#okay so- you know how the Krang have a hivemind?

[turtleblogatlast]

[ cw: referenced mind control / parasites / intrusive thoughts (only in the tags) / ]

(This is just a fun “what if” so bear with me-) I know we make mention of the potential for Krang remnants to be stuck with Raph and/or Donnie, but Mikey and Leo also had a moment with the other two where a type of Krang goop was crawling beneath their skin (this being immediately after Raph broke free.)

So I raise you the potential for all four of them to have a bit of that Krang parasite on them…and for that to have unforeseen consequences.

[theweirdhybrid]

So, how does the Krang infection work in your writing 👀?

INHALES SHARPLY

THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY PRESENTATION NOW SIT DOWN AND GET COMFY YOU ARE GONNA BE HERE FOR A WHILE

Okay so basically if you know the zombie infection lore of The Last Of Us then you’ve already got a good grasp of how the Krang infection works in JTOEL. BUT for those who don’t know; in TLOU the infection is fungus based, it’s specifically the Cordyceps fungus, which only takes over its hosts nervous system but leaves the brain intact. Which means the host is still fully aware of everything happening but has no control over their own body.

In JTOEL, the Krang is a parasite that attaches itself to its hosts brain, like a brain-worm parasite. But it doesn’t need to get to the brain first in order to start the infection. It can latch itself onto a host and work its way to the brain from the outside, which does leave it vulnerable to being torn or ripped off or hit with a pesticide, but it combats that by moving so quickly the host only has a few moments to even realize what’s happening. It also numbs the nerves it touches so the host has trouble moving to further limit any chance of fighting back.

This is just one of the ways it can infect, however. Because when a host is infected like this, it takes longer to turn them into a Krang. Because, oh yeah, this is how the Krang reproduce. (Note: This is now always how the Krang reproduced, but we’ll get to that later) The Krang aren’t plant or fungus based, they are in fact flesh-based creatures. They’re similar to octopi in that they’re stretchy and squishy, but they still have skeletons. Tho, said skeletons are armored.

We’re getting off track BUT the Krang primarily reproduce by mass-infecting whatever sentient/sapient organics they come in contact with and turning them into full Krang overtime. This is what they use when they first invade a planet, because it’s easier to get everybody under control this way and limit attempts at fighting back. These Krang aren’t as intelligent as the ones in charge of the hivemind/ones that can infect/reproduce, but they gain intelligence over time. At least, they gain enough to pilot suits and follow orders, but that’s about it. They’re more worker/fodder class.

Another way they reproduce is by wrapping their victims/hosts in a cocoon, like we saw with Raph and what I can assume we saw the beginning of with Donnie, Mikey and Leo. Raph’s conversion was interrupted, but that’s definitely what was happening. I have the feeling if the boys hadn’t gotten him out when they did or let him sit there for another thirty minutes, the process would’ve been fully complete and saving Raph would’ve been out of the question because that point the parasite would’ve completely overwritten who he was and his DNA.

However there is a third way they can infect. This one is used for the creatures still controlled by instincts and haven’t yet gained self-awareness as an entire species, likes dogs, cats, deer, mice, etc. The hounds we saw in the movie are prime examples of this kind of infection. This is also used as a way of starving out the population, because if you eat something infected by a Krang, you’ll be infected too.

Which brings me to Cyonardo.

Cyonardo is an example of the first type of infection, the “Rush” infection as I like to call it. Bc the Rush infection is, well, rushed, it takes the parasite longer to fully turn its host and because it doesn’t have access to the necessary proteins and materials a Cocooned infection would, the Krang it becomes isn’t as intelligent as its Cocooned brethren.

Cyonardo is one of the Rushed Krang, or at least one of the ‘recovered’ ones. By the time his brothers had managed to subdue him long enough to perform surgery (because surprise surprise, he was too far gone to bring him back the other way) he was mostly Krang, hence why they removed his leg, arm and eye. The eye was more collateral during surgery, bc that was how the parasite had gotten to his brain and they had to remove the eye to remove the worst part of the infection. They know they didn’t get ALL of it, but they got the part that would’ve kept overwriting his DNA and his sense of self and reporting back to the hivemind.

So yes, if you’re wondering, this means Cyonardo was completely conscious for everything that happened during his time as an infected. (Bringing him back also had the added bonus of learning how the Krang worked military wise.) Also, the Krang liked deploying him on the field any time his brothers or the resistance were sighted, bc they’re evil like that. This was also how the resistance managed to make a plan to capture him, haha.

Sorry I am all over the place while explaining this but in my defense I have So Many Thoughts and the ADHD makes organizing this hard so bear with me

The Krang parasite and the Cordyceps fungus are very similar in how they infect their hosts; growing in the brain and altering their physiology and taking over the nervous system. But that’s about where it stops. I might start repeating myself but just beat with me

See, the Krang parasite wasn’t always this kind of parasite. It used to be that it was a symbiotic relationship, where both the host and the parasite benefited from the relationship. That was back when the Utrom were still around, and before Krang altered the parasite to benefit himself and his goals.

When it was simply the Utrom finding and helping hosts in other species, like weak or sick members that couldn’t move on their own and moving their bodies for them while communicating with the host to know what they wanted to do, while also giving them better defense mechanisms, the Utrom were all over the universe and were a widely loved and accepted race.

And then Krang altered the chemicals and biology of the how the parasite worked, and suddenly everything went to hell. The Utrom had no idea what was going on, and were actively helping hosts remove the now dangerous parasites while trying to figure out just what went wrong. Unfortunately by this point, there were too many parasites to really stop it. So they kind of effectively got wiped out, because the Utrom WERE the parasites, they were just having their own young grow up with another species member to help keep both strong so the baby Utrom could eventually detach and become a full fledged member of society.

But Krang had seen it as an opportunity, he thought the Utrom had wasted their true potential like this. The terrifying part was that it society effectively collapsed overnight. Krang was smart, he was intelligent and he was a scientist. He knew what he was doing, and he executed his plan overnight.

There was no stopping him. This, this is why he views himself as a ‘gift’.

Tho, I will say that when the Krang got locked away for a 1000 years, the rest of the universal society rebuilt itself stronger than ever. When word the Krang had escaped reached them, they went to help Earth. The Utrom are unfortunately completely extinct by this point, the Krang biology was too evolved to change it back. (Though, there might be one still kicking 🤔)

So, TLDR; Krang Prime got greedy and completely changed his own species biology and evolutionary course to use as a bioweapon against the rest of the known universe, but then got locked away for a thousand years and the society he destroyed was like “Well that was crazy lol. Anyways”

Basically, the Krang are a bunch of parasites that shouldn’t and wouldn’t have existed if SOMEONE didn’t decide to play God. Lmao.

Any questions?

[thedawningofthehour]

Are some of the council heads in on Draxum’s plan and secretly supporting it from the shadows? Especially now that he has Galois and they realize the amount of money that kid could make for them?

The Council? You mean those guys that are totally not Kraang? Who forbade Draxum from messing with the humans and put a fucking hit out on him when he didn't get off his bullshit? Nope.

Okay, I'm gonna use this as an excuse to ramble, as I often do. Let's talk about what we know about the Council. They know about the prophecy, but disagree with Draxum on its interpretation. It's confirmed that humans drove the Yokai underground in the first place and definitely pose a threat to their kind-yet the Council doesn't want to eliminate them. They're voiced by Transformers. We see them exactly twice, and both times what we see is

Heads. Just stiff, unmoving faces. When they speak their mouths glow in time with their words, and the way the audio is it's implied that they're not talking directly, but through some sort of speaker. And then there's this-

Dispatching Agent 64 to 'keep an eye' on Draxum. And then magically warps him a treat and calls him a good boy. This little exchange gives us a ton of information on the nature of the Council. For one, they have emotions! They might be logic-driven, but they're not soulless like Krang Prime is shown to be. They are not immune to Fluffy Dog, they find them cute and enjoy giving them treats and make embarrassing noises while doing so. Despite this, they don't appear in person to speak to him. They keep their real forms hidden, even from Yokai they seem to trust. They're capable of magic. And finally, they're not omniscient. They can tell Draxum's up to no good, but they need someone to find proof so they can put him on trial.

Considering the existence of the Krang skeleton within the Hidden City and how it bleeds empyrean, how it's confirmed that empyrean is what creates Yokai-the crew was setting the stage for something. I definitely think that the Council was meant to be Rise's Utrom. Potentially, they came with the rest of the Krang dickbags to take over Earth, then pulled a Pink Diamond and went "oh it actually slaps here."

But how this is relevant, the Krang are a hivemind. They don't own individual property, don't even really have their own names. They exist to 'improve' lesser races. They have no need for money, nor the things it could buy them. They would not be fucking capitalists, is what I'm getting at.

As far as the fic goes, the Council are keeping an eye on things and they'll show up eventually. But no, they do not support Draxum. They're trying to catch him with his pants down and get the proof they need to arrest him/take Galois away from him and figure out What The Deal is with all that, but the Draxum/Cass/Galois dream team is covering their tracks very well.

And if we talk about the other big players in the Hidden City, like their elected politicians that operate under the Council and the richie-riches...sort of but not really. The Hidden City is facing a lot of the same problems we are now, with an impending infrastructure collapse on the horizon while their economy and government has been set up for the sole purpose of making a few people as many imaginary bank points as possible. In that the people who have all the power to do anything about the collapse don't give a shit about anything but racking up more bank points and everything's going to hell.

Do those people support Draxum's plot? No. Draxum's plans are not going to make them money-if anything, his plans are a major threat to them. In capitalism, resource scarcity benefits the people at the top. So I've mentioned that there's an impending food shortage due to the limited number of crops they can grow underground. That's fucking great for whoever grows the food. They can absolutely scalp people and people will pay their prices, because they have no other choice. Desperate people are also willing to work more for less, and they care about their rights less when their kids haven't eaten in days. Big Mama and her fellow capitalists? They're excited for this. Sure, they are sinking their own ship for the pleasure of watching those on the lower decks drown, but for a time they can make more imaginary bank points! Draxum's plans would solve a bunch of problems that they're capitalizing on.

Not to mention Draxum's a socialist and he would have a lot of power in this new above-ground society, even if he doesn't want to install himself as king. His plans scare them. His plans would mean they'd make slightly less money. So no, they do not support Draxum.

Galois, however...that's a bit different. Because in someone else's hands, Galois could make someone a whole bunch of money. He wouldn't really want to, but he's a skinny teenager and until recently he didn't legally exist. No government would be looking for him. This is where I side-eye the people calling Draxum a helicopter for being paranoid about Galois being kidnapped because trust me, there are people looking at this kid and licking their chops.