because the staff can access then. Specifically, it has ties to the Dark Dimension. If that sounds familiar, you’ve likely read up on your Agents of SHIELD or Cloak and Dagger Easter eggs, because it’s been referenced there. Ghost Rider has access to the Dark Dimension. Darkforce, an ability we’ve seen manipulated and used on Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter, originates in the Dark Dimension. When Cloak of Cloak and Dagger teleports, he actually moves through the Dark Dimension to do it in the comics. The show hasn’t clarified if it’s the same there. Suffice to say the Dark Dimension provides a lot of power in many different forms.

S2E11 “The Last Waltz”

The Episode Title

Yes, this title is literal since Chase waltzes with Molly, but the term is best known now as a farewell concert by The Band in San Francisco in 1978.

The President

When the Yorkes interrogate Chase, they ask him if he knows who the President is. Though Chase says he does, he never says who it is. I think that’s purposeful to keep the timeline ambiguous. Is it Ellis? Has someone else got the job? We don’t know.

Staff Of One

Nico’s Wiccan ceremony here might be the first time the Staff of One is acknowledged by its comic book name. It’s what she writers on the slip of paper she burns. You can imagine that her trying to cut ties with the staff isn’t going to work out well. At least her “tie” to it isn’t the same as in the comics. On the page, she had to release her own blood every time she wanted to use the staff as it sealed itself away inside her body until she needed it every time. (This is likely the reason we get the “it’s clawing at my skin” line in an earlier episode.)

Molly Hayes Hernandez

We get to hear Molly’s full name, or at least what Gert knows her full name to be. It’s significant because Molly in the comics is Molly Hayes. In an effort to bring even more diversity into the group, the producers decided to cast Molly as any ethnicity, and ended up making her Latina. Molly Hayes Hernandez is a nod to the original comic book character.

S2E12 “Earth Angel”

The Episode Title

Aside from Karolina being literally called an angel at one point, this title is a reference to the (very old) classic song. Originally recorded by the Penguins in the 50s, it’s been covered by a ton of doo-wop, pop, and R&B groups over the years. It was a surprise hit, much like Karolina taking back the church for her grandmother. The song was the B side of their first record, and what was released was the demo version instead of a more polished sound. People loved it, even without any kind of “classier” instrumentation.

“We’re not Cylons from Alex’s Doctor Who show.”

A for effort, Molly. I don’t usually call out random pop culture references, but I like that Alex is both a Battlestar Galactica and Doctor Who fan, and that Molly at least attempted to speak his language.

The Hostel

Is this the first time the house is called this? Or did I miss it earlier in the season? Either way, the Hostel is what the group calls their house in the comics as well, so it’s a nice nod.

“...your darkness is you…”

Maybe I should have waited to explain Nico’s power coming from the Dark Dimension? Again, this is another nod to where her power might come from.

Chase Becoming Part of PRIDE

This isn’t something Chase does in the comics. Instead, it’s Alex (though these days, Alex is a full on villain). In the comics, it’s Alex who actually knows about PRIDE’s activities a full year before his “friends.” He purposely leads them to discover what’s going on when he realizes that the Deans and the Hayes plan on killing the human members of the group so that their families can become the full six members of the inner circle. Alex’s whole thing in the comics is about protecting his parents (and Nico). There, his parents are crime bosses, and he eventually becomes one as well after he gets out of Hell. The point is, he turns his back on his friends to become part of PRIDE, but it goes badly for him. Here, it’s Chase who has that role. Because the show did it with Gert calling for help and Karolina hanging out with Jonah as well. They want to show that Alex isn’t the only one who can betray the group for selfish reasons.

S2E13 “Split Up”

Xartan

While Xavin is a Skrull in the comics, that looks like it’s not the case here. It’s possible the show wasn’t allowed to introduce a Skrull with Captain Marvel looming on the horizon, so they went with Xartans. Named for their home planet, the Xartans actually existed in two groups: the base and the deviations. The deviations were those who had been experimented on and granted abilities (oh, hey, sounds like Inhumans on Earth, no?), and they essentially eliminated the “base” Xartans. They also once attempted to invade Earth in ancient times. They didn’t succeed because Thor, of all people, stopped them. The ones that stayed on Earth actually shapeshifted into trees, becoming one with the environment. Somehow, I don’t think that’s where Xavin’s arc is headed.

The Exiled Royals

The story Xavin projects into Karolina’s head about the exiled royal family (first of all, reminds me of the way the Deathly Hallows were presented in the Harry Potter films, so nice visual, and) is pretty much the story of the Majesdanians in the comics. The two that become the Deans (both actors in the comics) make a home on Earth after being exiled. Maybe the writers thought Gibborum was an easier word for fans to learn? Also, can we point out that Majesdanians sounds very much like majestic, or magistrate, so there is still another nod in how the alien race is presented in the show?

Leapfrog

When Chase and Janet talk outside the house, Chase is busy sketching out a design. That design is for the Leapfrog. In the comics, Victor and his wife actually create the vehicle. It’s submersible, so they use it to travel to and from the underwater base where PRIDE meets. I imagine the VFX needed for something like that is why PRIDE performs their sacrifices in the Wilder’s basement in the first season. When Chase and company discover what their parents are up to, they steal the Leapfrog and use it to escape. They also use it to fight crime, live in, and travel through time. Considering Victor has the video from the future already, something tells me Chase might just invent a time machine if the show gets more seasons.

The Minoru Fight

I have to point out that I’m fairly certain all of the Minoru family does their own stunts in that big family confrontation. Also, if you think it’s a stereotype for this Asian family to know martial arts, in this case, not so much. Instead, it’s playing to the strength of the actors. All three of them are experienced martial artists. They all have black belts, according to Lyrica Okano, though I’m not sure specifically which fighting form their belts are in since several award belts as you master different skills. Lyrica is also a trained gymnast. So, yeah, that fight scene probably could have gone on for a whole episode if they writers wanted it to.

“I’ve seen this before.”

When Nico’s eyes change during the fight and Robert gets a little concerned, Tina says this line. So, I’d wager (again) that we can say that was this Tina during the events of Doctor Strange and not just someone who had the same weapon, and though she doesn’t understand all of the advantages and limitations of the staff just yet, she does know those markings mean dark magic.

Some General Talk

Things that pop up across multiple episodes I thought I’d just throw down here. That way I’m not repeating myself in every episode.

Rainbows

Karolina is a lesbian basically made of rainbows, but this season, the costume department decide to reflect that as well. Nearly every piece of clothing she wears has some sort of rainbow imagery or color pattern going on. Her wardrobe is also very in tune with the 60s and 70s when the sexual revolution was in full swing, which seems pretty apt for a recently out Karolina. The only time she’s not in colorful clothing is when the Church of Gibborum storyline comes back into play for her at the end of the season. Even before she changes into the muted clothes to rescue her mom she’s in pastels.

The Church

The Church of Gibborum is not a thing in the comics, but it does have a real world counterpart. Much of what’s done with the church this season - the focus on an actor playing the part of a church leader, the reconditioning, the cutting people off from their families and their names at secret facilities, the strict rules and cult-like behavior - seems to be inspired by a “church” that’s prevalent in Hollywood. You can read Leah Remini’s book or watch her show for more details.

Gert’s Health

There’s a huge focus, at least on Gert’s part, on Gert’s mental health. It’s not until she’s physically ill that anyone else starts paying attention to her. While I get the feeling this is a bit of social commentary, it’s also a nice nod to the comics. Gert actually died so that her friends could live. We almost get to that point, but the show saves her, and that’s something of a relief because killing Gert off was a huge mistake. The newer series brought her back to life with good reason.

Leaving And Returning

I found the repeated references to people leaving the group interesting. The comic group definitely starts with the members we see on the show, but over the years, a lot of people join up or leave. It’s actually surprising that two seasons in the group is mainly in tact. Topher and Livvie didn’t stick it out, and yeah, they’re separated at the end of the season, but the core group is alive and working toward a common goal. I’m curious to see if other iconic characters get added if the show continues for a while. For example, Cloak and Dagger joined up for a while, the group brought Kara Plast back to the present with them from the past, a cyborg joined them, and Xavin lives with them until they have to leave the planet. I’d like to see someone new introduced and shake up the dynamic a bit.

The Feminism

It’s refreshing that this team of superpowered people is mostly teenage girls. I know, for the most part, this is the original line up from the comics, but there have been a few more additions to the group over the years to up the male quotient. I love that Chase going home means that Alex is outnumbered by Karolina, Nico, Molly, Gert, and later, Leslie Dean. There’s also Xavin, but I’m not sure how we’re supposed to view Xavin. A lot of comics fans classify the character as nonbinary because they originally present as a male Skrull before deciding to become a woman because Karolina is a lesbian. They seem to default to female forms more often than not, but also become large males in a fight to be more intimidating, so there’s that. Regardless, I like the focus on the women getting things done. Neither Chase nor Alex are members of the group with superpowers, though they are super smart. The members of the group with raw power are Nico (magic), Karolina (alien-light), Gert (dinosaur telepathy), and Molly (super strength), and I just love that lineup.

That’s it! That’s all I’ve got this time around. I couldn’t catch every street sign, newspaper article, or building plaque, so it’s entirely possible that there are other fun Easter eggs in the show that I missed this season.

#runaways #runaways season 2 #runaways easter eggs #runaways spoilers #marvel comics

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11browneyedbombshell11 · 6 years

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"Pretty For a Black Girl", The Lifestyle of Defying Black Stigma and Correcting Ignorance. By Tiana Colbert

I was waiting for the bus stop one day during a long red light when suddenly, a car of young attractive hispanic men pulled up. I could feel their eyes staring at me even though I was not looking directly at them. “Excuse me, what are you?” They asked me. I paused before answering “I’m BLACK.” Emphasis on BLACK. The expression on their face showed how unexpected my answer was. “Oh.. you’re BEAUTIFUL.” They concluded. I narrowed my eyes at them as they drove off. They could not believe a black girl could be so appealing. I had to have had some other mix in there.

There's no better feeling than being singled out as "drop dead gorgeous" by a complete stranger. That is, until they go on to say that "a beautiful black girl is hard to find." A statement that freezes me into shock every time. I receive that same old backhanded compliment often, but it never gets easier. And even though I've been trained to respond by asking "What do you mean by that?" or "Are Black girls not suppose to be beautiful?" I've yet to muster up the courage to confront it accordingly. Countless non-black men have felt the need to recognize my beauty by putting down my entire race, but there's no need for that. These men fail to see that my blackness is what makes me beautiful. They have been mislead by stereotypes, and have no clue what the extent of their words portray. It is not my blackness alone, but how I communicate that attracted them to me. The fixation of black stigmas are poisonous to our image, especially when people expect me to act a certain way and are unable to handle African Americans who do not fulfill the stereo type. I've come to find is that this needs to be corrected. Otherwise, they will never learn. Telling a black girl that she is "Pretty For a Black Girl." is one of the most ill mannered comments you can make. After having said those words to me, men don't understand why it hurts.

Men don't realize what they're actually saying when they say "You're Pretty For a Black Girl." Everybody has a preference. I'm not telling anyone who to be attracted to. However, when you're dealing with a beautiful black girl, you don't tell her she's beautiful and then elaborate on how her race of people aren't as attractive as other like she's some kind of rare jewel that is hard to get your hands on. I am astounded by the tactlessness of men who preach this to me. Do they not realize how hurtful that is? You're not complimenting me, but rather insulting me and my entire race at the same time. I don't feel special, I feel disrespected. " Beautiful Black girls are hard to find." Have you been living under a rock? There's beautiful black women every where! Prejudice hinders the ignorant from seeing past stigma.

It felt as though it was not my BLACKNESS that attracted them, but my long silky hair weave that got their attention. It’s not like black women don’t have their own hair, We certainly do. But 50% of black women are hiding their natural hair with wigs, weaves or hair extensions. This is typically in order to assimilate with the Media’s definition of beauty, which is not black. However, I am finding more and more black women are going natural in order to grow back their long lost hair. They were forced to process it by impatient parents who did not have time to care of high maintenance hair. And then again some black women simply enjoying relaxing their hair.

I can’t understand how society bases black people on the village idiot of black people. Those who aren’t exposed to real life black people, but instead Sha-Nay-Nay, BAPs or Dejanay on television are doomed when they finally cross paths with an actual black woman. Black women are still women, so why bring race into it? You can tell her she’s beautiful without basing her off of how far she is from stereo. Stereo types are based on facts but overly exaggerated and hard to get rid of. When I was growing up, I found that all the blonde girls I knew were exceptionally smart. Did they work harder to be “A” students in order to beat the stereotype of being a dumb blonde? Sometimes I feel like I have something to prove too. But I am who I am because of the environment I was raised in. Every time my mom caught me speaking in ebonics, she cracked that whip you call a tongue and chewed me out. Not every black girl is a “ratchet” hoe with trust and anger issues. The dilemma of being an articulate African American growing up are people challenging your blackness. If you’re black, but you don’t act it, then you must be trying to be white, right? Hell no. Once again society identifying black people with a stereotype based on the village idiot of black people. Keegan Michael Key based one of his stand ups on his mother sitting in front of the television watching the news, praying that who ever robbed that bank and shot three people were not black. “Please don’t be black, please don’t be black!” Eyes closed fingers crossed. Cause if one black person acts like this, then in the eyes of world, we all do.

I have received compliments from awkward non-black men such as “I love your skin tone.” And though it comes out funny, I appreciate it. It’s way better than “I thought I didn’t like black girls, and then I met you, so I GUESS I do like black girls.” Such cringe worthy comments make me want to kick someone in the balls. Preferably the ignoramus that dare echo those words. Interracial dating may come off trendy, but you’re likely to heed warning from your fellow (insert race here). When I was in high school, there was a girl in my math class that swore up and down that she wouldn’t be caught dead dating a white guy. She said you couldn’t trust them. “No matter how much he says he loves you, marries you, has children with you —- in the back of his mind he’s thinking it, NIGGER.” Then you had the black guys who were strictly into interracial dating. This has left a number of my girl friends unsure where to turn. But just like how not every black girl reflects the stereo type, not every black man prefers white women and not every white guy dating a black girl is thinking “NIGGER” every time he looks at his significant other.

#blackgirlmagic #stereotypes #pick up lines #blackisbeautiful #blackwomen

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spywriter27 · 6 years

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The Interview Emilia ll Luke

He’s laughing brightly, the laughter almost makes it seem like the room is brighter as we continue. “You find it funny. The whole world was waiting in anticipation of this big, grandiose wedding and then we find out. You’re actually married, not to the woman we’ve been calling your fiancée for the past year but to a complete unknown, middle class girl who works for a competitor.”

“I wouldn’t really call Christian a competitor, we get along just fine. It’s actually by chance that she works for him. I had a pretty rough day and my neighbor was concerned, something a lot of people in my life had been. None of them voiced this concern though, because that would have been, proper.” I can see the annoyance on his face, its something that has come up before in an interview when he was younger. People expecting him to read their minds. “People assume because you have wifi in your head you know what they’re thinking. I’m a genetic hybrid, not a psychic and it bothers me a lot that people get the two mixed up.” Was what he told me last time, I checked on his insistence.

“So you just met at a random party. How normal of you. Was it love at first sight or did you actively try to flirt?” I can’t help it, one of the original four hybrids, the only one known to have human emotion, it’s for science. I’ve known him for years and the thought of him flirting is more funny than adorable. This is the man who can tell a dictator where to stuff it but crumbles when his mom tells him it’s rude.

“Tease all you want Michelle, I did end up with her number at the end of the night. We met up for coffee, talked, normal things. You should be proud, it’s all annoyingly human and mundane. Went to the movies a few times, walked through the park. It’s a bit insane how no one knew until Rachel threw a fit. I mean, it wasn’t a secret, we were out there actively being us for the world to see and no one cared until the princess of slander got mad.” The princess of slander, an interesting way of calling his ex out on all the effort she’s put in to dragging them through the mud. Most hybrids hide their thoughts well and Luke is no exception until it becomes a topic that get’s him frustrated, like math or in this case, Rachel. She seems to be a frustrating person, everyone wants to be in her friend group but those that have left have nothing nice to say about it. If you can even get them to talk about it.

“But you were still seeing Rachel. A lot of people feel like you did her dirty, cheated on her. I know a few of them have confronted you in person. Does it bother you or your wife? That you essentially cheated on Rachel with her.” I get the devil’s advocate glance but I know you all want the answer too. For the last three years every form of social media has been flooded with images for the two of them. For the last year it was near impossible to log onto anything and not know about their future wedding. Then overnight it all changed, the tone of their relationship changed and he came out looking pretty bad.

Luke Montgomery smirked, he actually smirked at me. A rare event his mother once described as the first sign of the apocalypse for revenge. “I didn’t cheat on her. I’d have actually had to have been dating her to cheat on her. Before you ask, I never proposed to her either. There’s a fifty page print out of us fighting over that and her telling me to just ‘go with it. Its what’s best for our companies’. Rachel was, is, she’s always been a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It’s no secret that my father became very sick a few years back. He assumed he wouldn’t make it and told me things about where I came from and I nosedived into a place that I hope I never go back to. I didn’t know who I could trust, I barely slept. It was a dark place and then, she was there. She told a few corny jokes, we had some drinks. One day I woke up in her room and couldn’t recall what happened the night before. The last thing I could remember was leaving the office.” He’s taking deep breathes, what he’s saying is hard for him. It’s almost as if his anxiety is telling him to keep quiet.

He’s messing with his wedding band, he doesn’t know it’s silver, not that he cares but you can see the wear it’s taken already in just these few short months from him messing with it. “She cornered me on a street, in an alley actually, right around the corner from my place. Told me she was pregnant. I did what a lot of guys do in that situation. I panicked, said I’d be there for her and I was. Then she said she lost it a few weeks later. It broke me a little, I had just started thinking about it, toying with the idea. What kind of dad would I be and stuff you know? Turns out she was lying the whole time. I tried to cut her off a year later, after I found out. Just ghost her you know. I couldn’t handle it, it’s almost like I could see what she was doing and tried to stop it but failed. I’d stopped sleeping, didn’t really eat much, stopped doing things that made me happy. I was only doing what she wanted me to do, only eating what she let me eat. She hates dogs, I sent mine to live with my parents, she hates traveling, I didn’t see my family for three years. She kept showing up everywhere I went though, it was freaky and she just kept inserting herself into my life no matter how I tried to run. I gave up. I know, it’s weird to admit that out loud but it’s what actually happened. I gave up trying to run away from her but I never reinstated the relationship, we never did anything more than sleep under the same roof, our rooms were down the hall from each other.”

If you’ve ever imagined what it looks like when his runs his fingers through his hair I can tell you it’s everything you’ve thought it to be and yes, he does the exasperated sigh along with it as he’s trying to focus himself from telling me more than he wants. “Emilia it was like, it was like a switch flipped. She’s a hobby photographer.”

“You did that too, you already had so much in common.” He’s wearing a look that both says ‘shut up’ and ‘please don’t’ at the same time. It’s an interesting thing to see and even more interesting to try and read.

“I used to. Rachel, doesn’t do pictures or people with ‘camera’s for fun, honestly why?’” His Rachel voice is the highlight of this interview along with his casual dress. I’ve been interviewing him for years and I’ve never seen him this relaxed. “It was weird, like, when I stopped posting on Instagram everyone just went with it. When I started posting again people were just like ‘where have you been? We missed you’ and my personal favorite ‘can you post more pictures of your doggo’” He laughed, “It was like everything I had to give up to appease Rachel I could have back. Why wouldn’t you want to have things that made you happy? I could meet up with my friends, visit my family, travel, go to the island.”

“I have to ask, has Emilia been to the island yet? I semistalk her Instagram and it hasn’t shown up there yet. I feel like there’s a lot more to that place than your boat and the beach. If she hasn’t been will you guys be going soon?” It’s a reasonable question, she seems to take pictures of everything. The video’s of his dog seeing him after three years can make you cry. If you haven’t watched them yet, bring tissues. If you’re reading this online the link is below.

“She hasn’t yet, we’re actually leaving for it tomorrow. So if you wait a week or two to publish you might get some pictures from her soon. I’m excited about it. I mean, I know it’s been taken care of by the staff when they visit I just. It’s been so long and she’s never been on the ship before. It’s weird, I mean, I grew up in this lifestyle so I’m used to it all but she didn’t. So everything is new, like the flight out to England, she’d never been on a plane before. I like traveling and as a lot of people know I like my rich guy toys. Getting to share them with her is just as fun and amazing. I’m sure it’d still be this way even if she grew up with the stuff but getting to see her enjoy these things for the first time is awesome.”

I made a note to put off publishing this as long as possible for photographs, my boss wasn’t having it so we all loose out. Sorry. She has a blog though as I have been informed but someone, Luke, wouldn’t tell me what it was so we just have to hope all the pictures end up on insta.

“You know you’re one of the few rich people who can brag about their wealth and people don’t get upset. Is there a reason why or do you think people are afraid to piss off one of the richest people in the world?” A question I’ve been dying to ask for far too long so you can all just give me this one and we’ll get back to the cute couples in a minute.

“There’s a reason. As much as I brag about my toys and vacations. I don’t actually vacation, I might be on a beach but I have an office a hundred yards away, same with the boat, office is there. I work hard for my money but I think the big reason people pay it no mind is because I’m pretty philanthropic. Shelters for both people and animals. Schools in war torn countries. Helping people whose governments are letting them down. Coconut trees are something I’m dealing a lot with right now. Did you know if you plant them close enough together that you can slow and in some cases stop beach erosion? How awesome is that? Governments though, they don’t care. So what’s a few thousand coconut trees to help save beaches and inject a little money into the local economy? It’s nothing off my back or my bank account. The way I see it, we were charged with making the world better than how we found it. So far we’re doing a pretty shitty job. If you send a copy of this to my mum you better change that word or I’ll never hear the end of it.” He sighed, he was serious too, I changed it in her copy. “If I can help make it better, why wouldn’t I? I have the money and resources to do it so I owe it, not just to myself but to everyone else to try and make it better. To slow climate change if I can’t stop it. You can recycle your soda cans all you want but if big business doesn’t turn their companies green it’s not going to make a difference.”

“Are you sure I can’t have her blog name?” One last try to get all of us more cute pictures. He didn’t cave but he did tell me the exact site but I have a domain and that’s a start. People may think it weird, granted my openness about cyberstalking them is a little weird but I’m a reporter whose job is to write about them every day. If you think I’m weird for it than you are reading the wrong interview, it’s my job.

“There’s really nothing amazing on there though. I mean, to us it’s a bunch of awesome stuff but I doubt you want to see it. All the cool stuff is on Instagram. Our more homey things are on her blog.” He keeps trying to get me away from it but honestly, seeing more humany, homey things of them is what everyone wants “I mean, do you really want to look at a dozen pictures of this?” He’s honestly adorable when he brags, he doesn’t even realize he is doing it. If every man was this oblivious with these things life would be sweeter.

It’s a picture of them at home on the terrace, it’s dark but you can see the telescope. Candid’s of them both looking through it and watching the stars. It’s so sweet my teeth hurt. I want to see hundreds of those. I leave empty handed regarding her blog but now I know what I’m missing and I might double my efforts to find it if for no reason than to see my friend having a good life. After three years of Rachel essentially abusing him he’s found someone who showed him what he was missing and I couldn’t be happier for it. While the everyday public might think they’re a fraud, simply because we didn’t see what was before our eyes. Those of us who know Luke Montgomery couldn’t be happier for him. No matter what sludge Rachel throws on the papers about them you can see it in their eyes. Neither of them could be happier with anyone else.

@adauntlessangel

#drabblebabble #I love writing interviews but this one got a life of it's own at paragraph three #michelle is seriously his favorite reporter

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elureenven · 3 years

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youtube

WARNING FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO WATCH THE VIDEO (btw, it doesn't make sense reading this if you're not gonna watch it): THE BACKGROUND SOUND MIGHT TRIGGER YOU. IT'S LIKE HIGH FREQUENCY OR SOMETHING.

I took A/S GCE Art and Design last year. (I put GCSE on yt video because it's more frequently searched, imo). I chose Figures at Windows for my exam topic.

However, I added a whole lot of my perception of anxiety. I always wanted my artworks to satisfy my heart and soul even though I was so tired of working on it.

I thought, "how should I do this?" The first image that came to mind was a woman sitting alone on a chair, in front of the window. Billie Eilish's teaser of Happier Than Ever just came out during that time.

Here's two pages from my digital sketchbook.

I had to do an art style like that for two reasons: it's sort of a depiction of anxiety and because I'm tired to do any high quality art.

Then I thought, is one picture enough? This is where I started to make impulsive decisions. I only animated once or thrice (if those two are even considered). First, was when I made stick men to show bitter love (it was basically equivalent to the work of a primary schooler). Second, was when I animated an eye blinking (it was nice, but it was literally just an outline of the eye). Third, (and I'm proud of this) when I had to do an animation for our science music video of bisodiversity, which is sadly, unretrievable. And those were 4 years ago from when I had to animate for my exam. I even wrote a letter for myself, "why do you have to make life hard for you?" Which I inserted in my sketchbook with the label a letter for me. But, I've decided, this is where my soul is happy. It's what my heart chooses.

So, after drawing the backgrounds and creating a detailed-outline of what's going to be in my animation, we have 3 days, with 5 hours each (15 hours in total for those whk don't want to do the math) to do our exam.

Fortunately, I finished it and I'm satisfied of the outcome. There it is, link on top.

I almost forgot to say, I made the music but I just played around in Garage Band using the pianos chill pad, synthetic voice, and grand piano.

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shirlleycoyle · 4 years

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Did a Barista Put a Tampon in a Cop’s Frappuccino? An Investigation

Last night, America was seized with horror when Bill Melugin, a reporter for the local Fox affiliate in Los Angeles, tweeted an image of a tampon being pulled from a cup with the tip of a distinctive green straw.

An off-duty LAPD officer, according to Melugin, found the tampon in a blended coffee drink he'd purchased at a Starbucks inside a Target in Diamond Bar, and later filed a report with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department.

"This disgusting assault on a police officer was carried out by someone with hatred in their heart and who lacks human decency," the LAPD's union told Melugin.

The story, though, raised questions, and not just because of the long history of cops claiming to have been assaulted by fast-food workers, only for those claims to turn out to be nonsense. According to Melugin's reporting, the officer could only have been identified by their police credit union debit card. As anyone who's been in a Starbucks since the coronavirus pandemic began knows, though, cashiers don't handle debit cards. As the story goes, then, the cashier would have had to closely scrutinize the officer's card as they ran it through the machine and alert a barista to their identity; the barista, making the drink in plain sight, would have then have had to acquire a tampon and put it into the drink after it had been through a blender.

Even if it is a tampon, who's to say a barista even put it there—it is, of course, just a decontextualized photo of a tampon-like object and a cup.

Further questions were raised by the image itself. For one thing, the tampon didn't look much like a used tampon. For another, there was no string visible in the image. Finally, while this may simply have been due to the angle at which the photo was taken, the supposed tampon seemed implausibly large, more fit for a hill giant of some sort than anyone who would fit behind a counter.

In order to see if the cop's story was even remotely plausible, Motherboard performed a science experiment. Aric Toler, a researcher at Bellingcat—an organization which analyzes open source media and has, for example, exposed the use of chemical weapons use in Syria by studying video and photographic evidence—suggested, in the interests of rigor, that we buy 10 Frappuccinos and 10 different types of tampons. Given the fact that we were biking and did not want to spend a fortune, we decided instead to try one Frappuccino and one tampon and see how that went.

We biked to the nearest Starbucks and ordered a grande caramel Frappuccino. (A barista confirmed that all Frappuccino cups have the same lids and thus the same-sized diameters.) The barista did not find the LA Sheriff's Department's story plausible, but did not want to do much more than laugh when shown the image; as noted by Melugin, we bought the Frappuccino from behind a plexiglass wall—the cashier never handled our credit card, and would have had to have leaned over quite unnaturally to have seen the card. The Frappuccino was prepared and served within 30 seconds.

Motherboard then biked to Walgreens to purchase tampons.

As any menstruating person surely knows, tampons do not come in “sizes,” but are instead sold according to absorbency. According to FDA regulations section 21 CFR 801.430(d), tampons must be labeled with one of five different absorbency terms. Tampons that absorb less than 6 grams of liquid are called “light absorbency,” tampons that absorb between 6 and 9 grams of liquid are “regular absorbency,” 9-12 is “super,” 12-15 is “super plus,” and 15-18 is “ultra.” Companies are allowed to sell tampons that absorb more than 18 grams of liquid, but there is no corresponding term for this, and these tampons appear to be quite rare. (Motherboard could not find any tampons for sale online that advertised absorbency of more than 18 grams; surely they exist, but they do not appear to be readily available.) The FDA warns that as tampons enter the “ultra” range, there is the risk of “fiber sloughing,” which could make them dangerous without proper testing. Tampons that absorb more liquid are wider, not longer than tampons that absorb less liquid.

Motherboard purchased Playtex “Super Plus sport” tampons; there were no ultra tampons for sale at the specific Walgreens we went to.

Representatives for the manufacturers of Kotex, Always, Stayfree, Carefree, and Playtex brand tampons did not respond to Motherboard's requests for expert opinion on whether the tampon in the image might be one of theirs, or whether, given its seeming size, it was plausibly a tampon at all.

To get FDA approval, tampon manufacturers must perform the “Syngyna testing” method. This involves placing a “preweighted tampon” into “an unlubricated condom, with tensile strength between 17 Mega Pascals and 30 MPa … so that the center of gravity of the tampon is at the center of the chamber.” A “syngyna” fluid made up of “10 grams sodium chloride, .5 gram Certified Reagent Acid Fushsin, and 1,000 milliliters distilled water” is then pumped in via a 14-gauge infusion needle “at a rate of 50 milliliters per hour … The test shall be terminated when the tampon is saturated and the first drop of fluid exits the apparatus.”

Motherboard did not have access to this apparatus, but instead performed two tests: First, we inserted a dry, clean tampon directly into the Frappuccino and let it soak for 10 minutes. Second, we soaked a tampon in a cup of water for two minutes to create a “used” tampon, and then inserted it into the Frappuccino for two hours.

There are a few things worth noting from our findings.

It's easy to hide a tampon inside a caramel Frappuccino. The tampon can easily be inserted into the middle of the drink without being detected. In fact, an innocent bystander—a reporter's girlfriend—walked into the kitchen and took a sip of the Frappuccino, thinking we hadn’t yet started the experiment. She did not detect a cotton or chemical taste.

Tampons expand outward, not lengthwise. After absorbing the Frappuccino, the tampon did not become significantly longer than it was when it was in its applicator case. Instead, it expanded to be wider, presumably because it is designed to prevent the leakage of menstrual blood out of a woman’s vagina.

The tampon we tested had two parts that were connected together by the string. It created a “clump” that was more shaped like a plus-sign in the Frappuccino rather than a long rod. We had to manually twist the tampon and pull it lengthwise to stretch it out to mimic the photo that was shared on Twitter. When dunked into water, this is how the tampon expanded:

The tampon that was soaked in water, then transferred to the Frappuccino and left for two hours did not look significantly different than the one that was simply soaked in the Frappuccino.

The tampon at full absorbency was four inches long.

Here is what the tampon looked like when we tried to recreate the LASD’s photo:

Toler of Bellingcat said “lol not even close” when we showed him our photo, taken from a similar vantage point. When we explained our methods he said they were “rigorous enough for me.”

Photo analysis:

The diameter of a Starbucks cup is 3.75 inches (as measured with a tape measure). Using this diameter, it is possible to attempt to calculate the size of the tampon-like object shared by the LASD using a common technique used by Bellingcat and other open source investigators. By taking a known measurement—in this case, the diameter of the cup—and comparing it to an unknown measurement (the tampon-like object), you can calculate a rough measurement of that object.

The diameter of the cup in the LASD photo is 1,202 pixels on the image we analyzed. Since we know the diameter is 3.75 inches in the real world, this means that 3.75 inches in the photo is roughly 1,202 pixels. We can then measure the length of the tampon in pixels (roughly 1,589 pixels) and create a proportion to calculate the rough length of the tampon (or tampon-like object).

That proportion and math looks like this:

So, the object in question is roughly 4.957 inches, which is longer than the tampon we tested. Suspicious, but not outside the realm of possibility for a lesser-quality tampon. Other things to keep in mind is that it appears the very bottom of the tampon is cut off in the photo uploaded to Twitter, and we do not know what zoom the image was taken at.

Our science experiment done, we turned to official sources in search of an explanation. In a statement, the LASD confirmed that a report had been filed and that detectives were investigating the case:

"Walnut Station Detectives are investigating an incident of alleged poisoning of food or drink at a local business. The incident was reported to have occurred Friday, June 19, 2020 at approximately 2:30p.m., on the 700 block of Grand Avenue in the city of Diamond Bar. The victim as a male White 36 years-old. This is an ongoing investigation. No further information is available at this time."

The LASD declined to answer questions about whether they had, as Melugin reported, obtained surveillance footage from the Target in question, and, if so, when. "The detective," the department said, "has not released any additional information yet."

A Starbucks representative, who noted that baristas working at the Starbucks in the Diamond Bar Target would actually be Target employees, stressed that the company has "no tolerance for disrespectful behavior," and assured Motherboard that they would work with Target to investigate the incident. They also noted, though, that according to news reports, "the officer was not in uniform and claims he was identified by using his union debit card"—an improbability, according to our reporting.

A Target representative was not able to provide on the record comment as of press time, or explain when or how an LASD detective came into possession of surveillance footage, but said the company was diligently investigating the incident.

All of this—our tests, the length of the tampon, the apparent massive degradation of whatever this object is, the lack of string, the fact that cops have been caught lying about this sort of thing before, the open questions around the surveillance footage, the difficulty inherent in being able to tell that someone was a cop because they used a certain debit card while making a contactless payment, the fact that someone would probably have had to infect the Frappuccino with a tampon in plain sight—suggests that this object could very well be Not a Tampon. Given our tests, we can't conclusively rule out that it is a tampon; given the information at hand, we can't conclusively rule out any conclusions about how it might have ended up in a Frappuccino. One thing is clear.

"LAPD one looks," as Toller said, "like it was sitting in a coffee cup for a week on someone's dashboard."

Did a Barista Put a Tampon in a Cop’s Frappuccino? An Investigation syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

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trends-lockdown2020 · 4 years

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Look Book

Inspriration

Visual Inspiration

The sacred geometry shapes as shown below inspired me to look what designs can be be covered under sacred geometry shapes systerm. Stages of Sacred Geometry, seed of life, flower of life, fruit of life, egg of life , tree of life.

Sacred geometry design is the most used design, which is found all over the world. Sometimes the design is regarded as a blueprint creations language of the gods. The design has been admired and repeated throughout human history. I find this trend bright and optimistic, non-gender and international speaking a word of happy and fun. The reason why I choose the sacred geometry design as it is recognised worldwide. This has been around for the last 3000 years, and even the ancient Egyptians used the geometric symbol design. Mystic, sages and spiral teacher have used the shape. There is also a mathematical repeat pattern which is used. I'm not sure if I've seen or heard of a design or pattern described so beautifully.

THE GRANDDADDY OF SACRED GEOMETRY IS A GUY NAMED PLATO

Quoted” Everyone knows Plato. He was one of the most influential thinkers in human history, and he taught the world all about the dangers of chaining people up in a cave and making them watch shadows. Not surprisingly, ol' Plato's brilliant mind got delighted whenever someone mentioned mathematics, particularly geometry. In fact, Dartmouth reported that over his academy was written "Let no one destitute of geometry enter my doors." So if you math haters out there ever want to shake hands with Plato, study up.

Lets talk about the front cover firstly this is a bright scared geometry shape, with its this shows the flower of life style. I used the bright colours which wiould be in the real world colourful.

I used photoshop I have listed the actions I did to design the front cover and back cover.

Photoshop open, go to File > Open and select an image. ..

inserted the image into Photoshop.

Open and selected an image Go to Image> Image Size.

An Image Size dialog box Enter new pixel dimensions, document size, or resolution. ...

Then pressed okI did that for the back ground too.

I used the cropped tool for the sizing of the boxing image.

I reinserted the other 2 images into Photoshop in the same way as above. I used the Horizontal type tool the add the title.

Then For the front of the booklet.I choose the Arial as the font and the size of the font 38. I choose the font size to be small on the back of the book size 12.

The typography

This is a important art of arranging letter and text in ways which a person can read . It has to eappealing easie to read. It is not a simple task as every font has style, appearance and structure. Typography has the power to bring out emotions and convery specfic message. The font I chose was the Arial is has been around since 1992 created by Microsoft. Since then every computer has this font. As it easy to read in large its trust worthy. Also I found it in popular choice for advertising, book design and office communication. Arial is also used in many logos. I think I did make the correct choice in choosing this font.

Descriptive annotation (Describing your design journey giving your own opinions; successes, failures & problems that you have overcome)

Reflective discussion about your final outcome; successes, weaknesses, improvement / potential development of your outcomes

I explored photo from the internet starting with the Colour Patlette then the women in the dress . Colour full bright colours stright boxed shape with the geometric design shinning through. The cover layout was design to show the effects out size in a pattem they look the same however the colour lookmore intense. I did choose the wrong colour pink I should have used a darker so would stand out clear.

Colour Pallet

Colour palette has been significance to trend as a bright colours are in my colour palette you can see the means of the colours. Colour pallet is so important to the trend they go hand in hand.

If you breakdown of the 7 Unique Chakra Colors and Meanings

· Root chakra. Color: Red. Location: Base of your spine near your tailbone. · Sacral chakra. Color: Orange. ... · Solar plexus chakra. Color: Yellow. ... · Heart chakra. Color: Green. ... · Throat chakra. Color: Blue. ... · Third-eye chakra. Color: Indigo/purple. ... · Crown chakra. Color: Purple/violet.

In photoshop

Selected the Custom Shape tool .

Select the rectangle shape from the custom shape pop-up panel in the options bar. ...

Draged and draw the triangled shape.

Using the eyedropper tool and pick sample colors from the ladies dress. Then dropped it into the square box.This was done for each colour

Recycled cotton

When making fresh white cotton we use 20,000 liters of water to produce one kilgram of cottons which equivalent to a single t shirt and pair of jeans. Cotton is th most of the profitable crop in the world which a non food. it emplloyees 7% of all i the developing couries. It is said that approximately 50% of the all textiles produced are made from cotton. I would want to socure cotton and recycle the cotton to be my garments.

Photoshop

Duplicate the document

Before we mirror the image, let's make a copy of our Photoshop document. That way, we won't accidentally save the mirrored version over the original.Go up to the Image menu in the Menu Bar along the top of the screen and choose Duplicate:

hen in the Duplicate Image dialog box, name the copy "Mirror" and click OK:Next, select the

Crop Tool

from the

toolbar

:And in the Options Bar, make sure that the Crop Tool's Aspect Ratio is set to Ratio. This will let us freely adjust the sides of the cropping border:

Drag one side of the cropping border to the flip point

Depending on which direction your image needs to flip, click on the left or right side of the cropping border and drag it over to the spot where the image will be mirrored.

In my case, I want to flip the image from left to right using the woman's hair as the mirror point. So I'll drag the right side of the cropping border to that location:

Then with the Free Transform command still active, right-click (Win) / Control-click anywhere inside the image and choose Flip Horizontal from the menu:

Photoshop

Step 1.

Select the select tool from the toolbox.Step 2. When everything was selected, I need to inverse the selection so that our images were selected.To do the this Select>Inverse or Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+I.Then I dragged the select tool over the area to select it.

Select the select tool from the toolbox.

Step 2. When everything was selected, I need to inverse the selection so that our images were selected.

To do the this Select>Inverse or Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+I.

Then I dragged the select tool over the area to select it.

Appropriate Titles /Text

I found my look book could have more details of the scared geometric designs the image layout had symtri in the about page how the blue colour should been a warm colour like orange or pink.

The pages below has a mixture of colours and models, looking at the figues now I show have the one main model. There is a too many patterns as well the scared geometric which my main choice.

#S #https://www.grunge.com/90739/untold-truth-sacred-geometry/

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fumpkins · 5 years

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The 10 Biggest Science Stories of the Decade

Given the rapid pace of change in technology and science, it can be easy to forget what we didn’t know just a few short years ago. The past decade has seen breakthroughs in physics, biology and astronomy, to name just a few. Which of these discoveries are the most important is probably for historians to judge, but some of the consequences of the discoveries early in the decade are beginning to reverberate. Here are our picks for the decade’s biggest scientific advances and surprising discoveries.

2010: The First Synthetic ‘Life’

(Image credit: Courtesy of Science/AAAS)

Scientists blurred the line between natural and man-made in 2010 with the creation of the first-ever organism with a synthetic genome. Scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute assembled the genome of the bacterium Mycoplasma mycoides out of more than a million base pairs of DNA. Then, they inserted this human-engineered genome into another bacterium, Mycoplasma capricolum, which had been emptied of its DNA. The M. capricolum‘s machinery soon began to translate the instructions of this synthetic genome into action, reproducing just as M. mycoides would.

Since this breakthrough, scientists have continued to make advances in synthetic biology. In 2016, scientists built the smallest synthetic microbe yet, with just 473 genes. In 2017, they announced the creation of five synthetic yeast chromosomes; the plan is to replace all of the 16 chromosomes in yeast with synthetic chromosomes that could be tweaked to perform certain tasks, such as mass-producing antibiotics or even creating lab-grown meat.

2011: HIV Preventative Treatment

(Image credit: Sebastian Kaulitzki/Shutterstock)

Today, many people at high risk for contracting the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, pop a daily pill to reduce their risk. In 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a medication, called Truvada, for this purpose. But it was a large study released in 2011 that set the stage for this sea change in HIV prevention.

That study, which the journal Science dubbed the “breakthrough of the year,” was the first since 1994 to show a new way to prevent HIV transmission from one person to another. (In 1994, researchers reported that they’d found a pharmaceutical option to help prevent the transmission of HIV from a pregnant woman to her fetus.) The study began in 2005, and the 2011 findings were interim results. The researchers found a 96% reduction in HIV transmission in that data. The final data encompassing the entire 10-year study, reported in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2016, showed a 93% reduction in HIV transmission.

2012: Higgs Boson

(Image credit: Lucas Taylor/CMS)

In July 2012, scientists working at the world’s largest particle accelerator announced that they’d hit pay dirt. Experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) had, at long last, uncovered evidence of the last undiscovered particle predicted by the Standard Model of physics.

The Higgs boson had been found. This is the particle associated with the Higgs field, an energy field at the root of why particles have mass. Particles gain mass by slogging across this three-dimensional field, creating tiny disturbances in the field. (The stronger their interactions with the field, the more mass they have.) When the field experiences a major energy flare-up in a particular spot, it emits a Higgs boson. In 2013, physicists confirmed that their 2012 observations were indeed the elusive particle, sometimes called the “God particle” because of its role in giving all other particles mass.

The discovery of the Higgs raised new questions for physicists. The particle was a bit lighter than some of its interactions with other elementary particles would have predicted, meaning that either someone goofed up on the math or there’s more than one type of Higgs — perhaps including a heavier Higgs that hasn’t been discovered. Physicists are now using the LHC to search for these possible heavy Higgs.

Lucas Taylor/CMS

(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

After nearly 35 years of zinging past planets and moons, NASA’s Voyager 1 probe made history in 2013, when scientists announced that the spacecraft had officially left the solar system in August 2012.

The probe was launched from Earth in 1977 and spent the next decade exploring Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and their moons. In 2013, data sent back from the probe suggested changes in electron density around Voyager 1 — a major clue that the spacecraft had left the bounds of the solar system. Voyager 1 will continue to send information back to Earth about interstellar space until about 2025. After that, it’s set for a long, quiet retirement in deep space, with the possibility that maybe, someday, some alien life-form will notice the little probe and its golden record, a time capsule that holds images of people, maps of our solar system and other clues to the existence of civilization on Earth.

2014: Gravitational Waves

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Before 2014, scientists had only indirect evidence of the Big Bang, the theory that describes a mind-boggling expansion of space that occurred 13.8 billion years ago and gave birth to our universe. But in 2014, for the first time, scientists observed direct evidence of this cosmic expansion, what some called a “smoking gun” for the beginning of the universe.

This evidence came in the form of gravitational waves, literal ripples in space-time left over from the first fraction of a second after the Big Bang. These ripples generated changes in the polarization in the cosmic microwave background, which is radiation left over from the early universe. The polarization changes are called B-modes. It was these B-modes that scientists detected using the Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization 2 (BICEP2) telescope in Antarctica.

Since then, gravitational waves have continued to reveal mysteries of the universe, such as the dynamics of the collisions of black holes and crashes between neutron stars. Gravitational waves may even help to finally pin down just how fast the universe is expanding.

2015: First CRISPR editing of human embryos

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Possibly the biggest biomedical story of the decade is the emergence of a gene-editing technology called CRISPR from relative obscurity. This technology arises from the natural defense mechanisms of some bacteria; it’s a series of repetitive gene sequences tied to an enzyme called Cas9 that acts like a pair of molecular scissors. The gene sequences can be edited to put a bull’s-eye on a particular segment of DNA, directing the Cas9 enzyme to go in and start snipping.

Using this system, scientists can easily erase and insert bits of DNA in living organisms, an ability with obvious implications for curing genetic diseases — and possibly leading to custom-made babies. The first step along this potential road was taken in 2015, when scientists at Sun Yat-sen University in China announced that they’d made the first-ever genetic modifications to human embryos using CRISPR. The embryos weren’t viable, and the procedure was only partially successful — but the experiment was the first to push an ethical line that the scientific community is debating to this day.

2016: Exoplanet Discovered in a Habitable Zone

(Image credit: M. Kornmesser/ESO)

Earth’s closest exoplanet neighbor, discovered in 2016, is not only a mere 4.2 light-years away — it has the potential to host life.

That doesn’t mean that the planet, dubbed Proxima b, is sure to be habitable, but it resides in the habitable zone of its star, meaning it orbits its star at a distance that would allow liquid water to exist on the planet’s surface. The planet orbits Proxima Centauri; wobbles in that star’s movements as the planet passed by hinted atProxima b’s existence.

Since the discovery, scientists have observed high-radiation superflares from Proxima Centauri blasting the exoplanet, drastically reducing the chances that life could survive on Proxima b. However, they’ve also found that there may be more planets orbiting near Proxima b.

2017: Oldest Homo sapiens fossils push species back 100,000 years

(Image credit: Philipp Gunz, MPI EVA Leipzig (License: CC-BY-SA 2.0))

How long has Homo sapiens roamed the planet? A discovery announced in 2017 pushed the timing back to 300,000 years.

That’s 100,000 years longer than had previously been believed. Researchers found the 300,000-year-old bones in a cave in Morocco, where at least five individuals may have taken shelter during a hunt. The discovery site — in northern Africa, not eastern Africa, where the previous oldest Homo sapiens fossils were found — hints that our species may not have evolved first in eastern Africa and then later radiated elsewhere. Instead, Homo sapiens might have evolved all across the continent.

2018: First living CRISPR babies

A mere three years after the first editing of nonviable human embryos with CRISPR, someone crossed another gene-editing line. This time, a Chinese scientist named Jiankui He announced that he’d edited the genomes of two embryos that were then implanted via IVF (in vitro fertilization) into the mother’s womb and born: twin girls who are the world’s first CRISPR babies.

The edit he made was to a gene called CCR5 — a change that, theoretically, should make the children less vulnerable to contracting HIV. Many scientists were appalled that He would take the step of gene editing in this context, particularly given the available and less technologically intense methods of avoiding HIV (such as preventive antiretroviral treatment). Later, data released by the researchers suggested that they’d actually induced a previously unknown mutation in the girls rather than reproducing a known mutation.

The potential side effects for the girls are still unknown, as is the fate of the scientist who did the editing. In January 2019, the The New York Times reported that He was likely to face criminal charges in China, though it was unclear under what laws he could be charged.

2019: First Black Hole Image

(Image credit: Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration)

Black holes have always been an astronomical fascination: We know they’re there, but because light can’t escape from beyond their event horizons, they’re also sort of invisible.

Until this year: For the first time, scientists captured an image of a black hole. The portrait subject was black hole at the center of the Messier 87 galaxy that is as wide as our entire solar system. The picture looks like a glowing doughnut of matter surrounding an abyss of blackness; this is the dust and gas orbiting the black hole’s point of no return. The discovery earned the researchers involved the 2020 Breakthrough Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in science. They’re now working to capture not just images, but movies, of black holes.

Originally published on Live Science.

New post published on: https://www.livescience.tech/2019/12/27/the-10-biggest-science-stories-of-the-decade/

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